Martin Greig looks at a possible solution to the poor performance of Scottish clubs in international competition

“In this country there are some pretty smart people. But I always ask how the nation which invented the telephone, the television, penicillin and getting drunk till you fall down, possibly think about playing football in the winter?” The words of Arild Stavrum, the Norwegian striker who played for Aberdeen, evoke the spirit of Robert Burns in calling for the ability to see ourselves as others see us. Another season of collective failure by Scottish clubs in Europe has prompted the perennial debate on the merits of summer football. Four of the country’s six representatives, Aberdeen, Motherwell, Falkirk and Hearts, were eliminated from the Europa League in the qualifying rounds.

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Adrian Mutu failed a drugs test in 2004 but is still being pursued by Chelsea. Matthew Barker examines the case

Adrian Mutu was in pre-season training with Fiorentina when the news came through. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne had rejected an appeal against a FIFA ruling that the Romanian should pay €17 million (£14.9m) to former employers Chelsea. In a public statement, the player called the punishment “profoundly unjust”, while Viola patron Diego Della Valle talked of arranging a sit-down with Roman Abramovich in order to solve the matter in a more civilised fashion.

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A new Maradona documentary flatters to deceive. Terry Staunton explains his disappointment

As a minister leads his congregation in a revised football-friendly rendition of the Lord’s Prayer before performing a wedding on the pitch of an Argentine stadium, it’s clear we’ve dropped in on no ordinary place of worship. This is the Church Of Maradona, just as surreal as anything in Sarajevo filmmaker Emir Kusturica’s back pages, but it’s tiny moment of light relief in a disappointing movie.

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The revamped stadium has been open since March 2007. Despite trying his best Cris Freddi just can't get used to it

I went to the opening game at the new Wembley. That sounds like a minor boast, I suppose. If there were anything to boast about. You can only judge a stadium in daylight. Lights at night gloss over things. On an overcast afternoon, the Wembley arch looks like a giant concrete rope. And you stand under it and think: what’s that all about? What’s an arch got to do with it?

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Ian Plenderleith reports on how the internet has led to the downfall of a British football pundit whose show can only be heard on the other side of the Atlantic

If a loudmouthed British football pundit based in California decides to broadcast a big opinion on a satellite radio show available only in the United States or by podcast, will anyone care? Well, thanks to the internet the world has become a smaller place and so the unfortunate answer for Steven Cohen, host of World Soccer Daily (nothing to do with the monthly magazine), was a resounding yes. Shortly before the 20th anniversary of the Hillsborough tragedy earlier this year, he told his audience that Liverpool fans still bore the responsibility for the 96 deaths. After a web lobbying campaign led to sponsors such as Heineken and FourFourTwo magazine pulling their support from the show, it ceased to broadcast in late August, citing harassment and deprivation of the right to freedom of speech.

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