Lee Camp for England

by Peter Ottaway

The recent flurry of injuries and withdrawals from the England squad have further cemented many Forest fans calls for a call up for Lee Camp.

After Scott Carsons withdrawal for a family bereavement last week, Scott Loach of Watford was called up as his replacement for what would be largely a role of bench warming.

Many Forest fans have seen this a snub for Camp, that he is a better keeper than the Watford man, Camp should have been rewarded for his past 18 months form by Fabio Capello calling him up. Indeed, most of last season Forest fans would sing "Englands Number One" to Camp. Camp was asked about it on Radio Nottingham late into the season whether he had half an eye of the World Cup.

Bare in mind last season though that Paul Robinson hadn't pulled out of all international duty and that Scott Carson who has had top level experience was also ahead in the pecking order.

The simple fact is Lee Camp was never going to get the call up this time round when Carson removed himself from the squad. Capello is not going to bring a man down from the Midlands that presumably he hasn't watched, ahead of someone his staff know well who is already with the Under-21 squad. I find it quite naive that many Forest fans thought Camp would get this call up this time round. The simple fact he would have to be doing it it week in week out in the Premier League to have this chance of an outright Engand call up. As said Loach, who similarly has no top flight experience was with the England U-21 squad, Capellos staff know him, and it was easy to merely move him acorss to the seniors with minimum fuss.

So tthe Forest fans bemoaning Camps call up are really wasting their time. We know he is good, but it won't happen untill he gets regular Premier League football, be it with Forest, or god forbid he ever move on. Besides, do we really want our stopper attracting unwanted interest from bigger clubs?