James

Are those going to be the actual rules? Nope, just a hypothetical scenario, just to see who people would pick. If they were the rules though, we may as well not enter.

Slight error there, now sorted.

Whats your prediction? 5th-7th place finish and the only way were gonna get rid of Jol is if the board are completly convinced that either one of Capello, Hiddink, Ramos or Lippi will take over. Didnt say they will happen, just that the board will decide to stick with Jol unless someones vastly superior becomes available. Think only Capello and Lippi are attainable out of that list tbh. :lol:

Extremely difficult to be honest. Most Premiership clubs have a lot less U23s from the other home nations than they used to.

Justin Hoyte - Arsenal - England - Age 22 - Defender Scott Carson - Aston Villa - England - Age 22 - Goalkeeper Liam Ridgewell - Birmingham - England - Age 23 - Defender Matt Derbyshire - Blackburn - England - Age 21 - Striker Danny Guthrie - Bolton - England - Age 21 - Midfielder Scott Sinclair - Chelsea - England - Age 18 - Striker David Jones - Derby - Wales - Age 22 - Midfielder Iain Turner - Everton - Scotland - Age 23 - Goalkeeper Steven Davis - Fulham - Northern Ireland - Age 22 - Midfielder Jack Hobbs - Liverpool - England - Age 19 - Defender Micah Richards - Manchester City - England - Age 19 - Defender Darren Fletcher - Manchester United - Scotland - Age 23 - Midfielder Stewart Downing - Middlesbrough - England - Age 23 - Midfielder Steven Taylor - Newcastle - England - Age 21 - Defender Glen Johnson - Portsmouth - England - Age 23 - Defender Graeme Murty - Reading - Scotland - Age 32 - Defender Craig Gordon - Sunderland - Scotland - Age 24 - Goalkeeper Gareth Bale - Tottenham - Wales - Age 18 - Defender Craig Bellamy - West Ham - Wales - Age 27 - Striker David Cotterill - Wigan - Wales - Age 20 - Striker Scott Brown - Celtic - Scotland - Age 22 - Midfielder Steve Naismith - Rangers - Scotland - Age 21 - Striker James Morrisson - WBA - Scotland - Age 21 - Midfielder

Say it was decided that Britain needed a squad for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. There is much debate behind the scenes as the larger Premier League clubs try to veto the move, while the Northern Irish, Welsh and Scottish FA's are only willing to participate if they get a good representation. Eventually a compromise is reached. In the 23 man squad, one player (and no more) from each Premiership club must be selected and one player from both Rangers and Celtic is also selected. The 23rd player can be from any other club who has not lost a player. There can be a maximum of 11 players from one country in the squad. Players from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland (not Ireland) can be picked. Also, a further agreement is reached with the Premier League that no player in a Germany 2006 squad may be selected from a Premier League team, and no Premier League player can play in two consecutive matches, excluding the final. Hence a strong squad is needed rather than a brilliant first XI. Only three players can be over-23 at time of selection (today). Who do you pick?

Never understood why we blame players when they get injured. Disappointed aye but why is it the players fault? Marcelino and his injured finger being an exception off course. Owen is a classic case, many had written him off after his series of injuries but now that he's back banging in the goals, he's being bummed left, right and centre. In Emre's case because he has run off to play an important competitive match when not fit enough, massively increasing the chance of another injury. I can see where you are coming from but surely that is a decision that Sam and his medical staff should have made. If he was not fit enough to play for Turkey as you speculate, then he should not have been allowed to join them. The fact that he did and with no objections from Sam probably indicate that he was ok to play, and in fact if you look at Sam's quote on the official website, he also seems to say that he had already overcame his injury in time for the internationals. The fact that he got injured again after the internationals in unfortunate but not his fault. I hope his exclusion does not mean that we will stick with the boring trio of Butt, Geremi and Smith in midfield. I fear they won't break down a resolute Derby who will surely be on the rebound. Go with 4-4-2 with 2 genuine wingers in Zog and Milner and Geremi and Butt can man the midfield. Smith has to be on the bench for me as I don't think he has done enough to justify a starting place. Clubs have no say about the call-up of players for international duty. Because Emre was on the bench for Turkey in game two, it would suggest that he wasn't up for playing two games in quick succession, and when Turkey found themselves in trouble, Emre and the manager gambled, and put him on the pitch. The gamble paid off short term, but at some point, Emre injured himself again, only instead of coming straight off like would be expected of him at Newcastle, he carried on, potentially aggravating his injury.

