It’s a bit of a mystery. I remember seeing two Rovers players - one was Marshall, I think the other was Carney - in that comp were you have to score direct from a corner from each corner flag in an empty goal in as few kicks as you can. Both of them did it with a left foot shot from the right wing and a right foot shot from the left wing in about 3 attempts in total ! I reckoned I was two footed but it was have taken me a few more attempts I think. I wasn’t Pedersen’s biggest fan but he was really two footed.

Don’t know, I’m not that much of a fan.

It’s not just this tournament is it ?

They weren’t firing on all cylinders tonight but they carry the most goal scoring threat of all the teams I’ve seen so far. How Mbappe missed that chance in the second half I don’t know. Austria battled hard but they wouldn’t have scored if they’d have played whilst midnight.

Premier League players get free kicks at the drop of hat. In this comp it’s much more physical. Guys like Foden and Saka have got used to being looked after playing in the Prem, you have to fight fire with fire to succeed in the Euros.

According to the current rules he handled the ball. Them’s the breaks. You can’t blame the officials, they got it right.

Ukraine totally out enthused by a very hard working, energetic Romania team.

Ukraine v Rumania is 100 miles an hour stuff. End to end. No walking football in this game.

Marianne Faithful - As Tears Go By

We picked a team of passing players to play ale house football in the second half.

I was thinking along the same lines as you. When you get the guys in training you weigh up what they can do, what they are good at and what they are not good at. Then you decide on your system of play and who’s going to play in it. Looking at the five you chose I would suggest that system plays more into their skill set, especially if we can get Shaw fit. Saka would have to do in the interim as a left wing back. As someone else suggested that would allow Stones to come out with the ball at times. Before your time we were struggling like last night in the 1990 World Cup playing in an orthodox fashion so the players nagged the manager to try 5 at the back. He did and the change was remarkable. We looked a completely different team.

Definitely.

Me too. I’ve watched most of the games and I haven’t seen a poor refereeing performance so far. They’ve all kept control pretty well. This new rule were only the captain can approach the ref seems to be working. When I say “ rough stuff “ it’s not really, we’ve just become accustomed to a less physical game these days.

I think the experiment of playing TAA failed, he vanished in the second half. He’s ok on the ball but off it he goes missing. Ditto Foden, he’s had more than enough chances and he’s never stepped up. The idea of moving him inside to play as a play maker is a joke. He’d just get overpowered. Time to give the Palace winger some game time I think. When the Serbs decided they’d had enough of walking football and got really stuck in to us the second half we’d no answer to their physicality. We are too used to playing Premier League football with Premier League referees who blow up every time somebody falls over. Continental refs are inclined to let a bit of the rough stuff go these days.

Gallagher is just a bit better version of Robbie Savage. As someone once described Savage - “ Like a dog chasing a crisp packet across a car park on a windy day “.

The Four Tops - Something About You

He’s just so negative. We go 1-0 up by playing quite well and then hang on for our lives. Against mighty Serbia.

Once we’d lost the initiative in the second half it wasn’t a game to bring Wharton on. He would have nobody to pass to because his team mates would all have been stood next to him. Everybody was in the last third of the pitch.

Typical Southgate performance. Lots of walking football, no tempo. players passing it stood still to players that were also stood still . Same old story under this coach. Very lucky not to throw that game away. Played ok for half an hour and went to pot after that. In the second half the midfield vanished like snow when the sun comes out. We got outmuscled right across the pitch. The left back got stuck into Saka who decided that sort of game isn’t for him. . Foden was Foden in an England shirt- just peripheral, TAA, did he come out after half time ? Bellingham couldn’t get in the game again. Kane was completely isolated. Thank god for the keeeper, back four and Rice. First good team we come up against we’ll get dicked.

Wharton has a better range of passing than TAA. He can mix it up, short and long, he keeps things ticking over. Whereas TAA is looking for the glory ball most of the time. I could see Wharton playing in midfield for Spain but not TAA, there’s a reason for that.

It’s early days yet but Germany and Spain look to be contenders.

Not exactly a gig but “ The Northern Soul Proms “ are on BBC 4 TV at 8-30 tonight. I’m not really Northern Soul fan although some of the records are great. Twenty years ago I used to be in a quiz team with a bloke who bought and sold Northern Soul records for a living. What he didn’t know about the genre wasn’t worth knowing.

I hadn’t either. RIP Kevin, you were taken much too soon.

I’d be more impressed if he could actually spell “ court “.

Me too.