by Kounelaki » Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:56 pm
From today's Guardian (complete with sassenach bias):
In an interesting aside, France coach Raymond Domenech has banned his players from watching the Hampden action. Ordinarily, of course, Les Bleus - like the rest of us, really - wouldn't have the slightest inclination to watch Scotland play. But they know that an Italy win will ensure their own qualification, meaning they can take it easy against Ukraine next Wednesday.
"Footballers are a hard breed to control these days with all the modern technology," Domenech griped. "If I have to go round every room and pull the TV sets out myself, I'll do it. Honestly, I'd rather they were out playing poker all night or spending their time in a nightclub."
With methods like that, if Second-Choice Steve does get the boot we can imagine a certain Frenchman getting a few votes when the England dressing-room is asked to suggest a replacement.