Steven "Jabbard" - Should the Liverpool skipper play with pain injections?

Today's Papers / Top Dog / 05 September 2007 / Leave a comment Free £25 Bet

Betfair's Top Dog sniffs around the truth behind the latest tabloid tales.

Top Dog

Betfair's top dog sniffs around the truth behind the latest tabloid tales.

• Cruft's champion - Top stories that can dominate the news agenda
• Pedigree chum - Insights that tell you something you don't know
• Dog's dinner - Speculation, guesswork, or ideas that just don't come off.

Top Dog says:

All the tabloids except the Mirror lead on the great Gerrard jab debate begun by the Daily Star yesterday. Steve McClaren says he and not Rafa Benitez will decide whether Gerrard gets an injection to face Israel, and wants him in the team to face Israel. Could that mean he'll not be fit for the harder match with Russia? England now 1.85 to qualify for the finals with the Russians 2.32.

Cruft's:

Daily Mirror - Dangerman Colautti - John Cross digs out something different on the Israelis with the news that striker Roberto Colautti is really an Argentine from the same club as Diego Maradona. He's hit six goals in eight games since FIFA cleared him to play for the Israelis only three years after he went to live there.

Pedigree Chum:

Daily Express - Hate mail adds to Derby horror - Derby chairman Peter Gadsby reveals he's had 150 e-mails from fans abusing him because the club didn't sign more players before the deadline. Interesting - when a chairman gets abuse it's normally the manager who suffers most. Billy Davies is 12.5 to be the next Premier League boss out of his job.

Daily Star - Miller out - England dominates the news agenda in the South, but the Star finds space amid seven pages of football to confirm striker Kenny Miller will miss both Scotland's games. Big blow for the Scots who are 1.41 to beat Lithuania.

Dog' s dinner:

Daily Express/Daily Mirror - "God told me to go to Hull" - Jay Jay Okocha gives his reasons for signing for Phil Brown's team. Just hope he heard the man upstairs correctly! Hull are 15.5 for promotion.

Today's other stories:

The Sun - Debate on jab for Gerrard - World Cup refs told to pick on Crouch - Lescott on England call-up - Peter Taylor says Simon Jordan has promised him his job is safe - Idan Tal brands England thick

Daily Express - Tal tale signs are good for Israel - Alan Curbishley column says David Bentley could be star England man - New King blow for Jol

Daily Star - Refs told to target Crouch - Bentley "I won't let you down" - Shaun Wright Phillips says he never thought about leaving Chelsea - N'Zogbia's new contract - Owen Hargreaves on United hopes.

Daily Mirror - Focus on wide boys Cole and Wright-Phillips - Eastwood's hopes for Wales - Torres on Liverpool goals target

Daily Mail - Don't give me excuses says McClaren - spotlight on the work of Academies - Jay Jay Okocha joins Hull

Tags: Betfair's Top Dog, Jay-Jay Okocha, Roberto Collautti, Steve McClaren, Steven Gerrard