ROBIN VAN PERSIE will take one of my records away from me before the end of the month. I'm pretty sure of that and I'll be the first to congratulate him. He will beat my total of 36 Premier League goals in a calendar year a record, by the way, I was unaware of until it was mentioned to me on Match of the Day at the weekend. I set that mark back in 1995, when I was with Blackburn. But records are there to be broken and I can think of no better striker than the Dutchman to write his name in the history books. He has answered a lot of questions over the last 12 months with 33 goals in 32 Premier League games and not just as his team's main striker but as Arsenal captain. He has shouldered both of those responsibilities and replied to his critics by doing the hardest job in football, putting the ball in the net on a regular basis. People have argued with me that strikers don't make good captains because it is hard to influence the team when you are leading the line. I don't go along with that. I managed it OK. There are different types of skipper and Van Persie is not the roll-your-sleeves-up type who offers loud vocal encouragement. He is someone who leads by example with the excellence of his performances. Team-mates will always be inspired by that kind of skipper. We have always known he was a top player. There have been nagging doubts in the past about his fitness and his ability to play a long spell of games without interruption. He has put that right over the last year and proved beyond doubt he is up there with the world's best. Van Persie can score goals any way you like. He puts away headers, tap-ins and rockets. The volley which won the game against Everton last Saturday was, I suppose, a definitive strike by the in-form Arsenal man. ... .... ....