You’ve come out of your local town’s youth structure, you’ve signed a scholarship with the Arsenal academy and by the age of 18-20 you’re getting a few chances to impress in the first team proper. Yes, Arsene Wenger has been more proactive than most in fast-tracking talents of a more youthful variety into the first team reckoning over the years with a heavy focus on learning and development. It is difficult to undermine the work of the Frenchman with Jack Wilshere, Wojciech Szczesny and Emmanuel Frimpong more recently representing that the endless conveyor belt of talent is still in fully working order.

But if we look back retrospectively, every manager makes mistakes and from an early age, a wise old head can usually gauge whether a player is going to go on to sample a successful long career or not. Arsene Wenger infamously released a young Jay Bothroyd at 18 after the striker threw his shirt at youth team coach Don Howe in frustration at getting substituted. Whilst Bothroyd has tasted relative success elsewhere, this example represented that Wenger takes pride in a good grounded attitude in his players when coming through the system, and if this is sound enough, praise and rewards of a first team berth shall be the repayment. But if we look the attitudes and careers of some past and present Arsenal academy stars such as Nicklas Bendtner, Jermaine Pennant, David Bentley and Denilson, a belief of their own hype and a seemingly inflated opinion have derailed their progress, and their distractions have led to an intermittent career at Arsenal and in football as a whole. So in the case of these players, is Arsene Wenger’s grooming to blame?

Perhaps Nicklas Bendtner is the greatest example of an ego-tripped youth whose performances don’t always match up with those envisaged in his head. Currently on loan at Sunderland, after failing to capture the imagination at the Emirates, the Dane makes himself an easy target whether wearing bright pink boots or simply making brash quotes about his play in the press; his most famous quote being

‘If you ask me if I am one of the best strikers in the world, I say yes.’

Alright Nicklas! Making his Gunners debut in 2007, Bendtner has gone on to strike 22 goals in 99 appearances which isn’t the worst record but at the expectant North London club, a few inconsistent glimpses of clinical striking abilities each season simply isn’t enough to satisfy the watching spectators. Wenger has refused to condemn his overstated opinion over the years and has only praised his mental strength at responding to criticism whilst giving him plenty chances to impress with 27 Premier League appearances representing his involvement last term. It seems Bendtner’s talent has been a bit forced in contrast to the likes of Kieran Gibbs or Jack Wilshere who have recognised their rise to prominence more quietly.

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Additionally, Bendtner’s task as a striker will always be more difficult as he will naturally be judged upon his goal tally and when key strikers have been out at Arsenal, the Dane who is still learning the game has been the inadequate replacement. Another currently on loan to his native Sao Paulo is Denilson and his transfer in the summer again represents the backward step made by the youngster as punishment for his coasting whilst being given many first team outings. Surely both players would find themselves in the 2011/12 Gunners’ squad had they made the most of their opportunities in former seasons.

Side-tracked Arsenal youth isn’t an exclusive phenomenon to recent times however, with David Bentley in 2003 representing another who showed great promise, yet has gone on to sample mediocrity at Tottenham in his career. After scoring an audacious lob in a 4-1 FA Cup triumph over Middlesbrough at Highbury, tongues were wagging and even Dennis Bergkamp likened his play and made this bold judgement in response to young Bentley’s performances

“He’s not afraid not to do something wrong, that’s the main thing for a young player – not to have any fear. If you don’t try a chip like that, you’ll never succeed”.

Manager Arsene Wenger similarly jumped on the Bentley-Bergkamp bandwagon stating

“David has a long way to go to match what Dennis has done in his career, but it was a typical Bergkamp goal”.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and perhaps Bentley was misguided by these bold quotes at the time, but to put big ideas into young and impressionable heads is certainly questionable amidst an importance to remain level-headed at that age. Perhaps the example of Bentley has made Wenger even tighter with his fast tracking of Arsenal youth these days with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain still in and out of the team in respect of his age, learning and exposure to top level football. Showing he can cut it at the top in glimpses, Wenger will have learnt not to burn his youth out such as in the case of Jack Wilshere or to introduce and expect great things immediately such as in the case of Theo Walcott.

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Whilst many young stars have gone on to achieve acclaimed careers in North London, a handful have also reminded us all that even Wenger can get it wrong at times in terms of mentality and grooming . The readily published myth that the Arsenal academy is flawless is certainly one that could be deemed wide of the mark.

Is Wenger or the players to blame for inflated egos and missed opportunities? Follow me @ http://twitter.com/Taylor_Will1989

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For some it seemed more important than the match. Samir Nasri, Arsenal fans’ arch-nemesis, was returning to the Emirates for the first time (in the league) since his contentious move to Manchester City last summer.

