England voted the worst team to ever get to 1/4 finals

[Uncle Buck]

Drop the Canadian and all the Carribean players and see can you even field a team. Doubt it.

At present Hargreaves is the only one that falls under any questionable qualification and before that it was probably Barnes. The others I am guessing that you are referring to are all generally second or third generation and so would struggle to qualify for their ancestors teams.

Anyway, the current Irish side has not been using the grand parent rule all that much, Clinton O'Morrison is about the only one I can think, am sure there are more, but nothing like the numbers that Charlton recruited for you.

 

[Uncle Spielberg]

My best teams

Germany
Argentina
Ghana

 

[Man of Harveys]

Klinsman has worked out that their defence is shite, so they are playing a very attacking game to get round this. However a team like Argentina with decent movement amongst their forwards and good at retaining the ball, should beat them.

Agreed - Argentina should score, esp. if they target that Friedrich bloke who's been the worst of them at the back, although the defence has got better as the tournament's gone on, its ropey performance against Costa Rica has partly to be attributed to nerves as hosts, I'd suggest.

You made a very good call before it started that Germany would do better than they did at the Euros; there's no way any of them expected to play as well as they have done, even if the defence is still a bit shite. Avoiding humiliation was about as much as they were hoping for.

 

[blockhseagull]

At present Hargreaves is the only one that falls under any questionable qualification and before that it was probably Barnes. The others I am guessing that you are referring to are all generally second or third generation and so would struggle to qualify for their ancestors teams.

Anyway, the current Irish side has not been using the grand parent rule all that much, Clinton O'Morrison is about the only one I can think, am sure there are more, but nothing like the numbers that Charlton recruited for you.

Hence why now they don't qualify for anything

 

[Thimble Keegan]

The Krauts have been on blistering form.

Overall I think this World Cup has been a dissapointment and England have served up 4 shite turns.

4 steaming dog poo's on a plate.

Whilst I admit we have not been setting the tournament alight I think that is a tad of an over-exaggerration of our performances thus far.

The first halves against both Sweden & Paraguay were excellent and we should have had more than the 1 goal advantage we had at the interval on each occasion.

Sadly everyone has built the "this is our year" thing up so much that unless we beat everyone 8-0 it is viewed as a disaster.

Albion & England forever.

Thimble Keegan
Gelsenkirchen BHA

 

[Hiney]

Klinsman has worked out that their defence is shite, so they are playing a very attacking game to get round this. However a team like Argentina with decent movement amongst their forwards and good at retaining the ball, should beat them.

Exactly.

The movement of Riquelme will turn the Germans inside out. Add to this the absolute quality they've got on the bench and I think Germany will go out.

On the other hand, it's a funny old game

 

[Silent Bob]

Anyway, the current Irish side has not been using the grand parent rule all that much, Clinton O'Morrison is about the only one I can think, am sure there are more, but nothing like the numbers that Charlton recruited for you.

Matt Holland and Steven Reid.

 

[sully]

Ukraine are not expected to do well and it is their first ever finals. England were seeded 2nd and the quarter finals was a bare minimum based in the teams they have played.

Comparing the 2 is like asking who will go furthest in the FA Cup, Chelsea or Brighton.

Erm, but that wasn't the question, was it?

If Brighton got to the same stage as Chelsea in the cup, I'd gladly have someone say we were the worst team to get that far!

The fact is that Ukraine have already lost a game 4 - 0 and didn't even look like they wanted to play Italy. It was like their visas were about to expire and they wanted to go home. It's just that the Swiss wanted to go home more. Neither of them merited a place in the last 8 on last night's performance.

 

[Albion Rob]

Drop the Canadian and all the Carribean players and see can you even field a team. Doubt it.

I think there's a world of difference between fielding the likes of Sol Campbell and ashley Cole who were born and brought up in ENGLAND as opposed to the likes of Tony Cascarino and Mick McCarthy who may not even have heard of Ireland before big Jack (from England) gave them a shout.

