Thursday, 21 November 2013

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Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

John Terry's return a non-starter but Roy Hodgson's England need spark | Daniel Taylor

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST

Jubilation at qualifying for the World Cup finals has given way to a familiar feeling of foreboding despite manager's optimism

It is never encouraging when an England manager has to discuss whether his team would be better off bringing one of the old guard out of retirement. Roy Hodgson has previously had it with Rio Ferdinand. Now it is John Terry's turn and another reminder that a successful team, playing fully functional football, would not have to keep looking backwards to take the next step forwards.

That it has become an issue is probably a reflection of the sobering nature of England's past two games and the clinging sense, with the World Cup draw just round the corner, that Hodgson's team look far more vulnerable than he is willing to admit. Hodgson likes to trot out the statistic that England conceded only four goals in their 10 qualifiers. What he does not mention is the standard in Group H and what tends to happen when the team face more refined opponents. As Germany and Chile have shown, that is when it becomes a little easier to understand why it was not until the last week of qualifying that England's win record extended beyond San Marino and Moldova.

England certainly cannot harbour any feelings of injustice about not being among the seeded teams on 6 December. A win in Ukraine would have seen them make the cut. Now they could find themselves against Spain, Germany, Argentina or Brazil. Conversely it could work in England's favour bearing in mind Italy and Holland did not make it above the jagged line either. All that really can be said for certain, however, is that it is difficult to shift the feeling that a team with England's limitations will be found out as soon as they come up against a decent side.

The idea of recalling Terry comes about because in successive matches England have looked susceptible to crosses into their penalty box. Gary Cahill had an undistinguished match against Chile and Chris Smalling, despite Hodgson's attempts to shelter him, was guilty of some basic errors against the Germans. Terry let it be known a while back that he wanted to return and Danny Mills, whose position on the FA's commission makes him a colleague of sorts to Hodgson these days, has said it should be a priority.

Hodgson's response, put bluntly, was to forget it. "John retired a long time ago, right at the start of our qualifying campaign. We have played nine games without him. We have qualified without losing a game. I think Cahill and Phil Jagielka have done a good job at centre-back. Chris Smalling showed [against Germany] he is a very good centre-back in the making. Phil Jones is there as well. It is time to keep moving forward rather than turning back."

It is also true that Terry's involvement would not mean the team automatically taking better care of the ball in midfield, or Wayne Rooney's partnership with Daniel Sturridge in attack suddenly taking off. England's problems are certainly not consigned to losing the odd aerial challenge at the back. Steven Gerrard, for all his qualities, does not have the dynamism of old. Rooney is a striker every opponent respects but it is not the fear he used to inspire. Sturridge has flickered only sporadically in England's colours and managed only one pass to Rooney against Germany. Joe Hart has attracted a lot of praise for his saves against Germany but there was still that moment when he rushed from his goalline, collided with Smalling and the crowd watched through their fingers.

Hodgson talked about using the Denmark game on 5 March, England's last match before he names his squad, to leave out some of the players he knows will be going to Brazil and embark on another exercise in experimentation. Others would contest it is time he devoted himself to his first-choice XI, or at least something close to it, on the basis that England need to work on improving the level of understanding between the players. For now nobody can really be certain who will play in the full-back or wide-midfield roles. It keeps the players on their toes, appears to be Hodgson's thinking. It also means there is not the kind of cohesion that comes when everyone understands each other's game and feels comfortable with one another.

Germany can get away with the occasional night of mixing and matching when their understudies are accomplished enough to fill in almost seamlessly. England, in stark contrast, look precisely what they are: a team who try to get by, with some reasonable players, but lacking spark or real quality.

The 1-0 defeat by Joachim Löw's team was the first time since facing Scotland in November 1999 they have not registered a single effort on target on their own ground. Yet England won that Euro 2000 play-off 2-1 on aggregate, however insipid they were in the second leg, and it just needs a look at Kevin Keegan's team – David Seaman, Phil Neville, Sol Campbell, Tony Adams, Gareth Southgate, Paul Ince, Jamie Redknapp, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Alan Shearer, Michael Owen – to be reminded about the deterioration in quality over the past 10 to 15 years. It is pointless trying to argue the opposite.

That really is the legacy of the past two games: the jubilation of qualifying for Brazil replaced by a damp, familiar sense of foreboding. "That is the risk, I suppose," Hodgson said. "That is what defeats do to you but I think that would be a disappointing attitude. I would like to think that what we did in qualifying, especially in the latter games, still gives us some credit and reason for optimism."

It would be a shame, he added, if "all the good feeling that came in October had suddenly dissipated just because we didn't win these games". Unfortunately for Hodgson, that is what can happen when it is the first time since Don Revie's last few months in the job that England have lost back-to-back games at home.

On the plus side it should spare everyone the usual hype over the next few weeks and hopefully none of the over-excitement that prompted a headline of "E-A-S-Y" in the Sun after England were put in the same group as Algeria, Slovenia and the United States ("Yanks") in the last World Cup. Equally it is never ideal when the crowd are booing a team in their own stadium.

"We just have to work at it," Hodgson said. "I don't expect in these coming months, travelling around watching games, to be suddenly finding players, whom I had never really thought of before, jumping out at me. We are going to have to work very hard with the ones we have. Add the six or seven who weren't available and hopefully between that 30 or so players we can produce a team that can give a good account of themselves at the World Cup."

Daniel Taylor

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England are outsiders for the World Cup, says Gerrard

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST

• Captain calls for 'realism and perspective' after two defeats
• 'You only need to look at the rankings', says Gerrard

Steven Gerrard has offered a frank assessment of England's World Cup chances, saying that the national team will not travel to Brazil as anything more than outsiders. The captain groped for positives after the Wembley defeats to Germany and Chile but he admitted that they had brought "realism and perspective".

"We're not one of the favourites, we know that," Gerrard said. "At the same time, you've got to go into the tournament with a bit of belief and confidence, and give it your best shot. But, of course, there are better teams out there than us. You only need to look at the rankings and where we are.

"I think these results will bring people a little bit down from where they were after Poland and Montenegro [when England won to qualify for the finals]. There will be a bit of realism and perspective out there."

Gerrard felt that the performance in the 1-0 loss to Germany on Tuesday night had been better than the one in the 2-0 defeat to Chile last Friday, saying the team "kept the ball better" and "at times, matched Germany".

If the winger Andros Townsend provided flickers of excitement, then the positive return of the goalkeeper Joe Hart was Tuesday's principal tonic. Gerrard also pointed out that Roy Hodgson had attacking players to come back from injury, notably Danny Welbeck, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott.

Above all, Gerrard suggested that England would benefit from the lower levels of expectation. He remembers the hype that surrounded the nation's buildup to the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, even though injury denied him his place at the former, and it was not at all helpful.

