YOU would think the luxurious Rockliffe Hall golf course, in Hurworth, would be graced with the presence of Middlesbrough’s footballers on a daily basis. Not so.

Strangely, manager Gordon Strachan has expressed to his players that he would prefer them not to head for a round of golf immediately after a tough training session on the other side of the fence.

Gary O’Neil, who held the course record when it first opened, has been a regular on the course for the last year, but he is not the only one, with most of the squad enjoying a walk on the fairways.

Strachan is a keen golfer, but he has chosen to outline to his players that it should be more about training at Rockliffe Park rather than playing golf at Rockliffe Hall.

THE Insider understands that the bosses at the BBC are not thinking about bringing to an end the contract of Newcastle United’s all-time record goalscorer, Alan Shearer.

Stan Collymore started a nationwide debate about the merits of the former England striker this week, when Collymore unleashed his thoughts on social networking site Twitter last Sunday.

Collymore picked out Shearer’s bizarre claim that Hatem Ben Arfa – a France international – was not on “many people’s radar” as reason to accuse Match of the Day pundits in general for not doing their research on players.

His comments unearthed plenty who agreed with him, while there were also many who disagreed. Sources close to the BBC, however, claim they are not thinking about changing things, suggesting the mere fact is “laughable”.

HE might have been knocked for getting homesick after his disappointing showing at the Beijing Olympics two years ago, but Bradley Saunders is not feeling such pain this time around: He’s just tired.

Saunders is out in Thailand with the England boxing team ahead of the Commonwealth Games along with Middlesbrough’s Simon Vallily, acclimatising to the time difference ahead of his trip to India.

The team are due to fly out to Delhi a week today, but rather than think about the type of conditions the squad might encounter in the Indian capital, he just wants to get some sleep.

“I’m rooming with Si and because we are seven hours ahead over here to Britain, we are struggling to get any sleep,” said Saunders, from Fishburn. “People keep talking about what we might face in India, but I’m sure it will all be fine. I just wouldn’t mind getting my head down for a bit. I’m awake all through the night at the minute.”