Why?

[kelack]

You might not get it, when England play in these games the football hooligans roam the streets coming closing time shouting these silly songs, its really annoying the way they say England like Engerland...

There is a perverse pleasure seeing that lot thwarted that their precious team didn't get through. It's a bit like when the tube workers go on strike and everyone in Landan rants about what a terrible thing they've done and how it's ruined their day. How about just getting up 20mins earlier and taking the bus or walking some?

If only it was that easy to just get up 20 minutes earlier for some. I commute by coach and they don't change their timetable. We subsequently get stuck in all the extra traffic. Stop generalising so much.

 

[arclight]

Personally, I'd watch Chess if the English were getting beat. I had a ball (no pun intended) during the Ashes last winter and this World Cup has been sublime.

It's a cultural thing up here that we just love seeing the English get beat at anything. It's the way we're brought up and apart from Rangers supporters just about every body likes to see the English fail.

I think the fact that every time your football team go into a competition we get 1966 rammed down our throats and it's wearing a bit thin along with the arrogance of the perceiced right to be classed amongst the best in the world, which you clearly are not!!. I blame your press as they continually build you up and then take great delight in publicly humiliating you when it inevitably goes pear shaped.

I have many English friends so I'm not anti English per se but do love to see you get egg on yer faces.

Up Costa Rica

To be fair, I think that if Scotland won the world cup in 1966 we would still be getting blasted with that (some of them are still giving 1314 big licks). I am a non footballing type Scot. I am not glad that England lost. I just wish there was a practical way of avoiding hearing about the damned game. If you listen to radio, watch TV or read papers it is impossible to avoid hearing about football throughout the season and the football season end is a relief except that every 4 years the torture is extended due to the WC.

 

[Laudrup]

Utter pish!!

There was some sad case in a Scotland top waving a Saltire in the Uruguay end last night. Scottish fans hating England when England either couldn't care less or even want Scotland to do well is the epitome of the wee man chip-on-the-shoulder Braveheart syndrome. Making up pish poor excuses about 1966 or the media is a lot of s***e. It makes us look embarrassing and small when we can't even qualify.

 

[Gremlin]

Because us non football fans hope that life will return to something like normality once England are out of it and we won't have to put
up with all the piffle and analysing what went wrong etc. for hours every day/night we turn on the TV/PC

 

[SFTPhotography]

If only it was that easy to just get up 20 minutes earlier for some. I commute by coach and they don't change their timetable. We subsequently get stuck in all the extra traffic. Stop generalising so much.

Take an earlier one, or be a bit late. The world won't stop.

The way some go on about football, you think it would be the apocalypse if England are knocked out.

 

[Nikon_Nick]

Because us non football fans hope that life will return to something like normality once England are out of it and we won't have to put
up with all the piffle and analysing what went wrong etc. for hours every day/night we turn on the TV/PC

So what are you saying? You DO like football?

 

[Gremlin]

So what are you saying? You DO like football?

Ha Bloody Ha

 

[kelack]

Take an earlier one, or be a bit late. The world won't stop.

The way some go on about football, you think it would be the apocalypse if England are knocked out.

I get the first coach. There are 3. And no, I never said the world would stop but just explaining that not everyone can follow by your ideal. It's fine by me if we get stuck in traffic, I get a bit more kip.

 

[Cobra]

Actually Chris, that thread was extremely tame compared to some of the other comments ive seen flying around about this. So no, no dig at you at all .

Too Late now sunshine, I'm watching you

So from what you've said, it does seem that the pleasure is taken mainly because of a**hole fans..

As above I take no pleasure or other wise, win or lose,
But I can see what you are surmising I said, or hinted at.
And yes I guess that is a possibility.

 

[viv1969]

I simply hate the fact that it dominates EVERYTHING for the month before. ..the month during...and the month of postmortems that follows. I also get wound up that people seem yo forget the obvious that England have never stood a chance in hell this time around.

 

[Nikon_Nick]

Too Late now sunshine, I'm watching you

As above I take no pleasure or other wise, win or lose,
But I can see what you are surmising I said, or hinted at.
And yes I guess that is a possibility.

