Cats defender still in England frame: Bruce.Byline: JAMES HUNTER Dr James Hunter CBE (Born 1948) is currently Director for the UHI Centre for History, Chairman of the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust and vice Chairman of Highland 2007 and formerly the Chairman of Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the Inverness-based development and training agency MICHAEL TURNER is still in the England frame - with Sunderland boss Steve Bruce  The of this article or section may be compromised by "weasel words".You can help Wikipedia by removing weasel words. revealing the defender was put on standby by Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (born June 18, 1946 in San Canzian d'Isonzo, Gorizia) is an Italian football manager and former professional player who most recently coached Real Madrid. for last weekend's friendly against Brazil in Qatar. Turner has caught Capello's eye in the past and was on standby on a couple of occasions last season while still a Hull City player. And Capello saw the commanding centre-back turn in an impressive performance when he watched Sunderland's 2-0 defeat at Spurs the weekend before last. Capello recalled the Black Cats' eight-goal leading scorer Darren Bent for the Brazil game, and Bruce says Turner was on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of his first call-up. Bruce said: "Michael has been great for us since he got here, and I know Mr Capello was impressed with what he saw of him at White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane is the home of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. It is situated in Tottenham, North London. . "I know Michael has been on standby for England in the past and he was on standby this time too. "He was close." Both Bent and Turner are hoping to force their way into Capello's plans ahead of next summer's World Cup in South Africa, and Bruce believes the key to their ambitions lies in producing their best form for Sunderland week-in, week-out. He said: "I think when it comes to Darren's England career, he will be judged less on that one-off game in the Middle East, where he was part of a scratch side playing in searing heat, than he will be on what he does over the course of this season. "I've told Darren that - that he shouldn't allow himself to be put off by any setbacks this season, that he just has to go on and try to score as many goals for Sunderland as he can. "The same applies to Michael really - he's just got to go out there and give his best for the club in every game. "He got noticed by England when he was doing that for Hull last season, and I'm sure it will be the same again if he continues to do that at Sunderland. "He has been absolutely terrific for us since he moved here and I think that sort of form has put him in the England reckoning. "If he keeps on producing the sort of performances he has done in recent weeks, then there's no reason why he can't keep up the pressure for him to be considered." Sunderland will have to do without Turner this weekend when Arsenal visit the Stadium of Light after the 26-year-old picked up his fifth booking of the season against Spurs, triggering an automatic onematch ban. And Bruce admits he will be missed against the free-scoring Gunners. "He's a massive presence for us at the back - he loves to be in the thick of things and he loves to head the ball," said Bruce. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion