DocMcCoy"Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
Duderonomy said:
The whole thing sucks.
But if I was American, I imagine I'd be really annoyed to see how the relevance, or authority, of Obama and the US Inquiry was shown up to be about as meaningful as a mosquito trying to tap blood from an Elephant's backside. The guy who represented BP obviously didn't give much of a toss, said his apology with little sincerity and fucked-off to the Isle of White for a yacht trip. Oil companies >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> government of Teh Greatest Most Powerful Democracy on Planet Earth. That's what would piss me right off. Votes don't count for $hit.
The thing that's struck me about all that, particularly in light of the lazy, moronic Brit-bashing it triggered, is that most of the people blaming us evil Brits don't seem to have realised that it's not really about a British company acting without any sense of social responsibility. It's more to do with the fact that vast corporate megaliths like BP are able to do business free from accountability purely due to the lack of government regulation in the US. The principle of "small government" trumps everything else. Allow a dog to shit where it likes, and eventually it's going to shit in your bed, sofa, bath, wherever.
Foolish decision by Emile. By my rough calculations he was averaging a goal at just over 1 per 10 games so if he'd stuck around through the Euro qualifiers he'd have had a good chance to get that all important 8th goal to take him within 41 of the record.
Yeah, not sure it's that depressing, but reading all of the articles about Spanish football, how much they've invested in and won at youth level, the domination of Barca and now the national side, and watching Germany cruise into the semi with a team of young unknowns... well, it is a bit depressing that England have little to be optimistic about.
But Arsenal may save us yet!
Half my family are Villa fans, so I have no hate for them.
IMO Milner just represents all that is wrong with English football. As long as we persist down that road we'll never be able to compete at the International level.
IMO Milner just represents all that is wrong with English football. As long as we persist down that road we'll never be able to compete at the International level.
Milner represents all that is wrong more than Captain John Terry, Fatty Lampard, St Steven of Me, Golden Bollocks, or Merk'Em Ferdinand? He's only been in the squad for like, a year or so, whereas the aforementioned have had a crack and failed at major tournaments since 2001.
Albert Einstein on Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Different managers, same players, same results. Madness. I agree that Milner may not be the player to change anything, but he's hardly at fault for all that's wrong with English football. I think the FA are the biggest culprits, as I fully believe Martin O'Neill's anecdote about being interviewed for the England manager job.
IMO Milner just represents all that is wrong with English football. As long as we persist down that road we'll never be able to compete at the International level.
Milner represents all that is wrong more than Captain John Terry, Fatty Lampard, St Steven of Me, Golden Bollocks, or Merk'Em Ferdinand? He's only been in the squad for like, a year or so, whereas the aforementioned have had a crack and failed at major tournaments since 2001.
Albert Einstein on Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Different managers, same players, same results. Madness. I agree that Milner may not be the player to change anything, but he's hardly at fault for all that's wrong with English football. I think the FA are the biggest culprits, as I fully believe Martin O'Neill's anecdote about being interviewed for the England manager job.
He just represents a future of fail, I never said he was personally to blame for anything. And I'm talking purely about football, not personalties, or any of the bs that goes along with it.
Milner is successful/hyped because he is what the English system is set up to produce.
1. He's a grafter. (cause the English love a grafter, which is kind of ironic.)
2. He's physically strong. (the most important thing in football apparently)
3. He kicks the ball well. (cause you need to know how to knock it long to the big man)
4. But he has no real flair or skill on the ball. (these things will only get you kicked by everyone else)
5. Neither does he understand creative movement, positioning or passing. ("bomb on son" is pretty much the level of English creativity it seems)
Yeah, not sure it's that depressing, but reading all of the articles about Spanish football, how much they've invested in and won at youth level, the domination of Barca and now the national side, and watching Germany cruise into the semi with a team of young unknowns... well, it is a bit depressing that England have little to be optimistic about.
But Arsenal may save us yet!
Imagine that Spanish side with like, Messi, Henry, Eto'o and Yaya Toure in it. More or less the same side Chelsea held to 0-0 in Barca and had twisted away from them with a 1-1 over here. They can be beaten, even by a gang of part-time Toblerone/Clock makers....
