Calling the Shots – An Evening with David Dein & Friends. by Ken1945
What an evening it was my fellow Gooners – the Cambridge Theatre was a sell-out, meaning 1,231 of us lucky ones were treated to an evening never to be forgotten!
Not only that, but we also all got a signed copy of David’s new book “Calling the Shots” in hardback, as part of the cost towards the tickets (Upper Circle £36.70).
Let me set the scene for you.
A stage, decked out in red and white, with five chairs in a semi-circle and a picture of DD as the background.
Introduction from Alex Scott, who got a tremendous ovation and looked absolutely gorgeous!!
Then came the two journalists (whose names escape me at the moment) followed by David himself…and the applause went on for ages, before we settled down to listen to this man who lives and breathes The Arsenal.
He was asked about his final day at the club and how it happened and, sitting there listening to him, one could only wonder where the class that The Arsenal was had gone.
He was presented with a letter, stating that it was the board’s unanimous decision that his services were no longer required, and he was to leave the club immediately – meanwhile, his family had learnt about this decision via the news media.
He cleared out his desk – left the building with not one person around to speak to him – went to phone his family, only to discover that the club had already terminated his mobile!!
This from a man who was vice-chairman of the club from 1983 until November 2007.
‘When Arsenal sacked me it was brutal. I left with tears in my eyes’: David Dein
Listening to this unfold, was unbelievable for me, our club that had always prided itself on doing things “The Arsenal Way” but, as he confirms in his book, this is what happened.
A brutal sacking – no question about it and DD says he still doesn’t know why, and it hurts him to this day.
I have to say, however, this was the only downside to the evening, as we were then treated to some wonderful memories, guests, audience participation and a final rendering of “What do you think of Tottenham” chant at 10.00pm!!
Let me know if you want to hear more about the evening, with contributions from the likes of Wrighty, Henry, Vieira, Campbell, Lehmann, Dixon, Arsene, Sven… the lists goes on and on and what DD has been doing, since his time at the club was so prematurely brought to an end.
ken1945
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That means the board members were ruthless at that time. They might’ve thought that making a big change was necessary, yet Arsenal went ahead without a new EPL trophy for almost two decades
Let’s see whether the younger people can change our fortune or not this season
Please Ken, tell us more, sounds like a great night.
I’d like to know more Ken👍🏻👍🏻
Sadly, there’s more than one side to the Dein story although a number of articles here recently have only presented his side.
I don’t doubt that he’s Arsenal through and through, nor do I doubt that he did what he did because he believed it to be best for Arsenal, but… that doesn’t meant that what he did was right. Or even that it was what was best for the club.
In presenting his side of events, he seems to skate over the part where other people say that he duplicitously arranged for another director to sell shares, without telling them that they were selling to Kroenke.
This despite Dein being fully aware that other directors did not want Kroenke having anything to do with the club – he couldn’t accept the majority view of the Board and acted behind their backs to get his own way.
Apparently, he was spooked by the funds Abramovic was pouring into Chelsea, but that didn’ excuse his actions.
Dein was also part of the decision to float 100% of the club’s shares. This was more short-term thinking in that it opened up the possibility of the club losing control of its own affairs – and that’s exactly what has happened. It’s now part of some rich bugger’s personal empire – and for those of us who look beyond short-term success on the field, that’s a disaster.
I’ve posted links to the history of Arsenal’s finances before, but most people don’t seem to have the attention span to bother to read them – or they just don’t care, as long as Arsenal finish 4th they can be financed by Martians – so I won’t bother posting it again.
IDKWIC, I concur with everything you wrote 👍
IDKWIC
But the timing for publishing it again maybe right now that the can is open.
Sorry I didn’t get the chance to read but my appetite is huge.
David Dein knows how business is conducted. He is a very successful businessman worth £Millions. It’s all about being ruthless. Isn’t it?
He made his money by selling his shares to Kroenke, then turns around, stabs him in the back by introducing / sneaking in Alisher Usmanov. If I was Kroenke I would have done the exact same thing, get rid of the back stabbing snake..
I respect David Dein but let’s not try this typical biased victimhood cringeness that we always try to introduce in order to cover for our personal favourites. Dein looked for the billionaires that he could also financially benefit from. He got Kroenke but then ran toward Usmanov.
With all this Russia / Ukraine stuff going on, how lucky are we that Kroenke refused to sell to Russian (Usmanov). We would be a laughing joke right now..
