Stating the obvious

A generally less-than-spectacular day of revelations at my end...

First up, Sir Geoff Hurst - still the only man to score a World cup final hat-trick - revealed that: "It is inconceivable for England to win the World Cup without Wayne Rooney."

This, Sir Geoff, is no secret. England without Rooney is like a newspaper without words - same shape, same size, but it just doesn't make sense or do the job.

Then Patrick Vieira, the Manchester City midfielder who was part of France's 1998 World Cup winning squad, offered the following gems at a McDonald's promotional event:

"The World Cup will be a fantastic moment for South Africa..."
"The World Cup is exciting for players..."
"I hope the French team do really well..."
"Next year is a big season for Manchester City and I hope we can deliver..."
"[Carlos] Tevez will be one of the World Cup's stars..."

OK Pat, so the Tevez line isn't too bad, but after the inane answers the genuinely polite and friendly Monsieur Vieira showed his human touch as he offered a few lines of metaphorical arm-around-the-shoulder support for Adam Johnson, his Eastlands teammate, who was surprisingly - to me anyway - left out of Fabio Capello's final 23-man England squad.

"He had a really good end to the season, but he's only just come from Middlesborough and he's had a fantastic first six months," gushed Vieira. "The way that he has learnt and the progress he's made has been unbelievable. To make the England 30 squad after only six months with City was a great achievement and if he keeps his head and works hard, he could be one of the biggest players for England."

Vieira, you're a star. And yes, the boy Johnson does have a rather rosy-looking future ahead of him. It would have been great to see him running, fearless as always, at defenders this summer. He could have been a real weapon for England.

Right, I'm off then to tune in to the World Cup launch concert!

Waka Waka.