It looks, for all the world, like the GB Olympic football team has been given the green light. At least by someone.
The Scottish, the Irish and the Welsh may not like it, but in the face of (mostly) overwhelming public opinion, it feels like some collective pride should be swallowed, fears of deinviduation be put to one side, and the farce of Olympic football be embraced as a one-off.
So under the terms of the games, a squad of 18 can be picked. All but three must be under the age of 23. Given free reign of the four countries, and with a view to maintaining a vaguely fair spread, my choice of personnel would be as follows:
GK: Joe Hart (+23) - Man City / England
RB: Kyle Walker - Tottenham / England
CB: Chris Smalling - Man Utd / England
CB: Phil Jones - Man Utd / England
LB: Ryan McGivern - Man City / N.Ireland
MF: Jack Wilshere - Arsenal / England
MF: Aaron Ramsey - Arsenal / Wales
LW: Gareth Bale - Tottenham / Wales
AM: Charlie Adam (+23) - Blackpool / Scotland
RW: Daniel Sturridge - Chelsea / England
CF: Wayne Rooney (+23) - Man Utd / England
Subs
Rhys Taylor (GK) - Chelsea / Wales
Danny Wilson - Liverpool / Scotland
Lee Hodson - Watford / N.Ireland
Barry Bannan - Aston Villa / Scotland
Joe Allen - Swansea / Wales
Jonjo Shelvey - Liverpool / England
Danny Welbeck - Man Utd - England
Terrifying it may not be, but 2012 does at least represent a chance for some promising youngsters to get high-profile national team exposure and maybe even enjoy a certain degree of success. Perhaps the prevailing reason to get behind this exercise is that ultimately, a GB team stands a very good chance of a medal. Unless Stuart Pearce is placed in charge, that is.
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