Shearer was great on the BBC news - he sounds such a bright guy.

It must be heart-breaking for him to be out of the world cup. His dreams are shattered and it would have been his last chance. It will be a great loss for England.

I'm no expert, but I don't think England should be playing friendlies or having hard training sessions so close to a tournament. If they don't know what to do by now, they will never know. Drogba too has also suffered a an injury.

robbiex wrote:
If they don't know what to do by now, they will never know.

Never was a truer word spoken !
They haven't won ANYTHING for almost 50 years .... why should any of this be a surprise? Whatever is it that makes you think they have a hope in hell?

Some say they were lucky with their route to the finals ... and I wonder what is the point? If you can't beat qualify opponents en route ... you can't hide from them when you get there.

In the last match, Japan had to score OUR goals for us !

I hope all these people with their silly England flags (far fewer than usual I think) haven't spent too much .... they will be binning them by next weekend, LOL !

Old Labia Lips has been crocked for most of the season, so this sort of injury to him was always on the cards. It was a joke to have made him captain in the first place given a past that was even shadier than John Terry's, so it's all for the best that he's gone. England have got enough good defenders to cope, and in Gerrard they've now got a better captain.

I shall sadly, pathetically and patriotically be rooting for dear old England with the best of them. I almost bought a flag (but fortunately came to my senses in time).

The only thing I know about Rio is that he was represented in court once by my old barrister Ron Thwaites.
Since he got me 7 years for crimes never committed, I rather doubted his skills.
I never doubted his price though.

No split loyalties when England play the USA, JK? Actually, the Americans are super fit, very disciplined and several key players have now gained invaluable experience in the big European leagues, so I think they'll prove far tougher to beat than some hacks seem to be expecting.

I am getting out the flag I purchased many years ago in a WOOLIES sale to fly from my tent at some festivals I am attending during the WC.

We will lucky if we get out of the group stages this time. Capello has done well with what is a very average team.

If we win it I will EAT my flag and film it and put it on the internet.

JK2006 wrote:
I shall sadly, pathetically and patriotically be rooting for dear old England .............

You said it (LOL) !

I shudder at the thought of anyone associating me with that lot.

BR wrote:

We will lucky if we get out of the group stages this time. Capello has done well with what is a very average team.

If we win it I will EAT my flag and film it and put it on the internet.

So you think England won't even come in the top 2 out of England, USA, Slovenia, and Algeria. It is the easiest group of the lot and England should easily qualify. They only lost once in Qualifying in another easy group so I don't know what logic you are using to assume that they will finish third this time. Sure they have only a slim chance of winning it and I don't think that they should be seeded ahead of France, who were the finalists last time around and have won it in the last 20 years, whereas England have only got to 1 semi-final in the past 40 years.

The French manager sounds right up BR's street: he used to style himself on Charles Bronson (right down to the tache) when he was a player, he's a keen amateur astrologer who snubs players if their star sign is Scorpio and expresses extreme mistrust of those who are Leo ("When I have got a Leo in defence, I've always got my gun ready, as I know he's going to want to show off at one moment or another and cost us"), he's an enthusiastic member of an amateur dramatics society who took his squad to unwind by watching a production of "Endgame" at a local theatre, and after France had bombed out of Euro 2008 he told the press he thought it would "cheer the nation up" if he proposed on live TV to his girlfriend instead of apologising for the abject failure. Oh yes, and an ex-porn star recorded a song in his honour: