Was it just me or is anyone else surprised that he does not get more for playing with one of the top sides in the country?

Figures up to £150,000 a week - obscene according to Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe - are banded about as the going rate for the Premier League's top stars.

And while I accept that Riise is not at the very top I would have thought that he might have been on more than a basic £40,000-a-week.

It's not bad money if you can get it - and I have never been one who has taken exception to the wages leading players receive.

After all, who of us would reject the chance to earn that sort of money if it was offered?

What concerns me more is the fact that because the top flight stars earn the kind of wages the rest of us can only dream of, fans on terraces up and down the country believe that all professional footballers are over-paid prima donnas.

Clearly, nothing could be further from the truth.

Once you get into the lower reaches of the Football League and the Blue Square Premier the players are on 'normal' wages.

In fact there will have been players on view at the Shay on Saturday who earn less than some of the people who paid to watch them play.

The problem arises when those players are expected to perform to the standards set by the big earners we see week in, week out on television.

It simply isn't going to happen.

And it might be nice if that was taken into consideration when a pass is misplaced, a defender slips or a striker fails to hit the target.

Incidentally, Chelsea say Terry is on £130,000-a-week and not £150,000.

Mind you, he picks up almost £40,000 extra for endorsements!

LEWIS Hamilton is among the favourites to become the 2007 BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Remarkable.

If the rookie Grand Prix racer wins it will merely confirm that the British prefer plucky losers to real champions.

Hamilton did remarkably well in his first season at the top of his sport, but he did not become world champion after a couple of errors late in the campaign.

Surely there is someone else who is more worthy of the title.

What about Joe Calzaghe, who is now the undisputed world super middleweight champion after a superb win over Mikkel Kessler in Cardiff on Saturday night?

The Welshman was defending his own WBO belt for an incredible 21st time and now holds the WBA and WBC titles as well. All that on top of the fact that he is unbeaten in 44 fights.

And if Hamilton is a candidate, what about Justin Rose who is European golf's Order of Merit champion and the youngest winner since 1989?

The petrolheads will be out in force and we have to do what we can to stop them.