Football

For years Wayne Rooney has been the dominating story of English football: some might say distracting even destructive are more accurate adjectives. Whether its  his metatarsal fracture or contract negotiations with threats of leaving somehow this takes precedence over all. The football press is [...]

I thought Italy ‘s win was merited. Roy Hodgson is a highly respected coach here after two terms at Inter Milan and one at Udinese. His philosophy is old-fashioned catanaccio, the rigid defensive style perfected by both Milan clubs in the 60s, so I was surprised by the adventurous, pacy side [...]

There was an excellent tribute yesterday at lunch time on Test Match Special to John Arlott. Aside from the poetic quality of his commentary and his Hampshire burrh, Arlott  also had the gift of saying nothing. I had the privilege of knowing Ken Wolstenholme who, when he gave lectures on [...]

The decision to terminate the services of Fulham club skipper Brede Hangeland has not gone down well with either Brede or the fans. It’s a sad reflection of where our club is now that someone who served the club for five years, was one of our best-ever defenders and club captain, should get [...]

There was an excellent interview in the Telegraph yesterday by Henry Winter of Ray Lewington. What a career he has had. It detailed his years as player and manager at Fulham, where times were so hard that his wife Ann had to wash the team kit. He is now the respected number two to Roy Hodgson. [...]

Italy are in good shape going into the World Cup and worth a bet. We may not be as well-rated as Spain and Germany but we have many attributes. The first is our manager Cesare Prandelli, one of the best around. He managed successfully Fiorentina, never an easy  job, before becoming coach of the [...]

I was disappointed that QPR won their play-off final and Leyton Orient lost theirs to deprive us of two entertaining derbies. The odd thing about QPR and Fulham is there is rarely parity between the fortunes of the two clubs. Thus in 1968-70 we had 2 relegations and QPR 2 promotions. In the last [...]