3 months ago when it looked like Ched Evans would be returning to football, I wrote that football had no morals and he’d be back playing football in no time. Since then, several teams have looked to sign the convicted rapist, including Sheffield United, Hartlepool United and most recently Oldham Athletic.

The circus surrounding the Oldham Athletic situation was particularly toxic, and the lack of direction from the FA and the Football League is quite telling – without specific guidelines or rules on what to do with convicted sex offenders, the whole Ched Evans saga has descended into chaos and we find ourselves where we are now.

Oldham Athletic were naive at best as they publicly came out and said a deal to sign Ched Evans was 80% complete. What followed was a vicious backlash as the public clearly did not want him to be playing football again. Sponsors for Oldham threatened to pull out, and the final straw was when the club directors daughter was directly threatened with rape if Ched Evans signed for them.

Their statement afterwards was also extremely naive, as they stated that they didn’t anticipate the reaction to their decision could not have been anticipated. Are Oldham Athletic living in a deep hole 500 meters in the ground? Every man and their dog could see that attempting to sign Ched Evans would be met with an unsavoury reception.

The bottom line in all this is the men who are supposed to be governing football have no idea what they are doing. The FA have been deafly silent, the PFA have been misguided in their support and the Football League have essentially said it’s up to the football clubs to decide. And when you consider how mental some of the owners of football teams are, then it’s no surprise several teams are trying to sign Ched Evans.

But in this circus, the fact is Ched Evans almost signed for a professional football club. And what stopped it? Was it the police? No. Was it the FA? No. Was it the Football League? No. Was it a petition or supporters group? No.

What stopped the move was a direct threat made to the directors daughter, and the so called “trial by social media”.

If this was 20 years ago, Ched Evans would already be playing football again. I’m not saying that’s right or wrong, but it’s a fact. These days, whenever big happens it’s reported on social media instantaneously, specifically on Twitter. Social media is a gift and a curse, and in a way it’s a liberating way to freely express your opinions and share information. The law in this country struggles to police social media, and if you want to know some information on a public case which the mainstream media cannot report, you simply go to Twitter. The police have clamped down on those who reveal this type of confidential data (such as the teenager who killed the teacher in Leeds, or the victim of the Ched Evans rape) but people still use it to spread information.

Social media is a way of gauging the publics opinion but it also allows those win an extreme opinion to come to the fore – and this snowball effect of outrage for Ched Evans’ return to the game is the main reason Oldham had a massive u-turn. The sponsors of Oldham Athletic aren’t stupid, and they will have checked Twitter to see the general feeling of people in regards to the convicted rapist. After seeing the vast majority of people express disgust at a possible return, it is an easy ploy to threaten to pull out of sponsorship deals. And I’m sure the threats made by people on Oldham staff by those on Twitter also didn’t get unnoticed.

20 years ago, social media didn’t even exist. As I’ve already stated, football lives in a bubble of its own with its own moral compass which based on previous examples, is pretty non-existent. And because of this, without the internet Ched Evans would be (rightly or wrongly) playing football again.

Lukas Podolski was no doubt a popular player at Arsenal, with his social media exploits going some way to helping his cause. However, it seems that the shit has hit the fan, with Podolski “apparently” hitting out at Arsene Wenger, saying the Arsenal manager showed him a “lack of respect”.

According to The Telegraph however (which is in my opinion more reliable than The Sun), Arsene Wenger completely refuted the claims, stating:

“I had many conversations with him, he had my agreement to go on loan. I deny that completely but I knew he did not get enough opportunities.

“We have many players, when a player of his quality doesn’t get enough games you can understand he is frustrated.

“At some stage too many players is detrimental to the confidence. You need the right numbers. It had nothing to do with his quality. It is just a loan without an option to buy – that means he is back at the end of the season.”

And to be honest, when I read the claims from The Sun, I was already pretty dubious about the statements. Surely for a loan move to even happen, Arsene Wenger must sit down and discuss the opportunity with the player himself – and in true Arsene Wenger style he would have given the player his blessing. Also, it’s clear that Podolski will be back at the end of the season so it’s not as if the German would never see Arsene again – so why would there need to be any long, emotional goodbyes?

Hopefully Arsenal fans realise that the media have an agenda when it comes to Arsenal and Arsene Wenger and they just love to stir things and give the fans an excuse to attack Arsene Wenger.

The fact is, Arsene Wenger is one of the best man managers in the game and how many players who have left the club have nothing but praise for the Frenchman? Every player who has departed has sung Arsene’s praises and I can’t see how he would suddenly give Podolski the cold shoulder.

Lukas Podolski will be back at the end of the season and the whole situation will be evaluated then. Whether he moves on is still up in the air – but do you think Lukas Podolski has a future at Arsenal?