"You go into a World Cup where people judge you fairly, and they're not blowing you up to what you're not going to be," Gerrard said. "There's not too much expectation and pressure on the players. I'm sure that will help us."

The Germany and Chile results represented the first back-to-back defeats at Wembley since 1977 and it was difficult to locate any optimism among England supporters on Tuesday night. Hodgson's team were too predictable in the final third and there was weakness in central defence.

There would have been a time when a home loss to Germany, in which England failed to muster a shot on target, would have sparked anger and bitter recrimination. Here, there was mostly resignation, despite more boos at full-time. It felt as though there was the acceptance that Hodgson's squad simply did not have the required quality.

Gerrard, though, drew the line at ruling England out of contention. "It's important people are not too harsh on us," he said. "These games are all about experimenting and, when we get our full strength back, with the likes of Welbeck, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott, we'll have a good team and a team that can go to the World Cup and compete.

"It's difficult to judge us after two defeats. Everyone is going to be down and give us no chance and no hope. But when you look at the big picture, at our performances in the qualifiers, you can be upbeat.

"Of course, we're disappointed after the two results, but it's important we're not too hard on ourselves and don't write our chances off. The manager has experimented and tried different things over the last two games. I'm sure he's got a better idea of the 23 he wants to take."

The fight for squad places will intensify over the coming months and Jack Wilshere made it clear that nobody could take anything for granted. "You have seen over the last couple of months that the talent is there, even in the Under-21s, with Ravel Morrison and all these players coming through," the Arsenal midfielder said. "You are never guaranteed and cannot rest on your laurels. You are only as good as your last game, they say, so when the time comes, I have to be on top form and there will be a lot of players looking to be, as well."

Wilshere continued: "I think expectations have reduced but that happens automatically [after defeats]. People will say both the teams we have lost to are going to the World Cup. But we had two good results last month so we cannot be too hard on ourselves now. I think we will be stronger by the time the next game comes around [at home to Denmark in March]. We won't want to lose again at Wembley, that is for sure."

David Hytner

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Napoli-Arsenal may be closed fixture

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 02:49 PM PST

• Napoli fear Uefa sanctions after crowd trouble against Marseille
• Ban on supporters could be enforced for 11 December match

Arsenal expect to learn on either Thursday or Friday whether the potentially decisive Champions League group tie against Napoli at the Stadio San Paolo will be played behind closed doors.

Uefa have almost concluded their investigation into the crowd trouble that marred Napoli's home win against Marseille two weeks ago and the fear in Naples is that the governing body will make an example of them and impose a ban on all supporters for the final Group F fixture against Arsenal on 11 December.

Arsenal do not expect Uefa to order the exclusion of fans and are pressing ahead with their usual plans to look after the supporters who want to travel.

Napoli's 3-2 win over Marseille put them joint top of the group with Arsenal but there was fighting between rival fans outside the San Paolo. Ten people were injured and riot police had to intervene. Flares were set off inside the stadium and there were complaints about Napoli's organisation of the event.

The San Paolo creates one of the most passionate atmospheres in European football and Napoli would not want to be without their fans for a tie that could hold the key to their qualification. Before Arsenal's visit, the Italian club travel to Dortmund to play Borussia on Tuesday of next week. Arsenal face Marseille at home on the same evening. Dortmund sit three points behind Arsenal and Napoli.

Wojciech Szczesny, meanwhile, is confident that Arsenal's current squad is strong enough to extend their excellent start to the Premier League campaign and challenge for the title without further significant strengthening during the January transfer window.

The London club's defeat at Manchester United just before the international window trimmed their lead at the top to two points ahead of the visit of third-placed Southampton to the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. That loss was only a second in 11 games this term, and a fifth in 30 matches over the calendar year, with the team's new-found consistency cause for future optimism.

Arsenal have clearly benefited this term from the club record £42.5m arrival of Mesut Özil from Real Madrid, with Arsène Wenger expected to add further to his options in January to maintain the club's challenge.

The Schalke midfielder Julian Draxler, a long-standing target, has indicated he would not be willing to move mid-season but the London club are expected to pursue a forward to compete with Olivier Giroud, and interest is retained in Real Madrid's Karim Benzema.

"I wouldn't say we have proved anyone wrong and passed all the tests, and I can't say that until we get our hands on a trophy in May," Szczesny said. "But what is important is what we believe in, and we believe that we are good enough with the players we have got and the work we are doing to win the Premier League.

"We have shown that to people over the last six months or so. We know that if we just carry on doing the same thing, we will show people that this team and these players are good enough to win a trophy without any extra additions or the extra work people are talking about. We certainly believe we can do it.

"It's been almost 12 months really because it is not only this season we've been doing well. It was the last two or three months of last season, where we went unbeaten for a few games [they lost once in 16 league games].

"We are confident that we see the quality is there and we know that, when we play at our very best and do it consistently well, we can beat anyone, basically. A couple of years ago there was a case of not being consistent enough, individually or as a team, but now you can see that whoever comes into the team does a fantastic job. It seems to be bringing results. If we are at our best we will win a trophy."

Southampton, unbeaten in eight league games stretching back to August and a side who have already won at Liverpool and drawn at Old Trafford, will provide a stern test of those credentials at the Emirates with their trio of England players – Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Jay Rodriguez – all expected to feature.

"But we have to make sure we keep our form going and not just rest on our laurels and think we've done it now," added Szczesny. "We need to make sure we continue doing what we have been doing recently and keep getting the results."

David Hytner
Dominic Fifield

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Saido Berahino close to new deal worth £14,000 a week with West Brom

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 02:30 PM PST

• Albion to offer 20-year-old striker four-year contract
• Berahino has dazzled with club and England Under-21s

Saido Berahino is close to agreeing a four-year contract with West Bromwich Albion that will increase his wages from £850 a week to £14,000.

The deal is reward for Berahino's stunning emergence this season, with the 20-year-old scoring six goals for Albion and six in four appearances for England Under-21s.

Talks between Berahino's representatives and Albion have been continuing for a couple of months but the parties are on the verge of an agreement and an announcement could be made before the end of the week. Berahino, who was born in Burundi and has come through Albion's academy, first came to prominence when he scored a hat-trick on his full Albion debut in the Capital One Cup tie against Newport County in August.

That landmark was followed by a goal against Arsenal in the same competition the following month and the winner in the 2-1 Premier League victory at Manchester United three days later. Berahino's other Albion goal came in the 2-0 win over Crystal Palace at the start of this month.

There was speculation that Roy Hodgson was considering calling Berahino into the full squad for the friendlies with Chile and Germany, although Steve Clarke, Albion's head coach, felt that the England manager was right to keep the forward in the Under-21s setup. Berahino responded by scoring twice in the 3-0 win over Finland last Thursday.

