Thank god he's gone

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18577232.post-9979475934493900072007-11-25T20:44:00.000Z2007-11-25T21:10:07.488ZThank god he's gone<a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/images/atlas_cover.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 278px;" src="http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/images/atlas_cover.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> The last few days have been the worst as an England fan since we missed out on USA 94 under Graham Taylor. As many of us returned home from the friendly in Vienna (very nice city but a pointless game), our eyes turned to Russia's match in Tel Aviv. A Russian victory would have knocked us out of Euro 2008 before out final game against Croatia. Any other result would give us a great chance to take 2nd place in the group. The Israeli's have an excellent home record and despite having nothing to play for, they did everything we could have asked for. Their early lead was cancelled out in the 2nd half by Russia who grew stronger and in the last minute, the Russias hit the post. Had that gone in, we were out but we were still in it. Then it got better, with seconds left, Israel sprang the Russia offside trap and won the game. This meant we only needed a point at home to Croatia who were already through. 11 times in the past, England have needed a point in the final game and they have always got it. Croatia had already qualified so what could go wrong? Quite simply, nothing more could go wrong. The biggest problem was imposed on us in May 2006 when the Ginger Sven took over. So at 'Fortress' Wembley needing a point what does he do? Play 4-5-1 and drop Beckham who is the only player in the squad who can cross a ball. Within 15 minutes we are 2-0 down and looking down and out. It must be time to change it as its all or nothing. No, the clown waits until half time and by now, the natives were restless. Beckham and Defoe came on as we went back to 4-4-2 and somehow, we got the score back to 2-2. Time to shut up shop and keep the point we need - get Hargreaves on. The clock ticked on and still no Hargreaves. Then the killer blow as Croatia score a third and our campaign ends with a whimper from the players and abuse from the crowd. The next day, Barwick and co. rectify the mistake of last year and the Ginger Sven is history although he did walk away with a cheque for £2.5m - not bad for being a failure. The next few days saw the media circus concentrate on the identity of the new manager with the usual suspects all getting a mention. As the weekend approached, more bad news came from FIFA. England's defeat meant we dropped far enough in world rankings to drop into Pot 2 of seeds for the World Cup 2010 qualifiers. This meant we could end up in a qualifying group with a team such as Germany or Italy...not good !!! Come Sunday, the managerial speculation was on hold and eyes switched to Durban for the World Cup 2010 Qualifying draw. It was quite a drawn out process with groups for Asia, North America and Africa also being drawn along with Europe. Thankfully, the draw was kind although it got many people scrambling for their atlas to see where these places where. The big story was drawing Croatia as the top seed which not only gave us a chance for revenge, it meant we avoided one of the really big nations. The other teams in the group were Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Andorra. Suddenly the world doesn't seem so bad after all. Now we just need a decent manager and the players to have their egos surgically removed and things will be good again. Thats probably it for the year now. The next game will be a home fixture on 6th Feb following by a trip to gay Paris for a friendly against France at the end of March. While we look forward to a summer off, the FA will be trying to repair the damage the Ginger Sven inflicted upon us over the last year or so - he couldn't have done a worse job if he was a jock !!! <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/18577232-997947593449390007?l=thewhitepele.blogspot.com'/></div>Explorer Travellerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02589261601063697253noreply@blogger.com0