Comment by Lou Macari

I’M GLAD to say that the wig and false beard weren’t needed in the end as I ventured into The Emirates at the weekend.

I wasn’t sure whether a lynch mob might be waiting for me after the angry reaction from Arsenal fans to last week’s column.

Well, I stand by my criticism of Arsene Wenger’s claim that Ryan Shawcross was guilty of an horrendous challenge on Aaron Ramsey, just as Wenger himself appears to be standing by his original comment.

Working for TV at Arsenal on Saturday gave me the chance to take a peek at Burnley before they entertain Stoke tomorrow night.

On the evidence of their 3-1 defeat by Arsenal, Stoke have nothing to worry about ... but we all know Burnley are a different proposition on their own Turf.

Whether it’s the ground, the pitch, the atmosphere or the climate up there in Burnley, it’s their home form that will keep them up if anything does.

True, they did get it back to 1-1 at one stage at Arsenal on Saturday, but there was no way the game was ever going to end that way.

Burnley just didn’t work as hard as a Stoke City would or close down as much as a Stoke City would.

The net result would have been a cricket score had Nicklas Bendtner taken his chances, while Theo Walcott was simply allowed to run riot because he was given so much space.

Burnley may yet cheat the drop because there must be four or five teams down at the bottom who can give teams a decent game on their own patch, just like Wolves did with Manchester United on Saturday, but just can’t buy a result away from home.

That’s why there’s a 10-point gap between the strugglers and the Stoke Citys of this world because Tony Pulis has gone in with a game plan away from home that looks like working for a second successive season.

The Stoke lads will be feeling a little weary after working hard without reward at Chelsea on Sunday, while injuries are now going to test Tony’s squad.

But with the exception of Matthew Etherington, at least he hasn’t lost players who can’t be replaced by someone of similar ability.

Stoke didn’t do a lot wrong at Chelsea, they were just beaten by a much better team. Simple as that.

The gap between the very best of the Premier League and mid-table is clearly still a big one, and you’ve got to be realistic and accept that it’s a gap that will take a lot more than two seasons for Stoke to bridge.

That said, at least they are two seasons along the way ... and heading for a third.

HERE are three results which should make our toes curl ...

England under-21s 1, Greece under-21s 2.

Ireland under-21s 1, Armenia under-21s 2.

If I also tell you these weren’t meaningless friendlies, but European Championship qualifying games, that Azerbaijan were also down to 10 men and still outplayed Scotland, and that Ireland also lost 4-1 in Armenia late last year then you’ll understand why alarm bells should be ringing loud and clear.

Something is going seriously wrong with the game in this country when our up-and-coming young players are getting shown up by what were once third-rate footballing nations.

It’s an embarrassment, and one that should have us asking searching questions about the way our game is run at youth level.

Regular readers will already know that my opinion of the Academy system couldn’t be written down without offending purchasers of a family newspaper.

The faults are many and varied, but one over-riding principle which has poisoned our game is the tendency to reward kids financially – and with big bucks – before they’ve achieved anything.

Perhaps that is why youngsters from poorer countries like Armenia and Azerbaijan are now showing themselves to be hungrier to succeed – because they haven’t got such a cushy number back home.

If you trot out a list of world class players we’ve churned out over the 15-odd years that the Academy system has been running, then I’ll gladly hold my hands up and say fair enough.

But no such lists exists in these parts, or many others for that matter, because the game is suffering from a dearth of talent.

The Bosman ruling is another poison within our game.

I used to love the days when I could call in a young Andy Griffin and gladly reward him for his success on the pitch.

But now players are being given lucrative new contracts to simply stop them being signed for nothing by another club.

So it’s time to wake up ... otherwise the day will soon come when we are simply shrugging our shoulders at being beaten at home by the likes of Armenia and drawing against 10-man Azerbaijan.