7 February ~ Leicester City manager Nigel Pearson was a model of restraint after his side's 1-0 defeat to a late Brighton goal at the weekend. The defeat was "a difficult one to take at the moment", but for now he would be maintaining a diplomatic silence over the decision of the referees to dismiss Jermaine Beckford, apparently for foul and abusive language. Or, putting it another way, we lost and we all know it was the referees' fault. It was just another average weekend in the top two divisions of English football when it came to blaming the match officials for the final score.

6 February ~ Playing three central defenders has long been consigned to English football's tactical dustbin. Even during the 1980s and 1990s, when much of Europe embraced the tactic, England never really took to it. Some Premier League teams are now following the lead of several big European clubs in reviving the system in new and interesting ways. Despite its history and association with grand failure on the international stage, the three-man defence is on its way back. The last time England played a 3-5-2 they suffered a disastrous 2-0 defeat to Croatia in Zagreb and failed to qualify for Euro 2008. Steve McClaren’s tactical shift backfired comically as Croatia ran out winners off the back of Gary Neville’s ridiculous own goal.

Premier League ~ Misplaced attacks from tribal fans
The phrase "a great advent for English football" isn't the best advert for English punditry, but even the dourest of curmudgeons must be enjoying the games between the teams at the top of the Premier League this season. Manchester City's trip to Spurs provided six goals; Arsenal's defeat at Manchester United had ten; Manchester City scored six of the seven at Old Trafford; and Chelsea shared six with United yesterday. Attacking is in vogue and long may it continue. It is a shame the behaviour of the supporters at the games has not matched the improved football on show.

5 February ~ Nobody should be surprised that Italian stadiums are so empty these days after the events behind this round of midweek Serie A and Serie B matches. Six of the 21 fixtures were postponed; four in Serie A. Only two, at Bologna and Modena, could be attributed directly to adverse weather conditions. The others, at Siena, Parma, Sampdoria and Bergamo, highlighted the inadequacy of Italian stadiums in 2012. The pitches were all playable but the games were postponed due to a combination of snow-covered terraces in obsolete stadiums that date to 1920s and blocked access to games on the roads.

5 February ~ Women's Professional Soccer (WPS), the pinnacle of the women's football pyramid in America, announced it was suspending its 2012 season on Monday. The intention is to resume the league in 2013. The news has implications for both the American and Great Britain teams ahead of the 2012 Olympics, and, in the longer term, for the survival of professional women's football in the USA. The suspension comes as the costs of a lengthy legal battle with franchise owner Dan Borislow threaten to do "irreparable harm" to the league.

4 February ~ West Ham United play hosts to Millwall today for the first time since 2009’s infamous League Cup tie, when the home fans ran riot both on and off the pitch. An early kick-off plus a scandalously small ticket allocation for away supporters was supposedly designed to prevent any possible repeat of those scenes. It appears to have had the opposite effect, with rumours of Millwall fans threatening to turn up on the day in the hope of gaining entrance to the ground or buying tickets for the home end. Only five days ago Sky announced they would be showing the game – apparently on the request of the police.

4 February ~ Earlier this season, after Doncaster Rovers went down 2-0 at the Madejski Stadium, a fellow fan said to me "Can we not just take these Reading games out of the fixture list, give them the six points and do something else on these dates?" The Biscuitmen are Doncaster's bogey side. Rovers have taken just one point from their seven meetings since the two sides were reunited in the second tier. It is a foreboding fixture at any time, let alone in the week when your top scorer and talisman has moved on to pastures new.

3 February ~ Winning Ugly is a tennis manual written by former tour pro Brad Gilbert in which he explains how to achieve success even when hampered by a lack of ability or form simply by focusing on clear strategy and resolve to defeat an opponent. Gilbert would doubtless be wringing his hands in frustration at the current Manchester City squad, who, despite having no shortage of talent, are finding the art of grinding out the difficult win when not at their best a major stumbling block to their title aspirations.

3 February ~ In a blog for the Independent, Alex Hochuli has explained that the 74 deaths at a football match in Port Said on Wednesday night were not just the tragic result of another football disaster. He argues that it would be a mistake to simply treat the events as another in a long line of football catastrophes, in which lazy or corrupt officials fail to provide security. The causes of the violence are much broader. Politics has impacted heavily on other aspects of life in post-revolution Egypt. Since last year's uprising, political stability and security have deteriotated in the Arab world's most populous country. This disaster needs to be understood in a wide politcal context. To read the blog click here.

2 February ~ "Our City Our Team" is the statement that greets readers logging onto York City’s official website. Sadly it seems inevitable that in the near future these sentiments will no longer be appropriate. After nearly 80 years of calling Bootham Crescent home, a planning application has been submitted to the council that would see City move to a new home three miles out of town, on the site of the Monks Cross shopping centre. Bootham Crescent, situated in the terraced streets of Bootham just a wayward free-kick away from the bustle of the city centre, is no longer wanted by the club’s directors due to its lack of corporate facilities and inability to provide income away from match days.

2 February ~ It would be understandable if Vladimir Weiss, who quit his job as coach of Slovakia this week "by mutual consent", reflected that he had become a victim of his own standards. Three and a half years ago Weiss took on a team that had become a target of ridicule after losing a Euro 2008 qualifier 5-2 at home to Wales. He proceeded to guide them to the top of their World Cup qualification group, earning a rare win over neighbours the Czech Republic in the process. In South Africa, a thrilling victory over the World Cup holders Italy sent the Slovaks through to the last 16.

2 February ~ Chile is an unpredictable place, epitomised by the desert city of Antofagasta ("Anto" is Spanish for opposite, while "fagasta" can be loosely translated as "Reeaally?"). The club's crest refers to the constant state of alert locals are in when disposing domestic refuse and recycling. It is not unknown for residents and council employees to be surprised by a white panther rearing up at them from inside wheelie-bins. Grown to excessive size by feasting on human detritus, these scavenging behemoths were responsible for the phenomenon of "mob recycling", in which armed parties of up to 30 neighbours separated their glass, paper and card accompanied by a priest and a doctor. Deportes Antofagasta have used this terrifying image to suggest Dormant Menace, which, coincidentally, is pretty much Andy Carroll's role in the current Liverpool side. Read more

Premier League – More Merseyside misery for Mancini
Roberto Mancini's frustrations continued on Tuesday night, when they lost 1-0 to Everton. The Italian manager has never won in Liverpool, despite leading his teams to the city six times since February 2008, when his Inter side were beaten at Anfield in the Champions League. It is bemusing, then, that Mancini has admitted he took the game too lightly, particularly considering that City have won only once in 14 visits to Goodison Park since 1993. The defeat leaves City ahead of Manchester United on goal difference, while Everton have climbed to ninth.

In today's Reappraisal Ed Wilson proposes that, if you look past his bitter demeanou