Got your plastic England Elvis wig from Sainsbury’s yet ? Thought not.  Or how about that St George’s Cross squeaky hammer dog-toy ?  Me neither, although judging from the plaintive expression on our Flossie’s face I think she feels let down.  Similarly berated by the family for not joining in the rush to buy special offer plastic England trainers (“but the wristbands are free”), I succumbed and am now the proud owner of a blue tracksuit top, 100% unofficial, with ‘England’ spread across my chest.  

It’s not that I don’t want England to perform well in Germany.  I do, I really do, and I’m looking forward enormously to thirty days of quality football.  I care, it’s just that I don’t care that much, certainly not nearly as much as I do about Tottenham. Be honest, what would you rather see, England win the World Cup or Spurs win something next year ?  No contest for me.  I’d gladly line the streets to cheer Martin Jol’s blue and white army when we bring home the cup, or throw my own street party for the league, but I wouldn’t get out of bed if the England open-top bus drove down the end of my road.  

I suspect that I’m not alone.  Most regular supporters of league teams are more concerned about the fortunes of their clubs than they are the national team.  When England lose I will be disappointed but the feeling will quickly fade, whereas even after all these years I cannot shed so easily the adolescent anguish of a Spurs defeat.  In many ways it’s almost a relief to watch England, supporting a team, enjoying the peaks without the possibility of plunging into the troughs of despair, setting aside temporarily the rivalry with fans of other teams.  Actually, though, that rivalry is a fantastic element of being a Spurs fan.  I don’t want to be the same as Arsenal or Chelsea supporters, thank you very much. What’s the meaning of displaying an England flag in the window or on your car ?  Standing up as an England fan to the other 35 million or so England fans in the country is not much of a statement in my book.  

What I really hope for in the coming weeks is that England do well because of the performances of our players.  Robbo could easily finish the competition as amongst the best keepers in the world, Lenny is creating the same buzz around the country as he has in his short career at the Lane and Carrick might in the end be the difference between a good and a great England tournament.  I place their individual success above that of the national team.  When England concede, my instinctive reaction is ‘are they going to blame Robbo ?’  I become intensely protective if our players are criticised.  

So I’m proud that we provide so many members of the squad.  At the same time, I’m worried that the backbone of our team will start the season jaded because they have had no summer break.  Typically the summer tournaments take their toll on players around Christmas-time as the fixtures pile up and the grounds get heavy. When Ledley was not selected I genuinely felt for him, but secretly I was glad to know our best player will be fit and raring to go right from the start of the season.  Also, a good tournament for any player means their value will dramatically increase.  Spurs have clearly altered their buying policy this close season to get pre-World Cup prices on their transfer targets.  When you hear players preferring to wait until after the World Cup before deciding on their future, you know this translates as ‘a couple of good games and Barca may come in for me’.  We could therefore get left behind in our pursuit of certain transfer targets and also become victims of success if, say, Lennon or Carrick suddenly attract the interest of Europe’s top clubs.  

At the moment everyone is on a high. Players can go from villains to heroes just by doing a silly dance as a goal celebration.  A sense of humour helpfully puts it all in perspective (the robot dance was being ironic, wasn’t it…?).  However, one mistake at the wrong time means tabloid crucifixion. Ian Walker conceded a few years ago in an international against Italy and was never quite the same player afterwards, no matter that England played poorly, that one of the world’s best players, Zola, was the scorer and the shot took a slight deflection.  

So here’s hoping for an England win, with our wonderful Spurs contingent doing well, but above all stay injury free.  I guess in the end I’m a bit of a miserable git, and I’ve failed in my patriotic duty because I still can’t get worked up about the England team suits  - ‘take us through the suit from shoes up, David.  How does it compare to previous England suits you have worn?’ I confess that I can’t be a true fan as I didn’t travel 4 hours to crouch in the hot sun by the perimeter fence at Luton airport just for a glimpse of our brave boys boarding an aeroplane.  But if Robbo makes a match winning save from Ronaldo, bowls the ball out to Carrick whose forty yard through-ball sets Lennon free, his cross finds Jenas coming late into the box at the end of a lung-bursting 60 yard run and he smashes a late winner into the top corner, I promise you I’ll be the first to raise a cheer.  

ALAN FISHER