Hi Myles,
Like many of your readers who have emailed recently, I read your column regularly and have done for a number of years now.
As many people have said and what is natural/healthy about journalism and blogging, I agree with some and disagree with some of what you say.
One theory that I’d like to offer is that you and Arsene Wenger are actually quite similar in character. I say this as you both have strong opinions and beliefs, which is to be respected, obviously.
However, I reckon that you are both quite stubborn about these beliefs and it would be hard to get you to change them.
We all know about AW and his preference for playing his youngsters ahead of buying lots of experience players. Even though he may have been forced into this because of a lack of money, it would be surprising to see him change this stance if we suddenly had unlimited cash.
In the same way, I find it difficult to imagine you changing your view on AW if we suddenly managed to pull off victory in the EPL or Champs League this season. Do you look forward to AW proving you wrong, or are you that confident that he will never prove you wrong?
This is not a criticism at all and you probably don’t care if it was! I just get that feeling when reading your musings quite often.
On a completely different note, I also enjoy it when you mention your past career in music journalism and your encounters with some musical legends.
When you mentioned your school in Stevenage, I wanted to ask if you ever encountered someone who some would say was a musical legend!
My wife’s uncle and father went to Alleyne’s school in Stevenage and depending on your age, you may have attended at the same time. Her uncle went on to be one of the leading members of the group Uriah Heap. His name was Ken Hensley. From what I’ve learnt of the group, they were extremely popular in Europe (especially Germany), but never quite reached the heights that they might have elsewhere.
Anyway, I’d be interested to hear if you did go to school at roughly the same time.
Keep up the good work. Despite the grief, I imagine you’ve been getting, the people who enjoy what you write far outweigh those who don’t.
Myles replies :
We are not similar. I’m not that stubborn.
I’m opinionated but pretty laidback and flexible, more so as I get older.
I do not compare myself to him or to anybody. I couldn’t do his job. You can’t compare a world famous multi-millionaire with a dishevelled old beatnik who once got Denis Law’s autograph.
Of course I hope he proves me wrong. If he does, I’ll own up, as I often do here.
Two thirds of my friends are Gooners who would be ecstatic if Arsenal won the league. My kids are Gooners as well. And I’ve spent more days and nights watching Arsenal than any other football club – by far !
ANR is just a commentary, which has accidentally become a forum as well. I put up some letters, most readers liked that, I put up some more, and it got completely out of control.
But the last man to prove me wrong was Jools Holland.
Stop me if I’ve already written this on ANR: One Sunday we (The Favourites) played third on the bill to Squeeze at the Lyceum. I knew Squeeeze because, early on, lovely photographer Jill Furmanovsky got me down to the Brecknock to see them.
I liked Squeeze, mainly because they played so well and were good writers. I spoke to the boys in the Lyceum dressing room before they went on and knew their manager Miles Copeland.
On the night, Jools sang a boogie number and I said to my partner Danny, ” If we managed Squeeze, he wouldn’t be allowed to sing.” And Danny said, ” If we managed Squeeze, he wouldn’t even be allowed to talk.”
Jools Holland became a successful BBC TV presenter for the next 35 years.
He proved us wrong. Things like that are great because they give you a kick up the arse. Like everyone else, I need a kick up the arse from time to time.
But my next kick up the arse will NOT be Arsenal winning the Premier league.
At Alleyne’s, Ken Hensley was in the year below us.
Ken was a very good footballer, although grammar schools then played rugby, hockey and cricket.
Ken was a handsome, powerful, broad-shouldered athlete who played some games for us (Stevenage Athletic) but he was signed to Luton Juniors as a 16-year old. Luton was a league club about 15 miles away and actually reached the FA Cup Final while I was at school.
A fiery fast bowler for the school cricket team, Ken wasn’t the most accurate but he was intimidating and looked as if he might knock your head off.
One Saturday afternoon I was standing in the cricket pavilion with Dr Splett, a teacher I liked a lot. Splett, a Hitchin Town fan, got a double first at Cambridge and nourished my love of literature.
We were watching a game against another grammar school from Letchworth or Rickmansworth or some such town. A typical English scene, a large green field, a well-mown square in the middle, an avenue of high chestnut tress in the background creating The Avenue, a carless road, between the playing fields and the school itself.
Ken was a good-looking cricketer whose white shirt was billowing as he ran up to bowl.
Dr Splett approvingly said, “For a schoolboy, he’s fast!”
A couple of years later I saw Ken onstage with The Gods, playing a Hammond B3 organ on a good version of Knock On Wood, at a Manchester University dance. I did publicity for “socials”, as they were called. I went backstage and said hello to Ken. We didn’t know each other well.
Later on Ken Hensley re-invented heavy metal keyboards. I only saw Uriah Heep once and didn’t go backstage. I was a rock journalist by then and didn’t want Ken to ask me to write about them.
Looking back, and knowing musicians of that era, Ken was too hip to have asked me to do that.