In the past four years the number of supporters’ trusts in  the lower divisions has rocketed. As Matthew Brown reports, eyes are now cast higher, for fan involvement even at the FA

Supporters Direct is the government-funded body that helps establish supporters’ trusts. Its annual conference at the end of October was hailed by its organisers as a moment for celebration. When it was set up four years ago only a handful of trusts existed and few had any real influence in their clubs, let alone board representation. Now, there are 122 supporters’ trusts at clubs in England, Wales and Scotland, 59 of which hold equity. At 39 clubs trusts are represented on the board and at eight (two in the League and six non-League) supporters have ownership or control.

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Four years ago this month, Sunderland were second in the Premiership – and as Harry Pearson writes, some fans are still struggling to come to terms with the spectacular collapse since

It’s probably the fact that it is 70 or so years since one of the region’s teams could justifiably lay claim to being the best in the country that leads football fans in the north-east of England to spend their lives permanently teetering on the brink of exasperation. It doesn’t take much to tip them over the edge. Santa hats may predominate at the Sunderland Stadium of Light, but the mood is as much restive as festive. When yet another pass is pinged out of midfield and across the touchline a bloke sitting in the row behind me in the East Stand groans loudly: “I’ve paid £23 for a bucket of shite,” he says. The big scoreboard above the North Stand shows that six minutes and 28 seconds have been played.

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Nottingham Forest have lost another manager and are playing their worst football of most fans’ lifetimes. Al Needham looks around frantically for signs of hope

When Joe Kinnear accused the supporters of Nottingham Forest of living in a time warp last month after resigning as manager, it was hard to deny that he had a point. After all, fans in pubs, factories and offices across the city have done little else this season than casting their minds back and trying to remember a Forest team as uniformly lamentable as the current one. The relegation teams of 1993, ’97 or ’99? The Matt Gillies-Dave Mackay-Allan Brown era of the early 70s, when Forest trod water in the old Second Division?

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For the second times in four years, Southampton have replaced a boss with no experience with a big noise. Tim Springett reports on some strange parallels

Unexpected as Harry Redknapp’s swift defection from Portsmouth to their nearest and bitterest rivals might have appeared, Southampton fans had a sense of déjà vu. The wheel began turning in the sum­mer of 2001 as Saints were moving into the St Mary’s Stadium, mortgaged up to the hilt and at risk of severe financial consequences if things were to go wrong on the field. Glenn Hoddle had deserted a few months earlier and a new manager was needed. What would have been on chairman Rupert Lowe’s mind at such a pivotal moment in the club’s history?

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The appointment of a big-name Argentine manager has created rare excitement at Oxford, though Martin Brodetsky is not sure that he will entirely enjoy the ride

It was arguably the most surprising managerial appointment of the season so far. Ramón Díaz has a CV that would put most Premiership managers’ to shame: five times Argentine champions with River Plate, plus a Copa Libertadores win thrown in, after a very impressive playing record. Indeed, one some­what spurious web site (www.world-coach.com) ranked him the third best coach in the world (after compatriot Carlos Bianchi and Louis van Gaal), so it’s no wonder that the football world raised its collective eyebrows when news broke of his appointment as Oxford manager on December 9.

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