Saints V England

[Saint_clark]

We would actually have beaten England tonight, I am 100% sure of it.

[skintsaint]

can I have some of what you are on.

[alpine_saint]

LOL at John B and hypocondriac (again...)

[alpine_saint]

We would actually have beaten England tonight, I am 100% sure of it.

 

A convert. Welcome to the flock of common sense...

[John B]

A convert. Welcome to the flock of common sense...

 

I think Algeria would have beaten SFC last night something they failed to do against England

 

As Usual Alpine continually whinges only appears supports his team when things go right.

 

Of course England did not play well but these things happen the team needs support not aggro when it loses

Edited 19 June, 2010 by John B

[hypochondriac]

LOL at John B and hypocondriac (again...)

 

Lol at Alpine thinking that despite England playing badly that SFC are better than them.

[Saint_clark]

Lol at Alpine thinking that despite England playing badly that SFC are better than them.

 

I don't think we're better than the England team, just that if you put the team from last night in front of the Saints and they performed to the same level, we would have beaten them.

[hypochondriac]

but that wasn't what alpine said in his original post. Would I laugh at alpine if saints are awful in a game or two next year? Of course not. What about the croatia performances? It is a ridiculous statement to make on the strength of 2 poor games

[Dark Munster]

IMHO, yesterday's game was all about finding the "other 3 places" in the squad.

 

Darren Bent or Emile Heskey?

Does Adam Johnson go or SWP?

Joe Cole?

Tom Huddlestone?

Warnock or Baines?

Which of the keepers?

 

What about Crouch?

[Turkish]

hmmmmm maybe this was not so ridiculous afterall......

[skintsaint]

 

This thread is going to rear its head every time England lose? Notice not much after the Slovenia game.

 

Germany were v.good thats all you can say - made England play really poor.

[Turkish]

 

This thread is going to rear its head every time England lose? Notice not much after the Slovenia game.

 

Germany were v.good thats all you can say - made England play really poor.

 

Thats the thing, Germany were good, but not outstanding, they just did the basics well. England were so poor defensively it was untrue, the first goal was like you see at a tyro under 11s game. I wonder what Smirking saint will have to say as yet again its another occasion when Englands players have been shown up for what they are when it matters.

[Saint Fan CaM]

Two goals could pretty much be put down to John Terry being hopelessly out of position and two officials who must be on the take to have gotten such an obvious goal decision wrong. However, I think given the poor defence shown today (fundamental errors), Saints strikers would have scored at least 1 or 2 goals against that England side. And Raidi and Fonte would have had Rooney and Heskey sorted they were so rubbish. The only player that would have caused us problems would have been Defoe.

 

How any of those players can hold their heads high and say "we are the best Englands got to offer", is beyond me. Overpaid and lazy - it didn't mean enough. Reminded me of the Saints team capitulation to the skates a few years back.

[Smirking_Saint]

England were sh*te, very very sh*te, but Saints have shown me nothing to tell me they could cope against England,infact you would find it hard to point me in the direction of anyone with any footballing knowlege that would say a Lg 1 side or even CCC would beat england.

 

And Turkish...................... I really can't defend them, nor Capello, that was aweful, passionless and made me sick to the stomach to support them.

[Thorpe-le-Saint]

To all those countless people going on and on about how we need an English manager, have we really forgotten Steve McClaren that easily?!?!

[Turkish]

To all those countless people going on and on about how we need an English manager, have we really forgotten Steve McClaren that easily?!?!

 

Didn't do too bad in Holland, remains to be seen how he gets on in Germany. Seriously, its not the manager, its an easy cop out to blame the manager, Hoddle, Sven, McClaren, etc. Capello has a first class record at club level, if he cant get them performing no one can. Well except for all of us experts on the internet of course.

[SaintBobby]

That was dreadful. I think it was possible we would beat England on that performance!

