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Who next for the England manager’s post?

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mick


Jeremy Robson ponders the list of possible contenders for the England job, if Fabio Capello does not stay on. He finds one omission surprising, though there is just a slight suspicion that he may be taking the Mick (and a much stronger suspicion about an SFR dongle’s ability to work on a French TGV, which explains why Jeremy’s piece was cut almost in half for most of the day …


Harry Redknapp
Roy Hodgson
Martin O’Neill
Stuart Pearce
Steve McClaren
Tony Pulis
Sam Allardyce
David Beckham
A N Other


These are the candidates for the England manager’s job. Well, at least these are the
names that The Guardian feels worthy of inclusion in its list of potential replacements
for the beleaguered Italian.

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Vuvuzela: lip service to tradition – or mindless cacophony?

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googd rid2

It is no longer much use ranting at England, but we can still get hot under the collar about vuvuzelas. Should their inventor, along with whoever inflicted the Mexican wave on the world, be tied to a ton of stone and dropped into the deepest stretch of the Orange River? Probably, though at least L’Equipe’s cartoonist found a use for them after France’s exit (the caption, in case you missed the earlier reference, reads “Good riddance”). Here are some thoughts from Claire Thomas* …

The vuvuzela – South Africa’s pleasant sound, or just a noise?

If you have been watching the World Cup, you will have noticed the continuous sound of the vuvuzela buzzing all around the stadium like a swarm of bees. Does it make you want to throw your remote at the TV screen at any given opportunity – or do you welcome the sound with open ears?

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World Cup Soapbox: time for a fresh start

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There’s constructive criticism, there’s the occasional understandable tantrum, and there’s downright cruelty to footballers. I thought Pete Sixsmith had already been as damning as it was possible to be in his assessment of England at group stage. But comparing yesterday to our worst times as Sunderland fans – has the man no heart? …

As Joan Dawson put it when the fourth goal went in: “We’re Sunderland fans, we are used to rubbish like this.” It didn’t make the abysmal performance seem any better, but it did throw things into perspective a wee bit.

Terry and Upson as Breen and Collins; Barry as Shaun Cunnington; Rooney as David Rush; Johnson as Cec Irwin, Steve Whitworth, Bernt Haas and any other ineffectual show pony full back you care to name … this was a performance that had me looking into the past and being able to equate the national team with all the worst things I have seen at Sunderland over the years.

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Why football’s technology-free days are numbered

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We will never know whether Lampard’s goal might have inspired England to better things in the second half. Germans will counter that we’ll never know about Wembley 1966 either – in each case, of course, the match would have continued at 2-2. But Jeremy Robson has no doubt that such a spectacular error, compounded by the offisde Argentinian goal later, will finally force football to accept the inevitable …

Regardless of what Fifa might have been saying about the use of video technology, it’s a safe bet that there will soon be goal line cameras used to make crucial decisions.

Until now, there have been a host of reasons put forward to halt the use of technology in aiding assistants. The occasional decision in the odd game has never previously considered as providing sufficient weight to the argument for installing the nevessary equipment.

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World Cup: the inquest begins

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jeremy3


The morning after a bad England performance is usually a good time to be out of England, or at least out of reach of the papers. Jeremy Robson is out of England, but it doesn’t stop him entering rant mode. Never mind the controversy, he says, feel the lack of depth …

This year, I will be 50 years old and, for the first time in my life, I have been humiliated by my country.

Not let down, or disappointed, but humiliated. It’s as simple as that.

I didn’t expect England to win the World Cup, far from it. My expectations were not high. I wasn’t optimistic when I saw Capello’s squad and witnessed the preparations he was making while banking 6 million quid for the trouble.

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Germany 4, auf wiedersehen England

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Colin Randall watches another England dream fade …

At half time, we hoped the sense of injustice felt would impel England to victory after a calamitous error by match officials prevented a stirring fightback from 0-2 to 2-2. A bit like 1908 when, as every schoolboy should know, Sunderland were so enraged by an appalling penalty decision, which allowed Newcastle to go in 1-1 instead of 1-0 down, that we went on the score eight more in the second half.

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Hopeless, then hopeful, then mugged

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SOCCER-WORLD/Images: Rapidgamer

THIS POSTING NOW SUPERSEDED BY: Germany 4, auf wiedersehen England


We were hoping to feel able to use a less jubilant image of German fans at half time. And after a disastrous start it should have been possible as Lampard’s shot came down from the underside of the bar far enough into the goal to fit at least another ball between it and the line.

Incredibly, the ref and linesman must have been quietly humming Deutschland über alles to themselves; they imagined it no more a goal than Rooney’s earlier blast into row Z.

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Sorry America, but you had to go

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We end our trio of Sunday morning reads on a controversial note. Jeremy Robson, writing from Ontario, risks the wrath of nearish neighbours to, whisper this, welcome the USA’s exit …


Well, thank goodness the USA have been eliminated from the World Cup.

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World Cup Soapbox: the tournament warms up

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Pete Sixsmith appreciates an urgent new dimension to the World Cup after the often turgid fare of the group stage. England fans of a nervous disposition should stop reading before the end …

After the chess games of the Group stages, the cynicism of the likes of Portugal and Chile and the ineptitude of England, we saw some real football today, with belting games in the first of the Round Two games.

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