... he feels that Newcastle United captain Scott Parker is the man for England.
Batty arrived at Newcastle in 1996 from Blackburn and made 114 appearances. He also made 42 appearances for England, but I still believe Parker has far more in is arsenal that Batty ever had.
The Leeds-born player had a few great games in his early days on Tyneside, spraying the ball around the field almost like David Beckham. But that didn't last long, and soon he tucked in as the last man in Kevin Keegan's midfield 'diamond', and rarely ventured beyond the centre-cirle.
However, the former Toon hard man won championship medals with Leeds and Blackburn and came close to making it three when United finished second in the Premiership in 1996. But I still feel Parker can be a better player.
Batty: "Scott is one of the best competitors I ever played against and I know he is highly-rated. I came up against him in a midfield battle at the back end of my career when I was at Leeds and he was with Charlton and I remember thinking how good he was then.
"It is a position that you have to grow into, and he can continue doing that if he works as hard as he has been. I have heard a lot of people up here saying how well he is doing.
"He's in the England squad and I am sure if the manager decides to use him he wouldn't dream of letting anybody down.
"I played in Kevin Keegan's team. It was full of flair and the impression I get of late is that things are a bit flat. The club should be up there in the top six.
"This is a big enough club to get back to those days and it can come back very quickly as Keegan showed. The supporters are just unbelievable in Newcastle. They were like that when I was here and that will never change."