Unfriendly Fire

Once a Gunner, always a Gunner. That’s what Arsenal fans tend to think, and it’s an idea that applies to a lot of ex-players too – but not always, it seems, to ex-managers.

George Graham was an Arsenal player for six years, between 1966 and 1972. He played over 200 games and they called him ‘Stroller’ then. He returned to the club as manager in 1986 and during 9 years he won the old First Division twice, the League Cup twice, the F.A. Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup and established one of the meanest defences in football. But for all the trophies, the man they called ‘Gadaffi’ never produced teams with the style and panache of the Wenger years, and too often the derisive chant was “Boring, boring Arsenal”.

Now, on the eve of one of football’s fiercest derbies – the North London version – the former Arsenal (and, regrettably, also Spurs) manager has chosen to put the boot in. Far from supporting Arsene Wenger and showing a degree of loyalty to the club he served as player and manager for a total of 15 years before his ignominious departure, George is quoted as saying: “When you’ve reached the heights they’ve reached, the success they’ve had, the fans don’t want success in two years time.” and “Fans will not accept four years of failure.” and “They need a bit of leadership quality” and “They’ve lost Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell, Lauren, Patrick Vieira, Edu, Robert Pires, Dennis Bergkamp. Don’t tell they’re going to replace them with kids and get the same results.”

At 62 years of age, George Graham ought to know better, but unfortunately he can’t get over the envy. He knows that Arsene Wenger has revolutionised this famous club with teams that play football which would have been far beyond him, either as a player or as a manager. He knows as a manager (sorry, ex-manager now confined to punditry) that while the fans may want instant success, it isn’t always possible – and if he’s forgotten, he could try asking Alex Ferguson. He knows, or he ought to know, that success and failure are not solely about trophies – and the dividing line is wafer thin. Arsenal were within 15 minutes of success in the 2006 Champions League final, with 10 men, and this season if they’d taken even the majority of their chances they would be top of the Premiership. He knows that of the 8 players he names who he claims Arsenal have “lost”, one retired, three were of an age where they were approaching the end of their careers, one (Edu) left because the club (wrongly perhaps) would not meet his wage demands, one was seduced by Chelsea and the remaining one is actually injured. And, in terms of leadership, only one of them, Patrick Vieira, may be said to be a major loss – and when Arsene Wenger first made him captain, plenty of people complained that he was no Tony Adams.

Well, Thierry Henry is no Tony Adams and he’s no Patrick Vieira either. And if Thierry is injured, Arsenal can call upon Gilberto, William Gallas and Kolo Toure, all of whom (to use George’s phrase) have “leadership quality”. And as for the contemptuous dismissal of Arsenal’s “kids”, is he referring to the likes of Fabregas, Eboue, Clichy, Walcott, Rosicky – or some of the many other immensely talented players Arsene Wenger has brought to the club?What it all boils down to is this. George Graham is no Arsene Wenger and deep down he knows it, though he’s too stubborn to admit it. Which is why the quotes attributed to him can only be described as envy talking.