[Smirking_Saint]

Didn't do too bad in Holland, remains to be seen how he gets on in Germany. Seriously, its not the manager, its an easy cop out to blame the manager, Hoddle, Sven, McClaren, etc. Capello has a first class record at club level, if he cant get them performing no one can. Well except for all of us experts on the internet of course.

 

Its the same as anything and the same as playing. It is THE pinnicle level for a reason, and good players will be found out to be not good enough as well as good managers IMO.

 

Honestly, its a fault at the FA we have not been in the running for years. What bright young stars have we on the periphery of an England squad ?? What is more scary about this england tournament performance is i can only see the team becoming weaker.

[Wes Tender]

I can't be bothered to read the whole thread, but judging by the few comments I have read, the thrust of it appears to be whether the current Saints team might conceivably be able to beat the England team. Whereas there are undoubtedly occasions where a minnow beats a giant in football, I prefer to read the thread as being the preference of which team I'd rather watch.

 

And that would have been Saints every time, but especially after watching that crock of sh*te today. Why, the standard of refereeing didn't seem to be better than third division level either and pressure to have goal line technology installed for future Internationals will now be irresistable.

 

It might even be feasible after today's debacle to make out a case that Pardew could have managed to make a better fist of selecting a team that would have done better than Capello's squad. Many have said for years that it is not possible to accommodate Lampard and Gerrard in the same team. Again, I reckon that Walcott would have cut the German defence to pieces and put across the sort of ball that we could have put away, had we not had the donkey Heskey up front instead of Crouch, who might have caused problems. The commentary team wonder why these players produce the goods for Chelski, for Man Ure, for Liverpool, Tottenham, etc, ignoring that fact that in those teams there are other World Class players from other countries and that without them, they don't get the assistance that makes them look good.

 

Saints is far more of a team, one that works for each other, that plays for the shirt and earns their money most games.

 

England is just a squad of overpaid primadonnas, most of whom do not deserve to wear the shirt. Let's scrap the whole team and start again with a team of promising youngsters like Germany's to be ready for the European Championships in a couple of years time.

[Lord Duckhunter]

After the Germans were dire in Euro 2000, they sat down and changed the way they ran their football. We sacked Kevin Keegan and looked forward to the "Golden Generation" bringing home the bacon. 10 years on, the results were there for all to see.

[Saint Fan CaM]

I can't be bothered to read the whole thread, but judging by the few comments I have read, the thrust of it appears to be whether the current Saints team might conceivably be able to beat the England team. Whereas there are undoubtedly occasions where a minnow beats a giant in football, I prefer to read the thread as being the preference of which team I'd rather watch.

 

And that would have been Saints every time, but especially after watching that crock of sh*te today. Why, the standard of refereeing didn't seem to be better than third division level either and pressure to have goal line technology installed for future Internationals will now be irresistable.

 

It might even be feasible after today's debacle to make out a case that Pardew could have managed to make a better fist of selecting a team that would have done better than Capello's squad. Many have said for years that it is not possible to accommodate Lampard and Gerrard in the same team. Again, I reckon that Walcott would have cut the German defence to pieces and put across the sort of ball that we could have put away, had we not had the donkey Heskey up front instead of Crouch, who might have caused problems. The commentary team wonder why these players produce the goods for Chelski, for Man Ure, for Liverpool, Tottenham, etc, ignoring that fact that in those teams there are other World Class players from other countries and that without them, they don't get the assistance that makes them look good.

 

Saints is far more of a team, one that works for each other, that plays for the shirt and earns their money most games.

 

England is just a squad of overpaid primadonnas, most of whom do not deserve to wear the shirt. Let's scrap the whole team and start again with a team of promising youngsters like Germany's to be ready for the European Championships in a couple of years time.

 

Cracking post WT.

[Winchester_Saint]

I can't be bothered to read the whole thread, but judging by the few comments I have read, the thrust of it appears to be whether the current Saints team might conceivably be able to beat the England team. Whereas there are undoubtedly occasions where a minnow beats a giant in football, I prefer to read the thread as being the preference of which team I'd rather watch.

