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Euro 2008 drew to a close last night with for once the right result.  All too often the team which plays the most attractive football, is the one that ends up conceding late on and ultimately losing.  Last night though, Spain ran the Germans ragged from beginning to end and could easily have won by 3 or 4.  In fact, if on reflection they have any concerns over their performance, then it might be just that.  Despite their domination they only hit the net once and that could prove costly against better sides.  For now though they can bask in the glory and deservedly so.

I half expected the match to be a fairly dour affair, but to give the Spanish team credit, they played the same way they have all tournament, and in a way we can only wish England could mirror one day.  It’s fair to say I’ve enjoyed watching the last few games much more than I thought I would, given the lack of Home Nations competing.

Germany, who really didn’t deserve to be there anyway, having under performed against Turkey, were no better against Spain, and the pace of Torres scared them to death.  According to the pundits and people in the “know” they are the worst German team for years.  However, lets not forget that they still managed to make the Championships and even the final - so what does that say about England I wonder?

I don’t expect to see England play the kind of free flowing football that Spain played - if you look at Arsenal, who are the only side to play with the same fluidity in the Premiership, they only have English player in the team and he barely gets any pitch time.

As Capello has already said, its not the English way of playing and you are really trying to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear by trying to get them to play that way.  However, I do see us being able to play our own variation of that game.  Let’s not kid ourselves we will have a squad of players who are all so comfortable on the ball, but we do have a core of players that can play that game.

I see us with a side built on a strong defence, and a midfield that can match teams like the Spanish.  The best side in the Premiership and European Champions is Manchester United and they have a  core of English/British players.  Combined with the top English players from Chelsea and Liverpool, with a few others thrown in from the smaller clubs for good measure, we should being able to field a side capable of beating any international side on their day - and by playing attractive attacking football.  All that’s required is the right combination and system, which is easier said then done.  But that’s why Mr Capello is paid so much - lets hope he can do it, and we don’t have to sit through another major Championship without England competing.

With England not playing in the football and getting thrashed in the rugby it has been good to see us putting the Kiwi cricket team to the sword, even if at times its been weather assisted.  And so nursing a slight hang over on Saturday I took the opportunity to lay in front of the TV to watch them give out yet another beating.

So it seemed it would be when they were on the rack at 49 for 5 and then 101 for 7.  But England proved once again that they lack that ruthless streak, when instead of pressing home the advantage they looked to simply contain New Zealand with a defensive field for the last couple of wickets.

What would the Australians have done?  No doubt pushed on and skittled them out for no more than 120.

Coupled with the defensive field came 3 or 4 fumbles in the field and suddenly England were facing 183 to win.  On a pitch where the average score is 250 this should still have been a walk in the park - but this is England don’t forget.

When Luke Wright went third ball the writing was on the wall, and then when Pietersen followed it was always going to be close.  With Bell scoring like a man with no arms (8 off of 39 balls), I drifted off to sleep before being woken by a flurry of wickets, with Bell, Bopara, Collingwood and Swann all falling in the space of 4 runs.  The net result was a defeat from what could and should have been a comfortable victory.

Sad to say that until England develop the same ruthless streak and mentality of the very best sides, then they will always be plagued with this inconsistency. They have shown time and again that they have the ability, but the mental approach to the game continues to let them down.

Just time for a quick note on the antics of Kevin Pieterson over the weekend.  I was down in the big city watching Joseph so missed last weekends ODI, with the big man switching to a lefty and clubbing Scott Styris for six a couple of times.  I enjoyed watching it in the replays though.

A fairly predictable outcry emerged from certain quarters (mainly ex-bowlers of course) that it just wasn’t cricket.  However, in the main supporters and commentators alike are united in the view that it is a skill which should be rewarded and its up to the bowler to adapt accordingly.  One view from Nassar Hussain is that the bowler could either bounce or bowl body line as the batsman has to move early to get into position.

The good news from a supporters point of view is that the MCC have for once moved quickly and ruled it legal so we can look forward to some more fun and games over the next few matches.

The next thing to discuss is the debacle at Edgbaston yesterday, where 16000 fans and the New Zealand cricket team were denied a result by a combination of weather and rules.

There needs to be some flexibility with the rules and umpires should be allowed to apply commonsense where necessary.  As the rules stipulate that there is a 30 minute break between innings for one day matches they had a 30 minute break yesterday. This despite the game being reduced to 23 overs and the players being prepared to turn round in 10 minutes.

That meant that the only 19 overs were bowled as the rain came again and as 20 are required for a result to be valid the game was deemed a draw.  A disappointment for the Kiwis of course but also for the fans who had paid good money and then sat down in the rain for half the day to see a drawn match.

Sir Ian Botham as always spoke sense the other day during the last Test match.  It should not be down to the players to decide if they want to come off for bad light or rain.  We all know that  a team in a winning position will always come off given the choice, and a team chasing a victory will be prepared to bat in semi-darkness if they think  they might snatch the game.  All very well but hardly fair on the paying public.  Botham’s solution was to give the umpires control - they don’t “offer” the light - they make the decision based on light metres and conditions and its then the same for both teams.