Let’s call out our personal favourites when they deserve it. Dein made his bed, made £millions selling to Kroenke and Usmanov but now crying victim? Made your bed now you lay in it..
Smh 🤦♂️
Dein never sold any of his shares to the Yank iirc. He sold shares to Danny Fiszman and then sold his remaining shares to Usmanov. The Yank first bought shares from Granada TV.
Yes. And it was Fiszman who was persuaded to sell shares by Dein, persuading him that he should round his holding down to 15,000 shares, but Dein didn’t tell Fiszman that it was Kroenke who’d be buying the shares. Fiszman was livid, apparently.
That was just one of the issues.
In the Dein version of events, he claims that he doesn’t know why he was sacked – I’d say that if he can’t work it out then he’s not trying very hard.
Are we really to believe that Fizman sold shares of his beloved Arsenal, without knowing or even checking where they were going?
It’s later claimed that he was determined to know where his shares were going before his sad and untimely death, so why would he, while being healthy, not check this out?
He didn’t sell his shares to Kroenke. But he was the one who brought Kroenke to buy shares.
Alright, my bad. So he did not sell his shares to Kroenke but sold to Fiszman for £10’s of millions. Made his money, introduced Kroenke but then snakes around and tries to sneak in Usmanov too?
Now he is crying foul?
Lucky you Ken!
the business world can be brutal.it is the first time I hear about his sacking by letter. the mobile phone being cut off perfectly sums up this whole episode.David Dein said that Arsène Wenger sacking was very similar to his/ reminded him of his own sacking,2 men who gave and did so much for this club,in my opinion deserved better from the club. lastly,to answer your question Ken yes I would love to hear more about that evening.
Wenger deserved the sack and he himself should’ve given up in 2008. What I don’t like about how some view him is the flawed thinking that he’s finished. A coach who gets the best out of players can never be finished plus it will never be easy for any manager to consistently succed with Arsenal. That is the hard reality.
I actually agree with you,as for the sacking it is the manner of it which I have a problem with.
I don’t understand why he stayed here for so long. It doesn’t make sense to me. He is better than many coaches but stayed over here and denied himself many other trophies. We saw the best of Wenger at Arsenal but not the best of him as a coach imo. He could’ve achieved so much more but decided to be comfortable. With money any average coach can do well.
Kev, Do I understand you to say that he is NOT finished as a club manager? If you are saying that then I MUST FIRMLY DISAGREE.
No serious top club would now employ a manager aged 73 next month and that must surely be obvious, Id have thought.
If you mean not finished in the position he now holds then we DO AGREE.
I do agree and have many times written on JA, that I WISHED HIM SACKED BACK IN 2008.
I wasn’t talking age wise but referring to coaching ability. I was speaking in that context. No-one can use Wenger’s time at Arsenal to assume he’d fail at every top club he went to but people talk about him like that is the case. Then I said due to Wenger’s ability to get the best out of players he’d succeed mostly everywhere he goes so on that basis he can’t be finished. So even today I believe if Wenger went to any top club he can still do well.
Still don’t understand the point you are making, as you wrote it that way. Had you instead said that , when he was younger he could have made it elsewhere, then OK.
But what you actually wrote is “but what I don’t like about how some view him is the flawed suggestion that he IS(meaning NOW, IE AGED ALMOST 73)finished”!
Words have specific meanings and I have to assume that what you write is what you mean. Sloppy language and inaccurate word meanings lead to misunderstandings, as we see in this case. SHAME REALLY!
I’m not talking about when he was younger. I’m saying I believe today he could still do well in any team because he was good at getting the best out of players. That is why I said “a coach coach who gets the best out of players can never be finished”. You were the one who equated being finished on the basis of age but that is not the only criteria. If you are not good enough you are finished regardless of age. A coach like Ole is a finished coach, he is not good enough for any top club that wants to win big titles but of course he will still coach some clubs. You need to consider the context I spoke in. You were looking at career, I spoke in the context of ability.
Well of course wew all are entitled to our own opinions and on that we can agree.
But let me ask you thi ; do you envisage any club at all, anywhere, and esp a top level club, even thinking of employing a soon to be 73 man?
If you DO think that, well all I can utter is disbelief at what I see as extreme optimism, bordering on naivety.
No disrespect but I always say as I think. Coaching and managing takes a level of physical effort quite beyond almost every single person on our planet, no matter how physically vigorous they may have been, even a very few years ago. Just practical realism, for me!
Gosh. 2008?
