Far be it from me to question the heroic comeback, fight against the odds capabilities of David Beckham, but after watching LA Galaxy receive massive amounts of coverage on Sky Sports, on the major sports sites and in the printed sports supplements I began to wonder whether all of this banter with the LA Galaxy fans might be a extraordinary and extremely successful publicity stunt. What justification do I have for this slur? Well to be honest I’m only throwing it out there as an idea but Beckham currently seems to be only too keen to break his lifelong rule of not criticising “the fans.” Also, he seems to be available all hours of the day to answer questions on the subject. But why might it be in his interests to swirl up a bit of unrest in Galaxy’s terraces you may ask? Well, for footballing reasons he may well be trying to engineer a permanent move to AC Milan. However, the cynic in me suggests something more intriguing. No-one knows the PR power of a comeback like our Dave. The sending off against Argentina was clearly his lowest ebb and the comeback through to the last minute goal against Greece capped an incredible journey. So where does Beckham find himself now? The initial momentum of the move to the States has been lost. Partly because of Beckham’s injuries, partly because of his poor form, but mainly because of his 2 month sojourn to AC Milan. Perhaps, on returning from Milan Beckham sat down with the The Galaxy’s money men to talk things through. They moaned that shirt sales have dried up and that the networks are no longer interested in covering what, Beckham’s actions have clearly illustrated, is a vastly inferior league. Beckham recognises this could lead to problems with the £500K a week salary and, even more seriously, could affect Brand Beckham. So, Dave makes a call to his media gurus and a plan is hatched. Perhaps it went something like this: • The crowd are bound to boo you Dave in your first couple of games back. • When they do react, at a televised game, we’ll seed a guy in a crowd (he’ll be wearing an England shirt – “get the irony Dave?”) • Go over to the guy and give him a bit of stick. We’ll make sure he doesn’t kick off. • We’ll then fix up a couple of interviews. • Crucial thing is though that you start scoring a few goals and putting a bit of effort in though Dave. We’ll even arrange a high profile game with Barcelona and a promotional video for LA with Arnie. • As long as you score a few goals Dave, we’ll manage the profile to ensure that everyone thinks you’re turning it around. LA Galaxy might even be able to win a few games. • Just need to sort out the exit strategy now Dave.... *Worth pointing out that this is purely a fictional piece, but stranger things have happened...