Arteta's ESR regrets, and paying tribute to Kevin Campbell
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta tells me how he felt about Kevin Campbell's sad passing
Hello, Happy Saturday!
Of course, being a Bank Holiday it’s raining heavily. Which is nice.
I’m penning this just before I get in the car and drive to Villa Park, and I’m currently deciding which CDs to take along.
Regular viewers may be aware of my fixation with CDs. Not least because my old jalopy still has a CD player. (And yes, I am aware of Spotify…)
Having ticked off a lifetime’s ambition to see Bob Dylan in concert recently - I'll write about seeing my musical idol at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles (as you do), during Arsenal’s preseason summer tour of America when I have more time during the international break - so, I suppose it’s got to be the legendary Dylan accompanying me to the Villa.
Perhaps, given the fact that Manchester City are soon to face the music regarding those 115 charges (finally) I think I should definitely bring my copy of Dylan’s stunning 1966 album, Blonde on Blonde, and listen to, in particular: “One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)”
See you at Villa Park
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Arteta’s ESR regrets
In Mikel Arteta, the club is lucky to have such an emotionally intelligent leader at the helm of The Arsenal.
In part two of Arteta’s Friday presser, it was absorbing to watch the Arsenal boss become animated when discussing his regrets about Emile Smith Rowe’s departure.
To have a ringside seat watching the Gunners boss open up with searing honesty on the topic was enthralling.
I was sitting yards away from Arteta on Friday, and I could really get a sense of just how much it hurt him as manager, not to have got the best out of ESR. It was prime time viewing.
Watching the footage on Sky Sports this morning, I’m sure you did too.
Below is what Arteta said of his regret..
“I really felt it.
First of all, because I had huge gratitude because he came into the team, I have him the opportunity in a tough moment, and I think he was the player that made our supporters and the team click in a way.
“I don’t know how to explain it but that was my feeling. Something changed when he came on the team.
“He created a different energy straight away and I have a feeling like, ‘Argh’ I haven’t got the best out of him.
“Obviously, a lot of things happened in that time for that not to happen but from my side it was really sad because I love [him].
“I know how those boys feel when they are in that building, how hard everyone worked to get them into the first team, so I feel a huge responsibility after to give them the chance and then can they sustain this level and make us better.
“That’s the idea that we have.”
What a manager…
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In happier times. KC with LY. CREDIT: Martin Haworth
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Kevin Campbell’s sad passing…
During Mikel Arteta’s press conference on Friday I asked the Arsenal boss how he felt when he heard the tragic news regarding Kevin Campbell’s death.
This is what the Arsenal boss told me at London Colney:
“[I felt]Really sad. It was very difficult news and you can sense the love and respect and admiration that was here for him.
“What we experienced on the day of the Wolves game was really emotional, very unique as well, very moving for everybody and especially for his family.
“Hopefully, they felt the club and everybody who knew him, loved and respected him in the manner they do as well.”
RIP Kev.
By the way, see edition 307 of the Gooner Fanzine (out for Arsenal vs Brighton next Saturday) for our tribute issue to the much-loved and much-missed Big Man.
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Mikel Merino
Good to note Spain midfielder Mikel Merino has arrived in London for his medical ahead of his £28.4m move to Arsenal which with add ons could rise to £32.5m. Now, if we can just add Yann M’Vila…
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Xhaka Cracker
If you haven’t seen Granit Xhaka’s superb long range strike for Bayer Leverkusen against his former club Borussia Moenchengladbach during their late 3-2 win, then you really should…
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115 FC
So, Pep Guardiola says he’s not concerned about Manchester City’s impending 115 charges finally being heard. Well, he should be…
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DAILY LIST:
To somehow avoid the worst of the Bank Holiday traffic and get up to Villa Park in good time.
As a sports journalist used to navigating around the country day in day out, the first question myself and a former colleague Neil Metcalf used to ask each other in our newspaper office on a Monday morning, was: “How was the motorway,” before we embarked on a sometimes heated, but always detailed, assessment of the route we took to cover our respective matches during the weekend, including listing all the motorways, A roads, and sometimes B roads we took on our odysseys.
When you spend your entire life covering sport, sometimes an in-depth discussion on roadways is required for a brief change of topic…even if we both acknowledged the wonderfully obtuse Alan Partridge-esq nature of our motorway conversations…
So, in that spirit, I will be using the A1, then the A14, prior to the M6, coming off at junction 6 in Birmingham.
See you at Villa Park
