Camden New Journal - Sports: The Crow

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Camden New Journal - CROW by RICHARD OSLEY and PIP ROWE
Published: 4 September 2008

Buy the league title? Classy Arsenal will pass on that one

HERE we go again. A club attempting to buy success. It was great to see Chelsea finally get outbid for somebody when they lost the race for Robinho. Beaten not by AC Milan or Real Madrid but by Manchester City.
In the distasteful chequebook frenzy – did somebody say something about the economy being in bad shape? – Man City are in danger of becoming another bloated monster.
While Arsenal and Man United’s title wins this decade have been celebrated as the careful cultivation of champions, Blackburn’s mid-1990s success was regarded as an anomaly because it was built on a mountain of cash.
And as much as Chelsea crave respect, there is little love for the way they effectively bought a couple of league titles with a bottomless bank account.
Arsenal might not win the league this year, they might not win anything but a clump on the ankle from Joey Barton. But as long as they resist the temptation to blow millions of pounds in a deadline-day scramble, the club can at least maintain a veneer of class. Twin that with the way the likes of Nasri, Fabregas and Denilson passed apart Newcastle and you still have a club that earns its success.
PS I promised to include the score of our latest five-a-side battle with the Islington Gazette. They won 10-4 on Monday – if only their scoopless reporters were first to the ball when chasing exclusives in the newsroom!

SPURS lost a great player this week, a true professional, who was adored by fans and colleagues alike. Over time he may well prove irreplaceable.
His sale was met with mixed reaction by fans. There was grief and anger but the majority believe that it was time for him to go. I am, of course, referring to the sale of Lee Young Pyo to Borussia Dortmund. We also sold Dimitar Berbatov, but he didn’t want to be at the Lane this year so that’s good business.
After a transfer window of uncertainty and brinkmanship Arsenal did not buy a midfielder. Wenger must be the only person in north London who thinks Denilson and Diaby have enough quality and experience to partner Fabregas in Arsenal’s bid for glory, or perhaps, after the recent doldrum years, he’s given up on that idea.
Most managers would use £30 million if they had it, so either Wenger just couldn’t find a 16-year-old worth that much or he’s saving up for Adebayor’s next contract.
I’d also briefly like to thank Manchester City for showing the miserly mammoths of Manchester United and Chelsea how transfers should be conducted: If you want a player, you pay for him. So thanks for making United give us far more for Berbatov than they would ever have agreed otherwise and for depriving those haggling Chelsea billionaires of Robinho.

* Spurs fan Pip Wroe will be taking on Richard Osley all season.

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