Bridge Withdraws from World Cup

Peyton Manning

England left-back Wayne Bridge has declared himself unavailable for the World Cup.

The Manchester City defender released a short statement this morning claiming his presence within the national squad was "untenable and potentially divisive" and that he did not wish to be selected.

It leaves Fabio Capello without both his first-choice left-backs for Wednesday's friendly with Egypt.

Nice one JT.

syngindub

well we could all that one coming. It's England though, so who cares

event

yeah lashed it into the JT thread there

Capello will probably look to warnock or baines, unless he goes with milner who he has played there

syngindub

women and idiot footballers..I'm sick of reading about these eejits day in day out. Don't blame wayne though.

The_Kew_Tour

Wayne Bridge is the looser in this whole affair.

I know footballers can be spoilt brats but this occasion Wayne is on end of something that he should not have to be the end of.

Paleface

It should be the other way around. Terry is the one who caused all this.

syngindub

Paleface wrote: »

It should be the other way around. Terry is the one who caused all this.

dam right..

Evil_Clown

From BBC

Manchester City defender Wayne Bridge has made himself unavailable for England selection.

In a statement released by his lawyers, Bridge said his position in the England squad had become "untenable and potentially divisive".

death1234567

He's rubbish anyway. Baines and Warnock should be ahead of him in the pecking order.

Roaster

death1234567 wrote: »

He's rubbish anyway. Baines and Warnock should be ahead of him in the pecking order.

Bridge is muck as are Baines and Warnock. The only decent left back England have is that idiot Cole.

syngindub

waiting to see some headlines for Rio..

leninbenjamin

Not a massive loss tbh. After Cole i'd have always though Warnock was England's most defensively sound LB. Maybe not as good going forward as bridge, but he's always put a good shift in any time I've seen him.

Vokes

England defence isn't looking too healthy going into the WC.

First choice LB out injured. 2nd choice LB unavailable.

1st choice RB injured (Johnson is close to return though?).

Rio continually injured.

Terry badly out-of-form.

No settled goalie.

Though Warnock does look to be better than Bridge these days.

Bob_Harris

Bridge should break Terry's leg this Saturday. Maybe he is planning something epic and withdrew from the England squad before he would have been kicked out :pac:

fullstop

event wrote: »

yeah lashed it into the JT thread there

Capello will probably look to warnock or baines, unless he goes with milner who he has played there

Milner at left back would be crazy. Barry could do a job there if needed but I'd have Warnock.....I may or may not be biased!

event

fullstop wrote: »

Milner at left back would be crazy. Barry could do a job there if needed but I'd have Warnock.....I may or may not be biased!

yeah it would be madness, but capello has played him there

he wont be a starter for england if lennon is fit, so ye never know

mike65

That Arsenal kid (Gibbs?) will be on the bench for the WC then!

magma69

Disgraceful Bridge is forced to do this. Feel sorry for the chap. Terry should be the one staying at home. This pretty much means Bridge is retired from international football until Terry retires.

I think Gareth Barry should get the left back spot myself. Baines would be my second choice. Cole may be back in time though so all this speculation could be pointless.

Peyton Manning

More info....

In Bridge's statement released on Thursday, he added: "I have thought long and hard about my position in the England football team in the light of the reporting and events over the last few weeks.

"It has always been an honour to play for England. However, after careful thought I believe my position in the squad is now untenable and potentially divisive.

"Sadly therefore I feel for the sake of the team and in order to avoid what will be inevitable distractions, I have decided not to put myself forward for selection.

"I have today informed the management of this decision. I wish the team all the very best in South Africa."

leninbenjamin

mike65 wrote: »

That Arsenal kid (Gibbs?) will be on the bench for the WC then!

Kieran Gibbs. Broken metatarsal has ruled him out until the end of the season. Very unlikely he'll be fit. Bit of a shame because he was having a good run of games and looks like he might have the potential to replace Cole someday. But he was being over-hyped to the nines tbh, I'd still rate Warnock and Baines way ahead of him at this point in time.

cournioni

Gary Neville :cool:

SlickRic

no loss really.

it'll hopefully give Leighton Baines the chance, seen as he's a superior LB anyway.

