Taking it on the chin

JR cogitates...

East Fife manager and Hearts legend John Robertson stopped over for a quick chat with the Edinburgh Sons' supporters' car on the way out of Strathclyde Homes Stadium today. And very good hearted he was, too, seeing that his side had just been beaten 4-2 by Dumbarton - something of a dent to their play-off aspirations. Sons' striker Jon McShane, who scored two superb goals, had played a fantastic game, Robbo willingly conceded. His own front-man Craig Johnstone had hit a really polished equaliser midway through the second half, it should be added. Indeed, all the goals will be well worth watching via the SonsTV highlights early next week. The only pity is that, as a result of SFL rules (which really don't seem to benefit anyone at the moment), DFC are only allowed to show five minutes of the match. Even though we pay to film it. Football is a mad industry, sometimes.
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Leith said, the better?

Spotted and snapped among the crowd at today's SFL Second Division clash between Sons and Brechin City at the Rock was none other than under-pressure Hibernian manager Colin Calderwood (pictured), who like me had made the pilgrimage to Dumbarton from Edinburgh (I live in Leith, about a mile away from Hibs' Easter Road ground), though with rather different intent.

Presumably Colin was there to check up on the Hedgemen's Number 5, Euan Moyes, who is on loan from the Hibees. He was also at Arbroath under manager Jim Weir Who (moved on to Glebe Park pre-season). Moyes is highly rated, as Andy Galloway notes in Sons View this week. Some weeks ago Euan scored his second goal of the season in Brechin's 3-1 defeat by another of his old club's, Livingston.

Colin Calderwood, meanwhile, has a mountain to climb with out-of-sorts Hibernian, having moved to Scotland to take charge of the famous SPL side after being appointed first team coach at Newcastle United two years ago this month (almost to the day), and having been assistant manager to ill-fated Chris Hughton as the Magpies gained promotion back to the English Premier League at the first attempt by winning the 2009–10 Football League Championship.

Hibs have yet to score a goal in 2011, and have not kept a clean sheet for two months.  But having signed Matt Thornhill from Nottingham Forest and Martin Scott from Ross County, Calderwood yesterday added teenage Icelander Victor Palsson from Liverpool to his squad, in an attempt to turning things round. I hope he succeeds. He didn't look to cheery (who can blame him?), but I imagine he had a more productive afternoon than us Dumbarton fans!
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Newcastle's sackload of shame

Hughton: betrayed by midgets

Do Newcastle deserve Chris Hughton as their manager, I asked back on 28 October? It hasn't taken long to find out that, as we suspected, they don't. To their credit, the fans have rallied in disgust against his sacking yesterday. So have some of the players. Not that this will change anything. Owner Mike Ashley and his cohorts have no shame, no morals to speak of, and no sense either, it appears.

The BBC's Phil McNulty has summed up the whole sorry saga in a biting and well-argued piece. His first two sentences encapsulate the situation perfectly: "Chris Hughton has brought dignity, stability and a respectable Premier League placing to Newcastle United - so it should be no surprise that his reward from owner Mike Ashley is the sack. It sums up the twisted, madcap logic of a club that seems only comfortable with chaos and a hierarchy that has a vastly inflated sense of Newcastle's standing in the game."

Hopefully, Hughton will soon be back in work with a club that merits him. As for NUFC's current rulers, few outside their side's own support will now weep if they pay for another despicable act (remember how they treated Bobby Robson?) in points and places. Far better, however, would be if fan power could emerge to mount a coherent challenge to Ashley & Co, claiming the club back for decency and genuine football pride. That would be a much better outcome than being appeased and bought off with another fatuous "name" appointment. Which is what Ashley is gambling on.
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A new configuration for Sons

Come in, number two...

UPDATE: On 3 Nov 2010, Dumbarton FC announced: "Derek Ferguson will not now be joining interim manager Alan Adamson as his assistant at SHS. Ongoing media commitments have meant that Derek could not commit the time required for the position and therefore will not be part of DFC's interim backroom staff."

Events have moved quickly at Dumbarton, following the resignation of Jim Chapman as first team manager, and his move into a post aimed at further developing youth and community initiatives. Allan McManus has joined Alan Adamson, who is now in the managerial role, as a player-coach. The  experienced Derek Ferguson has also come on board as assistant manager - though other commitments mean that he will not be on the bench for the game against East Fife today.

