Monday 4 June
Jody Morris has joined the Lampard revolution at Derby. Jody made 124 appearances for us in the mid to late nineties before drifting off to Leeds and St Johnstone.
His real impact has been as a coach and mentor to a generation of young talent. He started back as a coach in 2014, taking over the U18 two seasons ago. His sides have been exemplary, winning the FA Youth Cup every year he has been involved and picking up league wins and sundry other trophies.
It is a disappointment to lose Jody but the club could not stand in his way. Derby County will be worth watching next season, with Lampard and Morris leading them their football should improve and many in Blue will be keeping an eye out for their results.
Davide Zappacosta played out the 1-1 stalemate between to two biggest names not at the World Cup as Italy and the Netherlands prepared for their beach holidays with a draw. Nathan Ake scored the leveller at the death after Italy had been reduced to ten.
Wednesday 6 June
England U21 3:1 Scotland U21
The final of the Toulon Tournament beacons for the third year in a row as we came from behind to beat a plucky Scotland side. Jay Dasilva, Fikayo Tomori, Jake Clarke-Salter and Tammy Abraham all contributed to the win. Billy Gilmour was at the heart of the midfield for Scotland. England will play Mexico on Sunday.
Thursday 7 June
England 2:0 Costa Rica
Gary Cahill and Ruben Loftus-Cheek both played and played well as England played out a simple win against a jet-lagged Costa Rica side. Elland Road was a noisy venue for this actually entertaining international match. England will not win the World Cup but there is a danger that we might be quite good to watch.
The U21s are playing pre-season games at Northwood (Sat 14 July), Woking (Wed 18 July) and Sutton United (Sat 21 July). They then head off to Portugal to take on Porto a week later. The development squad then conclude against Stoke City at Cobham on Saturday 4 August.
The U18s are playing Oxford United at the Meadowbank Stadium in Dorking , Monday 16 July, before a couple of Cobham fixtures against Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers.
Friday 8 June
Ken Bates unexpectedly stuck his oar into the current controversy about Gwyn Williams and Graham Rix by saying that he wasn’t responsible, he was only in charge and implying that the complainants were simply motivated by money.
Ken never did seem to understand what was going on around him but, for once, he is completely and unutterably wrong. If you employ two coaches who act in a racist manner and have no internal complaints mechanism for the young people in your charge to seek redress for their concerns then you are responsible in a very real and legal sense.
Now, we should remember, that both Williams and Rix deny that racism played any part in their bullying behaviour but when an enquiry is called into your time in charge of a club’s youth system, you need a better defence than that.
Ken went further to ask what right Lord Ouseley had to call his initial reaction ‘unhelpful and insensitive’ when Ken had suggested the young black players involved should have just moved on and found another club.
Lord Ouseley has been at the forefront of the campaign to rid the game of racism, in this country and abroad, for the last 25-years. It gives him every right to comment on the ill-thought-out ramblings of a man who still doesn’t understand why electrified cattle fences were inappropriate and why employing coaches who racially abuse children might be his responsibility.
Russia 1:3 England
Millie Bright, Carly Taylor and Fran Kirby all played as England dominated in attack and retook the lead of their World Cup qualifying group with this comprehensive win away in Russia.
On the Chelsea women’s front Lizzy Durack signed from Everton as goalkeeping competition for Hedvig Lindahl.
Saturday 9 June
N’Golo Kante and Olivier Giroud both played as France struggled to a 1-1 with the USA. Giroud and Matt Miazga clashed heads and had to be subbed just before the hour. Andreas Christensen played as Denmark beat Mexico 2-0.
Sunday 10 June
Mexico U21 1:3 England U21
After falling behind a minute into the final Engalnd showed character to snatch back two before half-time and hold on for the whole of the second
The equaliser came, like the ghost of Ian Hutchinson all those years ago, from a Jake Clarke-Salter long throw and Tammy Abraham hit a post in the second-half.
Willian played as an impressive Brazil steamrollered in form Austria 0-3.