Stuart James

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Barry Glendenning on The Class of 92

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 02:16 PM PST

The Class of 92 is a splendid film about six Manchester United friends living their (and our) dreams

Who knew? It is difficult to imagine a feature-length film charting the rise of six Manchester United footballers from FA Youth Cup to Champions League winners being so laugh-out-loud funny. The Class of 92 is no comedy but it expertly and easily aces the five-guffaw test by which such movies stand or fall in the world of the Observer film critic, Mark Kermode.

Football, friendship and fame are the prevailing themes of a splendid documentary made by the film-making brothers Gabe and Ben Turner, but there is no shortage of funny either. Reunited for just one day last summer, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Phil and Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes clearly revelled in recalling their seven-year ascent through the United ranks, from put-upon first year apprentices to treble-winning kings of Europe. Their 1999 Camp Nou coronation, recalls Giggs, was "the happiest I've ever felt on a football pitch".

Of course, every silver lining has a cloud and failure is also acknowledged. While the film centres on graduates from the class of '92, some of those who did not make it also feature. Of those available for a star-studded five-a-side, Robbie Savage carved out a successful career elsewhere, while George Switzer, Andy Noone and Raphael Burke fell by football's wayside. If they are bitter about what might have been, they hide it well. Indeed, the film's only sour note is as fleeting as it is understandable: the obvious resentment at the savage media-led public monstering of Beckham and Phil Neville for perceived treachery – that red card and that penalty, respectively – at World Cup 1998 and Euro 2000.

Including contextual contributions from carefully chosen talking heads ranging in diversity from the former prime minister Tony Blair, to Mani from the Stone Roses, The Class of 92 is ostensibly a film about friendship. We meet a close-knit gang of six very good pals brought together through circumstance in their early teens and eavesdrop as they fondly recall that time they got to live the dream – not just their dream but your dream and my dream. Never mind one-eyed tribalism, while football and 1990s Madchester provide the entertaining backdrop (and soundtrack), any viewers who remain tight with their childhood gang of disparate ne'er-do-wells will be warmly grinning at the obvious kinship that still continues to prevail among this band of brothers.

Footballing success stories to a man, despite having enjoyed – or endured, in the case of Scholes – varying degrees of fame in the years since winning the FA Youth Cup in 1992, the impression is conveyed that our six amigos were never happier than when gadding about The Cliff as young lads: playing football, deliberately scuffing the leather seats of Beckham's first club car and enjoying the nightlife of a vibrant Manchester that the guest contributor Danny Boyle explains had "reinvented itself" after Margaret Thatcher's Tories left it to die.

Even the genuinely horrifying hazing rituals United youngsters were forced to undergo are remembered fondly. Laughing at the viciousness of it, Butt recalls how much of this institutionalised bullying was "unspeakable".

Apparently no longer a feature of life at Old Trafford, it stopped when his class graduated, with a circumspect Beckham pointing out that for all its benefits "we knew it was wrong". On a lighter notetheir hilarious discussion about the different ways Sir Alex Ferguson had of telling them they were being dropped is perhaps the most entertaining dining table discussion since the opening scene of Reservoir Dogs.

Interviewed separately, then filmed together chatting over a meal, all six protagonists emerge from this film well: their good humour and obvious trust in the directors provide a stark contrast to the understandably guarded and bland answers that one is more accustomed to hearing from footballers thrust into the spotlight.

In their different ways Beckham and Gary Neville have embraced fame but it is somewhat surprising to learn that Giggs is a naturally entertaining raconteur while Phil Neville's recollection of his carefully choreographed and painstakingly rehearsed double stepover – "the greatest Old Trafford had ever seen" – is worth the price of admission alone. Somewhat astonishingly, it is actually the least box-office of the six stars who prove most entertaining; perhaps because one does not expect them to, Butt and Scholes unwittingly steal the show.

The latter, repeatedly relying on his desert dry wit to skewer his old friends with barbed asides, is a revelation. He is just one of many in a fascinating documentary one suspects fans of all teams will enjoy despite themselves, even if the sensation does leave them feeling a little grubby inside.

The Class of 92 will open in selected cinemas across the UK from Sunday 1 December and will be available on DVD from Monday 2 December

Barry Glendenning

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Lucas Radebe part of consortium looking to buy a stake in Leeds United

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 02:01 PM PST

• Radebe says acquisition would be a 'dream scenario'
• South African made over 250 appearances for club

The former Leeds United captain Lucas Radebe has confirmed he is part of a consortium looking to buy a stake in the club. The 44-year-old made more than 250 appearances for Leeds and returned to Elland Road in October as a special guest for the game against Birmingham City.

Now the South African has revealed on his personal website that he is looking into buying part of the club and hopes to return them to the top tier of English football.

His statement on lucasradebe.com read: "Following recent speculation, I can confirm that I am part of a consortium which has submitted a preliminary indication of interest regarding the acquisition of a stake in Leeds United Football Club. The club has a special place in my heart. It is my dream scenario.

"We hope to continue our recent discussions confidentially with the current shareholders and the board. We would like the opportunity to explain both the substance of our proposal, and our strategy for working with GFH Capital to continue the re-building process at the club.

"Ever since I retired, I have been considering ways to get involved at the club, working at board level with an equity interest would be the pinnacle.

"I would not have become involved if I didn't think our consortium would be able to help give the club a chance to go back up to the Premier League where it belongs, and to keep it there.

"I am hopeful we can find a way forward and make progress."


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Cole to miss West Ham game due to rib injury

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 02:00 PM PST

• Full-back aggravates problem on England duty
• César Azpilicueta likely to continue in Cole's position

Ashley Cole is unlikely to feature in Chelsea's Premier League derby at West Ham United on Saturday evening after he aggravated a rib problem during England's defeat to Germany.

The veteran left-back first suffered the injury during a win at Norwich last month, ruling him out of two World Cup qualifiers, and was absent from his club's first team for three weeks in recovery. His form had been patchy since, suggesting he was still affected by the problem.

Indeed, after his performance in the defeat at Newcastle drew criticism from José Mourinho, he sat out Chelsea's last two games against Schalke and West Bromwich Albion – with César Azpilicueta, more normally a right-back, preferred in his stead.

Cole's selection for the England squad felt mildly surprising in that context but, having sat out the loss to Chile, he started Tuesday's defeat to Germany. However, Roy Hodgson conceded that the 32-year-old had complained of discomfort at half-time and was withdrawn eight minutes into the second period and replaced by Kieran Gibbs.

The left-back will continue to be assessed and monitored at Cobham over the remainder of the week but is not expected to feature at Upton Park.

Mourinho may yet opt to rest Cole for the Champions League trip to Basel next week if it is deemed more beneficial for him to continue his rehabilitation at the club's training ground. Azpilicueta, impressive in his two recent outings, will retain his place in preference to Ryan Bertrand.

