The talk in football
Hell hath no fury like a Spurs fan scorned. Not only must Sol Campbell endure a torrent of abuse every time he returns to White Hart Lane, but the Arsenal defender also has to run the gauntlet at his local supermarket.
In a new fans' book - We Are Tottenham, by Martin Cloake and Adam Powley - Shelf regular Danny Spalding recalls a mid-aisle encounter at Tesco in Hertford.
Spalding said: "I went up to him and I went, 'Sol, can I have a quick word?' He went, 'Move along!' He wouldn't talk to me. So I said: 'I'm not a nutter, all I want to do is ask you a couple of questions'. But he just ignored me. I admit then, I did lose my rag. I said: 'I've got a boy of six and I'm trying to teach him about loyalty. You were a hero to him, but look what you've done. Do you realise how you've let him down?' But he wasn't having any of it and just ignored me."
Watford Webber dilemma
The transfer window may have shut for the Premiership, but it remains open until March for teams outside the top flight. With five goals already this season, Watford striker Danny Webber is attracting considerable interest and his progress is being tracked by a number of clubs, most notably Millwall. The Hornets, who are spending £7million buying back Vicarage Road, may find a sizeable offer hard to resist.
Flour power hits Charlton
Anti-terrorist officers swooped on Charlton's administrative offices in Bexleyheath this week when a member of staff opened a package containing white powder. Part of the building was evacuated and some employees were quarantined until police experts determined that the substance was "100 per cent" flour. Investigators are treating the incident as a hoax, a half-baked attempt to destabilise the club.
Stars fight to raise funds
Expect patience to be in short supply as the Mile End Stadium hosts a clash of the capital's great hardmen on Sunday. Terry Hurlock, Neil Ruddock, Alvin Martin and John Moncur are among the ex-professionals due to play in an exhibition match to raise money for the families of London firefighters Bill Faust and Adam Meere, who were killed on duty recently.
The match kicks off at 10am. Pay at the gate.
Bruce's biggest blunder
Before Calamity James, English football's faux-pas meister was Bruce Grobbelaar . . . until suspicions emerged about the veracity of some of his cock-ups. Now the High Court in London has declared him bankrupt after an eight-year legal battle with The Sun. The newspaper originally exposed the Zimbabwean in a match-fixing probe but was then found to have libelled him. That ruling, however, was reversed on appeal. Grobbelaar's damages were slashed to £1 and he had to pick up two thirds of The Sun's legal costs. The paper succeeded in bankrupting him over his failure to cough up £500,000.
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