I imagine few people in England would remember the midfielder Ryszard Tarasiewicz. He played most of his career with Slasc Wroclaw in his native Poland before leaving a nation finding its way back to democracy in 1989 and playing out his career in Switzerland and France. He is the joint twenty-fourth most capped player in Polish history, with one solitary World Cup appearance for his depleted national team in Mexico in 1986, where Poland were hammered four-nil by the Brazil of Socrates, Junior and Careca.
And yet rather than be a mere footnote in international football history the name Tarasiewicz could have haunted English football as much as Maradona, Van Basten, Ronaldinho or his fellow countryman Jan Tomaszewski. In Katowice in October 1989, as England and Poland entered the dying seconds of a tense and goalless final World Cup qualifier, Tarasiewicz struck a shot at goal from thirty yards out that had a flailing Peter Shilton utterly beaten. The ball swung in the air, thumped the England crossbar and bounced down and back into play for defenders to scramble it clear. Seconds later the final whistle sounded and England had qualified for the World Cup.
Had the ball gone in then Poland would have taken England’s place at Italia 90, a tournament in which England’s dramatic run to the brink of the Final is credited as being at least partly responsible for the great changes in English football and its subsequent boom in popularity. How different might English football have been? And all for the sake of an inch, a couple of centimetres. As Juan Sasturain remarked when describing the same fractions that denied Rob Rensenbrink and the Dutch the World Cup against Argentina in 1978: “The distance between heaven and hell.”
England will shortly play Croatia in the final qualifier for next year's European Championships, and it does amuse me that large sections of England’s support are perplexed as to why we are in a position where we require a win or a draw to advance to the Finals. We are England I’m afraid, and this is what we do. Only once in my lifetime have England ever qualified for a tournament without requiring a result in the final game, and all too often it has been in jeopardy in the final seconds. Christian Vieri missed a free header in injury time that put England through to the 1998 World Cup, and famously a very late David Beckham free-kick saved England against Greece to qualify for the World Cup in Japan and South Korea. At least on those occasions existed the safety net of the play-offs, but no such get-out clause is in place to save England on Wednesday if they lose and Russia, as expected, beat Andorra. Croatia of course have nothing really to play for - but then neither did Greece.
So don’t be surprised if England enter injury time against Croatia with everything - qualification, McClaren’s job, several England careers, the FA’s finances - still in the balance. And should a Croatian let fly in the manner of Ryszard Tarasiewicz and hit the frame of our goal time will stand still as we wait to see where the ball will land, and joy and despair, two emotions that power football, will never have been in closer proximity.
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128 comments:
Brilliant. Byebye - I read this as I listen to Prettiest Star and it seems so apt.
Thanks for sparking the enthusiasm for tomorrow night - which was flagging and after today's performance by the boys with the ball in Sri Lanka - it honestly wasn't looking too good for energy tomorrow.
I love posts. I hate crossbars.
Oh, and after successfully jinxing every single team I backed for the Champions League last season, let me just add that I have a very positive feeling about England qualifying for the Euro.
Cheers Badman, nice one.
could have...
would have...
should have...
what if.
sasturain is the master builder, but if you were in his class you know where would you be, don't you? that's right: at the top.
personal heartfelt gratitude for your ability to spot international caps on the good forgotten players. that's a keen observational eye you've got there :)
and not one phrase wooden, stilted, or deflected.
spot on, from beginning to end.
cheers, badman.
I remember the 94 world cup final, Brazil won 0-0.
It's the first W. C, final decided by penalty kicks.
Roberto Baggio came up at 3-2 Brazil.He kicked it clean over the top of the goal, he had just kicked the cup to south america.
It was inartistic by football purists standards.Penalty kicks ordinarily are awarded for infractions in the penalty area, at the end of a cup final it's just another form of lottery, but it goes down as a victory in the history book.
Hopefully tomorrow England win the qualification with a W and not with a 0-0 boring game.
