The England thread

[Gazz]

You're all also assuming England have even the slightest chance of winning Euro 2012. :lmao:

[Liam]

You're all also assuming England have even the slightest chance of winning Euro 2012. :lmao:

That's why I also mentioned 'competing' >_>

[Pettengill_Mark]

I shall make just a couple of quick points regarding this...shit-storm. Firstly, the point that has annoyed me most this week is that John Terry gets his trial after the season is finished and after the Euro's. Whilst Redknapp has to face his during the season. So, Capello is gone because the FA decided to strip JT of the captaincy, in my opinion he should have been banned from playing for England until after his trial. As for Capello, he should have gone after the mess that was the World Cup. The FA should have brought in a younger manager who used younger players for the Euro qualifying campaign, let them get their experience through that. In truth a young, hungry England team would have got through to the finals and gained further experience without as much pressure of actually being able to win the thing. Using the Euro's as a learning curve for younger players in order to prepare them for qualifying and challenging for the World Cup. Let's be honest, how many of JT, Lampard, Gerrard, Ferdinand or Ashley Cole will be playing at a World Class level when the next World Cup rolls around? Capello was not the manager that England wanted or needed. I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that Harry will be linked with this job from now and fully expect him to take over permanently at the end of the season with Stuart Pearce holding the reins till then.

[Colly]

Edit: I can't belive I'm saying this but Joey Barton makes a good point. 4 months from the Euros and we have no manager and no captain, that is ridiculous.

If only racism in football was ignored like in the good old days, there would be no problem now.

The thing is, it shouldn't necessarily be trial by media, or trial by the bloke down the pub. It should be done the way it is being done. Therefore, Terry should be in a position to be England captain, if that is how Capello wants things to be. Nowhere near as simple as you are trying to suggest.

It is someone quitting because they can't play someone - who has been clearly caught on saying saying "black cunt" (though the context is unclear) - in the way they want.

If John Terry had been captain and England somehow won the Euro Championship, he'd be the one lifting the trophy. If Terry was then convicted, that lasting image of him raising the trophy would give thousands of impressionable kids - who idolise footballers because their parents didn't do a good job - the idea that racism is reasonable if it leads to glorious moments like this.

I teach kids like that. Whilst it doesn't make that Terry scenario good news for anyone, you are giving way too much power to them being able to link the two, or to the fact that this will somehow turn kids that are fine into racial epithet spewing thugs. Basically, if it is latent in the kid, it is latent in the kid. If the man in the street thinks that Ferdinand IS a black cunt, then the man in the street will think that irrelevant. Nothing changes with Terry lifting the cup, then being deemed a racist........the racists will lord it, the intelligent rational people will not. Simple as that really.

In the last few weeks we've seen Evra booed, Anton Ferdinand abused and had a bullet sent to him, and Rio Ferdinand booed for being the brother of someone who's been allegedly racially abused. Yes, most of those people will be racist twats anyway, but some of them will be (admittedly stupid) football fans who don't recognise it as unacceptable. If that's what happens off the back of club nonsense like the Suarez t shirts, what happens when its okay for the England captain to be racist?

Well, it won't be, because he will be fined/suspended/so on and so on.

We aren't talking about him raising the cup/competing and then being found not guilty. We are talking about that happening, and then him being found guilty. At which point, he gets hit with a multiple game ban and fines. It isn't as if some consequence isn't meted out, and that it won't be done in a pretty high profile manner.

I still think that's a PR nightmare, not to mention the effect on Terry and the rest of the squad during the tournament.

Hey ho, another tournament written off before it starts. Maybe the reduced pressure might actually be good for us?

[brenchill]

Pressure or no pressure, we'll get knocked out as soon as we draw Portugal.

[Colly]

Or Germany. Or Spain. Or Holland. Or Croatia. Or Greece. Or anyone else.

[Lineker]

For me there is no doubt that John Terry's position was untenable. However the FA went completely the wrong way about stripping him of the armband. They should have told Capello before releasing a joint statement, preferably in a press conference.

I'll be sad to see Harry leave us but Levy will no doubt get a terrific deal from the FA for him. Hopefully whatever it would cost us to get Mourinho in.

[MDK]

Lionel Messi's a triffic player and we'd luv to av im at England. 'Parently he has a release clause.

It worked for Alfredo Di Stefano.

[Gazz]

Lionel Messi's a triffic player and we'd luv to av im at England. 'Parently he has a release clause.

It worked for Alfredo Di Stefano.

'Arry got 8 shillings and sixpence for the deal as a 'bonus'.

[Liam]

I love Roy Keane. Slapping down Wayne Rooney with one fell swoop. Beautiful.

[MDK]

Lionel Messi's a triffic player and we'd luv to av im at England. 'Parently he has a release clause.

It worked for Alfredo Di Stefano.

'Arry got 8 shillings and sixpence for the deal as a 'bonus'.

Part of me hates 'arry because he is a dodgy geezer, but my inner cockney aspires be him.

[Summers]

[MDK]

I, personally, would like a dream team of David Platt, Stuart Pearce and Gazza as joint managers of England.

[9 to 5]

Give it Steve Kean. He can manage a bunch of guff merchants to beat top teams.

[DavidMarrio]

[Hobo]

For me there is no doubt that John Terry's position was untenable. However the FA went completely the wrong way about stripping him of the armband. They should have told Capello before releasing a joint statement, preferably in a press conference.

This. If Terry was to be stripped of the captaincy it shouldn't have been above Capello's head that it was done. He wasn't going to take that kind of crap from the FA.

[MDK]

If someone had just told Terry 'Resign as captain, it'll save everyone a lot of ball ache' all of this could have been averted.

[Matt]

[therockbox]

That flowchart is magnificent.

[Crybaby Bunting]

Could the past four years have gone any worse for England?

• Not qualifying for Euro 2008
• The best qualifying period for WC'10 which resulted in an atrocious World Cup
• Highlighting the word atrocious: recalling players that he'd never played during the campaign and slotting them straight into the squad whilst not playing Joe Hart at all.
• Keeping Capello despite this?
• Losing Terry as captain for a story that was made up by the press
• Richards committing international suicide by ranting about selection on twitter
• Ledley King STILL being hyped as the best defender England doesn't have despite a series of mistakes that should ban him from selection (last minute tackle in the City game? What the fuck was he thinking?)
• Rio Ferdinand forgetting how to play football.
• Every fucking youngster hyped by their respective club smashed by an injury early this season pretty much halting their development (But just watch Wilshere end up being selected despite not playing all year)
• Mishandling everything about the racism case (half caused by Chelsea being such fuckwits about waiting until the end of the season)

I'm probably missing more but England have been fucked on and off the pitch by pretty much everything that could possibly go against them. It makes absolutely no sense to undermine the England manager right now because they should have just accepted that the tournament was going to be terrible. Now we have to create a fall guy who will probably coach England for four games and then get sacked for poor performance.

I don't think Harry Redknapp will come in, they need a guy who will fail so that they can look like genius' for appointing Redknapp straight after the tournament. They don't want to break their precious Stuart Pearce so I'm guessing that they're going to get an out of work experienced manager to take the reigns for a few matches before their glorious collapse.

Problem is, I can't think of any out of work experienced managers. Gareth Southgate is pretty much the closest I can think of and he was found out at fucking Boro!

So who the fuck is there? Gary Neville? They need to find a fall guy somewhere.