When Ulster's top brass decided to sack the man who was in the process of taking them to the Heineken Cup final last season, it looked a ridiculously unnecessary gamble.
The sordid and tawdry way in which the name of Rangers is being dragged through the mud must repel many of the club's supporters - especially those older generations who remain oblivious to the way modern methods of communication ensure that poison and vitriol are virtually on tap.
THOSE hoping for fresh drama in the Hearts story are likely to be sorely disappointed by what happens at this morning's meeting of the Scottish Premier League board at Hampden.
It is no surprise that Hearts are edging ever closer to the SPL precipice, their tenuous grip on the top flight loosening that bit more with every passing day as the spectre of relegation looms into view.
Few people might have heard of the city of Sialkot, in the Punjab province of Pakistan. I certainly hadn't. But right now this poverty-afflicted region is staging a potentially amazing sports story.
