Amid all the indignation — righteous or not — over Joe Brolly’s Colm Cooper and Kerry remarks, it may have been lost on many that the substantive prosecution charge was that Kerry are bottlers.

THERE are quite a few words to describe how the other 81,435 people in Croke Park felt at half-time in yesterday’s All-Ireland semi-final but trapped was my first thought, and it’s as good as any to explain how we all felt.

ONCE in a lifetime you work with the best GAA chairman there is. Alas, it’s only the once.

CARLO Ancelotti woke up in west London yesterday morning and peered under his bed for the black cat he’d trodden on.

HE didn’t notice himself breaking into a fast, ungainly walk towards Daniel Goulding. Along the sideline with the Hogan Stand suppressing, suffocating. Simple message. Kick it dead and this will be all over. He thought the message was simple. No ambivalence. Kick the ball dead.

IT has to be rare for a team of such depth and experience to produce such error-ridden fare for so long and remaining standing in the Championship.

THE Republic of Ireland’s Euro 2012 draw may not have a Hollywood hue to it, nor is it box office, but it has the most important element of all about it.

LIKE him or scoff at his, shall we say idiosyncrasies (Caribbean cocktail of hair colours, for starters), no-one can ever describe David James as your typical Premier League half-wit.

PAUL MERSON is a chirpy type but when he shook and bowed his head in the Sky Sports studio on Saturday, you sensed a Eureka moment in the air.

IT’S been a spectacular week on the field for Wayne Rooney, inset, and Man Utd, but perhaps the most important development was not Rooney’s devastating breakaway goal at the Emirates yesterday, but rather his pledge to remain a Red for the remainder of his career.