England failing to qualify for The European Cup!
- Thread starter Woebot
- Start date
hucks
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I seem to remember not getting to the World Cup in 1994 was worse, but maybe that's because I was at school then. I'm looking forward to the tournament now. We'll be able to watch some good teams without constant reference to England's upcoming games/ how England beat this lot in a friendly/ Englandenglandnglandengland. Kind of what Swears just said.
Gabba Flamenco Crossover
High Sierra Skullfuck
I'm so gutted for Scotland. Thier group was absolutely nails, they should have been dead and buried. To miss out in literally the last minute is such a gutter after the campaign they had.
England are a utter, utter gang of muppets but I'm not sure what can be done about it. There's just too much money in the English game at the moment. If you let 24 yr old kids who have been mollycoddled all thier life run the show, things are going to fall apart. An professionally-run FA that was capable of speaking with one voice and imposing itself on the game would be a good start though.
England are a utter, utter gang of muppets but I'm not sure what can be done about it. There's just too much money in the English game at the moment. If you let 24 yr old kids who have been mollycoddled all thier life run the show, things are going to fall apart. An professionally-run FA that was capable of speaking with one voice and imposing itself on the game would be a good start though.
IdleRich
IdleRich
Yeah but if even if they had drawn that game they would have still been out when Italy won their last game so it's not quite like that. Still, I take your point, minnows Scotland got desperately near to qualifying from the hardest group, superstar England got desperately near qualifying from the easiest group.
Interesting to hear about all the effects on the economy; pubs, replica shirt makers, bookies and other merchandisers were banking on a bumper summer that isn't going to arrive - they reckon it represents more than a billion pound hit to the UK. Still, some of my friends have been saying things like "It's gonna be really expensive 'cause to make it interesting I'm going to have to bet on every game".
Sorry, but half the fun of it is tuning in 40 mins before kick-off and watching El Tel wince and pontificate over completely pointless statistics concerning England games 7 years ago. Anyway, best analysis from the best newspaper in the world, the Bangkok Post - "Perhaps England need to simply lower their expectations". And don't expect a jingo-free 2008: the usual suspects who support Brazil in the world cup will be scouring eBay for Italy / Holland shirts, and London's gonna be a sea of Poland supporters anyway. I might support Germany. Anyway, England should beg Klinsmann to manage them, he won't tolerate the players' bullshit.
swears
preppy-kei
hahahaha
hucks
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OK, time to declare my economic ignorance but I can never understand why should this cost the UK economy anything at all. The money I would have almost certainly spent on a huge flag to hang outside my flat I will now spend on a nice hanging basket. The money I would have spent on Carling watching an agonising quarter final defeat on penalties to Portugal I will now spend on expensive imported lager in some trendy bar in Shoreditch.
Sure the money goes elsewhere, but it still gets spent. This goes equally for too wet/ too hot summers, royal weddings, whatever. What am I missing?
vimothy
yurp
I remember reading about some guy being a players rep at a premiership club, and getting called round to a player's house because their fish was swimming backwards, or getting called up by players helpless and afraid somewhere in the depths of the tube system in London.
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baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
I would think that the effects willjust be upon certain industries. but it's like the perennial "This is a bad month for the high street" type headlines - yes, but does that mean that overall consumer spending will be down?
However, the way people go mental in this country with drinking etc, I can see that perhaps I and many others would spend a lot more than planned on evenings when England were playing. how esle can one properly indulge in the mindless baiting of foreigners?
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Just to repeat the above, but it does seem unnecessarily gutting for Scotland and Northern Ireland that they have beaten Spain and France (twice, obv) respectively, and yet still failed to qualify.
Then again, if you can't beat a Georgian team with an average age of around 13, perhaps you don't deserve it.
Then again, if you can't beat a Georgian team with an average age of around 13, perhaps you don't deserve it.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
As said by others, I think not qualifying for 74 and 78 World Cups (in an era when Liverpool ruled European football, too, with quite a few English players to, ahem, boot) must be this country's lowest ebb.
vimothy
yurp
It depends -- just because people are not spending money on one thing, it doesn't necessarily follow that they will therefore spend it on something else. Although, they might, and if they did, the net effect on the economy would be no different.
hucks
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Yeah, I guess "security reasons" mean it's better for them to be in a European group. It would be a health and safety nightmare for them to play, say, Lebanon away. "It's life or death for Israel in Beirut tonight". Equally vice-versa. And Israel are in Eurovision...
Kazakhstan aren't very European, either, geographically speaking, but I think the deal was that the ex-USSR countries get to choose where they want to play.
crackerjack
Well-known member
Health and safety has nothing to do with it. The Arab nations refuse to play Israel and used to withdraw from World Cups rather than compete against a country they don't recognise. Israel actually get a raw deal from the current arangement - they're probably good enough to qualify from the Asian groups.
mixed_biscuits
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European Championship!
hucks
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Cheers for that. I always assumed it was the potential for serious polical incidents that led to Israel switching to the Euro groups. And, yes, they'd easily qualify from the Asian groups.