The Silly Season stars here.

[Smudge]

Have been enjoying the paper coverage of Englands progress so far,then today Rooney is the MESSIAH likened to Pele.What a ludicrous statement not only in Footballing terms,whenever Pele appeared in a major tournament,he never failed to deliver,unlike Rooney.He actually knew the words to the Brazilian National Anthem,and sung it with gusto unlike Rooney.Was never Red Carded in his career unlike Rooney.Stevie G.comments 'Its part of Waynes game'would not like to see him lose it.So you like playing with 10 men then.Then we come to Match Fitness,Rooney has not played in 6 weeks,so he will be really up to the pace,I think not.ROY you Croydon Boy be brave,and do what ALF did to JIMMY in 66,and if you do you could get A KNIGHTHOOD.COME ON ENGLAND ROONEYLESS OF COURSE.

[Big J R]

Have to agree with you, Smudger !

[inbetweener]

agree a terrific player but no pele he unfortunately falls into what the press call a Hero , with the likes of terry and gerrard who although great players are off the pitch your average thug

[Smudge]

The funny thing is though when we are winning,or doing ok,the papers seem to omit the past misdeamenours of Players,my Granny reckons Rooney is the Bees Knees.

[bomaya]

Yeah I've been scoffing at the Rooney=Pele thing all day. What a stupid thing for Hodgson to say.

[The Mayor Of Simpleton]

Love him or loathe him, Rooney is the talisman of the side.

 

I don't think he should start, but I would give him 45 minutes to see what he can do in the second half.

 

I would play a 4-3-3 formation with Carroll as the target-man and Young and Walcott either side. Give Carroll 45 minutes (as he did well against the Swedes) and then give Rooney 45.

 

Got a feeling Roo will get at least one goal tonight.

[inbetweener]

agree with the talisman part , but doesnt give wellbeck/ carroll much confidence or support if rooney comes straight back in,would bring rooney on at half time or with 30 mins to go, would like to see us play 433 with parker gerrard and milner (ideally barry or lamps instead) as a 3 in midfield and then rooney carroll wellbeck / young / walcott

[The Mayor Of Simpleton]

As we speak, here's what Roo is psyching himself up with on Spotify:

 

Deacon Blue – Real Gone Kid

Arctic Monkeys – Riot Van

Stereophonics – Maybe Tomorrow - Decade In The Sun Version

Bon Jovi – It's My Life

Various Artists - Oasis Tribute – Champagne Supernova (Cover Version)

Cat Stevens – Father And Son

Damien Rice – Delicate

James Morrison – Up

Eric Clapton – Tears In Heaven

Bruce Springsteen – Streets Of Philadelphia

The Hummingbirds – Doesn't Really Matter (c/o MSN)

[newby marvel]

id stick with carrol an have two out an wingers in walcott an the ox rooney to get last 30

[Smudge]

As we speak, here's what Roo is psyching himself up with on Spotify:

 

Deacon Blue – Real Gone Kid

Arctic Monkeys – Riot Van

Stereophonics – Maybe Tomorrow - Decade In The Sun Version

Bon Jovi – It's My Life

Various Artists - Oasis Tribute – Champagne Supernova (Cover Version)

Cat Stevens – Father And Son

Damien Rice – Delicate

James Morrison – Up

Eric Clapton – Tears In Heaven

Bruce Springsteen – Streets Of Philadelphia

The Hummingbirds – Doesn't Really Matter (c/o MSN)

 

Just for Wayne

 

God save our gracious Queen

Long live our noble Queen

God save the Queen

 

Send her victorious

Happy and Glorious

Long to reign over us

God save the Queen

 

Every England player that has started so far,has attempted to sing the National Anthem,so no excuses Wayne.I WILL BE WATCHING.

[Smudge]

How poor was that,football is more about luck than anything,and going by that we have it in spades.Got to thank FIFA and sep as well.M.O.M. Gerrard by a country mile.

[Egg&Ham]

Roooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooney

[Don't Blame Me]

Two posts from Smudge that I agree with. Great shout on Wooney's fitness and his call on Gerrard as MoM. I bow to your great knowledge oh wise sage of Croydon

[The Mayor Of Simpleton]

Well done England!

 

Cometh the hour, cometh the man!

 

Unbeaten England now take on Italy on Sunday. Got to say, it looks like Roy has got it right so far!

