Going Grey

Sky viewers have become accustomed to seeing George Graham as the resident pundit on the Prem Plus channel and there is a very good reason for this. He is an unemployed football manager and has remained so for some considerable time, which indicates that the particular skills of the man Arsenal players referred to privately as ‘Gadaffi’ are no longer in demand.

In front of the cameras, George plays the part of the prosperous pundit beautifully. The suits is elegantly tailored, there is not so much as a trace of grey hair and the answers are so authoritative that one is astonished this man is not at the helm of a top club. But appearances can be deceiving. Beneath the omniscient veneer George Graham seems to be a bitter and angry man, resentful of the fact that he is no longer in demand and almost consumed with envy at the way the revolution Arsene Wenger has brought about at Arsenal has eclipsed the dour defensive triumphs of his day.

Deep down, George knows that Arsene is universally recognised as the greatest manager in Arsenal’s illustrious history – greater even than Herbert Chapman. He knows that everything about the club – the state of the art training complex, the fantastic new stadium, the sensational quality of the football – is in a class of its own. And whilst he cannot possibly avoid recognising Arsenal’s magical attacking football, George Graham is always quick to seize upon any defect and if he can find none, he invariably fabricates one. Gunners fans will recall his dark warnings, with their implicit criticism of Arsene Wenger’s management, of all the world class players Arsenal have “lost” – players such as Vieira, Bergkamp, Pires, Edu and Campbell. Interestingly enough, when the rhetoric takes hold, he neglects to mention such details as Bergkamp’s retirement, Pires’ age and Campbell’s loss of form. Above all, he chooses to ignore two other relevant points – first, that throughout Wenger’s time hardly anyone has benefited from leaving the club and secondly, the arrival of players like Rosicky and Hleb and the emergence of young stars like Fabregas, Djourou, Clichy, Eboue, Denilson, Walcott and Diaby more than justifies the boss’s decisions.

More recently, George has turned his attention to attacking Arsene Wenger’s policy of not offering more than a one year contract to players over the age of 30, with special reference to Jens Lehmann. Goalkeepers, argues Mr Graham, are different. So what does he expect Arsene to do – formulate different contractual strategies for goalkeepers, full backs, centre backs, midfield players and strikers? The only difference which matters here is the profound difference between Arsene Wenger and George Graham. One of them is the present manager of Arsenal Football Club and he is beyond doubt a genius. His legacy will never be forgotten and for that reason it is probably a matter of indifference to him whether or not they have a bust to remember him. The other one was a successful manager of Arsenal, but on an entirely different scale, and rumour has it that he dearly wanted his reign to be commemorated in a bust – cold, hard and without grey hair. Lest we forget.