My Ten Premier League Signings of the Summer

With the transfer window slamming shut late last night, I've decided to run through my top 10 signings of the summer, in no particular order.

Roberto Soldado (Valencia to Tottenham Hotspur)

The signing of Soldado seemed to solve Spurs’ striking troubles. 2012/13 saw Andre Villas-Boas’ side have only Emmanuel Adebayor and Jermain Defoe as recognised forwards. Thankfully for AVB, he had the talents of Gareth Bale at his disposal. In Soldado though, Spurs have really got that elusive 20-goal-a-season man in their ranks. A current Spain international, the 28-year-old moved to the Premier League from La Liga side Valencia for £26m, a club record until the capture of Erik Lamela. A total of 59 goals in 101 games for Valencia proves that Soldado, a former Real Madrid youth graduate, knows exactly where the net is. The ex-Getafe frontman has already netted twice in his opening three games with the north Londoners, both goals coming from the penalty spot.

GOAL-DADO: Spurs have their man

Mesut Ozil (Real Madrid to Arsenal)

It finally happened! I’m not talking about the capture of 24-year-old Ozil, who seemed to be having a medical for days rather than hours, more to the fact that Arsene Wenger finally decided to open the chequebook to go big. £42.4m was enough for Real Madrid to part with arguably one of the world’s best players on the same day that Gareth Bale rocked up at the Bernabeu. Ozil came to the attention of the world back in 2010 in South Africa, starring in a Germany team that tossed England aside on their way to bowing out at the semi-finals stage. It was Real that moved quickest to sign the German, snatching him from Werder Bremen for a fee of £13m. Over 80 assists since he joined Madrid, I have a feeling that Olivier Giroud is licking his lips. Arsenal could be sensational with their attacking options of Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Lukas Podolski and Ozil.

Wenger has spent big on the quality capture of Ozil

Samuel Eto’o (Anzhi Makhachkala to Chelsea)

A player I’ve always wanted to see in the Premier League has finally arrived. Eto’o has been linked numerous times in the past, however, has pursued moves to Italy and then Russia, after departing Barcelona. A man who has scored goals wherever he's been, Eto'o didn't have the best of times at Anzhi, but still managed to find the net 25 times in 53 appearances for the Russian side. Even at the age of 32, you still expect that a man of Eto'o's quality should be fine with the quicker play and step up in quality from the Russian League to the Premier League, as he links up once more with Jose Mourinho. The duo were previously involved in the Inter Milan side that became the first ever Italian side to win the treble. The Cameroon striker has won everything on offer in Spain and Italy, will an FA Cup triumph or a Premier League title be next on his list of honours?

SAM THE MAN: Eto'o and Mourinho are back together

Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea to Everton)

A slightly surprising late move was Lukaku's more to Merseyside, departing Chelsea for his second successive season loan move, this time to Everton. An excellent campaign at West Brom in 2012/13, netting 17 goals for the Baggies, seemed to signal a stay at Stamford Bridge. However, after the signing of Samuel Eto'o and Demba Ba staying at the club, Lukaku was farmed out on loan again, Roberto Martinez pulling a rabbit out of the hat by snaring the big Belgian, adding firepower to his new-look squad, Lukaku joining the likes of Nikica Jelavic and fellow new signing, Arouna Kone up top. Lukaku should thrive on the excellent service from the likes of Kevin Mirallas and the rampaging Leighton Baines, who is regularly seen scampering down Everton's left side. Expect 15+ goals again for 20-year-old Lukaku.

THINGS ARE LUK-ING UP: More goals on the way for Lukaku?

Scott Sinclair (Manchester City to West Bromwich Albion)

After a year of disappointment for Sinclair, he finally took off from Manchester City on a temporary loan spell at West Brom. It wasn't too long ago when the winger was excelling at Swansea City, playing for Team GB at the London 2012 Olympic Games and being touted for a call up to Roy Hodgson's England side. It's finally a chance to play for Sinclair and show his worth once more. He'll certainly get games at the Hawthorns and expect him to get a few assists for Baggies strikers Shane Long and fellow new signings Matej Vydra and Victor Anichebe. An opportunity for 24-year-old Sinclair to rebuild his career once again to reach the potential he had during his days at Chelsea.