You must have re-evaluated your view since then I assume, since it’s now clearer what was really going on in football around that time with billionaire money starting in 2003 and ramping up, stadium rebuild (completed 2006), financial crash (2008).
We can now see that AW worked miracles to keep Arsenal in the top 4 for many years with this background – and they qualified for the CL last 16 as well.
That was @jonfox btw.
IDKWIC, If you are saying I have re-evaluated my view since 2008 that I wished AW gone , then the answer is no, I have not and never did .
I was pleased he left us when he did, though I wanted it a full decade sooner. THAT REMAINS MY VIEW NOW!
In a non team coaching or non prominent team decision making position though, I would welcome him back wholeheartedly.
I always did and still do consider him a special person with huge humanity, worldly wisdom and fine ethics. But as a manger he stopped being my choice after 2008.
I HAVE NEVER SAID OTHERWISE, so I do not know how you get the impression you SEEM to have got about my views. changing. They never have!
I didn’t get any impression, I asked a question, albeit an incredulous one since I am genuinely shocked that anyone would want Wenger gone in 2008.
I mean, that’s 3-4 years after the incredible invincibles season!
When you take into account all that was going in outside of football in those years, I really am amazed that anyone would want Wenger out that soon. But…
The reason I asked if you’d changed your view since then was simply because there were factors that are known now but which were not in the public domain at that time – which I already mentioned above (plus the fact that the stadium rebuild costs overran, going from £200m –> £400m++).
Even knowing that you still think Wenger should have been gone in 2008? He said that his best work was in the years from the stadium rebuild onwards, when money was really tight and other clubs were being handed cash by the barrow load.
And I believe he was right – consistent top4 / last 16 into those headwinds is akin to working miracles..
Agree with you 100% and someone with Jon’s intelligence, who cannot see what an incredible feat it was to finish in the top four, is mind boggling in its denial.
The 2008 -“I wanted him gone” comment sums up Jon’s disdain towards Wenger and his last 3-4 years not his 5 years previous,like IDKWIC said how any fan would want a manger sacked 2 years after his last trophy and after 8 years of absolute total football beggars belief.
But jon also believes that our best manager in our history is Herbert Chapman ,a manager that I doubt any fan was alive to witness and especially not jon ,any excuse to put down Mr Wenger .
Personally I wanted him to step down 2015 after our fa cup win against villa and I did let it known as I had little patience after a decade of no title runs ,I also had the same view with Emery and Arteta,so when I get accused of having a agenda I look at posters like jon and sit back and laugh .
Our club definitely is worse off without the likes of Dein at the club. His partnership with Wenger was legendary, and they achieved some amazing accomplishments.
Take away half of that machine, and you start to see the resulting drop off. As always the truth is somewhere in the middle, but can’t help but feel it was handled poorly.
It is a different era now, and whether our club can ascend as it did with Dein and Wenger is yet to be seen. The signs are positive, but the results must follow. “Almost” isn’t good enough, as we saw with the ending of last season.
Love or hate Dein, his knowledge and love for The Arsenal is undeniable, so I merely say thank you David Dein.
KEN, YES, we would love far more details on your fascinating evening, please.
To thse who have criticised DD, on here, I say he was, along with AW, the best post war man to have been running our club and his loss to us, esp so brutally and in such unArsenal like way was a catastrophy and stupidity beyond belief.
A titan with sush true devotion to our club, so well connected, so vibrant and hard working, may well have made poor decisions at times.
But think WHAT we have lost and weep my friends. WEEP!
@Jon Fox
But he wanted to sell and make as much money from his shares as possible. He did that, introduced Kroenke then turns around and tried to sneak Usmanov in behind Kroenke’s back.
That’s some sneaky / snakey sh!t. No wonder all the rest of the board member did not want to speak to him when he left.. Money makes people lose their sense of morality a lot of the time.
Dein did exactly what many successful business people like him all do, look for ways to maximise your profits, be ruthless in your decision making, lose your sense of shame, compromise on your morality and be okay with being a hypocritical snake when it suits you..
I don’t buy into group think on anything anymore. I have my own critical brain, can look at both sides of a story without applying too much bias one way or the other and come to a more balanced conclusion.
Dein crying about being brutally sacked while he made 10’s of millions £ from selling to the highest bidder. Was playing 2 mutli billionaires (Kroenke / Usmanov) against each other. Kroenke and the rest of the board smelt bullcrap and they got rid of him.. Was causing factions at the club with 2 billionaire friends. Got from Kroenke’s side to Usmanov’s side. Playing snake..
