Please give Tony a job at Arsenal & Higuain, Rooney, Fellaini etc - the FACTS

The Skipper

Just before I was nine years old Tony Adams replaced Kenny Sansom as Arsenal Captain. He would remain Skipper until I was twenty-three. In that time Arsenal had a pretty much unbroken spell of success, and a lot of it was down to the leadership of Tony Adams. It was a sad day when the injuries finally became too much for TA6 and he had to retire. Since then he has seemingly been on a constant path towards his destiny, and some kind of return to Arsenal.

I think 100% of Arsenal supporters have long since realised he wouldn't be a particularly good bet as a Manager, but as the number two he has some pedigree - he was Redknapp's assistant when Portsmouth won the FA Cup. I'm sure most Gooners would agree that Andrey Arshavin might have been somewhat more inclined to put in a shift had Tony been knocking about in the changing room. However, public appearances from Tony have left me with a feeling of indifference. He comes across as a man on the edge of some sort of breakdown all the time, and his deliberate attempts to portray himself as a thinking man when he does some punditry just make him look odd. His absence from the final day at Highbury was a notable one and gave rise to some rumours of a rift of some kind with Arsene Wenger (I don't really believe those rumours, and his employment with Portsmouth may well have been preventing him from being at Arsenal on that special day).

Yesterday I woke to stories of Adams claiming he should be on the Arsenal Board, and he had written to Peter Hill-Wood offering himself to Arsenal in any capacity they saw fit. I do think Arsene Wenger has kept Tony at arms length from Arsenal, and such pronouncements perhaps give an indication as to why. Tony may well be a bit of a loose cannon for Arsene to have to deal with. It seems like he is desperate to be involved at HIS Club, but for whatever reason he can't find an "in" at Arsenal.

In my view Tony Adams should be doing something at Arsenal. Sadly, his overall character, and the way he comes across, limits the roles he could carry out. Having claimed he should be on the Board, he has now followed it up by advising Wayne Rooney against moving to Arsenal - what kind of director would he make when advising World Class talent to avoid us? Similarly he would be unable to fill the role that Bobby Charlton and Bryan Robson have at Manchester United, or Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush at Liverpool. However, for his own sanity, and to keep him from making any more embarrassing public statements, I want Adams to be found a job at the Club. Tony did enough for Arsenal in his twenty years as a player to justify a job now that he appears to be a little bit desperate.

 

The silly season really is getting beyond unbearable. Every day some website or newspaper gives a conflicting "report" on the latest on such and such a player and their potential transfer. This past week Gonzalo Higuain has been everything from a signed and sealed Arsenal player to being on the verge of joining Juventus, depending on which website you look at. Three weeks ago Arsenal had "triggered the release clause" of Marouane Fellaini, according to the Daily Mirror. Just three days later the same journalist reported that Arsene was getting cold feet over Fellaini as he felt he was over-priced. Of course, nothing has happened with Fellaini. Nothing of note seems to have happened with Higuain either, though that is a deal I can see happening. Among other players "linked heavily" is Wayne Rooney. The thing is that the sites and news companies "linking" these players (among myriad others) know no more than you or I when it comes to who Arsenal may or may not be in for. These sites are in the business of getting as many clicks on their pages as possible, thus satisfying their advertisers, so they make up sensationalist rubbish to draw in idiots. A number of Arsenal blogs do the same by way of cleverly ambiguous headlines, specifically designed to get you clicking on them to find out if they are "in the know" over the latest on Cesc Fabregas moving back to Arsenal, or some such other nonsense. I fully expect this post to go big on NewsNow simply because of the headline I've it.

Regular readers will know my policy here on the "gossip" of transfers. I won't indulge in it as almost all of it is made up. I'd rather deal in the facts. And where Arsenal transfers are concerned there is simply one fact - only Arsene Wenger and Ivan Gazidis genuinely know who we are interested in and bidding for, right up to the point that a bid is accepted. So stop reading these spurious websites and tabloid newspapers. Get out there and enjoy the break from the stress that the season will bring you. When someone is signed we'll hear about it soon enough (though Arsenal have become annoyingly particular about such announcements). In the meantime, let's watch the cricket or something.