Yes Byebye, or rather Aaargh!
we would be foolish to believe that we would qualify (or not) any other way
but then we'd be foolish to believe that we could get to a final/win something, sigh, the naive comi-tragedy (horror/ghost story) of the Engle fan
but I'll be there tonight at 3am with the fillets in their England shirts asleep by my side (unless we score), conditioning the next generation (albeit subliminally) to senselessly hope against hope and blow raspberries at the cold wet fish of historical fact and actual reality that you've splattered in our faces here
lest we forget eh? Thanks Bbb!
Thanks, Bbb, for brightening my morning!
This morning's news of a "leaked" side tells of "bold" moves - such as dropping Beckham, whose innovative powers nowadays invite comparison with Bruce Forsyth.
McClaren's bold choice of Gerrard and Lampard cheered me up even more.
Scott Carson is an interesting choice - he's from Whitehaven. Cumberland doesn't seem to provide many top footballers - the locals up there seem keener on twisting their faces and skipping over mountains.
They have produced some good Rugby League players, mind - Ike Southward was a revelation in the Oldham side I used to watch, lighting up Watersheddings (no mean feat!) on his debut. And Alf Mumberson had a name that we kids could savour.
What's it to be, then? My guess is that they will ruin our summer by qualifying.
gg,
if the side is leaking the only thing you can do is paddle to shore as fast as you can. Either that or use Peter Crouch as a barge pole.
g'luck.
the bar will be open after the game. Bring your friends, your animals, wife and girlfriend.Music and pakalolo a gogo.
Thanks all.
Regarding the leaked team news, why oh why let it slip 24 hours before kick-off? Is this just to get the media on side? we do it every time. Surprise can be such a key element of battle, and you only have to name your team an hour before the game. I'm sure given the stakes most hacks would forgive them a few closed door training sessions this week.
I'm really not sure about tonight, if this is the team we're starting with. No Rooney, no Owen, no Beckham (with one up front why remove the man most likely to pick him out?), a second-string back four (excepting richards maybe), an untested goalkeeper, the whole Gerrard/Lampard thing...without mentioning two of the best players born in england, Scholes and Carragher, don't want to play for the national side anymore. Could be an agonising night.
That said, Croatia only need a point to win the group, which would put England through. But whatever happens, I hope it's not case of a nod, a wink and a mutually beneficial slow dance.
I honestly don't mean this as a personal attack on anyone, but this "fine line between success and failure" stuff really irritates me. In my opinion it's the biggest load of nonsense, and you hear it everywhere in football. I talked about this on the Gross thread on GU and no-one was interested, so feel free to skip the next part.
The shot didn't go in. It nearly went in, but it didn't. If it had, perhaps the referee would have blown for full time, and who knows how different English football might be. On the other hand, England might have equalised from the restart and the result would have been exactly the same.
What happened, happened. Billions of other things might have happened, but they didn't. This isn't a bad science fiction novel, it's reality. All kinds of things MIGHT happen, but they don't.
My point on the Gross thread was that David Ginola missing an open goal at the start of a game which Spurs subsequently lost 6-1 does not mean that Gross was nearly a successful Spurs manager. The implication is that if Ginola had scored, Spurs would have won and Gross would have had the backing he needed. But of course, in the alternative "Ginola scores" universe Spurs might have had three men sent off and lost 10-1.
Platt's goal against Belgium at Italia 90 - everyone says "If that hadn't gone in, England go out and Bobby Robson is remembered as a failure, and would football have taken off in England the way it did?" But of course, if that hadn't gone in England might have scored an even better goal ten seconds later.
What happened, happened. There is no thin line between success and failure. You hit the post and you lose the game. What if it had gone in? Would you have won? YOU DON'T KNOW. You can't know. It's as pointless and irrelevant as can be.
It really irritates me.
As you may have noticed.
could have...
should have...
would have...
if.
"balls", said the queen. "IF i had them, i'd be king!"
most of the time the problem is what didn't happen.
...or what might have happened if what happened hadn't happened when it did (or didn't).
like the queen who had balls but shouldn't wear a mini-skirt cause she could catch a cold.
And the comedy continues...
Sadly, French TV has no sense of humour, they're showing the France - Ukraine friendly, so I'm stuck with the MBM on GU.
