Positive Signs For Cesc & Nasri But Doubts Remain

A human weakness is to distrust a source bearing ‘bad’ news, believing the same source when it is ‘good’. So what to do when they bring encouraging news? Take the positive or dismiss as a negative? Let’s take the positive, a more optimistic slant will surely now be put on the media stories about Samir Nasri’s future.

Sky Sports are hugely unreliable, purveyors of football tattle of the lowest order. The phrases ‘Sky Sports sources‘ or ‘Sky Sports understands‘ are generally followed by the most inaccurate speculation this side of Christendom.

Nasri’s Mr20% – quite possibly the most irritating man of that ilk since Alex Hleb’s agent appeared – offered the olive branch having found that platitudes offered to Manchester United was akin to hitting a hornet’s nest with a stick as far as Arsenal supporters were concerned,

I want to clarify that there has been no break with the Gunners over the contract’s renewal and we should meet again soon with Arsene Wenger. There are a few clubs interested in Samir, but it is useless to name them. Before listening to other teams, we need and we want to talk with Arsenal.

Daily Star hack David Woods really got to grips with the story though, offering up the news that Nasri wants £6m per year in salary. I’m not sure why this figure comes to bear but certainly it is not rounded if he worked it on a weekly basis. The rationale is that Nasri wants to top Cesc’s salary so the £384.62 each week must really be important. It is as credible as Arsenal trying sign Jermaine Defoe…

Leaving aside irritation over the agent-fuelled media speculation, it is a positive step that both Arsenal and the player are willing to continue negotiating. If a story appears on the Arsenal website that talks have broken down then there is reason to believe a parting of the ways is imminent.

Combined with Cesc‘s comments in Madrid, yesterday turned out to be positive for the moment, a step in the right direction. Once more, Fábregas failed to do the Spanish media’s bidding, refusing to request a move but not closing the door to that eventuality,

I am an Arsenal player. I have been very happy for eight years and I am very happy. You can never say never in this life as so many things happen that you can never predict.

Cesc nailed the Spanish media to the mast, noting that the reported meetings did not occur. Again it was carefully chosen words; He did not deny contact with the manager, simply that he had not met with him. Cesc is more PR savvy than Nasri, apologising for indiscretions in a similar situation a year ago. Mea Culpa rather than dismissing matters.

That said, he has a burning desire to play for Barcelona. As he said, they win trophies but also because they were his childhood team. We tend to forget that very few footballers play for clubs they supported as kids. Cesc also wants to win trophies, something Arsenal have not achieved. He highlighted failings in a positive outlook,

A player who is not frustrated at not winning titles is either lying to himself or lacks ambition…There is a good team and a good manager and one of the most faithful fan bases in Europe. With those I believe we can make progress and one day win an important trophy.

It would be quite easy to crow about these statements. A resolution to close the ongoing saga? Perhaps for a while in the media, this will be the case. It will not last, the Catalans will no doubt make an offer they consider fair but in turn is derisory. Fábregas has his prime years ahead of him. When Barcelona were chasing Henry, they noted that the price should reflect his age, experience, ability and revenue generating potential, essentially the return on investment. €30m seems on the low side of insulting.

With his contract entering the final years of its course, talks if not already ongoing will be tough for Arsenal under current circumstances. Whilst Fábregas is keen to stress he is happy at the club, not winning trophies is clearly going to be a difficult hurdle to overcome. It is a test of Ivan Gazidis’ recently stated ambition that Arsenal are going to prevent key personnel from running down their contracts. Persuade Cesc to sign a new deal now and I suspect many will be hailing you as a new David Dein.

According to reports, Arsenal are going to miss out on Ricky Alvarez. Which is a shame because it might have been a pleasant change to hear Martin Tyler screaming, “Rickaaaaaay” instead of Bianca loud-mouthing it in the Square. Also not joining Arsenal this week is Neven Subotic, a player who wafted across the transfer horizon last year but this year never got on the radar. Equally left-field is the belief from Sebastian Larsson that Arsenal want to re-sign him. Perhaps someone from the hacked Arsenal Magazine twitter account has been more creative than we thought.

