What if.... England V France

TonyD79

France to win it on a dodgy reffering decision involving a hand...then when the English are going nuts over it in the media/phone ins we can remind them of how they came down on us for going on about the Henry incident for more than 24 hrs!!

C'mon Engerlandddddddd:rolleyes:

gandalf

If its England vs France I'll be supporting the French. Then again my wife is French so I don't have much of a choice.

I do want to see the English do well because they do support Ireland if we make a tournament (I remember them supporting us in Japan in 2002) but like others have said if they did win it then most of the English channels would be unbearable for the next 10 years at least.

Collie D

Camelot wrote: »

Sadly they are not gone, as I witnessed in many a Dublin pub during the last Rugby Football World Cup > 'Anybody but England' seemed to be the order of the day amongst the hoards of Irish voices with many a sickened face when England beat France

I remember being in Edinburgh for the Rugby World Cup and England were playing the Aussies in the quarters. All the locals in the pub we were in were cheering on England which surprised me to say the least. I asked somebody what it was all about and the Scot's answer "We want them to go through so we can beat the b*stards in the final" Unfortunately Scotland were beaten the following night.

MickShamrock

France.

newballsplease

The thoughts of Terry,Cole or Gerrard being happy makes me sick. also Henry.... so..... dont care!

Mr.Nice Guy

I would want France to win in this situation.

Stevecw

If they can only meet in the Final then it has to be France.
Hopefully on a penalty shoot out with Terry or Ashley Cole missing the peno that decides it.

pickarooney

It would have to be France for me.

parker kent

Stevecw wrote: »

If they can only meet in the Final then it has to be France.
Hopefully on a penalty shoot out with Terry or Ashley Cole missing the peno that decides it.

They can meet in the quarter final too fyi

TheDoc

couldnt really give two ****s.

I plan to watch every minute of the tournament and hope to see some good football ( usually find itnernational football rubbish to watch) so I'm just hoping for entertainment.

If they got to the final I'd have reasons to support both and reasons not to support both.

I'd probably edge for England if a gun was put to my head....but France to go to the final, now this is a boards.ie thread

(Drew with Tunisia 1-1 last night after being 1-0 down if people dont know btw)

HalloweenJack

I honestly don't care.

One bad refereeing decision is not going to spoil my view of the French.

Politics and sport shouldn't mix so I don't begrudge England anything.

On an aside, I saw a demo of FIFA World Cup 2010 set up in Madrid the other day. The only playable teams in the demo were England and France. I'm sure the heads of some people on here would explode if confronted with it.

greendom

HalloweenJack wrote: »

I honestly don't care.

One bad refereeing decision is not going to spoil my view of the French.

Politics and sport shouldn't mix so I don't begrudge England anything.

On an aside, I saw a demo of FIFA World Cup 2010 set up in Madrid the other day. The only playable teams in the demo were England and France. I'm sure the heads of some people on here would explode if confronted with it.

How well did it go down in Madrid ?

HalloweenJack

Nobody seemed to give a crap.

Why would Spanish people care anyway?

greendom

HalloweenJack wrote: »

Nobody seemed to give a crap.

Why would Spanish people care anyway?

Well they hate the French almost as much as the English do and I think they would have been a little unhappy that the European Champions were unavailable.

HalloweenJack

greendom wrote: »

Well they hate the French almost as much as the English do and

I'm living in Spain and I've never noticed Spaniards espousing hatred for the French (in general or football-related). Spaniards are more concerned with what goes on in their own country. They don't really have time for what goes on else where.

There could be a rivalry as they are both neighbours and generally both are among the better sides in world football (the current French side, not so much) but I haven't encountered it. When I watched the Spain France friendly a while back, the locals here were cheering on their side.

greendom wrote:

I think they would have been a little unhappy that the European Champions were unavailable.

Huh?

Is this about France getting Euro 2016? Cos Spain didn't even apply for it. The three bids were Turkey, Italy and France.

greendom

HalloweenJack wrote: »

I'm living in Spain and I've never noticed Spaniards espousing hatred for the French (in general or football-related). Spaniards are more concerned with what goes on in their own country. They don't really have time for what goes on else where.

