Fabregas an Arsenal Captain?

    When centre back William Gallas went public on Arsenal’s dressing room unrest he effectively resigned from his post as Arsenal captain. The Frenchman must have known this. Perhaps Gallas felt the captaincy was a burden rather than an honour and his personal poor form as well as the clubs may have been linked to this. Saying this, Gallas does have previous. Just after his transfer deadline day switch to Arsenal, Chelsea claimed that Gallas demanded a transfer and if selected on the opening day against Manchester City he would purposefully put through his own net. Gallas denied this but his naive relationship with the press surely has played a big part in the unhappy spells at many of his clubs. Wenger was quick to name his replacement. Twenty-one year old centre midfielder Francesc Fàbregas was his choice, and as Arsenal’s most consistent and most consistently brilliant performer he was the choice of the fans as well.

    However brilliance does not necessarily mean Fabregas is the right Arsenal captain. Frank Mclintockwas not by any stretch of the imagination the most glamorous Arsenal player during his nine years and 403 games at Highbury. However Mclintock never stopped talking. Verbally he was on of the best. He screamed at team mates when they needed screaming at, and he was the first man to dish out praise when it was due. If age is seen as a problem then it needn’t be. Arsenal’s most successful recent captain and one of their most successful ever, Tony Adams was given the captaincy at 21, just like Fabregas.

    If in Manchester United’s team Fabregas would not even be considered as ‘skipper‘. United have leaders all over the pitch in almost every position. Ferdinand, Vidic, Van Der Saar and Rooney are all examples. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that Arsenals season has yet to get going. Arsenal leaders from the past roll off the tongue; Adams, Vieria, Petit and Henry are examples from the most recent generation and every single one of those players won domestic trophies in brilliant Arsenal sides. Arsenal’s current team is without a strong leader similar to any of the above players. Fabregas could well prove his critics wrong, but I doubt it. The sale of Gilberto was a mistake, the loss of Flamini was a disaster. Both players were stronger characters who could of helped Arsenal win away at Stoke or Hull with their combative, battling qualities that Arsenal are yet to replace.

 

 

 

 

  

Relegated Clubs Doomed?

            Charlton Athletic, Sheffield Wednesday, Leicester City, and Leeds United are all recent examples of relegation from the English Premier League spelling disaster for English football clubs. Charlton fell from the Premiership after four years of more than holding their own in the division. However it was their fifth and their first Alan Curbishley-less year in the division that proved to be their last. Ironically, and disastrously it was the year Charlton decided to loosen their purse strings. New manager Iain Dowie spent big on Andy Reid, Souleymane Diawara and Amdy Faye (to name but a few) and the club also paid a hefty chunk of England star Scott Carson’s wages. In their first ten games they won just five points and two games later just twelve league games into his Charlton career Dowie was sacked.

            Almost two years later and after the sale of star players Darren Bent, Luke Young and Andy Reid Charlton find themselves in a Championship relegation battle. As if this wasn’t bad enough they are without a permanent manager after the sacking of boss Alan Pardew and will be looking to sell rather than buy in January because of their worsening financial situation.

Sadly it’s a familiar story for relegated Premier League clubs. Most just can’t afford to keep paying their stars Premiership wages and selling is the only option. After this if the manager does not buy intelligently the club more often than not is doomed. Birmingham and West Brom bought Kevin Phillips, Wolves bought Michael Kightly while Sheffield United bought James Beattie. Charlton went for quantity not quality they signed Varney, Gray and Todorov who have failed to score 20 goals between them during their time at the Valley. In fact since Charlton’s relegation just over a season ago former manager Alan Pardew used an incredible forty-five players including ten signed on loan.

            In 2003 when they were relegated West Ham lost all their big names but then manager Pardew worked the market brilliantly and turned Harewood and Etherington into Premiership players and got them promoted two seasons later. Birmingham under Alex Mcleish look to be going down a similar road but Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City both struggled after relegation from the Premiership. The bottom line for relegated clubs is that if your transfer policy is not spot on you could be in real trouble. Pardew never found a real clinical goal scorer at Charlton or a solid first eleven and that’s why he is out of the job and Charlton are in the relegation zone.