You’ll need more than wine lad.

FUCKING SHAMBLES. Played them through twice in 60 seconds this half. I’d this Scandinavian plank can’t change get him back to Malmö.

Yeah cocking it off in marbs playing Ajax reserves. Tough life.

Bring back fat Sam. Give me long ball all day long over this shite.

Inevitably. Then as sure as night follows day tonight’s commentary will be Maguire to stones, stones to Maguire, Maguire to shaw, shaw to Maguire, Maguire to Mbappe, goal France. It'll happen to both my sides in 6 hours.

Rovers v nob end. The pre match build up on sky is about Jude Bellingham. Of course it is. Why wouldn’t it be.

Exactly. We don’t need southernising. People in all areas of life need to take personal responsibility for more things. If it’s slightly more slippy than usual so bloody what. I’m sure as a young kid if the car couldn’t get to school then my sister and I were told to get out and complete the journey on foot. No question school was off, lesson in hat and coat and I’m not even that old and from an era where they properly didn’t care

I still picture them all stood around saying: “I thought you said you’d put the under soil heating on…well I thought you said you’d done it…tell them it’s on and we’ll think of something.” Swag will be up livsey branch road as we speak watering the pavements to deflect blame

I think an interesting question would be if Southgate leaves (he won’t do) would any top half premier league team take a punt of him.

They’re looking in to it.

It boils my piss when they ask Rio Ferdinand, Neville, Gerrard, Lampard about their perspective on what the players will feel like. This was a golden generation of players, who should have won it, but subsequently admitted couldn’t give a toss about England and could really put club rivalries aside in the dressing room. “How would they be feeling right now Rio?” “well if they’re anything like me they’d prefer to be sat in Carrington.”

Was going to watch rovers v nob end 12-2, Clitheroe v Widnes 3-5, England v France 7-9. The Clitheroe game almost certainly gone with the snow and with how tin pot rovers are these days with slight weather maybe that too.

Not sure I can stomach another round of an ode to messi from the commentary box. Its nauseating

Holland need to go full Dave Bassett - lump it to the big lads

Which one could chain smoke at half time and still turn it on.

Agreed. That’s a penalty. Didn’t even need to be in the corner. No pissing about. Beaten by power

Croatia 0 Brazil 2 Netherlands 0 Argentina 1 Morocco 0 Portugal 2 England 1 France 3

I wouldn’t say this board is anti England just a fatalism about how things always end up (unless you’re in your 60s and can remember 1966). I said in the the last World Cup whilst leading 1-0 to Croatia if we can’t beat the likes of these in a World Cup semi final from this position then we’ll never win a World Cup semi again. I stand by that. In the euros final whilst beating Italy 1-0 I said if we can’t beat someone at home in a major final then we’ll not beat anyone. I’ll stand by that as well. In every World Cup there’s probably 3-8 teams better than England on paper so we should beat most teams but also will be punching above our weight to win a tournament. In this tournament we’ve played 4 crap sides and easily dispatched 3 of them, as we should, and drew with the other one playing very badly. The media have talked up every bit of shit we’ve played this tournament but no one but no one could possibly believe iran, usa, wales or Senegal should beat England. However, England always either get beaten by a better side or bottle it against a worst side in the business end of tournaments (or earlier). How many times have England upset the odds in a knockout stage in a World Cup? Never in 50 years but vs Germany in the euros. I wouldn’t say it’s pessimistic just the reality of what always happens. Every. Single. Time. .

If France score first and we have to open up to chase the game I shudder to think what they might do to us. But the winner of that tie must surely go in as favourites vs Spain/Portugal.

We like to build up nothing opposition in this country. The pundits talked up Iran as being a defensive bastion (when they actually talked about the match and not the armbands), talked up the USA as being the most exiting up and coming young team in world football, talked up Bale as being unstoppable and talked up this lot as being a serious threat (the African champions no less) but if we’re really honest 2 or 3-0 was par tonight. Although I did think we’d be negative and be taken into extra time. The first proper game and first decent opposition of this World Cup up next Saturday and it’s going to take something very very special indeed to beat France. Hopefully for once England will pull off a big upset rather than be the victims of one.

It wasn’t even the first 20 mins the first 35 were dire. The last 10 minutes of the first half were decent but would have to say the goal on 38 mins was totally against the run of play. Since then played some decent stuff but shouldn’t take 30 mins to wake up. Won’t get that privilege against a good side.

Bellingham is a serious player. Stones and Maguire were Senegal’s best playmakers.

But they might well do a Jadon Sancho on him.

I think France should look to beat this England side 4-0 but frankly we should brush aside Senegal. Not playing like this though.

“Senegal shouldn’t be discounted or dismissed, they’re African champions.” I wouldn’t expect any professional to dismiss any opponent. However, it’s bloody Senegal. If hand picked a realistic knockout opponent wouldn’t look much past the likes of Senegal. None of this lot would make an England 4th xi. That’s not to say they can’t win or won’t win, England can cock up any match. But should we fail to progress here it’ll be a national disgrace up there with Iceland, etc, etc