In a world where players don’t care about club history, IAN LADYMAN tells the uplifting tale of a Man City cult hero who named his son after Colin Bell

A look at the Norway squad that beat Kazakhstan in Oslo last Sunday reveals, among others, an Egil, a Stian, a Leo, a Morten, a Sander, a Kristian, an Erling (we know that one), a Viljar, a Sondre and a Torbjorn.

And then – wearing the number 21 and coming on as a late substitute for his international debut – is a Colin.

Colin Rosler was born in Berlin to a German father and Norwegian mother. He is a 24-year-old defender with Malmo in Sweden. He is the son of the former Manchester City striker Uwe Rosler and is named after the late, great City playmaker Colin Bell.

What happened in the 86th minute at the Ullevaal Stadium had a wonderful symmetry to it. Rosler Jnr – the son of one City legend and named after another – was sent on to replace Erling Haaland – a current City star who is also the offspring of a former club legend, father Alf-Inge.

Do we think Norway coach Stale Solbakken knew what he was doing in that moment? He briefly played in England for Wimbledon when Rosler Snr was at City but, even so, it’s unlikely. We will instead put it down to a quirk, one of those marvellously weird things football occasionally churns out.

But Rosler and his enduring love for City – just one of 13 clubs he played for – is not a coincidence and is important because of what it speaks of and what perhaps is becoming a little lost in a modern world of transient and itinerant foreign footballers.

The defender is the son of Uwe Rosler, who played for Man City between 1994 and 1998

Colin is named after City legend Colin Bell, with Rosler’s other son named after Tony Book

Rosler – 56 and managing in Denmark – played for City between 1994 and 1998 and scored 50 league goals. He was a talented centre forward when City played at Maine Road and were powered not by Abu Dhabi oil money but by chairman Francis Lee and his toilet roll company.

He didn’t have his two children until he left Manchester but his decision was simple. Colin and Tony. The latter is named after Tony Book, the former City captain and manager.

‘To me, there was no option,’ Rosler has said.

‘They had to be City names.

‘I told my wife that if we had a girl then she could decide.’

Colin Rosler is, as it happens, a product of the City academy. His father returned to the North West at the end of his playing career. Manchester remains, literally and metaphorically, his second home.

There are reasons for the affection. Rosler was born in East Germany and his move to England breathed life and vitality into a career that seemed on the verge of ending at the age or 25. Years later, when he was suffering from a cancer he would beat, the Etihad Stadium sang for him. A friend called him in hospital from the ground so he could hear the love. Rosler, at that time, had not played for City for more than a decade.

So, yes, Rosler’s bond with City runs deep and is strengthened by circumstance. But it’s hard not to set it alongside something that new Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim said when talking last week.

Rosler’s move to Man City breathed life into his career and his bond with the club runs deep

Rosler, seen managing Wigan at the Etihad Stadium in 2014, previously recalled how a friend called him while he was receiving cancer treatment so he could hear fans signing for him

Amorim is only 39 but seems to understand well some of the things that should matter. He had, he said, already had a look round the Old Trafford museum and would be encouraging his players to do the same.

There is no intention here to set City against United. United have their share of former foreign players whose bond with the club is real. But it nevertheless feels strange that a group of footballers should need to be prompted to spend half an hour having a look at what it is their club is all about.

Footballers are not all the same. They don’t all live in bubbles but very many of them do and it’s sad. Five years ago I sat with a prominent England international and asked him what he thought of some of the great sides that had passed before at his club. He just looked at me. The truth is that he didn’t have a clue.

And it’s all there on YouTube. Nobody has to buy a DVD anymore. Or go to a museum. History lingers right there at the press of a button on a mobile phone. But this is not the way we view or indeed treat our footballers these days. We treat them as commodities and maybe we should not be surprised when they behave like that. Just passing through. Renting, not buying.

And that, as it happens, is one of the few things Rosler does regret about his time in Manchester. ‘I would have made more money from buying a house in the right area than I did from my football,’ he told Tim Rich for his lovely Caught Beneath the Landslide book.

But Uwe – as they call him at City – left enough of himself behind when he eventually moved on. His is a rich story of sport and life and love and struggle. Colin and Tony Rosler. How can it not make you smile?

Tuchel must make early Kane decision 

It’s amazing how many people have written off Harry Kane on the back of one decent Ollie Watkins game against the 42nd best team in the world in Athens.

I respect and understand the view. Kane does look as though he is slowing down. But this is a nuanced conversation.

Firstly, can England win a World Cup with Watkins playing up front? Is he good enough? If he isn’t, then who else is in the queue? Dominic Solanke? Mmm..

Also, Kane is England’s captain. How does he react to life as a squad player? It’s another unknown.

And finally, if this decision is going to be made, then it is going to have to be made now.

Replacing Kane with someone like Watkins would require this England team to play in a different way. It cannot be done three months before USA 2026 kicks off.

So this is the conundrum facing incoming manager Thomas Tuchel. It’s a puzzle with moving parts. He may wish to turn his mind to it soonish. If he’s not too busy.

Harry Kane may be slowing down but England may lack the options in attack to replace him

Thomas Tuchel must make a decision sooner rather than later if he is to move on from Kane

Only Rashford can change the narrative around him

New Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim will face the English media on Friday and may be asked about Marcus Rashford. Unfortunately, the question may not be about football.

Rashford was pictured wearing what looked like a very expensive dressing gown (it was a Louis Vuitton coat) at a basketball game in New York last Friday. It was a look guaranteed to get him noticed. Amorim, of course, was already in Manchester by then.

Gary Neville, once a United captain, called Rashford ‘unprofessional’ on his podcast. Ian Wright disagreed, citing a player’s right to do what he wishes with his spare time.

Ultimately the crux is that the narrative around Rashford has been unhelpful to him for a while. It speaks to jumbled priorities. Rashford thinks this unfair but only he can change it.

So which side of the story does his trip to New York play to? If Rashford doesn’t know, then his new manager may.

Marcus Rashford flew to New York to watch basketball at Madison Square Gardens last Friday

The Red Devils’ forward wore a white Louis Vuitton coat and black leather trousers at the game

Man United head coach Ruben Amorim may be asked about the star in his press conference

Bellamy and O’Neill deserves praise for fabulous work

Lee Carsley’s spell as England interim boss has been engaging and informative. But let’s not paint England’s Nations League promotion as some kind of great triumph. No, those stories are found elsewhere.

Craig Bellamy has taken Wales back to the top echelon with six group games unbeaten while Michael O’Neill has guided Northern Ireland out of pool three and back into the middle section.

International management at that level is a brutal business. O’Neill once told me he valued international friendlies as it allowed him to get match fitness into important players not deemed good enough to be picked by their clubs.

Carsley used 32 players in six games. Wales and Northern Ireland don’t have that many international-class players between them. Bellamy and O’Neill have done fabulous work.

Craig Bellamy and Michael O’Neill have don fabulous work with Wales and Northern Ireland