David Brent

Not really much of a partnership.
Owen has been out of form/injured for too long and Emile Heskey has only scored 5 goals in his 43 previous England appearances.

Great selection McLaren.

Dave.

orpheum

On a club level it has made english clubs amongst the most feared opposition again.English clubs are now dominating the Champions League in the way that they were dominating Europe in the 1980s

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DB7

Imho the greatest damage has been done by ourselves. The selling off of school playing fields and a policy of building on inner city green land has led to there being few places for kids to play football. The places I played on as a kid are now housing estates and 2 superstores.

There was also the introduction of 90 minute catchment areas. If you're a coastal club this means half of your catchment area is the sea! And in the case of Liverpool you have Manchester United just down the road; so four Premiership sides fight over the same kids.

Imho, if a kid is good enough he will make it. From my experience with Liverpool's young players they are frequently overpaid, have a poor attitude, and spend most weekend in the pub getting bladdered.

orpheum

The 90 minute catchment area was brought in to cover cases such as Beckham living in East London and playing for United.In London we have we now have 14 clubs fighting for the same players.So little wonder clubs have gone abroad where there are no such restrictions.

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DB7

IIrc Utd circumvented it by flying Beckham to OT or moving his family? A player has got to be extremely promising for a club to sanctiion that outlay.

I agree about the London clubs especially, and probably the same in the West Midlands.

With us, youth players tend to fall into divide whereas they're not ready for the 1st team but beyond reserve football. The most talented is a young England U21 lad we sent to Soton - but appparently it's so amateurish there he wishes to return.

I don't really blame managers either, in the current climate you can't afford to spend time nurturing kids because it's a results-driven business and you will be sacked however worthy your excuses.

lordtednfs

Gordon Banks is talking about coming out of retirement!!!

Like heck. Robinson is a great keeper, remember that all goalies over the last 25+ years have had a couple of rough/howler games, Clemence, Shilton, James, Bonnetti and the rest. The future is in Robinson and especially young Green in time, safe as houses.

Maybe the premiership gods should make all foreign players become English citizens before joining an English club, they only come for the money and do the potential English/British players out of a chance earning and or of representing their countries? But the premiership gods cant see that. Money = bonuses for them and to heck with the national team.

Michael Owen has had his day. Heskey......hahaha. Crouchie reminds me of Big Bird from Sesame Street, too clumsy. Pace is what England needs up front. Defoe, as a Spurs fan, falls down too easily, get a lesson from Rodney Marsh. We just don't have a decent striker right now and are looking at Lampard and Gerrard to save our souls (S.O.S) Rooney is too volatile and under pressure can't hack it. Smifffy, well my Aunt Galdys would show him up. Aaron Lennon and Jermain Jenus are a great possibility along with Michael Dawson in defense along side John Terry and Ashley Cole. Lampard in midfield with Stevie G and thats it! Maclaren your days are numbered.

And don't go back to Paul Scholes....Donkey or what, it's like watching Come Dancing. Who ducked when Ronaldinho scored to beat England and yet was standing on the goal line? Scholes. Who gave away the same free kick? Scholes. Put him in a United shirt earining millions and will die for you? Scholes. Put him an England shirt for nothing and do nothing? Scholes.

We need help. Come on England!

BristolUK

Out of curiosity, does anyone know how the population of the area 90 minutes from the London Clubs compares to the area 90 minutes from, say, Liverpool or ManU?

I imagine it's more but by how much?

14 sounds a lot going for the London clubs 'catchment area' but are they really more restricted than ManU, Man City, Bolton, Preston, Blackburn, Liverpool, Everton, Tranmere, Rochdale, Oldham, Bury, Stockport.......

Steve Crook

Population of Merseyside = 1,365,900
Population of Greater Manchester = 2,547,700
Population of Greater London = 7,420,600 (8m in whole SE region)
All figures approximate but give the right order of magnitude

So that's 4 teams (including Everton & Man City) sharing 4 million people, 1 million per team.
And 14 London teams sharing 8 million people, just over 1/2 million per team.
So the Northern teams have twice as many people per team in their catchment area

Population figures from Wikipedia which gives other breakdowns by region

Steve

Harleybloke

Watford Captain a while back was Andy Hessentahler, he commuted to Watford from Gillingham..............flexible 90 mins that methinks!

.....You couldn't hear it, if they were shooting at me with howitzers!

batman

A mate of mine used to live next door to the son of a certain ex-Liverpool legend.

The stories he told me of what that young man got up to were startling considering that he couldn't even get in the first team of our local club.

Definitely a case of too much money and too few brains!

Bats.

I wish I had claws.

orpheum

I have included Barnet,Watford and of course the newboys,the Daggers in my computation of 14 teams.

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BristolUK

Thanks for that. However, if 14 London teams are being counted, then a fair comparison has to include similar clubs in the same area as Liverpool, Everton, ManU and Man City. To me it seems there are nearly as many clubs there as London.

Which means that a dozen clubs picking from 4m are at a disadvantage to 14 picking from 8m.

orpheum

Given that i have included Watford in London teams it is probably fair to include Bolton as a Gt Manchester team

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Harleybloke

Judging by the shirts worn in the streets by kids add Brighton, Horsham, Swindon, Oxford, Gravesend.................................

.....You couldn't hear it, if they were shooting at me with howitzers!

BristolUK

And Rochdale, Stockport, Oldham, Bury, Wigan.

As Liverpool is included in the 4m, then Everton and Tranmere should be too. So with the two Manchester teams, there are 11.

With Blackburn, Preston and Burnley close by it begins to look as if those clubs have considerably fewer players in their catchment area than the London clubs have in theirs.