I WAS very frustrated no-one took action to protect England’s lead in Montenegro the other night.

Fans who watch any team regularly can struggle to get their head around why players can do the business one week and fail to do it the next.

They find it hard to believe that players can’t perform to the same level week in and week out, or even during one half to the other – hence the famous old saying about a ‘game of two halves’.

We had a notable example a couple of weeks ago when Everton lost 3-0 at home to Wigan in the FA Cup and then, with 10 men, produced a superb display themselves to defeat Manchester City 2-0 in the Premiership.

During the first half of Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier, England looked sharp and in total control of the match.

But then, quickly, within a couple of minutes of the second half, it seemed to be a different England team out there.

When things start going wrong, it’s massively important for the manager and players to be able to change things around – that’s why the ones who can achieve such things are worth so much money.

England were lacking on both counts against Montenegro.

The players kept playing an open, almost naive, style of football instead of – being 1-0 up away from home – clamping down and trying to keep possession.

We should have been keeping the ball for the sake of keeping the ball, not looking for a killer pass every time we saw a run.

Everyone knows we are far from the best at keeping possession, especially when Jack Wilshere is not in the team, yet every time someone moved forward we tried to hit them, conceding possession way too often in the process.

I am a big fan of Roy Hodgson, but I was very disappointed in him the other night. It was screaming for Scott Parker or Frank Lampard to be sent on to shore up the middle of midfield.

Most top international teams – and those in the Champions League – go away from home with two holding midfielders.

It means that when the full-backs go forward, the midfielders slot across and fill in the gaps so that the team shape remains solid.

With England, the full-backs kept flying forward but we had only Michael Carrick sitting in midfield, so when we lost possession we became so unbalanced it was ridiculous.

I was really disappointed with the second-half performance and the fact no-one did anything to correct it, players or management.

Our choices in possession were just so poor, and I include Steven Gerrard (inset) in that. For someone who has been around for so long, he still plays like an 18-year-old. He should have stayed in front of the back four and never got ahead of the ball.

Having said all that, I still expect us to qualify. We are 14-1 on to get to Brazil, and hopefully we can avoid the play-offs.

RACING’S Flat season begins tomorrow – a week later than the scheduled date because of the bad weather.

It’s a credit to the new people running racing that they have had the flexibility to move the entire card from last weekend to this.

Well done to the people at Doncaster and to the British Horseracing Association and I really do hope tomorrow’s meeting is a big success for them.

We have a syndicate at Skybet and our horse is running in the 1.20. He is called Farlow and it’s his first time out in our colours.

I can’t tell you how he is going to go on, but we hope he will turn out to be a nice horse.

My tip, however, is in the Lincoln and it’s Brae Hill, who was the winner last year.

He has a great record in the race and is back to the same mark, so I think at odds of around 16-1 it’s well worth an each-way bet.

CONGRATULATIONS to Town on their excellent win at Leeds United – and what a bonus they got it!

Looking at the Championship table, as many as a dozen clubs could still go down.

That might sound ridiculous, but the Easter programme is always pivotal in football, whether you are at the top or the bottom of your division.

A poor run at this stage can lead to major trouble, so the win at Leeds provided a little bit of extra breathing space.

But it’s important Town do a solid job and pick up the points against Hull City tomorrow. I know they travel to Bolton on Tuesday, but it’s vital Town make the most of their home games to the end of the season.