There are plenty of talking points thrown up by Roy Hodgson’s first England squad after the new Three Lions boss named his 23-man party for the upcoming European Championship – for which his side are priced at 10/1 to win.
In fairness to Fabio Capello’s successor, he has had very little time to prepare for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine with his commitment to West Brom not officially over until last Sunday, and he had previously suggested he was largely going to stick with experienced England performers.
With that in mind, there were just two new faces in the squad but there are surely plenty of questions over why some of the players that are set to take their place on the plane next month have made it – with England’s campaign set to get underway on June 11 (England 13/8 to win Group D).
There are just two warm-up games before then for Hodgson, who also confirmed Steven Gerrard will be captain, to finalise his plans – so taking a look at the squad, let’s start with the supposed ‘big calls’.
Rio Ferdinand was probably the biggest absentee and perhaps it was no surprise, given his recent fitness history and the fact that even his manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, had doubted whether he could play games in quick succession.
Still, he would have provided plenty of experience but every footballer has his lovers and haters, and there will be those who believe his best days are very much behind him.
However, John Terry has been included and there will be more doubters about him given his form, discipline issues, the fact that an impending trial forced the previous manager to step down as well as the fact that he has been there and definitely not done it – at the World Cup in 2010.
Barcelona actually looked less likely to score when he had been sent off, while his obvious inability to handle Andy Carroll in both the FA Cup final and subsequent 4-1 drubbing at Anfield led to Hodgson actually including the Liverpool striker – who had almost been a laughing stock in the previous nine months following his £35m move from Newcastle.
What makes the Carroll selection all the more surprising is the fact that he is one of only four strikers. With Wayne Rooney suspended for the first two group games, Jermain Defoe – who has not played a competitive match for England since September 2010 – and Danny Welbeck the others, Hodgson could end up being caught short up front.
Peter Crouch has never done anything wrong for England, in fact he has done a lot right with a fantastic goal ratio for the national side, while there is no place (not so surprising) for the second highest English scorer in the Premier League this season – Grant Holt.
Norwich City, though, can celebrate the call-up of John Ruddy, who has been rewarded for his fine season with the Canaries with his first international recognition.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also wins his first call-up for the impact, albeit limited, he has made for Arsenal this season but little can be said of the impact of Stewart Downing and Theo Walcott (of late), who did make the squad, when Aaron Lennon and Adam Johnson did not.
Kyle Walker has enjoyed a superb season for Spurs but is carrying an injury, although how the versatile Micah Richards has been overlooked is a mystery.
It is, of course, a ‘poisoned chalice’, the England manager’s job, because whoever is in charge is never going to please everyone all the time – in some manager’s cases, any of the time.
The proof is in the pudding, though, and Hodgson will have more idea of the capability of his squad following the first match of the tournament against France (France 13/8, Draw 11/5, England 11/8 Match Betting).
With games against Sweden and co-hosts Ukraine to follow, England will hope that the inclusion of Rooney will amount to more than one game with the Three Lions 6/4 to be eliminated at the Group Stage. Hodgson may already have his doubters but this squad should have enough to at least make it past the first stage. After that, it’s anyone’s guess.
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Cheltenham Town put one foot in the door of the League Two play-off final with a 2-0 win over Torquay in the first leg but now they have to finish the job at Plainmoor on Thursday night (Cheltenham 6/4, Torquay 9/1 – League Two Promotion 2011/12 Outright).
Attention on Wednesday turns to the League Two semi-final play-off at Roots Hall in an evenly-poised tie with Crewe and Southend both just 90 minutes away from Wembley.
The focus on Tuesday will turn to the League One play-off semi-final second leg at the Galpharm Stadium as Huddersfield host MK Dons, with the winner’s final opponent already confirmed by kick off.
The League One play-offs continue on Monday and Sheffield United are strong 10/11 favourites to beat Stevenage and book a place at Wembley, as Danny Wilson’s men look to follow city rivals Wednesday into the Championship.
Following the conclusion of possibly the most exciting Premier League season ever, we now switch our attention to this summer’s European Championships in Poland and Ukraine where the likes of Robin van Persie (9/1 – Tournament Top Goalscorer Outright), David Silva and Wayne Rooney will all be flying the flag for their respective nations.
международном первенстве. Сегодняшняя встреча с чешской командой может встать в ряд красивых побед сборной Малкина и Билялетдинова. Но я хотел бы предостеречь всех от настроя типа «всех порвем».
After 37 exciting rounds of fixtures, there is still plenty to play for at both ends of the table on the last day of the Premier League season, with Bolton (1/3 to be relegated) and QPR (9/4) battling to avoid the final relegation place.


Эра Кобе Брайанта подходит к концу? «Бостон Селтикс» одолеет «Филадельфию»?
Баскетбол. НБА. Плей-офф 1/4 Финала.
Оклахома-Сити – Лос-Анджелес Лейкерс ( счет в серии 1:0 ). Кто бы мог подумать, что «Лейкерс» 4.25 второй год подряд
во 2-м раунде попадут под «поезд», который может у «укатать» их со счетом 4:0 в серии и даже глазом не моргнуть. Человеком, который может принять самое непосредственное участие в этом процессе, станет Кевин Дюрэнт. Лидер «Оклахомы» 1.22 уверенно ведет свою команду за собой и останавливаться не намерен.
«Озерники» получили «смачную оплеуху» в первом матче, проиграв почти 30 очков! Можно было бы написать, что вот сейчас они соберутся и навяжут борьбу противнику, но на самом деле все, что может помочь «Лейкерс» – это расхоложенность «Тандер», которые могут раньше времени поверить в легкую победу.
Кобе Брайант с годами становится все старше и старше, и верить в то, что он сможет «тащить» команду на себе – было весьма наивно. Да, есть еще Газоль и Байнем, но эта троица не может противостоять молодой команде из Оклахомы. Именно команде, так как «Оклахома» – это не только команда Дюрэнта! С такими парнями, как Уэстбрук, Харден и Ибака, всегда можно надежно подстраховывать лидера.
Мой прогноз, что серия завершиться со счетом 4:0!
Филадельфия 76 – Бостон Селтикс (счет в серии 1:1) . «Зеленые» неожиданно утратили преимущество своего поля, но как мне кажется, несильно переживают по этому поводу. «Кельты» смогли в этом году перестроить свою игру. И если не найти рецепт «вечной молодости», то явно разобраться в рецептуре сплава «молодости и опыта».
«Ключом» этого для Дока Риверса стал Рэджон Рондо, который сейчас может показывать свой лучший баскетбол фактически в каждом матче. Да, бывают неудачные игры, но никто не идеален.
Рэй Аллен теперь стал игроком скамейки, но это не только не ослабило игру «зеленых» 2.13, но позволило использовать ветерана как «свежий клинок», который вступает в игру, когда противник слегка измотан. А уж трехочковые броски он будет выполнять и в 80-тилетнем возрасте.
Но «Филадельфия» 1.75 моложе, так что именно в этом и кроется её сила.
Серия равная, но я бы поставил на «Бостон», так как опыта у него в разы больше.
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