Qualified: Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Croatia, England, Germany.

Seeded in play-offs: Portugal, Scotland, Italy, Russia, Sweden, Wales.

Unseeded in play-offs: Turkey, Poland, North Macedonia, Ukraine, Austria, Czechia.
Despite them having won away to Germany in these qualifiers (!), everyone's gonna want North Macedonia out of those.

But they're all much of a muchness. Turkey away would've been tough - but Turkey at home really isn't. What the Czechs do at the Euros, they never do at the WC.
Austria looked great v Italy at the Euros but haven't really since. Poland are very decent but invariably flatter to deceive. And Ukraine are crap.

None of those opponents should hold any real fears for Scotland or Wales - except maybe the Czechs.
And more broadly:

- England one of the best sides in the world
- Scotland beat the European semi-finalists and improving beyond imagination
- Wales with a chance to reach their third major tournament in 4 attempts after reaching none since 1958
- NI hold the European Champions
I don't think there's been another time in my life when the home nations were all this good.

Really really remarkable stuff. The dinosaurs, the "we don't have anything to learn from Johnny Foreigner" yeomen, have suddenly all caught up! 👏👏👏

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More from @shaunjlawson

17 Nov
1. France: if they're at their best, nobody can beat them. But their attitude is always in question and don't forget the Champions' curse

2. Germany: completely, totally transformed since at last changing manager. They will be VERY strong a year from now

theguardian.com/football/who-s…
3. England: a semi-final then a final means... The rest of the world will be talking about us and have us down as a major contender. A young side and squad with so much emerging talent. And the tournament's being played mid-season - England won't be tired. That could be decisive.
4. Brazil: solid, reliable... but they have no X-factor, nothing to make the difference in tight knockout games. And a stat: Brazil have not beaten a single European side in a World Cup knockout match since 2002.
Read 15 tweets
17 Nov
A depressing realisation. You know how sleaze is clearly cutting through in the polls? Like it did under Blair in the 90s?

It's because for a section of the electorate - generally, the decisive one - literally the only thing they pay attention to is money.
"Corbyn will bankrupt the economy!" Cue thrashing of Corbyn.

"Labour bankrupted the country!" Cue Brown and Miliband losing badly.

"The Tory death tax!" - cue May losing her majority.

Inflation in the US - cue Biden's approval ratings imploding.
These people stand and watch as the poorest and most vulnerable have their lives destroyed completely - but just as long as THEY'RE OK... 🙄

Same with house prices and rentier capitalism. Same with the right to buy. Same even with Tory pork barreling, AKA 'levelling up'.
Read 7 tweets
16 Nov
Some quick thoughts on Scotland:

1. I told you Clarke was the man. When I'm right, I'm right. See you again in 2031 for the next time that happens.

2. He has done the most fantastic job - and they're suddenly emerging as a proper football team.

They've gone through the 'hard to beat' phase and developed such a superb sense of teamship. Now they're moving on to something more: as befits Clarke's approach to the game. He's a genuinely enlightened coach.
3. That win last night was huge. They'd've had very little chance of qualifying as an unseeded team. They have every chance now - but obviously, need to avoid the Italy or Portugal sections.

But they've improved so much that even against them, they wouldn't have no chance.
Read 10 tweets
15 Nov
Can't believe this was 28 years ago now.

The whole country pissed itself laughing when it happened.

Of note is this SUPERB discussion after the match between England's next manager and the mighty Sir James of Hill.

Jimmy made so many spot on points - which continued to apply until very recently.

That's how the BBC used to do football coverage. They were the absolute business at it.
Read 4 tweets
7 Nov
Some eyepopping stats about Solskjaer's time at Man United - specifically, at home:

- This season, they've conceded more goals at home than Norwich. 11 goals from 6 games, their worst since 1976

- They've already lost 8 home league games this calendar year: the worst since 1989
- They've not kept a single clean sheet at home since March: 14 games, the worst since 1959

- They only won 5 home league games between March and November 2019

- Sheffield United won there for the first time since 1979
- Crystal Palace won there back to back having not won there since 1989

- Cardiff won there having not done so since 1954

- Burnley won there having not done so since 1954

And the rot at Old Trafford specifically goes back well before Solskjaer's time too.
Read 6 tweets
5 Nov
The comments on this are just unbelievable.

Yes folks, what a BRILLIANT idea it would be to deny these students support, advice, help of any kind... and stigmatise them instead, because your ideology is more important than their lives and their bodies.
Lots of students are in sex work of some sort. That's a reality. You can either deny that reality or deal with it in a supportive, compassionate way.

If you don't like it, bring back maintenance grants. But I bet most of those condemning have constantly voted for tuition fees.
Constantly voted for massive student debt. Then you wonder why stuff like this happens?

Prostitution is legal in Uruguay - which helps keep those who do it a lot safer. Those involved in it pay into the tax system and receive social security and healthcare. That's a good thing.
Read 14 tweets

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