"You're Just a Sh*t Emile Heskey!"

A question, how bad does a player have to be, to be worse than Emile Heskey?

Ah, Emile Heskey. No player in Premier League history, has been a bigger joke figure than Emile Ivanhoe Heskey. A common target for terrace abuse, yet a point of praise from fellow professionals. Big Emile has provided such an amount of pro/con arguments and discussions like no other England/Premier League player ... until now.

So, step forward Manchester United 'striker' Danny Welbeck. With the emergence of the Manchester United player, it seems the laughable lump from Leicester may be about to surrender his joke tag.

Both players we're told by pundits are great 'team players'. But on observation, with a 'fly to light' type of attachment to the ball when in the opponents possession, yet devoid of any real ability to go on any sort of goal-scoring run, it's a mystery to see what they bring.

Forwards are, at least should be judged on goals, and assists.

Whereas Emile Heskey's record is o.k.,  Danny Welbeck's is poor. Shocking in fact.

To be fair, it wasn't always bad for poor Emile. His first 5 full years as a pro were encouraging, the sort you'd expect from a youngster breaking through I'd say. As a winger-turned-forward Heskey's first full season (the 1996/97 campaign) saw him net 10 goals in 35 games, identical to his goal tally and games the following season (he also added 2 assists). The 98/99 season however, saw the big man under the sort of criticism he'd later get used to, after only netting a relatively poor 6 goals in 30 appearances.

Despite this setback, Heskey improved the season after scoring 7 in 23 before making the big move to Liverpool midway through the season for £11m. He'd go on to bag another 3 to once again hit double figures for the season. He followed up that by having his best ever season to date hitting 14 goals in the Premier League for Liverpool, during their unique treble season.

Overall, up to his fifth full season as a pro, Heskey played 172 games scoring 50 goals (also chipping in with 3 assists.) That gives the ex-England international a goal every 3.4 games which to be fair, is a decent record.

All in all, those first 5 years (which are comparable to Welbeck's) show Heskey was decent, and showed a relative, encouraging improvement.

Welbeck on the other hand. Jeez, well ...

Since breaking into the Man Utd senior squad, Danny Welbeck has spent the majority of his professional career thus far in the Premier League. (His only time outside of the top flight being a 8-game stint at Lancashire minnows Preston North End.)

After playing 8 Premier League games for Man Utd in his first two years as a pro, a fresh faced 19 year old Danny Welbeck joined Sunderland on loan for the 2010/11 campaign.

From what many considered a successful campaign, Welbeck scored 6 goals, and claimed an assist in 26 appearances.

Sir Alex Ferguson must have seen something in him while in the North East as he gave the forward a bigger role for the 11/12 campaign, Welbeck's best to date in fact (although he still failed to hit league double numbers). He netted a fairly impressive 9 in 30 goals as Man Utd finished runners up in the Premier League.

Many had hoped Welbeck would push on for the 12/13 season. But he flopped, badly. 1 goal in 27 is a telling tally indeed. Lucky for the Red Devils that they had just bought Robin van Persie and had Wayne Rooney and Javier Hernàndez in reserve.

Welbeck fans like to point to a game Welbeck had against Real Madrid  as proof of Welbeck's quality (like Messi bashers do with the Bayern/Barca tie). Keep hanging your hat on that though reds fans, as the facts tell a different story.

Those facts being Welbeck has played 99 games, and scored a piss-poor (for a forward at least) 17 goals, (adding 8 assists) which gives a goal ratio of a goal every 5.8 games, nearly twice as worse as Heskey. 

So back to the original question, how bad does a player have to be, to be worse than Emile Heskey? The answer - as bad as Danny Welbeck!

Wodwell? What About Cork and Westwood, Woy?

Back in May when Manchester United's Tom Cleverley had shied away from England's fairly meaningless double header with Republic of Ireland and Brazil, surely there was only one midfielder who deserved the senior call-up?

Well, I suppose in Woy Hodgson's small mind there was. Woy, after giving it much deliberation, and spending countless minutes looking through the squad sheets of Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea and Liverpool, decided on the injury-plagued Jack Rodwell.

