Roy Hodgson has an exciting squad... can the England manager let them loose?

Jamie Vardy, where’s the party?’ read the French schoolboy’s sign. And that’s the question. With the players at Roy Hodgson’s disposal in France, this really should be party time for England. It might not be a long one, certainly not an all-nighter. But, what other choice is there?

England are unlikely to reach Paris by stealth, all sound organisation and tight at the back. They might as well burst through the front door with a bottle of the good stuff and hit the dancefloor early.

And yet, despite the sunshine and the warmth of the hospitality at the training base in Chantilly, despite a squad selection that is said to represent a near Damascene conversion for the England manager, the doubts remain. Are England really the types to cut loose?

England manager Roy Hodgson speaks prior to a training session at their Chantilly base on Tuesday

A young fan holds up a Jamie Vardy banner at England's training session at Stade du Bourgognes

And is Hodgson? Increasingly, he gets tetchy and defensive if critics mention a reputation for conservatism, but the most recent performance against Portugal suggested a man wrestling with his natural instincts. Hodgson, like most coaches who have rarely been blessed with the best players, is at heart pragmatic. He picks teams to get a job done — like that goalless draw in Ukraine — because he has not had the opportunity to indulge fantasy.

The manager of Barcelona can be an idealist, at Manchester United or Arsenal, too. At West Bromwich Albion there are more earthbound realities; and with England.

When Hodgson came into the job, he inherited a solid defence but very limited options in the forward line. He played Andy Carroll, bored Italy to a penalty shoot-out in a European Championship quarter-final, and most credited him with shooting par. Now, he is expected to aim for the pin.

England are light at the back, but can pick five forwards who could happily start, even with Danny Welbeck at home injured. Yet Hodgson seems uncomfortable off the leash. He is short under questioning, bristling when asked about Wayne Rooney, and his team is positively schizophrenic.

He picked a starting XI against Portugal that seemed all about attack — yet against 10 men for much of the game they turned in the dullest, least effectual display in recent memory. Hodgson had them playing in a way that neutered all potency. It just wasn’t his game.

Remember Gordon Brown’s Great Britain Day? That is what happens when a man tries to be something that he’s not. Brown proposed it, back in 2006, at a time when he was desperately seeking public approval, having deposed the only Labour leader to win three elections, Tony Blair.

About to get what he wanted, Brown was suddenly aware of the gulf between his instincts and those of the ordinary man.

He wasn’t Blair, who naturally chimed with the public on a number of the biggest issues. Blair was genuinely Right wing on foreign policy, Right wing on law and order, too. Brown was much more the old Labour type. So he tried to give the British people what he thought they wanted. A crass, overweening day of nationalism.

Blair would never have come up with an idea as ill-conceived as Great Britain Day, because his populism was natural. Brown tried too hard. Whenever he made a clumsy grab for public affection, he came over like Alf Garnett.

A little like Hodgson, stuffing his squad to the gills with forwards and crackerjack young players — out of necessity, really, considering the alternatives — only to then deploy them to contain a Cristiano Ronaldo-less Portugal.

Hodgson watches on as the England team warm up ahead of their first training session in France

Gary Neville described Hodgson’s squad as the boldest he could remember, but it depends how the team is sent out. Against Portugal, Hodgson made a forward line of Vardy, Harry Kane and Rooney appear unambitious. Vardy was never in a position to score, Kane was taking corners, Dele Alli was anonymous, and the whole gameplan seemed to be structured around finding room for the captain, who is no longer England’s kingpin in his preferred positions.

Cavalier England did not seem to be a natural fit for manager or players and, deep down, Hodgson would surely prefer a balanced squad, not one top heavy with forwards.

People expect things of teams with a lot of forwards. They expect forward play, for starters, and plenty of it. There are some England managers who would have been perfect for this scenario. One imagines Terry Venables making it work, maybe Sir Bobby Robson, and it would have been right up Kevin Keegan’s street. Glenn Hoddle would have solved it with three at the back, no doubt.

