June 2nd
So the Colegate verdicts came in yesterday and to nobody’s surprise all and sundry were found guilty. Ashley Cole was given a fine of £100,000, Jose Mourinho was fined £200,000 (12 seconds of an American Express ad) as a deterrent to other managers, while Chelsea were fined £300,000 and given a suspended 3 point deduction if they do anything similar next season which is about as harsh a punishment as slapping an elephant on the arse with a feather given their unlimited pot of blood money gold.
Despite the fact that it took them an age to get around to it the commissions findings seem to be have been well presented and put together. They certainly acknowledge the money-grabbing influence of Jonathan Barnett, Ashley Cole’s agent, but don’t let that become an excuse for Cole’s willingness to attend a meeting he knew fine well he shouldn’t have gone too. Mourinho’s fine seems fair enough too. He might have been new in England but he knew the rules. However, although Chelsea’s fine is a record it’s hardly going to make a dent in their coffers and they avoided having to pay compensation to Arsenal. So now they’ll all pay their money, accept they were in the wrong and go about their business for the new season. Erm, no sadly.
Chelsea’s chairman, Bruce Buck, tried to blame Arsenal for the whole thing because we had the temerity to make a complaint about members of his staff acting outside the rules of football and in a way that’s as far from sporting as you can get. This bloke really ought to look at his own house and bring it into order before having anything to say about ours. What the fuck did he expect us to do? Present like a cat in heat and take it right up the arse, I suppose. Sorry Bruce, but you can go Buck yourself. Your manager and chief exec went to meet one of our players and irrespective of who set up the meeting they and Cole are to blame, not us. He says it will be difficult to maintain a good relationship with Arsenal. I say we shouldn’t bother anyway. There’s an ethos running through that club which I’d say we’re best staying away from anyway. Kenyon not turning up at a UEFA meeting he was scheduled to appear at just after the story broke because he was afraid of running into David Dein says it all in my opinion. Once Chelsea dip into the Russian’s money bag and pay their fines they’ll go off about their business, buy that left back from Bilbao and not give this another thought. Arsenal have tried to do the right thing in all this but we’re the ones with the player caught in the middle of the storm and the ones with all the problems while they have a good old chuckle to themselves from inside their armour plated penthouse apartments.
Then there’s Ashley Cole. If he’s been badly advised by his agent I just don’t have words to describe what his solicitor is doing. He’s appealing against his fine on the basis of restraint of trade, undoubtedly a Barnett plan, and his solicitor Graham Shear, enjoying his 15 minutes, said “A footballer is a modern employee and should not be restrained in this way.”
Sorry, but that’s bollocks. Yes, a footballer is a modern employee who earns thousands of pounds every week. More in a week than some people earn in a year. They sign long term contracts with clubs which offer them security. They get paid if they play, they get paid if they get injured, they get paid when suspended, they get paid when they miss drugs tests accidentally on purpose. They sign these contracts knowing that there are rules and regulations, knowing there are things they can’t do. They know that they shouldn’t go and meet a title rival to discuss a transfer just days before a game against another big rival. I’m quite sure Ashley, as fine a player as he is, is never going to win Mastermind but you don’t have to be a member of Mensa to know what’s right and wrong in this case. Now we have a situation where Cole’s agent and solicitor have convinced him he’s been so wronged for his own illegal actions that he’s willing to take a case to court which could blow football apart, and that’s what could happen. As little as they’re worth now contracts wouldn’t be worth the paper they were written on and the implications to clubs across the world could be devestating. Cole’s, and his agent and advisors, are completely and utterly unwilling to accept any responsibility for their actions. They would prefer to go to court, change everything, affect every single club and player in the land than put their hands up and say “Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I accept the punishment now can we please forget all this?”
Footballers are not like normal employees. Sure their rights have to be protected but earning that amount of money is a privilege and the people that pay that money should be respected. The people that pay Ashley Cole’s wages are Arsenal Football Club and you, and me, and all the other fans who contribute financially the club. Your season ticket goes to pay his wages. Your subscription to Arsenal+, that minging blue away jersey you bought. It’s all part of it. Ashley Cole has shown, and continues to show, an astonishing lack of respect to Arsenal, to Arsene Wenger and to the fans who have been paying his not inconsiderable wages since he broke into the team. We also would have paid the £60,000 a week he was offered before his agent got greedy. I truly hate what he’s doing now. If he’d pay up and put it all behind him I could live with what’s happened but this sheer lack of any sense of personal responsibility and attempt to shift the blame onto the system which he, and his agent, knew all about makes me sick. It really does.
David Dein says he wants Cole to stay at the club. I’m not sure I do. If he stays I want him to drop the legal case, get shot of his agent and sign a new deal. I find it hard to see him at Arsenal next season if he hasn’t signed a new deal, if his court case has changed the face of football and his pissbag of an agent is telling him to sit tight for a couple of seasons more so he can bugger off on a Bosman. I think the commission’s words speak volumes when they say “It is still a matter of profound regret that this matter has disturbed a unique relationship between Arsenal Football Club and Ashley Cole. Ashley Cole must also realise that Arsenal Football Club have been a major factor in the development of his brilliant career, without which he may not have reached the heights that he now enjoys.”
I don’t think he does realise it though and that’s sad. His relationship with Arsenal Football Club and the fans has been disturbed. We used to think he was one of us. We loved the fact he was a Gooner who came up through the ranks. We always supported him when he had his critics. We sang his name. Some of us thought he might be captain material. I don’t think anything of him any more other than he’s now an icon for all that’s wrong with the modern footballer, greedy, avaricious, disloyal and kind of stupid. I do think he’s been led astray to a certain extent but he’s got to be a man and own up to his own part in it. As for Barnett it’s a shame no sanctions can be brought against him although it has been reported that the FA are going to investigate his conduct in this matter. I suggest throwing him out of a plate glass window. At the top of the Empire State Building.
Overall the whole thing is a big fucking mess and hopefully we can put it behind us, to our satisfaction, as soon as possible. It’s a bit of a glum blog today so let’s try and leave it on a bit of a nicer note. Dennis Bergkamp has apparently signed his new one year deal while Philippe Senderos wants a to sig a new deal as well. The big Swiss said “I’m very happy at the club and now that they’ve given me the opportunity to play at the top level, I’m really enjoying my football.”
Just don’t get yourself a cunt of an agent, Phil.
