Ex-Aston Villa ace John Gidman says Luke Young could regret announcing England retirement
Nov 12 2009 by Mathew Kendrick, Birmingham Mail
Luke Young
“Or he could think ‘I’m 30 now, my best chance has gone, I keep being ignored, so I’ll pack international football in’.
“I just hope he has spoken to a few close friends before making his decision, because it’s a big one. World Cups don’t come around all that often.
“I think he could regret it, but I hope he doesn’t because he’s a good footballer and from what I hear he’s a good lad as well.
“I’d urge him to reconsider because what happens in three months’ time if there’s loads of injuries and he goes to the top of the list?
“But I’m worried it could be too late to change his mind because neither him nor the manager will want to look stupid.”
Gidman, who was restricted to just one cap, appreciates how demoralising it can be to perform only to be overlooked in favour of the national team manager’s favourites.
While Young has found himself behind the likes of Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher in the right-back pecking order, Gidman struggled to oust Phil Neal and Viv Anderson.
“The milkman won more caps than me,” joked the 55-year-old, who has lived in Marbella since the mid-1990s.
“I made my debut in a World Cup qualifier against Luxembourg in 1977 and I think I was on the bench a couple of times against Brazil and Germany.
“In those days Liverpool were a much more fashionable club than Villa and they were winning everything, so their players tended to be picked first.
“I think only myself and Brian Little made our England debuts during that time. It was hard for me because Phil Neal was in when Liverpool were doing well and Viv Anderson was in when Forest were doing well.
“You do start to feel sorry for yourself but you have to get over that. You have to keep believing that you will be judged by your achievements on a Saturday afternoon.
“I thought at the time I was playing far better than certain players, but I didn’t give in. I kept on saying ‘I’m available to play’.”
