Are we stuck in the past with our national side?

England World Cup Squad 1990

Barnes - born in Jamaica

Butcher - born in Singapore

Originally Posted by bigMikeA

where do you draw the line though? Obviously podolski has spent 95% of his life in Germany, is 'naturalised' etc

Klose didn't move until he was 11 I think? but again still spent majority of his life in Germany.


There should be a defined set of rules, clearly though. The boateng brothers - what the £#%&! is that about :shakhead:

ive mentioned it before in numerous threads....country of birth, country of parents birth......id be happy to tighten it to just country of birth....if the country you were born in are crap at football, tough shit.

international football should not be open to picking and choosing who you play for, thats what club football is for....and that includes coaching saff.

Originally Posted by denis lawless

enjoy....

YouTube- Polska-Anglia 1973

As I said on a previous occasion, how many times have you played us since then without winning??

Originally Posted by red in cumbria

As I said on a previous occasion, how many times have you played us since then without winning??

to be honest, Poland approach games against England with a very poor attitude.....they give England far too much respect and are usually a goal down before they even get onto the pitch....same when they play Germany tbh.

Theyve had some great results down the years against big teams but they swing from "cant be arsed-ness" to over cautious-ness"

they need a good talking to IMO

Just a quick flick through the current and u21 squads and put together this squad. Why not just run with this lot for the next 8/10 years give or take a few with retirements/injuries etc?

GK: Hart; Foster; Green

DF:Mancienne; Johnson; A.Cole; Dawson; Shawcross; Cahill; Baines

MF:Carrick; Hargo; Johnson; Cattermole; Rodwell; Wilshire; Gosling; Lennon; Milner; Parker; Huddlestone; J.Cole

FW: Rooney; Defoe; Carrll; Sturridge; Delfounso; Welbeck; C.Cole; Agbonhlahor; B.Afobe

Originally Posted by denis lawless

ive mentioned it before in numerous threads....country of birth, country of parents birth......id be happy to tighten it to just country of birth....

Okay, forget football then. Just normal life: is Podolski German or Polish?

Originally Posted by Grimson

Okay, forget football then. Just normal life: is Podolski German or Polish?

90% Polish...borders have shifted many times down the years.....but hes mostly Polish

Originally Posted by denis lawless

90% Polish...borders have shifted many times down the years.....but hes mostly Polish

ffs what are you claiming? That during Podolski's life, the borders shifted and even though he went to school in Germany and grew up in Germany, it was actually Poland?

I think one of the more interesting examples of this is L.Messi. Spent most of his life in Spain - plays very poorly for the Argies and out of his skin for Barca. It's been said before that the Argie fans think he's more Cataluyan than Argie. If a player doesnt want to play for thier national team but feels forced to then that's self defeating.

Originally Posted by Grimson

ffs what are you claiming? That during Podolski's life, the borders shifted and even though he went to school in Germany and grew up in Germany, it was actually Poland?

:shakehead:

£#%&!in hell Grimmers, are you being purposely obtuse ?

he was born in Poland

his mother is Polish (both her parents are Polish)

his father is Polish (although his fathers grandad was german)

his first language would most certainly been Polish

it makes £#%&! all difference where he moved to and grew up.....he is £#%&!ING POLISH !!!

having a german great grandad DOES NOT make you german.

the reference to borders shifting is relevant because people living in those regions would have been affected by it......and either moved with them or adopted their new masters.

Originally Posted by Grimson

ffs what are you claiming? That during Podolski's life, the borders shifted and even though he went to school in Germany and grew up in Germany, it was actually Poland?

Tbf I think everyone would rather be German, looks like Denis has been at the Bison Grass voddy.

Which brings me to my second point, why the £#%&! couldn't you lot keep your noses out? Perhaps we wanted nice uniforms and trains that £#%&!ing worked.

Originally Posted by denis lawless

:shakehead:

£#%&!in hell Grimmers, are you being purposely obtuse ?

he was born in Poland

his mother is Polish (both her parents are Polish)

his father is Polish (although his fathers grandad was german)

his first language would most certainly been Polish

it makes £#%&! all difference where he moved to and grew up.....he is £#%&!ING POLISH !!!

having a german great grandad DOES NOT make you german.

the reference to borders shifting is relevant because people living in those regions would have been affected by it......and either moved with them or adopted their new masters.

