2012 UEFA European Football Championship (catch-all thread)

[ikri]

65. It's weird

Usually we're told that we have the greatest team of since 1966 and we're sure to win it, leading to the inevitable disappointment when we fail to get past the quarter-finals.

This time everyone is aware that the squad is pretty shit. Old, over-hyped or injured. We have a new manager who half of Fleet Street would have us believe is a usurper, having taken Redknapp's rightful job (ignoring Hodgson's CV which pisses all over 'Arry's), completely out of his depth, dour, boring, etc. As such we're sure to crash out at the group stage.

Yet here's the weirdness. Because we know we're crap, because the team isn't the best available, because the manager is boring, there's less pressure on the team to do well. According to many, that means we're sure to win it.

ITV should be banned from having anything to do with football, they're dire. Their commentary can make the most exciting game sound like a state funeral, their analysis is laughable and their co-commentators are a joke (Andy 'who did you play for again?' Townsend demanding that Franck Ribéry get up and stop play acting whilst replays were clearly showing that he'd fallen awkwardly before an England player had accidentally stepped on his ankle, he was clearly in pain and clearly not faking it but Townsend had made his mind up, based on Ribéry being French probably). It's demonstrated by viewing figures for World Cup and Euro finals where the games are shown by both the BBC and ITV, the BBC will get 10 times the viewers as ITV.