Recently I’ve been busy and haven’t had time to write much on ANR.
And what I have written has upset some people, which I regret. Nobody liked this headline.
And Stephen Holt writes :
Myles,
Although I love this site, you are really starting to annoy me of late. You’re going back to how you was last season, which was full of so much doom that I thought you were going to commit suicide.
Cheer up mate it, isn’t all that bad, you’ll be calling for Wenger’s head next.
Stephen, I’d have to agree it’s not all bad. Arsene Wenger’s the most intelligent man I’ve met in football. What Arsenal have achieved, in taking on the biggest regeneration project in Britain, apart from the Olympic site, has been a colossal task and to build the Emirates Stadium on time and on budget, funding the whole vast, complicated scheme themselves, is awesome.
It is something no other football club – NO OTHER FOOTBALL CLUB IN THE WORLD – could have done. I have always said that Ashburton Grove could be built and should be built and the £260 million could be repaid because it’s not, if you say it quickly, that much money. To do all that, and stay in the Top Four, and play in the Champions League every year, is amazing, and we should always remember that
One guy wrote this week and said he had been reading my stuff for seven years and maybe he remembers me writing that several times.
Another guy said : We beat Chelsea this season.
True, but Drogba didn’t play in that game. He was recovering from knee surgery.
I don’t think Arsenal will win anything now, so for me the season is over.
I will continue to write here but, being a big picture man, I naturally start thinking about other things, about next season, about England, about taking a holiday to Croatia, about reading some of the very interesting books I’ve been buying.
Last night I had a wonderful time at Book Slam, where it was heaving for William Boyd, although not as rammed as it was for Will Self in January. I was tempted to buy one of Boyd’s autographed books but I didn’t because I haven’t yet read Irvine Welsh’s, If You Liked School, You’ll Love Work, which I bought when I saw Welsh at Book Slam last year.
I’m not suicidal because I very rarely get bent out of shape by football.
I’ve met Arsene Wenger hundreds of times and, working as a journalist, I’ve met scores of managers over the decades.They are blokes. I was not in awe of any of them and had a lot of fun with many of them.
And, I have to say, the most intelligent bloke I’ve ever met in football has given me the two worst days I’ve ever had in football. I’ve had a lot of memorable, exciting, satisfying days in football but it is true to say that AW has given me the two worst days I’ve ever had in this game.When I get time I might write about those two days.
Whether Arsenal are winning or losing, I look for inspiration, for things to give me a lift. I love stories like : Sunderland striker Niall Quinn gives away his £1 million testimonial money to charity.
Niall is a gentleman, a really great guy. I used to see him walking into Arsenal tube station with his dad after games he had played in.
In this age of greed and rabid commercialism, I get a big kick about reading about a football club doing something that shows it’s still a football club. I know what a football club is and what a football club can be and should be.
For instance : Glasgow Rangers are giving free tickets to their most loyal fans for a game in Portugal.
Sir David Murray has decided to buy their entire ticket allocation for the Uefa Cup tie with Sporting Lisbon and will give those tickets to 2,500 travelling fans, who will be chosen based on their previous travel history.
“This gesture is a big thank you to our supporters who have shown extraordinary commitment this season,” said chief executive Martin Bain.
Meanwhile, chairman Murray has vowed to “invest heavily” in players this summer.
He also announced a freeze in season ticket costs and a reduction for juvenile season tickets.
That, to me, is a football club.
That is a big club. Rangers are a club who think big.