Steve Bould
Not official yet but apparently Steve Bould is the man who will take Pat Rice’s place beside Arsene Wenger next season. It’s hard to know how appointments like this will turn out. As fans we know less about the impact different coaching staff make. But Steve Bould is Arsenal through and through and was a class act as a player.
If he can add some discipline and awareness to our defence he will have a big impact. Instinctively this feels like a good decision. Some hoped for Tony Adams but I suspect that might not have been a happy working relationship. Until he makes it or decides not to make it as a manager I think that he could make a brooding number two.
So good luck to Steve and also Neil Banfield who steps up from Reserve Manager to join Boro Primovic as a first team coach. More preparations made early for next season. Encouraging stuff, but so much still hangs on the last game.
The New Kit
Another preparation for next year has also been announced. The new kit. Don’t like it. I mean it’s not terrible is it, just completely uninspired.
“Err, what shall we do this time. Dunno, could just stick some hoops on the sleeves and socks I suppose……three hours later…….yeah, that’ll do, some hoops. What’s a popular colour other than red or white?”
Do we have to have a new kit if that’s the best we can do?
Bye bye Blackburn.
Their chances were already slim and they needed a win. But Wigan wanted a win too and they got it. They’re safe now and Blackburn are down. Wigan and Martinez deserve it for the type of football they play in the Premier League on the budget they have.
Steve Keen has done his dignified best but Blackburn have neither survived or endeared. There are plenty of rumours about how little Blackburn’s owners really understood about the realities of the Premier League. No doubt they get it now.
So now it’s down to QPR and Bolton. Owen Coyle’s team need to win and hope that QPR fail to get a point. Given that QPR have to play Title-hunting Man City, whilst Bolton play Stoke, I’d say that Bolton have a decent chance. But still only a slim one. Hope they pull it off.
