Standing in the reception of a Heathrow hotel watching a roll call of British gold-medal winners file past, the overriding impression was just how normal they all seemed.

There was something wonderfully natural and down-to-earth about these luminaries of Britain’s finest Olympic effort in a century.

Hearing them articulate their thoughts about the last few weeks in Beijing, it was hard to avoid making comparisons with Premier League footballers.

Of course, these Olympians were relishing their moment in the sun — whereas top-level footballers facing the media spotlight day in, day out may become understandably more guarded.

One Times writer made the point that if the rowers received “120,000 pounds a week, a team of flunkies, a 10-page spread in Hello! and more groupies than they know what to do with”, they too might find their priorities blurred.

It is evident that the massive earnings of top soccer players have set them apart — and ensured they are considered fair game for criticism by both media and fans. Yet their own behaviour — be it snarling indiscipline on the field or excessive salary demands off it — does not help their image either.

Some are also guilty of believing their own hype — as evidenced by the sight of ears glittering with expensive jewellery when they pass through mixed zones after matches.

Arguably the epitome of this came at the 2006 World Cup in Germany when England’s footballers shut themselves away in an exclusive Baden Baden resort. The only thing ordinary about the Golden Generation was their performance level.

For the unassuming sportsmen and women on view at Heathrow, the only gold on view was that dangling from their necks.

PHOTO: Britain’s Olympic gold medallists arrive back from the Beijing at Heathrow Airport in London, Aug 25 REUTERS/Luke MacGregor

The usual new season optimism was in short supply at Everton on Saturday.

Never mind the last-minute defeat by Paul Ince’s Blackburn, that was merely salt in the wounds for a club whose preparations for the 2008/09 campaign could barely have been worse.

After recording sixth and fifth-placed finishes in the previous two seasons, Everton’s hopes of continuing that momentum look doomed already when you consider the scant options available to manager David Moyes.

If modern football is a squad game then what hope does Moyes have when he could call on only 10 senior players for the first game of the season?

The Scot had no option but to give a first start to a 17-year-old in central midfield and later introduced a 16-year-old debutant upfront, plucked from a bench filled with untested teenagers.

How could a team in the so-called richest league in the world be so ill-prepared?

The absence of a handful of injured players - plus another away on Olympic duty - has not helped Moyes but the real question is why Everton have not signed a single player during a close season where five first-teamers departed, including defensive midfielder Lee Carsley and England striker Andrew Johnson.

The economic downturn has affected Premier League clubs with spending down notably on last year - even Everton’s neighbours Liverpool have had to sell before they could buy - but Everton’s case is the most extreme.

Unfortunately, the future looks increasingly uncertain for a club who, on limited resources, have gone as close as anyone to threatening the dominance of the ‘big four’ in recent seasons.

Their planned move to a new stadium in Kirkby looks in doubt after the government’s decision to call a public enquiry, owner Bill Kenwright has declared he is willing to sell up to a “billionaire” and Moyes himself is stalling on signing a new contract.

If new signings do not appear soon, the Goodison gloom could well deepen.

PHOTO: Everton coach David Moyes and Blackburn Rovers boss Paul Ince watch their English Premier League soccer match, Aug. 16. REUTERS/Nigel Roddis

Manchester United fans once popularised the old Monty Python song ‘Always look on the bright side of life’ as a stadium chant but it is their neighbours at Manchester City for whom those words have become almost a way of life during the past 32 years without a trophy.  

It looks like City supporters may need to draw on their famed reserves of black humour once again given the current uncertainty surrounding the future of their club.  

When former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived at Eastlands during the 2007 close season — having passed the Premier League’s ‘fit and proper person’ test for club owners — there was bold talk of City playing Champions League football in the not-too-distant future.  

Hopes of a bright new dawn were enhanced by the installation of Sven-Goran Eriksson as manager and a spending spree of around 40 million pounds. 

Although the fans may not have liked Thaksin’s treatment of Eriksson — the Thai dismissing him for his failure to achieve a top-six finish - the appointment of the highly-rated Mark Hughes in June went down well (despite Sparky being a former United hero and often mentioned as a possible successor to Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford). 

The new man’s vow to “challenge at the top table, not only in this country but in Europe” persuaded many fans that further progress lay around the corner.  

Two months on and Hughes must be wondering just what he has got himself into. His arrival after a successful stint at Blackburn Rovers came at a time City were spending a record fee on Brazilian striker Jo and making loud noises about signing Ronaldinho. 

The former Barcelona man is now at AC Milan and City appear to be in limbo. Thaksin’s announcement that he has gone into exile in Britain may spare his wife Potjaman a jail sentence for tax fraud — she had been freed on bail pending an appeal — but it also means most of his assets remain frozen in Thailand.  

Where this leaves City’s spending plans remains to be seen.   

