Phil Simms writes:

As the final day draws to an end - I am aware that by the time that this goes out England could then grab a flurry of wicket, but this needs to be said all the same.

South Africa are not a bad team. In the first innings England played particularly well both with the bat and then the ball, but it was also helped by some odd decision making by first, their captain Graeme Smith in the field and second, some poor shot selection as a team when they batted.

But now the visitors are showing their true colours and our lack of a fourth out and out seamer has become obvious. The only bit of variation we have is Collingwood and he has shown to be ineffective in Test matches as a bowler and has been woefully short of form with the bat in the longr version of the game.

Although I do feel sorry for him Colly should be dropped and replaced by Flintoff for the second Test. Although I do think that perhaps it is a tad too early he has shown form with the bat and ball, which has been far better than that of the One-day captain.

Phil Simms writes:

Now, on a professional basis, I have had some dealings with Jordan, the Crystal Palace chairman, and on each occasion he has never been short of a few words and he is willing to comment on absolutely anyone or anything. Froma journalistic point of view he makes great copy, but on the flip side I struggle to read from the same hymn sheet on a personal level - although that was until this week. The former mobile phone tycoon has slammed an FA tribunal for deciding Tottenham should pay an initial £700,000 for the club's youngest ever player, John Bostock, with the fee rising to £1.25m pending on appearances.

According to Jordan the 16-year-old midfielder had been promised lots of first-team action during this coming season, but decided to move to Tottenham instead. He claims that top premiership club are not helping grass roots football and the development of young English talent because they buy up the young talent and don't play them in their respective first teams thus limiting their development. I'm afraid he has a point.

Moreover, smaller clubs are forced to concede defeat if big clubs come calling, which mean they could be out of pocket financially as this case aptly illustrates.

Phil Simms writes:

...That's right Andy Murray is nowhere near the required standard to win a major international tournament. At least not while Federer and Nadal are around.

I've got nothing against the bloke, and I'll be the first person to praise his tenacity, particularly during his thrilling 5-set match against Richard Gasquet, and there is no doubting his talent, but he simply is not in their league.

Apart from the fact that Tim Henman was lacking in certain areas of his game he had no chance of getting past one of the game's true champions - Pistol Pete Sampras - and by the same token Murray is up against it, but this time he faces two great adversaries, who no doubt will endure one of the longest and great rivalries Tennis has seen, possibly ever.

So It's hard luck on Murray, although he has a quite immense back-hand game, that is probably better than both Nadal and Federer, he lacks in other more significant areas. His serve is not fierce, he has the ability of racking up costly unforced errors and there are question marks over his temperament.

Unless Federer and Nadal take early retirement, get injured or are subject to the divine will of a religious figure then Murray looks destined to be another British nearly-man.

Phil Simms writes: Live at the world's most famous Regatta

Scandal hit the Regatta yesterday when German crew Crefelder Ruderclub were disqualified for fielding an ineligible competitor against the City of Oxford.

The German eight beat their English counterparts by two-and-a-half lengths but were thrown out after it was unveiled their crew possessed a World under-23 Championship medal winner.

Phil Simms writes:

According to Sunday’s papers Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is set to offload arrogant striker Emmanuel Adebayor due to his shocking wage demands.

The Togo striker is demanding £80,000 a week, which has been refused through fear to upset the other players within the Gunners camp.

This may precipitate a bidding war between Barcelona and AC Milan for the leading scorer at the Emirates Stadium last term with 24 goals.

Is he really worth it? There is no doubt that Wenger plucked him from relative obscurity and has moulded the player into somebody who has great ability, but I still don’t rate him.

Although he is capable of scoring some sublime goals, as we have seen, he misses way too many chances – he certainly isn’t your out-and-out poacher’s goal-scorer. He doesn’t offer you much by way of creativity; he very rarely takes on players and beats them and doesn’t have an eye for a pass like say that of team-mate Robin Van Persie.