 

And that would have been Saints every time, but especially after watching that crock of sh*te today. Why, the standard of refereeing didn't seem to be better than third division level either and pressure to have goal line technology installed for future Internationals will now be irresistable.

 

It might even be feasible after today's debacle to make out a case that Pardew could have managed to make a better fist of selecting a team that would have done better than Capello's squad. Many have said for years that it is not possible to accommodate Lampard and Gerrard in the same team. Again, I reckon that Walcott would have cut the German defence to pieces and put across the sort of ball that we could have put away, had we not had the donkey Heskey up front instead of Crouch, who might have caused problems. The commentary team wonder why these players produce the goods for Chelski, for Man Ure, for Liverpool, Tottenham, etc, ignoring that fact that in those teams there are other World Class players from other countries and that without them, they don't get the assistance that makes them look good.

 

Saints is far more of a team, one that works for each other, that plays for the shirt and earns their money most games.

 

England is just a squad of overpaid primadonnas, most of whom do not deserve to wear the shirt. Let's scrap the whole team and start again with a team of promising youngsters like Germany's to be ready for the European Championships in a couple of years time.

 

Great post

[rog]

Can I add that Ricky Lambert could have played better for England today than either Rooney or Defoe

[Danbert]

A disappointing post, considering that you are a mod/administrator and are supposed to uphold the rules on abuse and sarcasm.

 

That's not abuse, he just thinks what you said was extremely stupid. He's not attacking you just your opinion.

 

It's certainly not sarcasm either. A sarcastic comment would be something along the lines of - Oh how clever you are Alpine.

[mcjwills]

I can't be bothered to read the whole thread, but judging by the few comments I have read, the thrust of it appears to be whether the current Saints team might conceivably be able to beat the England team. Whereas there are undoubtedly occasions where a minnow beats a giant in football, I prefer to read the thread as being the preference of which team I'd rather watch.

 

And that would have been Saints every time, but especially after watching that crock of sh*te today. Why, the standard of refereeing didn't seem to be better than third division level either and pressure to have goal line technology installed for future Internationals will now be irresistable.

 

It might even be feasible after today's debacle to make out a case that Pardew could have managed to make a better fist of selecting a team that would have done better than Capello's squad. Many have said for years that it is not possible to accommodate Lampard and Gerrard in the same team. Again, I reckon that Walcott would have cut the German defence to pieces and put across the sort of ball that we could have put away, had we not had the donkey Heskey up front instead of Crouch, who might have caused problems. The commentary team wonder why these players produce the goods for Chelski, for Man Ure, for Liverpool, Tottenham, etc, ignoring that fact that in those teams there are other World Class players from other countries and that without them, they don't get the assistance that makes them look good.

 

Saints is far more of a team, one that works for each other, that plays for the shirt and earns their money most games.

 

England is just a squad of overpaid primadonnas, most of whom do not deserve to wear the shirt. Let's scrap the whole team and start again with a team of promising youngsters like Germany's to be ready for the European Championships in a couple of years time.

 

There is the problem in a nutshell, do as cricket does and severely restrict the foreign players and eventually the English/Scottish/Welsh/Irish player will come good with the added bonus that we do not give the best coaching in the world to our competitors in the world cup.

[Milton]

I can't be bothered to read the whole thread, but judging by the few comments I have read, the thrust of it appears to be whether the current Saints team might conceivably be able to beat the England team. Whereas there are undoubtedly occasions where a minnow beats a giant in football, I prefer to read the thread as being the preference of which team I'd rather watch.

 

And that would have been Saints every time, but especially after watching that crock of sh*te today. Why, the standard of refereeing didn't seem to be better than third division level either and pressure to have goal line technology installed for future Internationals will now be irresistable.

