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WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Great performance great result, we need a thread to celebrate as finally we win in a match that matters!!!!!

 :D :D :D

We love you Fabio!

It would be nice to have one of these improved performances at home though :D

good footballing abilities!

So does this mean Andorra are better than Croatia?

Sorry, but it wasn't that great a performance.

I'm glad we won, but Croatia had a major off day.

Can't wait for all the papers tomorrow, telling us how great we are.............

oi Ive had a few drinkies so feel very positive! Don't spoil it!

Can't believe I'm saying this, but a superb performance in England. A bit of a shaky start but a lot more settled once Walcott scored the first. I thought the referee was bottling a lot of decisions, but he really had no choice with Kovac sending off, the state of Joe Cole's head told enough of the story really, a horrible challenge and I see no reason for complaint whatsoever.

From then on stroll in the park really. Could and maybe should have got 5 or 6! Really surprised, was expecting a defeat today. Think we need to settle down quicker, and learn to play at Wembley now but at least we've shown what we can do.  Happy for Walcott, me and Rich were slagging him off before he bagged 3!

They had a major off day because they were outplayed.

Possibly.

Capello outmuscled the cocky (but quite good) Bilic which is the reason why he's in and why McClaren got sacked. That is the major plus from tonight for me - research was clearly thorough and well executed.

When we beat Germany in 2001 we weren't amazing, Germany were diabolical but we still beat them by the scoreline that reflected their poor showing... the same tonight.

Daves Tabloid headline prediction: 'Three-o Walcott'

Croatia had a major off day yes, but to see and england side comprehensively demolish, and toy with a side - as we did in the second half - was great to see. Long may it continue

Sorry, just get a bit annoyed that we're either shite, or brilliant, when we're actually neither.

We're mediocre........

Oh piss off. If England lose it's because they are shit, if they win it's because the other side had a bad day. England played well tonight, a nervous start granted with a bit of Swindon-esque defending but once they got a grip of the game (helped by the sending off) they were class! Croatia are no mugs, no competitive defeats at their ground and their fans and players were well up for it...

Normal Scenario

Luci has a few drinks and England are amazing

Luci wakes up in the morning and perspective comes and smacks her in the face

But in all honesty, I thought we were really good tonight!

:D

Aye but 4-1 away at Croatia is a superb result for any country! I'm sure we'll draw against Kazakhstan at some point, and we'll all bump down to earth. Might as well enjoy the euphoria while it lasts.

Still got the coverage on... Mr. Setanta-man-who-used-to-be-on-HTV talking over footage of England fans and saying about how they're still vocal despite being in the ground still.... Que "we hate setanta" chant and a swift move on to a John Terry interview!

No Tails, if England lose we're shit, if we win we're brilliant. Both are bollocks. You are a complete twat if you think differently and I suggest that you fuck off.

I also enjoyed Chris Waddle's commentary. e.g. "He should have saved his legs" (instead of chasing down a ball going out of play), coming from one of the laziest, but most brilliant, English footballers of all time.

Some English fan shouts down the tunnel

"Fabio get in there my son"  haha ace :D

I met Fabio once and reminded him of the time he came to Swindon with Roma. Got right in his ear.

Glad we won and 6 points after the first two games is brilliant. Lets remain realists though.............

That is brilliant.

Well done Dave.

pfft, that lovejoy is already jumping on my headline bandwagon

 There's plenty of time for realism...just enjoy.

There's got to be a 'Fab!' in there somewhere as well.

Four-bio?

We got incredibly lucky.

How?

I can see where Hertha is coming from - but do you really believe that we were lucky Gazzza?

we accidentally scored 4, didn't you know?  ;)

It'd better not be at Wembley - I've got myself a ticket for that one!

Ok, it wasn't the sort of performance that wins you world cups, but we did play well tonight. We picked holes in Croatia's defence on occasions in the first half, and constantly in the 2nd. Obviously having the extra man helped, but they rarely tested James.

james looked a bit dodgy though imo. The only downside of the eve

Off topic but anyone fair play to Denmark at Portugal this eve.... Crackjack last 10 minutes resulting in the Danes winning 3-2.

And Germany scored a late late equaliser to draw 3-3 with Finland!

We deserved the win. No luck involved.

Walcott was very good, hope he doesn't get the treatment that Rooney got from the press.

