The Eagles look once again certain to plummet straight back to the ground and reality because of the club's finanical burden. Neil Witherow reports

Just as they were a year ago, Crystal Palace FC are a national laughing stock. At the recent game at Port Vale, the Palace away following came out in highly vocal anger against the club’s owner, Mark Goldberg. This marked the first real sign of concerted unrest among the fans, sparked by the rumours that two of the remaining crowd favourites, Craig Moore and Simon Rodger, were about to depart.

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Paul Mullen looks at man, but not just any man, a Hartlepool man 

Distinguishing features Somewhat vertically-challenged, but still manages to tower over our typically minute forward line. Always dapper in business suits and overcoats, although he has been known to loosen his top shirt button occasionally for that casual look.

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From a Luton dream to a Luton disaster, David Kohler's plan for a new stadium has finally come to an end  John Earls reports

David Kohler was fighting a losing battle for Luton fans’ respect the moment he stopped being chairman and instead called himself chief executive. The latter title meant he could draw a wage we could not afford to pay him. Not that this forgives the moronic way Kohler was persuaded to resign in late February – an unlit petrol bomb and box of matches were posted through his letterbox with an accompanying letter making it clear what would happen “next time” if Kohler did not get out. 

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Zimbabwe's failed  love affair with the African Nations Cup has opened the doors for others. Alan Duncan finds out what went wrong  

On March 14th, the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) meet to decide whether Zimbabwe will be allowed to stage the African Cup of Nations in 2000. Their decision may have a major impact on the direction of world football politics for years to come. 

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Two men, one backside and a whole lot of controversy

Such is the intense spotlight trained on Premiership football these days, we are told, that nothing escapes the attention of the action replay cameras and the press provocateurs who feed on their evidence. In a limited way, the theory is perfectly true. Yet for all the microscopic detail now available to the media and the authorities alike, football still has blind spots about certain subjects, which go unmentioned even when they are shouting to be heard. One such came up, but only very slowly, after the Chelsea v Liverpool match on February 27th. The repeated clashes between Ro­bbie Fowler and Graeme Le Saux were highlighted on Match of the Day and splashed all over the Monday papers, but the issue at the heart of the matter was not made plain until the Tuesday.

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