Ireland rookie in need of some Duff advice

The problem with first impressions is that you only get to make them once.

Just ask Sean St Ledger: the Preston defender was doubtless keen to impress his new Republic of Ireland team-mates at their first get-together at Arsenal's London Colney training base last week, but it took precisely two and a half minutes for the youngster to put his foot in it.

When asked if he was feeling any butterflies ahead of his debut in the friendly against Nigeria, St Ledger replied: “I just hope we're not drawing 0-0 and I score an own goal and we lose the game.”

Sounds reasonable enough: the only problem was that Newcastle's Damien Duff, fresh from sealing his side's relegation at Aston Villa by putting through his own net, was seated at the next table.

Craven Cottage lit up by Nigerian fireworks

Hosting internationals might be a lucrative little earner for London clubs, but Fulham might think twice before inviting Nigeria after the chaotic scenes at last Friday's tussle with Ireland.

Not only did a group of fans scuffle with stewards after they were instructed, rather officiously, to take down a banner calling for the dismissal of coach Shuaibu Amodu, Fulham's media department then looked on bemused as Nigerian journalists had a blazing row with their sports minister Sani Ndanusa and his entourage at the post-match press conference. Made a nice change from listening to Roy Paint Drying' Hodgson, anyway.

Diplomacy was not on the agenda for Bartoli

There might be more chance of finding a reasonably-priced punnet of strawberries and cream than a healthy dollop of aggro at Wimbledon but it's a different story at the French Open, where Marion Bartoli went into a bitter tirade after her second-round defeat to Tathiana Garbin.

The world No13 took exception to Garbin's boisterous entourage seated in the Roland Garros stands, ranting: “It's her clan. Their attitude was getting on my nerves. When I made unforced errors, her team would shout and it's not sporting. But, you know, they're Italians.”

It would be intriguing to know what Bartoli's grandfather made of her remarks. He's Italian, by the way.

Has Boothers pepped up Barca's Pep talks?

Suggesting Pep Guardiola uses Adrian Boothroyd as a role model may seem far-fetched but could Boothers have had an unwitting influence on the Champions League Final?

Guardiola used clips from Gladiator' to inspire Barcelona ahead of their win over Manchester United, three years after Boothroyd used the same film to rally his troops before their play-off final victory over Leeds. Next thing we know Guardiola will be making eight-figure bids for Jobi McAnuff.