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. 

1 minute ago, SIMON GARNERS 194 said:

No update from Rovers?

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

3 minutes ago, Tugayisgod said:

Which one are you having ? Both so similar imo, great players who make the game look simple. Think the username gives the game away for me !

 

 

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

26 minutes ago, speeeeeeedie said:

I'm going to again repeat my claim that walking, shuffling, step-stepping, and duck strutting up to take a penalty is a good way to miss it. 

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.

. 

3 minutes ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Bit like watching Rovers. Dull until we score first and then we looked decent. Saka doing what any young wingers watching should note - when the ball is on the other wing - get in the box !

It’ll be interesting what happens if France should score first. Have we got a plan B ? JDT hasn’t come up with one so far.

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.

2 minutes ago, Darrenbot said:

If i was Man U or Liverpool i'd be asking what do Dortmund want for Bellingham and just pay it.

But they might well do a Jadon Sancho on him. 

2 minutes ago, jim mk2 said:

Lots of English exceptionalism in this post. Southgate said before the World Cup we constantly as a nation over-rate ourselves

 

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

33 minutes ago, Gavlar Somerset Rover! said:

He’s an arrogant and petulant toad, but Mbappé is going to go on to break some serious records if he doesn’t sustain a big injury.

He is absolutely immense and also very arrogant even for a Frenchman. I believe he more or less single handedly ousted the then PSG technical director Leonardo. Now he’s a quasi PSG director as well as being the star striker. That’s what persuaded him to turn down Real.

Netherlands 2-1 USA

Argentina 3-0 Australia

France 3-1 Poland

England 1-1 Senegal

Japan 0-2 Croatia

Brazil 2-0 South Korea

Morocco 0-1 Spain

Portugal 2-1 Switzerland 

1400 runs for last 14 wickets in this game and the last one.

This is a complete waste of time. A pitch that isn’t fit for purpose. One thing about OT particularly, and most English test pitches is there’s a fair contest between bat and ball. This is a joke.

In or out. He could have played a 1-2 with the advertising boards for all I care. About time the Germans got a taste of their own medicine. 

Apparently they don’t have the key camera angle of that goal - Infantino had stacked a pile of yen in front of it

sweet.