Woeful Wednesday

Taken me a few days to catch up with this... Shock of the England result NOT being the cause (not really surprised at all) but I actually have a life elsewhere and over recent days it involved a pub crawl around the Circle Line in London! We won! We also saw a fair bit of the Man U/Wigan and Chelsea/Reading games on our travels (not the exciting bits to be honest) but we were amazed how many places were NOT showing the footie Saturday, which is a bit of a theme running over from the Wednesday before (and a worrying development with regard to pubs and their Sky licences). We found ONE place showing it near Scott's office in Canary Wharf, and after half an hour of trying to find a square inch within which to watch the England game, we gave up and followed via the internet. Surprisingly, we found a lot of other people had the same idea and comments such as "we just cannot be bothered watching them just turn up and be England anymore" were common - led us to debate when was the last time you saw a decent England game, which wasn't a 5-0 thrashing of a team less experienced than Bromley FC on the world stage. We think it was at least two years ago....

Scotland lost too, which was a pity, but they still end the year in a strong position. South of the border, we are now depending on other results in the meantime, but qualification is no longer a 100% certainty. We did catch most of the much improved performance from Wales, who are still not out of the running for qualifying just yet - what a difference five days made, and an enjoyable game to boot. Parallel to Saturday (where Wales was the warm up to the England game) a lot of fans hung about to watch something that might cheer them up after Croatia - we had also moved back to the solitary TV bar at this stage. Called it an early (ish) night at that point - such was the disappointment of the evening (okay, I said I wasn't surprised, but I couldn't help feel disappointed!) Meanwhile, Northern Ireland were further consolidating their position as a respectable football power only one place behind the qualifying positions on goal difference only and climbing the Fifa rankings to within a shout of the Republic - I was trying to stay awake on the train home...!

So what next? There are a handful of games to go in the various groups next month which will have an impact on our teams. Also a friendly against Holland for England to really prove to the world they are worthy of the hype perhaps?

Is it time for Theo?
(Was Sven right?!?!?!!!)

Shocker Saturday!

Scott and I settled into a multi-screened venue in central London this Saturday for a veritable feast of hotly anticipated international football, and at least one of us went away happy! To begin with, there was Wales - we were rather surprised at the crowd this game got although by the end we were surrounded by lost looking students and girls from out of town ("where's Frankie?!") expecting to see England on TV and instead seeing a result on screen which to be fair perhaps did not reflect the performance - Wales dominated the first half although Slovakia took their chances and used them to stunning effect (we counted six on target). Hard work to be done, not least by Chris Jones' barber, but not all over for Wales just yet....

Four pints later, and joined by Matt and Ali (the girls from out of town having departed with their luminous green cocktail - there must have been tears later...) Macedonia returning for round two against Sven Goran... ...sorry, Steve McClaren's men on all the screens in the pub bar the one at the back above our table where Walter Smith's team expected anything except a miracle win against France (Scot was at least pleased with his choice of table now but I think it was more chance than design). The next 90 minutes seemed to fly by and to be honest my attention shifted between watching the game at Old Trafford, from talking to mates, to keeping an eye on the Scotland game - all in all it was an overload on the senses. Which is more than could be said on pitch at Old Trafford. I'm not eve going to bother with that one, except to that I was reminded that I had thought their last victory in Macedonia was lucky, and this was the long overdue draw macedonia probably deserved. England are lucky to be on top of the table and Croatia and perhaps Israel must be looking on with glee...

Back to Scotland - there was a slight delay kicking off so as the England crowd went to sleep, the Scottish fans (who had by now figured out the game was on after all albeit at our table and gathered around us) were increasingly excited. Scott popped to the loo so naturally they scored! And a few minutes after the final whistle at Old Trafford, the screams of delight from the back of the pub woke the England crowd and as they turned to face us they witnessed the 12 or so people sat at the back of the pub go mental for a fantastic result!

We then left (another four pints down) as I had friends to see. I was rather a few sheets to the wind - I also had a very patient fiancee to find and a bad case of munchies to settle so I missed what was by all accounts another good performance from Northern Ireland and the second shock of the day. Lawrie Sanchez was so pleased, he threw away his jacket on this occassion, which must have left the Irish FA equally pleased as on this occassion they only had to worry about a lost jacket and not the man within...

Anyone missing Beckham?

