[Archived] England Decline Must End

[Batman.]

probably

and a very good reason for changing it

Which would be?

[Guest Norbert]

He doesn't want anyone to know he's a billionaire playboy. Perhaps.

[yoda]

He doesn't want anyone to know he's a billionaire playboy. Perhaps.

Which would be?

why don't you spill the beans?

[Sadism]

Why don't we have a team GB. In all other sports were we have "Team GB" we are up their with the best. I know we want 3 bites at the cherry but some excellent players like George Best & Ryan Giggs would have made the England squad if born here.

Also from Wales we could have had.....

• Ivor Allchurch (1929–1997), Wales internatio
• Gareth Bale (born 1989)
• Craig Bellamy (born 1979), striker and Wales international
• Nathan Blake (born 1972)
• John Charles (1931–2004),
• Mark Hughes (born 1963), former international and Wales manager
• Joe Jacobson (born 1986), left back (Oldham Athletic & U21 national team)^[3]
• Robbie James (1957–1998)
• Leighton Phillips (born 1949)
• Ian Rush (born 1961), Liverpool F.C.'s record goal-scorer and Wales international
• Dean Saunders (born 1964)
• Robbie Savage (born 1974)
• Gary Speed (1969–2011) Wales international footballer,
• John Toshack (born 1949) Former Wales and Liverpool international and National Team manager.
• Neville Southall MBE (born 1959), goalkeeper, Wales' most capped player
• Byron Stevenson (1956–2007), Leeds United F.C., Birmingham City F.C. player and Wales international

Just to name a few.

Also Scotland & Northern Island players.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Most non-English people would hate to have a GB team. For me, it would be one of the worst things imaginable in football.

To see my favourite football team, the Scottish National Team, disbanded to form some apparent "super team" that had players like Cleverley and Welbeck in it?

Regardless of form, players like Steven Fletcher and Snodgrass would be ignored for Welbeck and Milner and even Bale wouldn't make a GB team as good as the Italians, Spanish etc.

[DE.]

Agreed, not much point in a team GB as it would essentially be 98% English anyway.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Again, if you were't so incredibly thick, you would have gleaned that my point is that it's very unlikely that you can be recognised as one of the "greatest ever" unless you've played, or in this case managed at one of the very top clubs.

Whilst Hodgson probably won't go down as one of the greatest of all time, it's ironic that he has in fact managed at some very big clubs.

But then, I wouldn't expect somebody as dense as yourself to have correctly grasped my fairly simple point.

Yeah he's managed some big clubs but he's been crap at most of them.

[thenodrog]

Another great response yoda. You really are an embarrassment, and a walking epitaph of what 90% of this board has become.

If that is your opinion and yet you still come on frequently what does it say about you? You know where the door is and if your resolve is as strong as your opinion you will go through it.

I've been a member since 2001.

Really? Was that as a full member, a male member or a country member?

[Audax]

Aaron Ramsey, 2 goals today. There's more for you. Per Wales.

He's becoming quite a player, of course, that collision was horrifying a few years ago. Glad he's come back so well, perhaps in past eras, he could not have come back from that collision with Shawcross.

[Sadism]

Maybe you would hate it. Just feels like we are one hand tied behind our backs only having players from each country when in all other ways of life we are one nation. We have 65 million people in this nation and we struggle each to put out a world class squad. England now ranked 17th I beleive.

[Audax]

The different home-nations teams are rooted per before the World War II era.

But another thing to remember is someone like George Best never had a chance to play in the World Cup though not long after his retirement, Northern Ireland did go to the '82 World Cup. Now, we have another probably highly phenomenal athlete in Gareth Bale and the same goes for him most likely. Wales went to the '58 World Cup and were respectable with John Charles. Believe he even got injured and could not finish the competition. and for the record, Brazil knocked Wales out, if not for that, who knows how far they could have gone.

I certainly see why people wouldn't want their to be one team, historically. It certainly gives one pause to reflect on.

---------------

Sure, people are often not happy with English players from the top clubs walking into the England squad but it is interesting how, on the other hand, you've got Belgians, Hazard, Fellaini who walk into their native countries teams, same for the likes of Essien, Drogba.

