When it comes to the manager's job, clubs are rarely in doubt whether they should, as Ron Atkinson would say, stick or twist. But would it make sense to hold their nerve when things go wrong? Joe Boyle has gives his opinion on his club Sunderland

Peter Reid’s Sunderland career is in the balance. That’s if you believe internet polls: a recent one had just over 50 per cent of the 5,000 votes demanding Reid’s head. Questioned about the poll, Reid was unruffled. Criticism came with the territory, he said, and people should not forget the degree of success he had brought the club. Internet-savvy he probably isn’t, but there’s noth­ing wrong with his sense of history.

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In the latest of our series on local rivalries, David Harrison attempts to convince the sceptics that Watford v Luton is as bitter and passionate as they come

Yeah, OK. It’s not exactly The Old Firm, but believe me, it all gets pretty agitated around these parts. It’s a rivalry with no name, which frustrates the hell out of the headline-besotted press. To such a degree that they tried dubbing it, pathetically, “The M1 Derby”.  Just like Arsenal v Leeds then.

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In the first month of 2002 the turnover of managers has shown no sign of slowing down. Andy Lyons meets Bruce Rioch, whose former clubs Derby and Aston Villa have both contributed to the upheaval this year, and he explains his philosophy and reflects on the growing pressure for quick results

When you first go into a club as a manager, do you generally have an idea of how long it will take to do what you think needs to be done?
One of the first things you talk about at a job interview is the length of the contract. Usually it’s two or three years. It’s rarely a five-year deal. If someone offers you two years and it’s a club in the south and you live in the north you might think twice about having to uproot. I’d like to say to a chairman: “What’s your ambition? Let’s look at what you want to achieve.” It might just be staying in Division One or the Premiership. You don't often go in and get the chance to build a club the way you’d want to.

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India is a potential superpower of Asian football, but huge support has not been matched by dynamic leadership on the subcontinent. Dan Brennan reports

Last month Brazilian goal-machine Barreto scored the only goal in a fiercely fought local derby in front of 120,000 fans. Next month he will be lining up against Shevchenko. He plays not at the Maracana or the San Siro, but at the Saltlake Stadium in Calcutta, where his team McDowell Mohun Bagan were taking on East Bengal in the opening game of India’s sixth National League season. While cricket may hog the media limelight and the sponsors’ money, in many parts of India, such as Bengal, Goa and Kerala, football is the main sporting obsession. In one half of India’s second city, Barreto is a cult figure.

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Japanese journalists have made more of a mark here than their players. In the first of two articles on Asia, Justin McCurry explains what they are writing about

Japanese footballers, or so the punditry zeitgeist goes, are a talentless bunch, courted by the likes of Bolton and Portsmouth only to generate income – buy one, and get planeloads of spendthrift groupies free. In Japan, most of the salivating is being done not in boardrooms, but in tabloid newsrooms, where the ad­ventures of Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi, Junichi Inamoto et al generate acres of copy – some of it funny, much of it banal, but all of it gratefully received by the football-loving public.

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