England v Israel (and the Steven Gerrard saga!)

Do you think we will win ?.

do you think we can still  qualify ?

What do you think of McClaren ?

My thought's are we will win this game, and qualify by the skin of our teeth.

As for McClaren, don't rate him at all, never did anything as a club manager, spent a lot of money, but got nowhere,
and is doing the same bad job for England.

McClaren, 46, earns £45,000 a week as boss, with a contract running to 2010. But a clause in the deal means he will collect only a year's salary - around £2.3m - if he is axed.

An FA source said: "Even if England lose, so long as there is a mathematical possibility they can still qualify, no matter how small, then Steve will see it through to the end.

What are you thought's;

I can't say I care much about the national side.

I think McClaren is a goon.  I imagine the job of an England manager isn't that difficult actually.

'He will only collect £2.3 million!....'

A joke.

hope ye draw 1 all crouch for england and yossi for Israel 

I believe that England might just qualified..just...... but at what cost?..Gerrard will be use by Mac Laren even if this will means to have Gerrard having pain injections, his job is on the line and he will do absolutely anything to keep it safe whatever premier league clubs says.

Mac Laren should never been English coach, he only have been nominated because at the time people were crying out loud for an English coach, his record at middlesbrought are poor to say the least and  numerous players complained about mac laren attitude toward them.

His lack of leadership and aptitude to coach the national side is obvious, he has the worth record as English coach ever, when you said that playing Macedonia is a tough game, you show the unbelief you have in your squad! I remember a time when every nations were afraid to play England, this time has long gone and everybody expect a result against mac laren side nowdays.

3 lions on the shirt and a donkey is in charge, talk about proud and confidence. He plays the wrong players at the wrong positions and is more attentive to what the papers are writting about him then the squad itself. Calling back Beckhams, Heskey and keeping Owen in front tells me that he doesn't have a clue what to do with his squad and show that he cannot delivered a new era for England. He wanted to make Wembley a fortress and a draw against Brazil and a defeat against Germany (unforgivable that!) says it all, what shock me the most is that after the defeat against germany he has the guts to call that a good performance, how can it be when the only nation you CANNOT loose against, (same in France), come and beat you in your own garden.

I really wish England qualified, even if I support France an Euro without England wouldn't be the Euro, but I believe this qualification will be at a hight price for Premier League clubs, mac laren couldn't care less about that, he is working for himself not for the nation.

1-1 draw...

Do you think we will win ?.Yes we should have enough quality with a b side to beat them

do you think we can still  qualify ? Yes 4 out of 5 games are at home.

What do you think of McClaren ? Clown

looks like he really wants to play stevie he should be told to go f**k himself

also it amazes me how owen always seems fit for England no matter what tosser

No they won't qualify - yossi to score the winner at Wembley 

McClaren is a grade A tw*t - picking Emily for the squad again cos little michael wants to play with him.

Just hope espana qualify - will deffo support them in euro 2008 or possibly holland (kuyt and babel).

The england set-up and the way they play has sadly dropped since 2001.

Looking at the england squad now, I wouldn't have Beckham back in, Lennon, Pennant and Wright-Phillips are more the future.

Midfield - will someone bite the bullet tell Frank he's a pile of sh*t and when fit go with Gerrard and Hargreaves.

As for strikers - Owen, Rooney, Crouch, Bent, Defoe, Johnson, Nugent - there's seven named - as a manager you'd take about four to an international tournament - whisper it but Walcott has now actually played games for Arsenal he could be included.

So why am I reading about Trevor "F***ing splinterarse" Brooking complaining about not enough english players in the league.

Seriously winds me up they way people in the media go apeshit over England - they haven't won F**k all for over 40 years!!

Sky Sports News this morning

"England boss Steve McClaren may override Rafael Benitez over a decision whether Steven Gerrard should have a pain-killing injection to play for his country against Israel on Saturday".

Heard on Radio City that McClaren thinks England are more important than Liverpool.  He's willing to risk Gerrards fitness and may be even his football future to try and save his own skin.  A futile exercise anyway.  This just about sums up this man's moral bankruptcy.

