Their inability to stick to a game plan makes them the most unpredictable team in the world but when they get things right

Their inability to stick to a game plan makes them the most unpredictable team in the world but when they get things right they are brilliant to watch.After being flogged around Lord’s on Tuesday by Andrew Flintoff and Andrew Strauss few expected them to bounce back. The manner in which they chased down England’s score of 285 was an example of how good they can be.New Zealand, playing in their first one-day international at Lord’s, start the final as favourites but the West Indies are capable of pulling off an unexpected victory.It is unlikely that the captain who wins the toss will decide to bat, because each of the six completed matches in this competition have been won by the side batting second.”We would like them to set a score first,” said Fleming. Spending £4m on Mark Viduka plus finding the cash to fund Michael Reiziger and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s wages represents a substantial investment. Realistically, United are the only potential bidders but to land him would require an immense amount of juggling – what to do with the recently signed Alan Smith and Louis Saha being the most obvious problems.On Board: Alan Smith (Leeds, £7m), Gabriel Heinze (Paris St-Germain, £6.9m), Liam Miller (Celtic, free), Gerard Pique (Barcelona, tribunal), Giuseppe Rossi (Parma, tribunal).On The Quayside: Wayne Rooney (Everton).Overboard: Danny Pugh (Leeds, part of swap deal), Ben Williams (Crewe, free).Walking The Plank: Nicky Butt (Newcastle), Diego Forlan, Michael Stewart (Rangers), Neil Wood (Coventry). Middlesbro He may not boast the pocket depth of Roman Abramovich at Chelsea, but Steve Gibson is still a major player in football’s transfer market and this summer he proved it. Manchester United The Manchester United chief executive, David Gill, recently called a halt to Sir Alex Ferguson’s summer spending, arguing that United needed to concentrate on increasing the capacity of Old Trafford Then along came Wayne. However, the sale of teenager Matias Vuoso back to Central America represents a £2.5m loss on the original deal.

Manchester City’s new financial realities are reflected in the mass clear-out but Keegan will still want to bolster a dangerously fragile defence, hence the need for Danny Mills, Thomas Helveg and Emerson Thome.On Board: Ben Thatcher (Leicester £100,000), Geert de Vlieger (Willem II, free).On The Quayside: Danny Mills (Leeds), Thomas Helveg (Milan), Emerson Thome (Bolton.Overboard: Matias Vuoso (Santos Lugana, £1m), Stephen Elliott (Sunderland), Michael Tarnat (Hanover), Glenn Whelan (Sheffield Wednesday), Daniel van Buyten (loan return to Marseille, now joined Hamburg), Arni Arason, Danny Tiatto, Gerard Wiekens.Walking The Plank: Christian Negouai, David Sommeil. Manchester City How very unlike Kevin Keegan to be £900,000 in the black during the summer transfer market. The big question for Benitez is will Milan Baros ever again be worth £10m?On Board: Djibril Ciss?Auxerre £14m).On The Quayside: Miguel Angel (Malaga), Vicente (Valencia), Roberto Ayala (Valencia).Overboard: Emile Heskey (Birmingham £6.25m), Bruno Cheyrou (Marseille, loan), Stephen Vaughan (Chester, free), Stephen Gillespie (Bristol City, free).Walking The Plank: Milan Baros (Real Madrid), Markus Babbel, Djimi Traor?Dietmar Hamann (Bayern Munich), El Hadji Diouf (Malaga/Portsmouth), Salif Diao (Portsmouth), Neil Mellor (Crewe). The free-scoring Ciss? speed and presence should make him a formidable partner for Michael Owen but his former coach at Auxerre, the venerable Guy Roux, has warned he needs plenty of good service. That might have been achieved but Mohammed Al Fayed has largely abandoned his hobby of lavishing cash on his football club and Coleman will need to strengthen in both midfield and in attack if the successes of last season are to be built upon.On Board: Billy McKinlay (Leicester City, free).On The Quayside: Fr?ric Kanout?Tottenham), Gabriel Batistuta (Al Arabi), Gary Speed (Newcastle United), Amdy Faye (Portsmouth).Overboard: Sean Davis (Tottenham Hotspur, £3m), Jon Harley (Sheffield United, free), Barry Hayles (Sheffield United, free), Abdeslam Ouaddou (Rennes, free), Andrejs Stolcers, Dave Beasant (both released).Walking The Plank: Mark Hudson (Crystal Palace). Liverpool G?rd Houllier spent two years attempting to negotiate Djibril Ciss? move to Anfield and the irony is that Rafael Benitez took over before the deal was concluded.

