Alan Moore explains why the Gulf kingdom is unlikely to spring many surprises at this year's World Cup, not to attract any high profile foreign players

Saudi Arabia arrived on the international scene with one of the greatest goals in World Cup history. Saed Al Owarain’s mazy run and shot against Belgium in 1994 lit the fuse for a footballing explosion in one of the most private and secretive countries on earth. But despite another World Cup qualification this time ar­ound, their third in a row, Saudi football has been in steady decline for some time.

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Plymouth Argyle fan Rob Synnott looks at his clubs fortunes, the current crop and rivalries

What are the main reasons why Argyle have under-achieved over the years ?
Certainly the club has been left behind in terms of infrastructure, especially with the stadium, al­though that would now appear to be a thing of the past. Equally, the geographical position of Ply­mouth has dissuaded many would-be players from joining the club. Stories abound of prospective sign­ings having to be offered sweeteners to even consider travelling this far south-west. The upshot has been that it has proved frustratingly difficult to attract the calibre of player and staff necessary to improve the club.

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Dear WSC
Wasn’t it nice to see Peter Ridsdale go behind the goal to speak to his fans at the recent Everton v Leeds game? If only more chairmen would show this sort of passion and interest in their fans.
Paul Weaver, Cardiff

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Small may not be all that beautiful in Scottish football, but it is no less intense. Geoff Leonard investigates the neglected passions of Dumfries and Galloway

Inter-city rivalries sound like fun, where the proximity of large conurbations lends an edge to clashes be­tween clubs such as Newcastle and Sunderland. City ones look even better – Dundee’s clubs divided by a street, Liverpool’s by a park and Glasgow’s by centuries of intolerance.

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Ian Plenderleith goes looking for football advice on the web and comes up with something technical, something feminine and something simply divine

We’ve all played in teams where the performances of our team-mates have failed to live up to expectations. But at an amateur level it can be problematic to explain to the enthusiastic left-back that his headless chicken forward runs are not only failing to create anything up front, but are leaving a huge hole at the back too. After all, the left-back might be your mate and, even worse, if he doesn’t turn up next week because he felt all insulted, then that gap at the back might be even wider.

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