Come anticipate Roy Hodgson's three months in charge og England with me.

I think he was a great buy for us at something like 5% of an Andy Carroll (who Hooper outscored with a lesser team in the Championship). I can't see us hanging onto him beyond next summer, particularly if he puts in another good CL performance. He was man of the match by miles the other night and was involved in everything good that happened for Celtic.

pick england's xi atm?

                              hart
Walker  Caulker    Lescott    Baines
Lennon    Parker   Livermore   D Rose
             Thudd
                       Defoe
        

Not too sure about lescott, he's not really getting a game iirc?

central midfield a little cloggy, against weaker teams i might throw in a more attacking player, andros townsend maybe idk

Surely Cudicini's naturalised by now?

if they weren't gonna play a high line dawson would be clear favourite obv. Struggled over gk but hart's doin ok i'd keep him in there over the strong challenge of wycombe's jordan archer (on a week's loan from spurs iirc)

lol ik with the 'alternative view' nice one ismael always good to get the jokey offering imo

Back in 2000, Gerrard’s debut against Ukraine gave him first-hand, in-the-face experience of the demands of captaincy and England expectations.

Just out of his teenage years, Gerrard sat nervously in the dressing-room at Wembley, listening to the captain, Alan Shearer, shouting “get stuck in”.

Tony Adams, another leader, walked across and stood in front of Gerrard, checking on final preparations to meet Andrei Shevchenko, Sergei Rebrov and company.

“Are you f****** ready?” bellowed Adams. Gerrard looked into Adams’ eyes, understood the supreme significance of the occasion, and replied: “You bet I’m f****** well ready.”

This sounds like the worst thing in the world.

adams yanked him by his shirt into a rough embrace. the first kiss tasted of last night's skol and today's rothmans.

You wanna know how to beat Ukraine? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the England way! And that's how you beat Ukraine. Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that?!

I wonder if Casillas and Xavi got all up in Mata's grill before the Euro final?

they took him to a bar and grill, took wine, took smoke, talked a lil descartes nbd

"we will not rest until every man, woman, and child of ukraine has had their throat slit, and the british alehouses serve their blood as a warm and uncarbonated ale. if you do not wish this with all your heart then you can never play for england, never. never."

This is more like it imo:

The first cap came against Ukraine in 2000 when Gerrard was not quite the worldly, streetwise operator we see now. "I'd travelled down in the same car as Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman," he recalls. "I'd told them how carefully I'd packed my bag. My mum had done my undies, ironed all my socks. I went back to my hotel room after training and everything was in the bath, with the water running." Gerrard had turned 20 the day before the match. "Happy birthday soft-arse" was written in foam on the mirrors.

that's the stuff

When Adams and Shearer are going round doing the chest-beating, "ARE YOU F****** READY?" thing, and they reach Fowler and McManaman - what happens?

lols, slaps, tears, tender lovemaking, england

That kind of behind the scenes stuff fascinates me. It sounds pretty fake when you're watching it but i guess it must have some effect?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjXO308_mKM

I cannot even conceive of being that guy. I bet John Terry even gees his kids up that way before the school run.

it's a totally different thing with rugby, half the aim is to physically intimidate and overpower the opposition, and every second involves a full on physical confrontation.

have you seen England play football?

back of the net

not since venables, no.

This is making me realise that there'd've been somebody pulling that shit in the trenches at the Somme. An experience I'd thought couldn't have been any worse.

"He put himself on the line for England. He’s someone you want to sit beside in the trenches."

"There is no doubt that he has been a warrior of a footballer, lion-hearted, patriotic and ever prepared to risk injury for the cause. You’d want him beside you in the trenches but maybe not in your home."

"someone I’d want with me in the trenches. He’s a winner and would always put his head where it hurts and lead his country with passion."

"in the trenches"+"john terry"
About 80,400 results (0.39 seconds)

When contemplating your imminent death, caught on barbed wire and suffocating in thick mud, you'd want to spend your last few minutes pretending you really want it to someone you don't like.

Zlatan delivers.

More evidence that he can't do it against top opposition

Haha

That was actually a really good goal.

Zlatan puts clown shoes on Shawcross.

Hat trick. Beautiful.

He is a god.

lol

Joe Hart has been crap all night.

osman's been lovely

!!!!!

oh yes

Fucking hell

:D

off he trots, not particularly giving a shit

Haven't enjoyed a friendly so much for ages. OMG.

Damn, stream died and I missed that one. Still, quite the hattrick.

And is this how Sweden are going to roll from now on?

You've gotta see the 4th IK!

Just caught a replay, lol. And lol at all of centurion Stevie's questions being about Zlatan!

http://i.imgur.com/ASuiv.png

And I guess that's the end of the Zlatan debate

never

My word that's astonishing

the problem with not watching England friendlies is that once every 200 matches something worth seeing happens

(just saw the proper angle)