ENGLAND arrived in Krakow yesterday to make final preparations for their three Euro 2012 Group D games against France, Sweden and Ukraine.
Straightaway, though, Football Association chiefs were forced on the defensive after an awkward build-up beset by injuries to players and a debate over their replacements.
"We're here to talk about the tournament, about the 23 players who are here and I'm not prepared to discuss - at all - any players who are not here," said FA chairman David Bernstein, sternly.
That list includes Frank Lampard, whose hopes of probably a last major tournament were dashed by a thigh injury, and Gareth Barry who is out with a stomach injury.
Third-choice goalkeeper John Ruddy, himself a surprise call-up from Norwich City, sustained a broken finger and had to be replaced by Jack Butland, a 19-year-old Birmingham City keeper.
But the biggest controversy occurred when Chelsea's Gary Cahill was ruled out of the tournament with a fractured jaw following a nasty push by Dries Mertens of Belgium in a warm-up match.
Martin Kelly, the young Liverpool full-back, was the shock call-up in place of Cahill, causing Rio Ferdinand's representatives to claim the Manchester United defender was being ignored for non-footballing reasons.
Indeed, Jamie Moralee - Ferdinand's agent - claimed that new England boss Roy Hodgson had shown a "total lack of respect" towards the 33-year-old who has won 79 caps for England.
However, Hodgson then received support from the likes of John Barnes and David Pleat for leaving out a player who - let's face it - is not getting any younger.
Still, that does not mean the choice of Kelly was necessarily the answer. For a start, it brings up the Liverpool contingent in the 23 to six - and this follows the Reds' worst league finish since 1954.
More pointedly, Micah Richards' exclusion is rather strange, especially as the promising, attacking right-back can also be used as centre-back in an emergency.
It seems, though, that Richards' refusal to be placed on a stand-by list irked Hodgson, meaning from then on he had no chance of making it to the finals anyway.
The problem for England at the moment is that they cannot really afford to be so picky.
Cahill's unfortunate injury has exposed the national team's lack of depth at centre-back while a similar issue in the goalkeeper shirt is obvious from the selection of an untried 19-year-old, who spent last season on loan at Cheltenham Town.
In midfield, meanwhile, England are not only without Lampard and Barry but also the fresher talents of Arsenal's Jack Wilshere and Man United's Tom Cleverly, both of whom picked up bad injuries during the season.
Finally, up front, England are still too reliant on Wayne Rooney. Except, it is a fact that they cannot rely on him for the first two games of the group following his idiotic red-card for a petulant kick at a Montenegro player in the final qualifying match.
Instead, then, it looks like Hodgson will line-up with Liverpool forward Andy Carroll even though the big Geordie has scored just six league goals in the 16 months since his £35m move from his boyhood club.
Carroll faces genuine competition from Man United's Danny Welbeck who staked his claim in perfect fashion by scoring a neat winner in the 1-0 warm-up win against Belgium.
And Ashley Young is expected to play just behind whoever the main striker is after his winner in another 1-0 warm-up win against Norway added to his impressive statistics in qualifying.
Young, with three goals and three assists, was England's most effective player in getting the Three Lions to Euro 2012.
Perhaps it will be him - and not his Old Trafford team-mate Rooney - who will be England's key man in the next couple of weeks...
ENGLAND EURO 2012 SQUAD
| Club | Age | Caps | Goals | Comments | ||
| Goalkeepers: | ||||||
| 1 | Joe HART | Manchester City | 25 | 18 | 0 | Undisputed number one, club won their first league title for 44 years this season. |
| 13 | Robert GREEN | West Ham United | 32 | 12 | 0 | Lost his place in the team following mistake v USA in the World Cup. |
| 23 | Jack BUTLAND | Birmingham City | 19 | 0 | 0 | Uncapped. Played on loan at Cheltenham Town in League Two last season. |
| Defenders: | ||||||
| 2 | Glen JOHNSON | Liverpool | 27 | 36 | 1 | Marauding right full-back but suspect at the back. |
| 3 | Ashley COLE | Chelsea | 31 | 94 | 0 | Most capped player in the squad. Played brilliantly in the Champions League final. |
| 5 | Martin KELLY | Liverpool | 22 | 1 | 0 | Surprise call-up as replacement for Gary Cahill (jaw). Late debut v Norway. |
| 6 | John TERRY | Chelsea | 31 | 73 | 6 | Former captain. Stands trial in July for alleged racist abuse of Anton Ferdinand. |
| 12 | Leighton BAINES | Everton | 27 | 8 | 0 | Reserve left-back. At pains to state claims of homesickness in 2010 were untrue. |
| 14 | Phil JONES | Manchester United | 20 | 5 | 0 | Versatile youngster who can play in midfield. Question marks over his best position. |
| 15 | Joleon LESCOTT | Manchester City | 29 | 16 | 0 | Expected to line-up alongside Terry in the first XI following Cahill's injury. |
| 18 | Phil JAGIELKA | Everton | 29 | 12 | 0 | Replaced Gareth Barry (stomach). Can also play as a defensive midfielder. |
| Midfielders: | ||||||
| 4 | Steven GERRARD | Liverpool | 32 | 92 | 19 | Skipper. Reds' regular hero playing in his sixth major tournament for England. |
| 7 | Theo WALCOTT | Arsenal | 23 | 24 | 3 | Pacy right-winger. Has not scored for England since hat-trick v Croatia in 2008. |
| 8 | Jordan HENDERSON | Liverpool | 21 | 3 | 0 | Baffling, ineffective replacement for Frank Lampard (thigh). |
