After coming here with such an excellent pedigree, it all came to rather an abrupt end for an England side who by Thursday night resembled the runt of the litter. Howard Wilkinson's young men played three games, lost two and failed to reach not only tomorrow's final but the third-place play-off as well. The England players, who arrived back home yesterday, earned only an unexpectedly early start to their summer holidays. While that may have been one positive thing to come out of the eight-day European Under-21 Championship adventure there were not many others. The bonuses were the generally steady performances of Nicky Weaver in goal, Frank Lampard in midfield and the Tottenham defender Ledley King, virtually untested at Premiership level let alone internationally.
Even for King, though, there was a sting in the tail as during England's limp 2-0 defeat against the hosts that knocked them out on Thursday he injured the same foot that kept him out of action for most of last season.Wilkinson was at pains to play down England's expectations before this tournament and repeatedly made statements along the lines that they were not going all out to win it and that his squad was seriously depleted after Kevin Keegan had plucked the gems from it for his senior Euro 2000 squad. The major beneficiary seems to have been Gareth Barry, as the Aston Villa defender is now going to the Netherlands and Belgium, but Kieron Dyer and Rio Ferdinand have missed out on both tournaments.Wilkinson reckoned 12 players, Richard Wright and Emile Heskey among others, could have been in his plans for Slovakia but were ruled out through senior England involvement. That may be so but in football-speak that simply opens the door for others and here the others were not good enough. Italy and Slovakia were both comfortable 2-0 winners against an England team that regularly fielded 10 Premiership players but found itself up against more gifted and technically superior opponents. Given the success of English clubs recently in reaching the latter stages of European competitions, it may have been thought that our footballers were on the brink of notable achievement with the national team.
Keegan's England may yet prove that is the case, but right now the future does not look bright.After their elimination, Wilkinson said: "The players have done as much as they can. If all that mattered was winning games then Kevin Keegan and I might have taken a different view."The party line about not winning at all costs may have been sensible, given that there was no reward at the end of it, unlike for the top-four teams who have all qualified for the Olympics this autumn. England, ineligible for the Sydney football competition, had no such incentive.However, the low-key approach also hinted at not wanting to build up hope only for the young players assembled here to have to cope with tournament failure - something their senior counterparts are sadly used to.Yet while there is an air of under-achievement around the England Under-21 team, that is far from being the case with Italy and the Czech Republic, who will contest the final, or Slovakia and Spain, who will play-off for third place.Slovakia, who have had little to celebrate in football since separation from their more successful Czech neighbours seven years ago, greeted qualification for Sydney on Thursday with repeated laps of honour. For the good of an otherwise excellent tournament which has not attracted huge crowds, the only shame was that Slovakia could not score two more goals on Thursday, pip the Italians on goal difference, and set up a final against the Czechs.Italy have 10 Serie A players in their starting line-up and Wilkinson pointed out that they are on average more than a year older than his squad but in terms of what they can do with the ball they are much more than that.
The Czech team also features 10 players drawn entirely from their domestic league, which does not even compare with Serie A.But in a possible warning for the Italians, since when did reputations at home count for much? Just ask Wilkinson.. David Murray, the Rangers chairman, insists the club are not forcing Lorenzo Amoruso out of Ibrox. David Murray, the Rangers chairman, insists the club are not forcing Lorenzo Amoruso out of Ibrox. The Double winners have accepted an offer from Sunderland for their Italian captain and the defender is in the process of agreeing terms with the club.With two defenders, the Dutchman Bert Konterman and the Scotland international Paul Ritchie, due to arrive at Rangers, Amoruso's place in the side looks in doubt. However, Murray insists the club would welcome him back as part of their Champions' League campaign if he decided the move south was not right for him.Murray said: "We have had discussions with Sunderland and we spoke with them on Monday regarding the transfer. They made an offer to the player and if he is happy with it then he will join the club, but if he is not he is welcome back. We are certainly not forcing him out of the door and he can still play a part with the club next season."Rangers are confident they will complete the signing of Konterman from Feyenoord on Monday. Murray has held further negotiations with the Dutch club and the deal is 99 per cent finalised.
The 27-year-old has still to agree personal terms but the Ibrox chief does not envisage any problems."It has been difficult to hold regular discussions bearing in mind that he is training with Holland, but we have been dealing with his representatives," Murray said. "We can at least meet him so we will do that and we have already met with the president of Feyenoord and all being well it will go through on Monday."Konterman is set to be followed in by the former Hearts defender Ritchie. He has been on loan at Bolton, who missed out on promotion to the Premiership in the play-offs. They had hoped to keep the player but Ritchie has set his heart on a move to Rangers when his contract at Bolton expires on 30 June."We will talk with his agent next week and Paul will join the discussions later," Murray said.Aberdeen have placed the defender Mark Perry on the transfer list after two years at Pittodrie. The former Dundee United player joined the club on a Bosman free transfer, but he has been unable to secure a regular first-team place.The 29-year-old was a regular under the management of Alex Miller and Paul Hegarty, but the arrival of youngsters Jamie McAllister and David Lilley have limited his appearances. The centre-half joins Gary Smith, Nigel Pepper and Rickie Gillies on the Pittodrie transfer list.The Hibernian manager, Alex McLeish, is set to sign the Danish defender Ulrik Laursen as a replacement for the veteran John Hughes.