By the way, thanks to Gary Naylor for reminding everyone why Bilic is evil incarnate.
bloody Andorrans
I thought this thread could be quiet for a while.
The McLaren Lynching is about to start any minute.
File, yeah those Andorrans are notoriously unreliable. If you need someone to do your qualifying for you, pick Italy or something.
A nation mourns (temporarily)! There's not even a home international side to half-heartedly cheer on.
I need a drink! Barman, bring me an armadillo.
an armada of armadillo's and all on the rocks, tis a black day in Bolton, Bromsgrove and Bethnal Green
If you're looking for another word beginning with B, there's always "bling"*.
* sound of penny dropping.
I got everything under control for the drinks, offside is making cocktails and we drink them.
...aye and Bollocks *
*wot a load of
66 cubic litres of Nitrous Oxide please Guitou, and a funnel
I think Mick Jones from the Clash is on the Grauniad blog, but he's a bit shy. Shall I invite him over for a drink?
Thank you, England, for an enjoyable game - lots of blood and guts, but negligible skill - and for finally putting us all out of our misery.
This should see off McClaren - never quite as bad as we painted him, but never remotely good enough.
Very Terribles? LOL!
Time for England to field a side consisting of players who are all under 25 years of age today - mix and match, and see what we can come up with for 2010.
My abiding image? Sorry, it's the stuff of nightmares: not-even-portly Frank transfixing the Croatian goalie, with his tongue darting about like a rampant serpent, before making his only positive contribution to the match.
If Lampard becomes Britain's next Tory prime minister, his tongue could well prove useful to Hilary Clinton - revenge is sweet, Billy Boy!
I look forward to a serene summer in the country, devoid of both TV and footy - except, of course, for the moaning of a horde of Swedish friends and neighbours, forlornly hoping for victories.
I'll get me nightshirt.
This is the place for comfort, come in boys we have been there so many times...the mclaren is on the ice,the armadillos are ready.
Nitrous oxide is good for your inspiration, file.
Tequila for me. Leave the bottle.
Well, what do you say about that? Amidst the next few days of McClaren resigning, Barwick following him (as if) and the players copping it as usual for being overpaid and underperforming yobs that earn way more than nurses, I hope one thing will finally emerge - an acceptance of exactly where England are in world football terms, and the root causes that lie beyond that ninety minutes tonight. Unlikely, but one can hope.
Kudos to Croatia, who I thought were excellent and whose slick bouts of comfortable possession that drew out what little sting England had should be the real lesson of the night. They should be good to watch next summer, on a decent pitch.
Ah, that pitch, that stadium...all that money spent and it can't even provide a surface to cope with a slight burst from the heavens. Overspending on a shed with bells on to the extent you shelve indefinitely the building of the national football academy that one day might just start to close the chasm between us and the rest of the world...a proud day for the inventors of the game!
loved Motm question on Paul Doyle's thread:
"do FA know the way to sign José"
wot GG said, I'm going to bed, thanks for the inspiration Guitou I think I'm feeling lightheaded already, by 2010 the Engles should surely have a team worthy of competing at the very top, surely
Bbb, where's that wet fish of yours?
Rainy Night Cocktail #4:
Make up a standard non-fizzy blood sweat and tears mix (fruitless)
add
1 part gall
2 parts wormwood
a pinch of grim satisfaction
drink very quickly.
Dog, even I could see the Engles were crap.
sno good, can't sleep, more nitrous please
bbb, that's the extent of the picture isn't it? I thought Wembley II was supposed to have a roof? Not sure who's going to hallow the turf if it turns out to be shite
I agree about under 25's though, I'd even take it further and call a complete amnesty on all those Ever connected to the Engle team, let them turn themselves into a local police station or forever live on the lam, clear the boards from "Durr"wick to the boot boys and get the Froggles in to run it!
who on earth is the right man for the job this time? Red Adair? David Koreshi? Delia Smith?
but yes, Croatia were good tonight and a little lucky too
I love the piece and it proved very prophetic.
