Ghana captain Stephen Appiah has claimed that he turned down summer moves to both Barcelona and Arsenal in favour of staying with Turkish side Fenerbahce. My question is: why?

The quality of the Turkish league has been poor for several years since Galatasaray’s glory days ended and surely it wasn’t based on the quality of life that Appiah has in Istanbul compared to that which he could be enjoying in either London or Barcelona?

I really am mystified as to why a player at his peak and after a good showing in the World Cup would turn down big money moves to either of the two clubs who had just contested the Champion’s League.

Answers on a postcard please. For the record, I do think in missing out on Appiah, Arsenal lost their best chance to replace Patrick Vieira like-for-like and it could be one of the main reasons that their title challenge is more mathematically than realistically feasible before we’ve even had our Christmas turkey in 2006.

In possibly the most misguided piece of football manager complaining since Arsene Wenger first “didn’t see” an incident, Jose Mourinho has walked straight into the kind of shitstorm we’ve become all too used to seeing build up around the manager formerly known as The Special One (and more commonly known these days as Jose the Arse.)

I’m not defending Andy Johnson or his morals when it comes to penalty box tumbles whatsoever but to come out with some of the most hypocritical statements of the season when skirting the issue, calling him an intelligent player then not an intelligent player and generally not having the balls to just come out and say that he thought Johnson was a diving cheat, Mourinho finds himself in the middle of yet another petty squabble, in line for another FA charge and yet another reason for fans of all clubs (including his own) to get even more bored with the most boring “Special” manager in English football.

Everton want a retraction, Johnson’s agent is talking about defamation (let’s not get too carried away now, saying Johnson doesn’t dive is like saying Drogba doesn’t dive) and there are murmurs of the FA sticking their nose in again. Seems like Jose needed to come up with anything to distract from the hole John Terry’s absence left in the Chelsea defence and, if so, it’s three points and diversion succeeded for Matalan’s most famous coat wearer.

As I enjoyed my first cup of tea this morning and had a look through the Sun I was astonished to read that Arsenal have banned the flag of St George from the Emirates Stadium. Was it not Arsene Wenger last week who was warning of the foreign influx of businessmen to the premiership and how it would ruin the beautiful English game? Maybe he should have been looking on his own doorstep as well.

Do I stand alone on this one when I say that I think this is a dreadful turn of events. Correct me if I’m wrong but this is the ENGLISH Premier League and Arsenal are a London based team and London is the capital of ENGLAND. This is political correctness gone mad. Arsenal have released a club statement on the matter claiming “Some of our fans have been upset with flags denoting particular regions of the world. Arsenal prides itself on being inclusive with respect to all nationalities, cultural and ethnic groups”. It seems that the club may have forgotten its respect to England however and it would be interesting to see how many fans agree with the club’s policy on this matter.

Next thing we know the pies, burgers and chips will be banned as half time as they offend to be replaced with other more “cultured” offerings. Frog legs you say!

In the words of Dad’s Army favourite Corporal Jones “Don’t Panic!” if you wander over to the SOTG football forums and find that a lot of the sub forums have disappeared. I’ve just moved all football chat into the forum cunningly titled “Football Chat” as I didn’t see the point in separating it all out and spreading all of it in distinct forums.

All we are interested in is talking about football so why not have it all in the one forum?

A new home, a new prospect of a fulfilling season ahead of them, the news of their captain staying, August really didn’t look a bad month at all for the Arsenal faithful. Now as we draw to the end of this current year it seems that the optimism at outset of the season has been severely dented. From lacklustre performances in the premiership, to a manager who refuses to criticise his team and exalts how well they play even when the fans realise it was a below par performance, to a manager who gets riled when another manager celebrates his team scoring.

A team sitting in third position at this stage should probably be happy but if Arsenal fans are honest with themselves they must be feeling frustrated. Ten points behind Chelsea and fifteen behind runaway leaders United has to leave a bitter taste in their mouths. It just seems that the Gunners have been outclassed this season and except for a victory over bitter rivals Spurs they have had little to smile about.
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Real Salt Lake that is (are there many Spanish speakers in Salt Lake City or Utah in general which would validate the “Real” Salt Lake name?) DC United are trying to keep the move sweet by thanking Freddy for his great contribution to their cause over the past few seasons but when we break down the young (or not so young depending on which rumours you believe) attacker’s stats, they aren’t all that impressive.

87 appearances with only 11 goals to show for it really isn’t the kind of return I would be expecting from a player described by his new coach at Salt Lake John Ellinger as “an exceptional talent”. In the less than competitive environment of the MLS I’d expect an “exceptional” young striker to be hitting at the very least a goal every two games and have no doubt that if truly exceptional attacking players like Ronaldo, Ronaldinho or even Wayne Rooney had been introduced to the same league at the same age as Adu they would have been scoring closer to a goal a game, even from withdrawn roles.

