The_Rev Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 (edited) Friendlies within confederation make no sense to me. That's probably a very American point of view, the only in confederation friendly you guys have that means anything is USA vs Mexico. UEFA is a very different beast, there are a ton of geographical and political rivalries in Europe that will always give an interesting angle to a game. England - Scotland would normally sell out very quickly but we are living in strange times, England fans are pretty disillusioned with the team post Euro 2008 & World Cup 2010. I think we could live with the players all being bastards as long as they were winning but the non qualification for the Euros and shambolic showing in South Africa has made a lot of people realise that they just don't like the national team very much. That is unprecedented in my lifetime but I can totally sympathise with the people who feel that way. Throw that in with other factors, the sheer number of meaningless friendlies, the fact that Scotland don't appear to be much of a threat at all (which means they will probably bloody win) the proximity of the fixture to the new domestic season and the fact that August is the month where most of the country goes on holiday (unlike the USA we actually get time off from work here ) all mean that it shouldn't be surprising that ticket sales have been sluggish. I don't think there needs to be a massive restructuring of how football is organised though, it's just a storm that needs riding out. Edited August 4, 2013 by The_Rev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted August 4, 2013 Moderator Share Posted August 4, 2013 I think the ticketing policy is more the issue than the interest - I've seen a few people interested in the last few days, but the FA are refusing to sell tickets to people who haven't already been to an England game - that restriction, allied to the conditions that The Rev mentions above mean this isn't particularly surprising. Also, in the Telegraph article, it mentions that the charity shield game is struggling to sell out because Wigan have only sold 4,000 tickets. I like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 I think the ticketing policy is more the issue than the interest - I've seen a few people interested in the last few days, but the FA are refusing to sell tickets to people who haven't already been to an England game - that restriction, allied to the conditions that The Rev mentions above mean this isn't particularly surprising. Also, in the Telegraph article, it mentions that the charity shield game is struggling to sell out because Wigan have only sold 4,000 tickets. I like this. That is absurd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 Who gives a shit, Scotland are basically a pub team nowadays anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRS-T Posted August 4, 2013 Author Share Posted August 4, 2013 Friendlies within confederation make no sense to me. Do clubs in the same league play friendlies against each other (aside from foreign adventures, but that's a whole other beast... England/Scotland might well sell more tickets elsewhere in the former Empire than at Wembley)? It makes sense within UEFA because you play different teams each campaign. We are in the same confederation as Scotland but we haven't played them in 14 years. Whereas USA and Mexico are always playing each other in the Hex and the Gold Cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 (edited) edit: already said... Edited August 4, 2013 by AVFCforever1991 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted August 8, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted August 8, 2013 (edited) So the team has been announced..... How on earth does Wellbeck get in the squad all the time? He's shite. Oh and very happy Ricky Lambert got in. Long overdue. Hope he gets a good crack at it. Edited August 8, 2013 by PieFacE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Welbeck does play better for England than Man U tbf.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted August 8, 2013 Moderator Share Posted August 8, 2013 For a bloke who put away a penalty from an obvious dive then 'shushed' the Holte End last season, Ricky Lambert is getting a very easy ride from Villa fans. I hope he has a stinker. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 rooney hasnt kicked a ball all pre season and strolls in defoe missed how much towards the end of last season and has been injured pre season and gets in nothing for gabby again... was hoping woy would experiment at least a bit, but aside from lambert (and of course the obligatory zaha the utd player getting called up) its the usual dross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Posted August 8, 2013 VT Supporter Share Posted August 8, 2013 How on god's earth does Kenny Miller still get called up?! Pretty sure he last scored a goal in 2008. You will notice a certain Mr Hutton in the squad...Kenny Miller is the least of their problems! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradarmstrong_ Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Probably one of the worst set of strikers we've had for a long time. The whole squad actually just looks really poor to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avfc96 Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Gabby could get 20 goals this season and Welbeck would still get picked ahead of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOF Posted August 8, 2013 Moderator Share Posted August 8, 2013 Squad in fullBen Foster, Joe Hart, John Ruddy.Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Phil Jagielka, Glen Johnson, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Kyle Walker.Michael Carrick, Tom Cleverley, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott, Wilshere, Young, Zaha.Jermain Defoe, Rickie Lambert, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck.It's not a bad squad other than the frontline, but it's not a great one either. It looks very much like one for the future with the likes of Wilshere, Zaha, Smalling, Jones, Ox in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brumerican Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Who gives a shit, Scotland are basically a pub team nowadays anyway. But Scotland is basically a pub so it seems about right. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theboyangel Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Very poor team again from Hodgson - so much for picking players on form not their club eh? I was looking forward to Hodgson (who is supposedly 'his own man') picking whoever HE wanted and not bow down to the pressures of sponsors and the FA.... Alas, it appears impossible to exclude certain players regardless of form because of their 'image'. Rooney is 'allegedly' injured so how can he be picked? - he's been in awful form for both club and country too. Wellbeck, hardly features and neither does Young (who I thought was also injured) or Cleverley... As for Zaha I suppose he's been picked because like Wellbeck, Young, Jones, Smalling and Cleverley he plays for ManUre. It's shite - luckily is a nothing game - not even the auld rivalry has grabbed my interest (and this selection has put me off even more), but even so Woy could have picked some other players to give them a go. I think I'll give it a miss and wouldn't care if Scotland got one over us.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samjp26 Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Gonna support Belgium from now on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Zaha got called up last season when he played for Palace so I think that's unfair plus Ivory Coast were trying to get him to declare for them. Yeah the striker set is pretty piss poor nowadays but you get that while the new generation emerges. As I've said before Gabby pulled out of quite a few squads he was included in under Capello so I get the impression he's not really that bothered about England which I'm fine with. Oh and only three Liverpool players in this squad (and two were very obvious selections, maybe even all three). Who picked this, Woy or Mantis? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 gabby hammered roy publicly just before the squad for the brazil game got announced so I don't think he'll ever get called up again he actually said he liked capello think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Maybe but go back to 2009-10 and he pulled out for I think 3 squads for various personal reasons plus the under 21 tournament a few years back aswell. I'm not sure how Woy is supposed to pick players on form when.....errrrr the season hasn't actually started yet. Zaha's apparently played well for United in pre season so I suppose that's one player in form who's in. And I welcome Lambert's inclusion aswell as that gives hope to players in the lower leagues as he was in league 1 two years ago. Why wasn't he called up for the June friendlies though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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