Innehållsförteckning för March 2019 från FourFourTwo UK

There are a few things that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and I have in common. We both wore a Norway shirt in the 1990s (I was a 13-year-old football hipster, sorry), we’ve both come off the bench to score four goals at the City Ground and, this season, we’ve both taken temporary charge of an iconic football institution. OK, only two of those things are true, but I’ll be at the helm of FFT until our new Editor-in-Chief arrives a little later in the year. Successful caretakers (and Tim Sherwood) often make a point of blooding youngsters, and with that in mind, this month we’ve made Jadon Sancho our youngest cover star since Lionel Messi first graced our front page back in 2005. Sancho may not go on to win five…

CLUBS 1981-82 Birmingham 1982-83 Oxford 1983-87 Wimbledon 1987-2000 Arsenal 2000-03 West Ham COUNTRY 1989-93 England When FFT asked Nigel Winterburn to recreate the time Paolo Di Canio could have flattened him, we weren’t sure how he’d react. “You won seven major trophies, Nige, but will you relive your most embarrassing moment for us?” We needn’t have worried. “Oh, that’ll be easy – I’ve got that pose down to perfection!” he says, smiling, seemingly delighted we’ve raised the idea when we meet at Winterburn’s home on the outskirts of Aylesbury, where an Arsenal league title winners’ pennant proudly hangs in the corner of the room. Not only is he willing to re-enact his infamous flinch against Di Canio, having squared up to the Sheffield Wednesday hothead after the Italian pushed referee…

“REMEMBER THE ADVERT WHERE SUPERMAN WOULD CRUSH CIGGIES? I USED TO DO THAT TO MY MUM’S” Hi Lee. We texted briefly before this interview and you put a nice kiss at the end of the message. It’s our first ever text kiss from a footballer, so we wanted to thank you… Ha, no worries. I stick a kiss at the end of everything – texts, tweets, Instagram. To me, it can look a bit unfriendly if you don’t. It has a strange feel to it if there isn’t a kiss at the end. How many kisses does Mrs Trundle get on her texts? Oh, she gets about eight on hers. Loads. Do you sometimes choose not to send a kiss, to show you’re in a mood? Hmm. If we’d had…

Done Deal Daniel Geey (Bloomsbury, £16.99) Done Deal does a full and comprehensive job of explaining the myriad complexities behind the game’s biggest transfer deals. A leading football lawyer, Geey focuses on the role of agents, TV and multi-layered player contracts, and even offers an inside view to how Financial Fair Play operates. Geey’s eye for the unusual adds a layer of richness to the book. For example, in 2018 Fiat car workers announced a strike in protest at the €100m transfer fee involved in Cristiano Ronaldo’s switch to Juventus, as the Agnelli family own both Fiat and Juve – but only five people turned up for the march. Geey also sheds more light on Arsenal’s infamous £40,000,001 bid for Liverpool striker Luis Suarez, and reveals how Kevin Keegan was…

“I WON THE BALLON D’OR BUT PLAYING FOR THE REST OF THE WORLD WITH MY HERO, DI STEFANO, WAS AS BIG AN HONOUR” Luton 2 Man City 6 January 28, 1961 FA Cup Fourth Round “The rain was hammering down, but it didn’t bother me because I scored six goals! With 20 minutes to go, though, the pitch was soaked and the referee called the game off. The result and my six goals were wiped from the record. In the rearranged fixture, I scored but we lost 3-1. Sod’s Law!” Leicester 1 Man United 3 May 25, 1963 FA Cup Final “After the Munich air disaster in 1958, it was a hugely proud moment for us as players to win a trophy for United. I scored in a 3-1 win…

Let’s be honest: are you really a proper football fan if you’ve not gone to the effort of having your team’s superstar etched onto your scalp? Well, now you can do just that – if you don’t mind flying to Serbia first. Stylist Mario Hvala is quickly making a name for himself in the city of Novi Sad thanks to a series of unusual haircuts, shaving staggeringly accurate images of famous people into his customers’ heads. Serbian tennis royalty Novak Djokovic, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have been among the faces requested (not all on one scalp, obviously – that would be madness) but it appears footballers are pretty popular, too. Hvala started off by shaving a massive Bayern Munich crest for one client, and he has since moved on…

