England and EURO2008...

[marinyork]

Saw Steve McLaren being interviewed earlier, all I can say is its just as well he wasn't incharge in May 1940.

 

[mondobongo]

Looked relieved when I saw him, noose round his neck but the trap-door stuck.

 

[Jaded]

Selection needs to be looked at, the England Squad does not have to consist of the top 20 earners.

Too right. We had 3 very good results without that hamster faced twat from the Liverpool area.

He may well be "the best player in the country", but what good is that if he decides to try and be a full back? I'd give him a few matches on the bench, so that the learns that working for Alex Ferguson doesn't guarantee a place in the real first team.

 

[Tetedelacourse]

As a sweaty, I can provide some objective comments on the issues with England

1. There is a delusion that the players are better than they are. Really, other than Gerrard and Owen, the stars of the Premiership are foreign. An England 11 is simply not as good is the media thinks it will be. And Owen is injury-prone.

2. McLaren is an awful manager. At club level he was atrocious. Internationally he is worse. In the wake of the Russia defeat, Hiddink assessed the game in terms of tactics, the football played, and the actual events that occurred. In short, he showed his knowledge. McLaren publicly scratched his head and said "I don't know how we lost, we were great". THAT is an embarrassment.


As for Scotland, well, it's no surprise really. Had some great moments in the campaign, bit of pride restored, in pot 2 for the world cup draw, fair enough no complaints from me. I don't think we were robbed either on Saturday, unlike the media again. Donadoni hit the nail on the head. We got some decisions, didn't get others. C'est le fut, as Platini would say.

Lastly, I hope England qualify for next summer. It would be like a panto without Abennazer!

 

[alecstilleyedye]

As a sweaty, I can provide some objective comments on the issues with England

1. There is a delusion that the players are better than they are. Really, other than Gerrard and Owen, the stars of the Premiership are foreign. An England 11 is simply not as good is the media thinks it will be. And Owen is injury-prone.

2. McLaren is an awful manager. At club level he was atrocious. Internationally he is worse. In the wake of the Russia defeat, Hiddink assessed the game in terms of tactics, the football played, and the actual events that occurred. In short, he showed his knowledge. McLaren publicly scratched his head and said "I don't know how we lost, we were great". THAT is an embarrassment.


As for Scotland, well, it's no surprise really. Had some great moments in the campaign, bit of pride restored, in pot 2 for the world cup draw, fair enough no complaints from me. I don't think we were robbed either on Saturday, unlike the media again. Donadoni hit the nail on the head. We got some decisions, didn't get others. C'est le fut, as Platini would say.

Lastly, I hope England qualify for next summer. It would be like a panto without Abennazer!

i should be working for the diplomatic corps. i was in edinburgh, at a family gathering (only me, sis in law and my kids are non-jocks) when news came through that israel had scored in the final minute, and managed not to further rub salt into the wounds of the scots, who had just been knocked out by a last minute goal.

and typically, that's where i was when we thumped the germans 5-1.

 

[Dayvo]

i should be working for the diplomatic corps. i was in edinburgh, at a family gathering (only me, sis in law and my kids are non-jocks) when news came through that israel had scored in the final minute, and managed not to further rub salt into the wounds of the scots, who had just been knocked out by a last minute goal.

and typically, that's where i was when we thumped the germans 5-1.

And I remember Euro 1996 in England when we beat Holland 4-1, with that solitary Dutch goal being enough to prevent Scotland from advancing to the next round!

 

[alecstilleyedye]

And I remember Euro 1996 in England when we beat Holland 4-1, with that solitary Dutch goal being enough to prevent Scotland from advancing to the next round!

fortunately that time i was at bro in law's with the english in the majority and felt uninhibited in celebrating gazza's splendid goal and mcalister's missed penalty

 

[girofan]

McLaren said in interview that he was in the bathroom when Israel scored the winner.
So now we know for certain he was sh****g himself!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[QuickDraw]

I'd rather talk about England than Scotland today.

There seems to be 2 problems with England:
1. The manager. That's not a dig at McClaren it's all English managers. Whenever there's talk of a British team and who would you pick from Scotland the answer should always be "the manager". When was the last time an English manager won the top division in England? 1991 Howard Wilkinson? Since Paisley retired there's only been Howard Kendall and Howard Wilkinosn won it. In all that time it's been carved up between 3 Scots and Frenchman and a Portuguese. Where are the top class English coaches? Allardyce? Curbishley? I know the foreign experiment failed the last time but if the home talent isn't good enough what choice do you have.

2. The fans/media. People in England seem to think they should be winning everything. No doubt after stuttering to qualify on Wednesday they will be immediately installed as favourites to win the whole tournament. There is no real way to be successful with England because expectations are always way ahead of reality. All the "England expects" stuff, how can any player be expected to play to his potential under pressure like that?

Anyway that's my opinion. I'm away to pick up the pieces of my shattered Euro 2008 dream.

PS I'm not blming the ref either. We just weren't quite good enough to hold the World Champions to a draw. That's huge improvement from drawing with the Faroes.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

i think this sums up the situation

 

[andyoxon]

Earwig go... Draw or bust.

 

[marinyork]

Disaster already, ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH

 

[andyoxon]

2-0 to croatia now... Oh dear.

Missed them both...while reading Prince Caspian to mini ao.

 

[marinyork]

You didn't miss much. Ooh Prince Caspian, you don't get many people that read the other Narnias, very good. I saw the rewatched the BBC adaptation of PC recently and thought how awful it was.

 

[fossyant]

Not going to bother watching - FFS why can't we get through without all this bother......

Hero's is on - BBC 2 then 3 - always re-watch the BBC2 then watch the new BBC 3 episode.......