"We'll win with the spirit of 66," bellowed one English player midway through last week. "Stand up if you won the war," was chanted by English fans midway through the game. The unfortunate fact is that these mindless fans, and there were plenty of them, had about as much to do with the winning of the war as England's current crop of overpaid and under skilled players had to do with the "spirit of 66"

And what of the Germans? A team, we were promised, who were in such a bad state that England need barely turn up to win the game. What did Germany possibly have that England didn't? True, they have a manager who wears his heart on his sleeve, has a passion for his country, and, despite his lack of experience and dodgy perm, is obviously adept at organising a team. But surely in Kevin Keegan, England had a near carbon copy. No, the difference between the two teams on Saturday was quite clearly the players. The German team were never going to have any problems when faced with England's most promising individuals. And to all those who think Terry Vennables, is the man who will get the players playing for him, ask yourselves why these players are able to play for a man, but not for their country. Is it really the manager's fault? The fireworks that greeted the final whistle on Saturday had no doubt been planned to signify the moving upward and onward for English football. Instead, their going up in smoke seemed only to signify England's World Cup hopes. If you listened closely as you left the stadium on Saturday you would have sworn you'd heard the band of jubilant German fans singing in chorus, "Where's your party gone?"

On to lighter matters. How many of you are going to be shelling out your hard earned cash to watch our boys in Finland on Wednesday night? Well for those of you who would far rather do something else, but can't think of anything, then I've come up with a few alternative suggestions.

Why not get down to see your local amateur side in action. They could do with your support, and the sight of 11 overweight drunken men who don't seem to know which end of the ball to kick will make you feel like you are in Helsinki itself.

Go and have a wander around your garden. Stroll around the lawn in no particular direction and with no obvious reason. You'll soon be starting to simulate the exact movements of the England team. Get a friend to watch, and he can save money as well.

If all else fails and you happen to have a 5 or 6-year-old child around the house. Take him/her out for a game of football. The embarrassment you'll feel when the aforementioned child starts to dance rings around you with the ball will probably be very similar to the simultaneous feelings of 11 English men in Helsinki!

To finish on a positive note this week, let's be thankful that we don't live in Romania. According to reports from the country, two Dinamo Bucharest players are in hospital after being badly beaten by policemen who had, "been assigned to protect them."

Apparently the officers were called to protect the players from fans angry at their sides 3-2 defeat. Unfortunately the police agreed with the fans and turned on the two players. I suppose it's lucky none of our officers were dispatched to protect the England players on Saturday.