Worst kits and flags on agenda as apathy hits fans

ANYONE logging on to the forum section of the England fans website yesterday afternoon may have been a tad surprised by what topics were being discussed by members.

There may have been a little under 30 hours to go before the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign was due to get underway, but it seemed England's chances of bouncing back from a truly wretched summer was not the most pressing of matters for their most loyal of supporters.

Instead, among the subjects that were attracting comment was an enquiry as to whether permission would be needed to take a flag into Basel's St Jakob Park next Tuesday, where the best strippers could be found in London and what was the worst England kit of all-time.

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All very informative, I'm sure. But, as this site can only be accessed by members of the official supporters club, I had been expecting a bit more chatter about the opening qualifier against Bulgaria.

There was, admittedly, a debate going on in the section entitled 'The Team' as to whether the recent flurry of squad withdrawals through injury had a sinister undertone or not.

But, otherwise, it would have been hard to ascertain just how potentially important the coming week's double-header against Bulgaria and Switzerland is for English football.

After a spectacularly poor World Cup, Fabio Capello's side are under pressure to deliver. And, as Gareth Barry admitted earlier this week, even if by Tuesday night they have claimed all six points then the chances are it will not be enough to win over a sceptical public.

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The disappointment of June has cut so deep that the patience of fans wearily used to being letdown has, it seems, finally snapped. Failure can be accepted, but not the abject surrender that was England's second-round defeat to Germany in Bloemfontein.

In the fall-out from that 4-1 defeat, few escaped the wrath of the public as everything from Capello's tactics to the cosseted lifestyles of the top players were offered as explanation for such a lame showing.

Sixty eight days on from that humiliation against the Germans, all eyes will be on Wembley to see what, if anything, has changed.

We have, of course, been here before. Twenty-two years ago, Bobby Robson's England had set off for the European Championships full of confidence after claiming five wins and a draw from six qualifying games.

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Hopes were high of success in West Germany, only for the Three Lions to flop horrendously and lose all three group games.

Robson's response a couple of months later was to name Stuart Pearce, Des Walker and Terry Butcher – none of whom had been part of the squad in the summer – in his starting line-up for the opening World Cup qualifier against Sweden.

Paul Gascoigne and David Rocastle, two more who had watched the Championships from home, also came off the bench in Stockholm as a campaign that would climax in glorious failure against West Germany in Turin got underway with a solid goalless draw.

The same result tonight against Bulgaria will be the stuff of nightmares for Capello, especially with an awkward-looking game in Switzerland to come.

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His cause is not helped by injuries with John Terry and Frank Lampard out. In some quarters, the absence of the Chelsea pair has been taken as a positive for Capello.

Those subscribing to this theory should, though, take a look at who is vying to replace either man with Michael Dawson, for all his excellent form for Tottenham last year, yet to impress at international level. Ditto, former Leeds United midfielder James Milner.

One of the more fascinating aspects of tonight will be whether Capello jettisons his favoured 4-4-2 in favour of a more flexible approach, possibly with Adam Johnson and Theo Walcott supporting Wayne Rooney in a 4-3-3 formation.

Most importantly of all, though, is that Capello needs to coax the best out of Rooney. For all the reasons offered for England's no-show in South Africa, it was difficult to get away from the root of the problem being the Manchester United striker's loss of form.

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Capello does have one reason to be cheerful, namely the pulling forward this season of international fixtures from the traditional Saturday afternoon and Wednesday night slots.

Brought in to appease clubs who were getting increasingly frustrated at their star players only returning to training on the Friday, the move means Wembley is likely to be a much more atmospheric venue tonight than it would have been tomorrow afternoon.

Floodlights always add an extra element to football, often leading to a cranking up of the noise levels – something that can unsettle visiting teams not used to being watched by 90,000 fans.

Whether that can be the case tonight only time will tell, especially as the current public mood towards our top footballers means the crowd are as likely to turn against the home players as the Bulgarians.

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It is to be hoped that is not the case, as if the fans do get on the players' backs then the chances are another of the topics being debated on the Englandfans forum, namely what the weather is likely to be in Basel next week, will have to be updated as the storm clouds gather above Capello.

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