“If I vote for these accounts, in some way I’m giving my approval…” says Godall, who, like Laporta, was a fierce critic of the old regime Laporta rehearses a speech to put the irate members at ease. “The approval of the accounts of last season in no way means the approval of the previous board’s management nor supposes that we will not pursue whoever responsible if our legal department advises us to.”24 August, 2003 With all the new signings completed – at a cost of some €45m (£31m) – and the season about to begin, the new team is presented to the members before a friendly match against Boca Juniors in a sort of night-time festival; 90,000 people have come to the Nou Camp, the biggest crowd for this event in many years We follow Laporta down into the tunnel. In fact they have each had to put up a guarantee of €1.5m (£1m) each for the privilege of sitting here. The statutes of the club state that any board that has not previously managed the club must provide a €25m (£17m) guarantee against possible mismanagement in their four-year term. Near midnight, the final clauses are tapped in by the secretary, surrounded by nervous directors. The signing, and the explosion of celebrations afterwards, is a defining moment. The directors secure their first triumph, with a mixture of well-schooled business acumen, uninhibited boyish enthusiasm, and egos hungry enough to enjoy the limelight.22 July, 2003 The young Turks are lounging around in the red plush and gilded salon that is the boardroom The 16 new directors (15 men and one woman) are unpaid.

Only a few days before, Manchester United, with €25m (£17m) in the bank from the sale of Beckham, seemed certain to sign him. But then Sandro Rosell emerged as an arch poker player of the transfer market.With the bidding at its height. Laporta, Alfons Godall – the vice-president for members and supporters – and Rosell gather in the president’s office. “We’re stuck in the ground like a tree, waiting for developments in the British Isles,” says Rosell. “But no news is good news.” He has offered a package of €30m (£21m) to Paris Saint Germain, Ronaldinho’s present club. When Ronaldinho arrives in the office, Rosell’s friendship with the player is obvious, and almost certainly decisive The negotiations still drag on.

While lawyers and agents read through the clauses, Ronaldinho plays absent-mindedly with a ball. After signing a new contract on Thursday, he was not satisfied with saying that it was like winning the Lottery, but had to add that he was “the happiest man alive”. “The pitch was bad, the wind was strong, there were plenty of excuses for us not to perform but we have gone out and done the job.” Despite having Roberts and Ellington in his armoury, Jewell hopes to bring in another marksman, Ade Akinbiyi from Stoke City.Meanwhile, at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland took 15 minutes longer than Wigan to break the deadlock but in the 18th minute Stephen Elliott crossed and Marcus Stewart headed in He wasn’t finished. Stewart went on to complete his hat-trick six minutes into the second half, his second goal coming from the penalty spot and the third after the Hornets goalkeeper, Paul Jones, misjudged a long punt in the swirling wind and dropped the ball behind him leaving Stewart to prod it home.”Stewy was much maligned at times so it was lovely to be able to take him off with half an hour left having done his job and to see him get a standing ovation,” Mick McCarthy, the Black Cats’ manager, said.The striker’s contract ends with the season. “The nice thing about people that are out of contract,” McCarthy mused, “is that you find there’s a little bit of a spark about them, you find people work harder. I’m not going to sit down and dismantle any of the work he’s doing, he’s brilliant, he’s not insecure about his situation.

Let’s see where we end up, let’s see what league we’re in, there’s no rush.”Stewart had gone but the goals kept coming. The substitute Chris Brown made it 4-0 before Bruce Dyer, a Hornets sub, scored twice. The 4-2 scoreline gave the Wearsiders a goal difference of 19.In the play-off places, Reading slipped to fifth and have now won only 1 in 10 matches after a 3-1 reverse at Leeds United, themselves making a late dash at the top six. Rob Hulse, the striker on loan from West Bromwich Albion, scored twice. “The fans will expect that every week now,” the Leeds assistant manager, Sam Ellis, quipped. “The play-offs are a hopeful, but realistic possibility.”The four other Championship games all had a whiff of relegation anxiety about them, most pungently at Home Park where Rotherham United, bottom and surely doomed, drew 1-1 with Plymouth Argyle, who are still only five points clear of the bottom three.Coventry City are the club most in peril of being dragged into the danger zone and yesterday’s 2-0 home defeat by Burnley at Highfield Road was the Sky Blues’ fifth consecutive loss.

“What we’ve got here,” Coventry’s latest manager, Micky Adams, surmised, “are some fine individual players and no team.”It was just the result Gillingham, one place and now just two points behind them, wanted to hear as they held Millwall to a goalless stalemate at the Priestfield Stadium. Afterwards Stan Ternent, the Gill’s manager, revealed his escape strategy: “We’ve got 14 games left and we need to win half of them.”Cardiff City and Brighton have both been edging clear of danger but at Ninian Park the Welsh side’s form looked the firmer, a Peter Thorne penalty and rare James Collins goal giving a 2-0 win.. Ian Holloway, the Queen’s Park Rangers manager, not only wears his emotions on his sleeve, but often swathes them all over the whole garment. Rijkaard is a famous former player, but he hasn’t managed a big club before He is soft-spoken, modest, and young He is also relatively cheap.