Search: 'Thailand'

The FA took a principled stance over the FIFA presidential election but they remain as equally flawed in their governance of the Premier League

For the England squad the season ended with the Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland. But it was to have gone on a few days longer. After the Swiss match the national team – or more likely a second-string – were due to play a friendly in Thailand. In exchange for seeing Bobby Zamora and Kyle Walker jogging around at half speed, the Thai FA chairman Worawi Makudi was expected to support England’s 2018 World Cup bid.

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Qatar’s World Cup win was a surprise to many, but Steve Wilson argues that maybe it shouldn’t have come as such a shock

When pictures of public gatherings in Doha and London were beamed across rolling news channels on the evening of December 2, it wasn’t just the palm trees in the background, or lack of them, that helped the viewer with their geography.

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The close of the transfer window has led to more than just exchanges of players as the Abu Dhabi United group arrive in Manchester

So, quite a lively month for Manchester City. Midway through August the club appeared to be in crisis, with owner Thaksin Shinawatra refusing to return home to Thailand to face a corruption trial. If he were convicted in his absence, the Premier League would have faced an unprecedented test of its notoriously obtuse “fit and proper persons” test. There were stories of the club operating on a hand-to-mouth basis with former chairman John Wardle having had to loan Thaksin £2 million on several occasions to pay wages. A shock home defeat to Danish UEFA Cup opponents was followed by a 4-2 mauling at Villa Park.

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Dear WSC
Who made the biggest blunder on the second weekend of the Premier League season? Rob Styles gave a dodgy penalty for Chelsea against Liverpool, but was this the worst example of a paid professional making a basic error that affected the outcome of a game? What about Jens Lehmann’s rubber wrists against Blackburn? Tony Warner at Fulham flapped at a daisy-cutter, while in the same game Clint Dempsey missed a gaping net from six yards out, a goal even Styles could have scored. Yet these players weren’t endlessly lambasted by the pundits and will not be forced (by their professional body at least) to sit out a game or two until they’ve learned their lesson. This strikes me as a double standard that fans and managers alike should be ashamed of. Either that or Carlos Tévez should be made to sit in the naughty chair at next week’s game for missing a simple far-post header in the derby game
Mark Lewsey, Glasgow

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Thaksin Shinawatra’s arrival at Eastlands has tested some supporters’ loyalties. But, as Ian Plenderleith finds out, a tour of Manchester City, Dundee and Chelsea sites suggests many fans are quick to move on

The fan of changing loyalties ­remains an object of scorn, but in these cash-grabbing times when a club’s dubious new owner can alienate lifelong supporters, it somehow seems appropriate that the official Premier League site hosts a column by someone purporting to be The Fickle Fan. It’s meant to be funny, and the idea’s not a bad one – the columnist follows a team until it loses, and then transfers allegiance to the victor.

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