Our columnist pays tribute to a managerial titan who, memorably for the Bolton man, once paid tribute to him

Our injured columnist finds himself stranded in the desert and miles from the action as D-Day dawns in the Championship

Luis Suarez may have got my vote for Player of the Year, but this Jekyll and Hyde character is seriously damaging Liverpool

Last weekend’s crowd trouble at, first, the FA Cup semi-final between Wigan and Millwall and then the local derby between Newcastle and Sunderland, was a horrible throwback to scenes we haven’t really seen in England since the ’80s.

From Best to Messi and McGrath to Gerrard — oh, and not forgetting Bernie Slaven! These are the stand-out players of my time.

The appointment of Paolo Di Canio as Sunderland head coach has hit the headlines this week in more ways than one.

The 2-2 draw with Austria on Tuesday evening was bitterly disappointing and left the players visibly demoralised at the final whistle.

Keith Andrews, looking on from afar because of injury, on the urgent need to make the most of the result in Sweden with a winning performance against Austria tonight.

The Ireland midfielder on how an enforced lay-off through injury has helped reinforce his conviction that a player should always be mindful of the day the final whistle blows.

As I sat on my sofa on Tuesday evening for the much hyped and eagerly anticipated second leg between Manchester United and Real Madrid, I spotted a very familiar face as Nemanja Vidic and Sergio Ramos met in the centre circle for the traditional coin toss — it was none other than my good friend, Cuneyt Cakir, the referee who sent me off in the final few minutes of our match against Italy in Poznan at Euro 2012.