Kevin Phillips’ Expert Analysis: Cole Palmer, Championship & the International Break
by 2 minutes read /
We’ve got three weeks of internationals ahead, so it’s a good moment to take stock of where everyone is. For me, the Cole Palmer situation smells a little bit of sour grapes, and I say that as someone who never once turned down an England call-up. I’ve also given my thoughts on how the Championship is shaping up after a few early surprises.
Here’s everything I’ve been thinking about this week.
England
Cole Palmer Criticised Over Load Management
I can understand why people have said that. It’s amazing, really, isn’t it? He played every minute against the Brentford game and then comes out a couple of days later saying he’s got a muscle injury. So who knows what’s going on there? For me, it maybe smells a little bit of not being picked for the squad in the summer. Maybe a little bit of, I don’t know, just obviously a bit of disappointment there.
So it is a strange one. It is a strange one, because I’ve listened to people talk about it and I was exactly the same. Not once did I ever, ever not want to be in that England squad, even when I knew I wasn’t going to be playing. It’s the pride to play for your country. So for me, it smells a little bit of sour grapes that he didn’t get in the England squad during the summer. It’s disappointing, because we know what a good player he is. He’s had an okay start to the season. So yeah, it’s disappointing. Of course, no one wants to see that.
Blackburn
What Can Scotland Expect from Kristi Montgomery
Listening to Tony Mowbray talk about him – and I can’t say I’ve seen loads and loads of him, but he talks very highly of him. He said he’s pretty much cemented his place in their side already. He’s only 22 years of age. He’s a defensive midfielder; his tackling’s good, he likes a long shot, and he intercepts the ball really well. So it looks like they’ve got a player on their hands there.
And maybe it’s something the Scottish fans will see that they haven’t seen for a while in that area. He’s young, he’s enthusiastic, he’s dynamic. So, listening to Tony, he absolutely deserves his opportunity to be amongst international players, and it’s delightful to see. So again, really excited to see how he develops for Scotland and Blackburn.
Closing Thoughts
So that’s us for three weeks now with the internationals, which always feels like a long stretch when the season’s only just settling down. Some will be glad of the rest, and a few of the lads I’ve mentioned will be off with their countries, which is always great to see.
For the rest, it’s a chance to draw breath. The Championship table has already thrown up a few surprises, and three weeks is a long time to sit on a bad start. We’ll pick it all up again when the clubs are back.
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