Footaball again? The Euro 2024 edition

Too soon.

Footaball? Is that something you play on your hollibobs?

"What's-a matter you? Hey! Gotta no respect?
What-a you t'ink you do, why you look-a so sad?
It's-a not so bad, it's-a nice-a place
Ah shaddap-a you face!"

Southgate will continue the job interview for Man Utd by being knocked out in the quarter-finals

As has been usual for the past few years I'll be a neutral fan. But as I'll probably end up watching with predominantly England fans I'm honing my best Mutley s****.

No real surprises today for Scotland. I don't think it'll be too hard to drop a couple of players from that squad. I'd be surprised if they are all fit enough, there's a few of them who haven't played much recently. Just have to hope the mainstays of the team stay fit.

Perhaps Southgate's biggest test  - he has to devise a system that ensures the understrength defence is protected and also makes the best use of a highly talented front line.  If he does it correctly - devising the system rather than simply trying to field the 11 best players, expect at least one high profile attacker to miss out.

Pickford

____ _____ ______ ______

Rice

Mainoo

Any 8 attackers.

- and win every game 17-15

I'd hope semis, final or winners but clearly I'm in pre event optimism.  A lot depends on when we meet France I guess.

I think we will score goals but I fear we will concede plenty too.

Would playing Bellingham and Rice with Foden central as well take too much away from Bellingham? Otherwise can’t see Foden playing anywhere but on the left as Saka will be on the right. Nice issue to have.

"Take to much away from Bellingham" - he was not great in the two Champions League games so fitting him in should not be the top priority.

Bernado Silva is an amazingly talented player but he does whatever role Pep needs him to and success follows. Southgate and Bellingham should learn from that example. IMO Foden should get the most forward central midfield role and Bellingham should park his ego and play a deeper role supporting Rice as the DM and getting forward when appropriate.

I'd want saka and foden ...and palmer and Bellingham..... and I'm doing a Southgate and picking thy best players not the best team but hey..... all the best England managers do.

Tbf though,  saka, palmer out wide, foden and jude central, kane in front, rice behind....walker and 3 donkeys across the back.....17-12 each game.

Is Foden & Bellingham going to be the new Gerard & Lampard conumdrum?

Let's hope not, but has to be asked doesn't it.

Win the group.

Get knocked out in quarters or semi's when we play anyone decent.

Some of the group games are going to awful.

The 2026 is going to be even worse.

Pretty pleased with how the England squad looks, now that it's been culled. Good to see new faces & Southgate going for form players.

Yes.   I wasn't surprised to see madders culled but thought he took it well acknowledging his form for spurs hasn't been good enough since his injury back in November.

No Maguire either,  surprised as Southgate has stuck by him,  but a good decision.

No Maguire either,  surprised as Southgate has stuck by him

His more recent form has been pretty good – he'd have been in but for his calf injury.

Think its a shame old slab head picked up an injury as he's always been rock solid for England. Not surprised to see Maddison dropped - like Grealish (who has finally been sussed - full season on the bench and now dropped by Southgate for having zero impact on games), a weirdly over rated lightweight of a player IMHO.

Great to see Eze get in though and Wharton who has looked a beast for Palace since Glasner came in.

Longer term, unless Bellingham becomes a 9 for England, I don't see any natural replacement for Kane. Watkins is a million miles away from being the striker that Kane is.

No Maguire either,  surprised as Southgate has stuck by him

He’s barely played all season as he’s been constantly injured. And when he has supposedly been fit his movement at the back has been like a supertanker.

Bizarrely, his best performances of the season were when we were decimated by injuries so much that TH was playing anyone fit and slabhead was essentially deployed as a makeshift central striker. He was actually pretty decent!

Southgate has stuck with the old guard like Maguire and Henderson for far too long. It’s good to see a squad full of such young talent.

Bellingham and Foden already look like the finished article and are truly world class.

Binners, Maguire didn’t make it because of his injury, as johndoh says. I’m certain he’d have been picked if fit - he’s pretty decent at international level, I think it’s a step down from the club game, and always a threat at set pieces. At both ends 😀

The England squad looks pretty good, if Shaw is fit you have a pretty defensive back four given the attacking talent. Declan Rice might be busy…… One thing that strikes me is a lack of pace up front and wide.

Get knocked out in quarters or semi’s when we play anyone decent.

Or Iceland for instance. Who loses to a supermarket?

It's a friendly, there's a good chance that tonight's result is a bit of a wake up and gets them in a better mindset for the tournament, flip side is that they might panic, but i'd think they have enough in their ranks to get them through the groups easily enough when the starting 11 is more filled with the proper starters.

It's all about warming up through the tournament and then being ready to play the teams who are competing for the trophy, think Germany and France are the usual big two England will be vying against, Spain and Portugal are always difficult, but think they're weaker than previous years, so expect it to even up in the quarters and then in the semi's.