 

It might even be feasible after today's debacle to make out a case that Pardew could have managed to make a better fist of selecting a team that would have done better than Capello's squad. Many have said for years that it is not possible to accommodate Lampard and Gerrard in the same team. Again, I reckon that Walcott would have cut the German defence to pieces and put across the sort of ball that we could have put away, had we not had the donkey Heskey up front instead of Crouch, who might have caused problems. The commentary team wonder why these players produce the goods for Chelski, for Man Ure, for Liverpool, Tottenham, etc, ignoring that fact that in those teams there are other World Class players from other countries and that without them, they don't get the assistance that makes them look good.

 

Saints is far more of a team, one that works for each other, that plays for the shirt and earns their money most games.

 

England is just a squad of overpaid primadonnas, most of whom do not deserve to wear the shirt. Let's scrap the whole team and start again with a team of promising youngsters like Germany's to be ready for the European Championships in a couple of years time.

 

Spot on

[SNSUN]

To all those countless people going on and on about how we need an English manager, have we really forgotten Steve McClaren that easily?!?!

 

True, McClaren's England reign was shocking, a country like England not qualifying for any tournament is bad, but I'd still rather have an English manager as England manager. Granted, they are few and far between, and they can think twice if they wanted Pardew (!), but I'd rather not succeed in World competition with an English manager in charge than not succeed with a European manager in charge. Then you have to look at the wages these foreign managers are being paid - it's disgusting. If England can get him before Liverpool do, I wouldn't mind seeing Roy Hodgson as England manager.

 

I can't be bothered to read the whole thread, but judging by the few comments I have read, the thrust of it appears to be whether the current Saints team might conceivably be able to beat the England team. Whereas there are undoubtedly occasions where a minnow beats a giant in football, I prefer to read the thread as being the preference of which team I'd rather watch.

 

And that would have been Saints every time, but especially after watching that crock of sh*te today. Why, the standard of refereeing didn't seem to be better than third division level either and pressure to have goal line technology installed for future Internationals will now be irresistable.

 

It might even be feasible after today's debacle to make out a case that Pardew could have managed to make a better fist of selecting a team that would have done better than Capello's squad. Many have said for years that it is not possible to accommodate Lampard and Gerrard in the same team. Again, I reckon that Walcott would have cut the German defence to pieces and put across the sort of ball that we could have put away, had we not had the donkey Heskey up front instead of Crouch, who might have caused problems. The commentary team wonder why these players produce the goods for Chelski, for Man Ure, for Liverpool, Tottenham, etc, ignoring that fact that in those teams there are other World Class players from other countries and that without them, they don't get the assistance that makes them look good.

 

Saints is far more of a team, one that works for each other, that plays for the shirt and earns their money most games.

 

England is just a squad of overpaid primadonnas, most of whom do not deserve to wear the shirt. Let's scrap the whole team and start again with a team of promising youngsters like Germany's to be ready for the European Championships in a couple of years time.

 

Totally agree about starting with the youth, but you do need one or two experienced heads in there as well. Beckham, Ferdinand and even Zamora were big losses for this World Cup, and to a point I think I'd even rather have had Gary Neville at right back than Johnson. Still, when the dust settles, I don't see them changing anything.

 

I've always maintained to friends and family that I'm a Saints fan first and an England fan second, and I've always stuck by that. To be perfectly honest, I'm not even much of an England fan (in terms of football), I support them because I am patriotic about my country. It is, however, very hard to feel patriotic after today's result.

[wild-saint]

IS it only me on here that thinks the weight of expectation would have destroyed any teams ability to perform.

 

Please tell me any other country that had 60 million fans daring their team to fail. how many fans ridicule thier players for daring to miss a penalty and harp on about it for 20 years. how many burn effigies of thier start player when he made a mistake and gets sent off. the fear of failure is cripplling.

 

speak to fans of other countries and the weight of expectation is simply not there. Rooney is undoubtedly a world class player but was paralysed by the pressure perform /win the world cup for us. No doubt in the coming season these england players will be slaughtered bt the fans in te premier league and so the cycle goes on with the young up and coming players watching the witch hunt.

