As Jim says, he scores lots of Premier League goals but until he proves it for England I'll not consider him world class. I've still not forgotten how bad he was at the last Euros.

True true. Coupled with the cheap import being easier is the continued practice by big clubs of signing any promising English youngster long before they are fully developed. Luke Shaw is the latest. Ashley Cole's heir 4 years ago. Now he can't get a game as his club mate, a converted right winger, is ahead of him. It's tragic and hurts the national team. Jadon Sancho upping sticks and leaving City for Dortmund last year was a good move. More should follow his lead and play their trade abroad.

Decent run out for England. Still a long way to go, but I'm a hopeless fool when it comes to England. Germany drew 1-1 with Spain. Germany will be there or thereabouts as usual. Their team tonight was; Ter Stegen, Kimmich, Hummels, Boateng, Hector, Khedira, Kroos, Ozil, Muller, Draxler, Werner. Premier Leaguers Rudiger, Sane, and Gundogan were subs. As was Mario Gomez who I thought retired years ago.

That is unfortunately true. England doesn't produce enough world class players. I'm sure the powers that be have debated long and hard as to why. Is it facilities? Mentality? Weather? Set up? My hope is that it's all changing though. Take out Cahill and Hart and this England crop is the youngest in a long time. Couple this with the youth teams' successes last year should build a platform to improve.

Here's a little snippet to illustrate what England are up against in Russia. Spain squad for friendlies; Goalkeepers: Kepa Arrizabalaga (Athletic Bilbao), David De Gea (Manchester United), Pepe Reina (Napoli) Defenders: Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Cesar Azpilicueta (Chelsea), Marcos Alonso (Chelsea), Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Nacho Fernandez (Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Alvaro Odriozola (Real Sociedad). Midfielders: Isco (Real Madrid), Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munich), David Silva (Manchester City), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Saul Niguez (Atletico Madrid), Dani Parejo (Valencia), Koke (Atletico Madrid), Rodrigo Hernandez (Villarreal), Marco Asensio (Real Madrid) Forwards: Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo), Rodrigo (Valencia), Diego Costa (Atletico Madrid), Lucas Vazquez (Real Madrid) Excluded from this squad are Busquets (Barcelona), Alacantra (Bayern Munich) - injured, Martinez (Bayern Munich) - out of favour, and Morata - currently crap. It will be a tall order for England to beat their best 11.

Well spotted. No wonder I think England can win. I'll drop Lallana and Wilshere then. Here is Southgate's squad for next week's friendlies; Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, Jordan Pickford, Jack Butland, Nick Pope Defenders: Kyle Walker, Kieran Tripper, Ryan Bertrand, Danny Rose, John Stones, James Tarkowski, Alfie Mawson, Joe Gomez, Harry Maguire Midfielders: Eric Dier, Jack Wilshere, Jordan Henderson, Jake Livermore, Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Dele Alli, Raheem Sterling, Ashley Young, Jesse Lingard, Lewis Cook Attackers: Danny Welbeck, Jamie Vardy, Marcus Rashford My guess is that Pope, Mawson, Tarkowski, Cook are being rewarded for playing well but they'll struggle to make the WC 23. I reckon Southgate will take Hart for his "experience". Cahill too. Loftus-Cheek and Kane to return therefore, marring injuries, there aren't many spots to play for,

This is the first article I've seen in 2018 trying to predict England players; Who to take? For the first time in a while England have options. Some middling v. middling but still options. Here's a starting 11; Pickford Gomez - Stones - Maguire Walker Rose Dier - Loftus-Cheek Lallana Sterling - Kane - Rashford Subs; Butland Smalling - Lascelles- Cahill Trippier Bertrand Oxlade-Chamberlain - Henderson Wilshere Alli - Vardy - Lingard

No question at all. England will be there. It's not the first time it's happened, nor will it be the last. The British government won't do anything. Nor can it in it's current weak state. Russia's status in the world should be debated, but in the non football section of this forum. Russia will be on its best behavior this summer. Streets will be clean. Stray dogs will be gone. Beer will be plentiful. But you still can't pay me to go.

Some interesting tunes there K-Hod. I'll add a few to my playlists. Living abroad I forget loads of songs that I like but never hear.

I hadn't thought about that. The only stipulation was only 2 European teams in each group. They must not think that it's needed. I think Moyes has done England a favour. He dropped Hart yesterday. Adrian kept a clean sheet. Hopefully Hart doesn't get back in and Southgate leaves him at home.

As the draw has been made for the World Cup in Russia next summer I'll start a separate thread for it. GROUP A: Russia, Uruguay, Egypt, Saudi Arabia GROUP B: Portugal, Spain, Iran, Morocco GROUP C: France, Peru, Denmark, Australia GROUP D: Argentina, Croatia, Iceland, Nigeria GROUP E: Brazil, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Serbia GROUP F: Germany, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea GROUP G: Belgium, England, Tunisia, Panama GROUP H: Poland, Colombia, Senegal, Japan Not a bad draw for England. Belgium are a good side but a lot of their players play in England so they'll know all about them.

