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“I wasn’t allowed to join Arsenal”

Stephanie Pride talks to Howard Wilkinson about the future of youth coaching in England and possible regrets he has from an illustrious career

WSC Do you feel there is still a suspicion in this country of bringing the more technical aspects of coaching into the game?
Howard Wilkinson Yes, there’s a cultural attitude which is, if you like, anti-coaching, or against having an analytical attitude to sport, and it does make life difficult because it colours everyone’s attitude. It’s come out recently when we’ve had foreign players who start to talk about the differences and make negative comparisons with the preparation they’ve been used to. It comes out with foreign coaches coming in – people like Arsène Wenger. The sort of preparation that he employs I don’t think is that much different to the sort of preparation that others would employ, nor would it be fundamentally different to that which I would employ, but because Arsène’s come in and done it, it’s had a positive influence. People say “ah well, it’s come from abroad, it must be good, it’s worked there” – and I think that’s good.

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Worst Brazilians

Mention Brazil and most people become emotional about Pelé, Garrincha, Romario and other legends.  Cris Freddi sees it differently

I hate Brazil. Not the country – I’ve never been to the country. But I hate Brazil. Like all fair-minded people, I am the Brazil hater.

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Tenants extra

Many Scottish clubs are looking to move, but Gary Oliver reports on why this may not be good for them

Anyone attempting to visit the homes of all 92 English league clubs during the 1990s has been faced with a moving target. In Scotland, where far fewer new stadiums have risen, it is several nomadic clubs that have been doing the groundhopping – an experience from which not one has benefited.

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Nothing like a dome

Charlton only moved back into The Valley in the 1990s, so why are they looking at uprooting again? Brian Cowen reports

The campaign by Charlton Athletic fans to bring the club back to The Valley in the late Eighties and early Nineties is rightly regarded as one of the most successful attempts by an organised fan group to bring about substantial change at any club. Outsiders may be astonished to learn, therefore, that less than ten years later, the club may be on the move again.

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From Dell to debt

Day ten of the WSC advent calendar and, having had Jesus on the eighth, it’s only fair we focus on his mother Mary today. In 1999 Southampton were desperate to relocate from The Dell into a new, bigger stadium. Tim Springett discussed the problems surrounding the proposed move in issue 154, and considered the option of moving to a gasworks called St Mary’s

The saga of Southampton’s efforts to move to a new ground has now moved into injury time with the ann­oun­cement that building work on a new 32,000 seater stadium to replace The Dell is set to begin in the spring. However, as every Saints fan knows only too well, a lot of things can go wrong in injury time.

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