[Archived] The Plane To Sa

[ABBEY]

who is on the scotland plane? apart from green eyes ?

[Majiball]

Bring back the Home internationals, so we can kick your arse again after England win it???

[SAS]

Well Bridge wont be going.

He`s ruled himself out of the world cup because of John Terry!!!

www.bbc.co.uk/football

[LeChuck]

Surprising, I thought Bridge would have stayed.

I don't think it makes much difference to be honest, he's not any better than Warnock and Baines. Hopefully Ashley Cole will be fit anyway. If not I fancy Baines to sneak into that position, he's brilliant for Everton at the moment.

[Hughesy]

Baines for left back then.....Ashley cole will be affected by his injury & split from Cheryl & Warnock makes too many mistakes

[joey_big_nose]

I think our strongest eleven is excellent and call me English and naive but if they are all fit for the whole tournament and we can avoid injuries and suspensions then we are definitely in with a chance of winning it, the same can be said for 5 or 6 teams.

Don't agree with that. Spain are the best team by quite a margin, Brazil are significantly better than us. Argentina are looking good again. Then England, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal etc are all in a big group behind.

I will be surprised if Spain don't win it to be honest. They are brilliant at the moment.

[slough_rover]

Baines for left back then.....Ashley cole will be affected by his injury & split from Cheryl & Warnock makes too many mistakes

An affected Ashley Cole is still the best left back in the world atm. We need him fit. As much as I rate Baines and Warnock neither are fit to tie his laces atm.

[tcj_jones]

Plus the World Cup is months away - Cole will probably have got over the misses by shagging another dozen girls by then.

[Mr. E]

heck, I'd pick the starting line up already:

Keeper will be England's biggest weakness anyway, up to Capello

Johnson Ferdinand Terry A Cole

Beckham Milner Lampard A. Young

Gerrard

Rooney

With Lampard and Gerrard possibly switching places.

And just as long as Barry doesn't get into the team. Rarely has their been a more overrated player in recent years.

[Eddie]

Goalkeepers

Robinson, Hart, Green

Defenders

A. Cole, Terry, Ferdinand, Brown, Baines, Johnson, Lescott

Midfielders

Lampard, Gerrard, Carrick, Beckham, A. Young, Milner, Barry, Lennon, Walcott, J. Cole

Forwards

Rooney, Defoe, Bent

]Team

Robinson

Johnson-Terry-Ferdinand-A. Cole/Baines

Lampard-Barry

Walcott-Gerrard-A.Young

Rooney

[ewoodpo]

Looks like Robbo might be missing out he hasn't even been picked for the Egypt game. He is a better keeper than the three that have been picked for the friendly. James is crap so is Green and Hart lacks experiance.

[Mr. E]

Capello hates Robinson and that's that. If he hasn't done enough to be included ahead of keepers like Green and James, he'll never do enough.

The bad thing is that it will probably ruin his confidence, because the only reason Robinson came to Rovers was in hopes of winning back his place.

[Amo]

I'm not Robinson's biggest fan, but I even think he's done more than James to warrant a place.

[Mr. E]

but seriously, I don't care what Capello has achieved so far, he needs to be called out to explain why exactly he is including in his squad players like David James, Wes Brown, Lescott, Barry and Heskey. I mean, we hold our heads when BFS starts with Diouf and Andrews, but the indefensible sh*t that Capello picks goes beyond all boundaries.

[modes98]

Robinson deserves a shot. He is as good as Green, more consistent than James and more experienced than Hart. Although I do think Hart is the most in form english keeper and should get the starting spot at the moment.

[grizfoot]

James and Green were the two keepers used during the qualification campaign therefore you'd expect Capello to keep faith with those two which left just one slot open for the third keeper and on current form it would be harsh to begrudge Joe Hart his place in the squad. I personally think Robinson is a better keeper than Green and of a similiar standard to that of James and Hart, but for the above reasons mentioned I can understand why he wasn't included in the squad. Robbo's still fairly young in goalkeeping terms, hopefully if he continues to be consistent and get better with age I'm sure his chance will come in an England shirt sometime in the future but maybe not at this year's World Cup.

[broadsword]

Given the qualifying record we had, I really don't think Capello needs to justify himself to anyone.

[Tom]

How could he justify himself though, he believes he picks the strongest squad he can.

He rates some above others, we may not all agree but what does he need to justify?

[broadsword]

I think Mr E is looking for a detailed breakdown, but I agree, Capello just doesn't fancy Robinson, and that is all anyone needs to know.

[Tom]

But why should he have to give explainations for his selections? Is it not obvious, he picks them because he thinks they are better than the alternative.

[broadsword]

Yes, he's not neglecting Robinson out of spite, or because Paul leaves his toe-nail clippings on the hotel bathroom floor.

[ewoodpo]

Capello has always said he will only pick players that are playing and playing well. Recently Robbo has been playing reasonably well for us. James has only recently come back from injury and is playing for a team that has been at the bottom of the league all season. Green has also been playing badly Hart is the only selection that can be justified ahead of Robbo.

[Tom]

Maybe he was proved right about Robbo today? I havn't seen it but it sounds like a clanger by any standards

[Exiled_Rover]

Robinson isn't good enough. He shouldn't be going to the World Cup. I'd love to replace him in the summer, but with our funds that's not happening.

[DeadlyDirk]

It seems crazy that 18-24 months ago I thought our defence was as solid as anyone's with plenty of strength in depth, now it seems completley the opposite. Back then I saw an emerging Richards who looked to have all the attributes an international footballer needs, Cole was as good as he's ever been while Ferdinand could call himself the best defender in the world and had captain Terry alongside him.

The likes of Bridge, Johnson, Carragher (May have already retired but memory isn't what it's used to be), King, Upson provided more than able backup with the likes of Lescott, Warnock, Baines all emerging as international candidates among others ready to come in if needed

Jump forward to present day and it seems we might end up with a defence all thrown together.

Ferdinand - Knackered, back problems seem to come back all the time, will he even be fit for the WC?

Terry - Personal problems and a loss of form, at his age it's hard for him to try and rediscover his old self, pace was never his strength and that's only going to become more of a problem as he approaches his 30's.

Cole - Can't stand Cashley but there's no doubt he's a top player, even if he's fit for the WC it's going to be off the back of a few reserve games and maybe a couple of first team appearances.

Johnson - Has emerged as Richards replacement due to the poor form of Richards but Johnson himself has his own defensive limitations, still not sure if he's good enough for the top teams in international football.

The likes of Lescott, Richards, King, Carragher, Woodgate are all either plagued by injury, retired or struggling with their own form. Baines and Warnock have continued to get better but similiarly to Johnson I'm not sure if they are good enough to deal with the likes of Brazil, Spain or even the next tier such as Germany, France and Holland.

We are now throwing the likes of Shawcross in (Who's head probably isn't right anyway after the weekend) who has proved to be a capable premiership defender but whether or not he's good enough at international level remains to be seen and there isn't a lot of time left to prove himself.

Defence is rapidly becoming my biggest cause for concern, only just behind the goalkeeper situation. Midfield is as strong as ever with plenty of candidates and we have one of the most talented forwards in the world, without question one of the most in form.