There's a rush to negative judgement over Southgate and his squad but it's Shelvey and Wilshere he's leaving at home, not Gazza and McManaman... plus, why what happened in Hong Kong should have stayed in Hong Kong
- It's an all-England DEBATE as Gareth Southgate's squad prepare for Russia
- Southgate's selection and the players he left out has sparked a lively discussion
- The players have a reasonable chance of making it through to the last eight
- Whether they are first or second in the group, Brazil or Germany will be waiting
- Who are the players Southgate should have picked to get past them?
Sorry to say it will be the same old England. Hopeless. Once upon a time people thought Wayne Rooney was our Diego Maradona or Pele – but he was also hopeless for England. Uncle Ben, London.
No, he wasn’t. Had he stayed fit in the quarter-final with Portugal I think it quite possible England would have gone on to win the 2004 European Championship. Had he not got injured, I’m sure England would have done better in the 2006 World Cup and qualified for the 2008 European Championship. He was Europe’s top goalscorer in the qualifying stages for 2010, too. Rooney’s career for England is dogged by ill fortune actually, but your negativity seems par for this particular course. Anyway, it’s an all-England debate this week – and, you may be pleased to know, a Raheem Sterling gun tattoo-free zone. We’ll let that percolate for a bit and maybe return to it next week – and start by turning the clock back to something else that was very good in 2004.
Some of the comments I have read on here and heard on the radio are a joke. People are delusional enough to think England have a chance of winning this World Cup if only Gareth Southgate had chosen different players. Spontaneous Fred, Rugby.
I remember many years ago – Bobby Robson was England manager – my dad came to an England game and I managed to get him into the press room for an hour or so before kick-off, just to have a cup of tea. He ended up in conversation with John Sadler who was a great journalist, The Sun’s chief sports writer but quite critical of Robson. My dad thought Robson was doing as well as he could, with the players he had. ‘John,’ he said, ‘who would you pick that isn’t in the team?’ ‘Paul Parker,’ said John. I agreed. Parker would have been in my team, too. ‘So we’re going to win the World Cup from right back?’ said dad. Now that wasn’t John’s claim, but I know what he meant. People might think Jonjo Shelvey, Jack Wilshere or Chris Smalling should be in the squad. But with the players Southgate has picked, I think we get knocked out in the last eight; and with the others, the last eight, if not sooner. It’s not as if he’s leaving an XI of guaranteed match-winners at home. He’s ignored injury-prone midfielders, players who have had their chance and the odd decent club man. There is no untapped well of talent. We are what we are.
I’m not saying Southgate’s good, but just back your man instead of making it toxic as Arsenal became for Arsene Wenger. Delamorte, London.
I think Arsenal’s fans were relatively patient around Wenger by comparison. This is Southgate’s first tournament. He needs to get out of the group, obviously, and has a reasonable chance of making it through the last 16, making the quarter-finals par – but the rush to negative judgement seems rather premature.
And so it begins. You Brits and your biannual self-flogging loathing of your own. I think you must look forward to it. I bet there will be more Americans pulling for England than Englishmen. Terribly pathetic. Mr Clark56, Virginia.
Yes, but if England lose, it doesn’t matter because it’s not your team anyway. So there is no real emotional investment, no attachment, no deeply felt disappointment. And if there was, if you really understood us, you would know why not all ‘Brits’ as you call us will be supporting the England team. If a nuance like that can elude you, may I suggest you mind your own.
Looking forward to watching France, Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Egypt, Argentina and Portugal. But not England. No creativity and the selection looks like we will be playing for draws. Reality Cheek, United Kingdom.
Yes, unlike that fascinating Portuguese team that won the European Championship in 2016, drawing all three group matches, and drawing three of their four knockout games in 90 minutes – winning two of those in extra time and one on penalties. So six out of seven drawn matches in 90 minutes, and only Wales defeated in normal time. Admit it, mate, that was just a checklist of teams with exciting players you’ve heard of, wasn’t it, with Egypt thrown in to affect expertise and because of Mohamed Salah.
Southgate will always be remembered for his penalty miss. The man is not a winner and should only be allowed to manage Under-10 sides at best. Fred Farmer, Derby.
Why would a penalty miss mean he couldn’t coach? And if he can’t coach, why should he be placed in youth development?
Terrible selection, we will be out at the quarter-final stage. Tufty69, Reading.
