An England fans view

What an outstanding draw !!!! England will be facing Croatia, Russia, Israel, Estonia and Andorra. Personally, I have 4 new countries to visit and there isn't a bad away trip amongst them. In addition, as we only have to finish in the top 2 of the group, we have to strongly fancy our chances. The bookies have been quick install England as favourites for the draw. The fixtures themselves are still to be announced but you can see the full draw on our Euro 2008 website: http://www.euro2008info.com/qualifying_groups.htm

Tomorrow lunchtime sees the draw for the Euro 2008 qualifying groups. It's seems at the moment there is always something happening in the football world. The World Cup is just round the corner, Eriksson has been given the boot, there is the anticipation about tickets for matches in Germany and tomorrow, we'll find out the next set of away trips for England.

The fixtures themselves won't be announced tomorrow. The draw is just to put the teams together in groups. Then the various FAs meet to decide the fixtures between themselves. As top seeds, England can bully the other teams to get our own way. The first games will be in Sept 2006.

The seeds have already been announced and England are one of the top seeds. All the pots can been found here http://www.euro2008info.com/qualifying_groups.htm The observant amongst you will notice there is a 'spare' team in Pot 7 which means 2 extra games for the teams in 1 group. Last time round, they kept England, Spain and Italy (I think) out of the larger groups as the players from those countries generally have more matches due to being more successful in the Champions League and UEFA Cup.

Looking at the teams, we could get quite a nasty group but whoever England draw, we should have no problems finishing in the top 2 which will mean qualifying for the finals. My ideal group for England would be:

England, Romania, Israel, Lithuania, Cyprus and one of Azerbaijan, Kazahkstan or Malta.

Once the games starting, you'll be able to keep track of the results and tables on www.euro2008info.com If you want results from previous finals, you will find them http://www.euro2008info.com/previous_tournaments.htm

Since the news Eriksson was quitting, there has been plenty of speculation regarding the managers job. One thing is clear though, there aren't too many people sorry to see the back of him. If you look at results, he doesn't have a bad record but there is a strong feeling who should be doing a lot better with a very talented group of players. My own preference for next manager would be Martin O'Neill. He commands a lot of respect and always managed to get 110% out of his players, something which has not been happening with the current manager.

More comments at the weekend after the draw

Nope, not an opinion, this time its a fact. The FA have just announced the Swede is getting the boot after the finals in Germany after newspaper revelations. Personally, I don't think it will affect his attitude towards the job. If he can get England to win the World Cup, he'll virtually be able to write his own pay cheque when the next club or country comes along for his services.

The big question is who next. The appointment of a foreign coach was a huge point of debate last time so the FA may want to avoid that again. If so, which Englishmen could do the job. The favourites would be Steve McLaren, Sam Allardyce and Alan Curbishley.

McLaren is already involved in England but I think appointing him would be a bad move. You have to look at what Middlesboro do week in, week out to see why he shouldn't be involved.

Sam Allardyce would be an interesting choice. He has done wonders with Bolton but they tend to play a physical game which may not go down well with supporters who will want to see a passing game.

Curbishley has been managing Charlton in the top flight for several years and is another strong candidate.

One thing is certain, there will be loads of speculation between now and a new manager is appointed.

Happy New Year to one and all. With any luck, in just over 6 months time, we'll be witnessing similar scenes to the picture on the left. The initial frenzy of flight and hotel bookings has subsided although many people are still waiting to here if they have been allocated tickets or not.

My application has gone in and although I'm guaranteed tickets, I'm not guaranteed the price I will pay. We have to pay up front for all 7 tickets which will hopefully take us to the final. If we get knocked out before the final, the money will be refunded in July or August.

Due to the pathetically low allocations from FIFA (8% of ground capacity), many England fans will have to resort the black market for tickets. These come through official agents (I've no idea how these are allowed to continue trading) and through individuals. Quickly browsing the online ticket agents, for once, it appears, England fans will not be paying the top price on the black market. Instead, that dubious honour goes to Japan. Cat 1 tickets for Brazil v Japan are going for $2595 while you can get England v Sweden tickets for 'only' $1450. In the bargain basement is Angola v Iran for $155. You can find out more information about tickets at our World Cup 2006 Tickets page.

The ballot results for the latest FIFA sale and the England Fans will be announced in the coming weeks which is the last hope for fans to secure their tickets. After that, it's beg, steal or borrow. However, England Fans are in a much more fortunate position than many other competing teams. I'm not aware of any other national organisation basing their allocation on a loyalty scheme. Australia allocated there tickets on a first-come, first-served basis and Sweden will run a ballot of their entire allocation if any fixture is oversubscribed. I can imagine that supporters from these countries who have travelled all over the place to watch qualifying matches will not be impressed if they lose out on tickets to people who haven't been to a single game.

Now the fixtures have been announced, it will be easier for supporters to plan their trips to Germany. Our FIFA World Cup 2006 Information website has several useful links for you. There is a new RSS Newsfeed available from the main page and also a new spreadsheet so you can keep track of the results.

If you want to find out more about the 12 venues for the games in Germany, you can find out more at of World Cup 2006 Venues page. Getting to Germany is fairly straight forward due to it's excellent road, rail, sea and airlinks with the rest of the world. For information about the choices available to you, have a look at our World Cup 2006 Travel page. Accommodation in Germany gives the supporter a variety of options. Although you can never guarantee anything with a North European summer, the weather should be nice so camping is a cheap option. Personally, I've got my hotels arranged and despite the stories of price hikes, there are still some bargains to be find, they just tale a bit of searching out. More information can be found on out World Cup 2006 Hotels page.

On the field itself, there has been good and bad news regarding the England forwards. Peter Crouch has finally realised where the goal is and has been scoring regularly for Liverpool. On the downside, Michael Owen suffered a broken metatarsal bone in his right foot while playing for Newcastle against Spurs on New Years Eve. Recover time is expected to be 3 months which should be in time for the World Cup.

The next big event for us supporters is the UEFA 2008 qualifying draw which takes place at the end of January. You can follow the draw from our Euro 2008 website where there is an RSS Newsfeed available. The seedings have already been announced and you can read more about the draw on our Euro 2008 Qualifying Draw page.