Today, if team mates picked on a player in such a way, and the club did nothing, couldn't the player resign, move to another club, and get his former club to pay out his entire contract on the basis of employment law?

You know, it has just occurred to me. Allardyce at Newcastle could somehow rescue England here. If (slightly big if) he could get Owen to work effectively in a 433, it could be possible to get Owen and Rooney to be compatible.

if you are at the other end of the stadium go to Wembley Central Station Front of the stadium as in where the Bobby Moore statue is.

Fair enough about the tube station distance Nobby, but thats not the only story with those ramps. If your turnstile is at the front of the stadium, you have to go right or left towards where the foot of the arch is, and just before you get there, there is a junction to go back on yourself, and this gets very congested on the way home.

And that isn't the view from the tube station Nobby. That is from on top of a closer bridge.

Nobby, as someone who has actually been, I can tell you that there is a series of ramps joining Wembley Way to the stadium, and if you get caught in the wrong parts of the stadium, it will take over half an hour to get through the crowds to the station.

Never understood why we blame players when they get injured. Disappointed aye but why is it the players fault? Marcelino and his injured finger being an exception off course. Owen is a classic case, many had written him off after his series of injuries but now that he's back banging in the goals, he's being bummed left, right and centre. In Emre's case because he has run off to play an important competitive match when not fit enough, massively increasing the chance of another injury.

According to Allardyce on Newcastle World, the offerred contract was on a par for players of his age and experience at the club, which would suggest he wants more than Milner and Zoggy - something that shouldn't be allowed to happen. Allardyce was pretty pissed off with Taylor and his father to be honest.

Owen's general play is excellent to be honest. In fact, it is definitely superior to Shearer's post-97, superior to any striker currently at the club, and maybe even superior to the general play of the rest of the squad.

Not suprising really, Turkey have had a habit of playing Emre when not 100% fit, and Emre injuring himself.

Nacker, have you posted on here before under a different name?

Given, Harper, Cacapa, Rozehnal, Taylor, N'Zogbia, Geremi, Butt, Milner, Owen and Martins.

Given Taylor Rozehnal Cacapa Enrique Milner Geremi Butt N'Zogbia Smith Owen Subs: Harper Beye Viduka Martins Ameobi

Owen is outstanding at retaining possession in the final third of the pitch. We need to get a central midfielder to run on to join the attack when Owen is on the ball, and we need our wingers overlapping. Barton may be useful here, while we all know what Milner and N'Zogbia can do. Another excellent thing about Owen is his movement. He always moves into a position to receive the ball, even if it isn't a goalscoring position such that he has time and space to play a team contribution, and as soon as he passes the ball onto someone else, he has quickly turned into another area of space, allowing his team mate to find him if needed. The distance he runs during a game is impressive for a striker, and this can only tire and distract his rival defenders. He only makes the final run towards the goalscoring position when he knows the ball is going to be played into the danger area. Even then, he doesn't wait for the ball to come to him, he goes to the ball. A quality player and a quality striker.

Vending machines sound good, but could they store enough stock to not run out early?

lol are you thick? Wembley Park tube station is about 15 minutes walk away, maximum. I take it you don't watch the news then? Where they had this whole report of how long it takes to leave Wembley and get to the Tube station? That even if you left 5 minutes from the end it was likely to take you an hour and a half because of policing and sheer numbers. I can imagine the rush to get in is quite bad as well, depending on what time people arrive and how well the ticketing system is working. For cup ties when people want to make a day of it, it only takes about 5 mins to get through the turnstiles. Took me about 20 mins to get to the Tube Station on the way back, but that was at 50% capacity. By the way, when you arrive on tube, stay back behind the crowds on the platform, and while the surge eases, get the camera out and setup properly. You'll get a brilliant view of Wembley when you leave the station, and will want a photo, only the police wont let you stop to take one.

One part of Wembley has a sheet of metal at the back of one of the tiers and could be used by the fans on the back row to create some awesome noise. Perhaps we could do the same.

When I went to see the conference playoff final, on the very back of the lower tier in one of the corners, there is a sheet of metal which can be used to create great sound if the back row are willing to get some hammerring going. From what I could see, the rest of the lower tier had to make do with brick wall. However, I noticed on Saturday that this is where we sit the away fans for England matches. Talk about handing an unnecessary benefit to the opposition.