Three months we had this summer. Three months and around £80 million to secure the services of a top-class striker. Make a statement a year after losing Robin van Persie. Don't lump ALL the pressure on Giroud. We'd cleared a load of dead wood which was great, but there was just the cling-on Bendtner to offload to one of the hundreds and hundreds of clubs who were after him. I mean, his dad had been saying for two years that plenty were after signing his son, so surely he was finally off?
Yet here we are approaching October with one recognised striker in Giroud, a couple of fringe player kids in the squad, and.... Nicklas Bendtner. Why is he still here?!
Before I go any further, don't assume I'm saying I hate Bendtner and have never rated him. Quite the opposite; a few years ago I personally thought he was a better striker than Chamakh and could offer more for the team; I wanted him taking Chamakh's place but for some reason, Arsene Wenger saw fit to play him on the wing. A baffling decision, totally Loopyville in my opinion. Unfortunately following this spell as a winger, Bendtner fell out of favour, out of the team, out of the squad, and out of the club, out of the country at one point... basically shipped out on loan to anyone who'd have him.
Since then we've seen talk of the player leaving us for this team and that... only for the deals to disappear and it then falls back to the fans on social media banging on about him being a "greedy bastard unwilling to drop his wage demands". Let's not forget, our manager put this player on weekly wages of £52,000 and signed him to a long-term contract. So ultimately whose fault is it that the player won't accept lower wages elsewhere? Ours. The buck stops with Arsenal, not the player.
So when the transfer window slammed shut and Jim White had calmed himself down in the Sky Sports studio, when the dust had settled... Nicklas Bendtner. There he was, still an Arsenal player. Okay, I thought - poor transfer window overall (aside from the one proper signing we made) and a balsa wood squad liable to break at any moment, but we'd have to make do. Our own fault we'd chosen to dawdle and keep dough in the bank, but Bendtner would just be a cling-on for another few months before we could try and get rid once more. Surely he wouldn't come anywhere near the team.
This is why I assumed that...
"I will never go back to Arsenal. If I can have it my way, I will never play for them again"
Who said those words? Nicklas Bendtner.
For me, any player who says something like that is no longer an Arsenal man. Yes he may be contracted to us but you can no longer play him. Doing so shows weakness and gives the player the upper hand. The player can say and do as he pleases.
"But we've got nobody else" ... "Who should we play there?" ... "Trust the manager's decisions" ... "Our options are limited" ... those are the kinds of arguments I've seen on Twitter. I'll ask again, whose fault is it that our options are virtually zilch?
Once more we have warring factions of fans. Those who can't stand the player and want him gone, and those who are willing to forgive and forget because it's a route our manager has chosen to pursue. I've even seen some going along with the manager's spin that Bendtner can come good and do a great job for us! And right here is where we've got the BIB (Bendtner Is Best) gang against the BOB (Bendtner Out Brigade).
Me? I want rid of Bendtner. I don't want him anywhere near our team ever again after what he said. Call me BOB.
Yet here we are approaching October with one recognised striker in Giroud, a couple of fringe player kids in the squad, and.... Nicklas Bendtner. Why is he still here?!
Before I go any further, don't assume I'm saying I hate Bendtner and have never rated him. Quite the opposite; a few years ago I personally thought he was a better striker than Chamakh and could offer more for the team; I wanted him taking Chamakh's place but for some reason, Arsene Wenger saw fit to play him on the wing. A baffling decision, totally Loopyville in my opinion. Unfortunately following this spell as a winger, Bendtner fell out of favour, out of the team, out of the squad, and out of the club, out of the country at one point... basically shipped out on loan to anyone who'd have him.
Since then we've seen talk of the player leaving us for this team and that... only for the deals to disappear and it then falls back to the fans on social media banging on about him being a "greedy bastard unwilling to drop his wage demands". Let's not forget, our manager put this player on weekly wages of £52,000 and signed him to a long-term contract. So ultimately whose fault is it that the player won't accept lower wages elsewhere? Ours. The buck stops with Arsenal, not the player.
So when the transfer window slammed shut and Jim White had calmed himself down in the Sky Sports studio, when the dust had settled... Nicklas Bendtner. There he was, still an Arsenal player. Okay, I thought - poor transfer window overall (aside from the one proper signing we made) and a balsa wood squad liable to break at any moment, but we'd have to make do. Our own fault we'd chosen to dawdle and keep dough in the bank, but Bendtner would just be a cling-on for another few months before we could try and get rid once more. Surely he wouldn't come anywhere near the team.
This is why I assumed that...
"I will never go back to Arsenal. If I can have it my way, I will never play for them again"
Who said those words? Nicklas Bendtner.
For me, any player who says something like that is no longer an Arsenal man. Yes he may be contracted to us but you can no longer play him. Doing so shows weakness and gives the player the upper hand. The player can say and do as he pleases.
"But we've got nobody else" ... "Who should we play there?" ... "Trust the manager's decisions" ... "Our options are limited" ... those are the kinds of arguments I've seen on Twitter. I'll ask again, whose fault is it that our options are virtually zilch?
Once more we have warring factions of fans. Those who can't stand the player and want him gone, and those who are willing to forgive and forget because it's a route our manager has chosen to pursue. I've even seen some going along with the manager's spin that Bendtner can come good and do a great job for us! And right here is where we've got the BIB (Bendtner Is Best) gang against the BOB (Bendtner Out Brigade).
Me? I want rid of Bendtner. I don't want him anywhere near our team ever again after what he said. Call me BOB.