At risk of repeating my GU posts, which player has built a case for inclusion in the last two years? None. McClaren will go, but he got ordinary results from ordinary players (except an on-form Rooney, missing tonight).
I won't miss England in 2008, but I will in 2010. The work starts now.
File - wet fish...you've lost me!
If the FA do get Mourinho I think he will, as Eriksson did, mould England into a tough to beat unit capable of qualifying comfortably and reaching the quarter-final of a tournament. McClaren was guilty of ambition only, he shouldn't have been offered the gig.
If we are to get the players to relive the dream of 1966 and win a tournament, a russian gazillionaire cannot buy them for us, we have to produce them. Which will take a whole lot of time, and a whole lot of money...
Paul Doyle is normally ok but I can't believe he's gone down the golden generation/bling culture route. I'm sure the players don't sit around patting themselves on the back because the media coined he term golden generation for them, and I'm equally certain what they earn is irrelevant, it's not like the Croatian players, or any top flight players, live off scraps from the bins.
All that's being said there is that if England's players could be arsed they would beat Croatia. Far better to admit another nation, however small, has technically more gifted players than you, then set about trying to redress the balance.
bbb, earlier I referred to your piece as the 'cold wet fish of historical fact and actual reality' slapping in the face of those dared harbor some hopes that this time it would be different, heh!
at least we didn't go out on penalties, gotta have some balance in the diet
it IS all about the youth set up, agree absolutely, and the investment and intelligence with which it's done, and as you say; if Wombley is anything to go by we're shot for a lot more than another 3 years
I wouldn't choose a glory boy like JM myself, I'd choose someone who knows exactly how to make a team
Just skimmed through the GU posts, I liked this from a Croatian: "what disillusional person that mclaren is".
... or even not undisillusionalistic enough, it's a fine line
Trouble finding sleep, Filou? Look at the bright side: there won't be a 6-month long Gerrard AND/OR Lampard debate on GU. (Unless someone has the bright idea to appoint them both as player/manager for England.)
Jose? no no no. no no.
And what does McClaren think his point is by not resigning? Surely it's the only honourable thing to do, no point him getting all bold and wilful now.
Still, U-21s looked nice though, at least the clips I saw. Is there something about being a senior England international that makes them lose their technique the minute they're called up?
I feel sick. (Although I wouldn't have been happy if we'd fluked a win, either, I don't think).
Munni, probably McClaren has a contract where if they sack him they have to give him a big pay-off but if he resigns he gets nothing.
Brilliant quote from McClaren:
"I am not looking to the future, I am thinking about this game, what could have been, what wasn't"
Says it all really.
The last time England missed out on a tournament was the 1994 World Cup, which turned out to be very enjoyable. So what if England aren't there, it's getting my undivided attention in June next year.
yes it's about the money he knows it's time to pack but will show no pride when it comes down to the pay check.
it's not good for Euro 08 not to have England involved in the competition.
Why not guitougoal? I'd rather them be there but 14 teams have qualified on merit. England's points tally wouldn't have qualified them from any of the other groups either.
Wonder if it was an empty promise or if the British Home Championship is now back on the agenda...
And the blogs will be dull...
blogs dull?
never!
may i join the 'drown sorrows' party, or am i too late?
commiserations, BTW, to those of you who...
The blogs I really enjoy are the ones where I discover things I didn't know about football from other nations.
Travel (to my computer to sit and read about football in other countries) broadens the mind!
no Bybye,
Regardless that England failed to grab the opportunity miraculously handed to them by the Israeli,
England as Italy, Germany, France and Spain
are the core of Europe Football. It's more exciting when the old rivalries are back during big competitions. England/Italy-France/Germany for ex(or vice versa) are and always will be prime time features-
Major fAck-up from an incompetent manager and from over-hyped, over-paid star players.
bbb,
"The blogs I really enjoy are the ones where I discover things I didn't know about football from other nations."
Agreed. There's a lass writes on the Guardian about South American futbol. Quite good. What's her name again?