There could be a rivalry as they are both neighbours and generally both are among the better sides in world football (the current French side, not so much) but I haven't encountered it. When I watched the Spain France friendly a while back, the locals here were cheering on their side.

Huh?

Is this about France getting Euro 2016? Cos Spain didn't even apply for it. The three bids were Turkey, Italy and France.

i suppose things could have changed since I was over there (90s) but there was a distinct dislike of France then. No, nothing to do with 2016 but why have the 9th and 10th best teams in the World as a demo in Spain, especially when you consider Spain are European Champions.

LordSutch

pickarooney wrote: »

It would have to be France for me.

Ironic in the extreme, considering your username

Melion

Kev_ps3 wrote: »

One of the highlights of the summer will be watching England crash out the World Cup:D

What a sad life you must have

chopperbyrne

England as I've lots of English friends, though USA will be the main team I'll be supporting during the World Cup.

parker kent

This thread reminds me of this article I read on Sunday. I agree with him really, there does not necessarily have to be anything wrong with not wanting your neighbour to do well in sport. If anything, it is perfectly natural. It is often just a bit of a laugh to cheer on your neighbour's opponent. No different to Everton cheering a European team playing Liverpool.

I don't want England to win but it is really just a bit of a laugh. I have English friends and it is just a bit of banter between us. Plus seeing John Terry and Steven Gerrard with the World Cup would NOT go down well with me

Enough is enough. I like to think I'm as open-minded as the next man but this kind of behaviour just isn't natural.

If they want to do it in the privacy of their own homes, with the curtains drawn, fair enough. Though they should be aware that this lifestyle choice of theirs transgresses against sacred traditions which have served this country well for many years.

But it's not enough for them just to behave in an unnatural and immoral fashion. They have to start promoting their decision to do so in the media, trying to recruit impressionable young people by suggesting that there is something superior about the choice they've made. If you listened to them for too long, you'd think we were the abnormal ones.

Political Correctness be damned. It's time to speak out. There is nothing normal about an Irish person supporting England in the World Cup. It's not 'mature', it's not 'decent', it's not 'generous', it's just plain wrong.

Cheering on England's opponents in major soccer tournaments is one of the great pleasures of Irish sporting life. Maybe it shouldn't be, but it is. And you're not going to change that part of our nature.

With Ireland not qualifying for this year's World Cup, the nation is ostensibly neutral. But, all over the country, conversations are taking place concerning the chances of our neighbour across the water. I had about a dozen of them last week. They generally go along the lines, "Will England make any shape at winning the thing," "No, not at all," "Are you sure? Because if they did . . ." "No, it'll be the usual crack," both parties then exchange a relieved smile and some anticipatory laughter.

It is an essential part of the Irish World Cup watching experience to wait with bated breath for England to get knocked out so you can get down to the business of watching the tournament for pure enjoyment, unencumbered by fears that some malign miracle might present us with a re-run of 1966. Even England reaching the final would be too much to put up with because then we'd have a terrible few days imagining what things would be like if they did win it.

Thus it has always been. But, contrary to the assertions of those who think that this sporting Anglophobia indicates the presence of dark recessive republican forces within the national soul, the phenomenon has very little to do with politics at all.

I don't think any journalist wrote more articles calling for Croke Park to be opened to foreign sports than I did so I refuse to be told that my savouring of English downfall has anything to do with 'narrow nationalism'.

The reasons for our schadenfreude as Waddle put the penalty over the bar, Ronaldinho caught Seaman napping and Rooney tried to castrate Ricardo Carvalho are sporting rather than political ones. We have it in for England not because they are our former colonial oppressors but because they are our neighbours.

After all, is anything more common in the GAA than the kind of local rivalry so ferocious that the clubs involved derive almost as much satisfaction from their neighbours' defeats as they do from their own victories? In international sporting terms, England is the next parish over from us. You might as well ask a Castlehaven man to rejoice at a Skibbereen victory or an éire óg man to run delighted through the streets of Carlow because O'Hanrahans have won a county title as expect an Irish football fan to hum happily along with Three Lions On A Shirt.

