Today the FA announced the England U21 squad to face Germany on the 16^th of November.

Included in this squad were seven players who are currently available for selection by Championship sides, either as part of their permanent squad or on loan deals from Premier League sides.

This is a great opportunity for each of these players and shows that despite the dominance of the Premier League in high level youth development, there is still a role to be played by the Championship in this area.

Whether the parent club or acting as a surrogate the Championship acts as a competitive environment for these youngsters to learn the game and develop into established professionals. It also acts as a shop window for loan players who are talented but unlikely to be offered long term deals with their parent club.

The squad to face Germany includes the following Championship players:

Frank Fielding – Derby (on loan from Blackburn)

Position: Goalkeeper

Age: 22

A much travelled and experienced goalkeeper with over 100 football league appearances under his belt spread over six different loan spells, these have gradually eased the Lancastrian towards the top flight.

He made the headlines without even playing earlier in the season when he received his first full England call up. This drew criticism as at that point he had not played any competitive football at a level higher than League One and was subsequently did not feature in the game.

If you want to watch him in the Championship you may have to hurry as this weekend’s game against Leicester may be his last as Derby number one Stephen Bywater edges towards full fitness, which would mean a return to Blackburn for Frank.

Jason Steele – Middlesborough

Position: Goalkeeper

Age – 20

From the North West Jason Steele has come through the youth ranks to the first team at Middlesbrough via a loan spell at Northampton Town.

Highly rated by the Teesiders he has kept his place in the first team and at just 20 will excite many as he still has up to ten years of development before he will approach his peak.

Ryan Bertrand – Nottingham Forest (on loan from Chelsea)

Position: Left Back

Age: 21

A talented full back who has the misfortune of being at a club that includes Ashley Cole limiting his long term prospects at Chelsea. Therefore his numerous loan spells which include Reading, Norwich and now Nottingham Forest, would appear to be a shop window as well as a development tool.

He has impressed at every club he has played for in the Championship and as a converted winger, he has the ability to add an additional attacking dimension to his game, something that could not have been hurt by training with arguably the world’s best left back.

Kyle Walker – Queen’s Park Rangers (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)

Position: Right Back

Age: 20

Another player with multiple loan moves in a fledgling career, he has made one substitute appearance in the Tottenham first team. These loan spells include an extended stay with his schoolboy club Sheffield United that yielded 25 Championship appearances last term.

Having been on the edge of the Tottenham first team, it may be that should injuries hit White Hart Lane this product of the steel city will get a chance to prove his worth at the highest level.

Jack Cork – Burnley (on loan from Chelsea)

Position: Central Midfield

Age: 21

Another Chelsea player farmed out on loan due to a lack of opportunities at Stamford Bridge, he has already got Premier League experience, playing for his current club Burnley who renewed his loan at the start of the season.

Having already earned the praises of the Match of the Day panel last season he is tipped to make it in the Premier League, if not at Chelsea. Only time will tell how long the creative midfielder waits to see if things will pan out for him at Chelsea.

Danny Rose – Bristol City (on loan from Tottenham Hotspur)

Position – Winger

Age – 20

Danny Rose had he debut that any aspiring footballer dreams about by scoring an amazing volley against his club’s bitter derby rivals in a memorable 2-1 victory, a strike which many polls placed as their goal of the season both for Tottenham and the Premier League.

He is an exciting prospect and should gain vital experience in the West Country that will be vital should he wish to get a chance to repeat the goal he scored in his only previous league start for Tottenham.

Scott Sinclair – Swansea

Position: Winger/Striker

Age: 21

As I am sure the Gaffer will tell you, Scott Sinclair has been in fine form since joining Swansea from Chelsea in the summer.

After promising so much early in his career, things just did not work out for the former Bristol Rovers player who like many of the players in this list have spent much of their career on loan.

However now playing first team football he is on fire having scored 7 goals already this season, I doubt that it will be long before Sinclair will be desperate to have another crack at proving himself in the Premier League.

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The thrid round of the FA Cup draw is out and here is who the teams of the CCC will face. The ties will be played the weekend of January 3, 2009. If the tie is tied then a replay will be played.

