As he slid on his knees towards the corner flag, hands cupped behind his ears, Steven Gerrard's gleeful celebration of his free-kick against Everton could have been aimed at any number of critics.

From the 3,000 Toffees fans inside Anfield on Saturday who had been singing about his costly slip in last year's title race, to the media who have questioned all week whether he is a spent force, there have been plenty of people voicing their opinion about the Liverpool captain of late.
No wonder he wanted to listen to what they thought now.
True, Gerrard's 31st Merseyside derby would still ultimately end in disappointment thanks to a sensational injury-time equaliser from Phil Jagielka, who himself has come in for some stick recently.
But after Gerrard's form, and indeed his future for his club in a withdrawn midfield role, came under scrutiny this week following his poor performance against West Ham, his was still a timely response.
"Steven Gerrard sticks a free-kick in the net and a middle finger up to those that write him off," tweeted Match of the Day host Gary Lineker.
After the game, Gerrard would echo those comments - although he was a bit more polite in the way he did it - and clearly enjoyed being able to.
"I can take constructive criticism, but people go one step further and say you are finished and can't run anymore," Gerrard told BT Sport. "So it was nice to remind people that, at the age of 34, I can still play, I can still run and I am still around and I can still compete with the best players around."
He can still score too, of course, and his goal against Everton came from his only shot of the game. It was his 10th Merseyside derby goal, making him the highest scorer in that fixture in the Premier League era.
Impressive stuff. But then, as another BBC pundit, Robbie Savage, said this week, you should look beyond raw statistics when you evaluate Gerrard as the player he is now, because they only tell half the story.
That was the case at Anfield on Saturday. Everton offered so little going forward that we did not get to see if there was any improvement to the defensive aspects of his game. Instead of seeing Gerrard under pressure, we only found out if he could still help apply some.
Yes, his pass completion rate was 100% in the first half, almost 20% better than at Upton Park, but far more important to his team's attacking cause was the way he organised and - occasionally - berated those around him as Liverpool tried to find a way through Everton's well-drilled defence.
Right-back Javier Manquillo got a piece of Gerrard's mind on one occasion for not venturing far enough up his flank to give his captain the option of playing one of his trademark diagonal through-balls to a wide runner.
Instead, he had to play the ball sideways to one of his centre-backs, helping give him those impeccable stats at the break.
They reflected a more cautious approach, rather than a return to the expected standards in his trademark range of attacking passing, although he did manage two equally accurate raking balls out to Manquillo and Raheem Sterling before the break.
And it was all part of a performance that, while showing what Gerrard still has to offer as he kept up his record of playing of every minute of Liverpool's Premier League campaign, was also a reminder of what he is now unable to give.
No longer is he the man making driving runs forward. That job went to Jordan Henderson, who twice advanced to the edge of Everton's area, forcing Tim Howard into action with a stinging shot and setting up Sterling to do the same.
Gerrard, as we have become accustomed, stayed far further back.
And, even on a good day for the former England midfielder, Everton were often able to replicate the tactic already used by Aston Villa and West Ham this season, which is to use a player - in this case Steven Naismith - to deny Gerrard the space he needs deep in midfield to pick out players further up the pitch.
Do that, and you largely negate his influence from open play. That just leaves the sort of set-pieces that saw him provide the corner for Adam Lallana's dangerous header in the first half, and, of course, his own curling free-kick past Tim Howard.
No wonder his manager is keen for him to take more, with Rodgers explaining afterwards: "Steven is selfless and would rather let other people have the opportunity.
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"He let Mario Balotelli take a few free-kicks in the first half and I was screaming on for him to take them because he has so much quality.
"When he did take one, it was a wonderful free-kick and he scored a goal that should have won the game. His performance was outstanding."
It was certainly a display that justified Rodgers' decision to stand by Gerrard, and he says he cannot understand the criticism his captain has been getting.
"The bits and pieces that I have heard I find remarkable," the Reds boss said.
"This is a player who, at 34, is still at a high level of football. He is at such a level in his game that players are man-marking him, so that shows you the influence that he still has in his game.
"When he is called upon to deliver, this is a guy who delivers continuously for this football club."
Undeniably, Gerrard did that again in the derby but, like the man himself, the question marks over his suitability for his current role are not going to just go away.


The Lord Chief Justice has said the remaining legacy inquests in Northern Ireland can be dealt with in five years if he gets the necessary funding.

Sir Declan Morgan proposed setting up a legacy inquest unit with its own staffing and resourcing to deal with Troubles related inquests.
After a review of more than 50 outstanding cases it has been decided that all are suitable for inquest.
Sir Declan says he believes these could start in September.
He met the families of those involved in the legacy inquests on Friday, including relatives of those shot dead by soldiers in Ballymurphy.
The purpose of the meeting was to give the families, supported by their legal representatives, an opportunity to give their views on how best to ensure that all of the legacy cases are progressed as quickly as possible through the inquest system.
Sir Declan said there was "much to be done".
"If we are given the necessary resources and we obtain the full co-operation of the relevant statutory agencies, I am confident that it should be possible to hear all of the remaining legacy cases within about five years," he said.
"I set out for the families today the way in which I think this could be achieved under the oversight of Mr Justice Colton, as the presiding coroner.
"It is clear that the existing Coroners Service is not adequately resourced to carry the weight of these cases and so we will need to establish a new, dedicated legacy inquest unit as a matter of urgency."
Justice Minister David Ford welcomed Sir Declan's comments on the legacy inquests.
"I am committed to doing all I can to ensure that victims, survivors and families get access to the information, justice and services they deserve.
"My officials are working with the office of the Lord Chief Justice to agree the structure, resources and operational arrangements for a new legacy inquest unit based on the Lord Chief Justice's developing thinking."
Victims Commissioner Judith Thompson also welcomed the move.
"Having consulted with victims and survivor groups throughout Northern Ireland in the last month, it is also clear that balance has to be achieved in the disclosure of information from all parties involved," she said.
"Ultimately victims understand that the truth will be uncomfortable for everyone, but that should not stand in the way of an acknowledgement of what happened in the past."
Ms Thompson said there were three "areas of concern" for victims.
"These areas include the establishment of the HIU (Historical Investigations Unit) to bring a more balanced focus to legacy investigation, implementation of the mental health trauma service and the pension for seriously injured," she said.


Images of a Star Wars action figure posed on a mossy wall in the Cairngorms and taking in a view of Inverness from a hotel window have helped South African photographer Darryll Jones gain a big following online.

With almost 90,000 followers on Instagram, Jones' work has also been featured in the Guardian and digital photography magazine Retouched.
But the rise in popularity of the photographic adventures of toy stormtrooper "Eric" and the poems that accompany him started almost by accident.
"I moved to the UK from South Africa six years ago, and didn't realise how dark and cold the winters are here," says Jones.
"So instead of the normal landscape photography I was doing, I found myself confined to the indoors, with only a few Lego stormtroopers as friends. So I started shooting them."
After getting positive comments to his set ups using Lego Star Wars figures such as Chewbacca and Speeder Bike riders, the photographer and graphic artist moved on to action figures and the character Eric emerged.
Other Star Wars mini figures, including bounty hunter Boba Fett, also appear in some of Jones' scenes.
"I just enjoy making people smile," says Jones, whose day job is creating marketing images for a supermarket giant.
"And I really love the expressionless face that stormtroopers have. The more I develop little story lines, the more the characters become alive, and they seem to tell their own stories, if that makes sense?"
He adds: "There are and always have been thousands of people doing this sort of thing, but I think it's the stories, the poems and the characters that hopefully make mine stand apart."
Scotland has provided Jones with many of his locations - Inverness and the Cairngorms near Aviemore - and ideas for set ups, including one about the Scottish Referendum where an undecided Eric opts to campaign for a "Maybe" vote rather than "Yes" or "No".
Jones says: "I was fortunate enough with my job as a photographer at Tesco to go all over Scotland in a van and take photos of the farmers and growers.
"I spent a week here and there and everywhere interviewing and photographing brewers, growers and farmers and all along the way I would stop and get shots of Eric and pals."
He adds: "All of Scotland is beautiful, I spent my honeymoon in Scotland and Wales nine years ago, but if I had to pick a place it would be anywhere along the western coastline.
"I have visited Skye and would love to get to the Outer Hebrides and all along that way."


A man whose body was recovered from Locher Water in Bridge of Weir was murdered, police have said.

Darryl Fitch, who was 43 and from nearby Paisley, was found in the water at about 19:55 on Monday.
A murder inquiry was launched following a post mortem examination. Police said Mr Fitch's relatives have been informed.
It is believed that Mr Fitch has been camping in the Bridge of Weir area since Friday.
Det Insp John Malcolm said: "Extensive police inquiries are ongoing where this incident took place. At this time, I would ask anyone who was in the area over the last few days to contact us.
"It's possible you could have information which could prove useful in helping us piece together Darryl's movements prior to his death. It's imperative we find out how Darryl came about his injuries and that those responsible are traced and held to account.
"If you have any knowledge or information in connection with this incident, please do get in touch."
Forensic officers have been searching the area and CCTV is also being checked.
Mr Malcolm added: "I know that crimes such as these can cause concern in the local community and I would like to reassure them that additional officers will be on patrol in the area. Anyone with any concerns or information can speak to these officers."


Barcelona made Champions League history by becoming the first team to overturn a first-leg 4-0 deficit and knock out Paris St-Germain to reach the quarter-finals for the 10th successive season.

