Football Daily | Ireland’s dangerous precedent and promotion for England

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Well, that was close. Despite all the media pearl-clutching over mass withdrawals and the inexplicable no-show of a new manager who – Football Daily checks notes – is not due to start work until the new year, England somehow stumbled over the line to win promotion back to the top tier of European football’s equivalent of the old quiz show Turnabout. A lunchtime show of such byzantine complexity even its host has gone on the record saying he didn’t understand the rules, it still attracted a huge audience because … well, it was on. And so it came to pass that Wembley was filled to capacity on Sunday for a match billed as “must-win” for England, even if a sizeable proportion of those in attendance had no idea why. Look, it was something to do.

Picture the scene: the mighty Rome struggling to recapture its former glories, beset by internal power struggles that see leader after leader failing or being brought down from within, until eventually everyone turns to an old man on the fringes called Claudio …. sorry, Claudius. Surely history isn’t repeating itself?” – Mark McFadden.

Seeing Andy Morrison’s email (Friday’s Football Daily letters), which referenced Glenn Hoddle and ‘setting the balls up in the right place’ brought back unpleasant, indelible memories of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Maybe watching ITV’s coverage was a punishment for sins in a past life” – Ed Taylor.

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