In praise of the Special One

JOSE Mourinho is already a success at Manchester United, but don't tell that to some who want him to fail.

It's been strange to watch how the Special One has been covered this season, almost through a prism of him constantly being under pressure.

What did we expect? A league title in his first season? The Red Devils don't have the squad for that just now.

But at a trophy hungry club, Mourinho has already plonked the League Cup on the sideboard and realistically should add the Europa League to the cabinet by the end of May.

All the while keeping in touch in the league, a difficult task for English clubs who often struggle with the Thursday night to weekend turnaround required.

The draw with Manchester City on Thursday keeps United well in touch with a Liverpool side attempting  to treat triumph and disaster the same each week.

Yes they have drawn too many games but United have dominated many of those stalemates without reward. 

If just four of those games had ended in victory for Mourinho's men United would be joint second and four points off the top.

Of course he has spent a lot of money, but which Premier League manager isn't afraid of waiving the chequebook in a cash rich league? 

And the excuses and bizarre comments such as claiming Middlesbrough would beat them? Come on everyone, we are dealing with the master of deflecting attention here.

Remember Mourinho was the man who named Barcelona's team 24 hours before a game. The result? Everyone was talking about Jose the next day not the challenge awaiting Chelsea....

The spectre of Sir Alex still looms at Old Trafford at a club which went 26 years without a league title and arguably without the continued success the Govan guv'nor delivered.

A period of change was almost certain, but had Moyes or LVG put a trophy on the table in year one they would be there now.

Mourinho has brought himself time with the League Cup but knows the owners want Champions League football.

Should he achieve that then it will be a job well done in his first year. The expectation level will rise again at Old Trafford I am sure.

But if anyone can meet the challenge it's the Special One. 

By the way, any chance of a smile Jose?

Dear Arsene.....

THE ESTEEMED John Cross tells us in the Daily Mirror you want to ‘feel loved’ before you sign a new two year deal, a contract you will once again observe to the day I’m sure.

All true Gooners do love you Arsene, you are the greatest modern-day Arsenal manager and we have memories to cherish until our dying days. The first double including that phenomenal run to haul Manchester United’s 12 point lead in and of course 2002 when we won it in their backyard.

None of us will ever forget 2003/4, the unbeaten season during which you and the players delivered the best football I have ever seen from an Arsenal team.

Those were seasons where we felt everyone was aiming high, pushing each other to win, win and win again. Since then I suspect many Gooners including myself feel an attitude of ‘that’ll do’ is the message, much of it coming from you.

We understand moving home was a nightmare financially and meant we had to sell the best players, but please remember before the move us fans were told it wouldn’t affect the team.

We do appreciate your loyalty and understand others wanted to prize you away, but that doesn’t mean we will just accept things.

And we do appreciate Champions League football every year Arsene and the stadium you enabled to be built. Personally if the Emirates deal ever ends I would be happy for us to play at the AW Stadium

But too often in the Champions League we end up throwing it away against sides we should beat or rest players in the group stages and end up with a harder draw in the knockout phases.

Arsene, we also pay some of the highest ticket prices in the country so it’s massively galling to see our team get so close and throw things away.

The Carling Cup final in 2008, we should have beaten Birmingham out of sight yet we went into the game thinking it was won already. AC Milan were disposed of in the Champions League 3-0 at our place, just a shame we were 4-0 down from the first game!

Put simply, when the pressure is on, a lot of us now think an Arsenal team under you cannot handle it.

Last year we beat Manchester City at the Emirates to go top of the league at Christmas. We then won just two out of the next seven league games and went a month without a victory.

We don’t understand Arsene how Leicester, a team which was all but relegated the Christmas before, held it all together to win the league. A team we beat home and away.

We struggle to understand how the current very talented team isn’t running away with the league like Chelsea – under a manager in his first season in English football.

And Arsene, we don’t like the fact them lot down the road seem to be building a pretty decent team!

