Gianni Infantino jets off in search kindlier footballing friends

You might have noticed that Gianni Infantino has been in the news quite a bit recently, the latest chapter in this never-ending saga being the announcement by Uefa that they are preparing criminal proceedings against the fella.Naturally, then, he’s been taking himself off to places where he’d expect to be greeted by somewhat friendlier faces, like in Vietnam last week.While there, he met the president of the country, promised Fifa “arenas” and “big-sized” football pitches in all of Vietnam’s schools, as well as a Fifa Academy. “This is what Fifa is about,” he said, “about developing, about bringing the best of football in every corner of the world”. It’s a generosity that could just result in support from that neck of the woods when he’s up for re-election next March. Who knows?READ MOREHe also attended the second and deciding leg of the Asean Championship final in Hanoi, which saw Vietnam see off Thailand. “Fantastic day. A lot of emotion. This is football. This is what we love in Fifa, and this is why I’m here,” he said, the Fifa website’s report showing a heap of clips of him being greeted warmly by the crowd. What they didn’t show, though, was the clip doing the rounds of him waving to the crowd, at which points cries of “F***ING W****R” ring out. Truly, football is an international language. Most peeved fans of the week? Possibly the section of the Crystal Palace faithful who travelled by train to Selhurst Park on Friday night for the side’s first home game of the season, against Manchester City. The problem? Well, according to The Sun, the driver forgot to stop at Selhurst Park. No kiddin’.“We’re really sorry fans missed their stop on the way to the game and sincerely hope they still managed to make it for kick-off,” said the railway company. “We’re continuing to investigate what happened.”Mind you, seeing as Palace lost 4-1, perhaps it was a blessing in disguise.Quote of the Week“I don’t know the word for higher than a genius. Maybe God?” – Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage swoons over Manchester City’s Rayan Cherki, who he coached at Lyon.Number: 375That’s how many million Euro Spurs have spent in the transfer window so far. They’ll be looking for refunds if things don’t pick up soon. Anthony Elanga scores Newcastle against Spurs. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images Word of Mouth “We’ve spent and we’ve spent! We’re back! We’re going places! We’re huge!” – The Spurs stadium announcer before they lost 2-0 to Newcastle. As one Twitterer put it, “only place they’re going is QPR away”. “I told him ‘bye’ with a huge hug and with small tears.” – Unai Emery on his teary adieu to Saudi Arabia-bound Ollie Watkins.“He’s slow on the ball, he touches it three of four times before releasing it. He doesn’t know what to do with it, he’s confused. When your top centre back is Harry Maguire, you have a problem.” – Former Chelsea man John Obi Mikel being exceedingly rude about Harry. “Disgraced and hairy – that’s all your lot ever call me.” – In a chat with The Daily Mail, disgraced and hairy Richard Keys emotes about his treatment by the British media. “It’s not a bad start from the worst team in Premier League history.” – Ollie McBurnie on champions-elect Hull City’s perfect start to the season.“When he signed, I thought, good player, but slow and unfit. Looked a bit fat. Then he took his top off and I’m like, woah, maybe not.” – Aston Villa’s John McGinn on quickly revising his first-impression judgment of his former team-mate Youri Tielemans.