And after getting a gutful of the sycophancy which seems to pass for tennis commentary these days (the excellent John McEnroe apart), I'm going to spend the next six days burying my head in Das Kapital while goose-stepping up and down Fargate.

I want to watch, really I do.

But I'm not sure if the frustration levels induced by listening to Sue Barker swoon her way through an interview or Virginia Wade whine about another set are good for either my mental health or those around me.

Andrew Murray has got a lot to answer for.

Not only does he behave like a Kevin and Perry extra but his presence on Centre Court means that any hopes we had of enjoying some gravity at this year's tournament have proved way beyond the baseline.

Every wipe of a sweatband is greeted with a piece of pseudo-psychological guff even Raj Persaud would refuse to pass off as his own.

And all the while fresh-faced youngsters straight out of Broadcasting House training school are dispatched to that god-forsaken hill to quiz various Pimms-swigging Tarquins and Petronellas about "how much tension they are feeling?"

Not as much as the time they nearly burnt their home-made fairy cakes I bet.

And all this for someone who once proclaimed that he supported any country facing the English.

If he wants to play Braveheart let him do it in Lewisham or Walworth not a suburb in south-west London.

Now that Euro 2008 is over, thoughts will inevitably turn to the forthcoming domestic football season.

And like events in Austria and Switzerland, there are bound to be a few surprises along the way.

Not least in the Blackburn dressing room.

Paul Ince's arrival at Ewood Park will, according to some reports, be the signal for more china to be smashed during half-time intervals at Rovers' games than the last time Demis Roussos went out for a late night moussaka.

The truth, according to a player I know who worked with him at MK Dons, is somewhat different.

A far cry from his snarling, fearsome image, the person in question told me that Ince the manager was, in fact, a detached and calm individual who often shunned the traditional pre-match call to arms for a seat in the dug-out.

Nor, according to my source, was he a regular sight at training either; often preferring to offer a few well-chosen words of advice on a Thursday or a Friday rather than get his hands dirty in the week.

Unusual but, as his brief, impressive coaching career shows, definitely effective.

What do you think? Post your comments below.

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