Oh how the press like to pick up on any minor mistake made in sport and it appears that with Nick Faldo, the hacks have found a character they just love to hate.
Recently the European Ryder Cup captain has come under fire for only including one assistant in the form of Jose Maria Olazabal for this years tournament. And despite claiming that there will be more members of staff being added before the start, Faldo has every right to choose just the one vice-captain, especially since everything he could possibly need to know can be found via a computer in the teams locker room.
Now it appears that Faldo has inadvertently given away his pairings via a sheet of paper he was carrying around the course during practice on Thursday, spotted by an eagle-eyed reporter.
The former Open and Masters champion is due to announce his choice of pairings later this evening and in a press conference became noticeably annoyed with the amount of attention given to the spotted notes.
When first asked about the sheet of paper Faldo attempted to make a joke of the situation claiming that it was the players sandwich requests for lunch.
He told gathered journalists it was,
"sandwich requests for the guys, just making sure who wants the tune, who wants the beef,
who wants the ham."
It seems that the press smelt blood though and continued to question Faldo on the sheet and after growing increasingly frustrated he snapped saying,
"OK, I've been caught - I learned a lesson," he said.
"You now know the pairings and we are going to play foursomes on the front nine", many will see this as a crack in Faldo's captaincy. One who certainly does is Radio Five Live reporter, Iain Carter who told the BBC,
"Faldo struggled to keep his composure after his initial joke that the list was the players' lunch requirements had frankly fallen flat.
"This, for the first time, is a sign that the Europe captain is feeling the pressure."
Now stop me if I'm wrong but wasn't Faldo naming his pairing's later this evening anyway? Shouldn't the focus be on the players? I think the answer to both of these questions will be yes and it won't stop me from betting on Europe to retain the trophy for an impressive fourth year on the bounce.
Despite all that has been said about Faldo, I believe that he is a strong enough character to take all the criticism and will presumably just be happy that the attention is on him and that the players can do their own thing. Although many are betting on the Ryder Cup think that this year will be the closest for a long time, I think that the trophy will be heading back across the Atlantic once more after Sunday's last round of matches.

29th June.
This was the date when top flight competitive football took a break for the Summer and after a long yet exciting season Manchester United had been crowned Premiership Champions on the final day of the season and European Champions in Moscow just two weeks later; the end of June saw the crowning of Spain as victors of Euro 2008.
For many football enthusiasts the next eight weeks will have been hell on Earth, I mean what else can football fans possibly talk about when the season is over right?!
Sarcasm aside, the Summer has brought about many interesting and tantalising talking points for the coming season and this feature will focus on those main talking points.
Firstly, Manchester United. The Red Devils are a club which are infrequently off the back page of the majority of national newspapers but this Summer there has been one issue which has been on the tip of everyone's tongue, the future of Cristiano Ronaldo.

