Club or Country?

With another set of pretty pointless - and potentially damaging - set of international friendlies on-going this midweek, the age-old question rears its head again - club or country?

What do you value more - your club achieving its optimum achievement relative to its standing in the league, be it winning the Champions League, Premiership, FA or Carling Cup, winning promotion, surviving relegation, or even staying in business - or would you trade all or any of that little lot in for your national team to win the World Cup or European Championships, or in the case of lesser national sides, to actually qualify for the final stages of one of these tournaments?

So come on, those of you who regularly post on the football threads - and anyone else for that matter - let's have a debate and sort out this argument once and for all...or at least until the next time!

I have to say my allegiances tend to favour my club fortunes more than the England national team. My club is more personal to me, and therefore more reflecting on my support of the game. Of course I want England to succeed in major tournaments, and will follow them in World Cups and European Championships, but as for friendlies, I really don't have much intrest from a national point of view. I'm a fan of the game in general, but that general viewpoint does tend to lean towards my club.

And Wolves need all the support they can get at the moment!

My allegiance is and always will be with Liverpool FC. I'll always root for my country, the Republic of Ireland, but if i had to choose between Liverpool winning a Premier League or Ireland winning the World Cup then LFC will trump Ireland everytime.

Besides.......it's not often we Irish get to the final stages of international tournaments anyway

I'd take country over club. What I wouldn't give to see England win a world cup in my lifetime. My choice isn't as strained as others though, makes it easier when your club languishes in the Championship, lol!

I'm with Yoda. I'm English and I support Liverpool. I'm really not interested in what England do and struggle to understand how I can be expected to cheer on the likes of Rooney or Lampard when I hate them for about 44 weeks of the year.

Club 100% of the time. I quite honestly couldn't give a toss about Ing-er-lund now. The team do nothing to justify the ridiculous hype that is churned out by the media, and there are a number of highly objectionable individuals within the team who I have very little time for. On top of that, there's the attitude of a small minority of England fans who think it's cool to boo the opposition national anthem etc.
I cheer for the England cricket team, as well as the rugby team. I'll even support Andy Murray in the tennis. But I have no time for the football team at all.

My club team mean more to me than England national side do, it's just one of those things i mean i still watch them sometimes in major tournaments but after the World Cup last year I've yet to watch a England game since.

Club, dint even know England was playing till this afternoon

Thanks for that lads - all comments equally appreciated

I'm absolutely with the Club over Country brigade; Raingod and Eagle_Si got it absolutely spot-on in particular as regards my own view. I'm a long-standing season ticket holder at Old Trafford (not missed a home competitive match since the start of the 1995/96 season and I'd rather United won a throw-in than any International side won a World Cup).

Like Raingod - though from opposite sides of the fence - I despise the likes of Gerrard, Terry, Lampard, Ashley Cole and others week-in week-out, so why should I suddenly start liking them just because they put on another shirt? I can't just switch the way I feel on and off like that, just like I can't like rap music for four or five weeks of the year when I hate it the rest of the time.

Besides, International FAs don't give a toss when they send our players back to us injured, so why should we, the fans who pay their wages, care about them?

Conversely, BaddaBing makes a good point relating to taking the opposite view, stating that following England gives him a release from supporting a lower-league club. Look at the Union Jacks and St George flags the next time England play a meaningful match and the chances are you'll see the names of lower-league clubs emblazoned on them.

Nice one! Keep 'em coming in lads (and ladies too! We don't wanna be seen to be coming over all Andy Gray and Richard Keys now, do we).

Scrap international football during the season, it's just a nuisance. If UEFA/FIFA want to play qualifiers, let them arrange a time at the end of the season and get all the games done in one go.