KP's Golden Wonders
Now then. I've been quiet for a fortnight 'cos the wife booked us in to a holiday home in Brittany for two weeks. "A gite for a git" is how she rather ungraciously put it.
It's windy, wet and rocky - it's Cornwall with an even funnier accent. I was getting footy updates through me Tees mates and I managed to catch up with Usain Bolt on French TV - well I say 'catch up', that would be impossible - but the rest of their coverage was a tad, well, French.
You'd be two thirds of the way through a Victoria Pendleton semi-final and they'd whizz across to the Water Cube for some ladies with more make-up on their chops than the winner of the 1897 Strumpet of the Year competition doing the synchronised swimming.
Soft target I know, but there's only one word for synchro - and it also starts with "s".
Any road, while the Paralympians prepare to match the spirit, ability and success of their able-bodied chums in Beijing we have another England international to look forward to.
Well I suppose if you look forward to having a hungover acupuncturist gets to grips with your fingernails, then you'll be agog for Andorra. Me? I've got the sofa away from the wall already. The wife's booked a day out in Newcastle fuelling the credit crunch so she can avoid me.
The Andorrans aren't known for their politeness and if Rooney reckons he's going to get through 90 minutes without a nipple tweak, an ankle scrape and a lot of remarks about grandmothers then he's got another thing coming.
But there is another England team who seemed to have turned a complete hairpin faster than Mike Ashley can down a lager (and get off his back by the way - you can't own that club and stay sober).
Since KP took over, England's cricketers have turned into world-beaters. Well, on-the-plane-tired-and-cold-Saffer-beaters any road.
The opposition's been pretty feeble - and they sound like they've walked off the set of a BBC Dickens adaptation some of them: "Ah, Mr. Duminy, allow me to introduce you to the charming buffet bowler Mr. Philander."
But "all credit to the lads" as Pietersen would say. Bell and Prior look threatening as openers, Shah should be playing more international cricket, KP's always a menace and the bowlers have done good 'n' all and the batting goes down further than the Dollar against the Euro.
But the real bonus is Flintoff's return with the bat and ball. He looks fitter than Usain Bolt's dance instructor and there's nothing better than Freddie doing his talking out on the field - as you can tell when he talks off the field.
The main thing is the team and squad has a balance now. Something Capello might like to try. Owen, still the best English goal-hanger since Lineker, is out but Heskey is in.
You'd understand St. Michael's omission if there was another greedy Herbert ready to scuff in a couple from three yards, but there isn't. Having four strikers whose international record suggests that they couldn't hit a Chris Hoy thigh from a couple of yards is ridiculous.
And no Crouch either - the only English forward to have any reason to hold his head up after Euro '08 qualification. Instead we've a Sven-like glut of midfielders - Lampard, Bullard... Wellard from Eastenders'll be by the phone for the next announcement.
Capello's left Woodgate and King out and kept Lescott and Upson. The equivalent of a lass reaching past her designer lingerie and pulling out two pairs of big knickers for the night.
Plus, he's picked a captain who wouldn't make a lot of people's first XI. He should have a skipper who is the first name on the teamsheet, like the cricketers have. There's no doubt that KP's relentless, almost mindless positivity is making a huge difference. Can't see anyone in an England football shirt doing that job right now.
Maybe, back in the mists of time, Beckham could do it, but now he's hanging around like a bachelor uncle at a students' party, waiting for the likes of Bentley to politely ask him to leave.
Vaughany left before the question came and good on him. Any road Becks has got an important job to do, pressing the football federations for a GB team for 2012.
I'm not saying Capello's selections are as odd as, say, Nick Faldo's... the photo of Poulter on the golf website makes the man look horribly like David Gest if you ask me...but I don't think he's got to grips with a side that makes any sense at all.
Maybe it's not the gaffer's fault. Perhaps we are going to have to come to the conclusion that after the golden generation (that was fool's gold, of course) we've got the Hello! generation - glossy, overpriced and not worth looking at.
The cricketers are not in that league of showbiz - by which I mean the IPL - yet, even if my missus seems to think that they've got a damn sight better looking since the days of Gatting and Botham and Border and Boon - you should bloody well hope so or mankind is truly regressing.
But they are finally getting their act together and absolutely trouncing Kallis and co. Ha ha!
So while I'm peeping over the settee for Saturday I'll be comfy with a beer in hand for Wednesday in anticipation of a glorious 5-0 whitewash and the best tonic for English cricket since they ran out of the stuff and had to have the gin neat in 2005.