Ever since that move, he has been the devil incarnate. He only moved for the money, you see? Arsenal fans cannot contemplate a player leaving their team to try and better themselves – no, he was just a mercenary. What’s more, after leaving, he said some nasty things too. Footballers eh? They just don’t care. They don’t get “it”.

Arsenal fans will claim that they worshipped the player and he paid them back by leaving. They will argue that the club made him the player he was, and look at how he repaid them. Of course others will contradict these views by claiming he was only good for half a season anyway (so surely they’d be glad at getting a good price for him?), and have spent the past year laughing at every match spent on the bench or under-par performance (again, he has played a large amount of matches, but let’s not allow facts to cloud a concerted campaign). Besides, as the odious Piers Morgan was keen to point out at the weekend, overjoyed at Arsenal moving towards ten points of City, Arteta is a better player than Nasri will ever be anyway. Which again begs the question – why are you bothered about him leaving anyway? But as Nasri was today announced as City’s March Player Of The Month, perhaps we shouldn’t believe everything we read.

Arsenal didn’t “make” Nasri. He was an established player at Marseille, and a French international. They didn’t buy him as an act of charity, to help him, they did it to improve their side, which he did, then got a very healthy profit when he moved on. Was he a mercenary for leaving Marseille, or do morals only count when it’s your team being let down?

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The fact is, Nasri wanted to move on. If not to City, then somewhere else. It’s a job, and he wanted out, as he didn’t see a successful future for the club. He might be proved wrong, but as many Arsenal fans wanted Arsene Wenger out only a few months ago, you can see where he was coming from. It’s no different to Piers Morgan fleeing disgraced across the Atlantic for more cash (the cheerleader for the Wenger Out movement and chief bully of Nasri on Twitter), and I would leave my civil service job before you could say gold-plated pension if a better offer came along.

Carlos Tevez wanted to leave Manchester City too. He still does I would imagine. Fine. He is allowed to have this view, without becoming Satan himself in human form. Changing his story more often than a Murdoch at the Leveson enquiry and refusing to play are less agreeable of course, but I’d never spend a year of my life crying behind a keyboard because a player wanted to leave, or deluding myself that he’ll win fewer trophies at his new club. It might be a disaster for him, it might be the best thing he ever does.

The other accusation is that Nasri made some nasty comments after leaving north London. Apart from the obligatory “my new club is great and the fans are passionate” line, saying the Arsenal crowd was quiet probably wasn’t the best idea, but then as many Arsenal fans have made the same point, then what’s the problem? Other quotes attributed to him seem to be fabricated, not appearing in the original French interview (as pointed out by the Daily Mirror journalist Annie Eaves, who checked), so as usual a footballer is damned by more lies spread around the internet.

But let’s cut to the chase. What this really boils down to though is Arsenal fans’ hatred of City’s oil-funded wealth, the wealth that has put over £75m into their coffers. Better a system of income off fans through high ticket prices and the riches of Champions League qualification. The fans’ hatred of City has been channelled into one player, and he is taking the brunt.

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Still, we love to boo players. Even Gael Clichy, who left the Emirates on good terms, was booed on Sunday, as was Jose Enrique recently when he returned to St James’ Park (or whatever it’s called). Players just aren’t allowed to leave a club, unless the manager demands it or the fans are happy with it. Otherwise, the player is a mercenary and a Judas.

The playground heckling has reached the stage of Samir Nasri and Piers Morgan betting £10,000 on which side picks up another trophy first. It’s all rather pathetic from grown men – Nasri made a move that he thought would benefit his career. He may be proved wrong (he wouldn’t be the first or the last), but that was his decision. It’s about time everyone moved on before embarrassing themselves any more.

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In the end, it was easy – a routine stroll past a willing, but limited Wycombe side. A well taken goal from the loan winger in the first half settled the nerves and a header from the loan Ranger in the second made sure.

In a disturbingly un-Wednesday like performance, it never really looked in doubt and it was pretty much party time in the stands for the whole 90 minutes, with paddling pools, beachballs and comedy outfits aplenty.

But the question is, was it better than Cardiff? The 2005 rollercoaster play-off final, while doing nothing for our angina, was a definitely a better match.

However last Saturday was the culmination of an end of season run in the likes of which we may never see again. This campaign had it all – comedy, tragedy, despair, Ben Marshall, hope and at right at the death, a spot of glory. No Wednesdayite will forget it in a hurry – nor will they forget the sight of all four stands full going absolutely bonkers when Antonio scored, then so did Exeter – quite a moment. For us to come from all those points behind Utd and end up snatching second place – we really have pulled their pants down.

