Gazidis turning to the Geordie way of thinking
Posted by Chris Rivers on April 2nd, 2009
Blind faith. That is the only way to describe the Newcastle fans’ way of thinking when it comes to believing that Alan Shearer will keep his former club in the Premier League. Unfortunately that disease seems to be spreading from the north east and has seemingly made its way to north London and into the mind of one Ivan Gazidis. The Arsenal chief executive has been speaking today about the future of the club and for those of you inclined to agree with him the future looks good.
However, for those of us who can’t ignore what has taken place before Mr Gazidis opened his mouth, the future for the Gunners is an uncertain one. The former deputy commissioner of the MLS has gone against what we have been reading in the papers for the past two months by stating that Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie will both be at the club next season.
This is something I would love to believe as I am a big fan of both but there is a nagging thought in the back of my mind. Both players have been linked heavily with moves away from the Emirates Stadium and whilst I am inclined to take everything I read in the newspapers with a pinch of salt, the fact these stories keep coming around has given me that sinking feeling.
I hope that Mr Gazidis is right, but the new chief executive has only been in the job a matter of months and how well he knows the players has to be called into question. I imagine he is moving to put the minds of shareholders and fans at rest but what the players have been saying goes against this grain.
This weekend, Fabregas spoke publicly about being linked with Real Madrid and Barcelona, each time suggesting it would be great to be at those clubs and stating how much he admires them before slipping in at the end that he is still an Arsenal player. Van Persie is the same, his failure to say outright that he would like to stay in north London has given cause for concern, especially with his contract expiring next season and everyone keen to avoid another Mathieu Flamini debacle.
I hold my hands up to being a pessimist when it comes to Arsenal but it looks to me that despite Gazidis’ assurances that the Gunners are financially solid we could lose one or both of our star players come the summer.
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April 2nd, 2009 at 6:27 am
What exactly is Gazidis supposed to say? It doesn’t matter how long he’s been at the club or how well he knows the players. He has to give those platitudes when speaking to the press. Expressing doubt about two key players at this stage would be madness.
I think he’s said all the right things so far, seems to have the respect of the board & wenger, and knows what he’s talking about.
And cesc and rvp really haven’t said anything that indicates they want to leave. Cesc has always been firm about his loyalty to arsenal (at least in the short term). As arseblogger (or gunnerblog?) said recently, Cesc will stay simply to avoid the label of “failure” being attached to his stint as captain. It’s a win-win for us: if we win nothing, Cesc will stay to prove himself. If we win the CL/FA cup, he will stay because we’ll have proven ourselves capable of winning trophies.
April 5th, 2009 at 1:16 am
All Hail Arsenal
Fabregas and Adebayor had very good teamwork
Gunners will have 2 Champion
That is CL and FA
Gunners 4 Life!!
April 5th, 2009 at 3:11 pm
What makes “Poseidon” think that because we have had our worst league season for many years, we will win the more difficult Champion’s league, and the still-difficult FA cup? I hope we do (really I do!), but some fans really are in cloud-cuckoo land. We have NOT progressed from last season, and if we lose Fabregas or RvP in the next 2 years serious questions will have to be asked regarding the ambition of the club, it’s owners, the manager and some of the rose-tinted fans. Or else we will end up like the Geordies, an army of devoted fans for whom “it doesn’t matter of we don’t get anywhere, because we’re a big club”.
March 6th, 2010 at 9:13 am
newspapers in burnley…
Who says the internet is full of garbage?? Great post, I was searching for newspapers in burnley and came across it. Glad I did….