By Myles Palmer
As you know, we don’t have the time or staff to do everything that ANR readers want us to do.
My partner Ian Grant sends on your letters in batches and I reply to SOME of them once a year, if you’re lucky.
Last week super-busy Ian had to go to Budapest on business.He promised to send them when he came back.
As always, some of you ask the impossible.
I cannot wholly explain why Sunderland fans sing louder than Arsenal punters.
I cannot reply to complex questions.
I cannot see into the future or see into Arsene’s mind.
Ian added a note with your emails:
A woman next to me on the plane to Hungary was reading The Professor.I told her about ANR. She said she was a lifelong Gooner and that her grandad played for Arsenal in 1908 – Bellamy was his name – when they were in Plumstead.
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Alex Sisto sent the month’s most succinct message.
Excellent article about the way France and Arsenal play. Well done.
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Mark expresses a sentiment that has become common among fans since September.
I’ll be fascinated to see, that now Arsenal seemed to have stepped up to a new level (at least in confidence) what they’ll be like when they’re really tested. Home games against Sunderland are telling us nothing new.
Hope you get a chance to stop by www.frev.com
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Jack W from Singapore writes:
I believe the success in Arsenal in recent seasons is due to David Dein and his leadership direction for Arsenal. He should be credited for appointing Arsene Wenger as Arsenal Manager and putting his trust in the manager.
With Dein’s support,Manager Arsene Wenger is able to build a very cohesive team of players who are motivated and hunger for more success.
I first supported Arsenal in 1998 when I went to Europe on a tour.My first impression for Arsenal then was that they can be a very successful club.
The period from 1997-2000 was a transition before a core team of dedicated and motivated players are finally assembled.I have every belief that Arsenal will build on their success from 2001/2002 season.
The important thing is the board,manager,players and fans continue to support each other (even in times when the team have a “bad” day) for the club to be successful.
I am pleased that the Arsenal board members,Manager and players are working towards the same direction to build Arsenal into a world class soccer powerhouse.
I wish them success!!!
Cheers to the Awesome Arsenal!!!
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FEW WOULD ARGUE WITH THAT.
David Dein has hired three managers. The first won six trophies in eight years. The third has won two Doubles in four years and created the finest Arsenal team of all time.
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Henry Moss writes from the beautiful Pacific North West:
Just for the record I loved your book and I’m sure I would buy at least one more of your books, even if it didn’t have anything to do with the Reds. You have a certain rhythm to the way you write. Anyway keep up the good work. Just checking in from Lake Oswego, Oregon, USA.
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I THINK I FIRST FOUND that rhythm in Mark Knopfler, An
Unauthorized Biography.
I learned a lot writing that book : research,structure, word processing, the libel laws.
My editor Susan Hill said,”Myles, in all my time in publishing I’ve never known a book go back and forward to the lawyers as often as yours!”
It’s a shame that my books don’t reach the USA, the country I have visited most often.
However, I will write further books in future. I have a couple more football books in me. Maybe I will do another Arsenal book.
This one is selllng well in Walton-on-Thames, where Peter, the bookseller, is a Gooner who tells everybody it’s a good book. Thanks,Peter !
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Phil Buckley writes:
Hi Myles,
Dammit, I have been meaning to write for ages and I have finally got round to it. I just wanted to say that I have been reading ANR for about a year now and it really is my favourite website about football.
Most of all, what makes it stand out for me is the quality of the writing – I agree or don’t agree with the opinions, but I always read the articles as soon as they come out, often more than once, and they make me think.
There is just none of the idiocy and the lies you come to expect from a lot of football reporting.
Often, you have deepened my appreciation – for example, your comments on Lauren playing in defence as he such a cracking passer was not something I realised, but is I think absolutely right.
Basically, thanks very much. I’m sure it takes you no end of time, but I at least really appreciate it.
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THE TIME I SPEND doing ANR is the time other people spend watching TV. If there was anything worth watching on TV, I would watch TV and not do a website.
This is relaxation for me, therapy, a tiny corner of cyberspace where I scribble.It’s quite easy to write this stuff quickly.
If you know what you want to say, the style takes care of itself.
OK, I’m opinionated, always have been.
At grammar school in Stevenage,Herts, when internationals were played on Wednesday afternoons, three of us went round one day to watch England v Portugal at Terry Doyle’s house. I was shouting at the screen.
At half-time Terry pulled out a microphone from behind a cushion. He had recorded my commentary on his new Grundig reel-to-reel.
He said he would never erase that tape. But I’m sure he did. It wasn’t that hilarious.
I should also admit this : Six months ago I clicked on some ANR pieces I’d written three months before and skim-read seven or eight of them.
I was shocked. They seemed too heavy, too raw, too hard, well over the top.They did not seem like reporting or comment or analysis.
They seemed more like a journal revealing the many moods of Myles Palmer. So that was scary.Quite alarming. I decided not to look back again!
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Lukman Nurhakim Bin Noordin writes from Singapore:
Hi there!
I’m an ardent supporter of Arsenal since 1992 and I watch almost all Arsenal games on TV. I just got to know about your site and it has got many good reads.
What I want to comment is that for you to have more pictures of the happenings around Highbury so that Arsenal supporters overseas would know the atmosphere there and what’s going on. Those pics on your site are nice.I’ve been to Highbury but have yet to attend a match there.
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IF ONLY WE COULD DO PHOTOS.Often thought that I should, one day, write a colour piece,just for overseas readers, describing the scene in more detail.
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Colin Bosworth writes from Switzerland.
The Professor
Hi there,
Any idea if your book is for sale here in Switzerland? Otherwise I have to pay three times the price for so-called postage costs.
