The pride and so nearly the glory

The fact that we can go to the San Siro to take on Inter Milan, one of Italy's best sides, with a team boasting almost nothing in terms of European experience and come away feeling bitterly disappointed not to have secured all three points speaks volumes for our performance. Quite simply, we were magnificent, and nothing can take that away - not the disgraceful displays of theatricality by the likes of Conceicao and Emre, not the ludicrous booking for Bellamy, not the racist abuse of the Inter crowd directed at Bramble, Bernard and Lua Lua. Shearer grabbed another couple of vital goals to take him to five in the last two Champions' League games, and while I'm reluctant to single any one player out for praise, it must be said that Bernard was absolutely outstanding in his commitment, tackling and overall contribution to the game. Unfortunately, of course, to progress in the competition we now need to beat Barcelona at home and hope that Leverkusen somehow manage to spring a massive upset by denying Inter a win. Still, that we're even in this position is a fantastic achievement.

Just can't resist contrasting our current fortunes with the parlous state of affairs down on Wearside. Howard Wilkinson and Steve Cotterill aka The Dream Team lasted just 20 league games (27 games in total), amassing a fabulous 11 points and overseeing some scintillating displays of suicidal football - at home to Charlton and away to Spurs particularly come to mind. So, now the weight is set to fall on Mick McCarthy's shoulders - I suppose Bob Murray's rationale is that at least he's one person who's been proven to get Kevin Kilbane kicking in the right direction...