This is an intriguing development and certainly one that I support. The Scot Footie Supporters Association is compiling a wide-ranging report into the governance of the game in this country which is due to be published in November. It looks like there is all round political support from the Scot Govt and other Scot parliamentarians. One element of this report will refer to independent arms-length scrutiny and, where appropriate, regulatory control of the way the game is financed and corporate governance operates in Scot footie. Long overdue IMO!! I'm sure a similar process happened in England soon after the failed European Super League and the collapse of Bury FC and it was endorsed by the UK govt.

Cheltenham Town have promoted first-team coach Wade Elliott to head coach following the departure of Michael Duff to Barnsley.

Elliott has signed a two-year deal with the League One club.

The former midfielder joined the Robins' coaching staff in 2020 and helped steer them to a highest-ever finish of 14th in League One last year.

The 43-year-old played for Bournemouth, Burnley, Birmingham City and Bristol City during his playing career.

"It's been a very intense couple of weeks but we believe we have arrived at the correct decision for Cheltenham Town football club at this moment in time," said Cheltenham chairman David Bloxham.

"The board set out with a clear criteria for the type of coach we wanted and one of the key requirements was to try to continue the excellent progress we have experienced over the last three years.

"In the end, we believed that Wade's knowledge and understanding of the club, its staff and players made him uniquely placed to take us forward."

Elliott's playing career began in non-league football for Bashley in the Southern League. He was signed by Bournemouth in 2000 and went on to make more than 250 appearances for the club.

He joined Burnley in 2005, where he was a team-mate of Duff, and scored the winning goal in the play-off final when the Clarets secured promotion to the Premier League in 2009.

Elliott moved to Bristol City in 2014, where he was also club captain, and stayed on the coaching staff when he retired in 2015 after more than 700 games in the English Football League.

After coaching the under-21 side at Bristol City, Elliott worked with Forest Green Rovers' academy squad and was also the under-23 assistant manager at Stoke City before joining Cheltenham.

Once again Le Tour is almost upon us, the race being held from 1 July to 24 July, this time also including the countries of Denmark, Belgium and Switzerland. And once again Le Tour Grand Depart is from a foreign (to Le Francais) country, leaving Copenhagen on Friday 1 July.

Probably the city's most famous statue, The Little Mermaid, is based on probably Hans Christian Andersen's most famous fairy tale - have you guessed the connection yet? - about a mermaid wanting to live on dry land. The original statue was donated by Carl Jacobsen, not completely crackers, as he was the founder of probably the best lager in the world. 

Probably the best websites to learn about the riders and stages are the usual suspects - https://www.letour.fr/en/ and https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling

My GC pick would be Richard Carapaz, with Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert and Alexey Lutsenko in contention. Normally Jonas Vingegaard, 2nd last year, would be worth a mention, but he will be "only" a domestique for Roglic.

My all-time favourite rider, Peter Sagan, is back in good form vying for the Green Jersey, with Sam Bennett, Michael Matthews, Caleb Ewan and Sonny Colbrelli all in with a shout. Last year's winner, Mark Cavendish, is not expected to be selected

The Polka Dot winner should be from Pogacar, Roglic, Egan Bernal, Wouter Poels and David Gaudu. Again Vingegaard will be hindered by his domestique duties.

More to come from me later in the week and hopefully more from you as well.

They have 5 players only

Derby County have appointed Liam Rosenior as interim manager following Wayne Rooney's departure from the club.

Rooney, 36, left the Rams on Friday, saying the League One club "needs to be led by someone with fresh energy".

Derby have been in administration since September, but local property developer David Clowes was expected to make a bid for the club after buying Pride Park prior to Rooney's exit.

Rosenior, 37, was previously assistant manager under Rooney.

The Rams, who were relegated from the Championship last season after being deducted 21 points for going into administration and breaches of English Football League accounting rules, start pre-season training on Monday.

Midfielder Luke Young and defender Harry Lennon have signed new contracts at Wrexham.

Young, 29, has agreed a two-year deal which keeps him at the National League club until the summer of 2024.

Young's 49 appearances last season triggered an extension in his previous deal, but he has now committed for a further year.

Former Southend United player Lennon, 27, has signed a one-year deal with the option of a further 12 months.

Young has made 181 appearances since joining Wrexham in 2018 and has been a regular under manager Phil Parkinson.

"I'm delighted to get it done, it keeps me here for at least another two years and hopefully it's two years of success, both on and off the pitch," he said.

