Arsenal keep promising Arsene Wenger will spend big this summer, but I don't think that leopard can change his spots – Brian Reade

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Arsenal’s chief executive keeps announcing that this is going to be the summer Arsene Wenger turns into 60s pools winner Viv Nicholson and spends, spends, spends.

After eight trophy-less seasons for you see why Ivan Gazidis is keen to let fans know especially with the priciest season tickets in the world to shift.

But will it happen? We’ve been told many times before that the cash was there for Wenger, but he kept it in the bank.

As representatives of

What’s £23 million for a 25-year-old quality Belgian who’s proved he can do it in the Premier League, is exactly the defensive midfielder you need and won’t break the bank with wages?

The answer may be that not everyone can suddenly turn into Viv Nicholson.

How many times has your tight-wad mate won the pub’s first goal sweepstake yet still gone to the toilet when it’s his round? I think we’ll find with Arsene that old habits die hard.

Jose’s back – and it’s going to be riveting ride

Reuters

 

That wasn’t a

A PR-driven, tame, ­diplomatic love-in. I half-expected him to chirp: “I hear we have Su Pollard in tonight. Su, have you got a question for me?”

Cue: “Ooh yes, yes, yes Mr Moo-rin-yo, sir. Have you still got that cute Yorkshire Terrier puppy the nasty police tried to quarantine?”

Thankfully it won’t always be like this. The cracks will show, especially if, as Jose says, he’s been told to bring through youth for the long-haul instead of buying the world’s biggest stars.

How soon before The Happy One becomes The Sulking One then The Victimised One then threatens to be The Departing One as PSG offer him ­unlimited cash to do what he does best: Buy the Champions League.

It’s going to be a riveting ride.

Why are failing FA chiefs still in a job when the England team is such a shambles?

I’ve paid scant attention to football predictions since being told that Crystal Palace would be the team of the 80s.

But we should all take note of FA Suit David Sheepshanks’ assertion that England will win something by 2030. Or rather the country that invented the game and has the richest league in the world “will have its day – sometime in the 2020s”.

This prediction, or rather shameless attempt to buy 15 years’ grace, is an appalling admission that the FA for far too long has simply been top-heavy with mediocre yes-men, promoted above their station because they have a talent for not rocking the boat.

If English football is in such a dire state that the FA admits the national side is miles away from success, why are the likes of Sheepshanks still in a job?

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Who recommended he be given a CBE for services to football in January?

The same people who recommended Trevor Brooking be knighted for services to football in 2004? You remember Sir Trevor. In 2003 he was made the FA’s Director of Football Development.

So, in 10 years, what exactly has he developed? Apart from a situation where, by their own admission, England are a generation away from success.

Isn’t the fact that these self-confessed failures are still in work one of the main reasons England are decades behind the best in the world?

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Brian Reade on football ticket prices: Football chiefs must listen to fans about outrageous costs – or they'll end up with empty grounds – Brian Reade

Sky have been hyping it on the same lines as Terrific Top-Drawer Transfer Deadline Day.

Wednesday, June 19.

When the Premier League tells fans the times and dates where they can watch the Greatest Show On Earth next season (or rather the Premier League gives Sky a rough guide which they rip-up and hand back with the real times and dates those games will take place).

But it’s not just TV redrawing the fixture list that has ­diminished what used to be a summer ­high-point, when fans began to plan their awaydays for next season. It’s the fact that following your team has become so expensive for many of them it’s out of the question.

Discontent has been bubbling away for months: angry outbursts at being charge £50-£60 at other grounds, rows of upturned plastic in many away ends, and the growing presence of protest banners that warn: ‘FOOTBALL IS NOTHING WITHOUT FANS’.

If you’re in central London on Wednesday lunchtime you may see that banner, as more than 100 fans march on the Premier League’s HQ in Gloucester Place to tell them that enough is enough. That the level of ­exploitation, which would not be tolerated in any other industry, has gone too far.

That as the eye-popping £5.5billion TV deal kicks in (guaranteeing the bottom club in next year’s Premier League £60million) it’s time to stop taking your lifeblood for granted and help them out.

Alex Livesey 

What is really so impressive about this Football Supporters ­Federation-backed protest is the level of organisation, with ­meetings being held in London and Liverpool, and the range of rival fans taking part.