England is not just our neighbouring parish, it is also a bigger, more successful parish with far greater resources. In other words, it's the equivalent of that much derided GAA entity, the Town Team. All over Ireland, rural clubs find an extra 10 per cent when they play the big team from the county town, believing that they need to do so to wipe out all the advantages possessed by the giants.

England are the Town Team par excellence, and this also contributes to our eagerness to see them brought down a peg or two.

We're forever being told in this country that something or other will show our 'maturity' and prove that 'we've come a long way.' In reality, whether you cheer for England in the World Cup is a trivial matter, it won't make you one iota more or less mature either way.

A pub full of Irish people cheering their heads off for Algeria or Slovenia is not a cause for national shame or a proof that our political development is stunted, it's just a pub full of Irish people cheering their heads off for Algeria or Slovenia.

So, in a couple of weeks I will be indulging in this time-honoured pastime, remembering such wonderful moments as drinking celebratory pre-noon pints in 2002 with my father after Brazil had done the job for us, fielding a delighted phone call from my sister on holiday in Spain where she'd watched Portugal come through on penalties in the semi-final of the 2004 European Championship and singing, "Rule Britannia, Britannia rules f**k all," in an Irish pub in South

London as the English fans kicked lumps out of each other in the street outside on the night Gazza wept and Psycho bottled it. Bliss.

It's not political. But it is cultural. When I read last week the comments of the British diplomat Oliver Wright in 1970 about 'Micks' in Northern Ireland and how 'all Irish blood boils at a very low temperature,' it brought to mind countless other examples of this kind of condescending nonsense which continues to appear in the British media at regular intervals. And perhaps it's the knowledge that this kind of attitude still lurks within the English character which makes us get so much satisfaction from watching their travails on the international stage. It's not the Irish who need to grow up.

So I'm bracing myself for a happy few weeks of watching David fumble, Rio miss his tackles, Stevie give the ball away and Wayne losing the rag with the ref.

Sorry your honour. 'Tis a thing that I just can't help myself.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/a-nation-holds-its-breath-2200466.html

poisonated

I would like England to win. I would love if, during that game, an English player picked up the ball and chucked it into the goal and it was allowed.

Lukker-

I remember when I was a youngin' watching Euro 2004 at a friends house and I passingly said that I wanted Engerland to do well. Talk about awkward silences. My friend systematically told everyone in the house my blasphemous comment. The teasing was immense, went as far as the mother saying (jokingly I hope :P) that I'd be eating dinner from the dog bowl out the back.

sky88

i dont get all this hate for eithier team yea the handball happened nothing we can do now plus i dont think theres a hope in hell that france will make it to final. The only thing about england is ill have to listen to their press babble on about it other then that i would have no problem with england winning the world cup

oconnon9

Melion wrote: »

What a sad life you must have

All hail the king!!:eek:

OPENROAD

parker kent wrote: »

This thread reminds me of this article I read on Sunday. I agree with him really, there does not necessarily have to be anything wrong with not wanting your neighbour to do well in sport. If anything, it is perfectly natural. It is often just a bit of a laugh to cheer on your neighbour's opponent. No different to Everton cheering a European team playing Liverpool.

I don't want England to win but it is really just a bit of a laugh. I have English friends and it is just a bit of banter between us. Plus seeing John Terry and Steven Gerrard with the World Cup would NOT go down well with me


http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/a-nation-holds-its-breath-2200466.html

Thing it is more often not just banter, and if the situation was reversed, we would not be calling it banter

Agent Smith

Bodhisopha

OPENROAD wrote: »

Thing it is more often not just banter, and if the situation was reversed, we would not be calling it banter

For most football fans it's just banter. Of course idiots will latch on to it and spew some hate filled garbage but it's naive to think England doesn't have it's own share of idiots that would do just the same if Ireland were playing.

