England Think About Euro 2020
According to this report on the BBC, England are thinking about putting together a bid for Euro 2020.
The comments show most are sceptical, that we would win, due to FIFA/UEFA politics.
I also think England not bidding is what FIFA/UEFA wants.
After all if we don’t bid and the organisation in some neck-end ex-Soviet republic goes belly up a few months before the tournament starts, we have the stadia, hotels and infrastructure to stage it the next week. Probably only Germany, the USA and ourselves could do this!
After all, in a bankrupt London we did it with the Olympics in 1948, so we have form in this.
Incidentally, as the transport links between England and Germany will be more than excellent in a few years time, we could even stage it jointly with the Germans. Now that would be fun!
I’ve always felt that one of next two World Cups after Brazil will not be held in the designated host. Especially today, as Russia has been fined points for the behaviour of their fans as reported here.
How Many Points Do England Need To Qualify For The Next Stage?
In England’s Group in Euro-2012, the points totals are these.
England 1, France 1, Sweden 0, Ukraine 3
England and France still have to play both Sweden and Ukraine.
There are nine possible combinations of the French results.
1. France beats both Ukraine and Sweden which gives England 1, France 7, Sweden 0, Ukraine 3
2. France beats Ukraine and draws with Sweden which gives England 1, France 5, Sweden 1, Ukraine 3
3. France beats Ukraine and loses to Sweden which gives England 1, France 4, Sweden 3, Ukraine 3
4. France beats Sweden and draws with Ukraine which gives England 1, France 5, Sweden 3, Ukraine 4
5. France beats Sweden and loses to with Ukraine which gives England 1, France 4, Sweden 0, Ukraine 6
6. France loses to both Ukraine and Sweden which gives England 1, France 1, Sweden 3, Ukraine 6
7. France loses to Ukraine and draws with Sweden which gives England 1, France 2, Sweden 1, Ukraine 6
8. France loses to Sweden and draws with Ukraine which gives England 1, France 2, Sweden 4, Ukraine 4
9. France draws with both Ukraine and Sweden which gives England 1, France 3, Sweden 1, Ukraine 4
I think it is safe to say that England need four points from the last two games. They might do it with three, but I’d say they need a win and a draw to be safe.
It Looks Grim for Rangers
It looks like HMRC will reject any deal to save Rangers and go for liquidation of the Glasgow club. Let’s face it, they have been stung by so many clubs over the last few years, that the time has come to make a stand for the honest taxpayers of the UK.
I shall not be sad if they are liquidated, as on the only time I saw Rangers play in a friendly at Ipswich, the behaviour of their fans was not acceptable to your average fan of English football. It was only a friendly, but I believe Suffolk police don’t want Rangers back.
It will be sad for their loyal fans, especially as they have been bled dry by successive owners, who wanted glory at any price.
In some ways it’s a strong condemnation of football, where to succeed, you need to have an owner who is as rich as Creosus. Or in the case of Spain a compliant bank manager.
Football is going through a difficult change and hopefully it will emerge stronger at the other side, with more community and fan owned clubs.
Just Like 1966
I was 18 in 1966 and can remember watching England’s first match in the World Cup, where they playing a boring goalless draw with Uruguay.
I think it is true to say, that we weren’t too hopeful of winning in 1966 and if my memory serves me right, I think we did.
So last night and this morning, all of those on the phones-in, who thought England were rubbish, should shut up until at least the last match of the group stages of Euro-2012.
There weren’t phones-in in 1966, and I suspect after the first match, England supporters would have been totally despondent. Much worse than today.
Everybody now thinks of Sir Alf now, as the Messiah, but before the 1966 World Cup, all he’d done was the equivalent of take a Third Division side to the Premier League title in a space of five years. Try doing that these days with a team, without any stars. I suppose to be fair, England were in as bad a state at the start of the 1960s as Ipswich were when he took over as manager. A lot of people thought he was the wrong choice and probably hoped he’d fail.
In fact he had one great advantage in 1966 over Roy Hodgson today. He had at least had time to plan what he did. And plan he did! He even made sure that England had the lightest possible kit, so they would have more energy.
Ramsey incidentally had three years, whereas Hodgson had three weeks.
Giovanni Trapattoni claims “I am not Jesus Christ”
Giovanni Trapattoni, the Ireland manager has supposedly said this according to the BBC’s text commentary.
He claims “I am not Jesus Christ”. It is a healthy realisation to come to. “I don’t do miracles,” he continues. “Only the players can do miracles.”
He may be Italian, but he certainly has learned how to speak like an Irishman.