He plays for the Gers though don't he?

Originally Posted by n48

I think one of the more interesting examples of this is L.Messi. Spent most of his life in Spain - plays very poorly for the Argies and out of his skin for Barca. It's been said before that the Argie fans think he's more Cataluyan than Argie. If a player doesnt want to play for thier national team but feels forced to then that's self defeating.

born in Argentina...Parents from Argentina.....plays for Argentina....top bloke

although his great grandparents hail from Italy

Originally Posted by denis lawless

born in Argentina...Parents from Argentina.....plays for Argentina....top bloke

bet he's wishing he played for Spain though.

Originally Posted by Grimson

ffs what are you claiming? That during Podolski's life, the borders shifted and even though he went to school in Germany and grew up in Germany, it was actually Poland?

he was born in poland to polish parents (both international sports(wo)men).

thing is, the polish football authorities paid no attention to him and had probably never heard of him until he was already representing germany at u21. typical of the pzpn (polish fa) - a dismal mixture of aging communist apparatchiks, shambolic hangers-on and bent businessmen with absolutely no interest in the game and not even the vaguest clue of how to reform it. it really is hard to describe just how god-awful a collection of scum the polish fa is.

podolski speaks german, has lived in germany almost his whole life and feels german. he's never felt polish, he says, and i have no problem with it at all. i can't stand the cynical give-a-passport efforts like olisadebe and roger (for, er, poland) or even deco or liedson with portugal - players who have no connection with the country they represent, other than living there a few years.

Originally Posted by denis lawless

:shakehead:

£#%&!in hell Grimmers, are you being purposely obtuse ?

he was born in Poland
Yeah, think he remembers that? John McEnroe was born in Germany

his mother is Polish (both her parents are Polish) Who cares about his mother? We're talking about him

his father is Polish (although his fathers grandad was german)

Who cares about his father? We're talking about him


his first language would most certainly been Polish

And? That was 1/20th of his life.

it makes £#%&! all difference where he moved to and grew up.....he is £#%&!ING POLISH !!!

having a german great grandad DOES NOT make you german.

True. Growing up there does though.

the reference to borders shifting is relevant because people living in those regions would have been affected by it......and either moved with them or adopted their new masters.

That's not why the Podolskis moved. hthbitter deluded.

Originally Posted by borsuk

he was born in poland to polish parents (both international sports(wo)men).

thing is, the polish football authorities paid no attention to him and had probably never heard of him until he was already representing germany at u21. typical of the pzpn (polish fa) - a dismal mixture of aging communist apparatchiks, shambolic hangers-on and bent businessmen with absolutely no interest in the game and not even the vaguest clue of how to reform it. it really is hard to describe just how god-awful a collection of scum the polish fa is.

biggest bunch of £#%&!ers youre ever likely to come across

podolski speaks german, has lived in germany almost his whole life and feels german. he's never felt polish, he says, and i have no problem with it at all. i can't stand the cynical give-a-passport efforts like olisadebe and roger (for, er, poland) or even deco or liedson with portugal - players who have no connection with the country they represent, other than living there a few years.

agreed....its a £#%&!in farce....and you can lump the dutch coach into the equation as well

.

Originally Posted by Grimson

That's not why the Podolskis moved. hthbitter deluded.

they moved in 1987...so it was probably for economic reasons as the "Wall" was still up and things were grim.....but it didnt suddenly make them germans.

Originally Posted by denis lawless

they moved in 1987...so it was probably for economic reasons as the "Wall" was still up and things were grim.....but it didnt suddenly make them germans.

Right. His parents are Polish. But Lukas grew up in Germany, so he's German.

if a dog wanders into a stable, it doesnt make him a horse

That's the analogy you're going with? Really?

A horse isn't a horse because he lives in a stable. But a German is a German because of where he lives, where he grew up, etc.

So thanks for proving my point.