Uncapped Blades XI | International Special #1
Roy picks a team of players who were never capped whilst at the Blades (when they really should have been)
Words: Andrew ‘Roy’ Hague
This is a list of the Sheffield United players who never got the international recognition they deserved whilst playing for the Blades. They should have. That’s my argument. Let me know if I’ve missed any…
1. Simon Tracey
There were few better English ’keepers than Tracey from 1990-1992. This is evident by the fact that Chris “Close Your Legs” Woods was England manager Graham Taylor’s goalkeeper of choice at the time. Even the most ardent Wednesday fan would have taken Tracey above Woods after the derby games of the ’91/’92 season.
2. Del Geary
Geary was one of United’s best players in the 06/07 Premier League season and did earn a call-up to Steve Staunton’s Republic Of Ireland squad, but he never played a game. In fact, owing to numerous injuries that cut his career short, he sadly never went on to make a single appearance for his country.
3. Chris Armstrong
Armstrong made one appearance for Scotland B, but never won a full international cap. This was harsh on a player who was always consistent for the Blades, earning the club almost £1 million when he moved to Reading.
4. Mikele Leigertwood
Leigertwood wasn’t a great player, but after he left United, he went on to play for the Antigua and Barbuda national side. I suspect he may be the only Antigua and Barbuda player who didn’t get an international call-up while playing in the Premier League.
5. Phil Jagielka
Jags never got an England call-up as a Blades player, although he was suddenly deemed good enough the moment he left, making his first England squad just three days after he joined Everton. Why Steve McClaren thought he had improved so much in his three days at Everton is anyone’s guess.
6. Jack O’Connell
Look where we are without him, for God’s sake. My hatred of Southgate stems from him believing Tyrone Mings and Eric f***ing Dier were better options than him at LCB.
7. Colin Kazim-Richards
Colin Kazim-Richards (aka Kazim Kazim aka The Coca Cola Kid aka “Is he still playing?”) is another who got his first international call-up just days after leaving United.
Following United’s relegation from the Premier League in 2007, he moved to Fenerbahçe and earned his first international start for Turkey before he played a game for his new club.
8. Stephen Quinn
I’m starting to get paranoid. Despite earning U21 caps for the Republic of Ireland, Stephen Quinn didn’t actually make his full international debut until 2013, a year after he had left the Blades. There can’t be many Irish players who were first-choice in the Premier League and Championship for years but never got a cap.
9. Laurent D'Jaffo
“D’Jaffo wasn’t good enough for France!” I hear you cry.
Well, the truth is that D’Jaffo is actually from Benin and represented the country on three occasions. All of them after he had left the Blades. The Beninese FA clearly missed his thunderbolt against the Pigs at Hillsborough in 2001.
10. Rob Hulse
It sounds insane now, but Rob Hulse was actually on the verge of an England call-up in 2007. In his autobiography, Neil Warnock said that England manager Steve McClaren had contacted him to say he was thinking of including Hulse in his next squad. Then tragedy struck for Hulse (and United) as the striker suffered a double leg fracture away at Chelsea. Hulse was never the same player after this, and he never got close to representing England again.
11. Dane Whitehouse
Graham Taylor tried out a lot of wingers during his England tenure – Tony Daley, Andy Sinton and Andy Gray to name but three. Was Whitehouse international class? I’ll let you judge that when I say Carlton Palmer got eighteen England caps at the time.
Andrew Hague is a friend first, podcaster second, probably entertainer third. He runs Roy’s View From and you can find him arguing with opposition fans on Twitter @Panchero.
Joe Shaw! Like others mentioned overlooked because he played for United.
Thanks, Andrew.
Poor Rob Hulse – I was at the Chelsea game when that awful leg break happened; such a promising career . . .
And amazing that Phil Jagielka didn’t get a cap until he’d left the Blades – can’t really see what difference it made that he was at Everton rather than Sheffield United – snobbery? – unless the selectors had seen the state of our training facilities . . .
My nominees would have been Chris Morgan, Paul Coutts (I think he was at Peterborough Utd when he played for Scotland?) and Billy Sharp but sadly all too late now!
Sue.