Search: 'England Under-21s'

Maidstone United hoped that the sale of a talented young player would allow them to return home. As John Bunyard explains, this hasn't happened

I first saw it one Saturday as I walked down the side of the Sittingbourne pitch. It was best described as a half-Fellaini: an attempt at an afro curtailed by an over-zealous barber. It sat atop the head of the kid deputising for our regular centre-back, absent for the unlikely reason of being under arrest on a charge of attempted murder. Though a tall lad, he looked too young to buy a drink.

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After only a handful of Liverpool appearances an error of judgement means the French goalkeeper is starting again. Ben Lyttleton reports

Perhaps the fact that Charles Itandje refused to answer his phone and briefly went into hiding when Liverpool first tried to buy him was a sign that he was destined never to succeed at Anfield. That was back in 2001. On the day of Liverpool’s amazing 5-4 UEFA Cup win over Alavés the goalkeeper was due to meet Gérard Houllier to discuss a move. “I had an appointment but I didn’t go,” Itandje remembered. “I almost pretended to be dead. I had just signed a pre-contract with Lens, where I was set to become number one, and I did not want to turn it down.”

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The Alan Curtis Story
by Alan Curtis, with Tim Johnson and Stuart Sprake
Mainstream, £17.99
Reviewed by Paul Ashley-Jones
From WSC 278 April 2010

Buy this book

Having grown up watching Alan Curtis from the terraces of the North Bank at Vetch Field, I expected to enjoy this book and wasn't disappointed. Curtis had three separate spells with Swansea as well as playing for Leeds, Southampton and Cardiff City (where he was voted Player of the Year despite his background) while winning 35 caps for Wales.

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With Michael Owen overlooked by Fabio Capello once again, Darren Bent will be desperate to prove he has what it takes at international level

How times change. In March 2006 Darren Bent received his first England cap while playing for Charlton, who were the epitome of a solid mid-table Premier League team. Three years on, Charlton are close to sealing relegation to the third level for the first time in 30 years – and Bent’s latest call-up, the result of an England striker injury-list to which his name would soon be added, prompted consternation in the press.

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John Toshack’s reorganisation of Wales’ youth teams under Brian Flynn has paid dividends, as Paul Ashley-Jones explains

It’s typical that when Wales finally escape a qualifying group it leads to a play-off rather than the tournament itself. It’s also typical that, despite finishing top of our group, we draw a side as strong as England in the play-offs. Nonetheless, being so close to the 2009 European Under-21 Championship finals is a huge moment, for players and fans. Participation in such a tournament would help towards changing a losing mentality that Welsh players, at all levels, have had for a very long time.

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