Carragher just says no, family more important than exhibition football

Blasphemy! Treason! Break out the tar, start plucking the chickens! Someone is talking sense in England and it's not that reputable blog, 'Talking Soccer'.

You can't blame Fabio Capello for trying though, Jamie Carragher is one of the best defenders in England, but years of being abused and disrespected by previous Three Lions heads has left a bad taste in the mouth of the 29-year-old man from Bootle. A brief period away from the national squad has poisoned him with discretion, what's the point of putting up with the unrealistic expectations and negative auspices of small-minded English fans when he could be spending time with his family?

Ultimately though, his return would do neither himself nor the squad any good. At the very most he would still only be available for a couple of more years, basically for some of the World Cup qualifying matches, but mainly for even more meaningless exhibition matches. There's simply no way the Three Lions will make it to the World Cup if they are relying on 30-somethings to get them there, and it's not as if they'll be allowed to win it anyhow. Might as well start breaking-in the chicks.

Carragher's momentous decision to leave the England side this past summer has been a godsend for Liverpool. The fact that he received such negative backlash is beyond rubbish, especially when you consider United players faking injuries and collecting early match red cards to avoid international duty usually go unquestioned. If Carra had remained available to Steve McClaren, he would have certainly been selected to start in most of the Three Lions Euro-qualifying matches in the late summer and fall. Only due to injuries to other players though.

That would have left Rafa with little choice but to force-integrate Jack Hobbs into the squad quicker than desired or have Arbeloa play more at centre back. Either way, with the injury to Agger, we would have been that much thinner and shakier on the back line, as one can't expect Carragher to play two games a week for three months straight.

Jamie Carragher is not the answer to England's national team issues anyhow. In fact, the real problem is that the English still believe the squad should be an actual representation of the country. That kind of thinking is simply passé. What they need to do is go the way of France and treat it more like club football, recruiting promising youngsters from foreign countries, relocating them and their families to England, setting up their parents with employment and falsifying the necessary documentation to make them citizens. Oh, and if there's any inquiry, just slip Sepp Blatter an envelope full of money.

Today's Banter: Cappello to replace Rafa?, City in for Masche, Beşiktaş rout fixed?, & more

Apparently, Fabio Capello was contacted by the club before the Porto match to see if he would be interested in replacing Rafa, had the position opened. No word on what his response was, but it's looking more and more likely that Benitez is here to stay. I personally wouldn't mind the former AC Milan/Real Madrid/AC Milan/AS Roma/Juventus/Real Madrid manager taking over, as he has shown in the past that he's capable of taking a squad full of players that were there before he arrived and making them champions, but in the end, Rafa staying on board is best for the club.

In the rubbish transfer rumor of the day, Sven allegedly fancies Mascherano and is looking to place a bid of £17m for the defensive midfielder in the January transfer. Apparently Masche's 'owners', MSI, want to have him under contract to a club for next year by the end of the month. Seriously, I don't think Rafa is going anywhere, but if the owners don't think signing the Argentine to a permanent is our top objective come January, I wouldn't blame Benitez for handing in his notice. Anyhow, if Javier does leave, I doubt he'll stay in England when he can go to Juventus or Barcelona.

UEFA and Platini once again are making donkeys of themselves. "The European governing body has received information that 26 games in the Champions League, UEFA Cup and Intertoto Cup may have been fixed since 2005 with Liverpool's 8-0 drubbing of the Turkish club at Anfield - the highest score in Europe's premier competition - among those allegedly involved." Apparently a lot of higher winning margin bets were placed on LFC just before kick off and a few Beşiktaş players might have been paid off not to give their all. Platini should know what a fixed match looks-like and it's not 8-0, it's usually 2-1 with an allowed handball goal or maybe 1-1 with a questionable penalty. Anyhow, it won't matter in the end, it appears nobody at the club were involved and another scandal to distract Marseilles may be just what the doctor ordered.

Finally, due to the fact that Jamie Carragher is playing with fire, Jack Hobbs may get the start at Reading to prevent the Bootle icon and our side from getting burnt. Carra did have to leave the Bolton match early due to sore ribs, but that's not why he may start from the bench on Saturday. He also has four yellow cards, a fifth will earn him a one-game suspension and force him out of the Man U match on the 16th. If Hobbs can maintain the composure he showed in the second half against the Trotters, I don't see why he can't do the same at the Madejski this weekend. Maybe the 19-year-old centre back can take confidence that he made his Liverpool debut at the Reading stadium just two-and-a-half months back.

I'll be back later with a Kids Watch recap from all of yesterday's action including our Reserves thumping Everton, 3-0. Cheers.