You cannot bank on him getting 20 goals every season, although admitted, he did perform above expectations – as did the entire Arsenal team. But to say he is more deserving of an improved contract – that is some £30,000 higher than an improved contract he signed ONE year ago - is outrageous. Is Adebayor worth more than Fabregas? I don’t think so.

Sell him Wenger and get a striker who is loyal to the team – you don’t want another Thierry Henry.

Phil Simms writes:

Shoot football magazine closed last week after 40 years as being the nation’s ‘football bible’.

Unable to fight off competition from the Match of the Day magazine and the Match titles; falling sales finally called time on the famous publication.

In March Shoot switched from a monthly to a weekly in reaction to the launch of Match of the Day and even slashed its cover price but to no avail.

It really is a sad day for sports journos as it really was a great source of features and contextual information. Even as a kid I remember getting the famous annual, which I am proud to say, I have many gracing my bookshelves. It’s such as shame particularly at a time when football couldn’t be any more popular in this country.

Phil Simms writes:

England seems to have found another gem in Stuart Broad.

In the absence of various more experienced players due to injury and lack of form, namely Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison, Simon Jones and Matthew Hoggard respectively, the 22-year-old Leicestershire seamer is proving his worth with both bat and ball.

With the Ashes only 12 months away bowlers who can provide some cover with the bat will be invaluable as shown by Broad’s quick-fire 64 from just 132 balls yesterday, saving England from what was a precarious situation against New Zealand.

As he continues to play more games he will grow stronger and gain more experience we could be looking at a second Flintoff – a second – although differing in styles with both bat and ball they could be a deadly duo, which could bode well for the country’s on-pitch performances in the future.

Phil Simms writes:

That has got to be one of the worst opening games of a major International football tournament for a long time. And I feel I have wasted an hour and a half of my life. Ok, it would be fair to point out that the two teams that were playing are not exactly the most high profile, or indeed, the most exciting, but the fans – as constantly brought up by the commentators – were not even interested in it either.

For the past two weeks we have been hit with adverts on the telly and pieces in the papers about who us British footy fans will be supporting. All a ploy by the major TV channels who bought the rights to the matches some time ago prior to England’s failure to qualify, who are keen to maintain viewing figures.

And with the added annoyance that the likes of current World Cup champions Italy would not even face teams the caliber of Holland or France until the final here lies the prospect of further dour games or boring one-sided victories.

If it wasn’t for the fact that I got Italy in my newsroom’s sweepstakes I would be casting the tournament aside unwatched. I just hope the levels of performances improve over the coming matches; otherwise I will be forced to watch the tennis over the next couple of weeks.

Phil Simms writes:

Avram Grant was never going to be the 'right' man for Chelsea. An inexperienced manager (let's face it; managing in Israel is not going to compare is it) and the club was in denail from the word go. The fact is I don't think they had any plans to sack Mourinho - he went before he was pushed. That's the only explanation I can give because there was none of this hype about searching for a new manager melarky prior to Grant's appointment.

But, I can't believe the way the club has treated Grant. It became obvious that they weren't going to give him any money to spend very quickly, the top echelons didn't exactly come out and support their man, leaving the the poor bloke to weather the media (and fan) storm on his own. The fact is clubs do not sack managers who, in their first season, take them to the European Cup final - their first in God knows how long and losing the Premier League on the final day of the season. That's just bad luck.

OK, he doesn't exactly have charisma, but he took over a club in crisis and did well.

So their search for a big-name manager rumbles on. They have had big-name managers in Ranieri and Mourinho and have come no closer to winning in Europe. The fact is an inexperienced man coped better under the media spotlight and did better on the field, in Europe. And yet they couldn't wait for the opportunity to knife the poor bloke in the back - as they go on their pointless persuit of another 'name' rather than the best man for the job.