I'm absolutely livid about this and and glad Carragher told him where to go.

"England boss Steve McClaren is ready to go to war with Liverpool's Rafa Benitez after refusing to rule out fielding Steven Gerrard with painkillers this week.
The Liverpool star has a broken toe but McClaren desperately wants him in his team for Saturday's crucial Euro 2008 qualifier at Wembley.

And he is ready to face a backlash from Rafa Benitez after the Anfield chief made it clear he does not want his midfielder to have an injection.

McClaren said: "Steven played with an injection against Chelsea a few weeks ago."

"I have to do what I have to do to ensure we get the best players available for us and to help us win this game on Saturday."


This has to be wrong,  Raffa and the Liverpool doctors should have the final say, the club has to come 1st.
McClaren would not care if Steven was out for the 4 weeks after the England games.

If this was a Manchester Unt. player then the F.A. would not cross there manger.

I am a great English fan, love to see England do well, it is good for all of us, the feel good factor is great seeing all the red and white flags everwhere,
BUT THE PLAYERS CLUB, HAS TO COME 1ST.

surely stevie could just say no i dont feel ready and im not willing to risk it cos ive big games coming up for Liverpool couldnt he?

3 lions on the shirt and a donkey is in charge, talk about proud and confidence.

the inclusion of heskey and lescott says it all.

He's gonna play gerrard...bad times, if his injury is not fully recovered

I hope Israel Win I don't like McClaran he's a joke. England are sh*te. This will be my first Saturday off work for four weeks and there's no Reds game to go to! I'm not impressed and hope McClaren is signing on on Monday.

I've got to be honest, we've got a squad of footballers who will get it lucky and just qualify. But, when it comes to the tournament next June, we are nailed on to fail. We got cocky in our roup at the World Cup last year and in 2004, we conceded too many silly goals all round.
By the way, I ask this question out of curiosity...
Say that all of England, Scotland, Wales and the Irish teams fail to qualify, would you think that ITV and BBC would still view the matches?

Sky Sports News this morning

"England boss Steve McClaren may override Rafael Benitez over a decision whether Steven Gerrard should have a pain-killing injection to play for his country against Israel on Saturday".

Heard on Radio City that McClaren thinks England are more important than Liverpool.  He's willing to risk Gerrards fitness and may be even his football future to try and save his own skin.  A futile exercise anyway.  This just about sums up this man's moral bankruptcy.

I'm absolutely livid about this and and glad Carragher told him where to go.

100% with you there mate.  I'm fuming.  At the end of the day, if Gerrard gets injured & he goes off for another month, Maclaren would still come out grinning like a Cheshire cat.  w**ker.

No way are England bigger than Liverpool Football Club.  When was the last time we actually won something for England?  Makes me laugh.

He's got Hargreaves, and while Lampard is out - he's looking at Stevie as his last resort.  Lampard should be dropped altogether.  Im sure he picked more Centre Midfielders.  Nobhead.

McLaren is an absolute joke, risking Stevie to save his own skin, what a w*nker !  I'm fuming over this and I hope Stevie sees fit to tell him to shove it were the s*n don't shine, glad Carra did. 

Is it just me or does anyone else want to smack McClaren everytime you see his smarmy face on TV, he hasn't got a f*cking clue.  The way I see it is England haven't got a chance and he's scaping the barrel to get a team together, I wouldn't be flattered if I was 4th or 5th choice, my club would come first every time.   

This whole Steven Gerrard thing is, unforunately, entirely Rafa Benitez' fault.

He shouldn't have given SG the painkilling injection and played him against Chelsea.  Let's face it we only got a point from the game and without SG we have put in some decent performances.

By playing him he set the precedent for Steve MacClaren to try to save his own job by playing Gerrard.

If he doesn't play and we lose - then MacClaren will get to blame Liverpool for it all.

Best option is that SG plays and we still lose I think.  He will then be unlikely to play for the England game the week.

Rafa - you got us in this mess mate.

Are people still mortified at the fact Gerrard might not be able to play some games for us?