Derek signed for Rangers as a midfielder the day after his 16th birthday, and later played for Dundee, Hearts, Sunderland and Falkirk, among others, as well as winning two Scotland caps. His recent experiences on the bench haven't been easy. Nor will his strong 'Gers connections be universally popular. But Sons fans will still be hoping that he can add another chapter to his autobiography, Big Brother... one that documents Dumbarton's dramatic turnaround in the 2010/11 season.

The new team on the DFC bench certainly deserves our support and encouragement this afternoon, and in the coming weeks.
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Life, Jim - but not as you've known it

The last 'meet the manager' session at SHS

There was a double announcement from Dumbarton FC about under-pressure Jim Chapman yesterday. First, that he had stepped down as first team manager. Second, that he would be continuing as Director of Community and Football Development. The cynics will say that it's a money-driven decision, and that is bound to be part of the picture. But my first reaction is to think it's a wise move, all aspects of the situation considered. Jim picked up the Sons at a really low point, won a championship trophy in his first full season, consolidated us in the Second Division and won the Stirlingshire Cup last term. He deserves credit, respect and thanks for that... But this time, unfortunately,  it's gone decidedly pear-shaped nearly a third of the way in.

The sad thing is that the youth and reserve teams are going great guns. That is the other key dimension of this move. Jim has demonstrated a huge interest in, and capacity for, the roles that will now absorb all his attention, and that can only be good for the club. As to the substantive issue, I'm always in favour of giving managers the time they need to turn things around when they are going badly. The instant hire-and-fire culture that's taken over the game at many levels is daft. But sometimes you know that, with the best will in the world (and I'm sure there was plenty of that), it's just not working. So a change of dynamics or a fresh injection of energy is needed.

After the past three games, it really isn't clear how Dumbarton are going to move up a league in which they now sit rooted to the bottom. But a consolidated effort is certainly needed to ensure that Sons, if at all possible, don't enter 2011 well adrift. That, I'm sure was part of the decision-making on all sides. We have no idea what things have been like in the dressing room. Supporters always speculate, of course. But personally I am glad that Jim Chapman will still be contributing to the development of the club for a while more.

It's difficult enough to see how we could afford a full-time manager given our resources, let alone two posts. So it will be interesting to see how things pan out from here. Alan Adamson merits strong backing for his first outing as interim manager against East Fife on Saturday. And whatever upheavals there have been, I also hope the fans give Jim recognition and a good berth to continue the vital youth and community side of things. As for the "further announcement regarding an Assistant/First Team Coach" that we are promised "in due course"... Ah well, that'll keep a few jaws well exercised, at least!
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Do Newcastle deserve Chris Hughton?

More managerial shenanigans. No, I'm not talking about Jim Chapman at Dumbarton (I'll come to that later), but the media-fuelled rumours swirling around Newcastle United that manager Chris Hughton might be forced out. There has always been a phalanx at NUFC who, with an inflated sense of their own importance, believe that - in spite of the incredible job Hughton did in delivering them from the second division, and his creditable consolidation of the side in the English Premier League - they deserve a "bigger name" to produce Champions League Football. Probably by the week after next.

This is little short of pathetic. Chris Hughton is a skilled, hard-working and decent man. His team are ninth in the EPL, just four points off the top five. That's a very solid achievement indeed. The Newcastle board have tonight come out with an uninspiring statement of support for their gaffer - one which simply says that he remains their manager (you don't say!) and that... wait for it... his contract will be reviewed at the end of the year. No hint that he can stay longer term. So, after all he's done, the poor chap is still on probation.

If they do get rid of him, the club will sink even further in the estimation of those who think that a sense of perspective (let alone gratitude to a manager who rescued them from their last two, disastrous, "star appointments") is part of what makes a football club deserving. Not an overweening sense of entitlement. Do Newcastle United deserve Chris Hughton?  That's what's really at stake here.
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Farewell, Big Mal

"A lot of hard work went into this defeat" declared the late, great Malcom Allison on one memorable occasion. He was one of the game's abiding characters, a King of Bling before the concept was invented, and rightly termed by Henry Winter "a coach of immense stature". As far as the quotable gem above goes, it's the almost perfect exemplar of what is now grindingly known as "taking the positives"... with tongue firmly in cheek.

