Predictions. Everyone loves to laugh at them in retrospect.
There's something about going out on a limb and declaring that something will or won't happen based purely on your gut instinct at the time that everybody loves to see end up spectacularly wrong.
You need look no further than the furore over Gary Lineker claiming he would present MOTD in his pants if Leicester won the league, and of course we at Balls.ie love to call out others as well as ourselves when a prediction turns out to be far off.
But an article on the BBC's website from back in 2003 takes the cake.
The author, clearly not a huge fan of the concept, decided to take the piss and go as over-the-top as possible.. Or at least we seriously hope that is the case.
England famously failed to qualify for Euro 2008, but five years before that tournament took place, a surge of young English goalscorers resulted in an hilarious article outlining why they would win the whole thing.
Some great names in the 'RISING STARS' column as well.
A move to 3-5-2, Chris Kirkland between the sticks and the Ferdinand brothers holding down the back three along with Martin Taylor, who's career will be remembered for his horror tackle on Eduardo.
Sean Wright-Phillips as an adventurous wing-back, with Stevie G supplying ball to Joe Cole, and the mercurial David Dunn.
The strikers would have been spot on, again, if England had managed to qualify.
The Descriptions for each player are where the article truly comes into it's own.
On Chris Kirkland, a player who wore a cap even when it wasn't sunny presumably to try and offer further protection against injury, was a lock to be the best keeper in the world back then. Although many will remember it differently.
Chris Kirkland, 21 now, will be the world's finest goalkeeper by 2008, especially after another five years of shot-stopping practice at the back of Liverpool's attack-shy team.
The reality? The severity of England's goalkeeping situation saw McClaren turn to Scott Carson who made a comical mistake that ultimately cost qualification.
On the wing-backs:
Ashley Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips will be devastating wing-backs, whose surging runs will leave Italians crying into their capuccinos and Germans blubbing in their bratwursts.
Shaun Wright-Phillips now cannot get his game for New York Red Bulls in the MLS.
On the midfield:
This is where England excel, with the maverick talents of Joe Cole and David Dunn backed by the steel and vision of Steven Gerrard.
With Dunn (28 in 2008) and Cole (26 in 2008) possessing maturity and talent, all England need is for Gerrard (27) to end his current run of form which is, unfortunately, rubbish.
And finally, while the strikers were by far the least wild of the predictions, the players who would give Rooney and Owen a run for their money are also immensely satisfying.
And to keep them alert, the likes of Liverpool's Neil Mellor, Aston Villa's Darius Vassell, Leeds' James Milner and West Ham's Jermaine Defoe will all be in the prime of their careers.
Some of them were genuine predictions, some of them were genuinely taking the piss, but considering the entire premise was to build a bit of buzz over a group of youngsters that were heralded as potential tournament winners, only for the squad to fail to qualify, makes for great reading knowing what we know now. You can still read the article in all it's glory over on BBC.co.uk.
But it's still nowhere near as shite as Shoot Magazine's ones to watch from 2006.