I'm Derek Robson. People call me Robbo. Legend has it I was raised in the furnace and smog of Teesside. Some might say I took the hard road. I like to tell folk I had trials for Middlesbrough, for Hartlepool and for burglary (not guilty). I've always loved sport. My job is to say it as I see it - whether it's in the bar of the Blue Bell or on this blog. You won't find me calling a spade a soil-redistribution implement.
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~00~RS~)
Comments
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Can't believe you passed up the opportunity to comment on the transfer window which just shut, and the team that just changed hands. A whole bunch of fantasy stuff, this time!
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.
Beckham "like a bachelor uncle at a student party".
.
Brilliant - had me chuckling for ages.
.
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Crikey the England football team is a bit shall we say "all over the place" at the moment .. we will beat Andora finger crassed... but Croatia is a no no . Leaving out Crouch is a mistake we all know he's a gangly unit but the lad put the ball in the net when he gets the chance ... the manager has made a statement that he does not want an old fashioned english centre forward and Owen's omition is for the same reason he a goal hanger but a deadly one in my opinion both these players do not play the brazilian style so have been given the elbow. ... as for the Heskalator up front with Deflipping net is over there Jemaine we may be a bit short of goals.
Cricket .... blummin marvelous .. nothing quite like Freddie smashing wickets and sixes. the boys look good under KP and for what ever reason they all look to be enjoying the game again which can only lead to better performances.
On a personal note as a Man City fan Robinhio signing for City and smashing the UK transfere record is just astonishing ... not to mention the other Argy/Braz signings in the past couple of days and being taken over by the business branch of the U.A.E Royal family ... apparently they have a few quid to spare for this business venture.... to the tune of more than 100 million for just this year !!! CTID
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Is KP nuts?
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1. At 05:39am on 02 Sep 2008, jonpall wrote:
Can't believe you passed up the opportunity to comment on the transfer window which just shut, and the team that just changed hands. A whole bunch of fantasy stuff, this time!
===================
Jon, didn't you notice.... Robbo sneaked this out on Monday afternoon 5:28.... 12 whole hours before you got in with first comment.
He's been taking Gordon Brown lessons; always pick the wrong day to bury good news!!
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Beckham should still be England captain.
After all, all the role entails is sitting in press conferences.
Firing the team up before the match should be the managers job, so should any tactical decisions during the match (unlike in cricket).
The on-field leaders will be the same peopl regardless (Terry, Ferdinand, Rooney Gerrard) of whether they have the armband or not.
So why not just accept that the position is ceremonial, it is one where the player's only real skills needed are looking good for the cameras and talking to the press, for me the captain doen't even have to actually play!
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Huh? Who wouldn't put Terry in their 1st 11?
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Post 6 is very believable, what does a captain do on the pitch?
As for leaving out Owen, grrrr aghhhhh grrrrr flipping italians....... One of the greatest strikers this country has produced, er ever, period.
Is every foreign manger trying to ruin our international game, is it a ploy. They manage our club teams and refuse to let players play. They manage our international team and play a right muddled bunch. They our trying to kill England as a footballing nation........lol
Country always before Club, i dont care who pays the bills.
ps: i'm a MUFC fan, not liverpool or newcastle.
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You refrain from telling us who 'the first name on the teamsheet' would be. Does that mean you are in the dark like the rest of us and don't feel any urge to put any name down to humiliate the country again?
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Well,what the KP effect does show you is that the home grown footballers are a pretty poor bunch and I doubt if even KP would be to interested in having any of them in his team.The footballers are overpaid primadonnas and bar one or two I wouldnt allow them to put on an England shirt.KP is only interested in winning not looking good whilst pretending to play a serious game.The footballers now are only interested in money,celebrity mags and babes,yawn yawn!
Poor old Capello must be regret coming to this country.You know the old saying "you cant polish a ****!!!!"and in England we seem to have quite a few.
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7:
lots of people wouldn't.
woodgate is a far more capable defender, when fit, which he currently is. king is not a bad replacement, lescott (although started bad) has been very solid for more than 2 seasons etc..
terry, for all his efforts and desire (at least for chelsea) is simply not up to scratch. im not a chelsea fan but each time i watch them he makes countless daft errors (counted 4 AWFUL and dangerous titus bramble-esque ones against wigan, but he was bailed out by cole and carvalho on each occasion)
with rio BY FAR the best defender we have and terry as captain, other centre backs might not even bother turning up for england just to sit on the bench.
in short its a matter of opinion (to be generous indeed) as to whether he is the best choice next to rio, but because he's captain he's as good as safe. it is just wrong.