Big Mal is best known for his time at Manchester City, of course, and Crystal Palace too. But he also had a strong relationship with lovable minnows Bath City, who have bravely fought their way into the Blue Square Premier Division this season, with the backing of one of my favourite film-makers, Ken Loach, among others.

Another City: A Week in the Life of Bath's Football Club was made in 1998 and features Allison. It is included in the DVD package that comes with Loach's thoroughly enjoyable recent movie, Looking for Eric. A must see, both of them, along with a good documentary about FC United of Manchester.
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The legend of Stein

Stein c.1978, on the training ground

It's 25 years yesterday since the death of legendary manager Jock Stein. Though hardly a fan of the Old Firm, my earliest footballing memory (the first match that had me glued to the telly, the season before I saw Jimmy Sirrell's Brentford, my grandfather's team, take on his soon-to-be charges Notts County in my debut live game, at Griffin Park) was Celtic's 1967 European Cup triumph on 25 May.

The 'Lions of Lisbon' triumphed 2-1 over favourites Internazionale Milan in front of some 70,000 people at the Portuguese National Stadium in Lisbon, to become the first British club to take the ultimate European honour. It certainly helped to forge my love of Scottish football. Two years later, having dallied with Manchester United, tempted by the wizardry of my boyhood hero Denis Law, I cast my lot in with Dumbarton... and the rest is history - albeit of the obscure kind!

In terms of managerial giants, Stein is definitely up there with Brian Clough. Though an equally larger-than-life figure, he was far more considered and restrained. Writer and academic Bob Crampsey, also sadly no longer with us (and perhaps the leading historian and advocate of the Scottish game in recent times), once said of Jock that he was "the most powerful intelligence I ever met". In a strange way the difference between the two is encapsulated by the fact that they both managed an unruly Leeds United for 44 days. But whereas Clough's  was a reign that ended in ignominy, Stein left to take the reins of Scotland. Poignantly, his passing came at a moment of genuine triumph: under his tutelage, the Scots team had secured a 1-1 draw with Wales at Ninian Park to clinch a World Cup play-off place against Australia, with the prize at stake a place at the 1986 finals in Mexico.

"We went from one extreme of emotions to the other that night," former Dumbarton and Everton hero Graeme Sharp, who played that night, told The Scotsman. "On the pitch, when the final whistle went, we were delighted to have got to the World Cup play-offs, we were elated. We were unaware of what had happened with Jock until we got back to the dressing room. At first we thought it might not have been too bad but there were whispers that it was and then we were told he had passed away. There was such a sense of shock among the players and backroom staff. I was staying with Andy Gray that night and when we drove home we were still in a state of shock."

Appropriately,  Scotland held one minute of applause to mark the 25th anniversary of Stein's death, just before Tuesday's Euro 2012 qualifier against Liechtenstein at Hampden Park.  The display hardly fitted his memory, but at least a 2-1 victory was grasped, albeit in the 97th minute.

Undoubtedly the greatest encounter between Jock's Celtic and Dumbarton was in 1970, when the Sons took the Hoops to the edge in the replayed semi-final of the Scottish League Cup, 0-0 after extra time on 7 October, and 3-4 on 12 October. Stein was, of course, very willing to pay tribute to the endeavours of the minnows from Boghead. He represents a style, approach and set of football values that we very much need in the modern game.
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Too much spare change?

There's a good interview with Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill - for whom I have immense admiration as a person, a professional and a 'football man' (dreaded phrase!) - in today's Observer newspaper. Among the choice quotes from interviewer and interviewee are these, concerning the time and tide of fortune amidst the madness that is 'the modern game'.

"Taking a year to do anything in football these days is strictly prohibited. The preferred delivery date is yesterday." - Paul Hayward.

"While you can have it in your own demeanour, you should not be self-deprecating to the extent that what happens is [that] people hammer the crap out of you." - Martin O'Neill.

"It would make me laugh, make me smile, if some manager came in and said he had a five-year plan for a football club. Fine, if you actually own the football club at the same time." - MH again.

And even then...
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Changing of the guard?

