Articles from When Saturday Comes. All 27 years of WSC are in the process of being added. This may take a while.
Like England, Holland have a tradition of using club managers to run the national team. Unlike England, it doesn't change the way the play, says Simon Kuper
Holland have a dastardly way of choosing a manager. It works like this: a few old men at the Dutch FA settle upon some appropriate chap, usually a good club coach, always overlooking the best candidate (Johan Cruyff) on the grounds that he is difficult.
The council wants to build Hull a new ground. David Lloyd, rugby league and crashing phone shares stand in the way Craig Ellyard reports
Prior to the Taylor Report, Hull City’s Boothferry Park was one of the newest football stadiums in the country. Yet even then, though barely 50 years old, the ground once described as the Wembley of the north was but a neglected shell of its former self. After Hillsborough, new and improved stadiums sprang up all over the country, yet Boothferry and its incumbent club continued to rot. Now, though, a bright future of shiny plastic seats and a trendy new super stadium awaits City supporters. Possibly.
Spain's managerial strategy is non-existent, but the public hardly cares, says Phil Ball
The Spanish national team is called La Selección, as if it magically picked itself. Maybe the name has arisen from some sort of collective wish-fulfilment, for despite the surface appearance of relative stability (only two managers in the past 19 years) the story of their footballing representatives is certainly no happier than the present English one.
Sunday 1 Leicester are top for the first time since JFK was president after drawing with Sunderland – “We’re grinders,” says Peter Taylor – while Man Utd lose to a Thierry Henry “wonder goal”. “It was so spectacular. He’ll never do it again,” says Sir Alex, complimentary yet grudging. Chelsea recover from their midweek embarrassment to beat Liverpool 3-0. “I find it difficult to forgive international players when they make mistakes like we did today,” snaps Gérard.
Ireland may not be Britain, but the downfall of of Jack Charlton's team against Holland in his last match in charge spoke volumes for the limitations of a certain British style, says Cris Freddi
Both sides had known for some time that the play-off was their only real chance of reaching the finals of Euro 96, but recent results left them with very different expectations. While Holland were winning their last three qualifiers without conceding a goal, the Republic had won only one of their last five, drawing in Liechtenstein and losing 3-1 home and away to Austria and 3-0 to group winners Portugal. Austria’s 5-3 defeat in Belfast gave them the play-off chance, but Big Jack’s reign seemed to be coming to an untidy end.