The Official EURO 2012 thread

[indianspur]

He did well in the lower divisions (like Drogba, Cisse etc.) you still have to score goals in whatever division you are regardless. Some people consider the Scottish division the equivalent to League One or League Two yet Jelavic who scored goals for fun is also scoring goals for fun in the top division in England.

Second year in the top flight and has scored 33 goals in those two seasons, not a bad return at all. His goals have won Montpellier the league arguably in a season they were told they would get relegated by many many people.

thats fine but Jelavic cost 5 million pounds and Giroud has 50 million euro price tag on his head

right now i wouldnt pay more than 15 mill for Giroud. A player in form yes, playing for a team built to make him succeed, like i said i still have question marks over him. Everyone was raving about Gignac a few years back, and he has disappeared completely. The same could happen to this guy. We shall see

 

[Mumorn]

thats fine but Jelavic cost 5 million pounds and Giroud has 50 million euro price tag on his head

right now i wouldnt pay more than 15 mill for Giroud. A player in form yes, playing for a team built to make him succeed, like i said i still have question marks over him. Everyone was raving about Gignac a few years back, and he has disappeared completely. The same could happen to this guy. We shall see

No one would ever spend ?ú50,000,000 on him though.

Rangers were in financial trouble. If they weren't there is no way they'd of sold him for ?ú5,000,000. I agree with you, I wouldn't pay more than ?ú15,000,000 for Giroud but in this market that is nothing for a goalscoring striker. I mean Pappis Cisse cost what, ?ú10,000,000? Same price we signed Berbatov for, same price as Thierry Henry!

The Euros (if he gets his oppertunity) as well as next season with French champions, Champions League football etc. will be a nice little test for him. One however I think he'll pass with flying colours.

 

[Totting Them Up]

Not England. I think we'll finish 3rd in our group.

Can't see anyone beating the Hermans.

 

[Libero]

i'm in the strange position of wanting to support germany, they play the most interesting football in my opinion, they were a delight to watch in the world cup

i can't bring myself to cheer for england if terry is in the team

Nothing wrong with that at all. I think most people, certainly on here see Spurs as the priority and the Euros/World cup is just a chance to see teams you might not normally see extensively. If England do well then fantastic, but it really is just a bonus to my mind as I am not bothered one way or the other.

That then goes onto your final point. It's difficult for anyone with any real integrity to feel like wanting to support a team with people like John Terry and Ashley Cole at the heart of it. These are people that you would happily coat off all season long yet you are supposed to show your support for them? It just seems a wierd concept for me as I have got older, I can't bring myself to cheer for players that I really can't stand and would boo if we played them every week.

 

[Totting Them Up]

Nothing wrong with that at all. I think most people, certainly on here see Spurs as the priority and the Euros/World cup is just a chance to see teams you might not normally see extensively. If England do well then fantastic, but it really is just a bonus to my mind as I am not bothered one way or the other.

That then goes onto your final point. It's difficult for anyone with any real integrity to feel like wanting to support a team with people like John Terry and Ashley Cole at the heart of it. These are people that you would happily coat off all season long yet you are supposed to show your support for them? It just seems a wierd concept for me as I have got older, I can't bring myself to cheer for players that I really can't stand and would boo if we played them every week.

100% agree. Obviously Terry and Cole are loathsome individuals. I can't cheer on a team with them in it with a clear conscience. If I were Hodgson, I'd have left Terry out.

 

[Libero]

100% agree. Obviously Terry and Cole are loathsome individuals. I can't cheer on a team with them in it with a clear conscience. If I were Hodgson, I'd have left Terry out.

Im willing to bet that if Terry is found guilty by the CPS, The FA will try and give him an escape route by asking him to retire from international football so a minimum of fuss surrounds the England side in the upcoming WCQ campaign. Anyone with integrity would take their advice and make sure they don't create a circus for their team mates. Terry will refuse and force the FA to say he can't be picked thus causing a media furore about the rights/wrongs of it all, having been punished enough with the fine plus ban that would follow domestically etc because that is the sort of person he is.

It isn't just those two that cause me not to have much love for the England team. The whole golden generation thing is irksome and quite frankly, boring. Lampard is another individual I can't bring myself to support not to mention the likes of poor standard of players like Green/Downing still managing to hang around the national team like they are at all worthy of winning even a single cap.

 

[Baleforce]

if terry is found guilty then luckily it won't be an issue, it's a criminal case, he'll go to prison so won't be able to play in the qualifiers anyway

 

[Modric THFC]

if terry is found guilty then luckily it won't be an issue, it's a criminal case, he'll go to prison so won't be able to play in the qualifiers anyway

Maximum sentence is a ?ú2,500 fine. I'm sure he's bricking himself.
Meanwhile there'll be a huge media storm when he visits Auschwitz with the rest of the England squad whilst at the Euros.

 

[Baleforce]

jesus, hardly worth going to court then, they might as well let him off if they don't have the power to punish him

 

[Mumorn]

Alright so if any of you guys are interested in playing I created a Glory Glory League on http://en.euro2012fantasy.uefa.com/

Feel free to sign up and once you've picked your team (which doesn't have to be finalised until the first match day) just go to "join a league" and the code is 117442-27535. You can join up to 15 different leagues.

 

[Raziel]

You see that's the problem with footballers nowadays. They dont care if they play for England or not. 20 years Carrick would have begged to be an understudy or a squad player, nowadays players dont give a brick and would rather be on holiday.

While in general that may be true, if you were Carrick and Richards (playing for the teams that came 1st & 2nd), having played a very long, tough season, and fudging Roy (your managers are SAF and Mancini) comes to you and says, sorry no place in the first team for you, but you could take a spot on the reserve list next to Henderson/Kelly ... your answer would be?

