Will the unthinkable (to them) happen England this weekend?

darkman2

Will England be out of Euro 2008 come Saturday evening?

IMHO I doubt Russia will throw it away. They certainly have the right manager for this situation. Expect the mourning to begin on Sunday;) And if England are out on Saturday what will the atmosphere be like at Wembley the following Wednesday? :eek:

eirebhoy

Benayoun is out for Israel. Half their team gone.

smackbunnybaby

i have a funny feeling they have left themselves too much to do at this stage.
all that is left now is to pick a scapegoat. will it be mclaren or will one of the players step up the plate "waddle-pearce-southgate-style"

but sure as regards to it being "unthinkable", the media (bbc) in england a few weeks ago were saying how they aren't a european championship team and that history proves this.they are a world cup team....apparently....

applehunter

i don't know which is more enjoyable?

Watching them not qualify or fall on their asses when they get there?

Unearthly

I feel sorry for McClaren, the last few months he has got England playing as good as they have been in many years but a few horror minutes in Russia added to the mistakes he made early on and it looks like he'll get the sack.

I won't write off Israel though, they are a pest of a team to beat.

darkman2

smackbunnybaby wrote: »

the media (bbc) in england a few weeks ago were saying how they aren't a european championship team and that history proves this.they are a world cup team....apparently....

I know how the English media are - irritating, pompous and annoyingly arrogant at the best of times about the England team (ive huge respect for the England team though) but id be more concerned if I were them. The English FA loses big time if they dont qaulify for tournaments especially financially. Also if they fail to qualify for the lowly (according to them) Euro championships surely their seeding will be effected and they could end up in a more difficult qualifying group for the WC. Basically the slippery slope we are in atm.

~Rebel~

I dont think Russia will throw it away at this stage, especially with Yossi out.

I'm not so sure how confident i'd be of England beating Croatia anyway.

Im pretty disappointed really, as (as was said above) they finally broke the trend of just picking the big names from the big 4 and jamming them into the team. Delighted to have seen this progression, to a team with Gareth Barry in center midfield giving such a better balance. I have a feeling if McLaren goes (which he will if they dont qualify) that they'll be back to square one in this respect.

PDN

Will the unthinkable (to them) happen to England this weekend?

God, I hope so.

Bounty Hunter

I was shocked at how the english media acted before wembley was englands home. they left themselves loads of work to do to qualify let alone top the group and just assumed they would go on an amazing run of games beating everyone on there way to Euro08 glory. now with Rooney out beating Croatia is going to be hard enough let alone hoping for a favour from Israel. Its not like English strikers are inform atm either, in the top 15 premiership goalscorers there is only one english striker Villa's Gabriel Agbonlahor(not in their squad) infact the next highest english goalscorer in the EPL is Lee Bowyer!

Paul Tergat

darkman2 wrote: »

Will England be out of Euro 2008 come Saturday evening?

I sure as fúck hope not

hold very little hope of Russia slipping up though....will be a very long summer for us England fans if we dont qualify. Really don't want these stupid home nation "friendlies" that the FA's are planning to try and get their cash.

smackbunnybaby

a tournament without england is a poor tournament in my opinion - love them or hate them i think they bring an interest to irish people.

Chardee MacDennis

roll on scotland for the championships, they have a very good chance of beating the italians at the moment.

_blank_

I don't hate England, or their football team.

Unthinkable though? Jesus, it's not as if England haven't been absent from tournaments before.

They appointed the wrong manager, and now that decision is kicking them in the balls.

Same as Ireland really.

McLaren needs to show he has the balls to break up the Lamps/Stevie G partnership when both are fit, and leave Barry in the team.

PHB

England's squad isn't as good as people think.
Two world class center forwards, Rooney and Owen. After that, they are a little light. Next best is probably Bent or Defoe who can't get their game. I'd say Ashton would be there too, but he's injured.

Their defense is solid, their goalkeeper is average.

Their central midfield should be good, if the manager picked the right pairing. I'd say Hargreaves Gerrard would probably work the best.

The problem with ENgland is there's no formation to play to their strengths.
You can't play a 4-3-3 because you need pacy wingers and a big front man. Rooney can just about play the front man, and SWP is fine, but there's nobody else decent.
You can't play a 4-4-2 because the left winger is Joe Cole, who drops into the center a lot. Then you have the problem of Gerrard and Lampard being **** in a 4-4-2 against decent teams.
I think a team that could work would be

---

Robinson

---

--Neville---Ferdinand--Terry----Cole----

---

Hargreaves-Carrick

---

---

Lampard

---

-Gerrard

---

Rooney--

---

Heskey

---

But it would be boring as **** football, and I still don't think it woudl work. You actually need a world class manager with an understanding of how tactics work far beyond the simple to make a workable formation and style of play.

mike65

PDN wrote: »

Will the unthinkable (to them) happen to England this weekend?

