Tired of hearing that the English team is tired

The Gerry Buckley Column -- Let me start by stating categorically that I do not suffer unduly from Anglophobia. In fact, I welcome the invitation to invite Queen Elizabeth to Ireland and sincerely hope she is accorded the hospitality and courtesy afforded to other heads of state.This is, after all, 2010 not 1910, and the respect so famously and correctly shown to 'God Save the Queen' in Croke Park in 2007 will be quickly forgotten if we misbehave as a nation when she comes to Dublin. Having said, and meant, all that, don't you just get sick of hearing the same old John Bulls**t trotted out every time Engerland tamely exits a major soccer tournament (when they actually manage to qualify, that is)?Yet again, the same old monotonous excuse about the team being tired after a long season is wheeled out after a 4-1 World Cup defeat by Germany last Sunday. Yes, the disallowing of Frank Lampard's perfectly-good goal at a crucial time was genuinely scandalous. Sir Geoff Hurst, who would not have got tapped on the shoulder by the aforementioned Queen but for the intervention of a certain Russian linesman, Tofik Bahramov, would undoubtedly agree. We found out to our cost in Paris last November, and to the cost of the World Cup in general, hard-pressed financial institutions in Ireland and to the South African economy, that human officials make human mistakes. But to trot out the usual "tired after a long season in the Premier League", this time in broken English from a hitherto highly-respected Italian coach - well, spare me, please. Given the cosmopolitan nature of England's top flight in recent years, I was fascinated to examine a very interesting chart in an Irish newspaper last week, detailing all the Premier League players participating in this summer's World Cup for a range of countries across all the continents. I imagine the same chart in an English paper would have an asterisk beside the English players with a guide at the bottom indicating that an asterisk meant 'particularly tired after a long and gruelling season'.Forgive me for repeating my oft-written reference to Euro 88 and England's defeat to the Republic in Stuttgart being attributed by the English management and the press and the FA hierarchy to players like Liverpool's John Barnes and Peter Beardsley being "tired after a long season". Can you recall the famous photograph of Paddy the Irishman, Paddy the Englishman and Paddy the Scotsman, aka Ronnie Whelan, John Aldridge and Ray Houghton, deliriously racing towards the fans after the latter scored the winner on that never-to-be-forgotten day? Yes, the three Liverpool players, who summoned enough energy to play their hearts out for the Boys in Green after greatly contributing to the Anfield side's long and arduous season. Was Rob Green so tired after a season with West Ham that he couldn't hold a shot against the USA that the Queen Mother would have held if she was asked to do so as part of her 100th birthday celebrations a decade ago? Was John Terry so tired (I wouldn't dream of speculating why) that he could not head out a 'route one' goal kick last Sunday against Germany that either of David Beckham's new best friends, the Queen's grandsons who have been prominent at the tournament, would surely do?I never buy the English tabloids, but I can only imagine the vitriol being aimed in Mr Capello's direction over the past few days. Ironically, England's World Cup demise coincided with Dublin's demolition by Meath (I saw the Royals in the flesh against Offaly and the Laois replay - I was very impressed and was not remotely surprised that they beat the metropolitans). I have often said that the two most difficult managerial roles in sport are those currently occupied by Fabio Capello (albeit earning mega-lira) and Pat Gilroy (ostensibly for little or no financial reward), as the oh-so-fickle English soccer public and the Hill 16 rent-a-crowd expect biennial European Championship/World Cup and annual Sam Maguire Cup wins respectively.The only problem is that generally both teams are simply not good enough. Remotely good enough, in fact. Nobody suffered more when in charge of 'the three lions' outfit than poor old Graham Taylor (an eminently decent man, as the late Westmeath Gael par excellence, Christy Whelehan would testify). Only recently, I stumbled on the internet to a letter written by Jon Meakin of the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association to a respected English newspaper after the infamous depiction of Mr Taylor as a turnip in a tabloid in the early 1990s. It read: "It's a shame they picked on the turnip. The turnip is a wonderful vegetable and it didn't do to do it down. They should have compared the England team manager to a lesser-known vegetable such as celeriac, okra or yam." Think carefully Harry Redknapp and Roy Hodgson, if you get a call from Lancaster Gate in a fortnight!Who knows, England could have something to celebrate next Saturday. Aren't London in the Nicky Rackard Cup final in an all-British clash with Armagh at Croke Park? And if Queen Elizabeth is there to hand over the trophy to an overjoyed London captain, memories of Bobby Moore and 44 years ago in Wembley will come flooding back. No excuses now, London, please.