Saying it's not just banter to those of us for whom it is just banter is a weak argument and not going to change our minds.

OPENROAD

Bodhisopha wrote: »

For most football fans it's just banter. Of course idiots will latch on to it and spew some hate filled garbage but it's naive to think England doesn't have it's own share of idiots that would do just the same if Ireland were playing.

Saying it's not just banter to those of us for whom it is just banter is a weak argument and not going to change our minds.

As I said before nothing wrong with banter, my experience in England when Ireland have been playing has been very positive, in all sports, I even had English rugby fans buying me drinks after Ireland tore England apart some years ago, that said I'm sure you will also find idiots also, thing is here at times it really looks like its more than banter, you can easily tell when its banter and its not banter.

That said, things have improved here imo, one only has to look at the poll results, I recall when England won the rugby world cup back in 2003, on our sports news handover, the attitude was, we are going to have to listen to them going on about it now for years, if the situation was reversed we would be fuming, so the banter has to go both ways, and we have to be able to take it if the English were to start cheering for anyone but Ireland.

Mr.Nice Guy

OPENROAD wrote: »

That said, things have improved here imo, one only has to look at the poll results, I recall when England won the rugby world cup back in 2003, on our sports news handover, the attitude was, we are going to have to listen to them going on about it now for years, if the situation was reversed we would be fuming, so the banter has to go both ways, and we have to be able to take it if the English were to start cheering for anyone but Ireland.

Many do. You make it sound like all England fans adore us or something. I recall plenty of England fans giving us stick after the France incident and laughing about it. Doesn't bother me as it's part and parcel of football.

Some fans on here seem to want a big Hands Across The Sea love-fest. The fact is if you ask most Irish fans who they consider their main rivals the majority will say England (as I imagine will the Scots and Welsh). NI fans will probably say us. The fact the English may prioritise their rivalries as being Germany, Scotland, Argentina etc. is besides the point.

You mentioned rubgy but there is a world of difference between English rugby fans and English soccer fans. The former have a great reputation, the latter have one of the worst going in their sport, and I imagine the South African police have had to take several precautions ahead of the tournament in case they go haywire again.

We're talking about a fanbase that has spewed vitriol towards its own players and made scapegoats out of them. Beckham, Rooney, Southgate, Seaman etc. Referees have been threatened and berated in newspapers over decisions. Their media have dished out disgraceful abuse towards their own managers. Robson, Taylor, Keegan, McClaren etc.

None of this carry on makes them endearing to me whatsoever. Frankly I'm amazed so many Irish supporters on here would want them to do well. If any other country acted like this they would be shunned and no one would bat an eyelid. I also want to say the idea that wanting England to fall flat on their face is some sort of primeval hatred of the Sassenach is a load of rubbish. It's a reaction to observing the behaviour of their fans, media and several of their players over recent times who have given their country a terrible reputation.

OPENROAD

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Many do. You make it sound like all England fans adore us or something. I recall plenty of England fans giving us stick after the France incident and laughing about it. Doesn't bother me as it's part and parcel of football.

Some fans on here seem to want a big Hands Across The Sea love-fest. The fact is if you ask most Irish fans who they consider their main rivals the majority will say England (as I imagine will the Scots and Welsh). NI fans will probably say us. The fact the English may prioritise their rivalries as being Germany, Scotland, Argentina etc. is besides the point.

You mentioned rubgy but there is a world of difference between English rugby fans and English soccer fans. The former have a great reputation, the latter have one of the worst going in their sport, and I imagine the South African police have had to take several precautions ahead of the tournament in case they go haywire again.

We're talking about a fanbase that has spewed vitriol towards its own players and made scapegoats out of them. Beckham, Rooney, Southgate, Seaman etc. Referees have been threatened and berated in newspapers over decisions. Their media have dished out disgraceful abuse towards their own managers. Robson, Taylor, Keegan, McClaren etc.