Full time: Spain 0-1 Switzerland Astonishing. We knew Spain would breathe life into the World Cup, but we didn't expect it to be like this. This is one of the great World Cup shocks and ??? most shocking of all ??? it's fully deserved. Spain did not create many clear chances and Switzerland, quite simply, did a number on them. You might bemoan their anti-football tactics but nobody could dispute how well those tactics were planned by their marvellous manager Ottmar Hitzfeld and executed by an indefatigable and admirable group of players. That was remarkable, and sets up the very real prospect of Brazil v Spain in the last 16 now. Blimey. Thanks for your emails; I'm off to see if the world is still on its axis.
I think the problem with this particular cycle of the England team is lack of desire b/w internal affairs. Capello is statistically the most successful England manager since the war, he must have some tactical nous but his selections, valid on paper, just do not deliver when it matters. Time for another gang to man the f*ck up.
MOke; "Bomb on son!". Yeah, Milner hasn't shown much of a technical side to his game really. He's young, so maybe that'll come. Maybe. Will Capello be given the time/faith to move towards blooding youngsters that favour technique over brawn?
'Ster; Spain/Barca comparisions are quite apt since Spain stand out from the rest of the world for looking like a club side, rather than the opposite end of the spectrum where 11 strangers turn up wearing England shirts and Capello screams instructions at them for 90mins. Also, will you be sad to see Bellamy leave? Reports have him moving on...
Paul Scholes being forced into retirement to accommodate the 'golden generation' is the reason. He might be pushing on a bit for this recent WC but at least he can pass the f'n ball.
Paul Scholes being forced into retirement to accommodate the 'golden generation' is the reason. He might be pushing on a bit for this recent WC but at least he can pass the f'n ball.
While I agree, I think if you're not looking at the next match, future tournaments, then we might as well start pointing to 1966 as evidence that England can beat Germany!
Don't blame Scholesy for figuring that Erikson & SCS didn't have a clue though. He was right.
He should be loaned out to a Spanish side. More English youngsters should play abroad, broaden their horizons, avoid the money-chav culture...
I remember an interview with Hargreaves where he said that when England travelled abroad, he often wanted to sight-see, and check out the country, and the rest of the squad thought he was a weirdo...
Hope he didn't let on that he read or something 'gay' like that.
Yes, will miss him. Regardless of his gobshite persona, he's always put a shift in. It's only other players that seem to have a bad word against him and in a few interviews he's shown a remarkable seam of humility.
Thing is, how long has he got left as a pro? His knees are only marginally behind Ledley King in fragility, so it's not like we are flogging him on when he could be serving the club for years to come. I suspect he's still salty with Bobby Manc for the Hughes affair, so it's pretty certain he's moving on.
Would be unwise to flog him to a club that could do us out of the CL doe.
The problem with is English football is that we're just not good enough. We're still stuck playing the same game we invented all those years ago, whilst the rest of the World has moved on.
There's no point in sending the few quality players we have abroad to culture them, if we (collectively) stay stuck in a rut. The whole culture needs to change.
But adapting doesn't seem to be one of our strengths. Very few of our England team play together at club level anymore, (this def. help the likes of Germany and Spain, cause the understanding is already there) but, many of the South American players play on completely separate continents, yet can come together and form a team, so there's no reason English players shouldn't be able to do the same.
Comments
The thing that's struck me about all that, particularly in light of the lazy, moronic Brit-bashing it triggered, is that most of the people blaming us evil Brits don't seem to have realised that it's not really about a British company acting without any sense of social responsibility. It's more to do with the fact that vast corporate megaliths like BP are able to do business free from accountability purely due to the lack of government regulation in the US. The principle of "small government" trumps everything else. Allow a dog to shit where it likes, and eventually it's going to shit in your bed, sofa, bath, wherever.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/jul/15/emile-heskey-england-international-retirement
What is Capello going to do now? How can England expect to hold on to our FIFA ranking of 7th?
That's right James I'm talking about you.
That's right James I'm talking about you.
That's right James I'm talking about you.
I'd put it down to Arsenal fans hating everything Villa related cos they came for your spot in the season before last.
But Arsenal may save us yet!
IMO Milner just represents all that is wrong with English football. As long as we persist down that road we'll never be able to compete at the International level.
