Never been able to get as excited about the national team as I do about my own. I wonder if it has something to do with being a lower league fan? Given the choice between England winning the World Cup and Wycombe winning League Two, even winning the Football Leau...sorry...the EFL McPot Noodle Cup, I'd choose Wycombe every time.
@eric_plant I don't consider myself a West Ham fan but I have a family legacy that gives me a leaning towards the claret and blue. I hope you are not suggesting that West Ham fans are thuggish. If you are I might be tempted to do you one sunshine (I believe that is the current vernacular)
I'm not your typical patriot. I'm a Republican. But England winning the Euros or World Cup would be absolutely unbelievable scenes. I was in Marseille, some of our fans are utter wankers, but that doesn't detract for me. England to win the big one over Wycombe every time.
@bill_stickers At what cost would you like to see England win a major tournament? One thing that the powers that be are correct about is that national team suffers at the expense of such a large football structure.
So look at more successful European teams and the focus on one or two leagues in terms of resource and fan interest. A country then has a playing identify rather than a coach's. I have seen this in The Netherlands where the local government supports the team from really young to youth football at which point they move onto the town club which may be a top team.
So a winning national team but the death of L1 and L2? Not for me.
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub I'd rather we kept our league structure and Wycombe, even if it meant neither WWFC or England won anything again in my lifetime. I wasn't making a choice between the existence of one or the other.
I thought the first half was the best I had seen them play for years...sadly without Gareth at the helm England failed to 'manage' the last ten minutes.
With the influx of EU players to our league it was great to see England, Wales, Northern and the Republic of Ireland make to the knock out phase. Goes to show, we can match them all and I hope it's the sign for our Clubs to look at our young talent including Republic, fielding more of our boys.
Thoroughly enjoyed this competition and seeing the Great British teams (sorry Scots but many from the SPL) and Eire playing the traditional way instead of mimicking the tippy tappy, has been refreshing. Hope the Premier have their scouts out, looking on what's on display.
Can we also try and use the shorthand 'EU' accurately. Plenty of footballers from outside the member states. And actually the idea that the efforts of Wales England and the Irish sides show us 'matching anybody', when three of those sides won just one group game, doesn't really wash either.
As a counter-point to that @Ciderk1d would it fair to say that Ireland, N Ireland and Wales have over performed in their qualification for the next round whilst England have under-performed in their failure to win the group? The smaller Home Nations do not have any where near the amount of perceived top premiership players available to them.
So far I have become been stirred to a point of leaping and or tearing up on two occasions - Wales winner in the first game and Irelands winner last night. England sadly have left me cold. The Sturridge goal was not much more than a relief.
England always under perform we know that for sure but difficult to break down teams who just want to park the bus and 11 players in their own box - so I have a bit of sympathy. Boring though and uninspiring - I was holding back tears for Ireland last night / amazing and magical stuff in contrast to England
The performances of the UK sides and Eire. If they all got knocked, we wouldn't hear the end of it, they all got through with good performances whatever the format.
Germany and Belgium lost to Republic of Ireland and Wales in the qualifiers, I say it's belief and momentum, just because England fly through qualifiers then struggle to deal with how the opposition setup, I call it shoddy homework and forgetting to bring their scoring boots.
The big boys are to come, so hopefully we can see how we fair, if we get past Iceland.
After a slow start, got to say I'm really enjoying it now. The football is picking up and the atmospheres superb.
Without wanting to be negative, how many Englishman would get into the Belgium team?
Our turn tomorrow. With recent events I'm finding it a little hard to be proud of being English at the momrnt. Maybe tomorrow will lift the mood a bit.
Are you also proud that where the supporters of most countries have been boisterous but fun and welcoming and enhanced the reputation of their nation abroad, ours have been drunk, belligerent and fought with the local police. We are becoming a horrible intolerant xenophobic people. We should be ashamed.
God help any lone polish or muslim guys who happen to be on the streets this evening if we happen to lose a game of football.
I started typing a response to that but have decided against. If you believe the papers with these agendas rather than the eye testimony of those in France then there can't be a debate. All nations have a scummy element and some are far worse than the current England one.