And the whole shebang seems to have re-forged magical links between the fans, the team and the club that have been missing for quite a while. Hats off Milan.

So now we can sit back, watch the grunters slip up in the pay-offs and dream of unrealistic transfer targets until the Euro’s start.

We’ve already heard it on good authority Antonio, Batth, Roger Johnson, Owen, Freeman and Peter Crouch are signing – and it’s only mid-May. Obviously a lot of waffle will be spoke between now and August but it’s nice to be able to dream big again.

Who knows what next season may bring and people are naturally getting a bit carried away. One bookie had us at 6/1 to go up from the Championship, which looks a bit sarcastic frankly.

However at the moment it does feel as if the sky’s the limit. If Norwich and Southampton can do it there is no godly reason why we can’t. With Milan’s hard cash and Dave Jones’ scouse nouse, who knows what we can achieve.

But that’s not the point. Whatever happens over the summer, or next year, or 10 years down the track. There’s only one thing that matters right now:

The City is Ours.

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Wayne Rooney could well be in line to become England’s vice-captain, according to Roy Hodgson.

The Manchester United forward has missed the first two games of Euro 2012 due to being suspended, but will return to the Three Lions fold against Ukraine on Tuesday.

Hodgson opted for Steven Gerrard as the national skipper, and has confessed that Rooney is in the running to be his deputy.

“We haven’t designated one yet but he is very much a candidate,” Hodgson told reporters, published by Sky Sports.

“Quite frankly, with him not being available we haven’t really felt the necessity before now to decide on that.

“But we are very much considering him for that position, yes.”

Hodgson went on to praise the squad’s integration, and does not feel that club rivalries are apparent.

“It feels more like a club team now, rather than an international team.

“Everyone gets on with each other and there’s a lot of trust between the players and the coaching staff, and everyone’s happy.

“You only have to go to the hotel to see the lads. You’ve got (Manchester) City players playing snooker with United players, Chelsea players playing Liverpool.

“Everyone’s mixing, everyone’s getting on well and there’s a good chemistry between the lads.

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“At the minute, it’s certainly the most comfortable I think the team have been off the pitch since I’ve been in the squad,” he concluded.

By Gareth McKnight

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After a season of disappointment in the league, the boardroom at Anfield was reminiscent of the final scene of The Godfather, where Michael Corleone orders a hit on the heads of each of the Five Families and Moe Green. Each person working at the club that was deemed surplus to requirements was given the boot in a toned-down Merseyside version of The Knight of the Long Knives, only with less, you know, purging and book burning. Prime among was Damien Comolli, the club’s Director of Football, who paid the price for a season of underachivement back in April. However since the unveiling of new manager Brendan Rodgers, an element of confusion still persists about the issue, do the club still want a Director of Football or not?

Comolli became Director of Football in March 2011, effectively taking on many aspects of a chief executive’s role, though focused solely on the business of the football side of the club and was heavily involved in bringing the likes of big-money buys Luis Suarez, Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson to the club.

He was originally brought to the club in November 2012 under the title Director of Football Strategy and was tasked with the recruitment side of the club, before latterly moving into the aforementioned role. Straight away, it appears as if his role was never clearly defined, which points to a lack of clarity and leadership from above on FSG’s part. Rumours persisted after his sacking that FSG felt they had rushed his initial appointment in the first place upon taking control of the club back in October 2010, which is hardly a ringing endorsement for any prospective future employers of the Frenchman.

Liverpool chairman Tom Werner had this to say back in April after Comolli’s sacking: “We’ve had a strategy that we have agreed on. There was some disconnect on the implementation of that. That strategy is a strong one and it will continue. We’re still confident the structure we’ve discussed is the right structure. That doesn’t mean we won’t look at tweaking it, but we feel a collective group of people making football decisions is healthy. The debate is healthy. Part of the reason we made this decision now is because we want to start the process of finding an excellent replacement.”

This would appear to indicate a preference for a Director of Football still at the club, and that the idea hadn’t yet been abandoned entirely, but that they were open to adjusting the parameters of the post. FSG were thought to want to pioneer a new system dividing Comolli’s role into three – one executive to oversee statistics, another whose role would be to conduct negotiations and a third ‘football man’ with contacts within the game, with the new boss also operating under managing director Ian Ayre. It seemed a hugely bloated, contrived and overly fussy system from the ouset.

