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Patrick Barclay can lay claim to one of the most impressive CVs in journalism. The Chief Football Correspondent at The Times can declare The Guardian, The Independent, The Observer and The Sunday Telegraph as former employers, meaning that the Scottish journalist has been the main football writer for the majority of the eminent British newspapers. As one of Britain’s best known and respected football journalists, with over thirty years of experience, his opinions are to be valued. I was delighted when Patrick agreed to an interview with me, and we discussed some of the major issues present in football today. It was a pleasure to speak to someone so well informed and experienced regarding footballing matters.

I started the interview by asking Patrick about something that will trouble football fans all over Britain. This season may be remembered as the campaign when realism finally caught up with the fiscally inflated Premier League. Tellingly, there were no big money transfers in January, and the usually frenzied summer transfer window was suspiciously quiet last year. With the exception of Manchester City, clubs have been relatively frugal with their money. Manchester United chose to retain the vast majority of the seventy million received from Real Madrid in exchange for Cristiano Ronaldo. The debt at Old Trafford and Anfield is cause for concern, but Portsmouth have been the first club this season to pay the price for yesterday’s financial flamboyance. With several managers and five owners already this season, unpaid players, a winding up order and the temporary closure of the official website, Fratton Park could be the ideal location for the revival of the Carry On series. “What’s happening at Portsmouth is absolutely a case of reality catching up with the Premier League. Pompey is the classic case of the club that bought success, and that is unsustainable. It happened to Italian teams in the 1980s and 1990s, and to my club (Dundee). We got the cup final ten years ago with players that we couldn’t afford, playing Rangers with players that they couldn’t afford either. We’re both sadder and wiser now. Pompey not only got to the cup final, but won it, with an entire team that has now been sold a few years on. We have to decide where the responsibility lies. Is it for football to communally clean up this mess, or should it be like when any other business goes bust?”

With some of Britain’s most celebrated teams in dubious financial states, it could be Arsenal who has the last laugh. Arsene Wenger has been criticised for his failure to acquire top players to replace the likes of Henry, Vieira and Bergkamp. Now that five seasons have passed since the Gunners celebrated a trophy, and with embarrassing results against Chelsea and Manchester United this season, murmurs of discontent have grown a little louder in the Emirates.  However, free of the debt that is plaguing United and Liverpool, will Arsenal emerge well from the finical constraints that are likely to hit the league? “Yes, as long as the crowd stays with them. If I was an Arsenal fan I’d dig in for three or five years more. They might just have to live with ten years without a trophy, although I don’t think it will necessarily be that long. The most important thing is that the area in which Arsenal is in debt should turn into profit, such as the stadium and the training ground. If they can keep the crowd with them, then that’s good business.”

The worries of the Premier League will be forgotten, at least temporarily, during the summer. World Cup fever will once again grip the nation. The scandal surrounding John Terry has already affected plans for the summer, with Ferdinand replacing his fellow defender as captain of the national team. For all of the furore Terry’s actions have caused on Fleet Street, Patrick doesn’t think this will have any profound effect on England’s chances of success. “The complication with John Terry looks like a problem that has now been resolved, and I don’t expect him to play differently with or without the armband.”

Four years have passed since England participated in an international competition, and exceptions are once again high after an impressive qualifying campaign under the guidance of Fabio Cappello.  I wondered who Patrick thought of as favourites to lift the World Cup this summer. “I used to think England until recent events, principally the injury to Ashley Cole. If you want to win the World Cup, you need word class players, and Cole is one of them. For me he is the best left back in the world. John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney are the others, all really top class players when at their best.  Full back is a very important position. Would Brazil have won the World Cup in 2002 without Roberto Carlos, or France in 1998 without Thuram? If Cole doesn’t recover, England will play Johnson and Bridge, which is like having two wingers playing at full back.”

Although Cappello’s team appears generally settled, a few positions remain undecided, chiefly the goalkeeper's. “I think David James is the best, but his age is a problem. It’s a shame that he didn’t complete the move to Stoke in January, because he would have been able to get a consistent run together there. Joe Hart is clearly the young goalkeeper in which most faith is held, so I would think it is between James and Hart. It depends whether you want experience or outstanding ability. Teams to win things rarely have twenty three year old goalkeepers, but maybe that is changing. If Hart is the much better goalkeeper, then maybe it should be him. Iker Casillas and Fabien Barthez all did great things when they were young. There seem to be more opportunities for younger goalkeepers now, such as Igor Akinfeev at CSKA Moscow."

The other two positions regarded as open for debate are on the right side of the attack, and who should partner Wayne Rooney upfront. “I would still stick with Heskey, but we need a plan B because of his age. He’s 32 now, which is fairly old for a front runner. He plays a physically demanding role, but he won’t be too tired because he’s got Carew to share that position with him at Villa. I’d have Crouch standing by. His mobility isn’t his best attribute but, like Heskey, he occupies defenders. That allows more talented creative players to wreak havoc behind.”

“The right wing position in attack is still somewhat up for grabs, although Aaron Lennon looked like he had nailed it down before his injury. He has shown huge signs of improvement, and if he can come back as quick and clever as he was before the injury, then there won’t be too much of a problem for him, especially with Beckham’s skills better used as a substitute. I’m afraid I’ve written Walcott off for this World Cup, he’s not there at the moment.”

Patrick is a Dundee and Scotland fan, so I was interested to hear his thoughts about the current state of the national team and the Scottish Premier League.

“Scotland needs to make the most of the resources available to them. Our coaching scheme doesn’t produce enough quality players, and the size of the population is no excuse. The Republic of Ireland and Croatia are small countries, but they have produced far better players. Wales, even with the emphasis on rugby, is producing more than us. John Toshack’s youth policy within the national team is a positive for them. The concentration on youth gives them a chance of being competitive at least.  Scotland needs to start right at the roots if we are to regain our place as one of the underachieving small countries."

“It doesn’t really matter to me whether they're playing in the SPL or not, as long as young Scottish players are playing. That’s the important thing. The standard of the SPL is bad and worsening, we just need to make sure the players come through."

I finished the interview by asking Patrick what advice he would bestow to aspiring journalists, in an ever-changing media climate.

“Be very careful, and think more and more in terms of television, radio and the Internet. Television and radio will continue to be essential to football.  Print journalism is less vibrant. When I was young, it was simpler; it’s so much harder now. If I was starting again, I would be looking towards television and radio because the opportunities at national newspapers are so, so, small. The essential thing is to be more inclusive in terms of your thinking, and to express yourself. Be a journalist, and cast the net wide open.”