None of this carry on makes them endearing to me whatsoever. Frankly I'm amazed so many Irish supporters on here would want them to do well. If any other country acted like this they would be shunned and no one would bat an eyelid. I also want to say the idea that wanting England to fall flat on their face is some sort of primeval hatred of the Sassenach is a load of rubbish. It's a reaction to observing the behaviour of their fans, media and several of their players over recent times who have given their country a terrible reputation.

Nothing on the scale of the maradona incident and I don't expect to see the English setting up a campaign to get it voted favourite Irish sporting moment.

I am only talking about behaviour I have seen in pubs both here and in England, the pubs here have been mainly in what one would consider to be good areas, I do agree with you their are England fans who sadly live up to their reputation,though thankfully the decent fans are starting to go to to games again after staying away for years because of the low wattage thugs. But England are not alone in this, plenty of trouble elsewhere, but it doesn't receive much in the way of coverage here.

I'm just talking about in pubs, I'm sure we have all seen the beaviour in pubs, as I said I stopped going to watch International football in pubs, the abuse was both Xenophobic and racist and last straw for me was the racist abuse was coming from someone who was wearing the same club shirt as the player ,( It was a man utd fan abusing Paul Ince), it also played a part in totally putting me off international football. I'm not looking for a "big Hands Across The Sea love-fest" as I said banter is banter, but I have seen far to many examples where it is anything but banter,it is not just isolated, I don't think it is as bad as it used to be, though someone sadly posted on here that it was.

I agree with you to an extent re the media, my point re the media was more a case of imagine if the uk media said I hope Ireland get beaten we would be fuming, would we not? I gave the rugby world cup win as an example, why mention we will never hear the end of it.

I don't really get your last bit when you say if any other country acted like us we would be shunned?

Father Damo

The possibility of France under Domenech getting far enough to meet England is extremely remote tbh, so the question doesnt need to be answered

Also people going on about our rivalry with England or France being petty is pathetic being honest. WTF are we the only country not allowed to have rivals or something? Every country in the world has a major rival, and most of those rivalries stem from old politics than anything (Poland- Germany, Holland- Germany England- Germany and England Argentina)

Anyway, theres a reasonable chance England will meet Australia in the last 16, and a very good chance that the Socceroos can pull off an upset despite what their own idiotic media rate them as. Live in Sydney myself, the Aussies are some of the biggest fairweather fans yil ever meet but tbh England vs oz would be a massive match here, cmon the Aussies!

Father Damo

Collie D wrote: »

asked somebody what it was all about and the Scot's answer "We want them to go through so we can beat the b*stards in the final" Unfortunately Scotland were beaten the following night.

lol Reminds me of that awful feeling of half cheering on Man Utd in 200...8 (the year of the Chelsea Utd final?) so that we could see a Liverpool- United final. Felt bloody awful but jesus that would have been an epic.

pickarooney

Camelot wrote: »

Ironic in the extreme, considering your username

Ironic, or tenuously appropriate?

parker kent

OPENROAD wrote: »

Thing it is more often not just banter, and if the situation was reversed, we would not be calling it banter

Well in that specific post I was referring to specific conversations between me and my friends and the situation is often reversed. Examples include him standing up in the canteen shouting bravo, bravo every time they replayed the Gallas goal on Sky the day after the playoff. Then add in lots of jokes about 800 years etc which are all just part of our banter. We KNOW that we are not actually insulting each other, we are just having a laugh. It is no different to fans of 2 clubs having a joke with each other.

I know there are idiots in Ireland for whom it is more than just banter but the same can be said about England. Every country will have cranks but they are in the minority by far.

The actions of a few idiots in either country are not going to decrease my happiness by one iota when I see England crash out as per usual by the quarter finals at the latest

And if it is France they meet in the quarters (most people seem to be working on the idea they can only meet in the final for some reason) I will not exactly be delighted but at least France getting that far would reflect well on Ireland. If France got on a roll they could easily get to the quarter final or semi. Idiot manager or not, they have a decent draw and some good players. If Turkey and South Korea can get to a semi-final in the past 10 years, France certainly can.

mcwhirter

parker kent wrote: »

This thread reminds me of this article I read on Sunday. I agree with him really, there does not necessarily have to be anything wrong with not wanting your neighbour to do well in sport. If anything, it is perfectly natural. It is often just a bit of a laugh to cheer on your neighbour's opponent. No different to Everton cheering a European team playing Liverpool.

