Call it "blame culture," says Manchester City boss Stuart Pearce. With every England performance, regardless of the result, the English press and its pundits feel it's their duty to dole out blame for
what will have been a less than perfect performance nine times out of ten. Granted, England was thoroughly beaten by Croatia in Zagreb, but Pearce, affectionately known as "Psycho" in his playing
days, says passing around blame won't help the England cause. "There is too much of a blame culture, in society and football in general," said Pearce. "It seems it has to be someone's turn every week
-- and I find that quite sad." He was referring to the vilification Paul Robinson has received for his back pass blunder that led to an own goal against Croatia. "The ball was played back to him as
sympathetically as possible," Pearce said, "but once you have started your swing, there is not a great deal you can do about it." Pearce himself knows a thing or two about going from zero to hero: it
was his penalty, blasted high over the bar, which sealed England's fate in penalty kicks in the 1990 World Cup semifinal against West Germany, the eventual champion.
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