Fabio Capello- The FA and who is right!

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I guess we really should look at this as it is a major talking point and where it leaves England as a footballing nation before a major finals.

So were the FA right to stand Terry down?

Were they right to do so behind FAbio's back?

Has Fabio left his position untennable with his comments?

How will this affect the England as a team, does it divide the dressing roo and would Rio really have played alongside JT anyway...

I don't really see why the weather ought to make a difference. These guys are supposed to be proper athletes, even though they are pretty poor in that respect. Also many players from other nations play in the English league. So they will be no better "conditioned" then the English.
Sweden, Germany, Holland etc are not exactly sweat boxes, yet their players never complain about weather.

You could never use that as an excuse for poor performance in a tournament.

As for being "glass half full" I prefer to look at it as being realistic.

What a lot of crap you really do spout.

Touche Diggers.
Don't think I've said anything which hasn't been considered. Just that it differs to your "optimistic, hopeful, unrealistic" stance.

Its like debating with a 6 year old in a huff. Not suprising with all that bile you carry about with you.

I think I'd be good for the England job. I have a foolproof method of getting the right team.

In true schoolyard fashion I'll pick the fat kids and anyone with skinny legs and warts last.

Oh. And John Terry can be in charge of the cheerleaders and race relations.

A truly dreadful attempt at a rebuke Diggers.

Any honest England fan would think they have a chance, albeit a pretty slim chance.

Its not a rebuke, it my completely honest opinion.

Until british clubs stop buying in all theses furriners, it remains highly unlikely for any of the home nations to succeed at international level.

Plenty foreigners in France, Spain and Italy too though Gael, and their national teams win big tournaments/can get further than QF's

England expects
That's the trouble.

I am a football fan but a couple of years ago I saw an England team with a couple of players I had not even heard of. Now that seemed a bit strange to me.
I would imagine it was how English fans would view teams selected to play from the other Home Countries.

Trouble is the big fancy EPL has so many mercenaries playing that good young English players never get a look in.
I always think a team selected from League 2 [championship] would perform with more spirit and skill.

BIt like Scotland in reverse Doon, I wouldn't pick any Scottish player who played in the SPL, must be Championship or above.

Levien seems to source some pretty useful players from the lower English leagues who then seem to advance and perform at a higher level in England.
The guy with the double barreled name who went from Peterborough to Brighton is a good example. I have seen much poorer players than him in the EPL.

Mackail-Smith?

Jordan Rhodes at Huddersfield looks the real deal too. He'd look like Messi in the SPL.

Craig Mackail-Smith Doon

He'd be in a mess to play in the SPL super!

There are some decent players in the lower leagues, but if they are good enough they will end up going to the EPL. At least in the lower leagues they will get to play regularly which might not be the case in the Premiership.
But arguably the best player in the Championship last year was Taarabt and he is out if his depth in the Premiership. There is a lot more quality is in the Premiership.

Following LJ throwing his name into the hat, just for the avoidance of doubt - and as it seems to be the thing to do - i am taking myself out of the running for the England job.

I wouldn't fit all of the members of the press in the garden of my 3 bed semi.

Oh, and Doon, people playing for England who a proper fan has never heard of? Like who?!

Exactly Blue, you'd have to be a complete moron and without ambition to play in the SPL. Now ranked something like the 26th best team in Europe by UEFA.

super_realist wrote:Plenty foreigners in France, Spain and Italy too though Gael, and their national teams win big tournaments/can get further than QF's

I'm well aware of that s_r but, I suspect, although I have no stats to back up this assertion, the english premier league has a larger intake of furriners than any of the other european leagues.

Probably does Gael, although I think Germany would run it close for Foreigners, but it's a bit simplistic to suggest that Englands mediocrity at international level is down to lots of foreigners in the league, every premier league team in England with perhaps the exception of Arsenal has a pretty high percentage of British players.

Gael, to a small degree this is being addressed. Currently all EPL clubs have to have 8 "home grown" players in their 25 man squad. They dont have to be English but clearly this is what the move is about.

I've always thought the foreigner thing is a bit of a red herring to be honest.
People generally agree the huge influx started around 1993 with the Premiership but we weren't exactly world beaters for some 30 years before that!
Plus this 'golden generation', although not having won anything, are as good as pretty much any other generation we've produced so it can't be all that bad.