 

englan are doomed to be victims of the passion and desire of the fans need to win the world cup and be the best.

[ericofarabia]

This new site is ****e .... how the feck are you supposed to edit quotes FFS

 

Anyway Wes Tenders point in the last paragraph about The England squad being a bunch of prima donnas is and has been for about 30 years or more spot on. They are all more interested in image rights than playing for England ... bunch of khunts.

[Saint Fan CaM]

I have just finished a spreadsheet analysing where the players have come from. Of all the England squad, just 12 players came from the top 6 Prem teams. And not all actually got a decent game (e.g. Crouch). We need some new hungry talent to come through - why not Jamie O'Hara for example - he's had a fantastic season, can score goals and is better than jaded Lampard?

[alpine_saint]

LOL at John B and hypocondriac (again...)

[wild-saint]

That bull****, if these england players are only being made to look good by all the world class players around them at thie clubs do you not think managers of the likes of ferguson, jose M etc would work that our an replace them to make thier teams better? I cant remember matty LT making anyu of his fellow saints players look ing good

[LGTL]

Alpine does this sudden enthusiasm for Saints mean you are going to be a bit more positive in the match threads?? After all, as soon as Saints have a shocker next season, just think, they could beat the England team....

[Ewell]

IS it only me on here that thinks the weight of expectation would have destroyed any teams ability to perform.

 

Please tell me any other country that had 60 million fans daring their team to fail. how many fans ridicule thier players for daring to miss a penalty and harp on about it for 20 years. how many burn effigies of thier start player when he made a mistake and gets sent off. the fear of failure is cripplling.

 

speak to fans of other countries and the weight of expectation is simply not there. Rooney is undoubtedly a world class player but was paralysed by the pressure perform /win the world cup for us. No doubt in the coming season these england players will be slaughtered bt the fans in te premier league and so the cycle goes on with the young up and coming players watching the witch hunt.

 

englan are doomed to be victims of the passion and desire of the fans need to win the world cup and be the best.

 

What a crock of ****e. Terry Butcher summed it up perfectly on Sky we are simply not good enough, no more and no less!

[Dark Munster]

Didn't do too bad in Holland, remains to be seen how he gets on in Germany. Seriously, its not the manager, its an easy cop out to blame the manager, Hoddle, Sven, McClaren, etc. Capello has a first class record at club level, if he cant get them performing no one can. Well except for all of us experts on the internet of course.

True enough, but he's lost my respect for still not realising Crouch is infinitely better than the donkey, and only realising that Defoe is also infinitely better than the donkey until after 2 abject matches.

[Dark Munster]

Can I add that Ricky Lambert could have played better for England today than either Rooney or Defoe

Rooney agreed, Defoe debatable, Heskey definitely.

[Turkish]

Its the same as anything and the same as playing. It is THE pinnicle level for a reason, and good players will be found out to be not good enough as well as good managers IMO.

 

Honestly, its a fault at the FA we have not been in the running for years. What bright young stars have we on the periphery of an England squad ?? What is more scary about this england tournament performance is i can only see the team becoming weaker.

 

It isn't the pinnicle though is it. If England played in the premier league, based on the performances in this tournement they would be relegated, cutting them some slack as the players are better than their performances i still dont think England would qualify for the champions league. Capello and Erickson have decent records at club level, yet the best we got was quarter finals. When a manager of Capellos standard cant get the team to perform you seriously have to look at the players, who are simply not good enough, outclassed today by an average German side. This was supposed to be the golden gerneration remember, a team capable of actually bloody well winning something, it cant all be the fault of a succession of managers.

 

However, It is the fault of the FA, the premier league have to much power and the whole of english football is geared towards making money and the premier league not the national team. Until they start focussing on developing young british players then we will get worse. It is embraassing that during this torunment the cream of English football at times looked so uncomfortable on the ball, couldn't pass sideways 15 yards and control was awful. An international manager is not responsible for fundemental weaknesses in supposedly international class players.

