Paper Round: John Terry stands his ground while Arsene Wenger loses his

The Daily Star report on Thursday that veteran Chelsea defender John Terry has rejected a massive THREE bids by US teams, keen to lure him to the MLS next season which gets underway next month. According to the newspaper, the 36-year-old turned down offers from LA Galaxy, New York Red Bulls and Orlando City in favour of seeing out his remaining days under contract at Stamford Bridge.

Paper Round’s view: If the season goes the way many now predict, Terry will see his fifth league victory with Chelsea come May, as a result of this stubbornness and refusal to move. And fair play to him – that’s a decent enough reason to stick it out. As is getting paid a substantial wage to make nine appearances, so far this season. Plus he might just like the look of an ambassadorial role at the club, with old mucker Frank Lampard.

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Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez has talked down links between him and the much-rumoured forthcoming vacancy at The Emirates Stadium. Of course Arsene Wenger’s position as Arsenal manager will be the cause of more speculation since his team’s humiliating 5-1 defeat by Bayern Munich in The Champions League on Wednesday night. But Benitez says he is focussed on his job securing promotion for Newcastle, who were relegated last season. He said of Wenger: "I have a good relationship with him…He’s doing a good job, but that is not my concern."

Paper Round’s view: Arsene Wenger has proven to be more resilient than most managers, given the waves of criticism he’s endured over the last few seasons. However, this most recent setback must spell quite serious trouble. But who would replace him? Not Harry Redknapp, we suspect, despite former Gooner Paul Merson’s musings that the ex-Tottenham boss is tactically more astute than the Frenchman.

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Big news for the FA’s Women’s Super League on Wednesday garners some attention in Thursday’s sports pages, with two-times FIFA World Player of the Year Carli Lloyd joining Manchester City’s women’s team. Though only a short-term sojourn from Houston Dash, USA international Lloyd will remain with the team until the end of the Spring Series in June.

Paper Round’s view: Lloyd’s short but hopefully sweet move to the FAWSL could be huge for the women’s game in the UK. Lloyd has a World Cup winner’s medal as well as two Olympic golds for her country. Though she’s the third US international player to move to the English league recently, she is by far the biggest name, and a player that many of even those who don’t follow the women’s league will have heard of. This can only generate more interest in the thriving women’s game.

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A BBC documentary will reveal a stark warning from Russian hooligans to England’s travelling fans ahead of next year’s World Cup, The Guardian reports on Thursday. The documentary, which is due to be aired on the same day, follows some of the hooligans involved in last year’s ugly scenes during Euro 2016. According to reports the hooligans encountered during the documentary, who are said to be highly organised, promise fans a “festival of violence” in Russia, next summer.

Paper Round’s view: The enduring image of patio furniture being hurled amid plumes of tear gas should have been warning enough that there is a problem in the international game. Of course some of those involved in those scenes were Russian and since that is where the competition is set to take place, it certainly warrants investigation in terms of capacity to deal with what were popularly labelled “skirmishes”. However, lest we forget the troubles during last year’s tournament were widespread and not concentrated in any one fan base – FIFA and individual national governing bodies must now prove that these issues are under investigation.

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