England v Hungary - squad and match thread

[YateleyRoyal]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/8896134.stm

Wes Brown joins Robinson in retiring from internationals. As the article says, the lack of communication between Capello and (fringe) squad members really seems to be lacking. Also, the fact that Capello didn't even make the phonecall to Scholes to try and convince him to go to South Africa makes you question his man management.

Who does this now leave as 2nd choice right back behind Johnson? Brown, Carragher, Young all retired, GNev surely too old. Griffin?

Rosenior

[Barry the bird boggler]

LOL at all these players getting Carragher syndrome.

Should be an honour to represent your country at any level.

Bet they wouldn't "retire" if they were 1st, 2nd or 3rd choices.

[TBM]

LOL at all these players getting Carragher syndrome.

Should be an honour to represent your country at any level.

Bet they wouldn't "retire" if they were 1st, 2nd or 3rd choices.

I understand Robinson retiring cos with Hart and now Foster playing regular club football then he's not going to get the number 1 shirt, so all he's doing is flying out with the squad to sit on the bench and never play....dont understand Brown though, if Johnson gets injured he would be a good bet to play.

[cmonurz]

Simon Davies has followed suit today for Wales, although he has had a lot of injuries the last couple of years.

[No Fixed Abode]

Sensible decisions I think. Thought Gerrard would have carried on a bit longer though after retiring a few years back.

[cmonurz]

Lampard will be persuaded to retire, but they can't get his fat arse out of his England shorts.

[Big Foot]

Lampard will be persuaded to retire, but they can't get his fat arse out of his England shorts.

Lampard who's scored MORE international goals than Gerrard in LESS games?

I'd suggest it's Stevie-G they need to retire

[soggy biscuit]

What's Lampard's goals to games ratio in World Cup matches?

Surely he is not a bottle job?

[cmonurz]

You can't divide by 0.

[soggy biscuit]

You can't divide by 0.

Oh well, I am sure he will deflect one or two in when is back in his comfort zone against the mighty West Brom on Saturday.

[Big Foot]

You can't divide by 0.

Oh well, I am sure he will deflect one or two in when is back in his comfort zone against the mighty West Brom on Saturday.

Form's temporary, class is permanent

[No Fixed Abode]

Lampard will be persuaded to retire, but they can't get his fat arse out of his England shorts.

Knew Liverpool's No1 fan would be along!

Easy catch.

[leww_rfc]

Darren Bent Withdraws from Squad with a Back Injury.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/8901350.stm

[Terminal Boardom]

Does anyone actually give a flying one for this game?

[Royal Lady]

I think Foster has pulled out with an "injury" too now.

[Barry the bird boggler]

Does anyone actually give a flying one for this game?

Of course not, utterly bloody pointless arrangement "forced" on teams by FIFA and local FAs as a cheap money grabbing exercise asap after the world cup. If they felt they could get away with one one set up in late July they'd have done that as well!

[Royal Lady]

I think Foster has pulled out with an "injury" too now.

He has and Loach and Fielding are called up. Which, if memory serves me correctly, may mean that McCarthy plays in goal for the U21s!

[Royal Lady]

Ah. Fielding is playing tonight for U21s and is reserve tomorrow. Unlucky Alex McCarthy.

[Hoop Blah]

I find it a bit hard to believe that these two U21 keepers are now one stubbed toe or stiff groin away from getting a full cap tomorrow night...that's just a bit daft!

The friendly isn't at all meaningless though, or it shouldn't be at least. We've got a competitive qualifier coming up in 4 weeks (??) time, and with the changes in the squad that were always going to happen whatever the performance at the World Cup, a good couple of days and a chance to bed in new team/squad members is actually quite useful.

For those proclaim it as meaningless, do you then moan when the England team look like a disjointed bunch of players who've never played together before?

[Victor Meldrew]

It was 22 conceded in 41 caps, which is still easily the best of any England keeper at 0.52 per game (Woods was 0.58, Seaman 0.59, Shilton 0.64, Banks 0.78).

Maybe not right to compare with Woods,Shilton and Banks as in their times we didn't play teams like San Marino,Andorra and Luxembourg where the teams are lucky to even score nil but on the general point I agree that Robinson was generally a reliable stopper.

As for this squad it strikes me as being a bit populist especially in the case of Wilshere who has played so little first-team football but what was Capello doing picking Wes Brown in the first place?
I do agree however that he should be trying some of the younger players.