’til Tomorrow.

Sagna Says & The Media Jump With Other Stuff

The AST Q&A continues to provide the basis for headlines, The Mirror claiming that “£30m will be spent to stop a fans backlash“. Given that £30m was going to be spent before that event and not to stop a backlash but to improve the squad, it beggars belief. Actually it does not because The Mirror has set its agenda clearly and unequivocally,

Few, yet, are willing to demand a change of manager and those brave souls who raised the “In Arsene we rust” banner in the middle of the end of season slump that broke so many Gooner hearts were swiftly shouted down.

Brave? Martin Lipton needs to look at the dictionary definition of brave and decide whether or not it was an appropriate word to use. There was nothing brave about raising a banner, its quite a safe thing to do. Let the people who raised it phone Ivan and Arsène, book an appointment and explain clearly and logically why Wenger should be relieved of his duties. They might find it hard to get a quick meeting though, what with the transfer activity and giving Samir Nasri a dressing down.

Still, we know which side of the fence Lipton and his employers have placed themselves. If John Cross thought Wenger’s relations with the press were deteriorating, the likelihood is that The Mirror‘s are going to be worse than anyone else.

Bacary Sagna has apparently given a radio interview. I say apparently because there is so much cynicism about media coverage these days, that it would be no surprise to find out that a technician had been sitting in a dingy cellar splicing together passages from every interview Sagna had ever given. If you hear the coughing and spluttering caused by a lack of sunlight and Gauloises, you will know that is not such a far-fetched intervention as it first appears to be.

As to what he actually said, well, what you believe depends on the source that you use. For example, The Sun screams, “Cesc Must Quit For Barcelona” which is rather different from his belief that this summer sees his teammate more likely to leave than before. It’s Sagna’s personal belief not a club edict.

Sagna’s words were seized upon gleefully by The Spanish Media – bar El Mundo Deportivo, who were quite possibly too shocked at finding someone connected to Arsenal agreeing with their aim of bringing Cesc home and were unable to report it thus far. Indiscretion by Sagna perhaps but it does not alter the fact that Barcelona are struggling to afford him. It is a situation which may change if other targets end up in Manchester.

Sagna observed – unconvincingly – that Gervinho seemed a half-decent player. Given Arsenal are talking to him and apparently hope to complete this move shortly, the defender’s words were inspirational,

I’ve heard about him. He’s a gifted player. This season, he was a key player for Lille, and really help his team to be champion. He’s got a wonderfull technique on a football field, and I’m sure he would be welcome.

Discussions with Lille over the fee have not yet started which might prove as much of a stumbling block as getting all three persons of the player into the same room at the same time.

As news of this has leaked, you question the logic behind Arsenal remaining silent. Unless other interested parties put the calls of his Mr20% through to voicemail or emails into the Spam bin, everyone who needs to know about the proposed transfer, knows. Shocker. With only us kept in the dark.

A brief statement confirming planned talks allows Arsenal to set the media agenda rather than the other way round. And it would be more useful than this. If lessons of previous summers are not learned off the pitch…

Elsewhere The Guardian speculates that Alisher Usmanov might yet get to see Arsenal’s books. The small matter of getting more than 30% of the shareholdings is all that stops this happening. Whether this would then trigger the shortest, most hostile takeover bid in the history remains to be seen. “Hello, Stan The Man speaking“, “This is Jabba, sell me your shares!”,”Let me think about it…No“, “Oh…”.

’til Tomorrow.

More Platitudes Than Answers But The Show Goes On

A late one this morning due to time pressures. Yesterday’s Q & A session drives this morning’s headlines, Ivan Gazidis played forward defensive for the club. Minor own goals aside – really Ivan, utility bills increasing driving ticket prices up? I’ll pass your details to the umpteen callers each week who offer to save us money in this field.

