Sports Ladder (4th - 10th August)

UP - Rory McIlroy - Not a bad week for the young Northern Irishman as he effectively creates an own era for himself. The returning world number one has always had the talent to be the best golfer in the world but has never strung together a run long enough to claim this title. However, after his third consecutive tournament victory, two of these being majors, McIlroy has set himself aside from the rest of the golfing world and become the very best. We are now well and truly in the McIlroy era.

UP - Arsenal - 'Specialists in failure?' Jose Mourinho will be eating his words this week as Arsenal brushed Manchester City aside to win their second trophy in less than three months. It was a commanding display against the League Champions from a side who have been the laughing stock of the top end of the Premier League for so long.. As cliched as it sounds, that FA Cup victory really may open the floodgates for Arsenal and I see them as genuine title champions this year, not just contenders. Wenger certainly knows what he is doing.


UP - England Cricket - We won again! Two weeks in a row! Actual legitimate victories! This time by a whole innings! Insane! No more words are even needed!

UP - Venus Williams - This week must have felt so very pleasing for the eldest Williams sister. For years she has disappeared, cowering in the shadow of her dominant younger sister. Serena has been the number one ranked player ranked female for well over a year now whilst Venus has toiled with injuries and dropped well down in the rankings. However, this week Venus claimed her first triumph over her sister since 2009 and made the final of the Rogers Cup in the process. Unfortunately she lost but we'll ignore that part.

UP - Howard Webb - Referees get a lot of bad press. Most weeks on Match of the Day they are hounded by Linekar and the gang as well as most of the neutrals for poor errors all over the park. This week though, Manchester United, the Premier League mourned the loss of one of its greatest assets in Howard Webb. The veteran became the first of Louis Van Gaal's summer clear out  referee retired from his 25-year career to spend more time with his family. All jokes aside, Webb will be sorely missed.

DOWN - Mark Robins - Football sackings have become a bit of a joke in recent years. Managers fired before Christmas, given no time at all to implement their ideas and no time to at least try and implement some sort of recovery. Mark Robins decided that getting fired ten games into a season was too mainstream though, opting for the more ridiculous choice of leaving after ONE game of the new season. Huddersfield were spanked 4-0 by a rampant Bournemouth side which left Robins out of a job. My head was buried so deep in my hands at this ridiculous news.

DOWN - Andy Murray - After failing to retain his Wimbledon title it looks like Murray doesn't fancy retaining his Sports Personality of the Year award either. Another quarter-final exit in this weeks Toronto Masters sees the Brit make absolutely no ground on his rivals and continue to languish in a mediocre ninth in the world rankings. Despite the appointment of Amelie Mauresmo as his coach, little has changed for the Brit and it looks to be his worst year for a very long time on the court.

DOWN - Legia Warsaw - Picture the scene. 6-1 up on aggregate in the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Absolutely cruising. No way for the opposition to come back. So naturally the thing to do is bring on a player who is potentially ineligible to play with just three minutes to go. Another head-in-hands football moment as Warsaw saw themselves thrown out of the Champions League for this rookie mistake. Never underestimate the importance of paperwork.

DOWN - Bernie Ecclestone - The big, or should I say, little man at the head of Formula One made a bit of a tit of himself this week when he decided that the best way to sort out a bribery trial would simply be to buy his way out with an effectively legal form of bribery. Ecclestone was on trial for bribing a company he favoured to buy a stake in F1 and got out of the trial by paying a 100 million Euro buy-out. If that doesn't scream 'guilty' then I really don't know what does.

DOWN - Tiger Woods - Topping this weeks Sports Ladder was Rory McIlroy and his new era so it seemed only fitting to put his predecessor rock bottom after another week to forget. On a generous Valhalla course, Woods looked barely a shadow of his best, finishing on Friday after failing to make the cut by six shots. Plagued with injuries and still not looking focused after his off-the-course personal problems, the era of the legendary Tiger Woods is well and truly over.

Premier League Preview: Arsenal

Last Season: 4th

Pre-Season Prediction: 3rd - The fourth-placed trophy will slip away, as unfortunately will the title.

Last season Arsenal claimed two trophies, their coveted fourth placed trophy and, more importantly, the FA Cup trophy. With their 3-2 victory in the final over Hull, they broke the nine year trophy duct and in doing so may have smashed a psychological barrier that has been holding them back in recent seasons. The same problems remain in the league though, with Wenger's side failing to maintain a season-long title challenge, fading badly in the second half of the season.

