Class bloke. Very well respected- especially by the youth, and clearly exceptionally intelligent. Great choice by Southgate; could prove to be an inspired one.
I remember Stirling at Liverpool when he wanted to go to City. I thought he should have been ashamed of himself, not training properly , not turning up,,, generally not fulfilling the contract he was perfectly happy to sign and behaving like a spoiled brat. I just can’t forget it. I can’t wait for the time when a club uses similar tactics against a player for some reason or another,,,there would be hell on!!!
I don’t think anyone who has ever been too tired to play for England should be captain. Great skills and improved end product, but the jury is out regarding his attitude. The jury is also out for Garath Southgate to prove himself. Thought he was clueless against an ok Croatia team...
It's his 50 the cap apparently. His PR agents have leaked the information and Raheem is reported as being slightly dischuffed with their gaffe. https://talksport.com/football/5540...ar-fuming-england-captaincy-gaffe-pr-company/
I think Henderson, Kane, Sterling, Stones & Pickford are the only players who are guaranteed starters of everyone who’s available & for me the captain should be a guaranteed starter. I don’t like keepers as captains so that leaves Stones & Sterling with Henderson & Kane missing. I’d obviously prefer Stones as captain due to him been a Barnsley lad but got no issue at all with Sterling been captain
He'd have probably done a decent job would Sam. Southgate is what is known in the trade as a " steady Eddie", but credit where it's due, he's done a lot better than many of us thought he would do. His appointment was similar to when they elected to go for Ron Greenwood and overlooked Brian Clough. The FA always opt to appoint someone they feel will be non- controversial who they are able to control. Southgate fits that mould perfectly. If they had appointed Clough in 1977, it would have been like trying to keep the Queen Mary in dock using a piece of cotton, a fact he more or less confirmed, after he failed to get the job. He was rightly labelled " the best Manager England never had."
I think one day we'll have a female, homosexual of ethnic minority as manager of the male national team. That would be in keeping with the P.C brigade at the F.A.
Back to original topic. I think Sterling should be left alone. I don't want one of our best players to be stifled by the captaincy.
I don't see why not. I think he'd be a good captain even if it's only temporary to honour him for reaching fifty caps.
Great choice. As for the attitude, the abuse he has had to deal with, domestically and on the international stage, has been nothing short of disgusting. I would say his attitude is fantastic, and for a 24 year old to have dealt with what he has and have the courage to speak out, is commendable. As for the 'intelligent' comment, I agree but intelligence in football is a different beast. Roy Hodgson, for example, is often described as 'a very intelligent man', yet when his 32 year old goalkeeper makes a nazi salute and claims he was trying to flag down a waiter, Roy defends him and questions what they teach on the national curriculum these days ('maybe they don't teach kids about the nazis any more'). Come off it Roy. As a 32 year old man myself, I can confirm that World War 2 was still covered in schools in the late Nineties. To answer the OP, happy for Raheem, a great ambassador for England and a worthy captain.
I get what you are saying, and I was highly critical of his early managerial career and was skeptical about his appointment. I think however he made some tough decisions that needed making to get rid of a lot of the old guard, who had failed on multiple occasions & put some pride & youthfulness back in the national team. He also handled himself well with dignity throughout. He has deserved a decent run as England manager & I'd back his decisions.
