The Anybody But England Thread.

*n.b. - This thread is purely intended as a bit of tongue in cheek fun & should not be considered to be a serious attack on any of the right minded, even handed England fans that exist out there. - All five of you.

Considering people are mentioning this in other threads, thought it deserved it's own thread.

A thread to act as a sanctuary from the nationalistic jingoism that goes with Team England at these international events. To be able to discuss the matches & events of the day in a neutral atmosphere while the knuckle dragging tattooed skinheads all perform their mutual masturbation in another thread.

Feel free to post Articles from the press or comments from other media sources & supporters throughout the World Cup that displays what they claim to be patriotism that inevitably turns into nationalism.

racist scum.

can we poke fun at the Scottish for being too crap to qualify

nice one gregg

I'll remember this thread when Wales finally qualify in 3016 don't you worry.

Will this be the safe haven to say England is the third rated team in that group here in Holland?

They're probably the 3rd rate team everywhere tbh

In Brazil England generally rated above Uruguay. Italy expected to win the group.

I don't know why England seem to fear Uruguay, the Uruguayans can be tough opponents, but their team are old+decadent and Suárez won't even be fit. I won't be surprised if they only beat Costa Rica.

The cheek of this thread...unbelievable

PMLF - I agree, I think Uruguay will go out.

In Brazil England generally rated above Uruguay. Italy expected to win the group.

I don't know why England seem to fear Uruguay, the Uruguayans can be tough opponents, but their team are old+decadent and Suárez won't even be fit. I won't be surprised if they only beat Costa Rica.

SkyBet have Uruguay as the favourites to progress from the group (or at least they did when I looked last week.) It's weird to me. I think Italy are clear favourites. Second between England and Uruguay can go either way. We definitely have a chance and I don't think Uruguay are as scary as people are making out (though they are 100% able to beat us)

I'll get this thread back on track.

The ultimate sign of bitterness is the anyone but England gag

The John Terry one really has to be an animated GIF to do it justice

What if you're English and are ABE though?

Isn't that nearly everyone in the media these days? "Like England, who me ... nah, rubbish, I'd rather watch Bosnia play Panama this evening"

*n.b. - This thread is purely intended as a bit of tongue in cheek fun & should not be considered to be a serious attack on any of the right minded, even handed England fans that exist out there. - All five of you.

Considering people are mentioning this in other threads, thought it deserved it's own thread.

A thread to act as a sanctuary from the nationalistic jingoism that goes with Team England at these international events. To be able to discuss the matches & events of the day in a neutral atmosphere while the knuckle dragging tattooed skinheads all perform their mutual masturbation in another thread.

Feel free to post Articles from the press or comments from other media sources & supporters throughout the World Cup that displays what they claim to be patriotism that inevitably turns into nationalism.

^ the state of this. And coming from a Welshie as well. Nationalistic Jingoism, really? Would be a far better description of the Welsh/Scottish in the ABE camp, hating on the conqueror of your wonderful tiny little Principalities.

Come back once your sorry little territory has qualified for a ****ing tournament.

This is supposed to be a safe haven for them, ri

This is supposed to be a safe haven for them, ri

And I would respect that if it wasn't the most pathetic thread I've ever seen.

Ha what a ****ing bite that is. WP Clarity

The ultimate sign of bitterness is the anyone but England gag

I can't wait for the English tabloids to go bonkers once England lose a game

Was that a bite or a masterful counter-troll?

Anyway, more of this please. So glad they made the right call during the match.

My disdain of England is not a reflection of them directly, more a disdain of the frequent desire to dismiss those around them (Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) as irrelevant nuisances. Which we are, on the major tournament front of course, we just don't need it constantly pointed out.

I like and want to do well Scotland, Wales and both Ireland's

Why can't we all just be friends....

First time I ever got punched at school was bursting out laughing when Ronaldinho lobbed Seaman in '02

Then you deserved it

*n.b. - This thread is purely intended as a bit of tongue in cheek fun & should not be considered to be a serious attack on any of the right minded, even handed England fans that exist out there. - All five of you.

Considering people are mentioning this in other threads, thought it deserved it's own thread.

A thread to act as a sanctuary from the nationalistic jingoism that goes with Team England at these international events. To be able to discuss the matches & events of the day in a neutral atmosphere while the knuckle dragging tattooed skinheads all perform their mutual masturbation in another thread.

Feel free to post Articles from the press or comments from other media sources & supporters throughout the World Cup that displays what they claim to be patriotism that inevitably turns into nationalism.

^ the state of this. And coming from a Welshie as well. Nationalistic Jingoism, really? Would be a far better description of the Welsh/Scottish in the ABE camp, hating on the conqueror of your wonderful tiny little Principalities.

Come back once your sorry little territory has qualified for a ****ing tournament.

