Paul Comben, Will Stewart and Damian Treece become armchair football pundits.
Euro 2016 kicks off on June 10 and all eyes are on a seemingly rejuvenated England team to bring home some silverware.
To get into the football spirit, all this week The Source will be giving some industry names the chance to be armchair pundits, picking their tournament winners, top scorers and surprises, all with a licensing twist of course.
Today – Paul Comben from Stanley Black & Decker, The Point 1888’s Will Stewart and Damian Treece from Penguin Random House.
Paul Comben, licensing manager, Stanley Black & Decker
Tournament winners? England
Highest goal scorer across the competition? Harry Kane
Surprise of the tournament? England winning it.
If you were manager, which licensed character would you play in the England team? Dennis the Menace because he would be a tough tackling midfielder.
Will Stewart, md, The Point 1888
Tournament winners? England
Highest goal scorer? Harry Kane
Surprise of the tournament? England actually make us proud.
If you were manager, which licensed characters would you play in the England team? Mr Tickle in goal, Inspector Gadget in midfield, Road Runner and Speedy Gonzales as wing backs and Harry Kane up front (assuming his licensing programme will start during the tournament).
Damian Treece, brand manager, licensing & IP, Penguin Random House
Tournament winners? Pundits love a cliché, so I’m pulling out the old ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’ favourite and, even though they lost to England, I can’t look past Germany.
Highest goal scorer? Mario Gomez (Germany)
Surprise of the tournament? France – they have so much talent but generally tend to implode at tournaments.
England’s chances? If Hodgson picks on form and ignores bloated reputations, this could be an exciting England team to watch. Quarter finals possibly, obviously losing on penalties.
Which licensed character would you play in the England team? Flash Gordon was in the Defenders of the Earth, so plugging England’s defence should be relatively straightforward.
This feature originally appeared in the Summer 2016 edition of Licensing Source Book. Click here to read the full publication.