Lets be glad that the Usmanov deal failed and Kroenke refused to sell. And I was one of the people tha wanted Usmanov to buy us rather than Kroenke. But we seem to have been lucky with this Russia / Ukraine sage..
Goonster, I think your interpretation of events around DD s sacking to be total travesty and I reject all** your post as simply wrong headed and misinterpreted .
** I except your final paragraph from criticism though.
@Jon
If being in self denial about the whole DD makes you feel good then that’s okay with me. You just want to believe the other rosey side to the story like we all always want to.
Why did no one want to speak to him when he left?
Was Kroenke as a businessman himself not justified to look out for himself with regards to DD? Dein introduced him to Arsenal then turns around and tries to sneak Usmanov in. If I was Kroenke I would have done exactly the same thing.
You have a sneaky back stabbing friend, if you find out you get rid as soon as possible. Can’t be trusted.
😊
How on earth we are talking about the time Wenger left, when the article is about David Dein, is beyond me.
I take on board that this is David Dein’s side of the story, with regards to his dismissal, but why are some fans dissing the man?
All I can say is that DD was listened to by an audience where one could have heard a pin drop, such was the intensity and passion as he told his side of the story.
Let the club give their version of this episode, if they feel it is wrong.
To this day, David owns ten season tickets, along with another four at club level and attends our home games with his family.
I am not sure how many of the board who sacked him attend our games – can anyone throw a light on that?
Raised a can of worms there Ken. Some things are best left in the past and football is about the here and now. The selling of Arsenal is a grey area where everyone involved with the club; Wegner excepted? saw an opportunity to cash in and the rest is history.
I can see your point Joe. S, but we, as fans, surely need to know our club’s history?
There was a very telling statement made by Wrighty during the evening and I’ll cover it with my next article, which will be quoting some of the players memories and thoughts around the period in question.
“but we, as fans, surely need to know our club’s history?”
Absolutely right Ken.
It is a shame that Dean didn’t stick around for the transition to the Kroenkes way of doing things. He would have been a more passionate intermediary between them and Arsene Wenger. Instead we got the accountant.
I have the deepest respect for what Dein did, when he was working for Arsenal.
Yes, it sounds “brutal”, the way he was sacked.
However, it is also clear a board, which arguably oversaw the most successful era for Arsenal must be believed to be qualified, and they wouldn’t make this decision without careful deliberation.
Remember Anders, this was the board that said they wanted nothing to do with kronkie and his money…. then sold their shares to him for vast profits.
Hardly a ringing endorsement for a board – and – this board was also presiding over seasons of underachieving before and after Bertie Mee.
CAN.T AGREE ON THIS ANDERS, NOT AT ALL!
THAT board, excluding DD, was full of charletans and hypocrites who were responsible for the biggest Arsenal mistake in my long time as a fan. No doubt at all. And I agree with Kens view on that, wholeheartedly. HAD THEY HAD ANY REAL SENSE, THEY WOULD HAVE LISTED TO DD EARLIER WHEN HE FIRST PUT WENGER FORWARD. BUT THEY WENT WITH RIOCH. SIGH!!
@ken1945 & Jon Fox
My point is, I doubt this is a black & white case.
Even if it is “only” their financial acumen, which is/was of a high standard, the thing is, when people in their position decide to sack a key person in the organization with immediate effect, they don’t do it without believing there is reason to do it.
As we don’t really know the details, it is of course very much guesswork.
My guess is, for some reason they had lost so much confidence in Dein they decided swift action was needed.
Well, I wasn’t going to bother, but in case anyone has the attention span to acquaint themselves with the facts, here you go, once again:
http://www.thearsenalhistory.com/?p=13265
And there’s also this, showing what was known about the position as at 2019: https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/news/how-much-money-stan-kroenke-17273593
The debt situation doesn’t bode well for the long-term future of the club, once the Kroenkes have had enough.
Ive read both articles again and I still believe that David Dein was the best board member we have ever had.
Of course, just like every other human being, he made mistakes, simply by following his instincts.
The ONLY board member to have put his own money into the club…. surely that should resonate with those fans who are pilloring him above?
Of course, every single board member made money on the back of the club, but at least David Dein put some back.
I think the problem is that there are mistakes and then there’s another category of actions that go beyond mere mistakes which are not acceptable.
