You're forgetting how gutless UEFA and FIFA are around the subject of racism. Great when it comes to soundbites, shit when it comes to taking action. If there's chanting, and if England players walked off, we'd end up getting fined/points docked rather than the other way around. That would be in keeping with the governing bodies' warped sense of priorities.
I seem to remember Florent Sinama-Pongolle being the subject of racist chanting whilst playing for Recreativo against Atlético last season. Then last summer he moved to the Vicente Calderon, so it seems they don't mind their own black players. They proved in the Marseille game that Spanish football is still years behind in terrace attitudes towards race. I'd just subject them to the same kinds of restrictions England fans faced when combatting the hooliganism. Fining the FA is no good, you have to change the culture of the fans, and eliminate the racist element. More positively, I don't remember any Spanish racism in Euro 2008, perhaps becasue Marcos Senna was in the running for player of the tournament.
I remember Paolo Wanchope getting abused so he left the pitch and went into the stands to take it up with the fans in question personally. Typically, it was Wanchope that ended up in hot water.....
I change my mind 3-0 Spain if were lucky becasue the starting XI is... James Johnson, Jagelkia, Terry, A.Cole SWP, Carrick, Barry, Downing Heskey, Agbonlahor How does SWP get in on merit ? apart from first few games of his re-joining Man City, hes been average at best. Theres on one in that midfield who can actually score a goal for ENG and I think the only way Young will ever get a look in, will be to pay off Capello with a bribe. Jagelkia should be in the squad on merit but starting against SPAIN , if so at least put Ferdinand over Terry because, captain or not Terry is far behind Ferdinand.
Just how bad does Downing have to play to not st... I have such deja vu writing that. Jagielka will be fine - he pretty owned Torres in the recent Merseyside games. SWP though... who knows why he's in. Just as well start Beckham, get the record/cap/rubbish out the way and get on with it. Also I've just been told BBC3 are showing the Milan derby match on Sunday. Now THAT is exciting!
I think last night is the perfect example of how much we miss Ferdinand, who I consider the best CB in the world. Both goals saw his replacements make errors... * 1st goal Jagelkia giving the ball away after passing from his own 18 yard box and then allowing Villa to turn him, Rio would of never given theb all way there in 1st place. * Upson was nowhere near his man and jump early so the ball webt over his head, again chances are Rio would of dealt with that. James was laughable last night and surly Kirkland who seems over his injury problems should get a shot against Slovakia, he is on a technial level our best keeper and injuries stopped him from being NO.1 IMO and being at a big big club. Beckham proved why SWP can go suck a dummy far far away from the ENG squad with setting up the best chances for ENG with his passing and SWP should of done better and Cole was unlucky with there shots from Beck's setup. Also Beckham shown SWP how to keep a ball and not run into a Spainish player. Young Young Young not Downing and not SWP, geez. Heskey and Gabby were decent infact Heskey bullied the Spanish defence who resulted to cheap fouls to stop him though the offside call was wrong so Pique should of been sent off for last man nice one ref/linesman...who I thought were terrible. Carrick who better than Barry and shown his CL and PL winning experience is invaluable but the problem was Carrick had no one to pass too because we lack the movement that Gerrard, J.Cole & Rooney are so good at doing to find space. Our limited number of chances has to show when fit we need Owen, who is the only natural goalscorer we have, Capello your biggest weakness is the actual squads you pick and come a summer finals, like SVEN found out with the Walcott pick...You will live or die by the 23 you pick and at the moment simply not good enough to win a WC.
A combination of us fielding a weak team and Spain being very good, made last night's performance and result almost inevitable. Spain looked good, we looked shit. Luckily it wasn't a qualifier, which looks to have been the attitude from most of the team, whilst playing the game.
Must be a massive concern for Capello that David Beckham at 33 is still England's most consistent and effective player. His through ball to Cole was the only decent move England created in 90 minutes. Interesting times ahead for Chelsea. They've sacked their manager, they are in a precarious position in the league, their owner's down to his last couple of billion, and Peter Kenyon says they must sell to buy in the future. With an ageing squad on massive wages - Lampard on £150k, Ballack, Deco, Carvalho, Drogba, Belletti, Ferreira, Anelka etc, I can't see them getting enough to rebuld the squad. Terry and Essien are their only saleable assets, so if Man City come knocking...?
I wasn't sure where to ask this but I'll just ask in here. I've been searching for a CD of the UEFA Champions League anthem as performed originally by the the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Academy of St. Martin Chorus. AFAIK the anthem was ever released commercially. Anybody got a suggestion on how I might obtain one? It's played before every Champions leage match so the clubs must have a CD or a digital copy of it.
Well we might have been a bit fortunate, but the result doesn't lie, 4-1- Nigel has these players playing out of their skins. Meanwhile, whilst it seems Forest might have been unlucky to lose, Billy Davies is busy slating the team for being too young (like that's their fault?) and rubbish! Oh dear, something Derby fans have seen before...
According to the Wiki article, it has never been officially released. However, there used to be a link to an MP3 on that page, which I assumed was legit, as it was there for ages. Seems to have disappeared now though.
^ Thanks ST. It's not a lossless version but it's better than nothing. So basically I am out of luck other than sneaking into one of the European football clubs and steal the anthem CD?
^^ No. No it won't...... We'll have to organise a 'friendly' or two next year, seeing as Forest will be in League One again. Seriously, men against boys yesterday.
I'm not convinced Forest are going down. I find it difficult to ever predict who goes up or down from the Championship and League One, but I'm reasonably confident Charlton, Southampton and either Plymouth or Barnsley are going to go. Don't even talk to me about going up, though. Cardiff have conceded stupidly late equalisers away to all three of their biggest promotion rivals despite outplaying them all for all 270 minutes. Come the end of the season those lost 6 points are going to hurt us, I know it. I can't handle the play-offs I just can't - every year the team least likely to win wins i.e. Derby, Watford, Hull, West Ham. It hurts so much right now.
Even my friend who's a Forest fan said it was Men against boys, I suspect that there'll be three teams worse than Forest come the end of the season, but I think it'll be tight. I'm glad Clough is still saying we need more points to be safe, nice to see he's not got us resting on our laurels. We do seem to be picking up a few injuries of late however, and I think Play off talk is premature! Cardiff are still in the play off places, and as for the team least likely winning the POs, whilst everyone said WBA were the better side, it#s worth remembering that Derby finished third by some margin that year. We weren't in great form, but on points we were the third best team in the league that year
^^ We'd also already beaten WBA at Pride Park and should never have lost at their place, a flukey 90th minute goal from fat twat Hartson. Have to say, I'm not entirely convinced that Forest will escape. They're one of a bunch of teams that could very easily get dragged down. Personally, I hope they stay up. Derby matches add a little spice to the season, and with bragging rights on offer as well, it would be disappointing not to have the annual fixtures. Looking at the table, I think that Charlton are almost gone already, and both Plymouth and Blackpool will join them on current form. I can see Southampton and Norwich escaping.
Completely agree, would hate not to be able to beat forest next season, besides the East Midlands needs more success (just so long as we're the most succesful). Obviously we'll only play them next season before we get promoted Yeah only a miracle would save Charlton.