It has been said that certain players might not have the influence on the pitch but they have influence in the dressing room, and Lukas Podolski is apparently one of those players.

Described as a “big personality” by Per Mertesacker and others, you wonder if the German’s loan move to Inter Milan might have consequences for Arsenal this season.

He had limited playing time but for the most part, he was regarded as a popular figure in the dressing room. Always smiling and always positive, he was a player who the other Arsenal players liked – if you looked on social media anyway.

They said the dressing room changed when Emmanuel Eboue left Arsenal, and we’ve lost captains in quick succession – Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry, William Gallas, Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Thomas Vermaelen all left and they were all big personalities behind the scenes. And ever since Vieira left we’ve had trouble winning anything (bar the FA Cup success last season).

Does Arsene Wenger want a quiet and obedient dressing room? Is this one of the problems we have? Maybe Arsene Wenger doesn’t like people who speak up and have an opinion.

Time will tell if Podolski’s move will affect Arsenal’s fortunes, but for me he will be a big miss for our football club.

In a move which was never really a secret, Lukas Podolski has travelled to Milan to finalise a loan move to Inter, after Arsenal reportedly accepted an improved offer from the Italian giants.

But the question is should Arsenal have let him go? And why have we let him go?

The Lukas Podolski situation has always been a strange one for me. He is clearly a talented player, and allegedly Steve Bould came out and said that Podolski was the best finisher he has ever seen at the club – high praise considering Steve Bould was around when players like Alan Smith, Ian Wright, Nicolas Anelka and Dennis Bergkamp were at the club.

Podolski joined Arsenal from FC Koln in the summer of 2012 and was immediately thrust into the first team alongside new signings Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla – and made 33 appearances in the league alone. The season after he only played 20 Premier League games, and this season he only featured in 6. So clearly, there is an issue with him at Arsenal.

But what was it? He’s had limited playing time this season but did score a vital winner against Anderlecht in the Champions League and then scored a brace against Galatasaray in the same competition – and all the goals were clinical finishes. And for me, he is a player whose finishing is right up there with the very best – surely there’s a place for a player like him who can score when given the right service?

I’m sure most Arsenal fans are wondering if it was Arsene Wenger who had a problem with him or whether the system we used was just not suited to Podolski’s game. Olivier Giroud is obviously the preferred striker and with Alexis Sanchez in sensational form and Danny Welbeck willing to run for the team, I suppose Podolski was always going to be left on the sidelines. What is strange to me however is that during Giroud’s injury spell, Podolski had something to offer. Podolski has a hammer shot but when played wide on the left his delivery is excellent – the assists he has provided over the last couple of seasons for Giroud alone were top drawer.

Also, there are times when Arsenal lack a Plan B or just need to mix things up a little. Podolski (if used right) would be perfect for that but was never used. For a player of his ability, I find it strange that he hasn’t featured more this season. You don’t just turn into a poor player overnight and when you have seen Podolski play, he’s scored goals.

There’s no doubt that Lukas will be happier at Inter Milan where I am sure he will get much more playing time, but my regret is that we didn’t use him to his full potential – and for me he is someone that could definitely help the current Arsenal team.

But what do you think? Should Arsenal have kept Lukas Podolski at the club? Cast your vote below and leave your thoughts in the comments section!

We enter a brand new year full of optimism a hope, but that was dashed pretty quickly against Southampton this afternoon.

Two mistakes by Szczesny meant that we lost against a Southampton side who weren’t at their best today. Southampton were without their best player Morgan Schneiderlin, but still managed to outfox Arsenal and create plenty of chances – Southampton striker Graziano Pelle had five shots on goal today including two attempts hitting the post and one was cleared off the line.

For Southamptons opener, Szczesny came flying off his line giving Sadio Mane a relatively simple opportunity to place his shot into an empty net. And for their second, the Pole kicked the ball to Tadic who accepted the gift and slotted in from close range.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Szczesny is always prone to making big mistakes and he’s done it again today. If you take away the mistakes the game was pretty even and both sides fashioned chances – so without the mistakes Arsenal might have got at least a point.

Arsene Wenger needs to man up and drop him for 5 or 6 games. Bring in Martinez or Ospina and give them a run in the team. Otherwise what’s the point of having backup goalkeepers?

But it’s the same old story with Arsenal isn’t it? Arsene Wenger is a fantastic manager who has done wonders for the club but we’re stuck in that awkward situation where no-one at the club knows what to do – Arsene Wenger is a manager who is clearly incapable of creating and nurturing a side good enough to win the Premier League, but at the same time he knows how to get Arsenal into the Top Four every single season.

And that’s the bottom line. Champions League football is the minimum a side like Arsenal should be achieving and Arsene Wenger is the man who can guarantee it every year. And at the end of the day, risking that to see if we can find a manager who can take us to the next level is too much of a risk to take for the Arsenal board.