With the night sky descending on SW19 a new era of mens tennis was beginning to dawn. As Roger Federer sent a forehand crashing into the bottom of the net Rafael Nadal fell to the floor in joy and the knowledge that - unofficially at least - he is, right now the best player on Earth.
After coming so close last year to toppling the World number one, taking Federer to five sets Nadal was desperate to taste victory on in what he later described as, "his favourite tournament", And after claiming both of the opening sets it seemed that this year was going to be his and his in dominant fashion. Such is the determination of Federer that he was not going to give in easily and clawed his way back into the match.
Nadal had taken both the first and second set on a solitary break 6-4 but the man from Basel had a plan up his sleeve for the remainder of the match and it oh so nearly came off.
Federer took his time, as did Nadal, deploying a definite strategy to take whatever he could off the Spaniard's serve and making sure that he held his own.
The plan nearly backfired however though as Nadal took a 0-40 lead against the Federer serve with the games locked at 3-3 but the former champion rallied, winning the next five points to save his service game.
After this it was plain sailing for Federer and when the tie-break came he stepped up yet another gear.
The pair had not lost a single breaker between them all tournament although in the 2007 final they played out two, both of which Federer won.
Whether last years result was playing on Nadal's mind we will never know but his elder oponent raced out of the traps to take the breaker on a 7-3, serving the set out on an ace.
Centre court's atmosphere is among the best in the sport but even for the most ardent of tennis fans, the electricity in the clouds above was mirrored in the stadium below as 15,000 fans almost begged for the match to go all the way. What was about to happen before their eyes though, no-one could have predicted.
Federer stayed calm and as the Rudyard Kipling poem - which famously features on the players walk to Centre - kept his head whilst all those about him were losing theirs even when his serve was letting the great man down.
Twice in the fourth set Federer went down 0-30 on his serve but as only he can do it seems, managed to keep his focus squarely on the job in hand and in a flash reeled off a pair of pocket aces and two more powerful backhands to hold serve once more and take us into another breaker.
This time however it was the younger Spaniard who began in cruise control and even though Federer broke Nadal's serve in the opening point, the World number two stormed to a 5-2 lead and had two serves with which to take the set.
Nadal's serve has vastly improved this season which is one of the reason's why his next serve caused many to believe the tension was getting to him.
Nadal stepped up to the baseline and inexplicably double faulted and then Federer took full advantage of any nerves the 22-year-old may have been showing, winning the next point to bring it back to 5-4 and taking his chances on both of his own service points. Eventually the breaker was won by the Swiss 8-6 and left many believing that Nadal had now blown his chances of claiming his first Wimbledon title against his greatest of rivals.
Not so though as in the final set, with the games level at 7-7 Nadal took his chance, upping the intensity of his shots and forcing Federer to take risks, to which led to errors and the young Spaniard had yet another possibility of taking the match. Regardless of who had bet on either player at the start of this match, hearts would be in mouths right now.
He made no mistake this time. Even when Federer saved match point - the third of the encounter - it did not dampen his spirits and following a final fine rally Nadal pushed Federer out wide who then hit a forehand into the base of the net and, close to the baseline an overwhelmed Nadal fell to the floor with camera flashes flickering above him taking the match 6-4 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-7 (8-10) 9-7.
After four hours and 48 minutes - the longest Wimbledon mens final in history - Nadal had made it and he climbed up to the players box, just as Pat Cash had done so in 1987 before climbing across the commentary positions to the Royal box where he was  greeted, draped in his Countries colours by the Prince and Princess of Spain.
The moment will live with Nadal for the rest of his life and will serve as a massive blow to Federer who truly is one of the games greats. What lies in store for these two only time will tell but we will not have to wait long as they are in line for a showdown in the masters series in a month.

Rafael Nadal came through one of Queen's dullest matches to seal his place in the Artois Championships semi-finals.
Spaniard Nadal took on Croatian Ivo Karlovic on a Sunny afternoon in London on centre-court in what turned out to be a rather predictable encounter and not one which any neutral would have enjoyed.
An upset appeared to be on the cards when Karlovic took the first set in a tie-breaker.
With neither player able to hold serve and at 6-6 it was hard to see where the breakthrough was going to come from. It took one mistake from Nadal which handed the first set to the 6ft 10" Karlovic, double faulting with the scores at 3-3 in the breaker.
With the tempo snail-paced and Nadal unable to create any rallies against his opponent who, although brilliant on serve is very weak when facing serve, it would have been very simple for the Spaniard to loose concentration and capitulate knowing that, for victory he would have to take the match into a third set.
Nadal is not one of those players though. His mental game is just as strong as his left handed forehand and the following sets proved that betting on Nadal for Wimbledon could well be a shrewd move.
He kept his composure and concentration as a number of Karlovic's total 35 aces rained down on him and held serve in an even more convincing fashion than Karlovic.

