Rooney Decision!!.....

[happytorq]

They've probably made it 3 games so that they have scope to reduce it when the decision inevitably gets appealed by the FA.

UEFA want Rooney there just as much as the England team do, I'm sure - regardless of whether UEFA 'hates' England, they want the high profile players to show up.

[AlexGulls]

That's not bad a rough count of our full internationals would be:-
ENGLAND: Ken Brown, Tony Currie, Lee Sharpe, Keith Curle, Tony Brown, Gordon Astall;
SCOTLAND: Bruce Rioch, Matt Elliott;
WALES: Neville Southall, Jason Rees, Dudley Lewis, Paul Trollope, Ryan Green, James Jones;
NORTHERN IRELAND: Eric Welsh, Alan McLoughlin, Paul Ramsey;
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND: Jimmy Dunne, Pat Roche, Alan Lee, Jimmy Holmes, Dermot Curtis, Micky Evans;
USA: Jurgen Sumner;
NEW ZEALAND: Colin Walizer;
ICELAND: Oli somethingorother(?);
IRAN: Amir Hashemi;
JAMAICA: Paul Hall, Darren Moore, Narada Bernard;
ST VINCENT: Rodney Jack;
NIGERIA: Chima Okora;
GRENADA: Jason Roberts, Tony Bedeau;
BARBADOS: Gregory Goodrich.

Under 23, Youth, and 'B' Internationals would be too numerous to attempt to count.

Of our managers since entering the Football League 14 have been former full internationals, 5 with England.

Oli Gottskalkson is the Iceland keeper your thinking off. With us in our League One Season.

[Southampton Gull]

Oli Gottskalkson is the Iceland keeper your thinking off. With us in our League One Season.

.................unfortunately

Brentford on that Boxing Day, anyone?

[Father Jack]

Bit nippy if I remember rightly.

Back to Spudface though....Cant say im suprised. It was always going to be minimum 2 matches. His previous pretty much speaks for itself so 3 always likely.

[Enzo]

In the English League a straight red is a three match ban - why should we expect any different at international level? (I presume it was a straight red?)In footballing terms we should still take Rooney to the Championship. However, sooner or later we need to bite the bullet and teach the fella a lesson. There is no excuse whatsoever for what he did - it was just the petumant kick of a child who had had his ball taken away. It demonstrated that he learnt nothing from his punishment after gobbing off to the camera at West Ham last year, and has not grown up since stamping out in the 2006 World Cup quarter final.

[Father Jack]

Enzo, does the length of ban not depend on it being a straight red for violent conduct (trying to break someones leg etc) as opposed to a straight red for niggly unsporting or unprofessional behaviour? (No idea really so perhaps a referee could enlighten us)

[ferrarilover]

It's actually surprisingly hard to get a three match ban, FJ. Deliberate handball denying a goal scoring opportunity (on the line or by a keeper outside the box, most often) is one match, as is two yellows, as is a professional foul, as is foul and abusive language, as is unsportsmanlike like conduct. The only two which are three games are violent conduct (punching, kicking, fighting etc) and serious foul play (knee high, studs up etc). The one exception to this is spitting at another [person], which STARTS at 5 games and goes up from there.
None of these sentences is mandatory, they are the starting points and may be varied up or down depending on mitigating or aggravating factors.

For me, Rooney was dismissed for violent conduct, which IS a three match starting point, but had strong mitigation in so much as he hasn't been previously cautioned during the match, wasn't a fight, no afters, letter of apology, only one blow, gentle, petulant swipe to the ankle. Basically, it's right at the very bottom of the scale for VC and yet he got the maximum reasonable penalty (that is, the maximum penalty ordinarily awarded in the absence of extreme aggravating circumstances.)

Matt.

[Father Jack]

Obviously not hard if you're Spudface!!
The mitigating circumstances have probably been focussed on his previous form in internationals.

On a slightly different note, the Beeb site had a breakdown on win %ages since Spudface had been a regular. Im sure it showed we have a better win %age when he doesnt play than we do when he does play

[cambgull]

Frankly, it's a ridiculous penalty for him. 2 matches at maximum.

The biggest shame is that we still continue to operate under the corrupt, disgrace of an organisation that is FIFA. The faster there's a boycott, the better. Unfortunately, the other countries who get decent treatment won't join us, partly because they know where their bread's buttered and partly because they hate us as much as FIFA do.

We do have a wonderful ability to shoot ourselves in the foot at times though. On that note, lets get p*ssed and start a riot while we're abroad at the next World Cup.

