Say what you will about the conduct of English fans, they certainly have more passion during a football match than your average Hertha Berlin fan. I've been to a few Hertha games by now, and while the games have been of varying quality, the crowds have generally been quieter than "Highbury the library". But I was hoping that this time thins would be different. With Marcelinho and co lying in fourth place on Saturday morning, a win combined with results going their way would be that they would end up in one of the two remaining Champions League spots. So all to play for then.

Up against them were a mid-table Hannover 96 side who looked intent on keeping 11 men behind the ball at all times. Nevertheless, some early crisp, quick and neat passing by Hertha opened the defence a few times, but it was to little avail, as several half-chances were missed and the game settled into a dull affair. The initial joyous noise that had welcomed the men in blue before kick-off had all but disappeared.

The second half was similar to the first. A bright opening, but after Basturk missed from 2 metres out, both teams seemed as though they wanted the 0-0 draw. News from the other games such as Bayern beating Stuttgart meant that a 1-0 to Hertha would be sufficient. However, that had little effect on the Berliners who lacked the determination and bite to get the job done. This appeared to have an direct effect on the 74,500 sell-out crowd, who were edgy and nervous and grew increasingly frustrated at the lack of a goal.

The final whistle went and instead of the joyous celebration that would've certainly followed a match-winner and the end of 90 minutes, the crowd booed a clearly exhausted team. Results elsewhere meant that Schalke maintained their grip on the second Champions League spot behind Bayern, while a victorious Bremen leapfrogged Stuttgart and Hertha to grab the final spot. All in all, a disappointing afternoon of football.

On the bright side, the newly renovated Olympic Stadium looks cracking and will be a great place to watch the World Cup final in 13 months time. All it needs now are fans who are willing to get behind their team and come up with some decent songs.

In the interests of bringing you the most up-to-date European football news I'm off to Germany to cover the last day of the Bundesliga season*. Expect a full report when I return.

*A stag weekend with a Hertha Berlin match thrown in.

...has struck again. No sooner do I receive an email from Ben (at Black and White And Read All Over) asking me for my thoughts on Newcastle's season, do the newspapers report that Newcastle are requesting that Craig Bellamy attend pre-season training. Obviously, this was just a ploy to show any potential buyers that they won't get Craig at a bargain price. Nevertheless, it's a good example of why NUFC's idea of staff management leaves something to be desired.

To the long-suffering Toon Army fan, the season has been all about HR problems and apart from the dream of European and domestic silverware that sadly faded away in April, the last 9 months are a long stretch of time that everybody connected with Newcastle will want to forget. The antics of Bellamy, Robert, Bowyer and co. have held the team back, although fair play to Souness who made the best of a bad hand by taking the team as far they did in the cups. (The rest of this post can now be found at Black and White And Read All Over.)

In response to the comments on the last post here's an informative and unbiased article by Frank Kane from last Sunday's Observer. While it would be better for me to express my opinion in my own words, he has managed to do so in a far more eloquent manner. Read on...

"It is time to inject some sanity into the Manchester United situation. Judging by the hysterical reaction of some fans and small shareholders, you'd have thought Malcolm Glazer was threatening to disband the club, bulldoze Old Trafford and build a satellite town for homeless Liverpudlians on the site.

I'll get some stick over this, but I think the truth of it is undeniable: while most business journalists understand the off-side rule, many sports journalists do not grasp the basic provisions of the takeover code. Here are some harsh realities for the back-page hacks and die-hard Shareholders United types.

Manchester United was never 'owned' by its fans; the club has never 'belonged' to them in any legal or even moral sense. Before it was a public company, it was owned by a succession of businessmen, culminating in the much-derided Edwards family. When it was floated on the stock market, it was the first time fans had any real opportunity to buy a slice of ownership. Only a small minority did so. Even when it was obvious - after the 1998 bid by BSkyB - that their club was a takeover target, few fans made any effort to prevent future bids in the only realistic way; by buying shares.

The Glazer family has just come up with £272 million - the biggest single investment by anybody so far in British football - and promises more of the same over the years. (That £20m transfer pot, by the way, is to be spent on top of what the plc would have spent on players.)"

These were just some of the key (and in my eyes very valid) points that came up in the article. If you've got any thoughts (and I'm sure you have) then you know where to express them.

Why are so many residents of Surrey...sorry I mean Man United fans in so much uproar? After all, the group known as Shareholders United, should, given their name, be fully aware that their team is also a company that can be bought and sold just like any other plc. This may have led to positive consequences in the form of substantial investment a few years ago, but they shouldn't be angry that someone else has decided to buy "their" club.

Perhaps the anger is also down to the fact that Glazer is American? Compare the reception to his purchase to that of Abramovich at Chelsea; Roman may be a foreigner, but nevertheless he comes from a country with (European) footballing heritage. Again, this is a particularly naive approach to take, as Glazer, if he has any sense, will not interfere in day-to-day football matters at Old Trafford and leave that to people who know what they are doing. He is, after all, a business man.

So Sir Alex once again persists with the idea that there was nothing between Man Utd and Chelsea, apart from a few lucky penalty decisions during the course of the season. Riiiight. I've never seen a more clear cut example of a man in denial.

I'm sure that Jose's boys march through a very disgruntled guard of honour formed by the Man Utd squad while on the way to a new Premiership points record almost meant more to Mourinho than lifting the Premiership trophy did.

...is probably beginning to wish he'd not moved to Real Madrid. At the same time, Chelsea's Championship euphoria lasts for 3 days as Jose blames the linesman and claims (unsurprisingly as it's Jose) that the best team lost. He may well have a point...but that is what football is like unfortunately Jose.