Ill be careful

 

[Nikon_Nick]

I simply hate the fact that it dominates EVERYTHING for the month before. ..the month during...and the month of postmortems that follows. I also get wound up that people seem yo forget the obvious that England have never stood a chance in hell this time around.

Fair enough, but people shouldnt only support a team only if they are doing well.

 

[nilagin]

I think it's funny when England lose, because people get all patriotic draping their flags out of bedroom windows and better still, flying their flags from the Jap crap, German or Korean cars.
I used to play football as a kid, even played a lot as an apprentice, even come from a footballing family, but watching it bores me. Couldn't really give a toss about rugby or cricket neither, but then they don't get as much pointless hype.

 

[dean messenger]

not really a football fan and i take no pleasure when england lose.. if anything it annoys the p*** outa me that whenever england are mentioned all i hear about is wayne useless fat t*** rooney.
thought it was a team of 11 players but seems its all based around someone who doesnt actually know what the net looks like ( yes i know he scored but heck my 9 year old coulda scored that one ).
maybe if wages were performance based they might spend more time playing football than worrying about putting there hair out of place.. over paid primadonnas with bugger all talent.

 

[archangel]

So it is the fans then? People that don't like football, dont like football because of the fans?

I don't really hate any sport......I just choose not to watch the likes of football....... a number of reasons one of which is the fans, which I know I can't tar everyone with the same brush, but the never let up going on about football, players, managers and how they could have done better......but getting back to the OP I was sad that England didn't win....I was really rooting for them........and it is not often you get an Northern Irishman say that.

 

[boyfalldown]

I just hate that is expected I'm interested and anything else takes second place. I do take a perverse pleasure in tabloid headlines like yesterday's 'We're going to tear you a new one' being so utterly wrong

 

[Ian D J]

Why? Because we can.

I love ripping the whole thing off with my doodles simply because I can not stand the footy. I just don't get the concept of watching 22 grown men kicking a ball about, not to mention the hype surrounding it all.

 

[SpikeK6]

Football "its a funny old game" as someone once said.

What the players get paid has nothing to do with the haters of the game, well ok it has but only because it is so publically broadcast every penny they get blah blah blah. There are 1000's of sports people out there that get paid many times what rooney gets a week, month year etc.
Take Valentino Rossie for instance one of the greatest Motorcycle riders of all time, gets paid anywhere fro 12 to 16 million a year, is he over paid? did you even know what he gets paid before I told you?? I think the fact the players get hyped up soooo much and people still believe we should be winning as its our national sport that is the problem, the way it gets thrown down our throuts every day of the week, even the wives get involved in keeping it in the tabloids.
Now football I can take it or leave it, I watched the game last night and thought they played as well as they could and got beat by a better goal scorer. Should they win the tourniment, should they go on to great things, well yes they should they are only there to win, but if they get beat then so be it. But its in people blodd, thats what they live for and nothing else.

 

[dejongj]

So, after taking the night to chill out and calm the 'F' down about the football, ive had this question floating around my head.

Why is it, that a lot of non football fans (not just those on here), find it funny that England have done so poorly, like they take actual 'pleasure' in how badly we have performed?

I appreciate that not everyone likes football, and thats fair enough (each to their own and all that), but I find the real venom ive seen aimed at players representing our country is really uncalled for. I dont like Cricket, and personally, I cannot think of anything more boring than a 5 day Ashes Test, but I have never taken pleasure in England getting well and truly thrashed. I also find Rugby (both codes) extremely boring, but ive never been 'happy' when ive heard about England losing. Is it the money thats in the game now, that makes people dislike these players? If I got called into a meeting at work, and was told that Sky wanted to start filming me and my colleagues and show us doing our work 'Live & Exclusive', which means that there is a massive tv money deal increasing my salary to 80k per week, im not going to turn it down, and neither would anyone else, if they are honest about it. So, im not sure that the players them selves can be blamed for that necessarily.

This is a genuine question, and id be happy to hear your views.

