Fulham undone by last-gasp header

Fulham were undone by a sucker punch last night as they were knocked out of the Europa League by an injury-time header by Odense BK of Denmark.

Fulham were seemignly curising into the last 32 at half-time with a 2-0 lead, and needed to win to remain above Wisla Karkow in the group. But two second-half goals put paid to Fulham's Europa League ambitions. So ends a 14-game run in the competition which started way back on 30 June - nearly six months ago!

Despite a 3-1 defeat in Turkey, Stoke City qualified for the knock-out stages last night, but they could be the only British team to make it through the Europa League groups.

All of Celtic, Tottenham Hotspur and Birmingham City are starting this evening's round of matches in third place and all look unlikely to qualify.

But will they be sad or happy?

Celtic will be left to push for the SPL title. Tottenham will be left to push for (ahem) a European place, although they will hope to qualify for the Champions League; and Birmingham will be left to catch up their league games and settle down to plotting a way out of the Championship.

It makes you wonder why they bother to qualify in the first place.

Manchester City and Manchester United, take note.

The Championship beckons

And so, with the weather just about as nice as it has been all year, we come to within a couple of days of the new football season for the Championship and Leagues One and Two. The spectators may bask shirtsleeved in Saturday's sunshine (if it holds!), but the players (all tans and new hair cuts) will suffer in the heat.

The Championship promises to be more competitive than ever this season. There are many strong clubs in there and all are desperate to make it to the Premier League.

Relegated clubs Birmingham City, Blackpool and West Ham United will be among the most desperate for promotion, but they will certainly not find it easy. Clubs like Leicester City (big summer spenders), Cardiff City, Leeds United and Nottingham Forest may head the rest, but consider Burnley, Coventry City, Derby County, Hull City, Ipswich Town, Middlesbrough, Reading and Watford! Promoted clubs Brighton and Southampton may even have a shout.

I'm sure the other seven clubs will fell that they should be included too - everyone is optimistc and hopeful before a ball has been kicked.

Whatever happens, expect the unexpected and a firecely fought campaign.

Relegation looms for two out of five

While the city of Manchester celebrates its League and FA Cup wins for United and City, at the other end of the table the folk of Blackburn, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Wigan and Blackpool will be living a fearful week as the threat of relegation looms large over all of them. Poor West Ham United already felt the axe as they were relegated after defeat at Wigan yesterday.

At the weekend Blackburn Rovers got a valuable point against the champions, while Wolves, Wigan and Blackpool all recorded wins, which they would have hoped would have dragged them clear of the relegation mire, but didn't. One point now covers all these five teams - Blackburn and Wolves on 40, the others on 39. Of the five, maybe Birmingham City are fearing the most after their dreadful home defeat against Fulham (0-2) on Sunday made them the only losers of this group.

So it will all come down to the final day and no games look easy. Perhaps the stand-out game is Wolves v Blackburn as it involves two of the clubs. In addition, Birmingham City travel to Tottenham (looking for fifth place), Blackpool travel to already-crowned Champions Manchester United (who, even if they field a supposedly weakened team, will still present a mighty threat and will not want to dent an almost perfect home record further), and Wigan Athletic face Stoke City who might be a little deflated after their FA Cup Final defeat on Saturday.

For those involved, next Sunday is going to be an awful afternoon.

Liverpool benefit from lack of technology

It was never a penalty! We could all see that from the television replay.

Yes, Liverpool got lucky in their 2-2 draw at home to Birmingham City last night. It was a draw they deserved for their battering of the Blues, but the latter will believe they deserved the three points for some stout defending and the fact that it really was a penalty that should never have been given.

The problem is that from the referee's (Peter Walton) viewpoint it looked like a penalty. Liverpool's David Ngog was on the left-hand side of the penalty area heading towards to goal line and about to put in a probable dangerous cross when Lee Carsley came in with a sliding tackle. Down went Ngog. Penalty. The TV cameras - from on high - showed the truth, but the referee couldn't see that.

The arguments about the use of technology will rise again, and there is no doubt that a TV review would have reached the right verdict (no penalty) for that one. For long-term use, the jury is still out on the use of technology and the debate will rage on.

One thing's for sure. Video evidence should be retrospectively used to give David Ngog a yellow card for diving - with perhaps a score of 9.5 written clearly on it!

See the BBC's 606 debate http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A59450844 for a Liverpool fan's view.