Tomblander, have a look at this!

Blimey, calm down old chap. I'm certainly not prejudiced against Arsenal - they play scintillating football, have a genius of a manager, and alone among all of Europe's major leagues, have somehow bucked the trend of needing to break the bank in order to stay in contention. Such economic reality ruined Leeds, and did huge damage to Newcastle and Manchester City here; not to mention others in Europe such as Parma, Roma and Lazio. But not the Gunners: despite a net spend half that of Tottenham's over the past decade, their place in the top 4 is utterly unquestioned: and that's down to Wenger, the best pound-for-pound manager in the world. Who else would sign the best central defender in the Premiership, AND make a £5m profit? Genius, as I said.

But he, and his club, also have a flipside. Their graceless whining after the Champions League final last season was absolutely pathetic; and over the years, his total failure to censure either foul play or diving and histrionics has been absolutely pathetic. Henry's dive against Wigan beggared belief: and that he wasn't booked for it is astounding. At times, Wenger comes across like a wonderfully deep thinker on the game; at others, like one of those ghastly people convinced they are never, ever wrong about anything. After Newcastle won 3-1 at Highbury in December 2001, Bobby Robson - not a man to often criticise a fellow manager - said Arsenal needed to learn how to lose with dignity; but they didn't then, and still haven't now.

Which is why it was amusing to see them get their comeuppance earlier. Do I hate Arsenal? Of course not: to be honest, my attitude is one of studied indifference. And I dislike Chelsea a whole lot more (though admittedly, Mourinho often makes me chuckle). But I am tired of this apparent love-in many seem to have towards them: yes, Arsenal play fantastic football; yes, in many ways they are an example to us all. But they also behave appallingly at times - and by gum, it's my right to say so if that's what I think.

As for Huckerby: yep, he's guilty sometimes too, and I don't like it one bit. But as guilty as Henry, or Ronaldo, or Robben (grrr!), or Joe Cole, or Gerrard, or Andy Johnson (aarrgghh!!)? I don't think so. Indeed, an awful lot of the time, I'm convinced opponents use his reputation in order to continually foul him and get away with it - and don't believe I'm green-and-yellow tinted in saying so. Nor do I harbour petty prejudices towards Arsenal - though given your response, I can only fire the question back at you: is it because you harbour prejudices in favour of Arsenal (or against Chelsea) that you reacted as you did? Hey, just asking...

Posted By: thebigfeller, Feb 25, 20:22:41