Monday 28th June 2010

And so it was with some relief that we got back into our car at Dover Priory Station and drive back home. We got so little sleep in the previous two nights we felt washed out, and fit for little other than snoozing and/or laying in front of the TV watching more football. That night we had what was left over from the brunch we had on the train, and went to be really early.



Like a well oiled machine, on Saturday morning we had our tasks; after breakfast, I went to Tesco whilst Jools went to collect the cats, then she picked me back up on the way home, we both put the shopping away whilst the cats made themselves comfortable once again. As on Friday, we both felt pretty washed due to the heat and lack of sleep, and so there was more football to watch, and some general pottering around in the garden, and so passed another Saturday.



Sunday dawned as bright and glorious as the previous four or five, and the weathermen promised it was going to be the hottest day of the year, and so if we were going to do anything, it would have to be early in the day.



There was a steam fair at Preston , in the middle of the rolling Kentish countryside, I had not been before, but it was supposed to be good. We collected our friend Bob on the way and headed out in a lazy route to where the fair was being held.
The line of cars kicked up a plume of dust, very much like the desert rats in north Africa during the war, it was already scorchingly hot as we parked the car and made our way to the entrance.



In truth most of these fairs are inter-changeable, with vintage cars/trucks/tractors and military vehicles being on display, a few fun fair rides, and over around the farm, the traction engines and assorted other steam machinery that we had come to see. And then there was the people. Lots of people. Many already burnt lobster red by previous days in the sun, wearing assorted England shirts with visible tattoos and attendant children in tow.



We made our way round the cars and trucks, taking pictures as we went. And then to the steam engines and the like, still snapping away. After an hour we were parched, and had a pint at the barn bar, before looking at each other with the same thought, do we want to be out in this sun and heat? And the answer was a loud and unanimous NO! We made our way back to the car, going in the opposite direction the crowds, got in the car, whacked up the air con, and headed back to the (slightly) cooler coast, where Bob and I had a couple of bottles of home brew and waited for the main event of the day; the England vs Germany game from the World Cup.



And what a let down, England were even worse than in previous games, and despite pulling a goal back before half time, and having a perfectly good goal disallowed, they were a very poor second to a cool and efficient German team, that now goes on the meet Argentine in the quarter-finals. This is a healthy dose of reality for most England fans, brought up on the belief that England has always been the ebst as well as inventing the game. But years or under-investment in youth, and over reliance on expensive imports have meant a darth of talent in the Premier League, and this day had been coming a long time, that most hadn’t seen it coming is a sad indightment on the FA and Premier League. Many of the so-called world’s best, or Golden Generation have had their international careers brought to an inglorious end, and rightly so. Failure of the basics like how to control the ball with one touch or be able to pass to each other being worse offences than tactics or who should or shouldn’t have played. That there are no real replacements in the pipeline means that the day when England might challenge for the World Cup is maybe a generation away, and only then if there is a sea change in attitudes, which lets be honest, isn’t going to happen any day soon.