| 11 | Ashley YOUNG | Manchester United | 26 | 21 | 6 | Left-winger but will likely play behind the striker. Poor reputation for diving. |
| 16 | James MILNER | Manchester City | 26 | 26 | 0 | Versatile midfielder, can play on either flank or through the middle, or even at full-back. |
| 17 | Scott PARKER | Tottenham Hotspur | 31 | 13 | 0 | Former skipper but late-bloomer. Much-admired Player of the Year, 2011. |
| 19 | Stewart DOWNING | Liverpool | 27 | 34 | 0 | Failed to score or make a single assist last season in the Premier League. |
| 20 | Alex OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN | Arsenal | 18 | 2 | 0 | Youngest player in the squad after exciting in his breakthrough season at the Emirates. |
| Forwards: | ||||||
| 9 | Andy CARROLL | Liverpool | 23 | 4 | 1 | Scored just four league goals last season but also found the net in the FA Cup Final. |
| 10 | Wayne ROONEY | Manchester United | 26 | 74 | 28 | Suspended for the first two games. Has not scored for England at a finals since 2004. |
| 21 | Jermain DEFOE | Tottenham Hotspur | 29 | 47 | 15 | Experienced international, returned home on eve of tournament following death of father. |
| 22 | Danny WELBECK | Manchester United | 21 | 5 | 1 | Man United regular last season. Staked a claim for the first team with goal v Belgium. |
REPRESENTATION BY CLUB
6 Liverpool
4 Manchester United,
3 Manchester City
2 Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Everton
1 West Ham United, Birmingham City
THE MANAGER
Head coach Roy HODGSON is an experienced international manager having taken charge of Switzerland, Finland and the United Arab Emirates in the past. Under his tutelage, the Swiss qualified for World Cup 1994 and Euro 96, and reached third in the FIFA World Rankings in August 1993.
As a club boss, the 64-year-old from Croydon, south London, has also managed extensively abroad with 10 clubs in five different countries, including two spells at Internazionale. His honours include seven Swedish league titles, two Swedish cups, a Danish league title, a Danish Super Cup, while he is a twice runner-up in the UEFA Cup/Europa League with Inter and then Fulham.
But, despite his achievements with Fulham and also at West Bromwich Albion, where he stabilised the club in the Premier League, Hodgson's record in England has been patchy, at times. He lasted just four months at Bristol City back in 1980, and was also sacked from his job at Blackburn Rovers in the middle of his second season with the club bottom of the league and ultimately relegated. In the previous season, Hodgson had taken Rovers into the UEFA Cup by finishing sixth.
He is perhaps most remembered now, though, for his ill-fated spell in charge of Liverpool where he was sacked after just six months of a three-year contact. Hodgson's supporters suggest he was sacked prematurely from a club which needs a major overhaul; his detractors point to home defeats against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Blackpool, and in the League Cup against Northampton Town.
Still, Hodgson staged a mini-recovery of his career at the Hawthorns, securing consecutive solid mid-table finishes at what had previously been a yo-yo club. That was enough to convince the Football Association to make Hodgson their only choice with the much-heralded media favourite Harry Redknapp not even interviewed.
Hodgson was appointed head coach of the England national team on 1 May 2012. His first two games, against Norway away and Belgium at home, have both resulted in 1-0 victories, suggesting his organisational drills have already had some effect. In the absence of Wayne Rooney, England have so far favoured a counter-attacking approach with a deep-lying defence and the exploitation of the pace of the likes of Ashley Young and Danny Welbeck up front.
| Hodgson career record | From | To | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Win% | |
| Halmstads (Swe) | Jan 1976 | Nov 1980 | 130 | 52 | 45 | 33 | 40% | |
| Bristol City (Eng) | Jan 1982 | Apr 1982 | 20 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 15% | |
| Oddevold (Swe) | 1982 | 1982 | - | - | - | - | -% | |
| Orebro (Swe) | Jan 1983 | Nov 1984 | 48 | 24 | 15 | 9 | 50% | |
| Malmo FF (Swe) | Jan 1985 | Dec 1989 | 110 | 68 | 28 | 14 | 62% | |
| Neuchatel Xamax (Swi) | Jul 1990 | Jun 1992 | 72 | 29 | 27 | 16 | 40% | |
| Switzerland | Jan 1992 | Nov 1995 | 41 | 21 | 10 | 10 | 51% | |
| Internazionale (Ita) | Oct 1995 | May 1997 | 86 | 38 | 25 | 23 | 44% | |
| Blackburn Rovers (Eng) | Jun 1997 | Nov 1998 | 62 | 22 | 18 | 22 | 35% | |
| Internazionale (Ita) | May 1999 | Jun 1999 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 67% | |
| Grasshoppers Zurich (Swi) | Jul 1999 | Jun 2000 | 36 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 39% | |
| FC Copenhagen (Den) | Jul 2000 | Jun 2001 | 35 | 18 | 12 | 5 | 51% | |
| Udinese (Ita) | Jun 2001 | Dec 2001 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 41% | |
| United Arab Emirates | Apr 2002 | Jan 2004 | 17 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 24% | |
| Viking (Nor) | Jul 2004 | Dec 2005 | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 42% | |
| Finland | Jan 2006 | Nov 2007 | 22 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 27% | |
| Fulham (Eng) | Dec 2007 | Jul 2010 | 128 | 50 | 32 | 46 | 39% | |
| Liverpool (Eng) | Jul 2010 | Jan 2011 | 31 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 42% | |
| West Bromwich Albion (Eng) | Feb 2011 | May 2012 | 54 | 20 | 13 | 21 | 37% | |
| England | May 2012 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 100% | ||
| Overall | 952 | 410 | 284 | 258 | 43% |
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