Good BBC opinion piece by Jim Spence on the 'old guard' in Scottish football. Inter alia, he comments: "[H]ighly intelligent managers and highly qualified fans alike face some serious opposition. They are often too sharp and too clever by half according to those who currently run the game and whose power is threatened by those inclined to a more open, democratic and accountable approach."
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Sorry Arsene, you’re wrong

I have always had tremendous admiration for Arsene Wenger. His deep passion for the game is matched by Gallic intellect, humanity, wit, genuine commitment to youth development and a concern for truly artistic football. But as he admitted in a recent interview, one of his weaknesses is that he sometimes allows a commendable loyalty to his players to overcome professional judgments about fair play. Consider UEFA’s decision to take action over Croatian international Eduardo’s exceptionally dubious penalty claim for Arsenal against Celtic (what to all intents and purposes looked like a dive) in the Champions League qualifier earlier this week.

Wenger says this decision “disgraceful” and “a witch-hunt”. That is nonsense. As the experiment in Scotland has shown, the only way to tackle cheating is to allow retrospective action over blatant examples. Either that, or to introduce the technology that makes better decisions possible. The Gunners’ manager says he fears that UEFA’s intervention compromises the long-held ethic that “the referee’s decision is final.” Well, the goal his team gained through Eduardo still stands, whatever the outcome of the decision about a match ban. And along with other English Premier League managers. Wenger has frequently questioned and criticised referees in a way which suggests that, when the circumstances suit, he views their decisions as decidedly less than sacrosanct. You cannot have it both ways.
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Phoenix Nights trumps Dallas

Naturally I'm waving the flag for Burnley this season -- not just because they are a model of local football propriety in a money-mad Premierbollocks world, but also because ("as any fule kno", says Molesworth) their boss Owen Coyle has achieved managerial greatness entirely as a result of his apprenticeship as a player at mighty Dumbarton.

It was a particular pleasure to see the Clarets beat a ramshackle Nearly-in-Manchester United 1-0 last night. Well, I say "watch", but I really mean "look at someone dementedly shouting at me from a Sky Sports News TV screen". Had I but known it, the game was actually showing in a pub next door. Plus the beer would have been a hundred times better. Bad research, Barrow.

Anyway, hearty congrats to the Turf Moor faithful. Even ex-New Labour toady Alastair Campbell [I'm being generous, and at least he's not a Tory], with whom I enjoyed a brief Twitter exchange about Burnley earlier in the year, on the edge of last season's promotion triumph. I'd dearly love them to stay up. Who in their right mind doesn't prefer Phoenix Nights to bloody Dallas, with or without the repulsively talented Cristiano Ronaldo?

[Picture: Peter Kay...? no, hang on, it's Owen looking pensive]
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Farewell, dazzler Bobby...

Sad though not unexpected to hear of the death of Bobby Robson, after his long, repeated and brave battle with cancer. The tributes have been fulsome, but in this case rightly so - with many noting the great personal qualities of the man... some of which seem sadly lost on a number of his successors in the management game. The Guardian summed it up by noting that he "became the heart that English football wore on its sleeve." Sir Bobson Robson (as he was once referred to on Japanese TV, I'm told) was a person formed by the mining community he grew up in, by football, and by a certain old-fashioned working class civility and humour. Some old fashions are great, it should be noted!

He thought long and hard about the game, too, though this didn't always come across in his public statements, which could be gloriously prone to those amusing little slips beloved of hacks and Private Eye's Colemanballs. One of my favourites (I can't recall the exact occasion) was when, during a piece of extempore TV punditry, he declared: "If our lads can get ahead and keep it that way to the end of the game, I'm convinced we can win."

Other classic and affectionately remembered word fumbles that have made it to the web include: "We didn't underestimate them. They were a lot better than we thought" - after England nearly lost to Cameroon at the World Cup in 1990; "Football's like a big market place and people go to the market every day to buy their vegetables" (don't mention turnips!); "If you don't score you are not going to win a match"; "The first 90 minutes of the match are the most important"; "If you count your chickens before they have hatched, they won't lay an egg"; "Don't ask me what a typical Brazilian is because I don't know what a typical Brazilian is. But Romario was a typical Brazilian"; "Jermaine Jenas is a fit lad. He gets from box to box in all of 90 minutes"; "Yeading was a potential banana blip for Newcastle"; "He's very fast and if he gets a yard ahead of himself nobody will catch him"; "There will be a game where somebody scores more than Brazil and that might be the game that they lose"; and finally... "We don't want our players to be monks. We want them to be better football players because a monk doesn't play football at this level."

