Bannofan

Just keep it to less than 4 please

7/2 Anytime goalscorer. Believe.

Good points, thank you for the clarifications!. I think with Zaire in 1974, there's the classic clip of the player charging out of the wall and booting the ball away, with the summation that they didn't really know the rules ( pretty insulting, but that was the 70's). I didn't realise only 3 South American teams were in at Argentina '78. Would it have been 2 if Argentina weren't the hosts?

I think the breakup of the USSR massively increased UEFA didn't it? That's not to take away Scotland's achievement in making those tournaments though. 1974 - The one African side was Zaire ( DR Congo now) East Germany played as a separate nation. Our mates Haiti as the CONCACAF representative. No France, Spain, Belgium, England, Portugal, Uruguay.

Steve McClaren quits as Jamaica gaffer. Reggae boys have an almighty faff to qualify for the WC now, but still should make it. Haiti though, absolute scenes when they realised they were through. All I know about Haiti is what I learned from ' Live and Let Die' , and quite frankly I'm not looking forward to seeing Baron Samedi or Papa Shango again.

It's a bit of lightbulb moment from Tuchel. The stats for English strikers this season make grim reading once you take Kane out of the question. Tuchel doesn't see the value in taking an Ollie Watkins/ Dominic Solanke standard player as back up, when they are clearly nowhere near the level of the Kane. I think he was considering Welbeck, who's a very clever , technical striker and although it was a good while back, and always played well on the international stage ( in my opinion). I wouldn't be surprised if he feels his embarrassment of riches in ' number 10's' could fill any Kane shaped gap as well any dedicated striker could. Eze Palmer Foden Bellingham Rashford All better bets than taking a sub par striker, and more versatile as well.

Gattuso doing his nut about this, after losing to Norway. He's quoting the number of South American teams that can qualify, basically 7 out of 10 will probably go through. Italy haven't done badly , but Haaland had guided Norway to a ridiculous campaign. Now Italy have to come through the challenging play offs if they are to qualify, after missing the last two WC's.

It's all about his attitude and team work. He wanted to be the main character a bit too much again against Albania, he lost the ball quite a lot but that is going to happen if you want the sugar as well. Bellingham has more game changing moments in him than any other England player bar Kane. I don't think Tuchel learned anything he didn't know about Bellingham, so it's whether he goes with a more team and tactic orientated player like Rogers, or goes with someone less disciplined but more capable of doing something special to win a tight match.

This has been too easy for England, we need some games against the best that other continents have to offer. I know it was early in his tenure, but we did get our backsides handed to us by Senegal, and I can't help thinking we will still struggle defensively next year against quick, counter attacking sides.

It would of course be absolutely hilarious if we beat them.

I think from an SWFC perspective, there's blokes aged 40 + who love going to an event a Hillsborough to listen to their old heroes like Sterland and Varadi from the mid 80's Wilko era, and Hirsty and Shez & Carlton P. from the early 90's. A nice evening with a bit of food and beer, nostalgia for the glory days, and quite frankly providing an income and something to do for players that wouldn't have earned millions from the game.

That's a really good read, and very well written. It would make a good documentary, someone following these ubiquitous after dinner speeches & Q & A's.

Hi next stop will be a top Bundesliga job, then the national role if it comes up at an opportune time. I certainly don't think he's daft enough to take a job with a crap Premiership team like Leeds, Burnley or Wolves. He'd not be a bad shout for Bournemouth or Brighton though, thinking about it.

England squad for the final qualifiers announced : https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c0mxgd10j2yo I don't have many issues with this, good to see Adam Wharton back in, and I like the inclusion of Alex Scott. We have a couple of ' water carriers' there who will give the more creative players an opportunity to shine, whilst being very technically adept themselves. Tuchel seems to have decided on his full backs with James & Spence his go to players. I would imagine he is keeping an eye on Livramento and Lewis-Skelly as back ups as well. I really like that he hasn't tried to shoe horn a direct replacement for Kane either, with Rashford , Bowen or Foden available for the central role if needed. I think we have tried too hard with players like Watkins and Solanke, who are nowhere near the same quality as Kane.

That's a very interesting thread, it seems like quite a few groups were using the match to push their own causes/agenda, including a group of blokes with no interest in the game singing songs about Tommy Robinson. I think a few people talking about how quiet it was under estimate the power of a big police presence. Quite a few saying it wasn't necessary as it was so quiet , but that's because the presence of the rozzers had done achieved exactly what it was supposed to.

Didn't realise we had Dish and Chalobah still with us! How key a player would a fully fit Chalobah be for us? quality and experience.

Cannot abide Rodgers; arrogant egotistical chancer. Thinks he's a great manager because he's won a few titles with Celtic. Honestly, that job shouldn't be on a mangers CV as it's that easy to win domestic trophies with them. He'll be looking for the next easy ' spend loads of money, claim it's all his coaching talent' job. Kind of bloke that will be baffled if he's not offered a top 6 premier league job next.

I'd not seen this and wondered what the hell was happening as we drove down Parkside Road, it was like early knockings on Matchday. I don't think the club shop can get stock in quick enough. I hate the price of kit in the club shop, but I now want to do my 'bit' and spend some dosh. I'll be joining a long queue though! .

I'm almost in tears here. This is like a cross between the Berlin Wall coming down and the end scene of ' It's A wonderful Life' I know what Wednesday fans are like, this will be a sell out with people desperately trying to get tickets.

Nick Woltemade - what a player, absolute box office. Newcastle have a new folk hero there, fans are quickly forgetting about Isaak. They have Wissa to come back when fit as well. I think they will have a strong season.

On top form he's easily better than any other options on that side. If Saka has the right side tied up, then an inform Rashford would be great on the left. He can run at people, dribble past them and has an eye for goal. I like how he can improvise and also switch to playing down the middle. Attitude is everything with him though; it was amazing how he suddenly turned it on when he moved to Villa on loan.

Not to get the excuses in early or anything, but they should be beating us comfortably. If we even get a draw , they should be thoroughly embarrassed. We will have a bunch of kids with a few senior pros, playing in front of a huge crowd. As you say, we can only hope it is just less than 4-0 .

Since Messi & Ronaldo set a new a new standard, we are now in the era of ' more than a goal a game' strikers. I think Kane, Haaland and Mbappe are all at it this season. Kane is astonishing, England haven't had a striker as good in my football watching history, and that includes Lineker, Shearer Owen and Rooney.

Absolutely not, but I'm also not blind to the fact that he has off games in tournaments through lack of fitness ( exhaustion or injury). Even though he won the Golden boot at WC 2018, I still want him to put him a string of performances from the first group game onwards that are the pure best version of Kane.

Pundit Lucy Ward made some very insightful comments about the affect the death of Jota will be having on the squad. After the initial outpouring of grief and wave of emotion that led to a few inspired performances, they are now left with a lingering sadness and the absence of a friend you saw virtually every day, and a hell of a less of an appetite for the game - at least for now. Salah is just going through the motions, you can see that. the enthusiasm has gone. As for the new guys, Isaak, Ekitike & Wirtz especially as attackers, they have arrived and are trying to integrate into a group still grieving, how have shared something so affecting. They also know that practically, they are filling a dead mans shoes. Nunez wasn't good enough so him leaving made sense, but Diaz? why did he go? was he trying to avoid the atmosphere and have a fresh start? . Suddenly the club have to find replacements for both Jota and Diaz as well as Nunez, and maybe a lack of focus has led them to signings that might not be a good fit. It's a bit of a mess, and I wouldn't be surprised if this season was a complete wash out for Liverpool.