Djnima  - 1. I was wondering if you would ever consider being a guest on World Soccer Daily. I’m interested to hear a discussion between yourself and Steve Cohen. I listen to WSD everyday. Are there any other football podcasts you listen to or would recommend?

Bobby – 1. I have been on WSD a number of times but not in the last year. If I have the time I listen to the Guardian Unlimited podcast but not regularly. I'm a big fan of James Richardson - the right balance of humour and substance.

Ummufan - Considering the Dida incident and other obvious dives do you think FIFA or an FA will take this on and start awarding retroactive fines/cards for the behavior? Expanding the question further what if any role will replay have in the game?

Bobby – UEFA have taken it on and the other bodies can if they want to. The Scottish FA has already gone out on a limb to state that they would be looking at cases of simulation and imposing punishments only to be knocked back by FIFA.

I’m guessing that the new SFA Chief Gordon Smith will not give up so easily and he will wait for a glaring piece of cheating and use it to shame FIFA into acceptance. I will be shocked if the word replay appears anywhere in the UEFA judgment. Celtic will be heavily fined and may have a ground closing suspended sentence imposed but a replay – I can’t see it. 

LosAngelesChelseaFan – Do you think Rafa has joined Sammy Lee and Martin Jol in the list of "Dead Men Walking" with his list of shocking results given the potential of his squad? It's like he dumped a bunch of grit into a well oiled engine. If I was a Liverplod fan I'd screaming for blood. (That’s actually the way that they are most of the time anyway!:))

Bobby – Not yet but it is growing closer. He has become a victim of inflated expectations based on the summer signings. You only had the read the response of Liverpool fans at the start of the season to any poster or blogger who dared suggest that Liverpool might not win the league.

As it is you can sense the movement from “blaming the media” to “blaming Benitez” growing and the manager needs a run of good results against Everton, Arsenal and Blackburn.

But when you sit back and analyze it I think there is a massive over reaction to Liverpool’s early season results. They are a point better off at this stage of the season based on a head2head comparison with last year while Manchester United, Chelsea and Tottenham are all off last season’s pace.

Of last season’s top five only Arsenal have gained more points season to season / head2head (more analysis of that in the October 19 weekend preview). There is a long way to go and any supporter or club which is panicking at this stage, doesn’t have much of a stomach for a title race I would think.

Redfan2000 - I wonder how long it will be before Canadian sports retailers start to stock trainers suitable for soccer on hard or indoor surfaces (any surface other than grass). The game is growing amongst young people and while the stores stock shoes for tennis, basketball skate board, and the plentiful array of generic runners there is a woeful absence of training footwear for soccer in boys’ sizes. I did not even see Adidas Samba in mens' sizes, a soccer shoe that has been around for years. With a new indoor arena coming in Winnipeg what are the kids wearing and are they importing shoes anywhere you know of?

Bobby – Footwear is a very individual choice. I badly bruised the toenails on my big toes over thirty years and every season - prior to this one - I have had trouble. This season I moved to an Umbro boot which is designed for hard ground or synthetic surfaces. It has been fantastic and no toe problems. I’m not sure what name the boots are marketed under but they have “K Leather” on the side and “Kontakt” on the moulded sole. They are sold in Canada.

MeanSucka - Your opinion on Mathieu Flamini from Arsenal. Do you think that, regardless of his form as of late, he freelances too much in the midfield and will be exposed when Arsenal play tougher, more technical competition - more so than, say, Gilberto in the same role. Whenever I watch Gilberto play I never feel as worried as I do when I see Flamini all over the place.

Bobby – I think Flamini has been very good this season. When I’ve seen him play he has been mobile, made tackles, covered for Fabregas and done everything that has been asked of him. I have not noticed him being all over the place. He now gives Wenger the option of resting Gilberto after his transatlantic trips and he will also have an option before and after Champions League games. I think Wenger’s bigger issue is how and when does he rest Fabregas?

Henry14 - What’s your take on Dida, how many times have we seen a player get on the pitch and touch a player and nothing happens, a Villarreal supporter came to Henry with a Barca shirt and was just taken off the field, and it happens a lot in Spain and other countries and we do not hear of fines or punishment?
q2 Do you feel Liverpool are over reliant on Gerrard maybe the way Arsenal were and l once read that Liverpool had a better record under Benitez without Gerrard and can selling him at
the end of the season be an option so that other players step up?
q3 Who is the better payer over the last year to now Clichy or Mr. tweedy
q4 What do you know of Henk Ten Cate and he gets credit for beautiful football but as far as l know beautiful football has been played at Barca since time immemorial
q5 Should Avram Grant stick two fingers at the media?

Bobby – A1, topic of the week response will be on the Friday show.

A2 – No and Gerrard is not going to be sold by Liverpool at the end of this season. I’m not aware of stats that show Liverpool with a better record without Gerrard and even if that was the case the statistics would be highly suspect given that the argument would be made that the reason Gerrard was left out was due to Liverpool facing poorer opposition.

