General Smiley

Most will probably be on about £50-70k

Oh good another wasted review.

More evidence for the prosecution against Joe Root. I feel sorry for him now. Hopefully get a lead of 300 or 350ish by tea tomorrow.

Anderson the Burnley Lara. Why the f couldn't any of the top 10 batsman have played like Jimmy? All of them look turgid, like some terrible West Indian or Sri Lankan team trying to salvage a draw. Maybe Gooch and/or Flowers need to move on after this Ashes, get some new mental input for the winter tour. A change is as good as a rest, and all that. Cook was far too defensive. None of the batsmen bar, bizarrely, Trott, who had a personal point to prove about his recent technique against pace, had any attacking intent. Root looked lost again. Bell and Broad reverted to type in this innings, Bairstow practically gave me an angina (again) with his crappy-waft defensive technique. Could anything be more damning that the fact I suddenly felt comfortable when Bresnan came in? Cook is like Strauss-lite in his captaincy. In the Champions Trophy match against Sri Lanka, after a mini-collapse, Cook decided not to attack the Lankans and force the advantage, but bowled Root and Bopara to try, unsuccessfully, to keep the run rate down instead. We lost predictably. I worry about his captaincy in Aus. As a batsman, he's about the fourth name on a World XI teamsheet, and he could be England's greatest batsman. But as a captain, he will do us ill. We need to stop opening with Root. Promote Trott to opener, and put Root at 3. bring back Compton at 6, at least his career over the last two or three years shows he isn't a walking wicket. I'm reluctant to drop Prior yet, but if he needs to swap with Bairstow, so be it. And for this match, it couldn't be a better pitch for Onions. I can just see us at stumps tomorrow with Aus on 350/3, after a day of bloody Broad and bloody Bresnan bowling short outside off wondering why they aren't taking wickets. Poor Jimmy and Swanny will have to carry England again.

How many does Jonny Bairstow have to score to stay in the team? Surely he has to reach 75+

Chester-le-Street - the closest Scotland will get to hosting an Ashes Test?

I'm pessimistic, but hope we could at least draw 2-2. As long as Cook gets some form, I don't see us being thrashed at any rate, although Root looks unconvincing so far opening and could be an early weak spot. I think he has what it takes to be a number 3 in the Vaughan mold, so should be Trott's replacement over the next couple of years. Harris is a good bowler, but can be worn down. Pattinson was wayward in England, as has Starc been so far. Spin is non-existent. I'd like to take a look at Jackson Bird before the winter tour, but I'd say so long as we get over this curious proneness to collapse, then we shouldn't lose the series. That glorious first test in 10-11 when the scoreboard was 550(odd)-1 is the way forward - if it's a batting wicket, we are more than equal to the Aussie top order and can draw matches, and if it favours the bowlers, Anderson, Tremlett, and Bresnan should have as much fun as they did last time. So I don't think we'll lose.

Bairstow must be dropped soon enough to given England time to bring in Taylor/Stokes in time for the winter tour. He is not Test quality yet, he should tour with the Lions this winter, get a good couple of seasons with Yorkshire under his belt, and then he might fit in better. Tremlett could be the key man in Australia, as could Londonderry's own Boyd Rankin. Their height and bounce would be a hell of a lot more threatening than Broad is these days. I was thinking the other day about the future of the England team. After this coming winter Ashes, we should start rebuilding, get rid of KP, Trott, and Bell, maybe just have them in ODI sides. Our XI in five years time should be Cook Sam Robson Root James Taylor Ben Stokes Bairstow/Jos Buttler/Ben Foakes all vying for 6 and 7 (wk) Keith Barker Simon Kerrigan Steve Finn Reece Topley Loads of other promising youngsters like Sam Hain, Alex Hales, and James Harris as well.

Where to begin...

Okay, so McColl appears to be seriously interested in owning (/part of) our club. He's a very wealthy man, and might bring business brains. BUT he is a Scottish nationalist. This must surely be a red line that can't be crossed for 99% of us? How can we be owned by someone who wants to break up the very thing that unites us in our cause? The worst of it is, he's either deluding himself or trying to delude the Scottish people with his statements on independence: A man of his years of experience must know that a yes vote would be full independence and not what he's saying above. So he's either deluding himself or lying to us - and those would be the worst qualities to have in a chairman of our club, especially at this time when we need truth above all else. No to Jim McColl.

and he's some SNP weirdo

And when people say obviously these days it's usually about things which are entirely un-obvious to the casual viewer. Perhaps too much "media training" for sportsmen these days.

I can't see another recent thread discussing this... so: I'm not well versed on football governance so could those in the know explain who will be the new chairman? does a current board member go "upstairs", will we see a full Green takeover, is it a new person altogether, etc. Cheers.

Butcher for me too. Wouldn't mind a look at Gus Poyet either, but he might bring too much legal baggage.

Entirely irrelevant if he's a member or not. If he wants my country broken up, he can shut up and fuck off.

As are we all under the British Nationality Act 1981.

Literally pissed myself there

They are the lowest elements in society.

Andy Webster, John Nicholson, Davy McDougall, and special mention for Derek McInnes, who managed City until recently.

I'm not even watching it, I'm that sceptical of our chances of victory.

Yep.

Perhaps I'm being fatalistic, but this looks very much like a loser's team.

On the face of it, we need the current strikers to get their shit together, not a new striker. But on principle, why not?

I think Halfpenny took less time than usual to consider his kick. I don't blame him, he's brilliant 95-odd-% of the time, but the pressure got to him, and he took it quicker than he needed to. SHould have taken the time and stood a better chance of getting it over.