THE USUAL BRITISH WIMBLEDON ?

With Wimbledon now underway, we Britains can no doubt look forward to at least a few days of media excitement as our few, very few, top class tennis players do their best. History suggests that their best will be utterly insufficient to achieve much more than a win in the first round, with the only possible exception being Andy Murray.

Murray plays tomorrow and has a quite difficult draw; that his chances of actually winning the championship are pretty well zero will bypass the press until he is beaten, when they will engage in the usual national pastime of berating our failures, together with a liberal dose of 'breast-beating'.

Apart from Murray, we have no one, male or female, of whom we can have much expectation that they will progress very far. It is likely that our other male participants will fall at the first hurdle although it is already determined that one of our ladies will take her place in the second round. Young Heather Watson played with great skill and determination to beat Iveta Benesova, a player ranked many places above her, in straight sets and on centre court; she will now face an unseeded American in the second round and must have a sporting chance of winning a place in the last 32. Tomorrow we can hope that Laura Robson, Elena Baltacha and Ann Keothavong can emulate Watson's performance and, at least, reach round 2.

One day we will have another British champion; one day.

NORTHERN RUGBY STILL SECOND BEST.

Yesterday's rugby union internationals in the southern hemisphere produced a mixed bag of results with, perhaps, some encouragement for the northern sides.

Ireland, of course, seemed to be suffering from a huge hangover after their heroics of the previous week and went down to their heaviest ever defeat at the hands of a rampant All Blacks team that had clearly been stung by the coverage of their efforts in the previous test match. From the kick-off, Ireland were simply never in the game and were overwhelmed by a vastly superior team; the Irish looked exhausted, physically and mentally, and must have been very happy indeed to hear the final whistle.

Wales, on the other hand, came within a few minutes of beating the Wallabies just as they had done in the previous match. This time, the margin of defeat was even closer, just 1 point compared with the 2 of last week. By all accounts, Wales should have won and have only themselves to blame for their failure, exactly as they did before; last week, a lack of discipline produced a last minute penalty, this week it was the same, though a few minutes earlier. Notwithstanding a 3-0 series loss, the Welsh still showed themselves to be a side on the 'up' and will be strong contenders to retain their 'Six Nations' title next year.

England went to South Africa with great trepidation but will come home having made some real progress. Up to the halfway stage of the second test, they'd been largely outplayed by the home side, but from then on they knuckled down and did much better. The second test ended up as a loss, though England certainly won the second half; yesterday's final test was an altogether closer affair and England ended up with a well deserved draw. It may be that South Africa lacked the intensity of the previous match or perhaps England simply didn't let them play in the same way; it's certainly the case that South Africa could, and probably should, have won but for the poor kicking of Morné Steyn. Nonetheless, England will take great heart from this result and seem to be building a solid base for the future.

While England, Scotland and Wales have been engaged in battles with the principle southern nations, France have been in Argentina and Scotland have wandered around the assorted Pacific island nations. After losing last week, France bounced back with an emphatic 49-10 win in their match yesterday and will remain near the top of northern rugby. Scotland followed victories over Australia and Fiji with a narrow win over Samoa and will go home with the best record of any of the home nations; what this means in real terms we will only find out in the autumn and beyond.

What will happen when the southern nations come north in the autumn is anyone's guess.

NORTHERN RUGBY ON THE UP.

Yesterday's rugby matches in the southern hemisphere showed a significant improvement from the previous week but still the final results were the same.

Ireland gave the All Blacks an almighty fright, but fell to a last minute dropped goal, having failed to repel the home side's final thrust. The force and determination of the New Zealanders simply couldn't be matched

Wales were even closer to defeating the Wallabies but eventually succumbed to  a penalty which became the last kick of the match. In the end, the Welsh had no one to blame but themselves for copying the Irish failure to fight to the very last kick.

England suffered a traumatic start to their match in Johannesburg with South Africa gaining a 12 point lead within 8 minutes. For the rest of the first half, England struggled to keep the Springboks at bay although they also managed to make some inroads themselves so that the half time score was only 10-25. The second half was a different 'kettle of fish' as the visitors showed terrific spirit and even looked the better side at times. The arrears were reduced to only 27-31 and it looked as though a huge shock might be possible before the South Africans ran in a last minute try to seal victory.

All 3 northern hemisphere sides could have won and all 3 might well do so in the next round of matches; sadly, those matches will be largely meaningless as the series are already won. This week's matches did, though, show that the gap between north and south may be narrowing and a northern hemisphere triumph at the next world cup may not be out of the question.

QUEEN'S CLUB DISGRACE.

What a pathetic mess the Queen's Club officials made of the end of their tournament this afternoon.