The Spanish champions were 5-3 down on aggregate in the 88th minute, but scored three goals in the final seven minutes in one of the greatest European ties of all time.
Neymar's free-kick and penalty followed by Sergi Roberto's 95th-minute winner sealed victory on an incredible night at the Nou Camp.
Barcelona had led 2-0 at the break courtesy of Luis Suarez's header after just three minutes and Layvin Kurzawa's own goal.
And they added another shortly after half-time when Neymar fell over Thomas Meunier in the box and Lionel Messi converted the penalty.
Edinson Cavani lashed home for PSG on 61 minutes and the quarter-finals looked beyond Barca, but they obviously had not read the script.
Neymar curled a sumptuous free-kick into the top corner before Suarez won a penalty and gave it to the Brazilian to convert - which he did comfortably, leaving Barca with one goal to find in injury time.
And Neymar, who put in one of his finest ever performances, turned provider for substitute Roberto who poked home his first goal of the season as the Nou Camp exploded.
BBC Sport's Spanish Football writer Andy West at the Nou Camp
Mayhem, utter mayhem.
All around me, people were hugging, jumping, screaming. Grown men were crying and strangers were leaping into each other's arms.
Unlike so much of modern sport, there was nothing contrived or orchestrated about those celebrations, about that moment.
This was deep, instinctive passion at its most authentic and unrefined. Just pure, wordless, thoughtless exhilaration. And it is surely for moments like this, which come along once every few years if you're lucky, that sport is so compelling.
From a personal point of view, being there was a privilege. Two decades of attending sporting events in a professional capacity have hardened me, to the extent that I thought nothing can move me.
I was wrong.
Read more from Andy here
Does anything compare to Barca's achievement on Wednesday night?
Their exploits at the Nou Camp surpassed the previous best second-leg comeback in Champions League history, which was achieved by Deportivo against reigning champions AC Milan in 2004.
Trailing 4-1 from the first leg of their quarter-final tie, Deportivo raced into a 3-0 lead in the return leg and, with 14 minutes remaining, clinched a 5-4 aggregate win when Fran volleyed in the Spanish side's fourth goal of the night.
A four-goal first-leg deficit has been overturned in other Uefa competitions by three other clubs:
Real welcomed Borussia Monchengladbach for the second leg of a third-round Uefa Cup tie after the German side had won 5-1 at home, and the Spanish club secured a thrilling 4-0 victory to advance to the last eight.
Leixoes were crushed 6-2 at La Chaux-de-Fonds, but the Swiss side buckled 5-0 at the Estádio do Mar in the return leg.
QPR won the first leg 6-2 - which was played at Highbury as they couldn't use the plastic pitch at Loftus Road - but lost 4-0 in Belgrade and went out on away goals.
PSG stunned Luis Enrique's men in the first leg as they completely outplayed the Spanish champions - 16 shots on goal with 10 on target as they inflicted a 4-0 defeat.
Angel di Maria, Cavani and Julian Draxler were in superb form as manager Unai Emery masterminded his first victory over Barca in 23 attempts.
But their attacking threat from three weeks ago was replaced by a nervous and clumsy defence as PSG looked resigned to a night of toil from the off.
The defence were a shambles - Marco Verratti and Marquinhos let the ball bounce for the first goal, Marquinhos again failed to deal with the second and Meunier got in the way of Neymar to concede a penalty for the third.
Pressed back to the edge of their penalty box, they were unable to assert any dominance in midfield and with Di Maria on the bench, still feeling the effects of an injury, there was no outlet for the passes.
Cavani, in prolific goalscoring form, gave his side a hope of holding on in the 62nd-minute, but he will inevitably face criticism after missing vital chances to put the tie to bed.
Emery, who led Sevilla to three consecutive Europa League titles from 2014-2016, got his tactics very wrong in what was a disastrous result for PSG.
The domestic title is far from safe, they are three points behind Monaco in Ligue 1 and will need to recover quickly to keep up their challenge for a domestic double.
They've lost in the last eight in each of the past four years of the Champions League, but didn't even make it that far this season thanks to Barcelona's brilliance.
Neymar was brilliant throughout.
He curled in a free-kick and scored a penalty when Barcelona looked dejected and out.
Then, with time slipping away and the clock on red, he clipped a superb ball into the box for Sergi Roberto to toe into the net and send his team into the quarter-finals.
Barcelona manager Luis Enrique:
"It is a difficult night to explain with words.
"It was a horror movie, not a drama, with a Camp Nou that I have seen very few times as a player or coach.
"What defines this victory is the faith that the players and fans had."
Paris St-Germain manager Unai Emery:
"The truth is we have let a huge opportunity get away and we are aware of that.
"In the last two minutes we lost everything we had recovered in the second-half. Barcelona are capable of this in their stadium.
"In the last few minutes they played all or nothing and they have beaten us."
Match ends, Barcelona 6, Paris Saint Germain 1.
Second Half ends, Barcelona 6, Paris Saint Germain 1.
Goal!  Barcelona 6, Paris Saint Germain 1. Sergi Roberto (Barcelona) right footed shot from very close range to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Neymar with a through ball following a set piece situation.
Marc-André ter Stegen (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain).
Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain).
Neymar (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Serge Aurier (Paris Saint Germain).
Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Grzegorz Krychowiak replaces Thomas Meunier.
Attempt saved. Gerard Piqué (Barcelona) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal. Assisted by Samuel Umtiti.
Goal!  Barcelona 5, Paris Saint Germain 1. Neymar (Barcelona) converts the penalty with a right footed shot to the bottom right corner.
Marquinhos (Paris Saint Germain) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Penalty Barcelona. Luis Suárez draws a foul in the penalty area.
Penalty conceded by Marquinhos (Paris Saint Germain) after a foul in the penalty area.
Goal!  Barcelona 4, Paris Saint Germain 1. Neymar (Barcelona) from a free kick with a right footed shot to the top left corner.
Neymar (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Ángel Di María (Paris Saint Germain).
Attempt blocked. Neymar (Barcelona) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Sergio Busquets (Barcelona) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Marco Verratti (Paris Saint Germain).
Corner,  Barcelona. Conceded by Serge Aurier.
Attempt blocked. Neymar (Barcelona) left footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is blocked.
Attempt missed. Ángel Di María (Paris Saint Germain) left footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the left. Assisted by Marco Verratti with a through ball following a fast break.
Substitution, Barcelona. André Gomes replaces Ivan Rakitic.
Sergio Busquets (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Layvin Kurzawa (Paris Saint Germain).
Attempt blocked. Sergi Roberto (Barcelona) left footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Corner,  Barcelona. Conceded by Marquinhos.
Javier Mascherano (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Layvin Kurzawa (Paris Saint Germain).
Offside, Barcelona. Lionel Messi tries a through ball, but Gerard Piqué is caught offside.
Substitution, Barcelona. Sergi Roberto replaces Rafinha.
Rafinha (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Ángel Di María (Paris Saint Germain).
Substitution, Paris Saint Germain. Serge Aurier replaces Julian Draxler.
Attempt missed. Lionel Messi (Barcelona) left footed shot from the centre of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Arda Turan.
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Adrien Rabiot (Paris Saint Germain).


Over the past two seasons the Scottish Championship has produced dramatic games, with Hearts and then Rangers successfully making their way back into the Premiership.

This season should prove no different as several clubs aim for the sole automatic spot.
Further, with three play-off positions to target there should be no lack of passion and excitement once again throughout the campaign.
Three clubs with aspirations of promotion begin their campaigns with a new man in charge.
The departure of Alan Stubbs from Hibernian has allowed Neil Lennon to step into the hot seat at Easter Road as the club looks to build upon their Scottish Cup success in May.
Lennon has cast his eye over his squad in a short European campaign that ended in a penalty shoot-out defeat to Brondby but says the season ahead will only be a success if they achieve a place in the Premiership.
"It's important to get promotion," explained Lennon. "I think everyone has made that pretty clear.
"For a club this size it's not great to be in the second tier of Scottish football.
"We have to earn the right to be there and it's what we have to do over 36 games."
Lennon had a disappointing time with Bolton in the English Championship but believes his experiences of winning three Premiership titles at Celtic should help him reach his goal.
Dundee United's troubles over the past 12 months brought about two changes of manager as first Jackie McNamara and then Mixu Paatelainen vacated the Tannadice dugout.
In has stepped Ray McKinnon who celebrates his 46th birthday on the eve of the Championship campaign. A former United player, McKinnon took Raith Rovers to the play-offs last season.
His task this time could be extremely difficult given the number of players who left Tannadice after relegation was confirmed in May. He hopes their replacements will be good enough to push towards the top end of the league.
"We are in good shape and I would still like to add a couple of players," McKinnon explained.
"We have been very patient in our selection of players this year but we have brought in seven who I feel will do well for us.
"It's basically half a team and more (who have joined) and to turn around a team in six weeks is hard to do, especially a big team like Dundee United where expectation levels are high."
McKinnon says getting back up at the first attempt will be the goal but, as others have found, being top of the league after 36 matches is far from simple.
"Stats tell you everything," he added.
"Rangers spent two seasons in this league and Hibs are going into their third year.
"St Mirren got relegated and finished seventh last season.
"This is a tough tough league with a lot of good players in it.
"I don't think anyone will be running away with this league and I think you are going to have to fight and earn every point."
McKinnon's replacement at Raith Rovers' Stark's Park is the former Hearts and Kilmarnock boss Gary Locke.
The 41-year-old has had a turbulent start to his managerial career. He was in charge for the 12 months of Hearts' administration process before he was cast aside by the new regime at Tynecastle.
He then took over from Allan Johnston at Kilmarnock but lasted less than a year at Rugby Park before joining Raith in June.
"If you look at the teams in the league every team could play in the top flight," insists Locke.
"It's going to be a fantastic league, really competitive.
"I'm at a great club. I'm really enjoying working here. The board of directors and the fans have been great.
"It really is a club pushing in the right direction and hopefully we can go and emulate the success Ray and the rest of the team had last year."
In May, Falkirk came within 90 minutes of a return to the top flight but a disappointing second leg of their play-off final against Kilmarnock meant another season in the Championship.
Manager Peter Houston is entering his third full season with the Bairns and he says that, despite the disappointment of missing out on promotion, steady progress has been made.
"The first four or five months of my tenure here was difficult, getting to know the division and getting to know the players and then taking it forward and then strengthening the squad," Houston explained.
"We have sold five players since I came in but I think on the pitch we have still gone forward."
Houston is better placed than most to evaluate the league and says this season is likely to be the most competitive in recent times.
He continued: "You have Hibernian, Dundee United, Dunfermline, Ayr United coming up as well.
"It's probably a stronger league with more clubs full-time. Morton will be strong again as will Raith Rovers under Gary (Locke) so you can take nothing for granted in this league.
"Our target is to make the play-offs.
"If we do get there we will take our chances again and hopefully we will have a better experience this season.
"If we were to go through the season losing four games, as we did last season, there is a good chance we could win it.
"I think any team who only loses four games in the Championship will win the league."
Promoted clubs Ayr United and Dunfermline Athletic, who are full time, are capable of putting in a challenge and, with St Mirren, Morton and Queen of the South in the mix, the Championship seems to have more strength in depth than ever before.
Ayr captain Nicky Devlin said: "We can't wait to get going.
"We were used to winning a lot of games last year so hopefully we can continue that this year, but we know it's going to be a lot harder."
Experienced Buddies defender Andy Webster is desperate to begin the season with a home win over rivals Morton.
"Starting with a derby is great," he said.
"This season is going to be very competitive. We have to get off to a good start, build a bit of momentum and then reassess where we're going."
Dumbarton are the bookmakers' favourites to finish bottom yet last season they managed to defeat Hibernian twice and secure valuable points against other promotion contenders.
It all kicks off on Saturday at three o'clock. The fans are dreaming of promotion to the Premiership.


