Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Guehi starts today for England with Gallagher on the bench. Two ex-Swans. Congrats to both.
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The Blobster
Prediction Champ
I've seen more life on a subuteo pitch than that England team , static and boring!
But I must add my congratulations to Mark and Sam , two class ex Swans .
But I must add my congratulations to Mark and Sam , two class ex Swans .
Thought Guehi pushed Jude Bellingham hard for MOM and had a great game. Gallagher added a lot of energy to midfield when he came on and had a very decent game. Well done to both. As an extra thought, Guehi found it hard to get a start when he first came to us but look at how well he's blossomed into a sound international player. Pays not to judge on first impressions as some players take longer to realise their potential than others.
I see that Spurs will sell Joe Rodon for £10 million. Leeds would like him but the three promoted clubs, Leicester, Southampton and Ipswich are all keen and likely to outbid them. Personally I think Joe would be better off at Leeds as I think the three promoted clubs are very likely to come straight back down again. I believe Leeds should get promoted next season and be more likely to stay up than the others.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Rodon would do a decent job for the Prem clubs. He really needs to challenge himself and play against the very top forwards. He is now the #1 Wales CB and he needs the practice especially as Ben Davies is now starting to age out. We should think about picking up Ben if he becomes available.
Don't know if it's just me but I really don't rate Gareth Southgate all that much. For me, given the array of top talent at his disposal, he's far too conservative with his approach to the game. Let's face it, he's had the good luck to have a golden generation of players to coach but I don't think he's making the most of them. I can't put my finger on exactly why I feel as I do but, put in simple terms, the performances of this England team don't excite me as much as I think they should do given the ability in the squad. Any thoughts?
I see that Steve Cooper has signed a three year deal as manager of Leicester City. Given the shadow of points deductions for financial irregularities, I'm not sure this is the best move for him. However I wish him all the best in his new job.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
he is too English … lacks imagination
He's much too conservative. England are sitting on a Golden Generation and even though they have good players at every position, the best of them are attacking players, so it makes sense to get the ball to those players as often as possible.
The Trent Alexander-Arnold experiment is stupid and unnecessary. A team with this many good actual midfielders does not need a square pegs approach. Either play TAA as a defensively-liable but offensively-excellent wing back, or leave him out.
The other elephant in the room is Kane. He's too old and too slow, drops too deep, and won't press. Yes, he's a legend and a great finisher, but it hurts the team playing him.
Also, Cole Palmer might be the best English player in the Premier League right now, and if not then he's certainly the hottest. He carried that Chelsea team with not much help from anywhere. That kind of leadership is priceless. I'd put Palmer at 10, drop TTA and put Bellingham at 8, where he can drive the team forward from deep.
Or drop Kane as well as TAA, go with no actual #9, put Bellingham and Palmer as dual 10s in a 4-2-4-0 with Gallagher in the 8, because he'll link well with Palmer and he's a gutsy player with some skill who'll put a stud in now and again, and you know how much I love those.
Denmark were the better team tonight and deserved to win the game. England have more talented players but Southgate can't get them to gel as a team whereas Denmark looked and played like a team who knew what they were doing. Southgate can't do that with England; it seems he has no idea of how to get any tune out of his squad let alone the best one. Imo he's a very limited manager and he should thank his players for keeping him in a job. A top manager like Pep, Klopp, Arteta or even Poch would do far more with this squad of players than Southgate could even dream of.
My thoughts on the Euros so far are that Germany and Spain look a class apart, closely followed by Portugal and France. England have the players and the potential but I doubt Southgate is the manager to make best use of it.
My thoughts on the Euros so far are that Germany and Spain look a class apart, closely followed by Portugal and France. England have the players and the potential but I doubt Southgate is the manager to make best use of it.
Whilst talking about the Euros, both England and Scotland fans are enjoying themselves supporting their teams in Germany and at home in bars and clubs etc. Thanks to Robert Page, Welsh fans have only a passing interest in proceedings. Okay, I get that we might not have gone far in the competition under Page but at least we'd have had something to cheer. And our strongest squad playing well could, under a better manager, maybe have ruffled a few feathers....... as we did in 2016. I hope the FAW will realise this and have the cojones to dismiss Page and his bungling ineptitude in favour of a decent coach with the ability to make the most of what we've got. Page, a popular but soft option with the players, rarely looked like getting the job done. Enough is enough. Time for him to go very decent guy though he seems.
