Thetownend.com

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15297615.stm

Leave the fucker at home as we probably won't have a 4th game

If our only hope of getting through to the next round rests with one player then there is something seriously wrong.
He was shit in the World Cup last year.

Won't win it without him, wouldn't have won with him.

Not even sure i care anymore about my national team, sad state of affairs really

He's shit in any tournament

Either gets sent off or bottles it

I feel the same and I used to love watching England. Euro 96 at the Shaw ridge tavern was fantastic.

I am still planning to go to Brazil in 2014 for the World Cup though, my Mrs is friends with a player from Brazil's 1994 cup winning side and it may be possible to get some decent freebies.

I don't get all the Rooney hating, he's just about the only world class player we have. So he got sent off, big wow.

And as for bottling it at all tournements, thats rubbish too. Did his 4 goals from Euro 2004 get wiped from history ??

Whatever you think of Wayne Rooney, he's a different class. Granted, he underperformed in South Africa but this season for United he's back to his best. Like when he broke onto the scene for Everton.

I really can't get excited about watching England these days.
Last time I really got into it was 1990 I think.
Don't think I've watched any of the qualifiers for this Euro.

Ditto.

Fergie will be happy. Apparently Capello is thinking of not playing Rooney in the warm up matches because of the ban. Leave Rooney at home, it might make him think next time.

Rooney,great player yes....thinker no.

Is this another incendent of UEFA/FIFA not liking us?  :hmmm:

PAHAHAHA, you did see what he did... right?

Sure did b3nny and I don't agree with it, most other players it would have been a 1 match ban, something pretty much everyone agreed on even the ref from the game!

I must be only one who thinks that anymore than a yellow for that is bollocks.  Rooney's still an arse, but he kicked the bloke...a bit...so what?  Hardly fucking dangerous, he hardly fucking touched him.

As I said the other day I really cannot be arsed with the England team anymore.

As for Rooney - he deserves the ban, if not for what he did then, for a being twat in previous tournaments/games.

England and Rooney failing amuses me. Since 2010 I fucking hate them.

@nochee I was at The Shaw Ridge Tavern for Euro '96. I'm sure I remember a telly or 2 getting smashed when we went out.

Where have you been for the last 10 years? Kick an opponent off the ball like that and it's a straight red.


I was there for the Scotland game and one got smashed, think it was a Scottish fan after the Gazza goal.

A ridiculous sending off and he deserves his punishment.

Disappointed that most of the press reaction has been about whether we should take him rather than criticizing Rooney himself for even making it an issue.

There does seem to be a distinct imbalance in much of the printed media in this country where certain people (Rooney, Harry Redknapp spring to mind) can seemingly do no wrong, I guess because they are so quintessentially 'English' in their approach to football.

You then get someone like Cappello with an incredible track record in management who the press can't get out the door fast enough, even though he has the highest winning percentage of any England manager, ever.

There's no point in playing him in the friendlies if he's missing 3 games, we need to sort out a system without him for the group stage.

I agree with Donkey. Yes, by the rules it's a red, but I hate the rules. Punching someone in the face is properly violent, but red cards for shoving someone over, or kicking out like he did aren't dangerous. The reactions of some players are worse than the 'assaults' on them! Football is too soft.

I like many of you have become detatched from the national side. The last decent tournament I can remember watching was either the WC in 98 or 02. I think since then (for me) players have been marketed as 'superstars' and have nothing in common with you or I. Why should I idolise someone who £100k+ a week, when they think it's ok to smash grannies or shoot people with air rifles? This is part of the beauty of supporting Swindon, you feel more connected to the players as they don't seem so arogant or self righteous.

That for me is why I couldn't give a fuck about England.

In one, Jimmy.  The bond between the man on the street and the player wearing the England shirt has gone now.  England football means next to nothing to me now.  And that's me, as a football fan.

Deserved what he got in my opinion. He's England's best player but I don't think England are ready to win any tournament yet so with or without Rooney, it's irrelevent.

@nochee, who's the Brazilian player?

 :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D Ronaldo? :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

Rooney is a clown. A brilliant player, but a clown. It's easy to come up with lines like "we wouldn't have won it anyway" but come next summer most of us will be watching the games and hoping to see England progress as far as possible. If losing Rooney means we go out one stage earlier then he's let everybody down, from the team to the fans.