God, I hope so.

Fighting ignorance and bigotry - one post at a time.

Mike.

_blank_

I agree with Mike.

Fratton Fred

I was wondering how long this thread would take to appear. Ireland have crashed out, so the next course of action is hope England do:rolleyes:

PHB is spot on, there are some great players in the team, but it's nowhere near a great team, it just doesn't gel at all. McLaren has surprised me, I thought he would be hopeless but he seems to have got them together, apart from the nightmare in Russia. I still think he was the wrong man though.

Will we qualify? we don't deserve to and I really can't see Russia throwing it away, so no I don't think we will.

_blank_

Fratton Fred wrote: »

I was wondering how long this thread would take to appear. Ireland have crashed out, so the next course of action is hope England do:rolleyes:

Now hang on Fred, all us Oirish aren't like that. Just some of the ones who support EPL Teams. Confusing I know.

Fratton Fred wrote: »

PHB is spot on, there are some great players in the team, but it's nowhere near a great team, it just doesn't gel at all. McLaren has surprised me, I thought he would be hopeless but he seems to have got them together, apart from the nightmare in Russia. I still think he was the wrong man though.

No he hasn't. The proof of that will be on Saturday when Lamps and Stevie G are in the middle. The man hasn't the balls for international management, imo.

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Will we qualify? we don't deserve to and I really can't see Russia throwing it away, so no I don't think we will.

Agreed on all points.

Eirebear

Why is it suddenly called Ignorance and Bigotry if you dont want england to win?
Im sick of this attitude to be honest, i dont want them to go through, not at all That isnt me being ignorant or bigoted, i quite simply just dont like their football team, Its called Rivalry folks, multiply that by the "bigger brother" factor england has over Scotland, Ireland and Wales then of course youll find that most people dont want them to win......id love to listen to their commentators whinging and moaning about the fact that they arent in it come 2008.

It would be made all the sweeter if Scotland qualify on saturday (i doubt it but you never know)

Fratton Fred

Eirebear wrote: »

Why is it suddenly called Ignorance and Bigotry if you dont want england to win?
Im sick of this attitude to be honest, i dont want them to go through, not at all That isnt me being ignorant or bigoted, i quite simply just dont like their football team, Its called Rivalry folks, multiply that by the "bigger brother" factor england has over Scotland, Ireland and Wales then of course youll find that most people dont want them to win......id love to listen to their commentators whinging and moaning about the fact that they arent in it come 2008.

It would be made all the sweeter if Scotland qualify on saturday (i doubt it but you never know)

relax, we would do the same, it just seems unfair having a pop at the Irish team at the moment:D

Eirebear

Fratton Fred wrote: »

relax, we would do the same, it just seems unfair having a pop at the Irish team at the moment:D

It does really doesnt it

Mr.Nice Guy

I reckon they'll still qualify. They're a lucky bunch.

Necronomicon

Israel can still beat Russia at home, but being without Benayoun is a big blow. If they managed to take Russia, I think England would be well up for the Wembly showdown with Croatia.

Actually I can't remember all the purmutations, do Russia have to win or will a draw do?

tdv

applehunter wrote: »

i don't know which is more enjoyable?

Watching them not qualify or fall on their asses when they get there?

I actually think seeing them fall on their asses when they get there is more enjoyable. Just all the hype & eveything in the weeks leading up to it is great.

Mitch Connor

Necromomicon wrote: »

Israel can still beat Russia at home, but being without Benayoun is a big blow. If they managed to take Russia, I think England would be well up for the Wembly showdown with Croatia.

Actually I can't remember all the purmutations, do Russia have to win or will a draw do?

Russia are on 21 with 2 games left, England are on 23 with 1 left, so Russia have to win both of their remaining games to be sure.

tdv

Call_me_al wrote: »

roll on scotland for the championships, they have a very good chance of beating the italians at the moment.

Yes, loosing 2-0 to Georgia is always great preperation for beating the world champions.

Eirebear

tdv wrote: »

Yes, loosing 2-0 to Georgia is always great preperation for beating the world champions.

lol...youve got a point.
I will say however you will see a completely different team from the one that played georgia, i think we were missing 5 first 11 players from that game.
I reckon 1-1 Italy to score fairly late on...glorious failure once again...its what the scots do best!

Mr.Nice Guy

If England and Scotland don't make it then maybe there's a chance the Celtic Cup could take place in 2008 instead. The English weren't too keen originally but if they've nothing else to do next summer...

Eirebear

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

If England and Scotland don't make it then maybe there's a chance the Celtic Cup could take place in 2008 instead. The English weren't too keen originally but if they've nothing else to do next summer...

