World Cup 2026

[Turkish]

56 minutes ago, BH_Saint said:

Christ almighty I'm glad I don't sit next to you at games.

What's he said that you disagree with?

[East Kent Saint]

I find it best to turn the sound off at half time or after the second quarter ! Giroud and Rooney are incomprehensible anyway etc . It may be that they are not actually at the game , just in the studio .  

[Mozz]

2 hours ago, Sheaf Saint said:

We could even end up playing Scotland if we win the group and they qualify as one of the best 3rd placed teams.

We can't.  The third placed team that will play the winner of England's group will come from one of group E, H, I, J or K (Scotland are in Group C).

[Sheaf Saint]

27 minutes ago, Mozz said:

We can't.  The third placed team that will play the winner of England's group will come from one of group E, H, I, J or K (Scotland are in Group C).

Oh. Well that's what ChatGPT told me. Should have known better than to trust that though.

I suppose when it said we could meet in the quarters if we both win our groups that was wrong as well then?

[benjii]

My thoughts:

i) that England performance was rubbish. Absolutely zero chance of winning the World Cup playing like that. 

ii) the bird says more sensible things than most of the other pundits and doesn’t seem to have the learning difficulties that some female pundits had in the past

iii) just be grateful there isn't one on commentary (although that would be better than Matterface)

[Gloucester Saint]

11 hours ago, Dark Munster said:

I think I know who ate them.

Ah, it’s that Dutch striker again.

Van Wanker isn’t it?

[whelk]

42 minutes ago, Turkish said:

What's he said that you disagree with?

There is a limit to how any punditry can excite. Think I have probably heard everything that can ever be said by a pundit about a football team although get occasional gems like Keane calling Robertson a big baby. 

Edited 9 hours ago by whelk

[Gloucester Saint]

3 minutes ago, whelk said:

There is a limit to how any punditry can excite. Think I have probably heard everything that can ever be said by a pundit about a football team although get occasional gems like Keane calling Robertson a big baby. 

Oh I dunno, Duck got so excited he posted a double pony. They’re a collectors item you know.

A bit like Paul Dacre’s infamous ‘double cuntings’ during editorial meetings at the Daily Mail.

[Turkish]

31 minutes ago, whelk said:

There is a limit to how any punditry can excite. Think I have probably heard everything that can ever be said by a pundit about a football team although get occasional gems like Keane calling Robertson a big baby. 

i dont expect them to excite us but maybe some intelligence on the game that you might not notice yourself. Half time in the Portugal game they highlighted Ronaldos attack postitioning when he didnt have the ball which i found quite interesting. Most of the time they just quote the bleeding obvious or talk in cliches. 

[whelk]

10 minutes ago, Turkish said:

i dont expect them to excite us but maybe some intelligence on the game that you might not notice yourself. Half time in the Portugal game they highlighted Ronaldos attack postitioning when he didnt have the ball which i found quite interesting. Most of the time they just quote the bleeding obvious or talk in cliches. 

Yeah I tend to prefer journalists on podcasts to the tv guys. Although tactics generally bore me “he’s a number 6 not an 8” etc. 

I reckon the Emma woman could have delivered the most insight into tactics ever (she didn’t) and still have been slaughtered due to the stupid format. 
Didn’t Ron Atkinson say you can play with your silly little machines all you want back in the 90s and now we back to chalk and blackboards

[Lord Duckhunter]

22 minutes ago, Turkish said:

but maybe some intelligence on the game that you might not notice yourself.

Exactly this. 
 

The problem is you can’t criticise that dogs dinner she delivered without being accused of Misogyny. They set her up as some sort of tactical genius, when in fact she was spouting pony. She was totally wrong anyway, as was pointed out by TT’s assistant at half time. What she was praising, he was saying they were unhappy with. They got into the players at HT to do less of what she was impressed with, lo and behold the performance second half was impressive. 
 