Cheers

Nick

I think this is an excellent question! My wife was like that last night as well and started cheering on Uruquay. Ok, naturally I don't mind her in Orange but I did think it was strange....She thought they are just a bunch of uninterested guys on a pitch, not interested in football at all, just wanting to get back to their hotels, get drunk and play celebrity...She though they don't actually seem to enjoy it....when you compare their miserable faces to say Suarez or Robben who just smile whilst playing, laugh when they realise they've done something silly....And I started to see the point she was making....What a miserable bunch on the pitch, who really looked like they couldn't be bothered and didn't want to be there...

I don't follow football regularly, but based on the recent two matches, why is Rooney paid £300K/week? I don't see it?

 

[BRASH]

There was some sad case in a Scotland top waving a Saltire in the Uruguay end last night. Scottish fans hating England when England either couldn't care less or even want Scotland to do well is the epitome of the wee man chip-on-the-shoulder Braveheart syndrome. Making up pish poor excuses about 1966 or the media is a lot of s***e. It makes us look embarrassing and small when we can't even qualify.

Yeh, like Lineker on TV right now with an Italian shirt on for the Costa Rica game. What a cock!!!!

 

[Pookeyhead]

So, after taking the night to chill out and calm the 'F' down about the football, ive had this question floating around my head.

Why is it, that a lot of non football fans (not just those on here), find it funny that England have done so poorly, like they take actual 'pleasure' in how badly we have performed?

Because it's just a game, and ultimately, it doesn't really matter. However, I find it funny, because even I, who readily admits to knowing NOTHING about football can clearly see the problem: Buy international players... have a crap England team. It's their own fault, and basically, I like to laugh at people's stupidity, because stupid people are funny - Always have been, always will be. Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, Mr Bean.... England Football team.

QED.


Ultimately though.. it's the attitude surrounding the game. Why did it take you a night to "calm the 'f' down"? It's just a game. We lost because we're not very good. Also, "non-football fans" are sick of hearing about it all day and all night every time they switch on a device capable of receiving information from the outside world. I'm so unbelievably happy they lost because I don't have to put up with non-stop bullsh*t and hyperbole every time I wake up and engage with the world.

 

[mattyg]

I don't get it when people say they are useless and overpaid.

Useless. How?

We seem to have this we are better than everyone else attitude and because we once had an empire we should be able to beat the world at anything. We don't anymore.

We build our sportsmen up and then knock them down when we aren't as good as some people dream we should be.

England are NOT that good at football.

Better than Scotland and Wales. But who cares about them



As for overpaid.

They are a commodity that is traded. Football contracts are another world away from what we would recognise as an employment contract.

I wouldn't complain if they were paid twice as much.

What If your boss turned round to you and said I'll pay you £5 million a year but I can sell you to a competitor and you'll have to move your family to the other end of the country whenever the mood takes him.

Would you think complain about being paid that much

 

[mattyg]

I don't follow football regularly, but based on the recent two matches, why is Rooney paid £300K/week? I don't see it?

Why don't you think he's worth it?

Because he didn't score 10 goals against and equally professional team made up of the same number of players. When your at the top very little separates you from the others at the top.

Its hard to score against a team heavily weighted for defence.

 

[dejongj]

Why don't you think he's worth it?

Because he didn't score 10 goals against and equally professional team made up of the same number of players. When your at the top very little separates you from the others at the top.

Its hard to score against a team heavily weighted for defence.

it is not just the lack of scoring when he had the opportunity...heck his facial expression for that missed header looked like he was afraid of the ball....but no, he is just not to be seen in the game, it is like he isn't part of it to me....He doesn't show enjoyment for the game on his face either, and the results show it.....

Hey I'm not dumb, he is getting good money for what he isn't doing...so someone thinks he is worth it....but is that truly related to winning matches, or is it related to generating revenue?

Anyway I'm not a Rooney fan, I don't get him...

 

[MartynK]

We both follow SA rugby and cricket, and neither of us are interested in football, but my wife's family are pretty fanatical about it, and are also fervent Scottish Nationalists. That nearly caused a major rift when she asked her brother in law, quite casually, when Scotland were playing. She really didn't know they hadn't qualified, but I think they're still sulking............