David Hytner

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Gary Bowyer emerges from chaos aiming to make Blackburn crow again

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 02:00 PM PST

After becoming manager No5 in six turbulent months the former caretaker has steadied the ship and is set to keep star striker

In many ways Gary Bowyer is a poster boy for young, gifted, British coaches. A journeyman lower division full-back, he joined Blackburn Rovers almost a decade ago, initially working with academy players. He rose to run the reserves, then twice looked after the first team on a caretaker basis and, finally, became manager.

Yet if Bowyer's is a dream job, it remains far from perfect, anything but nirvana. The problem is that Venky's, Blackburn's owners, want the team to win promotion from the Championship but Bowyer's room for transfer market manoeuvre is rather restricted by a £54.5m debt and the need to trim an overblown playing staff, currently around 53 strong. Considering the club's latest set of accounts showed that wages to turnover ratio – ideally no more than 50% – had escalated to 136%, painful cuts are essential.

It is a big responsibility for a 42-year-old who, last season, prevented Rovers from being relegated to League One at the end of a campaign that saw the club go through five different managers – Steve Kean, Eric Black, Henning Berg, Michael Appleton and Bowyer. Berg lasted 57 days, Appleton 67.

The era when Blackburn, propelled by Alan Shearer, Stuart Ripley, Jason Wilcox et al won the Premier League in 1995 seems light years away. Optimism, though, refuses to die, not least on the part of the former foreign secretary Jack Straw who, in a radio interview only last week, recalled explaining to Condoleezza Rice, the former US secretary of state, that Ewood Park really was the centre of the football universe before adding: "And it will be again."

Bowyer knows there is much work to be done first, both on and off the pitch. "I tell my staff and the players we can only concentrate on what we can control," says a man limited to recruiting free transfers and consequently heavily dependent on his ability to improve and organise players through coaching.

He is operating in a league defined by fine margins where little details matter. "The Championship is a relentless and ruthless division," he says. "You've got to stay calm and remain level-headed. It's a very competitive division. There's not a great deal between the teams and three wins or three defeats can leave you flying up or flying down the table. Everyone is looking for consistency. The play-offs offer a lot of teams a great opportunity."

Blackburn can inch a little nearer the top six by beating Reading at Ewood on Saturday but the good news from Bowyer's viewpoint is that, barring an extraordinary offer, he will be retaining the services of Jordan Rhodes, his star, £10m-rated striker, for a prospective new year play-off push.

Last week the manager made the journey to Pune in India, flying to Mumbai before making a long car journey to the home of Venky's poultry and pharmaceutical business for a meeting with Anuradha Desai, Blackburn's chairwoman, and other board members.

"It was very constructive, positive, well worth it," Bowyer says. "The owners told us we don't have to sell Jordan Rhodes in January. He isn't for sale. They have learnt from past mistakes and are determined to be successful. Blackburn fans have been through a lot but everyone is working hard to put things right. The owners realise stability is important; no one wants to go through a season like last season again."

Weaving through the streets of Pune, variously sharing highways with luxury cars, rickshaws, tuk-tuks, cattle and the odd elephant, not only reminded Bowyer that "football really is a global game nowadays" but overwhelmed his senses.

"My wife and daughter are envious of my trips," he says. "Culturally India is an education. The extremes really hit you, extreme poverty and extreme wealth co-existing very closely."

Brockhall, Blackburn's rather more tranquil state-of-the-art training ground situated amid the Ribble Valley's beguiling beauty, feels like another world – but Bowyer and Venky's hope it holds the club's passport back to the Premier League.

"The facilities here are first-class," Bowyer says. "Our academy's got category one status and we've got some fantastic young players we're bringing through."

In darker moments he can pick up the phone to his father, Ian Bowyer, the former Nottingham Forest midfielder. "My dad was very successful playing under Brian Clough. I don't think anything that happens in football surprises him, so he's always there for me, listening and offering advice."

Goodness knows what Clough would have made of the latest chapters in Blackburn's history but he would surely have cheered one man's emergence from the chaos and confusion. "Coaches and managers, like players, need breaks," Bowyer says. "Sometimes you just need opportunities. This is a great one for me."

Louise Taylor

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Fifa to use vanishing spray for defensive walls at Club World Cup

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 01:49 PM PST

• Feedback from tournament next month may extend use
• Line disappears within one minute after being sprayed

Fifa will let referees use a vanishing spray to mark out the distance for a defensive wall from a free-kick during matches at the Club World Cup in Morocco next month.

Referees will paint a white line 10 yards from the ball which defenders must stay behind at a free-kick. The line disappears within one minute.

Fifa's head of refereeing, Massimo Busacca, says feedback from Morocco and trials at Under-20 and Under-17 World Cups this year will help determine whether the tests are extended.

Vanishing spray is unlikely to be used at the World Cup in Brazil, though a decision could potentially be taken in March when Fifa's rules-making panel meets in Zurich. The spray is popular in South America but is not widely used elsewhere.


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Rodgers: Suárez issues improved me

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 01:08 PM PST

• Liverpool striker bit Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic
• Uruguayan then sought to engineer a move to Arsenal

Brendan Rodgers has said he is a better manager for the problems posed by Luis Suárez during his early tenure at Liverpool. The Liverpool manager has had to contend with several controversies involving the Uruguay international, notably the bite on the Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic that resulted in a 10-match ban last season and the striker's attempt to force a £40m plus one pound move to Arsenal in the summer.

Rodgers, who also defended Suárez against allegations of diving only for the 26-year-old to later confess to play‑acting, was instrumental in Liverpool's refusal to sell the striker and ordered him to train away from the first-team squad after being accused of breaking a promise over a move to a Champions League club. But the 40-year-old believes his managerial skills have been enhanced by his dealings with the outstanding forward.

"Some of the things [Suárez] has done, he knows was wrong," the Liverpool manager said in an interview with ESPN. "Some of them have been really testing situations as a manager … there's been some challenging moments. Seventeen months on as I sit here, I'm a much better manager for that experience."

Suárez has returned from the Ivanovic ban and transfer stand-off in fine form, scoring eight goals in seven club appearances so far, and Rodgers is confident the striker will continue to lead Liverpool's push for Champions League qualification after the January transfer window. "I believe so," the Liverpool manager said. "There's no club that is bigger than Liverpool. I think Luis now respects that decision because he's very happy here, and improving all the time."

Rodgers has also reiterated there is no agreement that Suárez can leave should Liverpool fail to finish in the top four again this season, the source of the dispute between the striker's camp and the club during the transfer saga with Arsenal. "There is nothing in place," he adds. "[Luis] is very important but it's the team that will get us there, not one player."

Liverpool can return to the top of the Premier League with victory over Everton in the Merseyside derby on Saturday, the game kicking off before Arsenal host Southampton, but Rodgers concedes there remains a gap between his side and the current league leaders.

