I am not saying that everything the former England, Blackburn and Celtic striker Chris Sutton is necessarily wrong in everything he has said about the current situation at Arsenal Football Club, but I am saying that his rant about Arsene Wenger reported by The Mirror and the way he runs things is far from being an unbiased viewpoint.
Perhaps the fact that Chelsea is also on the list of clubs that Sutton played for explains why, but I have no doubt that the 44-year old football pundit has a bee in his bonnet about our club and so we should take anything he says about it with a pinch of salt.
I have often found myself wondering whether Sutton had something against us when I hear him commentating on one of our matches but he took his usual bias up a level recently when doing the FA cup clash between us and Lincoln City. Even my wife who has little interest in football noticed and asked me why he was being so hard on Arsenal.
During the first half when we struggled to break them down Arsenal were the worst team in the world and even when we then put five past them he gave us no credit and huffily said that was what we should have done earlier. So have a look at his comments on Wenger and agree with them if you like, but do not be fooled into thinking this is coming from a ‘neutral’.
He said, “I just think he’s being selfish. The last 13 years have been a disaster. The FA Cups have papered over the cracks.
“The biggest problem for me is that it’s a dictatorship. He surrounds himself with ‘yes’ men. He’s brought all these players in.
“The players are not showing fight, they are not showing heart and they are not playing for him. The environment at Arsenal is unhealthy.”
13 years? Even those fans and pundits that are now down on the prof agree that his job of keeping the Gunners in the Champions League despite being hugely outspent year after year was remarkable. He also slammed Wenger’s signings although I would argue that Alexis Sanchez was pretty good and Mustafi has looked the real deal until recently when all the players have been below par.
Sutton also likened the boss and his intention to stay as an uncle who doesn’t want to leave a party and it is a good phrase which I agree with to some extent. Do you? Or do you think that Sutton and many other pundits are too hard on Wenger?
Bob.