Quote Originally Posted by Burney View Post
All very nice, a, but you fail to spot the glaring contradiction at the heart of your argument.

You admit that you find this England team preferable to its predecessors containing said ‘thùndercûnts’. In doing so, you concede that your affection or otherwise for England teams is negotiable based on the individuals they contain. Which means that, in essence, you concede that the principle underpinning my distaste for this England team is valid. You are, in other words, no different to me in principle, we just happen to have different criteria.

Speaking personally, though, what really bothers me about England football teams is the sheer level of conformity they tap into. I’ve always despised unthinking, reflexive conformity and that is at the heart of what you choose to call my misanthopy. That isn’t to say I’m not outwardly conformist in many respects, but I can say with my hand on my heart that where I conform, it is as a consequence of thought and self-examination. So for instance, I am patriotic because there are many things about this country which are admirable and worth defending. However, those things do not include a mediocre football team teeming with Spurs shítcùnts. And, if I may say so, I find the notion of assessing patriotism based on support for a sports team patently ludicrous. And it’s no less ludicrous when you propose it than when Norman Tebbit does.

For natural-born conformists who have never examined an idea in their lives, of course, England supporting in World Cups is second nature. They are quite able to reconcile hating Spurs 204 weeks out of 208 and then cheering on ‘Harry’ and ‘Alli’ the other four because they’ve never actually bothered thinking about it. Confront them with the parent absurdity of their position and they become enraged and start indulging in convoluted post-rationalisations for their own intellectual inconsistency and reflexive conformity. They will attack you because you have not done the same and use as justification for their attacks that millions of people agree with them and not with you. Because, to the conformist, if everyone’s doing it, it must be right.

I’m afraid I’m just not built that way.
I think there are millions of people whose loyalties to the england team are negotiable. This is why we keep hearing about the team 'reconnecting' with the fans. You have chosen to remove yourself from this because there are Spurs players in the team. I think your reason is a bit ****tish but I understand where you are coming from.

What I dont understand is why you are here issuing warnings to those who have gone the other way and embraced the side. Within the context of an AWIMB that you tend to dominate, THEY are the non-conformists. Bravo tot hem- and to me for being one of them.

I dont think an englishman supporting england at a world cup is a particularly good example of rank, unthinking conformity. Ash describes the benefits of being part of something bigger and it is tempting to get caught up in it rather than to sneer on the sidelines. I have tried both and dont feel terribly comfortable with either.

It can also be due to something more than your place of birth. I have a natural affinity to an english style of football as I think most of us do. I quite like seeing lads from Rotherham crashing into silky Colombians. Its fun!

I will give you the Norman Tebbit bit. Glad to see that even you are finally realising what a complete and utter ****ing **** Norman Tebbit was