So Paddy Got Up - an Arsenal anthology (26 page)

There was a brief period in between that and the Arsenal of today. Stewart Houston was unlucky enough to fill in for a brief stint with the first team. Houston’s spell came after George’s sad demise for the bungs scandal. Stewart oversaw a European campaign, a difficult end to a season and all the time maintained a great dignity. After all, George had been his boss. He took his programme notes far more seriously than any other manager at any level. I often did the programme notes with him. He wanted to think about his message to the fans, the message he wanted to get across and cared what they thought of him. Stewart is a man who deserves a lot of credit for the way he conducted himself at Arsenal.

Rice and Rioch had brief spells in charge. One of the great little known stories about Wenger is that he nearly got the job a year before he arrived in 1996. David Dein championed Wenger, the board were reluctant to appoint a relative unknown Frenchman (‘Arsene Who?’ was the headline when he finally took over) and a year passed before he came in 1996. This happened during a spell I worked with an evening paper in Swindon to further my career as a journalist. It was good trying to get a back page lead every day out of a 30 second phone call to Steve McMahon. I like Steve and we have a laugh about those times now. He can’t believe I’ve gone from Swindon Evening Advertiser to Daily Mirror: I struggle to believe he’s not in the English game anymore. His passion was unquestionable and, despite some ups and downs, I like him and still run into him and some of his old players and staff. That’s the thing as a journalist; it can be chance meetings or contacts along the way that really help. Back in those early days I got to know David Dein. He was a fantastic servant for the club; I still admire him, and still regard him as a master fixer. From players to manager, he made some great deals for Arsenal. So it was a very happy coincidence that, back in 1998, as a freelance in some European outpost, I turned up again to cover an Arsenal pre-season friendly. Thankfully, David was there to make an introduction to me with Arsene Wenger. Not that it mattered or probably registered with Wenger, but it did with me.

Wenger remains a genius in my eyes. He treats everyone the same. He very rarely calls any journalist by their first name, although, I am assured, he knows who exactly the regulars are. Occasionally, very occasionally, he’s called me the magic word: John. Most notably at the Football Writers’ Association tribute night held in his honour (and people say that the media is on his back! We love him). I went up to the top table, congratulated him and asked him to sign my brochure for my wife. Sadly, she piped up it was for me which he found hilarious. For the past few years, I’ve covered Arsenal regularly. There have been ups and downs but the respect remains the same. If you see him in a lift or a car park at an international tournament, he will always stop, talk and make small talk. It’s never about who Arsenal should sign or so on. It’s about having a chat, him being a nice, down to earth man with charm and humour. While Arsenal’s Colney base was being refurbished a hotel near St Albans was his second home or office. On a couple of occasions, I ran into him there. He’d always engage, stop, chat and even share a drink. He’s warm, humorous and great company. For years, after his press conferences, we would have a separate chat with him in a private room. He’d talk French politics, holidays and life. Sadly, while us newspapers do get a separate chat with him, the room has gone. So has that intimacy. In my view, it’s a mistake. If you like someone, on whatever level, it’s harder to criticise. We still respect Wenger, but clever managers keep the press onside. We support him. Even to the point of The Times having a page two leader-column supporting Wenger recently. I still believe he’s the right man for the job. But Wenger does not like criticism even though he’s happy to debate. He cracks jokes; we crack jokes with him. I think he enjoys good repartee with us.

When he turned 60, I presented him with (what I thought anyway) an expensive bottle of wine from the regular Arsenal press troops. He was grateful, respectful and thankful. The sadness is to see him struggling. These have been difficult times. Sadly, he sees it as a problem driven by the media. I will always maintain that it’s not the media who are chanting on the terraces to spend some money. The good thing about Wenger is that you can have a chat about things. When he got upset about a headline last year, I spoke him after a press conference, tried to thrash out the problem. There’s no doubt that he’s trying to scale back on his press stuff. That’s a shame; Arsenal, for many years now, have been an example to most as to how to operate in the media; for player access, interviews and the manager. Not only did they get good coverage for their success, the media liked covering them. It shows. Honestly, every fan thinks the media has it in for their club. They remember the bad headlines, forget the good headlines and say the papers have it in for their team or manager. For every bad result and bad headline, under Wenger, there have been ten glowing write-ups and countless pull-outs and specials after title wins and successes. Try topping the Daily Mirror’s ‘Arsenal Win The World Cup’ in 1998! Wenger rarely gets upset, really upset anyway. One occasion springs to mind. Jose Mourinho accused Wenger of being a voyeur, having a telescope and looking over the fence in jealousy at Chelsea. One of my broadsheet colleagues pushed it and pushed it. “Do you have a telescope, Arsene?” “No, really do you?” Many have never seen him so angry.

