I AM normally a keen devourer of newspapers but, where England's football team is concerned, I have tended to turn the page since the defeat against Croatia.

As hard as you try, though, it's not easy to escape the Three Lions' circus and one of the main talking-points surrounding Fabio Capello's first squad for tomorrow night's friendly against Switzerland is not committing himself to sticking with John Terry as captain.

I like that stance. I always admire managers who make strong decisions and don't sit on the fence and, while I think everybody knows I don't agree with the idea of an Italian running our national side, if he refuses to stand on ceremony, which is my first impression, he might win me over.

Nobody should presume they have a right to the England armband and it gives the manager a good chance to get to know the players before he makes that decision.

For me, Terry has certain attributes to be England captain but, in that role, you have a responsibility not to stick your face into referees' faces and he always seems to want to get involved in things that are nothing to do with him.

Steven Gerrard was the vice-captain under Steve McClaren but he can be very dull. He lifts teams with his performances, although not always for England, and he doesn't drive people on, encourage them or sort things out on the pitch.

Gary Neville might be another option but he never seems to be fit these days and Ashley Cole is doing well to get near the England squad at the moment.

My personal feeling is Gareth Barry would make a fantastic England captain. He was brought into the side, pulled the whole thing together and he has the right personality.

After his great games for England, Barry returned to Aston Villa and wasn't interested in any plaudits. He just wanted things to carry on as normal and has been heralded as a great example to the club's young players like Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor by his manager Martin O'Neill.

Nothing about him is "big-time Charlie" and that's the type of humility I would like to see in our England players.

The other big issue has been David Beckham's omission from the squad. Even though I said previously Beckham should be given his 100th cap, that was before seeing how he's spent the last couple of months.

It's a massive achievement playing for England and you can't just pick somebody as a favour to help him reach three figures. If he doesn't reach the landmark, it will be his own fault for going to play in a Mickey Mouse League in America.

He's done a lot for England but he's probably forfeited his right to 100 caps with that decision and playing kick-ups on a beach in Brazil. If it was me, I'd also rather earn my 100th cap than be given it as a gesture so, with David Bentley, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Aaron Lennon around, he might now have to settle for 99.

Paul Robinson has also been left out and I agree with that decision as well. He needs to get right back to basics after a terrible two years and probably needs a new club to do that.

Apparently, he's lost quite a few pounds since the new manager arrived at Spurs but, if he was overweight before, that also smacks of complacency.

All the goalkeepers selected by Capello, though, are liable to drop clangers and I'm surprised Robert Green didn't get a shout. He's looked about the best we've got this season but David James will probably get another run now.

I liked Scott Carson but after his nightmare against Croatia he probably needs to come out of the firing line. That leaves Chris Kirkland and, although my old pal Steve Ogrizovic thought he was a fantastic prospect when coaching him at Coventry, he seems very injury prone and actually broke his arm saving a shot once.

The standard of goalkeeping in general is certainly not as strong as it used to be.

I was fortunate enough to play with two top-quality ones in Andy Goram, or Gormless as we called him at Hibernian because he was daft as a brush, and Oggy.

Andy was small but had a massive spring and could take the ball off people's heads. Oggy was probably just a little bit better because of the super saves he used to make and the way he filled his goal.

He made two world-class saves against Leeds that got us to the FA Cup final and should have won several caps for England, as should players like Trevor Peake and Brian Borrows, but they suffered from Coventry being an unfashionable club. I'm sure Capello would have found a place for Oggy in this squad though.