Bob Bayliss
Of course Gooners can be pleased that Chelsea winning the Champions' League means that Spurs won't qualify for it next season - but frankly, they have as much chance of winning it as Arsenal now do. We can continue to amuse/console ourselves by celebrating "St Totteringham's Day" at the end of each season; or we can understand that this 'achievement' is largely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
Chelsea have a wealthy benefactor, for sure, and since he has been in charge he has invested heavily in the Club. It is fair to say that this changed the landscape of British football, and it is also fair to say that we could not compete with them in the transfer market without a radical overhaul of the way Arsenal operate. But let us be very clear that the owner's wealth is not what turned Chelsea's season round for them this year. It is his uncompromising refusal to accept mediocrity as is in any sense acceptable. While he may have been a little too trigger-happy on one or two previous occasions, he got it spot on this time. Replacing AvB with Di Matteo relatively late in the campaign made all the difference in the world to Chelsea's season.
Di Matteo brought back the experienced players that his predecessor had discarded and got the whole team playing with heart, courage and character in spades. The way that they came from behind against far superior teams in the face of huge odds in the semi-final and final of the Champions' League was so reminiscent of the essence of Arsenal as I recognised them for most of my life. It was a performance to stir memories of McLintock, Adams, Brady, Vieira, Henry... only their equivalents are now all in blue. Even their left-back (arguably man-of-the-match in Munich) somehow reminded me of someone I once remember playing with heart and soul (not cockney rhyming slang!) in a red shirt.
You can just imagine the AKBs' reaction had anyone dared to suggest in February that Di Matteo - or an equivalent in terms of managerial experience/reputation - would be able to take over from Wenger, and to succeed where he now cannot. Well, the proof of the pudding is that within three months Chelsea (who were enjoying a more miserable season than us up to that point) ended up winning two cups - including the biggest of the lot. Yes, they enjoyed more than their fair share of luck - but fortune favours the brave, not the over-cautious bean counters who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.
I can only hope that this will prove to be the straw the breaks the camel's back, and will shake the Arsenal board into doing whatever is necessary to change the complacent, under-achieving mindset that has engulfed the Club for so long it has become a malaise. As fans, we seem to have very little influence, except at this time of year when we are asked to renew our season tickets. I suggest that the Club may find it harder to coerce unhappy punters to renew through fear of going to the back of a long waiting list as they have done in previous years - I would be surprised if such a list exists any more, and besides red membership is probably sufficient to get you tickets to most games you want to go to.
In case the board should be in any doubt, let us make it clear to them - simply qualifying for the Champions' League year after year is not an achievement, beyond balancing the Club's books. Winning the thing is. Getting back into the habit of winning trophies is a start. It won't happen under Wenger - it is time for radical change.