The Sun hates black people!
Milner represents all that is wrong more than Captain John Terry, Fatty Lampard, St Steven of Me, Golden Bollocks, or Merk'Em Ferdinand? He's only been in the squad for like, a year or so, whereas the aforementioned have had a crack and failed at major tournaments since 2001.
Albert Einstein on Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Different managers, same players, same results. Madness. I agree that Milner may not be the player to change anything, but he's hardly at fault for all that's wrong with English football. I think the FA are the biggest culprits, as I fully believe Martin O'Neill's anecdote about being interviewed for the England manager job.
He just represents a future of fail, I never said he was personally to blame for anything. And I'm talking purely about football, not personalties, or any of the bs that goes along with it.
Milner is successful/hyped because he is what the English system is set up to produce.
1. He's a grafter. (cause the English love a grafter, which is kind of ironic.)
2. He's physically strong. (the most important thing in football apparently)
3. He kicks the ball well. (cause you need to know how to knock it long to the big man)
4. But he has no real flair or skill on the ball. (these things will only get you kicked by everyone else)
5. Neither does he understand creative movement, positioning or passing. ("bomb on son" is pretty much the level of English creativity it seems)
Really Westwood?
I'll take your word for it, as I couldn't listen to more than 10 secs of either.
Imagine that Spanish side with like, Messi, Henry, Eto'o and Yaya Toure in it. More or less the same side Chelsea held to 0-0 in Barca and had twisted away from them with a 1-1 over here. They can be beaten, even by a gang of part-time Toblerone/Clock makers....
I think the problem with this particular cycle of the England team is lack of desire b/w internal affairs. Capello is statistically the most successful England manager since the war, he must have some tactical nous but his selections, valid on paper, just do not deliver when it matters. Time for another gang to man the f*ck up.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/02w8j3
t/l http://twitpic.com/25ib7y
MOke; "Bomb on son!". Yeah, Milner hasn't shown much of a technical side to his game really. He's young, so maybe that'll come. Maybe. Will Capello be given the time/faith to move towards blooding youngsters that favour technique over brawn?
'Ster; Spain/Barca comparisions are quite apt since Spain stand out from the rest of the world for looking like a club side, rather than the opposite end of the spectrum where 11 strangers turn up wearing England shirts and Capello screams instructions at them for 90mins. Also, will you be sad to see Bellamy leave? Reports have him moving on...
Paul Scholes being forced into retirement to accommodate the 'golden generation' is the reason. He might be pushing on a bit for this recent WC but at least he can pass the f'n ball.
While I agree, I think if you're not looking at the next match, future tournaments, then we might as well start pointing to 1966 as evidence that England can beat Germany!
Don't blame Scholesy for figuring that Erikson & SCS didn't have a clue though. He was right.
I remember an interview with Hargreaves where he said that when England travelled abroad, he often wanted to sight-see, and check out the country, and the rest of the squad thought he was a weirdo...
Hope he didn't let on that he read or something 'gay' like that.
Yes, will miss him. Regardless of his gobshite persona, he's always put a shift in. It's only other players that seem to have a bad word against him and in a few interviews he's shown a remarkable seam of humility.
Thing is, how long has he got left as a pro? His knees are only marginally behind Ledley King in fragility, so it's not like we are flogging him on when he could be serving the club for years to come. I suspect he's still salty with Bobby Manc for the Hughes affair, so it's pretty certain he's moving on.
Would be unwise to flog him to a club that could do us out of the CL doe.
There's no point in sending the few quality players we have abroad to culture them, if we (collectively) stay stuck in a rut. The whole culture needs to change.
But adapting doesn't seem to be one of our strengths. Very few of our England team play together at club level anymore, (this def. help the likes of Germany and Spain, cause the understanding is already there) but, many of the South American players play on completely separate continents, yet can come together and form a team, so there's no reason English players shouldn't be able to do the same.
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In other news, have you see this craziness - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FIFA-2010-WORLD-CUP-JOBULANI-OFFICIAL-FINAL-MATCH-BALL-/110557352490?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_SportsMemorabilia_Football_Memorabilia_ET&hash=item19bdbb522a#ht_1712wt_1095
Thanks man.