The England thread

[Matt]

Sterling and Livermore, in particular, are ridiculous. Surely a word in Sterling's ear and a few U21 caps would be enough to make him realise that he is part of the future plans for England. On footballing merit, I'd have rather seen Tom Ince called up :/

[Hobo]

I wonder what Rodgers thinks of it, he mentioned in the interview last week he was trying to keep Sterling out of the media. This won't help him do that.

[DavidMarrio]

I can't see any of them three getting any game time, it'll do them good to be involved in training with the squad and being apart of the whole occasion.

[Matt]

If Sterling doesn't get on the pitch (assuming we're winning comfortably) for 5-10 minutes then his inclusion is even more baffling.

[Pesci]

Very surprised that Lallana got the call up. Let's be fair, Sterling and Livermore are there because they play for "big clubs", but I really like Lallana and for him to get the call up playing for a team like Southampton shows they must rate him a fair bit. Also would have liked to see Dyer called up, he's shown that he's not just a pace merchant since Swansea came up. Awesome chip through-ball a couple of weeks ago.

I don't think Sterling was ever gonna commit to a country like Jamaica aged 17 so this is very surprising, especially since Rodgers said he would prefer to see Sterling play for the Under 19s instead of the Under 21s for the meantime and has an issue with players being elevated above their station too quickly

[Starvinho]

The likely line-up at this point is Hart, Johnson, Jagielka, Lescott, Baines, Milner, Gerrard, Lampard, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cleverley, Defoe.

I'd imagine Carrick will come on at some point for either Lampard or Gerrard and Milner can play in CM if needed, so I doubt Livermore and Lallana will be more than just cover. As for Sterling, I think he has a good chance of playing some part and like you said it'll be baffling to call him up and not give him a cap. I could see him coming on for The Ox after about 70 minutes or so, maybe even earlier if we need an extra spark.

[Crybaby Bunting]

I fully expect this team to beat Ukraine 1-0 after playing some decent football only for everyone new to get booted out of squad when the others return from injuries

[Lineker]

I've always though Adam Lallana was Australian.

That might be on FM though...

South Africa.

[Gazz]

I've always though Adam Lallana was Australian.

That might be on FM though...

South Africa.

Nah, he doesn't even have a second nationality and on the Pentagon game, he spent most of his career at Leeds.

I must be thinking of someone else.

[Lineker]

Wembley Stadium is in advance talks with up to five companies over a possible naming rights deal.

But BBC Sport understands that the iconic venue will keep the traditional Wembley name as part of any agreement.

Those involved in the negotiations are said to be sensitive about the name's heritage and history.

But a change to the naming structure could see a sponsor added to the venue's official name beside or after "Wembley Stadium".

Wembley National Stadium Limited (WNSL), the venue operators and a subsidiary of the Football Association, declined to comment on the talks.

A clue as to how any commercial partnership may look to the public may be seen with the naming arrangements at Wembley Arena.

The Arena, which is not owned by WNSL, added "A Barclaycard Unwind Experience" to its name, signage and marketing materials in 2010. It is not known if Barclaycard are involved in the current talks for Wembley Stadium.

Any potential deal to rebrand Wembley Stadium is likely to anger traditionalists.

But with FA still repaying the debt that it took on to build the £757m stadium, arguments will be made that the deal makes commercial sense.

WNSL and The FA are understood to have been keen to bring in a major commercial partner to the stadium for some time.

Other stadiums to be rebranded in recent times include Newcastle United's stadium which became the "SportsDirect.com Arena @ St James' Park" and then, in November 2011, the "Sports Direct Arena".

[Starvinho]

England U21's beat Norway 1-0 to win their group, Connor Wickham with the only goal. The draw for the Euro 2013 play-off will take place on Friday in Switzerland.

Edited September 10, 2012 by Starvinho

[IAceI]

Wickham and Waghorn up front from the start, Sunderland past and Sunderland future (maybe).. With Henderson wearing the captains armband and wobbling his head and pointing at things.

The future's in good hands.

[Colly]

Wembley Stadium is in advance talks with up to five companies over a possible naming rights deal.

But BBC Sport understands that the iconic venue will keep the traditional Wembley name as part of any agreement.

Those involved in the negotiations are said to be sensitive about the name's heritage and history.

But a change to the naming structure could see a sponsor added to the venue's official name beside or after "Wembley Stadium".

Wembley National Stadium Limited (WNSL), the venue operators and a subsidiary of the Football Association, declined to comment on the talks.

A clue as to how any commercial partnership may look to the public may be seen with the naming arrangements at Wembley Arena.

The Arena, which is not owned by WNSL, added "A Barclaycard Unwind Experience" to its name, signage and marketing materials in 2010. It is not known if Barclaycard are involved in the current talks for Wembley Stadium.

Any potential deal to rebrand Wembley Stadium is likely to anger traditionalists.

But with FA still repaying the debt that it took on to build the £757m stadium, arguments will be made that the deal makes commercial sense.

WNSL and The FA are understood to have been keen to bring in a major commercial partner to the stadium for some time.

Other stadiums to be rebranded in recent times include Newcastle United's stadium which became the "SportsDirect.com Arena @ St James' Park" and then, in November 2011, the "Sports Direct Arena".

Bork.

[Pesci]

The re-naming is something that doesn't bother me either way. I'd rather they had a decent sounding sponsor in the vein of the Emirates Stadium than something clunky like Sports Direct. If it helps them keep ticket prices down or stop playing pointless friendlies there, I'm fully supportive. Everyone will just call it Wembley anyway, surely?

Edited September 11, 2012 by Pesci

[Adam]

Exactly. The Newcastle change hasn't made one iota of difference really and neither will this. It'll recoup money and everyone will still call it Wembley because its official name will just be "Wembley Stadium sponsored by Barclaycard" or whatever.

[Starvinho]

Interesting to hear that Crouch rejected a chance to be on the Euro 2012 stand-by list.

Hodgson said: "I selected him for the Euros but he didn't want to come.

"He made it clear that unless he was in the squad he didn't want to be considered."

Hodgson continued: "As a result, we've selected squads since that time when I felt I didn't need him here. I'm not going to bring him here to fill up the bench. The day Crouch gets in the England squad is when I think he should be in the original 23."

[King Ellis]

Probably didn't want to ruin his padded goal ratio by playing against actual good teams like Italy.

[Colly]

The re-naming is something that doesn't bother me either way. I'd rather they had a decent sounding sponsor in the vein of the Emirates Stadium than something clunky like Sports Direct. If it helps them keep ticket prices down or stop playing pointless friendlies there, I'm fully supportive. Everyone will just call it Wembley anyway, surely?

That feels like a massive if to me. If it allowed England friendlies to be played elsewhere occasionally to allow non Londoners to see their national team, or at very least got rid of the daft cup semi final fixtures I'd be all for it, as it is its just another irritant to line the FA's pockets. Unless of course they stop selling the rights once they've recouped the cost of the stadium build, but that feels like a Sousas hat situation to me.

[Matt]

Exactly. The Newcastle change hasn't made one iota of difference really and neither will this. It'll recoup money and everyone will still call it Wembley because its official name will just be "Wembley Stadium sponsored by Barclaycard" or whatever.

Thing is, even if it gets renamed the Nike Arena or whatever, it's still going to have to be called Wembley Stadium for all competitive games :/

[Jimmy]

I don't think I'll ever understand someone who turns down the chance to play for England/be on a stand-by list. I just about understand retiring because of age and such. Maybe I'm ignorant, but I'll never get it.