Blackburn and Leicester fans, do we have a gift for you... Fresh from flogging lifetime season tickets for £16,000, Swedish side AIK are selling the DNA of club legend Nils-Eric Johansson; the defender retired last year after 371 appearances, following six years in England. The DNA was crystallised in Switzerland and will last for 500 years, so a test tube of the stuff is a bargain at just £307 – even if it is only ‘99 per cent Johansson’, to prevent you from fitting him up for murder.…

@NevilleSouthall Can anyone tell me how self-raising flour stays on bottom shelf in supermarket @Carles5puyol I Love rock & roll #Liverpool @TheSquareBall Have been mulling over where they’ll put Marcelo Bielsa’s statue, but now we have an answer: it’ll be just outside the new training ground, peering over the fence. #LUFC @LuisFigo What a wonderful experience!! My new team!!! Love them @tomvictor Dortmund’s young players really developing well after showing a bit of immaturity last season under the old manager. All they needed was a strong Favre figure @FootballCliches Meanwhile, over in the Coupe de France, a man called “Kevin Le Sauce” has just scored. KEVIN LE SAUCE…

As the smell of barbecued fish – lunch for the throng of camera crews present for a precision-scheduled media day – wafts into the room, FourFourTwo is a little perturbed. This, to be frank, doesn’t feel like the ideal scent to act as the backdrop to an interview. “I have to admit, I’m not a big fish guy,” chuckles Gareth Bale as the Real Madrid superstar greets us. That may well be the case, but with two notable figureheads from Los Blancos’ recent three-peat of Champions League successes departing during the summer, the onus is now on Bale to prove he’s ready to become the biggest fish in the grandest pond. There’s a clamour for the Welshman to make himself the new king of the Galacticos, continue the club’s European…

Everyone’s heard of Lionel Messi. Some know Paulino Alcantara, the man whose 395 goals in 399 games had been the Barcelona benchmark before the diminutive Argentine sashayed along. However, few can recount the exploits of George Pattullo – the tennis-playing, Military Cross-winning Scottish amateur, whose goalscoring achievements in the 1910s were so prodigious they inspired the club’s nickname. There’s a good reason for his relative obscurity. There were six of him. Mistakenly referred to as John (along with Jorge, Jordi, Jose, Georges or even actual name George) in Barcelona club annals for over a century, the Scottish forward’s influence on the Catalan side was nothing short of seismic. He scored a scarcely credible 41 goals in just 20 games in the 1910-11 season, a feat only recently confirmed because of…

Alan Taylor Who? West Ham striker who hit three consecutive braces in the 1974-75 FA Cup, including one in the Wembley final against Fulham after joining from Rochdale that January. Taylor helped the Hammers reach the 1976 Cup Winners’ Cup Final – but couldn’t repeat his goalscoring feats against Anderlecht – and he retired in 1988 after spells with Hull, Burnley and Norwich. Is he still in football? Not unless you count corporate hospitality gigs at West Ham and after-dinner speaking. First a milkman, Alan then bought and ran a Norwich newsagents with his wife Jeanette for 16 years. “If there is a magazine out of place,” he explained, “I want to put it back. Mars bars or Kit Kats need to be on shelves. We won’t sell any if…

THE RICHTER SCALE OF NEWS Members of Massive Attack vote two to one for Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser to provide the vocals for their song Teardrop instead of Madonna, who founding member Andrew Vowles had initially preferred. $12 MILLION Amount opening scene of Saving Private Ryan cost to film, featuring 1,500 extras and 30 real amputees. Director Steven Spielberg decided not to storyboard the Omaha Beach landings, instead wanting spontaneous reactions from those involved.…

Belgium '95 home kit Oversized, like most of the decade’s best tops, it’s the sleeves which steal the show. There’s no reason for the pattern – it just exists, and is great... Un enfant c'est la vie The football world beat to Roger Milla’s drum after his Italia 90 exploits, but all the Cameroon icon really wanted to do was sing a song for his daughter Sandy. Jangly and sweet. Caps There are few things that immediately tell you a football era more than the sight of a keeper wearing a flat cap, while also getting a clattering for good measure.…

