- It's six years to the day since Roy Keane had his say on England's World Cup 2010 exit - when Fabio Capello's side lost 4-1 to Germany.
While not quite on the level of last night's humiliation at the hands of Iceland - the usual hand-wringing and finger-pointing went on. Capello's England did have Frank Lampard's disallowed 'goal' which they claimed was over the line to cling onto, but the side were humiliated - and Capello was roundly criticised.
Roy Keane, then the manager at Ipswich Town, was scathing about the blame culture in English football and what he said then seems equally appropriate today.
For everyone to keep criticising the manager is crazy. Six weeks ago you were saying he was a top manager. It was fine in the qualifying campaign. The players get away with murder because everyone seems to blame the manager after England lose.
Certain players have a lot of pals in the media. The goals England conceded [against Germany in the 4-1 defeat] had nothing to do with systems - just basic defending.
Keane's prescient comments six years ago still apply today. He railed against the players leaking to their friends in the media to save their own reputations; the exact same thing happened today.
Of the four goals England conceded in this tournament - two came by way of goalkeeper error and two down to individual defensive mistakes - "nothing to do with systems" as Keane said six years ago.
Keane mightn't have foreseen the ignominious exit he would suffer at Ipswich shortly afterwards but otherwise, his predictions were spot on.
Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