Txiki Begiristain, formerly  Director of Football at  Barcelona, is one name that  has been linked with a senior  role, while Pep Segura, currently technical manager of the club’s academy is widely expected to be promoted, with Louis van Gaal for a time in the frame for a position. FSG clearly want to spread the workload out and implement a new system that allows the manager to focus solely on footballing matters, but whether the manager wants that is another point entirely.

Confusion still reigns and I can’t help but thinking that the issue has been glossed over for the sake of happy families for the time being, like sweeping a fight under the carpet with the missus for the sake of an easy life in the short-term and it has the potential to go seriously wrong further down the road. At Brendan Rodgers unveiling during his first press conference as Liverpool boss, the situation still looked muddled at best.

[divider]Continued on Page TWO[divider]

Rodgers stated he wouldn’t have taken the role if he had been made to work with a Director of Football: “That was one of the items I brought up when I was speaking with the club, that I wouldn’t work directly with a Director of football. I work best around a group of people. You come to a big club or any club, you can’t do it on your own. There’s not one of us who’s better than all of us. Of course there has to be leadership, but if it was a Sporting Director that was something that I made quite clear that I couldn’t work with. What you need at a football club is an outstanding recruitment team, an outstanding medical team, an outstanding sports science team and player liaison team and these are all people who will come into the group and we will form a little technical board. There will be four or five people around that group who will decide the way forward.”

But Ian Ayre sounded less convinced stating: “The structure is a more continental Director of Football structure where you have got a collaborative group of people working around the football area. We don’t envisage, at this moment in time, having a Director of Football per se, but having a group of people that will work collaboratively with Brendan to deliver the football side of things. It’s not signing by committee, it’s analysis by committee. Certainly not a structure where we would force any player on the manager.”

The key part to take from that was the fact that Ian Ayre refused to rule out moving for or appointing a Director of Football in the future and with Rodgers looking to build a long-term legacy at Anfield, after signing a three-year deal to replace Kenny Dalglish as boss, that could cause problems further down the line.

Since taking over the club, FSG have benefited hugely from lazy comparisons to Tom Hicks and George Gillett simply because of the nature of their passport, with both sets of owners coming from the USA. This in turn has meant that the same in-depth, minute scrutiny that was applied to the previously chaotic and shambolic administration hasn’t yet been applied to the current one. They benefit from a degree of goodwill simply because they are not Hicks and Gillett, quite possibly the worst Premier League owners of all-time.

They clearly didn’t want a hugely hands-on role with the day-to-day running of the club, which has meant that the club has lacked direction at times, none more so than during the whole Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra racism affair, with the now infamously ill-advised t-shirts and cringeworthy press statement after another. FSG only stepped in when rumours of unrest from the club’s commercial sponsors started looking more serious than previously thought, but since then, they should be applauded on how cut-throat they have been, taking decisions without a hint of sentimentality surrounding their thought-proccess.

But as Wolves showed last season with the sacking of Mick McCarthy and subsequent botched appointment of his assistant Terry Connor in his place, it’s not that sacking someone is necessarily always a bad idea, but you have to have an idea of who you want to replace them with, otherwise it was all for nothing and a pointless move. The owners must have felt that in Ian Ayre and Damien Comolli, they had two people they could trust to run the club for them, but Ayre was known to be overawed by Dalglish, unwilling to stand up to him and question his wisdom, while Comolli’s role simply wasn’t clearly defined enough, so things began to slip through the net.

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A management structure is the next logical step in response to the ramshackle set-up that came before, but you still get the feeling that despite their increased involvement, the whole plan still lacks cohesion and clarity.

The lack of an agreed, defined and concrete system still troubles me. If the club underperforms again next season, where is the finger of blame to be pointed to? Is it the collaborative panel that will help Rodgers liable? Is it Rodgers himself? Nobody wants to get into a blame game further down the line as nobody emerges from a round of mud-slinging with a clean shirt, but there still looks to be a lack of accountability and leadership from above. It remains to be seen whether this new, somewhat revolutionary structure can work, for Rodgers sake at least, I hope it does.

You can follow me on Twitter @JamesMcManus1

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Manchester City defender Gael Clichy is thought to have been the subject of racism in a pre-season friendly in Ireland, The Telegraph report.

The Premier League champions were playing against Limerick on Sunday, and the France international has since claimed that he was targeted, with a banana thrown onto the pitch.

“How sad to see bananas thrown on the pitch … knowing people around the world need food,” Clichy commented on his Twitter page.

The Irish authorities have pledged to check CCTV cameras to try and ascertain the identity of the guilty parties.

