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According to the adver today!! Apparently Stuart Pearce has met with Danny Wilson to explain what he plans on doing.... if we don't go uop I hope Austin stays atleast next season but will be tough to keep ahold of him even with his contract extension.

It would be a nice little bit of news for Charlie Austin and Swindon Town if this was to happen.

Looking at the last couple of U-21 squads I'd say that Pearce is keen to select players who are playing and scoring most weeks... Many of the Premier League youngsters fail to get minutes. Only Andrew Carroll really gets suitable game time for earning Under-21 caps.

Yes but Andrew Carroll is crap!

...next stop South Africa!

Any idea where/when the next u21 game is?

Next week against Greece.

According to the FA Website....

Wednesday, 03/03/2010 19:00 England  v Greece  Keepmoat Stadium, Doncaster European Championship , May be on the telly?

Was hoping it might be some where localish.

Anyone fancy doncaster on a wednesday night?

I would be up for it if someone was driving up there?

He has to get in the squad first...

Exactly, even the Advertiser used the disclaimer of 'if-he-doesn't-get-into-this-squad-then-he-might-get-into-the-next-one'.

It's a midweek fixture isn't it? Because Bristol Rovers is coming up.

Think Pearce looks at Austin as a man treading in his own footsteps? Non League right to the top?

Pearce was one of those players that made you feel proud to be English and hopefully Austin can be too.

When will they release the squad? This week?

being announced at 3pm today. He's not in it.

Way to kill the excitement.

I was wondering who was the last outfield player who actually played for us, not on loan, that played for the England U21 team, my memory fails me sometimes and I was curious.

I know it wasnt Paul Rideout as he didnt get capped at U21 level with us only Schoolboy and Youth as his U21 caps came while at Aston Villa.

Fitz?

Digby and Summerbee went to the Toulon tournaments did they not?

I was thinking Brian Howard but that was under 19s and/or under 20s wasnt it? but not actually under 21s?

Rhys Evans got 1 cap here didn't he?

got more than 1 cap ... cant remember how many

would be amazing if Charlie got a call

He got two - but he might have got them at Chelsea.

I thought Evans got all his caps in a summer tournament before we signed him?

I know he turned down a call-up when he got into the Town side.

I reckon we should playing "B" Internationals alongside the full games, a day before or after. Good way to get fringe players a game at a high level and maybe try out lower league players with potential, play them all in England and you'd get good crowds and I'm sure smaller countries would be queuing up for games.

I agree with the B internationals, like they used to have back in the 70's and early 80's but the league managers are against it as it adds extra fixtures to the already full fixture list.

I think the B internationals should be brought back, but it did bring up a lot of players that in truth would get nowhere near the 1st team as even back in the day a lot of managers didnt support it fully and withrew a fair amount of called up players as its a meaningless competition.

I'd be surprised if he was being considered at the moment, he hasn't even had a full season in L1 as of yet, perhaps Pearce is looking at him as one for the future and considering inviting him along for the experience, never heard of U21 managers outlining why they want to call their players into squads

Would be amazing though non league to L1 to Eng U-21 within a season, although to be fair it says something about the lad that he is being linked to U21's

Knowing the adver though this is probably made up as they saw in on an internet forum.

Next thing we know he'll be off to S Africa with the full England Squad !

So has the squad been announced yet?

How Rhys Evans managed to win caps for the u21s is baffling. The bloke was fucking crap. Worst kicking I've ever seen followed by Bart griemink

http://www.thefa.com/England/MensUnder-21Team/MatchCentre/2010/EnglandGreece/MatchPreviews/SquadNamed.aspx

Why anybody would think a lad with less than 20 pro appearances in the third tier of football would get a call-up is beyond me.

You may not have noticed, but English goalkeeping has been in a deepening crisis for a good few years now..this is particularly evident at U 21 level.  When England got stuffed by the Hun in the summer Euro final, Loach the Watford kiddy threw in a couple a la Carson v Croatia, only probably worse.

The summer is a real worry, as there just isn't a credible candidate for custodian.

Hart seems about the best bet at the moment...although haven't seen too much of him.

Well, Stuart Pearce has expressed and interest in him. I think that is a fairly good indicator right there.

Oh
The same way that Alex McCarthy (Yeovil) and Frankie Fielding (Rochdale) have got call ups.

Fraser Digby and David Lucas got U-21 caps playing in the lower leagues.

It's good that Stuart Pearce is keeping an eye on the lower leagues because if players are proving their worth in first team fixtures then they should be at least scouted. Leroy Lita was capped when playing in L1 so why not Austin?

I may be wrong, but it might be due to the fact he scores one out of every 2 shots he has? Just a thought.

not in the squad to face greece

Shame, but never mind, his time will come.

There are some cracking players at u21 (Rodwell, Smalling, Wilshere) but if you look at the forwards, I don't think Charlie would look out of place. Welbeck for me is the standout striker.

Andy Carroll - Newcastle United
Nathan Delfouneso - Aston Villa
Daniel Sturridge - Chelsea
Danny Welbeck - Preston North End (loan from Manchester United)

How good is it that we've got a homegrown player scoring goals for fun and being talked about as a possible U21? Good times.

Keeps banging them in he will get a chance....which will put another million on his head.

Clearly Capello fancies him for the full squad instead :)

haaaaaaaaaahahahahhaha

Austin is nowhere near good enough for the u-21's yet

He didn't say he was Dave he said it was nice he is being talked about

Ok

Charlie Austin would look out of place up with those four players

Homegrown? We only just bought the lad!

I think we're talking under 21 years and not under 21 stone here.

Did you just rate Austin in the same bracket as Sturridge and Welbeck? Cos it sounds like you did.

