It’s very rarely I disagree with Arsene Wenger but when he calls for Ashley Cole to be shown respect then that’s one of those times. Ahead of tomorrow’s game with Chelsea the manager said:
I expect respect, no more. There is maybe some bad feeling as you want your players to stay for their whole careers, and that may be shown, but overall there is respect for him.
Now, perhaps that’s just a case of Arsene saying the right things because he cannot really expect Cole, if he plays, to get anything other than a barrage of abuse and stick from the Arsenal fans, especially when Cole himself has called us ‘stupid‘ this week. As Goodplaya points out Cole has been abused routinely up and down the country this season because he represents what’s so wrong with the modern player. Ashley Cole is such a cunt that even Sp*rs fans gave him stick.
Now, I understand if some of the players he played with still like and think he’s an all right lad (some, not all, thankfully). I can understand the manager not holding a grudge because things like this happen with players throughout your managerial career. However, it’s different for fans. From being a young Arsenal fan who made the first team and, as such, had a special place in the hearts of the Highbury faithful, Ashley Cole made himself probably the most unpopular ex-Arsenal player I can ever remember. That he would go behind the back of the club to a rival, lie about it, then mouth off the way he did to the newspapers about how unfairly he was being treated was hard to take from a player that professed to be an Arsenal fan.
“I wouldn’t play for Arsenal again if they offered me £200,000 a week“, screamed the News of the World headline. The irony that it was the News of the World that had exposed his clandestine meeting with Mourinho seemed to be lost on him. Sorry Arsene, but Ashley Cole has behaved in a way which means he doesn’t deserve the slightest bit of respect from Arsenal fans. He and his slippery agent can swerve off the road straight into a wall for all I fucking care. The fact that the little cunt got to play in the Champions League final after contributing nothing to the campaign still sticks in my craw.
If he does play tomorrow, and I’d be surprised if he did (ankle injury my hole), then I hope he is barracked and abused more loudly and viciously than any player has ever been barracked and abused before. That’s what he deserves, not respect, the thick as pigshit, greedy, disloyal, lying little cuntbag.
Anyway, onto other stories. Julio Baptista seems to have confirmed his Arsenal exit by saying the Chelsea game is the last ‘big game’ he’ll play for Arsenal and he wants revenge for the Carling Cup final. May the Gods that touched his special area before Anfield in the Carling Cup do the same tomorrow. He’ll probably start if Tomas Rosicky doesn’t make it but the manager will make a late decision regarding his fitness.
The Sun picks up on the story Arseblog brought you exclusively yesterday about Legia Warsaw’s Lukasz Fabianksi. They say talks were held and he had a medical on Thursday.
Thierry Henry talks about Ashley Cole, how the players want to the win the Chelsea game so they can finish third (if possible) and William Gallas, amongst other things.
Emmanuel Adebayor talks to the Guardian. It’s funny how when he came he had a reputation of being a bit of a trouble-maker but we’ve never seen anything of that from him. His attitude has always been first class and I like that a lot. I think he’s also showing signs of improvement as a player and if he keeps the same workrate and application going then we could have a real gem on our hands.
And that’s about it. The Manchester derby this morning will have a big impact on the atmosphere for tomorrow’s game. Remember, if United win this morning and Chelsea fail to win tomorrow then United win the league. I know we want to win the game for ourselves but the thoughts of stopping Chelsea, and therefore Ashley Cole, winning is just a bit delicious.
More tomorrow.
