Clarke calls for an end to the sniping surrounding Poulter's selection

DARREN CLARKE has called for an end to the sniping surrounding Ian Poulter's selection as one of European captain Nick Faldo's Ryder Cup wild cards.

Faldo opted to add the 32-year-old Englishman and Paul Casey to his team at Valhalla, ignoring the claims of veterans Clarke and Colin Montgomerie.

There has been some resentment over Poulter's decision to skip a final chance of automatic qualification at Gleneagles last week, with Montgomerie claiming the Englishman had a "hotline" to Faldo.

But although Clarke believes Faldo "changed his mind" on selection criteria, he does not believe Poulter should take any flak.

"I think 'Poults' has been dragged into a situation which was caused not by his own doing, but because Nick has changed his mind and gone back on it," he told Sky News' Live at Five show.

"But at the end of the day, that's his decision. So I think Poults has maybe been caught taking the brunt of a lot of things which is not his fault. We all know Poults, we know he's lively and he has fun, but we know he's a great guy.

"He's a great player, he's 24 in the world. Both Paul Casey and Ian Poulter are ahead of me in the world rankings. That's the yardstick to which we're all measured, and that's the way it is. I do feel for Poults. I do feel he's been given a lot of stick, a lot of criticism through no fault of his own."

Elaborating on his belief that Faldo did not hold true to his initial plans for his captain's picks, Clarke added: "Earlier in the year, Nick had stated that he wanted his players to be on form, he wasn't going to pay particular attention to the rankings. I thought I was on good form, my record this year has been a couple of good wins and lots of top 10s, but unfortunately he changed his mind, and you know, I've got to bank with that.

"But I've never had a problem with Nick. I've played with him a lot over the years, and he's been the best player we've ever produced. I have no personal issues with Nick whatsoever, he's always been dead straight with me."

Paul McGinley is backing the European team to continue their domination of the American team despite disagreeing with captain Nick Faldo's decision to leave out Darren Clarke.

McGinley, a three-time winner who sank the winning putt at The Belfry in 2002, was surprised Faldo gave his wild card picks to Paul Casey and Ian Poulter ahead of Clarke. "I thought Darren had done enough to make the pick and I was surprised he didn't get it," said McGinley. I'm disappointed for Darren because he really wanted to play and really felt he deserved a spot. But he's picked two very, very strong players who will not let the team down."

"It's like a soccer manager having to pick from a full squad. It's always a good problem and Nick had the same issue," added McGinley.