Michael Preston
Long ago, monarchs employed court jesters or fools as permanent employees (at least till they fell out of favour). Their role was not just to keep the courtiers amused. They were there to tell the monarch what no-one else had the courage to say, often using wit and humour to point up their master’s foibles and tell unpalatable truths. History is rife with anecdotes of jesters overstepping the mark, and paying for it, but also of having real influence over royal decision-making.
Arsenal, at least in the footballing sense, would appear to be a monarchy. This is not so unusual in the sport: Alex Ferguson clearly deserves the description of monarch in the red kingdom of the Mancs. Nor is it necessarily a bad thing. A manager has to be more than the chairman of a committee. In our case, we have one of the most enlightened and intelligent of all footballing monarchs – one who has brought creativity and invention to a demanding role. It is impossible not to have massive admiration for Arsène and his achievements, and I personally (although many will disagree) feel the club would be infinitely the poorer without him.
However…… King Arsène is reputed not to take criticism well, even when it is born of goodwill and imbued with insight. He clearly has very strong ideas – as indeed he should. But does he have anyone to tell him when he is either perpetuating a bad decision or willfully mistaking his geese for swans? Arshavin and Chamakh were, however briefly in their Arsenal careers, swans. They have been geese for some time now, but we persist in using them in circumstances where they cannot realistically be expected to do what is required of them. Does Arsène not see this? Either he doesn’t (and he ought to) or he does (but keeps hoping for a better outcome, the definition of insanity).
Who is there at Arsenal to play the fool to Arsène’s king on questions of football? Pat Rice? Steve Bould? Neil Banfield? Ivan Gazidis? Do any of these four, or anyone else at Arsenal, have the remit to tell the unpalatable truths to the manager? Maybe David Dein did some of this before his departure. We can know nothing of what goes on behind the managerial scenes at the Club. We can only surmise from the actions (or inactions) that become visible to us.
If I were Stan Kroenke, I should feel more comfortable in my ownership knowing that the manager’s autocracy was being regularly punctured by jolts of reality, albeit from someone loyal to Arsène. There is no merit in having a spy in the cab. Our jester needs to have Arsène’s ear not because the owner put him there, but because the manager trusts him and respects his judgement. Will we get such a person? I doubt it, but the idea of a chap wearing a three-pointed hat with jingly bells sitting next to the manager on the bench has a good feel about it.
