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[Pavilionaire]

I don't care if he looks like a full-back playing in midfield, the fact is he is primarily left-footed, can put in a decent cross, can cover Ashley Cole when he gets forward and will be well rested come the tournament is enough for me. This will mean we can use the full width of the pitch, threaten on both flanks and free up space in the middle.

One of our big problems is that we don't get space in the middle because we play too narrow.

You don't always need 11 worldbeaters. Sometimes one man that can "hold up his end" to use cricket parlance will free up more talented players to do what they do best. Bridge in midfield will not let us down.

And, if it doesn't work well, you have the option of swapping him around with Ashley Cole.

 

[Uncle Buck]

I don't care if he looks like a full-back playing in midfield, the fact is he is primarily left-footed, can put in a decent cross, can cover Ashley Cole when he gets forward and will be well rested come the tournament is enough for me. This will mean we can use the full width of the pitch, threaten on both flanks and free up space in the middle.

One of our big problems is that we don't get space in the middle because we play too narrow.

You don't always need 11 worldbeaters. Sometimes one man that can "hold up his end" to use cricket parlance will free up more talented players to do what they do best. Bridge in midfield will not let us down.

And, if it doesn't work well, you have the option of swapping him around with Ashley Cole.

Cole playing there is a possibility, he started as a midfielder, but has developed into rather a good full back and we missed him on Saturday.

It comes back to playing 3-5-2. We have an abundance of centre backs and Cole has all the qualities to play at wing back.

If we are going to stick with 4-4-2, I would like to see a fit Downing given a run in the friendlies.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Happy to oblige.

Whats the BIG DEAL about England qualifying ? The only tournament we've missed out on in recent memory is USA 94, when we failed in a group containing Holland and Norway. Otherwise you have to go back to the 70's for christs sake.

It makes me laugh how some people feel its such an ACHIEVEMENT to qualify for these tournaments. England have an embarrassment of riches to draw upon - we are a major footballing nation, and qualifying for the Finals is the absolute MINIMUM we should be expecting. Qualifying isn't an achievement - its a requirement.

We've finished in the top 2 of a group containing Azerbaijan, Wales, Northern Ireland, Austria and Poland. Well WOO HOO, well done Sven - you're worth every penny of that £4m a year. We've plodded our way to Germany - now the work starts. He's got a 3rd chance to guide us to something other than a limp, pathetic, gutless exit that we've seen at the last 2 tournaments. But going by our current form, I'm not overly optimistic.

You really are bitter for some reason - i bet you were backing austria and us not getting through just so you may have a point

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

With the exception of Graham Taylor, Svens qualifying record is as good as every other England managers over the last 25 years. No better or worse.

His record in tournaments show 2 soul-crushingly limp exits. You can't just look at a scoreline and base an opinion purely and singularly on that. A scoreline can cover a multitude of cracks and deficiencies which all come home to roost when it matters, against the best. Put simply, we get found out.

And I've not seen anything since Brazil 2002 to suggest we've made any progress at all. And given the players he has to work with, thats "disappointing", shall we say.

Erm he has a better record than venables and hoodle and Keegen - who was a joke

 

[CHAPPERS]

I am no fan of Sven and think he probably has had his time. Having said that, we have qualified again & he will make us one of the teams to beat in the finals. That may sound fanciful right now after the poor performances recently, but I would rather get them out the way now. Svens record in major tournaments is not as bad as people here make out.

In the last Euro's we were the best team until Rooney got injured. If it had been anyone else I think we would have won that tournament. We were also the most exciting - and had the stand-out player.

In the last World Cup we dicked Denmark, and beat Argentina. We were very unfortunate to play Brazil in scorching heat. I hate the "they get paid so much they should have been okay in the heat" argument. It doesn't matter if you're a billionaire, heat & altitude effects you if you're not used to it. While we got Brazil, Germany had all the dregs right to the final. So, to answer the original question, IF WE GET A SIMIlAR DRAW TO GERMANY AT THE LAST WORLD CUP, WE HAVE A CHANCE.

I would also like to thank Sven for the two best moments in my time watching England - 5-1 in Germany, and beating the Argies 1-0. Great days!

Word!

I do believe we have been inredibly unlucky in the last two tournaments. The disallowed goal and against Portugal, that Seaman error aginst Brazil and the heat, having three key players injured in Japan....

