I noticed on another thread that Dave Wagstaff the ex Wolves winger had sadly passed away. I remember him as a very fine player and one of the best wingers in the league.
He was another player who never got a cap and who now would be a shoe in for the squad at least. There are far to many players of around that era to mention who were in the same boat. Which brings me to the point that if you are English and playing in the Premier League at the moment you will get a call up regardless of ability. For example there will probably be only three english keepers to start for their teams. You will hear the old adage that if you are good enough you will play.Bit daunting when you see that you have the likes of RVP, Mata, Hazard and their like in front of you. We will probably be turned over by the Scots as we hardly have any strikers fit. They are even talking about Hooper getting a call up. Hodgson will be mugged off by the media; eventually sacked and replaced by another deluded fool and so it goes on. With Sky running the Premier League I suppose the situation will not change or will it?
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The only good thing about that will be the fact that Scotland's national team will be made up of League One / League Two players (sorry couldnt resist)
Did he set the league alight with goals? No, but he wasn't a striker..
Did he set the league alight with assists then? Ermm. No, Pritchard got more - that guy rescued from non-league, "played out of position" and never been given a cap for Zimbabwe..
He must've been pretty good at getting back and defending though? Ermm.. No; he was quite the attacking man.
Ok, so lets agree he show(s/ed) potential: what will happen now? He's played in a few Man U pre-season games - do you seriously see him getting some game time with Man U yet though? Surely he was better off sticking with a team where he had made his position his, where he would get game time and where he could shine?
This is quite possibly another example of English talent actually making it's way to the surface, only to be snapped up and pushed down the pecking order at a larger club with near-infinite resources. Scott Parker learnt about this lesson quite the hard way..
Personally, if it wasn't for EPPP and FFP then I would've said even the prospect of a England team filled with Championship players may be far fetched.
This is a funny old league - on one hand you've got some lower league clubs managing to make a step up (Bournemouth, Yeovil, Peterborough etc); often with some homegrown talent. On the other hand, you've got ex-prem team comes down with their "cultured" players, many of whom aren't able to get back to the Premier League, so languish here. Similarly, you've got the Watford's that loan many a player in - and other clubs with huge financial backing (Leicester etc) who don't need to rely on their academy; they've got the money to buy in too.
Remember how impressive a feat it was when Crewe Alexandra fielded a team purely of ex-academy players? It was impressive even at their level, imagine how much more impressive that would be a few leagues higher? Or how impressive it would be if that team managed to compete!
Would be like Charlton or Gillingham fielding players from London, Kent or the South East of England, even though Spain is a bigger country it would be impossible over here
They should also have a set rule that at two players in the squad are eligible for under 21 football - this would encourage use of the academy players.
To be fair the rule of 2 players under 21 in the squad should be used at all league levels IMO.
If the players were good enough, i'm sure Premier League teams would rather pick them up for free at 18, rather than spend £40m on a Spanish player. It's not really the teams fault, they're simply picking the best players for their team.