Jack Rodwell's talent is undoubted. If he gets over his injury problems he can be one hell of a player. (Big 'IF' though for a player with his fitness record.)

Regardless, if the England boss was to pick players 'on form and merit' like he'd vowed when appointed, Rodwell wouldn't be under consideration, surely?

11 games this season, with only 6 being starts hardly screams 'pick me'. At seasons' end, the 22 year old boasted a mightily impressive 90.1% pass completion, but looking further into that, suggests the number isn't quite as impressive when taking into account that he averaged a paltry 23.8 passes per game, (along with a shoddy 0.1 key passes per game ratio.)

Also, a quick look at his defensive displays when out of possession, 0.7 tackles per game, 0.6 interceptions wouldn't fill the average England fan with much confidence when placed alongside the defence negligent Frank Lampard.

In his very few games this season, Rodwell has at least looked competent when more advanced. Averaging around 2 shots every 3 games, and his 2 goals vs. Norwich (and subsequent Man of the Match) performance also suggests this.

Looking at his overall contribution to Manchester City's failed season though, Rodwell has been below par. A poor acquisition for the amount paid.

His 'no-form' season, would pose the question, to Woy at least, 'How did he merit a call-up?'

So then, who did merit a call-up?

I have two alternatives. The first is Southampton's Jack Cork.

I've touched on the 'Southampton Syndrome' already, but regardless of the FA's strange reluctance to cap Saints' players, I think Cork deserves a chance.

Despite coming through at Chelsea, Cork has spent most of his time as a professional in the Lower Leagues. He's also played at all but Senior level for England too, including the Great Britain Olympic team.

So, what makes Jack Cork, a League One player just 2 seasons ago, deserve an England chance?

Looking at this season, Cork's first full season in the Premier League, the 24 year old clocked up 28 appearances, with all but 4 lasting the full 90 minutes.

In what can be classed as a successful campaign for Southampton, Cork was instrumental. His calmness and concentration in midfield provided the Saints with a platform to attack.

Averaging 52.8 passes per game with a completion rate of 83.6%, with a key pass per game in his locker, statistics more than back up Cork's claim.

Defensively, he excels where Rodwell falls short. With an average of 4 successful tackles and 5 inceptions every 2 games, with a couple of clearances added per game too.

But in a reverse, where Rodwell showed some competence, Cork lacked. No goals or assists, with a tendency to shoot once every two games, Cork offers less going forward, which is understandable considering the deeper role he has at club level. Still, as proven in the past, he can play forward to better effect, as was the case during his Burnley stint.

The second alternative, and maybe I'm a little biased, is former Crewe Captain and Player of the Year Ashley Westwood. A deep-lying playmaker in the 'Carrick mould' Westwood made the jump from League Two/League One to the Premier League with a certain ease.

Making 28 Premier League starts for Aston Villa, Westwood had a somewhat mixed first few weeks. By the end of the season, Westwood had fully established himself as a Premier League player and an integral part of Lambert's team. Aston Villa fans would be hard pressed to name a player (bar Benteke) to have finished the season in finer form.

Let's break it down to numbers. With a modest pass average of 44.5 per game, an 84.8% completion rate (in one game peaking with an unmatched 98% pass completion), Westwood clocked up 6 assists. That's with inclusion of his average key pass per game and 3 successful long passes per 90 minutes, displaying the young playmakers range.

Defensively, Westwood is strong. 3 tackles, 3 clearances, a block and 5 interceptions every 2 games back this up.

Again, similar to Cork, Westwood isn't as potent offensively, though his 6 assists isn't to be sniffed at.

Regardless of all those stats, neither get much recognition outside of their own clubs. Both deserve a chance at least, in my view. Either deserved a chance in the double header ahead of Rodwell.

As an Aston Villa fan though, I'm torn with being pissed off Westwood gets no recognition from England, yet pleased he isn't called up. As in the past, when one of our players goes on England duty, they either get injured or tapped up.