I don't want England to win but it is really just a bit of a laugh. I have English friends and it is just a bit of banter between us. Plus seeing John Terry and Steven Gerrard with the World Cup would NOT go down well with me


http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/a-nation-holds-its-breath-2200466.html

The usual irish independent england hating rubbish

Mr.Nice Guy

OPENROAD wrote: »

Nothing on the scale of the maradona incident and I don't expect to see the English setting up a campaign to get it voted favourite Irish sporting moment.

I am only talking about behaviour I have seen in pubs both here and in England, the pubs here have been mainly in what one would consider to be good areas, I do agree with you their are England fans who sadly live up to their reputation,though thankfully the decent fans are starting to go to to games again after staying away for years because of the low wattage thugs. But England are not alone in this, plenty of trouble elsewhere, but it doesn't receive much in the way of coverage here.

I'm just talking about in pubs, I'm sure we have all seen the beaviour in pubs, as I said I stopped going to watch International football in pubs, the abuse was both Xenophobic and racist and last straw for me was the racist abuse was coming from someone who was wearing the same club shirt as the player ,( It was a man utd fan abusing Paul Ince), it also played a part in totally putting me off international football. I'm not looking for a "big Hands Across The Sea love-fest" as I said banter is banter, but I have seen far to many examples where it is anything but banter,it is not just isolated, I don't think it is as bad as it used to be, though someone sadly posted on here that it was.

I agree with you to an extent re the media, my point re the media was more a case of imagine if the uk media said I hope Ireland get beaten we would be fuming, would we not? I gave the rugby world cup win as an example, why mention we will never hear the end of it.

I don't really get your last bit when you say if any other country acted like us we would be shunned?

Who set up the campaign for it to be favourite Irish sporting moment? I had not even heard of that and whoever set it up is hardly representing a sizeable portion of Irish fans.

I know England fans are not alone in having a bad reputation but that doesn't make it any more endearing does it? I take your point about banter spilling over into OTT bigotry, but I think, for example, with France this year during many of France's games Irish fans will be supporting the opposition. I don't have a problem with that attitude, nor if it's done for when England play, but obviously one would hope people don't start foaming at the mouth and going overboard.

My point regarding countries being shunned was that if other countries behaved in a similar manner, and were shunned by the Irish fans, no one would care. But because it's England, people think the fact there is no goodwill towards them is some sort of deep hatred of the English. I don't accept this. I feel they have only themselves to blame for their bad reputation.

I think you're right that because we are exposed to more coverage of the England team that this is a factor, but it still doesn't excuse the media's targeting of players and coaches, the fans starting trouble abroad, the fans making scapegoats out of players for going out of tournaments and so on.

As I said they only have themselves to blame for their poor reputation and I see nothing about the team that makes me want to see them do well. (Especially as a United fan who remembers well what happened to Beckham, Ronaldo and Rooney in previous tournaments.)

newballsplease

I cant believe so many people on here want England to do well..... Im seriously shocked.

Mr. Presentable

papagormo wrote: »

if it were Ireland vs France in the final, id imagine the English would back the oul emerald, so for that reason id like to see it go down to penalties and England to snatch it.

and if it was Irl v England the French would support us. There is no circumstance I can imagine wherein I would support England vs another country.

Mr. Presentable

mcwhirter wrote: »

The usual irish independent england hating rubbish

You really need to buy a sense of humour.

patmac

Melion wrote: »

What a sad life you must have

Not as sad as you will be when the rest of the pub are celebrating the inevitable England knock out and you will be crying in your beer.

It's only a few years back when England fans were singing 'no surrender to the IRA' at a qualifier because Setanta had won the rights to screen their matches live, to name one of several nightmare scenarios that they have been responsible for over the past few decades, so for that reason along with their red top gutter press I will be supporting anyone but England.

djimi

As a Liverpool fan, if it came down to an England v France final well then Id sooner see Gerrard, Johnson and Carragher come away with WC winners medals.

