Jonas

That's why I'm trying to stick to, otherwise Kevin Dillon is worth a shout, but cunningly dragged his poor performances out over a season and a half

Papavasiliou. Played at the start of the great Entertainers season and must have been okay, never heard any suggestions otherwise, then just disappeared. Steve Guppy, looked the part in that friendly v Man United and guess was okay in the few minutes he got in the season.

Was my second full season. Had to go on holiday with the school and missed Sheff Wed, Oldham and Ipswich at home - legitimately about 50% of the home games that season that weren't dire.

I always remember in the Mag or Black and White when they did their season reviews, a contender for best overheard comment was about that miss "bloody hell! even Dillon would have hit the post with that"

Loving these threads mind. Thought Tomasson and McClen were so bad they were frauds. Of course Tomasson went on to have a career but there was one game McClen was so out his depth he was red with embarrassment. Remember Paul Sweeney getting his arse tore off by Jimmy Carter (the other one) but had his okay games too. Rob Elliot against Man United, four shots four goals, cant remember them but remember thinking they were mostly very saveable

Probably get to keep the 20% sell on fee for themselves with the hotel proceeds

Some tidy links all of a sudden mind

Dave Mitchell, Darren Huckerby

Was young, but he looked a class above when he first came and galvanised that whole season (probably the in form team in the division from his arrival on) seemed to fall off a cliff the following season

Don't know if slim pickings or if he was actually decent and forgotten but whenever we did our best XIs and subs, Alain Goma always got a look in to mine until recent times.

I just feel things are skwered with Venables. By two games at Euro 96 and whatever ratio he has bare in mind he had unprecedentedly almost exclusively (95%+) home matches and played one good team in all those friendlies (Brazil - well beaten by). Any other manager would have been scolded for unimpressive one goal wins over Nigerira, Japan, Hong Kong, Bulgaria and 0-0 draws with Uruguay, Croatia, Colombia and three times Norway. They played well against and thrashed Greece before USA 94 (where they were probably the weakest team) and beat Switzerland (not replicated when it mattered) quite comfortably but that's it. SBR and Hoddle's football was better to watch, had more competitive games and tougher opponents.

Will only go the other way but get it back to 16. Its supposed to be an achievement to qualify. Presently its a shoot-out between 3rd and 4th rate teams to see who makes up the numbers and a procession for the usual qualifiers making the disruption to club football even more of a pain in the erse. Latvia qualified for a 16 team tournament. Greece won a 16 team tournament and Denmark and even more exclusive one than that.

Don't think there's much to analyse from the final - beaten by a team that was better on the day and so much better in the tournament it would have been sad for football generally and damned that drag of a tournament had England won. There's ways to beat better teams but no science and whatever is deployed it rarely happens The analysis as to why they were so awful against modest opponents in the games they didn't lose is fully justified, Maybe entering the final with some good performances behind them would have proved decisive.

Not critiquing Venables but he gets away with more than other managers have done. Euro 96 was one excellent performance, one good performance, a lucky win against a bad team, a draw against Switzerland which was the most they deserved and a penalty shoot-out win after a poor and lucky performance against Spain. Whilst the 2years of friendlies few were better than torturous. Sir Bobby was slaughtered for less. The football under Hoddle was better for about the same results.

Euro 2020/21 is too messy in my mind to gage but since they've expanded it that's at least two shit tournaments when the only bad one in the previous format was Euro 96.

I was thinking of one involving Wolves which I guess was a year further back in 2002. Cant remember who the other team was unless it was Hartlepool again.

England fans and the English media have gone all Homer with his support of the Isotopes from Wild Barts Cant Be Broken after calling the team and manager worse than shite for the last month.

2034 co hosts about to be confirmed as - every country on the planet just do away with qualifying and call the whole thing the world cup

England are Argentina 1990, blagging their way unimpressively and luckily through every game en route to the final. If you took away the little flair Argentina had and gave them a piss easy run instead the hardest possible one.

Yes, was involved in the Man City takeover was she not? Expected much the same with us but glad she hung around long after that as the soul of the takeover which perhaps lead me to think it would be different and she'd be here long term, certainly imagined that, which is perhaps where some discomfort comes in.

Yeah I'm there too. Could be age. Used to put teletext/ceefax on and freeze the clubcall page that was page2 of some actual story at the bottom of the football page and only on for a few seconds just to decipher the bullshit bait in the headline even though you knew it was bollocks it was still juicy. Find such links on X etc kinda boring now and most is as much of a scam as clubcall was, only interested in concrete stuff.

They played Crewe in the Carabao cup first round last August, opened one stand for the occasion and got beat but the most small-timedness thing of all as you remind me was that it all passed unnoticed, just another one of many horrific cup attendances and a meh result, not even an occasion that would live long in the memory of Crewe players and fans.

Spain are the best team in the tournament by miles, the only special team, they've had a hard run to the final and have been one of the very few that's been good to watch. Which all conspired to give me a horrible feeling somehow they wont win it. Just seems too logical and fair for football. Mind it would fit the tournament if they didn't.

The Don Bradman theory came to pass. The worst have got better but the best haven't.

Favourites for the tournament being lauded for being 0-0 against Switzerland in the same tournament as being slaughtered for beating and drawing with teams either no worse or only slightly worse earlier on in the same tournament is classic English media drama queendom