Seven people have died in an air strike on a Medecins Sans Frontieres hospital in northern Syria, the organisation said, calling it a "deliberate" attack.

MSF blamed Syria's government or Russia for the raid in Maarat al-Numan. There has been no independent confirmation.
A further eight people are missing from the strikes, the medical charity said.
Separate strikes on a hospital in the same town, as well as on two more hospitals and a school in Azaz, killed at least 12 people, reports said.
Attacks on medical facilities are forbidden in conflict zones under international humanitarian law.
The raids in northern Syria come days after Russia and other world powers agreed to a limited cessation of hostilities, to begin later this week.
Almost five years of civil war in Syria have led to the deaths of more than 250,000 people. More than 11 million people have been displaced.
Hospitals hit as tensions mount: As it happened
Syria: The story of the conflict
Turkey v Islamic State v the Kurds: What's going on?
MSF said its hospital in Maarat al-Numan was hit by four missiles within minutes of each other.
This "leads us to believe that... it wasn't an accidental attack, that it was deliberate," said Sam Taylor, the spokesman for MSF operations in Syria.
Mego Terzian, president of MSF France, told Reuters "either the [Syrian] government or Russia" was "clearly" responsible.
Monday's attack in Idlib province leaves tens of thousands without medical care, MSF warned.
240 facilities hit up to late 2015
70  in Jun-Aug 2015 alone
697 medical personnel killed
40% of Syrians lack basic care
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based group which relies on a network of sources on the ground, said nine people were killed, including a child. The raid also left dozens of others wounded, it added.
Another hospital in Maarat al-Numan was also hit, killing three people, said another opposition group,  the Local Co-ordination Committees.
The strikes follow a pattern of systematic attacks on healthcare facilities in Syria, says the BBC's Mark Lowen in neighbouring Turkey.
In Azaz, near the Turkish border, at least 12 people were killed in an attack on a children's hospital and school, according to activists and witnesses.
One medic, Juma Rahal, told the Reuters news agency: "We have been moving scores of screaming children from the hospital".
There has been no independent confirmation over who was behind either attack in Azaz or Maarat al-Numan.
Unicef said four medical facilities across Syria had been struck: two in Idlib province, two in Azaz. Two schools in Azaz were also hit, the organisation said, reportedly killing six children.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said a Russian ballistic missile had hit buildings in Azaz, with children among the dead.
Russia has been carrying out air strikes in Syria since September in support of President Assad and against what it terms "terrorists".
Azaz and Tal Rifat are on the corridor stretching from the Turkish border to the city of Aleppo. This is the supply route, the lifeline for the anti-Assad rebels in the area, as it serves as a land bridge to Turkey.
The route faces threats from various sides. To the east, the so-called Islamic State group; to the west the Syrian Kurds; and to the south the Assad forces.
Tal Rifat is 20km (12 miles) from the Turkish border, Azaz just 7km. Halfway between the two is the Mennagh air base, now captured by Syrian Kurds.
Turkey says the Kurds have to retreat - otherwise its shelling of their positions will continue.
A Kurdish capture of Azaz and Tal Rifat - and the fall of the supply corridor - could change things dramatically. Turkey could indeed become directly involved in Syria's war.
For a third day, Turkey has shelled Kurdish forces in northern Syria trying to take Azaz.
The Kurdish YPG militia has been making advances at the expense of other rebels stretched by a government offensive.
Ahmet Davutoglu promised the "harshest reaction" if the YPG tried to capture Azaz
Turkey views the YPG militia in Syria as allied to the outlawed PKK, which has carried out a decades-long campaign for Kurdish autonomy within Turkey.
Syria said the Turkish shelling was a violation of its sovereignty and has called on the UN Security Council to act.
Last Thursday, world leaders pledged to work towards a cessation of hostilities in Syria within a week,
But Russia argues that the "cessation" does not apply to its air strikes, which have tilted the balance of the war in favour of the Syrian government.


Many sons have difficulty deciphering their father, but few more than Mark Colvin.

As a boy in the 1950s and 1960s, Colvin knew his dad as a dedicated British diplomat whose job took their family all over the globe.
The pair had a strong bond, but there were unanswered questions. John Colvin worked long hours, shared few details about his job and sometimes kept his family at arm's length.
Colvin and his sister, Zoe, sometimes joked their father might be a spy.
Only years later, in 1976-77, did they learn he worked for MI6.
John Colvin was posted to Malaysia in 1957 after diplomatic postings in Norway and Austria, where his real mission had been to undermine Soviet imperialism.
With a young family in tow, he began running counter-insurgency troops during the Malayan Emergency.
"When we went to live in Kuala Lumpur, I believed he was straight-out diplomat," Mark Colvin said.
"I went out into the jungle one time with him and reviewed a troupe of jungle fighters - hill tribesmen - but I thought that was part of his normal work. I thought he was a colonial diplomat. I didn't realise that was essentially part of his intelligence work."
Family life ran parallel with espionage as the Cold War continued.
But the stresses of the job eventually contributed to the breakdown of John's marriage to Mark's mother, Anne Manifold. In time it also strained the relationship with his children, who remained in the dark about his work.
Later, during Mark's teenage years, his father left to be British Consul-General in Hanoi, then capital of North Vietnam. The perilous post thousands of miles from his family came amid Operation Rolling Thunder - a massive US-led bombing campaign.
John remarried and was appointed ambassador to Mongolia in 1974, before leaving to take up his final post in America.
"I had a very good relationship with my father but it was sometimes very distant," Mark Colvin remembers.
"He was often not there and a couple of assignments that he took meant being a very long way from civilisation."
Mark was in his 20s and working as a journalist for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation when his mother first revealed the truth about his father.
Suddenly incongruous details about John, such as warning his children not to travel to the Soviet Union, began to make more sense.
Mark found it was beneficial to keep the secret.
In the paranoid atmosphere of 1970s Australia, the young journalist did not want to be pigeonholed as "the son of an MI6 officer".
But having not seen John for five years, Mark arranged to meet him in New York on the first leg of an around-the-world trip.
It was there, over lamb cutlets and claret at the Knickerbocker Club, that his father finally admitted his work.
What was revealed could not be divulged to anyone. His position as a political counsellor at the British embassy in Washington was a "cover". In reality, he was the head of station for MI6. He had replaced Kim Philby, a double agent who famously defected to the Soviet Union.
In the wake of the Cambridge Spies scandal, John's job was to liaise between British intelligence agencies ("The Friends") and the CIA ("The Cousins").
He ultimately retired from the intelligence service in 1980, and took up a position with Chase Manhattan Bank in Hong Kong. There he reviewed books for British newspapers and wrote a memoir and a series of books on military history. He died in 2003.
Mark Colvin, now a veteran journalist and radio presenter for the ABC, began taking a deeper look at his father's life when he sat down to write his new autobiography, Light and Shadow.
By writing the book, he came to a realisation that their lives were bound by the Cold War. As one waged war covertly as a secret agent, the other covered it as a foreign correspondent.
While he knew his father so well, in other ways he didn't know him at all.
"He was an absent father some of the time and a present father a lot of the rest of the time," he said.
"It was a very good relationship but then he would just not be there for unexplained reasons."


Debut author KJ Orr has won the BBC national short story award for Disappearances, beating the likes of double Booker winner, Hilary Mantel.

The £15,000 prize was presented to London-born Orr by Woman's Hour's Dame Jenni Murray at a ceremony in London.
Author and judge Kei Miller described Disappearances as "a near perfect example of how the short story works".
The story about guilt and identity was inspired by Orr watching a solitary man in a cafe while in Argentina.
It tells the tale of a retired plastic surgeon who develops a relationship with a local waitress.
The shortlist for the competition was made up of five women.
Runner-up Claire-Louise Bennett, also a debut writer, received £3,000 in prize money for her story Morning, Noon & Night.
The other three shortlisted authors, Mantel, Lavinia Greenlaw and Tahmima Anam, each received £500.
Di Speirs, books editor at BBC Radio 4, which broadcasts the event, said: "In a year when the shortlist was supremely well balanced and the judges initially quite divided about a winner, our meeting was full of insight, debate, discussion and courtesy; by its conclusion we were all of a mind.
"KJ Orr's precision and clarity, her ability to expose a life in a line and to induce sympathy and disdain, linger long after reading the final paragraph."
Orr's debut collection of short stories, Light Box, was published in February.
Her stories have appeared in the Sunday Times Magazine, The Irish Times and The Dublin Review amongst others and she was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award for the first time in 2011.
Orr studied at St. Andrews, UEA and Chichester and has published essays and reviews in Poetry Review, the TLS and the Guardian.
Previous winners of the BBC National Short Story prize include Jonathan Buckley, Julian Gough, James Lasdun, Lionel Shriver and Clare Wigfall.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram at bbcnewsents, or if you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.


Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith qualified for the final of the 200m at the Rio Olympics.

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Asher-Smith came fourth in her semi-final in 22.49 seconds and progressed as one of two fastest losers but compatriot Jodie Williams came last in her semi in a time of 22.99 seconds.
Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands qualified fastest in 21.96 seconds.
Meanwhile, Eilidh Doyle is through to the 400m hurdles final as a fastest loser with a time of 54.99 seconds.
Doyle told BBC Sport: "Obviously I would have liked to have qualified automatically but I'm actually happy with how the race went.
"My race just showed that it's wide open this year."
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Lawrence Clarke and Andrew Pozzi both failed to qualify for the final of the 110m hurdlers while Jack Green came last in his semi-final of the 400m men's hurdles.
Pozzi struggled in his semi, clocking 13.67 seconds before being disqualified, and told BBC Sport: "It was just abysmal. There are no other words to describe it."
Clarke, who finished sixth in his semi in 13:46 seconds, said: "I was in the lane next to the world number one and I just went for it. It just wasn't to be."
Green, 24, came last in his semi-final in a time of 49.54 seconds.
However, it was a better night for Ireland's Thomas Barr, who won his 400m hurdles semi-final in a national record time of 48.39 seconds.
"I couldn't have timed it any better. I can not believe it," he told BBC Sport.
"I felt really good so I was secretly hoping to reach the final. I got my stride pattern spot on."
Jazmin Sawyers and Lorraine Ugen both qualified for the final of the women's long jump but there was disappointment for fellow Briton Shara Proctor.
Ugen jumped 6.65m while Sawyers recorded a leap of 6.53m to reach Thursday's final but Proctor's 6.36m was not enough to see her progress.
Meanwhile, the only Russian athlete permitted to compete in Rio, Darya Klishina, reached the final with a jump of 6.64m.
Klishina, 25, who lives and trains in the United States, initially escaped a blanket ban on Russia's athletes for doping by governing body the IAAF, but her eligibility was revoked following new, but unspecified, information.
However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned that decision.
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Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert won the men's doubles title at Wimbledon with victory over Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

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The top seeds beat their fellow Frenchmen 6-4 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 in two hours and six minutes on Centre Court.
It was the first all-French doubles final at Wimbledon and the second Grand Slam the pair have won together.
Herbert and Mahut won the US Open title in 2015 and were runners-up at last year's Australian Open.
Mahut is famous for taking part in the longest professional match in tennis history, losing to John Isner at Wimbledon 2010 in a first-round singles that lasted 11 hours and five minutes.
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Sergio Aguero scored twice as Manchester City closed the gap at the top of the Premier League by thrashing a lacklustre Crystal Palace side.

After a slow start from the hosts, midfielder Fabian Delph gave them the lead with a long-range drive.
Striker Aguero doubled the advantage with an effort that deflected in off the head of defender Scott Dann.
Aguero finished off a sublime team move and David Silva added a fourth, with Palace winless in five league games.
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The Eagles could have gone ahead in the first couple of minutes but defender Damien Delaney headed straight at Joe Hart when free inside the area.
Yohan Cabaye went close late on with an effort that flew narrowly wide, but Palace have now failed to score in their past five league games.
Having started the day in third place, City were briefly top after victory over Palace, but were later overtaken by surprise title challengers Leicester who drew 1-1 against Aston Villa.
Manuel Pellegrini's side failed to score against Everton in their last league game, and there were concerns over the form of Aguero going into the game.
But the Argentine - who had scored just once in his past five league games - showed his class at a snowy Etihad Stadium, scoring twice and setting up the impressive Silva for another, as the hosts found the net with all four shots on target.
City's third was particularly special, as four players with a value of £141m combined to score - Aguero starting and finishing a move that also involved Silva, Yaya Toure and Kevin de Bruyne.
The Blues have not been beaten in the league since their 2-1 defeat at Arsenal before Christmas and, with Aguero and Silva hitting their stride after injury, are finding form at just the right time.
As recently as 19 December - when Palace beat Stoke - there was talk of Alan Pardew's side challenging for a place in Europe, perhaps even in the Champions League.
Then, they had the same number of points as fourth-placed Tottenham, but an alarming slump has seem them drop to eighth in the table.
This was another game in which they failed to score or take a point. Having made a mistake in their defeat by bottom side Aston Villa in midweek, goalkeeper Hennessey was again at fault for City's opener.
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Manager Pardew was unhappy with the Welshman's performance - but he has problems at both ends of the field.
Pardew has admitted he needs to bring in a striker in the transfer window, and neither the hard-working Connor Wickham nor the ineffectual Marouane Chamakh forced Hart into a save.
Palace's best chance came in the second minute. Had skipper Delaney scored with his header, it could have been a different story, but their wait for a goal and a point continues.
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini: "Was it comfortable? No, because you never know in this game. The first half, the two goals gave us more space as they've had to go for the draw. That allowed us to use that space and score two more."
Crystal Palace manager Alan Pardew on the performance of goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey: "Wayne is going to have to show me this week in training. A mistake at Villa, he needed to respond today and made another mistake.
"The ball is in his court to keep out the other two goalkeepers but I need to see it in training. I need to see a reaction from him."
Manchester City travel to West Ham next Saturday (17:30 GMT), while Crystal Palace host fellow Londoners Tottenham (15:00 GMT) on the same day.
Match ends, Manchester City 4, Crystal Palace 0.
Second Half ends, Manchester City 4, Crystal Palace 0.
Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Foul by Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace).
Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Nicolás Otamendi (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace).
David Silva (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Jason Puncheon (Crystal Palace).
Substitution, Manchester City. Jesús Navas replaces Sergio Agüero.
Substitution, Crystal Palace. Lee Chung-yong replaces Wilfried Zaha.
Goal!  Manchester City 4, Crystal Palace 0. David Silva (Manchester City) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the top right corner. Assisted by Sergio Agüero following a fast break.
Foul by Sergio Agüero (Manchester City).
Jason Puncheon (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt blocked. Yaya Touré (Manchester City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
David Silva (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Joe Ledley (Crystal Palace).
Substitution, Crystal Palace. Jordon Mutch replaces James McArthur.
Corner,  Manchester City. Conceded by Joel Ward.
Foul by Gaël Clichy (Manchester City).
Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. Yohan Cabaye (Crystal Palace) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the right. Assisted by James McArthur.
Foul by Fabian Delph (Manchester City).
Marouane Chamakh (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt missed. David Silva (Manchester City) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Sergio Agüero.
Marouane Chamakh (Crystal Palace) is shown the yellow card.
Marouane Chamakh (Crystal Palace) has gone down, but that's a dive.
Foul by Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City).
Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Goal!  Manchester City 3, Crystal Palace 0. Sergio Agüero (Manchester City) right footed shot from very close range to the high centre of the goal. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne.
Substitution, Crystal Palace. Marouane Chamakh replaces Connor Wickham.
Attempt missed. Joel Ward (Crystal Palace) left footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Wilfried Zaha.
Hand ball by David Silva (Manchester City).
Offside, Crystal Palace. Yohan Cabaye tries a through ball, but Scott Dann is caught offside.
Foul by Fernando (Manchester City).
Connor Wickham (Crystal Palace) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Martín Demichelis (Manchester City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Connor Wickham (Crystal Palace).
Attempt blocked. Joe Ledley (Crystal Palace) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked. Assisted by Connor Wickham.
Substitution, Manchester City. Yaya Touré replaces Kelechi Iheanacho.


It's seven o'clock on a crisp Essex morning and a group of hardened fighters have gathered in a converted farm building.

The men exchange nods before retreating to their thoughts. A sense of foreboding pervades the stale air.
"I'm Tony," says the main man, extending his hand. "Ricky will be here any minute. Cuppa tea?"
Sure enough, a moment later the WBA world super-lightweight champion, Ricky Burns, strolls into the gym, joking with his good pal, Lee Crawford.
"We're about to do the triangle," says Burns. "It's murder." The smile and the message are at odds.
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And soon it begins - five laps of a 1.2km triangular course along hilly Brentwood back roads. The boxers set off briskly, running in a pack before fanning out.
Trainer Tony Sims informs each man of his time as he sprints across the line. He's pleased with Burns' quickening pace but encourages him to push even harder when he starts his next lap in precisely 60 seconds' time.
Before his world unification fight at Glasgow's SSE Hydro with Namibia's IBF champion Julius Indongo, the 33-year-old Scot looks powerful as he sheds the pounds gradually to make the fighting weight of 10st.
"I wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it," says only the third British fighter, following Bob Fitzsimmons in 1903 and Duke McKenzie in 1992, to win world titles at three weights. "That's the worst bit over for the day."
With sweat dripping from his nose and grinning broadly, he walks back to the gym to start circuit training. It's not yet 07:30.
Burns is 400 miles from home and learning to cope with being away from his wife, Amanda, and their young son.
For him, it's a question of sacrifice: He has to endure these 12-week training camps to be in the best possible shape.
He is as modest as they come. As WBO world super-featherweight champion, Burns kept his Saturday job in a Lanarkshire sports shop just to keep himself grounded.
Were it not for his pal's more upmarket car, his journeys to Essex from Coatbridge would be in an old Corsa.
He's quick-witted, self-deprecating and funny. He and Crawford, his friend from their teenage Thai boxing years, joust verbally almost non-stop, cutting one another down with a series of savage one-liners.
It's the patter of the west of Scotland transported south to Sims' Matchroom gym.
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Sims is relaxed, mimicking the Coatbridge pair's accent and chuckling away to himself. He's in charge, but his authority stems from the technical knowledge he imparts and from his record of creating champions, rather than anything more heavy handed.
The boxers know they're on the next train to Liverpool Street if they don't match the commitment he demands.
"I respect the boxers and the boxers respect me," says Sims.
"We end up becoming like a family because we spend such a lot of time each day with each other that you get to know each other's personality.
"I'm not one for screaming and shouting. If they are not doing the work, they know when I'm not happy about it."
Sims is delighted with Burns' attitude to training and is happy to have him in his camp because "the other fighters can look up to a three-weight world champion".
His enthusiasm for a week spent in Ricky's home patch is evident.
"I love coming to Scotland," he says. "I feel like I'm an adopted Scotchman now.
"The fans come up to me and say a lot of good things about what I've done with Ricky, bringing him back to the world titles.
"I always come up the week before and I enjoy being around the people there."
Sims can rightfully be proud of his role in rejuvenating Burns, who had been served so well by Billy Nelson when he won the WBO world super-featherweight (130lb) and lightweight (135lb) titles.
Burns' career looked to be on the slide around 2013 and 2014. He had become disillusioned training for fights only for them to be cancelled close to fight night and was embroiled in a costly court case with his former promoter, Frank Warren.
"I think it was mainly down to his weight," says Sims of Burns' travails back then. "This weight now - 10st - suits him down to the ground. He does it easy and he's strong at the weight."
Sims and Burns have been struggling to view footage of Indongo, but from what they have seen, they expect the Namibian to be "really awkward".
"Jose Gonzalez, Terence Crawford - I have been in with some tough, tricky southpaws," says Burns. "I think this could be another of those cases, but I am confident of going out to get the win, just going out to stick it on him right from the start."
Sims is just as upbeat about Burns's chances.
"As long as he is prepared right, which I know he will be, I think he will be the favourite to unify the titles and put himself in the position for a massive unification fight over in the States, hopefully Las Vegas, which is Ricky's second home town, as he calls it. He loves it there," adds the Scot's trainer.
"That's what we'll be looking for and this is just a stepping stone for that fight."