 

[Cian]

Hence why now they don't qualify for anything

No, we don't qualify for anything because for some reason, Kerr fielded donkeys up front.

If you could qualify by holding every single game in the qualification to a totally one-sided 0-0 draw, we'd be there.

 

[London Calling]

People have forgotten the Germans in the last world cup = very poor.

And I could list loads of others from previous world cups.

In fact looking at performance, beating an opposition, minmising chances againgst you. We are far better than most of the other sides that have qualified so far.

Italy gapping holes in the defence, the Yanks really took that apart in places and scared the hell out of them.

Spain = great attack, dodgy defending.

Ukraine? ha ha.

Brazil well not setting the world alight are they?

Argentina, beating what's been placed b4 them and doing it in style.

Germany looking good now but poor in two of their games.

LC

 

[Man of Harveys]

BTW - we're all still waiting for any evidence of this mysterious poll, which, unusually, was taken before all the quarterfinalists are decided...

 

[Cian]

I think there's a world of difference between fielding the likes of Sol Campbell and ashley Cole who were born and brought up in ENGLAND as opposed to the likes of Tony Cascarino and Mick McCarthy who may not even have heard of Ireland before big Jack (from England) gave them a shout.

Neither of whom play for us anymore.

As goes players born outside of Ireland who are on the "dodgy" level when it comes to actual ancestry who still play, its Morrison and Reid. Both of whom pimped themselves out to England and didn't get accepted Holland and Bruce (who hasn't actually played yet) are grannies rather than parents though but I think everyone else is direct Irish parentage, but neither of those actually attempted to play internationally for anyone else.

The fact that our economy was crippled in the 1950's/60's causing people to leave doesn't make their kids not Irish, and a large amount of them had in fact returned when they were still kids anyway.

 

[blockhseagull]

No, we don't qualify for anything because for some reason, Kerr fielded donkeys up front.

If you could qualify by holding every single game in the qualification to a totally one-sided 0-0 draw, we'd be there.

Nothing to do with not being good enough ?

 

[Cian]

Nothing to do with not being good enough ?

No. Thats why we didn't qualify for Euro 96, France 96 or Euro 2000, however, but Euro 2004 and the current world cup were down to Kerr being a tool. Bizzare selections and formations, training routine that just doesn't work beyond kids (Kerr got the Irish U-16s and U-18s to being European champions, remember), and so on.

Unfortunately I don't think Staunton/Robson are going to a much better job, particularly if they let players play in the dreadful condition some of them (Duff in particular) was in for the last friendly.

 

[Albion Rob]

Neither of whom play for us anymore.

As goes players born outside of Ireland who are on the "dodgy" level when it comes to actual ancestry who still play, its Morrison and Reid. Both of whom pimped themselves out to England and didn't get accepted Holland and Bruce (who hasn't actually played yet) are grannies rather than parents though but I think everyone else is direct Irish parentage, but neither of those actually attempted to play internationally for anyone else.

The fact that our economy was crippled in the 1950's/60's causing people to leave doesn't make their kids not Irish, and a large amount of them had in fact returned when they were still kids anyway.

I don't quite get your point - so the players you've mentioned are perfectly fine to play for Ireland because it is within the rule? Yes, I agree. Same as Hargreaves then, the only England player to be born outside of England.

So here pretty much ends the debate.

 

[Da Man Clay]

Nothing to do with not being good enough ?

I think that may be it.

 

[Wozza]

Drop the Canadian and all the Carribean players and see can you even field a team. Doubt it.

Just to clarify, are you being a racist c.unt here?

 

[Cian]

So here pretty much ends the debate.

Remember that the next time someone on here attempts to use the all-too-tired "England B" argument when we beat someone, then

 

[Albion Rob]

Remember that the next time someone on here attempts to use the all-too-tired "England B" argument when we beat someone, then

I think that call still has some weight when you look at how many players could have played for us but were told they weren't good enough but as far as them having Irish (grand)parentage and being entitled to play for you then I don't really think that's up for debate.

Now, if 11 players who England WANT choose to play for Ireland....