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Nice one Robbo. Chuckles galore.
Never mind if we don't know who to choose as number one, the key question is 'what's the role of number two?' Ok, it's a childish question...
Anyway, you don't need to worry about Andorra, if England score in the first half it will be a better display than last time against them!
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to add
its not the first time we've had someone who shouldnt be in the 1st XI as captain...lets not forget beckham in 2006. for all his undoubted effort, he wa bloody awful, even beckham fanciers cannot deny his awful tournament. cant defend, lost what little pace he had and a good deal of his fitness and caused england to play in an ever more predictable manner.
first on team sheet - rio
amazingly baffling ommissions: woodgate, young (WTF!?!), owen, crouch.
young reminds me a bit of mathew taits situation at the 6 nations. our (on current form, a form that has been consistent for nearly a whole season) most exiting and talented young player is left out why? did he sleep with capello's missus or soemthing?!
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Totally agree with you 13. However I'm a bit worried about your name there son. Gabby Gabby gobbley? Don't let Kenny Logan find out.
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9. J?Hingsen - first name on teamsheet? The goalie, usually, but on this occasion I'll make an exception - Ferdinand. Or come to think of it, any of the other ten apart from JT.
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woodgate, king, ferdinand are ALL better than the clogger terry. Also ANYONE but wes brown, the definiton of mediocrity. he's made to look good by the quality around him at United. he's even been replaced by neville, a 33 year old with no match fitness. PICK JOHNSON.
btw gabby logan is hot.
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I'd imagine he finally decided to leave Owen out due to his complete anonimity against Arsenal, a game in which I only new he was playing thanks to his name on the starters team sheet. In comparison Defoe did not have a great day in Pompey's 4-0 thrashing by Chelsea, but at least he appeared to be having a proper go, dropping deeper and getting involved in play to try to create something.
Perhaps thats the problem with Owen, he really can just score goals. Can't do much dropping deeper into midfield or push out wide to get the ball. So you gotta think if the only thing he does for the team is score a goal every other game is that really enough?
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Yes is the answer to your slightly dimwitted question. That's like asking if a goalkeeper's worth his place cos all he does is stop shots.
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No its like asking if the goal keeper is worth is place if he stops one in two shots.
Joking aside strikers in the modern game are expected to do a bit more then just tap in. Look at Ruud Van Nistelroy at the Euro's most would describe him as a goal poacher like Owen and others but he spent most of his time engineering space for flick-ons and through balls to send wingers like Kuyt, Robben and van Persie through, could Owen have done this? No way.
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To 19. I wouldn't have thought that England are in the position to actually not be picking players 'that can only just score goals' and nothing else. I myself would be happy if all owen did was score goals for England because half the time, I watch England and can't help but think they could be on the pitch the entire week and wouldn't score enough goals to win the game.
Also, the idea of not picking woodgate and picking lescott and upson instead is a bit baffling to say the least.
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Does no-one else here think its better for Owen to get some games under his belt? I understand he is the main goalscoring threat for England, but Owen has always been injury prone and rushed back. Its Andorra, Rooney is there and Defoe, so there should be no problems. The only problem will be the needless pressure of the nation, "the weight of the national shirt" as Capello calls it.
Back to Owen, I daresay Keegan told Capello to leave him alone too as he was recuperated on Newcastles wallet, and I bet the FA thought about it hard as the last Owen injury in an England shirt was pretty bad and I remember there being an insurance claim.
Good blog Robbo, and well done KP!
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I have to disagree with you gunnerlover, I feel you haven't really seen enough of Owen if you suggest he does not get involved in build up play. Now he has a lack of pace, he's the one player in the England team who would not misplace a pass, he drops deep links up well with the middle field and still making great runs creating space for other attacking midfielders to run into. He can work well with Rooney for this main reason really as they showed against Croatia the last time England actually played well. Euro 2004.
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As soon as KP slips up and England lose, then you will slate him. Its so typical English media. Build him up and bring him crashing down, down, down.
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Who wouldnt want John Terry in their 1st 11???? Did u actually think of that before deciding to put it in? Absolutely ridiculous, that said the whole blog, despite a few good points is mainly DRIVEL
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so John Terry is so poor that 12 months ago he was one of the best in the world, one injury plagued season doesnt mean he's not up 2 it...