Orient Fans Defy Racism
On Double Take this morning on BBC Radio 5, they interviewed three hardy Leyton Orient fans, who’d gone all the way to support England in Donetsk. One was white, but the others were all or part-Bangladeshi. They were having a great time and had been made very welcome by the locals.
Let’s hope it all stays as peaceful.
Luckily for England, it seems most of the trouble so far is down to old problems with Russia, like these when they played the Czech Republic last night. Hopefully UEFA have got it in hand.
When I went to Belarus, there were no problems, but a Russian lawyer, I met who supports England, talked of the problems between Russia and its former satellite states.
Memories of Euro 2004
2004 is the only time since 1966, that I’ve been in a country that has won a major tournament. C and I were actually staying at a place called Sani at the top of the Haldikiki peninsular in Greece. It had just opened and I think C had got a very good deal through a travel magazine. It was very much worth it.
Everybody in the hotel, in addition to their own teams, were cheering on Greece and most were surprised when they won the tournament.
Perhaps one of the biggest memories of that holiday was a long walk down the coastal path for perhaps ten kilometres stopping at the various bars and hotels on the way. One turned out to be a holiday camp, that was very much a Teutonic version of Maplins from Hi de Hi! A bell would ring every twenty minutes or so for a strenuous keep fit session. Judging by the laughs from the bar we were in, the Germans found it funny too! We finally ended up in a fish restaurant on the beachside, before taking a bus home.
C was strangely uninhibited that holiday and did a lot of things she wouldn’t normally do. One was to sleep in very late in the morning, rather than get up early for her daily swim. She went down with breast cancer in October of that year from which she fully recovered. Perhaps her body was telling her something and trying to get her in the mood for the struggles to come. I will never know. The only other fsctor, was that she had just done a very harrowing child care case and perhaps she was wiping it out of her mind.
Do Either Poland or Greece Want To Win?
This has not been the greatest game of football and I would suspect, if Russia or the Czech republic get their act together, they’ll get some points from this pair.
After all, all we’ve had here is two sendings off, a missed penalty, another which should have been given , one goal each and very little else.
There’s just four minutes left, so on current form, I suspect it’ll be one goal each at the end.
A Dutch View on the Racism in Krakow
I found this on the Radio Nederland web site.
There were loud protests by disappointed Krakow football fans at the start of Holland’s training session on Wednesday afternoon. They voiced their frustration at the fact that Krakow was passed up by UEFA three years ago when it chose four Polish cities to host the 2012 European Championship.
The fans had put up a large banner with a no-entry sign painted on the tournament emblem. After about 15 minutes, security staff intervened, putting a stop to the whistles and chanting. The slogans reportedly included racist abuse, prompting the Dutch to continue their training to the other side of the pitch.
It was the only Holland training session at the Wisla Krakow stadium open to the public. Tickets were free and the stands were filled in no time. Hard-core fans flocked to the stadium’s west end and immediately made their presence felt.
Frustration
There’s still deep resentment in Krakow over the fact that the city failed to be chosen as one of the four Polish cities to host the prestigious Euro 2012 matches. Many can’t understand why Poland’s former capital and the county’s most popular tourist destination was ignored by UEFA.
Most suspect political reasons. They point to the traditional rivalry between the current capital Warsaw and the countries “most beautiful” city. Or they blame Krakow politicians for a weak bid and a strong “anti-football” lobby, supported by a large section of the population who are fed up with football-related violence and fear the worst when large numbers of foreign fans descend on the city.
Poland promotion
Krakow is known for its violent confrontations between the firms of Cracovia and Wisla Krakow, who’re locked in a long-running brutal war. National and local authorities are doing all they can to suppress hooliganism and racism during the Euros. They see the event as a great opportunity to promote their country. They are proud that as many as 13 out of the 16 Euro 2012 finalists are putting up their base camps in Poland, and not in co-host Ukraine. Three of these squads – Holland, England and Italy – have opted for Krakow as their home base.
I think it shows that UEFA didn’t really organise the competition properly. Just imagine if we organised a big football tournament and didn’t play a match in Birmingham, Liverpool or Manchester.
The Racism Has Started
Why did the old farts in charge of UEFA take the tournament to Poland and the Ukraine, when they knew it might happen?
This incident involving the Dutch is actually in Poland.
I don’t think that the Dutch govenment will take this lying down.
The Netherlands are playing their first match against Denmark tomorrow.
I wonder what the odds are that we don’t through the first round without racist trouble.
The Anonymous Widower 