Newcastle and Manchester City have tried to monopolise the news this week - but they forgot about Ian Wright’s love for his country.

Back in April, Ian Wright decided his style of punditry was no longer suitable for Match of the Day. Their “jacket, shirt and tie” format just didn’t sit well with his own preferred newsboy cap approach to opinion-sharing, and neither did he relish ever again playing the “court jester” to whoever was yawning on the sofa. So he quit.

MOTD has continued to sink into its mire of blandness quite happily without Wright, but what of his valuable insight? Fortunately it can still be enjoyed on the pages of The Sun, where this week Wright lent his peerless analytical talents to tomorrow’s England game, which given all that has happened this week, feels as relevant and anticipated as the League One programme. Below is a summary of his thesis, which in contrast to the Premier League hysteria, reads like poetry from a more innocent age.

I am shocked that Michael Owen is not in the England squad.

He’s scored lots of goals and defenders fear speed and experience.

Even though he’s not as fast as he used to be.

He scored a hatrick in Germany.

He could at least go on the bench and come on if we’re losing.

The younger lads would like that.

Some people question whether he’s had too many injuries. “IT IS A REASONABLE QUESTION BUT IT IS STILL NONSENSE.”

As I’ve said before, he could go on the bench.

The younger lads would like that.

Beckham’s the same.

Beckham and Owen could go on the bench.

“IF CAPELLO HAS A PERSONAL PROBLEM WITH OWEN HE SHOULDN’T LET IT INTERFERE WITH HIS TEAM SELECTION.”

It’s important to get some points in early qualifying games.

If Capello thinks Owen’s a liability, he should play him anyway.

Michael Owen should play for England.

Shouldn’t fans be pleading with the BBC to restore this man to our screens?