Parkinson said: "Luke was excellent last season and has been previous to that as well.

"We're pleased to announce his contract and we look forward to seeing his level of performance next season."

Lennon made 17 league appearances last season having joined from Southend in July 2021.

However, the former Charlton Athletic player's campaign was curtailed by a back injury which needed surgery.

"I'm pleased Harry's deal has been agreed," said Parkinson.

"As we saw prior to his injury, he's an excellent player and we want to give him every chance to get back and be part of next season."

Lennon's most recent appearance was in February and Wrexham say he is still working towards a return to action.

Wrexham's redevelopment of the Racecourse Stadium's Kop end has moved a step closer with the club's local authority approving its demolition and clearance.

Wrexham County Borough Council has given the work the go-ahead.

The National League club hope to develop a 5,500-capacity seated stand at that end of the ground.

It is part of the Wrexham Gateway Project plans, which include increasing capacity to more than 15,000.

The plans also include improved media, broadcast and floodlight facilities, a car park and ground works for a convention centre and hotel.

Wrexham's bid for a "stadium for the north" includes a mixture of public and private funding.

The plans, backed by the club, Wrexham Council, the Welsh Government and Glyndwr University are expected to be considered for funding by the UK government this summer.

Wrexham are owned by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, who hope to regain the Racecourse freehold for the club.

In a statement announcing the Kop demolition can go ahead, Wrexham said: "The required works will be put out to tender in the coming weeks, so no commencement date is known at this stage.

"This is a significant step towards bringing the new Kop Development to fruition."

Sunderland winger Patrick Roberts has signed a new two-year deal to stay with the club until 2024.

Roberts, 25, joined the Black Cats in January on a six-month deal and went on to make 17 appearances for the club in League One.

He began his career with Fulham and signed for Manchester City in 2015.

Roberts spent most of his seven years with the Premier League champions on loan at Celtic, Girona, Middlesbrough, Norwich City and Derby County.

"My mind has always been made up about where I want to be and it feels amazing to be back after what we achieved last season," Roberts said.

"I'm pleased that we have done the deal early because I can now enjoy pre-season and get ready for the new campaign, which I felt was important."

Fans alienated. Protests held. Results worsened. A 116-year stay in the Football League ended. The 2021-22 League Two season is one that will live in the history of Oldham Athletic for the wrong reasons.

At the end of a tumultuous campaign, a second relegation in five seasons was the culmination of years of decline.

It cost them their place in the EFL and meant the Latics picked up the unenviable statistic of becoming the first former Premier League club to drop out of league football.

But how did they get to the lowest point in their history? BBC Radio Manchester spoke to those who know the club best to find out what went wrong and how things might change for the better.

Listen: Oldham Athletic - From Premier League to National League
'It's going to be hard to get out of the National League'
As battles against the drop go, the manner in which Oldham were relegated was particularly galling for their supporters.

Needing to win to boost their hopes of survival, the Latics took on local rivals Salford City on 23 April. But with closest rivals Barrow and Stevenage both winning, avoiding defeat was the minimum requirement.

However, with Oldham trailing 2-1 with 14 minutes still to play, fans stormed the pitch in protest against owner Abdallah Lemsagam. It was the latest in a series of protests during his near-five-year tenure at the club.

Referee Bobby Madley took the players off the pitch, with the remainder of the match being decided behind closed doors about an hour later. The final whistle at an empty Boundary Park sealed Oldham's fate.

The National League beckoned. Some way to end more than a century in league football.

Asked whether he feared for the future of the club, legendary former Oldham striker Andy Ritchie said: "I do. They need somebody to come in and put a few bob into the club. I know the owner has kept the club afloat when he came in but they need more guidance and stability.

"It makes me feel distraught. It's going to be hard to get back out of there."

'We needed to win or the club would go under'
Relegation to the National League marked a huge fall from grace for the Latics. Under Joe Royle they had been founder members of the Premier League, League Cup finalists in 1990 and Wembley FA Cup semi-finalists as recently as 1994.

Thirty years on from the anniversary of the breakaway top flight, Oldham will now prepare to play football outside of English football's top four divisions.

But their fall has not been sudden. They have not finished in the top half of a division since 2009 and spent 21 years in the third tier before being relegated to League Two in 2018.

In the aftermath of their latest relegation, the board said they were "devastated" and that their immediate aim was to restore their place in the EFL.

Boss John Sheridan, currently in his sixth spell as the club's manager, said he will oversee the bid to secure a return to League Two at the first attempt.

