In three days time, England face their biggest game since the World Cup quarter final with Brazil last summer.

But we'll be lucky if we can field a team in Turkey on Saturday the way things are going, never mind one that's capable of getting a result.

The whole Rio Ferdinand episode has been a total fiasco from start to finish but before the FA start laying down the law, maybe it's time they had a good look at themselves.

First of all, let me make it clear that I've never ever heard of a case in which a player has failed to turn up for a drugs test before now.

Testing had just been introduced when I was coming to the end of my playing career but all the players were aware of the procedures involved and exactly what was required of them.

I don't know the ins and outs about why Rio missed his.

Maybe his mind was on something else and it went completely out of his head, which happens to us all from time to time.

But shouldn't the FA have some procedures in place which makes it impossible for that to happen?

What about taking the car keys off a player so it's impossible for him to leave the ground once he has been selected to give a sample.

Or why don't they just test the player there and then rather than let him disappear for training?

The fact that Rio left United's training ground without being tested simply highlights the flaws in the system.

So maybe the FA should get their own house in order before climbing on their high horse.

Just because Rio missed his test doesn't necessarily mean anything anyway.

What happened to the principle of being innocent until proven guilty?

In this instance, he has been stopped from playing in a vital game for his country when absolutely nothing has been proved against him as yet.

At the end of the day, we can argue until we are blue in the face but it looks like Rio is certain to miss Saturday's game now, which is a blow to Sven, but we'll miss Michael Owen even more if he fails to recover from his leg injury.

Defenders are far easier to replace than strikers but I'm surprised Sven resisted the opportunity to call up Martin Keown.

John Terry and Matthew Upson are both good defenders with big futures in the game but there's no substitute for experience in places like Istanbul and the fact that Keown plays alongside Sol Campbell for his club side would have made him a certainty in my team.

And speaking of Campbell, the FA have played another blinder there, too.

Today he should be on the training ground, working on establishing a new partnership with either Terry or Upson but instead he's been called to attend an FA Disciplinary hearing following an incident in the Charity Shield.

As someone recently remarked, common sense and the FA have never been bed partners.