Roman Abramovich and Avram Grant go back a long way, says Shaul Adar

José Mourinho would not have expected the Israel v Ireland World Cup qualifier of March 2005 to have a significant impact on his future. But that was the weekend when Israel’s coach, Avram Grant, was first offered a job by his FA’s guest of honour, Roman Abramovich. Israel had just achieved respectable 1-1 home draws with France and Ireland and an impressed Abramovich told Grant that he would buy whichever Israeli club the coach wanted to take charge of. Grant just smiled, apparently not believing that the Russian was making a serious offer.

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José Mourinho has unexpectedly returned home – to make headlines, if not to work. Phil Town describes how Portugal has been coping

Once the natural incredulity at “the best coach in the world” being removed from office had passed, the Portuguese press and public shifted promptly to what really mattered: the dosh involved. Mourinho gets €24 million trumpeted sports daily A Bola. €26 million to keep quiet reckoned O Jogo. Filthy rich blared Record, trumping its rivals with €30m (£21m). Weekly magazine Sábado thought it had the right figure: “€25 million… less tax”. “Mourinho has shown that he’s number one on and off the field… even at getting ­compensation,” jested Benfica coach José António Camacho. Sábado had a graphic showing the rise and rise of Mourinho’s income over the years, starting in 1978 with the 500 escudos (€2.5) he would earn from writing reports on opponents for his dad, a goalkeeper with Vitória de Setúbal, and ending with the €7.5m a year he was being paid by Chelsea.

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Crisis clubs have ground problems. Tom Davies reports

Niggling problems with grounds predominate this month. However, there’s been a rare victory for supporters over property developers at Cambridge City, where the Blue Square South club are celebrating a court ruling that they had been fraudulently misled by the firm that bought Milton Road two years ago.

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Jon Spurling reports on Michel Platini's ambitious plans

“Football is a game before a product, a sport before a market, a show before a business,” said Michel Platini in January. The new UEFA chairman has since claimed that all his proposals – including his suggestion in August to cut the number of Champions League places allocated to Europe’s leading leagues from four to three and his aim that European finals be played on a Saturday afternoon with 75 per cent of allocated tickets going to the finalists’ supporters – are based on “sporting philosophy and not anything financial”. Others don’t share Platini’s altruistic vision.

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Brazilian Kerlon's cheeky antics rile opponents, reports Robert Shaw

The controversy surrounding the drible da foca (seal dribble) of Cruzeiro’s teenage midfielder Kerlon has the makings of a modern Brazilian footballing fable. The storm centred on an incident in a remarkable match between Cruzeiro and local rivals Atlético MG on September 16. In the 80th minute, with his team leading 4-3, Kerlon’s trademark dribble – juggling the ball with his head while on the run – was brought to a shuddering halt by the intervention of opposition full-back Coelho, who barged violently into the Cruzeiro player. Coelho was sent off and later suspended for 120 days, effectively ending his season. But the episode has provoked a wider debate in Brazil about the boundary between tricks and provocation in football.

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