By Tony Ngare
The last few days, the local and international football scenes have been busy. I bet the gods of football realised that fanatics needed something from the world of football to keep them going, akin to a daily fix of a banned substance.
This column had resolved to ignore the Robin Van Persie debacle, seeing as we have been accused in the past of being over elaborate with matters Arsenal. But who can blame us, if the team itself is said to take too many a touch on the pitch, why can’t the scribes too, do as much? However, the barrage of mails from both fans and foes of Arsenal have persuaded me to take into plunge at this fiasco.
As an Arsenal captain, there are a number of things we do not expect the Dutch striker to do. One such thing is to issue disrespectful statements that clearly show his confusion of the position he holds at Arsenal.
He is the captain, not the manager or shareholder, so to speak about “lack of ambitions” and “we in many aspects disagree on the way Arsenal FC should move forward”, is preposterous.
This is especially so when Arsenal board had surprised all and sundry by buying high profile players barely weeks into the market. His statement (and I choose my words carefully here) was littered with sheer bollocks! Those who know Arsenal’s buying policy know that Arsenal does not move a finger until hours to spare in the transfer period.
racial abuse
Contrary to popular belief, Van Persie’s imminent departure will not and cannot be the beginning of the end for Arsenal. Patrick Vieira, Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas were all talented players yet even after their departure, the club stood tall.
I stand to be corrected but I’m yet to witness any Apocalypse or Armageddon sort of implosion in Arsenal.
This week has also seen the arraignment in court of Chelsea captain John Terry, over the racial abuse he is alleged to have visited on Anton Ferdinand — a defender for Queens Park Rangers — in October last year. On Tuesday, according to UK’s The Guardian, Terry sat in court face-to-face with Anton Ferdinand, the opponent he allegedly called a “f***ing black c***.”
It was the row, ultimately, that led to Terry losing the England captaincy — although he still played in Euro 2012 — which, in turn, brought about the dispute between Fabio Capello and the Football Association (that saw the Italian resign as national team manager). And it all started from a dispute over a penalty-kick that was never given.
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