Dear WSC
Given that Tranmere finished in seventh position last season, one point off the play-offs, I have to say that I am slightly relieved that Stephen Constantine was not given the chance to help us out of a relegation scrap (WSC 198.) Using football fan logic, does it now follow that our very own Ray Matthias could go one step further than Stephen if he were to take charge of the Nepalese national side, and not just reach the final of the South Asian Federation Cup, but win it too?
John Rooney, via email
Search: ' Tony Cottee'
Stories
Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia – British coaches are everywhere, reports Gavin Willacy. And if you’ve ever wondered what happened to Gus Caesar, read on
If the current trend of importing highly talented Chinese players in to the English Premier League continues, there will soon be more Asians earning a living playing football in the UK than there will Brits in Asia. But although the number of ex-pats on the pitch in the Orient is diminishing, British coaches are still much in demand.
Titi Camara was the catalyst for Harry Redknapp's departure from West Ham, and Glenn Roeder isn't too keen either. Darron Kirkby looks at the brief highlights
In his first 20 months with West Ham, Titi Camara played only 485 minutes – and just 94 of them were at home. Perhaps more than any other player, Titi’s bearing on the club’s history is completely disproportionate to his on-field contribution. Five months after he joined for £1.7 million, the man who signed him, Harry Redknapp, was out of a job. The most regularly aired reason put forward for his departure was that the board had lost faith in his judgment after Redknapp had squandered what little of the Rio Ferdinand money he had been given on the likes of Rigobert Song, Ragnvald Soma and, above all, Titi Camara.
Millwall's Steve Claridge has seen life as a player and, briefly, a manager in the First Division. He tells WSC how the ITV Digital crisis has affected his outlook and the career prospects for League players at all levels
"I don’t think that the financial crisis in football right now would put off players who were thinking of going into management. Certain problems were there anyway at the lower levels. I said to Tony Cottee when he was going to Barnet, what are they are going to give you? A good year there is tenth place in the Third Division, but if things don’t work out there you’re back to square one. The amount of money around always makes a huge difference.
David Montrose remembers West Ham United's 1985-86 season
August, 1985: the omens were ominous. West Ham had ended the previous season just clear of relegation, and Paul Allen, Hammer of the Year, had since decamped to Spurs under freedom of contract – a trenchant vote of no-confidence. Few thought jockey-sized Mark Ward, ex-Oldham, would prove an adequate successor. The acquisition of St Mirren’s Frank McAvennie, meanwhile, aroused more mystification than anticipation. Who? Even his position was uncertain. Striker, midfielder?