EURO 2012

[sir roger]

Surprised that there is no thread for this yet ( just odd ones about England injuries & Ferdinand ).

 

Don't remember such a low-key lead up to a tournament for many years.

 

Should be some decent games however with Germany/Holland & Portugal all in one group & Spain/Italy in one & England / France in another.

 

Think France might be worth a dabble ( I am on them at 14's but they are in to 10/1 now ) & I think England will go out in the quarters.

 

Looking forward to seeing some players in more depth

( M'Vila / Lewandoski / Dzagoev / Gotze / Eriksen amongst others)

 

Anybody looking forward to this ?

[WaltonRed]

I cant wait, love the euros me, you get well better games than the world cup cos nearly team in it is decent

[Mathewbet1]

Yeah the games are well better innit.

[manwiththestick]

Putting together a fantasy team from my work. Fancy Russia and Poland to progress to knock outs. Putting that Dzagoev in my team, hopes he does well. Couldn't care less about England.

[A.V.B.]

Holland are too big a price for a side that only got beaten in the World Cup by a better Spain side than is going this year.

 

Watch out for Russia who are a ridiculous price at 25/1!

[Faustus]

I fancy ze Germans to lift the trophy, but I've stuck a sly quid on Croatia at 50/1 in the hope there's yet another surprise winner.

[Gym Beglin]

Holland are too big a price for a side that only got beaten in the World Cup by a better Spain side than is going this year.

 

Watch out for Russia who are a ridiculous price at 25/1!

 

Russia beat Italy 3-0 last week.

 

I fancy Italy to win it.

[RobbieOR]

Just plugging some previews from my blog:

 

Hosts, the Samaras effect, and the Czech Old Guard – Group A « Balls Out In Public

 

Putting disappointment behind them – Group B « Balls Out In Public

[thechap]

For the first time ever I'm going into a tournament where England are involved really not giving two shiny shites about the whole thing. I honestly feel nothing but apathy.

 

It's not the anti-Ingurlund thing that you see from some on here. I think I'm simply starting to not care about football the way I used to. Shame and I can't be alone in this.

 

Still, if we get through the group stages it may begin to excite me.

[Jairzinho]

France are going to win it.

[WaltonRed]

France are shite at the back though so I think they might struggle

 

Mexes is a liability

[sir roger]

Read a betting article suggesting that a possibly lucrative option is looking at England's top scorer market. They point out that we may score very few goals & that Upson was joint top scorer at the last World Cup.

 

I found Lescott at 66/1 and had a fiver on it.

[Jhinge Machha]

germans to win this time i believe.

i think uncle roy will pull off some surprise victories as well. england will get out of the group stages.

[Xherdan]

The Bayern contingent won't be right for this IMO, Germany out in the quarters.

[fowler9]

really struggling to give a fuck about this competition, not uncommon for me not to be arsed about England but not even bothered about watching the other teams either, that'll probably change come saturday though

 

just want us to make some signings, ship out some shite and get me optimistic only to get let down again!

[Guest TK-421]

Read a betting article suggesting that a possibly lucrative option is looking at England's top scorer market. They point out that we may score very few goals & that Upson was joint top scorer at the last World Cup.

 

I found Lescott at 66/1 and had a fiver on it.

 

66/1? That's only one character and a bit of reshuffling away from 1966. It's a sign.

 

Let's assume that / = 9. You're rich and Lescott will fire England to glory banishing 46 years of hurt.

[Elite]

I am off work for 2 weeks now as well. 2 games a day for a wee while, belting.

[Redder Lurtz]

I'm just dying to watch some decent football for a change.

 

Come on Germany / Holland.

[phc1965]

any of you fancying a bet on the outright winner should consider opening an on line account that is willing to match your original deposit with the same amount in free bets.

 

ive backed holland with labrokes. £20 at 13-2 and for my free £20 ive had a tenner each on germany 3-1 and a tenner on spain 11-4. cant see the winner not coming from those. and if that is proved right you make a profit who ever wins.

 

 

pete

[Faustus]

Euro 2012: Holland players subjected to racist abuse at training session | Football | The Guardian

 

Euro 2012: Holland players subjected to racist abuse at training session

 

• Monkey chants aimed at Dutch squad in Krakow

• Van Bommel anger as Uefa denies racial motivation

 

Euro 2012 was plunged into its first racism controversy after the black players in the Holland squad were subjected to monkey chants during an open practice session in the same city where England will also invite the public to watch them train on Friday.