“I was at Blackburn for four years and I knew exactly how things were done, the lines of communication, what have you. At the moment, it’s not quite as it was at Blackburn,” Hughes was quoted as telling the Telegraph. 

PHOTO: Ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin and his wife Potjaman Shinawatra wade through an army of photographers at criminal court in Bangkok. July 31 REUTERS/Sukree Sukplang

He has the same initials and plays in the same position so David Bentley will hope that his 15million pounds transfer to Tottenham will help him dislodge David Beckham once and for all from the England team.

The 23-year-old has never seemed short of confidence and the midfielder declared that he was ready to step up “to the next level” by leaving the homely surrounds of Blackburn Rovers after just two years for a return to London’s bright lights.

Bentley, of course, began his career in the youth ranks at Arsenal, leaving the club after becoming frustrated by his lack of first-team opportunities. It is not often Arsene Wenger errs in his handling of young players but Bentley may come back to haunt the Arsenal manager if he shines for their north London neighbours.

“I grew up there but it is not a problem for me. My heart is at Tottenham now,” Bentley told reporters after signing in at an otherwise nervous White Hart Lane.

Bentley supported Spurs as a boy and said he dreamed of emulating the feats of Paul Gascoigne in the white of club and country. Being at Tottenham has never harmed a player’s England prospects in the past and Bentley is determined to grab his opportunity.

“It is entirely in my hands - it is up to me to perform,” said a player whose impressive dead-ball skills and passing range from the right have earned him six England caps already.

More than once he has been quoted as saying he is ready to replace Beckham in the England team and now is his moment to deliver. If so, it could well be Bentley and not Beckham filling the No7 shirt on England’s journey towards the World Cup in South Africa.

PHOTO: England’s Bentley (l), Beckham (c) and Walcott stand together during a soccer training session in Port of Spain, May 30. REUTERS/David Moir

Chelsea’s gain in recruiting Luiz Felipe Scolari as their new manager has spelt pain for Manchester United — at least in the short term.

Carlos Queiroz’s departure from United to take over from Scolari as Portugal coach means that Chelsea have inadvertently inflicted an early blow on their Old Trafford rivals ahead of the new season.

Besides acquiring a World Cup-winning coach in Scolari, they also set in motion a chain of events which has cost Sir Alex Ferguson his trusted right-hand man.

Queiroz played a vital role as Ferguson’s number two, overseeing much of the squad’s work on the training ground and playing an influential role in the team’s tactical development from a traditional 4-4-2 formation to a more flexible approach.

Ferguson once said to reporters that Queiroz had helped to “widen our horizons” and the fact the Scot welcomed him back with open arms in 2004, 12 months after his defection to Real Madrid, underlines how much the manager valued him.  

The 55-year-old’s contacts book also helped United acquire young Portuguese-speaking talents like Nani, Anderson and Manucho, and his departure will do little to help the club’s prospects of holding on to Cristiano Ronaldo.

Queiroz is known to be close to Ronaldo and helped to persuade him to stay in Manchester after the fall-out from England’s 2006 World Cup defeat by Portugal. Indeed, the winger has described Queiroz as a father figure.

It is hard not to conclude that finding a replacement for Queiroz — multilingual and tactically astute — will not be easy.    

That is the task facing Ferguson as he begins the search for the sixth assistant of his long reign — a decision he may well need to get right if United are to keep Scolari’s Chelsea in their slipstream in the season ahead.

PHOTO: Manchester United coach Ferguson and assistant Queiroz speak during a training session, April 8. REUTERS/Nigel Roddis

However Chelsea’s fortunes unfold on the field during the coming season, the presence of new manager Luiz Felipe Scolari at Stamford Bridge should guarantee no shortage of entertainment off it.

Scolari gave an impressive performance on Tuesday in his first news conference since taking the helm of the London club, speaking in excellent English and providing Chelsea’s fans with exactly the news they wanted to hear about Frank Lampard staying.

They also got a first taste of their new coach’s charisma. If Avram Grant cut a grey figure compared to his colourful, soundbite-friendly predecessor Jose Mourinho — aka ‘The Special One’ — nobody will be complaining about Scolari lacking personality.

Speaking with a twinkle in his eye, the Brazilian World Cup-winning coach said he was special only to his loved ones and a “so-so” coach.

For those who witnessed the wide range of facial expressions at his news conferences as Portugal manager, none of this would have come as a surprise. He may resemble the actor Gene Hackman but he is a showman in his own right, a great bear-like figure who needs little invitation to display his emotions.

When his players’ tempers were rising during the group-stage defeat by Switzerland at Euro 2008, he stood on the touchline like an angry schoolmaster, his index finger held to his mouth in a gesture telling them to stop their back chat to the referee.

Yet the big hug he gave injured Switzerland striker Alexander Frei on the same
evening showed his avuncular side too.

