Today, Roy Hodgson shook the football world, and left Hykeham Tiger talisman Nick Steadman out of his 25 man squad for the European Championships this summer in the Ukraine.
Hodgson named his 25 man squad this afternoon, and there were some surprise inclusions and exclusions for the squad. Rio Ferdinand was omitted from the side for what Hodgson described as football reasons but refused to comment when asked why “obvious choice” Steadman was left out. This has fuelled rumours further than Steadman has had a fall out with boss Hodgson, potentially over his involvement with ex Lincoln City professional Dean Walling and Hodgson’s refusal to let Steadman leave training early to attend Walling’s football training with close friend Big Dave.
Steadman has so far refused to comment on the issue, but this is undoubtedly the last we will see regarding this controversial exclusion, and is set to bubble on throughout the summer. Steadman is seen as a bit of a bad boy within the Tigers camp, and has been labelled the “Joey Barton” of the Tigers team, for having a temper shorter than his height, which isn’t very tall! What will fuel Steadman’s fire even more is that Tiger’s team mate and close friend Ian Sievwright earned a place in Hodgson’s squad for the Championships. When asked about Sievwright’s involvement, Hodgson said the following
“Ian (Sievwright) is a model professional, never late, and not the sort to lose his head after 5 minutes of a game. His excellent passing range, and his ability to get forward and score goals and create goals from nothing was a key reason for this decision”
There was two other inclusions in National teams for this months up and coming Internationals with Paul Sturton being selected as captain for the Poland national team after a number of impressive performances this season. Secondly, Daniel Daubney has been selected to play for the Democratic Republic of Congo in the African Cup Qualifiers this summer.