Some people need a bit of a reality check me thinks.

well he is scoring goals for fun! The thing that stands out for me with austin is when he missed a chance v charlton, everybody was shocked that he had actually missed! When he gets the ball in front of goal you just always feel like he is going to hit the net.always. thats why he should be put in the same bracket as the above players.

austins scored more pro goals than any of the strikers mentioned. carroll's crap havnt seen much of delfouneso. an sturridge and welbeck both suck

The only reason any L1 player gets into the England setup is if they're on loan from the Prem/Championship, which seems a bit odd

Different class of opposition though - picking a national team on this basis would mean just taking the four highest English scorers in the country to the World Cup - Rickie Lambert to South Africa?

Austin's lack of real pace means he's not likely to become one of the very best. He's more than capable of being a high quality goalscorer (Kevin Phillips ?) rather than true international class - that would probably be good enough for most.

Austin is a better finisher than all those strikers.

Some people need to watch us more.

There are no quotes from Pearce or his coaches so we only have the adver's word that he is keeping an eye on Charlie, I do remain sceptical.

Sorry Nev, but i dont buy into the lack of pace thing, a certain Edward Sherringham didnt have pace but was one of the best centre forwards in the premiership and for England, i would rather have a slightly less pacey but more intelligent striker than someone with pace to burn but a  headless chicken . Austin has got massive potential but give him time to develope fully before he is judged.

Anyone who thinks Austin is slow is misjudged, i've not seen many centre backs catch him when he's bearing down on goal.

Fucking hell, you dont need pace all you need is a great footballing brain and positioning, look at Gary Lineker! he was quick as fuck over 2 yards...which made him first to the ball in the box, he had no pace at all outside the box. Matt Le Tissier....how much pace? (yes not the same type of player but he was class) Emile Heskey....pace? I dont think so!

I think in that company, he would probably be 4th or 5th out of 5, but he wouldn't look out of place.
My order would be Welbeck (by a mile), Sturridge, Carroll, then the other two. But relative to our strength at u21 in midfield and defence, England is a bit light on top-draw strikers.

Fogster - understood, in fact it was a toss up whether I put Sheringham or Phillips as an example, I feel from what I've seen so far he's more predatory and less creative than Sheringham. I agree it's only been 15 games as well, and defences will start to be prepared for him now.

suttonred - not many of his goals have been from outpacing a centreback have they ? - more from sharp thought and getting a shot away. At higher levels defenders will be faster anyway.

jj  no need to swear :). I agree that brain and positioning will get you a long way in the game, as proved by the exapmples you give, but the very best have those things and pace as well.

There were two occasions against Carlisle where he broke away from the defence with a well timed little burst. That's all you need. I still think it's a bit early for him but if he keeps banging them in then it'd only be a matter of time.

Danny Wilson says (on the Adver site) that Austin caught their eye in the Leeds match and they've watched him a few times since. Oh, and also that he's sat down with Pearce and discussed the issue.

I think we'd agree that strikers should have all the qualities listed but many make a good career from the game without being blessed with pace. With Charlie's current goals per game ratio his record reminds me of that brilliant kraut goal scorer Gerd Muller.  He wasn't fast but like Charlie seemed to have the gift of anticipation & like Charlie used to put his shot on target with precision.  He was however physically very strong with legs like oak trees & very difficult to shake off the ball when in possession.
Of course, Charlie is still young, raw & relatively inexperienced so I'm not suggesting that he is yet and International class player but I cannot think of anyone who's come from a similar level of non-league football so quickly & made the impact that he has.  I know others have come from non-league but in general they have come from Blue Square Premier clubs or the North or South feeder leagues. For example Morrison at Millwall & Novak at Huddersfield have both made the transition this season. In the past we've had Jimmy Quinn from Oswestry Town and he'd surely played at a higher level of non-league football than Charlie before he joined us. We also got David Legg & later Charlie Griffin from Chippenham Town but again they were probably playing at a higher standard than Charlie. The only two who I can think of who made a similar leap were Chris Porter from Bridgewater Town & Colin Gordon from somewhere in the West Midlands (Stourbridge?). Only the latter had a similar impact with his goals during Lou Macari's time in charge at the County Ground. It really is quite incredible that Charlie's come in & adapted so quickly to the demands of League One football. Still, let's savour the moment & support the team in what is proving to be a great season

 In my more idle moments, my thoughts on Austin have turned to Der Bomber, who incidentally began his career in the 8th tier of Kraut Fussball, with Nordlingen.

 But I've tended to wake up and thought no Reg keep it to yourself, the cunts on the TEF will think you're going senile....and they'd be right insofar as Muller is an all time great...one of about 4 or 5 to better a goal a game.

Charlie boy is doing good, lets not heap presure onto his shoulders..

Nordlingen's ground is now called Gerd Muller Stadion....Charlie Austin Stadium in 20 years time then  :)

When Austin came here we all looked at his goal a game at Poole and questioned whether he would be able to step up to League One - no one thought he would make the 1st eleven so quickly nor that he would keep up a goal a game, but he has. So who is to say he couldn't keep it up at a higher level?

Sure it would have been a bit of a risk trying him at under 21 level, but for the small chance of it paying off I'd say its worth going for. We're short in the striker department at the moment and need to find the next Owen quickly, not saying its going to be Austin but who knows? There was a lot of doubt when he came here and look where we are now.

They seem to worry a bit too much about the under 21 team winning games at the moment, rather than giving experience to the next batch of players to make the step up to the full team. Walcott playing over the summer being a prime example, what was the point in doing that?

Fucking ace. I get called out for comparing him to Danny Welbeck, but the suggestion that he's the new Gerd Muller passes without comment.

I thought Reg was being a bit silly on purpose, whereas you genuinley believed it.

I may, of course, be wrong though. It's not unheard of