[Clan]

Yet more signs that the GF agreement ment fuk all to some people.

Great pity to be robed of a chance to captain yer country like this.
Remember when we played Leicester at the Bridge in 2000 as we marched on to the cup..qf's wasn't it?Well anyways, they had a decent team back then, even that useless kunt Heskey was worth a mention.

[BridgeMonkee]

Still it does mean a lot to the vast majority and that is the main thing eh clan? Things are getting better, people attitudes can and do change for the better (eventually). Some eejits always. Ho-hum.

Talking of Heskey made me think of Carlton cole - Is he perhaps the perfect England partner for Michael Owen? Cole seems to have all the physicality of and speed of Heskey and he even has some skill

btw - how comes you can say kunt and not the F word - as in F e C ker?

[Clan]

I often wondered that meself.
It's a Yank run board so i can only guess that they haven't fully grasped the wonderfull spectrum of the word yet

As fer the GF...i agree totally.It's come a long way in the past few years.
Still 'n all...they pyss and moan about the catholics not wanting to be a part of the union and here's a lad that is willing to do his part and this is the bollox he gets for his trouble.

Cole and Owen eh?
If Cole gets continued starts and scores goals i would think that Sven would have little option but to play him at some time.
I mean he's got who...Fowler, sherringham, Vassel and Heskey to beat out, so i can't see him being denied his shot.

[BridgeMonkee]

Lennon quits international football

from the Guardian
Thursday August 22, 2002

Celtic player Neil Lennon today announced his retirement from international football, following a death threat.
Lennon said he would not be playing for Northern Ireland again after receiving the loyalist death threat and added: "It's a shame it has to end this way."

"My parents were pretty distraught really," Lennon told Ulster Television. "I've a tiny wee daughter who knows nothing about this at the moment and we want to try and keep her away from it as much as we can."

"I've thought long and hard about it and I've decided I probably won't be going back to play for Northern Ireland. I've enjoyed my career at international level, but it's time for me to say enough's enough."

His retirement came despite denials from Loyalist paramilitaries in Ireland today that they had sent the death threat to the Roman Catholic footballer, captain of the Northern Ireland squad.

Sources close to the leadership of the Loyalist Volunteer Force, which was alleged to have made the threats, described the claims as "bogus" and "nonsense".

Lennon pulled pulled out of a friendly match against Cyprus within hours of kick-off yesterday, following the threat received by BBC Belfast by an anonymous caller claiming to be from the LVF.

The BBC said the threat, made yesterday to their main Belfast switchboard, was not accompanied by a code word.

Normally such calls would be made to the newsroom and would be identified by a recognised code.

The police service of Northern Ireland refused to speculate on whether they considered the threat to be the work of the terror group or a hoax by an individual.

John White, of the Ulster Political Research Group, said today: "It is obvious this was a prank. There is no history of any organisation threatening anyone in sport. I think he overreacted and I think it brings into question his commitment to sport in Northern Ireland and his commitment to working for the people of Northern Ireland."

The Celtic mid-fielder and his family have been subjected to a number of threats over the past year.

Lennon's international manager, Sammy McIlroy, had urged him not to quit, while David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionist party, condemned the threat as a "sinister and serious development which I condemn without reservation.

"The safety of Neil Lennon and his family is the major consideration and it is a sad day for football, which has come through 30 years of violence, that such an incident can put one of the province's top players in a position of fear," he added.

Lennon and his family live in Lurgan, Co Armagh - close to the headquarters of the LVF. There had been unconfirmed reports of a death threat in May, in which the LVF reportedly planned to kill Lennon in a one-off terror "spectacular".

Yesterday, the president of the Irish Football Association, Jim Boyce, described the death threat as "unbelievable".

"It is a terrible blight once again on society in Northern Ireland, especially when you think of the efforts made by the Irish Football Association to stamp this sort of thing out."