Uncle C
Well-known member
U21 coach Peter Taylor has named his squad for the up coming games against Wales and Azerbaijan...
The squad is made up of 23 players, two of them surprisingly coming from o_ne of Taylor's former clubs Brighton.
Daniel Harding is the least surprising of the two, having been called up before and doing a decent job when he did play. The other is a bolt from the blue in the shape of defender Adam Hinshelwood, who has been drafted in due to the absence of Justin Hoyte and Anton Ferdinand. While Hinshelwood may be a talented player, it does smack of a lazy selection to just go for a player you knew at a former club, and perhaps is a sign of the heavy work load Taylor has, trying to coach both the U21's and Hull City.
The preferred choice would've been the highly talented Billy Jones, who is a regular at Crewe, and while he may be young, the way he's taken to first team football at League O_ne level over the past two years is surely a sign that he could do a good job for the U21's.
Good news o_n the defensive front is the return of Steven Taylor, who has been absent from the last few games due to a niggling injury that he has thankfully recently managed to shake off. Whether he will start or not is a tough call to make, the Magpies defender will be competing with Matthew Kilgallon for the vacant space next to Calum Davenport, though personally I'd have both players ahead of the former Coventry centreback, given his unconvincing performances in an England U21 shirt so far.
The midfield will be strengthened by the return of David Bentley, though where he will play will be a dilemma for Peter Taylor, the most likely solution being sticking him o_n the left in place of Stewart Downing.
Upfront we'll hopefully see Taylor bite the bullet and drop the out of form Jon Stead for the more able talents of Dean Ashton, a move that will allow the Crewe striker to reform his impressive partnership with Carlton Cole. Darrent Bent also has a good shout to replace Stead, given his superb scoring record of 6 goals in 8 games, despite having never started a game.
The squad is made up of 23 players, two of them surprisingly coming from o_ne of Taylor's former clubs Brighton.
Daniel Harding is the least surprising of the two, having been called up before and doing a decent job when he did play. The other is a bolt from the blue in the shape of defender Adam Hinshelwood, who has been drafted in due to the absence of Justin Hoyte and Anton Ferdinand. While Hinshelwood may be a talented player, it does smack of a lazy selection to just go for a player you knew at a former club, and perhaps is a sign of the heavy work load Taylor has, trying to coach both the U21's and Hull City.
The preferred choice would've been the highly talented Billy Jones, who is a regular at Crewe, and while he may be young, the way he's taken to first team football at League O_ne level over the past two years is surely a sign that he could do a good job for the U21's.
Good news o_n the defensive front is the return of Steven Taylor, who has been absent from the last few games due to a niggling injury that he has thankfully recently managed to shake off. Whether he will start or not is a tough call to make, the Magpies defender will be competing with Matthew Kilgallon for the vacant space next to Calum Davenport, though personally I'd have both players ahead of the former Coventry centreback, given his unconvincing performances in an England U21 shirt so far.
The midfield will be strengthened by the return of David Bentley, though where he will play will be a dilemma for Peter Taylor, the most likely solution being sticking him o_n the left in place of Stewart Downing.
Upfront we'll hopefully see Taylor bite the bullet and drop the out of form Jon Stead for the more able talents of Dean Ashton, a move that will allow the Crewe striker to reform his impressive partnership with Carlton Cole. Darrent Bent also has a good shout to replace Stead, given his superb scoring record of 6 goals in 8 games, despite having never started a game.
