Come anticipate Roy Hodgson's three months in charge og England with me.

Aye my mistake I looked up his appearances and they were listed the wrong way round, with his first season last. Knew I'd seen him more than that in the late part of the season.

Ten league starts (only one between October and March - though he was used in most cup games*). Lost four of them. Four clean sheets. As decent as anyone in a Liverpool shirt this season then (i.e. significantly worse than Newcastle).

*kind of makes sense to pick so many players from this season's Cup Team, I suppose, and to ignore league form as it's mostly foreigners making the difference at the top of the table.

That last bit is great. If Kenny had said that instead of 'kit deal' he'd still be in a job.

Sol Campbell going in heavy

"If it is ever proven true that John Terry was chosen over Rio because of race then I would tell the FA that they can take back my 73 caps and scrub my name out of the record books."

Did laugh that in the same article he claims there was no better defender than himself in the 2009-10 season when he went back to Arsenal. I don't quite remember it that way tbh.

no better defender of himself

no better defneder at arsenal while the 400 others were injured maybe

Last year, rare mistakes [by Hart] gifted Switzerland’s Tranquillo Barnetta two goals at Wembley. “I’d have liked to have saved both but I’m not going to defend what happened and say, ‘It’s so tough’ and ‘bodies are flying in’. It happened. We got the result and I’m grateful.

“Ashley Young scored a late goal and we qualified. I just don’t get too wrapped up in it. I think about it technically and what I could have done better. Was it laziness? Was it whatever? And then I move on.”

Was it laziness? Was it whatever? And then I move on.
Was it laziness? Was it whatever? And then I move on.
Was it laziness? Was it whatever? And then I move on.
Was it laziness? Was it whatever? And then I move on.
Was it laziness? Was it whatever? And then I move on.
Was it laziness? Was it whatever? And then I move on.
Was it laziness? Was it whatever? And then I move on.
Was it laziness? Was it whatever? And then I move on.
Was it laziness? Was it whatever? And then I move on.
Was it laziness? Was it whatever? And then I move on.
Was it laziness? Was it whatever? And then I move on.
Was it laziness? Was it whatever? And then I move on.
Was it laziness? Was it whatever? And then I move on.

quite possibly my new fave quote of all time

England pose a danger too, Hart emphasised. “When it comes to shooting, there’s no one I look forward to facing. Everyone has a fair old wallop or can wrong-foot you. We’ve got goals in the team.”

he's easy come, easy go

when will they learn? you can't just let footballers talk.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/13/article-2158619-13960FDB000005DC-489_634x465.jpg

Welcome party: Roy Hodgson and his England team prepare to welcome the WAGS

'a hoy hoy'

ashley young is a wee lad isn't he

no wonder the powers that be at noted tika taka exponents watford were loathe to give him a contract

three years more like :-)

that xi with carroll parker gerrrd is fucking toilet

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/06/23/article-2163751-13C0544B000005DC-134_634x430.jpg

"You know when you take the job, you're dead. All you can hope is that you can enjoy that time on your death bed and that when you're resurrected a few years later, people say 'You know, he wasn't that bad'."

now that is the roar of an english lion i can get behind

If I somehow found myself a leader, that's how I'd do it.

does england have anyone that can cross and deliver set pieces as well as leighton baines? with his left foot? any reason roy shouldn't just play him as a winger?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19827887

i think Ferdinand's a good way past it but has he jilted Hodgson's daughter or something?

snubbed her iirc

nice to see roy channeling the spirit of christian gross

"I would never dream of telling a player when its the end of the line or whatever I'm supposed to have said. That's up to the player to decide for himself, and hopefully that won't be the case.

"When I speak to him I'll make it clear I haven't selected him - who knows if I will select him in the next one - but it would be up to him whether he wants to be a part of it or not."

trans: just fucking retire Rio

Fraser Forster giving away a stupid goal in the Champs League has worked wonders for his profile I see. He was completely overlooked while breaking SPL clean sheet records for two straight seasons then makes an arse of a shot that wasn't even going in and he gets the call-up.

gary hooper scoring in the champions league gets him nowhere.

A sports writer on one of Scotland's premier football phone-ins (ikr) the other night said "I could easily name twenty English strikers better than Gary Hooper" - presenter said "Go on then" pundit said "Look I'm not going to sit here and name them! But there's at least twenty!"

was just reading up on Hooper after his exploits the other night. Interesting story

I think he was a great buy for us at something like 5% of an Andy Carroll (who Hooper outscored with a lesser team in the Championship). I can't see us hanging onto him beyond next summer, particularly if he puts in another good CL performance. He was man of the match by miles the other night and was involved in everything good that happened for Celtic.

pick england's xi atm?

                              hart
Walker  Caulker    Lescott    Baines
Lennon    Parker   Livermore   D Rose
             Thudd
                       Defoe
        

Not too sure about lescott, he's not really getting a game iirc?

central midfield a little cloggy, against weaker teams i might throw in a more attacking player, andros townsend maybe idk

Surely Cudicini's naturalised by now?

if they weren't gonna play a high line dawson would be clear favourite obv. Struggled over gk but hart's doin ok i'd keep him in there over the strong challenge of wycombe's jordan archer (on a week's loan from spurs iirc)

lol ik with the 'alternative view' nice one ismael always good to get the jokey offering imo

Back in 2000, Gerrard’s debut against Ukraine gave him first-hand, in-the-face experience of the demands of captaincy and England expectations.

Just out of his teenage years, Gerrard sat nervously in the dressing-room at Wembley, listening to the captain, Alan Shearer, shouting “get stuck in”.

Tony Adams, another leader, walked across and stood in front of Gerrard, checking on final preparations to meet Andrei Shevchenko, Sergei Rebrov and company.

“Are you f****** ready?” bellowed Adams. Gerrard looked into Adams’ eyes, understood the supreme significance of the occasion, and replied: “You bet I’m f****** well ready.”

This sounds like the worst thing in the world.

adams yanked him by his shirt into a rough embrace. the first kiss tasted of last night's skol and today's rothmans.

You wanna know how to beat Ukraine? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That's the England way! And that's how you beat Ukraine. Now do you want to do that? Are you ready to do that?!

I wonder if Casillas and Xavi got all up in Mata's grill before the Euro final?

they took him to a bar and grill, took wine, took smoke, talked a lil descartes nbd

"we will not rest until every man, woman, and child of ukraine has had their throat slit, and the british alehouses serve their blood as a warm and uncarbonated ale. if you do not wish this with all your heart then you can never play for england, never. never."

This is more like it imo:

The first cap came against Ukraine in 2000 when Gerrard was not quite the worldly, streetwise operator we see now. "I'd travelled down in the same car as Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman," he recalls. "I'd told them how carefully I'd packed my bag. My mum had done my undies, ironed all my socks. I went back to my hotel room after training and everything was in the bath, with the water running." Gerrard had turned 20 the day before the match. "Happy birthday soft-arse" was written in foam on the mirrors.

that's the stuff

When Adams and Shearer are going round doing the chest-beating, "ARE YOU F****** READY?" thing, and they reach Fowler and McManaman - what happens?

lols, slaps, tears, tender lovemaking, england

That kind of behind the scenes stuff fascinates me. It sounds pretty fake when you're watching it but i guess it must have some effect?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjXO308_mKM

I cannot even conceive of being that guy. I bet John Terry even gees his kids up that way before the school run.

it's a totally different thing with rugby, half the aim is to physically intimidate and overpower the opposition, and every second involves a full on physical confrontation.