Yes, quite probably because whether we win the group or come second we are likely to face Germany or Brazil. Tell me the players Southgate should have picked to get past them.
If he’s not afraid to take risks why did he never pick Wilfried Zaha? Rald, Sevenoaks.
Because it would be quite the risk to select a player who has signed up for another country and is therefore ineligible. Zaha plays for the Ivory Coast and has done since 2016, fool.
I don’t understand what Danny Welbeck does. Alpha A, London.
He works hard, he scores goals – 15 in 37 international appearances, not the worst record – and he will selflessly shore up a forward position defensively if England are trying to close out a game.
![Gareth Southgate had some big calls to make naming his England squad for the World Cup](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/05/31/09/4CB40EAD00000578-5786453-image-a-9_1527753990714.jpg)
Gareth Southgate had some big calls to make naming his England squad for the World Cup
Hardly consistent or logical. How did Chris Smalling, a regular starter for Manchester United and injury free all season, lose his place to Gary Cahill or Phil Jones, both of whom have been injury prone and not first-choice starters for their clubs? Oh dear, centre backs will be a huge problem. Astarbucks, United Kingdom.
Not really, because Cahill will not start and nor, I think, will Jones. Southgate made his thoughts on Smalling clear. He wants his defenders to be comfortable on the ball, which he is not. It is not Cahill’s strength either, and I would imagine that call would be very tight with Cahill’s experience and good form for Chelsea at the end of the season winning the day. Jones is a better passer and could also, in an emergency, cover at right back or even step into defensive midfield as he did under Fabio Capello. It is a completely logical decision.
Jonjo Shelvey’s problem is he plays the ball forward too much; Eric Dier and Jordan Henderson on the other hand only play it sideways or backwards, striking fear into the hearts of the opposition. And I didn’t realise Fabian Delph was still playing. Alan345, Weston-super-Mare.
So you don’t follow football then, because he played 29 games for the champions last season, including 22 in the Premier League. And Shelvey’s problem is not playing the ball forward; it’s playing it forward loosely. But then you need to watch matches to pick that up.
Why not select Tom Heaton who has bided his time under previous England coaches and is as good as Jack Butland and Jordan Pickford, so the statistics say. Southgate is feeding us bull, and most supporters can see through it – a pity the reporters can’t. Garry Stockton, Rochdale.
Yes, Burnley’s reserve goalkeeper in as England’s third choice – that will win us the World Cup. And you’re right – this particular brain wave does seem to have eluded many in the press box.
It’s all about the big-six clubs. I think I could make an England squad out of players he hasn’t taken that is better then the team he has. Benhamilton89, Nottinghamshire.
But I notice you haven’t. Because you couldn’t. And if you did you would be a laughing stock.
When Venables was in charge the players performed for him. It is to be hoped that will happen here. However, it is hard to forget the media reaction to the players in the bar in Hong Kong. I’m not saying Martin Samuel criticised them because I can’t remember that far back, but the media abuse to Venables, coach Bryan Robson and Paul Gascoigne, particularly from Piers Morgan at the Daily Mirror, was disgraceful. They apologised after his goal against Scotland and we all know why Morgan disliked Gascoigne – he let north London rivalries interfere with his professional judgement. There are already some criticising Southgate for not including Wilshere and vultures are circling to have a pop at Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling, or Dele Alli. You get the feeling some Arsenal fans want us out as soon as possible so they can claim Wilshere should have been included. Breadsticks, London.
Actually, I was one of the small group of journalists on that trip and, as such, protected the players by not writing about the night out at the China Jump club. We knew the players were out, as were we. When Alan Shearer appeared at our place, Joe Banana’s, with a Hong Kong Rugby Sevens shirt hanging off his back and drenched in alcohol very late into the night, we suspected it had got a little lively. He saw us, we saw him. We all said hello. He was with Martin Prothero of Umbro, I think – I remember Neil Harman, who was with the Daily Mail at the time, had quite a long chat with them. We obviously didn’t know about the dentist chair but it was only when the Cathay Pacific plane got damaged on the players’ flight home that it all became a news story and that was nothing to do with us. We were all on a later flight when the story broke back home and landed at Heathrow to frantic messages on our telephones from our offices. By then, the pictures of the players had come out. And guess who took and sold them? Not the media. Not paparazzi. The public. Your lot, Breadsticks. Left to us, what went on in Hong Kong would have stayed in Hong Kong as has always been the unwritten rule. But once the story is out, it’s very hard to say this was a great look for English football, because it plainly wasn’t. Don’t think Venables was delighted, either. He knew he’d been let down, too – he just turned it cleverly to his advantage, made it ‘us and them’ with the media and earned even more favour with the players by coming up with the concept of ‘collective responsibility’ which meant that everyone was to blame, so no-one was. I always thought he took a chance calling it on with the press at the press conferences that followed because any one of about a dozen of us could have stood up and challenged him with what we had actually seen, first-hand. Still, it worked. No hard feelings either way, I think. There certainly weren’t at the time. I had lunch with Terry at the Compleat Angler in Marlow the day before the Germany semi-final. Here’s something else that was where it’s at in 1996.
