I think Steven Gerrard
should keep the England
captaincy whether or not Rio Ferdinand plays against Montenegro on Tuesday.

We need some continuity in
the side, and that means not passing the armband around from game to game.

The England
captaincy and it should be held by someone who is assured of his place in the
side, and who is not a permanent injury risk.

I think it was a rash
decision handing the captaincy to Ferdinand in the first place, and England have
played well under Gerrard's leadership - it seems to have brought something
extra from him.

There is talk that Capello
will leave

I was saddened and disappointed to hear that
my old England colleague Paul Gascoigne has again been arrested for
drink-driving.

I was caught driving over limit myself
about 20 years ago, and I didn't expect any sympathy then. I knew I'd done
something wrong and learnt my lesson.

Gazza has to realise the same thing, that he
has done something ridiculously stupid and only has himself to blame. Hopefully
this time will be the moment when he realises that this has to
stop.

However, it's not as though this is the
first time he has been in trouble with the law. There is only so much patience
people

Blog originally published on July 15... 

We've all seen the photos of Wayne Rooney in the newspapers, squeezed into his United shirt for the friendly up in Aberdeen, along with all the usual 'fat' puns in the headlines and comparisons with other generously proportioned footballers.

Poor Wayne. He's the type of person who is liable to put weight on without too much effort. His body shape will not allow him to do as he pleases and he's one of those players who simply cannot afford to let himself go.

But that is what he has done this summer - he has been pictured smoking fags, eating fast food

Under pressure: Alex Ferguson - Manchester United v West Bromwich Albion

After Wayne Rooney went against his manager's comments about an ankle injury dogging him all season, claiming that he had no such problem, he has given Ferguson a dilemma.

Whether Ferguson rests his out-of-form striker, maintaining his stance that he is not fully fit, or plays him against West Brom, the decision will be heavily scrutinised.

I think he will say to Rooney that if he has no problem with his ankle, go out on to the pitch and prove it. In doing so he will deflect the attention back on to Rooney. If he thrives,

Yet again we have the ridiculous situation of two FA Cup semi-finals being played at Wembley this weekend.

I know why the FA made its decision a couple of years ago to stage all last-four clashes at the national stadium; I just don't agree with it.

Playing a final at Wembley is what the FA Cup is supposed to be all about. Isn't it every boy's dream to lead out their team at the famous stadium in the final? I doubt a semi-final appearance features in many young lads' dreams.

Using the stadium at that stage of the competition only serves to devalue the achievement of actually reaching the

Come the end of the season, Manchester City's win over Chelsea may well have an effect on the title race, but I don't believe it adds too much credibility to their credentials as championship candidates this season.

City have shown on a number of occasions that they can raise their game against the big clubs, but equally they have carelessly dropped points against sides that on paper they should be beating.

Even the victory on Saturday was not emphatic, with the three points secured via one piece of individual brilliance by Carlos Tevez.

His undoubted talent will only stretch so far. Playing

I can't
quite fathom just how Nigel de Jong escaped a card for his challenge that broke
Hatem Ben Arfa's leg during Manchester City's clash with Newcastle on Sunday.

It was both
reckless and dangerous and the FA should retrospectively punish the midfielder.

I have no
idea how the referee could deem a challenge like that a fair one; the official
himself should also face some kind of punishment for missing it.

De Jong is
a destroyer and only a destroyer. He has little else to his game, and we have
seen him making challenges like this before. He just hasn't been able to tone
his aggression down

Under pressure: Arsene Wenger - Chelsea v Arsenal

Arsene Wenger is under a huge amount of
pressure following Arsenal's calamitous 3-2 defeat to West Brom at the Emirates
last week, and there is no tougher place to go than Stamford Bridge.

The Gunners have to show a bit of backbone
to be honest and Wenger has to stop whingeing and moaning. In the Frenchman's
position, he should be whipping up his players to show some guts and fighting
spirit, not lamenting the physicality of other sides.

Chelsea suffered their first defeat of the
season against Manchester City, and that was a poor result.