Having seen southampton at old trafford, that city result doesn't surprise me. Is there a better English lone striker now than Lambert? @alistairmagowan From thr BBC Web Site. Just deserved, shame Ricky is not a little younger as he would be knocking the England door down tonight. Hope he stays fit for at least a couple of more seasons. Thoughts
The answer, really, is no; if the England squad was about performance, rather than risk mitigation for the manager, Rickie would be capped, and he'd be playing with some frequency. He's a natural fit up top with Rooney playing in the hole, but we'll likely never see that setup.
As Rickie will not form part of England's future, his best chance of a cap is being brought in as cover because of injuries for a WC qualifier. He deserves it and it would cap his career (if you pardon the pun).
I'm not so sure his age is an argument- we're talking about an England manager who has recently brought a 31-year old Leon Osman into the squad & chose to use a substitution in a friendly to bring on 34-year old Frank Lampard, rather than give extra experience to the likes of the Ox or Kyle Walker...
The problem at International level is that every time two defenders maul all over the back of Rickie, the ref would give a free kick to the opposition. In the Premier League the refs just allow defenders to piggy back and rape Rickie without a free kick; at international level the defenders would gain a free kick!!
It frustrates me that he's not getting called up, he's only going to get better with age as his game is not based on fitness or speed. So he'll be this good,if not better, by the time the world cup comes around.
Well, being a shade protective I guess I'm somewhat glad he hasn''t been called for international duty. Ok am being very selfish I know but we do not want to take an extra chance him getting an injury do we?
You are right however I'm not frustrated as right now it is good for saints and keeps him fresh. For him, it would be good to get a cap.
He was simply brilliant yesterday, and he never stopped running. He's an even better player when he drops deep and looks for the ball. Combine that with the fact he wins everything in the air, and his contribution to the team keeps increasing. You don't hear so many pie-eating jokes these days. I don't give a stuff that he'll probably never get an England call up, and hopefully neither does he. He's having a real impact in the Premiership, and no-one would have predicted that two seasons ago.
If someone is "good enough they are old enough". We hear that a lot so why are we not hearing if you are good enough you are young enough
Didn't Bobby Zamora get his first cap at 106 or something? Rickie is a mere stripling compared to him!
Lambert has already said he was disappointed not to get a call up. Went on to say that winning for Saints was the most important thing...but this quiet bear of a man deserves one cap at least. I am aware that life ain't fair, but i hope he gets it.
I wonder how Hodgson would have felt if the FA had ruled him out of contention for England manager because he was too old? Apart from having one of the sharpest football brains in the PL which would rub off on any squad he plays in SRL would be able to teach the younsters how to win penalty shoot outs. Whenever I watch him on the ball it makes me bloody proud that someone that good wears a Saints shirt.
The stream I watched yesterday had Andy Townsend and Don Hutchinson on the panel and Townsend, a big Rickie fan anyway, ran an analysis of his contribution to yesterday's victory. It's great to see how cynical, world-weary pundits can revel in the talents of a true genius.
Had to double take there, thought the title was Lambert Prowse for a minute! On a serious note yes he deserves a cap but with each England game that passes without a call up, it looks less and less likely.
It was only what, two years ago that Kevin Davies made his international debut? He was no spring chicken even then. Rickie might not have any long term international future, but the world cup in only 15 months away.
Lambert is a very aware player and due to his lack of blistering pace he has to be more shrewd and a better retainer of the ball (he did it better than Dzeko yesterday). He has good technique and I think he can probably offer something that the other strikers do not. Hopefully he may get a chance, I don't think age would bother Hodgeson. My worry is what would we do if he got injured.
I can see Pardew thinking back to that day too, and that amount, when Rickie smashes goal number 100 past Krul next up.
Think we have proved that we are not as dependent on single players as we think. Agree that Rickie would be the most massive loss (may have to go and lie down), but we have survived the loss of Lallana, Fonte, Clyne and Shaw.