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Posts Tagged ‘Gary Cahill’

• Stoke centre-half surprisingly called up to England squad
• Call comes straight after tackle severely injuring Aaron Ramsey

For Ryan Shawcross it was the best of days and the worst of days. The 22-year-old Stoke centre-half was in tears as he left the pitch following his dismissal for the dreadful lunge that broke Aaron Ramsey’s leg, and still in tears when his mother drove him away from the Britannia Stadium, but although the decision was in the balance for a while he eventually learned of his first England call-up.

There is no doubt Shawcross’s inclusion in the squad to face Egypt at Wembley on Wednesday is merited, particularly as Fabio Capello found himself unable to call on the injured Rio Ferdinand and likely reserve Gary Cahill, but the England manager and his assistant Franco Baldini still delayed the announcement of the squad by over half an hour as they debated the likely repercussions of a particularly serious injury. There could be no doubt over the Stoke defender’s remorse about the incident, however, and that may have counted in his favour.

While Shawcross may have had some hint of his elevation before the game, when Capello revealed on Friday that he was considering a young centre-half as a new addition to the squad, he could not possibly have expected to gain recognition on the same day he received the first red card of his professional career. The severity of the injury to Ramsey cannot help but cloud the occasion for Shawcross, yet at the same time his unblemished record suggests Capello would have been wrong to jump to a hasty conclusion.

There were no real surprises in the rest of Capello’s squad, unless you count the selection of Theo Walcott and Stewart Downing and the absence of Joe Cole; the inclusion of Leighton Baines and Stephen Warnock had been heavily advertised since Wayne Bridge’s withdrawal and England had few other options to turn to for immediate left-back cover. “I hope Warnock will still be fit after the Carling Cup final,” Capello said. “I know of his ability, he has improved a lot with Aston Villa, and so has Baines with Everton. They are both good players and in good form.”

ENGLAND SQUAD

David James, Robert Green, Joe Hart; Wes Brown, James Milner, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Joleon Lescott, Ryan Shawcross, Leighton Baines, Stephen Warnock; David Beckham, Theo Walcott, Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry, Steven Gerrard, Michael Carrick, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Stewart Downing; Emile Heskey, Jermain Defoe, Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch, Carlton Cole

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• Stoke defender seriously injured Arsenal player
• Joe Cole left out of England squad

Ryan Shawcross was driven out of the Britannia Stadium in tears by his mother this evening following a challenge that resulted in a horrific injury to Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey – then learned he had been picked for England.

In a squad to face Egypt at Wembley on Wednesday notable for the inclusions of Theo Walcott and Stewart Downing, and the exclusion of Joe Cole, Shawcross’s name stands out.

Capello delayed the announcement of their squad by 40 minutes to discuss Shawcross’s presence given the severity of the injury Ramsey is thought to have suffered during Arsenal’s win at Stoke.

Shawcross’s selection is aided by the injuries that have ruled out Rio Ferdinand and Gary Cahill. Since leaving Manchester United for Stoke, initially on loan, then a permanent transfer, Shawcross has proved himself to be one of the most effective young defenders in the country.

England squad to play Egypt

David James, Robert Green, Joe Hart; Wes Brown, James Milner, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Joleon Lescott, Ryan Shawcross, Leighton Baines, Stephen Warnock; David Beckham, Theo Walcott, Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry, Steven Gerrard, Michael Carrick, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Stewart Downing; Emile Heskey, Jermain Defoe, Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch, Carlton Cole

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• Defender could return within four weeks
• Coyle backs Cahill to earn World Cup place

Bolton Wanderers’ manager Owen Coyle says that Gary Cahill could return to action within four weeks.

Cahill’s season – and hopes of making England’s World Cup squad – were feared to be over after a blood clot was discovered in the defender’s arm earlier this month.

But Coyle has remained optimistic about Cahill’s prospects of playing again this season and has confirmed the 24-year-old could be back by the end of March.

“We did the scan yesterday and Gary will now go another two weeks without any contact but from that point he will be able to come back and join in with the group,” Coyle said. “I’m envisaging, fingers crossed without getting too far ahead of ourselves, that possibly Gary could be back within four weeks.

“Ideally I’d like him back earlier but we have to make sure Gary is fine. A specialist in the field has looked at him and there was a little bit of his rib when he turned that was catching on the blood flow to the vein, which caused the clot.

