Steve McClaren is an imbecile. Ok so that doesn't really qualify as news, on account of the fact we already all knew it, but I felt it needed saying as he has just re-confirmed it, underlined it and added an exclamation mark.

I'm too angry to express myself well, so here's a story that says it all.

I know it is pointless for me and for any other fan, to throw our toys out of the cot, as we are powerless in this matter. All we can do is support Becks and wish him well. I think we all know and even David Beckham's detractors know, that Becks is in the top 24 players available to play for England. He has been exiled for non-footballing reasons and McClaren will not back down from this, no matter what the practical football demands are. I suspect if the entire squad all fell ill or injured tomorrow, McClaren would draft in the U-21's and Becks would still not get a call up. I guess we have to accept that whilst the ginger gimp remains in charge, David Beckham will not be in the England squad. So what's my suggestion, to all fans, during this frustrating time and faced with an obvious injustice that we have no influence over? Find one candle, melt it in a pot over a medium heat, fashion melted wax into a doll, get a small amount of red wool, attach to the head of your stumpy little wax doll, get a large number of pins. Offer up a voodoo chant or two and then insert pins into doll, until you feel better. You may need a lot of pins.

I'm sorry updates have been slow this week, I have almost run out of bandwidth so I haven't been able to add more photos but updates will resume as normal on Sunday, Oct 1! In the meantime there are some cute photos of David Beckham at Fridays training session online at Real Madrid.com. Have a great weekend -- Anna

There are some new photos online of the Beckham family which I missed because I had some exams, sorry. They were on the Just Jared site on Monday and they are very cute! Lots of pics of Becks carrying Cruz. Anyway if you missed them too you can see them here!

Well that was a goal-fest! Against 10 men though, nothing less than a thrashing would have done! David Beckham played the second half and may have been disappointed not to make the starting 11, still he had been ill and missed a training session, so it was not a complete surprise and the cross he placed on Ruud's head and which narrowly missed the bottom corner, was a great play which should keep him in the frame with Capello going forward. I'm sure when he is at full strength and able to give 110% he will be able to regain a starting place. The first of the photos are in the gallery.

Official Match Report and Photos at Real Madrid.com

There is going to be a truck load of press speculation about David Beckham's future and specific contract details at Real Madrid in coming weeks. I'm not going to cover it. As fans we all know that the press spews a non-stop stream of shit half-truths about Becks, so lets just wait to hear a formal announcement of an outcome and not sweat it in the meantime!

David Beckham on Capital Radio

I missed this particular clip last week, but Becks was on Capital Radio Drive time (they pre-recorded the interview it seems) you can listen to it here. Just click on the button marked listen next to the photo of Becks!

David Beckham (seen above in training Monday) has sufficiently recovered from his tonislitis to be on the team sheet for tomorrow's Champion League game at home to Dynamo Kiev details here I have been searching everywhere for more photos (even poor quality ones!) of Becks from Saturday's game against Betis but so far nada. I have an exam tomorrow but I will be back to update the site and load new photos after that. Have a great week and good luck to us for tomorrow's game!-- Anna

We won. That's the main thing. It was a bit of a scrappy match but we scratched out the win and that'll do! We get to be top of the table for a few hours so lets enjoy it!! David Beckham played the last 30 minutes of the game. Unfortunately much is being made of the fact that he began the game on the bench, I think the press is reading more into this than is necessary. I hope Cicinho and Roberto Carlos are ok, the early word on Cicinho is that his injury is quite bad and he will be out for several months, I hope this is not the case and wish a speedy recovery to both

As I mentioned earlier Becks was on football focus yesterday, the BBC have put video of the interview online. It's a great interview with a lot of new info such as which of the players Becks has had good wishes from. Watch the video here the link is on the left hand side.

So far very few photos of Becks from todays match have surfaced the first are in the gallery.

Update: The Official match report and photos are online and there are a couple of photos of David Beckham. I hope to have some more photos tomorrow.
It has been reported on Fox Sports that Becks has tonsilitis, I get that whenever I'm run down, so I can comisserate, get well soon Becks!

