Everton legend Neville Southall has accused England boss Steve McClaren of "killing" the career of Paul Robinson by axing him for tonight's Euro2008 qualifier against Croatia.
"If Robinson is not playing, England's manager is really killing Paul's [international] career," Southall, the former Everton and Wales goalkeeper, told the Guardian.
Southall suspects that England's head coach has been unduly influenced by media criticism of the Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper.
"There's an element of Paul being made the scapegoat for England's problems and mistakes in other areas here," he said. "I don't think he has done too badly overall in recent internationals and I can't see any logic in sticking with him all through the qualifying campaign and then dropping him for the last, effectively sudden-death, game.
"I think Steve McClaren might be bowing to media pressure, to outside forces, but Paul doesn't deserve that. Yes, he's made mistakes but all goalkeepers make mistakes and there are times when, just as players have to keep faith with their managers, managers have to show faith in players. This is one of those occasions. It's a big gamble, though, because, if Scott Carson makes a bad mistake and England lose, the media will blame McClaren for throwing him into such a big game. He'll be crucified."
Not that Southall is necessarily anticipating such a scenario.
"Scott Carson is going to be a top, top keeper and he won't let anyone down," he said. "I certainly would not want to be seen as criticising Scott because he's a really competent keeper. It's just that I don't think leaving Paul out is the right way to treat him.
"It's a brave decision but it can also be seen as a poor decision. There are not too many top-class English goalkeepers around and I don't know that Steve McClaren can really afford to discard Paul like this."
