Source: Man_City
Now Lescott's a Lionheart
BLUE STEEL: Joleon Lescott in action against West Ham's Carlton ColeJoleon Lescott was last week being talked about as a possible stand-in for the jinxed England left back spot. But after the dramatic events of Stamford Bridge on Saturday, right under the perceptive gaze of the national team boss Fabio Capello, he has emerged as a major contender for one of the centre back berths. That is a huge turnaround from the opening months of this campaign, when the £24million buy from Everton was being derided in some quarters as one of the flop buys of the season. England had a long list of capable centre halfs, and with his club form ropey following the move down the M62, Lescott appeared to have slumped to the bottom of it. As the Blues suffered and gave away silly goals, so did Lescott, and he was not even on the bench for the autumn World Cup qualifiers against Croatia, Ukraine and Belarus. Rio Ferdinand and John Terry were unassailable, it appeared, and West Ham's Matthew Upson moved ahead of Lescott in the pecking order. But football careers are built on shifting sands, and suddenly the situation looks different. Ferdinand has suffered from persistent injury doubts, while Terry seems to be wilting under the condemnation of his personal conduct and the removal of the captain's armband. With ten weeks of the league season left, the centre back spots are up for grabs, especially is Terry's misery continues and Ferdinand continues to look like a busted flush. As late as last week, Lescott was being discussed as a possible replacement for City teammate Wayne Bridge, after he had made himself unavailable for England selection. That changed in the course of 90 minutes at Chelsea. At one end, Lescott was a tower of strength, nullifying the world-class threat of Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, in a solid new partnership with Vincent Kompany. And at the other end, Terry was being run ragged by Carlos Tevez, compounding a thoroughly miserable day for him. To complete a satisfying day, Lescott was then named in the England squad to face Egypt in Tuesday night's Wembley friendly. Lescott view And with conventional left backs Leighton Baines and Stephen Warnock also named, it appears that Lescott is in a straight fight with Upson for the slot alongside Terry in the starting line-up. Not that he was bothered where he plays, as long as he picks up his tenth cap: "I look forward to being involved, and I will take any position, to be honest, left back or centre back," said Lescott. The big Brummie had started to justify his hefty price tag before being forced into surgery to have a floating bone removed from his knee in December. But he has simply picked up where he left off after returning to the starting line-up in the original cup tie with Stoke. "I felt was hitting a good run of form just before the injury, but I had that little stumble and I now feel confident and strong," he said. "Even in midweek me and Chief (Nedum Onuoha) did well - we conceded three goals but I thought we did well. I am just trying to strike up a good relationship with whoever I am alongside. City signed off for a fortnight without a match with the morale-boosting 4-2 win at Chelsea, and Lescott dismissed any notion that the unity in the Blues camp had started to splinter. In fact, he hinted, the Wayne Bridge-John Terry dispute had, if anything, forged stronger bonds. "The togetherness was never in doubt," he said. "We have always had a great set of lads, and the team spirit is up there with the best. "In house our attitude has never been in question. We have a great bunch and have all been confident that we are pushing in the right direction. "In a way we did it for Wayne. What's gone on hasn't been great for him, but he has been a model professional, and it was an extra bit of spice to what was a great win for him. "We have tried to lend him our support, but he hasn't needed much throughout the whole situation. I am sure he can move on. "He hasn't done anything wrong, so it was hard on him to get booed at Chelsea, but you will get that with any set of fans - they will boo you for any reason, but he put in a great performance." City challenge City now have no game until the trip to Sunderland on March 14, due to the international calendar and next weekend's FA Cup sixth round, but Lescott feels the win at Chelsea will keep spirits soaring until battle is rejoined. "It's always great to go off on an international break with a win, and we have done that on a great stage - Stamford Bridge is a hard place to go," he said. "Now we have some big games coming up, with the top teams coming to our place, but we are quite confident at home. "That's why it was such a big win at Chelsea, because we haven't won that many games away from home." The win at Stamford Bridge startled many people in the game, but Lescott said a big result had been coming after much-improved performances in the goalless draw with Liverpool and the shock cup defeat at Stoke. "We put in a great team performance against Liverpool," he said. "We didn't score, but kept a clean sheet. "And in midweek at Stoke we should have scored in the first half, but it wasn't to be. "Against Chelsea we got a chance to put the two together, by playing well AND scoring goals, and we did that. "It was a massive three points for us. Every game is just as important, but that was a massive statement that we made." "They had a lot of spells in the first half, but they are the home team, so they will. But we were strong and competed well in every aspect of the game." What is your verdict on Lescott's form? Have your say.| Submit Comments| Comments (49)| PrintWhat's this? 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