David James had admitted that whoever takes over England might see differently but he has no intension of calling time on his international career, and as he told the Daily Mirror he is looking to be at the 2010 world cup finals: ‘with a new manager coming in I am not sure about my future with the national team.
‘If the opportunity arises to continue with England then I am certainly going to take it.
‘The new boss will look at his options and decide who he wants in his squad. He has time because the next competitive game is not until next autumn’.
People constantly look to his age – 37 – as being a factor to work against him, but with this age comes immense experience that could and should be passed onto the upcoming potential future no.1’s, who as good as most are are all lacking just that – experience.
Sure, the only way for them to gain this is to play but if James is still the best – as I believe he is – then he would be my no.1 for England – they could then learn from and pressure him – up to and including the next world cup, as I have said several times recently.
If whoever comes in is a sound and just manager then my thinking is his age will not be held against him and current club form will be the defining factor – as it always should be, but rarely was under Spineless Steve.
In other James related news, he has picked up his first piece of silverware for the season – lets hope there is more to come! – after being named footballer of the year in the annual BBC south sports awards.
He has gained this in recognition of this stunning form for Pompey over the past year, a year that also saw him break the record for the most clean sheets set in the premier league.
Pedro Mendes picked up this award last year.
PLAY UP POMPEY!
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