[VectisSaint]

There is the problem in a nutshell, do as cricket does and severely restrict the foreign players and eventually the English/Scottish/Welsh/Irish player will come good with the added bonus that we do not give the best coaching in the world to our competitors in the world cup.

Disagree completely, that way lies the path to absolute ruin, less great players, and even less good English players. You would wait for ever for the English players to come good, actually what would happen is that they would feck off to Spain or Italy to continue to be paid the ridiculous money they are already on. And as for the coaching bit, please, how many players in today's German team play in the PL? You could say the same about Argentina (OK, Teves) and Brazil. Fact is we were dire today, against a team that was mediocre and will probably go out to the Argies in the next round (they will however be a force in the next WC when they have matured some more). On today's perfroance I would say Saints would have given England a good game, maybe have sneaked a win, but thats the difference between the pinnacle of football, i.e. club football, and the shocking spectacle that is international football. And thats why I really don't give a toss about England FC, international football in general sucks (hardly surprising given the lack of time to prepare). I don't care because in the end I support my Club, club football is what matters, its where it all started and will for ever be the pinnacle of football. You can call me unpatriotic if you like (who cares, nationality is just an accident of birth), but I would argue just the opposite for rugby where the club game is frankly rubbish compared to the international game.

 

Roll on August and some proper football.

[Saint Fan CaM]

Rooney agreed, Defoe debatable, Heskey definitely.

 

He would have played with ten times more passion and pride than all of those buffoons put together that's f'sure.

[SaintRobbie]

Saints would be hammered by England. Fact.

[hutch]

Disagree completely, that way lies the path to absolute ruin, less great players, and even less good English players. You would wait for ever for the English players to come good, actually what would happen is that they would feck off to Spain or Italy to continue to be paid the ridiculous money they are already on. And as for the coaching bit, please, how many players in today's German team play in the PL? You could say the same about Argentina (OK, Teves) and Brazil. Fact is we were dire today, against a team that was mediocre and will probably go out to the Argies in the next round (they will however be a force in the next WC when they have matured some more). On today's perfroance I would say Saints would have given England a good game, maybe have sneaked a win, but thats the difference between the pinnacle of football, i.e. club football, and the shocking spectacle that is international football. And thats why I really don't give a toss about England FC, international football in general sucks (hardly surprising given the lack of time to prepare). I don't care because in the end I support my Club, club football is what matters, its where it all started and will for ever be the pinnacle of football. You can call me unpatriotic if you like (who cares, nationality is just an accident of birth), but I would argue just the opposite for rugby where the club game is frankly rubbish compared to the international game.

 

Roll on August and some proper football.

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with that. It's the opposite of what happens now, with the foreign players stripping huge amounts of money out of the English game and filling slots in the top PL teams.

[hutch]

This new site is ****e .... how the feck are you supposed to edit quotes FFS

 

Anyway Wes Tenders point in the last paragraph about The England squad being a bunch of prima donnas is and has been for about 30 years or more spot on. They are all more interested in image rights than playing for England ... bunch of khunts.

Reply With Quote > Go Advanced

[Turkish]

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with that. It's the opposite of what happens now, with the foreign players stripping huge amounts of money out of the English game and filling slots in the top PL teams.

 

It wouldn't happen, how many English players have been a success abroad? Beckham, David Platt, Steve Mcmananan, Glen Hoddle after that i am stuggling in my football lifetime. The top foreign players in the PL would go abroad, but in the 90's the top players played in Italy and you could argue the England

team was better then than it is now by a country mile.

[Cabrone]

My prediction:

 

Saints 4 England 1

 

Saints:

Lambert * 2

Connolly

Upson O.G

 

England:

Defoe

 

Expect the FA to come to SMS and beg Saints to represent England ...

