"Many clubs have a question mark in the shape of an axe-head hanging over them."

Well, Spurs did the Toon a big favor by sending Sam the
Sham back to the frozen north with no points. But with
West Ham in the FA Cup final, it's still a tough road to
Europe for the Magpies.

England is supposed to receive four spots for the 2006-07
UEFA Cup. The fifth-placed team in England will get a
place for sure, and, with the League Cup in the hands of
a Champions League qualifier, so will the sixth-placed
team. The third spot in the UEFA Cup will go to West
Ham, regardless of the result at the Millennium Stadium.

The fourth spot should, in principle, go to the
seventh-placed team. Even if Boro win the thing this
year, they are still supposed to be an additional entry,
as per Annex II, Section 2, Paragraph (e) of "Regulations
of the UEFA Cup." The lads from Tyneside aren't
guaranteed seventh, though, especially given that they're
now behind both Blackburn and Bolton on goal differential
and must play the Billionaire Boys last.

At the moment, according to the coefficient rankings,
England have an 18 percent chance of netting another UEFA
Cup place through the UEFA Fair Play league. That would
presumably go to the eighth-place team. And of course,
there's always Intertoto. Ah, the groans are already
audible, loyal readers, say no more....

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TDH will be mighty disappointed if David Villa manages to
pip Samuelito for the Pichichi, especially with Villa
padding his total with penalties. Primera Liga fans need
to live with the fact that the guy they love to abuse has
set the standard.

Speaking of Valencia, though, Pablo "The Clown" Aimar
looked magisterial in his return to action on Sunday.
The opposition offered by Alaves was pretty pathetic, but
Aimar, so neglected by fans here, should be booking his
place in Germany with ease.

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TDH will only shed a few tears as Treviso goes down to
Serie B. Sure, it’s nice to see small teams in the top
flight, but only 3,463 supporters showed up to see them
draw against Ascoli in the Omobono Tenni, which seats
9,400. With that kind of support, they should be playing
the legendary Castel di Sangro instead of Juventus....