WSC’s almost annual roundtable brought together three contributors from different branches of the media to discuss trends in football reporting and a host of other relevant (and irrelevant) matters
WSC It’s often said that players these days are remote from the fans. But has the attitude of players towards journalists also changed now that many of them are so phenomenally wealthy?
Alex Ferguson has always let his political views be known, which is why Michael Crick is confused about the lack of it in his book
It’s an interesting test. Just who in public life today could ring Downing Street at 7.30am and be put straight through to Tony Blair? Gordon Brown, Robin Cook or Jack Straw? Certainly. Rupert Murdoch? Undoubtedly. Middle-ranking cabinet members like Stephen Byers and David Blunkett? Pretty marginal, I’d say. As for ministers like Chris Smith or Clare Short, they’d probably be fobbed off by the switchboard whatever time of day it was.
Hugh McIlvanney's tribute to a trio of famous managers struck a chord with Roger Titford
Over the Easter weekend, as a welcome antidote to the usual highspeed Sky blather, Hugh McIlvanney presented a documentary trilogy on the backgrounds and careers of Matt Busby, Bill Shankly and Jock Stein. A different era and a different tempo.