Martin O'Neill Is Right to Fume Over Emile Heskey's England Start

For any club manager with international stars in his team, it can be deeply frustrating to see such important players go off, play for their countries, and return wounded soldiers a few days later, unable to take part in the club’s next few matches because they are so battered and bruised.

So it is unsurprising that Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill is upset about Emile Heskey’s inclusion in England’s starting lineup against Spain on Wednesday night, with the forward having returned back to the club with a sore Achilles injury. 

There is always a risk of players picking up injuries while they are away on international duty, and that is something club managers have to accept, but in Emile Heskey’s case the situation was different.

Heskey was already injured when he joined up with the England squad, already carrying that Achilles injury from a trip to Blackburn last Saturday. England’s medical staff somehow declared Heskey fit to play, though, allowing him to damage his Achilles further and limp off only minutes after half-time.

Even if Heskey’s injury seemed to be healing before he started for England, it is surely not right to risk a player in a meaningless friendly. Fair enough, O’Neill said, if it was in a vital World Cup qualifier, but definitely not in a friendly.

O’Neill will now seek to talk to England manager Fabio Capello about why Heskey was passed fit by medical staff, and why such a risk was taken in a match so insignificant. Capello must always put England first in crucial qualifiers, but it is wrong for him to ruin the plans of club managers by unnecessarily playing unfit players in friendlies.

O’Neill is right to be angry with England. "I have spoken to the England doctor and voiced some concerns and I will speak to the manager," said the Aston Villa manager.
"Knowing Emile, he would have wanted to have gone down there and played in a bit of discomfort but I was surprised he played considering he wouldn't have been fully fit. 

"If you are fully fit to play, I don't have a problem and you take your chance. If you have been suffering from something a couple of days before, then I think a bit of care should be taken.

"Emile has come back, he didn't train on Friday, the Achilles is particularly sore at this minute. If the game was this minute, he couldn't play.

"It was a friendly international at the end of it all. I can understand it if it was a qualifying game because they are very important to the well-being of the country."

A trip to European champions Spain was always going to be a game to look forward to, but it was still nowhere near as important as the next qualifier will be against Ukraine at Wembley next month. So it is really quite confusing as to why Capello felt so compelled, or capelled, to start with the walking wounded striker from Villa.

It was wrong for Capello to start Heskey, and Martin O’Neill is right to let the England boss know how he feels.