In the wake of the dawn raids at Harry Redknapp's house, the sports pages rush to his defence

Harry Redknapp’s arrest raised uncomfortable questions for those who write about football. Is it corrupt? Is the game no more than a tissue of deception with a putrid core? And most pressing of all – what can we do to help out? Redknapp is, of course, uniquely popular with journalists, the most ready of any manager to hand out his mobile number and offer up a tasty quote. So what to do about it? Rob Shepherd summed up the mood in his News of the World column (December 2): “Over 25 years he’s been one of the best managers and blokes I’ve come across in football.”

Read more…

A look at the media madness behind Jose Mourinho being touted as the next England manger

Last time around, the FA very publicly failed to get their top choice for the England job. Eighteen months later, we’ve had the spectacle of the Sun’s similarly high-profile failure to propel its candidate into the ceremonial Three Lions blazer. No prizes for guessing the nation’s favourite daily paper’s choice to succeed Steve McClaren, not in a month when it resorted to projecting an enormous picture of José Mourinho’s head on to the side of FA HQ, with the message Call José (December 7).

Read more…

The mid-season money-go-round has been and gone but who are the real winners?

You know what to expect in the new year these days. Several clubs will field weakened sides in the FA Cup. A couple of high-profile players or their agents – this year it’s Dimitar Berbatov and Nicolas Anelka – will let it be known that they are looking for a move to a club “that will match my ambition”. And a couple of managers at least will complain about the transfer window. Step forward Steve Coppell – “I cannot see the logic in it, it brings on a fire-sale mentality” – and Gary Megson who, mirroring the outlook of the Europhobes who complain about the metric system having replaced imperial weights and measures, wants to see the window challenged in court. “Football clubs are told they have to do their business in a certain time, not when they would like to do it,” said Megson, who also echoed Coppell’s view that the window helps only the biggest clubs.

Read more…

The fall of the Berlin Wall spelled the end of the Oberliga. By Paul Joyce

The long-term significance
The opening of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, meant free movement for players and fans – and the end of the Oberliga. As reunification gathered pace, the collapse of state organisations that sponsored GDR clubs plunged football in eastern Germany into a financial crisis from which it has yet to recover.

Read more…

Dear WSC
Now that the so-called “Premiership” has reverted to being named the Premier League, can we now assume that, for the sake of conformity, the “Championship” will soon be renamed the Champions League?
Derek Megginson, Scarborough

Read more…