Yesterday’s announcement that new Wembley will not be ready to host this year’s FA Cup Final came as a huge shock… to absolutely nobody.

After months of allowing optimism to get in the way of reality, the FA finally realised that the chances of their new flagship stadium being up and running for the final are as likely as Alan Smith taking part in this year’s Come Dancing finals.

Instead the FA Cup and play-offs will now move to the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff and the England internationals scheduled as pre-World Cup warm-ups will go to Old Trafford.

The whole thing has been inevitable for such a long time that the statement by builders Multiplex in which they say they are disappointed by the FA’s decision is the only surprising aspect.

To be honest it’s really no big deal. Sure it would have been nice to have the new ground ready for this season. But you would imagine it’s got a good hundred years ahead of it to stage thousands of big matches, so what’s one more year in Wales?

Unless, of course, with the pressure to complete now off, Multiplex take it even easier than they have been doing and next season’s final is brought into doubt…

Alan Smith

Top marks to Alan Smith for putting a brave face on the horrific injury he received during Manchester United’s defeat to Liverpool on Saturday.

The striker-turned-midfielder suffered the double blow of a broken leg and dislocated ankle when he landed awkwardly. It was the sort of injury which could be career-threatening and he needed oxygen as he was carried off the pitch.

But Smith still managed to joke about it as he lay in hospital recovering from an operation to put the whole thing back together like an orthopaedic jigsaw.

“When I looked down the leg was lying one way and the ankle was pointing towards Hong Kong. So I knew I was in serious trouble,” he joked.

Smith now faces up to a year out of the game as he sets out on the long and doubtful road to regaining full fitness. But, at 25, the chances are he will make it back.

And, despite his somewhat controversial past, I am sure everybody would like to see him back on the pitch again getting stuck in where it hurts.

Modern football, plagued as it is by arty-farty players who wince at the thought of tackling, needs lads like him who give it their all.

Congratulations Colchester

Congratulations to plucky little Colchester for at least giving it a go against Chelsea last Sunday.

They may have ultimately been on the end of a 3-1 defeat but at least they went out and tried to play football.

Maybe if more teams tried to do that against the champions then this season’s Premiership would not have been such a one-horse race…

Jose Mourinho’s phrases

Meanwhile, you have just got to love Jose Mourinho’s turn of phrase.

The Chelsea boss was responding to claims that his club had deliberately delayed relaying their awful pitch until after tonight’s game with Barcelona.

Insisting that was entirely untrue, Jose said they had offered to let Barcelona use their training pitch instead of Stamford Bridge in preparation for the match, to give them more time to sort out the pitch.

But the beauty of Jose’s command of English came later when the Chelsea boss actually tried to persuade people that the pitch – at places little more than a mud pit – was really not as bad as it looked.

“Sometimes you see beautiful people with no brains. Sometime you have ugly people who are intelligent, like scientists,” he said.

“Out pitch is a bit like that. From the top it is a disgrace but the ball rolls at normal speed.”

Apologies on his behalf to all good-looking scientists everywhere.

Andrew Murray

Andrew Murray, the British teenage tennis sensation, has won his first tournament at the age of just 18.

The Scot beat Leyton Hewitt in the final of the San Jose tournament in the US this weekend, a result that propels him into the world top 50 for the first time in his short career.

Now ranked 47th, that puts him just a couple of places behind Greg Rusedski and a couple more behind Tim Henman – something that is sure to bring a smile to the kid’s face.

Interestingly, the win puts Murray ahead of Roger Federer in terms of winning his first tournament. The Swiss number one had to wait until the age of 19 before he racked up his first ATP victory.

And if he goes on to be even half as good as Federer, then he will turn out to be one heck of a good tennis player and possibly a Wimbledon champion to boot.

If only he wasn’t Scottish…

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