OH dear! It was all going so well with the country and more importantly the national media behaving responsibly and not getting carried away with England's progress in Euro 2012.

But now that the Three Lions have won their group to clinch a quarter-final tie against Italy, everybody seems to think that this England team is better than it really is.

Football Diary

by Patrick O'Connor

THE job of being a football referee is becoming more difficult every day and recent controversy over who should and should not be sent off for two-footed tackles is not making things any easier.

Indeed, it's almost becoming a witch hunt by television as pundits pour over, frame by frame, every contentious tackle.