My drivel is simply that England have good enough players to compete with Italy, I don't think they would laugh at that. I can certainly tell you that French fooball fans have a huge amount of respect for the English game and the England team and probably think more of it then most Englishman. They would certainly think that England are at least on a par with them.

Probably. It isn't all about your performance in the World Cup. On that basis England are just as good as Brazil and Argentina and better than Spain and I'm sure you would disagree with all three of those.

You'd struggle to find a Frenchman who thinks that they have better players.

The difference is that England have the players, whereas we don't. The likes of Italy and France simply do not have a superior bunch of players.

Even good players look ordinary sometimes folks. Anyone want to rewatch the champions league final and then tell me about Kaka's amazing skill? We have good enough players to beat any side in the world, we simply haven't worked out a style, formation, starting 11, etc that allows us to really play well.

I think that is half right. We have the skill (maybe not in the style of Brazil, but no one has that), but I don't know why we chose to play at such a slow tempo, especially as our ball retention isn't even that good when we do it. The only player who looked like he knew what he was doing out there when playing at that tempo was Beckham, but he also looks equally at home when things briefly picked up.

That's true, but I don't think anyone would have been too critical of him for bringing on his only true right sided midfielder for the last 15 minutes of a friendly. If he's selected Bentley then it should be because he's good enough; clearly he doesn't really feel that he is.

If he prefers to play Jenas on the right then it would seem that Bentley will be out of the squad as soon as some of the others are fit again.

If a striker is of a reasonable age and finishes second top goalscorer in the league then by today's standards they are worth at least £15 million, especially if they have already shown themselves to be capable of scoring at any level.

If they offer him more money then I don't see why he wouldn't go there. It's unlikely that he'll be in our starting line-up, especially if we bring in another striker this summer, so I can understand why he would consider all of his options.

I think the man likes to talk, not really sure if he cares what he says as long as someone listens.

They're given caps as well.

That happens in football sometimes though. Think about when we beat Arsenal 2-1 a few years back. Having said that, I do think that the dominant side loses games a bit too often in fm and it something they should look at fixing.

It's quite obvious that you haven't been watching him recently. He's been the heartbeat of a side flying in one of the toughest leagues in the world at a crucial stage of the season. He is without doubt one of the best English players around at the moment (in my opinion one of the best players in the world in the last 5 or 6 months) and totally deserves his place in the side. You're clutching at straws if you are falling back on the possible effect his entourage could have on the team.

That is a horribly untrue statement. Beckham was great for England up until 2002-2003ish where he seemed to lose the work ethic that had made him so effective, but if you have watched him in La Liga you would see that he obviously has that back. He has been the best player (by far) for a side currently top of La Liga, how you can possibly call that someone who is "yesterday's man" I don't know. He'll be young enough and fit enough to play in the European Championships (if we get there) and there is no reason to think that he can't sustain his current form and replicate it at an international level. McClaren dropping Beckham was a sad attempt to distance himself rom the previous management and it has failed horribly, much like everything he has done. The England team should be picked on a combination of form and overall quality, Beckham makes the squad on both and anyone who says otherwise hasn't been watching him at all in the past 4 or 5 months.

I'm not sure how much having MGP had to do with Bet 24 deciding we were worth a look, afterall they are also the sponsors of Leeds and, as far as I am aware at least, they don't have any Scandinavian superstars.

Bias aside, Bentley shouldn't be starting. He's been very good this season, particularly the first half, but Beckham has been very good for Real Madrid under more pressure and has greater experience. If Bentley didn't play for Blackburn then none of us would be expecting or wanting him to start the game. His time will come, but right now he has to prove himself to be better then one of the best right midfielders in the world, who also happens to be a similar style of player.

Beckham will be there for the Brazil game. It's important enough because it's his recall, the first England game at Wembley and it is a joint squad for the two games. I think that was more of a warning for the future.

Reading will be well aware of the fact that many promoted sides have done very well in their first season only to struggle the next (Wigan being a prime example). Reading might well be predicted to finish in the bottom half (especially now that they have lost Sidwell for free), whereas we will not be, and I would not be that surprised to see them in a relegation fight next season.

Not many players move between premiership clubs unless they are unhappy or it is one of the big four, so it isn't unusual that we haven't signed many players from rival teams.

Performance related pay is a good idea and is standard in most forms of business, but I think it is a bit of a risk to start handing out shares of the profits made from players. You want your manager to be trying his hardest to get every player he thinks he needs to stay to stay, not having any thoughts in the back of his mind that he could double his salary if a good deal goes through.

Old kasper can become very good, but you'll have to put up with a few years of poor keeping.

Depends on how much you have to spend. Fraga and Enyeama are probably the best for relatively cheap but good quality solutions.

Top 3 finish...miles better then I've ever done before. Very pleased, but I'm sure I'll be back towards the bottom next year. Thanks philly.

You do realise that this could well be one interview. Newspapers have simply used the same interview, picking different quotes and making the story their own.