I don't know... you wait around for a blog and three come at once.

GARETH Barry has just been named in the England side to face Belarus tongiht and I'm delighted.

Barry had been simply too much on the fringes against Kazakhstan and was withdrawn at half-time.

But mercifully all the talk pre-match had been about Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.

You could tell the seriousness of Fabio Capello's predicament with Radio 5 Live waxing lyrical about Gerrard's poor form on it's morning talk show yesterday.

"I'd stay with Gerrard and build the team around him- play him where he wants", said one caller who, predictably, was a Liverpool fan who admitted he didn't care much for the national side.

"Frank Lampard is the best midfielder in the country and he should play the central role", said another caller with a southern accent.

Barry's name hardly came into it. I'd expected him to be the fall guy and the fact he wasn't surprised me.

That's because the written and broadcast media seem too often to want to go easy on players from the big four because they have such a cosy relationship with those clubs.

"Gerrard is such a magnificent player we should play him wherever we can"- said one national writer today.

It's all nonesense. Gerrard is a bit like a playground bully. Brilliant for Liverpool but awful for God knows how long at international level. Sure he can shine against the United States at Wembley in a friendly, but when did he last do it when it mattered?

If he can't play the role Capello has identified he needs in his team set-up, then he should stand aside.

Lampard appears to have heeded the warning from the Italian.

Lampard- who for the first time I have ever seen completely dominated a Villa midfield a fortnight ago- has been little better for England.

But at least his form over the past couple of internationals has been markedly better. Chalk and cheese you might say.

Eight months ago Villa had five players in an England squad of 30.

Curtis Davies may have to bide his time for a season or more, particularly if you saw his performance at Chelsea.

Scott Carson is back in there but is at Albion nowadays, Ashley Young is close and Gabby Agbonlahor was all due to flight out to Belarus but for a hamstring injury whilst playing for the undfer-21s.

It would have been harsh to say the least had Barry missed out on a starting place in Belarus.

But his challenge is still ahead with Owen Hargreaves, Joe Cole and Michael Carrick all due to return to fitness soon at a time when Gerrard and Lampard's names appear carved in stone in England's starting eleven.

As for that man Young. What exactly does he have to do to get into a squad that does not seem to possess one single wide left player?

The Premiership's Player of the Month, at least in my book, experienced an 'up and down' September: brilliant at Tottenham, largely kept under lock-and-key by the talented Gianni Zuiverloon at Albion and scorer of a terrific free-kick against Sunderland but with a performance that always looked in second gear.

Young is a supremly gifted set-piece specialist (although you wouldn't have known it against QPR or LItex Lovech). He has the ability to dominate full-backs on either side at Villa Park in games where Villa's midfield are dominating possession and allowing him a 'free' role.

Perhaps Fabio Capello simply sees too much of the other side of his game, like at Chelsea where he was anonymous (but who wouldn't be with that little service?) or at home to Liverpool, or away at Stoke for instance, where he did too little with the ball.

But even so it must surely be only a matter of time before the former Watford winger gets another senior call.

In the meantime we can only hope that his new lucrative contract finally gets to see the nib of a ball-point.