"Fortuna Favet Felix"

Should be our new national motto.

It would appear that blues music is crucial to England's progress in the tournament according to Roy Keane and Jamie Caaarrrggghhhhaaaaarrrrggghhhher, as they keep going on about someone called B Diddley when they talk about the quarter final.

I'm pretty sure I heard Mowbray and Lawrenson wish a hamstring injury on Abate tonight during the game.

I'm sure it was all in the spirit of banter, but, y'know, like, fuck off.

I'm gutted that on SkyPlus RTE goes off the air as soon as a match starts on BBC or ITV.

McManaman said something tonight along the lines of "yes, as fatigue sets in players tend to slow down."

Yes they did wish injury on Abate - but that's just Ingurland fans in 'fair-play' mode, yes?

And isn't Lawrenson 'Irish'? I don't think Roy Keane says 'we' when discussing England unlike the cringeworthy Paddy Barclay, Alan Hansen or Alan Green - the damn Uncle Toms.

Incandenza wrote:


My memory is that he was saying that substitutes slow the game down, presumably because they have to adjust to the pace of the game.

Evan Evian wrote:


Not really, no.



I've never heard Hansen use the Royal 'We'.

Trust me Hansen has used the term - not recently but he has form on this.

I was being ironic with my 'fair play' comment...

Ah, Uncle Toni. A Doctor Speaks?

And isn't Lawrenson 'Irish'? I don't think Roy Keane says 'we' when discussing England unlike the cringeworthy Paddy Barclay, Alan Hansen or Alan Green - the damn Uncle Toms.

He certainly is a cunt. That's common knowledge by now anyway, but only Lawrenson can have the gall to put on two hours of sonic shit and then have the nerve to say 'this Is purgatory'. There's another little verbal tic he demonstrated last night which got me, his penchant for delivering cold, sharp little rejoinders which aren't humourous at all but just sound mean and spiteful. Out of context they'd mean nothing, but on the night just rankle. There was a tweet last night by one Gareth Aveyard which had me chuckling like mad and it's my pleasure to add it here:

Mark Lawrenson commentates like a drunk cartoon tortoise being forced to give a eulogy for someone he always secretly hated.

It's a lovely alternative, because all I can think of are swear words.

During the England/Ukraine goalline controversy, Andy Townsend said: "He's standing in the wrong place, the post is in the way of the line". The post isn't in the way of the line, it's level with it. If you're level with the post, and you can't see the ball, it hasn't crossed the line.


There's a lovely letter in the last WSC which has its correspondent hope that in the event of him being brought up in court on a criminal charge, he would have Andy Townsend thrown out of the jury on the grounds that he's an idiot. The elevation of arseholes to positions of chief punditry is a process ITV and BBC overcome their rivalry to share, it seems.

A bit late, I know, but late on during the Germany - Greece match the director cut to a Greek fan in the obligatory face paint clutching a crucifix, apparently praying for some sort of divine inspiration. The ITV commentator (Drury?) sneered that 'no amount of superstition' would help Greece at this stage. I'm not a believer myself, but it struck me as a 'brave' (in the Yes Minister sense) piece of commentary to write off Christianity as superstition on primitive TV?
Maybe we could have a commentary team of Richard Dawkins and Stephen Fry for 2014? At least it would spare us Lawro and Beglin.

(edit: oops, primetime TV. On this occasion maybe my predictive text knew what it was doing, though?

Talking of awful things in the media did anyone else see 'The Ladyboy' (Gabby Logan) provide embarrassing session of hagiography with Cashley?

Talk about a soft interview - "so Cashly why are so generally yummy and wonderful" asked the tranny as 'her' first question.

I know standards are not high in the UK media but really how much worse can the BBC coverage become?

Why not bring back Ian Wright - at least the reacts like an average typical Ingurland fan, yes?

Stay classy there, Evan.

Otherwise, you're like a stuck record. Killing every thread with the same monotonous whine.

How long are we going to have to put up with this before you bugger off? Because I'm off now until you've gone, and I'd be unsurprised if others follow.

England are out now so I trust that trollboy will be gone when their plane touches down. If not, where are the mods? The misogyny and homophobia of that last post are enough for the boot IMHO.

Back to appalling punditry (although I'd add in passing that Evan has done more than enough to be banned by now, so I hope he has been), this from Phil Brown is slightly jaw-dropping in its ignorance, on several different levels.

Sorry for my ignorance but who's Phil Brown?

I'm sure (as you imply) that Brown does not know what "homophobic" means; in context, he seems to use it to mean "a player who only wants to play in his own league"; travel-phobic.

Brown seems to be unaware that Pirlo has won a World Cup, Champions League and Serie A and that this might make him happy.

Evan Evian wrote:


Fuck off, you cunt.

Appalling punditry heard on the radio driving home:

Martin Keown (for it was he) told us he thought CRonaldo would score tonite, so Spain would need 2,
'and they haven't managed that recently'

perhaps a wallchart might've been useful to remind him of their last 2 (i.e most 'recent')results...

Felicity, I guess so wrote:
!!!!!!!!!