Capello - Idiot, or Genius?

Bothroyd has scored 15 times already this season

As everybody now knows, last night Jay Bothroyd, the Cardiff striker, was called up to the preliminary England squad for the friendly against France that will be played on Wednesday night. So far, Bothroyd, 28, has played for Coventry, Perugia, Blackburn and Charlton, but it seemed that he has only recently been able to settle down and get stuck in at a club, and perhaps now that he is being given a run of games at Cardiff we are seeing the real Jay Bothroyd. With 15 goals in 16 games this season, there is no doubting he is in top form.

But the big question is why has Capello chosen him? Yes, he is in form, but he is not playing at the highest level, something Capello has always stressed to David Beckham is key if he ever wants to play for England again. And why was Kevin Davies not picked? He only got a cameo appearance in what is so far his only England appearance, and when Don Fabio went to watch him against Tottenham last week he scored two and got an assist - not a bad return for a man who was used as a "big target man" before this season.

Capello has been scouting young talent

On the other hand, a few people are praising the Italian's "inspired" decision. Dave Jones, the Cardiff manager, has been calling for the call up to happen, and many football experts also believe that Capello is moving in the right direction. Following the World Cup he promised a revolution, a new start, a completely refreshed England side, and you cannot argue that he has picked players that wouldn't have had a look in pre-World Cup since, such as Scott Loach, Andy Carroll and Kieran Gibbs. Capello is clearly looking to the future, giving this young talent international experience in order to hopefully have the team of tomorrow, today.

Some people wonder if he has gone slightly too far, however. Chris Smalling, Frankie Fielding and Kieran Gibbs are not starting on a regular basis for their clubs, and so far this season have failed to play more than 500 minutes of football between them. It begs the question: Is Capello picking players who are young, rather than just players who are in form and playing regularly? Possibly, but it is certainly refreshing to see a squad with players who under previous regimes would not have dreamed of a call up without a move to Manchester United.

Here is the England preliminary squad, to be cut down to 23:

Foster (Birmingham), Hart (Man City), Green (West Ham); Gibbs (Arsenal), Cole (Chelsea), Terry (Chelsea), Jagielka (Everton), Lescott (Man City), Richards (Man City), Ferdinand (Man Utd), Smalling (Man Utd); Walcott (Arsenal), Wilshere (Arsenal), Young (Aston Villa), Gerrard (Liverpool), Barry (Man City), Johnson (Man City), Milner (Man City), Henderson (Sunderland); Agbonlahor (Aston Villa), Bothroyd (Cardiff), Carroll (Newcastle), Crouch (Tottenham)