Germany lifted the World Cup a decade after exiting Euro 2004 without a win.

A revolutionary plan and the collective will to carry it through changed their fortunes and culminated in Sunday's 1-0 win over Argentina.
Football Association chairman Greg Dyke has challenged England to win the World Cup in 2022 - so can the low of group-stage exit in Brazil be one day viewed as the bust before the boom?
BBC Sport examines how, and indeed if, England can 'do a Germany'.
Exiting a major tournament at the group stage, as England did this summer, will sound familiar to Germany.
They finished bottom of their group at Euro 2000 and, although they reached the World Cup final in 2002, failed once again to progress to the knockout stages at Euro 2004. That led to a pivotal moment for the country and the national team - the decision that a radical overhaul was needed.
Along with his assistant Joachim Low, new coach Jurgen Klinsmann set about restructuring German football. The path to do so was challenged by many.
But the German football association, the DFB, put "a lot of pressure" on clubs to develop academy programmes.
"We held workshops with coaches and players, asking them to write down on flip charts three things: how they wanted to play, how they wanted to be seen to be playing by the rest of the world and how the German public wanted to see us playing," said Klinsmann in 2010, the year Germany reached the semi-finals of the World Cup.
While the Football Association in England does support the Premier League's Elite Player Performance Programme - which aims to enhance youth development - total unity on a direction has proven elusive.
"People who write, 'England should follow the German route', are oblivious to the obstacles or believe in magic wands," tweeted Gary Neville on the complexity of creating a holistic approach.
Unity was fundamental in Germany's approach, according to Lutz Pfannenstiel, head of scouting at Bundesliga side Hoffenheim.
"I think there was not one important part of the system Jurgen started, it was the whole thing. If you lifted one part of the skeleton out, it wouldn't work," said Pfannenstiel, who played for 25 different clubs.
"You cannot take it and use it in any country. For example, if you were to use this in Brazil now, with the size of the country, you would need 50 years longer maybe because of all the states and different leagues."
At the same time, Germany invested more in the players' education, increasing the number of elite coaches.
The reward of that is clear today, with, Uefa data suggesting the country boasts 6,934 coaches holding Uefa's A and Pro qualification badges. England, meanwhile, has 1,457. Furthermore, there are 21,731 holders of Uefa B badges in Germany, compared to 9,420 in England.
But while the number of elite coaches may be lower than in some other European countries, the FA says England has the largest and most comprehensive age-specific coaching setup in the continent, awarding 40,000 qualifications a year.
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Coaching methods have also been redefined and that, coupled with the opening of the FA's centre of excellence St George's Park in 2012, means it is an area that is not only increasing in quality, but is also becoming a benchmark other Football Associations appear keen to copy.
Interestingly, a delegation from the DFB were visitors to Burton-upon-Trent last month on a fact-finding mission, observing one of the FA's youth coach education programmes.
"Since the end of 2009 we have been developing a new pathway for children to learn and play the game which focuses on skill and technique development, so smaller-sided version of the game," Nick Levett, FA's National Development Manager, told BBC Radio Sheffield.
"In terms of coaching, we are very much leading the way around Europe in youth and age-appropriate coaching qualifications.
"There is a huge amount going on but ultimately it is a 10-year plan. It is a bit like gardening. You stick a bulb in the ground and you don't get a flower the next day. It is a long-term thing."
The core of Germany's World Cup-winning squad came through the international youth ranks together.
Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, defenders Mats Hummels, Benedikt Howedes and Jerome Boateng and midfielders Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil all started the 2009 Under-21 European Championship final, in which they trounced England. All but the injured Khedira were in the starting XI against Argentina.
A seventh player from that crop - Fabian Johnson - was also in Brazil as part of the United States squad.
Meanwhile, the only player from England's 23-man World Cup squad to have played in that 2009 final was James Milner.
The likes of Luke Shaw, Adam Lallana, Raheem Sterling and Ross Barkley had not played in a major tournament at under-21 level, with the latter three playing less than 10 games at that age group. In contrast, the six who featured for Germany in 2009 all made at least 15 appearances before progressing to the senior side.
"That is something we could learn from Germany," former England defender Phil Neville said. "Germany keep a core of players together and they are exposing them to championship football at U21 level.
"We could have had six or seven of our World Cup squad at the last U21 tournament but we did not take them.
"That is something we could look to improve upon because if they did, that batch of players could then go on to go to a World Cup together two years later."
The likes of Neuer, Ozil and Khedira came through the DFB's talent development programme, introduced as part of German football's youth development overhaul.
Similarly, in 2011 the Premier League introduced the EPPP, a four-tiered academy system designed to expose developing footballers to the best coaching and education.
It is a system that Neville believes works, but his concern lies with what happens to those players once they graduate from the youth ranks.
"I believe we are producing a better technical players than we have ever done," he said. "Our players were always technically inferior to foreign ones but now there are English players who are technically as good as those from overseas at the same age.
"The biggest problem is the gap from 19 to 21, where players lose their way a little bit because they are not getting the opportunity.
"I broke into the first team at 17. Now the young players are not breaking in until they're 21, 22. They need to be getting in younger. They lose 12-18 months of their career by not getting enough experience of the top level.
"This is the biggest area for me that we need to address."
After England's exit in Brazil, manager Roy Hodgson was asked if a successful national team and thriving Premier League could co-exist.
The statistics suggest that may be a struggle. English players contributed to only 32% of the minutes played in the Premier League's first three months of last season, compared to 50% of home-grown players in Germany and 58% in Spain.
Indeed, only the Cypriot league boasts more overseas talent than England's top flight, according to a study of 31 countries carried out by the Centre International d'Etude du Sport in January.
"We want the best players in the world coming to the Premier League. The only way players can get better is by playing with the best," added Neville, who believes work is under way on an English plan to blood more talent.
"It is the rung below that we don't want. They are filling the spaces available to young players and that is what we don't want - the middle and lower tier of foreign players."
English managers have long cited the fact home talent is overpriced as a reason to scour the globe, with in excess of 1,500 foreign players arriving in the Premier League since its inception in 1992.
The club-over-country power struggle is one Germany can stomach, with strong lines of communication and a collaborative process in place between the Bundesliga and the DFB.
Working for the greater good does not shackle the individual cogs in the system, either. While no other league can match the Premier League's record TV deal - £3.018bn over three years - the Bundesliga yields around £2bn for a four-year package.
It remains the only one of Europe's major five leagues in which TV revenue is not the largest revenue source, instead generating money through the highest attendance figures and by maintaining lower wage levels.
Point four in Dyke's report into improving the game domestically is that England "lags behind in the quantity and quality of affordable grassroots facilities".
Indeed, the FA's own grassroots survey in 2011 returned a damning finding, as 84% of respondents identified facilities as the biggest issue facing the game.
Strain on the system is high - with 3.5 million five-to-15-year-olds playing each month and some 6.5 million adults claiming to play the sport - but funding is scarce.
To avoid the typical abandonment of winter football at youth level, artificial 3G pitches are in demand and England boasts 639.
By comparison, Germany has over 5,000 - a number stimulated greatly by the fact they are funded by government and local authorities.
"Facility wise at the elite level, there is not much difference in the academies of the top clubs," added Pfannenstiel, who recently visited Aston Villa to share ideas.
"Where things are better in Germany is the surrounding facilities. So for example, we are willing to use gyms with newer technology and different medical approaches, working with more futuristic methods if you like.
"Also, we tie a close link in between football and education, so a player at an academy can do his studies, have the psychological help he may need and specific support, so it is a full A to Z coaching approach."
The Premier League and FA Facilities Fund, managed by the Football Foundation, commits £34m per year to grassroots facilities. This includes £12m a year each from the FA and Premier League, and £10m from the government.
The contributions are not enough according to the Local Government Association and it seems more spending, more coaches and a collaborative approach will be needed if one day countries will aim to 'do an England'.
For BBC pundit and former England striker Alan Shearer, the national team "still has a long way to go", adding: "We have to be able to organise and get further in the World Cup than we have done. This tournament has proved you don't have to have great players all over the park to progress."
Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker is more optimistic.
"It was massively disappointing to go out after two games and so early in the tournament, but I saw enough in those games to suggest the future is not as bleak as I thought it was four years ago," he said.
"With this bunch of young players, in two or four years' time, there is reason for hope."
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So Eddie Jones has gone from South Africa's Stormers to England's strugglers, from Cape of Good Hope to capable of good, it is to be hoped.

