Have you lost interest in England?

[Nigel]

I'm sick of the FA selling the rights to games to the highest bidder without a care for those fans who do not want to go to the pub or subscribe to another satelite channel. England games should be accessable to everyone, that means they should be on the BBC or ITV, period.

Agree.

Same here, and how long till the powers that be realise they can make some extra money from the tournaments too!

[BillyShears]

It's still England for me. The best sport in the world being played by the team representing my country, whether they are shit or not or whether I think it should be full of Villa players or not. There is no way I want anyone to beat us. Supporting Villa is and has been like supporting England, massive club/country, done the big one once in the nearish history (my lifetime anyway), most competetive games are potential banana skins, I always moan during matches and I am ecstatic when we score. It's in my blood I'm afraid, can't help it.

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

Have not been interested in years.

1.You can't watch it on the TV.

2. Once the FA got Mclaren in that was game over for me. These people know about football !

3. Each and every team or squad picked is a shambles and nothing like what it should be. Ashley Young and Gabby as an EG. Downing the down gets as many games as he wishes though wtf.

4. If it is possible to watch a game it looks like a training game.

5. The players from the top four in it play absolute garbage compared to the prem.

6. Anyone gets a cap if you want (as long as you are not a Villa player with explosive pace or you can go round a player)

7. I am 36, what have they ever done for me since 1972 ? F'all. A 5-1 against the scum in Munich....big wow.

8. Players are picked by who you play for not how you play.

I could go on but I am boring myself.

[MMFy]

Looking at the team tonight i can not see where the goals are coming from and i ask you WHY THE HELL IS WAYNE ROONEY STILL IN THE TEAM!!!!!

He last scored a goal for England 11 months ago!

He has only score 2 competative goals since 2004!!

I'm tired of Beckham being picked for commercial reasons, I'm tired of Rooney being picked for I don't know what reason, I'm tired of Lampard and Gerrard, I'm tired of foreign managers of meaningless friendlies and pathetic pathetic performances.

I like it when people share my opinion of Rooney. The bloke is gash.

Ask yourselves this: If Rooney was just becoming noticed in the Prem now instead of being over-hyped for the last five years, how many people would pick him for England with his goal scoring record?

England do not need a support striker, we should have support in quality from the wings and midfield. We need a natural goalscorer, and the closest we have got is Michael Owen, who is a crock.

And consider this: Rooney only scored 13 league goals last season with supply from a world class midfield including the best winger in the world. Gabby scored 12 for the Villa. I'm not going to start calling "Gabby for England" though, as I don't care about international football anymore.

For me, it all ended in two stages.

1. Phil (only got in the team off the back of his brother and playing for manure) Neville giving away that penalty against Romania in 2000.

2. David Seaman in 2002. Nigel Martyn was a far better keeper then but what would be the chance of a personnel change in the England side?

We all know, you can't play Gerrard/Lampard in the same team, Rooney is shit, Wayne Bridge is always out of form, Lescott is not a centre half, Upson is not very good, Bullard, Beckham and Heskey are most likely going to be nowhere near the squad come 2010 and Walcott is by no means a finished article.

But what do we know?

[The_Lions_Roar]

I didnt watch on saturday and wont be watching tonight. 2 of my mates joined the England supporters club in the summer and went to barca on saturday and are going tonight. I was asked to join but really couldnt justify spending so much money on crap. The last match i watched and actually cared about was Euro 2004, sadly when we were robbed against Portugal. If that result had gone the other way id probably still have an interest in England. The final nail for me was putting the games on setanta, even more effort to leave the house when id rather watch my fish in their tank!

[wiggyrichard]

It's still England for me. The best sport in the world being played by the team representing my country, whether they are shit or not or whether I think it should be full of Villa players or not. There is no way I want anyone to beat us. Supporting Villa is and has been like supporting England, massive club/country, done the big one once in the nearish history (my lifetime anyway), most competetive games are potential banana skins, I always moan during matches and I am ecstatic when we score. It's in my blood I'm afraid, can't help it.

Well at least there is 2 of us on this forum that are still proud to be English, and are willing to support our country through thick and thin.

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

I'm proud and honoured to have been born English, that has nothing to do with football though ! Nothing will ever change and we will never win anything if we all act as sheep and support through thin and thin, we all think maybe next time.....believe there is going to be no winning of anything ever by England unless the fans stop paying to watch this shite and the F.A or whatever is in charge of this shambles are removed.

When they employed Mcclaren they knew it was wrong but counted on the 1000's of people turning up to watch prem players play Division 2 football......and they did and we won f'all and it's still happening now. It's not about been proud to be English it's about understanding football, what happens on the pitch and why.

[Jon]

I will always follow England, like I will always follow Villa, irrespective in the most part of who is the manager and who the players are.

Villa are my team.

England are my team.

and if i had to choose between the two, although it would be hard, i'd go with England, as the atmosphere and camaraderie you get from following England home and abroad can be superb.

do people lose intersst in villa if we are not doing so well or not picking the players you think we should? Shame on you if you do.

By all means disagree with things, and make your opinions known.

But to "give up" on either Villa or England, for me, is not an option.

[villa4europe]

if theo gets dropped or downing starts then i doubt i'll watch it

im still amazed that the last 2 managers we have had seemingly havent thought to look into what made us shit in the past and how to radically change it

the suits are all well and good but the football hasnt changed a bit

[rjw63]

I really hope they lose!

