It says a lot about Germany that they managed to reach the 2002 World Cup final in the middle of a prolonged slump but, as Paul Joyce explains, the expectations for this summer’s hosts and poor recent results leave their long-distance coach under pressure

After a 4-1 mauling by Italy in February left Germany without a victory over a top-ranked nation since defeating England at Wembley in October 2000, CDU politician Norbert Barthle demanded that manager Jürgen Klinsmann be hauled before the national sports committee “to explain what his concept is and how Germany can win the World Cup”. With a mere three per cent of the populace believing that a side ranked three places below Iran could now win the tournament, Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel herself felt obliged to give the under-fire Klinsmann the dreaded vote of confidence: she was convinced that he and his team were “on the right path”.

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Eighteen years after the last tournament in Germany was hit by hooliganism, the hope is that if it happens again it won’t involve the English. Mark Perryman reports

Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Thomas is not a happy policeman. Recently appointed as the officer in overall charge of policing England fans, in March he held his first press briefing in this role. Thomas rattles off the statistics he had provided the media with: “Five English arrests at England’s last nine games, just one at a match involving England at Euro 2004.” But the reporters weren’t interested. Instead they ran stories focusing on the disorder in Marseille at France 98, Charleroi at Euro 2000, respectively of eight and six years’ vintage, to preface their speculation for more of the same in Germany. 

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The appointment of a famous figure from the world of rugby league has angered many at the JJB. Yuri Goffinet reports

On March 15, Wigan fans reacted with disbelief to the news that Maurice Lindsay, a famous figure in rugby league and the man who ran Wigan Warriors for many years, had managed to get himself elected on to the board of the town’s football club. To Wigan Athletic supporters, Lindsay is the propagandist supreme of rugby league, a man who took every opportunity to belittle the “soccer” club during the Eighties and Nineties. Even as recently as last season, when the Latics were in dispute with the Greater Manchester constabulary about what chairman Dave Whelan thought were extortionate policing fees, Lindsay immediately distanced himself from the controversy, pointing out that they had no such problems at the rugby. 

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Southampton fans live in hope, despite a poor season and the sale of Theo Walcott. Will they soon see the back of the chairman? Tim Springett looks at the potential bidders

As far as many Southampton supporters are concerned, dissatisfaction with chairman Rupert Lowe has never been far below the surface. It became a tidal wave on January 21 during a home defeat by Ipswich. Some fans occupying prominent seats opposite the directors’ box unfurled a giant banner with the simple message: “Lowe Out”. This was followed by thunderous applause all around St Mary’s Stadium together with an innovative variation on Swing Low, Sweet Chariot (the irony of which would not have been lost on Sir Clive Woodward) suggesting that the hapless chairman be swung from the nearby Itchen Bridge.

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The Riverside Stadium could soon have a shiny new neighbour. But, as Daniel Gray explains, not everyone is convinced that a casino is what Middlesbrough needs

With the exception of signing Michael Ricketts, Middlesbrough have seldom been accused of gambling in Steve McClaren’s four-and-a-half-year tenure. Indeed, the football often displayed by Boro has been so cautious that few would have been surprised had McClaren erected a set of triangular yellow signs forbidding his midfielders from crossing the halfway line next to the home dug-out.

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