BY the time the Arsenal trot out to play Birmingham on Saturday, sadly our goalfest against Blackburn will be a distant memory.

IAN RUSH couldn’t settle in Italy; the Welsh striker said it was like living in a foreign country. But San Nicola — the patron saint of Bari — is, they say, a friend to travellers and up to 6,000 Irish soccer fans were certainly making themselves at home in the coastal city yesterday.

IRELAND’S World Cup rivals Bulgaria have sacked embattled coach Plamen Markov, meaning that the national side will be under new management when they visit Dublin in March of next year.

I was fortunate to witness a chance encounter between Jack Charlton and Giovanni Trapattoni