The WSC with England on the cover

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Very good read, this month's. The Euro wallchart is currently adorning my wife's wardrobe door, she'll go mad when she sees that.

Hats off to one of the residents of this parish for the "Season in Brief" article, and I think I saw two or three OTFers names among the contributors to the Euro preview guide.

[Gangster Octopus]

The WSC with England on the cover

Gah, I really needed mine to turn up yesterday.

Oh, and some of us didn't get mentioned when we contributed. Sniff...

[Duncan Gardner]

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Excellent, a 16 page bonus.

[Harbinger of Hope]

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No sign of mine. Ho hum

[Taylor]

The WSC with England on the cover

Only read about half of it so far, but there's some lovely stuff in this issue (I can say that, as I'm not in it this month). That Villa article is a nice piece of writing. Is that by anyone from here?

[Kevin S]

The WSC with England on the cover

Does the wallchart refer to Czech Republic or Czechia?

[Borracho]

The WSC with England on the cover

I've a couple of things in it this month.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

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Kevchecnko, it's still "Czech Republic". Although if they qualify, the write-in bits will really only allow room for "Czechia".

[Taylor]

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Borracho wrote: I've a couple of things in it this month.

Assuming I've kept track of OTF name changes, I've only seen the one so far, but it's very good.

I'm saving the Euro 2016 supplement until last, like crackling.

[Borracho]

The WSC with England on the cover

Cheers Taylor, nice of you to say so.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

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I was alternately chuckling and nodding sagely a few times reading that, I agree. Your preview of Ireland's chances is good too.

[Borracho]

The WSC with England on the cover

Cheers Rogin. I hope to have something a little lengthier out on shelves before the end of the year. Watch this space . . .

[Giggler]

The WSC with England on the cover

Gangster Octopus wrote: Gah, I really needed mine to turn up yesterday.

Oh, and some of us didn't get mentioned when we contributed. Sniff...

Or indeed when we wrote books that were reviewed, but that's because I've droned on about it far too much on here instead.

[Sash08]

The WSC with England on the cover

That Smolov lad I mentioned in the Russia Euro 2016 preview did a hat-trick on Wednesday & is now on 13 goals in his last 7 league games. I am really struggling with this, given that he managed 7 league goals in his first 7... YEARS as a pro.

[E10 Rifle]

The WSC with England on the cover

My favourite Harry Pearson column yet. Properly laughed out loud on the tube

[ian.64]

The WSC with England on the cover

The Villa article is well written, however the need to sympathise with the writer is slightly offset by those years of West Midlands phone-ins where a sizable section of Villa fans (all in the name of neighbourly rivalling 'banter', of course) airily dismissed their less-honoured Midland company and snottily parped their superiority over the rest of their Midlands serfs while still ensconced in their comfortable Premier League berth. Reading the article, it took some doing to suppress the need to express the sentiment 'well, boo-fucking-hoo'. In any case, they will go into the Championship awash with funds from their new owners, so giving them the opportunity to play the 'Big Fish, Small Pond' card to their hearts' content.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

The WSC with England on the cover

Mine's just arrived. Can anyone identify all the non-footballers depicted on the wallchart? I've only got the Mona Lisa, Clouseau and waiter Rene so far. I'm sure I should be doing better than that.

[Guest]

The WSC with England on the cover

Is the waiter Platini?

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

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gah, I expect you're right, probably Platini. And I'd thought it was Rene off Allo Allo.

Still pretty sure I've got Clouseau and Mona Lisa right though.

[Guest]

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Yes, I'm sure the other two non-footballers are IC and ML.

[Paul S]

The WSC with England on the cover

Just finished reading this issue and I think the coverage of the Hillsborough verdict was very good. In fact I was delighted to see the piece by Eleanor Barlow over the blogging she did for the Liverpool Echo.

I followed the Liverpool Echo blog all the way through the inquests, even catching up after coming back from holiday. One thing that did intrigue me though was the phrase "there will now be a break for some legal discussion". I wondered what legal discussion would actually entail so one day I took an early lunch and took the short walk to Southwark crown court and sat in on a case. In fact I did this on several lunch breaks and found that legal discussion entails clarifications of law, what direction the questioning is taking and whether the interpretation of events is correct. I found legal discussion to quite a dry subject but given that I deal with traffic orders I ought to be used to that!

Also the editorial is very good. I had forgotten what it was like being a football fan when you had to justify why you watched it rather just being accepted that it is something you just did. That attitude hasn't completely gone away though with people still needing to ask "Why are you supporting England with all the violence going on?". We've moved on, but not completely.

Back on the subject of Eleanor Barlow, is there some sort of award her and her team could be put in for? The coverage of the inquest really was very good.

[Gangster Octopus]

The WSC with England on the cover

Was I the only one disappointed that someone called David Stubbs did that book review rather than our own wingco?