He said: "[Arsenal] have got their philosophy and understanding of how they work that has been in place for 15 years. So we're playing catch up. We're looking to introduce our identity to the team. It's going to take a bit of time. I think it's an exciting thought that we haven't got near our full potential yet but we've collected the points."

Andy Hunter

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BSkyB 'keen' to cut sports wholesale deal with BT

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 12:42 PM PST

Jeremy Darroch, chief executive, says BSkyB wants 'reciprocity in terms of supply'

BSkyB would be "keen" to cut a sports wholesale deal with BT, chief executive Jeremy Darroch said in his first public comments since the telecoms company's £900m swoop on broadcast rights for Champions League football.

"It has to be a two way thing, so we'd want reciprocity in terms of supply," Darroch said on Wednesday. "So if we can get there with BT, my position has always been very open to do that."

Sky's share price fell 11% last week after it lost the rights it had shared with ITV to the Europa League soccer games, as investors reacted to the most serious challenge yet to Sky's dominance of sports broadcasting.

Speaking in Barcelona at a conference organised by Morgan Stanley bank, Darroch reiterated his conditions for doing a deal with BT.

Sky has withheld its premium sports channels from hundreds of thousands of viewers who have installed BT's new YouView box. Darroch is prepared to do a wholesale deal, allowing BT to sell Sky Sports 1 and 2 on YouView – but only if it is allowed to sell the BT Sports channels to its own satellite customers.

BT Sports is available on satellite, but not via a Sky package – customers must sign up directly with BT. The telecoms group has signed more than 2m customers to its sports channels, with a further 2m Virgin Media homes receiving them automatically as part of their TV bundle.

Darroch said Champions League accounted for less than 3% of viewing on Sky while cricket, tennis, Formula 1 and golf tournaments, as well as the Premier League, were a big part of its offer.

"There is a point at which the price that's paid is worth more than it is to our business and frankly that was the case with Champions League," said Darroch.

Sky would be in good shape, he said, for the crucial auction for the next set of Premier League rights, which is expected at the end of 2014 or early in 2015. But Darroch sought to downplay the potential impact of BT's assault on sports, saying Sky now offered much more than football, and that it was now second only to BT in offering home broadband and phone services.

"While sports is important within Sky it's just one of the things we do. Our entertainment channels are working very well including our own investments in production and commissioning."

A spokeswoman for BT said: "We have always said we will wholesale BT Sport where it makes commercial sense for both parties. BT has always been open to reaching a commercial deal with Sky but they have resisted this to date."

Juliette Garside

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Fifa wants 'fair conditions' in Qatar

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 11:06 AM PST

• Sepp Blatter admits abuse of migrant workers is 'unacceptable'
• Union leader warns 2022 World Cup could move from Qatar

Fifa has said "fair working conditions with a lasting effect must be introduced quickly in Qatar" after Sepp Blatter admitted that widespread abuse of migrant workers was "unacceptable" following a meeting with international union leaders in Zurich.

World football's governing body has come under pressure to act in the wake of a Guardian investigation that revealed the scale of the abuse of migrant workers in Qatar who are building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup.

Blatter recently travelled to Doha to meet with the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, and subsequently gave a press conference in which he said the country's rulers were "on the right track" in dealing with the issue.

But after meeting with Wolfgang Niersbach, president of the Confederation of German Trade Unions, and Michael Sommer, president of the International Trade Union Confederation, Fifa said that the trio had agreed that "fair working conditions must be introduced quickly, consistently and on a sustained basis in Qatar".

Sommer said the trade union movement would not rest until conditions were "fundamentally transformed" but that Fifa made it clear they took their "responsibilities on social policy seriously". He added: "Fifa recognises that its international significance brings a responsibility to influence decision-makers in Qatar.

"Qatar must guarantee the core labour standards of the International Labour Organisation, end discrimination and forced labour and allow freedom of association for its 1.3 million migrant workers.

"The direction being taken by Fifa in this sense is welcome, and respects the concerns of people who live for the 'people's game'. We as trade unions maintain our demand: if Qatar does not respond properly, then consequences must follow, and the World Cup be taken from Qatar."

The ITUC has warned that as many as 4,000 migrant workers could die before a ball is kicked in 2022, while a new in-depth Amnesty report last Sunday revealed wide-scale and endemic mistreatment of workers, many of whom are tied to their employer under the kafala system.

Blatter admitted that the situation was "unacceptable" but the Fifa president said publicity generated by the controversial decision to award the World Cup to Qatar in 2022 had helped draw attention to the issue.

"Economic and political leaders must contribute to improving the unacceptable situation in Qatar. That is why I welcome the initiative shown by the DFB [German football federation] and ITUC because together we can achieve change," he said. "I am convinced Qatar is taking the situation very seriously. These very discussions about Qatar show what an important role football can play in generating publicity and thus bringing about change."

Human rights groups including Amnesty and Human Rights Watch are hopeful the international pressure building on the Qatari authorities will lead to concrete action. But they want to see meaningful practical steps, such as an end to the exit visa system that is also keeping French footballer Zahir Belounis trapped in the country, to prove their seriousness.

After meetings with Fifa as long ago as 2011 the Qatari government promised to take action but Amnesty's investigators still found widespread mistreatment of migrant workers by subcontractors effectively engaged in forced labour for major construction groups.

The report, based on two recent investigations in Qatar and scores of interviews, found workers living in squalid, overcrowded accommodation exposed to sewage and sometimes without running water.

It found that many workers, faced with mounting debts and unable to return home, have suffered "severe psychological distress", with some driven to the brink of suicide.

Theo Zwanziger, the German Fifa executive committee member who helped to convene the talks at Fifa's $100m headquarters in Zurich, said: "The aim is to be in a position to report on concrete measures for Qatar at the executive committee meeting in March 2014. Large companies must be reminded of their duties in this area. The international community must also accept its responsibility."

Zwanziger will be handed responsibility for ongoing dialogue with international trade union groups and human rights groups.

"The awarding of the World Cup and the considerable public exposure gives us the opportunity to point out irregularities and to exact lasting change," said Niersbach. "If we succeed, then a lot will have been achieved. It was a matter of priority for us to quickly bring together the International Trade Union Confederation and Fifa as contractual partners for Qatar."

Owen Gibson

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Class of 92: Beckham and co in the trailer for a documentary about Manchester United's golden generation – video

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 10:14 AM PST

The new documentary, directed by brothers Gabe and Ben Turner, focuses on six Manchester United youngsters and charts the start of their careers at Old Trafford

Olympic Stadium gutted as conversion of new home for West Ham begins

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 09:33 AM PST

• Leyton Orient continue to lobby for groundshare
• Floodlights will make way for cantilevered roof

The door has been left open for Leyton Orient to share the Olympic Stadium with West Ham United on an occasional basis, as work begins on adding an 84-metre roof as part of a £160m conversion project. The West Ham vice‑chair Karren Brady, who led the club's bid to win tenancy and move in time for the 2016‑17 season, also insisted they would fill the 54,000 seats on a regular basis despite admitting that it was becoming "harder and harder" to sell out Upton Park's 35,016 capacity.

