England v Slovenia [poll attached]

[Hoop Blah]

James in goal as he's done nothing wrong and if fit I think he would've started the first game.

Dawson in alongside Terry so it's only one change in the back four. Upson is more the cover for Terry as the left sided centre back (in my mind at least) and I don't want to see Terry moved away from Cole or the very left footed Upson playing on the right of the two centre halfs.

Unfortunately I think Heskey has to make way for Cole to come in on the left and for Gerrard to play in a free role behind Rooney in a similar way that he does for Liverpool. If Rooney is as poor as Friday night I expect to see him hawled off at some point even if that would be a massive decision by Capello (remember Taylor taking Lineker off in '92).

The formation and the individuals selected won't make half as much difference as the mental state of mind within the squad though. When Capello took over he said he needed to free the players of the fear that stopped them performing for their county in the way they do for their clubs. He did it for most of the qualifying campaign but he's spectacularly failed so far where it really counts!

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Will Shilton start in goal? and will Ince or Batty start? Paul parker or Gary Neville?

[Tredder]

100% support if Ladders plays, nothing more or less

[paultheroyal]

Will Shilton start in goal? and will Ince or Batty start? Paul parker or Gary Neville?



[Stranded]

I have a feeling that we'll scrape a win somehow.

[No Fixed Abode]

James

Johnson
Terry
Dawson
A Cole

Lennon
Lampard
Barry
J Cole

S Gerrard

Rooney

[Hoop Blah]

Kes has picked the right team for me.

Interesting to see the fall out from Terry's press conference and the team meeting held yesterday. It seems the players aren't coping that well with the mental side of 'tournament football' and being held up in hotels for weeks on end and the fractions within the group are starting to appear.

All this amongst what we were told to be the most focused and unified squad all the players had been a part of....the usual rubbish we get fed by the PR spin.

Some of the papers seem to be saying that Terry had gone out on a whim last night and that he wasn't really speaking for the squad in the way he thought he was. I get the impression he was trying to live up to his JT 'I'm a born leader' ego.

All this seems to be getting a bit tense, but it reminds me a lot of Italia 90 under Robson when the players supposedly got him to swap to the 5-3-2 for the final group game after a very poor couple of draws. Is that a good omen? I bloody well hope so, but I think the ego's of the players aren't taking kindly to Capello's managment out there.

[Baines]

Shambles tbf

JT :facepalm

[Baines]

Incidentally, Betfair presently have England to win at 1.51 to back/1.52 to lay. I think we'll just about win, but those odds are pretty tempting for the lay.

[Maguire]

the fractions within the group are starting to appear

'greed

[Baines]

That's shit, but I LOL'd.

[Hoop Blah]

Very good Mags....I really must start to proof read my posts a bit!!!

[Terminal Boardom]

I will get mine in before everyone else on Wednesday.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

I hope we lose on Wednesday and that the plane carrying the great under-achievers crashes!

[Baines]

You seem like a barrel of laughs, mate.

[Terminal Boardom]

Thing is, I have seen enough over the years to really know better. The OTT hype by the media I can contend with. Spineless, effortless garbage from the players who have no concept of reality is another matter altogether. They need to show some humility.

Did anyone lesten to Robbie Savage on R5L this morning? Not my favourite pundit by a long way but he has had his eyes opened by working with the media. He has suddenly realised that there are real people doing real jobs in the world.

[Schards#2]

Biggest game in the history of Slovenia and they only need a draw.

Every Slovenian will be giving it absolutely everything, I simply can't see England matching this desire.

A better performance, but 0-0 followed by shirts being thrown at the players as they leave the pitch, Scotland V Iran stylee.

[Stranded]

Upson will start with Terry according to Capello - he will also be changing "some" other players.

[Maguire]

Did anyone lesten to Robbie Savage on R5L this morning? Not my favourite pundit by a long way but he has had his eyes opened by working with the media. He has suddenly realised that there are real people doing real jobs in the world.

I heard this, although I didn't really think was that great an insight to hear that being a footballer is somewhat different to plugging away in the 9 to 5.

[Row Z Royal]

Did anyone lesten to Robbie Savage on R5L this morning? Not my favourite pundit by a long way but he has had his eyes opened by working with the media. He has suddenly realised that there are real people doing real jobs in the world.

I heard this, although I didn't really think was that great an insight to hear that being a footballer is somewhat different to plugging away in the 9 to 5.

It was the 'real world' comment, to be fair. He acknowledged that footballers don't live in the real one.

On that basis, it's easier to appreciate, if not understand, why they don't 'get it' when playing for England. I'm not saying it's right, just that it's not beyond the realms of comprehension.

[TBM]

Upson will start with Terry according to Capello - he will also be changing "some" other players.

Defoe to start apparently with Joe Cole on the right wing