Kevin Davies, Rob Green and Rooney in the England Squad

Kevin Davies is one of eight English players to have (in a single transfer) cost over £7 million and never represented their country at senior level. This list includes Nigel Reo Coker, Anton Ferdinand, Curtis Davies, Carl Cort, Dean Richards, and Manchester United's Chris Smalling.

That little statistic could be about to change, because Fabio Capello has called the thirty-three year old up for the Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro next Tuesday. Whilst the call-up has come about because of a number of injuries to strikers such as Bobby Zamora and Gabriel Agbonlahor, as well as Emile Heskey refusing to come out of international retirement, it still shows Davies' continued quality into his thirties, as Capello has obviously been watching him and been impressed.

Robert Green has also been included in the squad. The unlucky 'keeper whom fumbled a shot for England against the USA in the World Cup, and received a lot of grief as a result, will be pleased that Capello, can put that behind him. Although Green probably will not play, the call up will still be a boost to his confidence, which, of late has been quite low.

Rooney has kept his place in the squad, despite concerns over his physical fitness and mental state after niggling injuries on the pitch, and his very public private life off it. However, Rooney and Davies' inclusion means that the promising young striker, Andy Carroll, who is playing - and scoring for Newcastle, has been overlooked. Maybe Capello doesn't like his hair? But whatever the reason, at only 21 years old, Carroll has plenty of time to climb the ranks and create himself a spot in the England squad of the future.

The Full England Squad is Below:

Goalkeepers: Ben Foster (Birmingham City), Robert Green (West Ham United), Joe Hart (Manchester City)


Defenders: Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), John Terry (Chelsea), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa)

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Joe Cole (Liverpool), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham Hotspur), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur), Jack Wilshere (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City), Ashley Young (Aston Villa)

Forwards: Darren Bent (Sunderland), Peter Crouch (Tottenham Hotspur), Kevin Davies (Bolton Wanderers), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

Stop Blaming Capello

As England fans sit down in front of their televisions on Friday to watch England play against Bulgaria, it will bring back all the memories of the latest World Cup exit and leave a sickening feeling in even die hard England fans. We all know that it is hard to watch England, with catastrophic mistakes just around the corner and uncharacteristic errors just seconds away. These blunders are magnified enormously as they are watched by millions of fans around England and the world. Fabio Capello knows more than anyone that when mistakes happen, everyone wants someone to blame. In the most recent World Cup failure, as with so many others, the manager has been the one who has been attacked as the weak-link in the team. He is blamed for the failings of a team with the players of such high-quality that they should be able to beat any nation on any given day. But with the only thing to change between major competitions being the manager (and of course the retiring of players) it must be questioned as to why the new manger is blamed when it has been the players who have failed to deliver.

Capello has been under massive pressure to leave his England post by certain newspapers who have branded him as stupid and evan a "jackass" since England lost to Germany in the World Cup. Yes, he made mistakes during the competition, but so did the players. I fear that fans and newspapers like to demand the manager to be sacked because they think it will make things better, and also because they can. Under massive pressure of the media, the FA can crumble and try to appease fans by giving them the managers head. But this is only a short term solution. It doesn't solve much, and it makes you wonder, who would want to be manager of England. The criticism of Capello is hardly fair. He understands that he made mistakes, but to call a manager who has won most of Europes top prizes and managed Europes top clubs stupid and a "jackass" is absurd.

As fans, we need to realise that over the past forty four years, England, with excellent players have won nothing. We have been the victim of incredibly bad luck over the years, Robert Green and Frank Lampard could tell you that. But the ammount of managers that we have gone through without winning anything - and these are highly experienced, top class (well paid) managers, we need to think logically and realise that it isn't all the managers fault, and the easier we turn against the men who lead out our nation in major competitions, the harder it will be for them to do their job.