Former Arsenal hero Kenny Sansom has been watching the Olympics with interest, due to a personal knowledge of the country. Last year he coached youngsters as part of a Chinese Football Idol-style TV show, watched by nearly 100 million fans. There has bee

Former Arsenal hero Kenny Sansom has been watching the Olympics with interest, due to a personal knowledge of the country. Last year he coached youngsters as part of a Chinese Football Idol-style TV show, watched by nearly 100 million fans.

"There has been a lot of criticism with Tibet and everything, and no country is perfect," he said. "But the people I met and worked with were polite, kind and generous people.

"I had a great time out there and three of the lads are now at English academies. Everton, Forest and, I think, Bolton took a lad each. It was very rewarding. I only met mainly nice people. Sport and politics maybe should be kept apart."

And does he have plans to coach in England? "No way," he replied. "I enjoy my media work on radio and TV, I do stuff at Arsenal which I like, and after a coaching spell at Watford ended badly, I have learned my lesson.

"I spoke to Bryan Robson last week. I'm interested in writing a kind of coaching manual for would-be coaches to help them.

"People like Robbo and myself have great ideas and tons of experience. It only seems right that experience should be shared - it can surely only help the English game.