Southgate may regret leaving Jack Wilshere out. He is the only squad player capable of bringing the ball out of defence and travelling with it rapidly over 50 yards and into their defensive third. Munro Starr, Leicestershire.
Is he? Then why didn’t he do it against Iceland in 2016? England could really have done with a player like that. Arsenal, against Atletico Madrid in the second leg, too.
I am absolutely fed up with the negative armchair manager comments on here. Put more energy into getting behind the lads, trust in Southgate and we might just progress further. KoolKookie, Surrey.
Kookie, I don’t think that will make the slightest difference at all. I do feel, however, that at least give the man the opportunity to try out his strategy before rubbishing him so fiercely.
Southgate messed it up big time. He should have taken Jack Grealish. Vancouver Villa, Vancouver.
He’s been a good Championship player. He needs to prove himself in the Premier League first, before making the step up to a World Cup tournament. He could move this summer and then we’ll see.
Not picking Shelvey and James Tarkowski tells me he avoided risk by picking players from the big clubs. As if that’s ever worked for us before. StevenP, Exeter.
He picked Burnley’s goalkeeper and left one from Manchester City at home; he left out Manchester United’s centre-half and selected one from Leicester; and he omitted Arsenal’s central midfielder and went with a player who has been on loan to Crystal Palace all season. I don’t think Southgate has shown a big club bias at all.
My major concern is the lack of guile in midfield. It’s frustrating that a clever player like Adam Lallana, who is on the standby list, is still not match fit. Hopefully, his fitness will pick up in the coming weeks and he will feature in the Champions League final to give Southgate one last look. When you’re 1-0 down in the 80th minute, it pays to have something different on the bench. Rugrats, Huyton.
Clearly, Southgate would have taken Lallana if he felt he could. However, no matter if his fitness improved, it would be impossible to promote him without destroying the dynamic of the squad. How could you pick a man for the 23 and then demote him because Lallana’s fitness picked up? The players would never trust you again. There is a way Lallana could be promoted from standby, but it would require a player to drop out through injury.
We’ve got one of the best wing-backs in Europe in Kyle Walker, who will trouble many sides with his burst of pace. Why play him out of position? I don’t get it. Kunaguero90, Huddersfield.
Southgate will argue that if you look at his positioning for Manchester City over the season, because of the way they play, he often fills in on the right of centre, if a player steps out of defence. Equally, Kieran Trippier is a better crosser and this makes the best use of both players.
Southgate has not taken risks but hand picked from the big six with no other consideration of smaller teams. Shelvey is England’s best centre midfielder. He would start ahead of Henderson and Dier in Liverpool and Tottenham’s teams but because he plays for Newcastle he hasn’t got a hope. Lewis Cook and Jake Livermore are picked ahead of him on the standby list, showing how clueless Southgate is. Jay94, Leicester.
For a start, if Shelvey was going to get in Liverpool’s team, he had his chance. And Newcastle are a selling club. The fact Tottenham haven’t come for him, suggests they are happy with what they have got and he wouldn’t start there, either. And how can you say Southgate is obsessed with the big six and then call him on putting Livermore and Cook on standby ahead of Shelvey? So Bournemouth and West Brom are bigger than Newcastle, yes?
Shelvey is a cart horse. Southgate has picked a squad who are super fit and can press, which Shelvey can’t. Blue Nose123, United Kingdom.
Shelvey isn’t good enough to dominate midfield as a playmaker and he cannot do the next best thing, which is to hold midfield with mobility and energy. I think carthorse is harsh, but he’s short at this level, I agree.
