*Official* English Football Season 2013-14

[Cevno]

Montenegro have some pretty bad injury problems as well, it seems.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Nah, if a South African with an English mother came over at the age of 20 to play for Chelsea and he turned out to be quite good then no-one would bat an eyelid if he was called up go play for England.

Or, indeed, for Bayern Munich.

 

[GIMH]

Or, indeed, for Bayern Munich.

Haha - he was derided for not being English for ages then had a good World Cup

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Haha - he was derided for not being English for ages then had a good World Cup

Yeah, not the best example of someone who didn't get slack for it admittedly.

Also got dropped from England when he actually moved to the country

 

[BoyBrumby]

Heres a Question for you, which one of these was player manager for Exeter City?

View attachment 20787

If it's not Gerry Francis the world's broken.

Meanwhile, Jerry actually has a pretty open door policy to its international caps. They were interested in Hargreaves before he nailed his colours to the mast and, as we were speaking of Saffers, did actually (nearly) cap one in Sean Dundee, briefly of Liverpool. Who I think played in a B game for them or summat.

He was properly shyte for the Scousers too.

 

[sledger]

Yeah you'd have to think so. They'd have to balls up pretty badly not to qualify from here though. Montenegro and Poland at home.

Yeah, I imagine he would resign actually, rather than have the indignity to be sacked like McDonut.

They would have to stack it really badly from herein, but then again, they were arguably in an even easier position before Euro 2008, needing only to avoid defeat at home to Croatia. That actually remains one of my favourite sporting memories actually, was just so funny.

 

[Uppercut]

Haha yeah same. My typical experience of watching England is starting off fairly indifferent but gradually becoming more and more infuriated by the commentators and pundits and really, really wanting them to lose by the end of the game. The Euro 2004 loss to Zidane was one of the best ever too.

 

[sledger]

It's just such an ordeal most of the time. I usually start off vaguely interested and supportive, this fades somewhat when I remember that England are usually just horrible to watch, and then, like you say, the commentary and hype and general direness really turns me off. The fact that the inevitable horrible failure/tournament exit is only ever just round the corner means that in the event they qualify for major tournaments a feeling of permanent dread hangs over me.

Euro 2008 was a great tournament anyway, but I think there's a strong connection between the fact that I enjoyed it so much and the fact that England didn't qualify.

Edit: Not meaning to sound like a real misery guts or anything. At heart I'd always want England to do well really, but, they're just so...ugh.

 

[Pothas]

They really are.

An international tournament is not the same without them though. Sitting through the England games feels like the obligatory thing you have to do before you can enjoy the other games.

 

[GIMH]

Yeah, not the best example of someone who didn't get slack for it admittedly.

Also got dropped from England when he actually moved to the country

Tbf I think what it shows is that the truth lies somewhere between Furball and Sledger's points. People will drop their principles if a player does well.

Which I guess was the original point social said the article made.

 

[Ikki]

Yeah you'd have to think so. They'd have to balls up pretty badly not to qualify from here though. Montenegro and Poland at home.

Surprisingly, Montenegro have played better away than at home. Played 4; won 3, drawn 1. At home, played 4; won 1, drawn 2, lost 1.

I actually think it's one of those situations where a balls-up isn't unforeseeable. England need to win 2 games, certainly their first; otherwise it is not in their hands. They need a bit of luck with the other fixtures.

If England win and Ukraine win, they're at least guaranteed playoffs.
If England win and Poland win, they're basically guaranteed automatic spot.

But if they even draw 1 game, especially the first, it becomes a bit hazardous. It's gonna be tense.

 

[Ikki]

It's just such an ordeal most of the time. I usually start off vaguely interested and supportive, this fades somewhat when I remember that England are usually just horrible to watch, and then, like you say, the commentary and hype and general direness really turns me off. The fact that the inevitable horrible failure/tournament exit is only ever just round the corner means that in the event they qualify for major tournaments a feeling of permanent dread hangs over me.

Euro 2008 was a great tournament anyway, but I think there's a strong connection between the fact that I enjoyed it so much and the fact that England didn't qualify.

Edit: Not meaning to sound like a real misery guts or anything. At heart I'd always want England to do well really, but, they're just so...ugh.