“Gary had an operation to remove that little bit of rib and the blood is now free-flowing, the clot is totally dissolved and the vein is in perfect order.

“The reason for him to have a couple of weeks’ rest now is because of the operation and making sure that everything in that area is sealed. But he should be up and running and ready to go from there, which is great.”

Coyle reaffirmed his belief that Cahill could still make Fabio Capello’s England squad for the World Cup, with the Italian currently considering which defenders to take to South Africa as cover for John Terry and Rio Ferdinand, who has ongoing injury problems.

“We are delighted that he is going to be back and available, one for Gary, two as a boost for the football club and me as a manager, and three, I would suggest, for the country,” Coyle said.

“I have no doubt that if he gets back to the level he is capable of – without putting too much pressure on him – then I think he will be a real candidate for the World Cup.”

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Candidates for the fabled late run to England’s World Cup squad are in short supply

Adam Johnson must have set some sort of record last week. After moving from Middlesbrough at the end of the transfer window, the winger started his first game for Manchester City against Bolton on Tuesday, and was not only named man of the match but immediately touted for inclusion in Fabio Capello’s World Cup squad.

As it happens, Capello was well aware of Johnson’s ability and had been tracking his career at Middlesbrough, where he had dropped down a division but improved his prospects by playing more games. Yet until turning up at Eastlands the 22-year-old had never been mentioned in dispatches by the England manager or featured in any of his selections. Between now and the end of the season, however, especially if he keeps up the promise shown in his full City debut, Johnson’s career will be followed with interest to see whether he can make the fabled late run to World Cup recognition.

Everyone likes that sort of story, which is one reason the phrase crops up every four years around this time, yet actual examples are increasingly rare. Theo Walcott’s surprise inclusion in Sven-Goran Eriksson’s last World Cup squad was not so much a late run as a last-minute blind gamble, and hardly the stuff of legend given that Walcott saw no action in Germany. England squads seem to be more settled now, with the general assumption being that the relative lack of English players operating in the Premier League somewhat simplifies selection, so that Capello’s best two dozen are unlikely to be much different from Steve McClaren’s best two dozen, or even yours and mine. The only drama we tend to see these days as the World Cups draw closer is whether our established performers will recover from injury in time.

With Ashley Cole now joining Wayne Rooney and David Beckham on the list of England players who have missed the latter part of the season in a World Cup year, Capello will have noted that his luck is no better than that of his predecessors. It always seems to be the key players who are struck down, never the peripheral ones, although perhaps the modern reality is that England’s resources are so thinly stretched that there is a notable drop in quality whenever a regular member of the starting XI has to be replaced.

That will certainly be the case with Cole, who has few peers anywhere in the world at left-back, and certainly not in this country. The heart sinks at the thought of Wayne Bridge or Joleon Lescott being pressed into service instead, not because Bridge and his City team-mates seem to be slavishly following a newspaper agenda in being scandalised by his former partner’s private life, but because their club form, on the few occasions injury has permitted a glimpse this season, has been poor. So poor that unless there is a marked improvement between now and the end of the season, neither even deserves to make the party as an understudy to Cole. Much more promising in that role might be Aston Villa’s Stephen Warnock, when he too has shaken off an injury, or even Leighton Baines, who has made the position his own at Everton and brings the required amount of attacking flair as well as an ability to strike dead balls.

The goalkeeping options are so limited that Joe Hart has a great chance of making a late run all the way into the World Cup team, and with a bit more imagination the Spurs duo of Tom Huddlestone and Michael Dawson might be regarded as possibles, though there is no denying that the overall picture is one of players dropping out of the international spotlight rather than moving towards it.

Walcott, to name the most obvious example, looked the part 18 months ago yet no longer seems to be the same player. Owen Hargreaves, Joe Cole and Phil Jagielka have moved backwards through long injury absences, Bridge and Lescott have not so far looked worth the money Manchester City paid for them, Michael Owen is no longer getting games and while Darren Bent is still scoring his share of goals for Sunderland his confidence has been hit by poor results.

Gary Cahill will miss the rest of the season through injury but seemed to lose form anyway as soon as people started saying he should be in the England squad, and while Villa still boast a virtually all-English attack, it cannot be said that any of them, from Stewart Downing on the left to Ashley Young on the right, with Emile Heskey and Gabriel Agbonlahor in the middle, are hammering on Capello’s door.