Just a quick heads up that David Beckham will appear on the BBC1 TV show Football Focus today. Becks chats about his reaction to being dropped by England, what went wrong at the World Cup and his future at Real Madrid. It's on at 12:10 BST

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that UK based children had a chance to enter a competition to interview Becks, well here is the interview by the winners and also there is a new competition to win a signed copy of Making it Real.

I had a smile a mile wide when I saw the above headline this morning, and having read the story I still do. A survey by a games company has found that of a random sampling of England fans, 71% would like to see Beckham play for his country again. A further 54% thought they could do a better job than Steve McClaren. I would just like to say to the other 46% - stop under-estimating yourself! Seriously, it's great to see Becks get this support from England fans, it shows that the respect he has earned on the pitch has not been able to be down-played by the spin doctors operating off it. Best news I've had all week, it's definitely gone some way towards restoring my faith in people!

David Beckham's Got Milk Ad will be in the issue of Rolling Stone Magazine that hits news stands today. Jack Nicholson is on the cover.

The training summary for Thursday on the Real Madrid site has a few David Beckham pictures but today's session was closed. Good luck to us for tomorrow. Have a great weekend everyone -- Anna & Sara

A rumour is doing the rounds today that Tom Cruise pitched the idea of a Beckham biopic to Paramount, who optioned it, before Cruise and the Studio parted ways. It is thought Tom could produce or advise on the script and that his wife Katie Holmes will play Posh Spice and a British actor (Jason Stratham and Paul Bettany have been mentioned) would be lined up to play Becks. Full story here.

I'm not sure if this rumour is true, the story has not come out of any reputable film source and comes right on the heels of Becks mentioning Tom Cruise in an interview given to The Mirror. So stay tuned and I'll post a follow up as soon as I hear anything to substantiate this. I do think a Becks biopic would be interesting, but I can't think of any actor handsome enough to play Becks!

David Beckham has been voted the all time male style icon in a poll by Canon, along side Marilyn Monroe. You can see the list here. Congratulations Becks!

Finally, a story has been doing the rounds that David Beckham would no longer be part of Gillettes marketing strategy and today The Sun has reported this is untrue, story here. There are so many lies written about Becks every day it is impossible to keep up with it! It's nice to see at least one rubbish story being corrected!

Bayern Munich midfielder Hargreaves, who received a message of support from Beckham after suffering his injury at the weekend, said: "There is always room for David Beckham. At the moment he is not in the picture but I don't think you could ever really close the door on Becks because he has been such a resilient individual in the past and he still has a lot to add to the team.

It is nice of Owen to let the media know that Becks has sent him a message of support and that he personally thinks there is room for Becks. In his position as a member of the squad, even though injured, this is about as strong a statement of support as it is possible for him to give. Thanks Owen!

Full Story: There is always room for class like Beckham in the England set-up

The other news doing the rounds this morning is that Becks and Real Madrid will agree a new contract within 3 weeks. I say, tell us when it's done! I don't need to hear every 5 minutes what they are going to do, I want to hear when it's a done deal. Alright, already!

Becks was back in training Tuesday, after the whirl-wind of activities Monday. Details of the training session but sadly only 1 pic of Becks here Make sure you check out the video of Becks at his book launch on the official Real Madrid site as well

The Mirror has the third installment of a series of interviews with Becks view it here There is also a summary of what Becks talked about during his BBC1 radio interview yesterday here. You can still listen to the interview online if you missed it yesterday or download the podcast. You can also watch a video of Becks being interviewed yesterday at his football academy, through the same link. It's a nice interview, even though it's sad in parts, I think you'll enjoy it. I know I did!

There is also video clips and photos of Becks on the GMTV site

*Edit For anyone having difficulty viewing the GMTV video interview you can read what Fiona and Becks talked about here.

