Gardner has 2 England caps across all levels. Cole has 33. It's not the same.
And it's not the only criteria, I also mentioned top flight appearances. And Carlton Cole is just better than they were. People have this misty eyed idea of Waggy and Chillo but they played for us in a lower league. The best teams we have had in our history have been in the last decade, it's a simple as that.
Anthony Gardner has one England cap, Carlton Cole has seven, you can't go adding kids games to try and make a point, the fact is, neither were really good enough to play for England.

