THE rest of the nation might have gasped in disbelief, but the draw for next summer's World Cup Finals was greeted with a mixture of excitement and trepidation within the bowels of Ewood on Saturday.

For England wannabe David Dunn, the outcome couldn't have been more damaging to his dreams of playing in a World Cup final.

Should he manage to win a late ticket to the Far East then England must scale a mountain of Everest proportions if they want to avoid 'doing a Scotland' by becoming the first team to return home.

Group F, quite rightly, has been labelled 'the Group of Death' after Sven Goran Eriksson's men were pitched against Argentina, Nigeria and Sweden.

And, then if we do happen to fight our way through that little viper's nest, there's the small matter of Brazil and France lurking menacingly around the corner -- assuming we have any energy left that is!

I certainly can't recall a tougher qualifying group EVER at a World Cup.

And when you compare it to the rest of the groups at next summer's finals, all of which contain two whipping boys each, Eriksson must be wondering exactly what he's done to be dealt such a bad hand.

But if Dunn -- and Swedish defender Nils-Eric Johansson for that matter -- were holding their heads in their hands, the Irish contingent at Ewood must have been punching the air in delight.

Alan Kelly and Damien Duff can start dreaming of the second phase after being drawn in Group E with Germany, Cameroon and Saudi Arabia.

As England followers well know, German football is currently in a sorry state despite their play-off victory over Ukraine.

And, after seeing off the likes of Holland in qualifying, Mick McCarthy's men should have few problems in seeing off both the Saudis and Cameroon.

Goalkeeper Brad Friedel also has plenty of cause for optimism after the United States were drawn with Poland, Portugal and South Korea in Group D.

And what of Turkish midfield ace Tugay?

The former Rangers star and his team-mates face a curtain-raiser against Brazil before then taking on the 'might' of China and Costa Rica in Group C.

So at least if England do get eliminated early, the competition should still provide some interest for all those of a Rovers persuasion.

Anyway, back to matters closer to home, and I'm sure I wasn't alone in smiling wryly at Chelsea's 3-0 win over Manchester United at the weekend.

After years of domestic domination, the cracks are well and truly starting to show in the Old Trafford edifice.

And who needs Laurel and Hardy for entertainment when you've got a comedy double-act called Laurent and Barty?

United's defending has been a joke this season and Blanc and Barthez's shenanigans have rivalled anything you'd see in French farce La Cage Aux Folles!