After securing promotion to Division One, Stoke City part company with manager Gudjon Thordarson. Penny Stanley asks why and finds an answer
“It’s typical of Stoke,” the man said. “Only they could sack their manager five days after winning the play-offs.”“Thordarson messed up,” came the reply. “Didn’t he realise a club like Stoke are meant to underachieve every year?”
Paul Knott pays tribute to the pioneering life and times of Valery Lobanovsky
The image conjured up by Valery Lobanovsky, who died in May aged 63, was of a Slavic cousin of the Lanarkshire coalfields school of managers, glowering from the dugout. An astute and inspirational disciplinarian with a fearsome temper, he had plenty in common with Stein and Shankly. But there was also a great intellect behind the harsh exterior. Lobanovsky pioneered the use of scientific methods in coaching. Unlike many of his cerebral peers, the outcome was neither mechanical nor negative. The aim was always to complement the artistry of his players. His teams’ alliance of power with flair produced a style that significantly raised the game’s technical standards.
Paul Pomonis reports on the corruption scandal that has dragged Greek football through the mud
Although news had leaked out about a huge scoop, the extent of the revelations about corruption in Greek football made by a famous investigative reporter, Makis Triandafylopoulos, left everybody breathless. On March 31, Triandafylopoulos presented live on TV a series of taped phone conversations made during the 2000-01 season.
Howard Pattison warns Exeter supporters against being fooled by Uri Geller's illusionary exploits
The media coverage was inescapable. Even Radio 5 Live was running a competition to see who could suggest the most likely – or unlikely – headline in the next day’s newspapers. You wouldn’t think that Uri Geller, newly appointed to the unusual position of co-chairman at Exeter City, could still attract that kind of publicity. And maybe he can’t, for no amount of spoon bending is going to obscure the fact that something far more peculiar is going on at St James’ Park.
As the world looks east towards the World Cup, England could be on course to righting the wrongs of 1998
You never really know until it starts, of course, but it feels as though this World Cup is going to be very different from the last one. Some of the differences are obvious, notably the fact that it is being held much further away from England. While you would not want to rule it out, it seems implausible that hooliganism will be as big a theme as it was in France. Perhaps more interestingly from England’s point of view is the way the culture of the team itself has changed, largely, though not entirely, due to the influence of Sven-Goran Eriksson.