On Wednesday members of Liverpool’s Spirit Of Shankly union will walk side by side with the Manchester United Supporters Trust and Everton’s Blue Union. Arsenal Supporters Trust and Tottenham Hotspur Supporters Trust will share banners along with fans of lower league clubs like Yeovil and Tranmere.

For those who sit in the ­directors’ box, media seats and corporates (and anyone else who doesn’t pay to get into grounds) this may seem like the whining of ungrateful militants, but the facts shame football.

The Bank of England says prices in Britain have risen by 77 per cent since 1989. Top-tier football ticket prices have gone up 716 per cent. Despite Lord Justice Taylor recommending in the report which ushered in all-seater stadia that clubs should keep price structures in place which didn’t penalise those who paid to stand.

Last season alone, away ticket prices (often the worst specs in the ground) went up on average by 10 per cent, as wages and living standards plummeted.

PA

It’s been calculated that if clubs passed on to fans the rise in income from the new £5.5bn TV deal (making do with the £3.4bn they already receive) every ticket at every game for the next three years could be cut by £51.30. In other words they could give most of them away.

Fans aren’t asking for anything like that, just a fair deal.

Many are sick of being ­patronised about how their atmosphere-creating passion is what makes English football a global phenomenon. Then getting nothing in return but buck-passing contempt.

The Premier League saying it’s up to the clubs to cap prices, the clubs saying they can’t do it on their own, the PFA saying their members, whose pockets 70 per cent of that new deal will go into, are only getting the market rate.

Wednesday is a long-overdue rallying cry, a shot across the bows, a taster of what might happen if those in power don’t listen.

Supporters’ groups want an admission that this ­exploitation, especially of the real, hardcore fans who travel to away games and give the grounds the passion they sell across the globe, has to be addressed.

They want to remind the Premier League that their ‘product’ is nothing without fans. And if those fans keep on being insulted they’re not short of ideas on how to damage that product.

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Brazil boss Scolari feels the heat as Brazil get ready to kick off Confederations Cup

Mike Hewitt

Luis Felipe Scolari is a man under pressure as Brazil kick off the Confederations Cup tonight.

The former Chelsea boss was a popular choice to succeed Mario Menezes and take charge of the for a second time in December.

Butlast week’s win over France ended a run of just one victory in eight games as Brazilian fans begin to doubt whether Scolari can repeat his 2002 triumph next summer.

Scolari’sdecision to omit Kaka, Ronaldinho, Ramires and Alexandre Pato from his Confederation Cup squad adds further scrutiny to Brazil’s performances when they start the warm-up tournament against Japan in Brasilia.

Itis believed Scolari wants to make a point to those who wish him to discard the old guard – a disappointing performance in a tournament which Spain hope to use as a marker of their intent would allow him to bring them back next year.

Brazilhave dropped to an all-time low position of 22nd in the current FIFA world rankings, leaving Scolari, who needs Barcelona recruit Neymar, Oscar and PSG wide-man Lucas Moura to prove they are good enough, on the defensive.

Scolarisaid: “The team is coming together. I once read in a magazine that nature does things slowly. We need to keep on working to be competitive and win games.”

Laurence Griffiths – The FA

No Confederations Cup winners have so far gone on to lift the one that matters a year later.

Spainwere eliminated by USA in the semi-finals in South Africa four years ago and while Brazil retained their 2005 crown it counted for nothing when it really mattered.

Scolari admitted he is taking a risk, adding: “Most of the players we picked haven’t played an official competition with Brazil.

“Before they can play in a tournament like the World Cup, I need to observe them playing in bigger matches.

“We lose by not having more veterans in the squad, but we gain by having their youth and desire to succeed.”

Oscar,David Luiz and QPR keeper Julio Cesar are the familiar faces in the Brazil squad, with Manchester United’s Shinji Kagawa the star man for Japan.

Spain, whose squad contains eight Premier League players – including this week’s recruit, Jesus Navas, among the 18 English-based stars across the eight nations –are the favourites, and face Uruguay, including Luis Suarez and EdinsonCavani, in their opening game in Recife tomorrow.

Italy, who open against Mexico, are confident of making an impact. Nigeria play Tahiti in Belo Horizonte on Monday.

Sack race is speeding up as new figures show record number of managerial turnovers last season

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English football’s sack race reached new levels of brutality last season, according to disturbing new figures out yesterday.

Of the 92 League clubs, no fewer than 63 changed managers – with 43 sacked, including eight in the Premier League – plus 20 resignations.