[Saint Billy]

Pick the England squad from the championship and below and I recon you would get a better performance from those guys rather than the rich chavs we have at present.

[hughieslastminutegoal]

Disagree completely, that way lies the path to absolute ruin, less great players, and even less good English players. You would wait for ever for the English players to come good, actually what would happen is that they would feck off to Spain or Italy to continue to be paid the ridiculous money they are already on. And as for the coaching bit, please, how many players in today's German team play in the PL? You could say the same about Argentina (OK, Teves) and Brazil. Fact is we were dire today, against a team that was mediocre and will probably go out to the Argies in the next round (they will however be a force in the next WC when they have matured some more). On today's perfroance I would say Saints would have given England a good game, maybe have sneaked a win, but thats the difference between the pinnacle of football, i.e. club football, and the shocking spectacle that is international football. And thats why I really don't give a toss about England FC, international football in general sucks (hardly surprising given the lack of time to prepare). I don't care because in the end I support my Club, club football is what matters, its where it all started and will for ever be the pinnacle of football. You can call me unpatriotic if you like (who cares, nationality is just an accident of birth), but I would argue just the opposite for rugby where the club game is frankly rubbish compared to the international game.

 

Roll on August and some proper football.

 

I know you’re not interested in international football, but in the 1950s the Hungarians taught us a football lesson that made many in the game in England realise our style and technique was falling behind the best in the world.

 

We are again in the same place. If this WC has shown us anything it is the paucity of English players with sufficient technique, tactical appreciation and versatility to play international football. We have a few (who admittedly played badly in this World Cup) but one injury to Ferdinand and we were thrown back on a perpetually injured King, and a woefully inadequate Upson. Many people rued the omission of Walcott, but that proves the point doesn’t it, someone who cannot yet play to his team mates was on the verge of selection.

 

The real worry, if one is interested in the international side, is that we have a tiny, tiny handful of decent players, with no one, absolutely no one else of any quality to put in.

 

Our right back Johnson is the best we can find? Jeepers! I’ve read in one broadsheet that Hargreaves is the only decent holding midfielder we have (had probably is more accurate) – and he learned to play … in Germany. Someone on here even says Marcus Bent should have been there.

 

How long have Gerrard and Lampard been trying to play together, and are still failing to co-ordinate?

 

Scotland are just about keeping ahead the Faroe islands in international ability. Wales are nowhere, and hardly match Azerbaijan and the rest.

 

Ok so you’re not interested in international football. Then I suppose you will be happy to watch 3rd rate domestic players or an ever-increasing contingent of foreign players at club level? If Saints were all-foreign in 3 years time would it matter to you? If not, then let’s dump the Academy now.

 

There is a real problem in that we are failing to produce good-enough players. I don’t know why, and I don’t know what the solution is. Maybe it doesn’t matter as long as locally we can watch decent football played by foreign imports. Maybe we just prefer the excitement of kick and rush (or lumping it up to a holding forward) to good technique, but as yet can’t reconcile ourselves to the fact that the style won’t work in big international competitions, though it seems you have!

[Saint Billy]

I know you’re not interested in international football, but in the 1950s the Hungarians taught us a football lesson that made many in the game in England realise our style and technique was falling behind the best in the world.

 

We are again in the same place. If this WC has shown us anything it is the paucity of English players with sufficient technique, tactical appreciation and versatility to play international football. We have a few (who admittedly played badly in this World Cup) but one injury to Ferdinand and we were thrown back on a perpetually injured King, and a woefully inadequate Upson. Many people rued the omission of Walcott, but that proves the point doesn’t it, someone who cannot yet play to his team mates was on the verge of selection.

 

The real worry, if one is interested in the international side, is that we have a tiny, tiny handful of decent players, with no one, absolutely no one else of any quality to put in.

