England qualify for Euro 2008!

[SunilTanna]

England lost 3-2 to visitors Croatia last night, and thought they had been eliminated from the Euro 2008. However, in a shock twist they were saved by plucky little Andorra.

Andorra vs Russia kicked off 3 minutes after the England game, and Russia were leading 1-0 against the minnows, when in injury time Russia gave away shock penalty after a defender handled the ball. Andorra put away the penalty scoring their only goal of the qualifying campaign, and putting England through to the Euro 2008 finals.

[hammo1j]

The FA have to endorse McLaren, the Nation gears itself up for another triumph and McLaren's ineptitude gets us eliminated at the group stages.

An England Euro triumph is only likely if your Operation Sealion scenario had come to pass and we had been made a part of Greater Germany!

[mattep74]

England and Sweden yet again goes head to head in the group stage and surprise suprise, the game ends in a tie

England then goes out in the quaterfinals against Turkey and McLaren holds on to the job until he tries to use Beckham in 2 years in the final game that will send them to the world cup and only needs to win against Sweden on homeground. Sweden wins the game after a goal by Ibrahimovich making it the only awaygame Sweden wins and both McLaren and Lagerback are sacked. Fans in bot England and Sweden say "FINALLY!"

[Tyr]

Russian-English relations get significantly more bitter (Russia being more prone to that sort of thing) and WW3 ensues in 2009....

[Tom_NUFC]

The fans are angry and the papers scathing at England's performance. The fact that England qualified is met with relief rather than joy as everyone knows that it has come about because of Andorra defying the odds to notch up a freak victory against the Russians.

Because of this supporters and journalists are baying for blood and calling for McClaren to be sacked. Brian Barwick is greeted by journalists, photographers and TV crews on his doorstep as he arrives home from the game. He attempts to deflect criticism with some brief predictable words: "The main thing is that we've qualified" etc. The senior players (John Terry, Steven Gerrard etc) come out with similar comments and defend McClaren, stating that they have to take some of the blame for some poor performances, but that they will improve by the time the finals come around next summer. McClaren wouldn't be sacked immediately and flies out to South Africa for the draw for the qualifying stages of the 2010 World Cup with the rest of the FA party.

With the international break over, emphasis switches back to the club game - the Premier League and Champions League etc, but the issue over England and McClaren is still amongst the media and fans alike. No one is happy with the situation and optimism for next summer is low.

One of two things happens here.

1. The situation quietens down due to the long international hiatus over the winter, everyone is pre-occupied with the Premier League, Championship, Leagues 1 and 2 etc, there's the FA Cup 3rd round draw and the 3rd round itself shortly after new year. The first group stage of the Champions League finishing before Christmas. In all of this, England goes to the back of people's mind for a good while, allowing things to die down and McClaren and the FA a bit of breathing space. In short McClaren survives and is still in charge by the time of the finals, but England do badly.

2. The discontent rumbles on, people are still calling for McClaren's head and the FA realise that things aren't going to quieten down. They can't go into a major championship without any optimism from the fans and media, and with a manager that no one believes in, for one thing that's going to seep into the players' minds - if it hasn't already. No, they need to change the situation while they still can, so they get rid of McClaren, probably at some point in January.

[Marius]

Sholudn't this be in ASBs

[Tony Williams]

I would groan at the thought of yet another summer cluttered with the news media obsessing about a group of supposedly adult and vastly overpaid men kicking an inflated ball around.

Remember 1966 - not just because England won the World Cup, but because it was not front-page news the next morning. It was relegated to the sports pages at the back, where it belonged. Can you imagine that now?

[hammo1j]

Tony

The problem is that real wars with your neighbours have become difficult and dangerous (cf WWI and WWII) and now we have to fight them for superiority by proxy.

This proxy for war is known as football hence the importance it now assumes in national life.

McClaren is the equivalent of Chamberlain returning home with his piece of paper.

[DMA]

Originally Posted by Marius

Sholudn't this be in ASBs

Sure seems that way...

[Tom_NUFC]

Originally Posted by hammo1j

Tony

The problem is that real wars with your neighbours have become difficult and dangerous (cf WWI and WWII) and now we have to fight them for superiority by proxy.

This proxy for war is known as football hence the importance it now assumes in national life.

McClaren is the equivalent of Chamberlain returning home with his piece of paper.

Amongst the media and casual football fans maybe.

But I think the real (big/regular) football fans, whilst being annoyed, even angry at the situation don't see the national team as the height of importance, because club loyalties take precedence.

[Tony Williams]

And just to add a little cheer: just spotted on the BBC news page:

England will not be among the top seeds in the 2010 World Cup qualifying draw after their failure to reach Euro 2008.

The defeat against Croatia has seen them drop to 12th place - and they have now been leap-frogged by Greece.

This means they are not in the top nine European countries in the draw when it is made in Durban on Sunday.

They are now in the group of second seeds and could possibly face Italy, France or Germany in a potentially hazardous qualifying group.

Scotland have also dropped one place to 14th, meaning they will also be among the group of second seeds.

[mattep74]

Originally Posted by Tony Williams

And just to add a little cheer: just spotted on the BBC news page:

England will not be among the top seeds in the 2010 World Cup qualifying draw after their failure to reach Euro 2008.

The defeat against Croatia has seen them drop to 12th place - and they have now been leap-frogged by Greece.

This means they are not in the top nine European countries in the draw when it is made in Durban on Sunday.

They are now in the group of second seeds and could possibly face Italy, France or Germany in a potentially hazardous qualifying group.

Scotland have also dropped one place to 14th, meaning they will also be among the group of second seeds.

look at the bright side, you cant get Sweden in your group since we are ranked the same