Stuart Pearce has made a catastrophic error in omitting David Beckham from Team GB.

No current performing athlete has done more for the London Olympics than David Beckham. And yet he doesn't even find himself in the team.

If you cut him open he bleeds England, but he is one of those human beings who help make Britain Great. He is one of the finest ambassadors this country has ever produced. 

Stuart Pearce is a proud and stubborn man, who was one of Manchester City's worst managers ever. It sums up his ability that he didn't get the England job.

Frankly, Team GB is a mere consolation prize, although he is qualified by having done quite a good job as England U21 coach.

His position on Beckham can be summed up by this quote:

"In regard to ticket sales or merchandising or whatever, I'm a football man. I pick solely on footballing ability and I have to back my opinion. I feel very sorry for David; I know how much it meant to him."

However, his boss's (Andy Hunt, BOA Chief Executive) opinion is captured by this quote from the same article:

"I think I learned the same time as everybody else, by the press release. In an ideal world I would have liked to have learned earlier but in all good partnerships, and this is a partnership, sometimes things don't quite go to plan."

His comments about ticket sales are unlikely to have been well-received by Mr, Hunt either:

"There are no nationalities in my eyes, these are all Olympians now," he said. "I'm not picking on personality, I'm not picking on ticket sales and I'm certainly not picking on nationality."

And...

"In regard to ticket sales or merchandising or whatever, I'm a football man. I pick solely on footballing ability and I have to back my opinion."

Pearce reminded us what a hard man he is when dismissing the notion of sentimentality. It is a pity he has such a short memory, as in his last game for Manchester City, after four minutes of injury time, his manager and teammates gave him the chance to score his 100th goal from a penalty.

He blew it.

Sounds familiar? He's certainly missed an opportunity here to make the football a sell-out and connect to the same part of Britain's sentimental soul that reached out to Andy Murray after his Wimbledon defeat.

Anyone who has read my articles will know I'm a footballing man and a through and through winner. So of course I'm not defending Beckham just on sentimentality. Instead, here are the 10 reasons why Pearce is fundamentally wrong.

If he has to call Beckham up as a standby, he will look very foolish.

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