Well done England

I must admit I had my doubts about Steve McLaren. He came over as a bit of a yes-man during the Eriksson era and I don't really think his "achievements" in the domestic game quite merited such a promotion, although he was very good at Derby during the Jim Smith era.

Furthermore, I think the decision to appoint a new manager before, rather than after the World Cup risked all sorts of problems in the event of a poor performance by Sven's Men.

So last night's 4-0 win against Greece was very refreshing to see, in particular the new sense of dynamism in the midfield area and the way Terry and Ferdinand were encouraged to bring the ball out of defence.

With Rooney yet to return from suspension, and the prospect of a fit-again Owen in the team, it is suddenly exciting to be an England fan again.

Lampard-Gerrard conundrum spelled axe for Beckham

Unfortunately I ran out of time on Friday afternoon to do a post on David Beckham's axeing from the England squad, but I have to say my sympathies were originally with the former skipper.

Beckham may be past his best, but England's dismal World Cup campaign would have been even more catastrophic without his goals and assists, and initially it appeared he had been singled out by Steve McLaren as a "political" gesture designed to show that he is his own man.

Now all becomes clear, however. McLaren has picked the great Steven Gerrard to play in Beckham's old position on the right of midfield, presumably in order to leave the central midfield area free for Frank Lampard.

It was obvious during the Wodld Cup that Gerrard and Lampard were getting under eachother's feet. Now McLaren is attempting to solve the problem, with Beckham's omission the collateral damage.

Sports Non-Event of the Year

When I were a lad, one of the highlights of my year around Christmas time was the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year programme, which, back in those far-off days, gave us the chance to relive all the great sporting moments of the year gone by.

Sadly, it is now but a shadow of its former self, the absense of real sport on the BBC leaving the programme reliant on gimmickry, chat, and occasional off-colour remarks by the presenters.

The BBC won't even show clips of the sport it still has - notably Wimbledon, football and snooker - presumably for fear of highlighting what it doesn't have.

In short, the programme, and the oddly-named award itself, has become one of those great annual television non-events that we somehow still feel compelled to watch, second in this respect only to the even more meaningless Eurovision Song Contest.

And yet the national press seemingly remains obsessed with the show. Over recent weeks, national sports coverage appears to have turned into a running commentary, (c) all newspapers, into whose name is on the award this year.

Here's a sample from the national media following England's cricketing triumphs over Pakistan, which has propelled spinner Monty Panesar (pictured) into the status of bookies' favourite.

"As the wickets fell at Headingley yesterday so too did the odds on Monty Panesar winning the 2006 BBC Sports Personality Of The Year." - The Guardian.

"Confirmation of Panesar’s place in the national consciousness came with the news that William Hill, the bookmakers, had last night made Panesar their 7-2 favourite to become BBC Sports Personality of the Year." - The Times.

"With so many other big names floundering across the English sports spectrum, the popular Panesar could even be bowling himself into contention to succeed Andrew Flintoff as BBC Sports Personality of the Year." Daily Mail.

"With Andrew Flintoff on the sidelines, Panesar has taken over as the focus of affection for England fans. Now Panesar is one of the top five contenders to follow Flintoff as BBC Sports Personality of the Year." - The BBC.

I don't want to take anything away from Panesar. He looks like the best spin bowling prospect in English cricket since Phil Tufnell and possibly even Derek Underwood. But his achievements and talent should speak for themselves without the addition of this pointless bauble.

It's doubtless too much to expect the BBC to knock their wretched award on the head. But it's surely high time the rest of the media ceased their obsession with it.

Now Marina socks it to Lampard

Latest to feel the razor sharp pen of Guardian writer Marina "Snide" Hyde is England footballer Frank Lampard, who is publishing a new autobiography entitled "Totally Frank."

And though Chelsea and West Ham fans will doubtless disagree, I have to say that never was a target more deserving.

"Having failed to deliver in Germany, the honourable thing for any of these three fabulously rich gentlemen might have been to return their advance to the publishers, and to have been self-aware enough to realise that a period of silence from them would be most welcome" writes Marina, referring also to the recent autobiog from Wayne Rooney and a forthcoming one from Ashley Cole.

The full article can be read HERE.

Andy Robinson = Harold Macmillan

Analogies between politics and rugby are relatively rare, but England coach Andy Robinson's decision to axe six players for Saturday's match against Ireland calls to mind Harold Macmillan’s Night of the Long Knives in 1962 when he sacked a third of his Cabinet – “the wrong third” according to Tory wits of the time.

Josh Lewsey appears to be taking the rap for the collision with Jamie Noon which led to the first French try. Yet Lewsey is a proven world class performer while Noon is merely a good premiership player who has been the persistent beneficiary of Robinson’s absurd favouritism.

Bringing in Stuart Abbott at inside centre is a start, but it would have been much better to have seen the hugely talented Ollie Smith alongside him.

Harry Ellis has been tried and failed at scrum-half – why isn’t Shaun Perry being given a chance? And why is that lolloping great tub of lard Ben Cohen still even in the squad?

Upfront, the return of Andrew Sheridan is a belated admission that it was wrong to drop him against France, but the back row still looks totally unbalanced. Moody should move to 6 with Sanderson or Lund at 7, while Chris Jones would be a much more useful back-row bench option than Dallaglio.

Macmillan’s purge failed to save his job in the longer-run, and this won’t save Robinson’s either. As someone said on Planet Rugby: "I've seen better selections left at the bottom of a Cadbury's Roses tin on Boxing Day."

Robinson must go!

I have previously warned all you politicos out there that this blog might occasionally turn its attentions to other matters - notably the oval-ball game - and in the wake of England's 31-6 humiliation at the hands of France yesterday, this is such an occasion.

Frankly, today I couldn't care less whether Tessa Jowell, Tony Blair or even Ian Blair go - as long as England rugby coach Andy Robinson does!

I've long had it in for Robinson as a result of his disgraceful treatment of the Lions and Leicester Tigers centre Ollie Smith, potentially the finest young talent in the English game yet repeatedly ignored for international selection.

Yet Robinson refuses to learn from his mistakes and persists in bone-headed decisions like playing the blindside flanker Lewis Moody out of position on the openside, and the tactically limited Mike Tindall as an inside centre.

Now it is all finally unravelling, and the shortcomings of a coach whose limitations have long been obvious to me are becoming clear for all to see.

There are plenty of discussion threads on this subject on the Planet Rugby site - this one entitled Where to start? is probably one of the best.

Keep cricket free-to-air!

So England have won back the Ashes at last. I think on balance we deserved it, although you have to admire the way the Aussies fought to the bitter end even though they were clearly the lesser side. In the end, it really came down to that 2-run victory in the Second Test. If we'd gone 2-0 down then, it would have been game over.

But for many cricket lovers, this is a bitter sweet moment, with cricket about to disappear from our TV screens for four years at the very moment it has regained its place in the national psyche.

The blame for this lies squarely with the New Labour Government which has allowed the systematic rape of our sporting "crown jewels" by the Aussie presss baron Rupert Murdoch, the most pernicious influence on British public life over the last 30 years.

Having ruined the Sunday Times, which at one time was the best newspaper in the world, he's now ruining British sport - and New Labour, terrified that he will turn on them in the way he turned on Neil Kinnock and John Major, is letting him do it.

A campaign has now been launched called Keep Cricket Free which aims to put political pressure on Blair and Co to review the deal between the English Cricket Board and Sky TV.

You can find their site and sign their petition here