Anyone could see that the first quarter of the game was a bit of a mess tactically, probably the whole first half. There wasn’t really a pattern before the drinks break. However, she had to say something, so waffled a load of old bollocks. I’ve heard loads of experienced blokes saying “tactically, I don’t know what they’re  doing”, “whatever they’re trying isn’t working”, “the game hasn’t settled down yet” and similar. The problem with birds is they try to hard to prove themselves, they seem to think they need to be come out with gems every time they open their mouths. They basically suffer from imposter syndrome, because deep down they know they’re not in the studio on merit. 
 

She was hung out to dry by ITV, if they wanted her analysis, put her on the panel. And if the tactical shape of the game hadn’t developed by that stage (which it hadn’t), talk about something else. Maybe Neville could have discussed the players mindset in the first game, or Wrighty could have discussed the pressure of a retaken penalty. She was given a rough gig, but made a complete and utter horlicks of it. 

[Patrick Bateman]

40 minutes ago, Turkish said:

i dont expect them to excite us but maybe some intelligence on the game that you might not notice yourself. Half time in the Portugal game they highlighted Ronaldos attack postitioning when he didnt have the ball which i found quite interesting. Most of the time they just quote the bleeding obvious or talk in cliches. 

It's why (apart from Saints not being in the Premier League), I don't watch MoTD anymore.  People who don't enunciate properly, drawing bloody triangles and arrows on a screen talking about stuff that is plainly obvious. 

On iPlayer though you can get MoTD highlights without the "analysis", so that's a win. Cut out the drivel and watch the highlights, perfect.

I've started preferring podcast type things as background noise whilst eating or whatever. The Lineker one on Netflix is interesting. 

[hypochondriac]

7 minutes ago, Patrick Bateman said:

It's why (apart from Saints not being in the Premier League), I don't watch MoTD anymore.  People who don't enunciate properly, drawing bloody triangles and arrows on a screen talking about stuff that is plainly obvious. 

On iPlayer though you can get MoTD highlights without the "analysis", so that's a win. Cut out the drivel and watch the highlights, perfect.

I've started preferring podcast type things as background noise whilst eating or whatever. The Lineker one on Netflix is interesting. 

Can't disagree. James Allcott on youtube is an example of someone with excellent tactical analysis who points out things I haven't noticed. Well worth a listen. 

[Sheaf Saint]

4 hours ago, Lord Duckhunter said:

Fuck me, this World Cup is just highlighting how awful football coverage is in this country. Last night had to be a new low. 
 

Matterface is a complete cock womble with his pre scripted lines, and why doesn’t he STFU occasionally. It’s TV, not radio, we can see what’s happening. A few periods of silence say more than a load of old pony waffle. 
 

Lee Dixon is fucking woeful, just boring as fuck. Horrendous. So biased as well, not very professional. 
 

The camera work is fucking annoying as well, I’m all for the odd hot chick shot, but why do we have to keep being shown Nods who suddenly see themselves on the big screen and make twats of themselves. Long distance shots of whole ends going nuts shows the atmosphere far better than close ups of blokes who’ve taken their birds to the “footy”. 
 

As for that lump in the kitchen, dear god. Of course my time line is full of birds & hipsters praising the “great job” she did. The truth of the matter was, it was complete pony. There was absolutely zero anybody who watches football learnt anything from it, it was condescending and waffle. All delivered in a smug “I’m so clever” manner. If that had been a bloke, it would have been universally derided. The worst part was the “ I agree with every word” when discussing TT’s half time bollocking. Yet, Neville, Wright & Keane, blokes who had played at the very highest level, seemed surprised by the intensity of the criticism. Everyone had moved on from that interview. But no, she had to show how clever she was. Funny how the bloke said they’d passed backwards too much, yet she was praisingvus knocking it back to Pickford. 
 

Even Roy Keane seems a bit contrived now & Ian Wright is pointless. 
 

As for the game, that’s far better than the pony Wokegate was serving up. We looked like a proper club side, early days but if we can sort out the defending we will have great chance. 