We have a huge, beautiful stadium, a cracking team which you have assembled but then we lose to Watford, go 3-0 down to Bournemouth and inch past Preston North End.

We are football fans Arsene, we are forever asking ourselves ‘Would this happen to Man United, Chelsea etc’ and nine times out of 10 it wouldn’t.

That’s why we are frustrated and yes angry with things. We don’t want ‘that’ll do’ mentality, we want the Arsenal of old, the flourishing football with an insane desire to win trophies.

You are your own man and make your own decisions Arsene and we will always respect that.

If this is the end though, please be assured all true Gooners, even your fiercest critics will stand and applaud as you leave and thank you for taking a football club in a right state when you arrived in 1996 and putting us among Europe’s elite.

We do love you Arsene, but we love Arsenal Football Club as well. It was here before us and it will outlast us all too.

Merci pour l’écoute

England went to Iceland and got more than they bargained for

ENGLAND’s defeat to Iceland meant an early, and deserved, departure from the European Championships.

To pretend this has been a good tournament for our national side both on and off the pitch would be like telling yourself England will win a trophy in the next decade.

Whereas Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have provided many memories and created a real buzz off the field with their friendly behaviour, England have bored their way through the tournament with a small minority causing chaos.

The thing is, as England fans, we have watched this boxset before. Again we have exited  a tournament early, again the manager has gone leaving English football in ‘crisis’.

But what really annoys me is the empty platitudes from the players. All we heard was how ‘gutted’ they were etc. The thing is we hear this every tournament now, we qualify then fail on the big stage.

I backed Hodgson hugely, the only man for the job after Capello left. I backed him until ¾ of the way through the Russia game when he removed Wayne Rooney when we were 1-0 up against a tired Russian team whose centre half was on a yellow card. He protected a lead when all logic dictated pushing on for a second goal.

His selections were always open to question, picking Jack Wilshere for the tournament despite him only being fit since April was baffling.

But forget the errors, forget the individuals. Quite simply England lost last night because Iceland wanted it more. And there is the rub, all of the England squad have huge contracts and have ‘made it’ with their clubs. Many in the Icelandic side have grafted and battled to earn a playing deal outside their homeland and are showing that effort as a team in this tournament.

What now? The same old, same old, we are in crisis, we will appoint a new manager, there will be a new dawn and then inevitably failure either at the 2018 World Cup or 2020 Euros.  

I’m 34 and apart from Italia 90 and Euro 96 I have only known failure as an England fan, usually on penalties, as I write I can’t honestly say I am willing to continue to support the team.

I wonder how many more like me feel the same today?

Don't just blame Wenger, Arsenal as a club has lost its way

WEDNESDAY night was probably the lowest I have felt as an Arsenal fan for a good number of years, certainly since we were embarrassed by Birmingham City in 2011.

After a very limp performance against Manchester United on Sunday, I'd hoped the players would roar back and shove the critics words down their throats with a dominant performance against relegation strugglers.

Instead it was another of 'that'll do' performances where Arsenal went 1-0 up and reacted with horror when the opposition dared to make a game of it. It's a performance we have got used to sadly in recent years and usually explained away by the manager as 'tiredness' or something else.

In other years we probably didn't do enough to win the title, but this year with Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City bobbing along, it looked the golden chance to win the Premier League.

Instead Arsenal lie somewhat marooned in third, closer to dropping out of the top four than reaching the summit, occupied by Leicester City. A team let's remember who were 'doomed' to relegation the Christmas before last....

The more damning statistic was Arsenal have recorded just THREE Premier League wins since Christmas or more to the point, three victories since we beat Manchester City at the Emirates and established ourselves as favorites.

Instead of pushing on and doing all we can to seal the title, we nervously stepped into the New Year. To the outsiders, of which many of us are because the club won't have anything said anti Arsene, it looks like they simply don't want to win trophies bigger than the FA Cup.

Do I blame Wenger and want him out? Not entirely, the players are just as culpable as the manager, after all Arsene Wenger can't score goals or keep them out!

