The Peter Corrigan Column: Eriksson and his England silence the critics - by at last listening to them

As it turned out, England gave an impressive impersonation of a good team and the crowd fell in behind them - they have not been praised enough for their almost instant recognition of the transformation. Spectators reacted quickly to the crisper drumbeat of England's ventures upfield with an appreciation heightened by the long wait.

After all the stick he has winced under, no one could begrudge Eriksson his share of the plaudits for reaching the World Cup as top of their qualifying group, albeit one of the easiest in living memory.

He doesn't always accept that the team he sends out, and the way they play, is entirely his responsibility, but he finds it easier to do so when they fare well. What was less appreciated was the implication in his after-match words that this was the way he wanted them to play all along, that this was the culmination of his qualification plans.

If this was the level he had been building toward, he could hardly have chosen a more tortuous route, and Wednesday made the ineptitude of their earlier displays all the more puzzling. A sizeable part of the England camp's joy was that they had silenced their critics. Yet they only silenced their critics by listening to them.

I've taken part in many a media lynch mob over several decades of closely monitoring the incumbent of the England manager's position, and I can't recall the baying voices ever being so harmonious. This is because they had a common theme.

The way England played against Poland was the way they had been asked, nay pleaded with, to play. The sports pages on Wednesday morning, just as television's squad of super-annuated former players had done, gave precise instructions on how England should proceed.

Not that Eriksson took any notice, but his words would have carried an echo. Of course, refinements like the success of Ledley King as a defensive marauder were forced by injury and suspension, not demanded by the press. And while Wayne Rooney's return was expected to make a significant difference, no one could have anticipated a masterful performance that had Glenn Hoddle comparing him to Maradona.

Rooney didn't look like Maradona in Belfast three weeks ago; more like belladonna. Anyone who harbours hopes that England can make an impact in Germany will have had their anticipation heightened by the pace and intelligent movement they showed on Wednesday.

Unfortunately, some reservations remain. Eriksson throws substitutes on to the pitch like crap-players throw dice, more in hope than design. And we are entitled to wonder how he will use the friendly matches he has before the World Cup. This is the man who has deflowered the England friendly. Eriksson has used them for no other apparent reason than to give the squad shirts an airing when they've come back from the laundry.

Suddenly, he needs to do some serious formation-testing in these games, particularly with David Beckham and Steve Gerrard. He has been steadfast in his loyalty to those he regards as the hard core of his squad, but now he has to think team rather than individuals. The task will test him more than any other has done but at least, after months of increasingly hostile criticism, it is heartening to see the country reunited behind their team.

Woodward and a question of vision

When the time comes for Sven Goran Eriksson to leave the England job - and who knows if it will ever come - it will be interesting to see if the Football Association have given him a clause in his contract forbidding any member of his staff and squad to write about their experiences under him until a certain time has elapsed.

I doubt it, but I wouldn't put anything past the dopeyness of those who have been in charge at that place over recent years. After all, there was a 100-day embargo imposed on all who journeyed with Clive Woodward's ill-fated Lions tour to New Zealand in the summer.

The time was barely up when last weekend Gavin Henson's book (to be published by Harper Sport on 24 October at £18.99) was serialised in a Sunday newspaper and brought a stinging denouncement. Henson claims that on the tour, which cost almost £10 million, Woodward's tactics were out of date, his gameplan wrong, his coaching bewildering and his preparation poor.

All this, plus the way he was treated personally and his experience of Alastair Campbell's spin-doctoring, makes revealing reading.

From what I hear, Woodward's reign as performance director at Southampton FC would also make an interesting read one day. He was reported not to be getting along swimmingly with the manager, Harry Redknapp, until they appeared in public recently to pledge their mutual respect.

I understand Woodward is on £750,000 a year and that the youth coach he appointed is on £100,000, which is more than Redknapp was allowed to spend on players this season. Lavish sums have been spent on oak lockers in the dressing rooms, and £30,000 went on hiring the services of a vision coach to improve the range of the players' eyesight.

You would need enhanced vision to see where Woodward is headed.

Blatter hits the target in week of kite-flying

Sepp Blatter, Fifa's president, rarely gets a glad hand in this space, but his England visit last week left a pleasing trail of offended football people. He blasted Wayne Rooney's behaviour and talked of the "pornographic amounts of money being brought into the game by a handful of club owners... splashing unimaginable sums on a tiny group of élite players". His criticism of "semi-educated, sometimes foul-mouthed players demanding insane wages" brought an angry retort from Gordon Taylor, the chief executive of the PFA, who is reputed to be the highest-paid trade union official in the country. What Sepp didn't mention was that the higher the players' wages soar, the higher follows the pay of managers, chairmen, chief executives and sundry supernumaries... like the tail of a kite. And Blatter's too, I imagine.