Tom Davies rounds up the news on clubs in crisis

Rancour is in the air at Swindon Town, where supporters are rallying around a “fans consortium” seeking to wrest control of their club, which is around £3 million in debt and perilously in arrears on Company Voluntary Arrangement payments. Fans have been staging “orange protests” – turning up in orange garb, in part because it’s manager Paul Sturrock’s favourite colour and was the symbol of Ukraine’s revolution – at games. But the old guard are proving tough to shift.

Read more…

Brazil face local opposition to their bid to host the 2014 World Cup. Robert Shaw reports

Will Brazil host a second World Cup in 2014, 64 years after first doing so and 36 years after the last tournament in South America, Argentina 78? What seemed a formality now looks less certain, not just because Colombia – the intended hosts of the 1986 tournament before they withdrew for financial and security reasons – have made a bid to win the final FIFA vote, due to take place in November.

Read more…

What's next for women's football? Steve Menary reports

As more money pours into the Premier League through television, where this cash should end up – apart from players’ pockets – is a topical subject. One area barely receiving a mention is women’s football. Five years ago, then FA chief executive Adam Crozier decided the top flight of the women’s game should go professional. This idea was swiftly exposed as financially unviable and rapidly died, but women’s football certainly hasn’t.

Read more…

Cameron Carter on Mourinho's touchline overreations and Goals Goals Goals

He may be as prone to smiling as the late Pauline Fowler on a fruit and pulses diet, but José Mourinho is clearly having a laugh. No one in football management has ever used the media in such Machiavellian fashion, or employed quite so varied means of annoying and disquieting his opponents. Brian Clough would routinely intimidate and lecture interviewers, but this was purely for his own benefit. Joe Kinnear had Wimbledon employing noise pollution and a no-lightbulb-in-the-away-toilets policy, but the nurturing of a gang mentality was the only purpose. Alex Ferguson introduced to the modern game the potent psychology of the throwaway remark, but seldom strays from this tried and tested area of work. Mourinho, an entirely new strain, pops up on our screens with a bewildering array of techniques and the deadpan delight in his art that marks out the obsessive genius.

Read more…

Saturday 2 Man Utd go six points clear with a 2‑1 win at Middlesbrough. Gareth Southgate accuses Cristiano Ronaldo of cheating to earn a penalty for the opening goal. “The lad’s got history,” he growls, sounding like he’s on The Bill. “I’m not scared of the word ‘crisis’,” says Arsène, as Arsenal beat Spurs 3‑0 to go third, helped by two iffy penalties awarded by Graham Poll. Arsène and Thierry have a pre-match row over the latter being rested. Liverpool end their away hoodoo, winning 4‑0 at Wigan. Charlton lose 2‑1 at Sheffield United, Keith Gillespie scoring the winner in the 88th minute. “There is a confidence problem being bottom of the league,” says Les Reed. Birmingham top the Championship with a 3‑0 win at home to Plymouth. Preston lose 2‑0 at Luton. Cardiff draw 0‑0 at Colchester, their fourth game without a goal. Leeds stay in the drop zone after a 2‑2 draw at home to Barnsley. In the Cup, Tamworth are into round three, while four League One clubs lose to League Two sides including Tranmere, beaten 2‑1 at home by Peterborough, and Port Vale, who crash 4‑0 at Hereford.

Read more…