The England thread

[Benji]

So few players want to go into coaching because why bother with the stress when you've made several life times of cash as a player? You see the same thing happening with WWE, until recently the road agents were made up of guys from the 80s, the guys from the 90s boom didn't really stick around to be road agents because they made their money or wanted to do other things, and now guys from the 00's are bridging that gap.

[Gazz]

Darkest timeline confirmed...

[therockbox]

oh god I'd forgotten about Hoddle

[Liam]

I'd take Hoddle since that would mean I wouldn't have to listen to his god awful commentary. I don't tend to listen to press conferences or interviews with the England manager.

[Lineker]

Martin Glenn told Roy Hodgson that "Iceland is not your epitaph or legacy".

 

Yes it fucking is.

[Adam]

Martin Glenn is an idiot. That press conference was a bit of a shambles in my opinion, they both looked like numpties. Whether he meant it like that or not, the FA Chief Executive and one of three men to be selecting the next manager should not be saying "I am not a football expert."

Roy may have turned up to this press conference, because he was basically made to, but he was still shriking responsibility. Refuses to admit to being at fault for a lot of the reasons this has happened, said things about the players that just aren't true and all around came across like a total buffoon. Before the tournament I said the following in this thread:

On 31/05/2016 at 14:16, Adam said:

Roy is too predictable and too reliant on players from 'big' teams no matter what the personal circumstance with each player is.

And it's been proven true. We played exactly the same, flawed way in every match despite it clearly not working from game 1 onwards, and the insistence on forcing Rooney into the side, and of going back to Wilshere and Sterling again and again was ridiculous. After seeing him today I'm convinced he's just deluded massively, and still cannot see where he has gone wrong. No hope if we continue down this road and appoint one of the names being touted.

It's time to rip up the rulebook and start again.

[DavidMarrio]

2 minutes ago, Adam said:

Roy may have turned up to this press conference, because he was basically made to, but he was still shriking responsibility. Refuses to admit to being at fault for a lot of the reasons this has happened, said things about the players that just aren't true and all around came across like a total buffoon. Before the tournament I said the following in this thread:

Roy making things about himself, not accepting blame when it is his fault and making up lies?

Well I am shocked!! 

[MDK]

How about Blanc as manager? I wouldn't even mind Billic but he'd be mad to leave West Ham at the moment, and certainly not for the England job.

Fuck it, why not have a public vote for it before every big match, XFactor style. Guest managers like they do on HIGNFY, whoever is out of work that week can have a pop and if he (or she, might as well deepen the pool) does alright, keep them on for a bit.

[Just Joe]

24 minutes ago, MDK said:

How about Blanc as manager? I wouldn't even mind Billic but he'd be mad to leave West Ham at the moment, and certainly not for the England job.

Fuck it, why not have a public vote for it before every big match, XFactor style. Guest managers like they do on HIGNFY, whoever is out of work that week can have a pop and if he (or she, might as well deepen the pool) does alright, keep them on for a bit.

Bonzo The Dancing Dog as Manager, I like it! 

[Gazz]

To be honest, whoever they appoint manager isn't going to make a difference. After Germany implemented their youth development program, it took a decade or more to see the results in the national team. Whoever takes over and probably their predecessor after that is going to be stuck picking from a pool of tactically and technically inferior players and that's on the understanding that radical change and investment takes place immediately.

[brenchill]

4 hours ago, PentaNerf Jr. said:

Honestly, England should throw everything they have at AVB.

What?

[Gazz]

Looking at the list of potential candidates, they should.

Despite the press' attempts to paint him as a bumbling fool because he took no shit from them, he's actually a very good manager. He didn't exactly set the world alight at Chelsea but everywhere else he has been, he's been a success.

He won't take them job though, I would imagine he has less than zero interest in managing in England again, let alone the national job.

[The Lusophone]

23 minutes ago, Gazz said:

To be honest, whoever they appoint manager isn't going to make a difference. After Germany implemented their youth development program, it took a decade or more to see the results in the national team. Whoever takes over and probably their predecessor after that is going to be stuck picking from a pool of tactically and technically inferior players and that's on the understanding that radical change and investment takes place immediately.

This is the big thing. You can appoint whoever, be it Hoddle, Southgate, Shearer, Sherwood or the reincarnated managerial love baby of Bobby Robson and Alf Ramsey but if the talent isn't there, you can't succeed. Use what Germany did after 2004 as a guide - including bringing back 'B' teams. Want to see how Mark Noble or Antonio, or Cresswell etc etc will do in an England shirt? Give them that opportunity, either in friendlies for the main side or with the B team.

[Bobfoc]

I think there's a widespread fantasy among some pundits about England's apparent right to be a global footballing superpower. Since the first World Cup (and several years before that), has there truly been a time when England could have been considered the best team in the world? Yes, winning in 1966 was a fine achievement and shouldn't be scoffed at, but home advantage and a horribly underperforming Brazilian side definitely helped, and it was arguably more a case of taking advantage of an unexpected opportunity that asserting dominance over the rest of the world.

Besides that, they've played in two European Championship semi-finals, one of which was in a four-team tournament and the other with home advantage, and one World Cup semi-final, which could easily be attributed to a favourable draw that included knockout matches against Belgium and Cameroon.

Yes, you can only beat who's put in front of you, but how many times have England beaten nations that were, on paper, top class in major tournaments, besides 1966? Holland in 1996 was a decent showing, and Argentina in 2002 was a good, albeit desperate result, and there was a scrappy win against a rather awful German team in 2000 if you're really stretching it, but England have lost in pretty much ever other tournament match against a high-profile nation.

Not only that, but, if someone without any ties to England were to compile a list of, let's say, the hundred greatest players ever, how many England players would realistically make it in, if we're being completely honest? Very few, I'd imagine, whereas the likes of Brazil, Argentina, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and Holland would probably have several each.

Yet, to hear the FA and some sections of the media speak, you'd think that England has always been some sort of sleeping megapower that just needs the right manager to guide the team to years of silverware, and there's just no evidence that that's ever been the case. Yes, ambition is good and there's always a point in trying to keep improving, but I do wish that these delusions of grandeur could be curtailed a little before the powers that be start throwing around even more pie-in-the-sky ideas about how to take over the world.

[Adam]

Glenn said they might have an interim manager for a while, which would be Southgate. It doesn't take 3 months to appoint a new manager, why would it ever take so long? The Mirror reckons Southgate could have that job for a YEAR while we 'wait for the right permanent manager to become available'. Are you fucking kidding? Yeah sure, let's have Southgate pick a team for a year instead of giving a new manager enough time to build and craft a proper squad in time for a major tournament.

Clowns from top to bottom.

[Baddar]

Give it to Big Sam, fuck it.

[Lineker]

Southgate: lol, no ta

[Jimmy]

On 28 June 2016 at 16:19, PentaNerf Jr. said:

Honestly, England should throw everything they have at AVB.

Your best post ever.  

[Nerf]

1 minute ago, Jimmy said:

Your best post ever.  

It's true, though. He's a far better manager than he's given credit for, he'll bring an identity, he'll pick players based on that style rather than name value, and can you name anyone - domestically or not - that's currently available with a better CV?

[Jimmy]

Hey, I love AVB -- I'm all for it. The English media will have a field day, because they have it in for him, but AVB back in my life would make me very, very happy. His celebrations, alone, were wonderful.

And it'd be the biggest fuck you to Sherwood. 

That's a good enough reason to give him the job, surely? 

Edited June 30, 2016 by Jimmy