12-07-2021, 09:10 PM
Ever since I can remember there's nearly always been a scapegoat to blame as England exit a competition. Sometimes a player, sometimes the manager and sometimes both.
Way back in 1970 it was Peter Bonetti ........ whenever he played away from Stamford Bridge he endured dogs abuse "You lost the World Cup!"
Norman Hunter got stick for missing his tackle as Poland broke away to score and stop us from qualifying for the 74 World Cup - and Sir Alf was later sacked for this failure to qualify.
Other managers to carry the can were Steve "Wally with the Brolly" McClaren and Graham "Turnip" Taylor.
1986 saw the vitriol targeted at an opposition player - the cheating Maradona - and 2006 was somewhat similar with the winker Ronaldo cast as the villain.
Suppose the 1990 shoot-out loss to Germany was a bit of an exception - Bobby Robson emerged with credit and with the media attention on Gazza's tears, Pearce and Waddle got off fairly lightly. Everyone seemed to share Pearce's joy in the 96 shootout against Spain but I felt that Southgate took the brunt of the stick when we got knocked out at Euro 96.
Possibly the most abuse I can remember for any England player was for Beckham after getting sent off against the Argies - death threats and effigies of him being hung spring to mind - though as with Pearce, all seemed to be forgiven after his injury time screamer against Greece to qualify for 2002 followed by his winning penalty against the Argies in Japan.
Struggling to remember some of the more recent episodes - managers such as Hoddle, Eriksson and Capello came and went, both driven out by long-term media abuse - while Hodgson went before he was pushed after the Iceland debacle.
Moving on to last night......with Southgate still the media's darling, it was inevitable that the blame would fall on whichever player was considered most at fault for our defeat. Suppose this blame was shared between all 3 who missed the penalties and they just happened to be black players. Not condoning the racist element of some of the abuse, but whoever this player or players happened to be they were certain to get plenty of stick. Guess Kane was fortunate that his penalty miss against Denmark didn't cost us otherwise am sure he would have become public enemy number one while Sterling's popularity has soared as England progressed!
To finish on a positive note, the example of Beckham just goes to show that Rashford, Sancho and Saka should all get the opportunity to put this behind them and go on to become future match-winners.
Way back in 1970 it was Peter Bonetti ........ whenever he played away from Stamford Bridge he endured dogs abuse "You lost the World Cup!"
Norman Hunter got stick for missing his tackle as Poland broke away to score and stop us from qualifying for the 74 World Cup - and Sir Alf was later sacked for this failure to qualify.
Other managers to carry the can were Steve "Wally with the Brolly" McClaren and Graham "Turnip" Taylor.
1986 saw the vitriol targeted at an opposition player - the cheating Maradona - and 2006 was somewhat similar with the winker Ronaldo cast as the villain.
Suppose the 1990 shoot-out loss to Germany was a bit of an exception - Bobby Robson emerged with credit and with the media attention on Gazza's tears, Pearce and Waddle got off fairly lightly. Everyone seemed to share Pearce's joy in the 96 shootout against Spain but I felt that Southgate took the brunt of the stick when we got knocked out at Euro 96.
Possibly the most abuse I can remember for any England player was for Beckham after getting sent off against the Argies - death threats and effigies of him being hung spring to mind - though as with Pearce, all seemed to be forgiven after his injury time screamer against Greece to qualify for 2002 followed by his winning penalty against the Argies in Japan.
Struggling to remember some of the more recent episodes - managers such as Hoddle, Eriksson and Capello came and went, both driven out by long-term media abuse - while Hodgson went before he was pushed after the Iceland debacle.
Moving on to last night......with Southgate still the media's darling, it was inevitable that the blame would fall on whichever player was considered most at fault for our defeat. Suppose this blame was shared between all 3 who missed the penalties and they just happened to be black players. Not condoning the racist element of some of the abuse, but whoever this player or players happened to be they were certain to get plenty of stick. Guess Kane was fortunate that his penalty miss against Denmark didn't cost us otherwise am sure he would have become public enemy number one while Sterling's popularity has soared as England progressed!
To finish on a positive note, the example of Beckham just goes to show that Rashford, Sancho and Saka should all get the opportunity to put this behind them and go on to become future match-winners.