The other United are doing well on the pitch despite the Glazers’ takeover and media interest in FC United is waning. The breakaway club are having a rougher ride this season, as Ashley Shaw reports
It began so well. FC United’s first season was accompanied by such sympathetic media coverage that even rival fans supported the brave stand made by those prepared to give up the glamour of the Premiership for life in football’s basement.
Jonathan Wilson examines how Guus Hiddink, a potential Blues boss, is faring with Russia
A surge of popular excitement, a couple of iffy results followed by a couple of good performances, and the Russian attitude to Guus Hiddink is still largely positive. Were he to leave for Chelsea, there would be disappointment and anger, but the Russian sports pages haven’t exactly been buzzing with warnings of his imminent departure. Partly because there is no Russian Mark Palios ready to build a wall of cash to keep his manager in situ, but also because no one thinks a move to Chelsea is that probable.
Will Andriy Shevchenko’s struggles push José Mourinho out of Chelsea? James Brandon weighs up the odds
Before the start of the season, WSC 235 predicted that the arrival of Andriy Shevchenko would destabilise the equilibrium at Chelsea, be consigned to the bench and accelerate José Mourinho’s departure. What then appeared a far-fetched possibility now looks likelier with every passing day. Shevchenko’s inability to find a niche within Mourinho’s tactical plan, together with his perceived position as the owner’s favourite, have brought the power struggle that has been rumbling behind the scenes at Chelsea into the public domain.
Alex McLeish takes over when Walter Smith walks out. Neil Forsyth is worried
It takes a special kind of team to suffer an apparent plummet in stature and expectations without the players taking to the field. Scotland may be the unlikely leaders of a Euro 2008 qualifying group that includes Italy and France, but recent events have made this situation appear more like a temporary aberration soon to be rectified rather than a possible springboard to qualification.
Feyenoord's measures to control their fans failed to work in Nancy. Ernst Bouwes reports
What cruel irony. In 1974, fans of Tottenham Hotspur introduced major football violence to Holland during the second leg of the UEFA Cup final against Feyenoord. Thirty-three years later, Feyenoord find themselves banned for the rest of the European season for hooliganism at a UEFA Cup tie at Nancy while their scheduled opponents, Spurs, may receive a bye into the next round (Feyenoord still have a chance that the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne will overturn the verdict).