Sinclair knows Steve Clarke from their Chelsea days

Pablo Osvaldo (Roma to Southampton)

A real statement of intent from Southampton was the signing of Italian international Pablo Osvaldo for a club record fee. Roma let the striker leave Serie A for a sum of £15m, with Osvaldo another option up front for Mauricio Pochettino, complimenting the likes of Jay Rodriguez and new England international Rickie Lambert, nicely. The Argentina-born striker netted 27 times in two seasons at Roma and worked with Pochettino at Espanyol in Spain. With the service from the likes of Adam Lallana and Gaston Ramirez, Osvaldo's goals could fire the Saints into the Europa League. See you in Westquay, Pablo!

RECORD BREAKER: Pablo's a Saint

Gary Medel (Sevilla to Cardiff City)

For a team that have earnt promotion to the Premier League for the very first time, Cardiff always needed a midfield enforcer, a battler in the middle of the park. Someone to get stuck in and get their foot on the ball is vital if they aim to stay in the top flight. In Gary Medel, Malky Mackay has snapped up a tough tackling little Chilean who's known as "The Pitbull". A consistent performer during his two years at Sevilla, Medel earned himself rave reviews, with Cardiff's capture something of a coup. The 26-year-old penned a four-year-deal at the Cardiff City Stadium after a record fee of £11m was agreed.

GOLD MEDEL: Cardiff have captured "The Pitbull"

Dejan Lovren (Lyon to Southampton)

Another player that will share residence with me in Southampton is Dejan Lovren. The experienced centre back made over 70 appearances in three years during his time at Lyon, and has 17 caps for Croatia. Defenders were the main priority for Mauricio Pochettino after conceding 60 Premier League goals in 2012/13, and with Victor Wanyama also arriving on the south coast, Southampton have certainly added quality to their backline. With the centre back still only being 24, he has plenty of time to develop into a world class defender at St Mary's.

HE'S LOVREN IT!: A coup for the Saints

Darren Bent (Aston Villa to Fulham)

An extremely shrewd loan signing by Fulham boss Martin Jol was that of Darren Bent. The duo worked together at Tottenham Hotspur and Bent, a prolific scorer wherever he's been will certainly get goals in west London. On paper, the striker duo of Bent and Dimitar Berbatov looks mouth watering for Whites' supporters as Jol looks to take Fulham to the next level, especially with the recent takeover at the club by Shahid Khan. It was surprising to see Bent left out in the cold by Aston Villa last season, and could have formed an excellent partnership with Christian Benteke.

Bent is back in the capital after time at Sunderland and Villa

Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Sporting Lisbon to Norwich City)

My final choice is Norwich's purchase of Ricky van Wolfswinkel. It was confirmed at the back end of last season that the talented Dutch hitman would head to Norfolk from Sporting Lisbon, despite City's Premier League status still in the balance. A striker that scored goals a plenty in Portugal, averaging a goal every other game at Sporting, van Wolfswinkel moved to Norwich for £8m, as Chris Hughton added a proven goalscorer to his ranks after hitting only 41 league goals last term. Has also notched almost 30 times back in his homeland with Utrecht. "The Wolf" could form a fruitful partnership with fellow new striker Gary Hooper.

HUNGRY LIKE THE WOLF: Norwich have got themselves a goalscorer

FA Youth Cup: Southampton 0-2 Everton

Everton earned a comfortable victory against Southampton at St Marys in the 3rd round of the FA Youth Cup.

An entertaining opening 20 minutes began with a host of chance for both sides.

Firstly, after 6 minutes, a mix up between Toffees goalkeeper Mateusz Taudul and centre back Curtis Langton almost gifted Calum Chambers to open the scoring but he sliced wide.

Next it was Everton's turn as a minute later, a 20-yard effort from the impressive Matthew Kennedy was tipped over the bar by Saints' number one Chris Johns.

The opener came after 11 minutes with Kennedy again causing problems for the home defence. He was the provider of a neat pass to George Waring who took a touch before slotting into the right-hand corner from 12 yards.

