English national football, where do we go from here?

[fredfertang]

It is if you walk through the fields of Aberdeen wearing a kilt and the thistle is three feet high.

I can see that might bring tears to the eyes but I'm not convinced they'd be tears of laughter

 

[Lillian Thomson]

I can see that might bring tears to the eyes but I'm not convinced they'd be tears of laughter

It's true it can be a fine line between tickling and scratching.

 

[Furball]

My mate Wishy (Wiesniewdzke) assured me there were three "pure" Poles in the German squad - he was a tad excited at the time so I didn't ask what "pure" meant but assume he meant there were others with Polish ancestry

Trochowski has Polish parents but moved to Germany when he was 5. His mum sent the Polish FA alerting them to how talented her son was, but the Poles ignored her.

Klose and Podolski both have parents who are ethnically German. Klose moved to Germany when he was 7, Podolski when he was 2.

 

[Furball]

11/23 could've played for someone else:

Aogo (Nigerian father)
Tasci (Turkish parents)
Khedira (Tunisian father)
Ozil (Turkish parents)
Podolski (Polish birth/parents)
Klose (Polish birth/mother)
Trochowski (Polish birth)
Cacau (Naturalised Brazilian)
Boateng (Ghanian father)
Marin (Bosnian birth/parents)
Gomez (Spanish father)

But, tbf, only really Cacau isn't a proper German. All the other were either born in or moved to the Fatherland at a very early age.

I'm pretty sure Ozil's parents were both German born, not 100% though.

 

[fredfertang]

Trochowski has Polish parents but moved to Germany when he was 5. His mum sent the Polish FA alerting them to how talented her son was, but the Poles ignored her.

Klose and Podolski both have parents who are ethnically German. Klose moved to Germany when he was 7, Podolski when he was 2.

Thanks for clearing that up - I won't be breaking the bad news to Wishy though - he'll be happier if he continues to believe he's right

 

[BoyBrumby]

Thanks for clearing that up - I won't be breaking the bad news to Wishy though - he'll be happier if he continues to believe he's right

It's all down to the ripples from the break up of Austro Hungary, really. Pockets of ethnic Germans were left all over mittel Europe when borders when rather arbitrarily drawn after WW1 and, subsequently, when the iron curtain was finally opened a large number chose to return to the fatherland.

All of the three Polish-born German players have at least one parent with historical links to Germany. FWIW Klose is probably the "most" Polish of the three, with his mother and wife both being ethnic Poles and speaking Polish at home.

 

[Furball]

It's all down to the ripples from the break up of Austro Hungary, really. Pockets of ethnic Germans were left all over mittel Europe when borders when rather arbitrarily drawn after WW1 and, subsequently, when the iron curtain was finally opened a large number chose to return to the fatherland.

All of the three Polish-born German players have at least one parent with historical links to Germany. FWIW Klose is probably the "most" Polish of the three, with his mother and wife both being ethnic Poles and speaking Polish at home.

That happened before the Iron Curtain even fell. Czechoslovakia had 3m ethnic Germans amongst their pre-war population, and a large chunk of eastern territory was given to Poland after WW2 - this, along with the presence of German colonialists in territories conquered by the Reich resulted in roughly 12m ethnic Germans being expelled from Eastern Europe after the Second World War, most of whom found refuge in the Federal Republic.

Pockets of ethnic Germans remained behind the curtain, but West Germany has always allowed a right of return, which is why Klose's family were able to emigrate from Poland to West Germany.

 

[BoyBrumby]

That happened before the Iron Curtain even fell. Czechoslovakia had 3m ethnic Germans amongst their pre-war population, and a large chunk of eastern territory was given to Poland after WW2 - this, along with the presence of German colonialists in territories conquered by the Reich resulted in roughly 12m ethnic Germans being expelled from Eastern Europe after the Second World War, most of whom found refuge in the Federal Republic.

Pockets of ethnic Germans remained behind the curtain, but West Germany has always allowed a right of return, which is why Klose's family were able to emigrate from Poland to West Germany.

Well, that's as maybe, but Klose et al's (grand)parents were either Silesian or East Prussian Germans who were marooned in Poland and unable to exercise their right of return until the break up of the Warsaw Pact.

 

[Goughy]

Trochowski has Polish parents but moved to Germany when he was 5. His mum sent the Polish FA alerting them to how talented her son was, but the Poles ignored her.

Klose and Podolski both have parents who are ethnically German. Klose moved to Germany when he was 7, Podolski when he was 2.

According to Wiki, Podolski has parents that were/are polish and athletes in Poland. Trochowski on the other hand comes from a long line of German 'Poles' and classed themselves as German when they moved back when he was 5.

 

[Scaly piscine]

BBC Sport - Football - Steven Gerrard eager to prolong England career

Oh joy we're all saved. Let us all rejoice at the prospect of a cowardly thug who has done sweet FA for England most of his career being made available when he's even more past his best.

 

[sledger]

Hopefully Lampard will do the decent thing and not follow suit.

 

[Craig]

11/23 could've played for someone else:

Aogo (Nigerian father)
Tasci (Turkish parents)
Khedira (Tunisian father)
Ozil (Turkish parents)
Podolski (Polish birth/parents)
Klose (Polish birth/mother)
Trochowski (Polish birth)
Cacau (Naturalised Brazilian)
Boateng (Ghanian father)
Marin (Bosnian birth/parents)
Gomez (Spanish father)

But, tbf, only really Cacau isn't a proper German. All the other were either born in or moved to the Fatherland at a very early age.

Young Hoffenheim fullback Andreas Beck, who has been capped by Germany, was born in Russia. Not sure of his background wrt to his parents, as Beck is a German surname.

 

[Langeveldt]

Any use in hiring an English (or Anglophone) coach? After hearing Capello on TV, I can't help but feel he would have difficulty in emphasizing a point.. His English is terrible, and good English should be a prerequisite for the job, surely..

 

[Uppercut]

Might be a problem, yeah. Although I don't think you're appreciating just how good a manager Capello is. His track record puts him somewhere around the top five club managers of all time.

 

[Matteh]

Fail to see how broad Scouse counts as English.

 

[sledger]

The fact that Steve McClaren can speak relatively decent English is something incredibly detrimental to this argument. The fact that he picked up a Dutch accent in about two days was rather funny though.

 

[Furball]

Any use in hiring an English (or Anglophone) coach? After hearing Capello on TV, I can't help but feel he would have difficulty in emphasizing a point.. His English is terrible, and good English should be a prerequisite for the job, surely..

I'm not convinced by Capello's "lack" of linguistic skills. I reckon his "no speeky ingleeesh" is an act for the media, particularly when he's asked questions he doesn't want to answer.

 

[sledger]

I'm not convinced by Capello's "lack" of linguistic skills. I reckon his "no speeky ingleeesh" is an act for the media, particularly when he's asked questions he doesn't want to answer.

Wouldn't be at all surprised tbh. Can't say I would blame him either. Tbh his English is also pretty damn good considering the fact that he spoke pretty much zero of it when he first arrived in the job.

 

[Pothas]

Might be a problem, yeah. Although I don't think you're appreciating just how good a manager Capello is. His track record puts him somewhere around the top five club managers of all time.

Think that might be pushing it a little bit far but yes no denying he has brilliant record.

Something went badly wrong this last month, obviously England are just a bit rubbish anyway at major tournaments but they were especially bad here, will be intersting to see how he does now.

 

[Craig]

The fact that Steve McClaren can speak relatively decent English is something incredibly detrimental to this argument. The fact that he picked up a Dutch accent in about two days was rather funny though.

McClaren is now managing Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, so we can expect him to speak with a German accent now.