All of todays coverage in The Mirror

Backseat Becks
The Kids inpired me to create my academy
Victoria looks fit in my kit
He will be Wright in Mac plan

I spoke to a friend of mine in London who went to the signing. She said it was a huge crowd. She got there at 3pm, but there was already a big queue. Becks was a little bit late arriving and because of the size of the queue, there wasn't really time to talk to him. She did say he was very nice and that he has great skin lol (that's what she noticed!) Anyway, it sounds like the event was a big success with a huge turn out and a lot of happy fans taking away signed books.
Check out the photos in the gallery.

Earlier today Becks mentioned on BBC 1 that he was going to be attending an event to launch his book "Making it Real" at his Academy in London and that TV would be in attendance. It would seem SKY were among the channels, with them breaking a couple of stories. It was then on to Waterstones for a book-signing. Here's a press-release about the book. Which is now onsale and can be ordered online.

Photos of the promotion at Wenn

Photos in the Gallery

Becks doubts century chances

Becks rules out Premiership return

I really admire his loyalty to Manchester United, especially these days when most players have no real team loyalties at all!

Becks is in London today ahead of his book-signing (see below) He dropped into BBC Radio 1 this morning. You can see pictures here and listen to the show online here. Just select the second option: Feature: David Beckham talks to Chris Moyles and then you get the whole show but without the songs and ads.

The Mirror have released a second interview with David Beckham. In this part he talks about his family and friends and how they have helped keep him strong through a rough time view here. There is also a sad part where he talks about quitting the England captaincy here. He also talks about watching the England games on TV here.


Recap of coverage in The Mirror

Today

Quitting England captaincy made me sick
Victoria has been my rock
Beckham: I had a lump in my throat watching Greece game

Saturday

England and Me the Real Story
Becks I'll pove McClaren wrong
Beckham vows to regain England place
Learn to play like David Beckham

Although David Beckham did not join the action till the 74th minute he made the 20 minutes he was on the field count. Becks scored a goal from open play, from outside of the box, to give Real Madrid a 2 - 0 win over Real Sociedad! 3 points and a goal for Becks, now that's a result!

For the official match report and photos click here.

I have started adding photos to the gallery. There will be more tomorrow.

Sorry for the short notice but I just found this site

David Beckham

W1, Waterstone's Oxford Street.. Free

David Beckham
Monday 18th September 6pm

Waterstone's 311 Oxford Street
Underground: Oxford Circus

In this, his only UK book signing, David Beckham will be signing copies of his beautifully illustrated new soccer skills book 'Making it Real: My Soccer Skills Book'

Owing to time constraints David Beckham will be signing copies of 'Making it Real: My Soccer Skills Book' only. Access to the queue will be on a first-come, first-served basis and we therefore advise customers to arrive early to avoid disappointment.

For more information please contact the following number.

Phone: 0207 499 6100
Dates
Monday 18 September

** Be sure to check details with the organizers before you go.

If you are lucky enough to be able to go! Enjoy! For those of us who can't be there, you know what this means, photos!

Harper Collins have removed the option to download the first chapter of Making it Real from their site but you can download it here if you missed it.

Fabio Cannavaro had the following to say in a recent interview about David beckham.“Great guy, great footballer and very professional,” said Cannavaro. “I do find it surprising that he’s not part of the England team any more. It’s the manager’s call, but he’s a champion.”

It's nice to see, that with the comments from people such as Cannavaro, Keane, Woodgate, Platt and Van Nistelrooy, Becks has been getting a lot of praise and support to keep his spirits up!

Good luck to us today against Real Sociedad!!

It has been interesting (and depressing) to watch the Media coverage of Beck's interview yesterday. Sometimes, it is hard to remember this is about football and not about Public Relations. You could be forgiven for wondering if the real show down isn't between Becks and Simon Oliviera (Team Beckham) and Max Clifford (Team McClaren) because it has been so obvious, to all but the blinkered few, that the decision to omit Becks from the squad is about many things, but playing football isn't one of them.

