[FM12] Now You Do Not Punish Someone, English Or Otherwise, For Being Rubbish At FM...

[MattSpurs94]

Weymouth!

[SRL88]

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo thats a 'stinker' of a group .

[SnakeXe]

Weymouth!

I know thought I'd never see them back!

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo thats a 'stinker' of a group .

Plenty of trips east, so I guess it's a stinker for the WAGs if they fancied fun in the sun...

[cswalk08]

Weymouth is back! Huzzah!

[deltablue]

Plenty of news to warm the heart among old clubs.

[DBurns]

Just read through this from the very start. Great career you’ve had.

First thing I noticed was the Euro 2012 semi-finals, had England beat Italy IRL the semi finals would have been spot on!

Also, thoroughly enjoyed the resignation from Arsenal and landing at Santos! A lot of league titles won!

[SnakeXe]

Weymouth is back! Huzzah!

Plenty of news to warm the heart among old clubs.

Indeed! Mostly very good, only Wigan had a really bad season.

Just read through this from the very start. Great career you’ve had.

First thing I noticed was the Euro 2012 semi-finals, had England beat Italy IRL the semi finals would have been spot on!

Also, thoroughly enjoyed the resignation from Arsenal and landing at Santos! A lot of league titles won!

Thanks!

I hadn't noticed that - it's quite spooky really! Considering that was played out on my save back in October 2011, anyway... perhaps I should put some bets on for semi-finalists at the 2014 World Cup?

Haha I'm glad you enjoyed that! I was considering doing something similarly role-play-ish for my exit from Newcastle but I'm quite busy at the moment so just wanted to get on with it really. I'll come up with something for when I finish with England, definitely!

[DBurns]

Thanks!

I hadn't noticed that - it's quite spooky really! Considering that was played out on my save back in October 2011, anyway... perhaps I should put some bets on for semi-finalists at the 2014 World Cup?

Haha I'm glad you enjoyed that! I was considering doing something similarly role-play-ish for my exit from Newcastle but I'm quite busy at the moment so just wanted to get on with it really. I'll come up with something for when I finish with England, definitely!

Very spooky indeed! Should Germany win tomorrow night IRL, I think I'll put a bet on Spain winning the final 2-0! Haha.

In good form at the minute with England, should be able to keep it going considering the draw for the World Cup Qualifying Group.

This career along with SRL88 and tomtuck's careers have inspired me into starting my own journeyman save!

[deltablue]

Indeed! Mostly very good, only Wigan had a really bad season.

For me that was a bonus

[SnakeXe]

Very spooky indeed! Should Germany win tomorrow night IRL, I think I'll put a bet on Spain winning the final 2-0! Haha.

In good form at the minute with England, should be able to keep it going considering the draw for the World Cup Qualifying Group.

This career along with SRL88 and tomtuck's careers have inspired me into starting my own journeyman save!

Haha! Yeah probably a good shout to be honest, Spain just seem to have an aura of invincibility despite not really playing well. Germany have almost been too impressive to win it - it almost never happens that a team look amazing for the whole tournament and win. Although I kind of hope they do, they're much more entertaining, and I absolutely love Ozil.

Glad we've inspired you, I'll make sure to take a look at your thread

For me that was a bonus

Oh leave them alone

[SnakeXe]

England Squad v Belgium (h) 10.08.39 (Friendly)

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]In[/TD]

[TD]Out[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Stanley Okoro - DRC - Arsenal

Mitchell Breach - M/AML - Newcastle

John Holland - ST - Man Utd

Oscar Hall - ST - Cardiff[/TD]

[TD]Tom Cruse - DRC - Huddersfield (injured)

Karl Smith - DM/MC - Everton (injured)

Graham Ellams - WB/ML - Swansea (not selected)

Daniel Nwaogu - ST - Shamrock Rovers (not selected)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Cruse misses his first squad since I took over with an injury, with Okoro set to make his debut after impressing for the U21s. Smith again misses out with an injury, with Bond switching back to midfield as his replacement, allowing Holland and Hall to complete our first-choice forward line with Wakefield and N'Shole. Nwaogu is the other to make way, whilst Breach's return from injury means Ellams stays at home.

