Clint.Magnum - yes i am from the North East in fact I'm from Middlesbrough and do support Middlesbrough and where did you hear the story? no doubt the southern papers have a slow day, of course Boro have better defenders than Woodgate, they have Wheater who last came through from out of no where and played miles better than the injury crock Woodgate same goes for Pogatetz and Huth when fit, as for the club being in "more turmoil behind the scenes as the Toon", WTF are you smoking?? You sound like one of these bitter Geordies who only wish they had someone like Gibson in charge.

stonee21 - Downing is not a bad player that everyone makes him out to be, yes I agree he needs to be dropped but only for a few games, he needs that little wake up call and needs to start performing at club level that 1st earned him his call up, and why does everyone get on his back when he plays badly? there's another 10 players playing as well, is it because he doesnt play for a 'big team'?, I see no one gets on Rooney's , Lampard's, Garrard's back when they play s***e for England, pot, kettle, back me thinks.

the only way micheal owen is gonna get back into the england squad, is to leave newcastle united. why did he go there in the first place, i bet he's kicking himself now. he must have went there for the money surely, or was it to win trophys, lol.

were all missing the bigger picture here why is that waste of space stewart downing who gets booed by england fans because he is so diabolical each time he plays is still in the squad?!?!?! its time england managers learnt summat stewart downing was chit is chit and always will be chit

Capello should pick Owen instead of Crouch.He(Owen) is far better striker than Crouch is and Owen doesnot bundle like Crouchie does.

Very simple, Owen is a great striker but he doesn't fit in Capello's plan for the next match "big deal!"
Does this make Owen a less player or person?
ofcourse not!
Enough that he can score against any team no matter how bad is the team he's playing for :(
I support newcastle by the way :)

Should have left Gerrard out, always plays @#$% for Engalnd - and has been proven so often that him and Limpard can't play together. Heskey instead of Owen - ha, ha, ha.

What is Fabio Capello thinking, why has he dropped Owen, he is by far the best English Sticker in the Premiership and I’m not a Newcastle fan

It is striking that the national team coach should think about, why to drop Owen.

Not Owen but capello shall be dropped.

Smoggie, how can you say owen is past it when he has scored 3 goals in the last 5 games playing for a team that is giving him nothing to play off. when was the last time heskey or defoe scored in an international that mattered??

Smoggie,
Are you from the North East?? If so you would know that Boro did not sell Woodgate because they had better players at the club. They sold him because Downing gave them an ultimatum, "either he goes or I go" after it was found that Woodgate was knocking off Downing's Sister and then got her pregnant. Your club is in as much turmoil behind the scenes as the Toon!

David Beckham vs Ashley Young - consider dead balls, tracking back and passing other players (still with the ball). And we play Beckham ! - But of course the jetlag will improve DB's game no end, what was I thinking of, silly me ?

crouch does ok for england,but needs owen or rooney,if rooney gets injured,then what,crouch+defoe,crouch+heskey,heskey+defoe,i don't think so

IS ANYBODY SERIOUSLY GONNA TELL ME THAT EMILE HESKEY, PETER CROUCH AND JERMAINE DEFOE ARE BETTER PLAYERS THAN MICHAEL OWEN?

Owen is not dropped - he was never in the squad in the first place. Someone else will need to be dropped to enable Owen to be selected.

james_sher - Woodgate is @#$%, Wheater is a far better defender, why do you think Boro sold Woodgate, cos Boro had better and Wheater last season proved it, not sure why Wheater's not been called up yet instead of Lescott as again Wheater a far better centre back than Lescott.

Other thing is, I wish Downing wasn't called up, he needs to be dropped, not cos he @#$%, far from it, he just needs a little wake up call, probably would do him the world of good if he was dropped at international and for the Boro, might see the old Downing instead of this half assed Downing.

Owen, no suprise, he's not the player he used to be and is past it.

some people just dont get it. heskey is important to us. he may not be a goalscorer but he does do much and links up very well with either rooney, defoe or owen. but i still dont get what more does capello want from owen? he's scoring goals for a team that has no confidence until recenly. and besides dont anyone think he would at least be a good option to bring off the bench? bottom line: MICHAEL OWEN IS A GENUINE GOALSCORER!!!!!
oh and by the way, ashley young and agbonlahor just dont fit with england at the moment. not that downing does though. and keep becks man, him and walcott r 2 very good options on the right. they both can offer something different. use the likes of heskey and beckham as much as possible before they get too old

Owen for a small striker scores a fair few goals with his head. Plus Owen n crouch when have played together for england, have had a pretty good strike partnership. Also with the fact Owen can score goals with his head, would be an advantage at corners as all the focus would be on our taller players especially crouch, giving owen more of a chance in the box. Owen is alot like lineker was and could grab a goal very late on. So Owen should be in the next line up.

ARGENTINA --- ARGENTINA --- ARGENTINA --- ARGENTINA --- ARGENTINA

well he's got 2 strikers who won't score goals,defoe and heskey,and they'll do f all else either,owen should have at least been on the bench,he is proven at this level,oh well crapello is digging himself a hole,we can be rubbish with an english manager then