The biggest single issue facing anyone becoming England Manager is how to handle the English Media, who when it comes to football, resemble a pack of rabid dogs more than anything else. The reality facing any manager is that at some point they will lose, at some point the knives will be out. How long the "honeymoon" period extended to a new manager is, will depend on what kind of relationship is built with the media. How intense the roasting, the criticism received, can be managed to some extent, through careful media handling strategies. McClaren knew this and on this basis, he employed Max Clifford, to help him with the challenge. Max Clifford, advised him that his single biggest immediate problem, was the public perception that with McClaren, it was just more of the same. A substantial gesture needed to be made, that signalled a break with the past, a new beginning and that McClaren was his own man, a new man. Max Clifford negotiated the deal for Rebecca Loos to sell her story in 2004, he had jousted with team Beckham before. He knew that Beckham was the perfect sacrifice, that the public distrust and envy of the amount of money Beckham made from endorsements, and his celebrity could be emphasised to counter any remnants of loyalty from the fans.

So it was hardly surprising today, to see the response to Beckham's interview came not from McClaren, but from Max Clifford. However, England fans should ask themselves who is in charge of their team, and if they wanted the FA to actually hand team management to a Media relations consultant? As that is what has happened. Perhaps, considering the English media's behaviour, it was inevitable we would reach a point, where the England National team is no longer managed by a football manager, but by a grubby little man with a penchant for media manipulation.

Coverage from the BBC - neutral

Coverage from The Observer and Guardian - neutral

Coverage from The Independent - pro Team McClaren. Just for the record the majority of the fan base that supports "brand" (I hate that term) Beckham are not English and care about Becks and do not care about the English National team. If there is a brand on the wane, it is the brand of the FA and of The England Team, after all the people who bought the TV rights and folks such as Umbro, just lost thousands and thousands of viewers and shirt buyers. That is an indisputable fact. Beckham is wealthy enough for his future to be secure if he never dons a pair of boots again. What a sad world we live in where real patriotism is disbelieved and a more sinister motive is sought. Shame on you The Independent for doing Clifford's dirty work.

Much is being made of the fact that both Lennon and Hargreaves are injured - time will tell. Certainly, you would think Becks would be called up now, regardless of the fact that he should have been called before, but as Becks said in his interview, I'm not so sure the door is open either.

Apologies for the rant, I just find the situation so unjust and I hope Becks will get to play for England again because that is his wish but for me personally, I don't mind either way, as really I do not believe they deserve him!

David Beckham has commented that he still hopes to play for England and that he will continue to fight for a place in the squad because he set himself the goal of helping England qualify for and win Euro 2008 and he will stick with his goal. Everytime Becks speaks, I am always amazed and moved by his pure class and the incredible honor he shows and the restraint, he is never critical, he never hits out, instead he shows quiet determination, perserverance and dignity.

For the full interview click here.

This was the story the rest of the media reported.

The Mirror also carries an excerpt from David Beckham's new book "Making it Real" which goes on sale Sept 18. click here

David Beckham's former team mate Roy Keane is also in the press today and is quoted as praising Becks for the way he conducts himself, needless to say we couldn't agree more. Keane's full comments will be revealed in a Sunday Times Interview tomorrow.

Finally, since Real Madrid initially reported Becks had Tendonitis of the left knee, there has been no further mention of this and the site indicated the whole team, except for Salgado, is fit and available for tomorrow's Real Sociedad clash. So perhaps the injury was minor, if so, good news!

Edit: - Becks is on the teamsheet!

David Beckham has been voted Dishiest Dad in a Northern Ireland poll and Victoria topped the list of Yummy Mummy's! According to the Belfast Telegraph

People Magazine named David Beckham the best looking man in Jeans and a Jacket. Ummm now we agree with them but we think they need to add, speedo's and football shorts with no shirt to their list!

There is a very pessimistic piece about Real Madrid's prospects this season in The Independent It is one perspective, but I believe there is still time and it's too soon to give up hope, I believe that we can still have a great season! Also, on another note, I find it irritating that none of the English press report that Becks is carrying an injury, they make it sound like he is fit and was subbed, but I am beginning to reconcile myself to the fact that Becks will never get a fair deal from the press.