After a protracted tender process, West Ham were confirmed in March as the main tenant in the stadium, which will be used for athletics and a range of other sports and concerts in the summer.

The London Legacy Development Corporation's chief executive, Dennis Hone, said that he has agreed to meet Orient's chairman, Barry Hearn, who continues to lobby for a ground‑sharing arrangement despite losing a recent bid for a judicial review.

A House of Lords committee said on Monday that it remained unconvinced that the current plans utilise the stadium to its fullest and its chairman, Lord Harris, told West Ham and Orient to "stop squabbling like children" and urged "occasional" use by Orient to be considered. Hone said that the book remained closed as far as a full groundshare was concerned for the League One club but added there could still be scope for it to use the stadium on an occasional basis for big games.

Hone said: "Mr Hearn's stated position is that they want to look at groundshare. His letter to me reiterates that. It goes further than occasional use and talks about groundshare. We've had two detailed competitions. The process was robust and transparent. We're not going to do anything that reopens those competitions or leads to a rerun."

Pressed on whether Orient could use it occasionally, he said: "Never rule anything out. But in terms of groundshare, we ran a competition and we're not reopening it."

The contractor Balfour Beattie will on Thursday begin taking down the floodlights that marked the east London skyline during the Games and are due to erect a new cantilevered roof by spring 2015, in time for the stadium to be used during the Rugby World Cup in 2015.

"The roof has been designed to create the atmosphere and help with the acoustics that we know are so important in football," said Brady.

Hone said that the use of the stadium for the 2015 London Grand Prix athletics a few months before the Rugby World Cup would be largely dependent on whether the track survived being buried beneath soil and concrete.

The Mondo track on which Usain Bolt and Mo Farah won their medals in 2012 has been covered in order to avoid damage from the cranes required to construct the roof, the retractable seats that will move across the track when the stadium is in football mode and hospitality suites for 3,400.

"If the work was behind or there was damage to the track they would have to make alternative arrangements and they [UK Athletics] are fully aware of that," said Hone.

Brady said there had been a "huge amount of interest from across the world" in naming rights for the stadium, which will be put out to tender in the new year and the proceeds of which will be shared between LLDC and West Ham.

Despite not yet having sold out this Saturday's derby with Chelsea, Brady said she was confident that the new stadium's location and an attractive ticket-pricing model would ensure it would be full. "We have a strategy to do it. We have a policy that football should be affordable to everybody, whether you're a kid for a quid or a top executive who wants all the benefits of hospitality. There should be something for everyone in this stadium."

Owen Gibson

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Arsenal fans call for safe standing to boost atmosphere at Emirates

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 08:55 AM PST

• More than half back trial of safe standing Bundesliga style
• Black Scarf Movement surveys 17,000 Arsenal supporters

More than half of Arsenal fans consider the matchday atmosphere at the Emirates to be "poor" and nine in 10 want to see the introduction of safe standing to help improve it, according to an extensive survey by the club's largest fans group.

More than nine in 10 of the 17,000-plus fans who took part in the survey by the Black Scarf Movement said they would back a trial of safe standing at the Emirates, given its success in the Bundesliga and elsewhere. In Germany, rail-style standing areas have seats that can be flipped down for European matches.

Aston Villa and Celtic have said they will examine the case for trialing safe standing while Cardiff City, Crystal Palace, Hull City, Sunderland and Swansea City have said they would look at it if there was demand from supporters.

However, any such trial would require a change in the position of the government and a change in the law.

At Arsenal, the manager Arsène Wenger has said he is "100%" in favour of the idea. A BSM spokesman said: "In the past we had talks with the Safe Standing Roadshow and were prepared to arrange a visit to Arsenal so that rail seating could be demonstrated. However, at the time the comment from the club was that there were 'bigger fish to fry' … that safe standing was an issue which needed approval from a higher level so it wasn't something that they were concerned with investigating – instead preferring to concentrate on day-to-day matters.

"Since then, the momentum and support for safe standing at English football grounds has gained pace significantly and continues to do so. The recent successes of German football clubs and the highlighting of how highly fans are considered by Bundesliga clubs has only made the issue in England a lot more visible."

The group, created to obtain a "better deal for fans" from the club, said that a previous attempt to persuade like-minded supporters to buy tickets in the same area of the ground for the Carling Cup tie against Chelsea to improve the atmosphere had been stymied by over-zealous stewarding.

According to the self-selecting respondents to the survey, only 6% of the 17,377 who took part felt that the atmosphere at the Emirates could be described as "good", and 42% thought it was "average", 53% labelled it "poor".

Fans' groups at many top-flight clubs have called on them to take steps to improve the atmosphere within their grounds. "The responses to this question make it abundantly clear that the majority of fans would like another 'singing' section in the stadium, in the belief that it would help improve the atmosphere. We've seen many discussions among matchgoing fans on social media, talking of how it used to work at Highbury with vocal support back and forth between the Clock End and North Bank," the spokesman said.

"With only one area of the Emirates Stadium dedicated to generating noise, this doesn't help, certainly when you bear in mind that our stadium covers a much bigger area when compared to Highbury."

Owen Gibson

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Roy Hodgson to risk historic third successive home defeat for England

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 08:45 AM PST

• Manager set to experiment in Denmark friendly at Wembley
• Last match before Hodgson names England World Cup squad

Roy Hodgson has admitted that England could lose their next friendly against Denmark – the last game before he names his 30-man squad for the World Cup finals.

Hodgson looks set to experiment with his lineup on 5 March even though defeat would make him the only England manager to lose three successive home games.

"I might risk a third defeat but for the game against Denmark, it might be that we actually use players that we need to test out more and that we rest the players who we are 100% certain of," he said.

"That's a possibility. It's more likely than us going into that game, with just one and a half days' preparation thinking: 'Let's get our best XI out on the field'. That might not give me the answers I want for the squad."

The last time England suffered three straight defeats was at Euro '88, when Sir Bobby Robson's team finished bottom of their group.

England were jeered off at Wembley after losing 1-0 to Germany on Tuesday – Per Mertesacker's header condemning England to back-to-back home defeats for the first time since 1977. They lost 2-0 to Chile last Friday.

Hodgson said: "We certainly have no reason to panic. If anything I think I am much wiser after the two games with regard to the players I have at my disposition and with regard to what we need to work on going into Brazil.

"Booing at the end of games these days is par for the course. I feel that our fans have been very good support. They are disappointed. They wanted us to win but we couldn't. As far as I am concerned we have a learned a lot from these two games."