But my problem with Wenger is the lack of desire and the willingness to be challenged, where are the voices in the dressing room calling people out for slacking, challenging the manager?

Answer? Out of the club, Wenger rules and if you don't like it you can look for another club to play for. Gone are the days of Adams, Keown, Vieira, Henry, Lehmann, Campbell – big players who would drag the team to glory.

The players know if they don't deliver on the pitch there will be an excuse from the manager and most have slipped into their comfy trousers to pocket the salaries on offer.

Any other club would have shipped Diaby out with his injury record, would be questioning why Jack Wilshere troubles surgeons more than midfielders, would have told Theo Walcott to PROVE why he should be played through the middle.

Instead the squad is a mish-mash of bored players who have settled for the level they are at and the high quality ones who want to win trophies.

While I applaud Leicester for their efforts this year, they shouldn't be top of the league, Arsenal should be dominating this league this season. That they aren't is a chronic failure on behalf of the manager and the players.

What should be done? Well in my opinion all reasonable fans should be questioning Wenger's continued presence at the club. Not the sack but a departure fitting the status as the man who revived our club.

He deserves our gratitude and respect but even the best sometimes need to be told when to leave the stage. Arsene's legacy is in danger of being unpicked now, as Gooners we need to ensure it doesn't happen.

If he does depart then I hope the slackers in that dressing room get a rude awakening, a jolt into life.

After all 'Victoria Concordia Crescit' does mean 'Victory grows through Harmony'.

There has been a distinct lack of that in and around the club this season!

Abuse of Wenger is beyond contempt

ONCE again Arsene Wenger has been subjected to abuse at close quarters, this time a fan running into the dug out area to remonstrate with him.

Coupled with the vile, foul mouthed abuse from 'supporters' after the Stoke match last month and the Frenchman must fear the next time he leaves London.

At this point I will acknowledge I have called for him to go in the past but let me repeat for those who clearly can't read.

When I called for him to depart it was not to be sacked but a mutual parting at the end of the season to allow Wenger to be applauded into the centre circle and thanked for everything he has done for Arsenal FC.

Because what these morons who think it's OK to spout invective and bile don't understand is without Arsene Wenger, Arsenal may well be in League One by now. A club which stagnated after George Graham left and pushed into the dark ages when Bruce Rioch took charge.

Le Boss came, saw and conquered and has delivered many, many memories of which we are all rightfully proud. But that work and dedication, those trophies and glory days come with respect for the man who delivered them.

If and when he decides or the people running Arsenal decide it's time for a new chapter then we ought to replicate what Man United did for Sir Alex Ferguson, a guard of honour and a chance for the real fans to say thank you and goodbye.

Yes the league has been disappointing this season but we have an OK FA Cup draw and for once a nicer (not easier) second round Champions League draw. We all know how well Arsenal finish a season so who knows? This could yet be a good campaign.

Sacking him is wrong and completely unjustified. But there is another scenario bubbling away in the background now.

What if Wenger decides he's had enough and walks? Something for the morons to think about?

What to do with the misfiring Gunners?

IT'S fair to say Arsene Wenger has probably had better days at the office, an awful result again, shambolic defending and an increasingly vocal Emirates expressing their displeasure.

We don't do white hankies ala Barcelona or Real Madrid, but if we did there would have been more than enough on display to wipe up the red wine allegedly thrown at the Manchester United bench on Saturday evening, such was the anger at full time.

Why? Because yet again Arsenal have battered a team only to be caught out and beaten. If matches were played on stats and on paper Arsenal would have done the treble more than once.

But they aren't and again Arsenal huffed and puffed and just before blowing the house down decided to hold their breath some more.

Truth be told Arsenal should have been at least two goals to the good before the defensive calamaties but equally could have been down to 10 men as Jack Wilshere's fuse once again was lit far too easily for my liking.

Instead, a silly own goal gave United a lead they did not deserve and then Arsenal's lemming like attitude to push up the field gave United an easy second. It should have been three as Di Maria missed when it was easier to score.