Although sport can be a little dull at times, the big names defeat the lesser known and finals feature the same names year in year out, it is these matches which the general public really get excited about.
This years French Open semi-finals could well be on course to witness an epic showdown between second seed Rafael Nadal and third seed Novak Djokovic. The pair both enjoyed comfortable victories in their last 16 encounters, Nadal defeated 22nd seed Fernando Verdasco in a battle of two powerful left-handers whereas Djokovic overcame Paul-Henri Mathieu on home soil [clay].
Nadal went into his match against Verdasco with a clean record against his fellow Spaniard showing 5-0 - and although, granted Verdasco himself had already claimed before the tournament that it was unlikely he would even make the French - it was clear to see from the outset why Nadal was unbeaten against his Countryman.
Verdasco didn't have anything in his game against Rafa and struggled to prove himself in the opening set, going down 6-1 and sporting a rather glum look on his face as the pair changed sides at the end of the set.
If Verdasco thought that the second set was going to be his time to shine he couldn't have been more wrong.
This time out Nadal whitewashed his opponent, missing just a handful of shots throughout the match, using his whipped forehand to great effect causing problems for Verdasco on and off serve and when the underdog called for the trainer as the set drew to a close the air of inevitability became increasingly apparent.
Verdasco dusted himself down and although never coming close to pulling off one of the great turn-arounds at Roland Garros, the third set was arguably his best. Even still though Nadal grew in confidence showing once again why he really is the 'King of Clay', hitting winner after winner and Verdasco couldn't find any sort of breakthrough as Nadal broke twice in the set taking the match 6-1 6-0 6-2.
Djokovic's victory over Mathieu was not quite as emphatic yet his performance was just as impressive. After taking the first set 6-4 the Serbian produced a fine second set displaying shots of pure brilliance which have catapulted him to the Australian Open's summit and number three in the ATP World rankings.
In particular Novak's serve was a highlight of the encounter. The match - on paper - was set to be a difficult affair against a Parisian favourite in Mathieu but Djokovic's serve and range of shot selection brought about a rather comfortable victory and the 21-year-old told of his delight at the extent to which his serving is quickly becoming a weapon in his armoury.
The youngster said that if he can rely on his serve to get him through matches then he can concentrate on the finer details in his game such as playing smart tennis and mixing his shots, something which he must do if he is to meet Nadal in Paris but after a performance like this you would bet on a French Open semi-final meeting between the pair.

Nadal must now face Andy Murray's conquerer Nicolas Almagro in another battle of the Spaniards whereas Djokovic will take on 19-year old Ernest Gulbis, the only Latvian to ever play in a Grand Slam event. If both Nadal and Djokovic claim victory in the quarters, for sports purists it may be another predictable semi-final but let's face it, it's the one we all want to see.

So, after the inevitable departure of Avram Grant last week with the dust yet to clear never mind settle, the Blues are on the hunt for a new man to take his place on the hottest of hot seats in domestic football.
The usual names have been thrown about willy-nilly, Rijkaard, Goran-Eriksson and Hiddink have all been mentioned but dismissed by the West London outfit but another trio are believed to be on the list of front runners namely Felipe Scolari, Roberto Mancini and former Chelsea striker Mark Hughes.
The last of that triplet may come as a surprise to many but after a great spell so far as manager of Blackburn Rovers, he's just as good a choice as anyone else but lets take a look at the threesome's background and what they could bring to SW6.
First of all there's 'Big Phil', the Brazilian has had major success recently at International level, leading his home nation to their World Cup victory of 2002 before moving across the Atlantic in 2003 to become head coach of the Portuguese national football team.
He hasn't exactly been a failure there taking them to an emotional final at the 2004 European Championships hosted by Portugal and then defeating  England to take his team into 2006's World Cup semi-finals.
In terms of domestic success however, Scolari hasn't really had the experience and this could well be his downfall if he were to take over at Chelsea, it's one thing picking from a Countries elite, working with them on a far from regular basis, it is a completely different story when working alongside players day-in day-out and dealing with personal problems, team selection and scouring the transfer market for players from all four corners of the globe.
Felipe is a man known not to suffer fools gladly, following a match with Serbia and after the final whistle had gone, Scolari reacted to a slap - to of all things his hand - by throwing a decent left hook at Serbian player Ivica Dragutinović. We may need divine intervention to stop a full scale riot if he lines up against messes  Ferguson and  Wenger next season!
Next up is the ever dapper Roberto Mancini.
Bobby has a different managerial story to Scolari by means of solely managing at domestic level and to all intent and purposes, rather successfully.
Mancini started off at Fiorentina and although his record in the league was nothing special he did claim the Coppa Italia whilst in charge, achieving the same feat at his next club, perennial underachievers Lazio.
Then came his big break with Inter Mlan. The Italian was at the helm to claim two further Coppa Italia, two Supercoppa Italiana's and three Scudetti - the Italian version of England's Premier League - crowning him as Inter's most successful coach in over thirty years.
The one problem - and one which Roman Abramovich will certainly be concerned over - is the Roberto never managed to conquer the European summit with the Nerazzurri. This surely begs the question, if Roman is as desperate for the Champions League as we are made to believe, why sign Mancini in the first place?
Perhaps one reason why the clever money would be on Mancini to take the helm at The Bridge would be the fact that he is no longer in charge at the Giuseppe Meazza. After going back on his resignation from the post following the teams defeat to Liverpool in the Champions League, Mancini has been given the boot from Inter and has already hinted at an interest to sign for Chelsea.
Last but not least is 'Sparky' Mark Hughes and after three trophy-crammed seasons in South West London, he is arguably the fans favourite for the job.
After taking charge of a poor Wales side, Hughes managed to turn the fortunes of his home nation around and after five years in charge Wales had quickly become a respected footballing side. Hughes' men came within play-off victory of reaching the Euro 2004 finals after beating mighty Italy in the group stages, eventually losing out to Russia in said play-offs.

