By now it seems that more or less England fan is resigned to another poor Tournament showing and yet another early exit. This lack of expectation was compounded by the FA leaving the decision to appoint a new England manager until the very last moment. This in turn meant England were without a captain for a foreseeable portion of the build-up to the Euros.
An uncertain 1-0 victory against Norway last Saturday will have done little to convince fans otherwise. This is the first time for quite a while that fans have unanimously failed ‘to believe’.
Which is why it’s a little heartening to see ex-Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright get behind the #WhatIf campaign. Wrighty, who scored 9 goals for England in 33 appearances seems to be in full patriotic flow – as evidenced by the video below.
‘Yours is the Earth and everything in it and which is more, you’ll be a man my son’.
Some may see this as a pointless exercise in driving hope amongst fans that will only ever end up being quashed. But there’s no use turning your nose up at such a counter-intuitive display of positivity. If a campaign like this helps England fans get back behind their team it’s difficult to view it as a bad thing.
One thing’s for sure – the Three Lions need all the support they can get. Expectations may be low, but there will always be that part of us which asks: “what if”.
This post has been sponsored by Absolute Radio