A BLEARY-eyed blog today after getting back at 2.30 this morning following my jaunt up to Manchester to (a) watch the England v Greece game and (b) take my two Man Utd-mad sons to Old Trafford for the first time.

A total nightmare of a journey up there. We set off from Newport at 2.45pm and got to our seats in the stadium at 7.55pm - ten minutes before kick-off - looking like drowned rats having parked in a side street about a mile from the stadium and then walked through the type of rain only Manchester can provide.

Still, the boys loved it, England won, and the drive back only took three hours. Happy days.

LAST night's match, while being a spectacular start to Steve McClaren's reign as England manager, did pose a few questions.

Firstly, if the way England played last night was the way McClaren always wanted them to play, why didn't he do more to impose his will on the Swedish skirt-chaser during the World Cup? And, if he was being that badly ignored, why did he stay on as number two to Svennis?

And, secondly, what happens when the likes of Joe Cole are fit to play? That will be the litmus test for the new regime.

Do Steve and Terry follow the Sven blueprint of picking the best 11 players in the country and hoping they'll work well together even if half of them are in the wrong positions? Or do they pick the best team, regardless of whether that leaves a few bruised egos sitting on the bench?

Over to you, Mr McClaren.

FELLOW blogger Steve Roberts (see the Reader Blogs section on this site) complains that he has garnered the lowest average vote among his fellow reader contributors. He then helpfully points out that the only person with lower rating is me.

Thanks, Steve.

I would point out, however, that the popularity of this blog is clearly growing as yesterday's offering garnered more than 40 votes - plenty more than any of the other blogs.

I use the word "popularity" in the sense that, given the continuing barrel-scraping nature of the scores, it's clear that the number of people who don't like me is growing!

HAS anyone been watching "Blizzard: Race To The Pole", the BBC documentary series in which British and Norwegian teams recreate the 1911 rival expeditions of Scott and Amundsen?

It is a fantastic series with examples of outstanding bravery, an excellent re-telling of the history behind the series and some laugh-out-loud moments.

The best being at the start of the journey as the Norwegians set off at a breakneck pace with their sleds being hauled by huskies, while the Brits got up late because their alarm froze, and then spent two hours trying to stop their dogs either fighting or procreating (or both) before making any progress at all.

All in all, a pretty good metaphor for the state of the country.