Well I didn't think it was our devastating blizzard of passing and movement that you'd miss! :)
Take your point about old rivalries...but the likes of Belgium, Denmark and Hungary have illuminated past World Cups/European Championships that I've seen and they won't be there either. Like England, sadly not good enough this time around.
offie,
"her name" I will never mention her name. SHE doesn't like to be promoted. SHE has a french alter ego who tried and failed miserably.
what an amazing coincidence offie... i do a bit of that too!!
i was digging deep earlier to find a 'silver lining' in order to comfort my poor offspring (he has not yet been hardened by experience; he's really under shock) and i think there could be much to enjoy and take from a major competition which one observes with a certain amount of emotional detachment.
then i heard myself pontificating on the merits of loving your club more than a country...
a cruel mistress indeed, as peter cook put it.
Right, enough of virtual sports for today. I'm off to find a canoe and a crew.
'later.
"a canoe and a crew"?
Typical froggie playboy!
None of the time-honoured paddle round the boating lake while the hangover evaporates, hoping the alehouse will have opened when the man shouts "Come in, number 7, your time's up!"
Oh no, PC's bloody Onassis has to find himself a crew...
: ))
just read the papers; McC refuses to resign and Becks dismisses international retirement talk, it's looking good for 2010 already
the thing that shocks me in the cold light of day is how many people aren't shocked, myself included
it all just seems par for the course, back to Bbb's piece again
So, he's gone. I wonder who'll be next - one of the Resultists like Mourinho or Capello? Would hazard a guess the nationality of the manager will be seen as irrelevant this time around.
It's been taken down this morning but on the England fixtures bit of the FA website under the proposed France-England friendly in Paris in March lay the words "in the event of both sides being drawn in the same group at Euro 2008 this game may be rescheduled". Looks like it's back on then!
Downwards, onwards and upwards. It's the World Cup qualifying draw for us on Sunday, which they are apparently basing solely on those dubious FIFA world rankings.
Damn and dog - wish I'd thought to join you lot. Instead - a sad night, getting very cross and alone.
Still, early doors last night so plenty of time to listen to all the c**p today, and the unending press conferences explaining why M********** can't bring myself to type his name, has taken the 2.5 mill bung from the FA for being "sacked".
he said:"i learned a lot in 18 months,I am a better manager now" He probably did know that he came to teach and not to learn.
Gui: you are exquisite.
Shame you can't teach such as white-teeth Mclaren.
go, staines town!
football is alive and well - hope conquers despair.
There's a line in Blackadder goes Forth where Melchett says to George, who believes Blackadder to still be alive after being captured, 'That's the spirit - if nothing else, a total, pig-headed unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through.'
Couldn't help but think of that today after some of the tripe I've read today..
give yourself a break, son.
start supporting staines town NOW.
i wish i'd recorded the match for you...
I would have been behind Stockport actually.
:)
George BEST.
Guitou,
do you mean Best for England Manager?
Hey, gg, you got moderated again, what was that all about?
Offy -
nothing extravagant.
I was in Blackadder mode, and I met Baldrick's Aussie cousin.
Ah, sorry I missed it. Couldn't read through it all, 1,200 posts, jaysus! You'd think something important had happened.
Yeah - can't understand so many people going overboard for just one match.
I'm glad that none of Lord Wrigley's lads was involved - I don't want his toys getting broken in these minor competitions.
Why is Strachan not in the frame?
Perhaps a little untested but certainly not over the hill, he'd be more likely than most to do the requisite slapping well
getting moderated on Gu blog should have no significance at all because their guiding principles has variable standard. But mods are more careful and go by the book when they see the international venom specialists getting involved.I think they have our names and mug shots on the wall.
lucky GU mods then Gui, that's a thankless job that one, bit like those chewing gum operatives
top 3 Engle Manglers:
1. Strachan
2. Rijkaard
3. Rafa
if FA is serious about the changes:
-Klingsman
-Mourinho.
guitou,
you're a resourceful cove: can you get us a picture of that GU mug shot gallery? Preferably with Glendenning standing at the side, cradling a 12-bore.
That would make a fantastic t-shirt!
Nora Batty for England manager, with Harry Pearson as assistant!!!