JAMIE CARRAGHER “The best defender I played alongside – he was perfect. He’d scream and shout all the time, and everyone knows he never, ever gave up. This made Carra the ideal team-mate. He may not have been the best technical player on the ball, but that didn’t matter because he was brilliant in the tackle. He worked for the team with everything he had, always fought for the cause and gave his all for Liverpool. He’s a good guy off the pitch, too.” DANIELE DE ROSSI “He has unbelievable vision of the game in midfield. He is always really composed on the ball and can read the game better than anyone I ever played with. He’s also a superb passer and can see passes that no one else could…

Tom Chase The designer-for-hire helped to bring many of this month’s features to life – and he had one particular favourite. “Designing the Gareth Bale interview was a treat. I’ve long been a fan of his, and it’s always a bonus to work with such great photography.” Stefan Grey The Dortmund-based snapper went out to our Jadon Sancho cover shoot in Marbella with a few surprises in his luggage. “My friend Christian let us borrow his ace collection of retro phones, boomboxes and more – Jadon couldn’t have been happier playing along!” Chris Flanagan Our staff writer sat down with Arsenal icon Nigel Winterburn for this month’s One-on-One. “He was lovely and keen to stress he’s not really a nutter, even if he did then tell a story about exacting…

1 SPIDERMAN’S HAVING A PARTY England Leicester The usual suspects were on show when Leicester trained in front of the cameras in January: Demarai Gray, Spiderman, Andy King... hang on – Spiderman? Fine, it was Jamie Vardy in the Spidey suit. The bantersmith dressed as Peter Parker’s alter ego and leapt out from a bush to surprise his manager, Claude Puel, before training in full costume. Bafflingly, Puel’s only explanation was, “We need a superhero”. What next: Harry Maguire as Wonder Woman? 2 POLITICAL FOOTBALL England Bishop’s Stortford Boreham Wood and Bishop’s Stortford are rivals on Hertfordshire’s non-league scene, and now they’re even competing over which club is the most Brexit. Boreham Wood released a bizarre 1,500-word rant on their website which urged Theresa May and her government to “stop…

When a Rostov fan was renovating his house last August, he had a brainwave. With nowhere to put his beloved carpet, he took it to a football match instead and waved it every time Rostov scored. And it was a case of every time. Rostov beat Yenisey Krasnoyarsk 4-0, and as his bizarre celebrations made headlines, fans subsequently adopted the traditional carpet as a lucky omen, taking it with them to every match. So popular did it become, the club launched a new fourth kit bearing the same pattern as the rug. More than 500 supporters promptly bought it. The carpet craze is at odds with Rostov’s nickname: the Tough Guys. But it seems even the most fearsome of men can appreciate embroidery at its finest. Rostov are also known…

Answers 1) Vanderlei Luxemburgo; 2) Leonid Slutsky; 3) Jorge Jesus; 4) Remi Garde; 5) Paulo Fonseca; 6) Danny Blind; 7) Stale Solkbakken; 8) Zico; 9) Cesare Prandelli; 10) Julen Lopetegui; 11) Felix Magath; 12) Phillip Cocu; 13) Jupp Heynckes; 14) Leonardo Jardim; 15) Quique Sanchez Flores; 16) Gerardo Martino; 17) Sergei Rebrov; 18) Fatih Terim; 19) Leonardo; 20) Luciano Spalletti ANYONE FOR ICE CREAM? The Bolivian side Wilstermann unveiled new boss Miguel Angel Portugal in an ice cream parlour – to baffle people more, he’s not even Portuguese…

THE STORY SO FAR: Lucas made nearly 100 Flamengo appearances after his 2016 debut, the majority coming in a breakthrough 2018 that earned him a place in the Brazilian league’s team of the season and, in January, a £30m move to Milan. To call him a playmaker – his preferred role – belies his impressive all-round game: effective in the air and in the tackle, he’s also prepared to take on players and led Flamengo’s scoring charts last year, while goals in their 2017 Copa Sudamericana and Copa do Brasil finals suggest he thrives on the big stage. But his greatest asset is an excellent positional awareness that’ll help him to adapt to calcio, while adding to his two Brazil caps. COMPARED TO: Kaka. Lots. It’s inevitable now he’s at…

