Football Corner

Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney have both been rewarded for their impresive season's by both been rewarded the PFA Player of the year and PFA Young Player of the year award respectivly. Gerrard faced tough competition from trio of Chelsea stars - John Terry, Joe Cole and Frank Lampard - as well as Thierry Henry and Young Player of the year Wayne Rooney. Gerrard has had an impresive season so far by leading his Liverpool side to the FA Cup final and some extrodinarly great performances.

Gerrard expressed his shock at taking the prize, emphasising the depth of talent in the six-man shortlist. "I am still in shock to be honest," said Gerrard. "If you look at the shortlist, there are five other guys who have so much talent. They are all special players. "And then there are also the guys who have not made the shortlist - there are so many players who could have won this award. "I looked at the list of past winners and there are some fantastic names on there - some legends, so I am really proud to have joined them, it is really special."

Gerrard also expressed his delight at landing the award so soon after the FA Cup semi-final win over Chelsea. "It has been one of the best weekends of my life," Gerrard added. "To go through to another FA Cup final and win this special award is fantastic for me."

Rooney has been given the award for his impresive displays for Manchester United and for netting sixteen goals already this season. Rooney has inspired Manchester United's late charge up the table, with the recent display against Arsenal one of his highlights, but has been the model of consistency throughout their campaign. He has also starred for England, and has been tipped to take this summer's World Cup by storm.

The other nominees were Rooney's Manchester United team-mate Cristiano Ronaldo, Charlton's Darren Bent, Aaron Lennon of Tottenham and Anton Ferdinand of West Ham, and the England star revealed his delight at retaining the prize. "To win it twice on the run is a great honour and I am delighted with the award," said Rooney. "As a team, we have done a bit better than last year, so it is an improvement. "Hopefully we can continue that and I will be sitting here again next season."

Rooney also revealed that he had plumped for Spanish midfielder Fabregas, as well as his Arsenal colleague Thierry Henry in the senior award. "I voted for Fabregas, but it was close between him and Darren Bent, who has been brilliant with all the goals he has scored for Charlton," Rooney added. "But Fabregas has done really well for Arsenal - especially in the Champions League". "I also voted for Thierry Henry, for the goals he has scored and the overall performance - the main thing is that he was doing it all in the Champions League as well."

I think that both rewards are just reward for two fine players who have performed to their very best this season. Both of these players have been role models for alot of young people through out the world and I think that they have acted as great role models all through out the season.

Robert Pires has reportadly been offered a two year contract offer by Spanish Champions League semi-finalists Villarreal who incidently against Pires' current side Arsenal in the tie. The Frenchman is looking for a two-year deal from The Gunners to continue in North London but has so far been frustrated with boss Arsene Wenger sticking to his policy of offering his over-30s one-year extensions.

Reports in Spain have suggested for some time that Villarreal have all but secured Pires for next season and the 32-year-old has now admitted he has an offer on the table. However, the Frenchman insists he will not open talks with the Spanish outfit before their Champions League semi-final has been decided with the North Londoners assuming a 1-0 first-leg lead on Wednesday night.

"Villarreal want me for the next two seasons," Pires told AS. "The most important thing at the moment is for me to help Arsenal get into the final. After that if I have to talk to the people from Villarreal I will. "They are a great team and I like Spain and the Spanish league." Pires has been at Arsenal for six seasons having joined from Marseille in 2000.

I believe that this would be a good move for Pires because he has certainly not been playing as much games as he would like so far this season. I think he is under-performing when he has got the chance at Arsenal this season. I don't believe Arsenal really need him any more and he has been a good servant to the club that they should let him go to Spain.

Tonight's match between AC Milan and Barcelona is sure to be one of the best games in the Champions League this season. The two European giants will battle it out for a place in the Final where they will face either Villarreal or Arsenal in Paris next month. Italian giants AC have been hit by the news that striker Fillipo Inzaghi will miss the first leg in the San Siro tonight through a virus and Barcelona will have to make do without Swedish striker Henrik Larsson who misses out with a thigh injury. Barca will also be without Deco who is suspended for the game tonight.

Barca boss Frank Rijkaard believes the semi final could prove a seminal moment in the club's recent history. "This game is our big opportunity to consolidate ourselves as one of the top clubs," he said. "We're a young team that still has a lot of hunger for victories, but it's time to show it at the top level. "Milan is a team with a lot of experience, a great system of play and a very strong defence. It will be very interesting to see how we react against an opponent of this nature."

AC Milan chairman Adriano Galliani has dismissed claims that his side's push for the Serie A title will distract them from the match. Milan host Barcelona just days after moving to within five points of Juventus in Italy's premier league. But Galliani said: "We have only the Champions League in mind and we are focusing exclusively on Barcelona." Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi added: "I think it will be fun. Not just for Milan fans, but for all the fans in Europe and the world that will follow this game."

Key battles tonight for me are the likes of Barca captain Puyol against Ukrainian hit-man Andre Shevchenko and Samuel Eto'o against Italian dfender Alessandro Nesta. I can see AC winning the first leg 2-1 but overall I see Spanish giants Barcelona going through on aggregate and going on to win the trophy. You can watch the game on ITV 1 tonight! Enjoy the match!

Sunderland have finally been put out of their misery after they have finally been guarenteed relagation after a fighting performance at Old Trafford were they drew 0-0 with title chasers Man United. Sunderland have been all but down pretty much since the start of the season but they didn't go down without a fight having a few good chances against the Red Devils. Sunderland needed a win tonight but they could only manage a draw.

The Black Cats keeper Kelvin Davis was in magnificent form tonight and basically put an end to United's slim hopes of clinching the title of Chelsea. Sunderland's caretaker manager was full of praise for his side: "The way they played was magnificent, we didn't come to make up the numbers, we came to have a go. "Every player was superb and there were opportunities for us to have won. "We have to build on that, we've got five massive games and we need to build for the future. The main thing now is to prepare right for Monday against Newcastle."

Man United boss Alex Ferguson remained adimint after the game that United still had a chance of winning the league! DREAM ON ALEX!!!!

Manchester United have signed the biggest sponsership deal in the UK today after they signed a deal with American Insurance company AIG (American Insurance Group). The deal is worth £56.5m over four years, the club said. United have had to find a new shirt logo sponsor after current sponsor Vodafone decided to end its £9m-a-year agreement from the end of this season.

The deal is seen as key to United as they look to bolster their squad to help them challenge for domestic and European honours. Off and on the pitch, United have undergone a slight dip in form during the past couple of years. Earlier this year, a survey said that Real Madrid had overtaken Manchester United to become the world's richest football club in terms of income.

I have to say that this is a very good step forward for Man United because the money could help their transfer budget in the summer. Although I am not a United fan I am hoping that this will make United challenge for the league alot more next year with Chelsea because although they have had a good end to the season their star wasn't great. I also would like to say that the logo looks nice on the jersey!

Reading have today been crowned champions of the Championship after a impresive 5-0 win over Derby County. The Royals were last week guarenteed promotion last week and clinched the title this week. They have had a very impresive season this year but few could predict such a comprehensive victory in the Championship after they lost their first game of the season at home to Plymouth 2-1 way back in August.

They have had all of their strikers in top form this season and have also had a very solid back line. The manager Steve Coppell deserves great credit for bringing what seemingly was a Championship mid-table side to become Champions is a great achievement. I would like to congragulate all of the staff and fans involved with Reading Football club and wish them the best of look in the Premiership next season.

If you would like to read the report of today's game between Reading and Derby then just click here!