Time to get with the programme

IT WOULD be nice to think you are reading this column in its traditional print form but I accept you may not be. It may well be on a phone or tablet. And us old-fashioned print journalists are not the only ones adjusting to changing times. It turns out the match-day programmes so familiar to generations of football-going families are under threat, too. Very much an English tradition, programmes are struggling simply because people aren’t buying them any more. Most Premier League clubs sell just three or four thousand per game. So here’s a tip. Have a look in the attic and dig out what you can. Those dusty old relics from Aldershot, Arsenal, Burnley and Birmingham will one day be more valuable than you ever imagined. I DON’T know who is in charge of the electronic road signs in Manchester but I suspect they wear sky blue. ‘The Race for 6th’ is how the Manchester United v Leicester game was described on displays to motorists on Saturday afternoon. I hope United are big enough to take the joke on the chin. It’s only football, after all.

GOOD WEEK TROY PARROTT

THE word is that Tottenham have found another Harry Kane. Mick McCarthy wanted the 17-year-old striker for the Republic of Ireland squad last week but was asked by Mauricio Pochettino to treat him carefully. So the teenager stayed with the Republic Under 21s for whom he scored twice.

BAD WEEK GARETH SOUTHGATE

IT MAY seem odd after two qualifying wins but with the European Championship only eight months away, Southgate is a manager with only one reliable central defender. If he isn’t worried, he should be.