I enjoy reading your pieces on ANR – good reporting and just tangential enough to keep the scrolling going.
All the best,
Colin
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TANGENTIAL is a handy word. I think I know what you mean. If I was Jeffrey Archer my books would be available all over the world. But I’m really glad I’m not Jeffrey Archer.
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Michael Hormoz writes similarly from Australia:
About the Professor
I am a keen Arsenal fan and I was wondering if the book is out here. I have not seen it in any book stores.Well done for writing a book about Wenger, as us fans from other countries like to get an insight on what is going on with the team.Since you have met him and published a book, all I can say is well done. And I hope I do find it here.
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Sean reckons he cannot now see Jeffers as a Gunner.
Despite our search for a “Fox in the Box” in Jeffers, we have actually given birth to more foxes in the form of Henry (who keeps improving season to season), Freddie, Wiltord, Toure, and, I strongly believe in the near future, Aliadiere.
Jeffers, until two weeks ago, was trying to get fit. Frankly, I cannot see him “foxing” into Arsenal’s style of play. He could be talented and able to smell goals, but he is not enterprising enough and lacks the killer instinct that is so crucial in the attack oriented game that Arsenal plays.
I also doubt if he is able to run into position (like Freddie)and possess the power to withstand the physical defending of some of the opponents.
Could you enlighten me Myles? Do you think Jeffers should stay? I would trade him in January.
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SORRY, CAN’T ENLIGHTEN YOU.
Jeffers has a lot to offer but I don’t know if a scally will make it at Arsenal.He IS a quality finisher. And his off-the ball-play is as good as Freddie’s,maybe better. Personally, I hope he makes it. I’ve NOT given up on Franny.
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Richard Krivonozka is 3,000 miles from Oregon:
As a New York resident your book is not available to me at this time. Do you know if it is ever likely to be published in the US ? I once picked up John Lyall’s autobiography over here (it was a waste of paper by the way,but at 50c what do you expect!)
Your site provides a quite excellent insight by the way & I am very grateful for that.
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Ahmed Modibbo is a Nigerian who visited London recently.
Hello Myles,
I wasn’t happy to know that you were at BOOKS ETC on Oxford St. to sign copies of The Professor. This is because its only a few days before than that I went there specifically and bought a copy.
It was my only free day in London, as I had just come from Nigeria and was in transit to Rome.Anyway I am still reading it. It’s engrossing so far.
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MY SIGNATURE is no big deal !
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Paul Burland loved a tackle against PSV which I recall vividly:
GILBERTO
What a great moment in the match when Leonardo the youngster made a dribble into the box and Gilberto came back and won the ball. We’ve got a different type of Brazilian!
Yes, Paul, that was a dangerous moment, when Leandro cut inside Lauren in the 83rd and Gilberto made a phenomenal Colin Todd-style tackle in the box and come away with the ball.
For young readers, Colin Todd was the best tackler I have ever seen.Played for Derby.
One day in the Seventies I went to Highbury with my Scottish flatmate John Mair.
We arrived early and saw the Derby players walk on the pitch in their suits, testing the turf, sniffing the air.
Todd was wearing a light grey suit.
Derby cruised it, won very comfortably.And I said,”Why did Todd bother to get changed? He could have walked through that game without getting his trousers muddy.”
Around the same time Kevin Keegan and Billy Bremner had a punch-up in the Charity Shield. Both were sent off and both threw their shirts on the ground.
This caused a massive controversy.The FA charged them with bringing the game into disrepute.
Soon afterwards, Mair and I saw another really dull game at Highbury.
When Mair yawned I said,”Stop yawning, Mair! You’re bringing the game into further disrepute.”
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David Donkor thanks me for writing about the team we love:
Hello Myles,
I have been an Arsenal fan since 1979, I am now 32. I would just like to commend you on this website. Your views are always informative,provocative and sometimes even amusing!
I first discovered your page about a year and a half ago and always check it every couple of days to see if there has been an update. Please keep up the good work, mate. Your efforts are well appreciated. Thanks mate. It’s
good that someone takes the trouble to provide an insight into the club we love.
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Jason asks the question I get all the time:
Are you a Gooner?
You didn’t answer the question asked. Was it because you want to keep a certain distance between yourself as a writer and being an Arsenal fan so that your masterpieces wouldn’t be bias?
I think that your true identity should really be let known to readers.
I bought your newly published ” The Professor “. I am not gonna comment anything on it, but you said it was 8.99 but it turned out to be 9.99 quid! Well, still worth it.
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JASON, I’M A WRITER, not a Gooner.
Unfortunately, people cannot accept that. My trainer at the gym always laughs and says,”Myles, own up- you’re a Gooner!”
How can I explain this? It’s hard. Because the Palmers look and sound like an Arsenal family.
About 18 months ago the four of us were having dinner. Jan, Michael,Caroline.
C talks a lot, often thinks aloud, just comes out with things.
Caroline : I would still support Arsenal if they were in the Nationwide.
Michael : So would I!
Myles : I wouldn’t! I don’t support clubs, I only support good teams.
That’s me. That’s it. I’m not gonna come back to this subject,ever.
I will say this once more : I love good football. I supported Burnley at school and Chelsea at university.
After supporting Chelsea for eight years I looked for good teams. I used to get flak from Patsy, my ex-girlfriend, a passionate Man United fan.
In September Patsy would sarcastically say,”Who are you supporting this season?”
Patsy is lovely, but we used to argue. She’s a Leo and I’m a Leo.
If you are a Leo, never go out with a Leo.
12 October 2002.