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Word!

I do believe we have been inredibly unlucky in the last two tournaments. The disallowed goal and against Portugal, that Seaman error aginst Brazil and the heat, having three key players injured in Japan....

Its svens fault Beckham broke his foot

 

[Uncle Buck]

Word!

I do believe we have been inredibly unlucky in the last two tournaments. The disallowed goal and against Portugal, that Seaman error aginst Brazil and the heat, having three key players injured in Japan....

Agreed, that heat was unbearable against Brazil in the stands, gawd knows what it was like on the pitch.

But like all things people do not look at these factors when they just want Sven out.

At the end of the day we have qualified and yet people are still calling for his head.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Agreed, that heat was unbearable against Brazil in the stands, gawd knows what it was like on the pitch.

But like all things people do not look at these factors when they just want Sven out.

At the end of the day we have qualified and yet people are still calling for his head.

Svens fault for the heat as well

 

[Easy 10]

You really are bitter for some reason - i bet you were backing austria and us not getting through just so you may have a point

Not at all. I've never wanted England to lose a match (although once the game was up against Denmark, I must admit I was hoping they'd rack up a few more goals just to puncture this balloon of complacency that has formed over the England team).

As I've said before, ultimately I hope Sven proves all his doubters wrong and we go on to have a storming World Cup. But at the moment, I'm just calling it as I see it. Englands performances, against extremely limited opposition, has absolutely STANK the place out. Now you may have a pair of rose-tinted specs that tell you that these displays really don't matter, its just getting there that counts. Well we've got there before and we'll get there again. This time, I want to see us actually DO something at these tournaments. Play like we have though, and it'll be the same old story. You know it. I know it.

Erm he has a better record than venables and hoodle and Keegen - who was a joke

You might want to look into that a bit.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Not at all. I've never wanted England to lose a match (although once the game was up against Denmark, I must admit I was hoping they'd rack up a few more goals just to puncture this balloon of complacency that has formed over the England team).

As I've said before, ultimately I hope Sven proves all his doubters wrong and we go on to have a storming World Cup. But at the moment, I'm just calling it as I see it. Englands performances, against extremely limited opposition, has absolutely STANK the place out. Now you may have a pair of rose-tinted specs that tell you that these displays really don't matter, its just getting there that counts. Well we've got there before and we'll get there again. This time, I want to see us actually DO something at these tournaments. Play like we have though, and it'll be the same old story. You know it. I know it.



You might want to look into that a bit.

Hoodle got us through to ONE world cup
Keegan got as through to one via the backdoor and we were shit
Venables got a bye to the finals and won two games

 

[Pavilionaire]

Can I just point out that Sven's reward for getting England past the might of Azerbaijan, Northern Ireland, Wales, Austria and Poland is a £500,000 bonus?

Yes, that's right - £500,000.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Not at all. I've never wanted England to lose a match (although once the game was up against Denmark, I must admit I was hoping they'd rack up a few more goals just to puncture this balloon of complacency that has formed over the England team).

As I've said before, ultimately I hope Sven proves all his doubters wrong and we go on to have a storming World Cup. But at the moment, I'm just calling it as I see it. Englands performances, against extremely limited opposition, has absolutely STANK the place out. Now you may have a pair of rose-tinted specs that tell you that these displays really don't matter, its just getting there that counts. Well we've got there before and we'll get there again. This time, I want to see us actually DO something at these tournaments. Play like we have though, and it'll be the same old story. You know it. I know it.



You might want to look into that a bit.

But you call for him to go, hardly an ideal time for that to happen, bringing in a new man 8 months before a tournament. Also I suspect it will cause resentment amongst the players, as the team is getting results and getting the job done.

You say you are calling it as you see it, but you are not calling it objectively. The fact is we have qualified, got the results needed so it is the first part of the job done. The next part is the fine tuning over 5 or 6 friendlies, then come June trying to win the thing. Changing the manager is not going to help, so unlucky.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Can I just point out that Sven's reward for getting England past the might of Azerbaijan, Northern Ireland, Wales, Austria and Poland is a £500,000 bonus?

Yes, that's right - £500,000.

