It’s been reported that Arteta stayed behind in London last night to have talks with Arsenal, which sums up just how penny pinching our board are.
Should we wine and dine our ex captain, make him feel valued, maybe drive him down from Manchester, put him up in a posh hotel, take his whole family out to a fancy restaurant? Nah… just wait for a fixture against the team he works for and see if you can grab a quick word off the record.
He literally had one of the best seats in the house to witness how poor we are. It’s odd that the man who could be about to return to the Emirates was celebrating our downfall.
He’s brave not to have been put off by our performance as clearly more comfortable years await at the Etihad.
Certainly, our players were not playing like they cared about impressing their potential new boss.
This would be the Spaniard’s first managerial role so you have to trust those in the game who stress what a great coach he is and how valuable he’s been to Pep Guardiola (although how many times do we hear a great coach doesn’t mean a great manager?)
Yet am I meant to believe that after three weeks of intense deliberations, the Kroenke family feel the best candidate is a rookie?
Remember this is the same man who was days away from replacing Arsene Wenger until there was a last-minute change of heart.
So why, having already interviewed the man nearly two years ago have you not contacted him the day Emery was sacked? It can’t make him feel overly trusted that for the second time he’s declared an interest but been asked to wait if they find anyone better.
Better as in cheaper. The cheapest option was Freddie till the summer at which point they could take a new salary out of next year’s budget. They clearly don’t want to pay a massive wage while paying off Emery and his staff.
This could be or should be such an inviting vacancy, but our owners don’t care enough to make it so. They have turned us into a club no longer looked at as a big one. That I fear is why Arteta appeals to Silent Stan.
Where an Ancelotti would demand parity with Arsene Wenger and a decent transfer kitty, Arteta is so honoured to get such a chance he will tolerate the negatives, such as zero ambition.
If he succeeds he’s a genius, if he fails he just works for Pep again. The juice really is worth the squeeze.
Maybe they truly think he’s picked up standards set by one of the world’s greatest and he can copy and paste what he’s learnt. But maybe it’s more likely it’s because he’s cheap. If that’s our criteria, then we are no longer a big club. This whole process has been about saving money not getting us back to a certain level.
Even at Everton, you sense Duncan Ferguson has been informed about recruitment policy so he has clarity.
We are so tight we haven’t even given Freddie any staff. So Arteta is a better option then Poch or Allegri?
Only if you’re the Kroenke’s account manager….
Dan Smith