UEFA defender of the year? oh sorry forgot u lot know more then well paid pro's/pundits...
simple - the only word to describe u bunch of muppets
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Personally I wasn't all that surprised that Owen was left out of the squad. He has been battling to prove his fitness since the second half of last season. If he proves he is fit week after week and he is scoring goals then great, but if he cannot stay fit for a full 90 minutes then find someone else who can.
For me the biggest disappointment was that Ashley Young did not make the team. If Capello claims to pick players on form and not reputation then I really do not understand why Young isn't in the squad. He has been great this season and he was great last season. If we are building a team for 2010 then build it with players who are most likely to feature in that tournament.
Nothing against Jimmy Bullard, he is a good player and he probably does deserve a call-up, but how likely is he to play? How likely is it that he will be one of the players going to the 2010 World Cup. The truth is, not very likely at all.
Also, what does Darren Bent have to do to get called up to the England squad. For so many years he scored goals at Charlton in a mediocre squad, last year he struggled to break into the first team at Spurs, but this summer he had a strong pre-season. He looked sharp, quick and he scored goals. If you compare him to Heskey, how likely is it that Heskey will feature in 2010?
Maybe it is too early to judge Capello, after all we have not seem many performances and the WC qualifiers are only just starting. However, if the team performs as it did against the Czech Republic last month then we are in serious trouble.
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Don't be fooled and think terry and ferdinand is that solid a partnership, baros on his own absolutely destroyed them.
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Young should of been picked his stats are incredible hes pretty much a left footed bentley. . This is what the team has needed for ages we could just play 4 - 4 - 2 of 3 - 5 - 2 With quite pacey, accurate wingers with rooney and crouch up front. Or whoever. Those 2 players will abuse space and create a lot up front. Secondly I think it would give us the width to play with a much more attacking based, almost old-skool brazilian feel. If you taught the lads to play simple and stop shooting from 35 yrs we would be able to pass the ball through teams. But then where is joe cole ? ect sacrifices have to be made somewhere but at least on the winger situation we could have walcott and cole as back ups. World cup winning squads are just that a 23 man squad or whatever is. 11 men rarely do the full amount of match time. The older members of the squad should be included. in 2 years time they could be king pins for this squad. I believe england are too quick to write players off at a young age. France and Italy last WC had some of the oldest squads in the competition and what about brazil in 02 ? We build for the cup not the long term future...
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Oh dear Robbo. If your anti-Chelsea chip gets any bigger you'll be limping more than Drogba. Maybe your jealousy will lead you to pick on Man. City now.
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Spot on Robbo, Kick out Terry Put in woody or king :D
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What an idiot you really are. Ledley King?! He's played about 60 minutes of competitive football in the last year. How on earth should he be anywhere near the squad?!
And who indeed should be first choice instead of Terry? I'll tell you who. No-one. How you've got a job writing a column on a sports website is beyond me. JT is the only natural born leader we have in the England squad and to suggest he's not one of the best 2 defenders in England is ludicrous. And before you jump to conclusions, I'm not a Chelsea fan. Merely someone who actually knows a little bit about what they're talking about. Stick to some half arsed local newspaper where your hideously un-funny articles can be shown up for what they're worth. Nothing.
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are you for real?
i agree with #31. Terry is the best leader england have, and one of the most passionate men you will ever see. how he wouldnt make it on most peoples first XI is weird seems as he was the defender of the year in the champions league, voted for by the coaches - qualified coaches, who know a hell of a lot more than you do.
and Lampard was midfielder of the year; so criticising his selection?!? ok, he isnt always great for england, but remember 05 when he was top scorer for wc qualifying, was easily our best player? wait for that to return then i bet you will be singing his praises!
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Poor Robbo... Where's the stuff I'm meant to have a laugh at? I'm disappointed in you.
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He is a mistake prone thug with little regard for anyone else.
Not worth the captains armband.
Defender of the year my ****
As for Lampard #32. Well of course we will sing his praises when he plays good, but when he plays crap why cant we criticise him. We're not exactly going to criticise him for playing well now are we?
Fact is he has been playing crap since 05. Not only is he playing crap, when he does play crap he stifles whoever is playing with him. Thats why he gets criticised more.
Midfielder of the year my ****
Sympathy Vote for both him and Terry.
Cech was deserving of his accolade.