The great thing about Wenger is that he will take any question. We don’t duck questions and he doesn’t duck answers. Anyone who stands on the steps of his new club to deny unfounded Internet rumours is clearly someone who will not shy away from an issue. From that day forward, Wenger made a point of limiting one-on-one interviews. He rarely gives them. But he will often joke that we have his number we can call him if necessary. Again, he’s always polite, respectful and friendly. The man oozes class, respect and manners. But things do upset him. Like the time a back page had him dressed as a tramp, when he said he wouldn’t go to Real Madrid even if he was on the street. But, again, I was happy to have a chat and he ended up laughing about it and we all moved on. He can have a furious temper. You see that in press conferences and behind the scenes sometimes.

Often on European trips you see each other at close quarters, in hotels or on the plane. But, in more than 20 years of covering the club, Wenger has provided more great times, highs and success than you could ever imagine. The Bank of England has become a very different place; Silent Stan, a chief executive with a background in the MLS, but more than anything else, a French manager. That is a departure from the Graham era and beyond. However, these have been great times and people will miss him when he eventually goes. Wenger has brought a touch of tradition, class and style to Arsenal that has only strengthened the club’s standing within the game. This achievement, together with great football and success, should never be forgotten.

***

John Cross is a football writer for the Daily Mirror. My Dad brought me up to be an Arsenal fan. Now I just get told: ‘I thought you were supposed to be an Arsenal fan’ whenever I have to report when they’ve lost. You can’t be both.

24 – A NEW ARSENAL: BUILT ON A BELL LANE DYNASTY - Nigel Brown

“What does this Frenchman know about football? He wears glasses and looks more like a schoolteacher. He’s not going to be as good as George Graham...can he even speak English properly?” said Tony Adams upon a certain Frenchman’s arrival, in his autobiography, ‘Addicted’.

There is a piece of video that perfectly depicts ‘The Arsenal’ ethos pre-Arsene Wenger. It is a bleak Monday morning on the 12th November 1990, and we have just been deducted two points following a mass brawl at Old Trafford, mainly thanks to nutty Nigel’s fisticuffs with Brian McClair and Dennis Irwin. Despite the handbags, we won the game 1-0 in what proved to be a defining moment in a season that culminated with the League title returning to Highbury.

Outside London Colney, the training ground Arsenal shared with University College London, the players gathered, summoned by George Graham following the news of the tribunal hearing. The backdrop is a tired old-people’s home of a training facility, a threadbare squad, the shortest Adidas shorts that would make even Kylie blush; topped off with a rousing speech from the Scot that centred on getting the fans on-side, creating a siege mentality, and proving the ‘Arsenal hating media’ wrong. This methodology was very much the Arsenal way. We worked hard, we were together; it was Arsenal against the world. While professional on the pitch; off the pitch there was a good old-fashioned British football culture that required George’s disciplined approach. From the Tuesday Club, eating competitions on the bus home (Merse was the king), and the staple pre-match fry up, it was a mix that created a unique team spirit, forging an ideology for the club’s players and fans alike.

The training ground actually belonged to UCL (University College of London), with Arsenal paying for the privilege of its backward facilities since 1961. But we were not alone; the likes of Tony Adams, Perry Groves, Terry Neil, and Liam Brady trained alongside the students themselves. My sister, who attended the University during the early nineties, recalls the Arsenal boys, led by Merse, watching a university lacrosse match, chanting from the sidelines, egging on the young ladies.

