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Thursday, September 6, 2001

Sven roadshow hands power to the people

By Steve Curry

It was a sign of the times. As the names of the England team came over the loudspeakers, it was the mention of Sven Goran Eriksson on the touchline that raised the roof. And that was 45 minutes before the start. It comes to something, doesn't it, when the coach captivates the public as much as the star men? With a modest wave, the quiet man of the moment acknowledged the accolades, yet his eyes didn't stray too far from his players. Heaven knows quite what he was looking for during a warm-up but nothing, it seems, is left to chance by Eriksson.

The reception at St James' was something else.There might not have been a Newcastle player in the England squad but all domestic squabbles were buried under the weight of national expectation after the mauling in Munich.

This remains one of the most educated and passionate footballing audiences in the country. The club may not win trophies these days but the appetite for flowing dramatic football here remains as keen as it has ever been. Indeed this well-educated public understand that in their ranks they have a manager, in Bobby Robson, who helped inspire and train the youthful Sven Goran Eriksson.

When he was nowt but a Swedish lad, Eriksson made the pilgrimage to Ipswich Town, where Robson was in charge, to learn at the feet of this emerging young English coach. The 68-year-old, who went on to dignify the English reputation abroad by lifting trophies with Portuguese, Dutch and Spanish club football, never makes a big play of it. But do not forget that Eriksson checked with Robson whether or not he should take Football Association's job offer.

The Swede asked his English mentor what the state of our game was. Robson, the Geordie who once worked down a Durham coalmine, told him to grab the opportunity with both hands and hang on.

It became Newcastle's contribution to the current renaissance in our game. So, was it the imagination or was the National Anthem sung with greater gusto than we have heard at Wembley since those heady days of the 1960s?

The decision to take these internationals to the people has been an outstanding success. The response has been electrifying at Villa Park, Pride Park, Anfield, White Hart Lane or Newcastle. Indeed, the adoring response from the Kop, albeit England fans rather than Liverpool diehards, has played a dramatic role in David Beckham's emergence as a confident, mature leader of Eriksson's team.

Suddenly England are accessible to a new audience, those who previously relied on the trusted words of commentators like Brian Moore, for whom a minute's silence was impeccably observed. It makes you wonder what the benefits were in playing the matches at Wembley.

That it inspired the opposition is not in question. Robson, cheered to the rafters when he shook hands with the teams, would give due testimony to that in his very first season as England boss in 1982-83. In his third game he took his side to a hostile Salonika and achieved a fine 3-0 victory in a European Championship qualifying game. Three matches later at Wembley, the same Greek side, inspired by their surroundings, held England to a 0-0 draw. The choice of St James' and Old Trafford for the final two qualifying game has been an inspired one, and with the Greeks 'softened-up' by Finland on Wednesday, they should be there for the taking in Manchester on October 6.

The sense of anticipation lhad been hugely heightened by the scoreline in Germany but, as happened there last Saturday, England did not make the most auspicious of starts. And when Owen broke the deadlock there was an immense sigh of relief from the steep banks of the Milburn stand.

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001

Answers

Anglia Personified. (And that's Soccernet)

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001

I must admit I was a Proud man listening to noise around me yesterday , and had a tear in my eye for the minutes silence and remembrance of Brian Moore.

Ken

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001

In vast contrast of this account from a Spurs fan i found dont you think?

>>>>> Hi, im a Spurs fan; What a mistake to take the international to St James Park, i was there, there were loads of empty seats, what was the matter with you geordies?! It was such a sad enditment that when a few hundred England regulars started the "Stand UP if you hate Scotland" chant It was hijacked by smallminded magpies singing "Stand UP if you hate Sunderland". Im sorry but this has no benefit for England at all, disgraceful, It just so happens that my FIRST visit to SJP was when a certain Martin Smith of Sunderland was playing for the England U21s there and every touch of his was greeted by boo's & heckles. This shouldnt happen at International Matches. Sorry guys but it shouldnt. Being both a Spurs & England regular i must say it was in vast contrast to Keiron Dyer & Alan Shearer being treated as one of the blokes when England played Belguim at the Stadium of Light (also a crap game) Your feelings please? <<<<<

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001

There was loads of empty seats, people were changing for a better view at half time, couldn't complain about the atmosphere and its a bit pedantic to say a crappy stand up song was highjacked. Typical moaning spurs fan if you ask me.

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001

Sew wot ders this "ejikatted" footbaalin' publik look liek?

