Stories | When Saturday Comes

Getting hammered

A fine League Cup run may be a welcome diversion from a relegation battle for the Hammers, but historical precedent worries Mark Segal

In a season which so far has bought nothing but pain, disappointment and misery, the Carling Cup is providing some light relief for West Ham fans. While Avram Grant’s limited team plod along unconvincingly in the Premier League, the season’s first cup competition has seen them score wins over Sunderland, Stoke and, most impressively, Manchester United in the quarter-finals.

Monday, February 21st, 2011 - Book reviews

One step beyond

Qatar’s World Cup win was a surprise to many, but Steve Wilson argues that maybe it shouldn’t have come as such a shock

When pictures of public gatherings in Doha and London were beamed across rolling news channels on the evening of December 2, it wasn’t just the palm trees in the background, or lack of them, that helped the viewer with their geography.

Monday, February 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Powers that be

Alan Tomlinson looks at the avoidable mistakes, inherent problems and myriad challenges faced by the FA and its incoming chairman

“The highest parliament in English football… the mother of football parliaments,” football writer and former Cambridge Blue Geoffrey Green called the FA in 1959. And despite the power on the field of South American national sides and the legendary Real Madrid team, Green could also laud the FA as “an authority in every land”.

Monday, February 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Russian roulette

Away from the staged celebrations, Sasha Goryunov assesses the social and political consequences for the 2018 World Cup hosts

As Russian football’s domestic season trundled towards its conclusion at the end of November, a collective feeling of ennui enveloped commentators and supporters across the country. St Petersburg, where Zenit fans celebrated the club’s second post-Soviet title, was perhaps the only exception. In Europe, as expected, Russia’s clubs gravitated towards the knockout stages of the Europa League. However, the decision taken in Zürich on December 2 gave Russia and its football a new sense of purpose. Or so it seems.

Monday, February 21st, 2011 - The Archive

Dundee, Mansfield Town, Kidderminster Harriers

Tom Davies describes the financial predicaments of Dundee, Mansfield Town and Kidderminster Harriers

A glimmer of light is flickering at the end of a dark tunnel at Dundee, whose supporters’ trust, Dee4Life, has co-ordinated a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) to pull the Scottish First Division club out of administration – though a 25-point penalty still threatens their footballing status.

Monday, February 21st, 2011 - The Archive