Lower-division sides help young players develop and benefit from having them but there’s growing disquiet about demands that loanees play regardless of form“You can get a player, an 18-year‑old who’s on 10 grand a week, and you do a deal with the club on his wages,” says Darragh MacAnthony. “Then they not only want the wages, they want you to pay for his accommodation. They’re then on you all the time about ‘Why is he playing?’, ‘Why is he not playing?’ They’re on at you every day. If the player then has an attitude issue and we go and complain they say: ‘Get on with it, you’re not sending him back, you’ve agreed a contract, pay his wages.’”Forthright opinions, such...
Will Lampard, Bielsa and Potter light up the Championship, is Barton manager material and how low can Sunderland go?After seeing Rúben Neves help Wolves tear the Championship apart last season, Nottingham Forest have also decided to tap into the Portuguese market as they attempt to end their long absence from the top division. They have broken their transfer record to buy João Carvalho from Benfica for £13.2m and have also signed Diogo Gonçalves on loan. The arrival of the Portugal Under-21 internationals are signs of big-spending Forest’s ambition. Related: Football League fixtures: Lampard's Derby kick off season at Reading Related: Aston Villa should stick with steady Steve Bruce after recent turmoil | Nick Miller Related: Marcelo Bielsa sets modest target...
An encounter with a holidaying Burnley scout was a crucial step on the road that took Dino Maamria from Tunisia to Stevenage managerAlmost three weeks into the job, Dino Maamria is at ease, sat in his manager’s office at Stevenage’s training ground, charting his ambitions for a club close to his heart and telling his fascinating story. It is tale of determination, how, as a teenager from Gafsa, in south-west Tunisia, on the edge of the Sahara desert, he realised his dream of becoming a footballer, and now, having earned his stripes in the non-league game, he is carving out a reputation as a manager.A gregarious character, Maamria, a former striker for Stevenage and the former assistant manager under Graham...
The cathedral city is red and white with football fever as the side in the National League last season chase a trophy against Shrewsbury and a second straight promotionThe Gothic cathedral and thigh-thirsty Steep Hill are synonymous with Lincoln but the shops and businesses, from the tearooms to toy shops that line the latter, and surrounding streets are showcasing many distinctive, colourful – predominantly red and white – facades these days, for there is a window-dressing competition with a difference. The judges? The Cowley brothers.Patisseries, pottery studios and pubs are decked out in club colours. There is a sea of bunting, and images depicting Lincoln City’s likeable manager, Danny, and his assistant, Nicky, formerly PE teachers at the FitzWimarc school...
John Coleman spotted two misdemeanours where the referee did not as Cambridge United held his side at bay in League TwoA day after VAR made its inconspicuous British bow at Wembley Accrington Stanley felt it could have come in handy at Cambridge United. John Coleman, their manager, thought they should have had two penalties. “We’re not into video technology yet,” he said, before acknowledging, “but the referee’s got to make a split decision.”Coleman’s frustration was understandable. Victory would have put them top of League Two, with Notts County drawing. But in the hard-fought event it was probably as well no split‑second decision at either end separated the sides from goalless equality. In any case a year ago, with Cambridge leading...