CLAPSON on Monday

The media will not be to blame if England fail to deliver on their promise, argues SARAH CLAPSON

SO in the end it didn’t matter, then. A picture was taken, and published, of England’s supposed team-sheet – but it turned out not to make the blindest bit of difference.

If Panama did glean any top-secret information from said photograph, it didn’t show. The Three Lions still went on to thump them 6-1 and sail into the knockout stages of the World Cup.

As it turned out, the piece of paper did not show England’s line-up for that match anyway – though the fact there were two players listed in every position perhaps offered something of a clue.

Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill.

Still, if that’s the nearest the national side come to the definition of a crisis while they are out in Russia, I think we can class this as a decent tournament, whether they win the whole thing or not.

The photographer who took the aforementioned picture and the news outlets which published it did not do anything wrong. It was captured at an open training session, not obtained by covert means.

If anything confidential had been revealed, it should have been assistant manager Steve Holland taking a knock on the knuckles for not being particularly careful when carrying around important pieces of paper.

Instead, it seemed to be the media who copped it - with Gareth Southgate, at least initially, weighing in.

“Our media have to decide whether they want to help the team or not,” said the England manager.

Except it’s not down to journalists to play that particular role. That’s what Harry Kane is for.

It’s the media’s task to report, not to act as cheerleaders.

Whether they want the country to triumph is almost irrelevant. Most would no doubt love to see Southgate’s team crowned world champions, but that doesn’t, and shouldn’t, stop them doing their job. In fairness to Southgate he did go on to clarify his comment, recognising that the media “are here to work”.

England swiftly gave the press something better to report on anyway, with their thumping demolition of Panama.

They went on to lose to Belgium in the final group game, to set up a tie with Colombia. That one will undoubtedly be tricky, but if the team keep on winning matches, any suggestions the press are out to sabotage their tournament will swiftly be forgotten.