EVERYONE was on their best behaviour in Madrid thank goodness. UEFA were unavailable for comment.

CORK manager Conor Counihan has insisted he will not be drawn into any quick decision about his future position after the disappointment of Sunday’s All-Ireland semi-final replay to Kerry.

THIS COLUMN bows to no man in its admiration for all things Tipperary. Clonmel Chardonnay. Liberty Square. Horse and Jockey. The list goes on and on, and is now joined by The Book.

JOE CALZAGHE has branded boxing “a dying sport” and is glad he is close to ending his career rather than just starting out.

EXCUSE MY old Norse but what a bummer of a summer to come home to, after flying all the way from Iceland.

PRESSURE intensified on ITV bosses to take responsibility for the spate of phone-in scandals yesterday after chairman Michael Grade admitted he would have resigned if he had been chief executive at the time of the deceit.

CELTIC manager Gordon Strachan hailed his side for the way they handled a heavily-watered artificial pitch to claim an impressive Champions League draw at Spartak Moscow.

Damien Enright meets with Foxes of a very different kind

JUST two weeks after claiming he wanted to leave Chelsea, Didier Drogba is set to upset his employers once again with the release of a DVD chronicling his life story in which he admits he wanted to fail the medical he took before he joined the London club and was “disgusted” when he eventually put pen to paper at Stamford Bridge.

RAFAEL BENITEZ held “positive” talks with Liverpool’s co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett last night, despite seeing his side slip further behind in the Premier League title race.

IT wasn’t just the warm spring sunshine that brought a sweat to the brows of Stoke players on Saturday. An agonisingly tight promotion race is enough to make even the coolest characters feel hot under the collar, but Rory Delap has no reason to fear a late collapse in the Potteries.

PATRICE EVRA is claiming that an alleged racist remark from a member of Chelsea’s ground-staff sparked the on-field brawl after Manchester United’s tempestuous defeat at Chelsea on Saturday.

DERRY forward Paddy Bradley accused the GAA of “shooting themselves in the foot” by not playing yesterday’s NFL final at Croke Park.

PAIN, accepts Jerry Flannery, goes hand in hand with ambition, but the Munster hooker doesn’t want a repeat of the hurt inflicted on the province by both Connacht and Ulster in recent weeks.

RAFAEL BENITEZ’S already strained relationship with Sam Allardyce fractured entirely after the Liverpool manager effectively accused his Bolton Wanderers counterpart of building his success on dirty tricks.