It’s Champions League time again. Apart from Liverpool losing away in Europe again, Arsenal throwing away a useful 1-0 lead in Rosenborg and Chelsea playing an efficient game against holders Porto, the main news surrounding the English teams was to do with Rooney playing a blinder. He could’ve used the excuse of being slightly rusty in his first game after returning from injury, but instead he used his first Man Utd game and first Champions League to produce the finest debut I’ve ever seen and tear the Fenerbahce defence to shreds. And demonstrated that he and Van Nistelrooij/Nistelrooy may well form a lethal partnership.

But let’s not get too excited. Man Utd still looked iffy at the back, although perhaps not as much as they were before Rio came back. But on the whole, the team did play very well; even Kleberson managed to produce an immaculate cross for Giggs’ goal.

Perhaps more interesting was the game between Roma and Real Madrid in Group B, where two (ahem) giants of European football are trying to get their seasons, back on track. Despite going 2-0 down, Real showed enough resolve to win 4-2. Nevertheless, the group is very much open, and with Kiev on 6 points and Leverkusen developing signs of consistency, the teams from the Italian and Spanish capitals could still fail at the first hurdle.

That damned metatarsal! Two years ago, it was regarded as a particularly rare injury. Now it seems that the England team is doomed to lose on of its key players (and Gary Neville...arf) every couple of months. This time it's Gerrard's turn, after getting his foot caught in the Old Trafford turf.

The game saw the return of Rio after his 8-month ban, and on the basis of last night's match it would appear that Man United are not as dead and buried as many believe them to be. Still, they travel to Spurs next weekend, and if they can pull off a result there, then they might still be in for a shout for the championship (yes, I do realise it's early days yet).

Nevertheless, Spurs have also apparently turned a corner and have recently become solid at the back, much to the annoyance of Jose Mourinho, who critised the North Lodnon team for "bringing the bus and leaving the bus in front of the goal". Many people would consider playing defensively when you're away to one of the top teams in the country the normal thing to do, especially when in previous season, you have been trounced there on a regular basis. But Jose obviously likes to see naive, but attacking football. Just like his Porto side of last season, who played so defensively, his players made it into their opponent's half by accident. Perhaps, he's just annoyed because his team have spent 25 fat ones on forward, but have played their second 0-0 league draw in a row.

Eriksson tops Real's list: oh boy, here we go again.

Chelsea might have the cash, Man U might have Rooney, Arsenal might have the stylish football (well...perhaps not based on last night's performance), but Boro have got the best-dressed supporters as Reuters reports.

Boro fans told to dress up for UEFA Cup match
Middlesbrough fans were surprised to discover they have to dress up for the Premier League club's UEFA Cup match against Banik Ostrava on Thursday.
Wednesday's tabloids reported that misprinted tickets for home game against the Czech side stated: "It is a condition of entry that gentlemen wear a jacket, collar and tie. Jeans, tracksuits and trainers are not permitted."
One Middlesbrough supporter told the club's website messageboard: "Many a fan will be confused by the statement saying they should wear a shirt and tie and that no entry is allowed for those wearing tracksuits, jeans and trainers.
"Top Man is reporting a roaring trade. I've got my Tux cleaned for the night," he added, referring to the British high street clothes retailer.

*See this website if you don't understand the title.

Ho-hum. Arsenal continue to wreck everything that comes into their path. Opponents’ defences…and in the case of this weekend…referees’ reputations. This time it was Mark Halsey, who made a series of howlers, included denying a goal that was, denying a penalty that was and changing his mind about a penalty that should’ve been.

Also, a round of applause to Rob Styles who booked Didier Drogba for being clearly tripped up in the box by Ulises de la Cruz (which would normally result in a penalty), as well as to Steve Bennett who gave Tim Cahill his second yellow card for celebrating. Yes, this trio have certainly provided us at Round and White with much thought.

Elsewhere, Paul Robinson and Robert Green made sure that they continue to breathe down David James’ neck for the England no.1 shirt and Ledley King continued his excellent form. Am I the only one wondering if Rio Ferdinand should automatically step back into his old position in the England squad? In any case, he’s certainly got his work cut out, as Man United continue to ship goals, such as the two against Bolton.

Oh, by the way, a secret source has provided us with this excerpt from Graham Souness’s last training session at Blackburn.

Graham Souness: “Oh, before I go lads, one more thing”.
Unnamed player: “Yes boss?”
GS: “Don’t bother marking that Alan Shearer, he’s well past it, especially at headers. In fact you’d do better to completely ignore him if he comes into the box. The pressure will get to him. Reverse psychology and all that”.
UP: “You sure boss?”
GS: “Oh yeah. Definitely”

The tabloids are always so full of crap. They like to think that they know exactly what's going on in the footballing world and we love their guesswork...sorry I mean accurate reporting.

For instance The Sun claimed today that Aston Villa manager David O'Leary is "TO BE NEW TOON MAN", providing that the two clubs can agree on compensation.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail writes that "Newcastle will get their number one choice Steve Bruce - but not until next year, to give Birmingham the chance to find a quality replacement" (via Football365).

On the other hand every other news source reports that Graham Souness has just quit Blackburn to become the new Newcastle manager. Hmmm. Keep up boys!

Hi Sven,

Two names for you: Paul Robinson and Owen Hargreaves. The first knows how to keep a clean sheet and not flap under pressure. The second is a quick and versatile midfielder. He plays for Bayern Munich, who, just in case you didn’t know, are a fairly good team. He could do with more of a run-out.
Btw there’s a good reason why David James’ nickname is “Calamity”.

Regards,

Pete

Or so they say. Rooney’s off to Man U, and it’s no real surprise to anyone. Let’s face it; he was never going to move to Newcastle. So, 27 million quid later, will Rooney blossom? To be honest, Sir Alex has always made a good job of protecting his young stars, so for a teenager in the media spotlight, Man U is a better place for him to be than Everton. But do they really need him? Given that they now have 4 forwards (and Diego Forlan?) they certainly have a potent attack, but their defence is still looking leaky, although the return of Rio and Heinze should rectify that (in theory).

And Bobby’s off as well. It remains to be seen where to, but you hope that it’s a quiet studio job now. He’s still one of England’s better managers, but it’s about time he gave it a rest. In any case, we see enough of him every day thanks to that friggin' Barclaycard advert (good choice for your ad there lads).

Southampton are possibly looking to an egg-chaser to solve their managerial crisis. Yes, they are that desperate. Even Glenda would do a better job. What's more alarming is the news that people are also linking Clive Woodwood to the England job.

As for the Premiership, well it’s still Arsenal all the way with Chelsea just about hanging onto their coattails. Unless, Man U buck up their ideas soon, they’ll be 12 points adrift in no time. I should also mention some relegation candidates, but there are too many teams playing bad football at the moment for Round and White to pick out any real no-hopers...apart from Palace who really do have a very dodgy keeper.