Fabio Capello impresses the Russians as he takes over the national side

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One of the first things that Fabio Capello did when he took over as the England manager was to ban tomato ketchup. He obviously felt this was a winning move as he has done exactly the same since he stepped in as the manager of Russia, except it is not ketchup he has banned, but shisha pipes. The decision has proved popular with Russian fans who blame the smoking of shisha pipes on their team failing to reach the World Cup in 2010.

Capello could be surprised to find himself once more within a footballing culture that is driven by trivia. His new job starts in earnest this week with a match in Moscow against Northern Ireland, and it seems to have some stark similarities to his last one.

Following on from failure, making the transition from old guard to new, responding to pressure over his captain and being called an overpaid import, the only difference is that it’s in a different language. Never one to back away from criticism, Capello has started his tenure in Russia with the same vigorous imposition of rules as he did in England, and Samedov, the winger from Lokomotiv Moscow has said he is very big on discipline.

While the Russian players may not be very impressed with the new regime, the public certainly do. There is a nationwide frustration bubbling over from the Russian teams failure to qualify for Euro 2012 from what only can be described as gift group, and they are embracing Capello with his tough, hardline approach, and already consider him as the man to restore pride to Russian football.

The old guard, who did so well in Euro 2008 but looked tired and jaded this year, and demands have been made from the top that changes are made, and soon. Capello doesn’t select on reputation, as Beckham knows only too well, and with his huge pay packet come even bigger expectations, and how this pans out only time will tell.

The changing face of the so-called beautiful game

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The changing face of the so-called beautiful game Whilst the English Premier League has gone on to become a top class global brand it has, despite its huge television revenue, managed to create an underclass in football. The current model for footballers in Britain seems to be that they are getting rich at the expense of their fans.

Clubs such as Rangers, who have fallen from grace, will now have an increased struggle to keep pace with those clubs that are funded by cash from overseas, and there are truly turbulent times ahead.

Mihir Bose, Britain’s foremost football correspondent has followed every fascinating and gripping step in the Premier League roller coaster rise to international stardom. This mesmerizing journey involves high stakes, multi-million pounds deals, bungs, backhanders and the very future of the beautiful game.

Mihir specialises in the business of sport and was previously sports editor at BBC. He is a lead writer for, amongst others, The Daily Telegraph, insideworldsoccer.com and Evening Standard. The book, at times highly controversial, looks at how the Premier League needs to evolve to prosper in the face of the demands of top players, Euro crisis, recession, conflict with other governing bodies, racism and revolt from the terraces.

 

Ex-WAG tells of life in the fast lane

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The life of WAG is not always about glamour and glitz while buying the latest fashion items, and Lorraine Fletcher unfortunately knows this very well as she has lived in the fast lane for a decade whilst married to Arsenal and England star Paul Merson, who is known as a real party animal.

Throughout their ten year marriage Lorraine had to deal with his drinking habits, adultery, drug use, and gambling addiction until she finally tossed in the towel and filed for divorce. Even at this point she still had to battle hard to get through the divorce and the new 43 year old Lorraine admits that she suffered as well, turning to alcohol to help her get through her depression.

In an interview she gave this past Sunday for the Mirror the former WAG stated that the turning point in her life was when she left Paul because she had become accustomed to being a WAG and everything that stood for, but when she left him her identity changed. She said that suddenly her life had changed and she was not able to handle it all at once and before she knew what had happened she had a drink addiction.

Her drink problem is ironic given the fact that she was almost completely sober throughout her marriage to Paul who was her childhood sweetheart. The pair was married when she was 21 and then she went on to have three boys over the course of the next ten years.

As he became more popular however she became more miserable as she grew isolated and lonely. Their relationship was tested however when news of his gambling addiction became public and then again when news of his affair hit the newspaper stands.

Alex Gerrard demonstrates how towering heels should be worn

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Alex Gerrard is used to being in high heels given the fact that she is one of the leading WAG’s in England, but as a mother of three she deserves extra praise for the pair of high heels that she was able to carry out the other day when she hit the streets for Gay Pride Liverpool.

Alex showed up for the event on very high platforms that only had thin shoelace heels supporting them. It looked as if the shoes could break at any moment, but Alex was light on her feet and looked quite comfortable in the footwear.

Of course, her modeling history most likely prepared her for this type of feat as she celebrated the LGBT event with a male pal in the city. Married to footballer Steven Gerrard, she has three young daughters.

You wouldn’t know it from the rest of the outfit as the slim model choose to pair the tiny heels with skinny PVC leggings that were paired with a black blazer and a grey t-shirt. Her blonde hair was pulled back casually but her eyes were painted up drawing attention to them right away.

The event is notable because the Liverpool FC who Steven plays for was the first Premier League club to be represented at a ‘Pride’ event in the UK. The club offered Liverpool Pride a banner and representatives from the LFC Foundation and the LFC Ladies club marched alongside the group.

In addition the club also had a stall set up at the Pier Head site and offered signed items for purchase as a way to raise money for future events. Ian Ayre the managing director for Liverpool FC stated that they are committed to making sure that equality and inclusion are supported by the club for years to come.

Fleetwood Town FC reintroduce retro contest with modern twist

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Fleetwood Town FC reintroduce retro contest with modern twist

The 1948-9 Fleetwood Town programme entry relating to Face in the Crowd

BSE, the sponsors of Fleetwood Town FC are speculating over whether their new initiative that has recently been introduced on match days has also encourage the BBC sports programme ‘Match of the Day’ to include a somewhat similar retro aspect to their opening sequence.

In July, the commercial gas and energy supplier announced that they were launching a new, season long competition called ‘Face in the Crowd’. Every Fleetwood fan is photographed when they arrive at the ground, and all the pictures are then flashed across a 25 metre screen, and the 60 plasma TV’s linked to it, at some point during the match.

The screen freezes and the persons face displayed at time is the winner, who receives a signed football. Inspiration for the contest was taken from a programme dating from the 1948/9 season that was found in the archives of the club, and shows that a similar contest was run at the club is the post war period.

BES is actually reintroducing a retro contest and bringing it up-to-date through the use of modern technology and audio-visual equipment. The new opening title sequence of Match of the Day has also gone a little retro and features a similar face in the crowd contest from another match programme from yesteryear.

BES’s director, Michelle Davidson, says: “We had the idea of running the BES Face in the Crowd contest before we discovered the old match programme and prior to seeing the new Match of the Day titles.  We are delighted that our new contest is so ‘in vogue’, but also has reference to the past and the traditions of Fleetwood Town”.

The Fleetwood Town winners back in 1948 were a Mrs Roskell of Warren Street, a Mr F Robinson of Devon Avenue and a Mr H Mellor of Lower Lune Street. Top prize was £2 and 2 shillings, second prize £1 1shilling and third prize 10s 6d.

Whether any of their descendants are now Fleetwood Town supporters is not known, but BES would like any relatives of these winners from the 1940s to get in touch, if they are also  Fleetwood Town supporters, by calling Jane Hunt on 01253 891114.

“It would be great if we could get relatives of these three winners down to the club one day”, says Michelle Davidson. That way, we can really unite the past with the present”.

BES Commercial Gas is the main club sponsor for the 2012-13 season at Fleetwood Town FC, with BES Commercial Electricity being the Associate Club Sponsor.  Both energy suppliers are able to offer commercial customers substantial savings on their energy bills, of up to 40% on commercial gas and up to 50% on commercial electricity.