Gazidis offered the expected defence of KSE, confirming that Danny Fiszman sold to Kroenke because he trusted him to do the right thing for Arsenal. Justified or misplaced? That remains to be seen. There is potential for mistrust to emerge, KSE have promised not to load debt on the club relating to the purchase; no such promise can be elicited regarding dividends. None have so far been taken from other sporting ‘franchises’, Red & White may yet get their wish.

On the subject of transfer activity this summer, Gazidis talked it up like everyone else. The media take this to be more signings and departures, no, wait they have already assumed that. For Sport this translates as the club being ready for Cesc’s departure, AS acknowledges that the recent words of the manager whilst also contemplating a high transfer fee because of the midfielders talent and the fee paid for Torres by Chelsea. The underlying message is still, We are Barcelona, You cannot hold out forever. Shame no-one has told Arsenal that but Wenger is having to draw on all of his experiences with Vieira and Henry to fight on.

A cheap accusation is to claim the manager is unsackable. To do so is to ignore his previous record; irrespective of recent seasons, Wenger has delivered more than the Board had asked. Doubles and silverware bought him goodwill, the changes to the playing side of the club even more so. He kept the club in the Champions League whilst the stadium was built and continues to do so.

The challenge now is to win trophies once more. KSE has a record of making changes after a season in charge but this is football, managerial loyalty is more entrenched, particularly at Arsenal. Fans did manage to bring about the departure of Terry Neill but David Dein was a prime mover in the subsequent departures of Howe, Graham and Rioch, the latter with the aid of player power.

Would the board listen to fans now? There is a healthy scepticism within the club, recognising that the loudest voices often do not represent the majority view. But complacency should not set in. Arsène should be accountable for the team’s overall performance. That does not mean adopting the hire and fire mentality of Chelsea. Ironically, making this information public would ease the pressure on the manager. It would increase on the board instead if the targets are deemed too soft, a reason why they would never take that course of action.

If the failures on the pitch continued, at what point would the board act is a question often asked. I am not sure they would get the chance. Wenger is a winner and was visibly affected by the collapse last season. A recurrence and he would more likely take the decision out of their hands, feeling that he has taken the club as far forward as he can.

There is a joint responsibility of players and management to return the club to winning ways, not just the manager. Gazidis and his team of well-paid executives should be making the deals to bring players in; no point in holding yourself up as a model club or hoping that the market fades with FFP regulations, if you are not winning trophies. At Arsenal’s level, that outcome means the model is wrong.

Recent comments from senior players have questioned the mentality prevailing at the club. In media terms, this is a crisis. The reality is different. It is not tangible evidence of the manager losing the dressing room, a questioning attitude is healthy provided it is used constructively, a tough call in the destructive atmosphere around the club. The hoped for tonic never arrived, platitudes were made about ongoing talks with transfer targets. Turning them into arrivals is Ivan’s job, best let the man get to work.

’til Tomorrow.

Nasri & Cesc To Stay? That Is The Question, Do Arsenal Have The Answer?

Q: When is a self-sustaining business model not a self-sustaining business model?
A: When the business is football.

Welcome to the world of football, Mr Kroenke. Tonight’s Q&A with AST members is high on the Arsenal agenda – the words of the manic Norwegian commentator run through my head whenever I think of this session, “Stanley Kroenke, Stanley Kroenke, can you hear me? Your boys took one hell of a beating“.

Will anything good come from tonight? PR has never been Arsenal’s strong suit and it largely depends on the level of honesty displayed in the answers. Avoid prevarication or deception. It has the potential to be worthwhile. No matter how unpalatable that truth is, it is better than letting the media set the Arsenal agenda.

More importantly, we would like to know what is going on with Samir Nasri. An innuendo in yesterday’s Sunday Times that the player wants the side to built around him, some unsubstantiated rumours are emerging elsewhere that the cash is being flashed in Nasri’s direction. Unsubstantiated because there is no evidence to confirm or deny them.

Arsène has shared his view on the player’s future,

We will do everything to keep Nasri at the club. My wish is that he stays here.

