Pearl Ram

Was that you in London yesterday then with the candle protruding from your posterior? ? 

Who with ? ?

Didn’t have anything to with nationality from where I was coming from, the Liverpool and Newcastle attempts and the informed post from a Newcastle fan were enough to make me sceptical of the sheikh.

Alonso, again nothing to do with his nationality, more to do with ridiculous tweets like If Wayne wants 20 mill for a striker, he’ll get it. Drivel.

I don’t care where the new owner comes from provided he/she/they have a drop of integrity.

Aye, same here maxjam. Can’t help feeling we missed a trick last night and fortune favours the brave etc. 

Maybe the club will have some positive news for us in the coming days to lift my spirits, who knows ?

Scotland. ?

Bloody hell. I just hope the lads that missed don’t get any online crap though I won’t hold my breath on that. ☹️

Not optimistic about this. Never wanted to be so wrong...best of luck lads ?

‘Bout time an’ all. 

Just now, Ghost of Clough said:

Foden to come on for a tired Mount

Don’t think Foden’s in the squad, picked up an injury in training I think.

Got a bit of a lesson there in that second half. A few examples of the dark arts from Italy too, the ref needs to keep an eye on their centre backs, both on yellows now aren’t they ? 

What a duckin’ start...fantastic ?

Just now, RoyMac5 said:

Been and gone mate. Wrighty saying he missed seeing them live! 

Ah, that explains it. We were told they would go over the village at 19:52. I was outside to see them thinking they would come from the right to left, they came from the left to the right. Off back to base to watch the game. 

COME ON ENGLAND, hope you all enjoy it. Catch you later. ?

Red Arrows just gone over...probably be going over Wembley by the time I post this. They weren’t hanging about.

John & Yoko - Give Pearce A Chance. ?

Word in the village is The Red Arrows are going over about twenty five past seven on their way to Wembley. Think there might be too much cloud to see them though.

I would have thought they’d have followed the A1 and peeled off to the right at the North Circ. ?‍♂️

I thought his appointment had parallels with Ron Greenwood’s. Nice bloke, bit of a diplomat, won’t go upsetting the apple cart, never set the top division alight with success.

I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about it but then I’d lost a bit of enthusiasm about international football, much like I have for Premier League football.

What has impressed me as I alluded to in another thread yesterday is his attention to detail and management away from the actual games.

Some might say he’s been fortunate he doesn’t have players in this squad who feel the need to court publicity and build their brand off the back of playing for England at a major tournament but I really believe he’s got everyone, the team, physios, chefs, the whole shooting match, onside with one aim and I can’t say I remember such a display of “oneness” in recent times and that’s to Southgate’s credit.

Wishing him the best of luck tonight. ?

2 hours ago, Old Spalding Ram said:

The UEFA European Championship final England v Italy.

England expects every man to do his duty..................after a spot of Breakfast!
 

 

I’d have that with a Diet Coke, got to watch the old weight. ?

It appears I got me World Cups mixed up but the case still stand from my point of view, no baalocks, no early exit.

I’m convinced it was a distraction. I know I’m going to come across as an old fart  (?) but I think the group of players we took to Japan in particular had too much input into how things were going to be and Southgate deserves credit for saying “and this is how it’s going to be.”

5 minutes ago, Mostyn6 said:

How do you discover new music if your mind is closed off? 

Let the provider of the music you listen to recommend stuff based on your preferences ? ?‍♂️ Not trying to be a Smart Alec, just wondering if that’s how it works. ?

What I do admire about Southgate is his management of this tournament. 

What I mean by that is we have seen no pictures of wags for instance, I saw a post by Dark Fruits earlier in this thread quoting the greats from earlier tournaments, your Beckham, Lampard, Gerrard, Rooney & Ferdinand etc and they were fantastic footballers but man, what a circus they brought to the party.

Yesterday I read about one wag taking the seat of someone else so she could be behind another, higher profile wag, to ensure she would be in any photographs the paparazzi used. I mean really. ?

Southgate has seen to it there have been no such distractions. I bet Sven wishes he’d managed things differently at the World Cup in Japan. I know it could be argued his squad contained higher profile names than Southgate’s but I remember Beckham entering a press conference he wasn’t involved in to interrupt Eriksson mid speech which to me undermined the manager. That was his weakness, he let the big names run the show.

Southgate has no publicity seeking twits in his squad which I think has helped him immensely. I do have reservations about certain stuff, playing style-wise but hey, look where he’s got us and my gung ho preference would probably see the players on their holidays by now and not preparing for a major final so I must concede he knows a damn site better than me but I just wanted to acknowledge his management is not just about winning games and while he’s doing well on that front, everything else he’s doing from selecting a good backroom team to keeping the players occupied between games seems to be spot on an’ all.

Best of luck to him and his team tomorrow, I think a win would go a long way to giving the nation a much need boost. 

41 minutes ago, Chester40 said:

Is she the woman who sounds like Glenn Hoddle on steroids? 

This is the lady, she works for Sky though so won’t feature on the terrestrial networks. She’s quite knowledgeable and enthusiastic but she’s like nails down a blackboard for me. 

Makes me realise how good Brian Moore was. On the bright side, at least Sue Smith will be nowhere to be heard. Happy (ish) days.

I wondered if there was an i missing between the u and the n of the fifth word of the thread title. Might have been more apt.

I believe the final is being broadcast on both ITV and BBC. It’s going to have to be the BBC for me despite my misgivings about it, or rather the way it’s run. 

Matterface irritated me when he was TalkSport’s commentator years ago. I used to wonder how he managed to pull Natalie Sawyer, never mind marry her. Chuck in Mark Poogatch as a presenter and all of a sudden the BBC becomes more appealing.

I reckon the BBC will slaughter ITV in the ratings an’ all.