London to Brighton

So, Nicky Bailey is off to Middlesborough unless the are any last minute hitches. Addicks fans will be pleased that the fee looks likely to be in excess of the £1m we were holding out for and Richard Murray will pour himself a large glass if we get the £1.5m being suggested. If you watched Bailey all last season, £1.5m looks like a steal based on his performances up until Christmas but over-the-odds for his 2010 showing. He has the ability to shine in the Championship but he will need to find the yard of pace he lost after New Year and that still leaves him a yard short for the Premier League. Who will be next I wonder? Lloyd Sam would be my bet.


The league stages of the World Cup continue and we are at last getting a few decent games but overall it's been poor fare and there's every chance that the over-riding impression from these finals will be a negative one. At least there has been no crowd trouble and no high profile incidents involving supporters. 


England have piled the pressure on themselves following their failure to score against Algeria and their flat performance suggests all is not well in the camp. David James was quite abrupt and to the point when being interviewed after the game. He was critical of the last minute team announcement and made a couple of sarcastic comments about the set-up and the manager. I wonder whether the John Terry affair and shuffling of the captaincy has had an effect? Whatever, it is, they look short of players taking responsibility and Wayne Rooney's parting shot at the booing England fans does not bode well for the Slovenia game. Poor old Frank Lampard also came in for the usual abuse from England fans who, in my opinion, have grossly unrealistic expectations from him (if not from the whole side). It could all look much better on Wednesday of course but there will need to be a massive all-round improvement and a first-half opener.


Tomorrow's the big day after several months of training on the bike, and I am off with five friends and 27,000 others to cycle from Clapham Common to the seafront at Brighton. I am looking forward to it and am hoping to finish inside 4 hours, although this may be dependent upon the traffic from fellow riders. My trusty Cannondale has been cleaned and oiled, and I will be having an early night so I am ready for the grind and the assault on Ditchling Beacon.