Book reviews
Reviews from When Saturday Comes. Follow the link to buy the book from Amazon.
Phil Sharman reflects on the American takeover of Derby County and how promises of world establishment have been cruelly transformed into economic turmoil
It used to be that owning a football club was about prestige. Few of the butchers and haulage contractors who took control of their local team expected to be able to sell at a profit. Today, however, if a club is moved up a level and established there it is possible to sell on at a price which exceeds the original investment. But three years on from their takeover, Derby County fans still cannot see what the American company General Sports and Entertainment (GSE) expects to get out of owning the club.
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Saturday, May 21st, 2011 - Book reviews
Andy Thorley believes his club don’t get the credit they deserve and defends the Potters against popular stereotype
When Stoke City step out onto the turf at the new Wembley Stadium for the first time this month to face Bolton in the FA Cup semi-final, the club is under no illusions: the 32,000 fans who have snapped up tickets for the match might well be the only people who want the Potters to win.
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Saturday, May 21st, 2011 - Book reviews
Matthew Barker reports on a desperate but imaginative protest movement that relied on solidarity from the local community
In late February, players, staff and supporters of Lombardy side Pro Patria staged a three-day sit-in protest at the club’s Stadio Carlo Speroni. In recent years the Lega Pro Division Two (fourth tier) team has endured a litany of miserable luck and disastrous financial mismanagement. Occupying the stadium was a last attempt to save a dying club and a famous name in the Italian game, even if i tigrotti (the little tigers) last played in Serie A in 1956.
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Saturday, May 21st, 2011 - Book reviews
Champions League competition can be mixed blessing and James Baxter sympathises with a team thrashed by Marseille
When MŠK Žilina’s first ever Champions League group stage campaign finally drew to an end last December, debate in Slovakia as to its merits and otherwise was already long underway. The general consensus was that the failure to pick up points was disappointing and the 7-0 home defeat by Marseille humiliating but also that the team had played good football in spells and learned several lessons.
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Saturday, May 21st, 2011 - Book reviews
Matt Ramsay examines the pros and cons of the Premier League’s proposed Elite Player Performance Plan
A bid to improve the compensation rights of non-League clubs when their young players are snapped up by Football League teams was featured in WSC 279 (May 2010). The issue of fairly reimbursing smaller clubs is set to become a major topic in the coming months, if current proposals to change England’s academy system come into being.
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Thursday, April 21st, 2011 - Book reviews