DangerousSausage

For anyone who's hanging about for the weekend, the Duisburg city festival is on now until Sunday, and MSV Duisburg are also holding a family event on Sunday. So there'll be no boredom. @Robbie, I think it would be a good idea to field trialists if we're seriously thinking about signing them, this is a good chance to watch them under competitive conditions. But it would be good to see something more like our planned league 11.

I'd like to see us have something resembling a league starting 11 too. Duisburg's season starts on 26 July, so this will be very much a dress rehearsal for them.

They play in blue and white hoops @Fan of Big Tone. German zebras are obviously different ???? Their kit is usually mostly white, so there shouldn't be a clash. They've just been relegated from the third division, so I've seen them in action a few times. They were part of the furniture in the Bundesliga before falling on hard times. A few years ago they came close to returning to Bundesliga 2, sitting in the promotion spots all season before blowing up spectacularly and firing their head coach Torsten Lieberknecht (who went on to take Darmstadt to the Bundesliga). They've struggled ever since and went down following a relegation battle with a number of other big names. As for the standard of football, the fourth-level Regionalliga is home to about 100 clubs over five divisions, so of course it isn't the same level as League Two apart from a few top clubs. However, Duisburg are definitely among those top clubs. They've never played at that level before, have a new manager and squad and are highly fancied to return to the third division at the first time of asking. Those of you who are going shouldn't expect too much Bundesliga flair as the match is being played at a local non-league ground, but I'm expecting a competitive match and a good workout.

He always looked like he was going to go. For all his achievements (and reaching two finals IS an achievement), it's time for some new ideas. Someone who can replicate the togetherness of the Southgate years, but can strike the right balance between caution and boldness and get more out of our creative players. Not you, Wayne Rooney.

Simply change your profile pic to McGoldrick or Rod McDonald and you're done ???? Please don't do what @KingMaynard does, otherwise you'll be having a new user name every season ????

Aren't most fouls unintentional accidents @Fan of Big Tone? They're still fouls. I didn't think it was a penalty at first but changed my mind after I saw the replay. Dumfries had his studs up, missed the ball and caught the man. Luckily he caught Kane's foot, if that had been his standing leg he could have caused a serious injury. It does seem a bit harsh on the Netherlands that we were given a penalty after Kane had already got his shot away, but they're the rules. I've heard it suggested that an indirect free kick should be given if no goalscoring opportunity is denied, but that would add a whole new level of complexity and discussion and we're probably better off as we are.

Somehow I completely missed this one. Based on what he showed us last season it isn't much of a loss, but it does open another gap in our squad we need to fill.

Magpies are very intelligent, I think they're the only birdsthat can recognise their own reflections. They're beautiful, we have several of them that visit our garden to drink some water or dissect a small animal...

I have a sneaky feeling we will ????

Apart from a 20 minute spell in the second half, the Netherlands played walking football and they rode their luck at the end. But they made it. Turkey have been hugely entertaining, but we could have done without some of the off-the-pitch antics.

No, it was one of Crystal Palace's old grounds. Norwich also played at a ground called The Nest before they moved to Carrow Road - there are plenty of pictures online, it looks pretty crazy.

I'm a bit surprised by this, but maybe I shouldn't have been. He'd have seen a lot less game time next season, and of course he wants to be playing. It'll be interesting to see how he does in Scotland. He's been honest about his motivation for the move and he is one of our promotion heroes after all. I hope he does well there and finds a better hairdressers too!

One was given in Germany's last game @Robbie, and to be fair it is a grey area. But they can't rely on a dodgy penalty every match.

Germany came back well after falling behind and to be honest I thought they deserved to go through. But they missed their chances and the sucker punch came at the end. There's been a lot of talk about the alleged handball at 1-1. The German pundits have just dedicated the half time break of Portugal v France to talking about it and how hard done to they are. I can almost understand it when this comes from people who only watch major tournaments and don't understand the rules of the game, but from former professional footballers it's embarrassing.

So offline tickets will now cost 27.50 on matchday - that's quite a hike. And the membership scheme is only worth it if you attend between 10 and 15 games. This will probably deter casual fans more than anything.

I wouldn't worry about the floor, I doubt they've fitted a carpet ???? Maybe I'm just tight, but when a goal is scored the first thing I do is make sure my precious pint is safe and sound!

I think it's a terrible kit. There's more red than white on it, and the plain black back and socks are poor too. Our colours are black and white. I certainly won't be buying it. I'll wait and see what the away kit looks like, but am not optimistic as manufacturers seem to be falling over themselves to replicate the tacky designs of the early 90s. Maybe in a few years we'll get to play in a traditional kit again.

We're through and that's all that really counts. It took us far too long to respond to going behind and could easily have been a case of too little, too late. I don't even mind us being boring but effective, what troubles me is that we're not effective. We look like a team of strangers and I fear we'll get found out once we meet a team that looks like a cohesive unit and has that bit of quality too. However, I'm old enough to remember the 1990 World Cup, we looked like a pub team for most of that tournament and Bobby Robson got pilloried for it (like he did for most of his tenure). Nobody remembers those dire group stage games now. So I'm very grateful that Southgate didn't take my advice and sub Bellingham off, I'm delighted we're through and looking forward to the next round!

Winning the fourth division title in 1998 doesn't make someone a good choice to manage a national team in 2024. Likewise, being a club manager and a national team coach are totally different jobs. England have often fallen into the trap of appointing coaches with successful club careers without considering whether they'd be suitable for the different requirements of the national team. I totally agree with @liampie here, but having said all that I'd still be very intrigued to see how he does.

It's only been about 20 degrees here @CliftonMagpie , perfect conditions for football (bar the odd downpour). And the roof in Frankfurt doesn't close completely. One of the big challenges of international football is taking a bunch of players who are doing well at different clubs and fitting them into one team, and we obviously haven't managed it yet. That's what pre-tournament friendlies are for. Then you've got the fear factor, which Southgate did so well to eliminate in the past. Hopefully we'll get it right in our next group game and we can peakwhen it matters. History shows that the teams that start off well during the group stages often don't keep it up.

Well wasn't that complete rubbish. We get a lucky goal and then park the bus and hand the initiative to Denmark. We are second best in every department and second to every ball. I'm expecting some changes at the break and a big improvement, otherwise we'll lose this.

Is it me or does the Denmark manager look like a detective in a bleak Scandinavian crime series?

If anyone is wondering what they're playing after Germany's matches, it's this absolute banger of a tune inspired by Space Oddity:

I had no idea that Klaus Gjasula had made Albania's squad. He used to play for my German team Waldhof Mannheim in the dark days of the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg (fifth level), and he didn't look particularly good at that level either. How he ended up playing in the Bundesliga is one of life's great mysteries. But well done like.

That's got to be the goal of the tournament so far surely? The lad probably doesn't even need to shave yet and he's banging those in. Turkey aren't home and dry yet though, some of their defending is a bit Nottsy.