GOALKEEPER extraordinaire Rio Ferdinand was right when he hinted that Liverpool could not be classed as a great side simply for winning the Champions League.

Ferdinand did not name Liverpool but his suggestion that "some sides who have won the Champions League in recent times are not considered great teams" can only have been aimed at Porto and Liverpool.

Either that or he was suggesting that other recent winners AC Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid were not great sides, which would quite frankly be mad.

Some would argue that winning the Champions League automatically makes you a great team. It is a fantastic achievement that should be respected.

Liverpool achieved some remarkable results when they won it in 2005 and their final triumph over AC Milan was up there with Real Madrid 7 Eintracht Frankfurt 3 in the all-time great European Cup finals.

But that same season, they finished fifth in the Premier League. A year earlier, they finished fourth.

Sustained success is the only way of judging a great side.

And sustained success means at least proving at some point that you are the best team in your own country.

Liverpool have rarely even been in the title race since they last won the league in 1989/90.

As a result of that, they can only be classed currently as England's fourth best team - even if their achievements during the course of their entire history would move them up that order.

So how could they even claim to be the best team in Europe when they won the Champions League in 2005?

Porto may be all conquering in Portugal but their Champions League victory in 2004 was the only time they have got beyond the last 16 in that competition in recent years.

Led by Jose Mourinho, they had a fantastic run but they could not be classed as a great side in European history.

The team Porto beat that year, AS Monaco, immediately sold the decent players they had and have made virtually no impression on European or French football ever since.

Cup competitions will always throw up surprise results and that is why we love them.

But league results are always a fairer reflection of who the best teams are.

If you win the league and one of the big cups, now that may make you great.

* The sports story of the past couple of weeks?

It can only have been Bury director resigns over shorts'.

The BBC informed us that Bury football director Iain Mills had resigned because the club had received complaints about his wearing shorts'.

Neither the article or a statement on the club's official website explained why.

They too must have understood that the comedy value would only be undermined by such fine details.

The club statement said: "He is concerned that his shorts have become a major consideration in connection with the club. He finds this a ridiculous situation and feels this is deflecting from the important issues surrounding the club."

We're not quite sure what those important issues are, given that the League Two club don't often make the headlines.

But they must be very serious indeed to be more important than the shorts.