And in the Championship, where more than half of the managers were culled in a single year alone, the average length of service is just 1.04 years.

League Managers’ Association chief executive Richard Bevan described the record turnover as “embarrassing”.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement and David Moyes’ move to Old Trafford from Everton, leaves only two managers– and Exeter’s Paul Tisdale – among the 92 League clubs who have held their posts for more than five years.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho says he'll axe any misbehaving players to protect club's image

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Jose Mourinho will warn his Chelsea players: Misbehave and you’re out!

Chelsea have been dogged by incidents that have called into question the ­reputation and .

Captain John Terry, Ashley Cole and Eden Hazard have all found ­themselves at the centre of different ­controversies.

And, despite being no stranger to ­trouble himself, Mourinho insists his Chelsea players will not be allowed to drag the club through the mud.

“There is something I say at every club I go to and I’m going to say it again when I meet the players on July 10,” said ­Mourinho.

“A sentence that I always say is, ‘If you are a top professional, if you are not a ­selfish person, if you put the club in front of yourself and if you are here to work 100 per cent, for me, for your fellow ­players and for the club, we will have a ­wonderful relationship’.

Reuters 

“’If you are selfish, if you don’t care about the club, if you don’t care about the image, if you don’t care about the fans, then we are in big trouble. So, it depends on you if the relationship is fantastic or not’.

“Sometimes you have groups that take to this in a very easy way, sometimes you have groups where this becomes like a doctrine and then it’s easy.

“But sometimes you have a couple of guys who do not accept these kinds of rules and this is where you have some kind of problematic relationships. When a problematic relationship exists, if it is you and one player or you and two players, then the club, in that moment, either supports the problematic players or it supports the manager.

“If the club supports the manager, the two little guys are out. Easy.”

, having won two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup during his first three-year stint.

And he is not worried by warnings that you should never go back in football.

“Don’t say that to Jupp Heynckes,” said Mourinho. “Because he went three times to Bayern Munich and the third time he won the treble.

Alex Livesey 

“So, don’t say, ‘Don’t go back’ to Heynckes unless you want to say to me that I have to leave again and come back for a third time! I want to think we know each other very, very well at Chelsea. The club knows me, I know the club. I don’t think this should work negatively.

“This should be a plus, not a minus. It should be something to help us to do well and not the other way.

“From an emotional point of view, I feel I am coming back. It’s my dug-out, the ­dug-out where I never lost a match, it’s my stadium, it’s my dressing-room, it’s ­Cobham, it’s my office, it’s my same table. But, from a professional point of view, it’s not different to arriving at a new club – the same ambitions.

“Could I come to England and not come to Chelsea? Only if Chelsea didn’t want me.

“But when, at the same time, I want to leave Real Madrid, I want to come to ­England and Chelsea is waiting for me and happy for me to come, of course, it is emotional because it is the only decision I can make.”

 

Man Utd striker Wayne Rooney tops PSG poll asking for fans' ideal strike-partner for Ibrahimovic

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Wayne Rooney is the man Paris St Germain fans want as a strike partner for ­Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Supporters of the voted overwhelmingly for a Ibra-Rooney dream team in a week-long poll run by newspaper Le Parisien.

Ibrahimovic’s goals ­enabled PSG to land the French title last season and the thought of teaming the Swedish striker with ­Manchester United’s ­Rooney has caught the ­imagination of the fans.

Rooney beat the likes of ­Manchester City and ­Chelsea target ­Edinson Cavani, City’s ­Sergio Aguero and Luis ­Suarez of Liverpool in the vote.

Giuseppe Bellini 

at Old Trafford.

United boss David Moyes has to decide whether to hand a new contract or cash in on him when he succeeds Sir Alex Ferguson on July 1.

Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea will be favourites to land Rooney if Moyes decides to sell the player.

Arsenal's Jack Wilshere back to fitness following op on ankle problem and pencilled in for July return

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Jack Wilshere is ready to deliver a massive boost to club and country.

The for two years has been a success.

He to replace screws in his ankle.

And Wilshere, will be ready for the start of ­Arsenal’s ­pre-season ­training on July 4.

The plan is to take the 21-year-old on the club’s pre-season tour to south-east Asia and he will then be ready for the start of the Premier League ­campaign in August.

 

The news will come as a huge relief to ­Arsenal ­manager Arsene Wenger and Roy ­Hodgson.