This summer, Wenger has finally made good on his promise to spend, splashing the cash on Chilean star Alexis Sanchez as well as Mathieu Debuchy, David Ospina and youngster Calum Chambers. Sanchez is a huge signing for the Gunners, providing power, pace and creativity to an already glittering array of attacking midfielders whilst Debuchy has an important job to do replacing Bakary Sagna. Ospina and Chambers will both be squad players but are a vast improvement on Fabianski and Jenkinson.

That said, Arsenal may need another centre-half should Thomas Vermaelen depart as expected before the end of the window. Most fans would also be keen to see another striker brought in as well, as an injury to Giroud would leave them short at the front. The frenchman has looked unfit in pre-season and there may be questions over who will start up top in this weekends Community Shield. A deeper lying midfielder may also be required due to Arteta's age and Abou Diaby's persistent injury problems, with Ramsey requiring a more long-term partner alongside him in midfield.

Pre-season has been a mixed bag so far for the Gunners. Two convincing wins both followed by equally unconvincing defeats has left fans quietly anxious. The worst defeat came in the Emirates Cup with a lacklustre display condemning them to a 1-0 defeat against Monaco and failure to win the trophy they created. However, four goals from Yaya Sanogo will have done plenty to ease worries about strength in depth in the striking department, whilst youngster Calum Chambers gave a couple of assured performances to warrant his £16 million transfer fee.

This year expect to see an Arsenal side flowing with confidence. There is a whole host of top quality players such as Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain and Aaron Ramsey who are still young and improving every season and they will only get better with age. With a solid defensive unit and increased creativity through Sanchez expect Arsenal to continue to excite their own fans, as well as the neutrals. I struggle to see them claiming the title with the squad depth of Chelsea and Manchester City, but they will certainly be there or there about come the end of the season.


Key Man: Aaron Ramsey - Something of a forgotten man come the end of season player awards due to his injuries through the second-half of the season but was a revelation during the opening half of the campaign. Arguably the best central midfielder in the League, the Welshman has a little bit of everything, goals, assists, flair and energy and will be vital to Arsenal's title push this year. If they can find a defensive midfielder to partner him in midfield then we may see him tear the League apart.

One to Watch: Mesut Ozil - Ozil has come under plenty of criticism this year for poor form both at Arsenal and also at the World Cup with Germany. Unquestionably he has lost some of his flair from a few years ago but has developed into an extremely solid number ten. He is always assured in possession with pass completion stats comparable with that of a deeper lying midfielder and with ten assists for Arsenal last year, do not be surprised to see this figure rise this year as the German fully adapts to life in the Premier League.

Best Signing: Mathieu Debuchy - The stand-out signing from a commercial perspective is obviously the ex-Barcelona man Alexis Sanchez but the purchase of Mathieu Debuchy is far more important for the team. With the departure of Bakary Sagna to Manchester City it was vital that Wenger bought a solid replacement. Choosing Debuchy was a stellar bit of business as he is one of the most underrated players statistically in the league. Whilst he is not renowned for his marauding runs forward, the ex-Newcastle man is excellent defensively, with better tackling, blocking and intercepting stats than Sagna last year. With enough Premier League experience, Debuchy may just turn out to be one of the buys of the summer.

Sports Ladder (13th - 19th May)

UP - Arsenal - It was hard to avoid the disappointment on twitter. No more 'no trophies in nine years' jokes as Arsenal lifted the FA Cup this weekend. But whilst a significant portion of footballs more neutral fan base were disappointed, it was jubilation for Arsene's gunners, who recovered from an early slip-up to eventually beat Hull City 3-2 after extra-time. It was by no means a routine win but was certainly long over due. It's been over two days since Arsenal last won a trophy, how will their fans be coping?

UP - Rebecca Downie - It's become customary to see gymnastics success for Britain in recent years. Be it through the sterling efforts of Beth Tweddle or Louis Smith, medals have come in plenty and this week a new star arrived. Twenty-two year old Rebecca Downie this week claimed a gold medal in the uneven bars to go with her silver medal as part of the British team event. Downie is only the second after Tweddle to win a gold at a European Championships.

UP - Sir Bradley Wiggins - With the Tour de France rapidly approaching and Team Sky yet to announce who will be their leader the next few weeks will be extremely interesting. Sir Bradley Wiggins laid down his marker this week with a victory in the Tour of California. As well as becoming the first ever Brit to scoop up that particular title, Wiggins has also pushed for a place amongst the top of the Sky Team. Could be an almighty tussle between himself and Froome.

UP - Hannah Cockroft - From one speed demon to another as Hannah Cockroft climbs higher up the sporting ladder. The 21-year-old beat her own 200m T34 time with a new World Record of 30.86 to dip inside 31 seconds for the first time after taking 0.37 seconds off her last record. After success in Switzerland Hannah will now turn her attention towards August and this years European Championships as she seeks to win another gold medal. This weeks wheelie big cheese. I regret nothing.