Kev_ps3

newballsplease wrote: »

I cant believe so many people on here want England to do well..... Im seriously shocked.

boards posters are a different race to normal Irish people:pac:

parker kent

mcwhirter wrote: »

The usual irish independent england hating rubbish

Well it was in the Sunday Independent (a technicality but a difference nonetheless) and there are plenty of people in Ireland who say the Irish and Sunday Independent are anti-Irish at times (look up reactions to their Sinn Fein/IRA articles over the years).

Anyway, it is clearly not "England hating rubbish". If you actually read it, he clearly states it is the opposite. Leave politics and general nonsense out of it.

Thus it has always been. But, contrary to the assertions of those who think that this sporting Anglophobia indicates the presence of dark recessive republican forces within the national soul, the phenomenon has very little to do with politics at all.

I don't think any journalist wrote more articles calling for Croke Park to be opened to foreign sports than I did so I refuse to be told that my savouring of English downfall has anything to do with 'narrow nationalism'.

MuPpItJoCkEy

I must say, I am surprised at the amount of people who would/are supporting England.

What I would like to know is if France beat us without the handball, would this poll be still as much in favour of England?

I'm 31 years old and to hear so many Irish saying that they would support England really does amaze me. I find that the handball incident is a lot easier to take considering we have never particularly had any problems with French fans compared to those we've had with England fans and that the French nation themselves were far from happy at going through themselves under those circumstances.

If France did win the World Cup, it would still be a tainted win for them and I'd prefer we know that than listening to England going on and on and on about winning for another 50 years or so. Footballs coming home and all that being played on ever radio. Going away on holidays and the English constantly harping on about winning it again. Personally, it would get to me whereas with the French, I'd doubt they'd have much to say to us anyway.

OPENROAD

MuPpItJoCkEy wrote: »

I must say, I am surprised at the amount of people who would/are supporting England.

Don't know why you are surprised, one of the reasons why I love boards soccer forum is that the vast majority of posters come across as real football people and tend not to be petty imo :P

Personally I'm not bothered either way,not a big fan of Rooney but still hope they do well, I spend a lot of time travelling to England to support Arsenal and like England, have made a lot of friends over the years there and find the people incredibly friendly and polite, thats just my experience and as mentioned my experience of watching international football in pubs here and the way the media go on kind of makes me want them to do well

At the same time if they get knocked out no big deal, same with France, Arsenal have a strong French connection recently and my favourite player of all time is Thierry, so want to see him do well.

Not a huge fan of international football, but am actually really looking forward to the world cup this time, just plan on enjoying some great football, hopefully see Eamon Dunphy lose it on air :P and please God its trouble free.

HalloweenJack

Looking over this thread and from talking about the English side with other Irish people, one common reason for not wanting England to do well seems to be the way their media goes on. This drives me mad.

FFS lads, yez have a choice.

RTÉ/Indo/IT all give plenty of coverage to English football and I can't imagine any of those outlets gloating about it if England won. I'm guessing the only reason these people consume so much English media is because they follow an English team. But if the English media sources disappeared tomorrow, there'd still be Irish ones and they wouldn't have a trace of the patriotism that some people on here have complained about when it comes to English football.

Sky/BBC/the redtops are all aimed at English football fans. Just because we get them here, doesn't mean we should expect them to water down the jingoistic rhetoric when their country does well.

It's quite simple: If you don't like something, don't persist with it.

I detest the redtops so I never go near them. I watch Sky and BBC but I don't have a problem with their patriotism as I recognise who their audience is. Yes, they are both British companies (as opposed to strictly English ones, like the redtops are) but 80% of their audience is English.

If it's your choice to consume the English media, then you should expect them to celebrate (and rightly so) if they win. If you can't stand their celebrations, don't consume it. Simple.

Bodhisopha

HalloweenJack wrote: »

Looking over this thread and from talking about the English side with other Irish people, one common reason for not wanting England to do well seems to be the way their media goes on. This drives me mad.