What to do? Sack the manager? No, no our club owes Wenger more than that. Without him in 1996 Arsenal could have fallen away so badly we could have ended up like Leeds United.

But the time has come for someone at the Emirates to sit down with Arsene and ask about the future, does he want to carry on? Lately in after match interviews he is looking more and more like a man who doesn't have the answers he needs to find.

The problems aren't deep rooted, they can be fixed but Arsene needs to adapt his methods somewhat.

The back four needs training, to defend as a unit and to stop getting caught up field so often. Steve Bould is sitting there like a bubble in a can. Surely training can be adapted to allow one of George's legendary back four to nurture the current four incumbents.

A couple of a players need a kick up the backside. In my opinion one of them is Wilshere, if he put in as much effort into developing his talent as he does effing and jeffing referee's the kid would world class. I love Wilshere, a local lad done good, but his constant temper tantrums are beginning to wear thin.

Wojciech Szczesny needs reminding he's won nothing of note yet, the man is very good with the banter but frankly got a lesson in goalkeeping from David De Gea on Saturday night, another playing behind a rather porous defence.

Arteta is no longer a starter and certainly not captain. Mertesacker retired from German duty, is very vocal, give him the captaincy – if that doesn't 'motivate' him then maybe ask him to move on.

And buy, buy in January – Arsenal need a centre half and a defensive midfielder. Maybe just maybe something can be salvaged from what is beginning to look like a worrying campaign.

The 'Arsene Knows' banner still proudly takes its place at every home game. More and more though are wondering 'does he?'

Hodgson deserves respect

MONDAY night showed why I have become so bored with the England national team.

No not because of the manager or the players but because of the sheer amount, to paraphrase Roy Hodgson, of "f****** b*******' that surrounds an England match.

Since he took over, Hodgson hasn't had a chance with some in the media who wanted their beloved Harry Redknapp to take the national job.

Why was beyond me, yes Hodgson's managerial career in England is hardly one to write home about but international ly the man has more than enough experience.

Whereas Harry has never managed north of the Watford Gap.....

Failure at the World Cup gave the press the ammunition they needed. At no point did they consider England had an awful group, things would have been different had they had Argentina's group of Bosnia, Nigeria and Iran or France's group of Switzerland, Honduras and Ecuador.

Through it all, Hodgson remained dignified and respectful to a media which frankly showed neither of those qualities to him. 

And now he presides over a young, vibrant team full of pace and enthusiasm and one which should excite us Englishmen.

Gone are the last of the 'Golden Generation' scarred by tournament defeats and raised expectations.

Yet to read the tweets and coverage before Monday night you'd think we'd lost the last five games in a row.

The headlines were already written, 'Basel Faulty' some wanted to hail it. But England delivered big time and well done to them for it.

The critics? Did they praise? No they backtracked and said Switzerland weren't that good anyway! 

England made a good start and arguablely with the hardest game out the way this young team can look forward to a relatively easy group, gaining confidence as a unit and hopefully entertaining along the way.

Remember the Germans? they ditched the old guard in 2000 and this hungry young team won the greatest prize of them all just over a decade later.

Maybe, just maybe, if we are all patient then a lot more than football may come home in years to come....

Mackay case shows football's failings

I HAD a bluebottle infestation in my wheelie bin the other week. Did I remove one and let the rest carry on? No I cleaned the whole bin....

Yet in football again a case of alleged sexism/racism/anti-semitism has reared up and the character assasination of one individual has begun.

Malky Mackay is now in the firing line and will probably be ostracised from football by the time we put up the Christmas decorations.

Now before I go on, if these texts are proven then Mackay, an otherwise articulate man should hang his head that his 'banter' comes straight from the drains.

But do we really think Mackay is the only British football manager sending such texts and having such discussions?

I'd put good money on a number of managers making sexual comments on a regular basis. I know of one current manager who left a previous job not because of mutual consent but because he quite fancied 'consent' with a married female.

