Slipperduke
The Camden Cad
With a rare swathe of midweek Premier League fixtures, the next few days represent the last chance for English footballers to worm their way into Fabio Capello’s affections. The Italian manager names his first England squad on Saturday after spending a month travelling up and down the country in search of the players who can repair the damage done by the Steve McClaren regime. Capello will also have watched the tapes of the ill-fated qualifying campaign and come to his own conclusions on why such a star-studded team played so ineptly on so many occasions. The question is, will he keep faith with these blundering Maclaticos or will he invite a new generation in to take their place?
Rumours suggest that David Beckham will be omitted from this first squad and denied the opportunity of a 100th international cap. If that’s the case, then it’s regrettable, but entirely understandable. Capello is not here to organise civic receptions. He hasn’t been employed by the FA to create a feel-good factor. He’s here to build a winning team for the future. Beckham is less culpable than most for the shame of non-qualification, but he must pay the price nevertheless. His semi-retirement on the PR roadshow in America should be profitable enough to compensate him for the loss of a century of caps and if he needs someone to blame, we all know where he should direct his fury.
Capello will surely know that England’s problems are psychological. It is a question of motivation, not talent. I defy anyone to stand up and convince me that, pound-for-pound, Russia’s players are more technically accomplished than the English. I challenge you to argue that, even though the Maclaticos finished level on points with Israel, that they are equal in standard. I hate to sound like a reactionary, old school football hack, but these under-performing, badly deployed millionaires, the so-called ‘Golden Generation,’ really just need an old-fashioned kick up the rear end.
If Capello wants to start his tenure with a bang, if he really intends to shake things up, he’ll go to that squad with an axe and start all over again. Personally, I don’t think he will. I think he’ll name the same old faces with a few young pretenders and ask everyone to prove themselves. Wouldn’t it be funny if he didn’t though?
Imagine the tantrums if he did what we all know needs to be done. Picture the scene as Steven Gerrard, who missed an open goal in Russia, finds out that he won’t be required at Wembley. Gerrard, who reacted to the Croatia defeat not with despair, but with the slightly aggrieved air of a man who had just put his pen down for a moment and now can’t find it anywhere. Imagine John Terry, who didn’t appear in the Croatia game because of an injury that, oddly, wasn’t severe enough to keep him out of the Chelsea side three days later. Imagine his face. Paul Robinson. Frank Lampard. Michael Owen. Imagine them all sat at home watching a younger, hungrier generation wearing the Three Lions. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?
Now, obviously I’m not arguing that they should never play for England again. That would be silly. I just want them to be taught a quick lesson in accountability. I want them to know how much they have let this country down. I want them to suffer, as we who watch them have suffered. Capello should do what McClaren would never dare to do. He should tell these five superstars, this quintet who consistently played beneath their best, that they are expendable.
Last year, Terry was all too eager to tell the press that his players had to take responsibility for the results, but the only person who ever did was McClaren. Is it too much to ask for Capello, just on this one occasion, to hang those failures out to dry?
Iain’s Fantasy Squad - What England would look like without the big-name failures
Scott Carson
Rob Green
David James
Wayne Bridge
Stephen Warnock
Micah Richards
Tony Hibbert
Matthew Upson
Ledley King
Wes Brown
Jamie Carragher
Shaun Wright-Phillips
David Bentley
Ashley Young
Joe Cole
Owen Hargreaves
Jermaine Jenas
Gareth Barry
Michael Carrick
Wayne Rooney
Peter Crouch
Gabriel Agbonlahor
Emile Heskey
Rumours suggest that David Beckham will be omitted from this first squad and denied the opportunity of a 100th international cap. If that’s the case, then it’s regrettable, but entirely understandable. Capello is not here to organise civic receptions. He hasn’t been employed by the FA to create a feel-good factor. He’s here to build a winning team for the future. Beckham is less culpable than most for the shame of non-qualification, but he must pay the price nevertheless. His semi-retirement on the PR roadshow in America should be profitable enough to compensate him for the loss of a century of caps and if he needs someone to blame, we all know where he should direct his fury.
Capello will surely know that England’s problems are psychological. It is a question of motivation, not talent. I defy anyone to stand up and convince me that, pound-for-pound, Russia’s players are more technically accomplished than the English. I challenge you to argue that, even though the Maclaticos finished level on points with Israel, that they are equal in standard. I hate to sound like a reactionary, old school football hack, but these under-performing, badly deployed millionaires, the so-called ‘Golden Generation,’ really just need an old-fashioned kick up the rear end.
If Capello wants to start his tenure with a bang, if he really intends to shake things up, he’ll go to that squad with an axe and start all over again. Personally, I don’t think he will. I think he’ll name the same old faces with a few young pretenders and ask everyone to prove themselves. Wouldn’t it be funny if he didn’t though?
Imagine the tantrums if he did what we all know needs to be done. Picture the scene as Steven Gerrard, who missed an open goal in Russia, finds out that he won’t be required at Wembley. Gerrard, who reacted to the Croatia defeat not with despair, but with the slightly aggrieved air of a man who had just put his pen down for a moment and now can’t find it anywhere. Imagine John Terry, who didn’t appear in the Croatia game because of an injury that, oddly, wasn’t severe enough to keep him out of the Chelsea side three days later. Imagine his face. Paul Robinson. Frank Lampard. Michael Owen. Imagine them all sat at home watching a younger, hungrier generation wearing the Three Lions. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?
Now, obviously I’m not arguing that they should never play for England again. That would be silly. I just want them to be taught a quick lesson in accountability. I want them to know how much they have let this country down. I want them to suffer, as we who watch them have suffered. Capello should do what McClaren would never dare to do. He should tell these five superstars, this quintet who consistently played beneath their best, that they are expendable.
Last year, Terry was all too eager to tell the press that his players had to take responsibility for the results, but the only person who ever did was McClaren. Is it too much to ask for Capello, just on this one occasion, to hang those failures out to dry?
Iain’s Fantasy Squad - What England would look like without the big-name failures
Scott Carson
Rob Green
David James
Wayne Bridge
Stephen Warnock
Micah Richards
Tony Hibbert
Matthew Upson
Ledley King
Wes Brown
Jamie Carragher
Shaun Wright-Phillips
David Bentley
Ashley Young
Joe Cole
Owen Hargreaves
Jermaine Jenas
Gareth Barry
Michael Carrick
Wayne Rooney
Peter Crouch
Gabriel Agbonlahor
Emile Heskey