“I’VE COMPLETELY KILLED THE PLAYER INSIDE ME - I’M A COACH AND FEEL THE DIFFERENCE IN RESPONSIBILITY” After a very successful playing career, you took your first job in management when you became Ukraine boss in July 2016. How is life as a coach? I’ve already completely killed the player inside me. It took me a few years to do that after finishing my playing career in 2012, but now I can perfectly feel the difference in responsibility that a coach bears, compared to a player. As a coach, you’re a mentor. What has been the biggest change that you have experienced since moving into coaching, first as Ukraine’s assistant manager and then when you became manager? A player is most often responsible only for himself. The coach is responsible…

DE GEA > ALISSON Your last issue about goalkeepers was good. Alisson’s done well at Liverpool but David de Gea is still my favourite. Mark Anderson EMBARGO SILENCE Why don’t the EFL say when a club is given an embargo? If a club has broken the rules, shame them as a deterrent. Vicky Norwood LOCO’S NOTION Marcelo Bielsa stated he didn’t need to spy to find out about Derby County – if that was really the case, why still do it? Glenn Taylor BAN BORING CUP TIES There should be a rule to stop EFL clubs from the same division playing each other in the FA Cup, as it’s boring for fans. Stuart Morton TALES OF A BUDGIE John Burridge’s interview alone was worth the magazine price last month –…

Edin Dzeko loves upsetting the odds. He fired Wolfsburg to their only Bundesliga crown. He dragged Manchester City to level terms in their 2011-12 Premier League title-decider against QPR, before Sergio Aguero provided the big finish. He hit 10 goals in 10 qualifiers to lead Bosnia-Herzegovina to their first ever World Cup. And last season, with Roma, he kickstarted one of the most astonishing comebacks in 60-plus years of European Cup football. Just as unexpectedly, as his 33rd birthday nears, Dzeko is among the deadliest strikers in Europe. Nobody scored more Champions League goals in 2018 than Dzeko, the Roma marksman’s 10 strikes putting him top of the charts with Robert Lewandowski and ahead of such A-list stars as Lionel Messi (nine) and Mohamed Salah (eight). What’s more, he was…

My only dream was to play football. I never dreamed of being in The Guinness Book of Records. I never dreamed I’d become the player with the most clubs – 28 of them! I’m now 42 years old and I’m still here, moving to new clubs and feeling the appetite for playing; for sharing a dressing room; for scoring goals. Time goes by and I have the same mindset: to take advantage of every opportunity. Clubs and managers think I still have something to share, which makes me proud. I’ve played with Ronaldinho, Pep Guardiola, Diego Forlan, Edinson Cavani, Oscar Ruggeri, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Luis Suarez, Roy Makaay... and I’ve played at two World Cups and won the Copa America. I’m Uruguay’s seventh highest goalscorer and have hit 422 goals in…

Striping colours If you didn’t know Southampton wear red and white stripes, then you did with this chic ’70s effort. “Where’s Saint?” Not with Greavesie, that’s for sure. The TV pair took time off from each other for the visit of Spurs in 1985. Come one, come all, to the social club of the future Featuring “glamorous” ventriloquist Julie Graig and (not at all creepy monkey) Chico, plus “mainly for men” Sunday with comedian and “exotic dancer”. Huge. “What’s this ‘internet’ thing?” Rummikub contests are all well and good, but ‘surfing the net’ might just catch on, you know... Heading for glory Defender Kevin Moore went full Superman for the League Cup. Roll film Saints were using natty boxes by the late-70s. Look, cup on head! Monks and giants If…

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Formed by workers at Saint-Etienne grocery chain Groupe Casino, the club adopted the name of their parish only when the French FA banned the use of trademarks on sports teams. In a huff, they made the kit green to match their sponsors. ROUND HOLES? Les Verts twice hit the woodwork in the 1976 European Cup Final – won by Bayern Munich – with Hampden Park’s square posts becoming a symbol of the club’s bad luck. In 2013 they bought the goalframe to display in their new museum. UPSTAIRS HELP Egotistical president Roger Rocher penned regular letters to Pope John Paul II (below) throughout the Holy Father’s recovery from a 1981 assassination attempt. They assured him of eternal support from the Ligue 1 champions. TAXING TIMES Rocher needed…