A hard fought match between David Nalbandian and Marin Cilic was brought to an abrupt halt when Nalbandian threw a wobbly and kicked a bit of advertising hoarding; unfortunately for him, a line judge was placed immediately behind it and received a nasty cut to his shin as a result. Under ATP rules, such an incident requires disqualification of the offender and this penalty was imposed; Cilic consequently won the trophy.

However, what happened after the incident was a typical English mess. It took ages for anyone to do anything and, more particularly, no one bothered to tell the increasingly annoyed crowd what was going on. These people had no doubt paid substantial sums to watch a tennis match and were rewarded with a balls-up.

When an official did, finally, take hold of a microphone he was first booed loudly by the audience and then failed miserably to say anything meaningful. No explanation was offered, nor any apology; the man simply had no idea of how he should have behaved towards the people who were, after all, contributing to his wages. It was, frankly, a disgrace, but typical of the mentality of the 'old school tie' brigade who dominate so much of British society. It was also an embarrassment to anyone who is British.

Please God nothing similar happens at Wimbledon.

OLYMPICS: FRAUD AND CORRUPTION

As we get ever closer to the abomination that is the modern Olympic games, the more the news causes one to despair.

It seems that a large number of individuals in positions of power within the Olympic movement have been able to acquire allocations of tickets which they have been offering for sale on the 'black market' at vastly inflated prices. It's even been said that a Greek representative apparently formed some sort of agreement with that bastion of British Olympic sport, Sebastian Coe, a man of impeccable standing, at least in political circles.

Why the obvious fraudulent activities of a throng of Olympic officials should surprise anyone is a mystery to me. In common with organisations such as FIFA, the IOC is as corrupt as it is possible to be; these international organisations are run by self-serving individuals, many of whom have only one aim - to enrich themselves. Why this country degrades itself by membership is beyond me.

Sadly, it is also the case that the double standards of the Olympic movement are not limited to its less worthy members. Over recent months, we have been subjected to assorted advertisements from banks and utility companies, among others, offering Olympic tickets as a sweetener for moving accounts and services. How can banks, utility companies and any other similar organisations have gained access to Olympic tickets ? Are not these tickets for sale to the general public only, or are they simply available to the highest bidder in a commercial market created by the Olympic committee ? Whatever the answer, the system is wrong. It is not only wrong, it is corrupt.

The original Olympic ideal has been subverted by greed and corruption. It is time for the modern Olympics to be abandoned and for a return to the true Olympian spirit. Until that happens, the games will remain a travesty and the people, including us, will pay for a quadrennial beanfeast for a very few, very rich and powerful crooks.

REDKNAPP GONE; NOW GET RID OF LEVY.

So Redknapp has gone.

Clearly a contract extension wasn't on the cards and Spurs will now begin the task of looking for yet another manager. What effect this will have on the players, particularly the 'big guns' such as Bale and Modric, is anyone's guess, but whoever the new man is, he'll have his work cut out.

All we can hope for now is that the Tottenham board has the foresightedness to appoint a manager on a long-term basis. We don't want another 60-something, we need a younger man, someone under 50 who will be given the time and money to develop the side properly, over a decade or more. What are the chances ?

Since Daniel Levy became Spurs' chairman in 2011, the club has 'enjoyed' a regular turnover of managers; George Graham, Glenn Hoddle, David Pleat, Jacques Santini, Martin Jol, Juande Ramos and, now, Harry Redknapp. Is it any wonder that the team has failed to prosper ? With such change and uncertainty at the top, how can the players ever feel secure ?

Jol and Redknapp both had a degree of success and yet were dismissed at the whim of Levy and without being given long enough to really shine. Levy wants success today without providing the essentials - money and stability. Having just sacked his 7th manager in 11 years, it is surely time for the board to sack him, and get in someone who knows a bit more about running a major sporting enterprise.

MURRAY DISAPPONTS .... AGAIN.

With Wimbledon on the horizon, one can only fear for Andy Murray.

In the French Open, admittedly played on a surface never imagined by the inventors of 'Lawn Tennis', Murray was overwhelmed by David Ferrer, a decent player but one who was slaughtered in the semi-final by his compatriot and the eventual champion, Rafael Nadal.

Today, Murray lost at Queen's Club to the unranked Frenchman, Nicholas Mahut. Mahut's only real claim to fame is his participation in the ridiculous set he played against the American John Isner a couple of years ago and that ended 70-68, though in whose favour no one can remember.

Is it possible that Nadal, Djokovic or Federer would have lost to Mahut ? Of course not. Murray simply doesn't have 'it'.

