SHOULD PHILLIPS LEAVE SUNDERLAND?
The 28-year-old has appeared to have moved further down the England pecking order behind Darius Vassell after the midweek friendly against Holland, and it would be a great shame if the Sunderland man did not make the final cut for the World Cup.
His inability to score for his country appears to have caused rumours to circulate about Phillips' long-term future. And it may be that a move to Spurs could increase his chances of getting a fairer opportunity such as his first start for his country.
However a move back down south is unlikely to happen before the summer and in the next three months Phillips needs to start scoring for his club to again. The striker has narrowed it down to a straight race between him and Blackburn Rovers forward Andy Cole as the men to fight it out for a place in Sven Goran Eriksson's World Cup squad.
Cole can possess a better goals-to-shots ratio of 14% compared to Phillips's total of 9% and the former Manchester United talisman has got a better rate of hitting his goal attempts on target. Half of Cole's shots have tested opposition goalkeepers compared to 47% of the Sunderland striker's efforts being successful.
Phillips header that Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar tipped over the bar was the closest he came to breaking his international duck, but from the resulting corner, Darius Vassell spectacularly smashed the ball home and Phillips performance became instantly overshadowed.
Which must be frustrating for the former Watford striker who has yet again been a handful for defenders in the Premiership despite not being as prolific as he was in his first two seasons in the top-flight.
Phillips is the only player to have attempted more than a century of goal attempts this season, but then again his tally of 54 shots off target is the most by an individual in the Premiership during the course of the campaign.
Having missed three penalties this season, some of his confidence has disappeared which was not helped by his boot sponsors not renewing his contract, claming they wanted to work with the "stars of tomorrow".
However, Phillips importance to the Black Cats can not be under-estimated he has netted 43% of their goals in the league, but overall only relegation candidates Leicester and Derby have scored fewer than Peter Reid's team in 2001-02.
And the arrival of Patrick Mboma on loan from Parma until the end of the season will hopefully take some of the burden off Phillips shoulders as Sunderland look to finish the season as strong as possible.
With speculation that Reid also wants to bring Clinton Morrison and Dean Ashton to the Stadium of Light it could be that the board of directors could decide to cash in on their star striker over the summer.
A £12 million fee would be good business for Sunderland after they only paid Watford £335,00 for his services, five seasons ago, although the loyal Black Cat supporters would be upset at the sale after they have witnessed him scoring a staggering 121 goals in 189 appearances for the club to date.
