First blood

I know what you are thinking ! Should all evil and free speech be nipped at the bud ? I mean, how many bloggers can possibly exist on every street ? Well, apparently I'm the only on mine .. Now, haven't I saved you the trouble ?

I'll keep the introductions to a minimum. I'm a fan of Arsenal FC, and secretly, I sometimes pretend to be Arsene Wenger. In other words, I may have a man-crush. Also, I've been to just one game at the Grove. And Wenger was banned.

Right, since that means I can blog all I want, which I assure you won't be much, considering I'm not much of a writer, I will get down to business.

By business, I meant the hard-to-miss transfer activity. Its just August now, and we're done and dusted a couple of good deals, and looking for more. Everyday. (Visit the club's media page for more info)

And of course, the annual "Arsenal in crisis" celebrations. The unmistakable scent of blood. It all started sometime last season. After a blistering start, and a pretty good mid season and an ok towards the end, not one fan doubted than Robin would say anything but an yes. Or maybe ask for a raise. Or just say nothing. Turned out to be nothing like that. Turned out to be a pretty cr@p day actually. Turned out to be one of those days I was acting all Wenger-ish.

The rest, some say, is history. The fans have moved on, Wenger and the board have moved on, the journalists have moved on and if some of their reports are to be believed, the Manchester clubs have too. Only poor Robin, with an appropriate amount of grey hair, suggests the Old Lady of Turin could still be hanging out in a retirement home close by. Which could well be the case considering the state of Italian breakfast. Football. If he goes, I wish him well and hope he sees out his career in some very apt surroundings.

Well, the rest, I consider, is just a new beginning. To Arsene Wenger. Not to dismiss his achievements spanning for over 15 years. Coming to Arsenal as a relative unknown, he took hold of the foundations of the club, solidified it and built a palace upon it. A palace, however, with doors big enough for baby elephants to sneak in. And those baby elephants soon ended up growing, a little too big for the room. And Wenger had to let them go. By breaking some walls. Well, until now atleast.

Something has motivated Wenger. Must be all the broken promises, or the walls. Whatever they might have been, he decided to widen his doors instead. For the bigger elephants to get in. And get out, though the door. All paid for. Well, if the rooms are big enough, it is to be seen.

Even before Robin announced his retirement decision, Wenger had already bought Robin's closest possible replacement and another one, just to be sure. He was determined not to get bullied by players, booed at by fans, tied up by the board, laughed at by rivals. In a calculated manner, he's loosened the purse strings, and slowly been letting some big players in.

We've definitely improved this season, regardless of Robin's future, and many expert writers share my view, or rather, I share their's. For once, apart from the annual knee-jerk reflexes, the media have nothing to say against Wenger, or Arsenal. Almost like it's Wenger's time to draw first blood ....