With apologies to my English friends who post on here, it looks like the biggest nightmare scenario for all Scots is coming to pass.
I'm done now with football until Aberdeen get going (in a few short weeks as it goes).
I'm trying to make my peace with this situation, but it's difficult.
The one positive I can take is, if the worst does happen, the amount of insular jingoism spouted on supposedly "British" media outlets will hopefully drive enough of the population to support independence that we'll get over the line.
I'd go to the crossroads with Robert Johnson and make that Faustian pact tomorrow.
Commiserations AJ, I mean that genuinely in spite of my own relief at the outcome.
I really do feel for the three young lads that missed the pens.
Having a 19 y/o taking pen 5 in the shoot out is an unbelievable decision, rule of thumb for these is have your go-to guys up early and late.
And of course we now have the inevitable social media backlash, which is just unbelievable.
At the risk of coming across as a complete Marina Hyde fanboy, she nails the Johnson/Patel nonsense.
Very little you have said that I can disagree with. Of course, that's the England/Scotland/U.K. we all want.
It's one of those oddities of being 4 nations within 1. I think it's quite hard for the national broadcasters to remember that they are broadcasting to people who might not be supporting England - Radio 5 is certainly best avoided! The print media I won't comment on as I only ever read The Guardian and they tend not to jump on the bandwagon.
As for Sweet Caroline, I have no idea, but it surely beats Three Lions!
Incidentally, I am not supporting Birmingham whilst they are managed by Lee
Bowyer - I do have principles!
I can certainly agree with the sentiment, yes.
But I'll neither be watching the final or supporting England.......that's in spite of backing Italy pre tournament.
His last paragraph also chimed, if I saw any mechanism by which Westminster returns a progressive government based on decency and commonality of purpose then my attitude to Scottish independence would change.
I also agree about the players, they seem, collectively, fundamentally decent, well informed, young men.
They're certainly much harder to dislike than previous England squads (though Southgate seems to have dropped a bollock in the media today by reverting to cliché in his "blitz" interview).
But it's not really about the players, well on the field it is, but I'm talking more broadly than that.
If England win the tourney, the vessels making the most noise won't be Rashford, Sterling or the millions of decent English people like you, it'll be the gammony, taking-the-knee booing, plastic furniture throwing, Brexit types.
My support of the Scottish national team has waned to almost non existence over the years.
I cancelled my travel club membership when George Burley appointed Terry Butcher to the coaching staff.
Not because he's English, but because I find him objectionable as a person.
He bought into the "tradition " of rangers when he played for them, he's always come across as a fairly reactionary type and when he managed Motherwell and Inverness they were two of the vilest sides I'd ever seen.......and I saw rangers in the 70s.
Anyway, I've kind of lost interest in Scotland, 2014 didn't help. I've tried unsu