Let me get the usual fawning out of the way early before I continue this piece: in his time at Spurs Paul Gascoigne grew from a podgy potentially good midfielder into one of the world’s finest midfield players of his generation.

That’s where the fawning ends. Since his infamous career threatening injury in the 1991 FA Cup Final Paul Gascoigne has been nothing but trouble to himself, those who know him and those who have previously cared for him.
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I realise that the British Justice System can often be a misnomer and that we can’t honestly expect the courts to provide an adequate punishment for spoilt brat, “bad boy” footballers who throw the toys out of their pram on the pitch but who really made the decision for the Crown Prosecution Service to take Lee Bowyer to court?

Surely having the knowledge that the former Newcastle United thug would get a financial slap on the wrist from the courts (?600 plus ?1000 court costs) would be enough of a reason not to bother taking this case but no, the CPS knew best and have both wasted the courts’ time, taxpayer’s money and resources and ended up with Bowyer virtually walking free after committing no more of a crime than countless rugby, ice hockey and Gaelic football players are “guilty” of every week.

I’m not defending players who have a punch up on the field of play (especially teammates like Bowyer and Kieron Dyer) but having already been fined around ?250,000 by his then club Newcastle and the Football Association and banned for seven games does anyone think an extra ?1600 (which he probably paid straight out of his overstuffed wallet) will make Bowyer think twice about his actions in future? Hardly.

What a waste of time and effort. Justice? Don’t make me laugh.

Ashley Cole has accepted an out of court damages settlement and received a public apology from both the News of the World and The Sun newspapers after they printed pictures and stories about a gay sex romp which readers assumed involved Cole and his friend DJ Masterstepz, Choice FM DJ Ian Thompson.

Ashley Cole always denied being involved in the alleged rendezvous with another prominent Premiership footballer and the music industry figure mentioned in the story and despite being engaged to Girls Aloud popstar Cheryl tweedy was widely believed to the player involved.

Both newspapers issued apologies to both men after they had filed claims for damages over the libel, harassment and breach of privacy caused by the story:

“We are happy to make clear that Mr Cole and Masterstepz were not involved in any such activities.

“We apologise to them for any distress caused and we will be paying them each a sum by way of damages.”

The owners of The Sun and News of the World newspapers have agreed to pay Wayne Rooney damages of ?100,000 over false allegations they printed of him having slapped his girlfriend Coleen McLaughlin in a Chesire nightclub last year.

It took a trip to the High Court for the newspapers to admit that their “story” was false despite a year of protestations from Wayne Rooney and his legal advisors and with the World Cup less than two months away all parties concerned will be glad to get another potentially embarassing situation cleared up.

A statement from the two newspapers said: “With only 58 days to the start of The World Cup, The Sun and The News of The World are pleased to have reached a settlement with Wayne Rooney.

“We can now put this case behind us and focus on a great tournament.

“We wish him and the England team every success in Germany and look forward to welcoming them back with the World Cup trophy.”

A bit rich seeing as they made the whole thing up between them but it wouldn’t be like either of those two newspapers to let the truth get in the way of a good soundbite or headline, even when it’s their liking for unconventional “reporting” that has led them into the situation where they need one.

The owners of Burberry needn’t start expecting a windfall from the ?100,000 damages the Manchester United striker has received though, he’s very thoughtfully decided to donate it all to charity.

In another challenge to FIFA and UEFA’s control of the game, the G14 clubs are backing Belgian club Charleroi as they prepare to face FIFA in court in a case that could have as wide ranging effects on the game as the infamous Bosman ruling in 1995.

Charleroi are claiming compensation from FIFA for the injury caused to their player Abdelmajid Oulmers while on international duty for Morocco against Burkina Faso in 2004. Oulmers missed eight months while out injured and Charleroi have claimed that his injury prevented them from winning the domestic Belgian League during this time.

G14 have made their stance on the issue very clear as they have also backed Olympique Lyon in a similar court action over the injury their French defender Eric Abidal suffered in a freidnly for the France national team.

A G14 spokesman outlined their position: “We believe Fifa has the financial muscle to put together an insurance pool to cover players injured while on international duty. This case is not about shifting the cost from the clubs to the national associations.”

FIFA disagree and maintain that the responsibility for players on international duty lies with the national associations and not the world governing body while claiming, in the Charleroi case, that Oulmers injury had no bearing on the club’s eventual failure to win the Belgian League.

Depending on the outcome of the case, the G14 could have the case referred to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, the scene of another Belgian, the aforementioned Jean-Marc Bosman’s, famous victory for player power. Whether the ramifications of this case will have such far reaching effects as that case will be judged over the next few years.

Top internet search engine Google has been contacted by lawyers representing Arsenal and England defender Ashley Cole to explain why their search results display a suggestion for results for “Ashley Cole gay” when the player’s name is searched for. Cole’s lawyers want a categoric answer from the technology giants as to whether this is a computer generated suggestion or a manually input editorial decision on Google’s part.

Image from Andrew Johnson’s Web Publishing Blog

Google have previously explained that their search results are based solely on computer algorithms and have no human element to them but in light of Ashley Cole’s recently publicised legal action against the News of the World newspaper amid lurid allegations concerning his private life, this latest internet anomoly could wind up being a very costly problem for Google.