Theo's not going to the World Cup

"I am very disappointed not to be included in the squad going out to South Africa, but completely respect Mr Capello's decision. I would like to wish the team the best of luck and hope they have a really successful tournament."

- Theo Walcott, dropped from the World Cup squad

Theo's been left out of the World Cup squad. It's a shame for Theo. He's been looking forward to it. But the reality was that he'd had a inconsistent, injury-riddled season, and he didn't deliver what Cappello wanted in the past two England friendlies. So Cappello decided that Theo was a gamble he couldn't take. You can aonly live on the fame of a hattrick against Croatia for so long.

But time's on his side. He's only 21. There's still time for him to knuckle down, improve his decision making, get back into form, and maybe get into the squad for Euro 2012. Hopefully he'll realise that he hasn't made it, that he's got a lot to improve, and he'll focus his time on improving himself at Arsenal next season.

Anyway, buck up Theo. We still love you!

And apparently, we're looking at signing Joe Cole on a free. I must say that we've had mixed success with free signings from our major rivals. Sol Campbell was great. William Gallas was okay. Mikael Silvestre was a disaster. What about Joe Cole? He's in his prime, he's inconsistent, and he's a dribbly, creative midfielder/winger who'll demand a large salary. If we sign him, we'll probably bung him in a central midfield role next to Cesc (if he stays). I'd rather we sign a centre-back and a goalkeeper with actual money, but scoring two free signings of the calibre of Chamakh and Cole would be pretty impressive. And considering how often I've complained at the thinness of the squad, I can't really complain.

So on the 324th last day of my 20s, I listened to Contra by Vampire Weekend. It's vaguely disappointing. It's a good listen, has a couple of great tracks, but it's nowhere near as good as their eponymous debut. Their first album was jaunty, fresh, different, intelligent. This second album just sounds like a normal album with a few quirky bits added in.