Petty politics at play

Good day to you, I was hoping that we could get away from the Cesc stuff for one day but transfers are complicated things.

There's the will of a player, the will of a club, the will of the agent of the player and whatever agenda he might have to further. In today's Mirror there's a story about how Cesc decided to leave because of Peter Hill-Wood's comments a little while ago. Basically, the Chairman expressed his doubts that Cesc would get into their team right now.

Yes, the comments were, perhaps, a touch inelegant, but it was clear to see what he meant (my original reaction here). What he was saying was that Barcelona had an array of talent in their squad, in Xavi they had a player very like Cesc but very much in his prime, and instead of being an automatic first choice like at Arsenal he might find himself more of a squad player there for a little while. Entirely reasonable sentiments and ones shared by many Arsenal fans, especially those who think Cesc leaving now is a bad idea.

He was not saying Cesc was a bad player or anything like it. Now, I can understand why any player would be a little bit miffed at such comments but annoyed enough to leave a club they clearly love? My hole. There's politics at play here and when you consider Cesc's agent is Darren Dein Jr it becomes more clear. What better way to boost the popularity of other shareholders than make the current board to blame for the departure of our star player? Alisher Usmanov is waiting in the wings and anyone who thinks he'd plan a takeover without having a familar, and orange, face in his team is mad.

You know I have a lot of time for John Cross but I just don't believe the fundamentals of this story. Let me make it clear, I don't for one second suggest he's making it up. I believe John has been given information by a party with an agenda. When there was a glimmer of hope about Cesc staying and people were feeling a bit better about the whole thing, "pals" of the player took it upon themselves to stir this up? Convenient, you have to say.

And leaving everything else aside what does it say about Cesc that he would leave a club which gave him so much, and a club that he loves, because of some injudicious but hardly damning comments? I think we know Cesc isn't that kind of man and that, for me, is what makes me dismiss this story as pure bunkum. Is he really that sensitive and precious? I don't think so. There are any number of reasons why Cesc might want to leave and go to Barcelona, both from a football and personal point of view, PHW's comments are not among them. I'd put serious money on that. And I don't have serious money. Which means loan sharks. And loan sharks break legs. And I like my legs unbroken. 

What this story should do is open our eyes again to the fact that there's a lot going on behind the scenes at the club right now. The boardroom situation is precarious for various reasons and uncertainty like this can definitely be exploited by those who wish to do so. And personally, I have to seriously question people who claim to love the club yet would deliberately weaken it for their own gain. Maybe that's just me.

Bolton have been in touch with Arsenal over Jack Wilshere. Owen Coyle says:

I called Arsene Wenger to thank him for letting us have Jack last season.  If he feels that Jack is not quite ready for first-team football next season, then we would love the opportunity to bring him back.

He went on to say there'd be no contact from anyone for centre-half Gary Cahill, one of the four million and six defenders we've been linked with so far. As for Wilshere, I hope he comes back and starts to emerge in our first team, but with the manager under pressure to add experience and quality to his squad this summer, he may find his chances slimmer than he'd like. Then again, there's the 'If he's good enough he's old enough' adage so I suppose it's down to the player himself to prove he's up to the job.

Speaking of defenders, L'Equipe (via IMScouting) have reported we've had a bid turned down for L'Orient defender Laurent Koscielny, who we first heard about yesterday. We definitely need that regular partner for Thomas Vermaelen, about whom Martin Keown talks here.

Theo Walcott talks about how David Beckham has been an inspiration to him. Theo then made his excuses, went off to get his neck tattooed before going sarong shopping.

Interesting to note that Arsenal in the Community have gone to Kenya. I heard that some people were angling for the club to go to Scandinavia but at a stormy boardroom meeting they were told to 'forget Norway'. A Kenyan government official was present too and extolled the wider range of wild felines available in his country than in the home of A-ha. Kenya believe it?

And that, my good old friends, is about that. Have yourselves a good Friday.

Till tomorrow.