I'm not on a downer and I don't want people thinking I think England are crap. I just get pissed off with over reactions, whether good or bad............

 :fishing:

Nicely done.

ahhhh, the get out of jail free smiley

On a serious note, that has to be it for Becks now surely??

That's the best name for it ever.

"Shit, I've been talking bollocks, I know I'll pass it off as fishing"

 :banana: :clap: :technobabble: :spoton: :flaccid:

I would think so. I like him but you've got to ask whether he'll be any use to us in 2010 playing this bit part role.

One more post like that and you'll lose your smilie posting privileges.

Fascist.

 :cry: :cry:

Bully

I am a huge fan of Becks but even I now think that is the end. Effectively barring injury you have Bentley and Walcott ahead of him. I must admit part of me wanted to see some brilliant from Becks maybe another free kick goal turning back the clock as he walked off the pitch..... :(

I think it's to say thay you've managed to call my lazy bluff quite successfully.

I do understand why people like becks. In the past he's been one of the players who's pulled out the effort whilst others around him have given up through laziness. The problem I have now is that I really see him taking the American money retirement option as symbolising the lack of hunger endemic we've been struggling with amongst a lot of the current crop of players.

Even if he's still playing well I think you've got to go with the hungry younger players who are still trying to prove themselves by playing at a higher level of football, otherwise it shows a pretty bad example. An example we can't afford to set if there's any desire to inject a bit of hunger into players fighting for a place in the squad.

I suppose today's match probably highlighted it a bit, but I think it's been the case anyway.

Sorry hope that doesn't derail to much.

My effort..."A Walc-ott in the park"

Very good swindonbob.

Swindon residents will of course know that Walcott is part of the Parks.

It works on several levels.

That was amazing. and somehow i won a t-shirt stating 'We bottled it' in england colours in a pub quiz that i didn't even partcipate in. I'm wearing it on Saturday for sure. Great stuff and hopefully more like the England (yes Janaage, Capital E) to come.

No its not michael its walcot and parks... Setanta highlights are shit and barwick looks like bagpuss

I saw the fat twat jumping after we went 1-0 up. comedy in action.

Blokes a twat,that was the owner of setanta he was celebrating with aswell.

Meh, it was a good performance dont get me wrong but every now and again England do pull something like that out of their arses.

Like beating Germany 5-1 in their own back yard was fucking brilliant, but we did fuck all off the back of it apart from print some t-shirts!!

Infact for the most part England are like Swindon, turn it on against the bigger better nations and phone it in against the shit ones.

Also, be interesting to see how many times big Emile Heskey has actually been on the losing side for England. Cant be more than a handful of times I wouldnt have thought.

Good performance and result but worthless unless we keep up that level of performance.

I agree with herthabs point though. You know the media around here. Theo Walcott will be touted as the best English young talent since forever, he'll be christened the English Ronaldo and be linked with a 100million move to Real Madrid (...or Manchester City) in the papers tomorrow.

Last of all I think tonight proved that Gerrard is indeed the most hyped player in the world today.

I feel a bit dirty for thinking it, but Wes Brown had a really good game. I think Rooney played well also and obviously Walcott managed to sort himself out after a crap start and stayed cool in front of goal.

The real plus was that we worked as a team, which has been lacking. I think a few players stepped up to try and make something happen, rather than waiting for someone else to do it instead. I hope it continues.

Luxembourg won away at Switzerland 2-1!!

Yep, not many smiles around me in the office this morning.  :cry:

Fully agree on that point.

No Gerrard...No Owen...No Beckham...Who needs them ?!

Liverpool, Newcastle and LA Galaxy... obviously.

Touche !!!

I think people have learned not to get carried away with England anymore. The most pleasing thing for me was that at last we showed we can play like that after so many months of dross. It was surprising, enlightening and gave us hope that we can qualify for the World Cup.

Tactically I thought Fabio got it spot on. He could easily have played one up top and with becks on the right, so fair play for having the balls to change it. Even before we went down to 10 men we didn't look troubled, and Croatia are a strong side.

There'll be ups and downs before the end of the campaign, but that performance not only gives the players a bit of a lift,. it proves that we can still play football!

It was always going to take time to recover from not qualifying for euro2008. And let's face it, we all know players don't give a shit about friendlies, so fair play, two wins from two when it matters - they've done what they've had to do.

I hope Fabio names an unchanged team, injuries permitting, for the next match.