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In the first game against Italy, a penalty is given when Gerrard goes down in the box, giving England a creditable draw. In the second, Godin picks up an early red card - a second yellow for a foul on Sturridge, and England go on to win through a Rooney brace. They edge past Costa Rica 1-0...

Fairly easy - this is tournament football, so the slightest changes of luck, form and injury can produce strange results (Greece 2004, Denmark 1992). Algeria take one of their chances in the second round against Germany, and keeper M'Bohli performs heroics to knock them out. France then...

I can't see Capello leaving Roma for England at that point - he seemed willing to do so for United but not for England at that time. He only considered England because he was unemployed after his spell at Real and they were offering a huge salary. Also, I don't think the FA will be able to...

I'd be surprised if Chelsea made it to 2008 without collapsing in that sort of scenario - they'd be more likely to end up doing what Leeds did without Abramovich's investment. A weaker Man Utd in 2002/3 doesn't just mean "move everyone else up one" - it depends how their results change. One...

Eriksson would take over, and he wouldn't match Ferguson's success, though the squad is good enough to win trophies still. Wenger's Arsenal will probably benefit from this most. However, with Ferguson no longer in charge of Man Utd and less successful, will the Glazers look to take over and...

Just a quick thought - it's much more likely that Phil Neville becomes the cricketer, he was considered as good as Andrew Flintoff at youth level. I think the easiest way to butterfly them away is to make Man Utd lose the Mark Robins game against Forest in the cup - Ferguson is sacked, and a...

I have no idea how on earth Jack Charlton is "more qualified" for the job than Graham Taylor. Charlton's domestic record as a manager was nowhere near as good as Taylor's - two promotions to Taylor's five, no cup finals compared to one for Taylor, and his top division record was also not as...

Eriksson to Man Utd and Fergie retiring may well butterfly the Glazers - they only came in because Ferguson had an argument about horse racing with another investor. This could see United retain more of their spending power than they have done, even without Ferguson. Also, would there be a...

I'd be up for helping with this. Some alternative PODs here (good and bad). Spain don't have a goal quite harshly ruled out in the Euro 96 quarter finals, which somewhat punctures the "football's coming home" feeling, while putting perennial underachievers Spain into a semi final. David...

Getting the team to be competitive wouldn't be too much of a problem. You could've made many England teams highly competitive by adding some of the other Home Nations players - you can make any England team from the Venables era to around 2005 much more competitive simply by adding Ryan Giggs...

Money is the key factor in this - Benitez will win trophies with Chelsea (though not as dominant as Mourinho domestically) and may well get a Champions League. Mourinho will get some success to Liverpool, and could win a title - however, if Gillette and Hicks still take over the club and load...

Taylor was very much the heir apparent, and Howard Kendall declined to be interviewed for the post. If Kendall does want it then he has a great chance, although I'm not sure how he'd do - he'd been excellent in the 80s, but didn't actually win anything after his return to English football in...

League Cup Final 2013 Bradford City 0-0 Swansea (Bradford City win 4-3 on penalties) Swansea dominated the game, but some heroic defending from City, particularly a 16th minute block from Curtis Good that denied Nathan Dyer an open goal, kept the scores level. Swansea thought they'd won...

Just to be picky - the Premiership has a 9 point penalty for admin, not 10, and it wasn't in place in 2003. Also, Abramovich was considering Tottenham before going to Chelsea, which is surely worse as an Arsenal fan...

Bradford City 1-2 Liverpool, May 2000. David Wetherall's early header gives City the lead, but Michael Owen equalises with a shot that squirms past Gunnar Halle on the line (IRL he cleared it). A second from Owen seals Champions League qualification for Liverpool and sends Bradford City down...

And exit again, having had the ball launched over his head at Shearer for 75 minutes? :D

35 degree heat and the "traditional English" way of playing, involving charging around and not actually keeping the ball? This cannot end well at all.

I think Gascoigne was injured in the summer of 1994, so I can't see Taylor taking him along. I'd also suggest that the squad is striker-heavy, especially as Taylor is likely to see Le Tissier as a second forward rather than a midfielder - I could see Les Ferdinand dropping out. Chris Woods...

Taylor gets a stay of execution and as long as England don't embarrass themselves in the World Cup he stays in charge until Euro 96. That probably butterflies away the "Football's Coming Home" revolution caused by England's excellent performance in that tournament - I don't see England doing...

There are two major obstacles to Clough succeeding at Leeds, even if he does take Taylor with him: 1) His management style was the opposite of Revie's in many ways. Revie's teams were meticulously organised, with detailed dossiers on opponents and complex tactical setups. Clough was more of...