I thought Albania looked fairly comfortable at times, without really threatening - their 2nd half sub Thera (sp?) was probably the most active on the pitch for them, 'cept the left back trying to break Beckham's legs. There was less space with a packed midfield and Heskey looked disinterested when the occasional ball came his way. Owen was always dangerous, great finish. Beckham worked hard to inspire a mostly 1 paced England, although an odd occurance of the petulant retrobution of the past did remind me of his bad old days. Maturing as a leader - did I really say that?

F&%^er was ok, nice dink chip goal. Barmby was also effective, except when in the box...how can you not get on target with a header from 4 yards? Seaman rarely troubled, Ferdinand and Campbell had a nice 90 minute siesta, Neville was ok, as was Gerrard.

But Ashley Cole...hmmm. I have serious doubts that he's making any kind of headway on the international scene. Albania should have had a penalty when he kicked their forward in the leg. The fact that he remained uunbooked over 180 mins during which he made some rather agricultural challanges is worthy of investigation by MI5.

Still, despite my reluctance to associate myself with Ingerlan' FC, I was rather proud of the St James' Park crowd last night. Vocal through most of the game, immaculate observation of the minute's silence and I would submit one of the most respectful observations of the opposing team's national anthem I have ever heard. A few whistles and jeers were soon silenced. That made me very proud.

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001

Macmanananananaman should be alowed to come near the own penaly box. He's a disaster in defence.

Adde Andersson scored the winning goal in 90th minute for Sweden away against Turkey. World Cup here we come, weeeeeeeeeee!

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001

Should NOT be

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001

And JDT got both Denmark goals.

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001

Who are these two super strikers? Somebody should sign them up!

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001

Typical Cockney pillock - complaining bitterly that his "stand up if you hate Scotland" jibe was high-jacked by "small-minded Geordies" voicing the same chant against Sunlan. It clearly hasn't occurred to him that neither chant would have done England any good, or conferr any intelligence on those who sang either. Tosser!

The Sunlan chant disappointed me enormously, but in truth it was very early, very short-lived, and seemed to me have no venom in it - more a bit of a laugh. That, the couple of thousand strangely empty seats, and even a slightly stuttering display from England, can't detract from a simply wonderful, memorable night at SJP. The atmosphere was friendly and electric, the support enthusiastic, and was clearly appreciated by the players. The Albanian Anthem, and the minutes silence for Brian moore, was observed with respect, GSTQ was sung with real justo.

I actually didn't think England played badly at all. They played some nice football in the first half, and created and missed a number of good chances. Without the second goal, they got a little anxious as they visibly tired after the mental and physical exertions of Munich. Indeed, for a 10-15 minute spell in the 2nd half, they were hanging on, and David Seaman showed his continuing value in a young team. Folwer's goal killed the game , and enabled everyone to finally relax and enjoy the climax to a truly memorable night.

I thought Beckham and Scholes were absolutely terrific - absolutely running their socks off - and it was delightful to see Becks getting such a warm reception from the SJP crowd. For his recent England performances he deserved nothing less. Gerrard had a good first half - some of his long passing was sublime - but was totally spent by HT and imo should have been subbed earlier.

On the negative side, I thought Campbell and Barmby were the weak links. Barmby looks out of his depth at this level - McManaman was even worse - and Campbell was again nervy and hesitant thoughout, hardly winning a ball in the air in our PA in the 2nd half.

Great night - hope we don't have to wait another 60 years for the next one.

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001

Gary Neville couldn't say enough great things about playing at club grounds the past year. He claims the players would be thrilled if they never had to go back to Wembley. They love the reception they're getting from real football supporters, and feel the Wembley crowds had become too jaded. The piece I read was in Sporting Life.

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001

On a more personal note, why is Gary Neville allowed to play without a bag over his head? He has obviously been using his trip around the country for England matches as an opportunity to visit a wide variety of Ugly Clinics.

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001

The 'regular' crowd at England's routine Wembley fixtures were miserable, moaning minnies who seemed to get their sport more from barracking individual players as well as the entire team, as the mood struck them.

They struck me as being largely smart-@rse Cockney wide boys (ie. real-life 'Loads-a-moneys') who didn't give a sh*t about footy - the support to the team was virtually non- existent.

Things were very different at Euro96 where the tickets were more widely spread among real fans around the country, and the atmosphere was not unlike last night at SJP.

I asked an Italian friend yesterday what Italy do. He says that while the Olympic stadium in Rome is regarded as the national stadium, Italy routinely play several games per season around the country, and have done this for many years. This seems entirely sensible, and only in this lunatic, SE-dominated country would we chose to do otherwise.

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001

ROTFL, Jacko. Good one.

-- Anonymous, September 06, 2001