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Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!Following Newcastle’s win over Blackburn in the FA Cup on Tuesday, Eddie Howe claimed that his side’s victory could prove to be “a sliding doors moment”, one of those apparently inconsequential occurrences that nonetheless significantly alter the trajectory of future events. The very next night, the metaphorical doors in question appeared to slam violently shut in his face as his team were handed an away trip to Manchester City in the quarter-finals. While this truly brutal draw doesn’t entirely rule out Newcastle’s chances of making the semi-finals and getting a day out at Wembley, it significantly reduces the chances of geordies having a sliding doors moment of their own on the Metropolitan line in April.“Re yesterday’s Football Daily on the interim appointment of John O’Shea as Ireland gaffer. Given you regularly treat your reader to a smorgasbord of managers being guided through the door marked ‘Do One’ in a variety of languages, is it too much too ask for Stephen Kenny’s big green ‘doras’ to have been marked ‘Bain As’, or even ‘Téigh ag feadáil’ (go whistling)?” – Harry Wall.Regarding Neil Rose on whether to clap or not to clap opposition players (yesterday’s Football Daily letters). My father gets around this conundrum by not clapping anyone, unless they go off knacked (they get two claps). If it was the opposition, then it was due to them being better then us so they should be doing that or we had performed badly. If it was us, it was because the opposition had performed badly or they were ‘just doing what they’re paid to do’ (I don’t know if he extends this logic to other areas where it’s conventional to clap to show appreciation, like the theatre), although in all other respects his support seems quite normal, so maybe he just doesn’t like clapping” – Andy Gill.To Neil, I’m inclined to agree, a rare show of appreciation for the opposition after an outstanding display is more than acceptable. I was fortunate (?) enough to witness and be a part of the standing ovation the Stretford End gave to Proper Ronaldo, after his imperious hat-trick bundled us through the Big Cup exit door 20 years ago. Sometimes you just have to stand there and applaud greatness. Neil obviously doesn’t have a fantasy team, however. If he had, I would imagine witnessing Erling Haaland spanking in five just days after half the planet had triple-captained him for a double-game week – in which he scored a solitary one – would have provoked an entirely different reaction” – Mark Read.Style, panache, thrilling heroics, and getting a stomp on a game is always worthy of applause, no matter the team. Neil is correct” – Bill Preston.As a man of a certain age originally from the north of England, I had to laugh at Rochdale fan John Leach’s description of his father and grandfather as ‘essentially functional mutes of the northern type of the day’ (yesterday’s full email edition). But then I started musing on the verbiage vomited from pundits and broadcasters and social media disgraces about any and all subjects, and I became rather wistful for simpler times” – Colin Reed.This is an extract from our daily football email … Football Daily. To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions. Continue reading...