Frisbee

SlickRic wrote: »

no loss really.

it'll hopefully give Leighton Baines the chance, seen as he's a superior LB anyway.

I think Baines is better than Bridge tbh, should have always been between himself and Warnock for the back up LB slot imo.

Boggles

Baines hasn't even been in a England squad AFAIK?

Frisbee

Boggles wrote: »

Baines hasn't even been in a England squad AFAIK?

Most likely not, he's a 50/50 chance now though.

event

magma69 wrote: »

Disgraceful Bridge is forced to do this. Feel sorry for the chap. Terry should be the one staying at home. This pretty much means Bridge is retired from international football until Terry retires.

I think Gareth Barry should get the left back spot myself. Baines would be my second choice. Cole may be back in time though so all this speculation could be pointless.

when is the last time he played there?

flahavaj

I feel really sorry for Bridge to be honest. Whatever you think of his prowess as a footballer (and I don't really rate him too highly to be honest), if I was betting man I'd say he would've started first choice for England in the event of Cole not recovering.

Basically he's suffering on the double for something that is no fault of his own. Firstly he gets f*cked over by his former clubmate and current England teammate in his personal life. Now he's going to miss out on potential immortality at the World Cup in the Summer (not saying they're gonna win it, but with Capello in charge its their best chance in decades) too. How's he gonna feel in the Summer if they DO win it and he missed out because JT couldn't keep his mickey in his pants?

If Terry had any decency whatsoever he'd offer to stand down from the squad, so that Bridge doesn't have to suffer anymore than he already has.

But I doubt he does, so he won't.

_blank_

PORNAPSTER wrote: »

Gary Neville :cool:

He can't even play RB any more, never mind LB

Paleface

PORNAPSTER wrote: »

Gary Neville :cool:

Nothing cool about Gary Neville!

Paul Tergat

Feel so sorry for Bridge. The man has done nothing wrong but he has had a load of agro and now has to withdraw from representing his country. Total joke.

PORNAPSTER wrote: »

Gary Neville :cool:

Des wrote: »

He can't even play RB any more, never mind LB

Aye I would be so pissed off if he ended up at the world cup

stovelid

Des wrote: »

He can't even play RB any more, never mind LB

He's been turned inside-out enough times recently to fit the bill now.

helimachoptor

PORNAPSTER wrote: »

Gary Neville :cool:

Des wrote: »

He can't even play RB any more, never mind LB

Paleface wrote: »

Nothing cool about Gary Neville!

What about Phil?

He hates scousers

Kev_ps3

All we need now is for Rooney to brake his leg and they havent a hope;)

syngindub

even with Rooney they haven't a hope. don't believe the hype. their like this for every championshipp

SantryRed

With Capello in charge they actually do have a chance this year though....

syngindub

i can't see it tbh..have to wait and see

Dean820

Does anyone else find it interesting how the media are reporting this. 'Bridge turns his back on England'. He left the squad because his former captain cheated with his missus so turning his back on england is a bad way to report it in my opinion. Just sayin'.

JPA

SSN jizzing themselves silly over this, you'd think he was actually good.

helimachoptor

JPA wrote: »

SSN jizzing themselves silly over this, you'd think he was actually good.

Sensationalism thats all

leninbenjamin

SantryRed wrote: »

With Capello in charge they actually do have a chance this year though....

They've always had a chance in recent years. They've always had match winners in their squad, and for the most part they've actually had decent managers.

But the same thing always happens, the rags have their field day, the players egos get in the way, the manager gets undermined by player power, the vested interests come out from the shadows and the end performance is crap. It will be no different this World Cup, Capello will walk away a 'failure' (exact term to be coined by the Sun) and take the blame for everyone else's failings.

JPA

leninbenjamin wrote: »

They've always had a chance in recent years. They've always had match winners in their squad, and for the most part they've actually had decent managers.