One thing I will say though is I am rather jealous of fans of countries who really seem to enjoy watching their team play. Watching England is such torture.
I don't see anything wrong with @DevC's post, it's far more than a media issue, as is pretty easy to verify on social media from fans in France. The only inaccuracy was the future tense in "We are becoming a horrible intolerant xenophobic people." - we have already become that, as Thursday proved.
@Right_in_the_Middle said:
I started typing a response to that but have decided against. If you believe the papers with these agendas rather than the eye testimony of those in France then there can't be a debate. All nations have a scummy element and some are far worse than the current England one.
One thing I will say though is I am rather jealous of fans of countries who really seem to enjoy watching their team play. Watching England is such torture.
And it's a double whammy if you support Wycombe! Let's hope we see a few goals (for) tonight. The shackles tend to be off in the knockout stages. The Slovakia game was dire in the sense that England lacked the guile or readiness/confidence to shoot but overall I thought all three performances were better than we've seen for some time.
The easiest way to explain Thursday is to think of our nation as a group of 'horrible intolerant xenophobic people'. I think this will be the angle pedaled in the media but I think the words insular and uneducated are probably better explainations.
I stil disagree with DevC's post and not from the normal default disagreement either. I just don't believe it to be generally true.
Eh the easiest way to explain it is a general disenchantment with politicians and 'the establishment' amongst those who have been most affected by austerity and the lack of opportunities in traditional manual labour since the 1980s. In Scotland that has been focused towards support for the SNP, but without such a cause in England and Wales it has given rise to an anti-EU feeling. What happens when we leave the EU and things get worse not better is concerning.
Comments
Never been able to get as excited about the national team as I do about my own. I wonder if it has something to do with being a lower league fan? Given the choice between England winning the World Cup and Wycombe winning League Two, even winning the Football Leau...sorry...the EFL McPot Noodle Cup, I'd choose Wycombe every time.
I think I would feel differently if this is how my country's fans were when they had a couple of beers
http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2016/06/14/hundreds-of-ireland-supporters-cheer-on-a-man-who-live-above-a-bar/#.V2B1AZxZKgc.twitter
Hold on, don't you support West Ham?
@eric_plant I don't consider myself a West Ham fan but I have a family legacy that gives me a leaning towards the claret and blue. I hope you are not suggesting that West Ham fans are thuggish. If you are I might be tempted to do you one sunshine (I believe that is the current vernacular)
@eric_plant watch out for the flying fruit
I'm not your typical patriot. I'm a Republican. But England winning the Euros or World Cup would be absolutely unbelievable scenes. I was in Marseille, some of our fans are utter wankers, but that doesn't detract for me. England to win the big one over Wycombe every time.
@bill_stickers At what cost would you like to see England win a major tournament? One thing that the powers that be are correct about is that national team suffers at the expense of such a large football structure.
So look at more successful European teams and the focus on one or two leagues in terms of resource and fan interest. A country then has a playing identify rather than a coach's. I have seen this in The Netherlands where the local government supports the team from really young to youth football at which point they move onto the town club which may be a top team.
So a winning national team but the death of L1 and L2? Not for me.
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub I'd rather we kept our league structure and Wycombe, even if it meant neither WWFC or England won anything again in my lifetime. I wasn't making a choice between the existence of one or the other.
I thought the first half was the best I had seen them play for years...sadly without Gareth at the helm England failed to 'manage' the last ten minutes.
I think not taking players in form and making the winner of the Golden Boot for the season take corners is the way to go.
TheAndyGrahamFanClub - my advice to you is that your loft hatch needs to be replaced - frame and all so I will be around later
@TheAndyGrahamFanClub - scrub that - I'm off to Europe !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i was just about to nip down to Texas Homecare or Do It All when Sturridge scored.
Just want to make sure it was Wales we just beat? So I reckon out the group stages and no more.
With the influx of EU players to our league it was great to see England, Wales, Northern and the Republic of Ireland make to the knock out phase. Goes to show, we can match them all and I hope it's the sign for our Clubs to look at our young talent including Republic, fielding more of our boys.
Thoroughly enjoyed this competition and seeing the Great British teams (sorry Scots but many from the SPL) and Eire playing the traditional way instead of mimicking the tippy tappy, has been refreshing. Hope the Premier have their scouts out, looking on what's on display.
Goes to show that the 'influx of EU players' is good for the national teams, doesn't it?
I'm not sure it actually shows anything, other than it's easy to qualify for the knockout stages in the current format.
Can we also try and use the shorthand 'EU' accurately. Plenty of footballers from outside the member states. And actually the idea that the efforts of Wales England and the Irish sides show us 'matching anybody', when three of those sides won just one group game, doesn't really wash either.
As a counter-point to that @Ciderk1d would it fair to say that Ireland, N Ireland and Wales have over performed in their qualification for the next round whilst England have under-performed in their failure to win the group? The smaller Home Nations do not have any where near the amount of perceived top premiership players available to them.
So far I have become been stirred to a point of leaping and or tearing up on two occasions - Wales winner in the first game and Irelands winner last night. England sadly have left me cold. The Sturridge goal was not much more than a relief.
England always under perform we know that for sure but difficult to break down teams who just want to park the bus and 11 players in their own box - so I have a bit of sympathy. Boring though and uninspiring - I was holding back tears for Ireland last night / amazing and magical stuff in contrast to England
The performances of the UK sides and Eire. If they all got knocked, we wouldn't hear the end of it, they all got through with good performances whatever the format.
Germany and Belgium lost to Republic of Ireland and Wales in the qualifiers, I say it's belief and momentum, just because England fly through qualifiers then struggle to deal with how the opposition setup, I call it shoddy homework and forgetting to bring their scoring boots.
The big boys are to come, so hopefully we can see how we fair, if we get past Iceland.
After a slow start, got to say I'm really enjoying it now. The football is picking up and the atmospheres superb.
Without wanting to be negative, how many Englishman would get into the Belgium team?
Our turn tomorrow. With recent events I'm finding it a little hard to be proud of being English at the momrnt. Maybe tomorrow will lift the mood a bit.
I'm astonished that this was posted after the Croatia Portugal game!
@DevC Deli Ali and Rashford, imo would make the Belgium team. Plus I'm in the majority so proud as punch to be British.
I'm am less astonished at that news.
EnglishWelsh doesn't have quite the same ring to it as British.
Are you also proud that where the supporters of most countries have been boisterous but fun and welcoming and enhanced the reputation of their nation abroad, ours have been drunk, belligerent and fought with the local police. We are becoming a horrible intolerant xenophobic people. We should be ashamed.
God help any lone polish or muslim guys who happen to be on the streets this evening if we happen to lose a game of football.
I started typing a response to that but have decided against. If you believe the papers with these agendas rather than the eye testimony of those in France then there can't be a debate. All nations have a scummy element and some are far worse than the current England one.
One thing I will say though is I am rather jealous of fans of countries who really seem to enjoy watching their team play. Watching England is such torture.
I don't see anything wrong with @DevC's post, it's far more than a media issue, as is pretty easy to verify on social media from fans in France. The only inaccuracy was the future tense in "We are becoming a horrible intolerant xenophobic people." - we have already become that, as Thursday proved.
And it's a double whammy if you support Wycombe! Let's hope we see a few goals (for) tonight. The shackles tend to be off in the knockout stages. The Slovakia game was dire in the sense that England lacked the guile or readiness/confidence to shoot but overall I thought all three performances were better than we've seen for some time.
The easiest way to explain Thursday is to think of our nation as a group of 'horrible intolerant xenophobic people'. I think this will be the angle pedaled in the media but I think the words insular and uneducated are probably better explainations.
I stil disagree with DevC's post and not from the normal default disagreement either. I just don't believe it to be generally true.
Eh the easiest way to explain it is a general disenchantment with politicians and 'the establishment' amongst those who have been most affected by austerity and the lack of opportunities in traditional manual labour since the 1980s. In Scotland that has been focused towards support for the SNP, but without such a cause in England and Wales it has given rise to an anti-EU feeling. What happens when we leave the EU and things get worse not better is concerning.