"Nobody believes me..."
Thursday, 18 December 08, 08:33 AM · Comments(2)
Lots to talk about today. Arsène's been chatting, quite literally and Peter Hill-Wood's also been chatting. And on the face of it, none of it makes for enjoyable reading for anyone of a red and white persuasion.
I begin with William Gallas and The Times' story that he has fallen out with Cesc, Theo, RVP and Samir Nasri. If this is true, and nobody would be surprised if the latter two had fallen out with him, then it's hard to see how he can continue in London. The boss has already spoken of the captaincy decision being one of the hardest he's taken as a manager and how Gallas has lost his "joie de vivre" and, at this point, a taxi for Mr Gallas seems inevitable. In my view, unless Kolo Toure can recover his mojo, this is not good for Arsenal. As in the past, however, there is little point in keeping someone who's head has gone.
Also not good for Arsenal is the news that... our manager has said his current side are not too far away from the level attained by the 2004 Untouchables! I'm sure that I'm not the only Arsenal fan, in fact I know I'm not, who has to question that statement. I think you could go through the sides man for man and every single one of the 2004 side would be an improvement on what we currently have. Perhaps Sagna over Lauren and to me it's close between Clichy and Cole but Ashley Cole, much as we hate him, if he was some Carlos Kickaball... nobody would have given two fucks about what he did to us. As it was, he happened to be one of the best left backs in Europe, if not the world. Then you look at the back up we had, for Edu and Ray Parlour, we now have Song and Aaron Ramsey, for Kanu and Wiltord, Nick Bendtner and Carlos Vela. Actually I think Vela will prove to be a massive improvement on Wiltord, but that's not the point...
I really could go on here, but the basic point is that if the manager really, really believes that this squad is close to matching the best side in Arsenal's history, the responsible, honest, way to react to that is to question him. Increasingly the gaffer is beginning to resemble a lone wolf crying out in the wilderness. I am reminded, however of a scene from Halloween when little Tommy Wallace spots "the boogeyman" outside the house and is told not to be so silly. "Nobody believes me" he moaned, and guess what? He was right.
So, it's tough to hear Arsène talking as he is, especially when he says Alex Song is the most improved player this season- surely Johan Djourou making the jump to becoming the strongest link in central defence is the man who's made the bigger jump? In fairness, Djourou did get a mention, but Alex Song? What is it the manager sees that 60,000 people don't?
And to finish, the zinger. I'm not too sure how long the Bracewell- Smith family have been represented on the board, but that association came to an end yesterday with the news that Lady Nina has departed the board and as such is no longer subject to the lockdown agreement in place between all board members. Richard Carr has also stepped down from the Holdings board, but remains on the board of the football club. What, I ask you, is going on? To be honest I don't even want to guess. It seems Lady Nina has gone as a result of an argument with Hill- Wood and despite an attempt to mollify her with a Life Presidency offer. What will she do now? Who will she sell to? The Ghost of Christmas Future looms large and I guess the panic button reaction is to think that Usmanov will now smell blood in the boardroom, but perhaps as happened 60+ years ago, an American will ride in on a white stallion to save the day. The bottom, line is that nobody knows for sure what will happen and anything said is just guesswork, so we wait, that's what we do...
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RocktheCasbah
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2 Comments · Add yours
There must be some good news out there somewhere.
Good news (and things) comes to those who wait! But how long have we been waiting? Not as long as the scum but long enough to miss the euphoria of seeing our boys on an open top bus on Upper Street.