Leyton Orient are in their secon season in the hands of Barry Hearn and the PR hype continues to flow. Tom Davies looks at the substance behind the talk

It was a bizarre experience: in conversation in a Doncaster pub last month before our game at Belle Vue, a Rovers fan announced his opinion that Leyton Orient were one of the “sleeping giants” of the lower divisions. The Os! Imagine! But 18 months on from Barry Hearn’s takeover of the club that is how some people seem to perceive us – a dynamic, well supported, lean, mean ’90s football club.

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Darron Kirkby profiles one of the Hammers' boardroom members

Distinguishing features: Looks like the Fat Controller on Thomas The Tank Engine. 

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Cris Freddi pays tribute to former England international centre forward Tommy Lawton, who died in November

Five foot eleven has got to be a misprint. Reading about the famous ability in the air, you expect something like Niall Quinn but heavier (he looks that big in photos and film clips) and instead you have to adjust to the idea of a white Les Ferdinand, which isn’t exactly the stuff of folklore.

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Mike Ticher explains why Terry Venables' appointment as Australia's new manager caused as much consternation there as it did here

Australia fulfils an odd role in Britain’s unofficial list of foreign stereotypes these days. Because the vast majority of its inhabitants are white, it’s become one of the last places on earth which the so-called quality press, as well as the tabloids, feel free to patronize without fear of being called racist. What’s more, there’s a vast lexicon of symbols associated with Australia and Australians which are instantly recognizable to British people: marsupials; soap operas; conspicuous alcohol consumption; comical words and phrases; boomerangs; the bush; most of the words to Waltzing Matilda.

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The FA may have staged a conference looking at the under-representation of Asians in English football, but Matthew Brown thinks they still have plenty to learn about the subject

FA goal to entice Asian players on to the field ran the Guardian headline, unwittingly highlighting both the hope and the hype surrounding the FA’s ‘Asians in Football’ conference held in Oldham last month.

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