Barry For England (oh and Carson)

Well my lord, will wonders never cease?

Gareth Barry is back in the England squad and quite rightly too. On loan keeper Scott Carson has also had a call up to the 28-man squad for the ‘friendly’ v Germany (as good an example of an oxymoron as I can think) next week.

Lets hope Barry is kept in for the competitive games v Israel and Russia next month in the Euro qualifiers.

England squad:
Robinson (Tottenham) WHY?
James (Portsmouth),
Carson (on loan at Aston Villa),
Richards (Manchester City)
Brown (Manchester United)
Ferdinand (Manchester United)
Terry (Chelsea)
Ashley Cole (Chelsea)
Campbell (Portsmouth)
Taylor (Newcastle)
Neville (Everton)
Shorey (Reading)
Beckham (LA Galaxy)
Gerrard (Liverpool) Lets hope he can con the ref for another free kick.
Lampard (Chelsea)
Joe Cole (Chelsea)
Wright-Phillips (Chelsea)
Carrick (Manchester United)
Barry (Aston Villa)
Downing (Middlesbrough)
Dyer (West Ham)
Hargreaves (Manchester United)
Smith (Newcastle)
Owen (Newcastle)
Crouch (Liverpool)
Bent (Tottenham)
Johnson (Everton)
Defoe (Tottenham)

Glad to see the rumours that A-mule Heskey was to be re-called have proved unfounded.

Meanwhile Craig Gardner, called up for the first time in the England U21’s says it has been the best week of his life. Not been a bad one for me either, Boris the spider has returned.

‘I’m delighted to be named in the Under-21 squad. It’s been an amazing week for me, signing the new contract and now this. Things are going well. I watched the Under-21s this summer, because a few of my mates were involved. Obviously I thought it would be nice to be involved, but I never thought for one minute I’d get the call this quickly. It’s not something you take for granted. I felt I ended last season well and I’ve worked hard this summer, but I wasn’t thinking too much about international football. Playing for your country is something you dream about as a kid. I’ve not played for England at youth level, so that means this call-up is even more special to me. Hopefully I can do well.’