If there’s anything sweeter than a last minute winner I don’t know what it is. Oh, hang on. I do. It’s a last minute winner which brings about the demise of a manager who sanctions thuggery and is one of the most annoying, dislikable and citrusy ever to have set foot in the Premier League.
Nicklas Bendtner may or may not go on to become an Arsenal great, it’s too early to say, but his winner against Hull not only won us three vital points, it was the final straw for the board of Hull City who decided Phil Brown’s time was up. If he was a sadsuma on Saturday, this latest piece of inclementine news will have done nothing for his mood. And Nick’s goal will always have done two great things.
Another Allardyce accolyte gone and that’s no bad thing for football. He did give us some comedy moments, in fairness. The team talk on the pitch will go down in history as one of the most risible, cringeworthy episodes of all time. There was his toe curling interview with 5Live after the Spitgate affair when he claimed Arsene Wenger would not shake his hand, claims disproven by easily available video and pictorial evidence – and then this week’s hilarious ‘Oh shit, we’ve just let in a last minute winner’ face which I will always cherish. Cheerio Tango, not singing now, are ya?
Moving on, as Arsene Wenger declares us the Kings of the Late Goal, Nicklas Bendtner says, like Journey, we won’t stop believing:
If you give up after 80 minutes then you cannot be a player. I always believe until the last minute that we can do it because I have seen it so many times.
It’s a fantastic ability to have because when games are tight it work for you. The opposition know they’re playing a team who are capable of scoring at any moment and perhaps it puts them on the back foot a bit. Still, as much as I love last minute winners, and as much as I leapt about my sitting room like a second rate Goodplaya, I’d quite happily swap each last minute goal for about four not last minute goals. Or even three first half goals. I know it’s all part of the excitement but sometimes I prefer my excitement a little less exciting.
Sol Campbell has spoken about our run in saying it’s not easy despite everyone saying it’s easy. I have to admit, I find Sol a bit hard to listen to. He’s been in football a long time so when he speaks to the media or even the old Arsenal TV, he’s a bit too savvy to say anything really interesting. It’s football platitudes, for the most part. We’ve got to keep on working hard, focus on the next game etc etc. It’s a good point about the run in though. It’s no harm him keeping some of them on their toes. Perhaps with younger players there’s a temptation to look at the fixtures, see none of the other title contenders and think we just have to turn up to win the games. That kind of attitude cost us dearly in the past, we have to ensure it doesn’t happen again, especially given the position we find ourselves in right now.
Meanwhile Sol has done a deal with Portsmouth over the money he’s owed by them. I wonder if there’s been any advice from Arsenal over that, knowing that anything that might force them closer to going under completely would be a very bad thing for us. Whatever happens to them in the longer term if the went out of business completely this season the points we won against them would have been lost.
I saw an article pop up on NewsNow late last night from the official Andrei Arshavin website. ‘Hurrah’, I thought to myself, which is usually who I think to, ‘another surreal question and answer session’. Sadly, it was just news of a car accident he was involved in. No real harm done, a bit of bumper damage and off he went. Maybe it’s just me but when I think of Andrei Arshavin driving I picture him leaving his house and deciding which from the vast fleet of Matchbox cars he’s going to take out. And the horn on his car sounds like Roadrunner. Maybe I’m thinking about this too much.
In which case I had better go get some breakfast and eagerly await fresh news and the like to bring you tomorrow morning. Till then.
