The England thread

[stokeriño]

He could be charged for bringing the game into disrepute though?

By being accused? Now there's a Catch 22.

[Matt]

He could be charged for bringing the game into disrepute though?

By being accused? Now there's a Catch 22.

By the comments he made, whether sarcastic/out-of-context or not.

[Lineker]

Arise Sir Roy!

[EddieG]

404 :/

You suck, Lineker.

[Lineker]

It works for me! Must not work for gays.

England manager Roy Hodgson has been knighted by Finland for his services to the national football team.

Hodgson, 65, was in charge of Finland from January 2006 to November 2007 and almost qualified for Euro 2008.

President of the Republic of Finland, HE Sauli Niinistö said: "Roy's time as the manager of Finland lifted the level of Finnish football culture.

"Roy brought with him a higher degree of professionalism and more disciplined style of playing."

Under Hodgson, Finland reached their highest ever Fifa ranking and were just one goal away from qualifying for Euro 2008. Victory over Portugal in their last qualifier, rather than a 0-0 draw, would have seen them reach a major tournament for the very first time.

Hodgson said: "I enjoyed my life in Finland very much. Not only in football, but outside of it as well.

"I hope that my relationship with Finland, which is already great, becomes even greater."

[Starvinho]

	Rnk	Team	        Pts	+/-     Pos 	

	1	Spain	        1611	 0	Equal	

	2	Germany	        1459	 0	Equal	

	3	Portugal	1259	 1	Up	

	4	Argentina	1208	 3	Up	

	5	England	        1196	-2	Down	

	6	Netherlands	1141	 2	Up	

	7	Uruguay	        1140	-2	Down	

	8	Italy	        1106	-2	Down	

	9	Colombia	1102	13	Up	

	10	Greece	        1029	 1	Up

England down to fifth in the most recent rankings.

Also, the squad is announced tomorrow for the San Marino and Poland qualifiers.

[Colly]

It's fine, we'll beat San Marino, lose to Poland and inexplicably end up first.

[Gazz]

Only if we beat San Marino 415-0 and therefore reduce our magic number to three, then we'll on to face Poland in the European West Northern South East North Divison on consectutive Sundays until a winner is found.

[Starvinho]

England U21 squad for the Euro 2013 play-off against Serbia;

Goalkeepers

Ben Amos (Hull City - loan from Manchester United), Jack Butland (Birmingham City), Declan Rudd (Norwich City), Jason Steele (Middlesbrough)

Defenders

Ryan Bennett (Norwich City), Steven Caulker (Tottenham Hotspur), Nathaniel Clyne (Southampton), Craig Dawson (West Bromwich Albion), Tom Lees (Leeds United), Jack Rodwell (Manchester City), Danny Rose (Sunderland - loan from Tottenham Hotspur), Adam Smith (Tottenham Hotspur), Andre Wisdom (Liverpool)

Midfielders

Jordan Henderson (Liverpool), Tom Ince (Blackpool), Henri Lansbury (Nottingham Forest), Jason Lowe (Blackburn Rovers), Josh McEachran (Middlesbrough - loan from Chelsea), Nick Powell (Manchester United), Jonjo Shelvey (Liverpool), Raheem Sterling (Liverpool), Wilfried Zaha (Crystal Palace)

Forwards

Nathan Delfouneso (Blackpool - loan from Aston Villa), Marvin Sordell (Bolton Wanderers), Andros Townsend (Tottenham Hotspur), Connor Wickham (Sunderland)

Raheem Sterling, Andros Townsend and Nick Powell all receive their first call-ups.

[Matt]

I would say Sam Byram deserves a call-up, but that'd just alert Norwich to the fact we have another good, young player.

[EddieG]

I love how the news mentioned Sterling got his first U21 call up.. completely ignoring the fact he had a first team call up already.

[Jimmy]

I would say Sam Byram deserves a call-up, but that'd just alert Norwich to the fact we have another good, young player.

I've only seen like one Leeds game this season, but he was quality. Hope he stays at Leeds so he can develop and get more gametime. How old is he?

[Summers]

I would say Sam Byram deserves a call-up, but that'd just alert Norwich to the fact we have another good, young player.

Can we have him? I think our last one is faulty.

[Matt]

I would say Sam Byram deserves a call-up, but that'd just alert Norwich to the fact we have another good, young player.

I've only seen like one Leeds game this season, but he was quality. Hope he stays at Leeds so he can develop and get more gametime. How old is he?

19 I think

I would say Sam Byram deserves a call-up, but that'd just alert Norwich to the fact we have another good, young player.

Can we have him? I think our last one is faulty.

Well that's alright, according to Kenny you never paid for him

[Lineker]

Stoke's Ryan Shawcross and Tottenham's Aaron Lennon have been called into the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against San Marino and Poland in October.

Uncapped centre-back Shawcross, 24, fills the space vacated by John Terry, who has retired from the national side.

Winger Lennon returns after a two-year absence.

Celtic goalkeeper Fraser Forster, 24, is promoted to the senior squad for the first time, while Wayne Rooney returns.

Manchester United striker Rooney missed the victories over Moldova and Ukraine in the first two qualifiers due to a leg injury sustained against Fulham.

Shawcross was named in former coach Fabio Capello's squad for the friendly against Egypt in March 2010, but did not play.

He recently turned down the opportunity to play for Wales, having qualified through five years' compulsory education in the country.

His selection means there is no place for 33-year-old Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand, who has not played for the national side since 2011.

His club manager Sir Alex Ferguson recently indicated that it was unlikely his centre-back would be recalled.

Meanwhile, Arsenal left-back Kieran Gibbs, who has impressed in the first few weeks of the season, replaces Chelsea's Ryan Bertrand.

Birmingham's Jack Butland, who was part of England coach Roy Hodgson's Euro 2012 squad, has been released to the Under-21s for their European Championship play-off with Serbia.

England's senior team play San Marino at Wembley on Friday 12 October and face Poland in Warsaw on Tuesday 16 October.

England squad

Goalkeepers: Fraser Forster (Celtic), Joe Hart (Manchester City), John Ruddy (Norwich)

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Kieran Gibbs (Arsenal), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), Ryan Shawcross (Stoke), Kyle Walker (Tottenham)

Midfielders: Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Adam Johnson (Sunderland), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Theo Walcott (Arsenal)

Forwards: Andy Carroll (West Ham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United), Danny Welbeck (Manchester United)

[Colly]

About time we saw a player get some experience abroad and get called up, sick of seeing all Premier League teams there.

[Cheeky Hughes]

So no Terry or Ferdinand anymore... what's our new back four going to be?

[Dingle]

So no Terry or Ferdinand anymore... what's our new back four going to be?

Cole, Cahill, Lescott, Walker?

[Colly]

Or Jags and Johnson. Fine by me.

[Thrilla]

Glad Shawcross got the call up, Sky Sports News were treating him as the rank outsider but he always seemed a likely candidate to me.

Good to see Forster involved as well. Anyone think he or Ruddy has a chance of playing against San Marino?