[SnakeXe]

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]England 2

John Holland (15)

Mbala Mbuta N'Shole (90+3)

Friendly International

Wembley, 73,977[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]Belgium 3

Nathan Callens (6)

Benjamin Leroux (34, 72)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Lineup (4-4-2)[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]Lineup (4-2-3-1 Narrow)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[SnakeXe]

This game makes it pretty clear to me that we can't expect to compete against decent sides with a sub-second-choice backline. McKenzie was hauled off after half-time as Leroux ran him ragged time and time again. We were better in the second half, but it'd be hard to be worse than we were in the first, Holland's smart finish aside. A bad result it might be, but I've learned a lot.

[SnakeXe]

England Squad v Ukraine (a) 03.09.39 and Georgia (h) 07.09.39 (Euro Qualifiers)

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]In[/TD]

[TD]Out[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Tom Cruse - DRC - Huddersfield

Danny Oakley - DC - Liverpool[/TD]

[TD]Stanley Okoro - DRC - Arsenal (not selected)

Adrian McKenzie - DC - Tottenham (not selected)[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Unsurprisingly after the previous result the major changes were in defence, with Cruse and Oakley coming back in following injuries.

[SnakeXe]

Tamer Chorley suffers an injury in training so Fred rejoins the squad after a move to Man Utd.

[SnakeXe]

Oscar Hall likewise (who has moved to Newcastle in a big-money transfer - he's not very good guys :confused:) gets injured so I bring in a midfielder to replace him, Rob Hodges of Middlesbrough, so Bond covers the last striker position again.

[SnakeXe]

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Ukraine 1

Roman Yuzhanin (37)

Euro 2040 Qualifier (Group E)

Donbas-Arena, 51,504

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]England 0

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Lineup (4-5-1)

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]Lineup (4-4-1-1)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[SnakeXe]

Unbelievably frustrating game. We dominated but nothing would go in. They, of course, scored with their only chance of the game (until the 80th minute when we had to start throwing numbers forward). Still, we're still top and if we win our last 2 games, against Georgia at home and Iceland away, we'll definitely win the group.

[SnakeXe]

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]England 4

Fred (15)

Mbala Mbuta N'Shole (24, 26)

Jed Smith (43)

Euro 2040 Qualifier (Group E)

Wembley, 90,000

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]Georgia 0

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Lineup (4-2-3-1)

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]Lineup (4-2-3-1)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[deltablue]

One down, just Iceland left.

[SnakeXe]

A much better performance, the performance we should have put in in Tbilisi and Donetsk. We matched their system and our individual quality shone through. I'm strongly considering starting this way in Rejkjavik - although we only need a draw now, we saw against Ukraine what can happen if you play too cautiously.

[SnakeXe]

One down, just Iceland left.

Feeling confident now, we're going to go and smash them.

[SnakeXe]

England Squad v Iceland (a) 08.10.39 (Euro Qualifiers)

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]In[/TD]

[TD]Out[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD][/url]Chris Leigh - GK - Fulham

Tamer Chorley - DC - Huddersfield

Karl Smith - DM/MC - Everton

Joe Chamberlain - M/AMLC - Burnley

[/TD]

[TD]Tristan Smith - GK - Wigan (injured)

Danny Oakley - DC - Liverpool (injured)

Rob Hodges - DM/MC - Middlesbrough (not selected)

Mike Preston - ML - Paris Saint-Germain (injured)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Tristan Smith, Oakley and Preston all suffer injuries, so Leigh and Chorley come back in, whilst I select young Joe Chamberlain as Preston's replacement since Ellams is just completely uninspiring. The Burnley winger may be raw but he's at least got a bit about him. Hodges drops out as vice-captain Karl Smith returns.

[SnakeXe]

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Iceland 3

Karl Joseph o.g. (11, 52)

Arnar Hannesson

Euro 2040 Qualifier (Group E)

Laugardalsvollur, 9,800

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]England 1

Mitchell Breach (17)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Lineup (4-4-2)

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]Lineup (4-2-3-1)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[SnakeXe]

Another horrific performance away from home. What on earth is wrong with us?! Two (TWO!!) own goals from the previously unflappable Karl Joseph, the Ashley Cole of his era, and a completely toothless display going forward. What a joke. And yet we're through because Georgia and Moldova drew. Iceland can top the group by beating Moldova away in the final round of games, and they probably deserve to, because we really haven't performed like group winners. I need to undertake a serious review before the finals.

[SnakeXe]

Well, we got the break we didn't deserve, Iceland failing to beat Moldova. I suppose we have beaten every team in the group at least, but losing - and losing badly in two cases - away to Georgia, Iceland and Ukraine is embarassing and unacceptable under my management. Things will change.