Then it wouldnt be the celtic cup......

i lnow were id rather be

gosplan

it already has happened

smackbunnybaby

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

If England and Scotland don't make it then maybe there's a chance the Celtic Cup could take place in 2008 instead. The English weren't too keen originally but if they've nothing else to do next summer...

well the English FA have to re-coup at least some of the money they will lose out on by not qualifying...

Benedict XVI

Next time Ireland are in a big tournament (they will qualify for one again at some stage) I'm going to take a scientific survey of the Irish media and show that we are no less arrogant when it comes to our team.

shane86

tdv wrote: »

Yes, loosing 2-0 to Georgia is always great preperation for beating the world champions.

Were a million miles from home and suffered everything from a minor pitch invasion to brutal ref descisions/descisions not given.

And having said all that, God help us if we get Georgia in our group for WC 2010.


Has a descision been made re the tournament with us, the nordies and the across sea 3? Can 5 teams really stretch out a tournament?

Unearthly

Benedict XVI wrote: »

Next time Ireland are in a big tournament (they will qualify for one again at some stage) I'm going to take a scientific survey of the Irish media and show that we are no less arrogant when it comes to our team.

This is obvious, people just moan about the English media being full of it over cause they are exposed to it more. I bet the Italians, French etc are just as bad

lordgoat

I hope they make it, you want the best players in the big tournaments, to see if they can do it their. And i know they have done shockingly bad at times but i'd like to see Rooney, Owen, et al in the finals.

Mr. Presentable

I thought the unthinkable would be England getting through!!

Russia will be sent to Siberia if they throw it away.

Guy:Incognito

Playing as Cardiff9 in FM08 and I'm just paseed next weekends internationals, The group was exactly as it is now and Russia lost 1-0 in Isreal. A good omen?:)

Unearthly

Ireland beat Germany 4-0 in my FM game so RIP England

PHB

I took Ireland to the World Cup final in my game Although it was in 2022, and it was after I had bought up every Irish player and given huge amounts of money to all the Irish clubs so they would invest in the youth facilities

aidan24326

It's very possible that Israel will at least take a point off Russia on Saturday. But even then England would have a sh1t or bust game with Croatia, needing a win to qualify. They've left themselves with alot of work to do for sure. Personally I'm torn between wanting them to crash out now and wanting all the hype and hyperbole that they bring to every major tournament they're in.

shane86

Indeed. Wouldnt mind seeing them limp through another tournament and go out on penos.

It aint the team, its the fans and media (though if they did manage to qalify it is hard to believe the media getting behind it with the usual fervour)

Big Ears

shane86 wrote: »

It aint the team, its the fans and media (though if they did manage to qalify it is hard to believe the media getting behind it with the usual fervour)

They would , only to savagely turn on the management and players when something goes wrong .

~Rebel~

Big Ears wrote: »

They would , only to savagely turn on the management and players when something goes wrong .

Indeed. Its their favourite passtime to build the team up just before the tournement so that anything other then winning it is seen as failure. The way they played at the last world cup i think they did very well to make to to the quarters, only going out on pens again.

People say we're living in a dreamworld expecting too much from the Irish squad of players, but the level England do it to puts us in the shade.

Gillie

Hard to see Russia slipping up tbh!

shane86

Big Ears wrote: »

They would , only to savagely turn on the management and players when something goes wrong .

Aye. Maybe its my memory, and I cant recall any stats, but I dont recall any recent qualification stages where England has ran away with the group like the Germans did to ours this time round. Fair enough it never got this bad, and the results against minnows like Andorra werent quite as bad, but I never recall any plain sailing.

Dave!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/7093565.stm

Steve Coppell thinks quotas on non-English players in the Premiership is the answer.

Is he a moron...?

Royale with Cheese

They have excellent players in nearly every position on the pitch, goalkeeper being the only dodgy one probably. It's not the lack of top players that's the problem, but it'll be used as a scapegoat alright.

shane86

DaveMcG wrote: »

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/7093565.stm

Steve Coppell thinks quotas on non-English players in the Premiership is the answer.

Is he a moron...?

Why do i get the feeling that if the rule was brought in that he would try and claim his 3 Irish lads as English?

"ah come on, when I said English I actually meant us and the aul colonies"

ShiverinEskimo

I want to see them qualify so that Portugal can go for the hat-trick of england knockouts...

Was just looking through BBCs rundown of the tables and what each team needs to qualify. Turns out england have another way in. Albeit a pointlessly optimistic route.

Group D (Ireland's) description is short and sweet. "Germany and Czech Repulic have qualified" haha.

Check it out:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/internationals/tables/default.stm

ziggy

This post has been deleted.

mike65

I was hoping Scotland would qualify - I've just changed my mind. C'mon on the Italians.

Mike.