Extreme Football Forum  |  Football Forums  |  General Football Forum  |  Topic: Carroll for England ?

Matt Barlow

Joey Barton has called on the FA to stop fretting about their 'goody two shoes' image and pick Newcastle bad boy Andy Carroll for England.
 
Barton urged Fabio Capello to judge Carroll on his form and hand him a first call-up on Saturday when the England boss names his squad for next week's friendly against France.
 
Carroll is on bail accused of assaulting a former girlfriend but Capello is thought to be keen to select the 21-year-old Geordie after watching him score the winner at Arsenal on Sunday.

Barton, who was imprisoned for common assault in 2008, said: 'Hopefully, England will stop wor rying about what the sponsors are going to say and thinking "Goody Two Shoes" is the right image for Team England. They need to start picking players to win football matches.

'Sometimes you need the players who don't always toe the line. Every other national team pick players because they're the best in their position. On form, Andy Carroll has to be in the England squad. He's got everything to be the archetypal English centre forward.

'Kevin Davies is a great player but is he really the future? He's 33. It's time to bring in the young kids.
 
'England were not at their best in the last game. Capello has got to freshen it up. He's got to try Andy. He can't be any worse than what's gone before.'