The Beach Is Back

I'm back!

Bright eyed and bushy tailed (well I am a Fox after all).

Dorset was lovely. Thanks for asking. Our trip included a trip to a childhood holiday destination for me at Durdle Door (see pic).

One of the locals told me that part of the beach is for nude bathing. I have to say I have no recollection of that. Funny - my dad never mentioned it either ........

Needless to say though that despite not finding the opportunity to post, I continued my football studies with my usual diligence.

This included (of course) finding a sports pub to watch last night's match - my only regret being that the Spaniards did not manage to reflect the drubbing they gave Germany in the scoreline. 3 or 4 nil would have completely made my day but I'm not really complaining. It was a great game.

And today I hear Mr Lehman has been alleging that the ref was biased.

Yeah Jens - that would be when he let you off for handling the ball outside your area then.

I do hate a bad loser. At least Ballack behaved with dignity as he followed his team up for their runners up medal.

Mind you - he has had plenty of practise.

My education was also broadened by listening to Danny Baker on Five Live (or Five Dead for those of us in the know), who regaled us with stories about memorable, if somewhat obscure, sendings off. Like the Scotsman sent off for smoking on the pitch (he claims he forgot to take his cigarette out of his mouth at the end of half time...) or the player shown a yellow card in a car park after a match for bad behaviour (which stuck, as apparently the referees jurisdiction includes this area).

And now, after all the excitement of the last few days, I think its time to put my feet up with a glass of Sangria and wonder if Signor Torres will be able to transfer his success and take Liverpool to even greater heights this season.

Viva Espagna!

Fed Up

Is anyone else fed up with the speculation about Cristiano Ronaldo and whether he will leave the ManUre to go to Madrid?

Yes? Me too. So lets not talk about it.

Lets talk instead about last night's match.

I mean are those Italians spoilsports or what? Their style seemed to me to be characterised by a script along the lines of "We aren't actually going to put much effort into winning but we want to make sure you don't either".

Well done to those Spanish for not getting ground down by the negativity. I would have been fed up if they had lost given the way they played compared to Donadoni's lot.

And talking of fed up, do you get fed up with that lot on Match of the Day? I mean for those of you who have been following football for years - how on earth do you put up with their shallow, largely uninformative comments?

There are odd exceptions I know - Martin O'Neill is alright for example. But I reckon even I could offer better analysis than Shearer.

As for the BBC commentators, Motty, whilst endearingly cheesy (and occasionally a little risque it would seem), can be irritating. Not as annoying as Graham Taylor though who we listened to on Five Live as we watched the match on telly.

So lets recap. I'm fed up with speculation, I'm fed up with negative football and I'm fed up with shoddy punditry.

Which just leaves me to say I'm off to be more fed up. Only this time with tea cooked by my lover.

So being fed up isn't all bad.

I Have Questions

What happened?

Where were the Dutch team we have been watching so far this championship?

Who could possibly have predicted the result this evening?

And how come Hiddink can pull off such a victory given the size of his man-breasts?

Can you imagine the scenes in the Russian camp tonight?

Can Italy pull off four underdog victories out of four tomorrow?

What will my son do with his orange shirt now?

Answers on a postcard please.

Gregory's Girl?

I couldn't help but feel sorry for France last night. A very suspect penalty, coupled with a harsh sending off in my opinion (and remember girls, when you are a football fan you must always have an opinion). And an embarrassing deflection off Henry for their second goal was simply the icing on the cake for the Italians.

To be fair of course the Italians do have a certain expertise.

And I'm not sure Monsieur Domenech's response immediately after the game was the most sensitive at a time when the French nation was in mourning as it's team crashed out of Euro 2008.

Meanwhile, in other news, the latest name to be linked to the Foxes is one John Gregory. Who by my reading doesn't have the most awe-inspiring records in management.

I'm always one to give people a chance before I judge of course. But given the difficulty we seem to be having recruiting I can't help worrying that we are probably having to take whatever we can get.

So if we do get JG, I think I'll reserve my unconditional endorsement for a while.

A few good victories could win me over though.

Spoilt For Choice

So then - which match to watch tonight?

With both being screened at the same time a choice has to be made. I really want to see the Holland/Romania match because I will be fascinated to see how a great attacking team fare against a great defending team.

On the other hand the France/Italy game is so critical how can I not watch that?

