IT'S reassuring to know that there's still a market for the written word.

Even if the fact that there are only 52 shopping days to Christmas means this is the ideal time for promoting new books, publishers must be confident that people want to read them.

Personally I won't be rushing out to be buy the offerings of Duncan Fletcher, Lawrence Dallaglio or Mike Catt because the publicity has already dampened what little enthusiasm I might have had for their books.

The two rugby men fully deserve the flak which has flown their way for criticising England coach Brian Ashton, who must be deeply saddened by their ingratitude after including them in the World Cup squad in the knowledge that their experience could help to sort out the problems.

It seems he listened to Catt, in particular, before overseeing the transformation which propelled a seriously malfunctioning team to the final. So why should the two-faced Catt have a go at him other than for the pathetic reason of flogging more books?

Nor has the sour-faced Fletcher done himself any favours by sticking the knife into people with more charisma in their little fingers than he has in his entire body, namely Freddie Flintoff, Ian Botham and Geoff Boycott.

It would be far better to remember Fletcher for turning England from no-hopers into Ashes winners, but his sniping will ensure that his legacy is badly tainted by events surrounding the woeful surrender of the Ashes and the subsequent World Cup flop.

While we should all defend the principle of free speech, it should not be abused in this fashion. After cold-shouldering the media during his tenure as coach in the belief that they feed on negative headlines, it is extremely hypocritical to jump on the bandwagon when there's a book to sell.

NEGATIVE headlines can be self-perpetuating in that they usually demand responses. So we find that former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd has dropped his pennyworth into the drinking debate by offering the view that Fletcher should have kept quiet. Why would Lloyd want to get involved?

Why because he was launching his new biography, of course.

FLINTOFF apparently turned up one morning too drunk to take part in England's net session after a night out with Sir Beefy, who was clearly seen as a malign influence by Fletcher.

During the 2005 Ashes triumph Freddie had risen to a status alongside Botham in cricketing prowess, but if the ability to recover from a long night's carousing enters the argument over who is England's greatest all-rounder then Flintoff is floundering.

The urge to keep pace with a legend is understandable, but Botham was a one-off whose place in cricket's folklore is secure, even if his sense of fun would be considered by some as occasionally too near the knuckle.

Although it had gone unreported for 14 years, his recent revelation about his state of undress when delivering his final ball in first-class cricket was true, and I have it on good authority that the Durham player at first slip was similarly exposed. And that was another man who liked a drink.

IT WAS Sod's Law, although some might see it as divine judgement, that the heavens should open while New York Giants were playing Miami Dolphins at Wembley. Surely we have enough perfectly good sports competing for our attention without welcoming this nonsense.

As if to mock us, the "entertainment"

conspired with the elements to ruin what used to be known as the hallowed turf in the old stadium. After six years of planning, wrangling and construction which resulted in an £800m bill, the pitch itself turns out to be a shambles.

Even after the lessons from the Millennium Stadium, the Wembley authorities now face further expenditure of £110,000 to lay a new surface.

And who's to say it won't keep on happening?

THE nearest the North-East came to having any teams in the fourth qualifying round of the FA Cup was Harrogate, which had two. They played each other and 1,300 turned up to see the hosts, Harrogate Railway, beat their supposed superiors, unbeaten Blue Square North leaders Harrogate Town, 2-1 through an 88thminute own goal.

It was reported that the surface at the Station View ground would have graced Wembley, which was probably libellous although it was intended merely to avoid giving the bigger club any excuses for their defeat. Railway are at home to Droylsden in the first round proper.

LET'S hope Glenn Roeder can stand the heat in the Carrow Road kitchen with Norwich City director Delia Smith. After departing the St James' Park frying pan, he's surely jumping into a pressure cooker with Norwich three points adrift at the foot of the Championship. But he might just find that this is the level at which he can simmer gently.