But the same thing always happens, the rags have their field day, the players egos get in the way, the manager gets undermined by player power, the vested interests come out from the shadows and the end performance is crap. It will be no different this World Cup, Capello will walk away a 'failure' (exact term to be coined by the Sun) and take the blame for everyone else's failings.

Capello is their best manager since Robson though.
It will be different this time I believe.

magma69

JPA wrote: »

SSN jizzing themselves silly over this, you'd think he was actually good.

I think it is more about the injustice of it rather than the detrimental effect it has on the England squad. Perfectly reasonable in my eyes. Bridge did nothing wrong and is being punished for it.

leninbenjamin

JPA wrote: »

Capello is their best manager since Robson though.
It will be different this time I believe.

That's true, but the media machine is much more powerful today than it was 20 years ago. Once the tournament gets underway every single move Capello makes will be put under the microscope, every little decision torn apart on its potential implications, the players will be misquoted, their 'advisors' will misguide them and last but not last you'll see a spate of red tops attempt to slander Capello's character just before the tournament starts. It's an impossible situation for any manager tbh, if he does manage to shield himself and the players from the media sh*te it'll be an absolute miracle tbh.

jasonb

Just want to clarify something here...

Terry had an affair with the former financée of Wayne last year, right? Was she still with Wayne when this affair happened, or had they already broken up? I'm just trying to find out if she became his former financée before the affair happened, or after?

J.

leninbenjamin

jasonb wrote: »

Just want to clarify something here...

Terry had an affair with the former financée of Wayne last year, right? Was she still with Wayne when this affair happened, or had they already broken up? I'm just trying to find out if she became his former financée before the affair happened, or after?

J.

It was in the immediate aftermath apparently, i.e. he started going round to her house within days, when Bridge would obviously still be very sore over it.

I think what pisses Bridge off more than anything else though is that Terry didn't have the balls to tell him to his face. Bridge only found out about the whole thing through the media apparently, all the time Terry was ridin' yer wan he was pretending to be Bridge's best mate.

jasonb

leninbenjamin wrote: »

It was in the immediate aftermath apparently, i.e. he started going round to her house within days, when Bridge would obviously still be very sore over it.

I think what pisses Bridge off more than anything else though is that Terry didn't have the balls to tell him to his face. Bridge only found out about the whole thing through the media apparently, all the time Terry was ridin' yer wan he was pretending to be Bridge's best mate.

Ah, that makes sense. I was thinking that if she was an ex and it was all in the past, then the fact that Terry was with her shouldn't have had such an effect on Bridge ( never mind that Terry was still cheating on his own wife ).

What this comes down to is Terry is a better footballer than Bridge. So England can breathe a sigh of relief, they haven't lost one of their better players and the situation should be mostly defused by the WC. Of course Terry should step down, but of course he won't. Of course Bridge shouldn't have to step down, but I'd say quite a few of the England players / coaches are glad he has.

Bridge has just shown he has a lot more class than Terry has. No surprise there...

J.

Jordonvito

jt might not even be on the plane the way he's playing!

~Rebel~

jasonb wrote: »

Ah, that makes sense. I was thinking that if she was an ex and it was all in the past, then the fact that Terry was with her shouldn't have had such an effect on Bridge ( never mind that Terry was still cheating on his own wife ).

I dont think its really possible for it to be 'all in the past' in this case, since she's the mother of his child so he's always going to have to be in close contact with her. But yeah, the fact it was soon after, with his best buddy is just exceptionally shit out of terry. I'd say in that situation, he'd simply never want to be in the position of seeing Terry, let alone sharing a pitch with him and having to be civil.

Aidric

Bridge claims the moral high ground and Terry is left looking like a knacker.

leninbenjamin

jasonb wrote: »

but I'd say quite a few of the England players / coaches are glad he has.

I'd say so. The wording of his statement makes it sounds like it's a fairly contentious issue among the staff. "Untenable", "divisive" and "distraction" are quite strong words for someone who's stepping down for personal reasons. I'd say the squad most have been split down the middle on this (just like people here are).

Keano

I really don't think Bridge had any other option.