Fantastic news

[Blackpool Shrimp]

emile heskey retires from international football...maybe some more of the over paid prima donnas will follow suit asap

[shrimper]

Harsh.

Heskey is what he is. But at least he gives his all for England and his international form mirrors what he does for his club(s).

[darrenlock]

Funny The boss chooses him for his size so it can be easier for Rooney seriously .Look how be plays with Defoe I don't understand why Crouch did not start all the games and put Rooney on bench.
If Rooney was carrying a injury

[Blackpool Shrimp]

sorry glen I dont think I am been harsh..7 goals in 62 games proves that also just seen some stats on sky saying that he as only had 27 shots on target in all them games

[shrimper]

What I mean is, he's an honest player who gives of his best. It's not his fault he gets picked and, as I say, he is what he is.
He's never been a prolific scorer, ever. But he does work hard and occupy two centre backs sufficiently well for someone else to benefit - as he's usefully done all his career.

If you think of him as an advanced midfielder, with your team playing one up front (Rooney, Owen or whoever) it puts a different perspective on it.

And..... I like players who take their club form into England games. He does it, others quite obviously do not - so it's them that I'd be saving my real criticism for.

[The Fury]

[quote="shrimper"]What I mean is, he's an honest player who gives of his best. It's not his
He's never been a prolific scorer, ever.quote]

He did have one decent goalscoring season at Liverpool in 2000/2001, bagging 22 goals in their treble winning campaign.

I think he gets a raw deal, and it's very easy to use him as a scapegoat when the team aren't performing well, which is precisely what happened at this World Cup. During qualifying he received copious amounts of praise for getting the best out of those around him (i.e. Rooney, Walcott etc). His positive assets, his strength, his energy, his desire, his ability to bring others into play were all exalted. Suddenly, when those around him don't perform, it becomes Emile Heskey's fault because he' cant finish. It's an easy excuse and, instead, the likes of Rooney should be criticised for not performing.

For my money, Hesky produced the best moment of our dreadful World Cup with a clever and exquisite layoff for Steven Gerrard to score against USA. That's what he offers and I guarantee somewhere down the line we will bemoan not having those assets in forward players.

As it is though, I think he's made the right decision to retire from international football for two reasons: -

1. To avoid all the abuse and ridicule thrown his way
2. In order for him to break back into the Villa team and rediscover his form from his Wigan & Liverpool days.

Good luck to him. He is seems a grounded and polite bloke too which, with his retirement, we have a serious lack of in the England squad.

[P/T Indie]

I see Beckham wants to play for England at the 2014 world cup!

[Keith]

I see Beckham wants to play for England at the 2014 world cup!

That's the frustrating thing when watching that bunch on a free holiday to South Africa not being bothered to turn up. Beckham would walk over broken glass to play for England, he'd probably want to play in the 2026 World Cup too!

[ezz]

Did he set one of our 3 goals up all tournament which is already more than 3/4 of the team did. Didn't really miss any sitters because there was barely any deliver from.....well....anywhere.
Heskey is not the goal scorer, hes a striker who holds the ball up, builds pressure, wins freekicks (lots infact) and gets a fair few assists. Obviously his goal scoring record isn't great at all, but he does/did more than most players who've played for england.

[Plain Peter]

...he'd probably want to play in the 2026 World Cup too!

By which time the scoring area could be any size

Agree that Heskey's lay-off to Gerrard was one of the few pieces of class shown by any of them under-achievers in South Africa.

[Posh]

I totally agree with the positive comments about Heskey. During the USA game he worked really hard to break down play and try and put a foot in. Rooney on the other hand did absolutely nothing. The fact Heskey doesn't score many goals, looks cumbersome and gives a sense of being knackered isn't his fault. He is what he is and gets picked for being a target man, who holds the ball up well, lays it off well, has a good head AND most importantly he gives his all for his country.

If we had 11 players with more quality but the work ethic of Emile Heskey I'd be more than happy. Emile you can retire with pride. Germany 1 Liverpool 5 - was a particular highlight by the way.