Yet Hodgson’s methods are more conventional and measured. Once again, we are entering a tournament uncertain of the best starting XI, because this evolving England side does not conform to the tried and trusted.

Hodgson is preparing his side for the opening group match against Russia on Saturday night

Arriving in France, Hodgson announced that he wanted his players to be fearless. It makes for a good soundbite, but when have they ever really played like that? England looked afraid in their farewell game at Wembley — even against a one-man team with the one man missing — and the reason the performance disappointed was that, once that XI was announced, the country was looking forward to seeing England fly.

Had Hodgson’s problems been elsewhere — a solid defence but no strikers, as in 2012 — the Chris Smalling winner would have sent everyone home happy. Finding ways through counts in those circumstances. Yet Hodgson has plenty of ways to win; the disgruntlement centred on his reluctance to utilise them.

Before departing for France one of Hodgson’s players named the England team that might take the competition by storm this summer. It was the one that finished the game against Germany on March 26. Kane and Vardy up front, Alli behind, Eric Dier holding, Ross Barkley scheming.

There was no Wayne Rooney in that team, and no Joe Hart, so he wasn’t necessarily replicating the selection man for man, but the idea was clear enough. As bold as Hodgson appears, an even bolder England could be unleashed.

England players look in good spirits with just four days to go until their campaign kicks off in Marseille

The Football Association remain convinced Hodgson is the best man for the job, but is he the best for this, very precise, detail? For these coming weeks, with this specific England squad, with its strengths and also limitations?

When he called the players to St George’s Park for a get-together earlier in the year, Hodgson surprised the group with his intensity. ‘He went nuts,’ one said, not disapprovingly. Hodgson impressed on his players what he believed could unfold in France. It is fair to say he does not play down expectations in anything bar his public utterances.

Yet Hodgson’s England are still to reflect that confidence. They are still to play with the swagger of a team that should make defences fearful. Maybe the breakthrough will come against a weak Russian team on Saturday. Maybe there will be a statement of intent, a performance that converts the promise on paper to the pitch.

Hodgson must get the party started. At the very least he needs to take the plastic protection off the furniture.

England boss Hodgson issues instructions to his players during Tuesday's training session in Chantilly

Jose's right to pick own man and not Giggs

Ryan Giggs will not be assistant to Jose Mourinho at Manchester United. He has been asked to name any job he wants, but not that. This is understandable. A manager needs to have his lieutenant, not some club-sponsored project.

Giggs has served two apprenticeships now and if the owners felt he was ready for senior management, he would be in charge, not Mourinho.

In the meantime, who knows if having an assistant manager bolted on to the backroom team in any way hindered David Moyes or Louis van Gaal? The constant rumblings that Giggs did not agree with Van Gaal’s methods certainly didn’t help.

Giggs is a great Manchester United man and it is right that the club should try to keep him, and consider him a long-term prospect — but Mourinho must be given his best chance of success. And that means his man, not their man.

Ryan Giggs has been asked to name any job he wants at United - but not the position of assistant manager

Curry dampens Olympic flame

Stephen Curry, the NBA’s most valuable player, has withdrawn from the Olympics, citing injuries.

‘I believe this is the best decision at this stage of my career,’ he said. ‘My primary objective is to focus on my body and get ready for the 2016-17 season.’

In other words, he doesn’t care. LeBron James is also yet to commit, and Chris Paul will be another absentee. It places in even sharper relief the nonsense of inviting professional boxers to compete, alongside the other superstars of tennis, golf and basketball. The more the Olympics chases marquee names, the greater the chance of rejection, and the more the Games appear second rate.

In each sport represented, a gold medal should be the pinnacle. It clearly isn’t for Curry, who is fixated instead on the Golden State Warriors; it isn’t for the likes of Adam Scott and Vijay Singh; and it won’t be for those fighters who will choose not to put their reputations on the line against amateurs in an alien environment.

