It’s A Myth-tery: Eduardo, Arsene & Ade

Just occasionally there are little gems that surface on the most unlikely of sites. Take for example, this one found on sport.co.uk, talking about Cesc to Barcelona:

The news of such an approach will come as little surprise to either Arsene Wenger or the Arsenal fans who have repeatedly weathered the storms caused by such imaginative reporting.

Yep, that’s right, a site that derives its’ content from others is criticising their reporting skills. You could not make it up.

Onto the usual gubbins. Eduardo‘s injury woes are, hopefully, being put sternly in the past with a solid volley to the seat of their pants, with an operation on his ankle. He will have been out for marginally less time that Tomas Rosicky but let us hope that when the season’s training begins in July, both players are fully fit.

Arsene and Emmanuel Adebayor have garnered more column inches than Peter Andre and Jordan in recent weeks, no mean feat in itself. The manager confirmed his intention to stay at the club:

There’s nothing to worry about, it’s not an issue for me. I’m staying here. If that changes I will let you know, but don’t worry about that. It’s not an issue.

Wenger has received backing from Peter Hill-Wood since the Q&A session that led to the current bout of Arsene-bashing. The loyalty to the manager and the uncertainty about the size of the transfer kitty is being used as yet another stick with which to beat Lord Peter. I am not his greatest fan but he has done little wrong.

Unlike at other clubs where the majority shareholder is the focal point and usually the Chairman, the role at Arsenal is not so ‘important’. Hill-Wood has his football experience to contribute but his shareholdings at the club are not quite minimal but not enough to wield real power. So why is he being made a scapegoat? Like most rational and sane people, he was shocked by the ferocity of the attacks made by Arsenal supporters. He said so but because he disagrees, he is being castigated.

The transfer kitty is reportedly £13m with supplementary money available if Arsene sells. Why has that sum been accepted as the truth? To my knowledge, it originated in the minds of Daily Mail hacks because it fitted in with their series of articles designed to destabilise the club through Adebyaor baiting and winding up supporters. They succeeded but they have no inside track, simply a commercial desire to get hits or sell newspapers.

Even then, there is no divine right for Arsenal fans to be told information that is at the basic level, commercially sensitive. Even shareholders are not entrusted with this information in the normal course of a business. I cannot think of one instance where a company would wilfully share that sort of detail or commercially sensitive equivalents, irrespective of their industry. It is a ludicrous and futile gesture to complain that we should be told.

Wenger is getting some support though. REDaction‘s march before the Stoke City game is being labelled a “March of solidarity“. Personally, I would call it a “Protest March against the numbskull supporters who have whipped this all out of proportion, claiming to represent Arsenal supporters but who in reality are nothing more than egotistical gobsh1tes”. On second thoughts, their title might be a tad more catchy. Still, a chorus of “We Shall Overcome” might not go amiss, albeit somewhat disrespectful to its’ origins.

Meanwhile, Adebayor’s Mr20% is starting to feel the heat. Stephane Courbis is not particularly helping to get his client back into a love-in with Arsenal supporters:

I do not know if the future of Emmanuel is with Arsenal. The only certainty is that at the end of the season I will meet with Wenger to assess the situation.

At least he is not denying talks will take place but I would, sort of, expect that to happen with all of the key personnel in the squad, if nothing else to let them know that the manager still loves them. Problematically for Adebayor, even if he scored forty goals next season there will still be sections who find it hard to forgive him for last summer. A repeat this time is probably going to put the final nail in that particular coffin.

Finally, the official site is asking where were you when Mickey T scored at Anfield. Thanks to a lack of belief on the part of two gentlemen, I was there courtesy of a couple of pints at Waterloo and the face value for their tickets. Gentlemen, if you are reading this, I still salute your faithlessness to this day.

’til Tomorrow.