{"id":7929,"date":"2023-05-27T14:35:05","date_gmt":"2023-05-27T13:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7929"},"modified":"2023-05-29T12:39:27","modified_gmt":"2023-05-29T11:39:27","slug":"the-circle-of-life-we-did-it-our-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=7929","title":{"rendered":"The Circle Of Life – We Did It Our Way"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Apologies – well, not really – for the rather awkward title. It\u2019s two titles actually – two song titles – and the fact is I couldn\u2019t decide which one to consign to the digital bin. They are closely related but just don\u2019t mesh comfortably into one.
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Sunday 28th May, at home against Wolves, marks the end of another season which always inevitably involves a degree of retrospection. 
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It\u2019s a little under three and a half years since our friend and founder of the Goonerholic community sadly passed away. His death came soon after the departure of Arsene Wenger and the end of an era which came to a slightly overdue but all too distasteful close. As that circle closed, a new one began which led to the gestation and re-birth of this blog, very much in his name and, hopefully, in a style of which he would approve. Another season\u2019s writing has left those of us who now share the load marvelling at how Dave, all by himself, ever produced such volume and quality.
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Following the Wenger era and a difficult period of adjustment, another new circle has begun and we have been thrilled this season to see the rebirth of our club, the emergence of a new Arsenal man in Mikel Arteta, and a team playing in a style that we can all love and be proud of. What a shame Dave is not here to share it.
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When I started to think about this piece, the second song seemed a good idea. My Way, or with some licence in the final line, We Did It Our Way, would serve to amplify the differences in how we and Manchester City operate, especially as we would have taken them right to the wire in the last game of the season, or even been league champions. Unfortunately, we have done it in what has become Our Way in recent times. There are good reasons for it, but our performances and results have dropped to the extent that they have won the title with points to spare. However, second place represents fantastic progress for us and is beyond what almost any of us would have expected this season.
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It Ain\u2019t What You Do, It\u2019s The Way That You Do It \u2026\u2026\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, another song but one that is relevant, as the season closes, to the fortunes of two clubs at opposite ends of the table. Luton Town are in the Championship play-off final to try to secure promotion back to the Premier League after 15 years in the footballing wilderness into which they were cast in the 2008\/09 season, by virtue of a 30 point deduction handed to them for financial and other irregularities.
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The problems began for them in early 2008 when manager Mike Newell asked the board what had happened to the \u00a313+ million profit they had made on recent transfer business, as it had certainly not been reinvested in the team, and was sacked for his trouble. Allegations of kickbacks and bungs to agents were made, and evidently proven, for which the club was given a 10 point deduction. After a change of ownership, more financial mismanagement and a fire sale of their best assets, the club had got itself into a right old mess and went into administration. Despite claims that in the ensuing period there was no evidence of tax avoidance, no obfuscation of the club\u2019s affairs and no further breaking of any rules, Luton were handed an additional 20 point deduction at the beginning of the 2008\/09 season for not exiting administration \u201cin the correct manner\u201d. Starting the season at -30 points they were inevitably relegated, went into a spiral of decline and 3 years later found themselves in the Conference Premier.
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So what\u2019s all this got to do with the price of fish ?  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, really it\u2019s about comparing the price of different fish. It\u2019s now well known that the Premier League have uncovered 115 cases of financial irregularities committed by Manchester City but it seems that City suddenly become very sensitive about the propriety of proceedings when actually under investigation and getting the club into court is proving difficult. Unlike Luton, City can hire the most expensive lawyers to delay and obstruct proceedings, something they have already done by disputing the legality of Murray Rosen KC, as head of the Premier League\u2019s independent judicial panel, on the grounds that he is an Arsenal supporter!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

