Last on MOTD: Bobby Ewing, Harold Bishop, Dirty Den, Paul Robinson

THE big no-no for soap opera scriptwriters is to bring a character back from the dead. That hasn’t stopped them doing it, though.

A tale of two Nigels

QUESTION one: Is Nigel Adkins the most upbeat man in Britain? Here is the Scunthorpe United manager, quoted in the town’s local evening paper ahead of this afternoon’s match against Leicester City:

“We are looking forward to getting back to Glanford Park with a positive energy that surrounds the building.”

Ask Roy

IT’S taken months of intense negotiation, but I’m delighted to announce a world exclusive that will rock football to its very foundations. Tonight, on this blog, I welcome one of the most talked-about figures in football: Roy Keane, manager of Ipswich Town.

Last on MOTD: So close Dunney, so close

RICHARD Dunne shares two unwanted Premier League records – the highest number of own goals (six, with Jamie Carragher and Frank Sinclair) and the most red cards (eight, with Patrick Vieira and Duncan Ferguson).

Thierry Henry comes to Doncaster, among other places

IT was bound to happen to somewhere this weekend. It probably happened in several places. But as I happened to be at Doncaster’s game against QPR, I’ll concentrate on how it happened there.

How to be England goalkeeper

As things stand, and if I was 30 years younger, I would now be England’s outright number one, just as City fans always claimed I was and I believed myself to be.

Former Manchester City hero Joe Corrigan, in his autobiography published last year, wasn’t exactly glowing about the state of English goalkeeping.

Not The Football League Show!

NO Match of the Day this weekend for Gary, Alan, Lawro and the other Alan to make mildly sarcastic comments during (and for me to make mildly sarcastic comments about). But we’ve still got a chance to catch up with the latest developments below the top flight in The Football League Show.

Last on MOTD: Don’t forget your poppy, Ryan

IS it poppy power or poppy fascism? Depends whether you read the Daily Mail or the Guardian, I guess. No one ever got this worked up over Comic Relief’s red noses, though.

That football ground in Newcastle

A FEW years ago, Darlington signed a naming rights deal for their ground with a local commercial radio station. As a result, their home became known as The 96.6 TFM Arena. Not surprisingly, BBC Radio Cleveland didn’t bother with the sponsor’s namecheck.

Igor Akinfeev’s Big Night Out

I HAVE a friend who is a Manchester United fan. Whenever he watches a City game on TV these days, he invariably finds himself asking: “Why didn’t we sign Shay Given?”