If modern football punditry winds you up so much, why do you keep watching it and expecting it to be different?

Why not just turn the TV off at HT and find other ways of entertaining yourself for 15 minutes?

[adrian lord]

Because some of us don't accept low standards and know that punditry could be at once both enlightening and entertaining.

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

Is today (/early tomorrow morning) set of fixtures the least appealing for the neutral in world cup history?

Not a single team that I'm remotely bothered about watching.

[whelk]

9 minutes ago, Stripey McStripe Shirt said:

Is today (/early tomorrow morning) set of fixtures the least appealing for the neutral in world cup history?

Not a single team that I'm remotely bothered about watching.

I’m just thankful there is a 5pm and 8pm game. Proper WC kick off times

[Saint_clark]

1 hour ago, benjii said:

My thoughts:

i) that England performance was rubbish. Absolutely zero chance of winning the World Cup playing like that. 

ii) the bird says more sensible things than most of the other pundits and doesn’t seem to have the learning difficulties that some female pundits had in the past

iii) just be grateful there isn't one on commentary (although that would be better than Matterface)

What on earth 😂 

[Saint_clark]

13 minutes ago, Stripey McStripe Shirt said:

Is today (/early tomorrow morning) set of fixtures the least appealing for the neutral in world cup history?

Not a single team that I'm remotely bothered about watching.

Mexico v South Korea should be a good game going by their first round showings. 

Canada has Cyle Larin. 

The other two, sure, but honestly some of the most entertaining games are the ones you wouldn't think you'd have any interest in.

[whelk]

There are so many tactic bores online and doing podcasts etc. I don’t need the insight thanks - I know what I am watching and whether it is enjoyable and don’t need a Michael Cox type explaining albeit they know their stuff. Appreciate some like it and even have mates who I sit with want to talk about it more far more than me.  Same for stats - just more content for broadcasters to bang on about - some are interesting obviously but it will soon be like American football. Hey we can talk about turnovers and touches in the opposition box at the hydration breaks
 

[AlexLaw76]

2 minutes ago, whelk said:

There are so many tactic bores online and doing podcasts etc. I don’t need the insight thanks - I know what I am watching and whether it is enjoyable and don’t need a Michael Cox type explaining albeit they know their stuff. Appreciate some like it and even have mates who I sit with want to talk about it more far more than me.  Same for stats - just more content for broadcasters to bang on about - some are interesting obviously but it will soon be like American football. Hey we can talk about turnovers and touches in the opposition box at the hydration breaks
 

Not a fan of the term 'goal involvement' or 'Low Block'?

[Lord Duckhunter]

 

[revolution saint]

29 minutes ago, whelk said:

There are so many tactic bores online and doing podcasts etc. I don’t need the insight thanks - I know what I am watching and whether it is enjoyable and don’t need a Michael Cox type explaining albeit they know their stuff. Appreciate some like it and even have mates who I sit with want to talk about it more far more than me.  Same for stats - just more content for broadcasters to bang on about - some are interesting obviously but it will soon be like American football. Hey we can talk about turnovers and touches in the opposition box at the hydration breaks
 

Yep, that's where I am and I don't generally bother with pre-match, half time or post match analysis.  Both ends of the analysis spectrum annoy me - you've got your Jamie Redknapp school of say what you see which is banal and at the opposite end the really geeky punditry which likes to pretend football is some kind of mysterious science.  Understand football and unlock the secrets of the universe.  Those sodding triangles - you can draw whatever bloody shapes you want, it's still passing to team mates and been like that since forever.

On reflection the over analysis winds me up more.

Edited 6 hours ago by revolution saint

[Stripey McStripe Shirt]

1 hour ago, Saint_clark said:

Mexico v South Korea should be a good game going by their first round showings. 

Canada has Cyle Larin. 

The other two, sure, but honestly some of the most entertaining games are the ones you wouldn't think you'd have any interest in.

Forgot about Larin tbf. May be worth a watch, but debatable whether I'll make it to full time...

