Just two years after slipping out of the top flight of English football,West Ham are back after clinching the last promotion place in Monday¹splay-off final.

It was anything but a classic encounter with Preston but, then again, with aprize estimated as being worth 30 million on offer, it¹s hardly surprisingthat football came second to nerves.

The 1-0 scoreline did not really reflect the Hammers¹ dominance of the matchwhich they could easily have won by three or four as Preston appeared to beoverawed by the occasion.

Interestingly the victory apparently saved Alan Pardew¹s job as manager of West Ham with the board poised to sack him if they failed to make it back to the Premiership.

But all that is in the past now as the Hammers look forward to life back in the big time although we shouldn¹t underestimate the size of the task facing them at Upton Park if they are to stay there.

Meanwhile, it would be unfair of me not to offer my sincere congratulations to Sheffield Wednesday for clinching promotion to the Championship in such

spectacular fashion on Sunday.

As a Sheffield United fan that may seem a little strange when you consider the intense, passionate and occasionally insane rivalry which exists between the two teams.

But, to be honest, I like the Owls and want to see them successful. Having two relatively prosperous and upwardly mobile teams in the city can only help promote football in Sheffield as a whole.

Don¹t get me wrong, I very much hope we beat the division newcomers home and away next season, but just having them in the same league will make the whole thing that much more exciting.

So well done Wednesday and thanks for the easy six points next season.... tire risks

The new tire rules which Formula 1 have introduced this season may have helped increase excitement in the races but there is no doubt that they have substantially reduced safety.

Kimi Raikkonen¹s last lap tire incident which cost him the race and could have cost him a lot more, was almost entirely down to the fact that teams are no longer allowed to change tires during a race unless they really, ‘really have to’.

As it stands drivers can only change tires if their condition is believed topose a threat to safety. Changes for any other reason can result in driversbeing penalised by the authorities.

This had led to reluctance amongst teams to change tires even when they aredangerously worn out ­ the sort of reluctance which led to Kimi’s spectacular race-ending tire failure.

It might make more sense for teams to be allowed one set of tire changes during each race. That would certainly increase safety and should make tactics even more interesting as teams decide when is best to freshen things up in the rubber department.

Otherwise the desire to push the car and its wheels to the limit might end causing a driver serious injury before long. If not worse.

Collina’s last season

An interesting final day in Italy last weekend. Not so much for the title which had already been secured by Juventus, but more for two other events which took place during the last games of the season.

On the one hand you had the rebirth of a football career as Adrian Mutu took to the field for his first competitive match since his seven-month ban for failing a drugs test.

The sacked Chelsea forward came on a substitute for Ibrahimovic in Juventus’ 4-2 win over Cagliari. It was his first appearance for the Turin side with which he has signed a massive five year contract.

But while one career was re-starting, another one was coming to what some may call a premature end as Pierluigi Collina brought the curtain down on his time as a Serie A referee.

At 45, Collina is forced to hang up his whistle in the summer as Italian rules don’t allow him to keep going even though in other major European leagues he would be able to continue refereeing for a few more years at least.

It now seems certain he will be made Odesignatore’ - the man who selects and appoints which refs will be taking charge of which Serie A games on a weekly basis.

While his experience and incredibly knowledge of the game will certainly help him in this new role, it is hard not to feel that football as a whole is losing one of its better officials.

There is always the possibility that the Premier League may think about offering Collina the opportunity to continue his career in England, a move that I would see as extremely positive for the English game.

If, however, he chooses to stay in Italy I hope the Italian authorities make the most of what he has to offer the game. Either way its sad to think that those wild staring eyes and intimidating frowns will no longer grace the football pitch. Or scare the pants off players...

Contact James on: [email protected]