[deltablue]

Sneaked through there. Was shocked when I saw the result.

[SRL88]

A few to many defeats really. Do you find the level of talent coming through for England when you are as far into the game as you are to be quite poor?

[SnakeXe]

Sneaked through there. Was shocked when I saw the result.

I couldn't believe what was happening in front of my eyes. Just a ridiculous performance. Iceland passed the ball well though, they are quite a good side. Although I have to wonder how much was us letting them look good.

A few to many defeats really. Do you find the level of talent coming through for England when you are as far into the game as you are to be quite poor?

There's the odd top class player and then a lot of uninspiring rubbish. Kind of like real life.

[SnakeXe]

England Squad v Norway (h) 12.11.39 and Israel (a) 16.11.39 (Friendlies)

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]In[/TD]

[TD]Out[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Tristan Smith - GK - Wigan

Stanley Okoro - DRC - Arsenal

Danny Oakley - DC - Liverpool

Peter Lynch - DRL - Man City[/TD]

[TD]Chris Leigh - GK - Fulham (not selected)

Tom Cruse - DRC - Huddersfield (injured)

Fred - DC - Man Utd (not selected)

Greg Jones - D/MR - Newcastle (injured)[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Massive injury crisis at right back as both our two usual choices are injured. Really wanted to have a massive squad clearout but there's just noone to come in, except in the positions where we're already strong. A real headache. It might have to be a tactical revolution perhaps.

[SnakeXe]

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]England 2

Phil Bond (28)

Mbala Mbuta N'Shole (90+1)

Friendly International

Wembley, 73,986

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]Norway 1

Kenneth Evjen (42)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Lineup (4-2-3-1)[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]Lineup (4-5-1)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[SnakeXe]

Another poor performance which shouldn't be masked by the scoreline, I think this spells the end of 4-2-3-1 for this England side.

[SRL88]

Sneaking a 2-1 win there.

[SnakeXe]

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Israel 1

Mazen Amar (68)

Friendly International

Bloomfield, 18,752[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]England 1

Mbala Mbuta N'Shole (72)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Lineup (3-5-1-1)[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]Lineup (4-4-1-1)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[crouchaldinho]

4-4-1-1 huh? Mixing it up!

Playmaker behind the striker?

[SnakeXe]

A solid performance, just lacking a bit of imagination going forward.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Finally no more Boo

[SnakeXe]

4-4-1-1 huh? Mixing it up!

Playmaker behind the striker?

Yeah that's what I tried. We were a lot more solid which I liked, but lacking penetration. It's bizarre, we have an absolute surfeit of top-class pacy strikers, but nothing else beyond Oakley, Joseph, Moke and Preston. How do you fit more than one off-the-shoulder player into one side? You can't. Can you?

Finally no more Boo

Indeed I think I was more happy about that than qualifying for the Euros!

[SnakeXe]

Armenia should be a gimme, but it could be tricky against Italy, whilst we won't relish a reaquaintance with Belgium - who gave us a right shoeing at Wembley recently.

[SnakeXe]

England Squad v France (a) 29.02.40 (Friendly)

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]In[/TD]

[TD]Out[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Marcus Clark - GK - Newcastle

Chris Leigh - GK - Fulham

James Sykes - GK - Swansea

Greg Jones - D/MR - Newcastle

Tom Cruse - DRC - Huddersfield

Nick Dixon - DM/MC - Arsenal

Mike Preston - ML - Paris Saint-Germain

Oscar Hall - ST - Newcastle

Damon Crawford - ST - Man Utd

[/TD]

[TD]David Seasman - GK - Man Utd (injured)

Lloyd Clarke - GK - Southampton (injured)

Tristan Smith - GK - Wigan (injured)

Stanley Okoro - DRC - Arsenal (not picked)

Peter Lynch - DRL - Man City (not picked)

Karl Smith - DM/MC - Everton (injured)

Mitchell Breach - M/AML - Newcastle (injured)

John Holland - ST - Man Utd (injured)

Andy Wakefield - ST - Newcastle (injured)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

Absolutely ridiculous injury problems for this squad - at least the previously injured right-back duo of Jones and Cruse are back. My first 3 choice keepers are all injured, so we're down to Marcus Clark - Newcastle's third choice keeper - getting into the squad. I'm glad to see Preston back as well, although less pleased to have him replace Breach rather than the inexperienced Chamberlain, whilst I'm looking forward to giving Damon Crawford a shot up top - the wonderkid has been banging them in for the U21s. Dixon is perhaps a bit young, but I wanted him to have a call-up to reward his good performances for the U21s, and to earmark him as a player for the future.

