Football phone-ins of the future.

Host Let's hear from Mick on the B417 near Guangdong. Is that right, Mick?

Mick Yeah, that's right, Alan. Just heading up into Hunan province, on our way across China.

Host Good game today?

Mick Not bad, mate. We were a bit lacklustre in the first half, but we picked up after the interval and in the end I think we just about deserved the point.

Host You know, it's still pretty tight down there. Do you think there is any danger of Birmingham getting sucked in?

Mick I'd like to think, with this squad now, we're too good to go down. But, as you know, anything can happen. Let's wait and see how Sunderland get on in Riyadh...

Host Steve, you're breaking up a bit. Where are you calling from?

Steve We're just heading back from the Jakarta game in a rickshaw.

Host Do me a favour, would you, please, and ask the driver to turn the radio down?

Steve Hang on a minute... Better?

Host Much better. What is it you want to say?

Steve Well, I just want to say really that I thought Middlesbrough were brilliant today. Absolutely brilliant. We got players forward, we attacked well, we defended well when we had to. Every time Blackburn got the ball, we closed them down. The players showed a lot of commitment, especially when you consider how hot it was and the injections they all had to have...

Host Deggsy in Kampala - you're on.

Deggsy I'm absolutely spitting with fury at the moment, Alan. I can't believe what I'm seeing, week after week. That's two more points we've dropped here today and, no disrespect, but we ought to be beating teams like Fulham.

Host Is that gunfire?

Deggsy Well, I don't blame them. People are fed up with it, Alan. When you look at the money he's had to spend and we're still not competing for titles. Seventh place just isn't good enough for Liverpool Football Club and the sooner Benítez goes, I'm telling you...

Host Mark, what is it about Reading and Nairobi? You just can't get a result there.

Mark I know, mate. It's incredible. What is that now, four times? And there's always something - a penalty, a last-minute goal, a handball, or the ref has a shocker. But what can you do? I'm not saying the heat was a factor because it's the same for everyone. Well, it's the same for the four teams who got sent to Nairobi, rather than the ones who got sent to Malmö. But you know what I mean...

Host Let's hear from a Newcastle fan. Rob.

Rob I tell you, Alan, I'm made up tonight. There aren't many sides who are going to come to Volgograd this season and come away with three points.

Host Stand-out players?

Rob Well, Joey Barton was on fire. James Milner had a good game, too. And Michael Owen looked back to his best. All of them, actually. I really think this could be a turning point.

Host It's great for the fans.

Rob Absolutely. There's no supporters anywhere in the world that deserve success as much as these.

Host How did Derby look?

Rob Shocking, to be honest. But you can only play what's put in front of you...

Cockney Jim What I want to know, right, is why isn't London bidding to stage one of these big Premiership games? You've got all these other cities - your Sydneys, your Mumbais, your Pyongyangs - all jumping up and down and going: “I'll have some of that.” Yet London - nothing.

Host It's money, probably.

Cockney Jim Yeah, but Alan - we've already got the facilities. Look at the Emirates. World-class stadium, that is. Why not get a game on there? And it wouldn't just be for London. I think you'd see a feel-good factor that spread right the way across the country. We gave the world football, you know, and now we're getting left behind...

Silent treatment works well for Sky

Congratulations to Sky News for the forward-thinking way in which it covered the minute's silence at Wembley in honour of Munich victims. The rolling news channel was there for the singing of the national anthems, after which it solemnly withdrew to the back of the stadium and began broadcasting a long shot of the pitch.

Down on the surface, the players could be made out, lining up for their pre-match team photographs, and the pitch staff were busy removing the canvas covering from the centre circle. Yet all was decorously silent because Sky News had turned the sound down. After 30 seconds or so of this muted vista, we returned to the presenter in the studio, who said: “The minute's silence from Wembley, there - in as much as we could tell, impeccably observed.”

Later, after a break and a recap of the day's big stories, Sky News adventurously returned to Wembley, where this time the players were indeed standing in silence around the centre circle. Again, the sound was down, ensuring a universally observed moment of respect.

It was not, of course. It was disrupted by freelance nut-jobs and brought to an end by the referee after 27 seconds. Still, I suppose the main thing is that the sensitivities of the viewers were spared. And it's nice to know that even if Wembley cannot guarantee a minute's silence, at least television news can.

Flip side was England nearly flopped without flip-flops

Fabio Capello, we know, is his own man and he is not being paid £14gazillion per week by the FA to do things someone else's way. Even so, we would urge him to take a broad sounding in the vacant weeks that confront him and rethink his policy on flip-flops.

When the Italian sought to stamp his authority on the England set-up, flip-flops were the first thing to go, followed shortly after by Assassin's Creed for Nintendo DS and calling Wayne Rooney “Wazza”. Capello may be right about the undermining effect of computer games and nicknames, but with regard to casual footwear, the impact was there for all to see in that edgy, cramped first half on Wednesday. These players had been out of flip-flops for too long.

Over the past decade the slap of complimentary lightweight plastic sole on expensively tiled, five-star hotel spa facility flooring has become the sound at the very heart of the England international experience. You can't cast something like that aside without creating confusion - as was evident for long spells at Wembley. We need to see the reinstatement of beach-style footwear at the earliest opportunity.

The team, by Capello's admission, were uptight in those opening 40 minutes. Flip-flops would have dissipated the tension and sent out the message: “Chill, everyone - it's only a friendly against Switzerland.”