However, there were financial challenges at the club since before Lemsagam's arrival.

Former boss Lee Johnson underlined the importance of winning an FA Cup replay against Mansfield in late 2013 in order to set up a lucrative third-round tie against Liverpool.

"I was told 'look, if we don't win this game at Mansfield away, the club could go under'," he said.

"Now whether that was fact or that was a motivational technique I'll never truly know but, at the same point, it was worth about £300,000 or £400,000 in revenue to get to that Liverpool game.

"We went 1-0 down at Mansfield and, honestly, the responsibility for that team talk at half-time on my shoulders. We ended up winning the game 4-1 and going to Anfield and having a really good day there.

"Even when I left [to join Barnsley in 2015], a big reason for that was the transfer fee for me and that was required for the football club. These sorts of things don't come out all the time. Sometimes you can be vilified but it was important for the club to get that cash injection."

'You have to give managers time'
Lemsagam took over Oldham in January 2018 and under his stewardship, he has faced the ire of supporters, who have ramped up protests against him over the past couple of years over his running of the club.

Since his arrival at Boundary Park, the club have had 10 managers, with one of the recurring themes being suggestions of interference with recruitment and team selection by the club's sporting director - and Lemsagam's brother - Mo.

Richie Wellens was manager at the time of Lemsagam's arrival as owner, but left the club at the end of the 2017-18 season.

"You have to give managers time, allow them to do the recruitment, allow managers to have the say on who's playing and not always have a pressure from above on who to pick or what system to pick or what signings to make," said Wellens.

"Sometimes even if it's not a 'you have to sign him', even if it's little suggestions, as a manager you don't need that.

"There's so many pressures as a manager, you don't need the little comments or visits to your office every two minutes."

Abdallah Lemsagam (left) said Paul Scholes "will have my backing, 100%" when the Manchester United legend was appointed manager - but the former England midfielder lasted just 31 days in charge of Oldham
Abdallah Lemsagam (left) said Paul Scholes "will have my backing, 100%" when the Manchester United legend was appointed manager - but the former England midfielder lasted just 31 days in charge of Oldham
After Wellens, managerial appointments have come thick and fast under the Lemsagam brothers, with some big names pitching up for short stints with the club.

Manchester United legend Paul Scholes lasted just 31 days in charge. Ex-Monaco boss Laurent Banide left after 11 games. Harry Kewell was sacked after seven months, with his departure announced by the club on a Sunday evening.

"It might work at Chelsea when they've got a history of sacking managers and bringing new managers in. But they've got a head of recruitment that stays the same and they've got Chelsea players," Wellens added.

"It's impossible to do the job. If you consistently have this over years and years then there's only one way the club will go and that's on a downward spiral.

"I had my last day of the January window the year we went down. We had tried to make a couple of signings that hadn't come off.

"I'm driving to the training ground [the following day] and I've heard that we've signed somebody called Wilfried Moimbe. Do you think I'd gone to France and scouted him? No, I'd never heard of him in my life. Two days later he's playing in a game in my first team."

The battle for Boundary Park
The usage of the North Stand at Boundary Park has been the subject of a court battle in recent years
The usage of the North Stand at Boundary Park has been the subject of a court battle in recent years
It is not just football-related matters that have dogged Lemsagam's time as owner of Oldham Athletic.

A dispute over player wages during the coronavirus pandemic and an ongoing strained relationship with former player David Wheater overshadowed a stagnant few years for the club on the pitch.

There has also been a long-running dispute over the ownership of Boundary Park, as well as its seven-year-old North Stand, which has rumbled on between Lemsagam and the club's former owners Simon Blitz and Danny Gazal during the Moroccan's tenure.

Through their company Brass Bank, Blitz and Gazal issued a lease on the ground to the club when former co-owner Simon Corney took sole ownership of the Latics in 2011.

Legal issues continue over unpaid rent on the stadium, as well as safety concerns over the North Stand, leading to the stand, now named after legendary former boss Royle, being closed and re-opened over the past few years as large parts of the ground lie unoccupied on matchdays.

"When we were leaving in 2011, we discussed the fact that football has to stay at Boundary Park whether Simon Corney stays or sells on, which he did," said Blitz.

"At that stage the ground was, and still is, up for sale to any prospective buyer. Hopefully the owner would buy the stadium at the same time and that is still the case today.

"Anybody wishing to buy the football club who wants to buy the stadium is more than welcome at a very competitive price."

