Rio Snubbed As Hodgson Reveals England Squad

Chris Skudder, sports presenter
Roy Hodgson will today announce his England squad for Euro 2012 amid controversy over his apparent decision to omit Rio Ferdinand.
It is understood the Manchester United defender will be left out of the 23-man list, while John Terry - who is accused of racially abusing Ferdinand's brother, Anton - will reportedly be included.
The manager will be the first Englishman to name an England squad for a major tournament since Kevin Keegan disclosed his selections for the ill-fated Euro campaign in Holland and Belgium 12 years ago.
England miserably failed to get out of their group that year and there followed an expensive decade of failure while the FA turned to foreigners Sven Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello to transform the nation's fortunes.
Steve McLaren, never the FA's first choice for the 2008 Euro campaign, even failed to get through qualification.
This time though, Hodgson was the preferred choice of the FA, and he will hope to convince the public and the media that he should have been theirs too.
First off, a firm stance on the situation surrounding John Terry, who denies the charges he is due to stand trial on in July.
Hodgson has had to decide whether Terry and Rio both could make the trip.
Although Terry is innocent until proven guilty, the risk for Hodgson would be factions developing within their base camp in Krakow and undermining team spirit.
It is understood that Hodgson has spoken to both parties to inform them of his decision.
Despite Ferdinand's omission, the new coach looks likely to turn to the old guard for the short term.
Steven Gerrard will be a strong candidate to be captain while Frank Lampard, despite failing to deliver on the international stage, is likely to be selected.
If England are thin, it's still in the striking department. Wayne Rooney picks himself, even though he's suspended for the opening two matches against France and Sweden.
His Manchester United partner Danny Welbeck should be one of the few younger players in the 23.
And Andy Carroll, weighed down by a £35m pound price tag for most of the past year may have done enough to squeeze into Hodgson's thoughts on his late season Liverpool form.
National expectation has probably never been lower.
Fewer England fans are expected to travel to Ukraine and Poland than for any of the major tournament the country has qualified for since the Mexico World Cup of 1986.
Yet this could make it a good time for Roy Hodgson to step into the breach.
No one really expects England to achieve much over the next couple of months and that gives the 64-year-old nothing to lose - bar a few tabloids claiming the job should have been Harry Redknapp's.
A nation expects? Maybe not quite this time, and that can only be a good thing. Much less to trip over.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone provided by Airtel Nigeria.