And have you managed to work out the various permutations as to who will go through to the quarter finals? Bearing in mind that Holland are already secured a place, this is how the runner up (who will play the winner of Group D) will be decided;

If Romania win they go through, irrespective of what happens in the other match. If they draw and the other match is a draw they go through. If France and Italy draw 0-0, Romania can lose by one goal, two goals or by a three-goal margin other than 3-0 but still qualify. If Romania lose 3-0 to the Dutch, Italy would qualify with a 0-0 draw against France because of their superior coefficient points. If Romania lose by four goals or more and the other game ends 0-0, Italy would proceed with a better overall goal difference. If France and Italy share a score draw (1-1, 2-2, 3-3 etc), Italy will go through if Romania lose (by any score). If Romania lose and one of the other teams win, that winning team will go through. France must win to have any chance of qualifying.

So now you know!

On balance then I think it will have to be the France/Italy match. Hoping for one of the combinations that send Romania through.

The Clock Is Ticking

Well well!

I have to say that despite wavering a bit earlier in the week, I am now engaged completely again in Euro 2008. A great match between Italy and Romania yesterday, followed by the absolutely compelling game between Holland and France, including some absolutely amazing goals, especially the third Dutch goal?It will be very interesting to see what happens when Holland play Romania now they are guaranteed to go through to the quarter finals. I assume they will put out a reserve team, which means that there is a chance Romania could steal it. Now that would put the cat amongst the pigeons!

As for today's matches, having missed Spain earlier in the week I was disappointed with their performance tonight, even though they won. They will certainly need to raise their game if they are going to progress in this tournament. I'm not watching the Russia/Greece match though because

1. I'm posting
2. We have a friend round for the evening
3. My lover is cooking a delicious curry which will be sliding down my throat with a nice cool lager within the next half hour
4. I just can't get excited about either team

And amidst all that, the turbulent waters at Leicester City seem to be continuing. Paul Ince doesn't want to know and the only recently appointed CEO has already moved on.

Mandy must really be feeling the pressure now. Next season is already fast approaching - the fixture list is out on Monday. He needs to keep the fans onside to try to keep attendence up at the Walkers. Most of all though, he needs to find a manager who is half way decent but is willing to take a risk with someone who has such a trigger happy reputation.

Tick, tock, tick, tock..........................................................

Have I Got News For You

Hey listen!

Have I got some news for you.

Talk about a scoop. I've got the hottest story around.

And I'm pretty sure I'm the first one to be breaking it.

Wayne Rooney got married today!

There - told you it was good.

In a top secret wedding - probably one of the best kept secrets of this century - he married his childhood sweetheart Coleen.

The event was a very low key, low budget affair and the couple insisted upon no publicity.

As a special nuptial gift, and by way of recompense for knocking England out of the European tournament, Croatia sent their own special gift of a very satisfying German defeat.

Can't wait to see how long it takes the rest of the world to catch up with that one.

For Goodness Sake France Just Score A Goal

I saw Mr Capello today.

Not in person you understand. On the TV. He was being interviewed (half time entertainment in the Romania/France match). I have to say his command of English was impressive and he was quite charming.

As for the football. Well I'm supposed to be supporting France. But I didn't fall in love with them tonight I have to say. Not that the Romanians made it easy. Weren't they great defensively?

Makes for rather boring football though. One of the commentators said as they came back on the pitch after the half time break "I feel like saying 'For goodness sake France, just score a goal'". I had the very same thought.

Oh and by the way - don't worry that all this continental excitement has made me forget the real football story of the moment.

Come on Mandy - he must be back of his holiday by now.

Out Playing With The Big Girls

Do you remember a few days ago I mentioned I had been invited to a round-table discussion with some other lady football bloggers?

Well we got together earlier in the week (virtually of course) and did that thing.

Talk about being out with the big girls! Some of them really do know their stuff. Left me standing to some extent. It was fun though and you can see the results of it here and here.

Now that the tournament has actually kicked off, I've already changed my views about some of the teams. Croatia's performance earlier was disappointing after the first 20 minutes of so I thought. And Austria, bless 'em, did the best they could with what they had.

Half way through the Poland/Germany match and it looks as if Herr Low's lot are heading for victory. A shame because I was expecting more of Poland.

Anyway there have been a few other highlights. I mean that Croatian coach - he's a bit of a dude isn't he? (if a little bit scary) Apparently he sings in a band in his spare time. Shake, rattle and roll!

And Michael Ballack. I'd forgotten what a hunk he is.

Talking of licking my lips, I'm off to nibble on some cheese and biscuits and watch the second half.