Racism is a whole different matter but if Mackay believes this in private he certainly doesn't show it in public.

I've seen the phrase 'Wee Egyptian' used  to beat Mackay..really? Every Scot uses 'Wee' and Egyptian is actually someone's nationality...surely it can't be racist?

My point being though is we've been here before, sexism storm sees Richard Keys and Andy Gray go, racism sees Ron Atkinson sacked. Has football done anything about it? No, it's easier to have a storm then just make money again

We have to have a dividing line, either vet everyone and have them hand over every text they have ever sent or accept there is a line between public and private.

Is it right what Mackay is alleged to have sent? Of course not no. 

But football has to choose what it wants from it's people. If it truly wants to 'clean house' then it might be uncomfortable with what it finds...

Blue Moon rises to see off the Reds revival

So there you are, the end to yet another Premier League season, Manchester City triumph, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal, Everton and Spurs are booking the plane tickets for a Euro excursion while the trapdoor closed on the heads of Cardiff, Fulham and Norwich.

It's been an enthralling, captivating, surprising and dramatic season in the top flight, Manchester United's manager didn't get the six years he was promised and Crystal Palace and Sunderland went from doomed to mid-table comfort.

It was the year of the sack as everyone seemed to change their manager - some did well (Crystal Palace) while others left it too late (Norwich) or changed too many times (Fulham).

Ultimately it was a season where the best team overall won the top trophy. Manchester City have been consistent, threatening and capable of stunning runs of form and deserve their honour.

A lot was made about Pellegrini when he arrived, particularly he had not won the league and 'blew £200million' at Real Madrid to finish second to Barcelona.

The fact that Barca won the title that year with a RECORD La Liga points total seemed not to concern the scribes and opinion makers.....

The Chilean has united a squad full of egos and honed them into a potent outfit, a team capable of going even further next season. It's a season though where Yaya Toure and Aguero must have competent understudies as both world class players have been playing through the pain at times this year.

As for Liverpool, this season has not been a 'failure' despite what Alan Hansen said. Ask any Liverpool fan if going from seventh to second and within two points of a title is failure and I suspect you might get a rather sarcastic response!

Liverpool's only mistake this season was naiveity - Brendan Rodgers told his team to go for it against Chelsea when he should have played tactically, got a point and moved on.

But Liverpool's approach was understandable, they thrashed Everton 4-0, Arsenal 5-1 and beat Man City 3-2 by 'going for it' so why change?

Perhaps if the same happened next year, we may see a new more cautious Liverpool but if I was an Anfield regular I wouldn't be sad at the conclusion, I would be looking ahead to next season.

It's been a season to remember again, congratulations to Manchester City!

Applaud Alves, he's made the racists look like morons

I HAVE heard and read an awful lot about Dani Alves since Sunday night when he ate a banana.

Nothing wrong with that you might think, except he (a mixed race gentleman) ate it after it was thrown at him by a moronic waste of oxygen called a Villareal fan.

I won't insult anyone's intelligence by explaining why this is a hateful gesture but the column inches and debate since then has been staggering.

Many footballers and people in public life have eaten the yellow fruit to show their support, instead for the rich levels of potassium!

But some, ironically including anti racism campaigners, have said tougher actions should have been taken and the incident reinforced the problem of racism.

Rubbish! Dani Alves made the idiot who threw the banana look like a complete moron, if we as society make people who do things like this look stupid they will stop doing it.

No one wants to look like a tool on a public stage! If you feel the need to point out someone is different because of the colour of their skin, creed, sexuality or beliefs then I am sorry you are part of this progressive world.

To Dani and everyone else who has or is encountering racism, take them on with gestures not violence.

Whether its becoming President of the United States or eating a banana and then taking a corner kick, showing that vile insults won't stop you is the best way of getting back at the Neanderthals.

They'll die as morons, you might achieve everything you dreamed of!

Bravo Dani, bravo!