I was thumbing through some railway magazines in my local newsagent the other morning when who should I see reaching for the top shelf content but Gio, webmaster and head boy at The Gaffer. Without further ado, we got involved in an impromptu interview about his site, his loves, his hates and whether Gio van Bronckhorst will ever be anything but a stiff at Highbury...

The Gaffer - what's it all about, and how long has it been on the go?

In February i got Blueyonder internet. I decided I'd like to play network games of CM, so I went about looking for some partners. I saw a post on a forum from someone called Ian. He wanted to make some sort of challenge based on the English league. Myself, and a few others met every third day to play what was known as UCMC. I decided to make a small website on Geocities, which would contain squad details, news, fixtures and results. A month later, a site called Under Pressure came on the scene. A clean design, interesting features and a helpful webmaster made this site my favourite. It inspired me to make CmZine, now known as The Gaffer. I went about learning some HTML and opened my copy of MS Front Page. Me and Tim (Smiffy) from UCMC wrote some content for the site, but it was never very good. It really took off when I applied for hosting at neopages. They are so helpful. When i was accepted, Simon approached me to join TG. I went about redesigning and I ended up with TG v1. It was okay, but the feedback I got was quite hurtful. I closed the site for a week, redesigned and reworked it, and the result was what you see today. I like to think of TG as a place for thought-provoking content, and I feel most of it lives up to that. Some, I admit, is rushed so that I can provide CM gamers with the content I promise.

How many people work for the site, and do different staff members have responsibility for dedicated areas?

There is myself - I am in charge of everything, and do everything. I write content, I administer the forums and I keep people up to date with news, etc. Simon creates many menubars and contributes a lot - perhaps too much at times - to the forums. Reema is one of our - and the scene's - best writers. She writes content that is of high quality, and I have had a lot of good feedback from readers of her work. Our newest staff member is Chris Edwards. He lives in Hong Kong and is a general webmaster. He writes content and helps me out with news posting. Someone that is uknown to a lot of TG's visitors is Phil. He is currently making the graphics section of TG, and soon all gfx will be moved over to his sub-site on the TG servers.

What is the first thing about TG that you would mention if you were recommending it to someone?

I'd say that we are dedicated to bringing CM fans and - especially in recent weeks - footy fans good content that is sometimes controversial and thought-provoking

Why do some areas of the site work (Forum, Columns) whilst others (Players, Tactics) are less popular?

It may come as a surprise, but statistics show that players and tactics get amongst some of the highest views on the site, while the columns do not get as many visitors. This perhaps tells us that our content is either not on an exciting topic, not good enough quality or we're not targeting the right people.

What's the secret behind a good forum? Yours is a very good forum, and I should know.

Well, I think you just need to have a few friends and contacts who can start the forum off. We had about 1000 posts in our first week, admitedly, most of them were Simon's, but that meant people realised that we were a lively bunch, and that you'd get a response almost immediately. A good design, and a relaxed atmosphere is also very important.

What sort of brilliant new things can we expect from TG in the future?

Well, we are always trying to think up new ideas, but we are more of a content-based site. In the comming weeks, as we find our strengths and weaknesses, we will rethink how the site is organised. I am thinking of cutting down the number of sections we have, to concentrate on columns. For the experienced gamer, columns are the only attraction to a site. I do have some interactive features swirling around in my head, but nothing definite or distinct.

So you're a Rangers fan. Can the Gers ever catch up to Celtic?

I think the gap is closing, if not closed already. Rangers now have a great squad and mental attitude, but I feel the inconsistency is still there. This years SPL will certainly be close, too close to call. Rangers will win the majority of the Old Firm battles, but Celtic don't slip up, something that has come into Rangers' game the past couple of years.

'Scottish football will not survive as long as it is dominated by the Old Firm'. Discuss.

I could write a whole essay on this. in fact, I will. Visitors to TG will know we did a Scotland feature a few weeks back, and I'm planning some follow-up articles this week. So, I'm afraid, you'll have to wait until then.

Berti McVogts - does he have the answer?

He has surprised me. The German team of Euro 96, managed by Vogts, was the oldest of the tournament. I was expecting another Craig Brown, squads full of OAPs, but he has brought in many youngsters. Kevin McNaughton, Mo Ross, Stephen Crainey and Gareth Williams are great finds, with of course Boro's own Robbie Stockdale impressing as well. I still feel however, that some players haven't been given a chance yet. Gavin Rae was linked with a "big money" move to Parma at the end of last season, but has still not been capped under McVogts. Others include Barry Nicholson, Phil McGuire and Charlie Miller. I think Scotland fans have to be patient. The poor results that we have had were due to the inexperience of youth. Some players hadn't even completed their first season in the first team. We have a young team, and the future, I think, is bright for the Tartan Army.

