the stain

Me oh my, what a lot of negative nancy's on this thread. JP is looking to sign players in positions where we are light on numbers. What a ****ing **** Lowe must be! It was perfectly clear from JP's comments before the deal went through that he hadn't wanted Davies to go but was resigned to it. Now he wants some extra cover at CB. Stands to reason. We've got Stern as centre forward, but when he can't play there's McGoldrick who seems to be better wide, or Patterson who's pretty much unknown. So JP wants some extra cover at CF. Stands to reason. Yes, these will have to be cheap/free options because we're skint (this doesn't necessarily mean they'll be sh*t). No, it doesn't mean we're being lied to about the financial situation. We'll have moved on some high earners (got money for them in some cases) and brought in some low earners - a net gain. The club will have agreed targets with the bank to cut it's outgoings and now they're trying to meet them. Not having the playing staff to field a team isn't going to help club or bank as we'll end up losing more money. I can't see how these comments could possibly be construed negatively. Although I will say I think we need options at right back.

A far more eloquent way of putting what I was trying to say. Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney. All good players, all very similar players. I'm not sure I agree that they'd get 'found out'. The fact that they consistently hold down places in very successful European teams would argue against that. There's room in a successful team for a hard-working, attacking midfielder who can supplement the strikers and add a bit of b0ll0cks and a change of gear to a creative team. That's the role all three play (despite any pretentions Rooney may have to being a striker) and is the reason only one of them should be on the pitch for England at any one time. Unfortunately successive England managers pick all three because they are our 'best players', because we've got precious few creative options and because they will keep pushing Joe Cole out to the wing. In a nutshell what I'm saying is, I know better than Fabio Capello. Who the hell does he think he is anyway

Does anyone else think that, after the initial flurry of hype and excitement, Capello's England are going to be very similar to the England we knew and wanted rid of? Same old players who've had every previous chance, getting picked off MOTD; same old cobblers from the camp about needing "more passion" and "the right attitude".

Yeah sorry, it was a bit grumpy. Forgot to add "well done England on a rattling good win!" Perhaps my premonitions will be proved entirely wrong.

Well that's that then. I suppose the coaching staff can all take unjustified pride, Strauss can keep a better player out of the team for another year and Pietersen's captaincy can by hyped out of all proportion so that all his future efforts will seem like failures. Hoorah for English sport!

Just finished The Kite Runner. A good story, badly told. I can imagine the film is more satisfying. Now I'm about to start Silence, by Shusaku Endo.

Really? Really really? I agree with most of the rest of it though. I like the way we're playing and I think it will be fun.

Can anyone watching the match tell me to what extent this performance is attributable to a) renewed self-belief, b) an in for Steve Harmison, c) SA no longer giving a toss?

What do you think of the new one? I'm still trying to work out if it#'s a grower or just bit disappointing.

I would've chosen him over Harmison, but either will do as a straight swap for Sidey-B, who should never have played while obviously unfit. Ever so slightly confused by the selection nearer the top of the order. I'm glad to see Broad back in, as his runs would've made a lot of difference last time out. But frankly I'd have brought him back for Collingwood, who for me needs to play more than one good innings to convince me he's worth the gamble. Bopara, seeing as they put him in the squad, should've got the nod to replace Vaughan. Although I reckon they should have called up Key or Shah. I suppose KP and selectors will want to give a chance to the existing team before they start making wholesale changes. It needs to be a last chance for some though, notably Bell, Collingwood, Ambrose and Strauss. Quite clearly Ambrose shouldn't be there in the first place. But Strauss and Bell both need to play proper quality innings to save their test skins; they need to prove that they can stand up to scrutiny, not just score when there's no pressure.