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The Fiver | It's as if everything Kool & The Gang have done for us has been forgotten

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 08:16 AM PST

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MUSIC IS THE MESSAGE

Bloody hell, it's as if everything Kool & The Gang have done for us has been forgotten. Kool and his chums gave us a perfectly funky guide to celebrating good times and how have the footballers of the world shown their gratitude? By continually ignoring the disco boogiemeisters, that's how. If it's not Tony Adams breaking Steve Morrow's collar-bone in exultation, it's Sergio Ramos hurling the Spanish Cup under a bus or Edmundo forcing the delirium tremens on an unsuspecting chimp. Fex sake, lads, why can't you just dance?

If Kool were Croatian, he'd have been gliding across dance pistes with honeyed smoothness last night. Mind you, the Fiver likes to think that Kool glides across dance pistes with honeyed smoothness every night. Because he's Kool and his gang are groovy. Josip Simunic, on the other hand, isn't Kool, and we're not altogether sure about his gang either. The rugged defender demonstrated his idea of celebrating good times after Croatia beat Iceland last night to qualify for the World Cup and, quite frankly, it was no chart-topper. Simunic's celebrations started well, as he seized a microphone with no lack of pizzazz but he then went and ruined the performance by bellowing "For the homeland!", to which a group of wild-eyed fans replied "Ready!", which, as it happens, is the very same chorus that the Ustashas used to chant when the N@zis installed them as a puppet regime in Croatia. No, the Fiver just isn't feeling the rhythm here.

"Some people have to learn some history," stormed Simunic when his choice of celebration was questioned. "I'm not afraid, I did nothing wrong," he continued before adding: "I'm supporting my Croatia, my homeland. If someone has something against it, that's their problem." It seems that if you let a man know he can have three yellow cards before seeing red, as Graham Poll did at the 2006 World Cup, then he thinks he can get away with anything.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"There were no names. There were no names" – Brendan Rodgers reveals that no one's credibility but his own suffered from the whole names in the envelope farrago.

FIVER LETTERS – STILL WITH PRIZES

"Your suggestion that the German team be transported to Wembley by helicopter, 'Apocalypse Now-style' (yesterday's Fiver), is preposterous. Clearly, the helicopters would take the team to Kew Gardens, from where they would proceed across the Thames and up the River Brent by gunboat. Entering the stadium via a torch-lit Wembley Way, lined with the severed heads of the supporters' band and Joe Hart, they would find a crazed and bloodied Mr Roy staring dementedly from the touchline while Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard slaughtered an ox in the centre circle. The horror" – Keith Buchanan.

"Not content with giving all of the sci-fi savvy, music buff and grammatical correction pedants a vehicle to vent their Soulmates-shunning boredom enhancement, you had to go for the ultimate in pedant-baiting: the tube (yesterday's Fiver). I now 'look forward' to you selecting the funniest retorts from the pedant collective over what I'm sure will be several weeks of bickering over the best tube stations/trains/numbers of steps to a platform/speed of lifts, etc, etc. When will you learn not to encourage these people?" – Simon Toms.

"After once again retrieving the Fiver from the Spam folder in the vain hope of the first story raising a chuckle (the wait goes on), I then had the misfortune of tuning in to England's march to World Cup Glory and finding ITV's commentary team plagiarising the Fiver's description of the German adventure on the tube. Having material stolen by Clive Tyldesley is surely a new low" – Keith Nickson.

"Is it possible that the Germany camp were merely circulating the tube in the hope of bumping into Mr Roy, and having him reveal his starting line-up to them? If so, then does that mean the decision to go public with his XI at the previous day's press conference was, in fact, an intelligent tactical masterstroke?" – Kyle Barber.

"If only Hodder and Stoughton CEO Jamie Hodder-Williams had had the foresight to head-hunt Rafa Benítez for that hard fact-checking job on Lord Ferg's biog (Fivers passim). Rafa would have nailed those last 45 errors in the time it takes to say 'he's the only author at this publishing house that cannot be punished for these things'. Fact!" – Justin Kavanagh.

"Re: the paragraph in yesterday's Fiver that began with 'Joking apart'. Come again?" – Angus Chisholm.

• Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. And if you've nothing better to do you can also tweet the Fiver. Today's winner of our letter o'the day is: Keith Buchanan, who wins a copy of Football Manager 2014, courtesy of the very kind people at Football Manager Towers. We've got more copies to give away this week, so if you haven't been lucky thus far, keep trying.

JOIN GUARDIAN SOULMATES

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BITS AND BOBS

The Fiver, for one, welcomes our new Gibraltan overlords, the only unbeaten, Fifa-recognised, international side in the world. "It was very emotional before and after the game," said debutant Danny Higginbotham after his team's 0-0 draw with Slovakia.

Mr Roy is feeling a tad dispirited, despite his England team having held Germany to a 1-0 defeat at Wembley. "We didn't play well enough, didn't win, and sent 85,000 people home disappointed," he sniffed.

Cardiff University Football Club have been given a two-week playing ban and barred from playing Swansea University in the annual Varsity fixture after one of its members allegedly made light of date-rape and domestic violence at a social event. "It was totally unacceptable," said a member of the university's dance society, who was in attendance. "All of the girls were forced to the front to watch a PowerPoint which made light of girls with low self-esteem, spiking girls' drinks, domestic violence and even rape. These are all real life issues facing women (and men) today and we should not have to deal with this kind of 'lad culture' anywhere, but especially in the university environment."

Firewall FC's legal department will have been over every inch of their former manager Brian's P45 in the hope they will haven't broken Laws in firing him.

Hull City fans unhappy about potential plans to rename the club Hull Tigers will be granted season ticket refunds, money which they will be able to spend on bohemian black polo necks and berets now the place is to be 2017 city of culture.

Lionel Messi has been awarded a third Golden Shoe suggesting that, if he has enough legs to wear them all, he is probably cheating.

Olympic legacy dept: work has begun to dismantle the iconic triangular floodlights on the Olympic Stadium in preparation for West Ham's arrival.

And Dynamo Moscow manager Dan Petrescu has denied stories linking him to the vacant Crystal Palace job. "The contract with Dynamo is for another year and a half and I'm happy here … I am pleased that the English clubs remember my name," said the man whose name is remembered largely only because of this.

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

For those of a non-England-supporting persuasion, highlights of England 0-1 Germany. And for those of a non-San Marino-supporting persuasion, highlights of England U21s 9-0 San Marino U-21s.

STILL WANT MORE?

Five Big Website writers are slightly more knowledgeable than they were yesterday after learning 10 things about the World Cup play-offs and internationals.

What no Robert Huth? Sachin Nakrani has compiled a possible XI of best European footballers to miss out on next year's World Cup.

Vote! Vote! Vote! With Lionel Messi injured, Zlatan Ibrahimovic out of the race and Franck Ribéry suffering Him-knack, could He fail to win the Ballon d'Or?

