With Middlesbrough struggling to survive the drop Steve Wilson asks why the chances of Hope Powell succeeding are so slim
As Middlesbrough’s steady slide towards relegation fast approaches a vertical drop into the Championship, questions are inevitably resurfacing over the wisdom of employing Gareth Southgate as the club’s manager in his first job in the dugout.
Dear WSC
I don’t normally read your magazine as I have no interest in football. However I wanted to read your article about Paul Gascoigne (Crying Shame, WSC 257) and found it very poignant. If I was in a position to help Mr Gascoigne (as obviously he needs this urgently), I would suggest he gets himself an allotment. It’s not as flippant a suggestion as it sounds. As long as he manages to avoid somewhere like Hampstead, he’ll find himself surrounded by solid, down-to-earth people, which is what he needs right now. He’ll be able to use his physical strength, which will be good for his mental health. He’ll be working outdoors and taking part in an activity that is so far removed from the fickle world of the sycophants that have helped drag him down it can only do him good. I hope I don’t sound too patronising, because I have his best interests at heart.
Victoria Lofas, Stockport
A history of black players in English football
by Rodney Hinds
Sports Books, £16.99
Reviewed by Matthew Brown
From WSC 245 July 2007
Rodney Hinds begins Black Lions, his account of the emergence of black footballers in England, by claiming that “in less than 25 years the black footballer has turned from freak show into a respected member of the football fraternity”.
Another England quarter‑final exit… Anjana Gadgil assesses the progress of the women’s team and explains why the host nation struggles for players despite a population of 1.6 billion
Imagine a Premier League footballer and England international having to scrimp and save to play for their national team. It just wouldn’t happen in the men’s game. But footballers who double up as postwomen, teachers and PAs have to save to go on a week’s package to Marbella, let alone to spend six weeks playing at last month’s Women’s World Cup in China. Arsenal right-back Alex Scott is one example. She teaches sport science at schools in London, but had to take unpaid leave to go to the Far East. Likewise team-mate and football coach Mary Philip, who describes herself as “penniless” when she plays for England. She lives on a council estate in north London with her husband and two children and was one of the few players whose family weren’t in the stands for the group-stage games. “We just couldn’t afford it,” she says.
There's only one Steve McClaren, for now
The euphoria that followed England’s victories against Israel and Russia was perhaps understandable, especially in the context of what had gone before. The two 3-0 wins against opponents with half-decent records (however badly Israel played) came after a run of just two victories in nine matches – and those previous successes had been against Andorra and Estonia. And Steve McClaren had seen off a side coached by Guus Hiddink, a man widely tipped as a candidate for his job.