“I’m hoping to be shown where I am meant to be going, and what I’m meant to be doing. Perhaps it won’t be what I want. But it will be what I need.” Glenn Hoddle in The 1998 World Cup Story

So, off he goes to no one's surprise. Some of the most successful managers in British football, including Bill Shan­kly, Don Revie and Brian Clough, might be politely described as eccen­trics, so the fact that the man who picked the England team holds opinions seemingly derived from the witchhunts of the middle ages need not necessarily have made his position untenable. 

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Saturday 2 FA Cup headlines are made at Rushden, where Leeds are held to a goalless draw, Forest, who lose 1-0 to Portsmouth – Dave Bassett’s non-attendance at a post-match press conference fuelling speculation that he may be about to quit – Upton Park where Swansea are minutes away from beating West Ham before a Julian Dicks goal forces a replay, and at the Dell, where metropolitan fat cats Fulham are denied victory by a last-minute equaliser from Southampton’s Egil Ostenstad. Yeovil also concede a late goal in a draw at Cardiff but the other non-League team, Southport, are beaten 2-0 at home by Leyton Orient. This week’s FA inquiry will look into an incident during Chelsea’s 2-0 win at Oldham when referee Paul Durkin was struck by a hot dog (tomato sauce, no onions) though stewards claim it was only a sausage roll.

Sunday 3 Man Utd recover from a goal down to beat Middlesbrough 3-1 with the help of a penalty decision, given for Neil Maddison’s “trip” on Nicky Butt, that Alex is happy with for once: “If Graham Barber gave it must have been a penalty.” Another questionable spotkick, acquired and scored by Michael Owen, sets Liverpool on the way to a 3-0 win over Port Vale. In Scotland Rangers go four points clear at the top, and ten points ahead of Celtic, after the Old Firm “New Year’s Day” match ends 2-2. There are 50,000 Scots in the crowd and eight on the pitch.

Monday 4 A Cup shock looks on the cards for half an hour at Preston, where the home team race into a two-goal lead against Arsenal, before eventually going down 4-2. Controversy surrounds Arsenal's third goal, which is preceded by Preston defender Ryan Kidd being laid out by an elbow from substitute striker Fabian Caballero (don't ask). "I think there was an elbow incident and that was disappointing," says home manager David Moyes. "We don't need to start fights to win matches," snaps Arsene.

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Tuesday 1 Home wins in the Worthington for Sunderland, who score two in the last minute in beating Luton 3-0, and Wimbledon, where the holders Chelsea suffer their first defeat in 19 games. Gianluca becomes the 1,000th defeated manager to say: “We tried to play football, not long ball like Wimbledon,” while Joe Kinnear virtually writes his own invite to an FA disciplinary hearing by announcing that his players “had a nice few bob” on themselves to win the tournament at the start of the season.

Wednesday 2 In the Worthington Spurs beat a Man Utd team featuring nine changes from their last match. “Some clubs may treat this tournament lightly but we’re not in a position to do so,” says George. “Even the best teams can’t win all the time,” sniffs Alex. In the other tie, recent cup specialists Leicester plough on with a 1-0 win over Blackburn , who announce that they have been given permission to talk to Brian Kidd about their managerial vacancy. “I just hope he decides to stay,” whispers Alex, being brave for the sake of the kids.

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Dear WSC
Anyone with a soul who was at Pride Park to see Derby’s match against Mid­d­lesbrough must now be convinced that any efforts to “improve” refereeing should be firmly resisted. We had a wronged hero, Paulo Wanchope, sent off for showing the degree of commitment that would have earned him a red card in a kick-boxing match. We had a villain, that’s you Andy Town­send, who matched the provoked Paulo kick for kick but was only shown a yellow card. We had the biggest attendance at Pride Park incandescent with righteous indignation. We had a goal from prodigal son No 1, Dean Sturridge, who had excused himself from our previous match. He was booed when he took the pitch and left to a standing ovation. For most of the match our ten men were hanging on heroically against their 11. We had our hopes dashed when Middlesbrough equalised. But injustice was righted in the nick of time by prodigal son No 2, Jonathan Hunt, whom we thought would never be seen again after lengthy loans to lowly First Division clubs. Yet he turned up in the six-yard box to sweep the ball past Schwarzer. And finally we had the scapegoat, referee Mr Harris from Oxford, whose random decisions and wayward card waving wove a plot worthy of a Walt Disney film. Consistency from referees? Who needs it?
Peter Gutteridge, Derby

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The relaxation of restrictions post-Bosman has seen clubs across Europe experimenting with bulk importation of foreigners. Some have got their fingers burned, but Spain's Celta Vigo are a surprising success story. Phil Ball sizes them up

As you drive on west from the lush dairy pastures of Asturias in the north of Spain, the road sign that greets you with “Welcome to Galicia” seems like some kind of joke. Ahead stretches a bleak and barren countryside, about as welcoming as the blasted heath where Macbeth met his witches. The settings were not lost on Luis Buñuel, who shot two particularly depressing films using the region as back­drop. No phony weather sets were needed in a region that boasts an average of 320 days of rain a year, plus swirling mists, howling winds and a western seaboard called “The coast of death”. As if all that weren’t enough, General Fran­co himself was born a Gallego, in the ugly little town of Ferrol, and the region, unsurprisingly, is not exactly renowned for its ultra-liberal persuasions.

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