Wait, that is probably the basis for The Heil story. Wenger went on,

If he looks back he can see that he’s come quite a long way with us, and I think there is still a bit to do. It’s the club that makes the player’s career

The manager is of course, whiter than white when he invokes the loyalty card. Never having broken a contract himself re employment yet it is naive to expect players feel the same. An affection for a club may grow but the money, the money is too much for them to refuse.

And winning. They want to win trophies but there is a blind spot in that concept, a failure to recognise the inconsistency of performance. It is this which Wenger alluded to in his comments but will Nasri recognise this? Is he self-aware enough to realise that in the second half of the season he underperformed?

Wenger was equally assertive over Cesc,

I will be pretty clear about this. For me, Fabregas is with Arsenal for a long time and he will stay with Arsenal. It sometimes happens that the rumour can make the transfer.

Someone needs to tell the Spanish media this, they believe Cesc to be staying in London to facilitate a move to Barcelona. Because that is the view of the The Mirror. Yikes, will anyone have the cojones to tell Rosell this or will they leave him happily wandering around the Camp Nou, humming, Happy Presidential Birthday to me and All I Want To Transfer Is A Cesc Fàbregas, A Cesc Fàbregas, A Cesc Fàbregas…

Meanwhile, Gervinho in the first person is nowhere near as confident as the third. He promised to tell us his future the week before last, then it was last week. Now it seems realises that things are not going as he planned. No matter how appropriate Banarama’s Cruel Summer seemed, there were more positive soundtracks.

Does anyone know what Kenny Dalglish’s transfer policy is? If it moves put a bid in for it, if it is English make it a really big bid. Having tried to hijack Phil Jones move to Blackburn, he is now out to mar Arsène’s fun by signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Also not coming to Arsenal is Radamel Falcao, who to a backdrop of Porto fans blaring the Brand New Heavies’ Dream Come True out of the car radios, announced that he was staying at the club. But not for how long. So tomorrow, he might be leaving.

Back in the 70s there was a record label called Old Gold. Used to sell in 7″ singles shops such as Woolworths and WH Smiths, the hits of the 50s and 6os re-packaged. Basic covers in gold and brown, no photos, nothing. You could see what you were buying from the label. It was a variation on a theme.

Arsenal have tried that with Bolton. Gary Cahill is worth £17m and a season of Ignasi Miquel. How good is that? We’ll sign your best defender and to ease the pain, we’ll give you one of our most promising players. For a season. A novel solution to squad overcrowding.

Apparently our defending was so bad last season that Arsène is thinking of signing Scott Dann, Dann, the defensive man from Birmingham City. Yes, he made a lot of difference to their season? Yeah, Liverpool are in for him as well…

Unimpressed with that? Wait until you read about the signing of a 18 year old Swede…yeah, Liverpool are after him too…

’til Tomorrow.

Usual Arsenal Sunday: Usmanov Cheap Chatter With Media Mad As Hatters

From the tick, tick, tick of your time’s up

If there is a scenario which needs negativity, The Heil is your media outlet. Down on your luck? Don’t worry, they will look smugly upon your misfortune. Worried about your job? Let them gleefully heap misery in your direction. Look at what they have concocted for Arsène this weekend.

Friday saw him told to flash the cash, Saturday The Heil became a mouthpiece for curmudgeonly Catalans before this morning Arsène became the footballing equivalent of Nero, dithering whilst his Rome burned. A Funky Weekend indeed for the manager.

It will no doubt be topped off tomorrow with a firm warning that Arsenal’s 28% shareholder supports the manager but would sack him if he did not win a trophy this season, all under the cosy headline of “I don’t want to be on the board of a trophyless club“. Which is probably just as well  since no-one has invited Usmanov onto the Board.

To the yes, yes, yes of I’ll sell

Having endured a fortnight of stories about Cesc and Nasri, Gael Clichy‘s departure appeared to move a step closer. If there was a bid from Liverpool, Arsenal have not responded publicly but swatted away it has been. Or so we presume. “A source close to the player” has emerged to tell the press that the signing of a new contract in this case is “highly unlikely”. The ubiquitous source, how much we like them when they are positive for the club, despising their existence on departures.

