For crying out loud, England. We were never going to win the World Cup but Joel Matip’s equaliser for Cameroon against Brazil last night really hit home as to what we are missing. To be out of the tournament with one group game still to play is all a bit rubbish but, more frustrating, is not being part of the tension and excitement in the knockout stages.
For a moment, with the scores being levelled, there was a very real threat of Brazil being knocked off the top of the table and left facing a second round group game against a rampant Netherlands team who had earlier made it three from three.
As the home crowd fell silent, all I could think of was the 1989 Brentford – Liverpool FA Cup quarter-final at Anfield and Tony Gubba’s iconic commentary.
““No Offside!! Cadette!!! Ohhh, he’s missed!! Sinton’s lovely little ball and Richard Cadette, top scorer with seventeen goals this season… how close did he come to putting this quarterfinal? Well, it would have been dreamland for Brentford, wouldn’t it? It was inches wide of the post. And that…silenced the Kop”.
Just as Brentford had their chance to claim one of the biggest scalps of all time, although were eventually undone by arguably the (then) best team in Europe, Cameroon had the favourites on the ropes. Whilst the final result was as expected (the host’s four goals the same as Liverpool eventually scored that afternoon) it was fun getting there.
England, meanwhile, aren’t at the races. The fat lady hasn’t even stepped out of the shower and done her hair, let alone started to sing, yet already we are packing our bags for the trip back to the airport. Very much a missed opportunity for players and fans alike.
The wallchart takes shape – without England (but with Chile x2. D’oh!!)
Getting back to Brentford, the latest player whose name is being churned through the rumour mill is Conor McAleny. Given the impact he had at the start of last season, prior to that horrific leg break, I’d be very happy to see his return to Griffin Park. The Everton talent machine is certainly a well-oiled one, with Adam Forshaw and Jake Bidwell being the two obvious examples where we have benefitted.
Is their any truth to it? Well, it could just be a lot of paper talk – much like Clayton’s trip to Birmingham beach (a less salubrious place I couldn’t imagine – St. Andrews sand should be confined to the golf course) or Bristol City’s interest in Northern Ireland international Will Grigg currently seem to be.
We’ll see what happens but with England now dead in the water, I’ll take any opportunity to feed my football fix until some real news comes along.
‘Celebrating like they’d won the FA Cup…..’ – The story of Brentford’s season 2013/14 – amongst other things – is now available as a digital book. Featuring the best of the not so bad columns from the last ten months, and some new content, you can download it here for your kindle / digital device.
Tags: 2013/14, 2014, Adam Forshaw, Adrian Chiles, Anfield, BBC, beach, Birmingham, Birmingham City, book, Brazil, Brentford, Brentford FC, Bristol City, Bristol Post, Bruzon, Cameroon, celebrated, Celebrating like they'd won the FA Cup, Championship, clayton donaldson, commentary, Conor McAleny, Cotterill, diary, digital, England, Everton, FA Cup, final, football, Fulham, futsal, golf, Griffin Park, Hodgson, Italy, ITV, Jake Bidwell, Joel Matip, just don’t mention that penalty, kindle, Kop, League one, Leroy Rosenior, Leyton Orient, Manish, Marcello Trotta, Matthew Benham, Mexico, Natalie Sawyer, Netherlands, Nick Bruzon, Northern Ireland, penalty, Richard Cadette, Roy, Russell Slade, Sam Saunders, sand, Tony Gubba, Trotta, Vincent Tan, Will Grigg, Wolves, World Cup
BrentfordFC 
And that silenced the Cop (acabana). Brazil have a Tony Gubba moment
24 JunFor crying out loud, England. We were never going to win the World Cup but Joel Matip’s equaliser for Cameroon against Brazil last night really hit home as to what we are missing. To be out of the tournament with one group game still to play is all a bit rubbish but, more frustrating, is not being part of the tension and excitement in the knockout stages.
For a moment, with the scores being levelled, there was a very real threat of Brazil being knocked off the top of the table and left facing a second round group game against a rampant Netherlands team who had earlier made it three from three.
As the home crowd fell silent, all I could think of was the 1989 Brentford – Liverpool FA Cup quarter-final at Anfield and Tony Gubba’s iconic commentary.
““No Offside!! Cadette!!! Ohhh, he’s missed!! Sinton’s lovely little ball and Richard Cadette, top scorer with seventeen goals this season… how close did he come to putting this quarterfinal? Well, it would have been dreamland for Brentford, wouldn’t it? It was inches wide of the post. And that…silenced the Kop”.
Just as Brentford had their chance to claim one of the biggest scalps of all time, although were eventually undone by arguably the (then) best team in Europe, Cameroon had the favourites on the ropes. Whilst the final result was as expected (the host’s four goals the same as Liverpool eventually scored that afternoon) it was fun getting there.
England, meanwhile, aren’t at the races. The fat lady hasn’t even stepped out of the shower and done her hair, let alone started to sing, yet already we are packing our bags for the trip back to the airport. Very much a missed opportunity for players and fans alike.
The wallchart takes shape – without England (but with Chile x2. D’oh!!)
Getting back to Brentford, the latest player whose name is being churned through the rumour mill is Conor McAleny. Given the impact he had at the start of last season, prior to that horrific leg break, I’d be very happy to see his return to Griffin Park. The Everton talent machine is certainly a well-oiled one, with Adam Forshaw and Jake Bidwell being the two obvious examples where we have benefitted.
Is their any truth to it? Well, it could just be a lot of paper talk – much like Clayton’s trip to Birmingham beach (a less salubrious place I couldn’t imagine – St. Andrews sand should be confined to the golf course) or Bristol City’s interest in Northern Ireland international Will Grigg currently seem to be.
We’ll see what happens but with England now dead in the water, I’ll take any opportunity to feed my football fix until some real news comes along.
‘Celebrating like they’d won the FA Cup…..’ – The story of Brentford’s season 2013/14 – amongst other things – is now available as a digital book. Featuring the best of the not so bad columns from the last ten months, and some new content, you can download it here for your kindle / digital device.
Tags: 2013/14, 2014, Adam Forshaw, Adrian Chiles, Anfield, BBC, beach, Birmingham, Birmingham City, book, Brazil, Brentford, Brentford FC, Bristol City, Bristol Post, Bruzon, Cameroon, celebrated, Celebrating like they'd won the FA Cup, Championship, clayton donaldson, commentary, Conor McAleny, Cotterill, diary, digital, England, Everton, FA Cup, final, football, Fulham, futsal, golf, Griffin Park, Hodgson, Italy, ITV, Jake Bidwell, Joel Matip, just don’t mention that penalty, kindle, Kop, League one, Leroy Rosenior, Leyton Orient, Manish, Marcello Trotta, Matthew Benham, Mexico, Natalie Sawyer, Netherlands, Nick Bruzon, Northern Ireland, penalty, Richard Cadette, Roy, Russell Slade, Sam Saunders, sand, Tony Gubba, Trotta, Vincent Tan, Will Grigg, Wolves, World Cup