“They all called out, ‘Speech, speech’, so I made a little speech in bad English,” smiled Stelios, brown eyes still radiant at the memory of what he and the rest of the unfancied Greek team achieved in Portugal last month.
As Stelios points out, still smiling, he hardly needs a bigger name in the wake of Portugal, since the full moniker is Stylianos Giannakopoulos “I already have a lot of letters,” he said. There was a cake from the other players and the staff at Bolton Wanderers on Friday to welcome back Stelios to the club, the only player in the Premiership to return from Euro 2004 with a winner’s medal. The locals also got a look at a sprightly Julian Gray down the left, as Gronkjaer moved flanks. The visitors threatened to round off a bad day for Bruce with a goal from Valdo after 73 minutes, although Jamie Clapham equalised 11 minutes later.However, it is those hospital results for Heskey rather than this result that will concern everyone far more.. He was able to run free through the middle, knowing that the left flank was occupied by Jesper Gronkjaer, another of Bruce’s summer acquisitions, but cheaper, the Danish international arriving from Chelsea for £2.5m.But one flick-on and one backheel and turn past a defender in the penalty area was all anyone could enjoy before Cruchaga’s intervention.Gronkjaer was not at his most penetrative and he may have appeared slightly forlorn, especially with Heskey suddenly gone, but a glance across the pitch and he would have seen the familiar sight at right-back of Mario Melchiot, who also arrived from Chelsea this summer.The Dutchman looked steady enough as did Muzzy Izzet, signed for free from Leicester and playing in his crucial midfield holding role.

A regulation challenge, albeit from behind, by right-back Cesar Cruchaga, who was named the fairest defender in Spain’s Primera Ligatwo years ago, saw Heskey finish up on his backside and departing the scene almost as quickly as he had entered it. He was taken to hospital for a scan on his knee, which does not augur well for his chances of playing in the Premiership opener next week at Portsmouth.So what did everybody get to see of a player whose move out to the wing at Liverpool foreshadowed his move out of the club that had paid £11m for him? After tactical tinkering and an ever-worsening goal ratio meant his three years at Anfield drew to a premature close, the Birmingham manager Steve Bruce had promised to return Heskey to the forefront of the attack, from where he had also been removed with England by the emergence of Wayne Rooney.Heskey did indeed start here up front alongside Mikael Forssell, who is on loan from Chelsea for another season, and displayed some of the bustle and muscle for which he is famous. The best-laid plans of mice and men do not mean much when the most expensive signing in your history is taken off on a stretcherafter just 14 minutes, but that was the fate that befell Birmingham City and Emile Heskey yesterday afternoon, completely overshadowing this 1-1 draw with Osasuna. For instance, the county associations on it represent 43,000 clubs. But there are two missing groups in the FA structure, and a stand-off them-and-us relationship appears to have developed between the FA, clubs and players. The new man has to address that.”And a name to build new bridges if too much water has passed under Glen Kirton’s? “It ought to be possible to find an individual who has the qualities of leadership and then select specialists to work with him, allowing him to concentrate on the bigger picture.

I think Sir Trevor Brooking would be an excellent candidate – if he’s interested.”. “The FA were right in the past to resist the involvement of supporters when they were merely small pressure groups. But now there are signs that the various groups are joining together and acting more coherently. So I feel they are entitled to some form of democratic representation on the council Ditto the players, in the widest sense.

The PFA are an extremely powerful organisation, but they represent only a small percentage of players in this country.”The FA have tackled the issue of where the power lies and moved the council back from being the main decision- maker to a sort of upper chamber, which is fine. “Uefa will try to resist that concept and England can play a big role in being an intermediary. We don’t want to have to wait until 2026 for another go.”At home, Kirton would like to see England keeping a number of international matches in the provinces even after the new Wembley stadium is finished, and finding a voice for supporters and players at all levels within the game’s parliament, the FA Council. The World Cup 2006 campaign was a very good one but it failed because it didn’t make enough people feel good about themselves.”He would like to see another English bid soon, which will not be possible if Fifa persist with their new policy of allowing each of the five confederations round the world to stage the finals in strict rotation. Football is different.”With foreign-language skills that were something of a rarity at what was then Lancaster Gate, Kirton was always aware of the need to look outwards.