With Juventus suggesting today that Arsenal’s price for van Persie is too high, reports coming out of Arsenal’s training camp yesterday that they would be happy to keep him until January and Roberto Mancini complaining that Brian Marwood is making no headway with the situation Arsenal fans could feasibly expect to face a season in which their captain plays at least some part. But does he deserve to stay?

Many viewed his performances at the European Championships as indicative that he was unable to deal with a high pressure, an unreasonable statement. The Dutch striker had to deal with the pressure of being Arsenal’s only goal scoring striker all last season, and he managed fine.

However, it is hard to deny that Arsenal’s captain was far from his best on international duty. His ineffectual play was undoubtedly a consequence of both his fatigue from a gruelling season as well as the poor performances of his national team-mates. He shouldn’t be judged on that ill-fated week, though.

The forthcoming season, no matter where he is, will not bring the same form as last year. How could it? Even with his extra break, van Persie has played as much football in the last 18 months as he has in three years before that. He’s unused to having to perform to such high standards on such a consistent basis.

And that’s really the point. Apart from last year, van Persie hasn’t started more than 20 games per season for eight years.

During this time the club has happily paid his wages, secured him the best medical treatment money could buy and nurtured him and supported him emotionally – as did the fans and the manager.

So, did Arsenal deserve to be treated like this by a player they have looked after so well? No, but it happens. Arsenal fans don’t have to like it, and they don’t have to show van Persie support either. There’s a difference between being ungrateful and no longer showing your support and appreciation.

Arsenal fans are grateful to Robin for his efforts and his goals last season, but they just won’t support his spoilt, ungrateful attitude towards them.

If you’d asked any fans two months ago whether they wanted van Persie to stay they would have all been in agreement that they did. Now? You’d be hard pressed to find fans that feel he deserves another chance.

Wenger might still be saying that it is imperative we keep the 28 year old, but how can Arsenal accept him back in to the fold at this stage?

He has insulted the club and its hierarchy by saying that they don’t know how to take the club forward and he has insulted and patronised the fans by pretending that carefully worded statement on his website was for their benefit rather than for his.

I don’t know whose idea that statement was but as soon as he released it, many fans who wouldn’t have begrudged him the possibility of moving on to win trophies, suddenly felt let down and angry.

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Some players deserve respect even when they move on; it seems now that van Persie might not deserve respect even if he stays.

Follow me on Twitter @H_Mackay

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Many international sports are becoming popular across the globe. Citizens of other countries are becoming avid followers of the game. One game that seems to have a large global appeal is football. There are numerous organised football leagues all over the world. Perhaps the most successful one of these to be exported is the English Premier League. More than 200 countries are able to watch the sport live. These foreign TV rights bring in additional revenue for the Premier League which is almost £500 million annually.

Australia is one nation that has many Premier League fans. Many of these fans have their favourite football clubs. Perhaps they are big fans of United or die hard Burnley enthusiasts. Overall, a vast majority of Australians follow the four major clubs of the Premier League. These would include Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. The overwhelming majority seem to back Manchester United with Liverpool fans being a close second. Some of the fan base in Australia has been encourage by seeing Aussie Tim Cahill participate in the Premier League.

Whatever the team, many Australians follow the game. There is a time difference between England and Australia. Australia of course is hours ahead of England. Therefore, many Australians must record the matches rather than watch them live. However, many night owls will stay up watching the events live. Also, Premier League Football is popular in sports pubs across Australia. Also, fantasy leagues based on the EPL are popular in Australia.

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One of Australia’s sports channels carries all of the English Premier Games live. Also, they permit viewers to switch between as many as five games on one channel. Australia’s number one sport continues to be Aussie Rules football. However, many Aussies do enjoy following the Premier League which remains popular. In fact, some people follow both sports. Due to Australia’s love of online casino and online betting there is never a shortage of bets on either sport!

Despite going into the season’s opening weekend with just one experienced striker, new Spurs boss Andre Villas-Boas has shocked supporters by claiming he only wants one more striker before the deadline.

Jermain Defoe seems set for a starring role at Tottenham this season after sitting the previous campaigns on the bench, but youngster Harry Kane is also in the fold to make his mark at White Hart Lane this season.

Amidst speculation of offers to last seasons’ top scorer Emmanuel Adebayor and Brazilian sensation Leandro Damiao, Villas Boas has ruled out bringing both forwards to the club.

Villas Boas set his stall out surrounding new players to the Daily Mirror “I can give you an example – last year we had two strikers in Chelsea of great dimension.

“Tottenham had three strikers of great dimension – Adebayor, Defoe and Roman Pavlyuchenko.

“Normally there is one that doesn’t get enough time that he feels he should be credited with.

“That’s not because you don’t rotate enough, but because when you play a system with one striker it is very difficult to get the third one to play enough.

