http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/internationals/england/3917615.stm The FA have decided to play 4 of englands home games at Old Trafford in the qualifiers. So much for spreading things around the country .Stupid decision .
All about the money innit. I'm not happy about it, but then if it helps fund the right things won't be such a big problem.
To be fair the games against Wales and Northern Ireland had to be played there as the demand will be immense. The rest of them could have been shifted round a bit more.
Yeah, the atmosphere at the Stadium of Light for the crunch qualifier against Turkey was amazing......it would be a shame to miss out on that by playing all the games at Old Trafford. Some of the smaller grounds are maybe more intimidating and might give the boys an advantage......but the same could be said about going to Old Trafford though...it's a monster of a ground. It's all about the money though at the end of the day.........at least the friendlies are still being spread about.
Yet another joke decision from the muppets in the FA. How can anyone who has watched the last set of qualifiers not argue for moving them around even if it knocks a few thousand of the gate. It gets the WHOLE country behind the team. It is only going to get worse once the new Wembley is built and I doubt England will ever play a home game away from London again. What a bunch of clowns.
Get ready for the occupation by the Green and White Army!!! Lawrie Sanchez will no doubt have England figured out. We will score an own goal within 20 seconds of the kick-off, which will precipitate Sven, the tactical genius that he is, telling his boys to defend on the edge of their own six yard box for the rest of the game. We will then bide our time before letting loose David Healy who will take the piss out of Sol Campbell before nutmegging David James twice in injury time. Easy.
It's a very odd decision from the FA. I despise the new Wembley for being where it is and I suppose I have to shake my head at this decision too. Surely it wouldn't hurt to have one game in London and one in Brum. It's going to be costly going to back to back home games at OT.
I agree that it's hard to like the decision. The spreading of internationals around England has been a great boost to players and fans alike. I would have been quite happy to see the Wembley project ditched and England continue to use club grounds and for Cardiff to be used for finals and the like. However, it does intrigue me why the FA didn't go the whole hog and give all 5 games to Old Trafford. I presume that they think that OT wouldn't sell out for Azerbaijan but that the Geordie mugs will fill their own ground for it?
Old Trafford is the biggest stadium since the new Wembley is still being built. Old Trafford can seat more people so the FA can rake in more money!! It is really simple.
You believe in leprechauns don't you? Couple of technicalities to mention: 1. We are very good at defending and Rio will be available for the first home game, I think??? 2. David James is unlikely to feature, if a) Kirkland is fit and playing, and/or b) Robinson is getting a regular game at Spurs. May be a bit of wishful thinking! 3. Sven, tactical moron that he is, is still capable of outwitting Lawrie Sanchez, let's face it, Lawrie who? Anyway, he may be pimping in Turkey somewhere by then. As for OT being used for 4 games, it is a disgrace IMHO and belies the FA's cry, of taking the game to the people - but once the new Wembley is finished, all games will be played there, other than friendlies, one assumes.
Still, on the bright side, Manchester is a lot easier to reach than London for about 75% of the population, and cheaper too. It's all swings and roundabouts...