I trust those misguided souls who continue to propose the formation of a Great Britain XI to compete not only in the 2012 London Olympics but at future World Cups and European Championships took a long, hard look at the four Home Nations' various performances at the weekend. While England continue to thrive under the Italian influence of Fabio Capello, Scotland were outclassed in the Netherlands ("We were lucky to get nil," muttered one observer), Wales were booed off the pitch at the Millennium Stadium after being whipped by Finland and a workmanlike Northern Ireland beat an impoverished Poland by the odd goal in five courtesy of a couple of goalkeeping gaffes by Celtic's Artur Boruc.
So assuming someone can be coerced into accepting the job of GB manager (and forget any notion of Sir Alex Ferguson taking charge, the man is simply not interested) let us consider the poor man's possible 22-man squad on current form. Unless he massages national sensibilities by choosing at least five players from each country, then it is hard to imagine the selection of anything less than 18 Englishman.
A place should be found for Ryan Giggs but at the age of 35 the Welshman is hardly "one for the future"; Scotland's Allan McGregor and Craig Gordon are the best of Britain's goalkeeping bunch and a midfield place could probably be found for Darren Fletcher. Jonny Evans has matured into a defender of genuine class but has yet to establish himself as a first-team regular at Manchester United so, although his day may come, that, I am sorry to say, is that for the Celtic nations.
And where would this ersatz mix play their home games? Given that the core of the team would be English then Wembley would be the only choice. But can you seriously imagine the Tartan Army flocking across Hadrian's Wall (or filing into Hampden Park for that matter) to cheer a Team GB mainly comprised of Sassenachs? Supporting an English-dominated British Lions XV on the rugby field as they have done in the past is one thing, but being expected to acclaim a bunch of English footballers something else entirely.
And what of the GB XI team strip? A natty outfit fashioned out of 11 Union flags, perhaps, or maybe a red, white, blue and green quartered shirt? That would raise the problem of having to decide upon an away strip for the simple reason that such an eyesore would represent a colour clash with every nation on earth. There have been times in the past, needless to say, when it would have been intriguing to be the manager of any such side.
Every football manager would not have relished the prospect of compiling a GB "dream team" from the following talents: Gordon Banks, Stanley Matthews, Bobby Moore, Duncan Edwards, Tommy Lawton, Jimmy Greaves, Bobby Charlton, Tom Finney (England); Neville Southall, Cliff Jones, John Charles, Ian Rush, Giggs (Wales); Pat Jennings, Danny Blanchflower, George Best, Peter Doherty (Northern Ireland); Billy Bremner, Danny McGrain, Jimmy Johnstone, Denis Law, Kenny Dalglish, Jim Baxter (Scotland). Actually, the list could go on and on, but you get the drift.
For what it is worth, here is my all-time Great Britain XI. A selection that I believe would push Brazil, Italy or Germany to the absolute limits in any fantasy World Cup...: Banks; McGrain, Charles, Edwards, Wilson; Best, Charlton, Baxter, Finney; Law, Greaves. I trust I have sparked your imagination and await your selections which you can email to me. rphilips@thenational.ae