The hosts were looking for an instant reply and soon after, James Ward-Prowse's dipping volley flew just over after an Omar Rowe free kick wasn't cleared.

After 17 minutes, home defender Jordan Turnbull saw his strike sail just over the bar after Everton failed to deal with a tormenting Ward-Prowse free kick.

The Blues then raced up the other end and Kennedy's solo run and shot deflected off Saints captain Dominic Gape, thankfully for Southampton, into the arms of Johns.

A pulsating start soon cooled down and it wasn't until the 33rd minute until the next chance came. An excellent break from the home side started by Rowe eventually found Chambers but his shot was well kept out by the on-rushing Taudul.

Everton were again thankful to Taudul for keeping the score at 1-0 three minutes later when he beat away a stinging strike from Ryan Seager.

HALF TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 0-1 EVERTON

Southampton did have the ball in the net on 57 minutes when a strike from Gape ended up at the feat of Jason McCarthy. The defender with an excellent finish however, the flag was up for offside.

Everton managed to increase their lead just two minutes later as a deep cross from the left-hand side was headed back across goal by Gethin Jones and Conor Grant tapped in.

Jason Dodd's side were desperate to find a way back into the game and after 67 minutes a driving run from McCarthy culminated in a wayward strike.

There was concern for Taudul on 76 minutes as he went off with a serious looking injury and replaced by Russel Griffiths.

On 83, Turnbull headed over from a Jake Sinclair cross before Kennedy breezed past four defenders before hitting over.

The final chance came to the Saints in the fourth minute of added time as Matthew Targett's strike was pushed away by Griffiths, soon before the referee blew the full time whistle.

SOUTHAMPTON: Johns, Flannigan, Targett, Cape (c), McCarthy, Turnbull, Chambers (Reed, 65), Ward-Prowse, Seager, Sinclair, Rowe (Ariyibi, 76)

NOT USED: Fraser Colmer, Will Britt (GK), Charlie Higgins


EVERTON: Taudul (Griffiths, 76), Pennington, Touray, Kenny, Langton, Moleneux, Jones, Ledson, Waring (Dyson, 83), Grant (Charisley, 90), Kennedy

NOT USED: George Green, Ben McLaughlin

The Best Buys In English Football

Deadline day was as hectic as always on Friday, however, it was a very exciting Summer for fans of a number of clubs with the amount of transfers both incoming and outgoing. Here are my 10 top transfers and the 1 that just missed out. So, in no particular order....

Eden Hazard (Lille - Chelsea) 
Chelsea were the real big spenders this Summer with Roman Abramovich seemingly allowing new manager Roberto Di Matteo to splash the cash for the newly crowned Champions League Winners. The long-wrangling saga of where Hazard's destination would be, was all the rage; the likes of Manchester United, Manchester City, Barcelona, Chelsea, Real Madrid etc were all rumoured to be interested and I think I even heard that Dave Whelan was trying to entice the Belgian to Wigan Athletic (possibly unfounded). Anyway, Chelsea won the race for the signature of Hazard and he has impressed greatly in the "new Chelsea" system. He has linked up with fellow playmaker Juan Mata excellently and already has 6 assists in just 3 league games so far as well as scoring for Chelsea too. Excellent signing and, at the minute, looks to be worth every penny of the reported £32m transfer fee. Whelan must be looking on enviously - image the goals Franco Di Santo could have scored with that service!

HAZARD: A dangerous player

Clint Dempsey (Fulham - Tottenham Hotspur)
On the topic of transfer sagas, I think it's very appropriate that we now move on to our American cousin, Clint Dempsey. It looked for all the world that Dempsey was heading for Merseyside to join Liverpool when the window opened. For one reason or another, that didn't work out (LFC surely didn't splash their whole transfer budget on Joe Allen?!) In a bid to try and force through a move to Anfield, Clint refused to play for Fulham again, effectively going on strike to get his move. On deadline day, the Texan was still a Fulham "player" (not that he would play). Aston Villa tried an audacious move to bring him to Villa Park, Fulham agreed a fee with Paul Lambert's side however, Dempsey turned it down and, in a remarkable turn, out of the blue came Spurs and snapped up the USA international for a fee believed to be £6m (typical Spurs). Liverpool fans weren't happy. Spurs fans were. Clint... well, he certainly clocked up the mileage!