Of course, everyone knows that Saffers support any team that beats Australia in the cricket and rugby world cups!

 

[ancient_mariner]

As someone who does not enjoy football, the whole beery-lout thing*, the tribalism and the advertising just gets on my nerves. It's probably snob value, but it feels like the country briefly removes its collective brain and dribbles down its chin for a couple of weeks before the team is knocked out. The olympics *feels* like a sporting event worth celebrating (though even that goes to excess) but I've long found it hard to see football as a valuable sport, and much more like a cynical business that leeches off the tribal instincts of the proles.

I don't wish ill on anyone paid ridiculous amounts of money and I don't celebrate when the English team get knocked out, but I do breathe a sigh of relief in the hope things will quieten down.

*Writing this made me realise I don't actually associate kicking a ball around a field with football - instead it's all about the crowds and money.

 

[mid_gen]

I don't like the game much. The players themselves I find really hard to like, they seem to care much more about their club than country.

Give me rugby or cricket any day...at least the international game is the pinnacle of the sport. Club football fine, but international? Glad it's over.

I will be going out to support the sausage munchers later though

 

[purpleclouds]

I found it quite interesting listening to the news yesterday. They were telling us how private schools give their pupils a far better sporting chance (if you'll excuse the pun) and sports such as rugby, rowing, cricket etc are mostly dominated by those educated at their parents cost.

Take a look at football and I bet you'll find it the other way round. Many of our 'stars' grew up playing football on the streets and are from relatively humble backgrounds in many of the UK's less desirable areas. A couple of small areas of Glasgow for example have been responsible for quite a few Premier League managers over the years and certainly recently (All in one season - Sir Alex Ferguson, Man Utd - Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool - David Moyes, Everton - Alex McLeish, Birmingham - Steve Kean, Blackburn - Owen Coyle, Bolton). If anything, I'd suggest footballers being paid far more than those in other sports are quite justified in being so. Putting in the hard work and making something of their otherwise average life ahead.

 

[kendo1]

There was some sad case in a Scotland top waving a Saltire in the Uruguay end last night. Scottish fans hating England when England either couldn't care less or even want Scotland to do well is the epitome of the wee man chip-on-the-shoulder Braveheart syndrome. Making up pish poor excuses about 1966 or the media is a lot of s***e. It makes us look embarrassing and small when we can't even qualify.

If you look behind the headlines and find the real story...

Mark McConville supported Uruguay during the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa.
He is a charity worker in Brazil.
Is he not allowed to support the team of his choice?

 

[jakeblu]

The England football team over the last 20 years is a strange conundrum. The likes of Beckham, Rooney, Cole, Gerrard etc could have played for any of the top clubs in the world, they really are/were world class players and yet when it comes to England they're more like Sunday league players, actually that's doing Sundey leaguers a bit of an injustice. We really should have done so much better over the last few years instead of the ignominy of the last two world cups.

 

[Laudrup]

If you look behind the headlines and find the real story...

Mark McConville supported Uruguay during the 2010 Football World Cup in South Africa.
He is a charity worker in Brazil.
Is he not allowed to support the team of his choice?

Turning up in a Scotland top with a see you jimmy hat and Saltire supporting Uruguay, yeah of course he is.

 

[BRASH]

Turning up in a Scotland top with a see you jimmy hat and Saltire supporting Uruguay, yeah of course he is.

A bit like bloody Rangers fans wearing England shirts. Mugs

 

[John Young]

I have always hated the whole football scene how the players are treated as Gods, paid way to much and are as soft as S**t if they get hurt. You work with blokes who look at you as if you are some weirdo when you say you hate football and how come people only seem to show any national pride when its football (flags etc)

I love cycling and its only very recently that the cyclists have had any attention with the likes of Bradly Wiggens etc and look how well they have done for England but you won't see any flags on cars etc when the tour de france is on and scheduled on TV for some obscure time like 11pm on a Sunday night

So forgive me for having a chuckle when the overpaid footballers fail