As a member of a Board, you are subject to a decision-making process which is essentially one of collective responsibility. The Board as a whole decided not to invite in the likes of Kroenke but Dein did it anway, deceiving members of the Board to do so.
That’s not only outside the decision-making process, it smacks of malfeasance (which has legal consequences).
It seems that Dein did this believing that he knew best, that his view of what’s good for Arsenal had to take precedence over the views/decisions of the Board as a whole.
As we look back now, it’s difficult to say that he was right. He seems to have a history of panicking over the finances of other clubs, which led him to sell out the club’s long-term future due to concerns for the present and immediate future.
The decision to float 100% of the shares was poor, since the club is now wholly owned by some American bloke with too much money who will no doubt leave the club in debt to his organisation – and along the way, he and his relatives will undoubtedly extract money for themselves, adding to the burden.
At least the flotation was a joint decision, however wrong – in that case he didn’t do anything overtly unprofessional (or worse). The Board of that time must take joint responsibility for that decision, although such things pass under the radar of 99.9% of supporters.
His actions with respect to Kroenke / Fiszman however are inexcusable. No director should ever behave that way, right or wrong.
Teenage movies like to show some kid newly in the workplace doing something they were told not to do and of course in these daft stories it turns out well for the company… so in those stories they’re promoted to some senior position. In the real world, that’s utter nonsense. Once you do something you shouldn’t do, whether it’s right or wrong, you will be sacked, no discussion. Dein is in that category – and he was also wrong!
Ken, I can see that you have long-standing feelings of personal admiration for Dein and they are hard to let go – however, some facts take a long time to emerge so we’re always forming and re-forming views based on incomplete information (even now)…
We probably won’t know for 10-30 years how the club does after Kroenke, perhaps longer. If Arsenal ends up deep in debt or even bankrupt due to debts to KSE… I’ll be more than a little miffed and I’ll take an even blacker view of Dein’s panic-button actions.
@IDKWIC
Please enlighten me. Why are you so worried?
To me it seems fairly obvious, Kroenke’s business model for Arsenal is very much based on the growth in value of his asset, and the way to secure this growth is keeping Arsenal firmly in the top of football clubs on an international scale.
No, he doesn’t invest/spend his own money, but that is really just how almost every other club is run apart from maybe 2 or 3. In fact, I think we as fans should be happy, we don’t have an owner, who uses the club to whitewash money or reputation.
I agree, we are vulnerable in the way that a single man has 100% control, but as long as the business model is aligned with the results achieved in various competitions and the popularity of the Arsenal brand worldwide, I don’t see a specific problem.
P.S. I think it’s to your credit that you read those articles. Even when I posted the links at the top of the responses to another article some time ago, the comments that came afterwards showed that almost nobody bothered to read and understand the basic facts around the club’s finances and history. But that didn’t stop them spouting ill-informed opinions of course.
As you said above, it is important that we understand the club’s history, even if for no other reason than that old saying that “those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it”.
IDKWIC, I also re- read both articles though all along I have been fully aware and fully involved in knowing about all events leading up to DD’s catastrophic sacking. I can see you are an educated man but you are far from alone on JA in being financially aware.
I endorse Ken’s mature and correct view entirely and ECHO his PERTINENT comments in his post above, timed at 5.59.
IMO, without a shadow of doubt, DD has been the single greatest director Arsenal has had in my 71 years alive and 65 as a fan. By a considerable distance too!!
@jonfox You are entitled to an opinion, but I note that you provide nothing in support of your view, only an assertion.
Assertions are wonderful things, but they are not guarantees and they are not facts – and they provide no basis for discussion other than a tit-for-tat, pantomime style “Yes he is”, “No he isn’t” dialogue. I assume we can skip that 🙂
Dein was involved in two decisions in the “howler” category, both of which were the biggest issues of his tenure and one of which he drove through all on his own, against the wishes of the Board as a whole… that needs a defence based on more than mere assertion to my mind.
But as I noted above, people find it difficult to change their minds on those for whom they feel personal loyalty.
Personally, when the known facts change, I change my mind but I note with sadness that in the modern world what happens with many folk is that they try to make new facts fit their existing world view.
@IDKWIC
It seems like the likes of Jon and Ken have let their personal admiration/ adoration or biases towards DD cloud their objective rationality.
They seem to have this personal subjective love and adoration for DD and have let it overtake their objectivity. It’s fingers firmly in both ears and shouting “La la la la la la, don’t want to hear it, can’t hear you”.
