Search: 'Grant Holt'

It may have been minus ten in August, but things are warming up at Millmoor. Slowly, the South Yorkshire club are adjusting to life without a managerial legend. Is the same true for the visitors? Pete Green investigates

It is a bore to draw parallels between football and love affairs. Too many tiresome blogs talk about the magic having gone, the need to rekindle the spark, and flirtations with other clubs. But if every cliche hides a kernel of truth then maybe this one tells us something about management, because the longer a manager has been in charge, the longer it seems to take the club to get over it once the record collection is divided up.

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Nick House's pre-season optimism was high, however, the Torquay side he supports had to perform the Great Escape, yet again

This might not always be a good division, but it enjoys intrigue, twists of fortune and a particular quirkiness. Northampton, for instance, won promotion employing a player on loan from Ryman League side Fisher Athletic. Chester’s survival was helped by loanee Derek Asamoah who, in an otherwise barren season, produced a seven-goals-in-four-games burst.

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What more is there to say about Stan Collymore? David Wangerin takes up the challenge and comes to the conclusion that he simply ended up in the wrong job

Should have, would have, could have. Dalian At­kinson springs to mind. All the tools you could want: strong, quick, good in the air, a nose for goal and al­ways capable of the extraordinary. Should have been an England regular, could have guided Aston Villa to a championship or two, would have been one of the top strikers the club has ever seen. Drag out the video of his wonder-goal at Selhurst Park in 1992, the one where he runs through the entire Wimbledon team and plants the ball in the net with such graceful nonchalance. Even the strains of Clive Tyldesley’s post facto commentary can’t re­move the lustre of such genius.

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A summer of unprecedented World Cup hype has done nothing to slow down the football juggernaut. We invited three critics, Simon Inglis, Alyson Rudd and John Williams, to ruminate on the shape of things to come

The onset of the football boom in Britain is usually dated from the 1990 World Cup. Two tournaments on from there it still appears to be racing ahead at ever greater speed. Are there any indications that the boom is nearing its end?

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Savo Milosevic never made the grade at Aston Villa, but David Wangerin thinks he didn't have a fair crack of the whip

This was the season Savo Milosevic was supposed to come of age, the year Brian Little’s most obscure signing stepped forward and justified his manager’s faith in him. Needless to say it didn’t happen, and as I write Savo seems to have kicked his last ball, or tuft of grass, or cubic metre of air, for Aston Villa. Few players can expect much else after spitting at their own supporters.

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