I'm already having serious doubts about a man who was supposed to be a disciplinarian as well as a great tactician. All I've seen so far is a softie prepared to indulge a seriously spoilt group of players, without getting a decent performance out of them.

He has even made the same mistake not twice, but three times. I can understand him letting David Beckham win his 100th cap as a reward for great service, but to grant a 101st cap to a player unlikely (I hope) to feature in an another competitive tournament for his country rather than see whether or not David Bentley can deliver a display to match his impressive ego is just bizarre.

Surely England are no so bereft of quality as to need a player whose one remaining skill is to send in a decent free-kick? He looked out of his depth against Trinidad and Tobago once he'd completed the pre-match toss.

And as for handing John Terry the captaincy against The United States, words fail me.

If it was to give the Chelsea cry-baby a boost after his hilarious missed penalty in the European Champions League Final, then it was an insult to those who don't bottle it on the biggest of occasions.

Read Swanny's "fanmail" in Tuesday's Evening Telegraph.

PREDICTABLY Terry's goal in a friendly against the hopeless United States was greeted by the creeps in the national press as redemption for the penalty miss in the biggest game in world club football.

Even the man himself said he felt relieved which must be the biggest load of tosh to come out of Chelsea since charmless chief executive Peter Kenyon's receipt of a Champions League medal.

In comparison to costing his side the biggest triumph in their history (and possibly costing a decent man his managerial job), placing a header into an American net in a meaningless match is a total irrelevance.

ARSENAL are apparently going to start paying players bigger wages in an attempt to turn total football into winning football.

This will doubtless please striker Robin Van Persie who made that exact plea in a national newspaper this week.

Van Persie is already rich, in bare-faced cheek terms at least. Players who always miss half a season because of injury should not lead the calls for more money.

RADIO Five long since stopped being a serious broadcaster so the news that they are to employ Steve McClaren as a summariser at the European Championships came as no surprise.

McClaren's opinion can carry no weight at all because he was a total failure at international level (although that has never been a drawback for Graham Taylor on national radio).

McClaren's only hope of creating interest will come when he sits down alongside one of his fiercest critics from his time as England coach, nauseating commentator Alan Green.

Hopefully the full and frank discussion that will surely take place will be aired.

ONE good piece of news from Radio Five is the return of Danny Baker to host the 606 call-in show during the European Championships.
Baker and sidekick Danny Kelly were brilliant back in the old days as they didn't give up air-time to the assorted loons who love to ring up and tell us how Sir Alex Ferguson should manage.
They also didn't use the show to ram their own opinions down throats. The likes of Green, Spoony, David Mellor, Steve Claridge and Mark Bright have done their best to ruin the show as hosts - hopefully Baker can go along way to redress the balance.

EVERY time Kevin Pietersen appears in the media his motivation in cricket appears to revolve around making money.
I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that a man who ditched his own country to propel his career somewhere else can appear to be a mercenary.
But his obsession with the Indian Premier League Twenty/20 competition grates me immensely. There have been riches on offer that poor old Kev has had to forego to appear instead for the country that gave him his shot at stardom.
Anyway if I was him I'd concentrate on playing a bit better. On current form his salary prospects in the Mickey Mouse competition of world cricket are dropping quicker than New Zealand's self-esteem.

MANCHESTER United's moan at Real Madrid's blatant tapping up of Cristiano Ronaldo is hilarious.

United of course would never do it themselves, not again anyway, after their own shameless pursuit of the contracted Louis 'Sicknote' Saha turned out to be a complete waste of their time.