Haha. Amazing.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha Ri

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sick of the media jizzing over England at every opportunity. And the way some fans *coughRIcough* try to put Scotland (and the other home nations tbf) down is hilarious. More pathetic than this thread fwiw.

Your capital city has a bigger population than our entire nation and we have a diddy league (that we are aware is a diddy league). Nobody's expecting us to do much and our media don't pretend like we have some sort of god-given right to win every tournament that comes around. If the same could be same for England I'm sure the nation wouldn't be the most despised on the planet when it comes to international football.

I'm not really an ABE, though. I definitely used to be. Nowadays I couldn't give a toss. Just dislike when people try to put my ****** nation down. Only Scots can call Scotland *****.

I got banned for 3 months during the 2002 World Cup for posting "Come on Argentina".

Are the media really jizzing over England?

I think people waffle on about the media regardless of what the media say or do

It IS a bloody World Cup and England are in so it's obviously being covered very thoroughly. Unfortunately with the unique situation of the UK it means your TV is the same as our TV so you're gonna get 'we are ready' ... 'let's go to the England camp' ... just the way it is

There are other countries that are as small and not as rubbish btw and 20 years ago it wasn't like this. Scotland were always a throughly competent team that made tournaments and went out, even when they should have gone through. You're not goddamn Faroe Islands, ffs.

I'd also like to point out the mood of the Scots heading into the 1974 World Cup when we're talking about getting over excited about how well we will do

... and we have NEVER thought we have a given right to win anything. It's called being optimistic and hopeful and we did have a very good team for a decade so yes, we should have maybe made a semi in the midst of that but you'd be hard pressed to find a proper fan that was expecting to win anything ... hopeful, yes. Thought we maybe could (with a good draw and bit of luck), yes but not expecting it ... don't mix up the tabloids rable-rousing as anything more than that

I think people like to play 'the media' card to disguise their own pettiness over England tbh

^ the state of this. And coming from a Welshie as well. Nationalistic Jingoism, really? Would be a far better description of the Welsh/Scottish in the ABE camp, hating on the conqueror of your wonderful tiny little Principalities.

Come back once your sorry little territory has qualified for a ****ing tournament.

Just incase there was any doubt. I was being really, really, really ​serious with this post.

Well, CC's OP was in tongue-in-cheek so why not

<snip>

England

Algeria

Slovenia

Yanks

The media is despicable when it comes to England and the world cup and I don't know how any English person could suggest otherwise. The sheer arrogance on display around this time of year turns my stomach.

Granted it's not been anywhere near as bad this year as it was back in 2010, which is probably why I care less now than I did (like I stated in my other post).

As for Scotland - I know we're not the Faroe Islands ffs But times have changed, we genuinely haven't got the same levels of talent today that we had back in 1998, for example. Long gone are the days where we have expectations of qualifying for tournaments. We now simply hope to qualify.

That might change with Euro 16 taking more competitors, I think an expectation could return there again, yes. But that's a while away, we'll see how that goes.

e: I'd like to clarify that I'm talking strictly about the media when I talk of expectations. It's more than just hype and hope, it's a genuine expectation from the majority of the English media that you should go very far and maybe even win tournaments. It's ridiculous.

English fans are alright until they decide to turn on Scotland/Wales/(N.) Ireland and then they become pillocks but otherwise I've never had a problem with English fans themselves. Just the media.

Well, look at that group, ffs. Did anyone think for a second it would be a problem? I mean, come on You telling me you didn't think 'lucky ********' after the draw?

We don't have preface every single fixture with a timid 'well, obviously it won't be easy'. We did qualify from it just played utterly, utterly awful!

In the previous decade I don't see what is sooooo amazing that we'd do well in a tournament? We had a very good team. 1/4 finals is reasonably far but I just wanted one more round on occasion

The likes of the Sun or Mirror can slag off England all qualifying but the second a tournament comes round they're giving it large cause it sells papers. What do you want the headlines to be 'England hopeful but not expecting much'? All the coverage I have seen has been 'we might be able to surprise teams' ... 'our young players can give us edge' and so on. Nothing wrong with that

If you're taking your cue from the tabloids there's not much we can do. I don't see any tabloid headlines even when I am back in the UK (unless they're comedy ones like Pearce in a German helmet ) but German papers or equivalent to the Sun are just as bad btw

I am sure the Daily Record of whatever you got up there is all downtrodden when you're off to a tournament. Media wants everyone gee'd up and you weren't that quiet in '74. Weren't concerned about it then

