England busking it all the way to Euro 2012

 Robben's strike: our statues get a great view of it.

England fans will breathe a collective sigh of relief as caretaker boss Stuart Pearce has declared, "I'm short term" after masterminding England's latest gulf in class.

Because a 3-2 friendly defeat to Holland leaves us nowhere in particular ahead of a big date in the diary.

With Euro 2012 three months away, Pearce mooted he was Plan B before kick-off. He explained he was there if Harry Redknapp (or anyone else) wasn't going to succeed Fabio Capello permanently.

Now he's incentivising the FA powerbrokers to get a replacement in as soon as possible. The Under-21 boss is committing to the senior job for however long it takes, so let's hope that's not too long.

Because at Wembley, England were busking it. After the Capello years, there was new thinking at the helm but with little commitment to it. We've just chucked an eye-watering £24m at Fabio's four-year plan: our reward for it? we're fifth favourites going into a major tournament.

Scott Parker was captain instead of stand-out Stevie and there was no room for Theo Walcott and Ashley Cole who's experience might've been regarded more highly considering the quality of the opposition.

Arjen Robben's opening goal showed the huge lack of experience we had against the truly world-class. His darting dribble and run cut a slice through our defence with almost no resistance, and as Robben's second goal confirmed deep into injury time, he posed a potent threat throughout.

Now this'll never happen. Nice pic though!

Then again there were some positives: no one was afraid to play, Daniel Sturridge, Adam Johnson and Danny Welbeck all dribbled there way into creating chances and Parker wore the armband with aplomb and responsibilty.

But after the England fight back, the Dutch deserved their winner. The composure of the Orange was greater - as was their sheer ability.

So a 3-2 defeat with the order of the goals falling in exactly the same way as England's darkest night at New Wembley - that defeat to Croatia which snatched defeat from the jaws of victory to deny us a Euro 2008 place.

Pearce is not cut out for the England job and doesn't rouse his troops as a boss. That's a strange thing to say about a man who inspired such passion and leadership among fans and teammates alike as a player.

Roll on Redknapp's arrival. He may not be the master tactician a la Mourinho, but as Tottenham's Roman Pavlyuchenko will testify, he will get his charges to "run around a bit" in pursuit of glory.

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England's ordinary display is no indication of our World Cup prospects

England were far from brilliant in beating Mexico in their final Wembley warm-up before the World Cup Finals. But without Chelsea's "weary" Cup Final players (a game played nine days ago!) it wasn't a first-choice line-up either.

Still, Peter Crouch added to his impressive tally: 21 goals in 38 international appearances and Wayne Rooney came out unscathed as did the rest of the squad. It was one of Crouch's comedy goals which the referee generously allowed as he appeared to bundle it over the line with his arm.

It was good to see both Ledley King and Glen Johnson score. It's important we can rely on goals from all over the park; a need magnified by Rooney's diminishing England strike rate.

He's scored just once in his last seven having hit ten in the previous seven.

King's header disguised a rather below-par performance. He was frequently left standing by his Spurs teammate, Dos Santos in Mexico's attack. But Johnson's goal was a peach; his rising left-foot drive from outside the area was more than enough to earn him Man Of The Match when in fact no one really deserved it.

Even a West Ham player scored. Guillermo Franco took advantage of some sloppy England defending - followed by a most surreal celebration from the Mexican fans, delayed because of their viewing angle to the action at the other end of the stadium.

Two seconds later - uproaorious celebration. Good news travels fast!

Adam Johnson came off the bench for his full England debut. An old-fashioned dribbler, he looks set to be Fabio Capello's wildcard - and a substantial one at that. Jamie Carragher was comfortable if untested on his return to the fold as was Joe Hart, who caught everything with confidence. Opportunities seem to opening up for him at both club and country level. Milner joins Crouch and Baines on the plane and I'd pick Walcott too. Despite struggling with his form, he's a player capable of greatness. It's just all ahead of him!

But despite the slack passing, England had plenty in terms of invention and match fitness - and we're as ready as we're ever going to be to take on the rest of the world in South Africa.

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Why should football be about cheating and gamesmanship?

Two telly pundits endorsed cheating in two separate shows on Sunday. In both cases, the reaction of Adrian Chiles and Richard Keys was a rather feeble "fair enough", even though it seemed to offend their sit-on-the-fence sensitivities.

They happened during Andy Gray's Final Word, then MOTD2.

Gray, whose view of the Premier League is now quasireligious, suggested Wayne Rooney's calmish discussion with the ref while walking off at halftime against Fulham, would encourage the man in black to think twice before ruling against him after the break. Another instalment in Manchester United's chipping away at the referee. Sledging, now endorsed by Gray.

Then Neil Warnock explained that Adam Johnson's brilliant equaliser in injury time for Manchester City at Sunderland should've been denied by deliberate handball. 

"The defender would've taken one for the team with a red card and missed a game", but according to Warnock, preferable for Sunderland to test the nerve of a City player taking a last minute penalty then accept a brilliant piece of skill.

That is cheating!

Johnson's winner has put him in Fabio Capello's thoughts on the day David Beckham's England career finished. His exceptional piece of skill would've been buried in that last-minute penalty rather than being enjoyed for a long, long time.

Rooney needed less than two minutes to score the opener for United as the second half resumed. He's got more than enough in his locker not to rely on hounding officials.

If you think I'm being namby pamby - and it should be accepted as "just gamesmanship" it is for me, the slippery slope. Football can't just be about abusing a position of strength over the weak - football matches must be won on merit and brilliance.

Football no longer teaches youngsters about integrity. People like Andy Gray have as much of a responsibility for the game's image as the players out there.

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