 

Several hundred people targeted players such as Nigel de Jong and Gregory van der Wiel when 25,000 spectators attended the Dutch practice session at the Stadion Miejski, the home of Wisla Krakow.

 

The players, on the instructions of the captain, Mark van Bommel, responded by moving their training drills to the other side of the ground. "It is a real disgrace especially after getting back from Auschwitz [the Dutch squad had visited the concentration camp on Wednesday] that you are confronted with this," Van Bommel said. "We will take it up with Uefa and if it happens at a match we will talk to the referee and ask him to take us off the field."

 

The problems occurred as the players began the session by jogging a lap of the pitch only to be greeted at one end of the stadium with monkey noises and loud jeers. On the second circuit, they were even louder and it was then the players decided not to go around again. "At least now we know what we can encounter," the Holland coach, Bert van Marwijk, said with heavy cynicism. "Very atmospheric."

 

Uefa subsequently tried to deny that it was racially motivated, saying they had checked with the Dutch squad and had been told it was not thought to be of that nature. Instead, the official line is that a small part of the crowd was protesting about the fact that Krakow had not been made one of the host cities. Another theory that has been put forward is that Wisla's supporters did not want their stadium being used by anyone but their own club and were simply booing the Dutch players.

 

Van Bommel, however, responded angrily when it was put to him not everyone had heard monkey noises. "You need to open your ears," he said. "If you did hear it, and don't want to hear it, that is even worse."

 

Privately, the midfielder is understood to be unhappy that the authorities are not treating the issue more seriously, but the incident is still threatening to be a major embarrassment for Uefa, coming before a ball has even been kicked, and will increase the scrutiny on Poland's supporters when the tournament opens with the co-hosts playing Greece in Warsaw on Friday.

 

The Polish authorities have been eager to dispel the sense that the backdrop to this tournament will have racism at its centre, and the country's prime minister, Donald Tusk, went through an elaborate public relations exercise on Thursday to drive home the point. Tusk was accompanied by a television crew on a 90-mile journey to Lodz to dine with Poland's first black parliamentarian, John Godson, and his family, including relatives who had flown in from Nigeria. The idea was to show the improvements both in Poland's road network and acceptance of different races.

 

Godson criticised the BBC Panorama documentary Euro 2012: Stadiums of Hate that had warned racism would be rife. He argued that Poland was a "hospitable and tolerant country" while Tusk wore a badge that said "Welcome" and said he was convinced there would be no problems: "I very warmly invite all English people. You will definitely not encounter anything unpleasant here."

 

Panorama had focused on the racist elements in the support of Krakow's two major clubs, Wisla and Cracovia, as well as highlighting the seriousness of the problem in Ukraine. Michel Platini, the Uefa president, has subsequently said the referees have been empowered to take teams off the pitch if there are serious issues – but added that any player who walked off without permission would be booked.

 

The families of two of England's black players, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott, have already decided against travelling to the tournament because of the potential problems. England are based in Krakow, along with the Netherlands and Italy squads, and will allow the public to watch Friday's practice session at Hutnik stadium on the outskirts of the city.

[1892-LFCWasBorn]

Euro 2012: Holland players subjected to racist abuse at training session | Football | The Guardian

 

This is just the start. Think it's going to kick off big time in both countries and this will overshadow any of the football.

[Faustus]

This is just the start. Think it's going to kick off big time in both countries and this will overshadow any of the football.

 

I really, really hope not, mate.

 

It's pretty obvious UEFA's concern only stretches as far as whether or not the half-time canapes and champers is of a decent standard and how fat their wallets can get. They don't give a shite.

 

Obviously not every Pole and Ukrainian are racist, but it's just a joke how countries where it's obviously an issue have been awarded the tournament. Same with Russia getting the World Cup in 2018.

[phc1965]

in fact scrap holland savage has just tipped them.

[fowler9]

the daily star will be reporting that Suarez and Pacheco were spotted in Krakow this afternoon no doubt

[Newport]

I really hope these disgusting racist bastards are hung out to dry and that a strong message is sent to UEFA that this isn't acceptable. They are obviously trying to sweep it under the rug, but hopefully the media won't let them.