Logic states he must go so that a club £40m in debt and which finished fourth bottom in the Premiership can rebuild. Even without Rooney, the exit door has been in full swing at Goodison, while the arrivals look few.On Board: Marcus Bent (Ipswich Town, £450,000).On The Quayside: Mathieu Flamini (Marseille).Overboard: Niclas Alexandersson (IFK Gothenburg, free), Paul Gerrard (Nottingham Forest, free), Steve Simonsen (Stoke City, free), Alex Nyarko, Scot Gemmill, David Unsworth (all released).Walking The Plank: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Kevin Campbell (Crystal Palace), Thomas Gravesen (Athletic Bilbao), Tomasz Radzinski (rejected contract), Steve Watson (West Bromwich Albion). Fulham The main work of the summer before the much-anticipated return to Craven Cottage has been tying down manager Chris Coleman and his assistant Steve Kean to new contracts. Everton Well Wayne, do you fancy linking up with Marcus Bent or would you prefer Ruud van Nistelrooy? That, bluntly, is the choice facing the most marketable talent in the English game, who has performed better for his country than for Everton. Palace, however, require so much more.On Board: Gabor Kiraly (Hertha Berlin, free).On The Quayside: Tim Cahill (Millwall), Julian Speroni (Dundee), Jamie Scowcroft (Leicester City), Jay Boothroyd (Perugia), Kevin Campbell (Everton), Kevin Kyle (Sunderland), Mark Hudson (Fulham).Overboard: Julian Gray (Birmingham City, free), Curtis Fleming, Jamie Smith (both released).Walking The Plank: Dougie Freedman (Leicester City), Neil Shipperley. Crystal Palace The trouble with winning the play-off final is that you start recruiting for a new division and a new season later than anybody else. Iain Dowie, who worked a minor miracle to bring Palace into the Premiership, can probably scrape together £4m as a transfer fund and if half of that is invested in Millwall’s Tim Cahill to bolster their midfield, it will be cash well spent.

Mourinho’s biggest task is slimming down and moulding a workable squad. The future of some enormously expensive midfield talent has to be resolved. Even Roman Abramovich does not pay £35m for reserves.On Board: Paulo Ferreira (Porto, £13.2m), Arjen Robben (PSV Eindhoven, £12m), Petr Cech (Rennes, £8.2m), Mateja Kezman (PSV Eindhoven, £5.4m), Alexei Smertin (back from loan at Portsmouth).On The Quayside: Didier Drogba (Marseille), Fernando Morientes (Real Madrid), Christian Chivu (Roma).Overboard: Juan Sebastian Veron (loan to Internazionale), Mika?Forssell (loan to Birmingham), Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Middlesbrough, free), Mario Melchiot (Birmingham, free), Winston Bogarde, Marcel Desailly, Emmanuel Petit (all released).Walking The Plank: Hernan Crespo (Milan), Jesper Gronkjaer (Birmingham), Geremi (Bolton Wanderers). Chelsea Addressing his squad in training, Jose Mourinho must feel like Imelda Marcos throwing open her wardrobe and wondering what to slip on her feet for a trip to Tesco. Charlton Athletic In their centenary season, Charlton find themselves in rude health. Alan Curbishley’s transfer budget has been estimated at around £15m, the bulk of which came from the sale of Scott Parker to Chelsea in January.Dennis Rommedahl from PSV Eindhoven is a big-name signing and if others follow – particularly a top-class striker – Charlton might well be following Millwall into Europe.On Board: Dennis Rommedahl (PSV Eindhoven, £2m), Stephan Andersen (AB Copenhagen, £721,000), Bryan Hughes (Birmingham City, free).On The Quayside: Robert Earnshaw (Cardiff City), Thomas Gravesen (Everton), Fr?ric Kanout?Tottenham Hotspur).Overboard: Stephen Hughes, Sergio Leite (both released), Gary Rowett, Richard Rufus (both retired).Walking The Plank: Carlton Cole (returning to Chelsea), Paolo Di Canio (anywhere from Lazio to Brentford).