Arsenal are lucky, Sunderland are rubbish and Oliver Holt betrays the North

Guest writer Iain Anderson, of Why Say Anything fame, gives his take on the Premier League’s weekend action. 

We are only two weeks into the new season yet it already seems like a continuation of the old one.

Arsenal, having lost the first game at home again, were lucky to win the second one away to Crystal Palace. They should have been down to ten men when Francis Coquelin gave the referee two opportunities to send him off. Having already been booked the Frenchman committed two more fouls that would have been a yellow card for anybody else on the pitch. I don’t know if the referee was trying to keep it as eleven against eleven, but I have never seen the rule stating that this has to be the case.

The fact that Arsenal enjoyed this luck meant, of course, that Crystal Palace didn’t. They should have played the majority of the game against ten men and who knows what the result would have been then?

Sunderland look as though the in-between-season-break has done them the world of bad. Dick Advocaat must be rueing his wife’s weakness for flowers which led to him staying on as manager almost as much as the Sunderland fans who bought them. He could be enjoying an extended break somewhere not quite as hot as Sunderland will be at the moment.

After two games they are already favourites to be relegated, although this is not a new position for them. History says they will avoid the drop, common sense and logic do not.

Just a quick mention for Manchester City who beat Chelsea 3-0. They have started very well and the question, as usual is, can they keep it up?

Just another quick mention, this time for Leicester City who continue to confound the critics who thought they would already be relegated after two games and that Claudio Ranieri was the worst appointment ever made. Well done for proving those doubters wrong, (for the moment).

Finally, I feel obliged to bring up “The Sunday Supplement”, Sky Sports’ opportunity for overpaid football writers to voice their opinion having spent all week writing it.

This Sunday, Oliver Holt of the Mail on Sunday, was among the guests. Famous for being the son of Eileen Darbyshire, (Emily Bishop in Coronation Street) and supporting Stockport County, this Northerner has turned into a closet Cockney.

Discussing the transfer of foreign players to the Premier League, his words of wisdom included their desire to live in London as being one of the attractions. Granted, they are more likely to meet other foreigners in London than anywhere else, but this is hardly a reason to go to one of the many football clubs there.

Only Eden Hazard and “Champagne Charlie Nicholas”, to my knowledge, ever chose London over the North and my feeling here is that this was more down to ignorance of the English people and cities generally. (Champagne Charlie was just plain old Charlie before he went to Arsenal).

I feel pretty sure that the Argentinian, Spanish, French, Dutch, Brazilian, German, Italian, Ivory Coast and other nationalities I may have missed are all quite happy living in “The Frozen North”, which is actually a much warmer and friendlier place than London will ever be.

I haven’t been reading about many transfer requests from Northern based players wanting to go to London.

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