Anticipation

Parker or Carrick? Beckham - right or wrong? Crouch - England, not Liverpool? Sanchez - did he or didn't he? Bellamy - risky decision or safe pair of hands? Scotland v France - does Walter Smiths depleted team stand a chance against the World Cup Finalists? It's been a week of questions and the anticipation is very high. Northern Ireland (manager v media aside) and Scotland have had the best of starts. Wales have two home games to look forward to and right now qualification is possible. England are still England - Rio's got a book out (it's his turn this month) and Macedonia are coming (again)... ...maybe we could return the favour of the opening ceremony of the last game which was the highlight for us - hankerchief sized flag aside (okay, there were a few muffled giggles in our place) was more than made up for by the two gorgeous ladies singing the national anthems! Do we know if Jordan and Kate Moss are available for a duet in Manchester this weekend? Maybe they could bring their other halves too for a laugh? Or maybe, just maybe, the football will finally be scintillating enough - or does it all rest on Croatia? Looking forward to the weekend...

I said it had been a week of questions and I had one for my own singing top model last weekend. She said yes ;o)

(insert your own diamond formation joke here)

Scotland good, England not so good

Scott had a go at me the other night - he said that I hadn't said anything about Scotland's victory. Or anything at all about our night in the pub with the Scotland/England double header on Sky, the week before last (a real case of first half good, second half not so good)

Truth be told, it's been a busy two weeks both in and out of work (trip home - Bury lost that weekend) and last week I was too damn tired to think about anything. But yes, Scotland’s victory was impressive, plus two wins out of two means they are in good position to qualify even if admittedly there are tougher games ahead. But at least they took the game to Norwich, erm, I mean, Lithuania...

...which is more than can be said for a return to "form" by you know who. Another performance worthy of England's world cup campaign now that the fizz of the first two games against Greece and the mighty Andorra seems to have fizzled out. Perhaps Lampard and company have had bigger things on their minds of late - maybe all those books are not selling so well, which I suppose could mean the difference between making £55000 or £60000 this week? Got to feel sorry for the lads, still, Beckham's spoken out on his burning desire to fight his way back into the squad - (he has a perfume out too! Convenient) - still, on the pitch it was a job done, with six points in the bag and top of the group, so why so sad...

Another job done, exceptionally well in this case, was Northern Ireland. Fantastic result! But while the red tops cannot fail to fawn over England, the Northern Irish press has been anything but fawning over Lawrie Sanchez of late. But rather than cynically write a blog to moan about it (or maybe he has a book on the way?) he chose the more dramatic step of walking! Only to walk back again! Classic! Until next time, unless things change... still, three points and three goals in the bag for the boys at Windsor Park.

I was also supposed to get together with Scott for the other battle of Britain last week in the Champion's league - interesting as I thought neither of us would contemplate supporting either of our national club sides, and that's for sure! But I guess that's a conversation for another time...

Episode One: The Phantom Supporter(s)

Let me start at the beginning. Back when England were playing Trinidad and Tobago, somewhere between kick off and Rooney coming on, I overheard this crazy conversation between Jess and her work pals with regard to Star Wars (it's all I had to look forward to the summer before, even after the disappointment of two previous major outings - sound familiar?!). Anyway, Jess, bless her, joins in, and like a fly to one of those luminous blue electric lights that hang on the wall in restaurant kitchens, I'm drawn in. The conversation centres around the fact that none of the company present, keen film buffs the lot of them, had ever seen all six Star Wars films back to back. That's understandable right? I mean, they are not the greatest set of films ever and there are at least two hours a piece? And yet, there is something instinctly appealing about them and the impact they had on my growing up.... ...so several pints, a great Terry save, and a couple of late goals courtesy of Crouch and Gerrard later, we agree to get the thing organised (someone even offers their house - complete with BIG screen - as a base for the weekend) Fast forward two months - I start a blog about footie and the impending Euro qualifiers and their impact on the home nations and - BAM! - it dawns on me (after the first two entries) the first weekend of the entire project is when Jess and I have agreed to the once in a lifetime project... I feel conflict - the good and dark sides of my consciousness are in turmoil, fear of missing out on either turns to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.... ....and Andorra does look like a turkey shoot! So I am turned to the dark side... ...which is fine at first, but then I really start to sweat about my blog! And I feel I'm really letting myself down right at the start. Anyway, two Star Wars films later I'm happy to forget, until after a walk to the shops for extra supplies, we see some kids in a neighbouring house gathered around the TV - they are not so cynical as to be put off a damp summer. My phone beeps - it's Scott - "6-0: let's see what your lot can do"! I need to know! So I am tested on three fronts - loyalty to my nation, and loyalty to the self-imposed impartiality of this project - not to mention loyalty to completing the Star Wars saga! We manage to get back into the film festival groove and I don't share these conflicted thoughts with the present company - although if ever there was a time to discuss the issues of conflict and loyalty I'm probably not in the worst company based on what we are watching! The Empire rises, and falls, and life goes on...