[Regiment]

Ban reduced to two games.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16064924.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[AustrianAndyGull]

First of all Rooney is a brainless knob who would now be in prison if he weren't a footballer. IMO. Secondly he is an idiot too IMO. Thirdly he is English, need i say more? ( only kidding about the third one everybody - sorry!). I think the very fact that England fans are so bothered about Rooneys availability for the Euros gives me at least an indication that they are a one man team. In my opinion ( with Gerrard out ) then they are. If England have to rely on someone who hardly ever plays well for his country and has disciplinary issues then they've got no chance.

[ferrarilover]

First of all Rooney is a brainless knob who would now be in prison if he weren't a footballer. IMO. Secondly he is an idiot too IMO. Thirdly he is English, need i say more? ( only kidding about the third one everybody - sorry!). I think the very fact that England fans are so bothered about Rooneys availability for the Euros gives me at least an indication that they are a one man team. In my opinion ( with Gerrard out ) then they are. If England have to rely on someone who hardly ever plays well for his country and has disciplinary issues then they've got no chance.

And that is exactly where your post dies a death. Gerrard is not all he is cracked up to be. Injury prone, often periferal, saved only by scoring a wonder goal every few games, without that trait, he'd have found himself shipped out long, long ago.

England are nothing like a one man team, if only the right players are selected. Darren Bent is an absolute genius, misses a few, but absolutely top drawer. Adam Johnson is one of the best wide men on Earth. Phil Jones emerges as a candidate for the next Paul Scholes, except bigger and faster and maybe, just maybe, better. Theo Walcott is ever improving, especially in the White Shirt. Tom Cleverly, Danny Welbeck, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Andy Carroll, all excellent players in their own right, but need to be correctly deployed to achieve the best results.

To suggest that England are worried about Rooney's absence makes us a one man team is like suggesting that Barcelona are a one man team because they would want Messi available for the Champions League final.

As an aside, do we think that, if they were allowed, Barcelona would win the World Cup?

Matt.

[Southampton Gull]

And that is exactly where your post dies a death. Gerrard is not all he is cracked up to be. Injury prone, often periferal, saved only by scoring a wonder goal every few games, without that trait, he'd have found himself shipped out long, long ago.

England are nothing like a one man team, if only the right players are selected. Darren Bent is an absolute genius, misses a few, but absolutely top drawer. Adam Johnson is one of the best wide men on Earth. Phil Jones emerges as a candidate for the next Paul Scholes, except bigger and faster and maybe, just maybe, better. Theo Walcott is ever improving, especially in the White Shirt. Tom Cleverly, Danny Welbeck, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Ashley Cole, Andy Carroll, all excellent players in their own right, but need to be correctly deployed to achieve the best results.

To suggest that England are worried about Rooney's absence makes us a one man team is like suggesting that Barcelona are a one man team because they would want Messi available for the Champions League final.

As an aside, do we think that, if they were allowed, Barcelona would win the World Cup?

Matt.

And that is where yours died, he's fecking useless. He can't dribble with the ball, his ball control is useless, he scuffs 4 out of every 5 attempts at shooting and hasn't improved since he left Southampton. Walcott shouldn't be anywhere near the England team and the only thing he has going for him is pace.............

[stevegull]

Gotta agree with Dave regarding Walcott. He is STILL all about potential, just as he was when he singed for Arsenal. If he wasn't playing for one of the 'big' sides in England he wouldn't be near the first 11. I can think of better wingers that play well every week for a more mediocre premier league team, such as Scott Sinclair at Swansea. I'm not saying he should be starting every week for England, but i do think he is showing more consistantcy than Walcott.

However, i do agree with Matt regarding Gerrard. He only tends to show up when his team is going through a rough spell, which obviously is a very admirable trait, but when his side is on top he doesn't seem to have that same urgency about his game that makes him so dangerous.

Also, I'm a big fan of Darren Bent for England. I think he has been treated harshly up to now by those picking the team, he is constantly scoring goals in the Premier League, and nearly always doing it for mid-rate teams where chances are at a premium. Yet, if he doesn't score off a 20 minute bench appearance he would be banished from the squad until other mid-rate players are rotated through the system.

[SteveDeckchair]

Not sure about the comparison of Phil Jones to Paul Scholes!

I tend to agree though that Walcott has something about him. Like all flair payers, he's can drift in and out of games but i think his work rate has improved recently and he is playing better for both Arsenal and England at the moment.

Frank Lampard can stay at home with Gerrard for all I care. Terry as well is looking a bit slow now.

The golden generation (waa haa ha! ) had their chance and blew it. Blood the youngsters I say.