Time flies far too quickly as 3 months without an update will indicate. A lot has happened in that
time so I've got a lot to rant about but lets start with Don Fabio. His first game against
Switzerland last month saw him get off to a winning start. He fielded a formation which saw Rooney
up front on his own and he put in a excellent display something which the Swede or Ginger Sven
couldn't seem to get from him when asked to play up front by himself.
Its been a long time but once again, I feel positive about the English national teams prospects.
The appointment of Fabio Capello means that maybe at long last, we have a manager who can get the
best from our players. There is no doubting Capello's CV. He played international football for his
country and won 4 league titles.
The last few days have been the worst as an England fan since we missed out on USA 94 under Graham
Taylor. As many of us returned home from the friendly in Vienna (very nice city but a pointless
game), our eyes turned to Russia's match in Tel Aviv. A Russian victory would have knocked us out
of Euro 2008 before out final game against Croatia.
And so I face the final curtain......
Actually, as we face the very real possibility that England will fail to qualify for a tournament
for the first time for 14 years (and don't forget, there are more teams at the finals now -
increased from 8 to 16 for the 1996 finals), all that the Ginger Sven faces is a massive pay cheque
for 12 months pay when he gets sacked while us fans have to actually think about a holiday
destination that doesn't involve mountains, cuckoo clocks and yodelling.
Moscow will be remembered by England fans for a number of reasons. The saga of
visa applications, the over booked hotels, the fights in the city centre and if not the final nail,
definitely, the last but one in the coffin of England's hopes of qualifying for the Euro 2008
finals next summer.
The autumn had started well for England with excellent 3-0 wins against Israel
and Russia within the space of a few days.
As we walked down Wembley Way, we passed a group of middle class idiots who were naivly trying to
get us to boycott the game as we were playing (and I quote) "the most racist country in the world"
(obviously they've never heard of places like Zimbabwe. It was the "Free Palestine" brigade. The
were screeching at us in embarrassing mid pitch, middle class voices, trying to hand out
Palestinian flags and telling us how evil and dangerous a place Israel is.
Its like rudderless ship plough slowly towards an ice-berg. We can all see the crash is coming but
what can be done to prevent it. The first friendly of the season at Wembley saw a German team
(minus Ballack, Podolski and Klose among others) take on......well......we know the sort of
performance England generally put on.
Lampard found space in the box (more through poor German marking than anything else) to give us an
early lead and thoughts of Munich and 5-1 were in the air.
Finally after being left out of the England squad since the Ginger Retard took over, David Beckham
returned to help save the managerial career of the fool who tried to end Beckham's international
career.
The absence of Beckham's creativity has been one of a number of factors which have contributed to
the absolutely pathetic performances and results since the World Cup.
Israel - what a great place. I really wish I'd been there longer. The international airport is very
modern an despite all the security, is pretty efficient at moving passenger through....and I'd got
a business class upgrade on the way over.
Our hotel was near the sea front, next to the US Embassy. As with all away games, it's best to
avoid the regular Irish/English bar gathering points.
A belated Happy New Year although as the Ginger Sven is still in charge, it can't be that happy.
The less said about last months friendly at home to Spain, the better. All I'll say is that I
wasn't surprised by anything with the possible exception of Ferdinand claiming we lost to a wonder
goal. No it wasn't a wonder goal. It was a decent strike but the lad was 16 yards out with no
defenders anywhere near him.
I'm at Red Bulls headquarters in Secaucus and we have just been shown photos of Mr. Juan Pablo Angel sporting the Red Bulls uniform.
I'm at Red Bulls headquarters in Secaucus and we have just been shown photos of Mr. Juan Pablo Angel sporting the Red Bulls uniform.
I'm at Red Bulls headquarters in Secaucus and we have just been shown photos of Mr. Juan Pablo Angel sporting the Red Bulls uniform.
I'm at Red Bulls headquarters in Secaucus and we have just been shown photos of Mr. Juan Pablo Angel sporting the Red Bulls uniform.
I'm at Red Bulls headquarters in Secaucus and we have just been shown photos of Mr. Juan Pablo Angel sporting the Red Bulls uniform.