DEMPSEY: Got his move... in the end!

Steven Naismith (Rangers - Everton)
The Rangers situation wasn't a good one... unless you are managers that are trying to snare their players on free transfers. That's exactly what David Moyes did. The Scotsman (Naismith, not Moyes) decided against transferring his contract from "Rangers" to the "Newco Rangers" in a long wrangling case involving the club. Naismith linked up again, with his old strike partner, Nikica Jelavic. It looks a deserved signing for Moyes, after spending £7m on Jelavic just 6 months before he would have probably been available for nothing. A good signing for Everton, who seem famed for their lack of finances to sign a player. Naismith has already found the net for the Toffees, grabbing a hat-trick in Tony Hibbert's testimonial against AEK Athens... having said that, even Hibbert scored in that game so perhaps it's not that great an achievement. I'm sure he'll do well in blue.

NAISMITH: Back with his old pal Jelavic

Jan Vertonghen (Ajax - Tottenham Hotspur)
It was an interesting Summer for Spurs fans. The makeover took place; AVB (Andre Villas-Boas) came in to replace Harry Redknapp and Andre got straight to work in tearing apart a decent side, replacing a number of high profile names. Luka Modric joined Real Madrid, Rafael Van der Vaart returned to Hamburg are 2 examples. The Vertonghen signing was something that was needed; the centre back positions at Spurs were something that needed sorting out with the likes of Michael Dawson and Ledley King (now retired) being rather injury prone. At 25, he's a good age to develop, as well as having some good experience. He's another Belgian who seems to have a good future and he's not the last in this blog. Good capture for Spurs when you think he was courted by a number of decent sides. A fee of £14m is a reasonable price for a player in this day and age too.

VERTONGHEN: Will be a mainstay in the Spurs side

Julio Cesar (Inter Milan - QPR)
This was another transfer that almost came out of nowhere. I'm sure I wasn't the only one who took this move with a pinch of salt after first hearing about it. Julio Cesar, a goalkeeper, who, a couple of years ago was the best, if not, one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Now, he's turning up at Loftus Road to sign for QPR?! For some reason, Inter got shot of their Brazilian number 1 and it appears Tony Fernandes sold the club to him, especially after hearing this quote from Cesar: "I joined QPR because I feel we can win the Premier League". I'm not saying they won't, but can you imagine, in your head, Mark Hughes lifting the trophy?... No, me neither. Julio also has to realise that there may be times when the likes of Clint Hill and Shaun Derry will be in the same starting XI as him. On a more serious note, it's an excellent signing for QPR and it's a player I've always wanted to see in the Premier League so everyone's a winner, right? Well, unless your name's Robert Green.

CESAR: What is he doing at QPR?!

Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund - Manchester United)
You don't often get many talented Japanese footballers. I think the last half-decent one was Junichi Inamoto, who played for Fulham. However, this one is a very good player! In inaugural part of Borussia Dortmund's recent success, Kagawa was on the radar of a number of clubs for his impressive goals and assists tally during his time in the Bundesliga. United won the race for his signature after agreeing a fee believed to be around £15m... a tidy profit for Dortmund, who signed him from Curezo Osaka in 2010 for just 350,000 Euros. Good business! Kagawa likes to play "inbetween the lines", linking up with the midfield and the impressive strike-force that United now have to choose from. He'll make an impact in the Premier League and still has a long time left in his career. He's already opened his account for the Red Devils. Could be a United great.

KAGAWA: Good addition to United's squad

Santi Cazorla (Malaga - Arsenal)
It appears that Malaga's gamble of signing big names in a bid to shake up La Liga and the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid failed to pay off. The club's financial difficulties meant they had to sell their prized asset just 1 year after signing the talented Spaniard from Villarreal. Arsene Wenger soon swooped to grab the little schemer for a fee of £15m. Wenger spending money I hear you ask!? He's probably been 1 of the stars of the Premier League in these early games and he scored in Arsenal's latest win against Liverpool. Wenger would have been hoping Robin van Persie just ahead to bang the goals in but unfortunately for the Arsenal boss, Olivier Giroud is the man who is meant to score the goals. They've still got Marouanne Chamakh though. Finally, let's be honest, would I put Cazorla in my Fantasy Premier League team if he wasn't a good player?

