It's the silly season all right

* Steven Gerrard's acquittal for affray is hard to believe given the six other accused weren't so lucky and he had confessed to throwing "two or three punches" and being "7/10" drunk according to the police's scale, where ten is paralytic. I'm a big Gerrard fan but not here. During the trial, Gerrard bamboozled the London media with a northern dialect word "mither" - meaning 'bother'. He also admitted getting wrecked on Bud - is that the best beer he can afford?

*Still in Liverpool, Tim Howard's Everton's new 50,000-seat home is being delayed by acquatic rodents

* UEFA's new-look Europa League is hotting up. Bnei Yehuda, Cherno More, Honka, Metalist and Qarabag are through to the 3rd round, though Kazazhstani aces Tobol are out.

* Julio Cesar Baldivieso, coach of Bolivian first division club Aurora has resigned after his directors told him never to play his 12-year old son again. Three days before his 13th birthday, Maurecio came on for the final minutes of Aurora's 0-1 reverse at La Paz FC on Sunday and hey presto, got clattered. "I'm not going to be told whether I play someone from my family or not!" raged his unrepentant dad as he exited the Estadio Felix Capriles.

-Sean O'Conor