My favourite Scolari memory came from Portugal’s meeting with England at the
2006 World Cup.

He looked every inch the kindly uncle when, down at pitchside in Gelsenkirchen, he joked around with a group of English schoolchildren — posing for pictures, giving the thumbs-down to the Gerrard on the back of one boy’s England shirt, and even pulling the tail of tournament mascot Goleo the lion. This less than an hour before a World Cup game.

Chelsea players and fans alike should have little difficulty in warming to Scolari. It is easy to imagine opposition supporters getting their share of fun from having Big Phil around too.

PHOTO: Scolari gestures during a news conference at Cobham in southern England as he is unveiled as the new Chelsea manager. July 8. REUTERS/Toby Melville

Anyone who tuned into Wimbledon over the past fortnight would have seen how the world’s best tennis players have the right to challenge line calls they deem incorrect.

From the days when John McEnroe screaming ‘You cannot be serious’ was seen as the height of bad manners,  we have progressed to a TV-friendly present when Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and co have the right to question decisions — and have them reassessed on video.    

It certainly adds to the viewing experience and according to Tony Cascarino, the former Chelsea and Republic of Ireland striker-turned newspaper pundit, football would be wise to follow suit.    

Writing in The Times, Cascarino said: “Football should learn from Wimbledon’s use of technology. Managers should have ‘challenges’ when they can call for replays to review decisions. It would help to eradicate mistakes and reduce cheating.”    

The sound arguments for video technology — particularly to see whether the ball has crossed the goalline — do not need repeating here but, if it were introduced, the decision to seek video help should surely remain in the hands of the referee.    

Nevermind the flow of the game being interrupted, how about the damage to the referee’s authority? Would it really help football to give managers official licence to query their decisions mid-match?   

As the dust settles on Euro 2008 and attention turns to transfer market, it will be interesting to see how many of the top performers from the tournament will be on the move in the coming weeks.

If Cristiano Ronaldo’s future at Manchester United generated endless speculation at the start of the Euros, the finals ended with other names enjoying newly-acquired prominence. 

Andrei Arshavin’s form for Russia has already prompted a paper mountain of speculation about his future, with Barcelona the dream destination of the Zenit St Petersburg forward. Euro 2008 top scorer David Villa is also expected to be leaving Valencia - even if his four goals for champions Spain will have inflated the Mestalla club’s asking price considerably.  

Another name to consider from UEFA’s 23-man team of the tournament is Spartak Moscow striker Roman Pavyluchenko - scorer of three goals for Russia - who according to one British newspaper on Tuesday is now on the radar of Manchester United. 

England may not have been present in Austria and Switzerland but the Premier League boasted six players in the team of the tournament and more may be headed to Europe’s most lucrative league before the start of the season.

At almost 32, Spain’s fine holding midfielder Marcos Senna may be tempted away from Villarreal for a potential last big pay day, while it would have been negligent of scouts to ignore the players that took Turkey to the last four - Galatasaray wide man Arda Turan, in particular.    

In some cases, players already had their transfers tied up before stepping into the Euro shop window. The 16.6m pound deal Tottenham sealed for Dinamo Zagreb’s playmaker Luka Modric certainly made sense when seeing him perform so impressively for Croatia.  

Of course, a player’s ability to shine in the international spotlight is no guarantee he will turn it on week in, week out for his club side as Tottenham fans with memories of another eastern European recruit will know only too well.  

Romanian Ilie Dumitrescu arrived at the White Hart Lane club after scoring twice in a 3-2 win over Argentina at the 1994 World Cup but did not last a full season before being shipped out on loan to Sevilla.

While Manchester United fans remember their favourite Ole Gunnar Solskjaer moments, Old Trafford boss Sir Alex Ferguson must be more worried about he can replace the newly retired Norwegian striker.

United boast plenty of attacking options enhanced by the close-season signings of Carlos Tevez, Nani and Anderson yet the way they have started the campaign has only underlined their need for an out-and-out goalscorer.

The Premier League champions have scored just three times in five matches, a run which, when allied to their total of two in five at the end of last season, must make worrying reading for Ferguson.

So will the United boss step in to buy another striker? At Soccerlens they certainly hope so. ”Football will miss ya Ole,” writes Conor. “But this could be exactly what needed to happen to show Sir Alex we dont have enough strikers.”

While Louis Saha scores goals when fit, injuries have restricted the Frenchman to only 12 appearances in 2007. In his absence the only other player seemingly capable of scoring the scruffy goals was Solskjaer. Even last season he got 11 of them.

As former Norway coach Egil Olsen put it, Solskjaer had the uncanny ability to be at the right place at the right time. Whether Ferguson can find a player to match that description before the transfer window closes remains to be seen.

Media reports suggest Nicolas Anelka is unsettled at Bolton but would he fit the bill for Ferguson? With deadline day three days away, we should know soon enough.

Simon Hart, London