Some blame English fans and French police but others call for hooligan clampdown

16 June ~ Whatever conclusions can be drawn from the chaos so far at Euro 2016, one thing is for sure – fans in Russia have been picking over the events in great detail. At some point in the last week everyone has pointed the finger at everyone else. Fratria, the Spartak Moscow ultras group, were one of many claiming the English fans started the trouble by provoking the Russians – Fratria claim they only fought with those English fans that wanted to.

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Vast majority of fans from all countries mingling amicably around city

15 June ~ At half-time in last night’s Portugal v Iceland match I wandered down from my flat to the crescent of bars surrounding Gare Lille Flandres. When I got there it was obvious a number of Lille locals had chosen to participate in another spectator sport rather than tuning in to Cristiano Ronaldo and co.

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New format will see academy teams competing against League clubs

15 June ~ Last Friday the Football League voted to include Premier League under-21 teams into the Football League Trophy. The competitions new, expanded format, which has been announced just a few weeks after the League suggested they needed to cut fixture congestion, will begin with a group stage and include 16 category one academy sides alongside the usual clubs from League One and Two. It will initially be trialled for one season, but the change hasn’t gone down well with fans, who were not consulted on the new format.

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by Robbie Savage
Constable, £18.99
Reviewed by Tom Lines
From WSC 352 June 2016

Buy this book

Apparently, you either love Robbie Savage or you hate him. He is, in his own words, “Mr Marmite”: someone who divides opinion “like Moses divided the Red Sea”. It’s an interesting choice of simile, suggesting a finely balanced reservoir of people on each side of the debate. In reality, on one hand there are the people who love him: his close friends and family, perhaps his agent, and on the other there are all the people you’ve ever met with an interest in football.

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Players are being criticised by fans and pundits after 1-0 defeat to Croatia

14 June ~ A week before the Euros kicked off, Turkey’s manager Fatih Terim tried to lower fans’ expectations. He declared that a draw against Croatia would be a great start to the tournament, and noted that should Croatia qualify for the knockout stages they would go very far in the tournament. By the looks of pre-game commentary on social and other forms of media, he was successful.

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