Portsmouth v Bristol City – Ashton Gate

Sheffield Wednesday v Fulham – Hillbrough

Preston NE v Liverpool – Deepdale

Birmingham City v Wolves – St. Andrew’s Stadium

West Ham United v Barnsley – Upton Park

Manchester City v Nottingham Forest – Eastlands

Cardiff City v Reading – Ninan Park

Ipswich Town v Chesterfield/Droylesden – Portman Road

Charlton v Norwich – The Valley

Torquay v Blackpool – Plainmoor

Leyton Orient v Sheffield United – Brisbane Road

Southampton v Manchester United – St. Mary’s Stadium

Histon v Swansea City – Bridge Road

Forest Green Rovers v Derby County – The New Lawn

QPR v Burnley – Turf Moor

Leicester City v Crystal Palace – Walkers Stadium

Morcambe/Cheltenham v Doncaster

Arsenal v Plymouth – Emirates Stadium

Watford v Scunthorpe – Vicarage Road

Coventry City v Kidderminster – Richo Arena

The transfer window may be closed but Championship Teams are still active in the loan market. Deals that are struck between clubs about transfers won’t go through until Janruary 1st, 2009. Here is the latest activity in the loan market:

Andy Todd: From Derby County to Northampton Town

Keith Gillespie: From Sheffield United to Charlton Athletic

Chris Weale: From Bristol City to Hereford United

Luke Varney: From Charlton to Derby County (will be made permanate in Jan for 1M)

Graham Stack: From Plymouth to Blackpool

Bartosz Slusarski: From West Brom to Sheffield Wed

Kurt Robinson: From Ipswich Town to Northampton Town

Kyel Reid: From West Ham to Blackpool

Steve Jones: From Burnley to Bradford City

Shane Higgs: From Cheltenham Town to Wolves

Joshua Gowing: From Bristol City to Hereford United

Mitchell Hanson: From Derby County to Notts County

Liam Dickenson: From Derby County to Blackpool

Mark Davies: From Wolves to Leicester

Jamie Cureton: From Norwich to Barnsley

Deon Burton: From Sheffield Wed to Charlton

Steve Brooker: From Bristol City to Doncaster

Liam Bridcutt: From Chelsea to Watford

Chris Birchall: From Coventry City to Carlisle United

Ashely Barnes: From Plymouth to Gainsbrough Trinity

The Second Round of the Carling Cup is finished and the 16 CCC teams that made it to the Second Round, 10 made
thier way to the third round which will be drawn live on Sky Sports Saturday August 30th and played the week of the 21st of September. I will have the Third Round draw on Monday for the advancing CCC clubs.

Ipswich 2 (Counago 28′,Lisbie 56′) Colchester 1 (Gillespie 87′)

Coventry City 2 (Morrison 45′,Dann 90′) Newcastle 3 (Dann(og)21′, Milner 38′, Owen 97′)

Cardiff City 2 (McCormack (pen)45′, Whittingham 58′) MK Dons 1 (O’Hanlon 75′)

Swansea City 2 (Pintado 63′,Gomez (pen) 105′) Hull City 1 (Windass 11′) AET

Rotherham 0 Wolves 0
Rotherham win on penalty kicks 4-3

Leeds United 4 (Douglas 11′, Beckford 32′, Becchio 52′, Showunmi 76′) Crystal Palace o

Crewe 2 (Elding 24′, Moore 76′) Bristol City 1 (Wilson 79′)

QPR 4 (Stewart 48′, Ledesema 56′,63′,85′) Carlisle United 0

Reading 5(N. Hunt 11′, S. Hunt 15′, Pearce 54′, Karacan 55′, Henry 76′) Luton Town 1 (Charles 80′)

Preston 0 Derby County 1 (Green 40′) Wooo Hooo

Watford 2 (Francis 37′, O’Toole 116′) Darlington 1 ( Blundell) AET

Southampton 2 (Holmes 17′, Lallana 56′) Birmingham 0

Burnley 3 (McCann 12′, Paterson 63′, 79′) Oldham Athletic 0

Huddersfield Town 1 (Flynn 34′) Sheffield United 2 (Henderson 82′, Naughton 83′)

Nottingham Forest 1 (Earnshaw 60′) Sunderland 2 (Bardsley 86′, Healy 93′) AET

Here are the match-ups for the CCC clubs that have advanced to the Second Round of the Carling Cup. Ties will be played on August 26th and 27th at 7:45 GMT unless otherwise changed.

August 26th 

Burnely v Oldham Athletic (League One)

Cardiff City v MK Dons (League One)

Coventry City v Newcastle United (EPL)

Crewe(League One) v Bristol City

Ipswich Town v Colchester United(League One)

Leeds United(League One) v Crystal Palace

Preston NE v Derby County

QPR v Carlisle United (League One)

Reading v Luton Town (League Two)

Rotherham United (League Two) v Wolves

Southampton v Birmingham

Swansea City v Hull City (EPL)

Watford v Darlington (League Two)

August 27th

Huddersfield Town (League One) v Sheffield Untied

Nottingham Forest v Sunderland (EPL)

On Saturday the CCC season officially started as 24 teams battle to win promotion to the English Premier League and the riches that would come with that promotion. For the three promoted teams, Swansea City, Nottingham Forest and Doncaster, they are looking to establish themselves and avoid an immediate return to League One while Reading, Birmingham and Derby County look to bounce straight back to the EPL. One thing that is known about the CCC, there is no sure thing in this division and anything can happen. Here the results from the first weekend of action.

