Ex-England star goalkeeper David James has inferred, strongly, that Rangers’ number one Jack Butland was overlooked for the national team by manager Gareth Southgate purely on the basis of ‘clique’.
Speaking on Sky Sports News, the-now 53-year-old ex-Liverpool and Manchester stopper insisted that while Butland has been excellent this season, and would have probably deserved the call, the rejection was down to clique mentality with the national regime.
He said:
“Basically he hasn’t come through with Southgate, and Southgate prefers his own men. Particularly Aaron Ramsdale, who has been through the England setup with Southgate, Butland hasn’t been part of that. He doesn’t know him.”
So, nothing to do with ability, as if anyone thought it was, but, according to the former Villa goalie, it’s everything to do with clique and that all Butland’s rivals are either Southgate cronies or, as we also know, play in the Premier League.
In short, the chances of Butland getting to Germany have plummeted to near-zero, and he will have to rely on an injury.
And even then, Southgate will find someone else anyway, because if he was unwilling to pick his most in-form goalie for a pair of friendlies, there’s minus-zero chance he’ll take him to the Euros.
Butland might be loving life at Rangers but his England career certainly has no chance as long as he is at Ibrox, and if David James is right, even if he goes to the Premier League this summer, Southgate may still overlook him because he doesn’t know him.
Which really sums up the clique mentality rife in the England setup.
It’s hard to completely knock Southgate – his team is overwhelming favourite to win in Germany, and the quality of player they now have is easily the strongest national pool in the world, so he, whether we like it or not, is doing something right.
But Butland can feel understandably aggrieved that no matter how well he plays, he’s not getting the call up. And that this might even extend to his going back to and playing in the Premier League as well.
It seems his bad luck in being overlooked by club managers in the PL when he was there probably killed his England career permanently.d