[NICE GUY]

Have been enjoying the paper coverage of Englands progress so far,then today Rooney is the MESSIAH likened to Pele.What a ludicrous statement not only in Footballing terms,whenever Pele appeared in a major tournament,he never failed to deliver,unlike Rooney.He actually knew the words to the Brazilian National Anthem,and sung it with gusto unlike Rooney.Was never Red Carded in his career unlike Rooney.Stevie G.comments 'Its part of Waynes game'would not like to see him lose it.So you like playing with 10 men then.Then we come to Match Fitness,Rooney has not played in 6 weeks,so he will be really up to the pace,I think not.ROY you Croydon Boy be brave,and do what ALF did to JIMMY in 66,and if you do you could get A KNIGHTHOOD.COME ON ENGLAND ROONEYLESS OF COURSE.

 

Rooney goal, England win........Rooneyless of course.......yep ! TWO FACE for England Manager ....lol !

 

Rooney had to play tonight even tho' he hasn't played for a while to get match fitness irrespective of the result, in hope that England would venture into the next round and they did, so all round its worked out well.

 

I've said before, Hodgson is a defensive coach bit like McClaren but alot, lot better. You won't see thrilling exciting football stuff with him, just be disciplined and score mainly from set pieces or catch teams on the break. Now is that good enough to win the competition who knows ?....would Redknapp's team still be in the competition playing his style who knows..?.....

 

Select Carrol first game - scored,

Select Walcott (sub) first game - scored

Select Rooney first game - scored.

 

Good judgement or luck ?....you make your mind up..........

[The Mayor Of Simpleton]

Effective and efficient. That describes Hodgson's England.

[E&E Rich]

Bloody hell, I agree with Nice Guy

 

If you didn't play Rooney in that match, he would never be ready for the matches to follow and Carroll and Welbeck know full well that he will always play and rightly so. As for the Pele comment, it reminded me a bit of the sort of things Jose Mourinho used to say to take pressure of other people. It's a misdirection from Roy and quite a clever one.

 

However, that goal line error is going to haunt Platini who is in serious danger of ruining his fantastic legacy with his stubbornness over this two plastic officials rule. They missed this one and also stayed completely quiet when the German tugged Bendtner's shirt, which should have been a penalty and a sending off which, if scored would probably have sent the Germans out. Can any of our referees on this forum explain exactly what their purpose is, as I thought it was to assist.

 

It should also be pointed out that Ukraine's best two chances (the goal line one and the header over the bar) were both offside. This is a pity as the offside decisions, many of them really marginal, have been really good so far otherwise.

 

Nice to see Gerrard playing so well after his really tame end to the season at Liverpool. I was beginning to wonder whether he had lost it, but I'm pleased to note that this was temporary. Also I thought Terry, Lescott and Hart played really well. Hart's save from that swerving shot was world class yet hardly rated a mention yesterday. All pundits are crap (except for Keano).

 

Take heart from the fact we now play Italy. If there was another team out there who can't take penalties either, it is them

 

Come on Greece!

[Jurg78]

Did anyone actually read what Hodgson had said about the Rooney/Pele thing, as it doesn't appear you did?

He never likened Rooney to Pele and compared them as a like-for-like players (as a lot of people seem to think he was saying), he merely suggested Rooneys influence on the England side could be similar to how Pele used to inspire Brasil in major tournaments. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

It's just another example of press/fans/experts only hearing what is being said by someone, rather than actually listening to it, which are two vastly different things!

[NICE GUY]

Did anyone actually read what Hodgson had said about the Rooney/Pele thing, as it doesn't appear you did?

He never likened Rooney to Pele and compared them as a like-for-like players (as a lot of people seem to think he was saying), he merely suggested Rooneys influence on the England side could be similar to how Pele used to inspire Brasil in major tournaments. Nothing more, nothing less.

 

It's just another example of press/fans/experts only hearing what is being said by someone, rather than actually listening to it, which are two vastly different things!

 

Believe it or not, we have a few forumites like that on this forum ..............lol !

[NICE GUY]

Have been enjoying the paper coverage of Englands progress so far,then today Rooney is the MESSIAH likened to Pele.What a ludicrous statement not only in Footballing terms,whenever Pele appeared in a major tournament,he never failed to deliver,unlike Rooney.He actually knew the words to the Brazilian National Anthem,and sung it with gusto unlike Rooney.Was never Red Carded in his career unlike Rooney.Stevie G.comments 'Its part of Waynes game'would not like to see him lose it.So you like playing with 10 men then.Then we come to Match Fitness,Rooney has not played in 6 weeks,so he will be really up to the pace,I think not.ROY you Croydon Boy be brave,and do what ALF did to JIMMY in 66,and if you do you could get A KNIGHTHOOD.COME ON ENGLAND ROONEYLESS OF COURSE.

 

But TWO FACE did Alf Ramsey actually drop Greaves ? I think you will find that Ramsey had no option and couldn't select Jimmy Greaves (England best ever goalscorer in my opinion) due to his injury (a gash which needed stitches) sustained against France in the qualifying round....... good judgement or luck you decide ? !