Paul Gascoigne: "I asked Terry 'are you okay?' he just said 'F*** Gazza, I feel nothing, this is England, this is my house and no f****r comes into my house and takes anything.' Sir Bobby Robson grabbed me and said 'that's what it means to play for your country.'"
Our own manager coming out with defeatist shite like this, if our owners @friedkingroup actually gave a fuck he’d have been jibbed off after the final whistle against Spurs.
The year is 2029, fuel is £8 a litre, a 1 bedroom flat is £3000 a month rent, the retirement age is none existent, tax is now 60%, you need digital ID just to leave the house, car insurance costs more than your car, a full time job is now 70 hours a week, freddos are £12, England still haven't won a world cup, the DFS sale is still on and they're still doing roadworks on the fucking motorway
🚨BREAKING! - RB Leipzig have contacted Everton over a move for Thierno Barry. Everton would need to recoup their money on Barry before considering any departure
(Source - @_pauljoyce )
England would not be here in Dallas today in this better shape and with this quality of player and mood without the vital work Gareth Southgate did in tackling a distressed team and dysfunctional system. He made the talent pool deeper. He made players and fans care about England again.
As FA’s head of elite development in 2011 and 2012, Southgate persuaded counties to have kids playing smaller-sided games, enhancing technique. He worked with academies on developing more technical players. He worked with the Under-21s (37 games), building a supply-line of talent.
On becoming England head coach, he worked on rebuilding the relationship between players and fans broken amidst the pain and anger of Nice at Euro 2016.
Southgate worked on England’s culture and restored some identity. He ended club cliques, improved relations with England club managers and their medical staff. He went into club boardrooms and rebuilt trust and support between owners, directors and England.
Southgate smoothed the pathway from Under-21s to seniors and made reporting for international duty something to look forward to again. A joy, not a chore. He brought focus and some fun, real togetherness with inflatable unicorns. He worked on penalties. Marginal gains and more.
He took England from 13th in the world to third. He took England to a World Cup semi-final and quarter-final and to back-to-back Euro finals (102 games, 61 wins, 24 draws, 17 defeats). He just couldn’t get England over the line whether through quality of opposition player and manager or tactical. Like many, I was critical of him at times, in crunch moments of games. But his impact is undeniable and should be respected and celebrated.
England continue to struggle against top-20 sides. France and Argentina yesterday showed the scale of the challenge for Thomas Tuichel and his team here at the World Cup. But England start their latest World Cup finals journey with more belief and quality because of Southgate’s work from 2011 to 2024.
Southgate will doubtless be watching his dear England from afar, wishing them well. He will doubtless take pride in players he knows well. And, although he is too self-effacing and team-minded to talk about it, let alone shout about it, Southgate should certainly take quiet pride in his own immense contribution to England becoming a respected force again. #ENG #FIFAWorldCup
Married his childhood sweetheart, has four kids, donates to the armed forces and mental health charities while running his own foundation. Doesn't drink or smoke. Zero career scandals, which is rare for anyone at his level of fame.
He's also his country's and boyhood club's all-time top scorer, with six Golden Boots including four in the Premier League and one at a World Cup.
He's easily the best striker in the world right now.
And yet Harry Kane remains one of the most disrespected and underrated players in world football. Which is bizarre because he's exactly the type of footballer kids should be looking up to. 👏
Great that Scotland 🏴 got a win in their opening match 👏- but the trip highlight for me so far - meeting big Duncan Ferguson 💪🏽 at the fantastic ITV Studio!
@garyfeeney1@Toffeekida Oh an Arsenal fan…. Arrogance personified after ‘finally’ winning the PL. Liverpool managed to win it against a much better M City. 🥱🥱
Never been more teams in the World Cup and yet never been fewer games for we in Europe to watch.
FIFA & UEFA.
Fucking up football one tournament at a time.