Dear Ashley,

Things have calmed down since your departure, but this weekend you are going to have to face one of the biggest challenges of your career. It’s not so much that you are facing Arsenal… you are facing the Arsenal fans. The real people who you hurt.

We used to be so proud of you Ashley, you were the home- grown pride and joy of our great football club. You were there when we won the double in 2002. You shared our pain in 2003 and it spurred you and the rest of the team on to go unbeaten in 2004. As even you said back then, everything was perfect. Not only that but you were our future captain. And look what you did to us. Us the Arsenal fans. You may still be friends with Thierry and be on good terms with Arsene Wenger, but what about the people who cared about you the most. What did we do to deserve this? You let us down. That is why we are going to boo you tomorrow.

Don’t say that you’ve moved on… Patrick Vieira said that he had moved on when he played heartlessly against us for Juventus last year. He looked like a cold mess that evening. But unlike you, Patrick realised this and he came back to play in Dennis Bergkamp’s testimonial when the pressure was off and embraced us in the way we deserved. Vieira had respect for us and will remain an Arsenal legend. You are an embarrassment to us now.

How things have changed now. Was it worth “nearly swerving off the road” for £5000 a week? There may have been a mistake on Arsenal’s part, but can’t you see that we have an enormous debt to pay for our new stadium. Unlike Chelsea we can’t throw our money around. We have a defined wage structure that we were even prepared to bend a bit for you. Which other left back in the Premiership gets £70,000 per week? You could have reaped the benefits of our new stadium more than anyone. In five years, once some our debt is paid off and our talented youngsters have matured you could still have been around as our captain to lead us into a new era.

So as you sit there with your Carling Cup medal (not that you even played that game) just spare a thought for the people you hurt the most. Make sure you play tomorrow. Tell Mr. Mourinho that you have to play. There is unfinished business. If you were ever a true Gooner you’d be there to face your fear. Just say sorry to us… then if you want you can move on.

A Gooner