New technology problems aside, the squad, already delayed two days by a vacillating Eriksson, had not been ready by the appointed hour. Fax problems, apparently, disrupted the lines of communication with players' clubs. Maybe the paper was stuck.
If Michael Owen times his runs and Sol Campbell his tackles as badly as the Football Association timed an announcement keenly anticipated throughout the land, then England will be coming home sooner rather than later.
An afternoon Press conference in London's Cafe Royal, to which SGE headed only after a Variety Club lunch in Park Lane, was a bit like going to see a film despite being familiar with the ending. One hesitates to quote Titanic as an example, since a sinking ship is scarcely a suitable metaphor for a World Cup campaign.
Lights, camera, action could have precipitated some genuine excitement as Eriksson read out his squad.
'Beckham, Bridge, Brown, Butt, Campbell, Cole Ashley, Cole Joe ... ' Cue some applause from the romantics. 'Dyer, Ferdinand, Fowler, Gerrard, Hargreaves, Heskey, James ...' No surprises there.
'Keown ...' Imagine the gasp from the audience and from supporters around the country.
Instead, we were left with the director explaining his decisions. Far from the Cafe Royal, a telephone call yesterday morning precipitated hasty plans for a summer holiday for those excluded.
The aforementioned McManaman, Andy Cole, Jamie Carragher, Phil Neville, Trevor Sinclair, Frank Lampard and Richard Wright all came into that category.
They discovered that being measured for the official England suit represented no guarantee of making the official England flight to the Far East.
They will be there, though, and not just in spirit. The non-chosen ones were included in the England Squad Profiles section of the official Media Guide for the World Cup. The injured Gary Neville commands a page.
Even allowing for publication date imperatives, it appeared mildly shambolic to produce a booklet, which will be referred to by thousands of foreign journalists, containing biographical details of players excluded from the final 23.
At least, none of the 23 was missing, though the absence of Matt Jansen confirmed how much of an afterthought he had been.
Andy Cole appears. Under the entry 'Previous World Cup Finals' it states 'None'. For him at least it could have declared ditto in relation to future World Cup Finals.
