lazy_arse

McClaren should be England manager, now that Pearce has ruled himself out for at least 10 years.

And I've just realised Heskey was on the bench - he really should've been brought on.  I never thought I'd say that, but Owen was useless and Cole was chucking in crosses to no one.

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Hargreaves on!!!!!???????????? What is this man doing!!!?????????

Why the hell take off Gerrard? Fair enough he's having a bad game but he can produce a screamer to get something out of this.

Take off Luke Young, he's never going to score!

This is a fucking joke.

In the Champions League they decide using your record against that team in the group. I think it's the same for these.

Burglars have raided the home of England and Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

They stole some jewellery at the player's north-west London house on Sunday evening after smashing a window to get inside.

The burglary happened just a day after the 25-year-old played in England's 1-0 win over Wales in a World Cup qualifier in Cardiff.

His wife Rebecca and daughter Lucy May were not at home at the time.

The Spurs star returned home to deal with the aftermath of the raid, before rejoining his England colleagues at their hotel near St Albans, Hertfordshire, on Sunday night.

Lie-in

He was then given a lie-in on Monday morning by England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson.

He is expected to fly out to Belfast with the rest of the quad for Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland.

Robinson's agent, Robert Segal, said it appeared to have been just a chance burglary. "They smashed a window, took some bits and then ran out," he said.

"Apparently there have been a spate of burglaries in the area. Nobody was in the house at the time."

Mr Segal said it was not clear exactly what had been stolen, but confirmed that some jewellery had been taken.

McClaren would be the obvious choice as he has worked with the squad for a while now and I like his style.

I never quite got the Curbishley love. I think he's an ok manager, but I wouldn't have him manage England.

Then Phil Neville at right back just because his brother's injured. What about Danny Mills? Or Tony Hibbert? Both good players, and Mills is proven at this level.

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Yes, because Phil Neville has no previous international experience...

Neville's decent, he wouldn't be anywhere near the international team without injuries, but he'll do for two qualifying matches. He's lightyears better than Johnson, and has been in good form this season, albeit in a different position. He'll also be going up against Ryan Giggs, who he knows like the back of his hand.

It wont be easy to keep 34 players happy Jol will have his hands full .

Looks like we will be shaping up as

Robinson

Pyo

King

Dawson

Stalteri/Kelly

Reid

Davids

Carrick

Jenas/Routledge

Mido

Defoe

Thats leaving out Brown , Mendes , Keano , Rasiak , Davis , Lennon , Huddlestone , Gardner . They wont be quiet over the fact theyre sitting on the bench .

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I'd think Lennon and Huddlestone would be. They're only 18 or so so it's not like they're expecting to be in the first team, i'm actually suprised they didn't get loaned out with the abundance of midfield players.

I've actually heard that Jol doesn't like him because he is too lightweight or something so that's why he bought Reid.

But he didn't have to get a fatty to prove his point

Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is set to try out a new formation for England's World Cup qualifier in Wales on Saturday.

Eriksson may play a 4-5-1 system, with influential captain David Beckham in a deep lying midfield position behind Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard.

Joe Cole and Shaun Wright-Phillips could play wide roles which would leave Wayne Rooney ploughing a lone furrow up front with Michael Owen suspended.

Jermain Defoe had been expected to take Owen's place in the starting line-up.

It is understood that the plan was discussed at a meeting between Eriksson and senior players on Tuesday.

The Swede was roundly criticised for England's lack of shape in their 4-1 friendly defeat in Denmark in August and has moved to improve the balance of the side.

Beckham had missed training on Tuesday but was involved a day later as he continued his recovery from a foot injury.

Gerrard's calf injury kept him out of action, but Eriksson was hopeful the Liverpool midfielder would be fit.

"Steven Gerrard did some good work on Tuesday, not with the other players but with the physio," said Eriksson.

"He will continue that on Wednesday. Hopefully on Thursday, he will train with us. The physio and doctor think he will be ready for Saturday."

