PETER SHILTON holds his head in his hands over EnglandÂ’s keeper crisis. But the Three Lions legend is not convinced dodgy duo Paul Robinson or David James could even manage that.
Shilton fears neither stopper is up to the job as the country’s No 1. The Nottingham Forest hero is England’s most-capped player with 125 appearances and was once rated the best keeper on the planet. And he is seriously worried about the impending Euro 2008 qualifiers due to the uncertainty surrounding the last line of defence.Spurs keeper Robbo was at fault for Germany’s opener on Wednesday — and James is not nicknamed Calamity for nothing. The Portsmouth star has committed his fair share of howlers down the years. And even on Saturday — 24 hours after he was recalled to the squad aged 37 — James let one through his legs after just 12 minutes against Bolton.
Shilts, 57, said: “There has to be a doubt about both keepers. “Steve McClaren knows he’s got to put someone in there whose confidence is high. “But at the moment Paul’s confidence won’t be as high as it should be and I see things that he could improve upon.
“We all know he has a lot of ability but he keeps making these silly errors. “Like all sports, if you have one or two weaknesses they show up and sometimes, especially on crosses, he doesn’t always give himself the best chance from a positional point of view.
“Against Germany he anticipated the cross for their first goal before it was played. “He started to move out before the ball came over and there’s no need for that. “With certain crosses he’s OK but on others he’s a bit iffy. He is a very good goalkeeper but there are things that let him down occasionally. “It’s tough because the knives are out and we have to beat Israel and Russia next month.
“People talk about bringing David James back but he is very similar to Paul. “He can be terrific but has the odd rush of blood to the head. “We saw that in the second half against Germany when he came out for one he shouldn’t have. I’m not sure if mentally he tries to do something different at times. He let one through his legs on Saturday.
David’s done exceptionally well for Portsmouth but there’s always a question mark over him.”Shilton wonders if the cupboard has run bare of quality keepers — a position in which England used to excel. In the late 1970s and early 80s there was so little to choose between him and Ray Clemence that they shared the job under Ron Greenwood.
These days Shilts reckons you might as well just pull a name out of the hat because there is not even one top performer — let alone two. He said: “Ben Foster showed a lot of promise until he was injured, Robert Green’s had a bit of experience with England but you can’t judge him on it, while Scott Carson’s done OK. But there’s nobody you could really say ‘Yes, he’s the man’.

“I thought Paul Robinson would establish himself but he hasn’t. It’s a bit of an open playing field now.” England boss McClaren insists that, while the goalkeeping has given him a headache, there were positives to come out of the Germany match.
McClaren said: “We said beforehand it was a friendly, that it was preparation for Israel and Russia. “We had a look at one or two things, one or two personnel, and we know a lot more now than we did before. “In two weeks we’ll be in far better shape than we are now. “We’re disappointed with the result but it’s the qualifiers that count.”