Birmingham City 1 (Kevin Phillips 90′) Sheffield United 0

Blackpool 0 Bristol City 1(Steve Brooker 90′)

Cardiff City 2(Steven Thompson 41,Roger Johnson 90′) Southampton 1 (David McGoldrick 45′)

Charlton 2 (Mark Hudson 3′, Andy Gray 85′) Swansea City 0

Coventry City 2 (Elliot Ward,pen 48′, Leon McKenzie 86′) Norwich City 0

Crystal Palace 0 Watford 0

Derby County 0 Doncaster 1 (Lewis Guy 59′)

Ipswich 1 (Kevin Lisbie 2′) Preston NE 2(Paul McKenna 21, Simon Whaley 34)

Plymouth 2 (Rory Fallon 7′, Marcel Siep 55′) Wolves 2 (Michael Knightly 19′, Sam Vokes 78′)

QPR 2(Fritz Hall 29,31′) Barnsley 1 (Iain Hume 5′)

Sheffield Wednesday 4(Marcus Tudgay 1′,65′, Apko Sodje 4’17′) Burnely 1 (Martin Paterson 6′)

Nottingham Forest 0 Reading 0

The Carling Cup is next up for the CCC teams on Tuesday and Wednesday then back to CCC action on Saturday.

Here are your updated transfers for all the CCC clubs as of 18 July, 08.

Barnsley:  

Out: Dwayne Mattis (released)

Birmingham City

In: Marcus Bent ( Charlton, undisclosed)

Out: Daniel De Ridder (Wigan, free), Oliver Kapo (Wigan 2.5m)

Blackpool

In: Steve Kabba (Watford, loan)

Bristol City:

In: Emad Metab (Al Ahly, 1.5m)

Out: Darren Byfield (Doncaster, free), Enoch Showunmi (Leeds United, free)

Burnley

In: Remco van der Schaaf (unattached)

Charlton Athletic

Out: Marcus Bent (Birmingham City, undisclosed), Chris Iwelumo (Wolves, undisclosed), Darren Randolph (Hereford, loan)

Coventry City

In: Freddy Eastwood (Wolves, 1.2m)

Crystal Palace

Out: Tony Craig (Millwall, undisclosed)

Doncaster Rovers

In: Darren Byfield (Bristol City, free)

Plymouth

In: David MacNamee (unattached)

Out: Peter Halmosi (Hull City, undisclosed)

Preston NE

In: Barry Nicholson (Aberdeen, Free)

 QPR

 Out: Jake Cole (Oxford, free)

Swansea City

In: Stephen Morrison (West Brom, free)

Out: Darren Way (Yeovil Town, free)

Watford

 Out: Steve Kabba (Blackpool, loan)

Wolves

In: Chris Iwelumo (Charlton, undisclosed)

Out: Freddy Eastwood (Coventry City, 1.2m), Charlie Mulgrew (Aberdeen, undisclosed)

Bristol City

Founded: 1897

Nickname: The Robins

Ground: Ashton Gate (21,497)

Last Season: 4th in the CCC 74 Points Lost in the Playoff Final to Hull City

Johnstonts Paint Trophy Winner: 1985-86, 2002,2003

Second Division/ League One Winners: 1905/06

Barnsley

In: Luke Steele (West Brom, Free), Ian Hume (Leicester City, 1.2M), Mounir El Haimour (NE Xamax, undisclosed), Darren Moore (Derby, Free)

Out: Paul Reid (Colchester, Free)

Birmingham City

In: Lee Carsley (Everton, Free), Kevin Phillips (West Brom, Free)

Out: Mikael Forssell (Hannover 96, free) Rafael Schmitz ( Lille, end of loan), Patrice Muamba ( Bolton, 5M), Asa Hall (released), Adam Ledzdins (Crewe, Free), David Howland (released), Daniel de Ridder (Wigan, Free), Stefan Milojevic (released) Mauro Zarate (Lazio, loan), Adam Legzdins (released)

Blackpool

In: Marlon Broomes ( Stoke City, Free), Joe Martin (Tottenham, undisclosed), Matt Gilks (Norwich City, undisclosed), Alex Babtiste (Mansfield Town, undisclosed)

Out: Wes Hoolaham (Norwich City, undisclosed) Kiegan Parker (Huddersfield Town, free), Michael Jackson (Shrewsbury Town, free) Marcus Bean (Brentford, free)

Released: Phil Marsh, John Hills, Matt Lawlor, Paul Tierney, Michael Flynn, Andy Welsh, Phil Doughty, Lewis Edge

Bristol City

In: Gavin Williams (Ipswich Town, undisclosed)

Out: Nick Carle (Crystal Palace, undisclosed), Alex Russell (Cheltenham Town, free)

Released: Tamas Vasko (Ujpest, end of loan) Darren Byfield, Martin Slocombe, Enoch Showunmi

