Jaded Jingoism & Flaccid Facism

Aside from picking up my winnings on a £5 bet on Croatia to beat England last night (generous odds of 9/2, thank you very much), I've taken little interest in the fall-out; I've said before that I'm too conscious of my Liverpool Irish background to wave the Union flag, bellow a monotonous drone of an anthem in praise of an institution I oppose & display utter disrespect for "foreigners". On a purely footballing level, there's a long, earnest & measured debate to be held on why England failed. On a non-footballing level, I'll simply say that it's always nice to see the Johnny Bullshitters get their racist prejudices rubbed in the brown matter. Next summer's European Championships will be worth watching; the best of a continent's football & a complete absence of lagered-up louts who laughably see & style themselves as an army. Mercifully, club football returns this weekend, its cosmopolitan character a welcome antidote to the sterile postures of the last few days.