December 14th, 2007

9:32am Friday 14th December 2007

TWO things were shamefully predictable at the weekend. One was the booing of the American anthem by the rabble following Ricky Hatton, the other was the failure of the lamentably flawed two-month, £13m trial which was supposed to bring Kieren Fallon and six others involved in the racing business to justice.

Their acquittal became even more laughable 24 hours later when it was revealed the six-times champion jockey doesn't need a jury to string him up. He's quite capable of doing it himself and his second failed drugs test surely means the game is up for yet another flawed genius.

Perhaps Fallon deserves some sympathy, but despite not being found guilty of conspiracy to defraud most people will suspect the verdict came about only because the case was so appallingly constructed.

Whether it should have been brought to court is a moot point. The racing authorities are keen to be seen to be running a clean operation, but I suspect the majority of punters are happy to enjoy the thrill of a bet irrespective of what goes on behind the scenes.

If this is the cost of trying to adhere to a new code of conduct then we should forget it. Let racing function much as it always has done and spend the next £13m on building a new hospital instead.

BUST-UPS in the local rugby world have resulted in two notable casualties, the better-known - almost legendary, in fact - being the Newcastle Falcons fitness guru Steve Black. He will have known his fellow victim John Parkinson, who was the Falcons' chief executive a few years ago as well as the driving force at Darlington Mowden Park.

To what extent both were forced out has not been revealed, nor can we judge whether they got their comeuppance through overplaying their hands. But it will be interesting to see if their clubs prosper without them.

There can be little doubt that the Black bullet was fired from the top. Given that the Falcons' admirable media relations man is normally very prolific, the terseness of his one-line statement actually spoke volumes. It could only mean that the club's owner, Dave Thompson, had been seriously riled.

Even when there has been a big disagreement, it is standard practice to pay tribute to someone who has given ten years of outstanding service, and there would be few Falcons players of the last decade who would not acknowledge their debt to Black. Plus some Newcastle and Sunderland footballers and the boxer, Glenn McCrory.

A man of phenomenal strength who used to do hundreds of press-ups on one arm, he is also an expert in motivational techniques and could probably do the job of all ten specialists Sir Clive Woodward has signed up to help his potential Olympic gold medallists.

Black will be in demand, but among the things he has said he plans to concentrate on is writing. If he published a compilation of his often hilarious off-the-wall ramblings in the Falcons programme it would probably be a best-seller.

Because he is so close to Jonny Wilkinson there is speculation that the World Cup hero will depart.

Ironically, the man stepping into Black's shoes, at least for the moment, is Wilkinson's elder brother Mark, who was retained on the playing staff for several years to keep Jonny sweet.

The situation has become bitter-sweet, however. As with Michael Owen at St James' Park, the club will eventually have to decide whether the pulling power of their greatest celebrity is worth the outlay, given that they are rarely seen in action.

FA CUP fairytales are all too rare these days, and I suspect I'm not the only one who has looked at maps in a vain attempt to find Chasetown.

We might mourn the failure of any North-East clubs to reach the first round proper when we learn that a team from a former mining village in south Staffordshire is in with the big guns in the third round.

Sadly, the late goal which earned their replay win against Port Vale has earned them a home tie against Cardiff, whose notorious fans will probably relish their chance to wipe Chasetown off any map to which it has just been added.

Blyth Spartans fans will, however, know that it's part of Burntwood as it was for the visit of those former FA Cup giant-killers that Chasetown attracted their record crowd of 2,134 for the fourth qualifying round in 2005. The three-times winners of the Walsall Senior Cup then played Oldham, drawing 1-1 at home and losing the replay 4-0.

FABIO Capello certainly has an impressive list of league titles alongside his name.

But it strikes me that he has won them all when working with outstanding players, so why should we expect him to lick the England muppets into shape?