Hodgson's choice is good for EURO 2012

England's opening match in the Championship, a one-all draw with France shows us the pragmatism that Roy will deploy against quality opposition.

France will be around later in the tournament, but the England boss knows we'll have to play to our strengths if we want to be there with them.

City Slicker beats City Slacker: 1-nil England!

The draw extended France's unbeaten run to 22 against an England boss with just three matches and ten training sessions under his belt.

Sure we surrendered territory at the end of each half. They're practiced, experienced, continuous, confident and very, very good.

But England's hard workers didn't flinch, and when French relentlessness opened us up, there was Joe Hart to quell danger wholeheartedly.

This is going to be a recurrent pattern for Roy the realist, who's track record of producing difficult to beat sides must be how it is until we grow to his ultimate gameplan.

And it's not all pie and mash football: Roy's willing to pull a few rabbits out of the hat too. He's sprung surprises with his selections and has the unknown quantity in the back of his mind: Oxlade-Chamberlain and Welbeck showed that.

Hodgson's right; we will get better, but while we're not, this England fan would rather us win then go home with the tabloids screaming down his neck.

It's Sweden and Ukraine next - neither of them strike fear into our hearts. Come on England and well done Roy's boys.

England's win a contradiction in terms

It was England's first win over a reigning world champion since Argentina were humbled at Wembley in 1980. It also ended a run of three straight defeats against the Armada in which we'd not scored at all.

And yet it was probably the first demonstrative acknowledgement that we're simply no match for the likes of Germany, Holland and the Spanish to win Euro 2012.

Because England's win was 0% inspiration 100% perspiration. Not that tracking back and winning every ball isn't without merit - it is. But it's not enough in itself to win tournaments.

Scott Parker broke it up in midfield, Joleon Lescott was alert to everything and Glen Johnson marauded when called upon.

Friendlies are often a difficult monitor of progress. Apart from not knowing how seriously the opposition are taking it (and Spain may well have played with more urgency had it been competitive), the sheer amount of substitutions breaks up the drill and formations worked up by the starting eleven.

Then again we have strength in depth: Fabio Capello could have easily picked a quite plausible alternative team. Who knows where the inspiration might come from in the future? We have Jones, Rodwell, Wilshere, Welbeck and Walcott to invest our dreams in.

On a completely different level, Spain have their problems. They came into the game without a win in four and luck deserted them in that fashion. On this display, they hardly look worthy favourites to win in Poland and Ukraine.

So it's Sweden next at Wembley and another chance for England to win, build confidence and break a duck of incessant draws against the Scandinavians.

Lescott switch won't quell Moyes' dreams for long

Manchester City have finally got their man. After weeks of dogged negotiation which may yet be subject to a Premier League "tapping up enquiry", Joleon Lescott (pictured right) leaves Everton for a five-year contract at Eastlands.

Admittedly, City played poker to force Everton to the table and turned the head of a seasoned and consistent professional. Bids of £16million, then £18million were rejected out of hand. But £22million was just too much for the Toffees to halt Lescott's departure, especially as the player himself was already lost mentally to the Goodison cause. They won't have to worry about losing Image Rights revenue from Lescott. Some say he's a bit ugly, actually!

The timing of City's offer, coming as it did on the eve of the new season was pretty low - but all's fair in love and war, and the transfer window is open.

It's common practice for clubs with financial muscle to tap up players. Fergie's a dab hand at it, either directly or through intermediaries. It's always been a part of football's landscape.

So what? it's a credit to the Everton manager David Moyes, who showed a lot of steel in the face of a rather unsophisticated financial sledgehammer. Moyes built a fantastic side on limited budget with Lescott as his defensive lynchpin.

But £22million is adequate compensation for such a blow. Yes, Everton have made a lamentable start to the season, but they were poor at the beginning of last term and they still managed to claim their second successive fifth-placed finish.

Moyes' teams thrive on match fitness and there isn't a more self-motivated squad of players anywhere in the Premier League. I back the Scot to steer his team up the table despite their nightmares against Arsenal and Burnley.

And with Sylvain Distin, Matthew Upson and others up for a new challenge, Moyes will still have cash in the bank to strengthen again in the January Transfer Window if he has to contend with injuries or the added demands of a cup run.

I well recall the Aston Villa side of 1979 being broken up within weeks and the Holte End thinking we were doomed. Having won the League Cup and finished as high as fourth, Villa were an emerging European force.

What happened next? Andy Gray was sold to Wolves for a British record £1.5m, John Gidman went to Everton for £750,000 and John Deehan joined WBA for £450,000.

Villa boss Ron Saunders risked the bullet. But what came next was a virtual miracle. Villa bought Tony Morley from Burnley, Chelsea's Kenny Swain, Hibernian's Des Bremner and Peter Withe of Newcastle. Those new arrivals were fashioned together with Dennis Mortimer, Gary Shaw and Gordon Cowans first into the Champions of England and the following year, European Cup winners.

It's not possible these days, you're thinking. All I'm saying is you can lose what looks like a key player - or even the heart of the team, and still emerge stronger.

Everton are a big club with a big manager. Only time will tell whether £22million in Everton's Bank Account is worth more to them than Joleon Lescott is as a Manchester City player.

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