What a disgraceful comment that is! Im English and proud of it, and no matter how poor we play, this is my country and i will continue to support it regardless of who is picked. I cant believe a fellow countryman would even come out with a comment like that.

I would really love to know exactly why you want your own country to lose a football match? Assuming you are infact English.

I don't think he's English :-)

[Jon]

It's still England for me. The best sport in the world being played by the team representing my country, whether they are shit or not or whether I think it should be full of Villa players or not. There is no way I want anyone to beat us. Supporting Villa is and has been like supporting England, massive club/country, done the big one once in the nearish history (my lifetime anyway), most competetive games are potential banana skins, I always moan during matches and I am ecstatic when we score. It's in my blood I'm afraid, can't help it.

Well at least there is 2 of us on this forum that are still proud to be English, and are willing to support our country through thick and thin.

x3, fella

please see my above post. I still think we can build Jerusalem on England's green and pleasant land.

[Rodders]

i was born in england by total fluke, really don't see why i should support the football team through thick and thin. overpaid prats, an incompetent fa and fans that incur so much embarrassment it's untrue.

i do choose to support our athletes in other events and sports as it happens, but football get's a miss I'm afraid.

[Jon]

I always moan during matches and I am ecstatic when we score. It's in my blood I'm afraid, can't help it.

yep - that's where i'm at too.

I can't just pick and choose when to support England at Football. I've grown up with it. It's in my system.

the high's and low's of supporting England make us what we are.

[evel]

I would like to know what the interview for the managers job actually requires. Do they ask what team he would play? what changes he would make. surely the answers 'same as the previous 3 managers' and 'well that downing looks like he could do well, oh and id drop owen' really should of set the alarm bells off.

personally i would have rooney, but id build ateam around him and gerrard. rather than try and choose 11 players and shoehorn a syytem around them...

oh and IMO the Villa english XI would beat the team that plays tonight...

[Jon]

everyone seemed quite happy with capello when he was picking Ash, Gabby, Barry and Davies

I wonder why Villa fans don't like him anymore ......

and i wonder if this poll might be different should we beat Croatia tonight>

So far, Fab Cap's competitive England record reads: played 1. Won 1.

Let's not condemn the man just yet, hey? :?

[wiggyrichard]

I always moan during matches and I am ecstatic when we score. It's in my blood I'm afraid, can't help it.

yep - that's where i'm at too.

I can't just pick and choose when to support England at Football. I've grown up with it. It's in my system.

the high's and low's of supporting England make us what we are.

My mistake, 3 of us it is then who are still patriotic

[Rodders]

i was born in england by total fluke, really don't see why i should support the football team through thick and thin. overpaid prats, an incompetent fa and fans that incur so much embarrassment it's untrue.

i do choose to support our athletes in other events and sports as it happens, but football get's a miss I'm afraid.

edit: I'll qualify the above just to be sure of what I mean.

there are many englishisms I like and am proud of and the values that go as a part of it, but there are equally as many I abhor and find so painfully embarrassing. I'll support and be proud of the elements that I think have a degree of virtue in them, ie the athletes at the games, the spirit of cricket - mock me if you will - might be problems with the selectors there, but generally the way the game is played, and the personnel who represent it.

I have enough problems with football as it is with the obscene money and the fact most footballers act like clearings in the woods, and the only reason I follow generally is a link with Villa since I was a kid, especially now we have owners and a manager who exude the kind of traits one can be proud of, but generally, a growing - if small - part of me wishes I'd not been brought up following football.

For me, there is absolutely **** all to be proud of in the English football side, from the players, through to the FA, the journalism that surrounds it, and the fans who'll switch from a bit of bigoted chanting to a chorus of boos as and when they please. If they play on tv that I can watch there's a chance I'll probably watch anyway if im not doing anything, but i'm certainly not going to rush out to watch them if I can't when I have extremely limited investment in the team ( will barry score? ) for a start.

[wiggyrichard]

i was born in england by total fluke, really don't see why i should support the football team through thick and thin. overpaid prats, an incompetent fa and fans that incur so much embarrassment it's untrue.

i do choose to support our athletes in other events and sports as it happens, but football get's a miss I'm afraid.

edit: I'll qualify the above just to be sure of what I mean.

there are many englishisms I like and am proud of and the values that go as a part of it, but there are equally as many I abhor and find so painfully embarrassing. I'll support and be proud of the elements that I think have a degree of virtue in them, ie the athletes at the games, the spirit of cricket - mock me if you will - might be problems with the selectors there, but generally the way the game is played, and the personnel who represent it.

I have enough problems with football as it is with the obscene money and the fact most footballers act like clearings in the woods, and the only reason I follow generally is a link with Villa since I was a kid, especially now we have owners and a manager who exude the kind of traits one can be proud of, but generally, a growing - if small - part of me wishes I'd not been brought up following football.

For me, there is absolutely **** all to be proud of in the English football side, from the players, through to the FA, the journalism that surrounds it, and the fans who'll switch from a bit of bigoted chanting to a chorus of boos as and when they please. If they play on tv that I can watch there's a chance I'll probably watch anyway if im not doing anything, but i'm certainly not going to rush out to watch them if I can't when I have extremely limited investment in the team ( will barry score? ) for a start.

Rodders, are you English or not?

[Rodders]

I am yes.

[Jon]

I am yes.

but not proudly so?

i was born in england by total fluke