Argentina have a new coach with a glorious playing past but, as Chris Bradley writes, many fans are uncertain about his future
It has been a roller-coaster few weeks for the Argentine national team. It began on October 15 when they fell to ignominious defeat against a superior Chile side, for whom it was a first ever victory over Argentina in a World Cup qualifier. Between that low and their 1-0 friendly win over Scotland on November 19, they have lived something of a soap opera.
The national team have already failed in World Cup qualification and the China Super Leage, only four years old, has been dropped from TV. Gary Bowerman reports on a sport in chaos
The Chinese are deeply ashamed by football. Since China’s first, and only, appearance at a World Cup finals, in South Korea and Japan in 2002 – where they lost all three group matches without scoring a goal – the domestic game’s reputation has plummeted. The national team have slumped to 98th place in the FIFA rankings, while the top domestic division, the China Super League (CSL), has been plagued with damaging scandals.
Few promotion parties have been as damp a squib as Lewes' and, as Joel Abraham explains, it's been all downhill from there
How do you reward a promotion-winning team? In Lewes’s case, you sack the manager and sell the entire squad. The Rooks’ first ever Blue Square Premier game against Kidderminster Harriers saw ten of the starting XI making their debuts, led by a manager who had never managed before. Four months and 12 defeats later, they are rock bottom of the league, and will in all likelihood be returning to the Blue Square South considerably worse off than when they left it.
Viewed as romantic story in the FA Cup, Team Bath are considered very differently at league level. Tim Lezard explains why they are attracting hostility from their opposition
You probably remember Team Bath FC as the plucky students who lost to Mansfield Town in the FA Cup back in 2002, in front of 5,000 fans.
The Manchester City flop was coveted by United as a teenager and was a star in Greece. Dan Brennan diagnoses an ego problem
For the second year running, the January transfer window will see striker Nery Castillo make his exit quietly through the back door. For a player once coveted by Chelsea, Juventus and Manchester United, and fought over by three national federations, ignominious endings are becoming the norm.