So after all that Avram Grant has emerged as a hero at Chelsea on the final day of the season. Well, almost.

As Chris Foy blew his whistle and sounded time on Chelsea's domestic season Avram Grant's name could be heard being sung around Stamford Bridge and for once it wasn't in calls for the managers head.

This might have been down to the fact that many Chelsea fans are discontented with the way that Roman Abramovich is handling the club or it may be out of gratitude to a man who has steered his club to the brink of reclaiming their Premiership crown and landing the biggest trophy in club football in the form of the Champions league.

Either way it seems that after being made the scape-goat by many supporters when things have been going wrong, Grant has finally earned himself a place in the hearts of those fans.

His record after all is second to none. After losing his opening match in charge to Manchester United the Israeli has only been on then end of one more league defeat, to the hands of Arsenal. Grant has though also taken three points off both United and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge this season as the Blues have continued to build on their impressive home record going 82 games unbeaten at the Bridge, a record which stretches back to 2004.

He has also taken the club to the verge of their first ever European Cup title, earning the respect and confidence of club captain John Terry who has publicly defended his manager claiming that he would like to see Avram stay on as Chelsea manager beyond the current campaign.

With all this in mind, why would the club possibly need a new manager installed at the Bridge next season? Well, Roman may want glamour football, that is something that we have all been made aware of but Chelsea can keep getting results with Grant in charge, he's already proven that this year. You don't need a 'big name' manager in charge to win trophies, after all the likes of Rijkaard and Ancellotti had to start somewhere.

After colliding with goalkeeper Petr Cech, injured John Terry returned from hospital with his arm in a sling at the final whistle to take part in the annual lap of honour with many fearing that Terry may end up missing the Champions league final.

It looked as if Terry was happy sharing a few jokes with the Blues' faithful and if the signs are anything to go on he may well be on the flight t  the Russian capital as a member of the Chelsea squad rather than an onlooker.

That will be welcome news to the Chelsea fans as they - as we all do - know that with Terry, Chelsea are a much stronger side than without.

If there ever was a bet worth taking though it would be this: If the Blues do return to West London as European Champions, whatever happens to Grant the Chelsea fans will forever be in his debt.

Although many believe that the Premiership title is destined to stay put in Manchester United's trophy cabinet this Summer, Chelsea boss Avram Grant believes that there could be one final twist in the tale of the 2007-2008 Premier League season.
Although Wigan cannot possibly be relegated this year the Israeli believes that Steve Bruce and his men will be utterly determined to cause an upset against United despite Bruce being a former Red Devil during his playing days.

Grant's comments came after the Newcastle match where his side beat an in-form Magpies side to take the title to the wire and he believes that Chelsea are still in with a massive shout of overtaking United at the top of the pile. If that would happen it would surely be the most thrilling end to a League season since Michael Thomas' late, late goal against Liverpool which saw Arsenal crowned Champions in 1989.
Since taking the helm from Jose Mourinho, Grant has been subject to massive criticism from many corners of not only the media but the footballing fraternity as a whole. The next two games will be vital in determining whether this quiet and seemingly pleasant natured manager will remain at Chelsea next season but Grant himself is confident that he will remain in place next season.

