Tickets for West Ham? Join the queue, Hodgson

The next time Roy Hodgson asks to visit West Ham, the club should kindly point him towards the ticket office and tell him to join the queue.

After all, what's the point of treating the incumbent England manager as a VIP and paying him lip-service if he has little to no interest whatsoever in selecting any United players for his England squads?

Hodgson has been in charge at Soho Square since 2012 and his predilection for selecting teams from the nation's elite clubs - plus Liverpool and Tottenham - renders him as short-sighted any of his predecessors.

His disinclination to back any Hammers came to a head last Saturday evening when Alan Shearer, of all people, put Hodgson on the spot during Match of the Day when asking why Mark Noble hadn't been offered the opportunity to represent his country.

And the England manager couldn't have made it any clearer that Noble has a cat in hell's chance of ever pulling on a white shirt whilst he remains at the helm. "A lot of people want to ask you, what about him? Is Mark Noble in your thoughts?" asked Shearer following a replay of Noble's equaliser at Carrow Road.

To which Hodgson replied: "It's always good to see Mark Noble - who we've watched for a long time - and Danny Drinkwater, another player we've watched for a long time doing so well and playing so well for their teams.

"We're pretty happy with our midfield, we've got a good group of players we think. But it's always nice that there's a bit of extra competition coming from the outside.

"We can never close the door on anyone who's English because there aren't that many," he added. "It's good to see them playing well and Mark is a very good character - as is Danny Drinkwater, I believe."

As snubs go, it was a fairly comprehensive and unequivocal one. But Hammers fans shouldn't really be surprised for it's been many, many years since players were picked to represent the nation based on form rather than the club shirt they happen to wear.

There are a whole plethora of bizarre selections to support this particularly well-employed theory. The much-discussed Tom Cleverley was a shoo-in for the England squad whilst a member of the Old Trafford mafia - whereas since moving to Aston Villa, he has barely been involved.

Arsenal, who rarely if ever fail to have a player included in the England squad - even when they regularly sent out teams consisting of 11 foreign players - can always count upon the likes of Kieron Gibbs or Callum Chambers being involved.

Returning north again, teenager Luke Shaw appeared in one England squad before he was on the verge of completing a move to Manchester United in the summer of 2014 - since when he had made 12 appearances, more than he's made for the Red Devils' first team this season.

And whilst Noble should have serious cause for complaint given his excellent recent run of form, defender Aaron Cresswell should feel just as put out by Hodgson's inability to look beyond the nation's elite clubs.

Since moving from Ipswich the left-sided defender has been a revelation at the Boleyn Ground, yet is still awaiting his first call up for the national team.

Meanwhile Dele Alli made just two competitive appearances for Tottenham's first XI - a defeat at Manchester United and a draw with Leicester - before getting the nod from the short-sighted Hodgson last August.

Although Liverpudlian Cresswell has little choice, Noble does of course have an alternative with the Republic of Ireland still holding out an olive branch.

Canning Town born and bred, Noble could potentially represent the Irish as a result of his Cork-born grandparents - although to his credit he has thus far refused. After all - if you don't feel it, you don't feel it.

So for as long as the door to our players remains firmly closed, West Ham please stop wasting your time.

And next time Hodgson calls, asking for free tickets and a plush seat in the Directors' Box, politely thank him for his interest and pass on contact details for the ticket office - where the myopic old fart can stand in a line with the rest of us.

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