Quite right. Well done Sweden. Italy weren't good enough. Topping Spain was always going to be tough, but the performance in Madrid by them was woeful. Classic Italian defending may have got them a draw.

Flemish is Dutch. An equivalent would be what American English is to English.

What language to the Belgium team speak when they are together? Training? Games? Team talks? The national languages are Dutch and French. Head coach Roberto Martinez is Spanish, but has lived more of his life in England. His assistant is Thierry Henry, a native French speaker who has spent more time away from France than in it. Most, if not all of the squad don't play in the Belgian league either. I'm curious. PSG is another one. There's not much native French in that dressing room.

Is it me or are tattoos more popular than ever? When I was young (80's) tattoos were the realm of old men. Usually unremarkable in design, recognising events of the past. Now there's all sorts. I don't have any but who on here does? Why did you get one? Who'd consider more?

Here's an interesting article in the Guardian regarding club youth players; https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/oct/06/football-biggest-issue-boys-rejected-academies?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Fiver+2016&utm_term=246909&subid=6923483&CMP=EMCFTBEML853#comment-106370893 It mentions Huddersfield who have indeed scrapped their u8-u16 set up. They did an extensive review and found that the last person who played in those age groups for Huddersfield who then went on to play in the Premier League was Rovers own Jon Stead, in 1999. Relating this to Rovers, I don't see how the club can keep funding a cat 1 academy that isn't producing players. No manager installed at Ewood would be willing to bring up youngsters, they want proven players who are known commodities.

the 2016-2017 Puskas nominees have been announced. The winner will be decided at the end of October. Puskas award - top goal of 2016-2017 I liked Mandzukic when I saw it live.

We were. I bet that it took Butterworth a long time to get over that game. Man handled from beginning to end by a relative youngster. I was at the game and didn't know until watching those highlights that both Wegerle and Shearer missed absolute sitters that could have made it even more.

Interesting post. Professional football development has changed massively since my youth - early 90's. Back then it was YTS forms, manual labour, boot cleaning, training, games, and the odd cup competition. 15-30 players per year is a lot. Do they have teams to support all those players? I do agree that Cat 1 academies are churning out more technically savvy players than past eras who are capable of playing league football. However, my theory is the drop out rate is so high due to the fact that they've been used to top class everything. Once they leave that environment disintegrates and they're forced to motivate from within. That gets harder and harder the longer they are gone from their former elevated stature. Clubs care about the diamond. The parts that keep the diamond shiny are easily discarded.

Agreed. It was typical Mourinho. Stifle the opposition, play it tight, nick a goal. Man U were streets better than Ajax. Alexi Lalas was the 'expert' commentating on US TV. The other commentator mentioned the words "tactical masterclass". Lalas pointed out that it's only a masterclass if the opposition warrant it. Ajax were no Real Madrid.

I'm in the Huddersfield did nothing wrong camp. I also agree that the rule is a farce. The club manager should have discretion on what team he puts out. The rule falls down on the definition of full strength. Professional players at a club on contract should be deemed good enough even if they don't play every week. They have a contract with that club hence they should be in the reckoning to play. What if Wagner had come out and said that his first XI were hit with food poisoning after a dodgy lasagna the night before the game? Rovers predicament is nothing to do with Huddersfield playing a "weakened" side against Birmingham. Home losses against the likes of Barnsley, and the common occurrence of conceding goals late on under Coyle are far more significant than another team's performance.

Unfortunately your proviso relies on Rovers having some sort of form in them. As of 43 games they are bottom 3 material. I don't see how it will change in 3 games, considering an insipid performance against Barnsley, and a woeful first hour yesterday. Redknapp is no sure thing either. The Birmingham players may have been underperforming all season but they may be too far gone to fix in such a short space of time. He didn't save Southampton from relegation a few years back.

All 3 clubs you list have terrible owners. One would think that someone buying a football club would so some research on how to run it once purchased. It's no surprise that West Brom are doing well this season. They have the best chairman in football running the show with an experienced manager sorting the football team out. Rovers need to pull out 2 wins from 3 games. Nail biting stuff. However, it reads much differently than the last 2nd tier relegation struggle. Was it Easter Monday when we beat top of the table Oldham, all but sealing safety? I agree with those that say that staying up this season puts off the inevitable. Rovers will be odds on next season to go down. No money, no players, no management, no hope.

An interesting article in the Guardian about Sporting Kansas City striker Dom Dwyer; https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jan/23/dom-dwyer-usa-kansas-city-usa-football-team?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Fiver+2016&utm_term=209840&subid=6923483&CMP=EMCFTBEML853 Born and raised in England he went to the US at 18 to play at university. He's now married with a kid and is going for US citizenship. He's hoping for a USA call up once it's all sorted.

Went last weekend. Excellent. Good food, reasonable prices. It certainly does the job.