Paul Giess  believes that success on the field would help transform the club's profile and in the process atttract a larger fansbase across the Midlands as they struggle to compete with the other leading clubs in the region

Walsall isn’t a small town but the club has nearly always been in the lower divisions. Do some locals support other clubs?
Almost all. Saturday afternoon at the Bes­cot can be depressing but on a non-match Saturday the town centre is even worse. A seemingly non-stop procession of Villa, West Brom and Wolves shirts mingle with the Man Utd brigade. Maybe if the club had had more success in its early days it might have built up the fan base now lost to our neighbours. It may take ten years’ success to get us noticed again.

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The rest of Europe seems to be enjoying the fact that orange will not be the colour at the World Cup. Some Dutch people even agree, says Derek Brookman

In the wake of their team’s defeat at Lansdowne Road and subsequent elimination from next year’s World Cup finals, the Dutch were left to unravel the great mystery: how could such a talented team possibly fail to qualify without even taking the issue to the last round of group matches? Who or what was responsible for killing off their chances? A nation- wide game of Cluedo had begun. 

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Continuing our occasional series on defunct competitions, Lionel Birnie dons his plimsolls and recalls the glory days of the televised indoor tournaments

Despite increasingly sophisticated coaching meth­ods, the humble five-a-side has endured. It is still the traditional way for teams to round off the last training session of the week. But despite its far-reaching popularity, no one would think of organising an indoor  tournament for Premiership clubs. Can you imagine Sir Alex’s face if he was asked by the FA to send David, Roy and Juan Sebastian to the G-Mex the night before a Champions League match?

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Ian Cusack inadvertantly found out where the next generation of Chinese stars is coming from – Slough

Most teachers of English as a foreign language spend the close season working in summer schools, where the work is badly paid and desperately unrewarding. This year, however, I found my dream post. “WANTED!! Exper­ienced teacher with a knowledge of football to teach a party of teenage Chinese student footballers.” A quick email of my CV and a five-minute phone interview got me the job. The place was called Teikyo Women’s College, just outside Slough. On arrival I was introduced to my colleague, who would coach the team while I was employed to teach in the afternoon and show them videos at night.

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Thomas Pinault swapped the French riviera for the joys of Essex. Maison Urwin grilled Colchester's midfield anchor on his unlikely transition

Welcome to England. We are sure you will enjoy your stay. You will find the general public both friendly and hostile. Abuse will be a part of your professional life but will be kept to a minimum in social situations. You may be applauded for your footballing prowess but do not expect this to exempt you from being harangued for your national origins.

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