Premier League Nonsense

I was there when he scored in both ends at Old Trafford in 1989 when we drew 1-1 and the donkey chants started.

When he was jailed in 1990 I made my first start into the world of football writing with a passioned defence of the Arsenal way and how we would never desert one of our own. (Read by an audience of one)

I grimaced when he lifted Steve Morrow after we had won the League Cup in 93 then dropped him, breaking the poor guy's shoulder.

I filled with pride as slowly the rest of the world came to realise what we already you. He was a good player, not a media laughing stock.

A shiver went down my spine when he charged forward in 1998 to score against Everton as we won the Premier League for the first time under Arsene Wenger.

I love it when I read about the exploits of the Arsenal Tuesday Club. Especially now when footballers seem ever more distant, a skinny geezer getting ratted in Pizza Hut was something I, and many others, could identify with.

And I felt a pride that comes from being Arsenal when looking at a team sheet that featured the likes of David Rocastle (RIP), Paul Merson and MickeyThomas. Arsenal who had come from London and come up through the ranks.

They were my boys and my era.

Football has changed, Arsenal has changed and Tony Adams, a bit like me perhaps, has struggled to find a place in it. One of the finest defenders of his generation, his influence as much on the mind as on the field, he joins a long list of 'great' English players who struggled to make a name for himself in management and drifted.

Now he has ended up in Azerbaijan waffling on about 5 year plans, 10 year plans.

Rather like his old team mate, Sol Campbell, Adams will not last in Azerbaijan one year, let alone five or ten.

It's a shame it has come to this. Considering the leaky, inconsistent, spineless defence we have had to suffer at the Arsenal the last few seasons it's a great shame that nobody could give him a chest thumping, fist clenching role in our dressing room