Sports Diary
by Patrick O’Connor

THE gift of the gab has always been a vital component in sport and never has this been more evident than over the last few days.

Just listen to British heavyweight boxer Dave Haye, talking after losing his title fight to Wladimir Klitschko on points in Hamburg.

Sports Diary
by Patrick O’Connor

LAST week it was Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton who had a very public tantrum, this week it was the turn of England cricketer Matt Prior to throw his dummy out of the pram.

Wicketkeeper Prior has apologised to a woman spectator at Lord’s after he smashed a window during the second Test against Sri Lanka.

ONE of the most depressing things about watching the FA Cup Final between Manchester City and Stoke City last Saturday was hearing the TV commentator say that the scorer of the only goal, City’s Yaya Toure,  was reputed to be earning £220,000 A WEEK!

City’s win, following their midweek clinching of a place in next season’s Champions League, means that they are guaranteed to splash out even more millions on transfers during the summer as they aim to mop up all the world’s top football talent for themselves.

IT could be described as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

I’m referring of course to the Champions League semi-final first leg between those two Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.

THE British have a reputation for being efficient and well-organised but don’t be fooled – we can cock it up as well as the rest of the world.

Take the idiots who run our football, for the past few years they’ve been doing their best to devalue the FA Cup, once the most prestigious knock-out tournament in the world.

REFEREES come in for a lot of stick and sometimes it’s justified but would you want to do their job?

A special report by BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast paints a depressing picture.