Exclusive: Sterling over Rashford for England, Dele’s decline, Howe’s flying Magpies and more…

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In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Aston Villa and Liverpool striker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford’s England chances, Dele’s worrying decline in Turkey, the job Eddie Howe is doing at Newcastle United and more…

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Gareth Southgate will stick with Raheem Sterling…

I’ve been questioning whether or not Man United should consider selling Marcus Rashford for quite some time and I do still think there’s an argument for that. Don’t get me wrong, he’s just reached 100 club goals and that’s a magnificent achievement but for me, if Man United are going to challenge for the title, Rashford, even in the form he’s in, isn’t going to be a major part of that.

I think he should have always been played as a centre forward, but they’ve put him on the left, on the right and down the middle and unfortunately, a jack of all trades, eventually becomes a master of none, so in terms of Rashford getting in the England squad, although his current form will be a relief for Gareth Southgate, I can’t see him nudging Raheem Sterling out.

I think that Southgate, being the loyal person and coach that he is, will stick with the player that has done the most for him and there’s no doubt that Sterling has done very, very well for England. Not only that but I think he’s still the best player England has when it comes to the positions he takes up between the right-back and the right-sided central defender.

So come Matchday 1 in the World Cup against Iran, which will be a tricky game, Southgate will stick with those that have already proven themselves. I think he’ll play 4-3-3 and Sterling will be the main starter on the left of a front three but Rashford, who will still be a great option to have available, will find a home on the bench.

Dele’s decline is a worry…

I see a lot of similarities between where Dele is right now and where I was at the end of my career.

I moved from club to club to club before eventually retiring at the age of 30. I know Dele is still only 26 years old so I’m not saying he should retire, but a break away from the game may do him some good.

I wrote another column about him recently and basically said ‘Dele, is it time to sit down with your friends and family and have an honest conversation about what you want to do?’ – Don’t get me wrong, I don’t know how he’s feeling, but before I retired I was physically and mentally shot and to me, Dele certainly looks tired and he’s obviously not enjoying playing football.

When you go from Spurs to Everton and you go from having a Sargent Major boss in Jose Mourinho to a more pragmatic coach in Frank Lampard and it still doesn’t work out, there must be something really wrong.

Now he’s at Besiktas and after what their manager has just said about him, it’s obviously not working out there either and that is a real big shame.

I do genuinely care about the kid though. Just before the World Cup four years ago, the England squad had a press conference in the gym at St George’s Park and all the players, Dele included, were there and available for interviews. I remember going up and speaking to him and something I always do before every major international tournament is buying the Three Lions shirt with a player’s name on the back. Over the years I’ve had Paul Scholes, Steven Gerrard, and even Wayne Rooney, but four years ago, I told Dele that he was the man that year and it was his name I was going to get on the back of my shirt. He was buzzing at the time but four years later and I feel so personally disappointed with him because he is unbelievably talented and it’s just going to waste.

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If he does happen to see this, I want him to know that I will gladly help him off the field to get him where he wants to be on it.

He’s got to break the cycle or he’s got to do something else for a living because he deserves to be happy and I worry he isn’t at the moment.

Eddie Howe has got the Magpies flying…

Newcastle United are absolutely flying. Eddie Howe is doing a remarkable job in the northeast.

Their most recent game saw them thump one of my old clubs – Aston Villa.

Their signings have been excellent. Dan Burn, for example, he was not a player that I thought their new owners would go for, but they have and what a solid addition he’s been. The same can be said for all their new arrivals.

They have bought in players, particularly in defence, who are big, powerful and most importantly, humble. Genuinely solid signings and it’s showing.

I thought when their new owners came in, the type of signings they’d make would be to look for a cut-price deal for Harry Maguire, or bring in an out-of-form Galactico, similar to Villa signing Philippe Coutinho, but no – they’ve gone the other way.

They’ve even managed to reinvigorate the players they already had. Miguel Almiron and Joelinton are perfect examples of that.

Joelinton is arguably the side’s most consistent performer and Almiron is making an absolute mockery of Jack Grealish after what he said about him at the end of last season.

When it comes to how far I think they could go this season, I think top four may be a little too much to expect, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they finished in a lower European spot, sixth or seventh. I’m really looking forward to seeing how they do.

YouTubers in football… What a joke!

Tobi, Manny and Jed Brown are three YouTubers who have just been offered a trial with Crawley Town… What a joke!

I have no problem with players from anywhere getting a trial at a football club if they’re good enough but you’re not telling me those three are the best talent in the area. It’s obvious they’ve been bought in to bring their social media following with them and I don’t want football to turn into what boxing is becoming with the likes of Jake Paul.

There is this weird crossover happening in sport between the actual sport and the entertainment business. We’ve seen this with the likes of Mark Wright and most recently, there was a player at Halifax who broke his contract so he could go on Love Island – and it’s a real big worry.

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