1 ALFREDO DI STEFANO The Blond Arrow never graced a World Cup finals, although he kept trying. The Real Madrid royalty represented homeland Argentina (who boycotted the tournament), Colombia (who got banned by FIFA) and Spain (who were crap), all to no avail. 2 MICHEL PLATINI In 1988 the Frenchman accepted a request from the Emir of Kuwait to appear in a one-off friendly against the Soviet Union. Who could have foreseen his involvement in FIFA corruption 30 years later? 3 JACKIE SEWELL Having already set a new British transfer record in 1951 and scored in England’s infamous 6-3 shellacking by Hungary two years later, Cumbria-born Sewell truly jumped the shark by becoming captain of newly independent Zambia. Obviously. 4 LUIS MONTI The only man to feature in a World…

JUVENTUS ‘ICON COLLECTION’ €49 icon.juventus.com Following in the footsteps of fellow football-fashion fans Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus’ first foray into the world of streetwear is a resounding success. Its suave ‘J’ crest doesn’t ram the brand down your throat, either. Plus, while he might not be getting enough minutes on the pitch right now, German international Emre Can looks bloody gorgeous in it. Could a future career in modelling await? It’d be nice if the Old Lady found some use for him. CLASSIC FOOTBALL SHIRTS £999.99 classicfootballshirts.co.uk Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so a classic football shirt is the purest art in the hands of the right fan. Take this Borussia Dortmund number: worn by Paul Lambert in the Champions League semi-final first leg at home to Manchester…

Manchester United vs PSG February 12 Can Phil Jones stop Kylian Mbappe, Neymar & Co. in the first leg of the Champions League last 16? Liverpool vs B Munich February 19 For the first time since 1980, Bayern visit Anfield, where they’ve played three times but never scored League Cup Final February 24 Manchester City look to retain the trophy after beating Arsenal 3-0 in last year’s final Leeds vs West Brom March 1 Key fixture on Friday night, man rustling in the West Midlands bushes on Thursday morning Tottenham vs Arsenal March 2 The sides have already met twice this season: Arsenal won in the league, Spurs won in the cup Real Madrid vs Barcelona March 2 Barça won the previous Clasico 5-1 last October – Lionel Messi might…

It was a throwaway tweet. Wigan fan Keiran Crompton didn’t fancy his side, winless in eight, to beat Aston Villa in January – and so... “If we win today, I’ll sign up for the Walk4Joseph,” he wrote on Twitter. “If we win by three, I’ll go backwards.” The Latics won 3-0 and Crompton went viral. He’s now all set for a 58-mile backward mission to Wigan’s Good Friday fixture at Leeds, for charity Joseph’s Goal. “I’ve really got no idea why I tweeted the backwards bit,” he chuckles to FFT. “At 2-0 I said, ‘I may be in a bit of bother.’ “Now I go into work and people say, ‘Why aren’t you walking backwards, Keiran?’ In Asda, someone recognised me as ‘the backwards guy’.” Logistics will be his main…

A tip for all players pondering a future career in rapping: it’s best not to slag off the FA in your breakthrough song. Teplice midfielder Tomas Kucera found out the hard way when he released his single Off Season under the rap name TK27, collaborating with Ca$hanova Bulhar and Labello. The lyrics include the tempestuous line, “F**k you Berbr, and of course, f**k you Pelta,” as Tomas brandishes a middle finger at the camera. Roman Berbr and Miroslav Pelta have been key figures at the Czech FA over recent years, so it’s safe to say the ditty didn’t go down too well, even if some people appreciated the sentiment. The profanity did not end there either, with Kucera adding, “I play for Teplice, not f**king Sparta Prague.” The top-tier star,…

When North Korea chose to launch a PR assault on English football, they knew where to start: Blyth Spartans. The sixth-tier club’s Croft Park home is an unlikely location for Kim Jong-un’s tourist drive, yet one travel company duly paid £250 for a pitchside advertising hoarding with the rare slogan ‘Visit North Korea’. “They got in touch, wanting to advertise, but wouldn’t say who it was,” Mark Scott, commercial director, tells FFT. “I pushed and eventually they said, ‘It may be a bit difficult because it’s Visit North Korea’.” The advert caught the attention of fans, who created a mock highlights package, including footage of North Korean state TV, to celebrate Blyth beating “imperialists” Spennymoor Town. “I don’t suppose anyone will jump on the North Korean bandwagon,” admits Scott. “But…