But a knee injury to Chelsea defender John Terry is set to put him out for four to six weeks.

Fulham's Zat Knight has been called up as cover for Terry, but the Chelsea man's place is most likely to be taken by Liverpool's Jamie Carragher or Birmingham's Matthew Upson.

Jermaine Jenas, who has completed a £7m move to Tottenham from Newcastle, was training with the England squad, but Owen was in the north-east to seal his transfer to St James' Park.

That's a definant suprise. Don't think anybody saw that coming. I think he'll make a good stand in for Mido. I suppose he'll play the next four games because Mido is suspended.

I was about to post the Bentley thing too.

Out-of-favour Charlton striker Francis Jeffers is in Glasgow for transfer deadline day talks with Rangers.

The 24-year-old has not featured for the Addicks this season and scored just five goals last term.

Jeffers, capped once by England, cost Arsenal £8m when they signed him from Everton in 2001 but his time at Highbury was blighted by injury.

He moved to The Valley for £2.6m last summer but struggled to make the team on a regular basis.

Any move may be dependent on the Scottish champions moving another player on, with Michael Ball and Peter Lovenkrands the most likely to go.

It would also appear to end any interest in Nigerian international striker Julius Aghahowa.

The Nigerian's agent has told BBC Scotland that the player would be keen on a move from Shakhtar Donetsk to Rangers.

But Aghahowa's agent Saif Rubie stressed that no deal had yet been reached.

It appeared on Tuesday as though Birmingham City's interest in Ball had ended.

There is speculation that Middlesbrough could renew their interest in Lovenkrands because of an injury to Stewart Downing.

Story from BBC SPORT:

. Apparently Robbie Keane is at Everton looking at a move.

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Jermaine Jenas is poised to complete an £8m move from Newcastle to Spurs on Wednesday after undergoing a medical.

The 22-year-old is understood to have been released from England duty on Tuesday in a bid to seal the move before the transfer deadline.

Newcastle have been resigned to lose Jenas since he admitted he was unhappy at St James' Park, even though he started the season in the team.

Jenas said life at Newcastle was like "living in a goldfish bowl."

Arsenal had also been linked with Jenas, but boss Arsene Wenger insisted he had no interest in the midfield man.

Chelsea and Liverpool together!

Watching Blackburn on MOTD reminds me why I'm a Rovers fan, Neill sent off for two awesome tackles, the headbutt to that pussy Spurs players and Savage killing Davids as soon as he got on the pitch.  Shame we couldn't score a goal as we totally dominated that match from start to finish.  Kuqi should have scored in the first half and how we didn't score from that free kick at the back post I'll never know.  Spurs were dreadful, no corners, no shots on target, no shots off target.  They'll get slaughtered at Chelsea this weekend.

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Stevie Gerrard is Most Valuable Player. I'm well chuffed for him. He totally deserves it. I was suprised that he wasn't on the midfield shortlist, but maybe that's because he won this.

Dudek to win best goalkeeper. Ha Ha.

Anyone know what time the draw is supposed to start? I'm thinking of watching it.

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I'm watching. Chelsea and Liverpool is the same group would be gay. Chelsea should have been seeded.

I read that he's a left back.

No, because its all based on track record...and you can argue till you are blue in the face, but Drogba's track record is pretty good, both in France, and in Europe.

And before you say "oh, he should be banging in goals left right and centre"...he's not a striker, he's a forward......you expect different things from the two.

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You expect different things from a forward and a winger. The purpose of a forward is to score goals. The purpose of a striker is to score goals. What's the difference?

Right, this has got me thinking because I'm a bit confused.

So Lyon are going to buy Tiago for £6.8m. Before agreeing to sell Essien to Chelsea for £24.4m, they turned down an offer from Chelsea of £21m + Tiago, with my calculations making it that Essien would be worth £27.8m.

So havn't Lyon just lost out?

The only other thing I can think of is that Essien's fee can rise more after appearnaces all that stuff.