Nigeria is a country that has had "England-types" of problems too, their internationals in Europe did not always perform well for their home country team, in fact, they usually simply would not until the last African Cup, Nigeria finally won. I respect that Cup a lot but to be practical, the teams that have won it the most like Egypt have had a tendency to not even make the World Cup.

[Batman.]

If that is your opinion and yet you still come on frequently what does it say about you? You know where the door is and if your resolve is as strong as your opinion you will go through it.

Really? Was that as a full member, a male member or a country member?

Gordon, I've been posting here for as long as you. However, unlike yourself, I've managed to get through this period without being labelled a racist, a homophobe, or a bigot.

[Batman.]

why don't you spill the beans?

He made a Bruce Wayne joke you cretin.

You're now just 'laughing' because you think somebody might be insulting me. He wasn't, and although I didn't think it were possible, you've managed to make yourself look even thicker.

[yoda]

He made a Bruce Wayne joke you cretin.

You're now just 'laughing' because you think somebody might be insulting me. He wasn't, and although I didn't think it were possible, you've managed to make yourself look even thicker.

I know he made a joke, that's why I laughed

that's right a JOKE, not an insult

you like to give it out but can't take it

you remind me of the school yard bully who is desperate for attention

[K-Hod]

He made a Bruce Wayne joke you cretin.

You're now just 'laughing' because you think somebody might be insulting me. He wasn't, and although I didn't think it were possible, you've managed to make yourself look even thicker.

Is there any danger of you posting without insulting another poster?

[thenodrog]

Who were you Batman? Your habit of finishing posts with a personal insult reminds me of Tony Gales Mic.

Sorry I'll do that again in similar fashion.

Who were you Batman? Your habit of finishing posts with a personal insult reminds me of Tony Gales Mic. @#/?.

Gordon, I've been posting here for as long as you. However, unlike yourself, I've managed to get through this period without being labelled a racist, a homophobe, or a bigot.

So why change your name?

sorry.... forgot again.

So why change your name Gobshyte?

[DE.]

I thought it was common knowledge Batman was Shillito.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

Maybe you would hate it. Just feels like we are one hand tied behind our backs only having players from each country when in all other ways of life we are one nation. We have 65 million people in this nation and we struggle each to put out a world class squad. England now ranked 17th I beleive.

But that's your problem. Don't take it out on the Welsh and Scots who have an outside chance of making the Euros now it's been expanded to 24 teams.

The Welsh have Bale, Bellamy, Ledley, Williams etc but also good young players like Ramsey, Adam Matthews, that Palace midfielder and the Swansea left backs.

And the Scottish have their own decent experienced players like the Fletchers, Brown, Snodgrass, Mulgrew etc and promising youngsters like Hanley, Rhodes, Watt, Bannan. Mackay-Steven etc.

Both national teams look like they will be their strongest for ages.

Sort out your coaching from an early age and stop picking the wrong players. Calling for a GB team is just a cop-out and let's face it, only because of Bale, who won't be enough for you to match the very top teams.

[Audax]

But that's your problem. Don't take it out on the Welsh and Scots who have an outside chance of making the Euros now it's been expanded to 24 teams.

The Welsh have Bale, Bellamy, Ledley, Williams etc but also good young players like Ramsey, Adam Matthews, that Palace midfielder and the Swansea left backs.

And the Scottish have their own decent experienced players like the Fletchers, Brown, Snodgrass, Mulgrew etc and promising youngsters like Hanley, Rhodes, Watt, Bannan. Mackay-Steven etc.

Both national teams look like they will be their strongest for ages.

Sort out your coaching from an early age and stop picking the wrong players. Calling for a GB team is just a cop-out and let's face it, only because of Bale, who won't be enough for you to match the very top teams.

Believe it or not, a lot of country's national teams go through very lean times. I hardly believed it at first that even Portugal with their big stars have missed quite a few world cups.

1966, 1986 and now the last 3, 2002, 2006 and 2010. <---- Are the times they have made it.

Scotland of course, last went in 1998. 8 in total isn't bad. It could lead one to think they could turn it around.

Europe is really competitive seeing the teams that miss the world cup regularly, often decent teams like Romania and Bulgaria to begin with.

[roversfan99]

But that's your problem. Don't take it out on the Welsh and Scots who have an outside chance of making the Euros now it's been expanded to 24 teams.

