pearce talked a good fight, but himself was a complete disaster, and a disaster everywhere he has managed.

the counter argument is "if you are good enough you are old enough". Who didnt wat to see rashford on the pitch?

There nearly was when we were taken to Northampton. A second season there and I would have been done, but done properly, not just until it got better.

You have a choice whether to watch or not, but you still support "your team". You dont stop supporting if they dont do well, or if people you dont like are there.

You haven't mentioned whether you stopped supporting Chelsea when Hoddle was there.

If we had better players than everywhere else, we would win things. We're not at the very top level, and accepting that aids supporting the team.

I chose not to watch, and what a great decision that was!

Roy proved he was utterly useless, and in his last interview showed his true coloursl. what a spineless worm he really is.

"i dont know what im doing here?"

Well roy, you effectively stole £14million from the FA and grass roots football with your waste of a salary - explain yourself!

I agree that English players aren't the best material, but it's not like they are worse than many of the teams who regularly perform better at tournaments.

They lack a manager and any kind of structure or strategy and they lack the desire because in English football culture, club football has become more important than international football, which is just not the case in other countries.


I like

I find the hugely simplistic way of thinking, being displayed on this thread, quite amusing.

Deep Purple has the patience of a saint.

Does it ever get tiring being in a permanent state of Daily Mail-esque hysteria and outrage?

I don't really get why someone would want to change sides, or whatever, but it is their life, and they can decide to support their team however they so wish, it might be alien, or not what is really the "done thing", but who are we to be critical of them for such a thing?

If you live by that logic, you can't then really go round challenging or criticising the opinions of others. People would be entitled to use the same defence you've outlined above.

Nobody's stopping anyone from changing teams or taking a few years off if not successful, but anyone who does can't claim to be a supporter. Casual enthusiasts with a keen interest in a team at best from that point.

If you are posting of a football forum and you say you have changed the team you support then only a simpleton would expect anything other than outright condemnation and ridicule. You wouldn't say it in from of football fans in real life situations would you?

I suppose with your liking for changing your mind so freely you may be more willing not to be as critical of such behaviour.

so the supporters of a team , say villa, who have been on the holt end for 50 years - who have had enough of their chairman and tear up their season tickets and refuse to come back to villa park until he is gone are not "supporters" and just "casual fans" ?

The very idea that they are not "supporters" would be foolish to hold.

They wouldn't be if they started watching Birmingham.

so say if a person supported England all of their life, but because of the things the FA had done and Roy Hodgson was doing on the pitch - they effectively "ripped up their season ticket" and would not watch a game until they were removed.

are they still a "supporter" ?

I didn't say only attendees are supporters, so it depends what they do. If they give up on the team or go follow someone else then they're done.


Twice as much if the decision is made because you don't like some temporary personnel or results aren't great.

Big sam is currently favorite to be the next england manager

No doubt people will still support england after he is appointed

is there anyone they could appoint who would make you say, "not for me", and you wouldnt bother watching england in the qualifying for the world cup?

For me, personally, it was Hodgson, and in the future it would have been hoddle.

For you though, could they appoint anyone and you would still watch?

I'd always watch England. Just as I'd always watch my club regardless of who was appointed.

There's no manager or player who would put me off because they are all fleeting. If it was Redknapp or Hoddle I'd be massively disappointed in a bewildering selection but I'd still be willing them to succeed despite my reservations. Supporting a team is for the times everything's amazing and the times nobody knows what they're playing at and you're losing to Iceland or being relegated to League One with a whimper in a stadium you don't own.

I support England, and that's it. I dont go and support someone else if someone I dont like gets a job with England.

I'm realistic about my support too, and dont expect to win every tournament. It's the same with a club side.

It's not a great decision, it simply means you are not a supporter, because of your reasons, and the fact you went off and chose another team to support.

They will still be supporters if they dont suddenly decide to support someone else.

Well they aren't, cause they aren't watching are they?

I can fully understand someone becoming frustrated with England and losing a bit of interest.

I cant understand someone then saying "I'm supporting Wales" however.

That's the difference.

I watched the world cup without supporting a team - it was great!

I watched the Euros without supporting a team, but i wanted the home nations to win (i dont buy in to the home nation rivalry garbage). I wanted Nireland to win, Wales to win and scotland - if they had made it.

It was great!

Tournaments do tend to be enjoyable for the neutral.