Seconded....some of these tossers should watch the rugby world cup very closely to see what it means to play for your country.
Secondly, someone mentioning Euro 96 is fitting, since for me this is the last time that the feeling of supporting England was on a par with that for STFC.
Such is the state of things, for me it has now been reduced to beyond indifference, almost to resentment.
Very sad.

Going out on the piss and jumping off a ferry?

I was going to say 'England', but changed it to the more general 'country'....yes, the England rugby team have acted like arseholes  - the silly pricks.
BUT, on a more general note, look at the way they sing the anthem, how they are pumped up for the games and the effort put in...and I firmly believe this is purely down to wages...I honestly think they are more in touch with the general public (the other side of the coin to what JGIAA was saying above)

Playing football for England means jack shit to players these days. Why risk losing your place in your home team where the real money is....

Cricket is a good example of where you get paid jack shit UNLESS you play for your country. As regards Rooney - the bloke has no brains so nothing should surprise us about his behaviour. I have invested years of emotional energy in supporting England but after the last time I have decided to devote that emotional energy into supporting The Red Army... :hmmm:

Not quite so true now with the IPL sadly- Kieron Pollard barely plays for the Windies and makes plenty of dosh, as do Gayle and Dwayne Bravo. Not really affected the English side yet, but it's definitely starting catch up with the Windies.

I only had a vague awareness of when the last two qualifiers were. In fact somebody in the office said "are you watching England tonight" to me and I didn't even know it was on.

I'll still watch them if I remember and come 2012 will want us to do well. But I don't care if I miss it these days - much like the Premiership.

I cant even get the energy together to claim uefa conspiracy (Like I always have in the past) saying 'That would never happen if it was a French player' etc etc?

Pampered, overpaid buffoons I have no interest in you any more.

We make ourselves look twats claiming it's a conspiracy and that the punishment isn't fair. If Rooney had done that in a Premier League game he would have received a red and a three game ban, if they appealed the ban would most likely be lengthened as there is nothing to appeal. Complete joke if the FA appeal a ban they would have issued themselves.

Rooney is an ugly, petulant, thick, fat, bald cunt

That's all I have to say on that matter

Eloquently put as always. (but you did miss out the ears)

Yes, but suspensions in league games and much shorter competitions shouldn't always be the same. E.g. you get suspended for 2 yellows in internationals instead of 5. A 3 game ban could rule Rooney out for the entirity of our stay in the competition!

I'm not saying it was the wrong decision... just that you can't justify it by saying it would be the same in the PL.

Is this true any longer? The cunts we had to put up with last season, were an absolute disgrace, and I've already started to hear a few whispers about some of the current lot.

Personally I feel as much connection to the STFC players as the England squad....namely bar a couple of individuals, not a lot....my connection in the case of STFC is to the fans and the history of the club....similarly with England.

I agree with this... I've read Chris Kamaras book and he said when he lived in Swindon he owned a off lincense and used to go on runs around the towns, have fish and chips with a few beers on the Friday night. We get told about the Macari era in adver too, how he used to make them run about the streets to get fit.

You would never see that now. It's all too high profile....

Agreed. I'm not sure I have a connection with any of the players other than they wear the shirt. Its not like I'm going to bump into any of them in the chippy at Stratton.

If you're talking about the Swindon players, don't be so sure.  Simon Ferry and Callum Kennedy were at Subways in Old Town the other lunchtime.

I didn't actually see the incident or the game at all so I won't comment on the sending off.

What I will say though, is that we have gone into a number of international tournaments over the last 30 years (I'm thinking '82 and Keegan onwards) and guess what? we've had our "best players" missing etc.

It has always seemed to me tha we've been waiting for them to play and they've un-arguabley, under delivered.

I say if he is out for the start of the tournament then he is out for the whole tournament and, like others, lets build around a squad that can actually compete (maybe Germany or Brazil or someone....)

Jedward in Subways shocker!

Beckham '98, Rooney '04, Rooney '11 blah blah blah etc etc etc

It's all frightfully SOFT.

What irks me is that these moments are never bone crunching tackles, they're always tippy-tappy stroppy moments of frustration. Get stuck in for crying out loud.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEeMSBy8EW0

You'll see a few of them in the gym fairly often.

Flint, J.Smith, Magera, Devera, Said + 3 youth teamers spotted so far.

At one point there seemed some guy in plain clothes watching them. Club related who knows?

Do tell ?

Just ignore him.

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