Klinsmann looks good but I really don't think he'd be a popular choice at all, not that popularity should have much to do with it but Nora Batty would probably get more votes - she'd certainly get mine if it came down to a two horse race, with Ann Widicombe coming up on the outside and Ann Robinson baulking at the jumps "Nay lass, you'll not get your leg over wi a saddle on it"
but seriously, the management styles of the two might bear comparison; Klinsmann = Zoolander (inverted hierarchical triangle) and Batty = WYSIWYG in tights (usher out the era of the hairdryer with the age of the rolling pin), I can just imagine the Engles coming out for the second half covered in knotty lumps and bruises and our Nora rolling her sleeves back down for a photo opp.
gg,
"asking for the mug shots"
being myself on the wanted list won't help.I think we should go on hiding and lay ow for a while. Nora's country house it's not a bad idea.
or a quiet little island somewhere warm...
even better.We send them our new pictures with mask and snorkel on
don't forget your apron and thick flesh coloured tights then
So Nora's a hit, is she?
You wouldn't see her hiding under a cissy brolly!
If Harry gets to sit beside her in the dugout, I'll lend him my pink lurex tights and me grandad's flannelette nighshirt.
Good joke I just heard on t'radio:
Brian Barwick, on seeing an old lady struggling with her shopping bags, asks, " Can you manage love?"
Old lady, "I don't want the bloody job!"
Harry wouldn't seat behind Nora's fart.
I think maca's umbrella was a gift from pasarella.
was gonna suggest some of the other cast of Last of the Summer Wine then I realized they've already done 'em
foggy - mcC
clegg - sven
compo - robson
Just like to say two things:
1) Marcela's piece on Javier Zanetti was wonderful
2) FAhahahahahaha. Ha. Ha. Going to Austria. Once the money for university is sorted...
ervanp,
Marcela's pieces are always wonderful, she always keep a few miles between her and the other blokes at gu.
I hear that one of the latest to rule himself out of selection is Paul Ince. I also hear that the MK Dons play some of the best football around.
Who will be the first - change of sport and do any of you care? - to rule themselves out of the job as England national selector?
That's cricket by the way.
:))
gg,
in fairness, Tajikistan are fairly poor. The only way they would qualify is if they were drawn in the same group as England.
offy,
the Andorra match would be a teaser, though.
Andorra doesn't have 11 professional players they depend on the mailman and the blacksmith to complete their team.
guitou,
before I put on my nightshirt, allow me to hail a fellow-nostalgico!
gg,
the night shirt,do you mean your arsenal gown.Sweet dreamsmy friend I bet the Arsene will come to visit you into the darkness of the night :).
And gunners and devils shall live together in harmony. Amen, brothers.
an immense kindness fell from the firmament,
it was the quiet hour when the lions go to the river.
What a nightmare!
I was drinking from the river, and a hyena came and drank beside me, gurgling something like "Fabregas, Fabregas" with a dodgy German accent.
I'll stay off that froggy plonk in future!
"Andorra doesn't have 11 professional players they depend on the mailman and the blacksmith to complete their team."
Ye, but I bet dey 'ave passhun and pride in the shirt, innit.
gg,
I'm 50% Russian, and if they reserve the right to draft me into the army, then I get to support those lazy players.
offside, guito,
Le balon > le grand melon de Willie Gallas > un but!!!
Galla, Anelka... another French conspiracy against United, fer sure. Jackals and hyenas, it's a jungle out there, gg.
Completely agree. Add Saha to that list, what with him skying that shot...
Just caught the highlights. Good goal by Gallas. Probably the weirdest-shaped melon I've ever seen.
Not a bad free-kick by Gerrard either in the other game. French commentator: "How did England manage not to qualify with players like that?"
That, as the bard said, is the question.
I think Gallas was offside. Not that I'll complain...
That's the title of my next piece for Pseuds', "the importance of being Offside".
ev, have you thought of doing the right thing for the good of all and choosing not to take your Euro place in favour of giving to a more traditionally European country, like England, for example?
Gallas ran from midfield, I'd be surprised if he was in Tahiti, and Gerrard, why the f'ack doesn't he do that for the Engles?