![Jonjo Shelvey, who was left out, was mentioned as fans picked apart Southgate's selection](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/05/31/09/064D8C4C000003E8-5786453-image-a-11_1527754220654.jpg)
Jonjo Shelvey, who was left out, was mentioned as fans picked apart Southgate's selection
![Arsenal's Jack Wilshere was also left off the list England boss Southgate drew up for Russia](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/05/31/09/05365E77000007D0-5786453-image-m-18_1527754794547.jpg)
Arsenal's Jack Wilshere was also left off the list England boss Southgate drew up for Russia
England’s players are simply not good enough to compete with the best. That’s not Southgate’s fault. Being England manager at a World Cup is now mission impossible. Jax, Midlands.
I don’t think it’s impossible, Jax, because there is considerably more realism about England’s standing than there used to be. I would say, however, that those who view Shelvey as some missing link towards greater glory are significantly overplaying the talent at his disposal.
His inclusion of Henderson, shows he’s no manager. Do us a favour Samuel, stop blowing smoke up his backside just for that exclusive interview. It won’t be long before you and the rest of the muppet gang will be slagging him off. Brooksey1, United Kingdom.
I write many more columns and opinion pieces than I conduct interviews. I would not compromise something I do three times a week, minimum, for a one-off sit down with the England manager. And if the rest of the ‘muppet gang’ are critical at some stage this summer at least they will be making an argument that is evidence-based. Not some half-baked twaddle about the captain of the first English team to reach the Champions League final in six years, and one of the most influential footballers of this season.
After the first defeat, will Samuel still be complimentary? I doubt it. He will be calling for his head. Southgate has a plan and it started with his junior teams. Providing he has the support of the Football Association and the media are not corrosive he will create the success we all want. Just maybe not in this World Cup, much like Sir Alf Ramsey prior to his successful campaign. Jim, Manchester.
I can’t guarantee I will remain positive if we lose to Tunisia or Panama, but people on here will know I don’t reverse opinions on a whim. I’ve backed a lot of what Southgate has done, so if he’s wrong then I’m wrong, too. My 23 was only two different to his. I had Smalling not Cahill and made room for Lallana in midfield rather than Trent Alexander-Arnold in defence. But I started with Smalling, crossed him out, wrote Cahill, crossed him out, wrote Smalling, crossed him out, wrote Cahill, then went back to Smalling, so I’m not about to hang the man for that judgement call. Equally, he knows more about Lallana’s fitness than I do – and the Champions League final was hardly an endorsement – so I can’t really quibble there. I think if England were eliminated at the group stage playing poorly we might have to accept that, whatever Southgate had been attempting failed miserably, and other options might need to be considered. But I don’t think that will happen. I expect Southgate to get a level of performance and progress from England to show he is moving forward and if he does that there is not a chance I would advocate dismissal. I don’t think England will get beyond the last eight – in fact, in the circumstances, I’d say it is unreasonable to expect more.
Southgate gets the England job but Brian Clough never did. Dazblue, Manchester.
Brian Clough died in 2004, Daz. Let it go.
I just read about Michel Platini supposedly fixing the fixtures for the 1998 World Cup. How is this even possible? I would have thought the checks and balances would help avoid this. Paultheinfamous, Edinburgh.
I don’t see this as particularly serious considering Platini’s many other disastrous decisions – helping send the Champions League final to the wholly unsuitable city of Kiev was one of his last, for instance. Everyone knew of this arrangement. There was no draw. Brazil were placed in Pot A, as is the tradition for champions, and the hosts were placed in Pot C. This meant they couldn’t meet until the final. But it wasn’t a secret. Everyone knew that on the night. The free draw then took place. And yes, France avoided Brazil. But they didn’t avoid Italy, just as Brazil didn’t avoid Holland. A lot had to go right to produce Platini’s dream final. So I wasn’t shocked by his admission of scheming, more amused by his smug self-assurance that he is such a smart guy, and everyone should indulge him because he was once very good at football. Platini is a mediocre mind and a dangerous administrator. That he should blithely confess to this without considering how terrible it will sound to their ears of laymen is just further evidence of this fact.