The deal has been concluded fast but it is no less momentous for it. Never before have the England rugby union team been led by a foreign coach. That they will be now owes much to Jones' considerable coaching experience and something to his availability compared to that of the other dream candidates.
It is also down to the flip-flop - not the rubber-soled footwear favoured on the beaches of Jones' native Australia, but the habit of those in charge of such appointments in English sport to go for the polar opposite of whoever was deemed to have last failed in the job.
This is a strategy perfected by the Football Association and borrowed by others since.
You can trace the about-turns back through the years: low-cost and low-key Roy Hodgson replacing the expensive and autocratic Fabio Capello, a vastly experienced overseas name to take over from the callow and outclassed Englishman Steve McClaren, himself the bellowing antitheses of detached Sven Goran Eriksson, who got the job in the first place because he was considered a calm tactical genius compared to the heartfelt yet naïve Kevin Keegan.
Keegan, man of the people, replaced the eccentric and isolated Glenn Hoddle. Born-again Christian Hoddle succeeded Terry Venables - who had stepped down to clear his name in connection with off-field business dealings. Venables' overseas experience and attractive style of play contrasted with the long-ball British basics of Graham Taylor.
And so on, and so into other sports. England cricket swapped taciturn foreigner Duncan Fletcher for the ebullient and homegrown Peter Moores. When Moores proved short of international nous and clout, he was replaced by flinty Zimbabwean Andy Flower, former number one-ranked batsman in the world.
Then, when Flower was deemed too dour, the cheerful Moores was brought back, swiftly to be ditched again when the same failings became apparent - and succeeded this time by a wise old Aussie in Trevor Bayliss.
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The RFU has long done the same, ever since Sir Clive Woodward flounced out of the Twickenham hot-seat. Andy Robinson too dour? Bring in the attacking ethos of Brian Ashton. Ashton lacking authority? Call for the dark charisma of Martin Johnson. Johnson exposed in the first coaching job he had ever done? Time for Stuart Lancaster, a grassroots coach with minimal public profile.
Which takes us to Jones. Lancaster had one season of Premiership experience before he was given the England job, a season which ended in a cash-strapped Leeds side being relegated back to the Championship. He had never before been to a rugby match at the Millennium Stadium or the Stade de France.
Jones? Jones has coached everywhere - at two different Super Rugby teams in Australia, as an assistant to Jake White for the South African national side, in England with Saracens and with Japan in the three years leading up to the last World Cup.
He has taken the Wallabies to one World Cup final and helped the Springboks win the next in 2007. Whether he is the right man for England is less clear.
No other union has the financial or playing resources enjoyed by the RFU. It is one of the reasons why, unlike Wales, Scotland and Ireland, it has always reached into its vast hinterland for the man to lead its national side.
Even now the logic can be questioned. RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie insisted that Lancaster's replacement must have international experience. That makes sense if Lancaster's shortcomings were the only benchmark - but not on other criteria.
Lancaster failed for a variety of reasons. Not all of them are present in every other English coach, just because they share the same nationality.
Had Wales gone with the same approach as Ritchie, they would not have appointed Warren Gatland, the man who has led them to two Grand Slams in England's barren years and a World Cup semi-final despite far smaller resources.
It would have meant Ireland passing up Joe Schmidt, who took them to the Six Nations title last spring, and would have kept Scotland from the wisdom of Vern Cotter, who was one questionable refereeing decision from steering his adopted nation into their own World Cup semi-final.
Michael Cheika, universally lauded for his revitalisation of the Wallabies over the past year? Never coached at international level before. Woodward, who dragged the ship to its high water mark? International novice when he took the helm.
Jones has enjoyed great success, most recently in inspiring Japan to the greatest upset the World Cup has ever seen, their 34-32 triumph over South Africa two months ago.
He deserves great credit for both their unparalleled success and the style in which they did it. Will the same work in the vastly different set-up around England, where he will have neither the same control over his players nor the same eager players to mould in his image?
His Brumbies side of the late 1990s was one of the best that Super Rugby has seen. That alone will not conjure him up a breakdown specialist like the great George Smith if, as it seems, he deems current captain and incumbent Chris Robshaw as lacking the necessary specialist skills.
Because he has endured failures too. Japan may have won more matches at the World Cup than England, but Jones was also sacked by Australia in 2005 after eight defeats in nine, and resigned from the Queensland Reds in 2007 after they finished bottom of the Super 14 table.
Choosing the coach is the easy bit. Changing the system he operates in so that it produces more world-class players capable of playing with same skill-set as world champions New Zealand is arguably more important but also a lot more difficult.
Just like those players, a coach needs the right environment around him to flourish - a serendipitous blend of human and financial resources, the right specialists below him, the right leader above.
Otherwise we flip-flop again, and one pair of those is enough for anyone.


A councillor has been suspended over a racist tweet sent from his account during the Eurovision Song Contest.

The tweet, which appeared on the feed of Nick Harrington, who sits on Warwick District Council, contained offensive and racist language towards the Irish.
His account has since been deleted, but a screen grab of the tweet has been widely re-circulated, the Coventry Telegraph said.
The BBC has attempted to get a comment from Mr Harrington.
Insp Russell Barker, of Warwickshire Police, confirmed police were investigating and treating it as a suspected hate crime.
"It is an ongoing investigation at the moment. Until we complete the investigation we cannot comment further," he said.
Mr Harrington represents the Stoneleigh & Cubbington ward.
Council leader Andrew Mobbs said he was "horrified" by the tweet and had suspended Mr Harrington from the Conservatives on Warwick District Council for six months.
"I can confirm that I have this morning suspended Councillor Harrington from the Conservative group for a period of six months and there will also be an investigation," he said.
"This behaviour is completely unacceptable. I have tried to speak to him but I have had to notify him by email.
"This councillor plays no part in the views, policies or thrust of our group," Mr Mobbs added.
He said a formal investigation would now take place through the council's standards procedure.


A woman says she was "stunned" at the "million-to-one chance" discovery of her husband's lost wedding ring on a beach in Orkney.

Paul Higson had been scared to tell his wife Jan he had lost the ring and it took him two months to confess.
He works all over the Orkney mainland and the ring could have been anywhere.
The pair had given up all hope of finding the lost ring until Jan looked down and saw a sparkling object under a stone on the Sands of Wright beach.
Mrs Higson, a 49-year-old who works in a primary school, told BBC Scotland: "We walk the dogs at various beaches and Paul works at various places on Orkney mainland so we had just given up.
"We thought that was it."
However, on a walk at the Sands of Wright on South Ronaldsay Jan realised she had forgotten to bring poo bags for their dogs, Buddy and Rafn.
Paul went back to the car to collect them.
Jan said: "I stood there with two dogs and just looked down and saw something metallic in the stones.
"I originally thought it was a washer or something like that but I bent down and moved one of the stones because it was wedged under one of the stones and pulled it out and it was Paul's wedding ring."
Mr Higson, 60, who is an environmental consultant, keen birdwatcher and beachcomber, said he had no idea how or when he lost the ring.
When his wife told him she had found it he could hardly believe it.
He said: "I was quite stunned, to be honest, because I thought Jan was joking.
"She showed me the ring and it just fitted straight back on my finger again."
Paul said he had worn the ring for 25 years and knew straight away it was his.
He said: "When you've worn it as long as I have you just know. It fitted perfectly. It was the ring."
He added: "For Jan to just to look down and see it was a million-to-one chance really."
Jan said she put the news of the chance find on Facebook and family and friends were "absolutely stunned".
She said she hopes her brilliant luck continues and plans to enter the Euromillions Lottery this weekend.
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The Kuwaiti authorities are reportedly investigating a video that appears to show a woman filming her Ethiopian maid falling from a seventh-floor window without attempting to help her.

The maid can be heard screaming "hold me, hold me" just before her hand slips and she falls onto a roof below.
She was subsequently rescued by paramedics and treated in hospital for a broken arm and other injuries.
The Kuwait Society for Human Rights said the employer had a duty of rescue.
The organisation noted that emirate's penal code decreed that anyone who deliberately refrained from coming to the aid of a person in peril was liable to be sentenced to up to three months in prison.
The Kuwait Times meanwhile cited a lawyer, Fawzia al-Sabah, as saying she would file a complaint against the employer with the public prosecutor.
The newspaper said it was believed the maid initially climbed out of the window because she was suicidal.
In the 12-second video posted online, she is seen hanging outside a block of flats in the Sabah al-Salem district of Kuwait City, with one hand gripping the window.
The woman holding the camera is then heard telling her: "Oh crazy, come back."
The maid pleads with the woman to help her shortly before she loses her grip and she falls onto the metal roof of an adjoining one-storey building.
Another video posted online by the Alanba newspaper on Thursday appears to show the maid being helped to climb down a ladder by paramedics and a fireman.
Alanba cited the employer as saying that she had filmed the incident and shared it because she did not want to be accused of the maid's murder if she had died.


President Barack Obama took the first step in passing the presidential baton to his successor Donald Trump after the two spoke for more than an hour in what was meant to be a brief meeting.