I'll be livid if yesman plays Gerrard, but he knows he's got the option to. As KoolKidda said, playing Gerrard against Chelsea set a precedent for numbnuts to use him against Israel. So if Gerrard himself feels it's worth the risk, then there's not much that can be done.

If you think outside the box, it could be a blessing in disguise. Gerrard could actually play and get some competitive match practice in for when we play Pompey.

If the worst comes to the worst, we'll be missing Gerrard for longer than anticipated. But surely we're showing signs of not having to rely on our captain game after game?

I couldn't care less about England. I'm only interested if any of our players are taking part - mostly hoping they don't get injured. I really hope Gerrard takes no part.

On the subject of Ingerland and liverpool fans, apparently Talksport had some item on their morning show having a dig asking why we don't get behind the national team as much as the rest of the country.

Also I caught 20 mins or so of our friend Adrian's show and he was going on about Gerrard saying he must have an injection cos england really needs him, Ian Wright argued against him saying how he took injections to play in games and he's suffered because of it.

I had to turn over as ginger pubes really started to get on my tits, but I thought the points Ian Wright had said were very interesting.

I'd be happy if no Liverpool player ever pulled on an England shirt again...futile waste of time & energy.

I don't think that playing Gerrard against chelsea did set a precedent, players had pain injections before and even if he hadn't played that game, mac laren would still called him in the squad and would have consider pain injections anyway.

The guy (mac laren that is) is desperate and like I said will do anything to save his job, even risking players health. The question I have is why lampard is sent back home to recover when Stevie is not?..On the BBC website there is an interview of hargreaves about that and even him clearly says that Gerrard has to make the decision thinking about the future implications on his career  (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport)

 I really hope Stevie will make the right choice and stay out of the Israel game.

I saw the interview in which Micah Richards was basically saying 'it is Stevies duty to play...he should have the injection.....you should put your country first'.

Wise words from one so young but probably a little nieve.

Richards should never have given his opinion so explicitely as it tended to suggest that this whole mess depends on Stevie playing or not.

The bottom line is that McClaren has hit the panic buttom,put young players forward to stir things up and deflect the pressure from him.

He is weak and prefers to blame others for his poor selection history (he doesn't have the players to pick).

He will finally be found out over the next seven days and hopefully we will not qualify.

We do not deserve to qualify and that failiure will serve as a kick up the arse to both the FA and our players.

We then find a new manager and review our selection process and those players who are in form are picked and drop the likes of Beckham,Lampard and others.

I do not blame Stevie one bit.He is torn between his club and country,I am sure he will make the right decision which will be to rest his foot and allow himself the opportunity to be fit for the rest of the season.

Finally,

Rafa was only protecting the interests of our club.It is LFC who pay the players wages and have the responsibility of maintaining his fitness and taking calculated risks in consultation with the player.

We have not set a precedent with this injection,we have simply put our own interests first for a change.

If McClaren does not have the depth in his squad to find a replacement for this match against poor opposition that speaks volumes as to his selection methods and the durth of English midfield players.

On the subject of Ingerland and liverpool fans, apparently Talksport had some item on their morning show having a dig asking why we don't get behind the national team as much as the rest of the country.

Also I caught 20 mins or so of our friend Adrian's show and he was going on about Gerrard saying he must have an injection cos england really needs him, Ian Wright argued against him saying how he took injections to play in games and he's suffered because of it.

I had to turn over as ginger pubes really started to get on my tits, but I thought the points Ian Wright had said were very interesting.

Don't forget Talksport is owned by Kelvin MacKenzie, Millwall supporter and the editor of the S*n at the time of Hillsborough, so you should not be surprised if they use any excuse to have a go at Liverpool.  I consider listening to Talksport as bad as reading the S*n.

In a recent poll of fans 70% now think their own club is more important than England.  I've always supported England and like to see Liverpool players playing well in the side.  Over the last few years though, probably because of the way the team has been mismanaged and decision to build the new national stadium at Wembley (may as well call them London FC),  I have lost interest and now prefer that our players are not involved as they only risk injury.