Vardy calls time on England career

Dunge has nailed it. Seems sensible if he’s 3rd/4th choice to take the time out during qualifiers and friendlies to focus on rest, family and extending his playing career.

If he’s needed due to injuries or a change in requirements where Southgate wants his services, he’s available.

Makes sense for all parties I’d say.

Joby - In the past there was definitely a case for that, but with Kane now in his prime I think there's a big blocker. There's surely no doubt that Kane has turned into England's best player, and by some distance. But for the counterattacking tactic to work, I don't see how you can play both of them. Imagine if England rocked up to play Germany (for instance) and dropped Kane on the basis that we were going to hit them on the counter with Vardy. Or took Kane off after 55 minutes in a tight match on the same basis. It's a massive call to make and one I can't really see any England manager doing. On balance I'd want my best player and most prolific goalscorer on the pitch at the most important moments.

Remember that Spurs have the same issue. They find it very difficult to sign strikers because potential new signings know they're not going to be able to compete with Kane for one position and so will be both backup and won't get on at important moments that aren't just pure desperation. We only got Iheanacho on the basis that he might fill the number 10 role (which I remember him saying at the time was his preference).

DM,

I was more thinking back to the Euros rather than the recent World Cup. We had a very average squad. Roy Hodgson had no plan or strategy, but had players in his squad with pace and power in abundance.

I see that the squad is now evolving in a different direction. Kane is rightfully the figure head and will play most games. So probably limited opportunities for Vardy looking into the future.

Biggest regret not going to Arsenal

I never even knew Arsenal were in for Cantona. Makes sense though.

From an England perspective, sad to hear, but not
surprising given his limited chances in the world cup,
mostly down to being Harry Ks understudy. Its a long tournament to be sitting on the bench ( see Muzzys comments re the 2002 world cup in his autobiography)

With my Leicester City hat on this could well benefit him and the club. Breaks during international breaks, longer summer breaks, proper pre season. Just keep banging them in for us Jamie ( and enjoy your holidays rather than taking breaks through suspensions)

More time for Jamie Vardy to have a party

Vardy is the type of striker that will score goals forever but at 31/32 you can see why he's made this decision. He can focus on Leicester without the travels to Lithuania or Slovenia etc to get maybe 10-15 mins.

Fantastic player, came to the top level later on like Ian Wright who had Shearer ahead of him for England and that won't change so I expect it wasnt the toughest of decisions.

He's done it to stop his sl|_|tty missus from spending all his money on private jets!

Unfortunately, my England memories of Vardy consist of him playing down the left flank and being “cold shouldered” by his supposed team-mates when he should have received the ball.

There are three pages in today's Guardian about JV, though the online version doesn't seem to contain all of the printed article: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/aug/28/jamie-vardy-retires-england-gareth-southgate-leicester

He comes across as refreshingly honest and Stuart James, the interviewer, says that his default when being praised seems to be self deprecating humour. When asked how he thinks he comes across to others, the answer was "a bit of a tw@t probably".

The online piece about his academy makes interesting reading too. There's more to the man than many (not on here) give him credit for.
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/sep/06/jamie-vardy-v9-academy-non-league-football