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“Normally on my teams I like to promote the third one as a young striker who is competing for that place a bit more aggressively.”

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The Mirror have reported that Tottenham Hotspur surplus Jermaine Jenas could be on his way out of White Hart Lane, with AVB forcing the midfielder out on loan to get first team football.

The injury prone player was scheduled to move to Sunderland for a season long loan on the transfer deadline day, however the move broke down for unknown reasons, although it is thought to be due to the other loan of Danny Rose to the Black Cats.

But with Villas-Boas desperate for the midfielder to get some first team action, where are his realistic options?

QPR

The Premier League side have strengthened their midfield immensely during the transfer window, bringing in Granero, Park and Hoilett, however they lack an experienced Premier League defensive midfielder to help them prevent a relegation battle for the latter part of the season. Although Jenas might not get the most playing-time at QPR, the wealthy club would be likely to contribute to a large sum of Jenas’ wages without having to cause the Englishman too much hassle regarding his relocation.

Leeds

The Championship side recently lost their captain Robert Snodgrass and although Jenas lacks the leadership qualities, he would be able to help the northern side come back into the Premier League with his quality. His defensive attributes could help the Championship side cement their solid form so far in the second tier. As well as this but due to his lack of inactivity in the Premier League, by playing in the Championship for a period prior to his Tottenham return, he would be able to cope with the pace of the game by managing to get a large chunk of game time and therefore improving his match fitness.

Sunderland

The club were supposed to have already secured the services of the midfielder but the deal failed to go through. However, with Danny Rose and Lois Saha already being in the Sunderland squad, some of the Tottenham members would be able to reunite in January should the club swoop in for Jenas again.

However, if Jenas is to move to Sunderland, he could lose support from the Newcastle fans who would see their former player move to their local rivals.

But, with Sunderland already building an impressive squad, it would take more than Jermaine Jenas to help Sunderland secure the next stages of a Premier League club finishing in the top half – looking for European competitions.

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The Premier League has played host to some of the greatest talents to have ever played the game. It is arguably the best league in the world and attracts fans from all across the globe. It is therefore unsurprising that huge numbers of players wish to ply their trade in England at the heights of the career. With the vast sums of money flowing through the top flight, it is not rare to see huge sums of money splashed out on some unknown quantities. Even the clubs down the bottom end of the table will occasionally shell out for a big-money signing, in relative terms, but of course these do not always work out for the best. It could be that a player is not cut out for the style of play or they feel the pressure of their price tag, they may find the step up too demanding or it could just be bad luck. Numerous players have blessed the Premier League with some of the finest moments in football history, but now we take look at a few who failed to make the grade.

Click on Robinho to unveil 15 Premier League Transfers That ‘Didn’t quite Go to plan’

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After blooding a number of young players at Euro 2012, England boss Roy Hodgson is looking forward to the return to fitness of Jack Wilshere, Chris Smalling and Phil Jones, and plans to keep a close eye on Ryan Bertrand and Adam Johnson. Roy Hodgson insists England must remain ‘English’ and not try and copy World Champions Spain.

Hodgson’s Euro 2012 tactics have come in for criticism but he is adamant that he will not be bullied into ripping up what he believes are England’s strengths, and he will not be dazzled by buzzwords either. “The words vision and philosophy frighten me because I had to go to the dictionary once to find out what the word philosophy meant, and I’ve forgotten again,” said Hodgson.

“I don’t want to emulate other nations. I want England to be England. We have to maintain that degree of pragmatism that we have always had in English football. We also have to retain that fighting spirit and doggedness. We mustn’t start throwing those qualities over-board just so you can come off the field and have someone say you’ve had more shots at goal. We will be working to keep what’s good about our game and to improve the things that obviously did not go right for us this time.” Hodgson added: “Sometimes in football you have to be realistic.”

Meanwhile, Hodgson has already identified the kids he wants to build England’s new era around in preparation for the 2014 World Cup. The former West Brom boss has certainly experimented in friendlies and World Cup 2014 qualifiers since the Euros and has focused his early Premier League scouting missions on watching the youngsters.

Having already put Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Danny Welbeck, Theo Walcott, Phil Jones and Jordan Henderson in his Euro 2012 squad, Hodgson is committed to further nurturing young talent. He is looking forward to the return to fitness of Jack Wilshere, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling, and plans to keep a close eye on Chelsea left-back Ryan Bertrand and Sunderland’s Adam Johnson.

Manchester United midfielder Tom Cleverley has been involved in both of England’s World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Ukraine and looks certain to play a part in Hodgson’s plans for the next few years. However, the imminent return of Jack Wilshere may cause Hodgson to think twice about young Cleverley.