Finally, I know some of you were interested in whether Aaron Lennon was going to need knee surgery and be missing from The England squad in October, the news this morning from several sources, is that he will undergo surgery and is expected to be out for 6 weeks. Sadly I don't predict a call-up for David Beckham, even with Lennon's absence as I think McClaren will be very reluctant to back track after he made such good PR mileage from excluding him.

No news on the Real Madrid site regarding Beck's injury as yet, hope he's on the mend! Have a great weekend - Anna

Photos: Click here more to come.

Official Match Report and Photos: Click here

Unofficial match report: bugger.

I am sure you will all join with us in wishing Becks a speedy recovery from his injury the only details so far, are that he has tendinitis of the left knee, this may be the same injury he picked up in the England v Portugal game in the World Cup, flaring up again? We're unsure. We will wait for news on how he's doing.

Just a few hours to go!! Here is the starting line-ups. We are off to the pub! We will be back later to post some photos and news. Tonight is our night for sweet revenge!! Good luck to us and may we win and win well! Hala Madrid! Enjoy the game everyone! -- Sara and Anna

I couldn't help but smile when I saw this photo on Real Madrid.com. Look at all those folded arms! On Sunday Capello was almost beside himself on the sidelines, in some shots of him, he looked so red faced and apoplectic that I had visions of him exploding in a plume of smoke and nothing but scorch marks on the grass remaining. Yes David Beckham, your new hair-dryer, er I mean Manager, reminds me a little of someone from your past!

Now Fabio I know we shouldn't have let Levante score when they were down to 10 and I know we probably should have finished the match at 6-0 rather than 4-1 but you don't collect honey by kicking over the beehive, (that said Fergies "I'll kill you if you don't play better" style of motivation seems to be somewhat effective?!) I just hope the balance between criticism and confidence-building is right. Read the article Capello slams victorious Real here.

Here's hoping we can win tomorrow and that Capello has no cause for complaint. For anyone into statistics UEFA has put out a press kit ahead of tomorrows match with every conceivable detail you can download it here.

See photos and read article about the team arriving in Lyon

Harper Collins are publishing a new book "Making it Real" from Becks due out Sept 18 as I mentioned. See details below of a competition that is being run in conjuction with the launch in the UK. You can pre-order the book from the Harper Collins Site When you are on the site you will see a red icon and the word extract on the right hand side, this lets you look at the first chapter of the book as a preview! There is an intro from Becks! I think the book looks really good and I will definitely be getting it. It has useful info about the correct way to warm up in the first chapter! I have made caps of the pictures and will put them in the gallery. -- Anna

Real Madrid's Champion League campaign kicks off this week. The team will travel to Lyon to face Olympique Lyonnais in their first match. David Beckham is of course on the team sheet but unfortunately Salgado has a knee injury and won't make the trip. The Team had another closed training session ahead of leaving for Lyon details here.

David Beckham was quoted after the 4-1 win over Levante paying tribute to Ruud Van Nistelrooy, "Ruud was a phenomenon at Manchester United and he will be here also." He was also quoted in La Marca as saying the victory was "good for the teams confidence", and it's good for the team to be in a confident mood ahead of Wednesday's Match.

I am still waiting for some of the photo's from the Levante match to come online, we'll post them when they do!

Finally, on a cuter note, the Beckhams garden has been getting a lot of attention and Elton John has been encouraging his godson, Romeo Beckham's musical talents. In a recent UK Poll Becks was voted in the top 5 celebrities people would like to kiss and poor Posh was voted in the bottom 5, but they both look very happy to kiss each other! Awwwww!

We won 4-1 with Van the Man getting a hat trick! Becks had 2 assists one for Cassano's goal and the second assist was for Ruud's second goal! Cassano assisted Ruud's first goal. Levante played for most of the game with only 10 men but the score was already 2-0 when their player was red-carded and we always looked like we would win convincingly and we did!! I have put a few photo's in the gallery I will replace them with better watermark free ones as soon as they come online! This game was just what was needed for the whole team, to build confidence and for them to have fun while still gelling! Yay! The only bad moment was that Salgado came off injured - hope that he is ok!

