Deadline Day | Eduardo banned | New contracts
Add comment September 3rd, 2009
Greetings one and all. Or perhaps just one, if the blog’s popularity has plummeted on account of my failure to clock in yesterday.
Let’s revise the greeting to ‘Hello you’, exploiting the ambiguity about whether it’s singular or plural.
So little time has passed and yet so much has happened – most unusual for an international break. First off transfer deadline day came and went, with the main point of discussion being the distinct lack of discussion points. The BBC’s live updates signed off by calling it “the end of an era”, and whilst I don’t know if I’d be prepared to go that far, it was certainly the dullest deadline day in memory.
The big four were conspicuous by their absence, whilst Arsene probably whiled away the hours playing World of Warcraft or some other such irrelevant activity. There were well-connected whispers of an enquiry for Robert Green, but you have to think that any serious interest would have been instigated long before the deadline was about to expire.
In bigger news, Eduardo picked up the expected two-match ban from UEFA. It really is a farce. What makes me angry is that if Eduardo had a) been identified as diving and booked there and then, or even b) missed the penalty(!) then the incident would never have been mentioned again. Honestly, it would have been one line in the match report and that’d be it.
The club’s frustration is perfectly justified – and, might I say, rather eloquently worded:
“We have been deeply frustrated by the perfunctory and apparently arbitrary process that Uefa has followed in this instance. We believe it is imperative that Uefa’s explanation for its decision provides clear and comprehensive standards that will be consistently enforced.  It is also critical that Uefa provides specific details of the processes it plans to adopt in reviewing all games under its jurisdiction.”
If Eduardo’s case is to be a template going forward then judgements will be reached not by any committee, but by a hysterical and irrational media.
In better news, Denilson and Nicklas Bendtner have both committed themselves to the club in the long term. Arsene Wenger was delighted, saying:
“Denilson’s contribution to the Club last season was outstanding. His work rate really was exceptional and it is valuable to have players that we know will perform to the very last minute in such a demanding league. I’m pleased that he has committed his long-term future to the Club.
Nicklas has impressed me highly with his application and determination over the last season, you can see that he wants to compete at the highest level and win things with his team-mates. He scored a number of important goals for us last season and he will look to replicate that again this year. However, it’s not just about the goals, his all round contribution has improved and will continue to do so. I’m very pleased that he will be part of the team for years to come.”
Whilst both players have their critics, they are certainly improving, and I don’t doubt they’ll both prove to be (at the very least) useful squad players this season and beyond.
Right, that’s yer lot. Have a good day.