Samir Nasri will ‘do one’ if he doesn’t get £150k per week wages. Amazing how his wages creep up and his value drop in a similar ratio. Lo and behold, Daily Heil hack Bob Cass has found a new home for him, Bayern Munich realising that a Nasri is probably better value than a Bendtner. Not that the Dane cares, he is off to Internazionale. Or Besiktas. Or the end of our street.

But The Mirror reckon he’ll stay.

From the drip drip drip of the teardrops

Alisher Usmanov failed to get the requisite publicity recently with a Sunday Times piece; this time he has gone for the more populist News of the World for his advertorial. Ahead of the Q&A Session with Ivan Gazidis, the PR battle began in earnest.

Despite jettisoning the ties of Takeover Panel rules, KSE remains silent. The presumption is that they believe silence to be golden. Frankie Valli is the only one who really got that one right, Stanley, you are on the back foot. Maybe that will change on Monday but expectations are not high.

The interview is perfect, pitched at the dissension – perceived and real – surrounding Arsenal. A quick win in this climate is to say the right things and promise nothing. Usmanov does that. His policies tap the populist vein, once more Arsenal’s PR lets them down. Even then, there are some glaring omissions and contradictions.

Firstly, there is no recognition that the stadium he has occasionally deigned to visit had to be built ‘normally’. That does not fit with his view that the board have “have seemed happy to sanction second, third and fourth as being acceptable, whilst at the same time they were planning to sell their shares“. No Sugar Daddy emerged at that time money was needed, sponsors signing long-term deals on unfavourable terms to the club. Bad as they were, it was a necessity at the time.

Secondly, he eulogises David Dein, forgetting that he has dropped the former Vice-Chairman. How would Usmanov support Arsène? We don’t know, left to assume that he would bring in the required person. But whom? Surely not Dein, a man who loves the club so much that his son agitates for players to leave under the guise of being their agent? Can father and son separate business and family? Or would Arsenal become Dein & Son?

Invest in players, Arsène, keep Cesc and Nasri! Invest? How is this to be funded? Usmanov supports the self-sustaining model but only in a debt-free club. A comment deliberately charged toward KSE and their unwillingness to confirm how Arsenal was bought, as much as saying, “I am rich, I will clear the debt” by increasing the share capital or by a director’s loan? Only the former truly clears the debt.

And self-sustainability is the only way forward under the FFP Regulations of Uefa. The investment required by the owners just decreased.

Concerned about ticket prices? So is Alisher. Noticed that the commercial revenues are poor? So has his PR man. Watched The Apprentice? So has his PR man. They do not change one thing; Alisher Usmanov is in this for himself. A by-product of his gain would be Arsenal’s success on the field but the only one who gains a seat on the board is the Uzbek. The only one. Not the supporters.

He is a slick politician. All the right words but when you want substance, all that is found is a vacuum.

To the chink chink chink of the cash

Gervinho has apparently signed for Arsenal. Or Manchester City, if you believe the French media. Whilst 5Live think it might be finalised over the weekend. Being Arsenal, we’ve only paid £12m for all three of the Ivorian. Eden Hazard is Barcelona’s Plan B so won’t be coming with him.

At the same time, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has signed. Except he hasn’t and even if he has, we won’t know about it until July 1st. Because he is on holiday. Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill and Christopher Samba are all joining this week as well.

Except who to believe, who to believe? No-one until it is officially announced.Probably by the selling clubs because we know Arsenal will react two weeks after everyone else. Nothing like whipping up some excitement, eh Ivan.

To the end end end of the friendships

Cesc’s holiday in Barcelona is going down a storm in Catalunya. It has gone from being an annual trip to see his family, to overseeing contract negotiations between the two clubs. Not that it will take much effort, even Peter Whimsey would find it hard to screw these negotiations up,

“No, Senor Rosell, €40m is not enough. £50m or more. No, we don’t want Tigger or Bojan. What’s the property market like around your way? I’ve always fancied a Spanish Villa. No, I didn’t mention your star forward but since you did…No? Well this is all getting rather messy. Don’t interrupt, I didn’t say we wanted Messi but now you mention it…No to that as well? Frankly Rosell, I’m going to have to give you a pep talk about your behaviour… No, I’m not after your manager, not this summer anyway.

