WE now have to admit, however grudgingly, that there’s a possibility of England winning the Euros.

I’ve always said this, but when it comes to fans, their biggest concern isn’t anything to do with the football at all. Many football fans don’t understand it really, and just enjoy the excitement of it.

What most football fans like best is feeling superior. That’s what it is all about, and unfortunately, England are getting that back. The could end up being superior to everyone in Europe in the next week or two, and I live in England. Deary me.

There’s people in the England set-up that I know, and when I’m speaking to them or texting them, I’m obviously wishing them good luck. But I’m not interested in the rest of them!

I get on great with Gareth, and I always feel good for him when his team do well, because he’s had to put up with bits and bobs. But then I’m thinking, ‘When Gareth is happy, all this lot are happy at the same time’. It really is a paradox going on here.

If they don’t get to the final, I think that would be a real disaster for them. I mean a disaster.

They have the Ukraine, then they have to maybe take on Denmark, who I think will give them a run for their money.

There are so many wonderful stories in football about the underdogs triumphing, and while we all wish that Christian Eriksen didn’t have his health issues, you just wonder maybe if it’s written for Denmark to go on and do it.

But England won’t fear any of the teams that are left, especially as every game but the Ukraine match is at Wembley. The last time they won anything, every game was at Wembley. It could only get better for them if the games were in Harry Kane’s back garden, for goodness sake.

To be fair, I watched the game against Germany, and I thought it could have gone either way because nobody actually seemed to want to win it. Both teams didn’t want to lose it, and it was rather boring for the most part.

Maybe it was because of the football festival we had the day before, where funnily enough, we all enjoyed it when the ball went a bit longer, the tackles were flying in and it all wasn’t perfectly planned. There was a rawness to the games, and we loved that.

In the England game, we were back to nobody wanting to make a mistake and passing for the sake of passing.

Gareth explained it quite well yesterday morning when he said that in the past, England were always criticised for giving the ball away and getting caught up in the passion of the game, and he is correct.

People have said that for years, and he has said it himself when he’s been on the panels with me.

Now, they’ve got this plan put in place where they aren’t giving much away. It’s all about taking the sting out of the game and playing when it is just right for them to play in terms of Raheem Sterling getting on the ball and Jack Grealish coming on.

There’s a plan behind it, and you have got to be mentally strong to stick to that plan, you know. Everybody is telling you that you have to be more attacking, you have to get the attacking players on.

I know I do a bit of punditry myself, but there’s no consequences to your words when you’re a pundit. You try to make it interesting, but the theories you have about what the manager should have done are never going to be put into practice, because nobody is going to ask you!

Punditry can hurt, there’s not a positive to it really from the point of view of managers, but it can hurt you in terms of media coverage.

You have to take that away and blinker yourself, and surround yourself with people who have the same beliefs as you and back you up. At the moment, Gareth is doing that very well.

He’s so calm and collected when he is on TV, which is fantastic, but I’m sure he would have loved to have said ‘Get it right up the lot of you’ after the Germany game.

I’m delighted for him, I love people being brave and sticking to their guns.

I don’t think he’ll change anything for the Ukraine game. Nobody has scored against them, and that means they don’t have to be in such a hurry to create chances. If there’s no goals against, the guys at the other end of the pitch can get the goals when they feel like it, and they have the attacking talent to do that.

If it becomes one of those games where it eventually becomes stretched, he’s got enough players on the bench to take advantage of it.

Ukraine will be compact, so Gareth won’t fall into a trap of giving themselves away and throwing everything into attack, because that is exactly what these teams are hoping they do so they can hit them on the counter. That’s when they will get beat.

Another ominous sign is Kane getting back on the scoresheet. He’s the best number nine in world football, so there were never any worries that he wouldn’t come good.

You look at the likes of Timo Werner and that is a player who is shot. He is running around but his touch, his finishing, they are all off. You never got that impression from Kane.

People say he has to stay up front. No he doesn’t. He is like Alan Shearer and Teddy Sheringham rolled into one, he can go anywhere and play. And he could be key for them.

All in all, everything seems to be pointing in their favour. I’d be pleased for Gareth if they could do it. But that’s about it.