Ready Steady... Wait

When I got in my beautiful Hammersmith office this morning, the first thing I did was to re-arrange the French flag I have by my desk. I believe the Colombian cleaners are jealous we made it through and give it a kick every night.

I had this flag when France lost at rugby, football and any sport you could imagine. I never took it down. Even when Henry handed it in and the Irish wanted to boil every Frenchman in Guinness, my little plastic flag was there.

I work in the UK but my heart is still beating in France. Like my dad, I have mixed feelings about the team's results so far. I am a fan of pretty football, footballers behaving like men, staying firmly on their legs, taking the hits and do magic with the ball. There hasn't been a lot of this in the French squad recently. A bit like in England - great individualities but no sense of grander purpose.

We have screens aplenty in the office. One of the perks of being in the betting industry. I am dreading the early stages even more. There, yards from my face, we could do what we did in Japan, namely: not much.

To be honest, I'll be cheering for England as well. Mainly because they need a lot of cheering. The English team is Rooney carrying the weight of his country on his bad ankle.

Out of the office, I'll be on my slowish Nokia checking out scores and player ratings. I am so fond of these ratings that I am thinking of doing it myself. Ferdinand (2) will be my first rating (I think he is cooked).

Outside of the expectations of the player, there are expectations for brand to bank on the event. Nike has done it again haven't they. All I could think about while doing "that" ad was: How much does it cost? they have the money to have anyone do anything. I haven't seen what the other sport equipment manufacturers have done yet.

Maybe it is time for me to confess I don't have a TV at home, I don't even have a girlfriend. Don't call me a loser though, as I catch up online on the BBC or Livescore. A bit like I do with films, I read the reviews before the film, and then after and see who got it right.

Which reminds me that I have to speak to my dad and ask him how far he thinks France will go.