12th October

Me: I'd better hurry, I've not got much time left to write my daily blog today.
Dad: And does anyone read these blogs? Or care?

It hurts more when it comes from the people you love. I will admit that my enthusiasm for writing these blogs is rapidly diminishing. Although as a friend of mine noted yesterday, I am reasonably close to the end so it would be silly to stop now. Equally, I'm finding it a struggle to find enough words to take me past my arbitrary self-imposed 250 minimum. Which brings me to the topic of today's blog. I'm afraid that it's going to be football again. Sorry.

England completed a qualifying campaign for a major tournament tonight with a 100% record for the first time, beating Lithuania 3-0 on the way to Euro 2015 in France. It's very easy to be cynical about the English national side. But as the old adage goes, you can only beat who is in front of you and Roy Hodgson deserves some credit. But it's in the heat of the tournament proper where teams are ultimately judged and last year's terrible World Cup showing continues to loom large in the memory. The competition's expanded 24 team format may give England more time to ease their way in and it's unlikely that they'll be knocked out in the group stages. I anticipate a quarter final exit followed by Hodgson's departure as manager. He will probably be replaced by Brendan Rogers or something.




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