Dumbarton's keeper is nicknamed The Monk, by the way. And he's not doing too badly... Well, OK, Saturday wasn't great.
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Meanwhile, back on planet moonbeam

... the last-chance Messiah has arrived at St James' Park. Not down here in Exeter, but up in Newcastle. Well, Alan Shearer seems a level kinda guy, but I can't say he's ever struck me as having a massive amount of football nous. Then again, I wouldn't put myself in charge of an under-3s eleven. As glorious Russell Brand says this morning, regarding the Geordie Pope, "The gods of football like a good narrative." That's no guarantee of winning, mind. The G20 has just attempted to save the world in eight hours. Wor' Alan has gone for an only slightly less ambitious task in trying to salvage the Magpies in eight games, so the logic goes. Hmmnn. Given the trouble less-resourced Stoke and Hull are in, it's far from impossible. I don't think Newcastle will go down (famous last words!), but in many respects Shearer is on a no-loser. Stay up and he's a hero. Go down and he can bail or nod towards the treachery of the past (or the experienced bloke sitting next to him in the dugout). Meanwhile, the incomparable Barney Ronay is already helping out with Al's resignation note. Shemozzle, apparently. After all, "the sooner Newcastle's new manager leaves, the sooner we can start wondering when he will come back."
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Money, but no class

Thank goodness the January transfer window is nearly over. Its just possible that we might get back to talking about football once more - though not likely. The national media here seems far more interested in English Premier League managers slagging each other off, and who's nearer the 'finished' line in the weekly sack race.

One can speculate variously about where Manchester City's coach Mark Hughes lines up in the list of those looking over their shoulders at job (in)security, but his Club have certainly been making monkeys of themselves recently. Being "the richest team in the world" can't buy you pedigree, loyalty or instant success, even in the surreal world of global football wheeler-dealing. Milan said that City's cash-flashing representatives "didn't seem to know what they were doing", and the scrabble for Kaka (and a few other megastars) was as absurd as it was indecent. That said, their actual signings have been strong, and could save the manager's bacon if they work out.

As for 'Sparky': well, he did a very good job at Blackburn, but when he took his new appointment, sky-high with expectations, it seemed to turn his head somewhat. City are creeping up the table now, but their results have been comparatively poor hitherto, and Hughes has not impressed some of the bigger egos in his dressing room. He's also consistently tried to push the blame onto the old regime - particularly the man who gave the side their best finish ever in the Prem last season, before being nonsensically sacked by a disgraced former Thai president... Sven Goran Eriksson.

Sven seems a prime target for wounded English pride, for some reason. Perhaps because he's quiet and, more often than not, good at his job. (He lost just 5 competitive games and achieved top qualifying place in all three international tournaments during his five and a half years as England manager. But that didn't stop the childish abuse at "only" reaching the quarter final in three consecutive tournaments. As if they deserved much more.)

But back to Man City. Not long after arriving, Mark Hughes said he was going to tighten up the "soft" regime he'd inherited. Then he announced that Club visitors would be restricted because Sven had been too hospitable. This was followed by allegations about fitness levels... after the close season. Since then he's stated or implied that his performance problems have been substantially down to the squad he inherited. Yeah, right... where do we start? Brazilian international Elano? Sure, City lost games towards the end of last term, when commitment went out the window while everyone was furious about the treatment of Eriksson, who was hugely popular as well as successful. And strengthening was bound to be needed. But using a crack in the barometer to test its overall effectiveness is a poor measure.

When Hughes has a management record to that's anywhere near comparable with the Swede's, currently being tested again in Mexico, he'll have a right to boast (though it would be better if he didn't). Until then, he'll need to get his head down and try to prove that Manchester City's past owner wasn't mistaken to put him in charge in place of Sven. [Footnote, today, Saturday 31st, the Blues' all-stars lost 1-0 to world-beaters Stoke City. Yes, yes... they've done quite well since then...]
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Strachan's war on sweet nothings

Apparently a number of Celtic fans still don't think overly much of their manager, Gordon Strachan (pictured), even after three SPL titles in a row and two successive qualifications for the second group stage of the Champions League. Go figure. I suppose it's because he refuses to play ball with the tribal hatreds and the melodramatic highs and lows that are supposed to go with "commitment" these days. He's also seen as a bit of an Old Firm interloper from Aberdeen and Manchester United. Whatever. I think he's gold as a pundit on the BBC's Euro 2008 and elsewhere - intelligent, witty, spiky, funny, and with a refreshingly low threshold for fools and their cliches.

