[Archived] Malta v England

[philipl]

Got our tickets and expecting a fun evening in the way internationals at Ta'Qali invariably are. Inevitably the laugh quotient being in that crowd is far higher than any other football crowd I know. The locals need a sense of humour given the lack of success down the years.

Generous of England to play Joe Hart so my tip is Malta 2 England 5.

A word of warning though- the population of Malta is a third bigger than the population of Iceland... Then again I don't see any of the Maltese trundlers being transferred for a fee equal to 1.5% of the national GDP the way Siggurdson was!

[lraC]

17 minutes ago, philipl said:

Got our tickets and expecting a fun evening in the way internationals at Ta'Qali invariably are. Inevitably the laugh quotient being in that crowd is far higher than any other football crowd I know. The locals need a sense of humour given the lack of success down the years.

Generous of England to play Joe Hart so my tip is Malta 2 England 5.

A word of warning though- the population of Malta is a third bigger than the population of Iceland... Then again I don't see any of the Maltese trundlers being transferred for a fee equal to 1.5% of the national GDP the way Siggurdson was!

I drove past the stadium, a few years ago and was horrified that it was classed as an international venue. Has it improved at all?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Take your boots with you Phil, you might get a game.

[philipl]

2 hours ago, lraC said:

I drove past the stadium, a few years ago and was horrified that it was classed as an international venue. Has it improved at all?

No- all adds to the charm to be honest! The hot dog vans will be in the stadium at the top of the open terracing and the South End Core will make an absolute racket until England score after which the Valletta supporters will be taunting the Floriana supporters, Hibs, Birkirkara and whoever else has the temerity to fly club colours as well as the national ones...

If there is any agro it will be in the West Stand which is divided between the home and away supporters like the infamous Longside used to be...

If the England support boo the Maltese anthem, the home fans will get really riled up.

 

[Gav]

Enjoy the game philipl, and despite what the media would have us believe you see very little trouble caused by England fans these days thankfully.

 

 

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

1 hour ago, philipl said:

No- all adds to the charm to be honest! The hot dog vans will be in the stadium at the top of the open terracing and the South End Core will make an absolute racket until England score after which the Valletta supporters will be taunting the Floriana supporters, Hibs, Birkirkara and whoever else has the temerity to fly club colours as well as the national ones...

If there is any agro it will be in the West Stand which is divided between the home and away supporters like the infamous Longside used to be...

If the England support boo the Maltese anthem, the home fans will get really riled up.

 

Malta has got a national anthem ?  You learn something everyday.

[roversfan99]

I see Southgate has started Hart and Livermore, I know the standard of the opposition means tonight it doesnt make a different but he really is out of his depth as England manager and needs to go before Russia.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Just now, roversfan99 said:

I see Southgate has started Hart and Livermore, I know the standard of the opposition means tonight it doesnt make a different but he really is out of his depth as England manager and needs to go before Russia.

When you think that the likes of Howard Kendall never got an full England cap.

[Butty]

25 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I see Southgate has started Hart and Livermore, I know the standard of the opposition means tonight it doesnt make a different but he really is out of his depth as England manager and needs to go before Russia.

Starting that fraud Joe Hart is bad enough, he should be 5th choice behind Heaton, Butland, Pickford and Forster. Jordan Henderson as England captain though is just an absolute joke. Poor player, if we go into next years World Cup with Southgate as manager I won't even bother watching. 

[joey_big_nose]

22 minutes ago, roversfan99 said:

I see Southgate has started Hart and Livermore, I know the standard of the opposition means tonight it doesnt make a different but he really is out of his depth as England manager and needs to go before Russia.

Who else would we get?

There's times in the past where I think a good set of England players has been let down by a poor manager, but to be honest at the moment it's a poor set of players adequately served by the management. Alli, Kane, Sterling, Walker, Rose are all decent enough but none of the rest would get in a good international squad.

[Butty]

3 minutes ago, joey_big_nose said:

Who else would we get?

There's times in the past where I think a good set of England players has been let down by a poor manager, but to be honest at the moment it's a poor set of players adequately served by the management. Alli, Kane, Sterling, Walker, Rose are all decent enough but none of the rest would get in a good international squad.

Give Dyche the job, better than Southgate and would also send the dingles down in the process.  

[matt83]

Livermore and Henderson in the centre vs bloody Malta. I'm sure the top nations are quaking in their boots. Not so long ago had likes of Gerrard, Lampard, scholes.

[roverandout]

Worst england team in a long time. No quality. No guile. Just a plain awful team led by a wet lettuce 'manager'. Probably be a scrappy 1-2 or 0-1 england

[matt83]

Only one up top as well. Let's call a spade a spade 5-0 is still par but if we can't produce better than Livermore then we have got serious problems. 

[roverandout]

We had a player like zaha, skillfull. End product so what does he do? Picks lingard and lets zaha slip through the net. Plank.

[matt83]

Well this is predictably turgid. Tactic of pointless possession.

Suppose when you play defensive midfielders and one up top shouldn't be surprised 0-0 approaching half time. I mean are we actually trying to nick a point vs Malta or something. When I watch this rabble I'm yearning for the heady days of Carlton Palmer. 

Something I dislike about Southgate which has nothing to do with his ability (or lack of) is he's a company man. In everyday life he's one of those characters at the workplace who try to climb up the greasy pole by sucking up to management.

[blueboy3333]

Hoddle/Robson Ince/Gazza Scholes/Gerrard.

Henderson/Livermore. Ruddy Hell.

[roverandout]

Lampard, beckham even joe bloody cole

[matt83]

Watching England is the football equivalent of standing on a upturned plug barefoot.

[davulsukur]

Just now, matt83 said:

Watching England is the football equivalent of standing on a upturned plug barefoot.

For me, it's more like:

 

[roverandout]

2 minutes ago, davulsukur said:

For me, it's more like:

 

More like

[G Somerset Rover]

Only another 13 competitive England appearances needed for Jones and the loons pocket £2 million. IF (huge if with the lad) he stays fit he'll hit that comfortably in the next couple of years.

[K-Hod]

It's been awful, hasn't it? I'm not one for scapegoating Sterling, but he was terrible in the first half.

Due to the boredom of the match, I ended up on a Wikipedia binge about Malta, I had a much nicer time doing that....

[Husky]

I thought England were in red.

[Butty]

34 minutes ago, K-Hod said:

It's been awful, hasn't it? I'm not one for scapegoating Sterling, but he was terrible in the first half.

Due to the boredom of the match, I ended up on a Wikipedia binge about Malta, I had a much nicer time doing that....

I too took part in a Malta Wikipedia binge. There top scorer and most capped player Michael Mifsud scored twice for the Coventry side that beat us 4-1 at Ewood in the fa cup in 2008. A certain Elliot Ward also scored a penalty for Coventry in that game.