Don't feel gutted for me. I couldn't care less about the Croatian national team. These are the players who, in the dressing room, sing songs sung by the Ustashas during the WWII. The Ustashas were an SS-like paramilitary force that slaughtered tens of thousands of Jews, Serbs, Roma and political opponents.
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From Wiki:
Historian Jonathan Steinberg describes Ustaše crimes against Serbian and Jewish civilians:
"Serbian and Jewish men, women and children were literally hacked to death". Reflecting on the photos of Ustaše crimes taken by Italians, Steinberg writes: "There are photographs of Serbian women with breasts hacked off by pocket knives, men with eyes gouged out, emasculated and mutilated".
A Gestapo report to Reichsführer SS Himmler, dated 17 February 1942, stated:
Increased activity of the bands [of rebels] is chiefly due to atrocities carried out by Ustaše units in Croatia against the Orthodox population. The Ustaše committed their deeds in a bestial manner not only against males of conscript age, but especially against helpless old people, women and children. The number of the Orthodox that the Ustaše have massacred and sadistically tortured to death is about three hundred thousand. (This number is exaggerated, they massacred and killed tens of thousands, which doesn't make their crimes less horrible.)"
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My father was taken by the Italian Fascists at the age of 15 and sent to a concentration camp in Udine, Italy. He escaped when Italy capitulated in 1943 and joined Tito's partisans. He fought against the Germans and local collaborators (Ustashas) until the end of the Second World War. So anyone who hails Nazi ideologies is my enemy.
Behindthegoal
Key Player
Thank you for sharing,CJ. I have utmost respect for your father. This upswelling of the hard right all over Europe is very disturbing.
Awful to read that, CJ. It never ceases to amaze me the depths that the human race can sink to. It's why, as a species, I much prefer animals to humans. Animals usually only kill out of necessity, either for food or to defend themselves or young ones. They do not rape, torture and kill out of prejudice or for sport, whereas far too many human beings do just that.... and often they call it 'fun'. They actually enjoy it. And that's a damning indictment of the human race. It was painful to read your post but thank you for the education.
Interesting figures regarding England players' pay when playing for their countries. Seems they get £2k a game which means £14k each if they reach the final this time. These fees are usually given to the FA to distribute to various charities and £15 million has been raised so far in this way. Good stuff!
But if they win the Euros it's being reported that the players will share a prize pot of £9.6 million whilst Southgate will trouser a 'reward' of £4 million.
My teachers used to preach that academic achievement was the way to go and anything else was for the birds!! How wrong they were. Had I concentrated full time on one of football, darts, cricket or snooker, all of which I was pretty decent at as a youngster, I believe I'd be far better off today than I am even if I failed to reach the very top of my chosen sport. So here I am; old, broke and very bitter about it all!
But if they win the Euros it's being reported that the players will share a prize pot of £9.6 million whilst Southgate will trouser a 'reward' of £4 million.
My teachers used to preach that academic achievement was the way to go and anything else was for the birds!! How wrong they were. Had I concentrated full time on one of football, darts, cricket or snooker, all of which I was pretty decent at as a youngster, I believe I'd be far better off today than I am even if I failed to reach the very top of my chosen sport. So here I am; old, broke and very bitter about it all!
Sky News reporting that Craig Bellamy is set to be appointed as next manager of Wales.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Bellamy will bring an attitude that’s for sure.
Absolutely but by all accounts he's calmed down into a far more mature and likeable individual these days. He's now confirmed in the job and I think he could go well. He certainly won't take any shit from anyone mature or not and I like that in anyone.
Yankee_Jack
Key Player
Step up from Page. Since retiring from playing at Cardiff, he has worked his way up coaching wise. Worked at Anderlecht from 2019 to 2022, then joined Burnley as assistant to Kompany. Craig Bellamy - Manager profile
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