England steal the back-pages

Eng-er-land, Eng-er-land, Eng-er-land! The papers have gone mad on the national side's 6-0 demolition of Andorra!

England are now on course to WIN the World Cup (according to the red-tops anyway!) - somehow the boys managed to prove they could go all the way last night, in spite of the fact that the team they faced is semi-professional, based in the mountains (not many pitches!) and is formed of post-men, shop workers and a factory engineer or two. I wonder what the papers will say if England actually beat someone worth beating?!

Arsene Wenger probably won't have been too happy that youngster Theo Walcott played the entire match - not least with him now jetting off to the U-21 Championships. Wenger had tried to persuade Theo to drop out of the youth tournament, but having spent 4months on the sidelines earlier this season the young winger didn't see the point in missing out. He has just two weeks off between the tournament ending and Arsenal's pre-season training starting, so maybe Arsene has a point?!

Roberto Martinez is set to finally be unveiled at Wigan later today, whilst West Brom fans have begun an online petition in the hope it will convince their boss Tony Mowbray (who has got the club relegated twice!) not to jump ship for Celtic. Not sure it'll help...

The exodus of talent from Newcastle and Middlesbrough has yet to happen, which has prompted Tuncay Sanli to make sure everyone knows that he wants to play at the highest level. His intricate passing game perhaps isn't suited to the blood and guts of the Championship, but Boro fans won't appreciate his sentiments.

The confusion remains at Newcastle, who have yet to sort out their owner, manager or any of their players! The foreign legion of Xisco, Gutierrez, Coloccini, Bassong and so many others are all lining themselves up for a move away from the club, but have been forced to wait whilst Mike Ashley gets his finances in order.

England edge closer to South Africa 2010

England look to be all set for the World Cup already, with their win on Saturday leaving them just 4 points off qualification for next years South Africa Finals. Wayne Rooney was amongst the scorers in a 4-0 win over Kazakhstan, although not all players were receiving plaudits for the performance - Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson were both fairly laissez-faire in the defending and positioning, which earned them a telling off from manager Fabio Capello.

Portugal left it very late to secure their much-needed win over Albania - Cristiano Ronaldo captained the side, and it looked like it was heading for a draw (which would have killed Carlos Queiroz's qualification hopes) until Bruno Alves popped up in the 93rd minute to smash home. Lucky boys.

Ji Sung Park's South Korea became one of the first teams in the hat for the Finals next year with another convincing win.

On the transfer front, the big guns all appear to be for sale. Save for Lionel Messi, Rooney and Steven Gerrard, all the top players - Ibrahimovich, Eto'o, Ronaldo, Kaka, Tevez etc - are up for grabs. There is talk of Ibra and Eto'o swapping clubs, though that was before Manchester City have finalised what promises to be a massive contract offer for the Cameroonian.

Tevez's agent Kia Jaroobchian has previously mentioned a June 10th deadline for his client, who will have finished football for the summer by that point, and will be looking to have his club tied up so he can properly relax without worrying about passing the medical!

The managerial merry-go-round is still underway, with Martinez expected to be confirmed at Wigan later today, Mowbray moving to Celtic, Darren Ferguson heading to West Brom, etc, etc. Look out for Gordon Strachan, who has been tipped to take on the Portsmouth role.

Contact The England Stars

Fans on contacttheplayers.com website can send and recive messages to TWO England internationals!

Seasoned international Joleon Lescott already answers all his fanmail online via contacttheplayers.com, and the number of David Beckham's top-level team-mates in the England side you can write to has just doubled - with Darren Bent being called up to the squad by Fabio Capello.

Lescott didn't feature on Saturday, with Capello opting to test Upson and Glen Johnson instead, but he did make it to the bench. With Carlton Cole injured in the friendly match against Slovakia, England boss Fabio has called up Tottenham youngster Darren Bent to add some attacking pace and flair to the side. Bent can't wait to start answering your questions!

England face Ukraine on Wednesday night hoping to secure all three points in their World Cup Qualifying match, with Bent and Lescott both waiting to hear your support!

Email Joleon Lescott or Darren Bent