Scotland should go solo

UEFA may be persuaded that their prestige tournament is more likely to be a financial success over here, especially as the Scots and Irish will be able to provide seats for half a million more fans.

While the fans are the best selling point, there's also the worry of England supporters.

Fortunately, their good behaviour in Japan has helped the bid and McConnell does not believe they will be a problem.

"They will be more than welcome," he told me and despite what many people think south of the border, more Scots actually supported England during the World Cup than opposed them.

I, for one, wish the Scots well. And, of course, hosting the tournament is the only way they will qualify for it.

FA is in denial over this violence

Travelling to Blackpool has its advantages as I missed Tottenham's embarrassing defeat by Middlesbrough - a poor game marred by violence before and after the game.

For years I've been going to The Ship in Tottenham High Road before the game and there has never been the slightest hint of trouble. On Saturday, though, the nutters from Middlesbrough decided that this was where they would meet to plan their afternoon of mayhem.

Before being moved on by the police, they helped themselves to booze and prevented the regulars from enjoying a quiet pre-match drink.

The scum who claim to support Spurs decided to join in the fun by storming the pub themselves and throwing a tear gas canister into the throng. Fortunately, my friends had escaped into the garden at the back but they will think twice before returning unless the police get a grip on the escalating violence that now regularly happens on a Saturday afternoon.

Everyone involved in the game seems to be in complete denial that there is a problem here. The FA, Premier League and police continue to churn out irrelevant statistics about the number of arrests, ignoring the reality of what is going on.

At least down at Millwall they are trying to solve the problem by only allowing real fans into the Den, but if they had acted sooner they wouldn't now be facing financial difficulties because the crowds are so small.

My friend took his little sister to the match at Spurs on Saturday - she won't be going back. Will the authorities wait until our stadiums are half-empty before deciding to act?

Come on, Tessa, give the Ryder Cup to the BBC

Tessa Jowell, the Labour minister in charge of sport and the media, tells me that she is considering putting the Ryder Cup on the list of special events reserved for terrestrial TV. Good for her.

Millions of people lucky enough to afford Sky Sports were able to watch one of the great sporting moments in their sitting rooms; others, like me, watched it in a bar. Here at the Labour Party conference in Blackpool, delegates joined Cabinet ministers to watch the action in the Imperial Hotel.

The hotel manager popped bottles of bubbly after Paul McGinley sank the winning putt, but how much better the action would have been on the BBC.

I've no regard for Bogarde

Good old Ken Bates. Yes, I've said it. The Chelsea players are paid so much they are threatening the whole future of the club. Now they have the nerve to whine about no bonuses for their European games. Bates has rightly told them to get stuffed and you can see why.

Not many Chelsea fans know this but Chelsea have a player on their books - Winston Bogarde - who never plays but is paid £40,000 a week. They also have Mark Bosnich trousering the same for playing in the reserves.

If all the clubs started to clamp down on wages, then the sort of crisis that has nearly wrecked the Italian league could be avoided. Even Manchester United will not be able to carry on paying the players silly money and, as we've seen at Leeds, an oversized wages bill can only lead to clubs having to flog off their best.

Mrs T and Jack's 'vice' revelation

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is one of the genuine football fans in the Cabinet.

He was seen scurrying around Blackpool on Monday night trying to find a television showing Blackburn's game at West Brom. I never knew that Jack had anything in common with Margaret Thatcher, but they are both honorary vicepresidents of Blackburn Rovers.

* Tonight I will be glued to the Arsenal-Auxerre game on television. Arsenal's performance against Leeds was not just awesome it was great to watch. I can't recall seeing a better English team than the present Arsenal. Arsene Wenger is not far off the mark when he says they can remain undefeated this season. The only hope for the rest of us is that they have peaked too early.