The normally ebullient Roger Draper, the high-profile boss of the Lawn Tennis Association, has been keeping an uncharacteristically low profile at Wimbledon. No doubt his head is below the parapet to dodge the bullets being fired in his direction as, Andy Murray apart, the event has quickly become a Brit-free zone. Flexing new-found muscles, sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe declares himself "tired of excuses" for the perennial parade of early drop-outs and warns of funding cuts if this stone-rich sport of under-achievers does not come up to scratch. Draper's allies argue that he has only been in the job two and a half years and that his efforts need time to produce results. But Draper, probably sport's highest-paid chief executive outside top-flight football, will know he needs to justify the huge investments the LTA receives from Wimbledon, sponsors and the Government by at least getting a few more players into the world's top 150 soon. Some £27 million of funding comes via Sport England, for whom Draper was chief executive before moving to the LTA. Could another reason why he is not the usual jolly Roger these days be that, along with other senior figures who worked with the funding body, including ex-chairmen Derek Mapp, Lord Carter and Trevor Brooking, he will be asked to give evidence at the inquiry into the mystery of the secret account which operated between 1999 and 2007 to benefit minor sports, and from which almost £20m is unaccounted for? While Sport England insist no criminality is suspected, there is bound to be great embarrassment when, hopefully, all is revealed.

It is nearly a decade since England and Scotland met at full international level, Don Hutchison's goal being insufficient to overturn England's two-goal advantage from the first leg of what was a Euro 2000 qualifier. With a succession of England managers preferring to meet foreign opposition, and the Football Association disinclined to argue, given the perceived hooliganism risks of reviving the fixture, a repeat may not occur until the pair are drawn to meet in competition.

Ian Watmore, the Football Association's new chief executive, reports for his first day at work tomorrow with Trevor Brooking hoping he arrives on a white charger.

Another week, another advertisement from Nolan Partners for a high-profile job at the Football Association: this time for a chief executive, based in "London/Wembley", for which read, "Wembley/Middlesex, an awful long way up the Jubilee Line".

When the cold wind of recession blows, Merseyside feels the draught sooner than most areas. Keith Harris, the broker charged with finding a buyer for Everton as well as Newcastle, chose his words carefully in midweek, but did not attempt to disguise the message: "There is no progress at all," he said of his attempts to find an investor with deeper pockets than those of the club's current owner, Bill Kenwright. "The demographics of Liverpool as a city are not hugely compelling. It is not a very wealthy city. Everton share the city with another club which arguably have been in the vanguard for the last decade, and they both have a stadium to build."

Sir Trevor Brooking has vowed to continue with his coaching blueprint even though he cannot get the professional game to fall in line with his ideas for improving young players.