Part 1

There was a comment on the previous blog from travel coach.

“I've seen Bobby has no love for the England team -- though I do and support Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland whenever they play -- but I feel the need to rant about our abysmal performance--beginning with the $25 we had to pay to watch the game (so I missed it live)!”

 Normally I let this sort of remark go but being in a particularly foul mood this morning I don’t think I will let this one pass. First of all any Scottish (Welsh or Irish) view of English football is ambiguous. Being the small neighbor there is the reality of living in the shadow of a larger, more powerful and richer neighbor. Travel coach you may support (I notice that you don’t love) Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland but you are an exception if you actually take an interest in the game in these countries.

 It is rarely the case in reverse. If you are a football fan in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland it is almost impossible not to have a lively and long standing interest in English football. For years our best players have played in the English league to the point that up until fifteen years ago it was almost inconceivable that a good English club side might not contain key players from the other three UK countries.

 The performance of the English national team has always been given more prominence particularly around World Cup and European Championship time. However, much of that coverage is insular, myopic and in many cases xenophobic.

The problem comes when someone dares to criticize the English team. Many English fans are ill-equipped to come to a carefully considered opinion of their side and so criticism is often met with open hostility and an attempt to belittle. (It is usually the case that the people most openly hostile to comments are the ones that are the most critical when things do actually implode. Where is the "England must have an English manager" crowd now?)

 The issue is not whether I love the English team or not. The issue is whether I am providing a fair and rationale assessment of the English team and performance. Based on my comments prior to the last World Cup and views on the hiring of Steve McClaren I am happy to allow others to come to their own conclusions.

Part 2

Passion - England (and often Scotland's) answer to any football problem. Could someone please explain to me why so many British fans seem to believe that passion is some sort of differentiator between British sides and foreign teams?

How does that square with the foreign (particularly Latin) stereotype of being hot tempered and dare I say overly "passionate"?  Isn't the constant use of the word "passion" just another way of saying technically inferior and the only way that it can be covered up is running around more and trying harder? It may work in the short term but it has a limited shelf life.

Doesn't it strike everyone as a bit odd that while British fans worship at the altar of passion that it is other countries - who apparently are not so passionate - produce teams that win the WC and European championships?

The commitment to passion leads to the an over emphasis being placed of players that may be poor but try hard to the exclusion of players that are skilled but are seen as a liability because they don't show passion.

The media in the UK doesn't help either. With a few exceptions it continues to be distrusting of anything foreign and coaching to name only two.

How many times have you heard a commentator make a remark about a foreign signing - "they will soon find out that there are no easy games in the Premiership." What rubbish. First of all the idea that the Premiership is the only competitive league in the world is nonsense. Second it perpetuates the myth that somehow the rest of world lacks a competitive spirit.

And it is not only the English media. I heard one on the weekend when watching the Scotland – Italy match. The Scottish colour commentator (who was an embarrassement throughout) commented to the effect that Luca Toni was starting for Italy even though he was not a regular for Bayern Munich. His evidence – Toni was on the bench against Bolton. Insular and uninformed.

The focus was Euro qualifying this weekend and now we have another batch of game this Wednesday.

Group A
I thought Serbia created the better chances and looked much brighter than a Belgian side that lacked pace – particularly in the midfield. A Wednesday tilt against Armenia who nicked a draw off of Finland should mean that Serbia will retain their top spot. Portugal travels to Poland and it is a must win for the Poles given that they have already dropped points at home to rivals Serbia and Finland.

Group B
This group provided the shocker of the weekend, Scotland beating World Cup runners-up France. In my opinion the biggest result for Scotland since they went to Wembley and beat the reigning World Champions 3-2 in 1967. I would also say that this is the best result Scotland has ever achieved at Hampden Park.

As a footnote back in 1967 after Scotland beat England some Scottish supporters used the result to claim that it made Scotland World Champions. Some years later that spawned a website that takes a different view of who might be considered the World Champions using a boxing title holder and challenger format rather than the Sepp Blatter World Cup (Jack Warner and Sons. official ticketing agents).

You can check out past winners and I doubt you can guess who the current "alternative" World Champions actually are.

Thierry Henry believes that France will qualify and finish above Scotland – and the odds are very much in his favour. The win is of greater significance to Scotland than it is a blow to France. There is a long way to go but Walter Smith has achieved job 1 which is to make a small county like Scotland, one that can worry the big boys again.

Italy and France are poised to take advantage of Scotland’s very difficult trip to Kiev in two days time. Only two countries have ever beaten Ukraine in Kiev so even a split of the points would be considered a point gained.

Group C
Excellent homes win for Greece over Norway and likewise for Turkey away to Hungary. The historic rivals have an opportunity to leapfrog Norway who is not scheduled to play this Wednesday. Turkey is “at home” to Moldova while Greece has a tricky fixture away to Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Bosnians have stumbled badly and largely failed to take advantage of what should have been a relatively easy start against Malta, Hungary and Moldova. A four point return is less than they would have expected.

Group D
The worst tip of the weekend – Wales to beat Slovakia. – Oouuch! Wales may not be dead and buried but let us just say that the body is laid out, the top is on and the hammer and nails have been called for. A 5-1 loss at home to Slovakia was their worst result since 1908. They now face a Cypriot side that has lost 6-1 and won 5-2 so who knows what Wednesday’s match might hold.

Talking of dead and buried – Steve Staunton is under heavy attack by the Irish press after a horrible result against a country they had beaten in their last six competitive matches. It is looking bleak for the Irish who now have the most successful all-time European Championship “country” the Czech Republic, arriving next.

Simply put, the Republic of Ireland must win or they will be looking at the monumental task of 24 points from the remaining nine matches to qualify and that, quite frankly, is just not on. Germany is back in business when they travel to play Slovakia. A German win and it will be a sign that the top two are going to runaway with this group.

Group E
Here we go again. European Champions in waiting after beating the might of Andorra 5-0 and then winning 1-0 away to Macedonia, now wailing and moaning sounds are coming from England fans after drawing 0-0 at home against a Macedonia side that might even have nicked the three points.

You would have thought that the World Cup performance would have been a lesson – one in a long line of lessons – that a couple of results, particularly against weaker opposition do not a champion make. Can you imagine England’s response if they had beaten San Marino 13-0 as Germany did last month?

Viewing results in some sort of realistic context is not something that comes easily to the English media – or fans for that matter. But if England had returned from Macedonia with a draw and then won at Old Trafford would it have been a disaster? It would not have been the best set of results but it would not have been a disaster either.

The first acid test for Steve McClaren comes when they face a very tough Croatian side in Zagreb. If England does win no doubt the bandwagon will kick into gear again.

Meanwhile two home draws was not the sort of start that Guus Hiddink was looking for and three home points versus Estonia is now a must for Russia.

Group F
Spain is another country that has made an inau####ious start with back-to-back away losses to Northern Ireland and Sweden. To compound the problem Spain sits out this time around while Sweden looks to extend their 100% record when they are away to Iceland and Denmark hopes to consolidate their present second place standing against little Liechtenstein. Northern Ireland and Latvia link up in Belfast in a pivotal game.

Group G
In group G it looks like a case of perm any two from three with Romania and the Netherlands tied at the top (Romania leads on goal difference) with Bulgaria two points behind but still unbeaten. Romania can watch the others on television as the Netherlands (home to Albania) and Bulgaria (away to Luxembourg) should pocket three points each. Slovenia and Belarus both need a win if they hope to keep within striking distance of the “big three”.
 

Later in the week I will take a look at the next round of the FA Cup and look at the Premiership so far.