[SnakeXe]

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]France 0

Friendly International

Stade de France, 47,980[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]England 0

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Lineup (4-4-2 Diamond)[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]Lineup (4-4-1-1)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[SnakeXe]

A far better performance than either of the Norway or Israel games, we almost completely snuffed out arguably the most potent attack in international football, and created a couple of excellent chances to win it. That we couldn't is a slight cause for concern, however I think with a few tactical tweaks it can be rectified - the fact that neither N'Shole or Crawford did well probably implies it is a tactical problem rather than just poor individual displays. I'll try and tweak it to focus more on getting the ball in behind the defence and getting the ball in early from the flanks.

[SnakeXe]

England Squad - 30-man Preliminary for Euro 2040

| Pkd     | Inf     | Name                | Position         | Club                | Height  | Weight       | Age     | Value   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/SmithT.png"]Tristan Smith[/url]       | GK               | Wigan               | 5'11"   | 12 st 6 lbs  | 32      | £3.8M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       | IPR     | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Seasman.png"]David Seasman[/url]       | GK               | Man Utd             | 6'0"    | 12 st 12 lbs | 30      | £4.2M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Leigh.png"]Chris Leigh[/url]         | GK               | Fulham              | 6'0"    | 12 st 10 lbs | 26      | £4.2M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       | IPR     | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Yambasu.png"]Carl Yambasu[/url]        | D (R)            | Stoke               | 5'7"    | 10 st 1 lbs  | 26      | £1.7M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Compaore.png"]Boubacar Compaoré[/url]   | D (RC)           | Liverpool           | 6'4"    | 13 st 9 lbs  | 22      | £9M     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/SmithJ.png"]Jed Smith[/url]           | D (R), DM, M (C) | Man Utd             | 5'9"    | 11 st 2 lbs  | 27      | £6M     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Evans.png"]Craig Evans[/url]         | D (L)            | Chelsea             | 5'10"   | 11 st 6 lbs  | 32      | £950K   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Fred.png"]Fred[/url]                | D (LC)           | Man Utd             | 6'2"    | 13 st 5 lbs  | 30      | £2.7M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Oakley.png"]Danny Oakley[/url]        | D (C)            | Liverpool           | 6'4"    | 13 st 9 lbs  | 33      | £3.9M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Mapes.png"]Jake Mapes[/url]          | D (C)            | Arsenal             | 6'7"    | 14 st 13 lbs | 30      | £3.3M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Chorley.png"]Tamer Chorley[/url]       | D (C)            | Huddersfield        | 6'3"    | 13 st 5 lbs  | 26      | £3.7M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Jones.png"]Greg Jones[/url]          | D/M (R)          | Newcastle           | 5'11"   | 11 st 13 lbs | 24      | £6.25M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Joseph.png"]Karl Joseph[/url]         | D/M (L)          | Man City            | 6'0"    | 12 st 3 lbs  | 32      | £6.75M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/SmithK.png"]Karl Smith[/url]          | DM, M (C)        | Everton             | 6'0"    | 12 st 8 lbs  | 32      | £3.7M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Vigurs.png"]Dan Vigurs[/url]          | DM, M (C)        | Juventus            | 6'3"    | 13 st 5 lbs  | 32      | £5.25M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       | IPR     | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Hodges.png"]Rob Hodges[/url]          | DM, M (C)        | Middlesbrough       | 5'11"   | 12 st 3 lbs  | 30      | £2.4M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       | Wnt     | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Dixon.png"]Nick Dixon[/url]          | DM, M (C)        | Arsenal             | 5'10"   | 12 st 1 lbs  | 18      | £2.8M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Stewart.png"]Andrew Stewart[/url]      | M (R), AM (RC)   | Cardiff             | 5'10"   | 11 st 13 lbs | 24      | £8.75M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Preston.png"]Mike Preston[/url]        | M (L)            | Paris Saint-Germain | 5'11"   | 11 st 9 lbs  | 28      | £26.5M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/N-Shole.png"]Mbala Mbuta N'Shole[/url] | M (C), ST        | Man City            | 5'10"   | 11 st 4 lbs  | 24      | £23M    | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Eric.png"]Branko Eric[/url]         | M/AM (R), ST     | Liverpool           | 6'5"    | 13 st 12 lbs | 29      | £3.8M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       | IPR     | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Brown.png"]Sean Brown[/url]          | M/AM (R), ST     | Blackburn           | 6'0"    | 12 st 8 lbs  | 27      | £4.5M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Breach.png"]Mitchell Breach[/url]     | M/AM (L)         | Newcastle           | 5'8"    | 11 st 4 lbs  | 27      | £1.7M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Chamberlain.png"]Joe Chamberlain[/url]     | M/AM (LC)        | Burnley             | 5'10"   | 11 st 11 lbs | 21      | £1.9M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Moke.png"]Delando Moke[/url]        | M/AM (C)         | Valencia            | 6'4"    | 13 st 3 lbs  | 26      | £19.75M | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Bond.png"]Phil Bond[/url]           | M/AM (C), ST     | Hull                | 5'10"   | 11 st 9 lbs  | 25      | £4M     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Holland.png"]John Holland[/url]        | ST               | Man Utd             | 5'11"   | 11 st 9 lbs  | 26      | £11.5M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       | Inj     | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Wakefield.png"]Andy Wakefield[/url]      | ST               | Newcastle           | 5'11"   | 12 st 3 lbs  | 26      | £23.5M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Hall.png"]Oscar Hall[/url]          | ST               | Newcastle           | 5'11"   | 12 st 1 lbs  | 25      | £22.5M  | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| -       |         | [url="http://i1230.photobucket.com/albums/ee499/MrDeeerp/Journeyman/England/Euro%202040/Squad/Crawford.png"]Damon Crawford[/url]      | ST               | Man Utd             | 6'0"    | 12 st 3 lbs  | 20      | £4.5M   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Fairly predictable for the most part. The only major problem at this stage is that Tom Cruse, first choice right-back, will miss out. Hopefully we'll have no further injuries in the three pre-tournament friendlies we have scheduled. The likes of Brown, Crawford, and Hall will all get a chance to play themselves into contention. Established players that are in danger of missing out include Wakefield, who has been frozen out at Newcastle and is carrying a knock at the moment, and Branko Eric, who similarly hasn't featured much for Liverpool.

