From: caar18@vaxa.strath.ac.uk
Newsgroups: rec.sport.soccer
Subject: Re: Just laughing at England
Date: 16 Nov 92 12:31:47 GMT
Organization: Strathclyde University VAX Cluster


 dam@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (David Morning) writes;

>The trouble is that there is a streak of arrogant assumption in the English
>media that somehow England is the best football nation in the world and
>have the best leagues, or at the very least, on a par with Europe's best.
>n Scotland, we are supplied by the BBC (or EBC as Scott prefers to call it)
>and ITV, both largely English based companies and we are forever having rammed
>down our throats Sportsnight with articles on how great England are, Saint
>and Greavsie with how great England are, Grandstand and Jimmy Hill on how
>great England are, John Motson and how great England are....you get the idea?

  I thought everbody in the U.K had picked up on the fact that 
 Jimmy Hill is employed with the sole purpose of winding up the 
 audience. Generally most of the football pundits on t.v are still 
actively involved in the game and thus can't be too outspoken for 
fear of SFA/FA reprisals/ damaging ties with certain individuals/
clubs etc - but the message is usually there clear enough, 
and it hasn't been singing England's praises in the Taylor era.
I'm quite surprised that you've had that much `rammed down your 
throat', as SportsNightis almost always replaced by SportsScene 
in Scotland, and Match Of The Day is replaced by SportsScene 
Match Of The Day.
    
>This is the closest we, in Scotland, get to knowing what the English supporter
>thinks of their own team and have to conclude that this is the popular view
>amongst English supporters at large.

>Of course there are some English posters here who say the media is full of
>crap, but equally there are posters who appear to go along with it and make
>bold predictions. Therefore it gives us great delight to see England come
>a cropper as in Sweden or the Leeds Rangers game. Funny thing is, all those
>who say the media is full of crap only seem to do so AFTER England or an
>English team has not lived up to the hype. Oh well..

     There seems to be a large divergence in Scotland's perception
 of England's fans' views, and the reality of England fans views.
 Take the last World Cup; prior to Italia '90 Scotland fans would
 say they believed England fans thought that they'd win the 
 tournament, whereas most England fans to my knowledge considered
 the quarter finals to be a reasonable target; anything less, and
 it has been a bad tournament, anything more a good one. 
          So far as the media is concerned, in my experience the 
 tabloid media tends to exaggerate the good and bad alike - thats
 how you sell papers though. If you really get your views of 
 England fans here I'm surprised that you think that the 
prevailing belief among said fans is that their side is the best 
in the world at all times, since over the last 10 years or so,
 but for a period from '86 -'88, and the summer of '90 the 
England team and Manager have been constantly pilloried by the 
press. Headlines like 'Swedes 2 Turnips 1', spring to mind from 
the Swedish Debacle, 'What A Load Of Rubbish', from (topically) 
the last time England played Turkey, as well as 'Go For God's 
Sake Go`, and many others from the Robson era.

     Yes England's expectations will usually be higher than 
 Scotland's, but that does not necessarily make them unreasonable.

           Cheers,
                   E. Ekoku