Asked today about the appointment of Phil Scolari to succeed Avram Grant as Chelsea boss, he was as dry and angular as possible: basically saying that if Scolari was really as much of a genius as the media was now claiming, and Grant as terrible ("I'm not saying that's my view, mind") then it will "obviously be a complete doddle" for the Blues to win a bucket load of trophies. Not for the first time, young presenter Jake Humphrey, surrounded by an aura of greenness, didn't quite know how to play that one. "Er... yes", he ventured, rapidly changing the subject.

Strachan does, I think, see poor Jack as a well-paid fish in the telly barrel when he's feeling a bit bored with the sheer predictability of punditry. Being bland and slickly vacuous just doesn't come naturally to Gordo. It makes for far better than usual pre- and post-match TV, mind. [Pic: Gordon Strachan (c) Sky]
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Football is harsh

The BBC's Phil McNulty, echoing Pat Nevin, has today's news from Chelsea well summed up: "It is a sign of the cut-throat nature of the modern game that a decent, dignified man [Avram Grant] is sacked three days after missing out on club football's biggest honour by the width of a post and on the Premier League title on the last day of the season." Next up, it'll probably be Gus Hiddink at Stamford Bridge, then.

Meanwhile, well done to Queen of the South for a superb performance in the Scottish Cup Final. After a disappointing first half, and back at 2-2, they might just have snatched it from Rangers. But it was not to be. Congratulations to Hull City, too, for nabbing next season's automatic relegation place in the English Premier League.

Life is harsh. Football no less, especially in the upper eschelons.
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Getting the message across

Although Manchester City are finishing their season with two away games, it's good to see that Blues fans are very visibly telling Sven Goran Eriksson they want him to stay, and Thaksin Shinawatra where to go. Whatever the outcome, the Thai ex-PM can't have failed to get the message, which has been beamed around the world. The Swede showed his gratitude in a quiet and dignified way, as you'd expect. But he's not being drawn into the politics surrounding his likely sacking ahead of talks with the owner next month, believing that diplomacy rather than inflicted embarrassment is his only (slim) chance of survival.
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City players threaten Sven strike

On paper, there's virtually no chance of a reversal of Thaksin's insane decision to sack Sven Goran Eriksson, but the revolt within the club is considerable. The Guardian ran an interesting story today saying that the Swede had counselled top players against various protest actions that would constitute a breach of their contracts, including a boycott of the upcoming close season tour of Thailand, where the Manchester City owner is up on corruption charges. He'll get off; he's the ex-PM and has an elaborate network of supporters. But his latest franchise isn't going to give him an easy ride. Meanwhile, the 'Save Sven' petition is clocking up over 4,000 signatures a day, the fans are holding firm, and the club officials are being predictably subservient - cancelling pre-match press conferences to avoid embarrassment. Ironically, the front page of When Saturday Comes from September last year has a picture of (loaned out) striker Ronaldo Bianchi holding a shirt alongside Sven. "Is he a fit and proper person?" asks the Italian's speech bubble, alluding to Thaksin. "Of course, he's a billionaire," replies Eriksson's.
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Time to protest

Such is the corporate dominance of big league football now, it should come as little surprise that a rich, arrogant, human rights abuser should dismiss a clearly "fit and proper person" from his job. Nonetheless, there is outrage that manager Sven Goran Eriksson is being paid off (i.e. sacked) by owner and ex-Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra at Manchester City. And rightly so. I hope the petition sky rockets, and the protests are loud and long at Liverpool on Saturday. Why even the BBC's Phil McNulty admits he was wrong - and he still is about England under Sven, by the way.

Nor has support for the Swede ended with fans (including Noel Gallagher), ex-City boss Peter Reid and players. The League Managers' Association, appalled by the kind of precedent this situation sets, has spoken out, something they do not do lightly in such circumstances. Aside from his good record with the team, with minimal time for preparation and signings, Eriksson represents three things still in short supply in the game: dignity, intelligence and professional decency. Unlike his shabby nemesis.

The roots of the problem, of course, go back to the fact that the FA chose to deem Shinawatra a suitable person to own a controlling interest in a major football club, because money and power speaks louder than other factors - like the corruption allegations that have dogged the man, or the evidence put forward by Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and others in July 2007. Many supporters choose to ignore such things in their partisan footie enthusiasm, though not all. A fine source of ongoing thoughtful comment and linkage is Bitter and Blue, by the way.
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