I have been in London for the past week or so. I must admit it is one of my favourite city’s and especially so at this time of year. Despite the cold nights the days have been warm and with spring just around the corner there is a quite discernable hint of optimism around and about the place.

This sense of optimism is what I admire most about the Londoner. Those used to travelling the highways and byways of old England, as every professional footballer based in the country can verify , soon get used to the indigenous and quite diverse traits that abound around this quite traditional-minded country.

For example, West Country people are jolly and happy go lucky while Yorkshire folk can be suspicious and wary. But the average inhabitant of the Capital city has this optimistic and “what will be will be” attitude to life that I personally find very appealing. At the same time the same people also feel that they are sharper, smarter and cooler than the rest of the population, but sure isn’t this the same in every Capital city in the world.

Generally however, the typical Londoner through the ages had to attain and preserve a stoic and cheerful attitude to help overcome some of the majorly drastic events that have impacted quite vividly on this famous metropolis.

In many ways this attitude has been the saving grace that motivated the whole country to face adversity with such a determined force of personality and resolve.

But it is not just the historical or cultural aspect of London that I wish to concentrate on this week. Rather it is the modern attitude and perception of the many people I have talked with during recent days in this city. Most football talk has been focused on the proposal to play a ’39th” Premier League game in city’s across the globe. Initially I thought it was an interesting notion. I could see merits to the idea and especially so if the plan was for the betterment of the game of football around the world, but!!

I am under no illusions whatsoever that the Premiership as it was known was born of greed and little else. Once the awareness of the vast financial potential of live games on TV became a reality the biggest and the richest clubs decided to grab the lions share for themselves. Now I accept this attitude is the way of the world we now inhabit and football is, as I always state in this newspaper, simply a reflection of the society around it, hence the greed referred to above is understandable, to a small extent anyway.

But almost all my conversations this week have unearthed a most definite antipathy towards the Premier League’s proposal. Most involved in professional football and almost to a man everybody outside it, recognises this proposal as arrogant and insulting. For English clubs to go and play a competitive match an another country, take the millions of pounds of gate receipts and swag back to the motherland and leave little of consequence in their wake is somewhat reminiscent of the imperialistic days of the British Empire.

To their credit most Londoners accept this. After all, this is a city that has harboured its fair share of self-serving politicians and all other types of con-men down the centuries. They know a scam when they see one and they have witnessed them all at one time or another. They not only appreciate a good trick when they see it they do their best to emulate it. Consequently, it would be a wise and prudent move on the part of the Premier League when another bright idea is engendered to whisper it by the banks of the Thames and gauge the reaction of the locals.

Had this simple yet sensible course of action been undertaken by the mandarins of Soho Square the idea would have been shelved immediately, or taken back to the drawing board for some serious restructuring.

Tomorrow I’m leaving London and heading to Egypt. I have never experienced a cold night in Cairo and the Nile will portray a much deeper and warmer blue than the Thames. For a while at least I have time to spend on myself and I intend using it as wisely as I can.

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