How footballers' biographies are simply a form of propaganda in a feeble attempt to sway public opinion in their favour

We may never know quite why Jaap Stam left Man Utd for Lazio. Some pundits seem to think that the sudden sale of a hitherto key player had nothing do with his published comments. “Rev­enge for a literary atrocity? Forget it,” sug­gested the Independent’s James Lawton, who is inclined to think Stam’s manager had long since lost faith and was simply waiting to line up a replacement before selling him.

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Dear WSC
In his anxiety to demolish the “myth” that it is more difficult to play away than at home, Cameron Carter (WSC 174) runs the risk of perpetuating a bigger one. He describes the Doncaster Rovers team of 1946-47, which won 18 of their 21 League games in Division Three Nor­th, as “a very young team, just back from the Second World War, who knew hardly anything about each other”. It is true that the players had returned from the war, but this magnificent team was far from being a bunch of callow youngsters thrown together in a hurry. The average age, for example, was 27, and the oldest, skipper Bob MacFarlane (34), was one of four players who had re­presented the club before the war. True, the likes of Clarrie Jordan (42 goals in 41 games) and Paul Todd (24 in 40) had no Football League experience, but they were in their mid-twenties and had taken part in some of the highly competitive football going on in the latter years of the war. The team was a classic combination of youth leavened with a heavy dose of experience. As well as the aforementioned 18 away wins, the team took 72 points from 42 matches (105 points had three for a win been available) and won the title by some distance. As Cameron would say – analyse that!
John Coyle, via email

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Sunday 1 Liverpool might enter the Vieira bidding war – “Of course we’d be interested in a player like him,” says M Gérard – though Arsenal continue to insist through collectively gritted teeth that he’s not for sale. Man Utd chief executive Peter Kenyon denies claims that United have been snubbed by several transfer targets. “Listening to all the speculation you'd think we were a club on the precipice. We’ve not had one rejection.” Brazil lose another World Cup tie, 1-0 in Uruguay, which leaves them barely hanging on to South America’s fourth automatic qualifying place.

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Derby County fan Peter Gutteridge talks stadiums, kits and youth players at pride Park

The board and manager. Do they know what they’re doing?
No. Jim Smith seems to have lost all notion of team tactics in the past couple of seasons. Owner Lionel Pickering seems disintereted in the club and wants to sell up. But he’s also big chums with Smith so there’s a stalemate.

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Borussia Dortmund have just set a transfer record that should last. Matt Nation, the first of our far flung correspondents to get to the postbox, explains why

Günter Netzer recently complained that the Bun­desliga was lacking “personality players who com­mand a big fee”. While the rest of the country pondered the link between Alan Shear­er and the word “personality”, Borussia Dortmund snapped up the Bra­zilian forward Amoroso for DM 50 million (£15.7 million) from Parma.

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