HOW disappointing it was to see so many column inches of our weekend newspapers dedicated to someone who played just a bit part in England's impressive win in Bulgaria.

Frank Lampard was restricted to just 11 minutes at the end of the 3-0 victory that left England sitting comfortably on top of their European Championship qualifying group.

Yet, when there was so much to analyse and so much to celebrate – Gary Cahill’s massive contribution in his first competitive start, the new formation in which Scott Parker and Gareth Barry played holding midfield roles and provided Wayne Rooney with the platform to produce an excellent performance as spearhead of a pacy attack – the inquest into Lampard’s apparent international demise was staggeringly disproportionate and, as it turned out, inappropriate.

For, as we saw last night when he was restored to the starting 11 for the Wales clash, all talk of Lampard’s England career being over proved to be wildly premature and so unnecessary.

As John Terry suggested in the pre-Wembley press conference as he banged the drum for his Chelsea mate, “you write him off at your peril!”

Even so, you would have thought Fabio Capello had committed some heinous crime by dropping Lamps in Bulgaria.

The fact that he picked a team to win a crucial qualifier and his selection turned out to be fully justified seemed to be lost on some outraged pundits who drew the conclusion that, as soon as Steven Gerrard and Jack Wilshere are fit, Lampard will effectively slip to fifth in the centre-midfield pecking order.

So what if he does? No player has a divine right to automatic selection, and it isn’t as if he’d been shown the door.

He is still in the squad and still has a part to play – even though it might be in more of a supporting role rather than as one of the central characters, which he has played in the majority of his 88 appearances for his country. Pressed on the issue on Monday, Capello clearly didn’t regard it as such a big deal when he insisted the 33- year-old remained a key member and was still “one of the leaders” of his squad – a point he could not have underlined more than when he pinned up his team-sheet at Wembley.

I trust Lampard deals with the issue in a less hysterical fashion than his mates in the media and accepts the situation for what it is. I got the distinct impression on Friday night that we were seeing the dawn of a new era for England. Whether it proves a successful one remains to be seen but Lampard and any other member of the so-called old guard must accept that things change, teams evolve and their influence will be diluted.

It’s a pity some of the critics and pundits don’t see it that way.