Group C (England, Algeria, Slovenia, USA! USA! USA!)

[Shaggy]

James confirmed that he was informed he would play instead of Green only a couple of hours before kick-off.

He said: "I found out five minutes before we got on the bus. Usual standard. The selection process is the same regardless of what match it is. That's the way the manager wants to do it, and we accept that.

"We train hard now for a few days and wait for the selection again five minutes before we leave again on Wednesday."

Asked whether he was close to his fellow goalkeepers, James said: "I'm not close to anyone."

[McDermotX]

Ridiculous management in my opinion

[Shaggy]

It's a tricky one, I can see both sides to it. I probably side with Capello - it's the way he's always done and no-one's ever complained before. Also agree with what Carra said - if everyone knows the team well in advance it creates factions - the playing group and the non-playing group.

[Pablo]

"I'm not close to anyone"

James is a proper nutcase

I actually thought he did pretty well yesterday in the circumstances, given the back four in front of him looked very, very nervous. That one back pas that was pinged to him at about 40mph was an absolute suicide ball and he dealt with it well.

[Exiled_red]

"I'm not close to anyone"

James is a proper nutcase

I actually thought he did pretty well yesterday in the circumstances, given the back four in front of him looked very, very nervous. That one back pas that was pinged to him at about 40mph was an absolute suicide ball and he dealt with it well.

I thought James had a good game, given that the spotlight was going to be on whoever was in goal. He held on well to the ball when he had to and wasn't helped too much by his defenders, the pinged backpass and Terry's header that was under hit which he had to clear. He was probably England's best player (but there wasn't much competition)

[McDermotX]

It's a tricky one, I can see both sides to it. I probably side with Capello - it's the way he's always done and no-one's ever complained before. Also agree with what Carra said - if everyone knows the team well in advance it creates factions - the playing group and the non-playing group.

Valid points perhaps, but looking at the keeper situation on its own (never mind the other problem areas), Capello has had two years to nail down the keepers.
Result......no one knows who's playing in goal until a couple hours before the US game, then he replaces the keeper for the next game - again only a couple hours before the kick-off.

Leaving aside the personal opinions about the proper way to manage.....I can imagine there is one specific group of players who would probably like to have a settled keeper behind them, and that's the defenders.
Should really be operating as a cohesive unit by now....Christ !, they weren't even playing together during the warm-up games.
Given how much England surrender possession to the opposition, if I was at the back, I for one would like to know exactly what my keeper is doing, his calls etc etc.
But I'm sure the time it takes to drive to the stadium should handle that

[Taxi]

The England team visited a local orphanage today. "its good to put a smile on the faces of those who have no hope and are constantly struggling" said Jamal Umboto, age 6.

[Shaggy]

[Exiled_red]

The England team visited a local orphanage today. "its good to put a smile on the faces of those who have no hope and are constantly struggling" said Jamal Umboto, age 6.

[Craig_H]

The England team visited a local orphanage today. "its good to put a smile on the faces of those who have no hope and are constantly struggling" said Jamal Umboto, age 6.

[MrsB]

The England team visited a local orphanage today. "its good to put a smile on the faces of those who have no hope and are constantly struggling" said Jamal Umboto, age 6.

[Shaggy]

I'm nicking that in fact

[Shaggy]

Jamal's not very South African though is it?

[Taxi]

Jamal's not very South African though is it?

I thought that, I had it as a txt.

[Shaggy]

I looked at the SA squad for some names and changed it from Jamal to Bongani