Again the main focus is on the fallout from the David Dein thing and Arsene’s press conference was interesting without anything being too shocking. He is obviously a bit shaken by what’s going at the club. Having enjoyed ten years of more or less absolute calm, certainly in comparison with other clubs, this whole thing has destabilised the club and that’s something that will take some adjustment.
He has to get his head around the fact that a man he likes, a man he has worked with and trusted for a long time, is no longer at the club. It’s normal to feel upset or a bit shellshocked. Obviously having that odious little cock, Garth Crooks, badger you with question after question about your future at the press conference would bother you too but in general he seemed to be in good spirits. He pledged to see out his current contract, which runs until July 2008 and I fully expected him to do that. There was never any doubt in my mind that he’d do or say anything different. He said he’d stay true to what he and Dein had built at the club, a sign that he knows Arsenal is more than one man.
Again the sensationalists will run with stories about Wenger not committing to the club beyond that point but he has always left it late to renew his contracts so there’s nothing new there. Frankly, anyone expecting an answer from him, at this moment in time, about that particular topic is a moron. I would suggest as well there’s a certain amount of confusion for the manager too. He’s no doubt had David Dein’s story and in the board meeting that took place on Thursday he’ll have been given the board’s side of the things. He’s an intelligent man. Leaving aside his friendship with Dein he can surely what was going on and why he was fired. Also, Arsene’s recent quotes about the club not needing investment as a solution and his general opposition to a foreign takeover suggest he didn’t see eye to eye with his great friend on this matter anyway.
As Stan Kroenke ups his stake in the club to 12.19% it seems the current board will have to brace themselves for a hostile takeover bid from the American who may have David Dein on board. We’ll have to wait until the dust settles a bit to see exactly what’s going to happen but I have to say I find the whole lot of it leaves an extremely bad taste in the mouth. It’s an ugly situation, brought about by Dein being ‘in league’ with Kroenke and deliberately keeping the board in the dark.
I find a lot of the articles being written are distasteful with each one trying to outdo the other as they look for a new angle. This guy in the Telegraph berates the Chairman for not speaking out against Malcolm Glazers purchase of Manchester United but who is Peter Hill-Wood to say anything about how United, or any other club for that matter, is run? He also raises the point I made in the Arsecast about Arsenal fans taking great delight in mocking United fans at the cup final and throwing around the fake dollars. It’s funny how so many of them can conveniently forget that because we might get some more money for players which is all this boils down to at the end of the day. If you haven’t already seen it, have a look at this Guardian article by David Conn to put that in perspective and see why the board want to resist Kroenke who won’t be coming with suitcases full of hard cash to throw around willy-nilly.
Whatever you think about this whole situation I think we can all agree this is a period of Arsenal’s history that won’t be looked back on with a great deal of fondness. The club’s business is being dragged through the press in an unprecedented manner and that is not the Arsenal way. And with that it’s time to talk about football because there’s only the small matter of the North London derby today.
We go into it on the back of two pretty good wins in which our midfield has started firing again. Despite illness Cesc was named in the squad and I imagine the manager will give him every chance to play. If not Freddie is back, Diaby is back and Denilson can come in. With Arsene Wenger admitting the squad were shocked at the departure of the Orange One they have to put that right to the back of their minds and focus on what is really important – football.
There’s no doubt Sp*rs will give it a big go today. It’s the last important game of their season and it would be some measure of comfort having been knocked out of Europe last week by Sevilla. Nothing less than total committment from our boys and we could find ourselves in trouble. It’s a tricky place to go at the best of times and this time we don’t have the goals of Pires who so enjoyed scoring against them. Perhaps that’s something else Rosicky can do.
More than anything though we need to be solid at the back. Sp*rs are without that Mallet Headed Cunt, Robbie Keane, but Berbatov is dangerous at home and Jermaine Defoe can always hurt you. More comedy defending like against City or Bolton and they’ll take full advantage of that. Fingers crossed for a good result today.
Finally, Thierry Henry talks about the young players and how injuries have been the main problem this season for Arsenal.
And there you go. Time for breakfast. More tomorrow.
