Joe Fitzpatrick 
The time is fast approaching where rational AKBs will no longer have a leg to stand on or a straw to clutch at. Their tribe is quaking in their feathered headdresses and loincloths. They see only a world ahead where only greed prevails and money talks while proudly held beliefs and self-sustainability are increasingly becoming obsolete.
I am one of them and I am quite honestly sh*tting bricks right now at the thought of my reality crumbling around me. For, as I quite dramatically stated in my last article on this website, if Arsene Wenger picks Almunia again "I will never defend him again, ever." How could I? Picking that clown in goal again would be gross misconduct in my opinion and if Wenger can't pick former German international Jens Lehmann, for whatever reason, then he should pick one of his rookie goalkeepers instead. Almunia makes rookie mistakes all the time, so I see no extra danger coming by putting an actual rookie between the sticks.
Dear Almighty God, If you're listening, please tell Wenger, I'd rather see Bob Wilson at age 70 in goal for Arsenal F.C. than Manuel Almunia ever again!
If I haven't backed myself into a corner enough with that statement already, let me take it one step further.
If Wenger picks Denilson again when he has better options fit and available I will never defend Wenger again, ever. Denilson has had more than enough chances to show what he can do and he hasn't shown us much, has he? Diaby is a better option, even though I admit that he is not much better than the most useless Brazilian I have ever seen. Ramsey and Wilshere are, in comparison to him, despite being even younger than he is, "Los Galacticos" or quite simply, light years and galaxies ahead of him. Denilson should definitely take up rugby, as that is the sport for him. The only sport where passing backwards (almost every time) is not only acceptable but it is absolutely, positively and actively encouraged. He could be the Pele of rugby for all I bloody know.
Rosicky isn't exactly setting the world alight right now but I would rather see him in the central midfield than have to suffer the pain, suffering and damned misfortune of another 90 minutes of Denilson. I would rather stick pins in my eyes, literally.
Arsene Wenger has given me my finest memories of Arsenal FC in full flow. Not only did Arsene Wenger go a season unbeaten, he did it in "sexy" "champagne" "world class" "French Caviar" style with "Va-Va Vooooom!" thrown in as an optional but more oh so crucially, costly, extra. Because, as long as I have a hole in my backside, I will believe that if Wenger had the right access to the right amount of funds, if he had the right people around him to keep him on his toes a wee, tiny bit more tactically (he is 62 now, let's be honest) and was not, I repeat not, most importantly, greedily and criminally under pressure from upstairs make AN ACTUAL PROFIT FROM PLAYER TRANSFERS!!!!... he could have been the greatest football manager in history.
That's right, I said it. The cat is well and truly out of my bag now isn't it? Wenger has made a profit on player trading in the last two seasons alone, of a whopping, 38 Million pounds sterling!
He is the man who bought Kolo Toure for £150,000 and sold him for £14,000,000.
He is the Man who bought Nicolas Anelka for £500,000 and sold him for £22,000,000.
He is the man who bought Adebayor for £3,000,000 and sold him for £25,000,000.
And who can forget?
He is the man who bought Patrick Vieira for £3,500,000 and sold him for €20,000,000.
If Harry Redknapp is a "wheeler-dealer" then Arsene Wenger is a footballing alchemist.
I could go on and on, So I will. He deserves at least this little note of thanks from me, the very humble "last rational AKB" as we may never see his like again. I would walk through fire for that man. He got Cesc Fabregas on a free, discovered George Weah and transformed Thierry Henry into the most lethal Arsenal striker of all time. You can look into the full list of players who have Wenger to thank, for who and where they are today, another time. If I do it now, we'll be here all night.
You will be astonished if you really sit and think about it. Arsene Wenger brought us the FA Cup four times and the Premier league title three times. He got us to a Champions League final, a Uefa Cup final, five F.A. Cup finals and two League Cup finals (it was the players who let us down). He finished second in the Premiership five times and qualified for the lucrative Champions League competition , season on season all while MAKING A PROFIT on player transfers! No wonder then it is that he was recently voted "Coach of the Decade" by the international federation of football history and statistics.
The award is decided by combining the points from the organisation's Coach of the Year polls, and although the Gunners trophy cabinet has been empty in the last five years, their consistent performances in both the Barclays Premier League, as well as the UEFA Champions League, gave Wenger 156 points, with Ferguson on 148, and Mourinho with 135. "Although the Frenchman has until now never won the annual vote, he has been among the best-placed coaches every year," a statement from the organisation said. He is beyond a shadow of a doubt the greatest manager in Arsenal F.C. history. God only knows, how grateful I will forever be to him for all that.
However, as they say in France, "every man, even the dreamer, has his limits." The name Manuel, will forever be known as being famous as being both the name of the character in "Faulty Towers" and the name of the sh*te-est keeper ever to disgrace our f***ing team, Both of them great comedy characters though mind you. I am a fan of Arsenal first and Arsene second and so should all of you be. Wenger picking either of those two m*********ing, see you next Tuesdaying, c***ing, bar stewards ever again (when he can avoid it) is a crime against my first love that I cannot and will not tolerate any longer. I love loyalty as a quality in a human being but Wenger is taking the notion of loyalty to his players into new unchartered realms of madness. If Denilson or Almunia pull on Arsenal shirts again (when better options are available) anyone found still standing up for Wenger will look like a fool.
When players constantly let you down time after time and again and again, there comes a time when enough is enough. Why have I defended Wenger so vehemently up until now? I'll tell you why, as it may very well be my very last chance to do so. Arsene Wenger brought us Thierry Henry, Robert Pires, Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit, Marc Overmars, Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie and Freddie Ljunberg to name but a few of his best ever signings for Arsenal. The man's gift for finding and developing world class talent is second to none in the modern game. Even now he can point to Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey and I believe, Theo Walcott as prime examples of his eye for future greats. Oh and when we are renaming Ashburton Grove we should seriously as fans demand it is called the "Arsene Wenger Stadium” because that is what it is really, isn't it?
But is that all he ever was? A top scout and developer of young midfield and attacking talent? Without the right funds to sign top international players (at the back and holding midfield) and the right coaching staff brought in to mould them into a tough hardworking unit like Barcelona, our greatest manager of all time may NEVER win another trophy for Arsenal again.
That ladies and Gentleman, is my biggest, deepest and darkest fear. And you could very well be witnessing the death (and rebirth) of "the last rational AKB". Unfortunately my idol is already showing signs of madness. An article on this very website opened my eyes to this recent quote from Arsene Wenger. "For the English, sport is a combat. The English can't imagine going into battle without a general. For the French, football is a form of collective expression." If Arsene Wenger really believes that Tony Adams and Patrick Vieira were not pivotal to his success then he truly has gone mad, hasn't he? Well Arsene, answer me this, How many trophies have we won since Patrick Vieira left us? I don't even have to say any more than that.
If Almunia or Denilson play for the Arsenal again when ANYONE else is fit and available then we must all surely realise that the Emperor is naked and that we must do our best to help get his clothes on. But I'm sorry you AMG guys I can't ever sing or shout "Wenger out!" I just can't bring myself to do it. Maybe I'm too loyal, maybe we all are sometimes?
Maybe if Wenger wasn't so loyal to Pat Rice, the board, his players and us fans, we wouldn't be in this position we now find we are in. And how glad we are here now because from where I'm sitting it's not ALL doom and gloom.
