Yahoo Sport 
Part two of Yahoo Sport’s EXCLUSIVE Q&A with Peter Shilton
In part 1, England’s most celebrated goalkeeper talked about what it takes to be a true great between the sticks (you can read it here); today Peter remembers the last time he spoke to Brian Clough, what he’d change if he were in charge of football, and more.
8) Who will win the Premier League this year?
After last year, everyone was looking at Chelsea for the title again, but their poor start has been a big surprise. Man City, on the other hand, flew out of the blocks, so, although it’s still early, I’m tipping them to win it. As for relegation, Sunderland have to be favourites. I think their fans have been fantastic and have played a part in their survival in recent years, but I fear they won’t have enough this time round.
I feel Leicester didn’t get the rub of the green so much last season and being in a dog fight didn’t reflect how well they’d played. They dropped a lot of points late in games when they deserved to take the win but the quality shone through in the end and they were safe. As I say, it’s early doors but they’ve made a terrific start and should be aiming for a mid-table finish so they can build going into next season.
9) Will Jose Mourinho go on to eclipse Sir Alex’s managerial record?
There’s a possibility, but I think Ferguson’s record is fantastic, so it’s a tough ask for Mourinho. He didn’t have a great time at Real Madrid, but hit the ground running in this second spell at Chelsea. He’s got the respect and love of his players and he’s got a bit of magic about him but it’s all going a bit wrong for him so far this season. I’ve got a lot of respect for him and what he’s achieved up to this point, but his priority has to be reversing the current slide.
10) What’s your honest opinion of the current England side? Is it better or worse than the ones you played in?
I think they’ve got a lot of potential and have some fantastic young players coming through, but they’re not yet at the level of the teams I played in in 1986 and 1990. They can only get better and have time in front of them to gel, but the lads will have to do it at major tournaments to be seen as a great side, so we’ll have to hold our breath and hope they manage it.
Looking ahead to the Euros next year, with qualification in the bag, there are nine or ten games to prepare and for Roy Hodgson to settle on a formula, but we’ve not had much luck with injuries. Sturridge’s a great striker but has hardly played in a year and Welbeck’s struggling. Jack Wilshere has one problem after another and I was sorry to see Luke Shaw sustain a bad injury in the Champions League just as he was starting to make waves. I’d like to think they’ll all be ok for next summer, but it perhaps isn’t likely for Shaw, which is a real shame.
11) What do you think of the modern game from the fans’ perspective? Do you empathise with fans being asked to pay £40-50 for a ticket?
I don’t agree with the current level of many ticket prices and, like most things in life, they seem to be on the up and up. You’ve got to sympathise with fans who struggle to get to games, but a lot of grounds seem to be more or less full every week, so people must be prepared to stump up the money. It’s definitely a problem but I don’t necessarily know how we’d solve it.
12) What’s the best footballing atmosphere you’ve ever experienced?
Three games in particular stick out for me, although I have to say the City Ground was always rocking on big European nights. I remember we got a 0-0 draw at Anfield in the first round of the European Cup the year we first won it. We’d beaten them 2-0 at home in the first leg, so we’d knocked out the European champions. That was a great night!
The following season, as European champions ourselves, we played Barcelona, who had won the UEFA Cup, over two legs for the Super Cup. Charlie George gave us a 1-0 win in the first leg and at the Nou Camp we won on aggregate after a 1-1 draw. I’ll never forget the feeling and the atmosphere of that occasion.
In an England shirt, the best atmosphere came at the quarter final in 1986. The Aztec Stadium in Mexico City was absolutely incredible and although, famously, the result went the wrong way, it was a unique moment in time and in football history. Not my happiest memory by any stretch, but it was an unbelievable place.
13) Can you remember your last conversation with Brian Clough?
I do, but in a funny way, the thing I remember most was a gesture rather than a conversation. He was sitting next to me at a dinner honouring the European Cup team and he was having the problems we all know about. He put his hand on my knee and I felt he was trying to tell me something. Although he was well known for the things he said, he perhaps wasn’t the kind of person to express deeper heart-felt things so easily. I soon realised it was his way of showing me he was grateful for my efforts.
14) Should the Qatar World Cup go ahead in 2022?
The people of Qatar clearly love their sport – football and horse racing in particular, I’ve read – so I respect that and understand them wanting to host the tournament. I also understand FIFA wanting to spread the game around the world, which is why they’ve held the World Cup in South Africa and the Far East, but the weather conditions make Qatar an illogical choice. It’s not good for the fans and it’s not good for the players. There are plenty of other places far better suited to football as far as the weather’s concerned, and Britain’s very much among them, so maybe they should have gone for somewhere with the stadia already in place and saved the disruption of a winter tournament.
15) If you were in charge of football for a week, what would you change?
I love the game, but I do think there are a lot of things that need a tweak. It goes without saying that I’d clean up FIFA as a top priority and co-operate with the authorities in full. There have been suspicions for a long time, so I think Blatter could have acted earlier and launched his own investigations if he was serious about transparency.
I’d put a stop to diving, simulation and the feigning of injury. There’s too much cheating and, ultimately, it’s down to the managers and the clubs to instil the right standards in their players. I’d make sure clubs were fined more for failing to control players and that technology was used retrospectively to punish players who are clearly guilty of trying to deceive or influence referees.
It’s a contact sport, though, but yellow cards are given out too easily in many cases. The slightest touch, someone rolls all over the floor and you get booked. We need to use our common sense a bit more and that would include stamping down on all the pushing and shoving at corners. Most of the time that gets ignored, despite being a bit like kids fighting over the swings in the playground.