![Michel Platini got his dream final when Zinedine Zidane (10) helped France beat Brazil in 1998](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/05/31/09/000F3B2700000258-5786453-image-a-12_1527754393005.jpg)
Michel Platini got his dream final when Zinedine Zidane (10) helped France beat Brazil in 1998
Sorry, but Terry Venables Southgate ain’t. Do you really think he could manage the new look Tottenham or Barcelona, or be recommended for that role by someone with the stature of an England coach like Sir Bobby Robson? In fact I do not even think he is better at this stage than, say, Andy Roxburgh. Madtony, Leeds.
No, I don’t think Southgate is on Venables’ level, either, yet. I do think, however, that he was greatly influenced by his time with him, and I see that in some of his judgement calls on matters of team ethics and rules – and in the way he wishes to play football. I feel instinctively positive towards any young coach influenced by Venables, a man who should have been allowed the time to become a great and important England manager. He would have really changed international football in this country, given the chance.
Southgate is and always has been a loser. His dismissal of Shelley shows he knows nothing of attacking football. Dave, Yarm.
Whereas you are coming across as quite the expert, Dave. Unless you mean the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Maybe Southgate considers his subject matter unimaginative. I must have missed that press conference. Anyway, it’s what he did with it that mattered. This could be a slight piece about the human memory; instead it’s a work of perfect beauty and endures, in many forms.
Southgate will be murdered tactically during the World Cup. He unbalanced his squad to take five full backs and seven midfielders, instead of four full backs and eight midfielders. Why was that? Els and blue, Billericay.
A balanced squad is simply not a case of doubling up in every position, Ernie. If it was, England would take six centre halves, four full backs, four defensive midfield players, four forward midfield players and only two strikers. It is about versatility, covering across several positions. You probably think Walker is a full back, still. He isn’t. He’s now a centre half who can play full back if needed. Indeed, Southgate has actually picked seven full backs: Walker, Trippier, Danny Rose, Alexander-Arnold, Ashley Young, Phil Jones and Delph. It’s just that two are also centre halves, and two are also midfield players. That’s balance.
Watch the tune change if they do badly at the World Cup. Then, suddenly, the rules will have been too lenient and there will be calls to sack him. Takingiteasy, Haywards Heath.
No, I wholeheartedly agree with Southgate’s stance on squad rules, so I would continue to support them. If England do badly at the World Cup, his leniency in certain areas will not be the reason I am sure.
It isn’t the talent that we lack, we have plenty of successful youngsters that have won World Cups and the Champions League at junior level. However, unlike other countries our Premier League clubs do not give them the games to develop. It won’t change until the Premier League clubs are forced, by law, to have in their teams for every minute of every game at least five English players. Without that, we won’t have the remotest chance of creating a side like we had in the 1960s. Fact. Hatter, Bedford.
No, it’s not a fact, it’s your opinion and I’m not sure it is correct. With largely English teams the national side was unsuccessful in the 1970s, so it is not as a simple as enforcing quotas. There is now a trend for good, young English players to look to the continent for their opportunities. The more that happens, the louder the wake-up call, and the more money is lost by English clubs, as players they have nurtured leave for free, or at least cheap. That is more likely to bring about change than your talk of laws which are, frankly, unenforceable in a business sense.
The key to playing from the back is having ball players in midfield, like Wilshere and Shelvey. Every successful nation has that. Southgate has opted for a very bland central midfield. This is not a brave decision, this looks like a manager who is confused. Venables had the likes of Gascoigne and Steve McManaman to counter Paul Ince, Tony Adams and Southgate. I don't see how you can praise his decision making on this squad. NaSei Bonsu, London.
What, do you think Southgate doesn’t know Gascoigne and McManaman were players? He hasn’t got anyone in that class to play central midfield. Shelvey and Wilshere? Don’t make me laugh. Matt Le Tissier couldn’t get in the 1996 squad, let alone those two.
![England don't have a midfielder in the same class as Paul Gascoigne - pictured at Italia 90](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/05/31/09/178DC75C000005DC-5786453-image-a-13_1527754548931.jpg)
England don't have a midfielder in the same class as Paul Gascoigne - pictured at Italia 90
Looking back, the most talented squads on paper have often failed to deliver. The hero often comes from the unexpected and if he stays fit may well be Ruben Loftus-Cheek. He is multi-skilled and has great strength of character for a young player. Maria, London.
I don’t disagree, Maria. I’m guessing you see more of him than I do, but I’ve been very impressed this season, and he may even play his way into the starting line-up.
