Good morning everyone! What a lovely Friday it is. It’s a week until Christmas but yesterday Satan came early for Jose Mourinho and took him back to the depths of hell from whence he first came.
Bit of a shame really, like Brendan Rodgers at Liverpool, and Andre Vilas Boas at Sp*rs, I was enjoying his work enormously. What he had done there this season was quite magnificent and to see him cut down in his prime is quite disappointing really. I was looking forward to Diego Costa growing ever fatter, his pendulous bosoms careering back and forth as he lumbers around the pitch, while Eden Hazard stands shaking his head asking to be substituted because he’s bitten his nail just that little bit too far down and it feels all weird and ouchy.
I was looking forward to a relegation scrap, more on-air tantrums, the eventual breakdown of his relationship with every single player at the club until it got to the point where games kicked off and they all sat down on the pitch and gave him the finger. That’s where it was going. We weren’t far away from ‘Chelsea players dirty protest’ headlines.
Still, it’s not to be. He’s gone. Sacked. Kaput. Canned. Dismissed by ‘mutual consent’, which I suspect might be closer to the truth than people think. His behaviour this season, even before it began, has been really, really weird, and it’s something I expand on a little in this week’s Arsecast, which you can find down below, so have a listen to that for more Mourinho-based fun and games.
Onto things Arsenal and the manager held his press conference yesterday ahead of Monday’s clash with Man City. The main bit of news from it was that Alexis is back in training, but not full training, and it might just be a bit too soon for him. Arsene said:
Maybe there is a slight chance for Alexis to be in the squad again but it is too early to be sure about it. I believe that is normal that he wants to play. You want him to be keen to play. He respects all the decisions I make and that is what I want from him.
It would be a surprise to me if he wasn’t on the bench, but that’s something we can discuss more in the coming days seeing as we have a weekend free of football. Other than that it appears everyone who played against Villa is fit and ready, which is good news.
It was fairly uneventful presser as they go, even if Andy Burton from Sky, with his really annoying voice, kept trying to get Wenger to say something about Mourinho that he could turn into a story. He kept poking, Wenger kept him at arms length and said nothing that headlines could be made out of – except we now live in a world where saying nothing can be fashioned into a story, so it’s win-win for sections of the media.
Then after the Sky bloke had stopped being annoying, the next guy says, “Arsene, just one more question on Jose Mourinho …”, to which the reply was, “That’s one too many!”.
I mean, I think we all understand why it happens. They want stories, headlines, clicks, angles, drama, and all the rest, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a big load of old wank. In almost every press conference this season, and I watch them all, there have been attempts – usually by Sky it has to be said – to reignite the feud between Wenger and Mourinho for no good reason whatsoever.
Don’t get me wrong, there are times when it’s great. Like the push thing at Stamford Bridge –when it happens organically because of what happens on the pitch it’s fantastic, and all part of the great pantomime of football. But trying to get Wenger to say something, then presenting it to Mourinho out of context at his own press conference, provoking a response from him then is just childish nonsense, and I’m glad in a way that we won’t have to deal with it any more.
Because Mourinho, rather hilariously, has been sacked. No doubt they’ll find some other angles to stir their bubbling cauldron of crap, but that this has been taken away from them makes me quite happy indeed.
Right then, time now for this week’s Arsecast and in typical Mourinho style he made a bollix of this too. I had recorded earlier in the day with Jim Campbell from The Football Ramble, and we’d had a good natter about the not-so-special one and his ongoing strife at Chelsea. Then he gets canned and renders all that glorious audio redundant. Wanker. Still, we chat Leicester, Man City, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil, transfers and much more.
I provide my own theory as to Mourinho’s sacking; we’re at home with Abramovich; there’s a chance for you to win goodies from Savile Rogue; some Christmas present recommendations; and all the usual waffle too.
You can subscribe to the Arsecast on iTunes by clicking here. Or if you want to subscribe directly to the feed URL you can do so too (this is a much better way to do it as you don’t experience the delays from iTunes). To download the Arsecast directly, use the link below the player, and if you are a regular listener via iTunes, if you would be so kind as to leave a review/rating that would be greatly appreciated.
Remember, if you do want to do some Christmas shopping, you can get 10% off everything from Savile Rogue by using the code 10ARSEBLOG at check-out. It’s top quality gear, your friends and family will love you more if you get them some.
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All the usual news and more over on Arseblog News throughout the day. I’m going to see Star Wars this evening despite the fact the cinema is full of disgusting people who think it’s ok to eat their dinner while watching a film. I was almost going to book four seats and leave one either side of us empty, ah well.
Until tomorrow, have a good one.
