DUBLIN: England manager Roy Hodgson admitted that his players got "nowhere near" the standards he demands in a drab goalless draw with the Republic of Ireland that British TV station ITV actually apologised for broadcasting live.
England have not beaten Ireland since 1985 and never looked likely altering that sequence during an utterly forgettable match that also passed off without significant off-field incident following all the warnings to the respective fans.
Paul Scholes, an ITV pundit, called it "a waste of an afternoon" while ITV used its football Twitter account to say "we're sorry" at the end of the match.
Other ITV tweets included the the half-time observation that "sadly the referee hasn't lost his whistle, so we're set to go again" and that Ireland goalkeeper Kieren Westwood had been substituted because "he has fallen asleep".
They also said that Harry Arter, a former non-league player, would be "used to this standard".
This will confirm Jim's thoughts!
This will confirm Jim's thoughts!
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”