England will qualify for World Cup but media pressure holds them back, says Kevin Phillips

Over the years I've got fed up of trying to predict what England are going to do - but this time round I'm fairly confident they'll get over the line.

New start

Gus Poyet was appointed manager at my old club Sunderland this week - and he's certainly got a tough job on his hands. I felt with the problems the club were having and the way Paolo Di Canio lost the squad, the board were right to make the change at the time they did, with plenty of the season left to turn things around. However, they had a crucial decision to make in appointing Di Canio's successor, and they've opted for Poyet. He's got coaching experience from his time at Tottenham and Leeds, while he's done really well with Brighton as manager, taking them close to promotion to the Premier League last season. He hasn't got experience as a manager in the Premier League but I met him when I was close to signing for Brighton and he seemed to be an enthusiastic and likeable character. They played great football down on the South Coast, too, so he'll try to get his style of play across pretty quickly. But the most important thing is to install some confidence in the squad. It was obviously an unhappy camp under Di Canio but against Liverpool and Manchester United there were promising signs and Poyet needs to continue the good work Kevin Ball has been doing as caretaker. I'm sure the players will get behind him - but they've got a real battle on their hands.