clangers

Sorry about that. England are still a top side just as long as the opposition don't use pace or spin and stick to medium paced seamers, oh and as long as the opposition aren't too aggressive and are not South Africa. It's the lack of preparation that really separates the two sides, questions were raised about Englands lack of games prior to the test series especially when they knew they had untested or out of form players. Did they really have time to aclimatise especially when they knew they really needed at least one effective fast bowler? It appears that only one side actually analysed last summers series and devised distinct tactics to cope with every English batsmen and bowlers. The situation with Trott raised questions of how well managed the tour has been, should he ever have been allowed to tour in the first place? Cook's ineffectual management.

Nah Australia are safe, even if Stokes sticks around he's going to run out of partners before then. England will be gone for 350.

Absolutely no need to play it, think as pig shit basically. Shame we might have got the Aussies worried shortly.

Very, very true. 'Entitlement' is the word with their glamorous trophy winning history, we're referring to a side that has played in the CL.....once and didn't they win the league cup a few years ago? Listening to Spurs fans prattling on you'd think this was a team winning titles and competing in the CL year after year. It's also bugging me a bit that there is clearly an element of 'little' Liverpool causing such an upset thumping the mighty Spurs in the media over the last couple of days.

According to a Spurs supporting work colleage, the main issue is that Spurs have invested the kitchen sink here if we consider transfer fees and wages so no CL this season is a big deal. He also said that off-field wasn't going well and the suspicion was that AVB just doesn't carry the respect of the players. He simply lacks gravitas. Players who have largely been recruited by Baldini (DoF) rather than AVB. Apparently AVB effectively inferred at the press conference after losing to us that he didn't consider the current squad to be his which is going to be a pretty fatal thing to say after losing 5-0. Sounds like a bit of a mess, oh dear!! :D

I don't rate him but I do have a bit of sympathy. What's the point of bringing in a young manager, spend a £100 million on new players that in reality were as much the choice of the director of football and at the same time expect the manager to integrate seven new foreign players whilst restructuring after the loss of easily their best player. Hardly a suprise that they're going to go through a really dodgy patch? A dodgy patch that has left them 5 points off a CL spot. Bring back 'Arry.

Yeah anyone recommend a film. 207-7 Prior gone.

Not looking good for England, but an improvement at least for a side clearly struggling. If Piertersen had played with some brains it would have looked much better. Stokes looks promising and if he can just stick around and support Bell, followed by another improved performance from Prior England might just get up over 300 to make a game of it, a long shot, there's more chance of us being out for under 250 again but at least there is a bit of hope. It's shocking just how much better Australia's bowling lineup is, they were obviously going to be quicker but they're so much more disciplined as well.

I know I don't why I'm bothering, realistically Australia surpassed England's likely first innings total about 200 runs ago.

Fucking clueless England captain, absolutely no in game management or perception. Just purely reactive.

Yeah really is, Cook is just far too cautious.

Oh dear, repeat of the first test on the offing, they'll be 450 or so and we'll be 120-5 by the end of play tomorrow. I'm still struggling with England's selection policy, what's the point of picking three giant bowlers specifically for Perth and then not picking any of them because for varying reasons they're not consider to be good enough at the moment for test match cricket? Englands bowling is ultimately limp, there's no one with any consistent menace hence the reason why Australia are able to build a substantial total despite being 143-5.

He's always just been Flower's bitch. I doubt he actually has much input but rather just relays Flower's instructions as he was clearly seen doing during the summer. He is a very good batsman despite recent performances, we'd be far better off relieving him of the role and allow him to concentrate on batting. His decision making to get out in this manner when we're trying to desperately stick around is beyond stupid.

Exactly, he's taken his time, remained positive and played his way in and is now making it look what it is, a very benign wicket that should offer lots of runs to an international batsman.

That's all you can say, really not the brightest is he? Pietersen puts on a headline grabbing performance that has the like's of Botham transfixed about 1 in every 10 innings, the rest of the time he's out cheaply playing that shot.

What's he doing batting at all? He looks like a clueless teenager, Compton isn't brilliant but surely is the better option. England are toast.

I know, good ball, very quick and a bit of movement but Cook was all over the place, what was he doing with his feet, he was about 5 seconds too late? Cook's not a great captain and appears to be cursed with the typical loss of form taking up the role of captain seems to ensure.

Yeah not looking good for England, they're on target for a total well over 400. 400 is a big score for the current England, I could easily see another collapse on the cards.

Christ this is all going far too quickly for my liking, he's taken them apart in a matter of months. It's impressive. I had hoped for a long, slow, ungracious decline over at least a couple of seasons. If he carries on like this he might be toast by the new year and they might bring someone good in.

They've clearly played well and implemented well thought out if not exactly subtle ways to expose weaknesses in respective English performances. It's been very effective. England look like a team in decline to me now, we've not really played well collectively for 18 months, complacent too. There doesn't look to have been that much planning. Trott has been a disaster waiting to happen for some time. Far too cosy, too many players guarenteed a place relying on long distant form as justification. Warning signs were there in the summer, Old Trafford, Durham, The Oval, the aussies were well on top for long periods. Not all is lost, I still believe man for man on paper at least England are a considerably stronger side than Australia, whether they can play up to form is another thing altogether.

Amazing, Australia really aren't this great. Good performance from them but christ England are dreadful. Too many of them far too cosy and picked on the basis of long distant form. The signs were there in the summer despite the headline score. Critical now for England to dig in even though the result is beyond doubt. Cook and others need to put in a century to take the edge off the Australian victory and establish themselves for the next test.

Yes definitely, he's carrying an injury, even though it's Germany it's still just a friendly and is therefore not a competitive match despite the hype. England are likely to be playing the Germany B team. If it was in anyway a genuine meaningful match I wouldn't object but given that there's nothing to discover or experiment with Gerrard for England and given that we're at a critcal point of our season with an upcoming derby it seems daft that he's even considering making himself available for this one. Not worth the risk of a serious layoff for us at the moment, I'm quite sure if it was an important manc player he'd already be out of contention.

Pretty shit to be honest, I can't quite see what all the fuss was about? Not a great script or acting, I found Bullock to be pretty irritating and she does look weird, almost as if she's been photoshop'd in real life. Just didn't seem to have much substance to it.

Disappointing, we could have done with Arsenal showing a bit of bottle and at least drawing today. Not a bad weekend of results for us though. There isn't a stand out team, all of them are regularly dropping points so far this season. It brings me no pleasure to say it but I'd probably make the mancs favourites now as they've started grinding out results week in week out whilst still looking distinctly unimpressive. They've been doing that with this squad for the last few years.

Typical spineless Arsenal when it boils down to it.