Southgate knows this lot are basically uncontrollable so he has to give way to most demands. As soon as he has to allow players to indulge their social media followers you have to laugh. He’s just giving it the last throw as he has nothing to lose. He never won anything or set the world alight as a manager so he knows his career is over soon unless by some happy chance this bunch of immature, self-obsessed ego-led players somehow get back from Los Angeles or wherever, turn up and get lucky. Otherwise as usual we are home early and he will then be slaughtered by the same journalists who now laud him, after crying for Wilshere to go. Well, all bar the ones hoping to ghost write his World Cup diary, or get an exclusive. Predicable as ever. I have worked in football and can tell you I am not that far off the mark. Bitofcommon, United Kingdom.
Worked in football? Where, in the car park? Painting the roof of the main stand? Sweeping the terraces? None of what you say rings remotely true. Southgate is merely being realistic: some players enjoy social media and use it to communicate with fans. If they like it, have fun with it, and it relaxes them, why challenge that? Nobody wins the World Cup by luck and journalists wouldn’t go soft on any manager to ghost a World Cup diary. I don’t think Southgate would be interested in writing one, either – he has too much integrity for that. You couldn’t be further off the mark if you were on the starting line in Sydney for the London Olympics.
Here we go again, the media bigging up England before a World Cup. Suddenly, we have the best coach, who’s never won anything, and the inexperience of the squad, some never previously capped, is seen as a strength. And when they exit at the first or second round, mugs like Martin Samuel will be calling for a revolution in English football. RedDevil, Manchester.
Not sure what you read, but I didn’t see any ‘bigging up’ of England. Bignose15, Chichester.
Did we read the same article? I don’t see any ‘bigging up’. Uncle Tighthead, United Kingdom.
That’s because there wasn’t any. I just said I agreed with Southgate’s decisions. I didn’t say that made him the best coach in the world, with the best squad. I’ve stated on many occasions that I think the quarter-final is the limit of it in 2018. I hope I’m wrong, but this insistence that the media talk England up is just nonsense. For years the media have been very sceptical about England’s chances. Even the FA have chosen to manage expectations. Sometimes I think we can be too pessimistic and don’t dare to dream but it’s the complete opposite of this idea that expectations are heaped on England. These days, we are conditioned to expect sod all.
Martin Samuel talks crud. What on earth has Southgate ever done in his managerial career that makes you think we have a great man in charge. Where is this confidence in him coming from? Let's see how it goes shall we? Thinking Aloud, Hinckley.
Yes, what wonderful insight. Let’s see how it goes. I bet you were up all night composing that gem.
‘The manager understands Jesse Lingard will continue to use Instagram.’ You mean he understands he will ignore him even if he bans it, just as Lingard disregarded Van Gaal, because like others he hasn’t the self-discipline to follow instructions. Grown up? An acceptance of defeat more like. Management for the snowflake generation. Robin Goodfellow, United States.
If he understands it’s a battle he won’t win and doesn’t really need to fight I’d say that’s good management. If he bans social media activity then that goes for those who enjoy it and use it positively as well as others who may be adversely affected. So he leaves it up to each individual and advises those he feels cannot handle it to switch off. Again, common sense. Win the stuff that’s important, don’t obsess over trivia.
No issues with them having mobile phones, just a shame none of them will be used to check out their opposition and look for flaws and ways to beat them. Serial, United Kingdom.
How do you know that? Players are often sent what used to be dossier information via e-mail. They can also watch other clips, great goals from the tournament, wonderful moments of skill and use that to feel inspired and engaged.
Southgate’s an idiot and when we go out at the group stages I will be proved right. BlockedByDM, United Kingdom.
And you would feel good about that? Bit sad don’t you think?
Is Samuel for real? Saying Southgate is ‘a reasonably wealthy man’. What does this bloke think reasonable is? I wish I was reasonably wealthy. Freds71, Liverpool.
Reasonable in the context of the modern Premier League footballer. He won’t have anywhere near the wealth of those from the generation that followed.
Good man. I think it would have been incredibly petty to ban phones. I’d much rather have happy and relaxed players than bored and frustrated ones. I don't think they want to be resorting to watching Wayne Rooney’s wedding home video again. Sephryclub87, Bristol.
Agreed. Not to mention, as Southgate wisely observed, the multi-media methods of communication used by this generation, whether gaming or videos or pictures or Whats App. Or sharing a tune they like. Something nice and mellow for the summer, with a little light acid attached maybe. Until next time.
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