A wretched goalless draw in their last game
after two excruciating defeats and two ghastly draws in preceding friendlies.
That was it! All that Roy Hodgson and his players could come up with after two
long years of preparation was England’s worst ever failure! Quite frankly, what
was all this so called preparation about? Every time you saw the team training
on television it was a bit of darting about between sticks with a bit of knees up
chucked in. They looked more like a bunch of tarts out on a Hen Night than a
ruthlessly fit, ruthlessly trained squad who’d been road running hills ten
miles a day. Worse, the whole squad seemed to lack confidence right from the
start. You could see it there on their faces. No look of cold single-minded determination
like they were there for the express purpose of doing a job rather than having
a jolly. No hard ruthless efficiency. Just endlessly passing the ball to each
other more backwards than forwards like they didn’t have any game plan. It could
all be summed up in a couple of phrases, no imagination , no
will to win!
And this is what they treated the fans to after two
years of training. The thousands of followers
who’d saved up their money to travel out to Brazil and watch. All that money,
all those emotions invested in hope. And what were they given by those whose
plane fares and food and hotel rooms were paid for and who earned good money
besides? What were these loyal fans and supporters given in return? Quite
frankly it wasn’t just rotten performance, more like something bordering on
contempt. Then there were all those millions of fans back in England with their
hopes raised high. No, it wasn’t just the failure. It wasn’t just the rotten
performances game after game. When it comes down to it, it was the sheer disrespect.
Not only for those who sang Rule Britannia but also their country. The England
they supposedly represented.
One of the very worst aspects of the whole dismal
experience to my mind were the attitudes of television’s footballing pundits.
Those panels of experts, joke-joke, who along with the BBC or ITV presenters
came on to give us their sagely wisdom, their judgements and their assessments.
However in none of England’s games was there any cold, hard, critical analysis of
the team’s performance and that of its players. Literally not a word of
criticism, just an endless rolling out of excuses, one after another. Their sheer
variety was staggering. Like they’d been practicing making them up for years, but
then what else would you expect from these footballing chums who’d suddenly
become experts brought on to entertain you with their wondrous knowledge! All
pretty well paid for spouting their bullshit and the whole damned lot never
having won anything on the international stage between them! Yeah, good money
for soft soaping the footballing fans and rolling endless crap off their
tongues. For Sturridge, who missed four or five sitters against Costa Rica it
was an off day or he’ll do much better next time. Yards
and yards of bullshit! The fans don’t want to know about next time.
THEY WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT NOW and why this player was excused for his
pathetic performances in an England shirt time after time! COULD IT ACTUALLY BE
BECAUSE HE’S SIMPLY NOT UP TO IT. And if that’s the case why is he playing for
England?
Listening to these BBC and ITV panels of
experts bordered on sickening, same as the silly patriotic coaxing of their
presenters. Yuck! Viewers didn’t want scented hair gels. They wanted victory,
not wretched excuses. They get enough of those from politicians who make their
lives hard enough paying for the excrescences of bankers so they don’t need it
from you, soft soaping their disappointment and anguish after the appalling
failure of the national football team. So you bright eyed and bushy tailed pundits
and presenters doing a job for the footballing business. IF YOU CAN’T TELL THE TRUTH
SHUT YOUR GOBS.
Finally all the talk now is about next time! Is that a joke? In recent
times we had Glen Hoddle. Remember him? To get England into shape he communed
with angels and tried various forms of therapy! Not long after came Sven!
Remember him? Well-er… Remember the
little Swede who earned himself a fortune from the FA for helping England go
nowhere and certainly enjoyed his management time shagging secretaries. Then of
course came Capello! On a simply fabulous annual salary who negotiated a
contract that allowed him two years more money if he was out of the job. And
the rewards for England during this time? NOTHING! Yes, the Football
Association certainly know how to pick them! Fabulous Fabio’s been earning a
serious screw from the Russians these days. Result? Goodbye Russia from the
2014 World Cup! The only question to be asked. How on earth do these people do
it? I mean, do they just look at you, talk bullshit with an Italian or Swedish
accent and you pay them fantastic money like you’re hypnotized or something?
And then came Roy. Good old Roy. Granny
dearest! Yes, two years and he’d get an England team into shape! Well that time
is up and you’ve seen the result. England’s worst ever performance. So talking next time I have a plan! Why not get
some jerk-off from the Jeremy Kyle show to manage the team if Roy goes, which
he won’t, and of course, no-one will push him. Some skinny little rat-arse covered
in tattoos won’t need paying so much, just 100 bottles of lager a day and
enough weed to fill a whole garden. Think I’m joking then think again! He can
hardly do any worse than this time around! So what’s the difference between a
Jeremy jerk-off and Roy?
The answer lies in the general culture that
pervades our islands today. Paying the price for failure by rewarding it
all over again.
One final point. Has anyone heard of an England
footballer called Oxlade-Chamberlaine? Last I heard he was in the squad Roy
brought to Brazil. He never played in any of the games and his name was barely mentioned
by the pundits and presenters alike who as we all know will yak on about
anything. So what happened to him and why did he suddenly become THE
INVISIBLE MAN? If he was injured and couldn’t play why was he part of the
squad? If he wasn’t injured then why didn’t he play? It’s as big a mystery as
the missing Malaysian Aircraft! Nobody but nobody was prepared to say anything!
It was like they’d all had their mouths sealed! Like his name was taboo right
from the start and they’d all collectively been sworn to silence!
Rumour has it that Arsene Wenger, manager
of Arsenal, the club he plays for in the Premier League contacted Roy Hodgson
and told him he didn’t want him played for some reason. Was it injury? Was the
man worth too much to risk him being played, even for England? Right now
Oxlade-Chamberlaine is England’s biggest mystery of the Football World Cup 2014.
And England’s performance? Well that’s no
secret at all!
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