I think our problem is, more than most countries, our players would genuinely rather be with their clubs than the national team. Whether that's because of the amount they're paid or because the PL is so glamorous they don't need international football anymore to make a name, i'm not sure. But you rarely see an England performance full of blood and thunder and passion. They generally look like they can't be bothered.

diggers wrote:Gael, to a small degree this is being addressed. Currently all EPL clubs have to have 8 "home grown" players in their 25 man squad. They dont have to be English but clearly this is what the move is about.

Thanks for the info diggers but 8 from 25 doesn't seem nearly enough although I accept this doesn't necessarily mean that clubs will engage the full quota of permitted furriners.

I think its a problem in some areas MPB, goal keepers for instance. We are lucky that we have one standout young keeper in Hart who should win a lot of caps, but apart from him there isnt much about and I think that managers have looked to buy a keeper from abroad to often as its a fairly quick fix.

MustPuttBetter wrote:I've always thought the foreigner thing is a bit of a red herring to be honest.
People generally agree the huge influx started around 1993 with the Premiership but we weren't exactly world beaters for some 30 years before that!
Plus this 'golden generation', although not having won anything, are as good as pretty much any other generation we've produced so it can't be all that bad.

I think our problem is, more than most countries, our players would genuinely rather be with their clubs than the national team. Whether that's because of the amount they're paid or because the PL is so glamorous they don't need international football anymore to make a name, i'm not sure. But you rarely see an England performance full of blood and thunder and passion. They generally look like they can't be bothered.

Scotland used to be pretty good at qualifying for the World Cup. It seemed to me that the downward spiral began when scottish clubs began to import players.

Plenty other countries though such as Scotland with relatively few foreigners stink the place out. While I can't imagine that the likes of Serbia, Croatia, Uruguay have a huge influx of foreigners yet perform very well.

Probably far more to do with the international set up than Johnny Foreignero

diggers wrote:I think its a problem in some areas MPB, goal keepers for instance. We are lucky that we have one standout young keeper in Hart who should win a lot of caps, but apart from him there isnt much about and I think that managers have looked to buy a keeper from abroad to often as its a fairly quick fix.

Maybe Digs, although since the inception of the PL and more and more foreigners comnig through we've had Seaman, Martyn, Flowers, James, Robinson, Hart as probably our regular keepers in roughly that order cutting out those who have played once or twice.
Ok they're not Clemence and Shilton but that's not a bad standard and is probably as good as any other nation have produced on average.
We have been blessed with some outstanding keepers over the years and so the absence of more than one outstanding one now might look awful but it's pretty much on a par with the rest of the world i think?

We've had some decent ones but It hink the spiral seems to have been downward in recent years. I think historically English keepers were seen as a good bet but Im not sure this is the case now so managers are quite happy to go and buy abroad rather than buy an English keeper at a premium. Im not sure how many English keepers start every week in the Premiership but I doubt its many.
I do think that there is a huge problem with young English players being over valued (funnily enough the quota system hasnt helped this).
Its not players like Milner, Downing, Henderson and Carrolls fault that they get transferred for silly money but of course they get stick for having such a huge fee that simply isnt value for money and everyone can see this.
Even the Arsenal kid will end up costing what, 12-14 million. Luckily he looks like he can handle it and as much as Wenger can annoy me he will look after him I think.

Oh definitely agreed.
Young English players are hugely over priced. £12m Oxlaide Chamberlain cost.
You look at Conor Wickham up at your place. He's only 19 so a decent prospect for sure but £15m?!! That's the same money Shearer went to Newcastle for just 15 years earlier. I know you've got to factor in inflation but gees!

Diggers, dead right. When you look at how much an English unproven player goes for compared with the foreign equivalent it's no wonder there is an unrealistic expectation.

You would think it would be easily sorted, just dont pay the silly money anymore. Clubs would still sell as players would also still want to move and as times get harder which they will the smaller clubs will still need the money.
Just doesnt seem to work that way though. Plus of course beacause of the high transfer fees the players get big money contracts which makes them think they have actually cracked it rather than just being at the start of their career and so it goes on.......
Id be all for salary caps and transfer fee caps.

I dont think it will be too long until football eats itself Diggers and that happens.

Just been watching Capello being interviewed in a very chilly (and snowy) Italy. We're positively 'basking' in the Highlands. Hoo rah!!!

Spoke to a friend tonight who has been working in Germany, he said that it has been -20 there this week!