As long as Rooney and Jermain Defoe stay fit there is plenty of hope for England’s attack, and James Milner is a definite plus for midfield this season, even if all defensive areas have been hit by all manner of unforeseen problems. Yet timing is everything when making a late run, and there is still plenty of the season to go. As Johnson and Cole showed over the past few days, the picture can change remarkably quickly.

Sullivan’s dress sense needs international rescue

Fabio Capello should try standing for parliament. Were he eligible to be the next prime minister he would undoubtedly win with an overwhelming majority. Not only did he show the politically extinct virtue of decisiveness in dealing with John Terry, he turned up in his home country a few days later, telling the Italians they could learn a few lessons from English football.

They probably could, too, if they are interested in filling their stadiums and making games safe, well-stewarded events where people sit in their allocated seats and arrive and depart in an orderly fashion, though it remains to be seen whether the Italian authorities are interested in any such thing. Italians could queue for buses like the English if they so desired, but, being Italian, they don’t.

Welcome as it was to hear an Italian speaking up for English football, Capello picked an odd week in which to do it, with Portsmouth about to go out of business and Manchester United and Liverpool under attack from their own supporters. In terms of ownership, English football is a terrible example to the rest of the world, and not just because of the mountains of debt, unpaid bills, get-rich-quick Americans and their leveraged buyouts.

There’s David Sullivan’s dress sense to take into consideration as well. Atrocious as all the financial chicanery and incompetence might be, it has the saving grace of not showing up on television. Unlike West Ham’s new owner, who made his pile from porn and is currently giving the impression that a famous English club has been seized by one of the villains from Thunderbirds.

Pompey don’t know who their owner is. United and Liverpool rarely see theirs on the same continent, and are quick to form protest pickets when they do. Hammers fans, who see theirs every week, are beginning to think they might be the unlucky ones.

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• Manager Owen Coyle says player will be out for ‘months’
• Defender’s World Cup hopes almost certain to be dashed

The Bolton Wanderers defender Gary Cahill could miss the rest of the season after suffering a blood clot in his arm. The 24-year-old was hoping to win a place in England’s World Cup squad.

Cahill was taken ill on Friday and missed Saturday’s 0-0 Premier League draw with Fulham.

Bolton’s manager, Owen Coyle, said: “Gary suffered a pain in his arm and it became severely swollen on the day of the game.

“There was no way he could play so we took him straight off to hospital. It turns out he had a blood clot in his arm, so he is going to be out for a number of months.”

Cahill is due to be released from hospital today after being kept in since Saturday.

Coyle said: “It is a severe blow for the boy but our main concern is his welfare. We have to make sure Gary is fit and well.

“He will miss the next few months, it might be for the rest of the season. We will hear from the specialist later. The clot needed to be resolved and in doing that you need the medication. It follows you can’t play.

“As disappointed as we are, at 24 Gary has a marvellous career ahead of him. I believe he would have made the World Cup for the summer but we have to make sure first of all he recovers from this blood clot.

“I don’t think it is a sport-related injury, I think it is just one of those things that can happen to anyone at any given time.

“Gary will be disappointed as he has so much to play for. He is one of the best players at the club and he had a big role to play, no doubt about that. He also had a chance of going to the World Cup – but that chance will come again. He is a terrific lad and someone we love working with. He has a great mindset.

“Gary will get the best care available to him. As much as we love football, we will focus on making sure Gary recovers well.”

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• Tom Huddlestone and Stephen Warnock also included in squad
• No place for Steven Gerrard or Ashley Cole

Darren Bent has been recalled to the England squad for next week’s friendly with Brazil in Qatar.

Bent has scored eight goals for Sunderland this season and has been handed his chance with Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole both ruled out of England’s penultimate game before Fabio Capello must name his provisional squad for next summer’s World Cup.

There is no place in the squad for Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, Ashley Cole, Aaron Lennon or David James, while Aston Villa full-back Stephen Warnock and Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone have been included.

Michael Owen has also been excluded, which is likely to end whatever slim chances he had of going to South Africa.

David Beckham has been included in the squad, although if Los Angeles Galaxy maintain their interest in the MLS play offs by beating Chivas USA this evening, then Beckham would be forced to withdraw.