'It' is the winning mentality. Don't get me wrong, Murray is a good player but, sadly, that's all he is. When it comes to big tournaments and big matches, he can't 'hack it'. A few years ago I was convinced that Murray would win at least one Grand Slam event in his career - I was wrong. His chances are reducing by the day and his recent performances really demonstrate that he is not only no match for Djokovic, Nadal and Federer in the big tournaments, he is also stretched by lesser players.

If Murray is ever to win a major tournament, he will have to grow up, very quickly given that he is already 25. Compared with his main rivals, Murray still looks like an overgrown schoolboy, rather than a fully grown man; his manner is that of a spoilt teenager rather than that of an adult.

I wish him well at Wimbledon and hope against hope that the best player this country has produced in 75 years will triumph, but I have no expectations. He simply isn't good enough to compete with the very best in the world.

REDKNAPP : GO OR STAY - DECIDE NOW !

As a Tottenham supporter, I could hardly have missed the current furore about the future of club manager Harry Redknapp. It seems that Redknapp has pretty well painted himself into a corner and it will take a lot of humble-pie eating by either him or Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy if Harry is to still be in charge of the club come August.

Redknapp undoubtedly wanted the job of England manager and the players knew it. Consequently, the team's performances dipped dramatically and a side which had been serious challengers for the Premier League title eventually finished only fourth and even failed to qualify for the Champions' League, something that had been unthinkable at Christmas.

Unsurprisingly, the Tottenham chairman is not happy. Redknapp has a year left on his current contract and says, quite vociferously, that he has not resigned and has no intention of resigning. Clearly, given the nature of such things, he actually wants to go but is holding out for a year's compensation.

The result will be that he will, almost certainly, go. Tottenham will continue their appalling habit of replacing their manager every 2 or 3 years and the club will subside to their usual mid-table position, while arch-rivals Arsenal continue to outdo them at every turn under long-term manager Arsene Wenger.

For a brief period, Redknapp had Spurs performing at a level not seen at White Hart Lane for 50 years. The failure of the Tottenham board to resolve the question of his possible translation to the England job within a matter of hours of its raising says more about their competence than it does about Redknapp's. At the same time, the question as to how good Redknapp actually is remains unanswered.

There are two choices. either get rid of him now or give him a new 5 year contract with no get out clauses and pay 75% related to performance. Let's see how confident he is in his own ability or let's get someone who is confident and committed in his place. Whichever, let's stop pissing about.

FOOTBALL, THUGS AND LOUTS

Shock ! Horror !

I never realised it before but apparently many football crowds have elements that shout abuse at the players and officials on the pitch. This disgraceful behaviour is now causing real concern at the 'Euro' football competition being played in Poland and Ukraine.

As a longstanding follower of Tottenham Hotspur, universally known in some circles and for many years as 'The Yids' on account of their history of jewish ownership, I find this all a bit boring and repetitive. Frankly, I couldn't give a damn what people say, shout or chant. Much of the chanting at football matches has been highly obscene for years and yet no one has said much about; others forms of offensive chanting have existed for a similar period of time. Football is a highly tribal sport - is it any surprise that some supporters act tribally ?

Suddenly, offensive behaviour is no longer acceptable. Why ? When I was a child I was always told that 'Sticks and stones could break my bones but words could never hurt me'. Why is this no longer the dictum ? The more attention that is paid to the ill-mannered behaviour of the louts and thugs who attend football matches, the more they will be inspired to be thugs and louts.

Our grotesquely overpaid and pampered footballers should grow thicker skins, shut up and get on with kicking that round thing around the pitch; they should also stop their own loutish and thuggish behaviour which no doubt helps to stir up their supporters.

Notwithstanding my support for Tottenham, I still prefer watching properly grown men using an oval ball rather than these overgrown, spoilt and whining schoolboys.

MURRAY SHOWS UP UNSPORTING FRENCH .

Watching Andy Murray play, and eventually destroy, Richard Gasquet in the French Open Tennis Championship, one can only be disgusted by the total lack of sportsmanship shown by the audience.

Obviously, a French crowd will always support its own players exactly as an English crowd does at Wimbledon, but the English crowd also appreciates the fine play of the opponent. Today's match saw a crowd that applauded madly whenever their man won a point and yet became increasingly silent when his opponent won one. There were even times when fine shots by Murray were met by an entirely silent stadium and, at the end, there were even boos and catcalls when Murray won points; no Wimbledon crowd has ever been so shockingly partizan nor so unsporting. The truly frightening thing is that the crowd's treatment of Murray is anything but unusual; his eventual reception when victory was achieved was, to say the least, muted and the crowd booed as much as they cheered.

One has to assume that this is a representation of the French culture and it is, perhaps, something that we should all take note of. The French are for the French, sod everyone else.