Premier League - O'Neill to ponder Heskey claims

Eurosport - Wed, 14 Oct 13:22:00 2009

Martin O'Neill admits he will "sit down and have a think" about Emile Heskey's claims he may have to quit Aston Villa to keep his World Cup hopes alive before making any public comment.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Premier League Aston Villa Portsmouth-Aston Villa Heskey - 0

Heskey admitted his lack of starts for Villa since his £3.5 million move from Wigan in January was giving him cause for concern after Saturday's World Cup qualifier in Ukraine.

O'Neill said: "You can ask me as much as you want about it, but I won't have anything to say at this moment (about Heskey's comments). I've been away from my desk for a couple of days, so I will genuinely have to sit down and have a think about it before I make any comment on that."

He added: "But players need to remember themselves here. The World Cup is not next week, not before Christmas and not even before Easter. It's a long, long way away.

"The side picked, if the World Cup was just round the corner, might be a lot different to the one picked for next summer. There could be five changes or more with things like injuries or loss of form."

"There's players at this football club with proper ambitions to be in the England reckoning next summer - and so they should - like Ashley Young, James Milner, Stewart Downing, Gabby Agbonlahor and Emile Heskey.

"But I wouldn't get overly concerned about all that just yet if I were them."

PA Sport

Comment 1 - 12 of 12

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  1. heskey is an idiot. he doesnt need to move away from­ villa if he wants a place in the england squad, as long­ as he can continue to score he will make england.­ agbonlahor for example. he has been scoring recently­ and capello took note of it and started him in the­ match against belarus.

    From matteos.maserati, on Thu 15 Oct 8:12AM

  2. No.6.....The squad is actually 23 players...

    From a, on Thu 15 Oct 7:57AM

  3. "Heskey plays for England because we need a­­ holding striker" said a previous comment...­ exactly why do we ''need'' a holding­ striker?

    You "need" a holding striker if you­ want your pacemen (midfielders) to make runs, not just­ to feed a striker.

    The general England setup is not­ fast paced, we have no need for route 1 holding...­ frankly... we dont need heskey as a holding attacker.

    From hambycomb, on Wed 14 Oct 11:10PM

  4. AH TINKS DAT DA BALL SHOODS BE SURGICALLY REMOVES FROM­ DIS MENS HEAD, NO WONDERS HE NO CAN SCORE DA GOAL

    From paddybuysumore, on Wed 14 Oct 9:45PM

  5. Why does MON just drop him from squad until he learns­ to keep his mouth shut?

    From David, on Wed 14 Oct 7:55PM

  6. Tactics are tactics. Granted!

    My point is he's­ USELESS!!!

    From Paul, on Wed 14 Oct 7:12PM

  7. Maybe people on here to learn some football tactics­ first. Heskey plays for England because we need a­ holding striker who can win balls in the air, apart­ from Heskey the only other player would be Carlton Cole­ who is excellent but is prone to stupid mistakes.­ Heskey doesnt need to score goals because we can get­ that from Rooney, Gerrard, Lampard who would fit into­ any international team or club team in the world. He­ doesnt have to be ASton Villa 1st choice to play for­ England because John Carew is extremely good player who­ is great in the air but plays for Norway. But­ Heskey's fears are not warranted because he will­ almost definitely be in the squad as long as he is fit.­ The squad is 26 players, strikers most likely, Rooney,­ Cole, Agbon, Heskey, Ashton (maybe) Owen (maybe),­ defoe, crouch.

    From zehst, on Wed 14 Oct 4:22PM

  8. Maybe if he actually put more effort into actually­­ making himself a worthy cause to be picked than he did­­ throwing his toys for attention for not getting­ picked,­ he wouldn't be in the situation he's­­ in.
    I'll be glad to see the back of him at Villa.­­ Come to think of it, if he's a candidate for­­ England's World Cup team, what chance have we got­­ winning that???

    From Paul, on Wed 14 Oct 4:02PM

  9. Why not just let O Neill manage the team?

    I am sure­ Heskey THINKS he should play.. but if he is not­ scoring, and not on form, then what??

    I hope he gets­ his transfer, pisses off to Notts county or whatever­ and then i won't have to listen to his @#$% about­ how it's EVERYONE elses fault he is rubbish.

    From Charly K, on Wed 14 Oct 3:07PM

  10. I cannot imagine how this guy will be England striker­ for world cup. If he is that good he should have been­ number one striker for Aston Villa. He will need to go­ to Championship side to be a regular player. I dont­ know which of the striker he can dislodge in any­ premiership side.

    From adnkle, on Wed 14 Oct 2:40PM

  11. Surely there's a simple answer to this, start­ playing well and scoring goals for Villa and you'll­ get in the team!!

    From Jody, on Wed 14 Oct 2:31PM

  12. If I where an England fan I would be praying Martin­ would play him in the hope he would get injured by the­ time the world cup comes along. There are better­ strikers out there who should be given a start.

    From billy b, on Wed 14 Oct 2:21PM
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