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New manager's assistant had urged a clean-out so a young generation could offer the nation a fresh approach at Euro 2012

If Roy Hodgson shares the same philosophy as Gary Neville it may actually be that John Terry and Rio Ferdinand are both cut loose when the names pop up on the Football Association's website and we get a full picture of who will be going to Euro 2012 and who has no place in the thinking of England's new manager.

When Neville was asked a couple of months ago to select his players for the tournament, there was no place for either Terry or Ferdinand. Neville's first‑choice XI, in a 4-3-3 formation, had Phil Jones and Chris Smalling as the centre‑backs, with Gary Cahill and Micah Richards in reserve. "They've got to bring through a new group of young players," Neville, now one of Hodgson's right‑hand men, explained back then. "Now is the time to clear the decks and go in with a fresh approach, with players who are not tarnished by failure and cynicism. They've got to get rid of the negativity because it doesn't create the right environment for young people to thrive and blossom in."

Hodgson's own deliberations will become clear at 1pm on Wednesdaywhen his squad is announced, followed by a Wembley press conference in which, among other things, he will be asked to explain the politics of Ferdinand's omission and it may not be enough to cite the player's fitness record. Ferdinand has not missed a league match because of injury since 22 January and, if Terry is included, the Manchester United player is entitled to harbour strong suspicions his omission is linked directly to the irreparable damage in their relationship.

Hodgson was always likely to sacrifice one of the two but perhaps the more surprising call he made on Tuesday was to Micah Richards, informing him that he, too, was not part of his plans. By then Hodgson had already learned that Kyle Walker had become the fifth England international to be ruled out for injury. Phil Jones will be one option at right-back and, though Glen Johnson's relationship with Hodgson was poor at times at Liverpool, the defender's concerns that it may be held against him might not be justified now Richards has been left out.

It was a busy day for Hodgson, who also squeezed in a visit to Chelsea's training ground to meet Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Gary Cahill and Daniel Sturridge. Later there was a telephone call to Peter Crouch to break the news that he had not made the cut. Crouch must wonder what he has to do sometimes when he has 22 goals from 42 England appearances, only 19 of which were starts, and has also had a reasonably successful first season at Stoke City, including a goal-of-the-season contender. He will have known from experience not to take anything for granted after the way he was marginalised under Fabio Capello but must have been encouraged by the fact Hodgson once tried to sign him for Fulham.

Instead Hodgson is looking elsewhere as he tries to compensate for the absence of Wayne Rooney through suspension from the first two games, against France and Sweden. There is not a particularly strong list of alternatives when the talented but raw Danny Welbeck is considered a near‑mandatory pick and the fact there is no place for Crouch supports the theory that Andy Carroll may be in the reckoning, ironically on the back of the problems he caused Terry as a second-half substitute in the FA Cup final, followed by the 4-1 defeat of Chelsea.

Carroll played so badly for the majority of the season that Liverpool's then director of football, Damien Comolli, was trying to move him out in January but by early evening the former Newcastle United striker, on his way to a Westlife concert, had not been among the list of thanks-but-no-thanks calls Hodgson was making.

The first of those was to Ferdinand and in many ways it is easy to sympathise with the 33-year-old when he has worked so hard to prove his fitness and, since the turn of the year, appears to have got on top of the back and calf issues that had meant he was involved in only 40% of United's fixtures for the previous two seasons.

In ordinary circumstances he and Terry would probably both have made the cut. These, however, are not ordinary circumstances when Hodgson has also had to contemplate the fallout of Terry standing trial for allegedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand, Rio's younger brother, during Chelsea's game at QPR last October. Above everything else, Hodgson has had to decide whether it would be workable to include them both and all the feedback he has received has made him conclude it would be divisive at a time when he is trying to invoke a spirit of togetherness.

If Terry is included, however, that does not mean the problem automatically goes away. If Hodgson has made his background checks, he will also be aware that a significant number of Ferdinand's United team-mates, including at least one other England international, had planned to snub Terry in the pre-match handshakes when they played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in February.

As it turned out, Terry was injured anyway but the animosity is still there and is shared by other players within the squad, many of whom are close with the Ferdinand brothers. Terry still has his allies, including Ashley Cole, but he was cold-shouldered by some of England's other players when he was last involved in the squad, for the friendlies against Sweden and Spain. In the end it is understood that he asked Cole to find out if there was a problem and the message came back from several players that, yes, there was. With Ferdinand off the scene, however, there is at least the possibility of a fully united squad. Read More

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