Search: 'Lothar Matthaus'

Saul Pope looks at a rising challenge to the traditional elite of Russian football, with plenty of money and some famous faces

Since its creation in 1992 Moscow sides have largely dominated the Russian top flight,  winning 14 of 19 league titles and taking the lion’s share of second and third places. Lately, this stranglehold has been broken somewhat by Zenit St Petersburg and Rubin Kazan. However, this season two teams from the North Caucasus – the scene of wars and insurgency for much of the last two decades – aim to upstage them all.

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Portsmouth part company with Tony Adams after a poor start

Tony Adams’s three month spell in charge at Portsmouth was brought to a merciful end on the same day that Phil Scolari was sacked by Chelsea. The sacking didn’t seem to shake Adams’ confidence in his ability. As he told the Sun, “I can’t wait to get back in. I’ve seen there are six jobs in Holland at the moment.” A few days later, however, David James used his Observer column to blast his former boss, and his “bizarre” approach. It seems that Portsmouth players would have perked up if he yelled at them, like his predecessor.” When we’ve lost some games in the past,” James wrote, “Harry Redknapp has come in and torn strips off everybody. He would maybe sometimes apologise the next day but you needed that."

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Germany’s former captain believes he is destined for managerial greatness. No one else agrees. Paul Joyce reports on the coaching career of the German Bryan Robson

Lothar Matthäus is by no means the only former player to harbour delusions of managerial adequacy. Yet after five posts in six years, the coaching career of Germany’s most-capped international has a uniquely self-destructive trajectory. Convinced that he is not getting his fair dues, in terms of respect, money or a position that befits his stature, “Loddar” manages to talk his way out of jobs with the misplaced confidence of a cartoon labrador about to step on a rake.

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Ian Plenderleith outlines the chances of Lothar Matthaus being left out of Germany's World Cup squad

The recall of Lothar Matthäus to the German World Cup squad is not just remarkable because the 37-year-old will become only the second player ever to appear in five World Cup finals. More surprising is the fact that less than a year ago Matthäus was completely ostracised by the German footballing establishment,

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