Having encouraged Man Utd to pull out of the Cup, the FA are only serving to undermine the very competition they created
God knows we’ve seen some nightmarish ideas over the course of the first 150 issues of WSC, but this one is in a class of its own. Of course matches will still be played in something that calls itself the FA Cup, but the Cup as we have known it is surely dead – killed by its own creators.
Tuesday 1 Joe Kinnear is to step down as Wimbledon manager, apparently because he wants to work at a bigger club. "I believe he will go like hot cakes," says Sam Hammam. He will be replaced by former Norway coach Egil Olsen. Sam again: "His way is the Wimbledon way. He is also the complete master both tactically and technically." Someone's been watching re-runs of Kung Fu.
Wednesday 2 Having missed out on Edwin van der Sar and Fabien Barthez, Man Utd finally sign Mark Bosnich, who seems to have turned into a character from a Barbara Cartland book: "I could have gone abroad and lived like a king, but I followed my heart." Ireland's Euro 2000 match with Yugoslavia is unlikely to go ahead after the Irish government withdraw entry visas for the Yugoslav squad. "The decision was taken by a government. We are not in a position to condone or condemn it," says an FAI spokesman. Dundee Utd supporters group United For Change are backing an attempt by a local businessman to buy out Jim McLean's controlling stake in the club. Steve Parkin resigns as manager of Mansfield.
Banning of tannoy music after a team scores. (And now I bet everyone else says “Players and fans of the world to join together in mutual respect and between them put an end to war and poverty” or something similar.) Harry Pearson
Best Alan Green’s incessant moaning reminds me of watching games with my Dad. Anthony Hobbs
Best The stuff you get on Channel 5 at 3am. The advent of late night Asian and African football has been a godsend. Worst Football Extra – in which ITV manage to edit all the drama and excitement out of three whole divisions of football. Anthony Hobbs