😊
Goonster, not that it bothers me, but why get so personal and childish when disagreeing with someone?
You obviously didn’t read my post that said DD has made mistakes, but let’s gloss over that.
The article was about the way Dein was dismissed, how it still affects him and the way the club acted.
There has been no official statement from the club, as far as I am aware, giving their side of the story at any time, so how can I be objective and rationale?
I read comments from such as IDKWIC and digest what he says…. but they are, like yours, and mine, his opinions, based on others well informed opinions it seems.
No matter what… the club’s records show that David Dein is / was the only board member who has EVER put his own money back into the club – our evaluation should start from there, along with when he joined the board in my opinion.
Pointing out a human beings mistakes seem to be very gratifiying to some, while acknowledging their positives are, it seems, much harder to do.
Ken, I freely acknowledge that Dein did some good things in his time on the Board – he is widely credited with the appointment of Wenger which was undoubtedly a masterstroke. I’m surprised no-one has mentioned it in Dein’s “plus column”.
Although Man Utd could try to claim the same with Ferguson, he was already making big clubs take notice with his work at Aberdeen (no-one else has taken a club in Scotland to win trophies, overcoming the near-total dominance of the Glasgow “old firm”) whereas Wenger was largely flying under the radar, as evidenced by the cries of “Arsene who?”.
I don’t believe the club will ever release an official statement on matters such as this, nor on any other internal staffing matters (to do so may open them up to legal issues). All we will ever hear is the results of investigation by a few dedicated individuals and in this case, it seems that Dein himself is determined to get his side of the story out, probably in the full knowledge that the club will stay silent on the matter.
If you look closely, you’ll see that some of his “complaints” are in reality non-issues. The mobile phone being cut off for example – standard practice. If you’re not part of an organisation then you can’t speak through its official devices…
His claim that it was his personal number is telling. Suppose Arsenal FC wanted to cut off my phone – they couldn’t do it, because the phone company would tell them it has nothing to do with them. So Dein must have transferred the ownership of the account to Arsenal and they must have taken over paying for the account. Otherwise, they couldn’t have terminated it.
Your article certainly kicked off an interesting discussion Ken 🙂 Good to see many people discussing calmly and rationally – as you say that’s the way to do it.
@Ken
You have got to man up and accept that your opinion being challenged is not some sort of conspiracy against you.. No need to keep citing “Personal attack”.
“So and so is personal just because they challenge your various opinions on a public forum?
DD is no victim here. He wanted to play games with everyone but he got found out. Stop making him look like some sort of victim. That how the likes of DD himself have been successful businessmen. They play this dirty game and hope it pays off. But they know that if it does not work out they get can get exposed.
DD intruduced Kroenke but then sneakily introduced Usmanov too. Playing 2 ruthless billionaires against each other. Kroenke and all the other board members smelt the bullcrap and cut him loose. Lol
But with all that saga he made £millions by selling his shares for record profit. So I don’t know why he is now crying like a victim.
I have realised throughout engaging with you on here since 2020 that once you like an individual (Wenger, Ozil, Dein etc) you just let your love and adoration for them cloud your objectivity, you become too biased and only ever want to hear or highlight their good side. They are always the victims. It’s always mostly someone who elses / something else’s fault rather than that individual.
That’s what I have noticed but might be completely wrong. 😊
@Goonster
You are being unnecessarily abrasive in Talking about Ken’s “love or adoration” and idiotic statements like that annoy me.
Like calling Arsenal fans who like Arteta or Ozil or Wenger “fanboys” and such, it is unintelligent to make such assumptions about grown adults
Thanks Pat… that’s what I meant about being childish.
Goonster, there is not one single person on this earth who has never made a mistake.
Admiration for a job well done, doesn’t cloud my view regarding the instances where the individual has made mistakes though.
Conversing with people like Jon Fox, Durand, Phil, Dan kit, Herr Drier and IDKWIC (along with many others of course too numerous to mention) gives me the opportunity to learn more about the club I support…. but, in most cases, it’s done in an adult way.
I don’t take any notice of childish claptrap, just thought you might want to join in an adult conversation, with no mud slinging.
Anyway, I hope you might find my next two articles useful and interesting.
By the way, Ozil?
He’s of no concern to me now, unless someone says something about him that’s not true.
I should also add, the sacking of DD (and of course UE) is what one deems as a sacking – no gold trophy presentation, or 60,000 Gooners to give him the sending off he warranted.
It was incredible to see and hear the reception both DD and AW received.