England squad in full

Goalkeepers: Ben Foster, Robert Green, Joe Hart

Defenders: Wayne Bridge, Wes Brown, Gary Cahill, Glen Johnson, Joleon Lescott, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, David Beckham*, Michael Carrick, Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Ashley Young.

Forwards: Darren Bent, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Wayne Rooney.

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• ‘O’Neill’s a great manager but everyone makes mistakes’
• 23-year-old has been linked with Arsenal and Manchester Utd

Gary Cahill is aiming to prove to Martin O’Neill that he made “a mistake” in letting him leave Aston Villa for Bolton Wanderers last year by earning himself a regular place in Fabio Capello’s England squad.

Capello called up Cahill as a replacement for the injured defender Joleon Lescott for the qualifying games against Ukraine and Belarus having been impressed by his displays at the Reebok Stadium. O’Neill had been unable to guarantee him regular first-team football at Villa Park, where he had graduated through the youth ranks, and sanctioned his £5m sale to Bolton in January 2008.

Yet while the Villa manager has spent lavishly on a number of centre-backs in recent windows – Curtis Davies, Richard Dunne, Zat Knight, Carlos Cuéllar, Habib Beye and James Collins came at a combined cost in excess of £30m – the departed Cahill has quietly emerged as an England contender. “Martin O’Neill is a great manager but everyone makes mistakes sometimes,” said Cahill. “He’s moved on. They’ve brought in some good centre-backs now, they’re doing well and, like I say, everyone makes mistakes.

“It was a shame I had to move. If I’d bided my time a bit longer, then maybe I’d have got my chance. He never forced me out of the door. I spoke to him a few times and, at that time, he couldn’t guarantee me a place week in and week out. I can’t do anything sat on the bench and we agreed it was best for me to be playing more regularly. I’ve improved a lot from my days at Villa and that’s through playing. It could have backfired but it’s turned out to be a good decision. It’s worked out well for my career.”

England recognition is testament to that progress for a player who had loan spells at Burnley and Sheffield United while struggling to break into the senior side at Villa. To date, however, he has been selected by Capello only as a late replacement for injury absentees, most notably for Rio Ferdinand in the summer. Lescott’s withdrawal with a calf complaint gives him his latest opportunity.

Regardless, his displays at Bolton have attracted the interest of other suitors, with Manchester United and Arsenal apparently tracking his progress. “Seeing that has to give you a boost and it does show how far I’ve come and that my hard work has paid off,” added Cahill. “It’s nice to read positive things about yourself but I try not to dwell on it too much. Nothing is going to happen at this stage of the season anyway, so it’s a matter of getting my head down and putting in the performances that have got me here. ‘t think there will be a problem with that. But, at the moment, I am enjoying my time at Bolton and still have plenty to learn.”

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England manager Fabio Capello has brought goalkeeper Joe Hart and defender Gary Cahill into his squad to replace the injured Paul Robinson and Joleon Lescott for this month’s final two Group Six World Cup qualifiers.

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England boss Fabio Capello has called up Joe Hart and Gary Cahill into his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Belarus following injuries to Paul Robinson and Joleon Lescott.

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• Call-ups follow injuries to Paul Robinson and Joleon Lescott
• Joe Hart rewarded for solid start to Birmingham loan spell

England’s manager, Fabio Capello, has called up the goalkeeper Joe Hart and the central defender Gary Cahill to replace the injured Paul Robinson and Joleon Lescott in his squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine and Belarus.

Robinson, the Blackburn goalkeeper, will return to his club following a hip problem, while Lescott heads back to Manchester City after a calf problem he picked up in the Premier League 1-1 draw at Aston Villa last night.

With Ben Foster’s omission explained as a chest injury, Manchester City’s Hart has been rewarded for a solid start to his loan period at Birmingham.

The Bolton centre-back Cahill, meanwhile, travelled to Kazakhstan in June with the seniors but is yet to make his England debut.

Hart and Cahill were travelling south to meet up with their team-mates while the rest of the squad were at Arsenal’s London Colney complex for training ahead of Saturday’s game in Ukraine.

All 22 players were present for the start of training but the Chelsea full-back Ashley Cole and the Portsmouth goalkeeper David James returned to the dressing room while the others went through their warm-up routine.

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