And Warnock.

And another thing, the more I learn about David Bentley, the more he comes across as a decent guy.

He seems a relatively intelligent lad as well judging by his comments to the media.

I really like Bentley. You never hear him spouting out in the media, or complaining about the way he was treated at Arsenal. He is an honest player, not in the slightest bit dirty and always gives his all. I don't understand how he has gained a bad reputation.

Compare this with the likes of bloody Fabregas who cheats his way through the season and is on the Sky Sports web page every bloody week spouting some nonsense!

There was a lot of hype surrounding Mbesuma (sp) and El Hamadoui (sp) when they were on trial here. (At least, I think they were both on trial.) However, both seemed to have completely disapeared...

Agreed, none are specialized right backs, but Carragher has filled in or covered that position a lot for both club and country. The others might be left backs, but right back is hardly that different.

As far as I'm aware, nobody has been injured and we have Jamie Carragher, Nick Shorey, Phil Neville and Wayne Bridge all available as cover?...

I can't understand why Chelsea need McCarthy. They already have Drogba, Shevchenko, Pizarro and Kalou, you could even include Robben as he plays the second striker role more often now since they went to a midfield diamond.

If they are still seriously chasing McCarthy then I guess Shevchenko could be off, Mourinho doens't seem to rotate his side enough to keep five strikers happy.

Am I right in thinking that the African Cup of Nations runs this season? If that were the case, and they lose Drogba, Essien and Mikel, then they will be desperate for a quality striker, and maybe a midfielder as well.

I, myself, think that there is little between the two, although both are different types of player.

Oh and something else that just came to mind - did I hear people actually booing Beckham when he got on the ball?! If I heard correctly, then some of our "fans," are an utter disgrace.

I know that he had a poor game tonight but, come on, Smith is a top quality player. I like Crouch, particularly because he offers something different, but Smith is definitely the better player.

Shorey has been, by all accounts, excellent for Reading all season. Warnock barely played before joining us in January. I'd say Shorey probably deserves it more on that basis. Also, Warnock is now 26 and hasn't made it into the England squad. I'd give the younger player the go every time myself.

JENAS?! FFS! He is not good enough for an England squad, he isn't good enough for a top 6 side. What the hell is he doing as second choice right midfielder for England?! Bringing Bentley was absolutely pointless.

I thought Cole had done quite well, but I do like Downing and think he gets stick that isn't deserved. He's just had a cracking shot too. Dyer though...

Would be great to see Bentley play, but I doubt it will be for more than 10 minutes. Beckham has been playing Ok tonight, so no real reason to sub him.

Smith is class. He might not be showing it tonight, but he is a better player than Crouch and, at present, better than Owen.

If anybody were to offer £10 million + for Benni, I'd be tempted. If he were 25 / 26 I'd want far more, but at his current age he doesn't have long left at the top of his game, and £10 million should be enough to find a good replacement.

Saying that, whatever sum we receive, it is luring players to the club that will always be the problem. We have been very good in the market in recent years by bringing in Pedersen and Bentley and turning them both into excellent players, while also bringing in some obscure names for little money and having them come good. However, goal scorers never come cheap.

If Chelsea are to be run on operating capital, then surely the first move must be to get rid of Shevchenko and Ballack? Neither have played particularly well this season and their departure would force Terry and Lampard to reconsider their stance over new contracts. As Ballack arrived on a free transfer, I would be tempted to sell him for £10 to whatever teams come in for him. Likewise with Shevchenko, write off the £30 million hand out of pockets as a loss, get as much money for him from Milan as you can, and reduce the club's expenditure.

I am of course being rather naive though, as neither would give up their huge wages any time soon. It would appear that Chelsea's reckless spending is beginning to catch up with them.

This is getting really annoying. Fair enough, McCarthy has ambition, but it is very much blind ambition - he will be warming the bench all season and he is an absolute fool if he thinks he will be a regular. Look at how little Kalou has played since he joined.

Why give up regular first team football at a team playing in the Eufa Cup where you are loved by the fans and are banging in the goals, for what could be a few games in the Champions League.

Bentley should be starting for England. Gerrard aside, he is the best English right sided midfielder we have. I always thought that Beckham shouldn't have been dropped, until now. Beckham isn't the kind of player to make an impact off the bench, so he would no longer be in my England squad. Lennon would be a better alternative. However, we all know that Bentley won't be started by McClaren.

As McClaren seems to prefer fitting Lampard and Gerrard into the starting XI, with Gerrard on the right, it seems very strange to find another THREE right sided midfielders in the squad, bizare in fact. I doubt McClaren will risk playing an entirely experimental team against Brazil and risk an embarassing defeat, so I doubt that two of them will play a significant role.

Also, what the hell has Jenas done to warrant being in the squad?! How does he keep getting in?!

Anybody else think that our forward line looks one of the weakest of all the top international teams? Bring back Shearer!

I'm getting really frustrated with the amount of injuries I am getting in my game at the moment. Every two weeks or so, a player is injured for a month. At one point I had 9 players injured at once, 6 of them for a month or more.

I have tried reducing my workload and rotating the squad a bit, but I can't seem to curb the injuries.

Any suggestions?

Also, I'm trying to teach a left back to become a centre back. I did this pre-season, it is not January and he still hasn't learnt it. He was already an "accomplished" centre back. How long does it take before he becomes "natural."

I honestly think that if McCarthy were given the opportunity to join Chelsea, he would turn them down. He must realise that he is not going to be first choice at Chelsea and that, even if he were, he'd likely be replaced within a season as soon as a better striker became available.

He hated not being first choice at Porto and regretted not joining the Premiership when he was younger. I doubt he'd waste his peak years on the bench at Chelsea.

Money might come into it, but his attitude is fantastic and he seems more interested in the playing side of things. He has ambition, but that seems to lie in getting our small club into Europe.

For the record, I don't think Chelsea will go for him.

I agree entirely with that Laurence. Dunn was putting himself around a lot ion the first half and leading by example.

Next season our midfield could well be the best outside the top four when Savage and Reid return. Let's hope they haven't lost too much through injury.

Man of the match performance when it counted and under huge pressure. He was absolutely brilliant yeserday and looked every penny worth the £5m or so Birmingham paid for him a few seasons back. I wonder where he'd be if injury hadn't rampaged his last few years. If he can keep this form up, he will be Hughes's best purchase to date. That is a huge "if" though.

I didn't even realise that Taylor had been making any appearances for Birmingham!

Speaking of Idlewild. I really wanted to stick 100 Brocken Windows on my MP3 last night and I just couldnt find the cd anywhere. Found all the rest bar that one. Up in the loft for me this weekend to dig through the rubbish I stick up there to see if it got lost in with them by mistake (the Mrs cd's mainly - there is nothing worse than someone coming round and saying "I didnt know you were into Jason Donavan"

As for Idlewild. I have seen them Live once at Leeds and I am sure Mr Womble was smashed out of his tree

That CD should be treasured! Pah, and I bet you haven't listened to Roddy's solo work yet either, have you?

Saw Idlewild at Hammersmith last week. Absolutely brilliant, as always. Almost sexual.

No matter what the oppositions tactics, England should be winning against plumbers by 5 - 10 goals, easy. Anything less is a failure. To be level at half time is little short of a disgrace.