Silent night

The Unions may be in decline, but there is still one band of brothers who stick together through thick and thin, especially when they think the whole world is against them: the England football team. The latest own goal from this collection of bejewelled millionaires was a refusal to speak to the media after their World Cup qualifying match against Poland. This attempt to communicate their disgust at "unfair treatment" in the press only succeeded in making their judgement look as sound as David James's goalkeeping. Maintaining a dignified silence is one thing when you lose, but doing it after you've won, as England did on Wednesday, just looks puerile and petty. In the end there is only one way to silence the critics: keep winning.