It just shows what a sorry state the England national team is in. Sam Allardyce parts company with them for a mistake which was, basically, getting himself involved in a sting operation by a newspaper designed to prove that Allardyce is, after all, as human as most other people.
It was not a mistake over which he should have lost his job which will be proved in future when he is given another job. There’s hypocrisy for you! One man’s meat is another man’s poison and all that. (more…)
(With Sam Allardyce as England boss, many players will now dread international breaks as much as most fans do)
Like an ad break just at the most exciting moment of your favourite TV show, it’s here again! Yes folks, just three games into the new season and everything stops for the internationals. It isn’t a long break, just an annoying one when your favourite new series had just begun a new run.
Wayne Rooney, recently given the nod to carry on as England captain because there is nobody else, can stroll around the pitch thinking about what he is going to do when he retires from international football, whilst many wish he would retire from club football in order to prolong his international career. It just goes to show how much people love the national team when they couldn’t care less whether or not their captain is any good. (more…)
This was the first World Cup I was old enough to watch and appreciate. It was 1966, the year before colour TV appeared, so black and white it was.
Colour TV, just as an aside, made its first appearance on BBC2 at Wimbledon, where everybody had to wear white! A typically well thought out introduction to the wonderful world of colour by the BBC.
So back to the World Cup and, after a laborious 0-0 draw against Uruguay, England sailed through the rest of the group beating Mexico 2-0, then France by the same score. Without playing remarkably well, England had qualified from the group and Roger Hunt had scored three goals. Worryingly, at this stage, England’s top scorer, Jimmy Greaves, hadn’t scored a goal in the opening three games.
In the quarter-final England were to face Argentina. By now Alf Ramsey had decided to drop Jimmy Greaves and picked Geoff Hurst in his place. This paid off when Hurst scored the only goal of a drab game, remembered more for the sending off of Antonio Rattin, Argentina’s captain, than for anything else.
In the semi-final, England conceded their first goal of the competition when Eusebio scored a penalty for Portugal. It made little difference as England were already leading at the time with two goals from Bobby Charlton. The game finished 2-1. (more…)
This was going to be titled, ‘England and the Meaningless Friendlies, (part III).’
As anybody who follows these inane waffles will know, I have already written and published the first two parts, which question the value of these games.
However, this was not a meaningless friendly. This was one of the most meaningful friendlies played in a very long time.
It was a friendly football match that actually meant something for all the wrong reasons. It was right that it was played. Any act designed to terrorise, kill and maim people is sick enough in its own right but, to then cede more to the perpetrators by cancelling a sporting event which had been planned for a while, somehow makes it even worse, if that is at all possible. (more…)
Loyal followers of these chronicles will be aware that, in the very recent past, I wrote about the folly of meaningless international friendly matches, particularly at a time when the Premier League table is starting to take on a meaningful shape.
For any loyal followers who just happened to miss the first part, here it is.
I also wrote about it back in August of 2014, for Pundit Arena, if anyone is interested, here that is as well.
My doubt about these games is focused on what purpose they actually serve. Other than teaching uninformed coaches things about their team blatantly obvious to everybody else, and running the risk of injuring players who may be vital to their club’s title challenge, what is the aim? (more…)
(Mr Roy in pensive mood having just been told there is no game this week, it’s next week!)
“AS I LAY ME DOWN TO SLEEP, I PRAY OH LORD, MY PLAYERS TO KEEP.”
The prayer of the Premier league manager just before every meaningless international break. The questions spinning in his head such as, “should I say he is injured?” How about, “he’s been kidnapped by men dressed in black and wearing balaclavas.” What about, “he has had to go and see his sick mother in Matabele Land.” Will I get away with any of these or have they all been tried before?
Will Mr Roy fall for the old, “he’s just twisted his ankle and will have to pull out, sorry and all that, maybe next time,” or will he insist on the player being seen by the England doctor?
Can I really risk an injury to a star player which may cost us points, which may cost us the league title, which may cost me my job? (more…)
There seems to be more international football matches nowadays than ever before. To me it is an irritant rather than something to look forward to. Here is what I thought about it a just over a year ago.
The football season just starts and we need a break for internationals. We get a month or so further down the line and we need another break for internationals. Some of them are qualifiers, meaningless or otherwise, some of them are just friendlies, meaningless friendlies. (more…)
After all these years trying, the Americans seem to have finally got the hang of that there Soccer game.
Alright, so they had to rename it in order to not get confused with the armoured Rugby they call Football, which consists of, in the main, carrying or throwing the ball with their hands.
They also have a very popular sport called Baseball. In the UK it is called Rounders and is played, almost exclusively, by very strong schoolgirls.
So it was about time that a real sport was introduced that will eventually become more popular than either of the aforementioned, as it has in virtually every other country in the world. (more…)
So Wayne Rooney has equalled Sir Bobby Charlton’s goalscoring record for England in, coincidentally, the same amount of games. If only he was half as good a player as Sir Bobby was.
It’s a pity that the record equalling goal was scored from the penalty spot against lowly San Marino, in a game where England’s main striker managed ONE goal in a 6-0 win.
People say that Rooney would have scored more goals for Manchester United had he not been played in midfield for a short while, firstly by Sir Alex Ferguson and then by Louis van Gaal. What they forget is that Bobby Charlton was never a striker and played all his games in midfield, for England and United. Charlton was not the main penalty taker for either Manchester United or England, so only 3 of his England goals were from penalties. Rooney has scored 18 goals for United and 5 for England from the penalty spot, although he also hasn’t always been the first choice taker. (more…)
WHY SAY ANYTHING? 