I was on the tread for 30 minutes this morning, Sky Sports News ticker on the screen in front of me displaying some amazing BREAKING NEWS: Didi Hamann has signed a one year extension at Manchester City. Seriously, non stop for 30 minutes and beyond, that was the most exciting thing that happened in world football.

I did predict the sacking of Bryan Robson this week but with his Sheffield United side earning a hard earned point at high-flying West Brom last night, Robson earned himself a stay of execution. After meeting the board it was announced that there would be “reasoned changes to the football infrastructure”. Is Venables coming in to bail him out again after being surprisingly ignored for the Irish job?

And on that subject, how did the maligned FAI chief John Delaney manage to secure the ageing but perceptive Giovanni Trapattoni for the top job in Ireland? Even though he’s clearly looking forward to a big pay day before he puts his feet up, the lure of trying to topple Italy in the 2010 World Cup qualifying group should be motivation enough. From Gennaro Gattuso to Darron Gibson – yikes!

A quite brilliant story: Roy Keane’s best friend in the whole world, and ghost writer of his autobiography, Eamon Dunphy, has criticised Keane for becoming “rent-a-quote”. Dunphy, who has staged several spirited and brazen defences of Keane on live TV, accused his friend of being sucked in to the Premier League’s “vacuousness” and said he is frequently “bull-shitting”. I had the same thought myself when Keane started going on about Terry Venables and David O’Leary as being ideal candidates for the Irish job and his recent suggestion that playing Premier League games abroad was a good idea was clearly the last straw. Hopefully Keane will return to being an obtuse arsehole again soon, just like Dunphy consistently is.

And in “the news no one cares about” section, Angola manager Luis Oliveira Gonzales’ has extended his contract until 2010. Or built an extension that cost £2010. I’m not sure.