Cahill wants more time with England

26 June 2009 11:46
Eyebrows were raised when Bolton boss Gary Megson paid Aston Villa £5million for Cahill's services in January 2008. Now, the wisdom of Martin O'Neill's decision to dispense with the 6ft 2in centre-back is being queried following Cahill's outstanding form which so impressed Fabio Capello last season. Capello called the former England Under-21 international into his squad for the recent World Cup qualifiers with Kazakhstan and Andorra following injury to Rio Ferdinand and a full cap now beckons for the 23-year-old. Cahill told Bolton's official magazine 'Extra Time' in an interview to be published next week: "Now that I have been involved in the England set-up, it makes me even hungrier to be involved once again. "Hopefully next season I can have another one like I have just had at Bolton and I can stay in his (Capello's) plans. "Over a period of 12 months, the England call-up capped everything off really nicely and I want to keep progressing in the same way at Bolton next year." Cahill made 34 appearances and scored three goals in an impressive first full season at the Reebok Stadium. He provides Capello with another option and revealed Three Lions skipper Terry put him at ease with England's star-studded players during the recent trip to Kazakhstan. "There was nothing bad that came out of the trip," said Cahill. "Obviously I was a little bit nervous because I didn't know what to expect, but the first thing the squad did when I got there was to go for a meal and it helped to ease things. "I spoke to the players that I knew already and John Terry had a word to congratulate me on the achievement of being called up to the squad. "That was that, I was off and running, and I felt comfortable. "When I sat there at night it sunk in, but the next day it felt completely normal and the only difference was that I was training with a different set of lads. "To be honest, the three hour journey down to the team hotel flew by because I was responding to phone calls and text messages on my phone. "All my friends, family and players from other teams had been in contact to pass on their good wishes, so my phone was red hot! "It was humbling because some of those messages came from people I hadn't spoken to in a while." Meanwhile, Bolton face competition from Wolves and Fulham for the signature of Reading striker Kevin Doyle and could also be priced out of a move for Swansea midfielder Ferrie Bodde. Doyle is available at £6.5million - a figure that triggers a release clause in his contract enabling him to talk with any club - but Swansea's £5million valuation of Bodde is unlikely to be matched by the Trotters. Yet Megson is close to finally sealing a deal for Portsmouth midfielder Sean Davis and remains hopeful of signing left-back Paul Robinson from his former club West Brom.

Source: Team_Talk