They really are.

An international tournament is not the same without them though. Sitting through the England games feels like the obligatory thing you have to do before you can enjoy the other games.

Worst fans, seriously.

As someone who comes from a country that is thankful to just make it, I enjoy every kick of the ball...regardless of whether we're being shellacked by teams better than us. The feeling of watching your country is greater than any other feeling IMO.

 

[Pothas]

Don't really consider myself an England 'fan' to be honest. I don't believe in faking attachment to a side because you feel you ought to. I just dont feel the emotional connection for the national side I feel to my club, or the England cricket team for that matter and have not for a fair few years. Don't really know the exact reason for that, I just don't.

 

[sledger]

Yeah, that's essentially how I feel about it as well. I'd rather England did well than poorly, but there's just not the same sense of association I get when following Arsenal. I'm not sure if this would make me one of the "worst fans" though, seems odd to me that someone should make judgments about how much someone else ought to enjoy something.

 

[Uppercut]

There's such a rotten atmosphere around the national side, for all kinds of reasons. I'd imagine that by making it harder for people like you two to get behind them it can be sort of self-perpetuating.

Maybe when they move on from the current generation of whoppers there won't be so much animosity. It's surely easier to get behind Baines, Wilshere, Welbeck, Oxlade-Chamberlain etc. than it was Cole, Terry or Rooney.

 

[GIMH]

I dunno, Wilshere seems like as much of a tool as any of the modern crop to me. Cracking player, but.

 

[sledger]

There's such a rotten atmosphere around the national side, for all kinds of reasons. I'd imagine that by making it harder for people like you two to get behind them it can be sort of self-perpetuating.

Maybe when they move on from the current generation of whoppers there won't be so much animosity. It's surely easier to get behind Baines, Wilshere, Welbeck, Oxlade-Chamberlain etc. than it was Cole, Terry or Rooney.

Yeah, this is definitely true in my experience. I think around WC 2010 it really reached critical mass though; not only were there plenty of players who I actively disliked, but the rest of the squad was made up of plodders and/or terrible/dull players (e.g. Crouch, Heskey, SWP, Barry, Upson, Carragher). The upshot of all that being that it was just so hard to get behind the team, not least because you knew full well that as soon as they came up against anyone half-decent it'd be curtains, as proved to be the case.

I think my interest in the England team pretty much tailed off when Beckham was dropped by McDonut to be honest. He and Owen were the two players I liked the most and could really root for, and once they were gone there was just nothing left for me to identify with. There was a certain intensity they played with that just made them very likeable to me, something I never really felt from the majority of other players. There may yet be hope with the next gen of English players though, plenty of whom are good to watch and have yet done nothing too draw much animosity.

Edit: In fact what would sum my feelings up quite well, is that there's been a bit of a lack of character about the England team since Sven left to me. I remember Pothas making a similar observation about the England cricket team during the 2009 Ashes.

 

[sledger]

Also, another thing that has only just occurred to me is the hypocrisy of the FA. Just a few weeks back they announced their big drive for producing talented English youngsters, and now they've actively come out and declared they're keenly monitoring the progress of Januzaj. Arseholes.

 

[grecian]

Don't really consider myself an England 'fan' to be honest. I don't believe in faking attachment to a side because you feel you ought to. I just dont feel the emotional connection for the national side I feel to my club, or the England cricket team for that matter and have not for a fair few years. Don't really know the exact reason for that, I just don't.

I do have the emotional connection, from years back, but I feel it needs rekindling. I don't really enjoy or feel much for the matches now. It really started at 2012 Euros really. I'm not sure if it's just a temporary low or something more heart-felt. Possibly it all pales compared to the Olympics.

I actually really like Jack Wilshere, FTR, as a person and player, but not sure that's enough.

If we qualify for the World Cup it may all change. Yet I'm really struggling and am just pissed off there's no prem matches this week.

 

[Uppercut]

Not sure about Wilshere as a person but he's definitely a likable player, skillful and dynamic. But a lot of people would have said the same about Rooney early in his career. Maybe he just hasn't been around long enough to piss everyone off.

International breaks are always a pain imo, especially since they moved the games to Friday, now we just get entire weekends with no football at all. World Cups are the best thing ever though.