City\u2019s \u2018most expensive lawyer\u2019 is the aptly named Lord Pannick – interestingly the man employed to fight Boris Johnson\u2019s allegations of rule breaking during COVID-19. If he fails and City are eventually found guilty, punishment could even amount to expulsion from the Premier League, but some predictions are that it could take up to 4 years to complete proceedings.
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It\u2019s not as though City don\u2019t have history in these matters. In February 2020 they were banned from the Champions League for 2 years by UEFA after being found guilty of breaking the financial rules of the competition and misleading the European governing body. They appealed, of course, and the ban was overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as it was ruled that some of the charges were time barred – time gobbled up by their legal people – as FFP breaches had to be prosecuted within 5 years. 
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Incredibly, considering their objections to Murray Rosen mentioned above, Manchester City appointed two of the three members on the CAS panel, including its chairman, and won a 2:1 majority vote in their favour. It is important to note though, that City were not cleared of those time barred accusations against them, they paid millions of pounds in uncontested fines, and some allegations were left unanswered.
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My own naive view is that the Premier League should be the ultimate authority in their own competition, with the power to bring whatever sanction is deemed necessary if their rules are broken. It seemed a simple enough process when \u201clittle\u201d Luton were involved. It is vital for competition in the Premier League that no club, however powerful, is able to unfairly buy complete domination of it.
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Bet fair \u2026? Not if you\u2019re a player !<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, Brentford striker Ivan Toney was banned \u201cfrom all football\u201d for eight months with IMMEDIATE effect. That was for over 200 gambling indiscretions which were made public knowledge several months ago. So why the rush to ban him so quickly, right now, two games before the end of the season ? 
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Well, coincidentally Man City play Brentford on Sunday in the last game of the season. The immediate ban means that, were Arsenal still, by some mathematical miracle, in with a chance of winning the league, Brentford\u2019s main goal threat against City has been parked safely out of the way – just in case they needed any more help. Am I just bitter about Man City ? You bet ! (oops, sorry, Ivan!)
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The teams<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It honestly feels a bit pointless to go into any sort of detail about player availability, formations and tactics for this game. Wolves are safe from relegation in 13th place – (one behind Chelsea \ud83e\udd23) after a remarkable reverse in their fortunes since Julen Lopetegui took the reins in the new year. They were bottom at Christmas but have won 41% of their games since he took over.
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The Arsenal are secure in second place, 40 points ahead of our opponents (38 points ahead of Chelsea, and 24 ahead of Tottenham \ud83e\udd23). I guess the main question is whether Mikel Arteta will give playing time to some of the young players who have recently been on the bench, in order to protect those who are to be leaving this summer. The composition of our squad will provide some very strong clues as to who they will be.
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There have been some cries on the dreaded social media this week for Mikel Arteta to be sacked following our failure to win the league. Some people really are indescribably stupid. I am not able to be at the stadium myself on Sunday but I sincerely hope that all those who are will give their continued, fantastic support to the manager and all our players who have given us a wonderful season and a tremendous platform on which to continue building.
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The Holic Pound<\/strong>
No suggestions from me for this game. In any event you could write everything I know about gambling twice on a postage stamp, but you would have to be a very committed punter to put money on the outcome of this one where there is \u201cnothing\u201d at stake and team selections are anybody\u2019s guess.
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However, finally \u2026..<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the excellent service they provide and the seemingly quiet dedication of his devotees, shock news is emerging from Castle Ned where it seems some things are not quite as they might be with one of the monks in Ned\u2019s Trappist order. Apparently the monks are allowed to break their silence once every ten years and on the tenth anniversary of his joining, Brother Thomas was asked if there was anything he wanted to say – <\/p>\n\n\n\n


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\u201cYes, Father Ned, I was wondering if I might be able to have a little milk with my cornflakes each morning ?\u201d, he asked.
\u201cI\u2019m sure that can be arranged\u201d, Ned replied, and Thomas returned to his duties within the order.
After another ten years he was asked again if there was anything he wished to say –
\u201cWell, Father Ned, I was wondering if I might also be able to have a little sugar with my cornflakes ?\u201d, he asked.
Again Ned agreed and Thomas returned to his duties \u2026.After a further ten years he was summoned to see Ned once more.
\u201cSo, Thomas\u201d, said Ned, \u201cyou have now been with us for thirty years. Is there anything you would like to say today ?\u201d
\u201cYes, there is,\u201d said Thomas, \u201cI\u2019m leaving ! I\u2019ve tried and tried but conditions here are appalling. I can\u2019t stand it anymore and I want to go !\u201d
\u201cWell, thank God for that !\u201d, Ned replied, \u201cIt will be a relief when you\u2019ve gone as you\u2019ve done nothing but complain ever since you got here !\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n


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Enjoy the game for the final time this season – TTG will be next up with his season review. Have a good summer !<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apologies – well, not really – for the rather awkward title. It\u2019s two titles actually – two song titles – and the fact is I couldn\u2019t decide which one to consign to the digital bin. They are closely related but just don\u2019t mesh comfortably into one. Sunday 28th May, at home against Wolves, marks the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7929"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7929"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7947,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7929\/revisions\/7947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}