Someone shoot Platini yeh?

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_3658657,00.html

Stupid nob, his first line about not missing England at Euro 2008 is a load of bollocks, everyone loves seeing our hype and expectation then falling at the quarters, its what makes us who we are and everyone can have a jolly laugh about it. Stupid french c**t.

He is just being honest about it. I think you English are getting way too paranoid about him.

We have had better UEFA presidents but certainly also worse.

What do you expect when you get idiot SSN reporters asking every Tom, Dick & Harry "Do you think it's a shame that England aren't here?"

We'll miss you guys (although not your drunks and hooligans)

Would have been nice to have England (or Scotland or Ireland for that matter, for some reason all British teams are likeable) to cheer for after Holland didn't make it out of their group...

Olé wrote:What do you expect when you get idiot SSN reporters asking every Tom, Dick & Harry "Do you think it's a shame that England aren't here?"

I expect them all to say yes.

Desgraciats wrote:He is just being honest about it. I think you English are getting way too paranoid about him.

We have had better UEFA presidents but certainly also worse.

I don't agree with all Platini says, but the changes he is making in the organisation have been all good. As a UEFA president, he is one of the better ones who at least has a vision.

I guess not having the hyped sides involved makes any tourney lose a bit of the energy it might have, but as he said we shouldn't dismiss the sides that are there. That's football; the teams that make it deserve, in theory, to be there, while those that aren't, in theory, do not.

In the end, this exclusion will probably do more for English football than a semi-final appearance could ever do; this way you know thre is plenty work to be done, while a semi-final appearance would only maks the problems you clearly have at the moment.

Now, the constant re-hashing of the fact that England is not there is far over-done by now; no country should have that much importance, and certainly England is not so full of titles that it's unthinkable that anyone else should deserve to win in its abscence.

Would England really care if Germany missed-out for example? I'm guessing not. The same goes for England. If they were there, great, one more for the party, but they're not so get on with it...