ENGLAND’S European Championship campaign moves on at Wembley on Saturday and we’ll probably beat a moderate Swiss side – even with only three strikers in the squad.

Where have all the goalscorers gone?

Okay, Rooney’s suspended and Jermain Defoe has a poorly wrist, but surely we can drag someone off a beach to cater for an injury to a trio of Bent, Crouch and Zamora.

Word is Ashley Young may be used alongside his Aston Villa partner Darren Bent, which makes sense, but I still think it's pathetic that Fabio Capello sees his options as being so limited.

Why was Kevin Davies axed without any explanation after just 20 minutes against Montenegro?

How can Jay Bothroyd have been worth picking against France, yet not considered worthy of even a place on the bench when we’re down to the bare bones?

And why has Michael Owen been cold-shouldered by the Italian when we all know he’s capable of nicking a goal for anyone at any level ?

I’d even have put a DJ Campbell or a Gary Hooper in the squad rather than have a bunch of defenders and midfielders on the bench.

Maybe it’s his Italian mentality. Catenaccio was a dirty word when their game was suffocated by defensively paranoid coaches, and Capello’s first instinct is to give nothing away rather than to attack.

Defoe was our only striker to score at the World Cup, Crouch wasn’t given a fair crack of the whip, and at the last two finals, we simply haven’t had enough strikers in the squads to change games.

I can see the same thing happening in Poland and Ukraine next summer.

We’ll reach the finals with consummate ease, folk will talk us up as potential winners, and we’ll whimper out because we don’t take players who can change games and put the ball in the back of the net.

Spain, Argentina, Brazil and Germany pack their squads with potential scorers. England go in with just four forwards in the 23 names.

If Don Fabio won’t pick strikers against a confidence-riddled bunch of yodellers in a qualifier, he won’t take them to the finals.

SORRY to be negative about this, but if ever there was a non-event it was the Carling Nations Cup.

Fair enough to give it a go, but clearly the prospect of Irish, Welsh and Scottish footballers fighting for a trophy doesn’t grab anyone any more.

A crowd of 529 for the Wales-Northern Ireland match is evidence enough to strangle the baby at birth.

Thousands of empty seats in the Aviva Stadium made for horrendous television pictures, and a surfeit of substitutes involving names from a telephone directory was further proof that the coaches treated the games as no more than training exercises.

That demeans international competition and caps shouldn’t be handed out like confetti.

A magnificent Champions League final shows the public still have an appetite for football even after feasting on it for nine months, but only if the fare is meaningful.

ONE thing always strikes me about Sri Lankan touring teams these days.

Why have the names changed so much?

When their cricketers first came here to thrill us with audacious strokeplay and ever-ready smiles, they were called Mendis, Dias, John, Da Silva and De Mel.

That was in 1983.

Circa 2011, we have Paranavitana, Samaraweera and a couple of Jayawardenes, to say nothing in past years of Tilekeratne, Kaluwitherana, Wijegunawardene, Kalumperuma and Hathurusingha.

The legendary commentator Brian Johnston was so flummoxed when the new influx of unpronounceables first came to Lord’s, he engaged a Sri Lankan gentleman to help him with not only spitting the names out correctly but also recognising them.

The ploy worked to perfection on Test Match Special, and towards the end of the first day’s broadcast, Johnners came clean with the listeners and decided to introduce his new pal.

“I’ve been so rude, I’ve never even asked your name,” said Johnners.

“Eric” came the unforgettable reply!