Exactly right. I love Rickie as a player but to suggest he should be in the squad is delusion of the highest order.
If you were the England manager; if you had just been parachuted into your job. Would you take a man who has scored many goals in the lower leagues? Or would you take a man who has played at the highest level, who came on in the FA Cup final and totally turned the game on its head, and who is finally attracting plaudits from the national press for his game.
There are so many reasons to take Carroll and so few to take Rickie. Despite how much he is adored here, he simply isn't ready for an international tournament. And, from a Saints point of view, I'd much prefer he wasn't there.