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Why I’m glad the Bolton three aren’t playing for England

Saturday March 28th, 2009

Fabio Capello has done Bolton a favour by not picking  Cahill, Davies and Taylor

The various Bolton Wanderers message boards erupted in anger last Sunday after Fabio Capello’s latest England squad failed to include Bolton’s Kevin Davies, Matt Taylor and Gary Cahill.

Davies and Cahill had both been included in Capello’s initial 32-man squad but were left out when the England boss whittled it down to 22 following last weekend’s Premier League games.

At first I was tempted to agree with the fans who were threatening to boycott England games from now on. But then I started to think about it a bit more closely.

In the case of Davies and Taylor (I’ll come to Cahill in a second), you have to question whether either of these players are really good enough to play international football. Both are good, honest professionals who always give their best for Bolton Wanderers – and are often crucial in helping us win matches.

But does that make them good enough to play for England? They’ve both been around for a long time and have never really been linked with England places before.

Yes, they’ve both been playing well of late (Davies is the top-scoring English striker in the Premier League), but the it’s only because of a dearth of quality in the positions Davies and Taylor play in that they’re even being mentioned in the same breath as the national team.

The last Wanderer to represent England was Michael Ricketts and his career has never recovered. Of course, Ricketts was a flawed individual with an inflated ego and a work ethic deficiency, and I’m not suggesting being found out at international level would be the final nail in Davies’ and Taylor’s careers like it was with Ricketts. They’re both much tougher mentally than Ricketts to allow that to happen.

But even if Davies is more deserving of a place than Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole, what’s the benefit to Bolton Wanderers of him going to play for England, failing to make an impact and then being vilified in the papers for the next six months?

Let those players take the flack and let Davies get on with scoring goals for Bolton.

My reasoning for being pleased Cahill isn’t playing is entirely different – purely selfish, in fact. I have no doubt that Cahill is good enough to play for his country, and most probably will at some point in his career.

But the moment he puts on an England shirt is the moment it becomes much more difficult for the Wanderers to keep hold of him. On current form, it’s surely only a matter of time before bigger clubs start sniffing around, and getting an England cap will only act as a catalyst for that.

How long before Phil Gartside is made an offer he can’t refuse? Much quicker if Cahill is playing for England.

Yes, it would be great to see Bolton Wanderers players representing England and doing well. But I’d much rather see them representing Bolton Wanderers and helping us win matches.

What do you think? Should Gary Cahill, Kevin Davies and Matt Taylor be playing for England?

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Tags: BoltonWanderers, CarltonCole, EmileHeskey, England, FabioCapello, PremierLeague

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