Steve Clarke, for example, is a man that every single Chelsea player respects (a good start), knows the club inside and out (even better) and therefore should be an ideal candidate. But he is overlooked again. Now it looks like the Blue boys will gamble on another foreign name, although he may have a great CV, if he takes too long to climatise or if things don't go well quickly he will be another name on the sackings list. Chelsea need to stop thinking that throwing money at players will automatically bring success (although if I was Rom I would be annoyed) and assuming a big-name manager would do a better job just because its fashionable.

Phil Simms writes:

Everyone else is doing it...what do you think?

GK: David James (Portsmouth)

If it wasn’t for Cech being injured for most of this year’s campaign I’m sure he would have featured here, but the form of Pompey and, in particular, James cannot go unnoticed. This year the former Kop stopper continues to surpass David Seaman’s clean sheet record to cap a magnificent season that has forced him back into the England team. A key player in what has been a fairytale season for Pompey in their pursuit for FA Cup glory.

RB: Glen Johnson (Portsmouth)

Widely written off following a dismal tenure at Chelsea under first Ranieri, then Mourinho he was snapped up by Harry Redknapp. Has gone some way to silencing his critics with a superb season and is starting to show glimpses of genuine world class potential. May be handed an England chance due to injuries to Gary Neville and Micah Richards and the temperamental form of Wes Brown.

CB: Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)

United have one of the meanest defences in Europe and goes some way to explain their superb goal difference and their march to the European Cup final. The Serbian has become a cult hero at Old Trafford, a no-nonsense defender who would run into a brick wall and still get up again – there’s no going through him and United look shaky without him.

CB: Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United)

England captain for the last friendly match under Capello and in the United side in the absence of long-term injury sufferer Gary Neville. Has been outstanding throughout beside Vidic, his distribution and concentration has come on leaps and bounds a better defender in Europe, I think not.

LB: Joleon Lescott (Everton)

A tough decision. Ashley Cole has played well this season and Patrice Evra has been superb but Joleon has been a vital lynch-pin both in defence and in attack, providing some vital goals at testing times. Forced his way into the England squad and can slot in seamlessly at centre-back or left-back, a vital cog in Everton's Europe-qualifying campaign.

RW: Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Is there a better player in the world at the moment? The Portuguese prodigy has top scored this season with 41 goals, an incredible feat given that he spends the majority of his time on the wing. Won the Footballer of the Year and PFA Player of the year accolades for the second year running.

CM: Gareth Barry (Aston Villa)

Mr Consistancy, made Villa fashionable again, sure-footed, great range of passing, a good tackler and has a superb deadball delivery - what more could you want? Can play centre-midfield, left-midfield, left-back, and wears his heart on his sleeve - is keeping Lampard out of the England team and is a target for Liverpool. Nuff said.

CM: Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)

Has excelled this season, and has found the one thing he has been missing, the knack of scoring goals. The heartbeat of the Arsenal team he is now becoming the complete midfield player - but how long will he stick around after another trophyless season?

LW: Ashley Young (Aston Villa)

A superb find by boss Martin O'Neil, he has pace, is direct, scores goals and provides, provides, provides - exactly what you want from a winger. One for the future, as he is unlikely to replace Joe Cole in the England set-up - but deserves a call-up to get some international experience that will take him on to the next level.

CF: Adebayor (Arsenal)

Dumb-founded the critics this season, who didn't think he could cut it on his own, without the talismanic Thierry Henry but proved his is a top quality striker. Still misses too many easy chances but has made up for it with some wonder strikes that propelled his team into genuine title contention for much of the season - shame nobody else in the team could match his goal-scoring heroics.

CF: Fernando Torres (Liverpool)

An outstanding first season in the Premiership, I personally had him down as a player who would take a while to settle to the English game after a number of years in Spain - how wrong I was. He can score with both feet, can head the ball, has pace to take it round defenders. Probably the second name on the teamsheet after Ronaldo - world class.