The Welsh have Bale, Bellamy, Ledley, Williams etc but also good young players like Ramsey, Adam Matthews, that Palace midfielder and the Swansea left backs.

And the Scottish have their own decent experienced players like the Fletchers, Brown, Snodgrass, Mulgrew etc and promising youngsters like Hanley, Rhodes, Watt, Bannan. Mackay-Steven etc.

Both national teams look like they will be their strongest for ages.

Sort out your coaching from an early age and stop picking the wrong players. Calling for a GB team is just a cop-out and let's face it, only because of Bale, who won't be enough for you to match the very top teams.

Whilst the idea of a GB team is stupid, Wales have much better players than Scotland who wouldn't contribute at all.

[Salgado Is A Hero]

In your opinion.

Wales aren't good, not yet anyway. They might have beaten Scotland when that diddy Craig Levein was in charge but they were smashed again by Serbia the other day, that's 6-1 and 3-0 losses to them. They also lost 2-0 away in Macedonia a few days before Scotland won 2-1 over there.

Wales are bottom of Group A, Scotland are two places ahead in 4th, with Wales' only 6 points coming from the Scotland games, although like I said that was under Levein. Since Strachan came, there's been masses of improvement and we even won away in Croatia.

A team of the two nations would be

-------------------McGregor

Matthews Williams Mulgrew Davies

Snodgrass Ramsey Fletcher Bale

------------Fletcher Bellamy

Subs - Marshall, Hanley, Martin, Ledley, Brown, Morrison, Forrest, Rhodes

Anyway, half of the English team don't "contribute at all" themselves so need to get all high and mighty.

[thenodrog]

Different times. I can rem in the 60' / 70's when on the rare occasions we played an African team we anticipated a cricket score. The fall of communism and the cheap(er) African and S American talent mean that players now play in the big leagues where they benefit from coaching and experience which they were previously denied with the result that they improve signficantly.

[Guest Norbert]

Good point. Just look at the foreigners around 1991 or thereabouts. They were mainly Irish and Scandanavian. Now of course that has changed, and many South Americans find themselves in Iberian teams, West Africans over here and in France, and so on. Transport improvements have enhanced this process.

We need to really invest in improving the standards of coaching, and not to market the league to China and paying massive wages to average players.

[Audax]

Good point. Just look at the foreigners around 1991 or thereabouts. They were mainly Irish and Scandanavian. Now of course that has changed, and many South Americans find themselves in Iberian teams, West Africans over here and in France, and so on. Transport improvements have enhanced this process.

We need to really invest in improving the standards of coaching, and not to market the league to China and paying massive wages to average players.

That's it, it's being marketed in America but today I saw the signs in the background, "Muay Thai" I think, in the past, I think I've seen messages in Arabic, it's a marketing bonanza. I'm not saying I like it but I doubt they want to loosen their grip to let the Spanish, Italian or German (or even French, Netherlands) leagues be more popular though I would not mind it, I would like to see more Bundesliga personally myself. Need we remind ourselves, Brian Glanville whose magazine is World Soccer, around for a long time, maybe before 1960 has called the Premier League "the greed is good league" - See wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Glanville mentioning this. worldsoccer.com runs his columns but they use to be better and had a number archived, maybe I should write them to do that again.

And in fact, being in the Mediterranean, Serie A, the Italian League I firmly believe was the popular league for that area and heading into the Middle East. Maybe those scandals Italian Calcio has had has undermined it, I don't know. I know we use to get Serie A, I did enjoy it ever so often even if I wasn't waiting impatiently to see it.

[Steve Moss]

According to FIFA the USA has more kids playing soccer than any other nation, which I think is cool.

And we've recently qualified for the World Cup http://www.ussoccer.com/tournaments/fifa-world-cup-qualifying/2014-fifa-world-cup-qualifying.aspx.

I really hope the USA does well this go round, but I'll be cheering on England to, as my [distant] second team.

On the issue of youth playing soccer, I would not discount the emotional pull of a parent coaching his or her child's team. Kids want time with their parents and in an age of broken homes, a dad coaching his son or daughter's team would be a huge pull for both parent and child. So I'd focus on getting the parents trained (for free, so you don't discourage them or create barriers- use some of that PL money, you have enough of it), not bringing in supposed professional coaches.

Just my two cents.