“The Gardai and stadium officials are reviewing the CCTV recordings to attempt to identify an individual involved in the throwing of an offensive object onto the playing field,” a statement reads.

“Any individual identified as being involved in an incident of this nature will be banned from future attendance and the matter will be handed over to the Gardai. All those involved with the friendly game fully condemn all forms of unacceptable behaviour of this nature.”

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By Gareth McKnight

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Roy Hodgson has named his England squad for their friendly with Italy next week and it seems he is more than willing at giving the youngsters an opportunity to show their worth.

Hodgson, naming his first squad since England’s European Championships campaign, has decided the trip to Switzerland is the perfect opportunity to give the next generation of England squads a chance with Tottenham duo Steven Caulker and Jake Livermore joined in the squad by Jack Rodwell, Jack Butland, Ryan Bertrand, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Daniel Sturridge.

Manchester United midfielder Michael Carrick is also recalled to the international stage after rejecting the chance to be on the standby list for this summer Euros, a list that included Adam Johnson who has also made the squad.

Very much an experimental squad, Frank Lampard is given a chance to show Hodgson that he still has a lot to offer after missing the bulk of the Euros with injury along with Kyle Walker and Gary Cahill who are also recalled.

The likes of John Terry, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney have all been left out along with regulars Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson. It seems Rio Ferdinand’s England career is over after he is once again not included.

Squad for friendly v Italy:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), Jack Butland (Birmingham City), John Ruddy (Norwich City).

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Gary Cahill (Chelsea), Steven Caulker (Tottenham Hotspur), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur).

Midfielders: Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Jake Livermore (Tottenham Hotspur), James Milner (Manchester City), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Arsenal), Jack Rodwell (Everton), Ashley Young (Manchester United).

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Forwards: Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea), Theo Walcott (Arsenal).

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Manchester City have stepped up their efforts to sign Inter right-back Maicon, The Guardian state.

Roberto Mancini has admitted that his side must strengthen their squad before the end of the transfer window if they are to challenge on all fronts this term, but as yet Jack Rodwell has been the only addition this summer.

The Premier League champions have been frustrated in their attempts to sign the likes of Daniele De Rossi and Javi Martinez, whilst a deal to bring Scott Sinclair to the Etihad Stadium still hangs in the balance.

Maicon has less than a year left on his contract in Italy, and the player’s agent has confirmed that there is interest from Mancini’s men.

“There is interest from Manchester City, Real Madrid and Chelsea in the player,” Roberto Calenda confirmed.

“There is no possibility that he goes to Milan or Juventus. He has worn the Nerazzurri shirt for six seasons and has too much respect for the fans to betray them in that manner. He could also yet remain at Inter.”

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Inter are rumoured to be willing to sell the veteran South American defender for around €6 million (£4.7m).

By Gareth McKnight

Arsenal loanee Nicklas Bendtner has been labelled too fat by his new employers at Juventus.

The Danish international was a deadline day signing for the Italian champions, but lacks fitness as Arsene Wenger allowed him to miss training to try and find a new club throughout pre-season.

It is said the 24 year old is carrying too much weight to be effective Serie A, and his transfer has also been questioned in some quarters. The Daily Mail report that former star midfielder at the club, Alessio Tacchinardi said, “I will not say Bendtner is a bad player, but he does not help improve Juventus either.”

A key club objective for the Gunners this summer was removing disillusioned, out of favour players, Bendtner and Andrey Arshavin from the wage bill, who earn £52,000 and £80,000 a week respectively.

However the diminutive Russian remains at the club, enquiries were made for Russia’s captain to take him back to his home country. But Arsenal’s £5 million evaluation proved a sticking point and the 31 year old remains an Arsenal player for now.

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Southampton’s latest academy product, Andy Robinson, was delighted to make his first-team debut on Tuesday and admits it came as a shock. The official Southampton website reports.

The midfielder came on for the injured Jack Cork, ten minutes from time in Saints’ Capital One Cup win over Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday night.

“It happened quite quickly and was unexpected, but it was great to get on”, Robinson told Saints Player. “This was the first time I’ve even been on the bench, so to come on was a bonus.

“I’m really happy. I’ve been around [the First Team] a lot, and they are really great with me and the other young players.”

The 19-year-old is part of the club’s Under-21 side, who are currently unbeaten and lead the table.

He is very pleased with his personal progress and feels he is on track to succeed with the south coast club.

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“I’m really happy at the moment. I had a little blip with an injury but I’m still ahead of where I thought I’d be at this stage”, he added.

“I take everything as it comes, like the other night because that was unexpected. It’s about working as hard as you can.”