Live Blogging: Fox Football Fone-In, Part II

Closing out the England bashing:

• Ferdinand and Terry; or Rooney and Owen: Which was the bigger loss? Losing the backstops was probably bigger; Stephen laments the retirement of Jamie Carragher--Carragher and Terry too formidable.
• If playing for England is so important, why can't Lampard and Gerrard find a way to play together if the shirt on your back is indeed so important? Excellent question.
• Hmm, when England gets together, it's like a couple of days off because the best managers in the Premiership are hard-ass foreigners. The difference may be more a matter of respect for football intelligence than their passport.

Eight more to chew on:

1. The World Cup draw is next: England plays Borat! Hilarious. BTW, check out Martin Samuel's column on this subject. Outstanding.
2. Stephen snides England will qualify easily from this group. Nick whines about qualifying being longer than Euro
3. If Liverpool loses Wednesday against Porto, Rafa is fired? Stephen nails him as an imbecile. And he's right to a point; these American co-owners spent their money to buy the club, they have a say. But they also gave Rafa a blank check of sorts over the summer for Torres, et al.
4. Back to the poll tonight: Foreign up 7-1.
5. Back to the callers: Point well made--other nations hire inexperienced coaches, such as Van Basten and Klinsmann, it's all about the players. But these guys had a pedigree of winning, World Cups, Euros, Champions Leagues; something Alan Shearer wouldn't have coaching England. If they don't respect McClaren, why Shearer.
6. Limiting foreigners in England? Nick wants a cap because foreigners are taking English jobs. Bunk; and he knows it. It's fabricated disagreement. Stephen's right: Doing so waters down the level of play in the Premiership. "Right now, it's a grand league."
7. There are no young stars in England. 60% of Premiership players are foreign, compared to Italy's 30%. Kinda helps Nick's point. Stephen's counter: Arsenal has used the most foreign players, Derby the most English. The standings say enough there!
8. How many English players walk into Spain, Holland and earn starting spots on top clubs? Not many.