Roy Hodgson has said John Terry is still part of his England plans and only a length FA ban would change that. Photograph: Alexander Khudeteply/AFP/Getty Images
Roy Hodgson has indicated he wants to keep John Terry in his plans for the England team even if the Football Association rules that the Chelsea captain did racially abuse Anton Ferdinand.
Terry will not be involved in Wednesday's friendly against Italy after Hodgson named an experimental squad notable for the return of Michael Carrick and call-ups for Jack Rodwell, Steven Caulker, Jake Livermore and Ryan Bertrand.
Hodgson was always planning to experiment and the England manager said it would need "an enormous ban" for Terry not to remain a part of future squads at the end of the FA's disciplinary hearing.
Hodgson said the same applied to Rio Ferdinand, Anton's elder brother, who has been charged with misconduct by the FA for responding to a tweet about "choc-ice" in a conversation about Ashley Cole's evidence during Terry's recent trial at Westminster magistrates' court. Ferdinand said his comment was misconstrued.
However, Ferdinand's exclusion from the latest squad all but confirms what is widely known already, namely that his international career is over while Hodgson is in charge. Terry faces a more serious offence, which he denies, arising from Chelsea's trip to QPR last October, but Hodgson does not believe a guilty verdict should rule the player out of being picked to represent his country in the future.
"John Terry has been through a charge in a court; now he has to go through the process the FA has embarked upon," Hodgson said. "The same applies to Rio. As far as I am concerned, it is a disciplinary matter, which the FA will take care of.
"As long as they don't suffer enormous bans that will keep them out of my thinking there is no reason for me to believe I can't consider them in the future. And obviously I will."
As well as Terry, Hodgson has also left out his other first-choice defenders from Euro 2012 – Cole, Joleon Lescott and Glen Johnson – and several other senior players, including Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney. Frank Lampard returns in midfield and Hodgson blamed a misunderstanding for Carrick's non-involvement in Euro 2012.
"Michael Carrick would have always been in our thinking. I was given to believe he didn't want to be part of the England setup. He didn't want to be considered for the Euros so I reluctantly thought if people are not available they are not available."
Carrick had, indeed, withdrawn from contention while Fabio Capello was still in charge at the beginning of the year, on the basis he was fed up of being a fringe player. Stuart Pearce, the caretaker manager, asked him to return for the February friendly against Holland but could not talk him round. David Geiss, Carrick's agent, then informed the FA this was still the case shortly before Hodgson named his Euro 2012 squad.
"He [Carrick] has had discussions with Gary [Neville] and me since and it turns out that he does want to play," Hodgson said. "This is an ideal opportunity to invite him to play for England again. There has never been any doubt that Carrick has not been in our thoughts or our wishes. It was more a case of believing he wasn't available for England and that it was a final decision."
Hodgson's squad includes five of the players who were involved in the Olympics with Great Britain. "I think it's very important to get a look at some of the younger players. But it's also important to make sure that the players who should have been with us at the Euros – John Ruddy, Frank Lampard, Gary Cahill – had a chance to come with us.
"There's a good balance in the squad. There are plenty of senior players to start the game for us but it will also be nice to see some of the younger ones. I've left [out] a lot of the players who did extremely well at the Euros – the senior players whose position is in no doubt – to give others a chance."
England squad to play Italy in Berne on 15 August
Joe Hart (Man City), Jack Butland (Birmingham), John Ruddy (Norwich); Kyle Walker (Spurs), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Steven Caulker (Spurs), Phil Jagielka , Leighton Baines (both Everton), Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea); Jack Rodwell (Everton), Michael Carrick (Man Utd), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Jake Livermore (Spurs), Tom Cleverley (Man Utd), James Milner, Adam Johnson (both Man City), Ashley Young (Man Utd), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Theo Walcott (Arsenal); Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Spurs).
No comments:
Post a Comment