The row between Lemsagam and the club's former owners came to a head in 2020, with the club making an official complaint to Greater Manchester Police, revolving around funds supplied to build the North Stand.

Two years on and the issue continues, with Oldham currently dissatisfied with safety arrangements for the stand, leading to it being closed.

When contacted by BBC Radio Manchester for comment, Oldham Athletic provided Barry Owen, a former board member and current advisor to the board.

Owen said: "The club is demonstrating a case that that stand belongs to the football club. It's for the courts to decide on that with the evidence put forward.

"We're not satisfied that the way that that stand operates, that we are fulfilling our obligations to safety.

"We're not prepared any longer to compromise that situation. So when it came to the decision, we don't need to use four sides of the ground, we've got to make savings on cost.

"We can't continue to operate in the National League as we did in the EFL, it just won't work."

'When you lose the fans, you're done for'
Oldham Athletic fans have protested both inside and outside of Boundary Park in recent years
Oldham Athletic fans have protested both inside and outside of Boundary Park in recent years
Already fragile relations between the fans and the club's board further deteriorated in December when three fans were banned for "promoting their dislike" of the club, with one of the trio branding it as a "dictatorship".

The bans were issued directly by Oldham and were not court-issued football banning orders. They were overturned just two days later following a public outcry, but the damage was done.

The following month, in January 2022, Lemsagam said he would be willing to sell the club, only four months after saying that he was unwilling to sell up.

As yet, the club is still to be sold. But how did the relationship between the ownership and supporters sink to such a low point?

Matt Dean, board director of Oldham Athletic Supporters' Federation, said: "It went wrong when he decided not to listen to the supporters. Not to listen to the advice and support offered from the people that were going in who were not telling him what he wanted to hear, but what he needed to hear.

"He didn't use that as constructive criticism and, from that point, the more he ignored that kind of advice, it turned around into resentment and anger from the fans. And as soon as you lose the fans, that's it, you're done for.

"It's hard to pinpoint it exactly but he had to listen. It's like any business. If your customers walk away, you need to address what's going on to get them back."

Millwall have signed Dutch midfielder Zian Flemming on a "long-term contract" from Eredivisie side Fortuna Sittard for an undisclosed fee.

The 23-year-old joined the Netherlands' top flight club in August 2020 and scored 27 goals in two seasons.

The attacking midfielder began his career with Ajax's academy and also spent two years with PEC Zwolle.

"A main aspect of why I chose to join Millwall was the interest shown by Gary Rowett," he told the club's website.

Centre-back Nathan Baker is not expected to play for Bristol City next season due to ongoing concussion, said manager Nigel Pearson.

Baker, 31, has not played since 30 November when he was taken off on a stretcher with a head injury during the Robins' defeat by Sheffield United.

He had already returned from another period out with concussion in October.

"We don't expect to see him in the squad this season," Pearson told BBC Radio Bristol.

"But in terms of making comments about timings or statements, I'm not going to make any further comments on that but it's very, very unlikely we will see him."

Speaking during Bristol City's first week of pre-season training, Pearson also said striker Antoine Semenyo is unlikely to be available for the start of the season due to injury.

Semenyo, who scored eight goals and contributed more assists than any other player last season, suffered the injury while away with Ghana, where he made his international debut.

"A scan suggests there may be a bit more positive news. But I don't really want to put a timeframe on this one. He may miss the start of the season, but apart from that, it's more about we'll have to be a bit patient with it," Pearson added.

The 22-year-old is out of contract next summer along with midfielder Han-Noah Massengo and Pearson refused to say whether the duo would be staying at the club.

"He's [Semenyo] a player that has attracted a lot of attention in terms of speculation but look, we would love to keep all our best players," Pearson said.

"I don't think I've ever said anything other than if he [Massengo] stays here, I'd be really happy.

"But I'm also conscious of the other side of the argument and that is that in an ideal world we don't want players to run their contracts down, especially when we've invested a lot of time and money in players.

"The ideal solution if Han-Noah stays is if he signs a new deal and that would be the outcome that I would prefer. If not I'm sure the speculation about him leaving will continue."

The Robins have signed wing-back Kane Wilson - who was voted League Two player of the season - from Forest Green Rovers, former Luton Town defender Kal Naismith and Oxford United midfielder Mark Sykes so far ahead of the new season.

Contract negotiations remain ongoing with midfielder Andy King regarding a player/coaching role, while Pearson said the team will "maybe do some more business" going forward.