Burnley

In: Martin Paterson (Scunthorpe United, 1M), Cristian Calvenes (Dundee United, Free), Kevin McDonald (500K, Dundee)

Out: James O’Connor (Sheffield Wednesday, free), John Spicer (Doncaster Rovers, free), Kyle Lafferty (Rangers, 3M) Andrew Cole (released), Jon Harley (released)

Cardiff City

In: Tom Heaton (Manchester United, loan) Darren Dennehy (Everton, free), Ross McCormack (Motherwell, Free) Mark Kennedy (Crystal Palace, Free)

Out: David Forde (Millwall, free), Warren Feeny (Dundee United, free), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal, undisclosed), Michael Oakes (released), Trevor Sinclair (released), Matt Green (released) Matt Smith (released)

Charlton Athletic

In: Mark Hudson (Crystal Palace, free), Stuart Fleetwood (Forest Green, tribunal)

Out: James Walker (Southend United, free), Chris Powell (released), Patrick McCarthy (Crystal Palace, undisclosed), Osei Sankofa (Southend United, free)

Coventry City

In: Keiren Westwood (Carlisle United, free), Aron Gunnersson (AZ Alkmar, undisclosed)

Out: Colin Hawkins (Brighton &Hove Albion, free), Michael Hughes (released)

Crystal Palace

In: Patrick McCarthy (Charlton, undisclosed), Darryl Flahavan ( Southend United, free), Nick Carle (Bristol City, undisclosed), Johannes Ertl (Austria Vienna, undisclosed)

Out: Mark Hudson (Charlton, free), Ryan Hall (released), Jeff Hughes (Bristol Rovers, 100K), Ben Kudjodji (released), Lewwis Spence ( Wycome, free), Moses Swaibu (released), Mark Kennedy (Cardiff City, free), Aaron Fray (released)

Derby County

In: Kris Commons (Nottingham Forest, free) Liam Dickenson (Stockport County, 750K), Paul Connolly (Plymouth, free), Martin Albrechtsen (West Brom, free), Jordan Stewart (Watford, free) Nathan Ellington (Watford, free) Paul Gree (Doncaster Rovers, free) Steve Davies (Tranmere, tribunal)

Out: Robert Earnshaw (Nottingham Forest, 2.65M) Michael Johnson (Notts County, free), Kenny Miller (Rangers, 2M), Lee Holmes (Southampton, free), Craig Fagan (Hull City, 750K), David Jones (Wolves, undisclosed), Darren Moore (Barnsley, free) Jason Beardsley (Notts County, loan), Marc Edworthy (released), Ben Hinchliffe (released)

Doncaster Rovers

In: John Spicer (Burnley, free)

Out: Paul Green (Derby County, free), Graeme Lee (released), Stephen Roberts (Walsall, free), Matthew Noble (released), Mark McCammon (Gillingham, free)

Ipswich Town

In: Pim Balkestein (Heerenveen, undisclosed), Gareth McAuley (Leicester City, undisclosed)

Out: Gavin Williams ( Bristol City, undisclosed) Sylvain Legwinski (released), Fabian Wilnis (released), Sito (released)

Here are the pre-season schedules for most of the CCC clubs.

Barnsley

11 July Buxton (A)

12 July Glossip (A)

19 July Yeovil Town (A)

22 July York City (A)

26 July Rotherham (A)

29 July Wigan (H)

2 August Chengdu Blades (H)

Birmingham City

They will be on a tour of Austria from 13-22 July facing the following clubs:

14 July Kichbeg

17 July Victoria Plzen

20 July FC Nuremburg

26 July Gillingham (A)

29 July Leicester City (A)

2 August Fulham (H)

Blackpool

Could not find the clubs pre-season schedule other then

2 August Tranmere (A)

Bristol City

12 July Forest Green (A)

21 July Yeovil Town (A)

22 July Hereford United (A)

26 July AFC Bournemouth (A)

19 July Cheltenham Town (A)

1 August Royal Antwerp (H)

Burnley

10 July Carolina Railhawks (A)

15 July Minnesota Thunder (A)

19 July Queen of the South (A)

21 July Patrick Thistle (A)

23 July St. Johnstone (A)

26 July Accrington Stanley (A)

28 July Glentoran (A)

30 July Bradford City (A)

Cardiff City

12 July Merthyr (A)

22 July Guimarnes (A)

24 July Celtic (H)

29 July Swindon Town (H)

Charlton

9 July Welling United (A)

12 July Ebbsfleet United (A)

26 July Brighton Hove and Albion (A)

30 July Dulwich Hamlet (A)

2 August TBD

Coventry City

I have not found the clubs pre-season schedule

Crystal Palace

I have likewise not found the clubs pre-season schedule other then

14 July Crawley Town (A)

17 July Aldershot (A)