Official match report and photos

David Beckham was on the teamsheet to make the trip to valencia. Details here. Becks was back in training yesterday but it was a closed session, for the write up and a pic of Becks as well as the itinerary ahead of the game go here. I hope we win tomorrow!!

Also the CBBC are offering a chance for two children aged between 7 and 12 to interview Becks at the David Beckham Football Academy, ahead of his new book on football/soccer skills "Making it Real" coming out. If you are the right age or know someone the right age and based in the UK you can enter here If you are much older but would love to interview Becks, do not run to the nearest mirror, put your hair up in pigtails, and wonder if there is any chance of your passing for an incredibly well developed 12 year old. I've already tried it and sadly, we're fooling no one ;-)

There are two gorgeous wallpapers available of David Beckham's Body by Milk Ad from the bodybymilk.com site. I just got the links in an email so for anyone who didn't register on the site, here they are!

For the 1024 x 768 version click here

For the 800 x 600 version click here

Update: I've just noticed a great interview with Victoria mainly but also including some very cute quotes from Becks in The Daily Mirror. Hearing David Beckham talk about his sons is sooo cute!

Have a great weekend -- Anna

This has been like super Thursday for David Beckham photos. We were treated to Becks Casual and then David Beckham swish, suave and sexy! I hoped the launch of Intimately Beckham in Venice might mean a few new photos and it certainly has with possibly more to come! Courtesy of Just Jared we have some nice big pics of Becks dropping the adorable Booklyn and Romeo at school and picking them up after school as well. I wanted to ask everyone's opinion, I think you can see in the school photos that David Beckham really hates the paparazzi photographing his children, I really am in two minds about putting these photos in the gallery, on the one hand, obviously they're cute and I love seeing Becks with his boys but on the other hand I'm a fan and I hate to think I'm looking at photos that David Beckham didn't want taken and was upset by, so what do you think, should we include these photos or as fans should we ignore these pics and refuse to buy the magazines that publish them? Please leave a comment - you don't have to register or login, you can select anonymous and then click on login or publish and your comment will be published. Thanks!

Finally, The Sun has an article about the Intimately Beckham perfume launch as well as some cute details of Romeo Beckham Birthday party. Becks is quoted as saying he hopes to play for England again, I hope he gets his wish!

Hi ya *waves* happy Thursday! Today's the day that David and Victoria Beckham launch their perfume Intimately in Venice! Click here to view photos of them arriving in Venice and also here. I will post watermark free images in the gallery shortly!

I've been working on the gallery again. I've just added 115 photos of Becks playing and training with Real Madrid from last season. They're in the Real Madrid Gallery from pages 11 to 20. Also, if like me you've been wondering how training is going there is a write up and some cute pics over at the Official Real Madrid site. While you're there check out the comments from Ruud Van Nistlerooy and Roberto Carlos, both showing their support for Becks! Good on them :-)

Victoria Beckham is not pregnant and a representative for the Beckhams issued a statement through People magazine, explaining that David Beckham had misunderstood a question in spanish. He answered "si" meaning yes, when asked if victoria and the new baby were doing well, as he thought he had been asked if Victoria and his babies were well, an easy mix up when conversing in a second language.

Ahead of the Euro 2008 qualifier against Macedonia, I couldn't help but smile at some comments from the Macedonian camp:

"For us it’s really good if anyone like Beckham is not playing,” Sakiri said. “I don’t know anyone who thinks he’s not good enough to play for England. He helped England get to the World Cup and he showed against Greece, with the goal he scored at Old Trafford, what he can do. I think he will be remembered as one of the biggest legends in England.”

Sakiri is hardly someone who is pro-Beckham, which begs the question, why can so many people in so many countries, outside of the UK, see the truth about Beckham and accordingly, show him respect, but in the UK, the press and pundits are unable to do the same?

Photo TMZ: Becks takes Brooklyn and Romeo to school on the 1st day of term.