CAZORLA: Arsenal's Spanish schemer

Andy Carroll (Liverpool - West Ham United)
This may be a little bit of a surprise to a few of you but I think the big man's move to Upton Park is a bit of a master-stroke by Sam Allardyce. Carroll reunites with his old pal and mentor Kevin Nolan in east London and Allardyce will be expecting goals from the Liverpool loanee. On Liverpool, I bet they're kicking themselves after letting the £35m man leave with only Luis Suarez (who's hardly prolific) and a youth team striker as the only recognised centre forwards on their books! Expect to see Carroll, with a run of games, to notch around 15 goals this season, especially from the service out wide from fellow new boy Matt Jarvis. An impressive debut against Fulham showed no signs of needing to gel in his new team in a 3-0 win. The move away from the north-west could just be the kick-start he needs to revitalise his slightly  flailing career.

Carroll (L) and Nolan (R) are back together again!

Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea - West Bromwich Albion)
The move to West Brom for Romelu Lukaku is an ideal opportunity to show everyone at Chelsea just what he can do. Since joining from Anderlecht last Summer, the striker's opportunities at Stamford Bridge were limited. Dubbed "the new Didier Drogba", Lukaku should work well up from with Shane Long in a little 'n large partnership. He caused problems against Spurs the other week as WBA started the season off very well. A shrewd move from Steve Clarke who's negotiations for Lukaku's services may have been helped by being pals with Blues' boss Roberto Di Matteo. Could play a big part in West Brom's season. On the topic of West Brom, for me, they've been a real surprise this season so far.

LUKAKU: Loan star

Pablo Hernandez (Valencia - Swansea)
The signing of Hernandez is another great piece of business by new Swansea boss Michael Laudrup. Laudrup seems to be taking more players from Spain than Rafa Benitez did at Liverpool and it seems to be working. Michu has been a real star for the Swans so far and with Hernandez whipping in the service from the right hand side, he should score goals for fun. A real snip at just £5.5m and at 27, you'd think that Hernandez would be in the prime of his career. A quality player who should set the Premier League alight. For me, a better replacement for Scott Sinclair, at a much cheaper price. If I was Laudrup, I would have tried to tie him down for longer than the three-year-deal he signed.

HERNANDEZ: Great signing

The one who missed out...

Gaston Ramirez (Bologna - Southampton)
The signing of Ramirez was one that sounded a little too good to be true. The negotiations seemed to go on for a lifetime before boss, Nigel Adkins finally tied up the deal. It's strange that Ramirez chose the south coast with (respectfully) bigger clubs chasing his signature. It looks a great piece of business, however, why has he missed out? The fee of £12m could be good for the long term however, it's a little bit of a gamble if the Uruguayan's potential doesn't come off. Added to the fact that he came from Serie A in Italy, and you do wonder whether there is some third party involved. We all know what happened with the Carlos Tevez/West Ham situation a few years back.

RAMIREZ: Hot property this Summer

Photos courtesy of Zimbio, Southampton FC, Swansea City FC, The Telegraph

Warren meets... Kevin Davies

As you may know, last night (Tuesday) saw Bolton Wanderers come to Crawley for their Capital One Cup tie.

Anyway, you should know the drill by now, I never miss an opportunity to hassle someone and unfortunately for him, Kevin Davies was that man!

WL: Kevin, you started your long footballing career way back at Sheffield United, your boyhood club. You were released at 15, how hard was that decision to take?

KD: It was at the time yeah. It was a club I supported and a club I was at for a few years. Looking back now it was a blessing in disguise really to be honest because 6 months later I joined Chesterfield and it went from there. At the time it was difficult but it wasn't taken too hard and with my family behind me, pushing me on, I never looked back really.

WL: Was it pleasing to move there, even though you dropped down the leagues, with it still being fairly local to you?