"He's a good man," said Mr Trump, the soon-to-be 45th president, of his predecessor.
But that compliment belied years of clashes between the two men. Mr Trump has referred to Mr Obama as the "worst president" in the country's history and led a challenge to the legitimacy of his presidency by questioning where he was born.
Mr Obama has returned stinging criticisms by calling Mr Trump "unfit" to be commander-in-chief.
Though their meeting appeared to be cordial, history has shown that the peaceful transition of power between leaders can be outright awkward.
Here is a look at some other rather uncomfortable presidential handovers.
The transition between President John Adams and Vice-President Thomas Jefferson in the tumultuous election of 1800 was famously difficult, according to John Vile, a political science professor at Middle Tennessee State University and author of Presidential Winners and Losers: Words of Victory and Concession.
The acrimonious campaign was considered one of the most significant transitions of power in history after a bitterly fought election that ended with Mr Jefferson, a Democrat-Republican, defeating Mr Adams, a Federalist.
But the presidential electors failed to make clear whether they were voting for Mr Jefferson or his running mate, Aaron Burr, resulting in a tie between the two men. The House of Representatives decided the outcome, electing Mr Jefferson.
The Founding Fathers ended their friendship over the political turmoil and Mr Adams fled Washington before Mr Jefferson's inauguration ceremony.
Mr Hoover once described the man who beat him, Mr Roosevelt, as a "chameleon in plaid", while FDR called his predecessor a "fat, timid capon".
The 1932 election came amid a financial crisis that left the American economy in shambles, ultimately tarnishing President Hoover's legacy, depicting him as a failed leader.
The two men did not like or trust each other. Mr Roosevelt dismissed President Hoover's repeated appeals for joint actions before the transition such as issuing an emergency proclamation to limit bank withdrawals.
Instead, Mr Roosevelt wanted to demonstrate his administration starkly contrasted his predecessor's presidency.
FDR believed Mr Hoover had not done enough to help Americans who suffered in the Great Depression, said Jeffery Engel, director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University.
The mutual disdain was apparent on inauguration day in March 1933, when the two sat in silence in President Roosevelt's open-top car while en route to the ceremony.
Though the Democratic president had worked with Mr Eisenhower in World War II and in the creation of Nato, the two shared bad blood after Mr Truman invited him to the White House in 1948, according to Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at University of Virginia's Miller Center.
President Truman had entertained the idea of working to nominate Mr Eisenhower as a Democratic candidate for president, but the decorated military general ultimately cast his lot with the Republican Party.
Mr Eisenhower reportedly viewed that offer as a terrible mark of leadership, according to Mr Engel.
The political clash heated up when Mr Eisenhower undermined Mr Truman's military policy on the campaign trail, pledging to personally go to Korea to end the war on American terms.
President Truman also became irate when the general remained silent about comments made by Senator Joe McCarthy.
"He has betrayed almost everything I thought he stood for," Mr Truman said.
The president fuelled the fire by mercilessly attacking Mr Eisenhower personally and professionally as unfit to be president, Ms Perry said.
President-elect Eisenhower ignored a pre-Christmas White House lunch invite, and on inauguration day, refused to greet Mr Truman before they left together for the ceremony.
In the aftermath, President Truman lamented that General Eisenhower was used to people doing what he said and would soon find out that the presidency did not work that way, Mr Engel noted.
"You don't order people as the president, you have to persuade them as the president," Mr Engel said.
"I think that's perhaps analogous to Trump, who as a business person, could just fire someone he didn't like. He has no idea how to work with people he can't fire."
After President Carter lost his re-election bid in 1980 in a hard-fought contest, he reportedly felt Mr Reagan was not paying attention when the two met at the White House.
Republican adviser Richard Darman recalled in a New York Times article in 2000 that during their first meeting, Mr Carter attempted to explain to Mr Reagan that a CIA officer began briefings at 7am each day.
Mr Reagan interrupted him and responded: ''Well, he's sure going to have to wait a long while for me.''
Mr Engel pointed out that Mr Carter had spent the remaining days of his presidency tirelessly working to free the American hostages in Iran, which ultimately came after Mr Reagan was sworn in.
"It really does speak to the fact that the most precious commodity that a president has is time and not every president chooses to maximise time in the same way," he told the BBC.
President Clinton invited George W Bush for coffee before the inauguration day ceremony in 2001 and kept the obsessively punctual president-elect waiting for 10 minutes.
"He was noted for locking the door once cabinet meetings started and if you're a cabinet member and you ran late, woe unto you, you didn't get in," Ms Perry recalled of the future 43rd president. "I can see where that would have really gotten under Bush 43's skin."
To add to the tense confab, Mr Clinton invited Vice-President Al Gore.
Mr Gore had just lost the bitter election to Mr Bush following a dramatic legal battle involving a recount in Florida that ultimately came down to a mere 537 votes.
It is also important to note the long, complicated record of the Clintons and the Bushes at each other's throats on the political battle field, Ms Perry added. Mr Clinton defeated Mr Bush's father, incumbent President George HW Bush, in 1992.
"There was a lot of underlying tension over the fact that Bush had said he was going to restore honour and integrity to the Oval Office, which was a direct swipe at Bill Clinton and what he had done in that office," Mr Engel said, referring to Mr Clinton's indiscretions.


The head of Brazil's indigenous rights agency, Funai, has been sacked, days after a brutal attack in which at least 10 indigenous people were hurt.

The official, Antonio Costa, complained that Funai was left powerless after its budget was cut by more than 40%.
He said he had been dismissed "for being honest" and for defending the rights of Brazil's indigenous peoples.
The assault in the northern state of Maranhao was carried out by farmers and landowners, the authorities said.
"I refused to employ [for jobs at Funai] 20 people who were recommended by the government's leader in Congress, Andre Moura, but who've never seen an indigenous person in their lives," Mr Costa wrote on WhatsApp.
He later told journalists that he "would never employ people at the agency who have no commitment to indigenous causes".
The government rejected Mr Costa's comments.
"Considering the high priority the government gives to indigenous matters, the agency requires a more agile and efficient management, which we didn't have," read a statement issued by Justice Minister Oscar Serraglio.
The crisis comes as human rights organisations warn of an alarming rise in assaults on indigenous groups in Brazil.
They say government cuts in the budgets of environmental enforcement agencies will worsen the situation.
Last week, members of indigenous groups clashed with riot police in the capital, Brasilia.
Thousands gathered in front of the Congress building to demand more land rights and protest against the encroachment of their land by loggers and farmers.
Campaigners say 13 indigenous people died in land conflicts last year.


The UN has appealed for $2.1bn (Â£1.7bn) to provide life-saving assistance to 12 million people in war-torn Yemen who it says face the threat of famine.

Humanitarian co-ordinator Jamie McGoldrick said the situation was catastrophic and rapidly deteriorating.
Almost 3.3 million people, including 2.1 million children, are suffering from acute malnutrition.
Pro-government forces, supported by a Saudi-led coalition, have been battling the rebel Houthi movement since 2015.
The coalition intervened after the rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, and then forced President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi into exile.
Since then, pro-government fighters have driven the rebels out of much of southern Yemen, but the rebels still control Sanaa and large parts of the north-west.
The fighting has left at least 7,470 people dead and 40,000 injured, although the UN says the figure is likely to be higher as it only received reports from the 45% of health facilities that are still functioning.
At the launch of its 2017 humanitarian response plan for Yemen, the UN said two years of war had left an estimated 18.8 million people in need of humanitarian or protection assistance - an increase of almost 20% since late 2014.
An estimated 10.3 million people are acutely affected and need some form of immediate humanitarian assistance to save and sustain their lives, including food, health and medical services, clean water and sanitation, and protection.
"Two years of war have devastated Yemen and millions of children, women and men desperately need our help," Stephen O'Brien, under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief co-ordinator, said in a statement.
"Without international support, they may face the threat of famine in the course of 2017 and I urge donors to sustain and increase their support to our collective response."
Some 460,000 children under five are suffering from life-threatening severe acute malnutrition, a 57% increase compared with 2015.
Last week, the UN said an estimated 63,000 children had died in 2016 of preventable causes often linked to malnutrition, such as diarrhoeal diseases, malaria and respiratory infections.
The BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva says the UN hopes its appeal will be fully funded quickly. But money is not the only hurdle, our correspondent adds.
Yemen's air and sea ports are regularly blocked by the warring parties, and supplies can often not get in. A UN-sponsored peace process also appears stalled.
The aid agency Oxfam has accused countries who could be helping end the war - including the UK, which has supplied arms to Saudi Arabia - of "complicity".
"Many governments have weighed their narrow national interests in the Middle East against humanity, and humanity has lost," it said on Wednesday.


Surrey captain Gareth Batty believes the club have a "good chance" of winning every competition this season.

Batty's side are top of Division One, with one win and two draws from their opening County Championship matches.
He is now hoping they can continue the momentum when they begin their One-Day Cup campaign at Somerset on Friday.
"We're traditionally a club that starts slowly, so I'm really proud of the management and the lads for flying out of the gates," the 40-year-old said.
"We've really started at a gallop. The challenge will be to see if we can sustain it until the end of the season."
Surrey opened their season with a crushing win over Warwickshire, before high-scoring draws against Lancashire and the Bears took them top with 45 points.
Having made a positive start in the County Championship, attention now shifts to the One-Day Cup, with a block of eight fixtures scheduled over the next three weeks.
Surrey have finished runners-up in the last two seasons in the 50-over format, losing out to Gloucestershire in 2015 and Warwickshire last season.
However, with new additions Scott Borthwick and Mark Stoneman having settled in alongside Sri Lanka great Kumar Sangakkara, Batty believes his squad are better equipped this campaign.
The off-spinner is even hopeful they can benefit from the new fixture schedule and improve on fifth in the County Championship and a T20 Blast group stage exit in 2016 to become the first side since Warwickshire in 1994 to win three competitions.
"I believe we're in a pretty good place across all facets of the game," he told BBC's Test Match Special podcast. "Can it ever be done again? I don't think so, but if anybody has a chance, I believe we do have a good chance.
"The Royal London One-Day Cup is done in July, so if you play well early in the season you could tick that one off.
"Then you have a bit more of the Twenty20 competition, which shouldn't be affecting your four-day stuff. So you can get that right, maybe tick it off, then you've got four games in four weeks to hopefully get you over the line in red ball cricket."
The county season moves into another phase with the next three-week period now dedicated to the One-Day Cup.
There will be extra interest with most England players involved ahead of the ODIs against Ireland and South Africa and the ICC Champions Trophy - for which the squad was announced on Tuesday.
The group stage ends on 17 May with a break before the quarter-finals on 13 June, the semi-finals on 16 and 17 June and the final scheduled for Lord's on Saturday, 1 July.
Ball-by-ball commentary of every game can be heard live via the BBC Sport website, with extensive coverage also on Radio 5 live sports extra.


