ROCKLIFFE PARK might have been in the news this week for the events in the last fortnight which have seen Gordon Strachan replaced by Tony Mowbray at Middlesbrough.

Now it is the turn of the training ground’s exceptional hotel, with the ambitious golf course underlining the extent of the improvements which have been made recently.

With long-term hopes of bringing a European Tour event to the County Durham village of Hurworth, The Insider can reveal more than £500,000 has been spent on the maturing course.

It is a little more than 12 months since the course was opened to the public, but strides have been taken towards making the PGA take notice.

As well as the half-a-million on greenkeeping machinery, £16,000 has been spent on new buggy paths and a further £14,000 on haulage routes for maintenance vehicles.

IT was at Rockliffe Hall last Sunday when it became apparent that Steve Gibson was close to finalising the deal for Mowbray to become the club’s manager.

The former Celtic chief met with the chairman at his luxurious hotel, where Mowbray was shown around the stunning facilities and was spotted by the guests.

There might have been some negotiating with Celtic to be done on the back of such discussions, but Mowbray was always the man Gibson wanted and the following 48 hours proved that.

Paul Ince might have been a genuine contender, but after an agreement was reached between Boro, Celtic and Mowbray, those initial few hours on Sunday afternoon proved worthwhile.

WHEN it was announced on Tuesday that Take That were returning to the North-East, there was one member of the Sunderland dressing room happier than most.

Lee Cattermole has become something of a Robbie Williams fan in recent years and will be doing his best to retain his box at the Stadium of Light next May.

When Take That come to town, particularly with a certain Robbie in tow, a few extra pounds are added to the boxes which the players’ families usually occupy.

Cattermole has struck up an email friendship with Robbie since being introduced to him through a friend in Los Angeles during the summer and wouldn’t mind watching him on Wearside.

“We all went back to Robbie’s house,” said Cattermole. “We watched the England game, the awful 0-0 against Algeria. It’s a great house.

“He’s a lot better at football than I am at music. He’s not a bad player at all, in fact, and he knows everything about it.”

IN THE the summer of 2009 “fit and healthy” boasted the 32- page brochure extolling the benefits of Michael Owen.

Weeks after playing a full part in Newcastle United’s relegation, for around £120,000 a week, representatives of the very much former golden boy of English football pleaded with various top clubs to give their client one more chance.

Manchester United took the plunge. He is now fifth choice striker and far from fit and healthy after this week sustaining a hamstring strain – his latest injury since the infamous brochure bragged of his unfaltering health and capabilities.

The 30-year-old’s first campaign at Old Trafford was curtailed by a hamstring problem, while a groin injury affected the start to this season. He recovered from that before revealing his latest hamstring problem.

That last year’s brochure included an endorsement by the doctor who also treated injury-prone Kieron Dyer, Dean Ashton and Craig Bellamy hardly underlined Owen’s “fit and healthy” status.