Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
The big issues affecting clubs in the Football League
The principle that clubs should not leave their ground unless they are certain of being able to return to a site in the local area is one that was meant to have been established after Brighton left the Goldstone Ground. However, it shows no sign of being universally accepted. Ron Noades, for one, is keen to move Brentford out of Griffin Park, despite the fact that no new long-term home has been secured.
Almost alone among their former communist neighbours, Czech clubs have made some headway in the Champions League era. Sam Beckwith reports
These are strange days in the Czech Republic: European Union entry, which has been dangled on a string since 1989, finally seems imminent; the citizens of Prague and Brno are spoilt for choice when it comes to multiplex cinemas and out-of-town shopping centres; and even Viktoria Zizkov’s Jurassic-era stadium is all-seater now.
French players and managers are already all the rage in England. Now they are exporting their behind-the-scenes coaches as well. Ben Lyttleton reports
July 14, 1998, was one of Francisco Filho’s most memorable days in his 28 years at the Institut National du Football, based at Clairefontaine. “It was two days after France had won the World Cup,” Manchester United’s new Under-17 coach said. “Gérard Houllier told us he was leaving for Liverpool and Aimé Jacquet’s first words were: “We need to further improve our training.” He didn’t even mention what had happened two days earlier. I was taken aback, but that’s an example which illustrates the success of French training methods.”
The last remaining dead cat has now been removed from the stadium of Argentina's perennial under-achievers. Ben Backwell explains what it was doing there in the first place
Away games at Racing’s Academia stadium, in the working-class Buenos Aires suburb of Avellaneda, are never easy. For a start, Racing fans have maintained a reputation of being Argentina’s most fanatical and vocal supporters, despite the team’s mainly abysmal performances since the late 1960s. While Boca Juniors can certainly claim the affection of more fans throughout Argentina, Racing’s fans – who refer to themselves modestly as “the No 1” – pride themselves on their loyalty. Average crowds have rarely slipped to the dismal levels of some other Argentinian clubs, despite spells in the second division, bankruptcy and suspension from the football association, and a stretch of 35 years (1966- 2001) without a major domestic title.
Dear WSC
Have any other readers noticed that clubs and players seem to be under increasing pressure to pay money for successful outcomes to fixtures? On The Premiership, September 28, Jon Champion at Man City v Liverpool observed that “Michael Owen can’t buy a goal from open play at the moment”. A bit later, during Charlton v Man Utd, Clive Tyldesley told us: “Charlton can’t buy a home win this season.” I know football is a money-dominated sport, but this is ridiculous. However, what I really want to know is how does the system work? Is there a sliding scale of charges, so that Owen could afford to buy a goal against the generous Man City defence, but not against West Brom’s tight back four the previous week? Are “six-pointers” decided by bids in a sealed envelope, which may explain why Sunderland beat Villa, but Bolton v Southampton was a draw? And do teams expected to win easily not bother buying that week? This would certainly account for Chelsea’s home crash to West Ham. To take it further, do supermarket-style special offers and other assorted gimmickry apply? For instance, was Owen’s hat-trick part of a “buy two, get one free” arrangement? Did Charlton, who led at half-time but eventually lost, buy a past-its-sell-by-date home win for half price? And is there a loyalty card system for frequent win buying? Arsenal must be well sorted if there is. It would be bad enough if this was limited to the top flight, but it’s even happening in the Nationwide. Ronnie Moore, explaining my team Rotherham’s unexpectedly good start, cautioned that: “This time last season Grimsby were top of the league, but their manager couldn’t buy a win after that.” So, as a Miller, can I please urge whoever is in charge of our points purchasing department to keep up the good work and carrying on signing the cheques.
Steve Ducker, via email