FFS lads, yez have a choice.

RTÉ/Indo/IT all give plenty of coverage to English football and I can't imagine any of those outlets gloating about it if England won. I'm guessing the only reason these people consume so much English media is because they follow an English team. But if the English media sources disappeared tomorrow, there'd still be Irish ones and they wouldn't have a trace of the patriotism that some people on here have complained about when it comes to English football.

Sky/BBC/the redtops are all aimed at English football fans. Just because we get them here, doesn't mean we should expect them to water down the jingoistic rhetoric when their country does well.

It's quite simple: If you don't like something, don't persist with it.

I detest the redtops so I never go near them. I watch Sky and BBC but I don't have a problem with their patriotism as I recognise who their audience is. Yes, they are both British companies (as opposed to strictly English ones, like the redtops are) but 80% of their audience is English.

If it's your choice to consume the English media, then you should expect them to celebrate (and rightly so) if they win. If you can't stand their celebrations, don't consume it. Simple.

If it drives you mad then go to some English forums. If you can't stand it, don't consume it. Simple.

Mr.Nice Guy

HalloweenJack wrote: »

Looking over this thread and from talking about the English side with other Irish people, one common reason for not wanting England to do well seems to be the way their media goes on. This drives me mad.

FFS lads, yez have a choice.

RTÉ/Indo/IT all give plenty of coverage to English football and I can't imagine any of those outlets gloating about it if England won. I'm guessing the only reason these people consume so much English media is because they follow an English team. But if the English media sources disappeared tomorrow, there'd still be Irish ones and they wouldn't have a trace of the patriotism that some people on here have complained about when it comes to English football.

Sky/BBC/the redtops are all aimed at English football fans. Just because we get them here, doesn't mean we should expect them to water down the jingoistic rhetoric when their country does well.

It's quite simple: If you don't like something, don't persist with it.

I detest the redtops so I never go near them. I watch Sky and BBC but I don't have a problem with their patriotism as I recognise who their audience is. Yes, they are both British companies (as opposed to strictly English ones, like the redtops are) but 80% of their audience is English.

If it's your choice to consume the English media, then you should expect them to celebrate (and rightly so) if they win. If you can't stand their celebrations, don't consume it. Simple.

There's a few points I'd say in response to this. Firstly, they are not just geared towards English audiences but also Scottish and Welsh and NI audiences who quite blatantly are just as fed up with it, if not moreso, than those here. However, they quite clearly do gear themselves towards us as Sky for instance encourage people here to buy their services, and call in to their various shows etc.

Despite that, I actually don't mind what you call the jingoistic rhetoric. What I have a problem with is the arrogance, and, at times, the malevolence of their media. I don't think that can be justified at all. In fact I know many English people get as fed up with it as everybody else.

Unfortunately this kind of shoddy reporting has a very negative effect on the fanbase in general. I was reading some letters after the Japan game with England fans saying 'we should be comfortably beating this team' etc. It's this kind of condescending attitude that is the problem.

OPENROAD

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

There's a few points I'd say in response to this. Firstly, they are not just geared towards English audiences but also Scottish and Welsh and NI audiences who quite blatantly are just as fed up with it, if not moreso, than those here. However, they quite clearly do gear themselves towards us as Sky for instance encourage people here to buy their services, and call in to their various shows etc.

Despite that, I actually don't mind what you call the jingoistic rhetoric. What I have a problem with is the arrogance, and, at times, the malevolence of their media. I don't think that can be justified at all. In fact I know many English people get as fed up with it as everybody else.

Unfortunately this kind of shoddy reporting has a very negative effect on the fanbase in general. I was reading some letters after the Japan game with England fans saying 'we should be comfortably beating this team' etc. It's this kind of condescending attitude that is the problem.

And you have never heard Irish fans/Utd fans say the same

Mr.Nice Guy

OPENROAD wrote: »

And you have never heard Irish fans/Utd fans say the same

For a team that qualified for a World Cup, no I haven't.