Or Iceland for instance. Who loses to a supermarket?

Mrs Binners biggest ever win (and she’s had a good few big’uns) was when Iceland put Engerland out of the Euros. She not only called the Iceland win, but also the correct score. The odds were massive. We were on holiday and literally dined out on it all week 😃

Got my new Scotland shirt delivered today. Took me a few weeks to work up to spending the £75…

Forget all this European malarkey, who's going to win SoccerAid? Felt a little bit sick saying that.

Smart move by Southgate; team plays so poorly that the usual pre-tournament hyperventilating is pushed to one side to help build the underdog mentality 😉

Been a while since we've had a team this lopsided. Defence to give you nightmares; attacking lineup to give the opposition nightmares

Portugal look good, or ROI look terrible.

75 quid for a footy shirt is utter insanity.

OK, getting closer now.   Will England get off to a good start?  It would be wonderful to have an emphatic and sizeable win in the first game and make everyone else think 'hope we avoid them for a good while'.  It's not the England way I know.... but I'm dreaming.

Will England get off to a good start?

My money is on a spirit-crushingly tedious 0-0 draw

I can't wait for Friday. Hoping our form from qualifications returns and Germany are a bit rusty/nervous. On the plus side I don't think anyone other than Clarke and his team know who the starting 11 will be so maybe we can surprise the Germans a bit. On the negative side, we are Scotland and we tend to do Scottish things. Anyway I'll be putting up the Saltires and getting some bratties for the BBQ.

I’ve gone full pessimism for Scotland’s chances. Can’t see us scoring a goal and if you think England’s defence is bad our first choice centre half is Grant Hanley 🫣 Good midfield though and Robertson and Tierney are decent.

My money is on a spirit-crushingly tedious 0-0 draw

Such lofty aspirations!

The one thing to worry about is the overt racism that will surface from the Serbs on the pitch. They've got a terrible record of that kind of behaviour. Their fans are awful and many are neo-Nazi thugs

I hope the police can contain them

Yeah I too fear a spirit crushing opener.  If, and we've seen it too often at major competitions, there are players looking scared and not wanting to get the ball, I'm going to be a bit angry.

Be careful anger leads to the dark side

I haven't been this excited since 1986, why oh why am I not in Germany?!?

I'm looking forward to this and, as an Englishman, I am supporting Scotland tonight.

And I love the Irn Bru advert...

75 quid for a footy shirt is utter insanity

Mountain bike tops from a top brand are similarly priced (and similarly a rip off)

I'm thinking Southgate's luck, of which he has had lots, will run out fast & hard.

Going into a tournament with an exciting pool of players yet we have no definitive system or midfield pairing? no defined tactics, system, patterns of play, etc. Iceland highlighted this very quickly.

All this then opens us up to a Fifa world of thinking picking individuals and hoping it works out, however far we get will be due to our briliant individuals.

That’s the spirit Tim! He’s England’s second most successful manager, in terms of going deep in tournaments, remember England’s much hyped ‘golden generation’ circa 2004-08? Did nothing and crap to watch as well.

Anyone seen the documentary last night on BBC4 on Greece's 2004 win - fascinating stuff.

Anyone seen the documentary last night on BBC4 on Greece’s 2004 win – fascinating stuff.

No, but I remember watching it on a tiny portable TV when I was at Mountain Mayhem 🙂

Just heard from our nephew this morning.  He's on a train from Stuttgart to Munich now; the last leg of a journey that began in Glasgow two days ago, via relatives in a small town a few Km west of Zurich.  The station at Stuttgart was full of kilted Scots and now the train is absolutely rammed with the Tartan Army.  He's met a pal there and it sounds like he's the proverbial pig in poo...  Absolutely not my thing but what a grand wee 'solo' adventure for a 17 year old.

Always envied my mates who followed Ireland in 1994 in the US. Couple of them even came back.

In 1982 World Cup Scotland played in Seville

Thousands of fans had no money but somehow got there. Many stayed. Could you imagine being a pasty white red head in the hottest city in Europe?

danderFull Member
He’s England’s second most successful manager, in terms of going deep in tournaments

Doesn't really mean anything does it?

Doesn’t really mean anything does it?

It sure beats failing to qualify, or going out in the group stage.

with due respect to TJ's very important thread (please sign if you can) I hope the Scots muster some dignity tonight because as a resurgent German home side opens their tournament, I am concerned you're about to have your kilt pulled up and a sausage hammered in.

I do hope not (IANA ABS, even if you're all ABE)

Yep, more excited and hopeful about Scotland doing well than interested in England/Serbia, which is a bit odd. Perhaps it's watching a couple of England's dire friendly performances recently...