Lost amidst the furor of Fabio Capello excluding David Beckham from the latest England squad was the news that in-form West Ham keeper Robert Green was again bypassed. David James earned a surprising, and well-deserved, callup, as did Scott Carson, but for some reason Capello plumped for Wigan's Chris Kirkland. Now, nothing against Kirkland, who has struggled mightily with injuries in recent seasons, but his form has been indifferent. He has a Sky Sports cumulative rating of 6.1, nearly a full point lower than Green's 6.9, and his team has languished in or about the relegation zone all season. Greenie, meanwhile, has saved three penalties, two of them in stoppage time to preserve points, and kept clean sheets against the likes of Man United and Liverpool. Sad for him - he must have pissed off someone at the FA.
Paul Robinson, not surprisingly, was dropped. Radek Cerny has been holding down the Spurs number one shirt, so we shouldn't expect a return to English duty until Robbo gets back in the first team - or perhaps moves to pastures anew.
In other news, Brad Guzan's European adventure ended in disappointment. He impressed everywhere he went, and Villa made a firm offer for his services, but his appeal for a work permit was turned down. Not terribly surprising, since he has only 4 caps. He'll return to Chivas this season, and will likely pick up a number of caps in friendlies that Tim Howard doesn't travel to. Brad is still very young, and European clubs won't forget him. Once his work permit credentials are stronger, there will be plenty of interest in him
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