Who is Arsène Wenger? Frenchman reveals answer

Another great article by Matthew Syed. The tabs have inevitably picked out Wenger's admission he has lied about seeing a foul to the media, but there is much more of interest here and his answer is so much more eloquent than he will get credit for... read it.

Peston on Arsenal

Robert Peston has written a fascinating analysis of Arsenal’s finances. Peston’s analysis is always compelling, but this is particularly interesting on two accounts, one, it contradicts the commonly held perception that Arsenal is one of the most effectively run football clubs, particularly in terms of finance in the UK. Two, it also poses Alisher Usmanov, the man feared by Arsenal fans as the next Abramovich and a threat to the unique heritage of their club, as quite a sensible chap on monetary issues.

It also provides a further back drop to the sale of Emmanuel Adebayor and pending transfer of Kolo Toure to Man City, although admittedly the prospect of over £40 million for these two players would be too good to turn down for most clubs.

Real engineered ‘Ronaldo in Paris?’

There is a theory that on the eve before Ronaldo joined Real Madrid from Manchester United for a world record fee of £80 million, greater forces were at work. On his Guardian blog, Mark Borkowski argues that it is highly likely Ronaldo’s appearance in a nightclub in America canoodling with the infamous socialite Paris Hilton was no accident. Borkowski suggests it was orchestrated by Real Madrid, as part of a media onslaught designed to place their future player on the course to celebrity stratosphere.

I agree with Borkowski, it is undoubtedly a marriage made in franchise heaven and the headlines lived up to expectation. I can’t help but think however, and I may be naiive, that there is no -way on earth Real Madrid could organise a piss up in a brewery let alone a media campaign that involved placing Christiano Ronaldo alongside Paris Hilton the night before the player moved to Real Madrid.

There are many reasons why, the first of which being Real’s appalling pursuit of Ronaldo last summer, the protracted transfer that never was led to an awful season for Real and was rather embarrassing for all involved, in short, a PR disaster. Second, it was inevitable Ronaldo would go. Third, and this is crucial to Borkowski’s argument, it is argued that ‘they want to hook the American Latino market, which is where the US's huge soccer audience is to be found’; why then, does Ronaldo appear on the front cover of the UK tabloids? And why are these the only articles highlighted? I would suggest the reason is this would not be deemed worthy news elsewhere.

Ronaldo is the best football player in the world. He has just been bought from one of the biggest clubs in world football for a monumental world record fee. The fact he is in a club with Paris Hilton is inevitable, that it is the day before the deal is confirmed is credit to her.

Jack posts encore-porate sponsorship

The Times: "Manchester United are expected to announce the biggest shirt sponsorship deal in football history in the next few hours after agreeing an £80million partnership with Aon Corp, the American financial giant. "

Reading this piece of good news for the Red Devils, I had a real urge to listen to Linkin Park and Jay-Z.

Can I get Aon Corp? Do want you more?

...probably taking the piss if they do. There's a recession on after all.

N.B. Money can't buy you happiness. I'll leave Barcelona and Unicef to lecture United on this point.

Team GB looks likely...

There is an excellent post on the BBC by Mihir Bose on the decision for there to be a British football team at the 2012 Olympics. I certainly did not know the background to this debate. Bose makes a good point when he points to the unique privileges afforded the home nations; this combined with a nationalist sentiment prominent in Scotland in particular and in Wales, to a lesser extent, has led to a roadblock of what might still be quite an exciting project.

It is a situation which I find exasperating though. It’s a shame that there can’t be a genuine British football team, on a similar basis to that of the Lions Rugby Union team. There is no debate I have come across about the extent to which a Lions rugby tour erodes our sense of national identity.

Indeed there is so much, in my view, that football could learn from rugby union. Simply at a pragmatic level, the world of football is so reluctant to embrace new technology. Florent Malouda’s goal from the FA cup final is a case in point, video/goal line technology would assist referees and their assistants no end. We are reluctant to amend current regulations sensibly, the fact that someone could be sent off for taking their shirt off is beyond me. Of course there are a lot of positive goings on at the top end of football, but I certainly believe that they could be humble enough to learn from best practice achieved elsewhere and I hope that there may yet be hope for a genuine British football team to take part in the 2012 Olympics.

That’s it. Rant over.

Button or Hamilton?

Am I the only one who feels sorry for Lewis Hamilton? After winning the Formula One Grand Prix Championship in Brazil in what I believe to be one of the finest moments of sporting history, Hamilton is now, to use a football term, lingering in mid table mediocrity. Having just smashed out of qualifying at Monaco, he then watches Jensen Button, his fellow Brit, go and land pole position. Not to mention the lying scandal and the ridiculously uncompetitive car.

I am by no means an expert when it comes to Formula One, but I loved watching it last year; the nerves, the anticipation, the fact that Hamilton was not everybody’s favourite driver. It was, in my view, just what the sport needed and it had my full attention. So the regulations were altered in an effort to make the sport more exciting (did anyone else watch the final race in Brazil?) and while McLaren and Ferrari vied for top spot in 2008 other teams justifiably turned their attention to 2009. Which has led to the current situation, where to borrow another phrase, this time from the MP expenses saga, the hierarchy of Formula One has been ‘flipped’. Instead of an exciting battle between Ferrari and McLaren, car manufacturers who have for so long pioneered the automotive industry, Brawn GP sponsored by Virgin and Red Bull, the well known sports drink are instead fighting for the most prestigious prize in the motor racing world.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Jensen Button, he deserves to be where he is and I am delighted his career has been re-invigorated in the way it has. I do get the sense, however, that somewhere along the way Formula One has lost something, and with the issue of funding for next year currently in debate, and the idea of Formula One losing Ferrari et al., the sport is in danger of losing its very essence.

As for Lewis, I hope McLaren can make sufficient ground on Brawn, Red Bull and indeed Ferrari to give Hamilton a car he can at least make an impression with at some stage this Championship.

A golden decade

The golden decade of UK sport is upon us. This first post comes in the same week the FA launched its bid to host football’s most exciting tournament. England’s most distinguished orator, David Beckham, fought England’s corner to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

But there’s not just golden balls to look forward to. Indeed, London is hosting the 2012 Olympics (at a hefty cost), the 2014 Commonwealth Games are heading to Glasgow, the country is bidding to host the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and if Becks and Brown fail to win the 2018 World Cup bid, the FA is also planning to have a go four years later. Add to this the fact that we enjoy the best football league in the world, we are set for an Ashes cricket series this summer and there’s a Scot with a genuine chance of winning Wimbledon. The timing of ‘Keep off the grass’ couldn’t be sweeter.

All in all, UK sport is entering an interesting time, we shall wait and see if this will be capped by any form of domestic triumph, but hopefully this blog will prove an interesting take on it. I am sure what will follow will be a curious mix of wittering, occasional opinion and some analysis (let’s hope so). Either way, get some jumpers for goalposts and please join in.

On a personal note, ‘Keep off the grass’’ very own 5 a side team won our first game this week, 6-1, so things are definitely looking up.