[George Dawes]

Heskey was once described in a nutshell as a World Class Battering Ram


he was a absolute nuisance for defenders with his power & strength running at defenders, the amount of penalty's and free-kicks he use to win


i wish we had somebody like that at Morecambe to play the lone striker role to play off wiith our away form

[bigreddog]

Paul Mullin springs to mind

[George Dawes]

Paul Mullin springs to mind

no pace....

[Plain Peter]

he was a absolute nuisance for defenders with his power & strength running at defenders, the amount of penalty's and free-kicks he use to win

...but he couldn't put the pill in the back of the net.
Even with bigger goals he'd still make the keeper his target.
There was no excuse for a team who aspired to greatness in taking such a cumbersome, lumbersome, proven non-producer, and expect him to perform on the highest stage

[bigreddog]

Paul Mullin springs to mind

no pace....

you're right about that, but I still wouldn't want to play against him if I were a defender.

[George Dawes]

dont get me wrong Mullin is a right handful but for me he cant run with the ball at his feet with pace

i think the only striker i have seen in L2 is Clayton Donaldson who could play that role effectivly with pace, i dont think i have ever seen Jimbo get outmuscled and beaten like that before off such a player at L2 level

[bigreddog]

I really like Donaldson, and then there was the rather rotund chap from northampton last season, akinfenwa or something like it, who looked a bit of a handful, but for sure would have loved to see clayton in a shrimps shirt.

[parceldave]

I really like Donaldson, and then there was the rather rotund chap from northampton last season, akinfenwa or something like it, who looked a bit of a handful, but for sure would have loved to see clayton in a shrimps shirt.

Akinfenwa is free if you want him, has been released by Northampton. But as Dawzi said we need somebody up front with pace , who can run with the ball. Maybe we could kidnap Donaldson at Lancaster tomorrow night if he's there .

[halftimeresults]

Why would Northampton release their best player?

[George Dawes]

I really like Donaldson, and then there was the rather rotund chap from northampton last season, akinfenwa or something like it, who looked a bit of a handful, but for sure would have loved to see clayton in a shrimps shirt.

Akinfenwa is free if you want him, has been released by Northampton. But as Dawzi said we need somebody up front with pace , who can run with the ball. Maybe we could kidnap Donaldson at Lancaster tomorrow night if he's there .

will use your red van! and keep it shhh

[parceldave]

Why would Northampton release their best player?

Cos they cant afford to feed him.

[parceldave]

I really like Donaldson, and then there was the rather rotund chap from northampton last season, akinfenwa or something like it, who looked a bit of a handful, but for sure would have loved to see clayton in a shrimps shirt.

Akinfenwa is free if you want him, has been released by Northampton. But as Dawzi said we need somebody up front with pace , who can run with the ball. Maybe we could kidnap Donaldson at Lancaster tomorrow night if he's there .

will use your red van! and keep it shhh

Ok will have to use the unmarked one , you ,Marky No1 & Stanley (if you can get them out of the bar) can bundle him into the back , and i will drive . Probably wont need him until the end of August anyway.

[wijit]

he was a absolute nuisance for defenders with his power & strength running at defenders, the amount of penalty's and free-kicks he use to win

...but he couldn't put the pill in the back of the net.
Even with bigger goals he'd still make the keeper his target.
There was no excuse for a team who aspired to greatness in taking such a cumbersome, lumbersome, proven non-producer, and expect him to perform on the highest stage

There was no excuse to persist in starting with the player who should've done the most but was clear from the off he was goin g to do nothing. I would've rather had heskey than Rooney on that pitch after five minutes of the first game it was crystal clear we were getting sod all from him.
Heskey is incredibly under-rated by so many people, and to be frank, your above statement explains why so many of us are supporters and not managers. You have a forward who will take two defenders with him, make it bloody hard for them to get the ball and still get a half decent cross in. That isn't a non-producer, that is someone making good use of his own ability making space for someone with a better eye for goal.
The aspiration of the team should not dictate whether to take someone like Heskey, sometimes a player is worth taking purely because of what he does, and not what he doesn't do.

[marky No.1]

uote]

Ok will have to use the unmarked one , you ,Marky No1 & Stanley (if you can get them out of the bar) can bundle him into the back , and i will drive . Probably wont need him until the end of August anyway. [/quote]

Dave you seem to have the wrong impression somewhere

Not that its late. Or anything