salty

Rather than be only offering an opinion from time to time on England (15 other nations are taking part) I am opening a thread on our guys. After the 1-0 win on Saturday over Bosnia & H they went to Italy yesterday for a weeks training camp. They are due to play a friendly next Monday against Hungary before going into action on Sunday June 10th against Croatia. With Spain and Italy also in the group we are the outsiders and it would not be a surprise if we do not qualify for the 1/4 finals.

But hey we made it and it will give the country a lift for the next few weeks.

The end for King Kenny. He met the owners in Boston  earlier this week and it is fair to say they were underwhelmed by the Liverpool results . Speculation which has been growing since the weekend when Roberto Martinez was mentioned in a few places as a replacement. The runners and riders should be named shortly by the bookies.

No more of those riveting interviews.

The soap opera of the English captaincy continued this morning when the FA replaced Terry as captain. With the court case postponed until after the European Championshipshe FA felt they had to act. Stephen Gerrard is the favourite to be the next captain.

I have to say as a non Englishman the whole affair has its humourous aspect.

England and the Republic of Ireland narrowly avoided being pitched against each other in the finals of Euro 2012, as the two nations experienced mixed fortunes at Friday's draw in Kiev.

From Sky Sports website

Fabio Capello's England were the last team to be picked, as they were drawn in Group D with co-hosts and top seeds Ukraine, 2000 European champions France and old rivals Sweden.

The draw appeared favourable for the Three Lions, but the same could not be said for Giovanni Trapattoni's Republic of Ireland.

Having coming through the play-offs, the Republic were drawn in the daunting Group C along with reigning world and European champions Spain, Croatia and Italy.


Euro 2012 finals draw:

Group A
Poland Greece Russia Czech Republic
Group B
Holland Denmark Germany Portugal
Group C
Spain Italy Republic of Ireland Croatia
Group D
Ukraine Sweden France England
.
The Netherlands, defeated World Cup finalists in 2010, were drawn in Group B along with 1992 European champions Denmark, Portugal and historical foes Germany.

A favourable-looking Group A included hosts Poland, who were automatically given their top seed, the Czech Republic, 2004 champions Greece and Russia.

As expected Martin O'Neill will be the next Sunderland Manager.

http://news.bbc.co.u...all/default.stm