Set your bat at the high 60s. "Whatever total he finishes with, it will stand as a record for a very long time" A gap of 30 odd years for Lineker + loadsa appearances to get within grasp of Charltons' tally. Similar time gap + indulgingly more appearances for Rooney to set the level. Given the "wear and tear" the club seasons now put on players, for the level to be raised even higher with 30 years IMHO it will require a player with Greaves/Kane lethality who rises at the same age Owen did.
Don Deacy is the brother of former Villa, Derby and Ireland player Eamonn Deacy. He didn't play many games for Villa, but won the league and European Cup. He died of a heart attack in 2012 at the age of 53. Stephen Kenny's ****, though.
Just in case people haven't noticed, the U21s Euros is currently being played. There's been virtually no coverage and I don't think it's televised anywhere. UEFA have all of the matches on their site though, I believe. A pretty strong England side have won their first two group games and gone through. The beat the Czech Republic and Israel 2-0 each. The remaining game is against Germany, who need to win to have any chance of qualifying. It's at 5pm tomorrow, if anyone's bored and missing football.
Full disclosure for the below I haven’t been able to catch any of the games yet. But, it’s kind of surprising that Skipp hasn’t started yet as they have a very attacking heavy set of midfielders and the squad generally seems quite top heavy. Skipp is by some distance the most experienced 6 in there at the top level. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him start against Germany and in subsequent games as the stakes get higher and the team might need more balance.
They've been using Liverpool's Curtis Jones and Lille's Angel Gomes, formerly of Man Utd. The front four don't seem to involve a striker, so it's just wingers and attacking midfielders. Can't argue with the results, but it does seem a bit odd. Not sure who they'd pick, though.
England U21s complete the trio of 2-0 wins in the group stage and eliminate Germany. They finish bottom of the group as Israel nick a 1-0 win over the Czech Republic and take 2nd. Skipp played the full game. The next fixtures are on the 1st and 2nd of July. England face Portugal on the 2nd. The Portuguese finished 2nd to Georgia in a tough group which saw Belgium and Holland go out.
England U21s beat Portugal 1-0 via an Anthony Gordon goal. They will now face their Israeli counterparts in the semi-final on Wednesday.
Hanging on for most of the 2nd half, ball retention was poor, but they dug in well and still haven't conceded a goal at the tournament.