“Jack Wilshere had an impact when he played in the Euro 2012 qualifying campaign before he missed the whole of the season with injury,” said Hodgson. “We hope he’s going to be fit again and reach that level. The young boy Bertrand at Chelsea did very well in the Champions League final. So there are players out there, I’m just naming people off the top of my head. It’s my job now to study and research that.”

Of course, qualifying for Brazil will be the top priority and I doubt much will change. An astute manager should be able to bring in the new, younger talent and still get the results. After all, the ‘Golden Generation’ – your Frank Lampards, Steven Gerrards, Gareth Barrys – may be looking at the World Cup 2014 as their last international tournament, and our youngsters will reap the benefits in the long term if they can boast a wealth of international experience, starting from early in their careers. While qualifying for Brazil 2014 will be paramount, thinking five, maybe ten years ahead should also be of vital importance to Hodgson and his England side.

A potential future England starting XI (in a 4-3-3 formation):

Butland

Walker, Jones, Smalling, Bertrand

Oxlade-Chamberlain, Cleverley, Wilshere

Walcott, Welbeck, Johnson

I don’t know about you, but that starting XI excites me. It’s a just a matter of giving these players plenty of international experience over the next few years so that we can mount a serious challenge in a major tournament down the line.

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Has anybody ever seen an off-the-ball incident in League One or League Two that the referee and his assistants had not spotted and thought, ‘ouch, if that was in the Premier League the replays would have picked that up?’ In this instance, and it happened recently to Stoke’s Andy Wilkinson, the player will receive a retrospective ban, whereas realistically in the lower leagues the same fate wouldn’t apply.

Like Premier League players, Premier League supporters suffer from the same sort of fate. This applies when Premier League teams are charged over tasteless chanting.

My point here is that tasteless chanting occurs throughout all four leagues in England, but it only gets recognised and reprimanded retrospectively in Premier League games. It was interesting that in the build-up to the Liverpool/United game last week,  the media seemed intent on finding some sort of dirt on whether they could hear tasteless chanting or not, from if we’re honest, is from a large minority of people who both sets of supporters don’t want to be associated with anyway.

I was at a League One game last week and when an Asian man dressed in a chef’s uniform walked across behind the goal and the fans started chanting ‘Jackie Chan, Jackie Chan, Jackie Chan.’ I couldn’t help think when I was at the game was that if those chants would have been heard in a Premier League match, then it would have been highlighted in the media.

Likewise, before yesterday’s East Midlands derby between Nottingham Forest and Derby County, Forest winger Andy Reid had urged Derby fans to stop the sick chants about former Forest owner Nigel Doughty who died, aged 54 of a cardiac arrest in February. Last season’s derby was marred by sick chanting of Doughty’s death. There seemed to be minimal focus on the sick chanting building up to that game compared to what there was at Anfield the week before.

These examples I have just given are nothing new in football. I reckon that at some stage in the past ten years, every one of the 72 Football League clubs has chanted a song a little bit below the belt. The overexposure in the Premier League hides away a problem that is genuinely rife in football.

However, because of the obsession with the Premier League (and rightly so), this means that when issues are discussed in football they are generally in relation to what is happening in the Premier League. For example, a current hot topic this week has been in relation to diving,  not diving in League Two, but diving in the Premier League because this is the league everyone can relate to because of its media exposure.

It cannot be case that Premier League supporters are of a completely alien and different social and economic make-up to the supporters of the 72 Football League clubs, it just so happens that these fans support teams in the top flight and as a result are more liable to be criticised as a result of being in the constant media spotlight.

The key point is that Football needs to come to terms with the fact that incidents of obscene chanting are not isolated to the Premier League.

So what are the solutions? Well the first thing to note is that it is difficult to control what people say, especially when they are anonymous in the crowd. Additionally, we don’t want a return to the dark decade of the 1980’s where a fractious relationship between the supporters and the police existed and there is more focus on what’s happening in the stands rather than what’s happening in the stands.

The most achievable solution to overcoming a lingering problem with tasteless chanting is setting up a body as a means of raising awareness of the matter, similarly to what the Kick It Out! campaign does to raise awareness of racism in football. In doing so, the body can raise a general appreciation of an issue to which I believe is understated  in football.

Rather a suggestion than a solution is for there to be more exposure of Football League games. Perhaps then there would be more of a burning desire within the collective football family to undermine the minority of fans at every club who tarnish the clubs reputation.

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I would love to hear people’s thoughts on this. Am I overstating the issue of obscene chanting in grounds or do you like me feel that it is an issue that has been overlooked in football and subsequently needs addressing?

.

Matt Read

Follow Matt on twitter @Matt_of_the_day

Hull City manager Steve Bruce has slammed the decision to play the Yorkshire derby between Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United on a Friday night.

The Championship game, which ended 1-1, was marred by a Leeds fan running on to the Hillsborough pitch and punching Wednesday keeper Chris Kirkland in the face, leaving him needing extensive medical treatment.

