Needle in a haystack

Wake up in the morning nowadays and all you see in the papers, at least in the football section, is about which player/manager might be going where, what fee is expected, what fee/wage is on offer, players' wage demands and then you'll see some of these players emphasising the fact that they were moving for "footballing reasons". Yeah right! The was precisely the reason why, in my previous post, I said I was flabbergasted when it was reported that the Hiddink-Chelsea deal was finally down to money. Of course, it was down to money. If Chelsea were to offer significantly less than what Hiddink was being paid in his role as Turkey national coach, I have no doubt that he would at least see out his contract before thinking of the next job. This is not to undermine Hiddink's integrity or his lack of interest in the Turkey job. It is just the way football works these days and is just one of a million examples.

Another story that has consistently been in the news for the last couple of weeks is the Nasri situation. It is turning into one of those protracted transfers that helps no one, least of all, us fans. Whether he will begin next season in a United or Arsenal shirt remains to be seen, though I am quite convinced that Wenger will not let one of his best players leave to a top, rival team. Nasri and his agent are just looking for that extra cash and if he does leave I am pretty sure it won't be to United. One good (half) season and he has demands. When Cesc says he wants to leave, or wants a pay rise, its understandable and as a fan you feel he has served the club well and has been loyal. For his age he's shown great maturity and handled the Barca situation extremely well over the last two seasons. 

Amid these kind of dull, depressing and monotonic stories of wages, transfer fees and football agents, a story where someone pledges his future to his club, even though he has another job offering double the salary and funds to invest in the transfer market at a club with European ambitions, it is a breath of fresh air. Roberto Martinez is truly a needle in a haystack. As clichéd as that might sound, that is precisely what Martinez is. I've always had a great respect for the guy and the way he handled situations. On the last day of the season just gone by, I was just hoping with all my heart that Wigan stayed up. Not because I was a fan (being an Arsenal fan Wigan normally brings back memories of THAT game when they beat us from 0-2 down in the last 10 minutes) but because I have huge respect for Martinez. I hope for his sake that Wigan have a great 2011-12 season. 

On a related note, I just watched Carl Jenkinson's first interview at Arsenal and it was pleasing to see an Arsenal fan who has progressed to now becoming a player for the club. He and his family are life long Arsenal fans and he says his dad has been a season ticket holder for the last 40 years. A proud dad he will be now. I'm happy for Carl and hope he becomes a legend. I know nothing about his skills to be honest, have never seen him play, but one thing is for sure. He loves the club and has his heart at the club. I'm pretty sure he's going to be a great servant to the club, provided he is not a terrible player (surely we wouldn't have bought him if he was) and Arsenal have to sell him on. 

Martinez and Jenkinson have given something that is normally missing in the transfer window and that has made my week. Now my mind is on hoping Arsenal win the games I choose to go to this next season because I've just signed up for membership and the only two games I've been to until now have resulted in 3 goals being scored against us and therefore of course losing, both times to Manchester clubs (once at home-Utd and once away - City). I have been glued to Arsenal Player (which is awesome) watching old highlights and interviews since last night and probably will be for most of the weekend. So on that note, ciao!