RED REJECT WRECKAGE

'I can confirm that Garth Crooks, the man evidently employed by the BBC to remove any potential entertainment from their World Cup coverage, has suffered another embarrassing moment. First, he was the third broadcaster to be evicted from The Times' Big Bother house. Then he collared Sven-Göran Eriksson after the Nigeria match to tell him in breathlessly authoritative tones that he could "confirm" that England had qualified for the next round, just in case Sven had not realised. Yesterday, Crooks endured another mishap when asking a question at an England press conference. "Well, Nicky," he began - not the best way to kick off a question to Paul Scholes.'