Last night’s Twenty20 at Headingly was a classic example.  Yorkshire were chasing a rain stopped game but behind on Duckworth Lewis.  Therefore despite the fact that is was raining hard they continued to bat without complaint and managed to win with a couple of balls left.  Had they been winning then they would no doubt have walked at the first opportunity and the crowd, (which included my girlfriend) would have been deprived an exciting climax. (Make up your own jokes there…).

If the ICC want to build on the popularity that Twenty20 and limited over cricket has brought to the game, then they have to keep moving with the times to keep the momentum and the crowds interested.

So Chelsea have finally made a decision on their new manager and it will be Big Phil Scolari as predicted in this blog a few weeks ago.  It looks like it was agreed some weeks ago with Scolari insisting the announcement was held back until Portugal had reached the quarter final of Euro 2008.  Good management I think, and a chance to go out with bang.

Reaction has been mixed from Chelsea fans and predictably derisory from most other fans.  I think its a good appointment.  I should point out that I was dead against him being the England manager but that’s simply because I think that job should always be an Englishman’s job, and I’ll think that even if we go and win the World Cup under Capello.

There is a lot of misinformation about Scolari, probably the biggest error with people believing he speaks no English.  This is not true and although he might struggle initially with Press Conferences I’ve just listened to an interview with him speaking English, where he said that  he has no problem commiunicating with players and getting his message across.  With a couple of months living and breathing English I suspect he will be up to speed by the start of the season.

What we are guaranteed is some exciting football and some volatile behaviour on and off the field.  I’ve also just watched a clip of him throwing a punch at a player from an opposing team during a match.  Now I don’t condone that sort of behaviour at all, but it will give us plenty to talk and write about.  Remember the Wenger/Pardew dust up a couple of seasons ago?  If it had been Scolari/Wendger then it would have been very interesting by the looks of things.

There is also talk of him having no club/European experience.  He has won the South American version of the Champions League twice with “lesser” teams, and has experience of European football with Portugal of course.

He also has plenty of experience managing big egos and will not let them dictate to him - remember him taking off Luis Figo against England at a time when Figo was held up as some sort of demi God?  If a player is not performing he can expect to sitting on the bench.  Exactly what a team with the players Chelsea has needs.  I just wonder how well he will handle the ego of Abramovich!

The only concern I have is that he floods the team with more foreign players and the English players in the squad get sidelined or sold.  Although, both Chelsea and Manchester United have a strong contingent of foreign players, they are complimented by a spine of English or British players, something which the likes of Arsenal for example can’t claim.  Long may that continue.

Now other stuff.

Shearer has officially announced that he is not interested in the Blackburn job because he has other commitments e.g working with the BBC.  I’m sure that if he were interested then he would be able to negotiate a way out of those commitments, but as I have said before he lacks the bottle for management.  Being a pundit is much safer.  In fact he admitted that he never even put his hat in the ring - he was appraoched by Blackburn, who asked if he wanted to be considered.

And one more thing.  God Euro 2008 is dull! I tried to make it worth watching by betting on Holland to win it outright.  However, due to the way Bluesq works when you get a new debit card, I wasn’t able to place my bet before their first game when they were 12/1.  As they won that by beating Italy 2-0 the odds are now 5/1 and I have even less interest.  I will be gutted of course if they do win now.

So Sven has finally officially left Manchester City.  No real surprise there - in fact it would have been a massive surprise if he hadn’t gone after all that has been said.  But who will replace him?

Thaksin has proved that no matter what the plan is in place, even if you deliver to it, there is no guarantee you won’t be sacked.  So what coach would be prepared to take on the position, knowing there is every possibility he will be without a job after 12 months.  Well I guess there are some out there who would be overly optimisitic and tempted by a big transfer budget, and there may be one or two who are just mercenary enough not to care.  After all, Sven has walked away with £5M I suspect.

The big surprise name among the likely candidates though is Mark Hughes.  Blackburn fans must be dreading him leaving, but if he were to go, my guess would have been to Chelsea, who are also rumoured to be interested.

Much of the talk has been about him taking over from Sir Alex at some point and that a few seasons at Chelsea would give him the experience needed.  I would tend to agree with that.  It would also be good to see 2 out of the top 4 clubs managed by British managers - even better if they were English but we’ll have to wait for Pompey to break into the top 4 for that to happen I guess…

Personally, I think if Hughes is serious about the Manchester United role, then the City job could ruin that - especially if he does a good job and by some miracle they were to break the Top 4 monopoly.  The die hard Red supporters would not sanction a Blue taking over I’m sure - having said that, Harry proved that fans can be fickle and if you produce results, they will forgive pretty much anything.

I think Scolari might be the successful candidate.  He is also interested and should be vacating his role of Portugal manager after Euro 2008. He also has a big enough reputation for Thaksin and a decent track record. Hughes, for all his potential really only has that - potential.  He has done well at Blackburn on a limited budget - there is no doubt about that, but has not managed a top club and a big budget.  So for a man keen on making  a major impact quickly as Thaksin seems to be, then he represents a huge risk. However, Thaksin has proved himself to be nothing if not unpredictable so it will be interesting to watch for the neutral at least!