No He can't, argues Andy Brassell.

"A tenuously coherent uber-survivor with an alarmingly untreated Napoleon complex." Marina Hyde aims her sharpened pen at Uncle Sepp.

Will the likes of Paul Pogba and Raphaël Varane stop France having another massive World Cup sulk, muses Amy Lawrence.

Oh, and if it's your thing, you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace.

SIGN UP TO THE FIVER

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ZLAT'S ALL FOLKS!

Paul Doyle

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The police don't get it - ostracising reporters is against the public interest

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 07:52 AM PST

It may be unsurprising that police relationships with journalists have gone downhill in the last couple of years.

Those editors and journalists who choose to see the Leveson inquiry as the reason for every problem now facing newspapers have latched on to that as the main reason.

It is only one factor. There are others, most obviously Elizabeth Filkin's report, that suggested transforming the relationships between police and reporters into some kind of form-filling bureaucratic nightmare.

Then, of course, there have been the string of stories - quite apart from the failure to investigate phone-hacking - that have revealed police misdeeds (Ian Tomlinson's death, the Hillsborough cover-up, the Jimmy Savile affair, Plebgate, to name but a few).

All of these, highlighted by the press and discussed widely across all media, have helped to undermine public confidence and trust in the police.

The resulting decisions by almost all forces to withhold information from crime reporters is short-sighted and against the public interest.

They appear to be sticking firmly to the "guidance" drawn up by College of Policing in May this year, a simplistic document that provides officers with every reason to avoid briefing a journalist.

In codifying human relationships it has no regard for informality. In effect, it warns officers to mind their backs: they will be risking their jobs if they make a mistake.

It requires police chiefs to "record all contact with the media where policing matters are discussed. A record of contact should be made to the effect that communication has taken place and the subject matter of that communication."

There is, of course, lip service paid to the need for "a robust, open and transparent relationship between the police and the media" because it is "vital in a democratic society."

But the ethos of the document, and its obvious raison d'être, is to choke off information except when it suits the police to release it.

As Hugh Muir's remarks in his report, on the survey - which was conducted as a personal dissertation project by BBC London's home affairs correspondent Guy Smith - it "flags up a gulf in understanding between the two groups" - police and journalists.

That was also evident in a seminar in February this year at the University of East Anglia's London campus, "Police, propaganda and the press".

The police argument was presented by Andy Trotter, the media spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) who is regarded as one of the most sensible and sensitive of senior officers.

Yet, in spite of his honeyed words of sympathy for the plight of increasingly ill-informed journalists, he stuck firmly to the view that the police, and the police alone, should decide when to release information, which information should be released and how it should be released.

In the end, to the obvious frustration of The Guardian's Paul Lewis (now the paper's Washington correspondent), Trotter could not grasp that this policy was guaranteed to seal off the police from proper scrutiny.

Having been found out so often, the police's response was to become less transparent. They were eager to close the doors to those who seek to hold them to account. They just don't get it.

One crime reporter quoted in the survey put it well: "The current media policy, set out in the College of Policing guidelines, has crippled the relationship which senior officers claim is an essential component of 'policing by consent'. They say they are open, honest and transparent when they are more remote than they have ever been."

Similarly, one police constable told the researcher: "Police officers are nervous and apprehensive about making contact with journalists and the rules are different so they are not confident in operating within the rules."

In a nutshell, there is the problem. A combination of the Filkin formula and the police college guidelines have inhibited the sensible give-and-take relationships that previously existed.

Both police officers and crime reporters - in their different ways - perform a hugely important task on behalf of society. If they don't get on, it is society that's the loser.

Roy Greenslade

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Lionel Messi wins Golden Boot award for most goals in European league – video

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 07:49 AM PST

Barcelona's Lionel Messi wins the Golden Boot award on Wednesday for being the top goalscorer in all European leagues

Watch now: England U21s crush San Marino 9-0 – highlights video

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 06:11 AM PST

England's U-21 team earn a record victory on Tuesday as they win 9-0 over San Marino

Algerians in London celebrate World Cup qualification – video

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 06:11 AM PST

Supporters of Algeria's national football team celebrate in London after their team qualify for the World Cup

Watch now: England v Germany highlights from Wembley – video

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 06:11 AM PST

England suffer their second successive defeat at Wembley after Germany walk away with a 1-0 win

Sport picture of the day: Portugal players' pile-on

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 05:53 AM PST

Joy and relief just oozes out of this image of the Portugal players celebrating Cristiano Ronaldo's third goal in their 3-2 play-off second-leg victory over Sweden, which sealed their spot at next year's World Cup in Brazil

Steven Bloor

Advantage Cristiano Ronaldo as Fifa extends Ballon d'Or deadline

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 05:38 AM PST

• Portugal striker's chances enhanced by play-off hat-trick
• Bayern Munich's Franck Ribéry had been bookies' favourite
• The night Ronaldo ran away with the Ballon d'Or

Fifa has extended the Ballon d'Or voting deadline, improving Cristiano Ronaldo's chances of winning after his superb performance for Portugal in the World Cup play-off success.

Fifa says the contest is now open until 29 November because too many voters failed to meet last Friday's original deadline.

Ronaldo, the 2008 award winner, scored all three goals in Portugal's 3-2 victory in Sweden on Tuesday to advance to the World Cup.

Lionel Messi has won for the past four years, and Bayern Munich's Franck Ribéry, who played for France in their dramatic play-off success against Ukraine, was the bookies' favourite when the nominations were announced.

The world's best player in 2013 is chosen by national team coaches and captains, plus a journalist from each of Fifa's 209 member countries.

Fifa's original voting window of 28 October to 15 November ended hours after the first legs of the European play-offs.


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Simunic defends 'pro-Nazi' chants

Posted: 20 Nov 2013 05:30 AM PST

• Defender took microphone and led chant with supporters
• 'If someone has something against it, that's their problem'

Croatia's World Cup qualification celebrations have been marred by apparent "pro-Nazi" chants by fans and defender Josip Simunic.

Croatia qualified for the World Cup with a 2-0 win over Iceland on Tuesday. Video footage shows Simunic taking a microphone to the field after the match and shouting to the fans: "For the homeland!" The fans respond: "Ready!" That was the war call used by Ustashas, the Croatian pro-Nazi puppet regime that ruled the state during the second world war when tens of thousands of people perished in concentration camps.

The Australian-born Simunic defended his action, saying: "Some people have to learn some history. I'm not afraid. I did nothing wrong. I'm supporting my Croatia, my homeland. If someone has something against it, that's their problem."

The same chant coupled with the Nazi salute has often been used by Croatian fans in the past. Fifa and Uefa have had to fine the Croatian Football Association because of their behaviour. There was no immediate reaction from Fifa to the latest incident.

At the 2006 World Cup, Simunic was the player who received three yellow cards in one match before being sent off.


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