Traffic on the Forth Road Bridge will be restricted to a single lane in each direction until at least the middle of the day on Thursday.

Engineers have been inspecting a defect on the bridge, causing lengthy delays for motorists.
The southbound carriageway was closed on Tuesday night as a precaution.
The road network company Amey has revealed there are eight parts of the bridge where a similar problem could be encountered in the future.
There was significant disruption on the M90 and Kincardine Bridge earlier on Wednesday as a result of the defect, with a contra flow currently operating on the northbound carriageway.
One commuter said: "It's been terrible, I came down the Fife route and I was stuck for about two hours."
Traffic Scotland reported congestion on the M90 back to junction 3 (Halbeath), while the A90 was very slow northbound from the M90 beyond Dalmeny.
The A985 and the Kincardine Bridge were also very busy, with a 25 minute delay on the bridge around 08:30.
The problem on the Forth Road Bridge was found during a routine inspection.
Before the bridge was opened by the Queen on 4 September 1964, cars could only get across the Forth on a ferry.
So the Forth Road Bridge, which at the time was the fourth biggest suspension bridge in the world and the longest outside the United States, was welcomed as an engineering marvel.
It transformed the journey between Edinburgh and Fife and from the north of Scotland to the south.
Traffic on the crossing grew steadily and it now carries 24 million vehicles across the Forth every year - far more than it was originally designed to handle.
But its reputation for engineering excellence has been tarnished over the years by traffic congestion and maintenance problems.
Read more on the troubles of the Forth Road Bridge
The area involved is hard to reach, so a full inspection could not safely be carried out in darkness.
Amey said the footpaths on the Forth Road Bridge will be closed so maintenance vehicles can have access, while abnormal loads are also prevented from crossing the bridge.
High-sided vehicles can now access the bridge after they were initially prevented from doing so due to high winds.
Mark Arndt, from operating company Amey, said: "A key structural component beneath the southbound carriageway has failed so it is important that we carry out all the necessary calculations before relaxing safety restrictions.
"Following the detailed inspection carried out this morning we now have the information required to develop both short and long term solutions. Our team will be working through the night to design and check our plans and we aim to have these confirmed during the day tomorrow.
"We apologise for the disruption that these safety restrictions are causing. Our advice remains to avoid Forth Road Bridge for the time being and divert via Kincardine or the A9 and M9, use public transport or travel outwith peak times.
"Drivers did take heed of the warnings today and we would ask them to keep checking the latest information from Traffic Scotland before they set off on their journeys."
Amey said it would provide further updates when there was new information.
A new Â£1.4bn Queensferry Crossing over the Firth of Forth is due to open in December next year.
It was ordered by ministers because of corrosion of the main suspension cable on the Forth Road Bridge.


HP has backtracked on a software update that blocked some ink cartridges made by third parties.

A controversial firmware change made earlier this month meant HP printer owners using unofficial, usually cheaper, cartridges discovered they would no longer work.
A campaign calling on HP to reverse the move was launched, backed by rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
In a blog post, HP admitted it should have done a "better job of communicating” the change.
An optional update that removes the restriction on unofficial cartridges will be available “within two weeks”.
The firm added: “We are committed to transparency in all of our communications and when we fall short, we call ourselves out."
But while making the apology for how it informed users, HP defended the move, saying it did so to protect users from counterfeit products.
"When ink cartridges are cloned or counterfeited, the customer is exposed to quality and potential security risks, compromising the printing experience,” wrote Jon Flaxman, the company’s chief operating officer.
However, campaigners argued HP’s motivation was less about security, and more about protecting the large profit margins it adds to official ink cartridges.
As consumers took to online forums and social networks to express anger, the EFF came down hard, saying HP had betrayed the public's trust.
"Customers should be able to buy an HP printer without fear that the company will later place artificial limits on the printer’s use,” the group said.
"It would be a security nightmare for customers to avoid installing security updates for fear of unwanted and unannounced feature changes."
It also called on HP to explain how it planned to tell customers who may have been affected about the revised update.
"Right now,” the EFF said, “the vast majority of people who use the affected printers likely do not know why their printers lost functionality, nor do they know that it’s possible to restore it.
"All of those customers should be able to use their printers free of artificial restrictions, not just the relatively few who have been closely following this story."
Follow Dave Lee on Twitter @DaveLeeBBC or on Facebook


England's women were forced to train on the beach ahead of their one-day international series in Jamaica because of the advance of Hurricane Matthew.

The squad arrived in Montego Bay in north Jamaica on Friday for their five-match series against West Indies.
Hurricane Matthew is expected to hit the island on Monday, with flash floods and winds of up to 150mph anticipated.
"The main thing to stress is that we are being looked after and that we are safe," captain Heather Knight said.
"It is a worrying time for the Jamaican population, and we all hope that the local community stays safe over the next couple of days," she told the England and Wales Cricket Board's website.
"Training at the ground has been cancelled as defensive measures are installed across the island, but we have been able to get a good gym session in, along with some fielding practice on the beach."
West Indies skipper Stafanie Taylor, a Jamaican, tweeted a message of support as Jamaica and Haiti prepared for the strongest hurricane in almost a decade.
England's first match is scheduled to begin on 8 October at the Trelawny Stadium in Montego Bay, also the venue for the second game two days later.
The series then moves to Jamaica's famous Sabina Park venue in the capital Kingston for the last three ODIs, which count towards the ICC Women's Championship.
Should they win all three of those games, Knight's side would join Australia in clinching qualification for next year's Women's World Cup in England.
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Witnesses are being sought after abuse - some of which was homophobic - on a train from Aberdeen to Edinburgh.

British Transport Police said a group of men harassed fellow passengers with verbal abuse on Tuesday.
It happened on the 17:09 train from Aberdeen to Edinburgh at about 17:30.
Three men have since been spoken to but BTP are seeking more witnesses to the incident to contact them on 0800 40 50 40 or text information to 61016, quoting  218 of 27/07/2017.


The Ukrainian lawyer of an alleged Russian special forces soldier has been found dead, days after disappearing in the middle of his trial in Kiev, Ukrainian officials say.

Yuriy Hrabovsky's body was found in a forest 125km (78 miles) south of Kiev.
He represented Alexander Alexandrov, who was captured in eastern Ukraine with Yevgeny Yerofeyev last May.
They are accused waging war against Ukrainian troops. Russia says they were volunteers who had left active service.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said early this week (in Ukrainian) he was ready to exchange the two Russians for Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko.
She was sentenced to 22 years in jail after being convicted of directing artillery fire which killed two Russian journalists in eastern Ukraine in June 2014.
She denied all the charges.
The trial of the two Russians in Kiev was stopped at the beginning of the month, after Yuriy Hrabovsky went missing.
Anatoliy Matios says Hrabovsky's body was found during a police excavation of land on a former farming collective.
"Provisionally, I can say that... (he) was killed in a violent way and finished off with a firearm," Mr Matios said.
He added that the lawyer had been robbed and also had an explosive device attached to his leg.
Two men have been detained on suspicion of involvement, but no motive has been mentioned.
Russia's foreign ministry blamed Ukrainian authorities for failing to protect Hrabovsky.
In a statement, it said the lawyer had become a victim of anti-Russian sentiment in Ukraine.
The Russian pair are alleged to be officers in Russia's GRU foreign military intelligence when they were captured during fighting in east Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials say Mr Alexandrov and Mr Yerofeyev confessed to serving in the Russian special services, but later retracted their confessions.
The two men deny charges of terrorism. Prosecutors have called for life sentences.
Their detention was a major success for Ukrainian forces, which had long maintained that Russian special forces were playing a key role in the military campaign by pro-Russian rebels.
Ukraine's security chief told the BBC at the time that they had been part of a 220-strong GRU team deployed in Luhansk.
While Ukraine and the West have said there is clear evidence of Russian military help, the government in Moscow has argued that only volunteers have joined the separatists in the east.


A 32-year-old man has been arrested over last Sunday's fire attack on a Florida mosque, which was attended by the Orlando nightclub gunman.

Joseph Michael Schreiber faces at least 30 years in prison if convicted on charges of arson with a hate crime enhancement, said authorities.
The suspect allegedly made multiple anti-Muslim posts on social media.
The Islamic Center of Fort Pierce was heavily damaged in the fire, which was set on the anniversary of 9/11.
Omar Mateen, who occasionally went to the mosque, shot dead 49 people in Pulse nightclub in June before being killed.
He professed allegiance to the Islamic State group.
On Wednesday evening, St Lucie County Sheriff's Office said Mr Schreiber owns a motorcycle consistent with one shown on surveillance video footage outside the mosque on the night of the fire.
"Other evidence collected also linked Schreiber to the arson," Maj David Thompson told a news conference.
Schreiber has made a number of comments against Islam on what appears to be his Facebook page.
One post said: "ALL ISLAM IS RADICAL , and should be considered TERRORIST AND CRIMANALS and all hoo participate in such activity should be found guilty of WAR CRIM".
Mr Schreiber was previously sentenced twice to state prison for theft, according to the Florida Department of Corrections records.
He served his first term from 2008-09 and his second stretch from 2010-14.
No one was injured in the weekend's blaze, which coincided with the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha.
The FBI and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined the investigation.
The blaze has left the mosque's members "saddened and scared", said assistant imam Hamaad Rahman.
In addition to Mateen, the mosque was also visited by Moner Mohammad Abu Salha, who became the first American to commit a suicide bombing attack in Syria.