Look why don’t you come back next year when you’ve stopped living a champagne lifestyle on a beer income.”

’til Tomorrow.

“Corruption” – Iggy Pop

RvP: Truth or Treachery?

Every year it goes wrong in an identical way and that is frustrating. When you look at results in the last years, Arsenal shouldn’t be talking about winning the League because too many times that has gone wrong.

Where to begin with Robin van Persie‘s comments? Criticism of van Persie is already emerging; speaking as he has is deemed disloyal. Treacherous, even. Keep it quiet Robin, keep it in the dressing room, lad.

But is it betrayal to air his opinions? Is the denial of problems the real disloyalty, failing to admit them prevents a solution.

They do not sit well with many because they suggest that lessons are not learned by the squad or management. Indeed they suggest something is very wrong at Arsenal. To err is human. To make the same mistakes, season after season is unprofessional and that is unforgivable.

Solutions are not necessarily straightforward.

Arguably, van Persie is part of the problem. His injury record is second to everyone in recent seasons. Wenger is criticised for his training techniques, the stressful nature of them perceived as taking its toll. The Dutchman’s injuries tend to be as a result of contact rather than muscular. Others are muscular with no contact. A picture is easy to paint depending on your viewpoint, evidence can be found for each argument.

Sign players, sufficient quantity and quality to cover the injuries and dip in form, so the mantra goes. But space exists only for 25 senior professionals. How do you overcome the failures of last season when the malaise hit the whole squad?

It is not feasible or practical to have three world-class players for each position. Even having that many good players for those positions presents numerous difficulties. How to maintain match fitness for that large a squad? Continuity of selection is necessary for consistency on the pitch which limits the amount of games that some will play. Will a player of a certain quality be satisfied with a support role? Surely a quality you want is desire, there is not much if players are happy to sit on the bench.

van Persie identifies the defeat to Birmingham as the moment that mentally the team crumbled,

Even now, it’s still unbelievable we didn’t win the Carling Cup as that was the breakthrough moment, showing everyone we could win a cup and create a belief within the team. When I talk about that it still hurts. It was so stupid and I ask myself ‘how did that come about?’

A moment of madness preceded by eighty-nine minutes of under-performance, below the level expected of Arsenal.

The timing of his comments could be considered poor. Nasri, Clichy and Cesc are all being eyed lasciviously by rivals, domestic and foreign. Denilson and Bendtner wanting away but no-one particularly interested. A fifth of the first team squad going, nobody certain of arriving. A club in crisis? Not quite, mild disarray might be a better fit. Most definitely a club that has lost control of the PR.

Does it mean that Wenger has lost the dressing room? The compound effect of comments by senior players can be construed that way if you so wish. Personally I don’t think that anyone respects the manager any less than the day they signed for the club. Maybe some of the awe has gone but that happens with maturity.

What the comments show is the frustration at last season, a desire to win trophies. Too often the squad has been accused of lacking this. When it manifests in the summer, it is deemed wrong. Translating that desire into actions on the pitch is the players responsibility. Giving them the support necessary in squad signings is up to the manager.

’til Tomorrow.

Are Arsenal Saying Goodbye To The Golden Generation & More

Arsenal fans are mad. Stark raving bonkers. The rumour of an announcement about a rumour sends the interweb incandescent with rage. The back page of this morning’s Sun will also be a tipping point, “Chelsea £0, Man City £0, Arsenal £1m, Manchester United £55m”.

A big ‘If’, of course. de Gea and Young must join Jones in making the ‘possible signing’ become reality. If they don’t then the £55m becomes £0m. Not quite so impressive.

It is not unusual for United to complete their business early, Ferguson likes to work that way. Wenger makes signings in July if you look at the activity since transfer windows became compulsory. Recent seasons have seen new players acquired on the final minutes of the final days but generally, the manager spends ‘mid-term’.