KD: Yeah, like you say, they sort of snapped me up from the Sheffield boys side. There's was a lot of players that signed for some top teams before me and I was one of the, if not the last to sign. However, not many of them have gone on to do what was expected of them and haven't really had the career that I've had. I just decided to keep going and managed to get a good opportunity at Chesterfield and I just took it really.

Davies (blue) tussles against Middlesbrough for Chesterfield

WL: You did well at Saltergate and after 4 years at Chesterfield you headed south and joined Southampton. Was it difficult to relocate away from the family because you were still fairly young at the time?

KD: No, not at all really. As you say, I was young at the time at around twenty years old I think and I made some good friends down there and settled in really well. It's a lovely part of the world down there. I sort of had a good half-season there and picked up and injury. It didn't really pan out the way I wanted it to and I moved to Blackburn that Summer. I ended up moving back and I've got to be honest, I really enjoyed my time down there, I've still got a good number of friends down there and fond memories.

WL:You mentioned you've been there (Southampton) twice and even though you're at Bolton now is it still a club close to your heart?

KD: Yeah, definitely, like I say, I made plenty of friends down there and really enjoyed my time. We played some good football in my three and a half years there, had a good lifestyle and played with a great squad of players as well - There were really some fantastic players in that team.

KD celebrates a goal for Southampton

WL: Bolton ended up signing you on a free - A transfer that many believe was probably one of the best free transfers in English football.

KD: Yeah, for whatever reason it didn't work out in the end at Southampton. The new manager - Gordon Strachan came in and I didn't quite fit in. My face didn't fit for one reason or another which was a shame. At the time I was around my mid-twenties and I went out on loan to Millwall to get a few games and to get a bit of experience. I knew that there was a very slim chance I'd get a new contract there with Gordon Strachan so went to Millwall and got some games. I went to Bolton for a trial sort of thing that Summer, did okay and it really just went from there.

MISTAKE: Strachan allowed Kevin to leave

WL: Your international career now. You've made just the solitary appearance for England in 2010, do you still harbour hopes of maybe making a few more?

KD: No, no, I don't think it's going to happen again. I worked extremely hard to get there and had been on the fringes of the squad a few times, certainly since I've been at Bolton. I greatly enjoyed the experience overall and it was a great honour to pull on the shirt and get out there. I had a few close calls and a few heartaches and I was disappointed not to maybe make a few more but that's just football for you.

INTERNATIONAL: Davies on England duty

WL: Finally, a disappointing season with Bolton last season. This campaign I presume you're looking to take the club straight back up?

KD: Yes. We've had a steady start but we've got a good and we're looking to bounce back straight away. That's the plan.

Many thanks to Kevin for taking the time out to speak to me.

Also, thanks to Jennie Kozlowski and her Bolton Wanderers media team for helping to ort the interview out - Good luck for the season.

Some photos courtesy of The Guardian , The Sun and the Daily Mail.

Warren meets... Matt Le Tissier

As many will know, Matt Le Tissier is a bit of a legend down where I now live in Southampton.

Anyway, tonight I conducted a quick interview with Matt or as he is affectionately known by Saints fans "Le God".

WL: How did a lad from the Channel Islands enter the footballing world?

MLT: I was spotted by Southampton when I was playing for the Guernsey under 15s tour of Hampshire. I played two or three games and even played out of position in one of the games - Of course I'm a central midfielder and I got played out on the right wing and one of the scouts saw me, assumed I was a right winger and decided to invite me over for a trial.

WL: In the end you spent sixteen years at Saints, a long time and a lot of loyalty there. Would you consider yourself as the big fish in the small pond plying your trade at one of the so called smaller clubs?

MLT:  Yeah, definitely and that was probably one of the reasons I stayed - I loved the status, loved the place, the fans were great to me so I saw no reason to move on whilst we were playing in the top division.

WL: And, on the topic of loyalty what's your view of it nowadays in football?

MLT: There's not a lot of it nowadays to be honest with you but that is to be expected. The kind of money thats floating around in the game now.  I mean, I have to say that if given my time again and I was earning three or four thousand pounds a week at Southampton and was offered one hundred grand a week to go and play at Man City then I'm not sure how loyal I could have been with that kind of offer.  I can't blame the players for wanting to make the most of what they can while their doing it.

