Deja vu for wenger
Tags:
In 1865, Walt Whitman immortalised the ideal leader and I quote “O captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done. The ship has weather’d every wrack. The prize we sought is won.”
Unfortunately for Arsenal Football Club, Robin van Persie is not that captain, and he joins an infamous list of ex-Arsenal skippers to jump ship, lured by the distant lure of silver and ready greenbacks.
The fearful trip the historic North London club undertook back in 2006, when they moved across the block from the iconic Highbury stadium to the swanky Ashburton Grove, is far from over.
For Gooners all over the world, the prize they’d sought is far from won, with uncertainty looming over their immediate future.
Yet, in the end, it was inevitable. The murmurs started early last year, as van Persie refused to enter contract negotiations, stating that the end of the season would be an appropriate time to do so.
In a statement released on Wednesday, he says, “It has again become clear to me that we (the board and him) in many aspects disagree on the way Arsenal FC should move forward. I’ve thought long and hard about it, but I have decided not to extend my contract. You guys, the fans, have of course the right to disagree with my view and decision and I will always respect your opinions.”
Arsenal, for all their earnest desire and belief in managing the club as a proper business, have over the past seven years lost out to sugar daddy’s with bottomless coffers, and for Arsene Wenger, the stubborn nature that served him so well under normal economic conditions has seen his own supporters turn his back on him.
Some tough decisions need to be taken at North London over the next month or so, and alas, the talismanic van Persie’s future will be one of them.
Post new comment