[steve green]

1 hour ago, whelk said:

There are so many tactic bores online and doing podcasts etc. I don’t need the insight thanks - I know what I am watching and whether it is enjoyable and don’t need a Michael Cox type explaining albeit they know their stuff. Appreciate some like it and even have mates who I sit with want to talk about it more far more than me.  Same for stats - just more content for broadcasters to bang on about - some are interesting obviously but it will soon be like American football. Hey we can talk about turnovers and touches in the opposition box at the hydration breaks
 

 

I remain confused why Hayes presents tactical insights from her kitchen, keep expecting the board to show reminders for a tesco order.

 

[Turkish]

23 minutes ago, steve green said:

 

I remain confused why Hayes presents tactical insights from her kitchen, keep expecting the board to show reminders for a tesco order.

 

Maybe they thought being in familiar surroundings might help her relax when in front of the camera?

[Saint NL]

Andy Townsends tactics truck >>>>>> Hayes tactics kitchen 

[Window Cleaner]

How do teams as poor as South Africa qualify for the WC?

[whelk]

Spoilt for choice at the mo.
 

Czechs v South Africa 

Royal Ascot

US Open 

Test match

[Turkish]

11 minutes ago, Window Cleaner said:

How do teams as poor as South Africa qualify for the WC?

Because Infantino wants their vote

[Window Cleaner]

10 minutes ago, Turkish said:

Because Infantino wants their vote

Probably

[AlexLaw76]

South Africa are terrible.

 

[Wade Garrett]

4 hours ago, Stripey McStripe Shirt said:

Is today (/early tomorrow morning) set of fixtures the least appealing for the neutral in world cup history?

Not a single team that I'm remotely bothered about watching.

That’s how I felt before the tournament started.  But to be fair, there have been some cracking games.  I have been pleasantly surprised.

[John Boy Saint]

Just now, AlexLaw76 said:

South Africa are terrible.

 

Cheers for the update - I nodded off.

😳😁

[Turkish]

28 minutes ago, John Boy Saint said:

Cheers for the update - I nodded off.

😳😁

So did i!

Woke up to hear them booing the hydration break 

[benjii]

4 hours ago, Saint_clark said:

What on earth 😂 

You'll be able to name the other teams who won the world cup with a massively strung out team and a piss-poor defensive set up, I'm sure.

[badgerx16]

Stephen Warnock passing on his bedroom secrets :

"Size doesn't matter if you get quality into the box".

[AlexLaw76]

Not a penalty for me

[benjii]

1 minute ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Not a penalty for me

Nor me, Ron.

[whelk]

The Saintsweb curse again, slag off team and comment they cannot believe they are in the WC. They draw 

[Sheaf Saint]

17 minutes ago, benjii said:

You'll be able to name the other teams who won the world cup with a massively strung out team and a piss-poor defensive set up, I'm sure.

West Germany lost 8-3 to Hungary in the group stages in 1954 and went on to win the title.

[Baird of the land]

Czech’s got what they deserved for their complete lack of ambition.

[Sheaf Saint]

21 minutes ago, benjii said:

You'll be able to name the other teams who won the world cup with a massively strung out team and a piss-poor defensive set up, I'm sure.

Argentina conceded twice (and lost) against fucking Saudi Arabia in their first group game in 2022.

[Window Cleaner]

4 minutes ago, Baird of the land said:

Czech’s got what they deserved for their complete lack of ambition.

Poor game between two automatic elimination sides. Probably both out in the first round 

[John B]

Nowadays it is quantity not quality that counts just shows you how poor Wales and N Ireland really are

[Lee On Solent Saint]

1 hour ago, Window Cleaner said:

Poor game between two automatic elimination sides. Probably both out in the first round 

Can't see the Czech's getting much out of Mexico. The Korean's should also have way too much for South Africa.

[whelk]

Someone must be hating this ITV chick fest. Laura Woods, Karen Carney and Lucy Ward

Edited 5 minutes ago by whelk