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I think this should be England's first team
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1. Green
2. M.Richards
3. A.Cole
4. Terry
5. Ferdinand
6.Bentley
7. Barry
8. Gerrard
9. Joe Cole
10. Heskey
11. Owen
P.s. Rooney needs to be more selfish although he is a great team player. Lampard, James and Downing should be on the bench.
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Personally I think Capello should drop the lot of them and pick a team from the lower leagues who may actually care about playing for their country.
The players in the top two divisions, as has been said earlier, only care about money and fame, not about what really matters in sport.
I for one was glad we didnt make it to the euros this year as we did nothing to show we deserved to be there .. but what happens? Basically the same bunch of overpaid t***s get picked again just confirming why I lost interest in football some time ago.
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What is Don Fabio doing?
ciò che è Don Fabio facendo?
The fact that Ashley Young has not even made the squad (but Downing has...) and that Bentley will probably be left warming the bench (but that La Beckham will probably start...) and that Michael Owen's goal threat has been left at home (but that the multitude of utter mediocrity - J.T., Defoe, Jenas, Wes Brown, Wayne Bridge and Upson et al. you know who you are - have been deemed to be international standard players for any country, let alone for England...) makes me want to weep out loud.
I fear that I will soon be forced to forsake my birth-right of being a life-long England football fan, citing irreconcilable differences and breach of trust.
Where are our Robby Bobson's of yesteryear?
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"Plus he's picked a skipper who wouldn't make a lot of people's first XI"
The only reason that John Terry is not on many people's first eleven is because they, like yourself, have anti-Chelsea agendas.
They overlook the fact that John Terry is probably the best defender England has at the moment due to their own personal dislike of Abramovich, Kenyon and Co.
People label John Terry a "thug". A thug is a violent, brutal individual who goes about his/her business for the sole reason to injure and cause harm to others.
When has John Terry ever displayed these attributes?
So he yells at refs. I forgot, no other player has ever done that.
I'm sure every single player will admit to doing this at some point in their playing career. There are many others much worse than John, it is simply due to the fact that he is captain of a much-maligned club that he receives such skepticism.
Wayne Rooney, for example, is much, much worse than John Terry in this regard. Yet he seems exempt from any criticism? Some fans even suggested he could be captain!
Let's look at Rio Ferdinand on the other hand. Last season he kicks a Chelsea staff member out of pure stupidity. Surely this man fits the "thug" mould much more than Terry?
He also has a questionable drug-related record. How you "forget" to show up to a drug test is far, far beyond me.
So is this the captain you wanted?
Please put your own personal opinion of Chelsea Football Club aside and have the guts to admit that John Terry is a fantastic captain.
Finally -
"He should have a skipper who is the first name on the team sheet, like the cricketers have"
And who is that, exactly? Name the player who is first on the England team sheet.
At a time when England has nothing but a bunch of overpaid, lazy prima donnas for players, there are limited options.
As Cappello said, no-one is untouchable. Whether he follows through with this threat is yet to be seen. The early signs are far from promising.
However, surely the consistency of Terry alone makes him one of the first, if not the first on the team sheet.
Congratulations to the England cricket team though, especially the impressive Flintoff who seems to have hit form once again. I would really like to see a closely contested Ashes series, as the last one was painful to watch, even from an Australian point of view.
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*Capello, apologies.
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36. At 9:32pm on 02 Sep 2008, skittle_singh wrote:
1. Green
2. M.Richards
3. A.Cole
4. Terry
5. Ferdinand
6.Bentley
7. Barry
8. Gerrard
9. Joe Cole
10. Heskey
11. Owen
P.s. Rooney needs to be more selfish although he is a great team player. Lampard, James and Downing should be on the bench.
------------------------------------
Replace Bentley with Young and Heskey with anybody else even remotely connected with football and you've got yourself a team.
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I can't believe people are berating Capello over his selection for the Andorra and Croatia games when they haven't even been played yet! Give the man a chance, at least wait until the two games have been played before judging him.
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As a Scot I take a slightly detached interest in England as far as football is concerned (delighted to see that they are now only one place ahead of Scotland in the latest FIFA rankings!). However I did switch on the radio during the last match to check the score. I was clearly under the mistaken impression that new manager meant new approach so I was astounded to hear the same old names roll off - Beckham, Terry, Lampard, Gerrard - they teach nursery school kids that you simply can't play that lot in the same "team"rather than "collection of individuals". Rooney running around aimlessly looking to vent his spleen on anyone but the net. As for Brown, Heskey, etc Capello must be taking the proverbials! Where are all the exciting young players like Bentley - what does it do for the confidence of kids like him to be kept out by Beckham?