The original site is now used by Watford FC, and has not changed a great deal. There is still a lack of security, with cars able to drive up to the training ground car park, while back when Arsenal were tenants it was even used as a venue for some inappropriate behaviour – though this time it had nothing to do with the players. Terry Neil recalls a car park tale from his autobiography. “I remember a large builder’s van parked in this curved entrance, then a small car (badly) parked just beyond it. Veering around both vehicles, I noticed the builder sat in his van, with a woman on his lap, their arms wrapped around each other, locked in an embrace. I mentioned it to the staff when I parked up, and apparently the driveway was sometimes used as a meeting place by locals needing some privacy with nowhere else they could safely meet.”

The facilities themselves left much to be desired for a club with a rich heritage like Arsenal. The dressing rooms were too cramped to fit the whole squad, with players having to spread to other changing rooms across the complex. The main pitch, exclusively used by Arsenal for ‘closed door’ friendlies, and the South East Counties youth team, was adjacent to some farmland, (which is now Watford’s main first team training pitch). Arsenal’s pitches, used by UCL during the week were clay-based, and a constant victim of poor drainage. Training was regularly moved to the indoor plastic pitch and gym behind the Clock End at Highbury when they had fallen foul of the English weather. Essentially the clay-based soil meant Arsenal’s training ground was more suitable for grazing sheep than a Championship winning side, so it isn’t surprising we adopted the long ball on occasion.

The fire at London Colney in the mid-nineties forced Arsenal players to change in a hotel and train at Highbury, while the youth team changed out of Portacabins at Colney. A backdrop that had been the breeding ground for Charlie George, Liam Brady, Paul Merson and Tony Adams, was now far behind the rest of Europe. With the introduction of Arsene Wenger things were set to change, and quickly.

The landscape of football was also changing, with new money, increased competition and the formation of the Premier League. When George got his brown envelopes confused in 1995, it was time for a drastic change at a football club stuck in the dark ages. Suddenly there were new facilities, a change in diet, a modern structure, and a new style of play.

We had been successful under George Graham, but never world class. Following the 1991 league win, the club never again challenged for the title under the Scot. David Dein wanted to modernise Arsenal, keeping the professional approach that the club was built on under George, but nevertheless, install new forward-thinking principles at the club. In the summer of 1995 the club appointed a short-term ticking time bomb in Bruce Rioch who, despite clashes with Ian Wright and co in the dressing room, guided the Gunners to a respectable sixth-placed finish. A much-needed season of stability following Graham’s fall from grace, heralded the arrival of Dennis Bergkamp and David Platt, marquee signings we were certainly not used to.

However in the summer of 1996, following England’s exit from Euro 1996, Dein was able to convince Wenger to join us, causing all the old school stalwarts to react in shock at his disposition. You’ve heard it all before about Wenger; described sneeringly as a maths teacher, then his utter the cheek for subbing Tony Adams in his first match in charge at Borussia Mönchengladbach, followed by his refusal to speak at half time. Oh, how he has changed.

Wenger’s appointment was announced on August 20th, but he didn’t meet the press until September 22nd (he actually took official charge on September 30th, a Monday morning). “He arrived unnoticed at the training ground,” Lee Dixon famously said. “A meeting was called, the players filed in and in front of us stood this tall, slightly-built man who gave no impression whatsoever of being a football manager.”

Adams in particular had his doubts. “There was a feeling of who the fuck is he and what is he going to do? What is he?”

Little did our Tony know that Wenger’s vision on how a modern football club should be run would influence the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, and have far reaching consequences for the future of professionalism in the sport. Bob Wilson, goalkeeping coach at the time Wenger was installed, and eventually one of his greatest advocates and friends, recalls the first time the Frenchman arrived at the training ground.

“I was sitting in an office at the old training ground we used to lease when in walked Arsene. I remember him saying ‘I do not understand. This is Arsenal? It cannot be Arsenal’. First in his sights was a new training ground, purpose-built and paid for in an ingenious way. He bought Anelka from Paris St Germain for £300,000 and sold him to Real Madrid for £23 million. From that, £12m created the country’s best football training facility. And with the spare £11m he went out and bought another young French player called Thierry Henry. Some business; some brain.”