England v Iceland

[AdiSalisbury]

I will not argue with your views but I have said for a long time that Hart is not good enough and I stand by that.....he is not world class and is not even international class. You are not the first to disagree with me and I expect you will not be the last, but in my opinion he is not good enough.

Rooney is past it too.

Totally agree, so does Fabien Barthez...

http://www.skysports.com/football/ne...rk-on-his-game

A mistake waiting to happen is Joe Hart, seems to think he is better than what he is. Rooney has never delivered when it has mattered, though I don't doubt his effort.

Unfortunately, there isn't enough coming through to challenge these guys, and so we will continue to fail on the world stage.

[Oldtimeram]

Barthez is spot on in everything he says about Hart. It is time for him to move over and let someone else have a chance. Butland maybe? I even think Carson is a better keeper than Hart. He made one gaff in an England shirt and he was out on his ear....Hart has made numerous c0ck ups but still retains his place for some reason??

[southernram22]

think joe hart is very nervy so should stand to oneside

[triz]

think joe hart is very nervy so should stand to oneside

Preferably his left

[swaledale]

Harts the best English goalie at the moment, he has had bad tournament but then hasn't most of Englands players as for going by what a ****ing french man says...words fail me!

[AngryRam]

as for going by what a ****ing french man says...words fail me!

No good timing for you of all people to post that..

[Oldtimeram]

I guess as a former goalkeeper, he can see Hart's weaknesses better than most of us. I'll take his judgement over yours Swales, even if he is a ****ing french man!

[triz]

Just a thought, does anyone think that perhaps, the reason we as a nation lose so miserably so regularly is fear of failure? And that perhaps, that fear of failure is partly caused by the utter crucifixion fans and the media give England players upon exiting a tournament, this thread being a case in point.

Now I'm not claiming England didn't deserve a bartering for their display against Iceland but is it possible that the fear of making a mistake and being the nations scapegoat stifled all invention and incisive risk taking? The Spurs lot amongst others massively played within themselves for instance.

I think if we can ever take ignominious defeat better then next time we may do a touch better.

[FrenchTrimmed]

Sorry Triz - National teams from other countries that fail get just as much stick from the press and the people as our guys do; in fact much worse in some countries (have a look at the Italian press)- the fear of failure that you describe really emanates from the players' lack of belief in their ability to succeed which in turn is where the manager and his team should make the difference. The players who represented England in this competition are not lacking in ability but they did seem to lack self belief when playing for their country. The manager of a national team cannot make a real difference in any players footballing skills - this is what clubs do. The national manager's task is to take the best resources available to him, decide how these resources can be best employed and then ensure that the players BELIEVE that the plan is executable, enjoyable and likely to succeed. I would suggest that we have not had a manager capable of doing this for many, many years.

[KingCharlieGeorge]

The national manager's task is to take the best resources available to him, decide how these resources can be best employed and then ensure that the players BELIEVE that the plan is executable, enjoyable and likely to succeed. I would suggest that we have not had a manager capable of doing this for many, many years.

Spot on.