The Vuvuzela Won

Many pages have been written and many theories aired about the failure of the England football team in the World Cup.

I can't let it go by without adding my two pennorth. Heaven knows, I had to endure enough of it.

Here I am in my England t-shirt looking forward to the England v Algeria match. First of all, tell all the knee-jerkers to stop calling for Fabio's resignation. He's the best man for the job, always was, and still is. The words "silk purse and sow's ear" come to mind when thinking of his task with the team. I won't go on about pampered players earning too much money. That's a fact, we have to live with it. But the team is very weak. Too many key players were injured. And they were too old and slow. But where are the youngsters? Herein lies the rub.

Germany had an old team last time round but they've rebuilt themselves and at this stage look like eventual winners. They have 35,000 coaches to train young players. We have fewer than 3,000. I gather the FA spends £1m a week on grass roots football but clearly it's not enough. I'd like to see the big retailers get behind the game with some serious investment.

Then there is the FA themselves. And FIFA. Two useless organisations run entirely by men. FIFA: ignoring complaints about the ball. Rejecting the need for technology until they had to do an embarrassing u turn. The FA is run entirely by businessmen, some of whom have featured less than favourably in the News of the World. I am with the late, great Brian Clough and Lord Sugar in their withering assessments of the Football Association. I'm not saying you can solve the problem by adding a few women to the board, but it would make a difference. For example, the panicked reaction before the World Cup to news that AC Milan were trying to lure Fabio away. Instead of letting it lie and riding the tournament out, what did they do? They immediately locked him (and them) into a two year deal. Now if I had been on the board I would have urged them to apply common sense. It's not something men necessarily have when they're in a collective.

I would like to think that Fabio can now rebuild the team along the lines of what happened in Germany but according to the Sunday Times, the next generation of players is even worse.

But no doubt by 2014 we will have put it all behind us and will go through the usual anguish and agony when we watch England play.