The England boss ­admits the national side have missed Wilshere’s creative presence and his return to full fitness would be a massive boost to the faltering World Cup qualifying campaign.

Arsenal also need a fit and ­firing Wilshere to end their search for a major trophy – the last being the FA Cup in 2005.

Wenger – who has Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuain and Everton’s Marouane Fellaini as his primary summer ­transfer ­targets – knows there is unrest among the fans because of the lack of ­silverware.

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Arsenal face a tricky ­early qualifier in their bid to reach the group stages of the Champions League. Wenger will want Wilshere available for that clash.

England have four World Cup qualifiers in ­September and October – against Moldova, Montenegro, Ukraine and Poland.

Wilshere will have a ­critical part to play in those matches as England hope to reach next summer’s World Cup finals in Brazil.

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Jose Mourinho labels Fernando Torres "so-so" and rejects talk of Abramovich's Chelsea influence

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Striker Fernando Torres has been described as ­“so-so” by Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho.

He is convinced that owner Roman Abramovich will let him rule on whether or not Torres has a future at .

And Mourinho has rejected ­suggestions that Abramovich forced Chelsea’s last big transfer flop, Andriy Shevchenko, on him during the Portuguese’s first spell at the club.

“Torres so far is so-so,” said Mourinho. ­“Somebody could expect more because of his potential, because of what he did before. But not so bad as people sometimes try to say.

“There is a balance. Normally, the tendency is to say it was a big mistake. It was a big mistake because it didn’t work.

“Shevchenko? It’s not true the owner forced him on me.

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“Never, never during my time did the owner interfere in the basic things of the manager – training sessions, team selection, the profile of player I want to bring. Do you want to know the truth about Shevchenko? I hope the board is not upset with me. We wanted to buy Samuel Eto’o, he was our target. We wanted Eto’o and the owner was more than ready to do ­everything to bring Eto’o here.

“He was the player I wanted. Why? Because Eto’o was the only player I could play with Didier Drogba, changing the system for two strikers.

“But he was also ready to play with Drogba with the system we had at the time, with three ­attacking players with Eto’o ­coming from the sides. I did the same with him at Inter Milan. We wanted Eto’o and the boss did everything to bring Eto’o and Peter Kenyon did everything.

“In the end, Barcelona said, ‘We don’t sell, forget it, forget it. Not any price’. The owner did everything to get him, but it was not possible.

“After that, we went to other options and got to Shevchenko. I was happy with him.

“Even with the top dogs – when you buy for £30m, £40m, £50m, or £60m – sometimes it doesn’t work. It doesn’t mean you or the club made a big mistake. It just doesn’t work.”

Fergie told me of retirement plans long ago, Jose says

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Jose Mourinho has revealed how Sir Alex Ferguson confided in him over his Manchester United retirement.

But Mourinho insists he was never in the running to at Old Trafford because he had already told the Scotsman he was ­coming back to Chelsea.

Mourinho said: “I knew Sir Alex was retiring many months ago. Why? Because we are friends. So if I am his friend to know he is ­going to retire, he is also my friend to know that the club I want to coach in England is Chelsea.

“Of course, I told him that. I told him I want to come to Chelsea. I would turn down everyone in the world for Chelsea.”

Robin van Persie is the Premier League's top shirt shifter – but won't cash in on his fame

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Robin van Persie is refusing to cash in on his position as the most popular player in the Premier League.

has rejected lucrative commercial ­offers worth millions in the weeks since .

Van Persie, who now sells more football shirts in the UK than any other footballer, was the prime target of Asian marketing men ­during ­Holland’s post-season tour of the Far East.

The 29-year-old was offered more than five sponsorship deals each worth seven-figures – only to turn them all down to concentrate on his playing career.

Van Persie explained: “I have discovered that I have now reached a new stage of my career. I have just spent almost two weeks in Asia with the Holland national team and I have been absolutely amazed by the level of my own popularity over there. I have been getting some ­incredible commercial offers, but I have decided to skip them all.

“I looked at my schedule of ­travelling and the amount of ­matches I have to play and decided my football and my fitness comes first, not money. After the Asia tour with Holland, I will have to travel again to Asia and Australia with Manchester United next month.

Stu Forster 

“In between, big companies ­wanted me to spend more time in Thailand, Malaysia, China and a few more countries.

“The opportunities for me were incredible. But I feel I need every moment to rest so I can peak again as a player in the new season.