I can’t help but think that the whole “Freddy Adu Experience” is nothing more than Nike and MLS marketing hype to try and find a figurehead for young America to rally behind and really get into football in a way they haven’t before. A move to Salt Lake City, even if it is because he opposed his DC United coach’s ideas about where to play him, is a step backwards, regardless of whether Sir Alex Ferguson moves for him as an experiment in the summer or not.

What a difference a few months makes at the Boleyn Ground. Back in August it was back slaps and talk of Champion’s League qualification and shady Iranian investors with Russian oil billions buring holes in their metaphorical pockets. Today it’s Alan Pardew clearing out his desk and a lesson for the rest of us that the phrase “itchy trigger finger” means exactly the same thing in Iceland as it does in East London.

I have to say that I’ve got some sympathy for Pardew. He squared up to Wenger in one of this season’s fantastically comical moments after West Ham’s last minute winner and he helped the club punch way above their weight last season with a strong top half finish and loser’s medals from one of the most entertaining FA Cup finals I’ve seen in the last decade but I think it was these heroics which have cost him his job.
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If you missed him the first time, here?s a second chance to meet Steve Perryman and get your signed copy of this season?s must-have book The Spurs Miscellany!

Following on from a hugely successful signing session in the City of London (outstripping Frank Lampard Jnr?s appearance for his biography at the same venue), White Hart Lane legend Steve Perryman will again be signing copies of the bestselling book, The Spurs Miscellany, the ideal Christmas gift for all Tottenham fans

Venue: Waterstones bookshop, 69 High Street, Brentwood, Essex, CM14 4RW
Time: 4.30pm ? 5.30pm
Date: Friday December 15th

Can?t make the signing? Phone ahead to reserve your copy - tel: 01277263202

Later that evening, Steve will be appearing alongside former Spurs teammate and record goalscorer Jimmy Greaves in ?An evening with England’s greatest goal scorer. Jimmy Greaves?. Compered by Terry Baker, the event is at The Brentwood Centre, tel: 01277 201 372

The epic saga between Mourinho and Shevchenko continues this week with Mourinho claiming that although he has nine “untouchables” in his current squad the Ukrainian star is not one of them. The Special One states that although Sheva is a friend of Abramovich the Russian tycoon has not instructed Mourinho to play him and indeed does not interfere with the team selection. This begs a serious question for Sheva as he is continually being undermined in the English press by the club. We must remember that he has proven his footballing ability at the highest tier when with Milan but now is suffering from what can only be called a persecution from Chelsea.

I’m left pondering who the nine untouchable players are and if maybe this is the problem with integrating world class footballers into the Chelsea team. I discussed this problem in my article last week and it is a question I would pose again, why exactly do players fail when they put on that Chelsea blue shirt? Is it the manager, is the owner or is it the team? Mourinho’s comments would suggest to me that the problems lie with the team because Mourinho has confirmed that certain members cannot and will not be removed from the first team and that their names will be on the match card week in week out.

Lampard, Terry, Robben etc etc are the obvious players the mighty one is referring too and I’m wondering why Mourinho picks them for every game they are available. Is this a healthy team building ethic when young players and top class players who have not started their Chelsea career with all guns blazing feel they cannot break through no matter how hard they try? I think its a dangerous statement from Mourinho as it reinforces what I have feared all along, find something that works and stick with it, when its faltering stick with it and when Man United are running away with the title in December, stick with it. Not good Jose, not good at all!

His words have just proven that for any young up and coming star or indeed any international performer a move to Chelsea could just mean the death of your career!

There are numerous reasons why players can get a red card overturned but it seems lately the main vehicle being used is the press. Over the big English papers this morning was George Boateng on his soap box trying to convince anybody that would listen that he didn’t deserve his red card at White Hart Lane on Tuesday. The Middlesborough captain is amazed that he was sent off and has argued “I didn’t hit anybody, I didn’t take a swing for anyone, I was just protecting myself”.

Now I’m interested in everyone’s take on this incident because as a Spurs fan my impartiality is questionable. However, in my view Boateng reacted badly to Aaron Lennon who is younger, shorter, less well built and probably easier to intimidate than the likes of Zokora or King. The Spurs players reacted as a team and although Zokora was sent off I am happy that the incident happened. Not happy that the brawl started but happy that the Spurs players backed one another and came to each others aid, this team ethic was what we were sorely missing last Saturday at Arsenal.

Boateng the intial aggressor now wants to appeal against his red card claiming it was not deserved and accusing Spurs players of steaming in. Its funny that the player whose reaction sparked the ensuing incident is now claiming innocence. George please dry your eyes, you reacted to a smaller player because you could and when the bigger boys came to his defence you bottled it. The FA has now charged both clubs for failure to control their players and I’m wondering whether Middlesborough will contest this decision.

Boateng’s case is to be heard today and I just hope that the fact media have highlighted the incident and George’s incessive moaning does not take away from the fact that a player deserves to be punished for inciting behaviour.