Rumours surrounding Grants future have remained rife but following the clubs defeat of Liverpool in the Champions league and subsequently securing their first appearance in the final, he feels that owner Roman Abramovich is happy with the way the club are performing and club captain John Terry has jumped to the defence of his manager.

Manchester City owner Thaksin Shinawatra may have become impatient with Sven Goran Eriksson over the lack of 'success' at the club this season yet he still wants the Swede to take his team on a tour of Asia before Philipe Scolari takes the helm.
Personally I feel that City have made great strides under Eriksson this season. Their campaign may have tailed off slightly in recent months but that is only because they were punching well above their weight at the start of the season. After all in the early stages it was the blue half of Manchester who were topping the table and there were serious claims that they might well go on to claim a Champions League spot.
All that early optimism has long evaporated but City are still clinging on to a top half finish but that ain't good enough for our Thaksin, oh no and now he's looking to bring in 'Big Phil' to ahem, 'Phil' the soon to be vacant managers post at Eastland's.
Scolari has been asked - I can only imagine very nicely - by Shinawatra to  make a decision before the European championships as to whether he will take the role as City's coach next season.
Before the end of the Euro's though there is the small matter Man City's pre-season tour of Asia which takes in Thailand and Shinawatra wants Eriksson to stay in charge of the tour as it visits his homeland.
Now for me this seems a little strange  seen as the players themselves must know that only weeks after the tour they will be under the guidance of a new manager, be it Scolari or not. Sven doesn't really have a say in the matter and such is his craving for cash - as we saw with England - I highly doubt that he will resign before the tour if it means missing out on a few grand of his salary.
Still, the way that Shinawatra has handled Eriksson has been absolutely disgraceful, all you have to do is look at the banners which the City fans took to Anfield at the weekend to see how they feel about Sven. It was heartwarming to watch the traveling support singing the Swede's name, something which during his time at England could he only have dreamed of and it is sickening to think that once more a manager who is appreciated by the fans is about to be thrown to the gutter by an ungrateful owner.

This may come as little surprise given the comments and decisions made by our beloved FA in recent times but the big wigs at Soho Square have decided that falling at the penultimate hurdle is what Fabio Capello should be aiming for at the next World Cup or the European Championships of 2012.
There may be many who disagree with my sentiments but surely after the heartbreak of 2006 and 2004 - not to mention the 38 years prior to Portugal 04 - leaving either tournament at the semi-final stage would create just as much torment for England fans.
Reaching the semi-final stage of any competition for England is a feet which is long overdue, looking at the players that have donned the three lions of recent years. Names such as Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Tony Adams, David Seaman, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen, John Terry and Frank Lampard spring to mind as players who really should have at least featured in the final game of a major tournament. We have had our fair share of donkey's over the years (see Emile Heskey) but even with such heavy handicaps facing the side the strength of the national pool is so great that a team capable of reaching the holy grail that is the final of a major competition should surely not be beyond us.
So why does it seem that even with this strength in depth, we capitulate at every given opportunity to rise to the challenge and battle through to the very last stage, after all we are very, very good at making the quarters!
There have been many times when excuses such as the players not having the drive or commitment or previous coaches lacking the tactical knowledge required at such a high level of the game. This comment from the FA though has shed light on who is really responsible for our poor performances on the international stage, the FA themselves.
It's one thing bringing in a manager such as Sven Goran Eriksson, paying him the Earth and then adding Pluto to his pay-off after apparent poor results but it is another to sign a coach who immediately claims that England must win a major tournament under his reign and them effectively tell him, 'Nah it's fine Fab's 3rd or 4th will do nicely thanks.'
I don't think Capello will settle for anything less than a spot in the final at either of the next two tournaments we're eligible for, it doesn't seem that the man is the type to accept adequacy, he looks for perfection. His record is one which shows that and if he can repeat the outstanding record he's set at domestic level, England should be looking towards a bright future under the steady hand of an Italian. That's a controversial issue in itself but we'll leave that for another day.
Forza England!