Goldenballs To Oldenballs

David Beckham won his 100th England cap against France last night to join an elite group of English players who have reached the same milestone.

Peter Shilton 125
Bobby Moore 108
Bobby Charlton 106
Billy Wright 105
David Beckham 100

It would not have been a surprise had Beckham announced his retirement after such an achievement but it appears he has no intention of calling time on his international career.

The issue is not whether or not he is still good enough for international football because in comparison to the rest of the England midfield he probably is (just) however the facts are he is playing a standard of football at LA Galaxy that is nowhere near the level of that which he enjoyed at Real Madrid and at this stage of his career he needs to be as fit as he possibly can.

Years ago people speculated that he would end up in a central midfield role as he approached the twilight of his career to better utilise his range of passing but we keep coming back to his club football and the fitness and air miles issue.

During the 1-0 defeat by France he looked as though he was literally on his way out a fading star substituted in the 63rd minute by Capello to spare him from the fatigue that would have surely set in if he had been allowed to complete the full 90 minutes.

Beckham talking about playing in the 2010 World Cup is like a bald man wearing a toupee he is not fooling anyone he has made a significant contribution to the English game during his career and is famous the world over but maybe now is the time for a dignified retirement.

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Capello's First England Squad

Fabio Capello's first England squad for the friendly match against Switzerland raised one or two eyebrows most notable was the omission of David Beckham who will remain on 99 caps for the time being at least. Beckham may have been training with Arsenal but there are still serious concerns over his fitness which have been well documented ever since his initial decision to sign for LA Galaxy.

Also left out was Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson who surely cannot have any complaints after the amount of costly errors he has made for both club and country indeed his form has made David James (once dubbed calamity james) seem like a completely safe pair of hands in comparison. After previously being dropped by new Spurs boss Juande Ramos Robinson now faces a fight to regain his England place as well.

The inclusion of forward Gabriel Agbonlahor and his Aston Villa team mate defender Curtis Davies are surprise inclusions and bring the Villa contingent in the squad to five.

Spurs Jermaine Jenas has been given a chance probably due to the absence of Frank Lampard but surprisingly his club team mate Aaron Lennon has not made the senior squad and has instead been named in the England U21 party along with Arsenal's Theo Walcott.

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Fabio Capello Appointed England Manager

Fabio Capello has finally been confirmed as the new England manager signing a four year contract reportedly worth around £6m a year.

After Jose Mourinho ruled himself out of the job it was only a matter of time before the FA got their man and there is no doubt that Capello is definitely the best man for the job from the candidates available his record at some of the biggest clubs in Europe and the World is a truly outstanding one so much so that you have to say that on paper he is the most successful boss ever to be appointed England manager he is exactly what England need to make an impact on the international scene after failing to qualify for Euro 2008.

The appointment of Capello has been met with some criticism from a minority of managers and players who wanted the appointment to be an Englishman this argument does not carry much water as we have just had an unsuccessful Euro 2008 qualification campaign with an Englishman in charge it is sad but true that there are not as many top English managers out there compared to years ago and of the possible English candidates who have not publicly ruled themselves out of the job probably only Harry Redknapp would be a credible one but if the top four clubs in English football Manchester Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool were to change their managers anytime soon you can bet that the replacements would not be English.

The search for the new England boss has also been dignfied in comparison to last time when it descended into farce so credit mst go to the FA for that.

The vast majority of fans appear to be satisfied with the appointment and believe that Capello is the best man for the job his first game as manager will be a friendly against Switzerland at Wembley on 6 February 2008.

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The Next England Manager

With England failing to qualify for next summers Euro 2008 tournament it was inevitable that Steve McClaren would be sacked indeed the appointment of McClaren itself was somewhat of a farce with the FA trying and failing to get their first choice of Big Phil Scolari.

This time there must be no settling for second best we need the best man for the job and whether people like it or not that will probably mean a foreign manager because there is not a great deal of top quality English managerial talent around these days and not surprisingly after the farcical way the FA handled the interviews the last time round messrs Allardyce, Curbishley and O'Neill have all publicly said that they are not interested in becoming the next England boss.

With managers seemingly queuing up to turn down the job through the media there has at least been two big name managers that have apparently expressed an interest in taking up the post namely Fabio Cappello and Jose Mourinho both of whom would surely be quality appointments although there seems to be conflicting reports of the extent of the special ones interest.

The current betting has Mourinho as the clear favourite followed by Cappello with the best placed English manager so far being Portsmouth's Harry Redknapp.

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