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World Cup 2010

Belarus trip will liberate England's architects

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Ralph Ellis believes stadium designers are as much to blame as fans for the booing of Ashley Cole while Wales' World Cup hopes have been kicked into the long grass by unsympathetic groundsman.

Home, supposedly, is where the heart is. For the footballers of England and Wales it must be difficult to believe it after this weekend.

The old Wembley had become a crumbling dump by the time they tore it down. And while it had a unique atmosphere that came from years of history, as a venue it always suffered from the fact there was a dog track that came between the fans and the football pitch. Boy, oh boy, did they miss an opportunity to put that right when they drew the plans for the new one.

As if placing the corporate seats slap bang in the centre wasn't a bad enough mistake, they also put far too big a gap between the stands and the grass yet again. The Arch looks great, and the new Wembley is impressive visually, but it still doesn't hold the noise and sense of excitement to help passion roll from the supporters to the players and back again.

So if Ashley Cole was getting booed on Saturday night that's as much a black mark against the architects as against the fans - or Cole himself for the latest in a line of careless mistakes that have cost England goals at all too frequent intervals while he's been collecting 64 caps.

To be honest while I don't believe in booing your own players I've little sympathy with Cole. He hardly endeared himself to the public when he moaned in his book about Arsenal's 'insulting' offer of only £55,000 a week; or when he arrogantly turned his back on Mike Riley. Fans will support any player making the most horrendous mistake if they know they are getting honest and genuine effort. Scott Carson, for instance, has never been made to suffer by supporters for the howler against Croatia that cost England their place in the Euro 2008 finals.

But the point remains that playing at Wembley has become too much of an ordeal for England rather than a pleasure, and they will enjoy going to Belarus on Wednesday night looking to make it four wins out of four and take complete control of group six. Fabio Capello' side are [1.4] to collect another victory, with a 0-2 scoreline favourite at [6.6]. They are now as short as [1.31] to win the group.

The Millenium Stadium in Cardiff really should have been the model the new Wembley was based on, and that's for cost, speed of construction, and most of all atmosphere. When it's full it's sensational. Sadly for John Toshack's team it wasn't even full down the one side that was open on Saturday as they stuttered past Liechtenstein. That's hard to change, but it was made even more difficult for Wales by the groundstaff who left the grass too long and made it impossible to pass the ball with any pace. "They don't look after us at all here, it is a rugby pitch," complained Craig Bellamy - although at least to be fair to him that was a statement of fact rather than an attempted excuse for missing a penalty and three open goals!

Wales face a far harder trip to Germany on Wednesday. They are [22.0] to pull off a victory and [7.4] to get a draw. They did, however, get a 0-0 when they met the Germans in Frankfurt last season, came within a whisker of taking a point in Russia last month, and with James Collins returning to improve the defence it might just be worth laying the Germans at [1.2].

The Scots not only didn't boo Chris Iwelumo for the amazing miss that robbed them of the chance to beat Norway, they started cheering him. And Hampden remains a place of passionate support for the national team that might yet help them emerge from group nine - although it would have to be through second place as Holland are quite rightly [1.12] favourites to finish top after a simple 2-0 stroll against Iceland.

Northern Ireland can also expect a supportive public when they face San Marino in Belfast despite a stuttering start with just one point in three games and a poor showing in their 2-0 defeat away to Slovenia. They are [1.08] to get their first win of the campaign. And the Republic have also got the chance of a morale boosting home win. They are [1.43] to beat Cyprus.