WRITE STUFF

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Mar 9, 2008 | by RORY SMITH

BEWARE, Fabio Capello, of returning to club management - it is no recipe for success. At Newcastle, King Kev lurches from one crisis to another, Sven is wondering where the key to Thaksin's piggy-bank is hidden while in the Championship, Mick McCarthy is drifting aimlessly with Wolves!

CJ Deacy, Cheshire

RS says: It"ll be a long time before Capello returns to the club game. And there"s one big difference between him and the others you"ve mentioned - Capello"s actually a good manager, and he's proved it time and again.

FANS of those clubs in the middle of the Championship table are being badly let down. Not just by the chairmen who know they'd have to get their chequebook out if they won promotion but also by players who know that the reward for going up would be the sack, as managers demanded new ones to cope with the higher standard. The only players putting in any effort are those in teams still threatened by relegation.

Maurice Williams, Gwent

RS says: Are you sure you"ve not confused a lack of effort with being a bit useless? There"s plenty of heart in the Championship - now if only they could throw in a bit of skill.

I WAS pleased that, despite their slide down the table, Newcastle didn't rush into spending money in the transfer window. Experience proves that nine times out of 10 hastily-bought panic buys don't make much of an impact. But in the summer Kevin Keegan needs to be given the freedom to build his own squad - he's always had a great record for buying players who share the same kind of passion for the game that he does.

Sonia Hine, Stoke

RS says: Yes, players like David Batty and Faustino Asprilla - Kevin Keegan's two panic buys who cost Newcastle the title in 1996. See, they can have an impact! Now King Kev just has to hope he's not rebuilding his side in the Championship next season.

AM I the only one who's sick of reading about the Ferrari spygate scandal? Ron Dennis and Lewis Hamilton are constantly being challenged over the so-called Ferrari dossier. In my day it was called industrial espionage and it was OK. Anyway, a workshop manual doesn't make you an ace mechanic. Let's get back to racing around a circuit - that's what the fans want to see.

Spencer Arnott, Bucks

RS says: When was industrial espionage OK? Did you spend your youth in communist Russia? The clue"s in the name - it"s spying, so it"s cheating. And in a sport where the car i's more important than the driver, it casts a cloud over Hamilton"s spectacular debut season.

WHAT does it say about football when the latest embarrassing chapter of a man as troubled as Paul Gascoigne attracts more attention than the death of a legendary gentleman of the game? Derek Dooley, as well as being a prolific scorer, managed the seemingly impossible task of endearing himself to both the red and blue halves of Sheffield. Derek's career was cut short by an injury that ultimately cost him his leg, a far more justifiable reason to turn to drink and self-destruction than anything Gazza can lay claim to. But Derek didn't let this stop his involvement with his beloved Sheffield clubs, and I'm sure the Steel City will give one of its greatest sporting ambassadors the send-off he deserves.

Phil Boulton, Bramcote

RS says: It"s a tribute to the sort of man Dooley was that Blades and Owls can come together to commemorate his death and celebrate his life. Football could do with more of his ilk.

AC Milan have been a European force for 20 years but on Tuesday Arsenal put an ageing side out to pasture. It looks like the Gunners are well-placed to take their spot at Europe's top table.

Tom Dawson, Leeds

RS says: Arsene's team have a way to go before they can be compared to Milan. Actually winning a European trophy would be a start.