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Football quiz: Craig Levein and the Scotland manager's job

Today's questions aren't wearing any underwear ...Alan Gardner

'My first aim was stability,' says FA chief executive Ian Watmore

Ian Watmore tells Owen Gibson about the challenges of his first six months in charge of the FAThe location of the Football Association's new offices – a long trudge up Olympic Way, past retail parks and trading estates – reflects the new period of austerity in which its chief executive,...

Fifa in a stew over ritual slaughter of cows in World Cup stadiums

• Makhonya Royal Trust seeks to maintain traditional cultures• Fifa keeps quiet over whether it has view on sacrificesFifa was silent yesterday about a proposal to slaughter a cow at every 2010 World Cup venue in a blessing ritual. The Makhonya Royal Trust, a body to promote traditional...

Ian Watmore launches four-year plan to sort out the FA's finances

• FA's chief executive to overhaul finances by 2014• New plans for National Football Centre to be unveiledIan Watmore, the Football Association chief executive, has unveiled a four-year plan to overhaul the governing body's finances and operations by the time of the 2014 World Cup in...

The noughties: a decade when football's rulers ducked responsibility | David Conn

The game boomed but so did insolvencies as the government called on football to rethink its relationship with moneyWhen you take a longer view of English football than this week's managerial ousting or the latest results, to consider how the game developed over a whole decade, Sheffield Wednesday...

Manchester City's sacking of Mark Hughes was 'crazy', says O'Neill

• 'It's a sad indictment' of the game says Villa manager• 'Manchester City could still win Premier League' Martin O'Neill last night described Manchester City's decision to sack Mark Hughes as "crazy" and a sad indictment of the changing landscape of English football. The Aston Villa...

Liverpool intend to ask Aston Villa about Emile Heskey's availability

• England forward fits Anfield bill of cheap and experienced• Rafael Benítez banking on striker's affection for the clubRafael Benítez has placed Emile Heskey top of his wish list for January despite facing a monumental task to persuade Aston Villa to grant the striker a...

Review of the Year 2009: Fabio Capello

In the last 12 months, Fabio Capello has become the poster boy for a new age of austerity in English football, one that is deeply longed for among the nostalgia-mongers. After all, they say, he is the unsmiling, unflinchingly serious authoritarian who has tamed the most unruly bunch of naughty kids...