Mine would be "fudge off" and if that's the team your picking, I probably want to be as far away as possible.

 

[Raziel]

Bring back crapello lol. A ball hasnt been kicked but woy is going to get rucking slaughtered.

Because he's an unimaginative, uninspiring manager who has made the worst choices out of a mediocre bunch of players.

 

[noddy1991]

at least it'll wipe the smile off the smug git brooking's face when his choice is an unmitigated disaster in the summer.

you knew he was a ludicrous choice when bernstein felt the need to real out woy's extremely mediocre CV at the press conference. do you really think they'd have done that if they given the job to arry ?

 

[indianspur]

why dont people just give Hodgson a chance, England havent even played a game and the knives are out....hilarious

 

[Raziel]

why dont people just give Hodgson a chance, England havent even played a game and the knives are out....hilarious

About as hilarious as his squad choices, really? you feel he is anyway justified leaving out Carrick, Richard, Sturridge? and picking 5 players from Pool?

 

[Mumorn]

Goal-line technology to be trialled in England friendly

Goal-line technology will be tested at Wembley when England host Belgium in a friendly on 2 June. Hawk-Eye, a camera-based system, will be used by independent testers during England's final game before Euro 2012.

But the match officials will have no access to data and the trial will have no impact on any contentious goal-line decisions. The first live test of Hawk-Eye's system was conducted earlier this month in the Hampshire Senior Cup final.

How does Hawk-Eye work?
Hawk-Eye's system works by utilising six cameras per goal to track the ball on the pitch.
The system's software then uses "triangulation" to pinpoint the exact location of the football.
If the ball crosses the goal-line then an encrypted radio signal is sent to the referee's wristacoch to indicate a goal has been scored.

In line with Fifa's requirements, the whole process takes less than a second to complete. Calls for goal-line technology have increased with dubious decisions marring a number of high profile games last season. Chelsea's Juan Mata was awarded a goal that had not crossed the line in his side's 5-1 FA Cup semi-final win over Tottenham on 15 April.

And QPR defender Clint Hill's header was clawed back into play via the crossbar from two feet behind the line by Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan during the London club's 2-1 defeat at the Reebok Stadium on 10 March. Andy Carroll believed his header had equalised for Liverpool against Chelsea in the FA Cup final, too.

Wembley has seen many controversial goal-line incidents over the years. The most famous came during the 1966 World Cup final, when Sir Geoff Hurst's shot was ruled to have crossed the West German goal-line. Weeks of talks between Fifa, the Football Association and Hawk-Eye have resulted in an England international being selected to experiment goal-line technology.

England's match, with an expected sell-out crowd of over 85,000, is seen as an ideal test venue. Fifa's independent appointed testing body - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA) - will conduct further tests after Roy Hodgson's first Wembley game in charge of England, and again the following day.

The six cameras per goal that Hawk-Eye require are due to be installed at Wembley over the course of the next week.
In March, football's law-makers - the International Football Association Board (IFAB) - approved two companies - Hawk-Eye and GoalRef - to take part in the second phase of goal-line technology testing.


How does GoalRef work?
GoalRef uses a microchip implanted in the ball and the use of low magnetic waves around the goal.
The system then detects any change in the magnetic field on or behind the goal-line to determine if a goal has been scored.
The process takes under one second with a message relayed to the referee.

IFAB are due to make a final decision on the introduction of goal-line technology in early July. GoalRef is also currently undergoing tests. Denmark's friendly against Australia in Copenhagen, on the same day as England's match with Belgium, is under consideration for a live test.

Barring any last-minute problems, the expectation is that one or both systems under review will gain approval. If that happens, any league or competition will be free to introduce the systems if they wish. Despite the Premier League's long-term enthusiasm, the indications are that there may not be sufficient time to install a system in all 20 top-flight stadiums in time for the start of the 2012-13 season.

The German, Swiss and Dutch leagues are also thought to have expressed an interest in adopting the technology. Fifa's World Club Cup competition in Japan - which will involve newly crowned Champions League winners Chelsea - could also feature one of the approved systems.

 

[parklane1]

why dont people just give Hodgson a chance, England havent even played a game and the knives are out....hilarious

Well you know the press never will because their boy did not even get a interview.

 

[indianspur]

About as hilarious as his squad choices, really? you feel he is anyway justified leaving out Carrick, Richard, Sturridge? and picking 5 players from Pool?

i really dont think Richards, Carrick and Sturridge will be missed, they are not world beaters that its so devastating for them not to be in the squad.

England has one genuinely world class player, Rooney, Hart is on his way to being world class but still needs a bit more experience. The rest are much of a muchness

5 Liverpool players? well, Gerrard has proved himself at this level and as he is fit he surely has to be in. Johnson? Hodgson said Walker would have been in had he not been injured,so he was left with the choice of Johnson or Richards and went for Johnson. Whats the big deal, no big difference there imv.

Carroll?? who else, Crouch or Zamora?? i mean seriously, thats the state of English football we are dealing with.

when will people realise that England have won one tournament, and that was 46 years ago, and it was played in England. England dont do tournaments, dont win major trophies, and this has been the case with much better players in the past compared to the rabble that Cappelo and Hodgson have had to select from

Honestly, i dont even expect England to get out of the group, this tournament is a complete write off anyway because of the late change in manager. Just give Hodgson a chance to look at the players, to work closely with them, and in time he will be able to imprint his ideas onto the players so that at least thy are ready for the World Cup qualifiers

 

[ArcspacE]

Well you know the press never will because their boy did not even get a interview.

I think Arry would have been an much, much better option but that's another story alltogether

 

[indianspur]

I think Arry would have been an much, much better option but that's another story alltogether

Redknapp would have been way out of his depth

anyway, he didnt get it, people have to stop crying about it and just support the new regime