So what did I miss? By all accounts it's a good start for England and Scotland, a strong performance (although ultimately a disappointment at wasted chances) for Toshack's Wales and a shocking disappointment at least for Lawrie Sanchez at his Northern Ireland team's performance. Scotland probably have the most to be pleased with, their best performance (goal-tally wise) for 37 years although they certainly face tougher tests than "the rock". England are getting into a groove although the defence was never really tested. Can we be so euphoric about the equivalent of Chelsea v Basingstoke? Andorra (it's a twin principality, if you hadn't heard!) ranks 132 out of 139 football nations. Macedonia, or even Croatia, could prove to be their first major test. Wales have something to take away and they cannot afford to squander home advantages as they have done in previous campaigns and one can only hope that Sanchez is proved right and Northern Ireland do improve against the bigger teams as they triumphed over England last year - Spain could prove a significant test for the new era at Windsor Park.

And what have I learnt? It takes approximately five 330ml bottles of Kronenburg to make it through a George Lucas production and I've got to take this more seriously if anyone else is going to take it seriously. So, we have Lithuania v Scotland and Macedonia v England back to back on Wednesday to look forward to, as well as Northern Ireland v Spain. And this time there are no prior engagements, and no excuses.... the force is strong with this one...

Warming up

This is going to take a lot more planning than I thought even at the end of my last entry... It's very easy to be drawn back in to old behaviour! Bad habits (like ringing my mate and agreeing to go down the pub to watch England v Greece) are hard to get out of. If I'd planned my week better, I'd have done the same on Tuesday instead, watched Wales v Bulgaria on Sky, and sat at home Wednesday night with my Jess and the Beeb rather than get drunk with my mate (which is always fun) and listen to him dissect a remarkable first performance by the McClaren's team (which much as I appreciated at the time, being an avid Scot he can't help himself!) My point is though I'm going to have to take opportunities when they are there, as it's going to make this "Mission"/"adventure"/"story"/"whatever" harder if I don't...

Wales v Bulgaria, although only a draw, and a rather poor performance by Bulgaria, was encouraging. If they enter this competition with more confidence, building on the two-year Toshack inspired revolution, their youth and experience could see them put in a more consistent performance than in recent years (which Wales will need against the likes of Germany). A lot (perhaps too much, too soon) has been said about England's performance (and jokes like first half good, second half not so ARE also consistent!) but it was very encouraging - if a little hurtful like "why couldn't they have...." etc. Let's see eh.... ...but no denying the best friendly result since beating Northern Ireland in 1932, which leads onto...

...Northern Ireland and Finland. Another encouraging performance - despite losing their number two coach only hours before - and again with little or no coverage! - back to my last point about making more of an effort to get info - my mission for the next couple of weeks it to get into the murky world of regional news, particularly for Northern Ireland, who I've not heard a lot from since, well, the last time they met England.......

Missing someone? Scotland meet the Faroe Islands in their first competitive match on September 2nd, as do all the home nations. This leads to my next dilemma, one I’m not prepared to admit to you yet........!

Hard choices

There's a lot of focus, naturally, on the unveiling of Steve McClaren's first squad. Personally, I think Terry is an excellent choice of captain, and his astute decision to drop Becks altogether will pay dividend in future, even if he plays for the team again (and I strongly suspect he will!) What has occurred to be after scouring the (admittedly national London based) press is that whilst there is much focus on the fortunes of the next England squad, there is little comment on what other preparations are being made by the other home teams. It occurs to me for the first time how under-prepared I am in terms of resource/knowledge on how to deal with actually either learning anything or finding out news from the other home nation's teams? (Short of the links I've got attached to this blog).

My second dilemma is fixtures and TV coverage. Not sure what my plans are for Wednesday's England game, but if I'm going to give this mission a fair crack, I need to be if not watching then at least monitoring the "other" friendlies this week. Where we live, Sky just isn't an option right now (although I am open to investigating the alternatives). Admittedly, I'm helped on this occasion by Wales playing Tuesday, Northern Ireland at 5pm Wednesday and England 8pm - but it won't always be this easy... The internet is great for filling the gaps, but TV coverage, particularly friendly matches for the other nations, is not great...

Cannot fall at the first hurdle!