A3 – Pretty much the same. I suspect more people would opt for Clichy but I would suggest that is more likely down to higher expectations of Ashley Cole. Clichy looks very good going forward but as we saw on Sunday against Sunderland he is suspect against a big powerful forward. 

A4 – He got a lot of credit from the media for his work at Barcelona but he hasn’t impressed Ajax fans during his stint in Amsterdam and they are glad to see him go. Beautiful football or not it isn’t going to happen instantaneously or anything close.

A5 – The only reason that entitles Avram Grant to stick two fingers up to the media is because he has won two games.

Craigy f - Which national team do you support? I don't actually know your nationality. Where will Steve Bruce work after he leaves Brum - apparently he won't be there when Yeung takes over in November?

Bobby – Based on this being a serious questio Canada and Scotland – fortunately the chances of split loyalty at a WC is remote to nil. Steve Bruce will return to the cadre of managers that rotate around Championships sides that bob into the Premiership now again.

Henry14 - What do you make of Mr. Evra and Carlitos' statements, although l agree with both of them to some degree , do you see another Arsenal Man Utd rivalry going on this season.

Bobby – I rarely, if ever, read interviews by players as they are generally a waste of good space and time. I read the headline – I move on.

Neophyte - You mentioned that you have your coaching badges (license in the US). How far did you go with that process? Have you ever played Futsal? Many here in my club have advocated it as the best way to teach footskill and attacking mentality in a game situation. What is your idea of this?

Bobby – I did what was then a “C” license in Canada in the early 80s. I have no idea what the equivalent is now. Back then in order to get a “B” license you had to attend a residential course. I never took it any further.

If playing football in a gymnasium is Futsal then the answer is yes. I am very wary of simple solutions such as “play futsal and the skill level of the players will improve.” I did look at the Simon Clifford Futebol de Salão concept a few years ago but then I started traveling more on account of work and so I never followed up.

I understand the Clifford Brazilian based model is now different than the FIFA sanctioned Futsal on account of the size of the ball. The thing that did make some sense to me when I looked at the Clifford concept was the smaller ball.

FIFA’s support has more to do with protecting their commercial position (they don’t want boards because most of the world does not have access to boards) than any desire to improve the skill level of players. Any documentation churned out by FIFA to market Futsal should be treated with a huge dose of salt. Certainly from an entertainment point of view Futsal is a bust – it is like watching paint dry without the extra excitement.

I would be asking the Futsal advocates for empirical non-FIFA/national association evidence to support their claims.

Yohann - Do you think Owen will remain at Newcastle? and... do you think that benitez is currently paying the price of his ''excessive'' squad rotations? ..... I feel like Liverpool is shopping every year for a top striker. Although they raised the quality of the squad in the past 3 years, it seems the players they got on the market like Kuyt or Crouch are not really world class players. That being said, I felt like the rotations were just a way to get the maximum out of everybody... but now that Torres is there, I really wonder why the hell he would start on the bench. I really do like the Depth Liverpool has, I enjoy the way Voronin plays, but honestly, I think they are missing impact players up front despite having remarquable depth.

Bobby – If a team was wanting to sign Michael Owen then they would have done so by now. Rafa Benitez has been proven right in not bringing him back from Real Madrid. The Liverpool situation I have addressed earlier in this post. 

Apad03 - I need to ask what you think of Donavan winning the Player of the Year award? Do you think is was political, do you think he deserved to win? He did after all play horribly in the World Cup. I think Dempsey and Tim Howard would have been better choices as they are playing better and on a bigger stage than Donovan.

Bobby – You will have to explain to me how the votes cast by the USA national media could be influenced by “politics”. You may believe he played badly in the World Cup but that was in 2006 – this award is for 2007 as I understand it.

Dempsey had a good year in MLS but only became a starter for Fulham at the beginning of the season – to late to influence the votes or to even have that considered. As for Tim Howard he hasn’t solidified his position as the USAs #1 goalkeeper so it is hard to justify a Player of the Year Award.

As for playing on a bigger stage – I’m not sure that comes into it. As far as I am aware – and I stand to be corrected – the award recognizes the best player based on his performances for the United States Men's National Soccer Team during the last season.

If my understanding is correct then it difficult to argue that Landon Donovan doesn’t deserve the award.

Ringo - Any opinion on the world`s second greatest sport? ,and I don`t mean Curling.

Bobby – You must mean cricket. If you actually are talking of rugby then I cannot let it pass without mentioning one of the greatest sport commentators of all time. Bill McLaren on rugby was probabaly one of the best there has ever been.

Brazil could not have asked for a better start. They get an early lead and Ronaldo removed a potential-#### off his back as he becomes the most prolific scorer in the history of the World Cup Finals.

It was a great transition from Emerson and Lucio - knocking the ball around at the back - to Kaka to Ronaldo who beats a poor attempt at an offside trap.

The best stuff from Brazil has come from Kaka. Although 2-0 up, Brazil has not convinced me that they are the best team at this tournament - yet.

Ghana finished the half strongly and the second Brazilian goal (and Brazil's 200th WCF goal) came against the run of play. Mensah did everything right with his header from a late corner except putting it wide of Dida.