England v. Ireland preview

We’ve said a few times about international football not being top of our agenda and an England friendly during closed season, without a major tournament on the horizon, is a particularly hard sell. But today is different and for three obvious reasons, we’ll be taking a great interest in the action at Wembley.

I never really thought I’d be in a position where I’d be supporting Ireland either. All the Jack Charlton mania left a sour taste in the nineties and we’ve generally lent towards Wales as a second (or even first) team. When Dean Saunders was at his Rams peak, you could even buy a Wales shirt in the Ramtique and goodwill towards the Welsh has always managed to sustain itself through a combination of George Willaims, Paul Trollope, Super Furry Animals, Mark Pembridge (!?), Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci and  Lewin Nyatanga. Hopefully Kieron Freeman will be joining the list soon. (Let me know if I’ve missed someone – and don’t say Lewis Price, Robert Earnshaw or Sav. Sav only because he didn’t play for Wales when with us).

SFA OK! If nayone mentions U2 in the comments they are banned from our site forever.

Wales had some of the best players in Britain – Rush, Southall, Ratcliffe, Hughes, Giggs – genuine title winners, but just could never get over the line for qualification. Ireland in contrast had the likes of Quinn, Cascarino, Townsend, McCarthy and Moran. A less likeable bunch.

Seeing Keogh, Hendrick or Sammon at Wembley changes everything though. Just imagine Connor Sammon slamming one home – then joining a club in the UAE for a £6m season loan like Asomoah Gyan did after scoring for Ghana at Wembley. Only joking!

Luckily I’m already a Guinness drinker but have to admit, I’m struggling in the music department. Anyone got a spare Corrs CD?