Finally We Have Signings But Did Americans Add To The Gridlocks?



Whew!  This transfer window closes around one of the busiest I have seen as a Gooner.  Granted, I have only been a fan since 2002-2003, but five signings in two days (plus Gervinho and The Ox earlier on), has left my head swirling and my blood pumping.  I am not sure that Arsenal meant to have their signings leave Gooners on the edge of their seats, and the last minute buys (Arteta especially) were fun in a stop-your-heart- kind of way, but was the last-minute buying necessary?  Manure was doing business back in June so - as all of you out in Goonerland have asked - why did we wait so long?

The Fabregas saga is somewhat explainable in my mind.  Barcelona, being the cheating, manipulating, tapping up, lying scum that they are waited until the last minute to put in an acceptable bid.  Yes, we should have given them a deadline, but I venture to guess that the Arsenal staff (certainly Arsene) like many of us Gooners have a soft spot for Cesc and did not want to indirectly put his back up against a wall.  The most likely explanation is that the indebted Spanish club needed time to scrounge around under the seats of their Bentleys for change in order to come up with the fee and thus drew out the transfer.

But Nasri?  As he put in one of his ill-advised interviews:  He had expected the move to happen in June - as did his new teammates.  Arsene may have not wanted to lose two big players in one season, but he should have been able to see the writing on the wall, taken the money, and RAN to the nearest footballer shopping mall.

But the other transfers?  Mata, M'Villa, these all had the feel of negotiations that had been botched.  When asked about transfers after the thrashing from United, Wenger noted that there were 20 people working behind the scenes which I translated as he stating "It's not me...someone else is holding things up".  And I have a theory on who might be at the root of the transfer window traffic jam.  I think it might be my fellow countrymen who screwed things up.  That's right.  I'm talking about Richard Law and Stan Kroenke himself.  The Americans.

As an American, I can see how Stan and Dick might not get how quickly and ruthlessly things have to work in English football.  In fact, they may not get how passionate football in England is regarded at all.  Stan owns two sport franchises that make up two thirds of the Big Three American Sports:  The Denver Nuggets (basketball) and the St. Louis Rams (American Football).  He also owns an NHL team and, of course, the Colorado Rapids - Arsenal's sister team in the States.  Soccer recently has bypassed Hockey on the list of  most loved American Sports, but all the same, it has not pulled on the passion or imagination yet of the everyday American Sports fan.  I think this includes Kroenke.  In other words, I'm not sure that Stan gets it,  and I don't think he can develop the fervor of a supporter with his interests being shared by his other sport franchises.  And I do think he needs to be a supporter of the Gunners, not just their Director.  In my limited amount of time as an Arsenal fan, I've realized that fandom is all consuming.  My other interests have faded in comparison.  Can Stan say the same?

And Richard Law?   He's been in charge of Arsenal's transfer negotiations for two years now.  Before that, he acted more as a consultant for Arsenal's South and Central America scouting network.  I worry though, that perhaps he doesn't know how to play hardball.  According to Gunnerblog Joel Campbell and his agent/father didn't even show for their initial meeting with Law, perhaps using their own style of hardball tactics.  But we ended up  signing him anyway?  That kind of flagrant disrespect should have put us off permanently from offering a contract.  Campbell is relatively unknown kid from Costa Rica upon whom we are taking a risk.  Instead of ending the deal by saying "We're The Arsenal.  Take your time wasting tactics somewhere else", we agree to sign him 10 days later.  Even if we came out on top of the deal somehow, I think the message conveyed here is one of weakness and desperation.  Plus, with the luck that only Arsenal can possess, the kid can't even get a work permit, so he's been loaned out.  You know, I have looked for pictures of Mr. Law online and cannot find any, but I have a sinking suspicion he does not have much of a chin...

Anyway, I am not saying Arsene has not had some hand in the jumbling of transfers as he does have to sign off on them and request players.  I am sure he balked at M"Villa's 30 million pound price tag and hung onto Nasri for sentimental reasons or stubbornness too long.  But his exasperation seemed apparent in his post-match interview at Old Trafford.

I suppose we will never really know why things happened the way they did.  Ivan will in all likelihood hem and haw his way around these type of questions that Arsenal supporters and certainly journalists will ask at the next opportunity.  Arsene will play out the scene in silence as well as that befits the discretion he so adheres to.

I think for the club to prevent a near transfer tragedy in the coming seasons, the people behind the scenes and at the top of the heap need to remember that working at Arsenal isn't just a job.  Like the footballing architects who first built the club 125 years ago, they need to be Gooners at heart.

And with that said, this Gooner signs off...until next time, take care.