Such habits lend themselves to unproven claims of panic buying and disorganisation over transfers. Not just at the manager but at the club as a whole.

Those timescales breed frustration, particularly this summer. The squad needs fresh faces, rivals signing first team personnel emphasises the disparity in readiness for the new campaign even though it is two months away. Having new players in place by pre-season eases their transition into the squad.

Exacerbating that frustration is talk of contracts. Samir Nasri appears no closer to a new deal but that situation may move now that France have finished their mini-tour of Eastern Europe. Gael Clichy is in the same boat and has been subject of a £5m bid from Liverpool. Hubcaps, it seems, are not the only things they like to steal on Merseyside.

Why has it taken so long to reach this point? Are the salaries being offered so poor by comparison to those paid by rivals? Or are the demands of players excessive? For first team regulars to be in this situation is infuriating.

Blame for the media hype falls squarely on the shoulders of Nasri’s Mr20% . Clichy? Well, I have no idea who his agent is but he and the player have acted ‘in the Arsenal way’ throughout. With Cesc leaving for Barcelona seeming possible and implausible at the same time, are Arsenal a club in crisis?

Actually, more of a club that has taken its’ eye off the ball. Lee Dixon believes Nasri and Fábregas leaving would be ‘disastrous‘ for Arsenal. What would he say if Clichy goes as well? Which hyperbole fits best?

It feels like time is up for the Golden Generation. In much the same way that their England counterparts crumbled, the fall is not spectacular. More a whimper than a bang. From being on the cusp of dominance, they teeter on the edge of departure.

Talk of winning trophies is empty rhetoric. A criminal waste by the players. They might believe that they should have beaten Birmingham, have finished higher than Manchester United but they did not. There was no heroic failure, no gut-busting fight to the bitter end. The season just slid away.

Fortunately, Arsène has his “finger in a few pies“.  Which are real? Eden Hazard is coming more to the fore as Gervinho looks for his lost third person. Around £20m is the fee being demanded by Lille for a player continuously linked with the club. And despite Hazard throwing a strop in Belgium’s recent international. I think the burger is more likely to count against him than being upset about a substitution.

Arsenal may well have contacted his current employers but leaks to the press have Machiavellian hands behind them. Is his Mr20% related to Nasri’s? Or Cesc’s? Apparently Darren Dein has formally contacted Arsenal. It sounds like a transfer request. It looks like a transfer request. It smells like something that has been left rotting in sunshine for several weeks. Especially when the fee being demanded by Arsenal is €40m. And it is in Sport.

Elsewhere, the rats are deserting the ship faster than their ancestors left the Titanic. Nicklas Bendtner to Besiktas and an unexpected Theo Walcot to Juventus. The English media loves to classify the Turin club as ‘big’ despite no title being won since 2002-03. Yes, esteemed gentlemen of Wapping, that’s one season longer than Arsenal have had to wait.

Equally spurious stuff comes from Uzbekistan. Yeah, I wasn’t surprised to find that the President of their FA has the surname of Usmanov. But no, he’s not related to Sheriff Fatman. Or so they claim. Arsène’s bargain basement shopping is world-renowned to such an extent that he is now scouring the Eastern Republics for players, Odil Ahmedov the target this time. About as believable as Arsène spending £30m on a player.

Never let it be said that the Football Association are vindictive. Corinthian ideals are held close to their hearts. And in no way was the cancellation of a friendly in Thailand to do with a lack of support during the 2018 World Cup bid. Argentina are in the same boat, no longer welcome at Wembley for the FAs 150th Anniversary celebrations. Grondona’s demand for the Falklands and recent outburst put paid to that. He isn’t popular at The Emirates either.

For every England failure at international level, there is an Arsène Wenger behind it. It gets worse. Grondona founded Arsenal de Sarandi in 1957 as a result of his admiration for Arsenal. Yes, us, the proper ones. It is only a matter of time before this connection turns poisonous. Grondona tried to buy Cesc and his revenge was to block England’s bid. It’s only a matter of time…