And Bruce believes derby games such as the Yorkshire one must have a morning kick-off in order to prevent such incidents happening again.

He told TalkSport: “This is a bigger issue to me than the racist chants. If he had something in his hand, is he capable of using it?

“Unfortunately we’ve still got that. I was involved in the Birmingham derby, a night game on a Friday night, and maybe the authorities will look at that and think they should do what they did with the Crystal Palace and Millwall game on Saturday and have an early morning kick-off.

“Newcastle against Sunderland is always an early kick-off because obviously when it’s a night game people can go on the loopy juice and unfortunately affect the game.”

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Meanwhile, a man today was charged with assault and entering the field of play after Kirkland was attacked on Friday night. Aaron Cawley, 21, who was previously banned from football grounds for three years, will appear at Sheffield Magistrates Court on Monday.

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Lee Cattermole has finalised a deal to stay on at Sunderland for another four years.

Cattermole, captain for the Black Cats, joined the club in 2009 from Wigan, and has now signed a contract to remain at the Stadium of Light until 2016.

Sunderland’s skipper has appeared 72 times for the club, and though he has a bad record for discipline, with seven red cards, manager Martin O’Neill is an admirer of him.

Cattermole has expressed his delight that he is staying with Sunderland. He said: “I’m absolutely delighted. It feels like it’s taken a bit of time, but the gaffer made it clear to me at the end of the season that he wanted to keep me at the club so it took a bit of time but it’s been sorted in the end. If you look at our signings in the summer. I think you can see that we have made some big signings and I think it’s the best place for me at the minute.”

The midfielder is also looking forward to meeting his former club Middlesbrough in the League Cup tomorrow. Cattermole missed both games between the sides the previous season. He also realises it is a good opportunity for the Black Cats to get their hands on a trophy.

He said on Sunderland’s official website: “The gaffer is keen on the cups and doesn’t take them lightly. Look at the teams we put out against Morecambe and MK Dons. We’re looking to progress and this is a great chance to pick up some silverware. I remember the draw (for the FA Cup 0 being announced last season after we’d beaten Peterborough and I was happier than anyone that we drew Middlesbrough. But I pulled my hamstring on the Friday before the game, which was devastating.  I was playing really well at the time and was really looking forward to the game.”

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Lee Cattermole also wants former team Middlesbrough to return to the Premier League.

If any Sunderland fans are heading to the Stadium of Light on Tuesday night, then don’t forget to download the FREE Screach App – enter code 8  – and vote for your ‘Man of the Match’

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This week we have seen Mick McCarthy bring in Kelly Youga on a short-term contract and Bradley Orr on a loan until the end of January. Youga and Orr mostly play at left back and right back respectively, areas which are key in the Championship.

The key aspect to remember with these two signings is that they are short-term deals with the intention of them becoming long-term deals, provided that they perform well.

I know a lot of fans had issues with the club relying on short term deals and I felt very much the same about that philosophy. However, I think everyone will agree that these two deals are good for the club given their situation.

These two signings also suggest that McCarthy is not a fan of the back four that Jewell was using during his time here. I mentioned at the start of the season that Ipswich could really do with signing a right back as Carlos Edwards should be playing in midfield, but the club made very different signings.

For this reason and many others the signing of Orr is the better one out of the two. The club have needed a natural right back for a long time now so it is refreshing to see him come in. Orr has proven over a number of seasons that he is a player capable of holding his own in the Championship and won promotion with QPR and Neil Warnock.

Youga on the other hand is a much lower profile player but one that could be useful nevertheless. He is certainly not rated as highly as Orr and probably won’t be much more than a squad player but the club can’t really lose out from this deal. The 27-year-old left back has joined Town for a few months and in that time McCarthy will be able to judge whether he can cut it at this level. If he does then it will be great to see Cresswell have some competition and if he doesn’t make it then we let him go without any problems.

It is also pleasing to see that McCarthy is building from the back. Once we stop letting goals in so freely we can then look at bringing in some talented players further up the field. It is a great approach to have and perhaps Jewell’s failure to make the right changes at the back was a big part of his rapid downfall.

It would not surprise me at all to see a decent centre back join Ipswich in January too. Chambers was supposed to be the man to get the defence organised and whilst he still could be, I think McCarthy will bring in someone to partner him.

What we have to remember is that McCarthy’s job this season is to keep Ipswich away from relegation and build for next season. I think his plan is to sort out the defence in January and then bring in some talent elsewhere over the summer. After all, a solid defence is what will bring us away from relegation.

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So his next few signings may not be as exciting as we expect.

It is likely that he will bring in some rugged defensive players that some will be bored by, but that is what the team needs right now. Hopefully we will see a good defensive performance against Leicester on Saturday and personally I would be more than happy to see a boring 0-0.

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