Remember last week we revealed in Dutch that Feyenoord had decided to give David Connolly a second chance and had recalled him from his loan spell at second division Excelsior? Well, on Wednesday he made his first appearance for the club in almost two years and scored in a 4-2 win over Fortuna Sittard that kept Feyenoord top of the table. Now, by all accounts Feyenoord fans were well pleased to see Connolly back, but we felt the author of the match report on the club's website got just a teency weency bit carried away by the emotion of it all: "Every pass was right and he gestured and talked like maybe only Cruyff dared to as a newcomer, although Cruyff was 17 then . . . Connolly already seems a true reinforcement . . . he scored and directed." Steady lads.

Meanwhile, Graeme Souness left those who've been labelling him anti-Irish recently a deep shade of scarlet when he signed Dubliner Alan Mahon on loan from Sporting Lisbon last week. Mahon made his debut for Blackburn in the derby against Burnley yesterday, in which Jason McAteer scored his first goal of the season. Damien Duff also played - all of which suggests rumours of a "no Irish need apply" rule at Ewood Park are as on target as your average Nicky Butt attempt on goal.