Here’s a crazy thought.
It’s the World Cup semi-final and England are trailing 1-0 with ten minutes to go (I said it was crazy, so bare with me). Rooney and Owen, despite their best efforts have so far drawn a blank. Crouch, introduced as a third striker 15 minutes earlier, has also been unable to break down a resolute Australian defence (how crazy do you want it?).
Sven is sitting on the bench, his calm exterior doing little to betray his inner turmoil. What can he do to get a goal? He looks at the options he has left on the bench and, in a fit of passion, decides to bring on a fourth striker in a desperate attempt to equalise.
He weighs up his options and points to the chap squashed in between David James and Sol Campbell.
And with that Robbie Fowler strips for action, runs on for a corner and hits a sweet left-foot volley into the top corner.
Well, I did say it was crazy.
Don’t, for one second, think I am suggesting this based purely on his goal for Liverpool on Wednesday, although that may have helped jog the memory.
No, my thoughts are based on the need to have on your bench, at international level more than any other, a proven goalscorer. A player who has made the net bulge more times than a blind tennis player.
And the not so young Mr Fowler fits that bill quite perfectly.
True he has had a few traumatic seasons and it is equally true that he is still not quite back to his old, free-scoring best. But he has a few months of the season left and, provided he is playing regularly, I believe he will now start scoring regularly too.
Watching him on Wednesday there was more than the odd glimpse of the old Robbie on show: the goal, neat touches, tireless running and the ability to draw opponents away from where they should be.
He might not have the pace of Darren Bent or Darius Vassel or the raw power of Andy Johnson, but he has experience coming out of his ears, ability that is beyond doubt and a left foot that most players would, ahem, give their right to have.
Essentially, all I am saying is that if Crouch is going to Germany as England’s secret weapon then maybe, just maybe, it might be worth taking Fowler along as a not-so-secret one.
Food for thought or just plain madness? Make your own mind up on that one.
Most expensive cars
And now for some shocking news: Chelsea’s players have the most expensive cars of all Premier League players.
That’s right. Not content with being the most expensive team on the pitch they are now dominating in the car park as well.
A new survey by a British magazine says the average cost of a Chelsea player’s car is just over 100,000 sterling – roughly a week’s wages for most of their squad.
In second place are Arsenal, although their average is just 87,000, followed, somewhat unsurprisingly, by Liverpool and Manchester United. A rather predictable top four there then.
The car of choice amongst Premiership players is, according to the survey, the BMW X5, a car which has now become known as the “Chelsea tractor”. However, on the positive side, with the World Cup just around the corner and patriotism being the order of the day, a lot of England players are buying British.
David Beckham, Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen all own Aston Martins. I have to admit this is also my personal favourite although, according to my swift calculations, I would have to put away every spare penny I earn for the next 247 years in order to buy one.
One other interesting thing to come out of the survey was that Chelsea’s car park also comes out top in terms of pace with their vehicles capable of breezy average top speed of 192mph.
Shockingly, their nearest rivals in this department are Birmingham with an average top speed of 172mph which is lucky for them as they shouldn’t have too much trouble getting to all the tricky away fixtures in the Championship next season…
Alan Curbishley
I am a little bit worried by Alan Curbishley’s naivety.
The Charlton boss went for talks with the FA earlier this week and was surprised to see his face splashed all across the newspapers the following day.
How can that possibly come as a surprise to him? He is one of the names on the shortlist to take over the richest and possibly most famous job in world football.
If the fact that the press were staking out the FA headquarters shocked him then what will he think when he finds journalists hanging from trees outside his bedroom window trying to get a shot of the England manager in his boxers?
It’s a media hell, Alan, and if you are not prepared to have your life opened up to the press you had better pull out of the race now.
Contact James on: [email protected]