PUTTING the controversy before the result is the modern way in the media, which is all very well if it's an interesting dispute. But if the same old rows keep cropping up, curmudgeonly codgers like me might seek refuge in sudoku.

Not that I blame Steve McClaren for bemoaning the award of a goal against his Boro team when the ball hadn't crossed the line. But the argument about the use of technology in sport is becoming tiresome because it's gone on too long and all the relevant points have been aired many times.

Man can apparently train wasps to sniff out a variety of things like drugs and dead bodies, yet we can't position a camera to decide if a goal has been scored or a rugby ball has passed between the posts. When the sport itself is ultra-professional it should not be asking too much for authorities to introduce technology which will rule out the sort of fundamental errors which can cost thousands of pounds.

Another example of a row coming back like a boomerang is the renewed criticism of Sir Clive Woodward's handling of the Lions. Gavin Henson has had a go in his book, now Matt Dawson has put in his penn'orth, although neither of them has anything to add to what we all knew at the time.

The controversy from that tour which is worth revisiting is the one surrounding the outrageous tackle which ended the Lions captain's part in the series in the first minute.

The All Blacks booted it into touch, but it has resurfaced because a spectator's video recording of the incident has come to light and is being used by the International Rugby Board to highlight to referees that this sort of "spear tackle" must not be tolerated.

It clearly shows that Brian O'Driscoll was picked up by two opponents, including All Blacks captain Tana Umaga, flipped over and dumped with no regard for the fact that he might have suffered a serious neck injury. And he was nowhere near the ball.

The All Blacks continue to insist that Umaga is a role model in New Zealand and had no intention of causing harm. But what's the betting that on their tour next month he plays in the opening Test in Cardiff then sidesteps the one in Ireland, even though O'Driscoll won't be able to take his revenge as he's still recovering from his shoulder operation?

IT'S A funny old world when on the one hand two people can get away with a potentially crippling spear tackle and on the other an English village cricket team is barred from promotion because the ground is deemed dangerous.

In a clear case of health and safety gone mad, it has happened to Swan Green CC in the New Forest in Hampshire, where no-one knows of a serious injury in over 100 years of cricket. The reasons given are a drop of 20 feet from one side of the ground to the other, trees inside the boundary and a bumpy outfield.

Such idiosyncracies have always been a huge part of the joy of village cricket, but the health and safety killjoys wouldn't know that, would they? At delightful places like Raby Castle and Spout House on the North York Moors they might as well pull up stumps now.

WHAT a shame that the Arsenal kids spoiled the party at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday following Sunderland's laudable decision to slash prices and attract a full house. Obviously the visiting youngsters had too much to prove to emulate their elders, Robert Pires and Thierry Henry, by becoming too clever for their own good.

The Plonker of the Week award should probably be shared by Pires and Henry for making such a hash of their ludicrous stunt when awarded a penalty against Manchester City. But they might be pushed close by Shoaib Akhtar.

The Rawalpindi Rickshaw is threatening to sue a television station for saying "a dog's tail will never straighten" in reference to his questionable fitness and commitment.

Last week the Worcestershire chairman said of Shoaib "players like him are no good to our club". I could have told him that when they signed the Pakistani poser, whose lack of professionalism was plain for all to see at Durham last year.

If he were to put his mind to it he could trouble the England batsmen in next month's three-Test series, but somehow I don't think he'll be in the team.

SIR Bobby Robson's visit to Edinburgh yesterday for the funeral of his old Fulham teammate Johnny Haynes should remind him that life is short. So hopefully he resisted the temptation to drop in at Hearts' Tynecastle ground to see if the club's owner Vladimir Romanov really wants him as manager.

While it's refreshing to see a team other than the Glasgow giants at the top of Scottish football, working for a control freak who wants his own Lithuanian signings in the team is not what Sir Bobby needs at his time of life.

Published: 28/10/2005