Monday 5th September

Part 1 – before the game

Football again.  England again.  World Cup Qualifiers again.  Hope over experience again.  And yet we all start to get carried away – again.  Even after the Iceland debacle.  In fact after the whole of the Euro-Championship debacle, we still get carried away – again.  And of course, we have a new manager – again.  Roy had two bites at the cherry, and failed both times – again.  We had a practically new team the last time too, with lots of supposedly in-form players – and we lost again.  And with each new manager (we even call it a new era) comes new hope over overwhelming experience – again.  At least Sam, dour bluff Northern, tell it like it is Sam, won’t apologise; one feels that if the players don’t perform he will tell it like it is.  Roy was simply too nice one felt.  But then again Sam has never won anything, he has saved many a team from relegation; a gritty fighter who somehow inspires average players to do just enough.  And maybe that is all we need.  The trouble is we think we are so much better than we really are – again.  And oh no, just seen the team sheet; he is sticking with Joe Hart (clumsy handed Joe Hart) in goal and Wayne (mine’s the redhead – oh a grand for the night – okay) Rooney as captain – again.

Maybe even given a clean sheet most of us would have picked many of the same players; it is just they don’t seem to know how to play together – at least on the really big occasions – again.

Part 2 – after the game

So, Slovakia 0, England 1.  Phew.  Because even against a team with no players you have ever heard of we hoped we could win but experience, and very recent experience too, tells us to fear the worst.  So we scraped through again…another last minute goal.  So, relief all round.  Sam has got off to a winning start, even if the game was lacklustre and England seemed to have little idea where the opposition goal was, or that the idea of the game is to kick that round thing into it – again.  And again and again.