And with every snub the Olympic brand becomes cheapened and marginalised.

Stephen Curry in action during the Golden State Warriors' game against Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday

And while we're at it...

There are 84,502 German soldiers from the First World War buried in graves across France; 39,659 at Fricourt and Vermandovillers near the Somme, 44,843 at Neuville-St Vaast in the Arras area.

It is not expected that Germany’s footballers will be visiting them during the European Championship. Why? They’re footballers, not tourists, or history students.

They are here to play their sport, not satisfy the modern desire for demonstrative, gesture politics. Only in England do we incessantly obsess over football as a vehicle for respect and commemoration; embroidered poppies on shirts each November, minutes of silence to mark the latest tragedy at every match.

England’s players were going to visit the war graves, a three-hour trip from their Chantilly base, and then head of performance Dave Reddin stepped in and they were not. Reddin, rightly, observed that long coach journeys were not conducive to performance.

He might also have appreciated that the sight of the graves, the extent of the sacrifice and the stories of those who died can be harrowing, as well as a moving. Not every young man will leave inspired — and the Football Association were very careful about who went to Auschwitz when they were based in Krakow during the 2012 tournament. Apart from Joe Hart, who insisted on visiting, they chose players who were not involved in the first game.

No doubt if members of Roy Hodgson’s squad wish to make the trip on a day off, the FA will arrange for it. There is no reason why these excursions have to be officially endorsed and monitored anyway.

If anything, a visit should be a personal decision, left to individuals. As part of the team, you are here to play football. Down time is your call.

England goalkeeper Joe Hart (centre) and defender Danny Rose take part in Tuesday's training session

Sebastian Rode has left Bayern Munich for Borussia Dortmund. Do not think, however, that this means the Bundesliga playing field is levelling. 

There is a significant difference between buying an unwanted player from a rival and one of your best men travelling in the other direction, as happened with Dortmund captain Mats Hummels.

John O’Shea and Wes Brown’s transfer did not mean Sunderland were gaining on Manchester United.

Sebastian Rode poses for the camera with a Borussia Dortmund shirt after joining from Bayern Munich

As predicted, the row over the controversial Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling on gender in athletics grows louder. Caster Semenya and Francine Niyonsaba, of Burundi, have left the field behind since CAS forced the IAAF to relax its rules on naturally-occurring testosterone. 

Lynsey Sharp, a former European champion, summed up the feelings of those trailing in their wake. ‘Everyone can see it’s two separate races, so there’s nothing I can do,’ she said. 

Asked if she could beat Semenya in Rio, Niyonsaba said: ‘Nothing is impossible.’ But that isn’t true and Sharp knows it. 

Lynsey Sharp competes in the women's 800m final at the Birmingham Diamond League meeting on Sunday

Napoleon wanted lucky generals. With Russia’s only holding midfield player Igor Denisov now added to a list of injured players that includes Alan Dzagoev, the country’s one outstanding creative talent, it’s fair to say he would have loved Roy Hodgson. 

Igor Denisov (left) in action for Russia against Serbia in a friendly match in Monaco on Sunday

Eden Hazard insists he is staying at Chelsea. Asked about a summer move, he said: ‘I have a contract until 2020. Paris Saint-Germain are not among my projects right now.’ 

After last season, and particularly his performances against PSG in the Champions League, it would more likely be the other way round. 

Eden Hazard celebrates after scoring for Belgium against Norway during a friendly in Brussels on Sunday

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has accused his critics of trying to make him look greedy with tales about his remuneration package. Given his behaviour after just three months in office there is only one person making Infantino look greedy, whether for power or wealth. 

FIFA president Gianni Infantino (centre) watches the Copa America opening ceremony in Santa Clara last week

It shows the limited options available to English managers that Russell Slade has exchanged a maverick regime at Cardiff City for a complete basket case at Charlton Athletic.

We then wonder why homegrown coaches don’t succeed.

Russell Slade has been appointed as the new manager at Charlton Athletic after leaving Cardiff City