Celtic’s Scott Sinclair is further away from the England squad than ever.
Controversial pundit Joey Barton caused a stir this week with a blistering attack on Scottish football.
Barton was torn to shreds by rivals fans who mocked his lack of success with Rangers, where he lasted just six months.
One point Barton made which did ring true was him calling out Celtic winger Scott Sinclair.
Barton told talkSPORT: “Who’s the geezer they were trying to talk for an England call-up who had a stinker here? (Scott) Sinclair? Come on, you can’t be serious.”
This time last year Sinclair was in the form of his life, but his prolific goalscoring record has not been repeated.
Sinclair netted 21 goals in 2016/17 – the highest of his career.
In England he had scored just four league goals between 2012 and 2016 for Swansea, Manchester City and Aston Villa.
But if Sinclair was to stand any chance of getting into Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad, he needed to replicate his first season’s form for Celtic.
This season he is waiting to crack double figures in the Scottish Premiership, with nine goals so far, and just one of these have come in 2018.
His struggles recently show that his first season was a one off, regardless of the standard of football.
If Sinclair wanted to be taken seriously for an England call, he needed to show more than he currently is, and suggestions that he was deserving of one appear to have been made too quickly.
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