WL: Of course Matt you were renowned for your penalty taking ability. With forty seven successful attempts out of forty eight efforts tell me just what was the secret?

MLT: I think a lot of it came down to a positive mental attitude and a technique where I could side foot the ball pretty powerfully so I could keep the accuracy there into the corners and know that most of the time it was probably going to go in.

WL: Matt, whilst we are talking about penalty conversions why can't England win a penalty shoot out?!

MLT: Well we did win one against Spain in about 1996 - A long time ago! I don't know. I think we have kind of got bogged down with them an the players seemed to get affected by the fact that the media go on about it quite a bit that we are crap and everyone thinks that we're crap and we're going to be crap. Until we change the media's perception of it then it's going to be very difficult to get out of that rut.

WL: Continuing with national football, Spanish World Cup winner Xavi mentioned that you were one of his inspirations growing up which must be pleasing to hear?!

MLT: Yeah, yeah he did. It was nice yeah I mean for somebody who has gone on to win the World Cup and The European Championships to say that about you is quite an accolade really. Yeah, chuffed to bits!

WL: Still on the national scene, it must be disappointing that, for a player of your quality to have only made eight appearances for England. Surely you should have earned more?

MLT: Yes and no. Obviously my ambition was to play for England as a boy and I realised that it was a massive thing for me. I think you will have to ask the England managers why I didn't make more caps.  I think a lot of it was because I was playing for an unfashionable club - It wasn't one of the bigger clubs and you kind of don't get looked upon favourably as when your maybe playing for one of the big boys.

WL: And after that, what are your feelings now towards Glenn Hoddle?!

MLT: Erm........ It was a long time ago.  We actually did have a chat - We were on the same golf trip in Dubai a few years ago and we sat down over breakfast, had a little chat and kind of resolved our differences so I'd like to say that my relationship with Glenn is fine now!

WL: Off the pitch, you have got a son - Mitchell - What are the chances of seeing another member of the Le Tissier clan grace the Premier League stage?!

MLT: Erm... (Laughs) No chance whatsoever!  He's actually far more into his cricket than he is football to be honest and he plays a little bit of five-a-side but there is no chance yu will see him in the Premier League I can assure you!

WL: When retiring, were you interested in maybe going into the coaching or managing side of things or was getting into media the real plan?

MLT: I kind of just fell into the media really - Never had that many great plans. It just turned out that way. I didn't have any ambitions to get into coaching but you never rule it out because you never know what hand life's going to deal you. Who knows what the future brings? I will never say never.

WL: As I've mentioned, you are in the media now and although it has its pros you must be dissapointed not to watch live games on a Saturday afternoon?

MLT: It does curtail my chances of getting to St. Marys but I do get down to the midweek ones when I'm not working. I think last season was about six or seven games and this season it will probably turn out the same but its my job and I've still got a mortgage to pay so it has to be done!

WL: Matt, its those old classics now - Best player played with and best player played against...GO!

MLT: Best player played with is definitely Gazza (Paul Gascoigne)... unbelievable player. I feel sad for him because I think that possibly playing thirty odd games one season and then getting a bad injury and not playing really at all the next hit him hard health wise - he just wanted to play all the time.  It was different to me because I just went on a downward spiral gradually during the latter part of my career!  Best player played against...... We played Juventus once and they had a fella called Roberto Baggio - he was alright!  The one player I really dreaded playing against was Stuart Pearce - If there was a chance of taking the ball and the man then Stuart would never turn the opportunity down!

WL: When you were a youngster who was the one player you wanted to emulate?

MLT: Liam Brady - I was a Tottenham fan back then but with me being from Guernsey and not London there was never really any real hatred towards Arsenal so admiring Liam was okay!  

WL: Finally Matt, Saints have certainly had a topsy-turvey last couple of years but now it looks like they are really on the rise.

MLT: Yeah its been a pretty decent start. I think its exceeded everyone's expectations at the start of the season so if we can keep it going then we will keep our fingers crossed that next season we'll be back in the big time.

Me and Le Tiss