Forza Iran
I am not patriotic at the best of times, but after today's England squad announcement I will be purchasing Paraguay, Trinidad and Swedish replica shirts this afternoon, whilst I will be quietly rooting for the Iranians whose country is led by a leader only slightly crazier and more irrational than Sven Goran Eriksson.
The fact that both Charlton players were overlooked is not a huge surprise as I felt both were 50/50 at best particularly in light of Young's injury. However it is of course the manner in particular of Bent's omission that frankly is an insult to him, his club and indeed anyone rooting for the national side in Germany.
Bent's cause has not been helped by him being obliged to plough an often lone furrow for a pretty dire Charlton side in recent weeks. I dare say Ronaldinho and Thierry Henry might look pretty average if forced to play in front of Holland, Hughes and Kishishev. Nonetheless he has managed 18 Premiership goals despite this obvious handicap.
But given that Andrew Johnson was not selected for any of the recent internationals (competitive or otherwise) then Sven's rationale must be that Johnson's form since the Uruguay game has got him the standby nod over Bent! And as for Walcott, I'm willing to accept he's an exciting talent but if Arsene Wenger didn't see fit to play him despite an ominpresent injury crisis then what exactly is he doing in an England World Cup squad? And don't get me started on Peter Crouch.
Spurs have an eloquent blogger by the name of Jim Duggan at the TopSpurs site. Speaking about the food poisoning incident on Sunday, he stated, "...perhaps we could look more objectively at the use of force by the FA if it were not for the fact it's run by David Dein, an Arsenal board member. I have called foul on this over the years and it is a most obvious conflict of interest but no-one from football clubs to football journos dare bring it up."
Now call me a conspiracy theorist, but wouldn't it be handy for Arsenal to have their prized teenager ride an ultra-steep learning curve at a World Cup before returning to the Premiership more mature and raring to go? After all they daren't risk the lad in a vital Premiership game nor the Champions League final.
My conspiracy theory is speculative of course, but England are paying the price for having fawned for too long over Eriksson, a man promoted above his abilities if ever there was one, and whose private life proved beyond the pale even for the less than moral bigwigs at the FA. His record prior to joining England was questionable (a Swedish Terry Venables if you like), and he has hardly delivered the results since which his ridiculous salary warrants. In short, he is a chancer and a con-merchant who non-patriots like myself will be hoping is finally found out in Germany.
Footnote: Charlton have signed US defender Cory Gibbs on a free transfer from Feyenoord. So he's American, plays centre-back but can also play at left-back? Sound familiar.
posted by New York Addick @ 3:47 PM
8 comments
Why are we signing anybody while we don't have a manager? If the new guy doesn't rate him, then it's a waste of (probably) 24k a month.
incidentally, someone told me this week that Kevin Lisbie is on 10k a week. Surely that can't be true...
Some time back, when a forum member was trying to work out the salaries of each player at Charlton, he put Lisbie in the £40k a week bracket!!! (It was just after he'd scored that hatrick, but still...)
I am told for a fact that a champioship first team midfielder 21 yrs old whose a friend with a colleague whom i work with is on £5k /week if that helps your investigations.
The Dein comment is very interesting - are there any English Arsenal players that arn't in the World Cup squad?
One of two things will happen with regard to Lisbie when the new manager comes in. He'll either be sold for say £250k to a Championship side (likely) or he'll be transformed into a 15-goal a season striker (unlikely). He's been exceptionally fortunate to have remained a squad member at Charlton despite essentially delivering nothing, one hat-trick not withstanding. However if the unlikely latter scenario occurs, what will that say about Curbs or more pertinently Mervyn Day's coaching?
I fear Lisbie is on 10k a week. Johnson got the final nod because of all the goals he scored against Watford. We signed Gibb because Boro and other clubs were after him. And we certainly need defenders, particularly if they come free (although DB being out of the World Cup squad saves us 400k).
my normal rose tinted view of charlton is still as strong as ever ( i imagine bent getting a recall from holiday)and when tournaments come round i have the same view on england. so i do not have any sensible well thought out views. so i shall just say come on england!
Sven is picking a team around England's proven world class players. Owen and Rooney are England's proven world class strikers. Since Rooney is injured, Sven will use his (obviously world class) midfield to compensate. Walcott is worth taking becuase he may be truely world class (he is quick). DeFoe/Johnson/Crouch - will fit in around Owen.
I still don't know why Johnson was preferred over Bent. Perhaps Bent's chance will come under McClaren. Personally I think Bent could show something at international level.