Cornish Steve

Roberto spent a good part of Wigan's budget bringing him in, knowing that their defence leaked like a sieve. Ramis was injured in one of the first games and then ruled out for the season. By all accounts, he is a solid player.

Agents represent more than one player, right?

Seriously guys, I once interviewed a software developer whose name was Fuqing.

Likewise, I don't agree with making knee-jerk decisions. We have Stones and Alcaraz and Garbutt. There is cover, but one more youngester would help. Certainly no need to splash out on a big defensive signing. I'd say that depth of squad in general is more important.

He must have meant a Costa own goal.

Looks like this will go through today.

Some nice words from him today as he leaves to join Blackburn: "The fans have been amazing and I will always follow Everton. I would like to wish everyone at the club every success and hope everything goes well."

There's only one person who fits that description, and it's Tim Howard.

Then I should have written "laid claim" and not "lay claim".

If we do change plans and reinforce the defence, I can see us going for one of Oviedo's teammates from Costa Rica. They played phenomenally good defence at the WC, and their players are comparatively cheap.

Quite simply the wrong type of CB for the style we now play. Great for Stoke, a Pulis team, and the like.

West Brom 2-4 Everton Lukaku

Cornwall, as a distinct Celtic nation, has its own parliament too, although not many are aware of that fact. Indeed, in some aspects of life, the stannary parliament takes precedence over Westminster. Truth be told, though, it's meaningless and a relic of history. I am pleased, however, that the European parliament recently recognized the Cornish as a distinct race and culture. A recent report, based on the genetic mapping of the British Isles, reveals that the Cornish and the Welsh - more so than the Scots - are the most genetically distinct of the peoples living on the island of Great Britain. Amazingly, people living on opposite banks of the river Tamar (which separates Cornwall from England) are quite different genetically. Another little known fact that might interest those living in the US: President Clinton always referred to the prime minister of Great Britain, whereas the second President Bush always referred to the prime minister of the United Kingdom. The country is actually "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"; however, Ireland lays claim to Northern Ireland. Since President Clinton sought the Irish vote in America, he stripped Northern Ireland from the name of the country. (There is no such country as Great Britain; it's a geographic term that refers to the largest island in the British Isles.) Subtle, eh?

Congratulations to three Cornish teams today in the FA Cup qualifying rounds. Bodmin Town won convincingly, while St. Ives and Saltash each earned a replay at home. Sad to see St. Austell go out, though.

Welcome to some new players this week: Brett Angel, jofanon, and MiguelCotto (with apologies for mistyping your name this week in the table). It was a tough game to predict, but several people did receive the extra point for making a better than average prediction: BlueBlood81, Brett Angel, Elston Gunnn, jofanon, Matt, milesey05, Peter H, and Rubecula. There were three joint winners for this game (GP): Brett Angel, Elston Gunnn, and milesey05. Well done! This was the final game of the month, and we have a winner for best overall predictions in August (MP): Alguna Vez Tonelada. I've added a new column to show the average number of points per prediction (PPP) each of us has scored. It gives an indication of who might be at the top of the charts if only they'd made a prediction every week. Right now, that's true of Brett Angel.

And I'm stood by myself in the cold and rain, shivering and humiliated, hoping to catch someone's eye, without the confidence to raise my hand and feebly ask "will someone please pick me?"

Not at all. Upset with defensive errors but proud of our response.

This really is an odd day: Cotto and I agree that Mirallas was MOTM and that Eto'o did very well. Don't agree about Naismith, though.

Mirallas was clearly out there today to make me eat my words from last week. He was excellent. Personally, I thought Naismith was way off form today and falling to ground far too easily. Shout to to Eto'o as well for a great debut performance.

As a reminder, they were an excellent pairing last season during our great run up to Christmas.

Listened to Cotto?

If nothing else, this has been a real education for everyone. The key is what we learn from it. Let the doomsayers have their day, and over the next few games, we'll show them to be wrong. As a reminder, we have just played Arsenal and Chelsea. United have the same number of point, and they just played Sunderland and Burnley.

Sorry. Are we talking about McGeady or Mirallas?

Bias at the BBC website can be so subtle. Headline: "Burnley hold Man Utd". Why isn't it "Man Utd hold Burnley"?

A relegation 6-pointer?