UP - Ibrahim Hamato - If I said to you that it is possible to play a decent standard of table-tennis without any arms you would probably think I was bonkers. Ibrahim Hamato however has decided to smash this idea by playing with the paddle in his mouth! After an accident as a child resulting in a double arm amputation, Hamato has bounced back in quite incredible fashion. After years of training he can now hold a solid rally with some of the World's very best. Someone please give this man a medal!

DOWN - Plane Banners - This season has seen a lot of ups and downs in the Premier League but something which needs to go on holiday and never come back over the summer break is the introduction of plane banners. Manchester United fans are the prime culprits and this week, even after the season was over, decided to send one mocking Liverpool for losing the title. Realistically, I don't think after this season Manchester Untied fans are really in a position to mock anyone.

DOWN - Daniel Levy - I believe that Daniel Levy's ninth managerial sacking since taking charge should finally see blame directly firmly in his direction for Tottenham's shortcomings. There can be no doubt that he is a superb businessman but as Clive Allen said this week, Levy is "not a football man". This week saw Levy dismiss yet another manager in the form of Tim Sherwood and Tottenham's chairman will now be looking for another man who won't be in the job for more than two years. Change is needed.

DOWN - Stephen Lee - Sometimes the best thing is to just accept your punishment and move on. Stephen Lee didn't agree with this sentiment and this week his appeal against his twelve year professional snooker ban was turned down. This means Stephen will remain out of action until 2024 and his costs have also increased from £40,000 to £75,000 as a result of the failed appeal. Well the lesson we've all learnt from this is if you do happen to be a professional snooker player, just don't fix matches.

DOWN - Manchester City - It didn't last long did it. Just a few days after the blue half of Manchester claimed their second Premier League title it all went a bit wrong. Firstly, the Financial Fair Play committee confirmed that they will indeed suffer a $49 million fine for breaching rules as well as a reduction in the size of their Champions League squad next year. Then it emerged that they may struggle to reach their home grown player quota for next year. Louis Van Gaal must be licking his lips.

DOWN - Sepp Blatter - Qatar is in fact hot. That is the stunning revelation from Sepp Blatter this week as he finally admitted that hosting the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is in fact a terrible idea. Surprising that. Although what is perhaps more surprising is that it has taken him this long to figure that out. What this means for the World Cup we are yet to find out, although it is very likely it will still go ahead. More importantly though, is the issue of Sepp Blatter. How can we get him to just go away?

Premier League Preview: Arsenal

Arsenal fans enter the season with their usual sense of optimism mixed with transfer-window disappointment. After cheif-executive Ivan Gazidis promised Arsene Wenger £70 million to spend at the start of the summer, fans will be disappointed to see only free-transfer Yaya Sanogo arrive at the Emirates.

However, they will feel more optimistic than usual that players will arrive before the 2 September deadline after Arsenal have looked to smash their previous transfer record, having a bid declined of £40,000,001 for Liverpool's want-away striker Luis Suarez. With Suarez himself pushing for a transfer it now seems like only a matter of time before the controversial Uruguayan arrives at the Emirates.

Having lost none of their big name players during the window and shifting a bit of deadweight in the form of Andre Santos and Gervinho they will be looking to press on from retaining their fourth place position. Ideally Wenger will be looking to challenge for the title but with the return of Mourinho at Chelsea and big signings at Manchester City it seems difficult to see how realistic that aim is. Perhaps Wenger should instead look to break the eight year trophy duct by attempting to win either the FA Cup or League Cup, pleasing the fans by finally winning a trophy.

Key Player: Santi Carzola - Whilst many will argue that Jack Wilshere is Arsenal's key man, his injury-prone nature means that Arsenal need someone who can perform consistantly all season. Last year Carzola proved he could be that player with 12 goals and 14 assists after playing in every premier league game. If he can continue that form Arsenal can certainly make a push for the top 3.

One to Watch: Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain - After breaking through to the Arsenal team two seasons ago, 'the Ox', had a quiet season last year and failed to regularly establish himself in the Arsenal team. However, with another years experience under his belt 'the Ox' will be looking to regain a regular spot in the Arsenal team.

Best Summer Signing: Yaya Sanogo - An easy decision as he is the only signing thus far. A traditional Wenger signing as the young striker will certainly be one to watch over the coming years.

Last Season: 4th

Pre-Season Prediction: 4th - Retaining their coveted 4th place trophy again. Even if Suarez signs it does not cover the fact that their squad is not as strong as teams around them.