So that’s it then.

Another year and another total failure by English tennis players to have even the most minor of impacts on Wimbledon.

The country’s last great(?) hope - Tim Henman - bowed out of the championships on Thursday despite putting up brave resistance. And, although he denies it now, I think we have now seen the last of Tim at Wimbledon, at least as anything resembling a potent force. Actually, I think that happened about three or four years ago.

The real sadness is that England doesn’t have anybody to replace Tim. There are no up and coming young English stars who will be able to get Centre Court throbbing with excitement.

Andy Murray is obviously a bit good and could, quite probably, go on to win the tournament one day. But he is Scottish and, more importantly, he has already made his anti-English sentiments quite clear which, as far as I am concerned, automatically rules out the chance of any support from me and millions of others.

What I can’t understand is how a nation the size of England can so consistently fail to produce any decent tennis players. In my three decades of watching the sport only Henman has ever made it to the top level.

Something, somewhere is fundamentally wrong with the way the game is run in England and, until that changes, we may never see another English winner at Wimbledon.

So don’t hold your breath.

Real Madrid job

Exactly how successful do you need to be to hang on to the Real Madrid job for more than a few months?

I find it totally astonishing that Fabio Capello was given the sack this week despite leading the club to its first title in four years.

If Capello had been in charge for the past four years and delivered nothing but one title then I might, possibly, just maybe be able to understand it. But the chap had only been at the club for a season and won the title at the first attempt. Surely that's something to build on, not dismantle?

The funny thing is Real Madrid have been doing this for decades - firing managers like clockwork almost irrelevant of whether they have achieved anything.

Yet, for reasons the must be related to money, top class managers almost fall over themselves in their desperation to drink from this particular poisoned Spanish chalice.

In Capello Madrid had, in my opinion at least, the greatest club manager of his generation. A man who has won at least one title with every single club he has managed. Getting rid of him is just plain stupid.

Unless, of course, they were paving the way for an audacious bid to bring the mighty Neil Warnock to the Nou Camp.

Thierry Henry

Can someone with a bit of influence please get Thierry Henry to shut up. Not content with leaving Arsenal all tangled up in a web of half-truths and excuses, Henry has spent his time since arriving in Barcelona expressing opinions on the Gunners, Arsene Wenger, David Dein and just about everything else at the Emirates.

As I said in my last piece, the Arsenal fans deserved better than to be fed farewell porkies by a player they held in such high regard. And they also deserve better than to have the same player causing unrest at their club by passing comments on issues which are, quite frankly, no longer any of his business.

If he cares so much about Arsenal that he is incapable of keeping his nose out maybe he should never have left.

Maybe it is a result of the player over-estimating his importance. What he is failing to realise is that he is now an ex-Gunner. The club is moving on without him. Arsenal will continue to exist and thrive long after his exploits at Highbury have faded into history.

It was great while it lasted Thierry but it’s over now. Deal with it.

Chris Coleman

Don’t get me wrong, I think Chris Coleman is a decent manager. But how come he is suddenly a hot property in Spain.

The Fulham boss who was sacked with a few weeks of the season to go was apparently being hunted by several Spanish clubs and has now signed a deal to take over the Real Socieadad job.

His time at Craven Cottage was adequate but almost entirely unremarkable. They didn’t reach many highs but this season came dangerously close to the low of relegation.

Apparently he was recommended by Wales manager John Toshack who himself enjoyed considerable success as a manager in Spain.

Even so I find it quite remarkable that of all the British managers that would relish the opportunity to manage abroad, Coleman should be the one to get the opportunity.

Obviously Real Socieadad saw something in Fulham’s 6-0 defeat to Manchester United that the rest of us missed.

Quotes of the week

Couple of quotes of the week that tickled my fancy.

The first comes from that ever-reliable source of weirdness - Jose Mourinho - who has now taken a fruity approach to analysing the future of potential football stars.

“Young players are a little bit like melons. Only when you open and taste the melon are you 100 per cent sure the melon is good,” he said. Ah, such wisdom.

Next up was Martina Navratilova, the Wimbledon legend, who was commenting during a match at this year’s championships where centre court, as part of a rebuilding plan, currently has no roof.

“I’m glad it’s raining as I know it is Wimbledon because the way Centre Court looks is confusing me,” she said.

Finally to an excellent banner which hit the spot quite perfectly. It was on display during David Beckham’s final, title-winning game with Real Madrid.

“Get divorced and stay here!” it said.

What? You mean Victoria has had some influence over David’s decision to move to Hollywood.?

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