Gareth will struggle to name team without a bad boy!
FOR an England manager, there is one problem with enforcing a moral code. Players. They’ll screw you over every time. So having left Mason Greenwood and Phil Foden out of his squad, Gareth Southgate is now having to balance their misdemeanours with those of Tammy Abraham, Ben Chilwell and Jadon Sancho. Greenwood and Foden were out of line while on England duty, so that is one difference, but in terms of risks and foolishness during a pandemic, the cases are quite similar. Foden and Greenwood invited outsiders into England’s bubble; Abraham, Chilwell and Sancho attended a party which flew in the face of current Covid guidelines less than 48 hours before scheduled to join up. . Neither is the crime of the century but if three remain while two stayed barred it looks more like expediency than ethics. It was ever thus. In 2003, Alan Smith was stood down by the Football Association pending a police investigation into an incident at a match between Leeds and Manchester United. It immediately transpired that James Beattie, his replacement, was banned for drink-driving; and that Nicky Butt had played three matches under the same regime — that of former chairman Mark Palios — while awaiting news of charges over a fight outside a nightclub. So good luck to Southgate in negotiating this moral maze. He was planning a squad meeting to reinforce the regime’s principles this week. Might be best to do a head count first. He still needs 11 for Wales on Thursday.