Sports Psychologists have been working overtime on the Arsenal squad or so it would seem. There is a bit of a Jackie Wilson moment going on, starting with RvP, followed by Rosicky and now Theo and Aaron Ramsey are adding a touch of the Monty Python’s. Walcott has apparently got the ball rolling in the July edition of the official club magazine:

It was a good learning curve for us all but next year it is all about the trophies. Hopefully we have had the years of experience now and can bring something back for the fans.

Aaron Ramsey more or less echoed his thoughts:

I think we lost more games than we would have liked to against teams which were lower down. That’s the main lesson we have learned from last season. It is frustrating to lose against teams further down the table when you have beaten the big sides. But I think we’ve got a good enough squad now to really kick on this season and get ourselves in the mix for the title.

One thing that the players have in abundance is a positive word for the media, an area no doubt worked upon during media training sessions. It is by extension good for supporters as it extends a feeling of belief, unless of course you are not predisposed to believe them. That there is humility in the words is, for want of better phrase, a positive aspect. The hunger to win is there to be seen without the misplaced arrogance that can sometimes be insinuated.

It is, of course, difficult when the interviews are with official outlets to misquote since the real words can easily be found. Yet there can be too much of a good thing. At the moment, the optimism surrounding the new season is understandable but last season there were times after a poor defeat when the positive ’spin’ put on matters was, I think, misplaced.

A balance has to be struck between the positive and the realistic. The latter half of the season veered towards the latter, although the public belief that the title could still be won even when though it was only a mathematical possibility was too optimistic. However, that was then, this is now. Better I guess to hear from the players than they become possessors of a shyness that is criminally vulgar.

The ruminations over the rejection of that Rights Issue continued yesterday, Stan Kroenke’s purchase of more shares bringing more speculation as the reasons for the Board rejecting Alisher Usmanov’s proposal. In The Sun, Steven Howard speculated that Danny F would ‘do a long-expected runner’ when Manchester City replace Arsenal in the top four at the end of the coming campaign. Which presupposes that City have brought good enough players to make up the double figure gap in points before even comparing the two squads. Let’s not even go down the route of managerial competency.

The Guardian’s David Conn makes several valid points regarding the benefits that the money would have had for the club’s finances without actually knowing the detail of Usmanov’s plans. The devil such things is always in the detail which Conn acknowledges in the final two paragraphs. A long way down the article to learn:

[The Board] may well have valid reasons for rejecting that offer. The board may believe the rights issue is a stalking horse for Usmanov to gain more control – which he denies – and they may feel they have good reasons for being suspicious of Usmanov

Conn’s request that the Board ’spell those reasons out’ is not unreasonable but stands little chance of ever happening.

’til Tomorrow.