Ukraine v England

[DarloSTFC84]

What a fucking boring match that was.

[Peter Venkman]

It was a dull game but the right result, we went for a draw and got it.

I don't get the furore surrounding Lambert who I think is a Championship level player at best, he was dire 2nd half. Milner, Walker and Wilshire were poor all game for me too.

England will do what they always do, qualify for the finals then disappoint badly in the finals, its kind of expected.

The Ukraine left winger Konoplyanka though was brilliant with some great skill and speed and passing, he would do well in England.

[Sir Pissalot]

Unless I'm mistaken, we haven't yet managed to beat anyone other than those two giants, Moldova and San Marino - with or without the likes of Rooney, Welbeck, Sturridge etc. 

That says it all, really.

[DarloSTFC84]

Unless I'm mistaken, we haven't yet managed to beat anyone other than those two giants, Moldova and San Marino - with or without the likes of Rooney, Welbeck, Sturridge etc. 

That says it all, really.

I struggle to get excited about watching England..

[Paolo69]

Unless I'm mistaken, we haven't yet managed to beat anyone other than those two giants, Moldova and San Marino - with or without the likes of Rooney, Welbeck, Sturridge etc.  

That says it all, really.

Yet we're still top! Must be doing something right, although there's definitely room for improvement.

[Peter Venkman]

Yet we're still top! Must be doing something right, although there's definitely room for improvement.

This is exactly right, the football we are playing is much better than under the Italian and we are getting good results if not exactly playing overly attacking football, the same goes for England

[Reg Smeeton]

Can't even give a flying fuck about England anymore. I'd rather watch Emmerdale.

Last time I felt any excitement about the national game was 2002 WC (v Argentina).

Sometimes I wonder if England would be better off fielding a bunch of League 2/1 lads. At least they might play with some heart and soul. I'm afraid watching England just sucks any joy of life out of me and leaves me feeling empty.

Perhaps I am just a miserable bastard with rose tinted glasses but I miss the days when Lineker and Gazza were playing - supporting England was natural then - now it just feels like a corporate driven chore. 

Before 1990, watching England play, was something only really done by the hardcore fan, even in 66, there were no real spontaneous celebrations of the WC win. England fans were notorious for trouble, so attendances at games could be quite small.

I recently watched some old footage of Euro 80 in Italy, and it was short shorts, empty stadia and England fans getting teargassed along with Ray Clemence. By 86, you could go in a fairly packed pub for England v Argentina, and there'd be 1 tele in the corner, where the diehards would gather to watch the game.

1990, changed all that, England went OK in the tournament...the Italians sexed up their grounds and the Beeb had Nessum Dorma...thus making it OK for the middle classes to like football.  Then the Prem hype kicked in and maintained the bubble, until now, Beckham did his bit, to maintain the hype, but it's now getting back to just the hardcore fan having an interest.

[suttonred]

I got tear gassed in Turin in 90. Great fun that was..

[Paolo69]

I got tear gassed in Turin in 90. Great fun that was..

Ahhh that explains a lot. :-)

[Gnasher]

Before 1990, watching England play, was something only really done by the hardcore fan, even in 66, there were no real spontaneous celebrations of the WC win. England fans were notorious for trouble, so attendances at games could be quite small.

I recently watched some old footage of Euro 80 in Italy, and it was short shorts, empty stadia and England fans getting teargassed along with Ray Clemence. By 86, you could go in a fairly packed pub for England v Argentina, and there'd be 1 tele in the corner, where the diehards would gather to watch the game.

1990, changed all that, England went OK in the tournament...the Italians sexed up their grounds and the Beeb had Nessum Dorma...thus making it OK for the middle classes to like football.  Then the Prem hype kicked in and maintained the bubble, until now, Beckham did his bit, to maintain the hype, but it's now getting back to just the hardcore fan having an interest.

It's probably even more simple than that Reg. The introduction of the Premier League and subsequent influx of foreign players has raised fans' expectations - they now expect some kind of footballing spectacle from their heroes, which the current crop of players (and dull Manager) can't produce. We're crying out for the next Gascoigne, Hoddle or Beckham.

[Peter Venkman]

Before 1990, watching England play, was something only really done by the hardcore fan, even in 66, there were no real spontaneous celebrations of the WC win. England fans were notorious for trouble, so attendances at games could be quite small.

Attendances at England games hit a massive lull after about 1982 lots of sub 40k crowds at Wembley culminating in the 15,628 in 1989 for the Rous cup v Chile.

I don't think we will ever see crowds that low again at Wembley for an England game. The lowest crowd I have been in at Wembley was 38,125 vs USSR in 84....talk about sparse, awful crowd awful game.

[Bob's Orange]

Luxembourg beat Norn Iron last night, titter. Luxembourg's first home win in qualifying since 1972.

[Paolo69]

Attendances at England games hit a massive lull after about 1982 lots of sub 40k crowds at Wembley culminating in the 15,628 in 1989 for the Rous cup v Chile.

I don't think we will ever see crowds that low again at Wembley for an England game. The lowest crowd I have been in at Wembley was 38,125 vs USSR in 84....talk about sparse, awful crowd awful game.

My first England games were some of the friendlies pre Euro 96. Most were pretty poor stuff and gave little indication of the joys to come in the tournament ahead.

Having looked it up there was 21,000 at a Wembley game against Japan in 1995. Incredible when you think about people make of a non sell out nowadays.

[4D]

About 58000 v Saudi Arabia pre France 98. 0-0, awful game.

[Peter Venkman]

My first England game was vs Czechozlovakia in 78 we got tickets for about £2 from the school, fantastic game when Viv Anderson became the first black player to represent Engand at full international level.

There were 92,000 there and that was a fantastic atmosphere....Steve Coppell scored the only goal of the game, still have the programme to this day.

Peter Shilton, Dave Watson, Trevor Cherry, Phil Thompson, Viv Anderson, Steve Coppell, Tony Currie, Ray Wilkins, Kevin Keegan, Tony Woodcock, Peter Barnes. Bob Latchford sub.

Brings back some good England memories for me.