I do however pass the Tebbit test (for anyone old enough to remember it!)where cricket is concerned so I am pleased that KP has engendered a desire to win rather than simply show up in his team.
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Talking about KPs and nuts.
Did you here about the one where two nuts were walking down the road.
One says to the other I was assaulted.
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31
Finally some sense is spoken
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Lol I have to say I totally agree with this article! but would like to add some more points that I feel are valid..
I agree Terry would not make it to the first team of many fans. In my opinion the only player who might would be Gerrard, hence he would have been my choice of captain.
2ndly Heskey?? I mean surely we have better strikers than that dont we?
Also I cannot understand why new players are played for qualifying games and the old players are played for friendly matches?? what is the logic behind that I will never know.
The whole idea of friendly matches should be to give the new players are chance, after all are we not building a team up for the world cup?? A player like Theo Walcott should be played in every game! to build his confidence and develop, but typical English style we will leave young players like him out and then in 2011 will bring him on in the crunch games, then when he fails to score he will become a bad choice and dropped! I have nothing against David Beckham being in the team, but please stop wasting other peoples chances by bringing him on for match fitness in friendlies?? he is an experienced football player and we all know what he is capable of, there is no need to put him on trial, just bring him on as a sub if he performs then good for england, if he dont then learn and move on!!
I think the slection of the team should be done in the following way. Pick a set nmber of players i.e 3, 4 or 5 that you feel are vital for the england team, and then place the other players and substitutes to play around these players. So you have your plan A , plan B and plan C etc etc built around these 4 or 5 players. Easy to say I know as currently you can argue that no one deserves automatic selection and this should be based on merit.
Capello may go on and prove all his critics wrong, but I honestly believe so far he has mad a mockery of the selection, but then he hasnt been helped by his predesessors so I suppose its a big waiting game.
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Also Terry being the best leader and most passionate player?? how the hell did we work that out??
Is it because he can cry more than others??
Or is it because him and Lampard have somthing ridiculously obvious to say in the Metro everyday??
Its quite obvious to me that along with Lampard they are more into the money and fame than playing football.
Not saying he shouldnt be in the England team at all , but Im sure if you were to include a defender from divison 1 in the Chelsea team, they would make him look really good.
Im sorry, I think its a insult on all the other players to say he is the most passionate. Im sure all the players feel just as passionate for England as John Terry.
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#7 - Me.
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To me, Terry seems incredulously passionate towards his country and well warrants his place in the team, the first name on my sheet. Whether he should be captain or not is another question but who have we got?
His tears for Chelsea in the Champions League final to me just showed how much he cares, and I know this is Chelsea and not England but even so.
Personally I believe Terry an easy choice as captain and he is equally proud to wear the armband.
For all the idiots who think just because Capello hasn't changed personel that much means he has done nothing. The same players can play completely differently under a different manager who uses different tactics. It's all about tactics and not players.
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31 - what makes you know what you are on about more than others?
All this rubbish about leadership, Terry didnt inspire England as captain at any time since Beckham quit as captain. But then no one else has either. Its turgid watching England play. They all leave their club form at home.
Great players inspire teams, and become great captains. KP is a great player. Roy Keane was a great player. Terry is a good player, but i think there are better English defenders than him. Woodgate's positioning is superb, he reads the game better than Terry.
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the paralympic is just as big as the olympics
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I have never read any of your Robbo's column as it is a soccer column but I read this one because of the KP story. I am sorry I did as your mention of KP was just to sucker people like me to read a very poor script waffeling on about nothing in particular.
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to be honest who wouldn't have john terry in their starting XI? he is a player who plays with his heart on his sleeve and has great passion when playing for england. i also think its good for england when people like jimmy bullard get a chance. it reminds the likes of gerrard and lampard that they are not invincible and can be dropped. think jimmy will be a good choice if he plays and will show what an honour it is to play for your country
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i don't understand why we are paying a man millions of pounds a year to make the exact same mistakes that both sven and he who's name i cannot mention made in the past, i mean for gods sake, gerrard and lampard cannot play in the same team, we'd all love them too, but it just doesn't work! lets have some balance in the team please, one holding midfielder, one attacking midfielder and two wide men, its not "rocket science!"
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