On this day in 2000, Manchester United stuffed Bradford 6-0, David Beckham was amongst the scorers and you can watch a clip of the goals for free over at MUTV

Sean P. Diddy Combs has been interviewed on GMTV and talked about his friendship with Becks you can see the story here Don't posh and Becks look very stylish indeed below!!

David Beckham is reported to have told a Spanish Television channel that he and Victoria are expecting there fourth child! Very exciting news! A big congratulations to the whole family. We will confirm this is definite when the news is confirmed elsewhere! Thanks to Anabella for the heads up!

On an unrelated note, those of you (both of you) who read what I write here and don't just head straight for the photos section will have gotten used to the fact that yours truly is prone to a spot of ranting and raving my favorite topic being English media bias and how they like to play fast and loose with the truth. So I was pleasantly surprised today to actually have my feelings echoed by Simon Barnes of The Times. In an article discussing Andre Agassi's retirment Barnes said,

Another classic shape-shifter is David Beckham, the Prince Hal of football, the fop-prince who became a king of power and substance. I know there is a bit of revisionism going on about Beckham - people now like to say that he never was any good in the first place - but that's not how it happened.

The silly sent-off twit of the World Cup of 1998 became the leader who took England to qualification for the 2002 finals by means of that staggering performance against Greece.

He then took the penalty that gave England victory against Argentina in Japan when - briefly - not just the World Cup but the world itself seemed to be Beckham's for the asking.

I of course think the phrase "bit of revisionism" is a major understatement and I would refer to it as a vindictive campaign of lies but still I'll settle at this point for any admittance in the press, that David Beckham's story is being twisted by his detractors to their own ends.

Oh and for those of you who wish I'd shut up and go load more photos - there are some new scans in the Magazine and Books gallery. -- Anna

Jonathan Woodgate has paid tribute to David Beckham and backed Becks to return to the England side. Former England Manager Hoddle has also suggested that he thinks Beckham could come back, but he seems to think a recall is much more likely if England struggle to qualify for Euro 2008 and as we all know they have a pretty easy group. Phil Neville, also commented that he was sure Becks would continue to fight for a place.

I am sure that Becks will give his all for Real Madrid, whether this will be enough for him to be recalled is unknown as he was not dropped due to form, he was one of the better players at the world cup, earning the Man of the Match trophy against Trinidad & Tobago, scoring a goal and assisting two others. Although much is made of his pace, I think Becks suffered from the tactics employed as much as anyone, after all England was almost devoid of strikers capable of a clinical finish and Beckham is an assist machine, one up front is not an ideal formation for David beckham in my opinion.

A number of factors will need to change for Becks to be included in the England squad, it's not fair and Becks has earnt better but life isn't fair and we will have to wait and see. In the meantime nothing would please me more than if the English press would simply leave David Beckham alone but they seem to be obssessed with him, devoid of the skills and imagination required to think of something else to fill the column inches with. They are of course devoid of the class and the decency it would take to show a great sporting icon, who has served his country well, the respect he deserves.

The one thing the media does do for David Beckham, though quite by accident, is that they emphasise the dignity and style with which Becks conducts himself especially when contrasted with their own behaviour which is always tainted by an under-current of pettiness, jealousy and vindictiveness.

Jonathan Woodgate's comments
Glenn Hoddle's comments
Phil Neville's comments

David Beckham is nominated for the Sports Personality catergory at the Manchester MCR10 - Awards. You can vote for the awards here

Happy Birthday Romeo

Romeo Beckham is 4 years old today. Here's hoping he has a lovely birthday and a wonderful 5th year, filled with health and happiness. We have added 40 photos of Romeo, he is such a cute little boy, to the family gallery

New David Beckham Photos added

We have added some new photos and screen captures of David Beckham from the Making of clip for the Instinct Ad as well as the finished commercial, to the Advertsing Gallery. I have also added over 100 photos to the "Out and About" gallery. Finally there have been three training sessions this week at Real Madrid and one more is planned although there is no Liga matches this weekend because of the Euro 2008 Qualifiers being played. You c