The Nile. The Orient Express. The Moss Rose, Macclesfield. All are synonymous with hosting classic murder mysteries. Macclesfield Town’s ground will be soon, at least. Stumped for a top Valentine’s Day venue this year? How about a crime caper in League Two? The Silkmen are going all Agatha Christie on February 15, staging an interactive murder mystery dinner. “Actually, most of our bookings are at football clubs,” says Des Hinks from the dramatically-named company behind it, ‘Killer on the Loose’. “Often the chairman, players and staff are all in attendance.” Who knows? Maybe Sol Campbell, gaffer at Macclesfield, will be there to decipher if it was Mrs Peacock with the candlestick or Colonel Mustard with the rope. Hinks and his team offer a selection of dramatic scenarios – “a wedding,…

European champion Sends Gianluigi Buffon the wrong way to score winning spot-kick in 2003 Champions League Final at Old Trafford, as Milan defeat rivals Juventus 3-2 on penalties. Ballon d’Or winner Tops the Serie A scoring charts as Milan claim the Scudetto in 2004, then, later in the year, wins the Ballon d’Or ahead of Barça duo Deco and Ronaldinho. National history Scores six goals in qualifying as Ukraine reach first World Cup in 2006, then captains the team to the quarter-finals, hitting crucial winner against Tunisia.…

fourfourtwo@futurenet.com FourFourTwoUK FourFourTwo DOIDGE BALL It was sad to see what occurred between Bolton and Forest Green in early January over the transfer of Christian Doidge. The striker had just bought a house up in the North West but then had to return to League Two, with Forest Green saying Bolton’s chairman Ken Anderson had not made a payment at the time they’d expected, to make his loan permanent. It’s upsetting to see a historic club in such a financial mess under Anderson. The fans suffer the most. Robert Wilson, Cheshire GIVE JOSE A BREAK After Jose Mourinho was sacked by Manchester United, I couldn’t believe how many people were so quick to criticise him as a bad manager and a failure. The facts are, Mourinho won three trophies in…

Jadon Sancho looks utterly perplexed. Lost, even. In the last half hour, he has been shown a ghetto blaster, Polaroid camera and how the cassette and humble pencil will forever be intertwined for the first time. They’re all ancient history for someone born in March 2000, the day before Vladimir Putin was first elected Russian president. Feel old yet? Now, Borussia Dortmund’s teenage tyro is holding a corded telephone – an impressive bulk of plastic and wires, complete with fetching musty-orange hue – and tries to dial a number, pushing in the circular buttons to no avail. Sancho knows it’s a phone, but is it a dud or just further proof of the 1980s’ inhospitable desolation? Keen to stick up for the decade of ankle warmers, New Romantics and, er,…

Suddenly there was a message from his lawyer. Would he be interested in speaking to Sparta Rotterdam of the Dutch second division? The club were targeting an immediate return to the Eredivisie in the forthcoming 2018-19 season, and they wanted to add more experienced players to their squad. Royston Drenthe mulled it over. He’d quit professional football two years previously, aged just 29, fed up with the game and a career that had promised much but delivered a lot less, not least in unpaid wages. Sparta were hardly the first club to approach the former Real Madrid winger and Dutch international about a return to playing. Since his early retirement, he had launched himself into a number of ventures, from music to the worlds of fashion and fitness. Why would…

“Some six weeks ago, several enthusiastic residents of British origin met in one of the cafes to consider if we should start an Athletic Association. After a good deal of talk and consumption of small beer, ‘Club de Football de Sevilla’ was duly formed. As there is already a Recreation Club in Huelva, we wrote to our compatriots and asked if they could come and try their strength against us. We were assured of a good number of spectators, but along with the arrival of our Huelva friends came rain. They had come eighty miles to play, and play we had to. A pleasant contest of two thirty-fives resulted in a win for Seville by 2 to 0. It is only fair to state that the Huelva Club had not…