What sort of changes do you think will be needed to make CM4 great?

Training, tactics and the media. Training, at the moment, is just too basic. We need more! The current match engine makes tactical decisions very hard. The introduction of the 2D match engine will mean you can pinpoint the shortfalls of your wonder tactic. Media interaction nowadays features heavily in football. This can definitely be expanded on, with perhaps the addition of press conferences and post-match interviews.

When did you start playing CM?

At a mate's house about four years ago. He had 97/98. The following year we got a decent PC and I bought CM3.

Do you have to be any particular team, and are there any players you must buy?

Hmmm... Peterborough Utd and Castel di Sangro. Peterborough Utd are my English team. My dad supported them as a kid; as much as I hate to admit that he is English. Castel are an Italian lower league team. I read about them in a book once, entitled The Miracle of Castel di Sangro. If I am a big team, I always sign Barry "the god" Ferguson. He is a great player in CM and in real life. Djibril Cisse is also class. I first saw him on Europsort last year, and he has been one of my favourite players since. I also sign about 25 Scots if possible. I always have at least 5 Scots in my squad.

Which leagues on CM are the best, and why? Do you think that the game will always make some leagues more fun to play as they are more competitive in real life (e.g. England will always have a greater edge than the League of Wales)?

The best ones are the lower leagues of the biggest countries. eg, the Conference or Serie C2. It is because you can take these small teams and make them into world beaters. In the League of Wales, you can never win the Champions League as no one will ever move to a Welsh club who is good enough.

What's your preferred tactic, sir? Are you a super tactic user, or more of a hoary traditionalist?

I make my own tactics. I use the with/without ball screens to their full potential. I never realised how essential they were untill a few years ago. I always use my 532 dartingv3 tactic. it always works a treat.

What do you think of the CM scene in general?

It's lively. It must have one of the biggest followings in the UK. At the moment, it's a bit dry. No news from SI makes our job very hard. We have to keep everyone in the Scene going until we can start discussing CM4. When it does come out, sites will be opening and updating like crazy.

There has recently been much debate over the fact that too many CM sites write about the same things? Is this really a problem?

What are the alternatives? I think the reason is that CM3 has been around for almost four years now, and everything has been written about twice over. I have started to write a lot of football columns now, while other sites are writing about the scene or stories.

What do you reckon to the new CM chat room?

To be honest, I think our little chats on MSN are better. Cm Chat is too global for my liking. I'll visit it now and again, but I won't be on it 24/7.

What's the single most important thing for a CM site to have? Is it a cracking design, content or a certain indefinable something?

The design certainly helps. The prime example is Love of Champman. The content is good, but it is only a weekly visit for me because I can't bear to see the site too much. The design is just strange. Navigation, colours, layout, organisation - it's all wrong. I hope Paul redesigns asap so that LofCM can actually challege. A good design is essential for first impressions, but regular content is needed for a daily visit, eg UP and CM Star.

Where do you stand over the idea to have one big uber-site to which we all contribute?

It's like Communism - a great idea in theory, but in practice, it'll never work. For me, I want a certain amount of independence, and I've spent too much time on TG just to see it close down. As soon as it runs out of steam, and it starts to decay, then I will think about joining to make a massive site. Of course, The Dugout was formed through mergers, but I think that's an exception. Maybe in about three years time, we'll see another merger.

In your opinion, and to satisfy my curiousity, what do you reckon to CM Stuff?

What improvements must be made? You have the best writer on the scene. A new design, and more staff would make ver Stuff the best of the best. At present, the only complaint is the design as a whole and the layout of some sections.

And finally, will you be changing your name now that Mr van Bronckhorst has left Rangers to join Arsenal reserves? Maybe you could become Tore instead.

I feel sorry for Flo. he just hasn't been a hit over here. As for Gio, well he will help Arsenal to second in the league. I will never change my allegiance to the great man.

Talking of stiffs, the conversation then turned to Gio's preferences between glossy adult magazines such as Playboy, or the harder materials such as the sort of content on those reprehensible websites Simon from TG is always urging me to glance at. As luck would have it, the menubar supremo himself then walked in, and proceeded to give me some great links to his favourite adult sites. These are - sorry, the tape's run out. Oh well.

If you are a CM webmaster and would like to be grilled on pretty much everything, then let me know at the usual address and I'll make sure I'm in your neck of the woods soon.