And? If mcghee got that for keeping brighton up would you mind

 

[Easy 10]

Hoodle got us through to ONE world cup
Keegan got as through to one via the backdoor and we were shit
Venables got a bye to the finals and won two games

Just goes to show, you can put whatever slant you like on an England managers record, and twist it to say whatever you want it to.

Yes, Hoddle got us through to ONE World Cup (as you emphasise), as thats all he was given time to do.

Keegan got us to Euro 2000 (not the World Cup), and yes we were shit. But I thought you were basically saying how good or bad we were didn't matter, as long as we GOT there ? I gather thats stands for Sven but not Keegan then ?

Venables didn't have to qualify, thats hardly his fault. At least we put up a decent showing. Yes we rode our luck at times, but so does any team that progresses in a tournament. Sadly Venables was shafted by the FA just as it seemed an England team was genuinely evolving under his guidance.
(and, by coincidence, how many games did England win in the 2002 World Cup ? Wasn't, errr, 2 was it ?)

Anyway, if you can be bothered to dig out the actual stats (which seem to be the be-all and end-all), in terms of results I think you'll find there really isn't much to choose between Sven and the three predecessors you mention.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Just goes to show, you can put whatever slant you like on an England managers record, and twist it to say whatever you want it to.

Yes, Hoddle got us through to ONE World Cup (as you emphasise), as thats all he was given time to do.

Keegan got us to Euro 2000 (not the World Cup), and yes we were shit. But I thought you were basically saying how good or bad we were didn't matter, as long as we GOT there ? I gather thats stands for Sven but not Keegan then ?

Venables didn't have to qualify, thats hardly his fault. At least we put up a decent showing. Yes we rode our luck at times, but so does any team that progresses in a tournament. Sadly Venables was shafted by the FA just as it seemed an England team was genuinely evolving under his guidance.

Anyway, if you can be bothered to dig out the actual stats (which seem to be the be-all and end-all), in terms of results I think you'll find there really isn't much to choose between Sven and the three predecessors you mention.

We should have been out after the spain game - Yes I said it doesnt matter how we get there but we only just got there and you have been slagging of england for the past frw months for playing badly.

 

[Uncle Buck]

Just goes to show, you can put whatever slant you like on an England managers record, and twist it to say whatever you want it to.

Yes, Hoddle got us through to ONE World Cup (as you emphasise), as thats all he was given time to do.

Keegan got us to Euro 2000 (not the World Cup), and yes we were shit. But I thought you were basically saying how good or bad we were didn't matter, as long as we GOT there ? I gather thats stands for Sven but not Keegan then ?

Venables didn't have to qualify, thats hardly his fault. At least we put up a decent showing. Yes we rode our luck at times, but so does any team that progresses in a tournament. Sadly Venables was shafted by the FA just as it seemed an England team was genuinely evolving under his guidance.
(and, by coincidence, how many games did England win in the 2002 World Cup ? Wasn't, errr, 2 was it ?)

Anyway, if you can be bothered to dig out the actual stats (which seem to be the be-all and end-all), in terms of results I think you'll find there really isn't much to choose between Sven and the three predecessors you mention.

All Hoddle was allowed to do? He had lost the dressing room as was shown in the post France results oh and had some interesting views on the disabled, meaning his position was untenable.

I would say there is an awful lot to chose between Sven and all his predecessors, with the possible excpetion of Robson, in that Sven's record is better than all of theirs. Go and look at the stats. But regarding Robson, you were probably one of the people that wanted him out after we had qualified for Italia 90.

 

[Icy Gull]

Hoodle got us through to ONE world cup

He also won le Tourneoi in France which gave us hope that we had a team capable of winning at World level. He also seemed to have a clue as to how to change a game when things weren't going well. Name me one game that Sven has done that in? Shouldn't be difficult he's had 4 years to manage it.

 

[Pavilionaire]

And? If mcghee got that for keeping brighton up would you mind

Any manager that keeps us up with our resources deserves whatever bonus Knight sees fit and can afford.

Can you not see that it is a question of resources and how those resources are managed that dictate how well a manager is doing

Sven has got a half million pound bonus for doing his job. Well done Sven.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

He also won le Tourneoi in France which gave us hope that we had a team capable of winning at World level. He also seemed to have a clue as to how to change a game. name me one game that Sven has done that in?

Germany 1 england 5

 

[Uncle Buck]

Germany 1 england 5

But Germany scored one, so Sven's fault.