Apologies for not having posted for a good while. The truth is I’ve quite enjoyed not really having to think about football at all. The Buendia signing seems an excellent one and that nearly nudged me into writing something, but somehow I just didn’t get round to it. The Ashley Young signing didn’t do anything at all for me, although it seems pretty popular amongst the fans generally.
Even England haven’t really inspired me much. I enjoyed our first half performance on Tuesday, but struggle to see how it’s going to be any different from our usual losing to the first decent team we face. That said, I actually think we can beat Germany if we perform.
The news today is that Aston Villa have agreed a £100 million fee to sell Jack Grealish to Man City as soon as he has come away from the Euro tournament.
It’s just too big a story for me to pass up.
I’m usually very sceptical about any press speculation, but I have a very sneaky feeling there’s something in this story. There’s no vagueness or guesswork in the wording and it all seems very definite.
I think I’ve voiced my opinion before, quite recently that I could partly see Jack leaving this year with the thought being that after the money that Edens and Sawaris have spent, I couldn’t really blame them for wanting to recoup some of it.
If the sale does happen, I can see it all being spent and the reality is that £100 million will buy some very decent players. There’s debate to be had about whether getting those players in will make up for losing a player who has opened all football fan’s eyes, but I very much doubt the club have taken the decision lightly and there must have been a lot of thought put into it.
There’s also the fact that we don’t know how the player himself feels. I don’t think for one minute Jack would hand in a transfer request, but you can’t blame him if he wants to win silverware at Man City. And given that it seems Pep still wants Harry Kane as well, you’d have to think that that silverware will be forthcoming this season.
We also have to consider that Jack was supposed to be leaving last season and we apparently managed to dissuade him from going by saying that we would allow him to leave when the time was right.
So of course I’ll be gutted if Jack does go, but I can mostly understand it.
My biggest complaint is that I personally think it’s too cheap and I’ve always had £130 million in my mind. I also think if it does happen, we’ve let it all happen too easily and I’d have liked to see the club put up a bit of a fight and at least on the face of it, reject the bid.
I also have a concern that the team look decidedly average without Jack. That said, I think Dean Smith knows a decent player and can overall improve the team.
Let’s see if it happens, eh?
That policeman got 8 years for the death of our Damian, now for his bit on the side she’s as bad.
8 years for taking a life and he’ll be out in about 3! But a policeman in jail is not a good place to be.
Must correct my last comment. It appears a ‘tariff’ of a minimum of two thirds of his sentence must be served before he’s able to apply for release on licence. Good
The CPS are considering whether his co-accused should be re-tried as the jury couldn’t reach a decision. I suspect they may decide, on balance, it’s not in the publics interest to fund another trial as justice has been served with Monk’s conviction and sentence. However, given the high profile of the case and the strong Black Lives Matter message (particularly in football) they may decide that not to proceed to a re-trial will give out the ‘wrong message’.
We shall see.
So Southgate picks a ‘park the bus side’ with no creativity whatsoever in the middle of the park.
Germany must be sniggering!
Going to be a boring display – again
Think he’s playing for 0-0 and penalties 🙂 🙂
That team is a joke. I count 6/7 defensive players
Maguire
Stones
Walker
Trippier
Shaw
Saka
Rice
We look forward to some entertainment and you get this! Southgate out!
Oh. 8! Phillips!!
Just seen the team, the man’s a prize prat , I can see a humiliating result we have now creativity in midfield. 3-1 Germany.
NO . I really should read what I write.
I think this brilliant from Southgate.
He is trying to bore the germans to death.
Shocking
Absolutely pathetic 8 defensive players.
We will lose!
Well, we’ve all been proved wrong in that we won and I suppose Southgate got his game plan right but I still don’t like him.
At least he put Grealish on.
As an England fan how can I complain?
Well I’m ecstatic, what do I know about football , nothing. Southgate got it right by useing Grealish, I thought it was going to put Rashford on and either he had a message from him above or he has seen the light. Is football coming home? Well I’m the first to say we have a chance . Well done the team,.
Love it Bill – William telling his loyal subject to put Grealish on – brilliant.
Grealish comes on and we score 2. Jack involved in both goals.
Stunning!
Come on England!!!!!!
What more does Grealish have to do to get a starting role? I still expect Gareth Horseface to drop him for the next game.
As for Saturday, it looks like England are getting lucky with Sweden and Ukraine going into extra time with red card and injuries, both teams will be finding it difficult to be fully prepared for us.
Ukraine in the QF – have to keep watch for the big banana skin with this one.
Uncompromising side who will make a lot of every challenge. Need to be on our game but honestly it’s a game we should win if we’re serious contenders.
Ah, just realised we’re entertaining Saturday evening. Hope our guests don’t mind if I put the footie on 🙂
Men huddled around the TV – wives sat in the garden complaining 🙂
Why was the Ukraine player wearing a bra?
Guys, I have to say, reading some of the comments after the match about Southgate and the team he picked before the match is a bit embarrassing. Why does every one who has is English and likes football think they can manage the English national team better than the man who’s paid to do it? What exactly is the problem? Do we want to win the tournament or play fantasy football and get our arses handed to us like a Kevin Keegan team? We were playing Germany, FFS. Germany. And people expect the manager to go gung-ho as if we’re so much better then them. Southgate is consistently proving that he knows what he’s doing. He is qualified to do the the job. He has been in the job long enough and is intelligent enough to have learned a few things along the way. The disrespect he gets from fans and the press is staggering.
I heard a very interesting broadcast with Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink explaining to some half-wit on Radio 5 live that you don’t win tournaments playing open attacking football. He made the brilliant point that Holland’s ’88 winning team had only two flair players: Van Basten and Gullit – everyone else was a grafter and a good player. Other pundits keep referring to ‘tournament football’, which basically means do what it takes to get to the latter stages and don’t worry about putting on a show. Of course, we want it both ways, but this is real life, not FIFA on the PlayStation. Personally, I’d take a shit performance and a semi-final spot come 10 pm on Saturday.
Regardless of whether England win the tournament, surely Southgate’s earned more respect than he’s being given?
P.s. I’d rather Jack came on as a sub as late as possible to help England through every match. If he started he’d no doubt break down and be sent back to us, probably missing the start of the season and screwing England’s chances of success. If we take our biased hat off, Southgate’s use of Grealish has been near perfect. We often talk about Bert being an impact sub for Villa rather than a starter. Perhaps, Southgate sees the same role for Grealish for England for a lot of the matches? Maybe he knows Jack’s still fragile and wants to make sure he’s got him available for the latter stages? Again, it appears Southgate knows what he’s doing, although I appreciate the entertainment would probably be enhanced if Jack started games.
I see gary neville hasn’t included grealish in his team again. Can anybody remind me how long he lasted as a club manager.
No Start for Grealish , Mount Sancho in suppose Southgate knows best.
Bloody hell. Southgate seems to be getting something right!