Tragic Football Stories - Let us Kick Around the misshapen Jabulani that is English football right here

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_aRIdDrwDIgs/SuFflCWmJGI/AAAAAAAADJk/N5BVE634MBM/s320/parliament_mothership_connection-1.jpg

Germany skipper Philipp Lahm has delivered a withering put-down to England by claiming his side "now have to beat a big team".

I don't even think the Germans are trying to zing at this point, just speaking truth.

Worse again, I think Beckenbauer is trying to fuckin help ye

Yeah, I thought Beckenbauer sounded more disappointed and concerned than anything.

Those Germans really dig that 'measured by the strength of yr enemies' shit imo

Not unlike English pundits expressing concern for the plight of Scottish football

English pundits like Hansen and Lawro you mean?

Get fucked are you getting away with palming Lawro off on us.

srs line in the sand shit right there

lololololol

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nope, it checks out

have you seen the news lately? anyone can get an irish passport, sure.

http://scottdouglas.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/tony-cascarino.gif

"Ah begob 'tis the wearin' of the green"

English pundits like Hansen and Lawro you mean?

Has Alan Hansen ever spoken about Scottish football? Lawro has, occasionally, sure he's a terrible man for the pontificatin'

I'm pondering now if Hansen's ever had occasion to broach the subject.

xxp swear to fuck i have that exact jpg just ready to paste

1st up on GIS innit

This is the pity of Scotland not qualifying for major tournaments, now that media is more hysterically Anglocentric than it's ever been (IMO), I wonder how they'd handle it, Hansen would have to do some research on Scottish players for a start

Fingers crossed that we're on our way back to the 70s, with Scotland qualifying and England not qualifying, oh what fun!

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Football/Pix/pictures/2008/12/5/1228491824927/Tony-Cascarino-001.jpg

was gonna go with this xp, being garotted for defiling the green by true son o' the soil

xxp re hansen having to do some 'research' -would he fuck, going on the level of research demonstrated this past couple of years.

HE'S RESEARCHED SOME OFF-LICENCES, AMIRITE??

*slouch* *sneer* *pick up expenses*

I can imagine the reaction you'd get asking townsend to come spend a few hours sweating on the bog with you

I can't imagine, amidst all this WC shockah fallout, that England still won't absolutely cruise to qualificiation for the Euros, btw.

btw I still think if Argentina win the World Cup under Maradonna this year, Gazza should get a shot as England manager.

Fuck that, If Maradona wins the WC for Argentina, the FA should be targetting him

I dunno man, Wales will be up for it and that Montenegro team must have 30 or 40 professionals to choose from.

I would just like to see Maradona try and snog Stuart Pearce tbh

I dunno man, Wales will be up for it and that Montenegro team must have 30 or 40 professionals to choose from.

Once you've faced the might of Slovenia you can have few fears

Fuck that, If Maradona wins the WC for Argentina, the FA should be targetting him
― ,,,,,,eeeeleon (darraghmac), Thursday, 1 July 2010 13:12 (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Nah surely it's time for an english manager now? After a swede, a dutch and an italian??

Has anybody suggested Shearer yet?

I suppose if you take the position that the Malvinas are British territory, it's not that far of a leap to getting Diego on board tbh.

xpost fuck alan shearer, he's too fucking dearer

Maradona worked for Argentina, so surely only one man will do for England:

http://www.xrv.org.uk/forums/attachments/chatter/302d1181841322-bbc-headline-abbas-warns-collapse-gaza-gazza.jpg

It's just possible that Gazza will be too out of it to worry about what the press thinks of his team selection.

Jimmy 5 Bellies at centre half.

Do England shirts come in XXXXXXXXL?

Clubs at which, according to Soccerbase, the England Squad from 1990 began their careers (and their clubs at the time of the tournament):

Stoke City (Derby County)
Brighton and Hove Albion (Glasgow Rangers)
Wealdstone (Nottinghasm Forest)
Reading (Manchester United)
Nottingham Forest (Nottingham Forest)
Ipswich Town (Glasgow Rangers)
West Bromwich Albion (Manchester United)
Tow Law Town (Olympique de Marseille)
Wallsend (Liverpool)
Leicester (Tottenham Hotspur)
Sudbury Court (Liverpool)
Fulham (QPR)
Nottingham Forest (Glasgow Rangers)
Oxford United (Derby County)
Aston Villa (Chelsea)
Everton (Liverpool)
Manchester United (Aston Villa)
Nottingham Forest (Nottingham Forest)
Newcastle United (Tottenham Hotspur)
Burnley (Glasgow Rangers)
West Bromwich Albion (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Leeds United (Arsenal)
Edgware Town (Chelsea)

This year:

Watford (Portsmouth)
West Ham United (Liverpool)
Arsenal (Chelsea)
Liverpool (Liverpool)
Nottingham Forest (Tottenham Hotspur)
Chelsea (Chelsea)
Leeds (Tottenham Hotspur)
West Ham United (Chelsea)
Tottenham Hotspur (Tottenham Hotspur)
Everton (Manchester United)
West Ham United (Chelsea)
Norwich City (West Ham United)
Liverpool (Aston Villa)
Aston Villa (Manchester City)
Luton Town (West Ham United)
Leeds United (Aston Villa)
Nottingham Forest (Manchester City)
Liverpool (Liverpool)
Charlton Athletic (Tottenham Hotspur)
Tottenham Hotspur (Tottenham Hotspur)
Leicester City (Aston Villa)
West Ham United (Manchester United)
Shrewsbury Town (Manchester City)

We've been worrying about Premiership teams giving chances to their youth team products but I wonder whether we should think more about how and why English football has managed to reuce the supply lines of players from smaller clubs to the best clubs?

Everybody knows the top 4 have got all the best English players, silly

West Bromwich Albion (Wolverhampton Wanderers)

Should've have 50-odd caps :D

I didn't know he started at West Brom - was he a boyhood baggy?

Don't think so. He was born in Tipton anyway.

Liverpool and, uh, Rangers dominating the 1990 squad

how and why English football has managed to reuce the supply lines of players from smaller clubs to the best clubs

because now the bigger clubs buy all before them at as young an age as possible, and then nurture them in a professional and successful manner through the ranks?

xp And Forest.

not xpost: more than they did then? It's not like Manchester United didn't have a youth team in the 70s and '80s.

The point I'm trying to make is serious, if not very thoroughly thought-through: finding the lads who will be the very best players is always hit and miss, even for clubs like Ajax who do it remarkably well - guessing which of your youth will be the best players in 8-10 years time will always involve mistakes. If we have reduced the way back for players who miss the cut at 14 then we're likely missing some class.

tryign to think who the second tottenham (tottenham) player is besides king- is it crouch? not sure he had signed forms for us tbh

xp

no, i agree with you tim, to be honest

Yeah it's Crouch, he did actually sign a professional contract and he played for the Spurs youth team.