The world cup dreams over now thanks to the newsoftheworld

[iranu]

Sven was always going to leave the job after the WC. It's the worst kept secret in football.

In fact TNOTW has done him a massive favour. He can leave and get a £2M payout and does not have to resign and lose that money. The FA don't have to sack him and lose a wad of cash either. In fact it's so masterful it wouldn't surprise me if Sven engineered it.

I don't think it will have any bearing on our performance in the WC either. If the players and the manager are not motivated by the chance to win the WC then I'm the queen of England. It's the biggest prize going. If we did win Sven could command any salary he wanted and go to any club in the world.

I find it amusing that people take anything TNOTW print seriously. I wouldn't line my dog's basket with that crap.

Whilst I'm not a fan of Sven, he did pull us out of the mire that was Kevin Keegans reign. He has been succesful in taking us to all the tournaments. We now have a fairly well settled side with plenty of talent in the wings (or on the bench - choose which ever cliche you want!). This side certainly has the ability to win the WC and some story printed 6 months ago in a red top rag isn't going to make a difference.

The problem we have in this country is that if we had eleven 1 legged, 1 eyed, 1 armed dwarfs playing in white shirts with lions on their chests the average English footie fan would still expect them to beat Brazil 3-0.

[luke313]

I don't know how many of you realise this, but several of the last few England manager's announced their imminent departure before a big tournament - Bobby Robson before Italy 1990, Terry 'El Tel' Venables before Euro 96. In both tournaments the players rallied around for the manager and were both unlucky to go out on penalties at the semi-final stage on both occasions (coincidentally against Germany).

This may not necessarily be a bad move for both parties (the FA and Sven) as if he did fail to win the World Cup, many fans would be asking for him to leave before his contract finishes, and even if he did win, who's to say there won't be any more 'scandals' ahead?

From what I've seen, read about Sven, he seems to feel much happier when involved daily in a club - and I wouldn't be surprised if he goes to a Premiership club (Newcastle anyone?) before the start of next season.

England still have the best chance in 40 years of winning the World Cup, but will the might of Brazil/Argentina, or home advantage of Germany, prove to be too much? I still think Brazil are going to be the 'team to beat' for the cup.