“I do admit that I gave it a bit of thought for a moment, but when I saw the schedule for the next few months and new season, ending with the World Cup, I decided to skip all the commercial avenues.’’

Van Persie’s popularity has ­exploded in the year .

More than 25 per cent of all ­personalised shirts now sold in the UK are emblazoned with Van ­Persie’s name and number.

Yet Van Persie was still stunned in the Far East, when he was mobbed by thousands of fans.

Police came to his rescue when he tried to get off the team bus in ­Jakarta and Peking.

Van Persie said: “The boys at United warned me it would be hectic for me. It is part of being a Manchester United player."

Top ten UK shirt sales

Van Persie (Man Utd) 25.4%

Gerrard (L’pool) 8.2%

Rooney (Man Utd) 6%

Kagawa (Man Utd) 5.8%

Suarez (L’pool) 3.6%

Hazard (Chelsea) 3.1%

Scholes (Man Utd) 2.7%

Torres (Chelsea) 2.5%

Aguero (Man City) 2.2%

Podolski (Arsenal) 2.1%

Andy Dunn column: Giving Peter Taylor England Under-20 job shows same old lack of forward-thinking from the FA – Andy Dunn

Chris Brunskill – The FA

Earlier this year, the Football Association took out an advert in the magazine of the League Managers’ Association, offering applicants the chance to lead England into this summer’s Under-20 World Cup.

Setting aside the stark, damning truth that the FA did not believe it had anyone suitable already within its ranks, it seemed an ideal opportunity – either for an up-and-coming coach or for a specialist in the field of youth development.

A young English manager making a name for himself outside the Premier League, ­perhaps. Or someone seasoned in the production and improvement of youth teams.

A Paul Hart maybe. After all, Hart’s Charlton set-up has produced a raft of players for international duty.

Even a coach from the Premier League’s academy system might have been up for it – and that is where the majority of the squad is drawn from.

I don’t know if this sort of character ­applied. I don’t know how many people applied.

What I do know is that Sir Trevor Brooking picked up the phone and gave the job to Peter Taylor. It was certainly a fillip for 60-year-old Taylor, who must have thought his ­England days were long gone, ­despite a couple of relatively successful periods in charge of the under-21s in the ­mid-90s and in the ­middle of the last decade.

Since leaving Hull City and his part-time role at the FA in 2006, Taylor lasted 16 months at Crystal Palace, six months at Stevenage Borough, 16 months at ­Wycombe Wanderers, a year at Bradford City and 15 months as manager of the Bahrain national team.

Ian Walton

Taylor – who won one of his four caps alongside Brooking in 1976 – ­remains a highly-respected coach.

He took charge of the senior England squad for one game in 2000, selecting a youthful team for a 1-0 loss in Turin and giving the captaincy to David Beckham.

And this is no hatchet job on his coaching credentials. He has always come across as a knowledgeable, enthusiastic manager and a thoroughly decent bloke.

But this is just another example of the ­apparent absence of joined-up thinking within the FA. The under-20 category is not permanent. The fixed age levels are under 17 and under 19. Most of the squad that flew to Turkey last Wednesday has progressed through those ranks.

Is there not a coach at the FA who has worked with these youngsters for a lengthy spell of time?

Presumably, when Taylor accepted the role in March, he had never properly clapped eyes on promising talents, such as Liverpool’s Conor Coady, Harry Kane, of Spurs, or West Ham’s Daniel Potts. Certainly not studied their game. The people who best know this group of players – for whom Brooking holds high hopes – are those who work in club ­academies.

These are the people who have to be tapped into – because the simple fact remains that clubs, established Premier League ones, in particular, hold the key to improving the standard of young English players whose poor technique and low footballing ­intelligence is so painfully exposed at the highest level. While I still have serious ­reservations about its format, the creation of the Elite Player Performance Plan in ­conjunction with the Premier League at least recognises this.

Chris Brunskill – The FA

 

But progression at the FA is painfully slow.

There have certainly been few radical ­developments since Sir Trevor joined the ­Association in 2003. On its website, the FA has posted its “vision”. It has a “vision” for ­players and for coaches. The one for coaches states: To train, develop, qualify and support more innovative coaches.

The statement goes on to stress the importance of the word “innovative” and talks of a “progressive” and “original” approach.

Hopefully, the estimable Taylor will prove successful at the Under-20 World Cup, but his presence there shows just how far the FA has to go before it becomes innovative, ­progressive and original.