Something From The Weekend: Ex-defenders the answer; Sri Lanka's slump; Barca's apparent 3-7-0

The Good, The Bad and The Odd

Ex-defenders the answer

How do you heal a struggling side? Put a former defender in charge, preferably one who was exceptional at taking penalties, as Preston's chairman Peter Ridsdale has done. In fact, he appointed two. Former Everton centre-half David Unsworth and ex-Preston full-back Graham Alexander were installed as joint caretaker managers last week and they guided Preston to a 1-0 win over MK Dons on Saturday. Both were spot-kick specialists – Ridsdale could be on to something. Maybe Julian Dicks should take over at Birmingham, or Denis Irwin take the reigns at Wolves?

The Bad: Sri Lanka's slump

Sri Lanka appear to have reached a cricketing nadir. They were eviscerated by South Africa in the first Test at Centurion, losing by an innings and 81 runs. Angelo Mathews made the highest score for the visitors, mustering up a mere 38 runs in the first innings. And a peek at Sri Lanka's Test-match history makes for even more distressing reading; they have not won a Test match since the great Muttiah Muralitharan retired from the five-day game in July 2010.

The Odd: Barca's apparent 3-7-0

Total Football has been taken to a whole new level, or so the reporters who covered Barcelona's 4-0 pulverising of Santos believed. Journalists thought they saw Barca adopt a novel 3-7-0 formation but Pepe Guardiola rejected the suggestion, saying: "I don't think we were playing 3-7-0. That's just how we play. We try to control the midfield and exploit space." So Barcelona confuse observers as well as their opposing defenders.