Dishonest is the word. The people responsible for implementing the rules of the game are self-serving to the point of dishonesty. They are making money from being on TV shows backing up their mates. There is no integrity.

You just had a loss to Greece. I think he deserves a bit of time to settle in. There are some really good young England players but simply the team is totally unbalanced so someone has to have the courage to work out which players work with each other. I was lucky enough to meet and speak with Bobby Robson (outside the WC final) just before he took over England in 1982 and he was such a gentleman and I said to him I don't envy your new job but good luck. He looked at me and nodded and just said thanks and left it at that. The expectations of English fans is something else.

Australia just changed managers after a disasterous start to our WC qualifiying. The new manager got a win against China and then a draw with Japan. Now we haven't beaten Japan in 25 years and we did play very negative football but some of the comments by fans about us was way over the top. I will take the draw every time.

Yes, it is all about the employment policy of the very few who have the resources to win the Premiership - say half a dozen clubs at most. There is a huge list of non-English managers who have worked in our top league who have never been anywhere near winning or even competing for the title, simply because they haven't been employed by the big boys. There is also a substantial list of those who having been employed by the big boys still failed to lift the title - Chelsea and Spurs each have double figure examples of that.

Nevertheless it is telling that the big clubs treat the pool of english managers rather like a leper colony, and on the few occasions big clubs have hired English managers (Gerrard, Lampard) they have been unsuccessful.

Your last point: only one team can win the title in any year. So yes.

Fair enough, but having high personal standards is different to your remit being beyond the football. Tuchel’s remit is the football, as well it should be, and as it should have been for Southgate and every other manager before him. Being asked to comment on every social issue and taking responsibility for football in England beyond the 22 players in your squad is such a pointless distraction for an England manager, and should be treated as such.

…


Maybe, only a little. Germany were at a low ebb and we were relegated from the top tier of the nations league under his watch with some awful results.

I didn’t think he was that good, the way he managed to alienate Ben white when you could have had the club understanding down the right with Saka pissed me off no end. Also the way he and then the players reacted to completely justified criticism from people who are avowed England cheerleaders in Lineker and Shearer was so small time.

Kane is a problem, and has always been a problem for England. Southgate giving him every available minute also wound me up.



Yes I think it’s a great appointment, not a strong England candidate in sight and we’ve already had Sven and Capello and an Aussie of all things in charge of the rugby team! I’m interested to see what Tuchel does as Harry Kane won the golden boot under his management. International football seems a bit of a crap shoot anyway, often some nobody has a stellar tournament and makes a huge difference for a team, or you miss one crucial type of player and another team has 3 of them. it might fall into place for him. I’ll be much more interested to watch now anyway.

Great to see ex-Arsenal players who were good servants for the club doing well.
Leno with an assist
And Wellbeck with another goal.

It was interesting to hear Wellbeck talking about his injuries after the Spurs game. I think some players get branded injury prone when they have just had a run of bad luck.

It will be interesting.
Southgate had his strengths as a manager, and his style was quite well suited to tournament play. However, you feel a more imaginative coach might be able to make more of what is a very talented group of players.

Spurs only 4 points behind us.
Its a bit like having a smelly tramp standing too close behind one in a queue.
In both case, one isn't really worried they will overtake, but just wishes they were a bit further back.

Saka out. Timber not in the squad either.

Number
22,David Raya
Number
33,R. Calafiori
Number
6,Gabriel Magalhães (c), Captain
Number
2,W. Saliba
Number4,
B. White
Number23,
Mikel Merino
Number5,
T. Partey
Number41,
D. Rice
Number19,
L. Trossard
Number29,
K. Havertz
Number30,
R. Sterling

Substitutes
Number20,
Jorginho
Number36,
T. Setford
Number46,
I. Kabia
Number15,
J. Kiwior
Number49,
M. Lewis-Skelly
Number11,
Gabriel Martinelli
Number53,
E. Nwaneri
Number17,
O. Zinchenko
Number9,
Gabriel Jesus
s
Match Officials
Referee: Robert Jones

Pretty strong. But how can we do without our talisman?

Not the best first 15 minutes from Sterling in his place.

Some promising signs?
Very disjointed going forward. Its not too surprising given how many new partnerships there are in the team.

Playing like England.

Possible saliba red

Why or why? We sabotage ourselves again

Ben white was level, so far out this will be b%*&s%*^ if it goes to red. *%^@ this.

Very. Ten yards closer to goal and it would have been.

Jesus. Ffs

Seems harsh but you can’t complain really

Misses Liverpool. *%^@*** nightmare

No complaints, though.

3rd red card already this season

And there’s the b%*&s%*^ rub of the green that goes against again. *%^@’s sake!!!

YOU can’t say Ben white won’t get there!!!

Lost him for Liverpool as well. These reds could legitimately cost us the league.

Held to a higher standard than any other team. 45 yards from goal doesn’t even have the ball under control and they are certain that’s a clear goal scoring opportunity.

Var is Jared Gillet self confessed Liverpool fan and he’s done this to us many many times before

Oh **** off you baby. It's a feckin clear red.

Sigh.

It was a fair decision.

Liverpool fan on var ensures Saliba is sent off to be suspended for the Arsenal v Liverpool game

Sterling off, we were carrying him anyway tbh.

Kiwior for Sterling.

They simply aren’t all given. I’d refer you to an Arsenal game v Leicester when aubameyang was clear through in a similar position and was wrestled to the floor by Jonny Evans and he only got a yellow.

The problem is not the decision in isolation - as I always say - it’s the consistency and that we never get the benefit of the doubt

Problem as ever is the threshold. If the ref gave it that’s one thing. But to overturn, clear and obvious?? Not for me.

If that had been Virgil next week against us you would have been screaming red.

He misses Chelsea and Newcastle as well. Ffs

Is it three games? Isn’t that only for violent conduct?

Martinelli on at some point you’d think. Maybe wait for the second half…

I think it’s a yellow. It’s a long way out on the halfway line . Asking for trouble though.

And that seems reasonable. Some think red - also reasonable. How is that the condition of overturning a clear and obvious error?

It’s probably some bollocks about assessing a red so clear and obvious doesn’t come into it. I bet it’s that.

It will be a major achievement if we can win this with 10 men and without our 3 best players, Saka Ødegaard and Saliba.

It’s re refereeing a game that the ref had a perfectly clear view of. Re refereeing games is exactly what PGMOL have said they are strictly avoiding.

When it goes to VAR the ref always bottles it.

You can’t really say it’s clear and obvious