 

Our right back Johnson is the best we can find? Jeepers! I’ve read in one broadsheet that Hargreaves is the only decent holding midfielder we have (had probably is more accurate) – and he learned to play … in Germany. Someone on here even says Marcus Bent should have been there.

 

How long have Gerrard and Lampard been trying to play together, and are still failing to co-ordinate?

 

Scotland are just about keeping ahead the Faroe islands in international ability. Wales are nowhere, and hardly match Azerbaijan and the rest.

 

Ok so you’re not interested in international football. Then I suppose you will be happy to watch 3rd rate domestic players or an ever-increasing contingent of foreign players at club level? If Saints were all-foreign in 3 years time would it matter to you? If not, then let’s dump the Academy now.

 

There is a real problem in that we are failing to produce good-enough players. I don’t know why, and I don’t know what the solution is. Maybe it doesn’t matter as long as locally we can watch decent football played by foreign imports. Maybe we just prefer the excitement of kick and rush (or lumping it up to a holding forward) to good technique, but as yet can’t reconcile ourselves to the fact that the style won’t work in big international competitions, though it seems you have!

 

Good Post!

 

I feel a good start would be to restrict the amount of foreign players to say four per club or even less.

 

Wage cap.

 

English or British manager.

 

Reduce the amount of games.

 

A more concerted effort put into finding and training raw talent with the emphasis put on skill rather than brawn.

 

Why is team selection resticted to players from the premiership?

 

Restrict the amount of subs that can be used in friendlies to a more realistic figure.

[hughieslastminutegoal]

Personally, I don't see anything wrong with that. It's the opposite of what happens now, with the foreign players stripping huge amounts of money out of the English game and filling slots in the top PL teams.

 

The interesting thing is that according to the TV comments after the game, the German players at their clubs are paid on average 50% of the wage the England PL players are getting, so I'm not convinced we would suffer that much, but I think wages is a bit of a side issue.

 

The argument that the presence of great foreign players has improved the standard of our own players doesn't at the moment look to be standing up to examination at a major competition, does it?

I'm not for banning foreign players but having a ceiling on how many can play in a club side in a match, so our own players stand a chance of being developed and can play against the better (foreign) players more regularly. And I'm very much in favour of Cortese's idea of playing our reserves against better (foreign maybe) opposition, for example.

 

And despite Capello's failure at this WC I'm actually in favour of more foreign coaches in Britain, and/or have British coaches gain experience abroad. It didn't do Roy Hodgson any harm, and he's managed to make Zamora look like a footballer.

[Cabrone]

There is a real problem in that we are failing to produce good-enough players. I don’t know why, and I don’t know what the solution is.

 

I think it's because:

 

1. Being as the PL is awash with money the clubs would rather buy in proven talent than take the time and effort - not to mention the gamble - of nurturing their own.

 

2. Football is competitive, clubs want the best players and therefore the clubs with the most money will compete for the best players. Being as the PL is one of the richest leagues in the world it's almost inevitable that the clubs will go for the best players, which, in most part are not british. It's effectivley an arms race.

 

I would think a cap on number of non UK players per team would open things up for English, Scottish, Welsh, N.Irish (and maybe S.Irish) players. Would force clubs to take on homegrown players and develop them more.

 

If possible I'd also be interested in a wage cap with clubs encouraged to use all money saved to cut ticket prices.

 

If these rules were brought in

i) The dominance of the giants would be reduced - leading to a more competitive PL (which is desperately needed IMO) and also

ii) Cheaper tickets would hopefully encourage more fans to fill stadiums. Some of the crowds at places like Wigan and Blackburn have been poor.

 

Isn't that the basic way the Bundeslige operates and aren't they filling up their grounds?

 

Whatever happens it will be no quick fix but we really really do need to look at the moneyed bloatfest that the PL has become.

[dune]

The problem has always been the same with England. There's a little gang of players that are automatically on the team sheet e.g Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard. And Gerrard is never a captain. He's a **** Liverpool captain. The sooner this "golden generation" retire the better.