[SnakeXe]

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Spain 3

Víctor Franco Zumeta (11)

Domingo López (41)

Mateo (86)

Friendly International

Santiago Bernabéu, 55,608

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]England 3

Oscar Hall (3, 43, 49)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Lineup (4-4-1-1)

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]Lineup (4-4-1-1)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[SnakeXe]

Well, Oscar Hall has booked his place on the plane anyway. Tristan Smith may have played his way out of the starting lineup with a poor display, whilst Danny Oakley definitely will come under pressure from Tamer Chorley, Jack Mapes and Fred for a starting slot. Overall though it was an excellent performance, we threatened Spain's defence constantly, and only good finishing, poor goalkeeping, and lax marking prevented an emphatic win for us. Very encouraging.

[SnakeXe]

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]England 1

Boubacar Compaoré (83)

Friendly International

Wembley, 73,980

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]Slovenia 0

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Lineup (4-4-2)

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]Lineup (4-5-1)[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[SnakeXe]

Another example of how we just lack the technical ability to cut teams apart who come to defend. I think that's it for Crawford's chances really, it'll likely be Hall, N'Shole and one of Holland and Wakefield at the moment. I'm leaning towards Wakefield simply because he's the captain, but it could swing on a performance in the final warm-up against the Czech Republic. Chorley and Leigh were decent enough so they're their shirts to lose now.

[bjoggi33]

What!? Iceland qualifying for a Major Championship! Any chance of a screenshot of their best player?

[SnakeXe]

[TABLE]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]England 2

Andrew Stewart (75)

Andy Wakefield (90+2)

Friendly International

Wembley, 73,965

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]Czech Republic 2

Tomas Zavadil (41)

Miroslav Silny (62)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]Lineup (4-4-2)[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]Lineup (4-3-2-1)

[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD]

[/TD]

[TD][/TD]

[TD]

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]

[SnakeXe]

Well on the negative side, not the best of performances to see us off - we were swamped in midfield and retained the ball poorly - but on the positive side it definitely solves my final selection quandries. Branco Eric will miss out for Steward and Brown, Chamberlain misses out, and Wakefield goes instead of Holland. Oh, and 4-4-1-1 all the way in the competition.