Won Kar-Wai last movie "my blueberry night" with nora jones is the ticket..
I know it's off topic but it will be cruel for gg to stay on this day's football events- Another nightmare for our dear professor.Let the wind blow away the bad memories gg, i save you a croissant for breakfast.
Ervanp,
gallas is not offside, offside is white, very white.
file,
would you please use your talent to explain your countrymen how to never place football before friends and never put the country before football-If you succeed, everybody would live happy for ever.
if only my 'talent' stretched that far G, agree with the sentiment tho
You'd think that offside would get a bit of a tan, what with him living in Tahiti.
file,
I'd love it if we didn't go to the Euros. Really. Essentially one country that serves as the laughingstock (England) has been replaced with another country that once again will be the laughingstock of the football world (Russia, a la World Cup 2002)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkqIsSTWSsc
Nice song
1-Scotland
2-Israel
should be in Euro 08 rather than Russia or Portugal
Football is cruel.
ex -
that Jamie Lidell bloke does a good low-key impersonation of Otis Redding.
At first, I thought that his lack of a brolly in the rainy clips might qualify him for the Chancer's job. Then I saw the nifty footwork, which obviously qualifies him to replace BOTH Gerrard and Lampard.
Ta!
Guess what? Scotland are the World Champs. At Golf. But that's ok.
Also Andy Priaulx is 4 times world champ.
Not so bad.
So it's Croatia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra that provide the hurdles between England and the first World Cup in Africa.
Plenty of speculation flying as to whether England can make it and some are already calling it an easy group. Probably best to wait and see who the new manager is, what squad he picks, what the formation/tactics are like, how the fixtures fall and so on before we get too carried away.
Just knowing Brian Barwick is in charge of finding the new manager should be enough to temper expectations.
bbb,
any group that England were to draw would be a hard group!
I see France let lucky, finishing up with Rumania, etc. - I'm sure their midfielders were quaking at the prospect of a draw which pitched them against the mighty Gerrard-Lampard axis.
But the draw is fixed, non?
Right, I'm off to work on that suntan. See yous!
I missed the draw but Man City are defying the odds and still in the top 3.
Who knows? It's all a mystery
That won't last mimi, it's in City's DNA to be rubbish. So it shouldn't continue, although I think it will while SGE is in charge, had a horrible suspicion he'd sort them out.
gg, think the Lampard/Gerrard axis will be one of the first things to go under any new broom.
offy - it's rigged as it's seeded, like most draws it creates a self-perpetuating system whereby the big teams always advance...unless they make a pigs arse of qualifying that is.
I don't know why anyone at UEFA doesn't gripe about Europe's allocation at the world cup - 13 teams out of 32?
bbb,
"new broom" - yes, that's it, Basil Brush for England manager!
So much water under the bridge until 2010. It could be possible to see an African team going to the final for the first time.If by any chance the team plays France, then we'll have an African final. Football is going south, that's reality.
seriously , the french team with Mandanda as the next goal keeper, nasri, benzema, diarra, diaby, and sagna already on Domenech list, France in Africa will be playing at home.Ah ah, interesting no?
Good thing about MC? ~I think so.
Who on earth would ever have thought that Stevie G and Fat Frank would work well together. Duh???
Mimi, I have no idea what you're talking about, but have you read this?
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/11/26/the_best_of_times_the_worst_of.html
Offie: I would be delighted to read your link, however GU Unlimited deems it impossible for me to find this page.
Hum and um, was it rude or just not GU? I wouldn't know as I don't GU these days.
You know, since Rob left, there's no fun any more.
When it becomes off topic to discuss or support a team, ain't it just a pile of rubbish?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk8VZgJkpeg&feature=related
Six months of being in love, and now nothing, so can't start a fire without a spark.
It is me that is such a fool to stay in love. But you can't start a fire.
Dancing in the dark
Nevermind, it's a blog on Stenhousemuir on the football page. Just thought you'd be interested as it's right up your... lane, or close enough.
Stenhousmuir: I dont care. I just do care. Hell and teeth,
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