I'd also like to point out the mood of the Scots heading into the 1974 World Cup when we're talking about getting over excited about how well we will do

think you mean 78 and the march with "Ally's Army" to get beaten by Peru and draw with Iran we were quite unlucky not to get through in 74, unbeaten and only unable to qualify because Yugoslavia and Brazil smashed Zaire by more goals

with the ABE, I don't actually think it's that bad this time at the moment. Probably because most of the English media are actually realistic at the moment which doesn't usually happen in World Cups, although a win or two and they'll probably change their tune. As said before probably, I dislike the idea of dismissing other countries who are at the World Cup so we can see how England's preparations are going. I understand it's a British TV station with 50m of them situated in England but stuff like talking about England through the HT of a game (New Zealand V Slovakia in 2010 comes to mind here) when you are meant to be reflecting on the game is just disrespectful in my eyes

My mum wasn't even alive for the 74 World Cup, so I really don't have an opinion on any of that, I don't even know if I'm sure what you're talking about ffs

As for the EASY thing - it was absolutely ridiculous. It's the WC ffs, as if the other three teams were going to roll over because "oh, it's England, Steven Gerrard will smash us, why even try?"

I keep trying to prepare a response to Downie but Razzler keeps beating me to it.

My mum wasn't even alive for the 74 World Cup, so I really don't have an opinion on any of that, I don't even know if I'm sure what you're talking about ffs

As for the EASY thing - it was absolutely ridiculous. It's the WC ffs, as if the other three teams were going to roll over because "oh, it's England, Steven Gerrard will smash us, why even try?"

I wasn't born in 74 either but my dad went to the tournament in Germany so I have a decent knowledge of it and surely most Scottish football fans know about the disaster that was 78?

apart from the Holland game and Archie's goal of course

I know what happened at the tournaments, I have absolutely no idea what the media said at the time and in the build up to the tournaments themselves though

78 was when we did some sort of bus parade round Hampden saying that we were going to come back with the World Cup from Argentina

78 was when we did some sort of bus parade round Hampden saying that we were going to come back with the World Cup from Argentina

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha

To be honest that's probably worse than anything England's ever done

I think the correct answer to this thread is... "Hated, Adored, never Ignored?"

tbf, my contempt for England has waned in previous years. I find myself more and more interested, going back to how I felt before I had enough after WC 2006. I'm enjoying the management, and the youngsters currently in the squad. I just think everyone is alot less giddy than they have been about the WC, I think that includes the Media aswell.

Hopefully one of the benefits of an enlarged Euro competition will be allowing the Scots/Welsh to come to the party, they haven't been invited to in a long time.

I understand it's a British TV station with 50m of them situated in England but stuff like talking about England through the HT of a game (New Zealand V Slovakia in 2010 comes to mind here) when you are meant to be reflecting on the game is just disrespectful in my eyes

Doubt New Zealand or Slovakia lost any sleep over the lack of Hansen/Shearer analysis of how well Chris Woods is playing. (Just googled it, it was 0-0 at HT. No wonder they talked about something else ffs).

I think England are guilty of being self absorbed but not for overhyping it. Or at least not in my memory. If looking at world cups in particular in 2002 and 2006 we had really good teams we just didn't perform less so in 2010 but the group was easy. This time round we know our squad is average but maybe we can do okay

Yes, 1978

but tbf Scotland had a good side

Every reason to be hopeful and optimistic but ... you know

I think England are guilty of being self absorbed but not for overhyping it. Or at least not in my memory. If looking at world cups in particular in 2002 and 2006 we had really good teams we just didn't perform less so in 2010 but the group was easy. This time round we know our squad is average but maybe we can do okay

'easy' group (oh come on, it was .. it says something we were as bad as we was and still went through!) and new, exciting manager that qualified us very well and then proceeded to panic and make everyone question wtf was going on

That was disappointing about 2010

2002 we were good, had an arse of a group and it annoys me we didn't get stuck into Brazil a little more. 2004 Euros we were good too. I mean, we had a good team

People think nothing of naming the likes Uruguay 'dark horses' but are they really gonna win? The draw opened up for them last time around and no one had predicted them to do well then anyway

Doubt New Zealand or Slovakia lost any sleep over the lack of Hansen/Shearer analysis of how well Chris Woods is playing. (Just googled it, it was 0-0 at HT. No wonder they talked about something else ffs).

I think England are better than uruguay their squad has aged since last world cup. Whilst Cavani and Suarez are clearly great the latter may not even be fit to play against us,

My mum wasn't even alive for the 74 World Cup, so I really don't have an opinion on any of that, I don't even know if I'm sure what you're talking about ffs

As for the EASY thing - it was absolutely ridiculous. It's the WC ffs, as if the other three teams were going to roll over because "oh, it's England, Steven Gerrard will smash us, why even try?"

That's because The Sun is ridiculous ffs

TM makes a good point about the talking about England during other games. I'm pretty sure they talked about us before, during and after the games last time, and basically said the same thing "yeah, they're training." Fascinating stuff. Talk about the game that's actually on ffs. People are tuning in to watch the game being broadcast, not to hear utterly pointless stuff about England training.