Despite having pleaded with Arsenal not to sign Lee Bowyer because of his errr... character issues, I then mentioned in passing that it might be an idea to hijack the Woodgate-to-Newcastle move.

In my defence, I'd like to say that the suggestion was very much intended to be tongue-in-cheek. The context was that of reports that Leeds were looking to hijack Upson's move to Birmingham, and the intention was to make a point about the quality of the defender that we were letting go.

Maybe it is strange that Woodgate has attracted less criticism than Bowyer, given that the former was found guilty of affray in the trial over the attack on Sarfraz Najeib, while the latter was not. I guess that one reason is that Bowyer has previous for affray (with racist insults thrown in), and another is their differing responses to the Najeib case (Woodgate seeming penitent, Bowyer cocky). One gets the feeling that it would be easier, on signing Woodgate, to get him to say the right things to the media and fans. Anyway, at the end of the day I'm glad that it looks like Woodgate's going elsewhere, if only because it'll reduce my email traffic.

I did want to take this opportunity also to address a strange belief which seems to be received wisdom in the football world: that to be racist means to be prejudiced against all racial groups apart from ones own.

It crops up again and again. I don't want it to seem like I'm vilifying Woodgate now, but the examples that spring to mind, and the one which I read in this morning's Guardian prompting me to write this article, come from his case. The following is less about him than about the logic of the following statements...

First, I remember people saying during last year's trial, "he can't be racist because he's (best) mates with Michael Duberry". Huh?!

Then, in today's Guardian, I see Bobby Robson saying "I would not sign Jonathan Woodgate if I thought he was a racist...."

That's fine Bobby, you obviously know the guy better than I do. I just hope you've got more to go on than this: "Jonathan is a close friend of Kieron Dyer, Jermaine Jenas and Rio Ferdinand, and that speaks for itself."

Does it? For a start, as a white man who's come across a few white men with decidedly dodgy views, I can categorically state that it is possible to be mates with black people while still harbouring prejudice against black people in general. Just as it's possible to cheer on an England team full of black players while still wishing they'd be "sent home" (?) and giving nazi salutes to the national anthem (but that's a whole nother rant).

More importantly though, not one of Dyer, Jenas, Ferdinand, or Duberry is Asian. I'm not saying that I believe Woodgate to be anti-Asian, that's not the point. The point is that the fact that he's mates with some black blokes is not particularly relevant one way or the other.

The same attitude is often evident when football establishment figures address the question of institutional racism, as well as racism of individuals. Someone from the "Let's Kick Racism out of Football" campaign needs to go round the clubs and explain to them that the fact that black players have been fully integrated into the football scene in this country (well, on the playing side, anyway), does not mean that racism has been eradicated from the game! (Maybe they are doing so, no criticism of the campaign is intended)

There are a hell of a lot of British Asians, a hell of a lot of them play football, and they are still woefully (if not utterly) under-represented. It's no use saying "they're not good enough" or "they don't want it", the statistics in this are simply overwhelming. It is a bad thing and it makes no sense.

I don't know exactly what should or could be done about it, but admitting that it's a problem would be a start. Explaining to players that the need for them to be publicly opposed to racism is for the sake of the game not just themselves, would be a help too.