Fair Play Rooney … (booing England)

[Craig_H]

Comfortably miles better? The Evidence would say otherwise
Considering Ireland's size imo I'd safely say we're a match for Engerland.
You've multiple times the population and yet consistently do poorly in International competition. Taking the above into consideration, your "Failed nations" description of all the other "home nations" is a beauty

The evidence says England qualified and are listed as one of the top 5 or so favourites to win it.

None of the other home nations have ever been in that position in the betting. Ever.

It's not about 'considering the size of the country' otherwise USA would have 8 world cups.


England may 'do poorly' at the finals but hey, at least they get the opportunity to do so.

And for the record, i'll repeat - i'm not an england fan, so dont refer to England as 'you', when talking to me

[certifiable]

The evidence says England qualified and are listed as one of the top 5 or so favourites to win it.

None of the other home nations have ever been in that position in the betting. Ever.

It's not about 'considering the size of the country' otherwise USA would have 8 world cups.


England may 'do poorly' at the finals but hey, at least they get the opportunity to do so.

And for the record, i'll repeat - i'm not an england fan, so dont refer to England as 'you', when talking to me

Bah, betting odds, top 5 favorites, never justified in your case though is it? .. simple maths tell you you finish in the last 16, therefore should be top 16 favorites.

And fair enough, Apologies about the "you" part, when you claim to not be an england fan, us Irish are happy for that 3 letter word to be used in relation to us and our team!

Seriously though, you didn't really get my point, I worded it wrong mentioning size.
I'll explain it a bit better; if England had a history of outward migration, you would be doing the same as the FAI.

It's just you've always had inward migration and therefore use the whole range of ethnic mixes available to you. You're simply the reverse of Ireland in that sense, and use your situation to your advantage as Ireland does.

No-one slags off the English team for making use of their history in terms of inward migration (I won't mention slavery ) so imo country's with histories similar to ours; outward migration ( I won't mention oppression of the English which forced so many to leave or die ) should not receive slagging.

Clever people could see it's 2 sides of the same coin; countries making use of their respective histories for reaching their potential in football.

Anyway, I wish the English team luck in the next round.
I'm aware they're capable, it's a matter of can they bring that to the table, if they can, they can obviously beat Germany. And for the record, Note the use of the word "they" rather than "you"

[Craig_H]

Mate, if Wigan had Man City's money, they'd probably win the league. Ifs and buts.

End of the day, you judge on the facts and realities, and those are that Ireland, Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland all consider it to be a major achievement if they even qualify, whereas it's the bare minimum for england.

Whatever the reasons, England are comfortably the best home nation.

[certifiable]

Bah, betting odds, top 5 favorites, never justified in your case though is it? .. simple maths tell you you finish in the last 16, therefore should be top 16 favorites.

And fair enough, Apologies about the "you" part, when you claim to not be an england fan, us Irish are happy for that 3 letter word to be used in relation to us and our team!

Seriously though, you didn't really get my point, I worded it wrong mentioning size.
I'll explain it a bit better; if England had a history of outward migration, you would be doing the same as the FAI.

It's just you've always had inward migration and therefore use the whole range of ethnic mixes available to you. You're simply the reverse of Ireland in that sense, and use your situation to your advantage as Ireland does.

No-one slags off the English team for making use of their history in terms of inward migration (I won't mention slavery ) so imo country's with histories similar to ours; outward migration ( I won't mention oppression of the English which forced so many to leave or die ) should not receive slagging.

Clever people could see it's 2 sides of the same coin; countries making use of their respective histories for reaching their potential in football.

Anyway, I wish the English team luck in the next round.
I'm aware they're capable, it's a matter of can they bring that to the table, if they can, they can obviously beat Germany. And for the record, Note the use of the word "they" rather than "you"

Mate, if Wigan had Man City's money, they'd probably win the league. Ifs and buts.

End of the day, you judge on the facts and realities, and those are that Ireland, Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland all consider it to be a major achievement if they even qualify, whereas it's the bare minimum for england.

Whatever the reasons, England are comfortably the best home nation.

Did you even read my reasoning (in bold) for differences between you and other home nations.. you either didn't or you just see things in a very black and white way.

My mention of the differing histories of England and Ireland are just as much facts and realities as the one you mention; yet you choose to ignore them

My opinion is whatever the reasons, England SHOULD be the best home nation, but that's not always the case, for reasons I'm not sure about.
And it's the very reasons I mentioned ie Size, Inward Migration, comparably huge pool of players to choose from, that "it's the bare minimum for england"

Anyway, I'm happy to say currently you are the best of the home nations

[Craig_H]

I did read what you put and yes, of course there's factors but all i meant was, in sport, all that matters is the outcome, not how it was achieved.

[McDermotX]

Mate, if Wigan had Man City's money, they'd probably win the league. Ifs and buts.

End of the day, you judge on the facts and realities, and those are that Ireland, Scotland, Wales and N.Ireland all consider it to be a major achievement if they even qualify, whereas it's the bare minimum for england.

Whatever the reasons, England are comfortably the best home nation.

Still........given how Ireland and England would approach a one off game right now, I would put my money down on the current Irish team.
But its all up in the air, as it 'aint gonna happen..............as we like our seats left intact

Make no mistake, apart from a decent 30mins today, the performance was fairly indicative of England's present problems. Whether they can turn the relief of today into confidence, and actually push on remains to be seen, but that England side are going to be automatically at a disadvantage against most teams that get the ball down and actually play with it.
Going up against the better sides now, England's midfield is going to be under a real test...........no matter what side Capello puts out, I don't see them playing in an intensive, cohesive manner. Even today, against a poor team, we saw little spells of pressure, some decent crosses in the first half etc, but I don't think England ever pressed home any superiority at all, and looked very shaky for the last 30mins.

[Craig_H]

As i've said mate, results are what counts and england's got them to SA, Ireland's didnt.

Of course there's a possibility that Ireland could maybe beat england in a one-off game, but we all know one-off games dont determine who is the better team.

[Tee]

booooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

[Leyton388]

Hes ****ing ****. The easiest group in the WC and he did **** all. Premiership class yes world class not a chance!

[McDermotX]

But, but, but ...Sky say he's as good as Messi...

[Leyton388]

This shows without a shadow of a doubt that the English players are made to look better than they are when they have world class around them at club level and that goes for the granny shagging manc!

[Tatterdemalion]

So Nicey do you still think England fans are out of order for booing the England players - after that performance? If that was Liverpool you wouldn't have a friend in the house for that comment.

England were truly appalling today. And the player I blame the most is Terry. Unless I am mistaken he was absent for absolutely every single England goal - he's a centre half - you'd expect him to be putting in a challenge on at least one of those goals, but in half of them, he's not even in the frame. Where the **** is he?

He's a ****ing whore and doesn't deserve to play for England ever again.

[Leyton388]

**** John Terry the horrible Pikey ****!