Downing 'blasts' Capello

[bobcat]

From the Sun:

STEWART DOWNING has launched an amazing attack on England boss Fabio Capello.
The Aston Villa winger was ditched from Capello's World Cup squad without any explanation.

He said: "There were a few surprises in the 30 names picked.

"A lot of people who had not played were in the squad as were people out of form - but others were left out.

"It was a little bit strange and I was very disappointed as I thought, maybe, I had a chance to get in the 30 at least.

"He obviously has his reasons why but the disappointing thing was I didn't get told why I wasn't in the squad.

"That's his choice and there's no point in moaning about it now.

"I was in the squads leading up to my foot injury. I recovered and he put me back in the squad after only three games.

"That was a great confidence boost. I then thought we'd had a good end to the season, the team was playing well."

Meanwhile, Downing reckons selling James Milner to Manchester City could be a great piece of business for Aston Villa.

City are poised to make an improved offer of around £25million for England midfielder Milner, 24, after seeing a £20m bid rejected.

And Downing said: "The money they're talking about is a substantial amount for one player.

"If we can replace him with a player of his ability then it's good business."

[BannedUserIAT]

If that's a 'blast', then I fear his kids will grow up to be right little oiks.

And if he thinks it's a bit strange he was dropped then he's a bit short of grey matter.

[villaross]

Classic tabloid spin, Downing explained that he was disappointed but he has already moved on,yet the Sun interpreted that as an 'amazing attack'.

No wonder the player hate talking to the press..

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

Do any of us read The Sun for its coverage of football, or for information or views on anything else ?
The term 'blast' in a headline for stories about a person expressing views about another person seems to have become more prevalent.
 
The other headline word I hate is 'caged' as when its a story about someone being sent to prison.

[eastie]

More concerned by his milner comments!

Downing was lucky to get in the villa team from feb onwards never mind England.

[The Man With A Stick]

I found his comments on Milner much more interesting than his Capello "blast".

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

"If we can replace him with a player of his ability then it's good business." - Players as good don't come around all that often so to replace him with someone equally as good for less money isn't really going to happen. Why wouldn't Man City go and sign the player as good as but cheaper if there was such a player?

[Can Gana Be Bettered!?!?]

Oh, and the fact that Downing was shit for the majority of his games for us, I don't see how he can consider himself to play for England.

[Dr Butler]

It's that rag the Sun.  enough said.

UTV
The Doc

[olaftab]

Downing is correct. Players picked for England , at minimum, should be regulars in their Club team.

[mattjpa]

"If we can replace him with a player of his ability then it's good business." - Players as good don't come around all that often so to replace him with someone equally as good for less money isn't really going to happen. Why wouldn't Man City go and sign the player as good as but cheaper if there was such a player?

not 100% sure but i think theres a home grown quota coming in to effect soon. I imagine Milners value and citys interest  is somewhat increased by the fact they will need to fill that quota and i think alot of their british players are leaving.....

[ktvillan]

Hardly a blast but he's right about the strange selection.  Capello made a big thing about not picking players who weren't playing regularly or were out of form or not fully fit, and then he selected players in all three categories.  If he took King for example, why not Michael Owen - as an impact sub at least, he'd have scared the bejaysus out of a lot of teams on reputation alone.  That said Downing simply wasn't good enough last season.  

On Milner, he seems ot be implying City would be paying over the odds and we could get someone as good for less (Ireland?).  I wouldn't disageree with that but I don't think our players should really be expressing opinions on team mates possible transfers.

[Risso]

While it isn't a blast, I'd say it's still the sort of statement that managers don't take kindly to.  I wouldn't expect to see Downing back in the England squad for a while.

[ktvillan]

There's a certain manager that might not take too kindly to his Milner comments as well - remember what happened to Berger?

[themossman]

"If we can replace him with a player of his ability then it's good business." - Players as good don't come around all that often so to replace him with someone equally as good for less money isn't really going to happen. Why wouldn't Man City go and sign the player as good as but cheaper if there was such a player?

Well you could get a far better player than lescott for what they paid. If we get over £25 for milner and spend it wisely we could get a better player and have 5-10m to spare imho. Of course that snag is that would probably mean shopping abroad.