Hmmm...Hoddle, Keegan, Sven, Maclaren...

Is it that they are all cack?

Has every manager England have had since Sir Alf been cack then? It seems that England managers are deemed failures if they don't win the major tournament that England are quite clearly entitled to. No one has managed it since '66 - and thats because every single one has been @#/??

Methinks not.

Wow, that was a pleasant surprise.

I wonder if MGP has been teaching him some neuro-linguistic programming.

You seriously overate Spain my friend, there results until they played us have been shocking. If we had a 100% starting XI with a Mourinho or Lippi in charge I would back us against most teams with the talent in our starting XI

Out of there Starting XI ,I would have Xavi, Ramos and Villa over England’s best XI and that’s it although if Fabregas would of played he would walk into any international side

It isnt that I overrate Spain - I just don't underrate them as much as you do. I think England would probably edge a 10 game series versus Spain, but they certainly are not that much signifcantly better to say they'd win 9 out of 10.

England have some average international players, like Crouch, Defoe, Carrick, Phil Neville, Dyer, Wright Phillips etc. It's very easy to blame the manager, and as far as McLaren goes I agree that he is feckless, but you have to ask yourself why so many England managers have failed. There must be one common denominator....

No, but his name was Michael Weiner. I wonder how he gets on with Quim and Jorge Butt?

Not really, England when having a fully fit XI have a better side than Spain and with a different manager would beat Spain 9/10. Spain weren’t any better/worse than England apart from one good shot. Still one of the worse games I have had the misfortune of watching

If you think England would beat Spain 9 times out of 10 then you're as deluded as McLaren.

England have some cracking players, but they do not have a divine right to be successful as some seem to think. It has to be worked at, by the players and the coaching staff. Neither seem to really take it seriously - perhaps its just a distraction - a game they have to play without having their usual astronomical win bonuses at stake.

The problems in English domestic football cast a shadow that engulfs the national side. The whole thing needs a shake up - not further perpetuation of the old boys club that it seems to be at present.

England were pants pants pants pants.

Spain weren't much better.

Rubbish game, good goal. Spoke volumes for me though when, late on the game, Spain brought on Fabregas and England brought on Downing.

Different leagues.

BBC is reporting it as goals from Maloney and Gow.

Maloney still languishing in the B team is a complete joke. Hope Eck sees sense on that one asap.

The only live Rovers game I've ever seen. Getting chills just reading the re-cap.

What a cracking night it was.

I've rarely felt as proud to be a Rovers fan, for various reasons. Our support was tremendous, the fight the team showed was unbelievable and we pulled the result out with no little amount of skill and ability.

I enjoyed that whole season trememndously - although thats easy to say in hindsight!

Anthony Williams is our second choice (by a distance) keeper by the way for whoever mentioned that further up the thread.

Joe missed a good chance at Brentford on Saturday (0-0) apparently but certainly did OK for the rest of the game.

In the 1-0 win at home to Nottingham Forest on Wednesday night he received the sponsors man of the match award, so you can't ask for much better than that. Puts himself about well, has a great first touch and awareness, wins a lot of headers for a lad of his size and was unlucky twice not to score with a header well saved and one cleared off the line, everyone is very impressed with him so far.

That's twice I've seen Forest against us this season and they are quite poor considering the money they have spent, they just pass it around the back four for ages, then get bored and hoof it straight down the middle.

There are some pictures of Joe in action through the link, starting from the seventh row down :

Nottm Forest Pictures

Thanks for keeping us up to date mate - hope to hear more of your opinions on the lad throughout the rest of the season

a player who wasnt trying, was overweight, was always injured and was out on the town all the time...........

..........................I have more time for James Beattie to be honest

You're such a plonker

Its hard to see us keeping hold of Nonda. I think Sparky will be looking to hold on to Benni Mac and Derbs in the Summer, and hopefully Roberts will show something when he gets back to justify some optimism in him for next season.

Nonda in fairness has done OK. How many goals has he scored - I think its 5? If he gets 10 by the end of the season in a semi-support role it'll be perfectly acceptable - problem is he's played more often than perhaps we all would've liked.

All of that said, if Benni can get himself up to 20 goals, and Nonda and Derbyshire can get 10 each, you've got to be happy with the 3 of them for the season. If Sparky chooses to keep him I will be pleased enough, if he doesn't it's just another opportunity to look for some new blood.

We can't lose.

On another point, PLEASE go easy on the capitals! It's very hard on the eyes, and after working with computers for a while it's the equivalent of someone shouting in your ear

You're not the first to try, and you wont be the first to fail.

Thats our Abbey, you'll grow to love him

...do big oak trees grow.

I simply meant that every gambling addict has to start somewhere

From small acorns, mate.

anyone remember "death race 2000"

The Drummer in a gimp mask?

Friedel

Anyone heard that Beyoncè song, Irreplaceable??

No, sing us a bit of it.

Interesting point there. I was reading Paul Sturrock's column on the Swindon Town site and he said there will be a clause in new contracts along the lines that players live in the vicinity of Swindon so that they can be part of the community and are not driving long distances to and from home.

God help them.

Nope

Just decided that money isn't everything.

EDITED BY T4E

Naughty Admin

i believe his bird has run off with his best mate,who is a burnley fan

Just goes to show you should never go out with your mates sister.

Yeah, but you're stupid.

I can't take that comparison seriously American - despite it being a widely cited one.

If a regular person is doing a job for £30,000 p.a and gets offered a position somewhere else for £40,000 p.a, of course you'd think strongly about it, and probably take it. Thats a relevant consideration, as most regular people rely on continuous work to live month to month, year to year.

In the case of Lucas Neill, we're talking those figures PER WEEK. If he's been offered £40k a week at Rovers, he'd be on £2.08m p.a. On £50k a week at West Ham, he'll get £2.6m p.a. With that much money coming in each and every week, is it really worth sacrificing your ambition for a little bit more? A footballers career is very short, they have to make the most of what they have while they are in their prime. Lucas going to West Ham means that, assuming he sees out his contract there, he'll be past his prime by the time he is ready to move on, and will have missed his chance to really make his mark on the game.

A footballers working life is in no way comparable to that of a regular man.

So Lucas needs a new challenge. Fair one, I think we can all respect that.

Does a player who is all about the challenge of the game demand a release clause upon signing for a new club in case they are relegated? Any tiny bit of respect I still had left for Lucas Neill will completely evaporate if that turns out to be true.

Random caption competition (prize money absolutely nothing!).

"We can hear you sneaking out!"

Would be nice to see a few

DUNNY

4

ENGLAND

shirts around in the coming months.