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Have to agree, Adebayor deserves all and everything that is coming to him.

The only place Adebayor was treated badly when at Arsenal was in his own mind. He came to the club with a well deserved reputation for being a diva, both at club and international levels (he was at least partly to blame for Stephen Keshi being fired as Togo manager after qualifying for the 2006 world cup).

For the first season and a half, he was a great servant and seemed to be a good team mate. Then, after scoring 30 goals in his first full season, we began to see the worst of him, as he began to demand the sort of money Thierry Henry was making towards the end of his Arsenal career, and flirting blatantly with a move to Italy or Spain. He gave interviews where in one breath he proclaimed his loyalty to the club, and in the next spoke about how much he would like to play for Barcelona. After a whole summer of this, he finally settled for signing a new contract that merely doubled his wages.

In short, he pretty much did everything possible to alienate the fans that were ultimately responsible for the massive money he was making. I was at the Emirates Cup last season when he played his first game, and yes, there were a couple of boos from the crowd when his name was mentioned, and probably also for his first couple of touches, but it was a fairly small minority, and it dies out after a while, and when he scored the goal from the penalty spot that beat Real Madrid, there were only cheers.

That was probably the highlight of last season as far as he was concerned, as he trudged through it, falling offside to an utterly farcical degree. And before the season had even ended, he and/or his agent began fluttering eyelashes at Italy and Spain again, before settling for another massive wage increase in moving to Man City. He was crying about not being loved by Arsenal fans? Well, that's a two way street, and he contempt he showed for the club that gave him so much in the time he was there was little short of an utter disgrace.

Other people have left the club in far more dignified circumstances, and have been treated warmly by the fans - Robert Pires in particular stands out in this respect. Adebayor merely got back what he gave out.

Just a gentle reminder that your MO, according to the sidebar of the blog is: "I hope, throughout the season, I can give you a good insight into life at the newest Scottish League club and maybe even a few laughs along the way."
So, please let us know about SL3, not the EPL or the SFA or the CL, which we can read about any number of places.

I was shocked when Adebayour had announced how unloved he felt at arsenal, and then proceeded to declare how loved he felt after only a few days in manchester - perhaps love is a euphemism for money.
I am a season ticket holder at arsenal and heard very little boo's aimed towards him - and his name was sung everytime he scored (perhaps if he done that more often he would have heard it). I honestly dont know what he expected from the fans after a summer of courting moves to other clubs, demanding double his wages and then a season of lack lustre performances. His incrediable start in Manchester only exemplifies how little effort he actually put in last season in a red shirt.
It wasn't too long ago he was kissing the arsenal badge, and in little over a season he is running the length of the pitch to antagonise the fans?? Diva doesn't come close.
Wenger is right, maybe in a few years he will look back and realise how good Arsenal was for him, but I doubt his ego will alow it.

......i still remain shocked to find out that hardworking men would work through the week, take out time and plan a trip from London - Manchester all expenses paid by their hard earned............only to start a fight, just because they felt provoked.........i think thats the height of foolishness

Hi Chris,

As you've written about English football this week I wonder what you think about the Paul Fletcher Blog & the fact that the fans handed the player a card?

I know you've had interaction with fans before but have you ever heard of anything like this?

The funs should have known better. A perfect response, the consequences of booing a player for over 80 minutes.
At emirates they will keep their mouths shut.We forget he has blood running through him. Two wrongs don't make a right . How soon will the authorities take on those who threw the missiles. All the blogs on this issue have been one-sided of course the easiest thing to do

Adebayor is just a massive ego and I suspect the ManC fans who now love him will quickly realise he's not a team player at all. This was evident in his every move both before and after the match against Arsenal. Prior to the match he was 'warming up' in front of the travelling fans, having previously accused them of not being real fans at all - he apparently acted in an aggressive manner to Arsenals's Denilson before the game started, he went over the top on Fabregas, whacked Song across the back of the legs (to which Song promptly reacted and received a yellow card)and let van Persie taste his studs. At that stage I believe Adebayor was thinking that, not having been in the game much, he wouldn't score and was getting a touch panicky. Then he scored and made his childish dash to the travelling fans - at the end of the match I believe the referee had to prevent him returning to cavort in front of them too. If only the ref had reacted to his first foul on Fabregas, at least a yellow card would have been in order and/or actually seen what he did to van Persie, then Adebayor wouldn't have remained on the pitch. As an Arsenal fan I can safely say we didn't ask for Adebayor's bad attitude, it's one he seems to have naturally. ManC, their manager and their fans are more than welcome to him.

Got to agree with no3 , surely you are supposed to be talking about Annan, 3rd Div football or lower league football in Scotland ( where you came from ).
It can't just be a popularity contest, obviously you are going to get more comments if you mention Adebayor in the headline. Just talk about English football, say Man Utd , all the time and you'll get loads of comments.
The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ does enough on English football !

All points agreed with on McBrides 4pm comments; AFC took Adeb from nowhere to Champions League regular with a top 4 Premier Lge club & last summer AW gives him a wage rise to 60K a week to keep him happy.
His sale to City was one of the best pieces of transfer business ever done. Theres no doubting his talent but just like SAF took a young Ronaldo & built him into a world class player, AW took Adeb & developed his game & skills too. AFC did more for him than he did for AFC, & perhaps he should remember that. Good thing is HE AINT OUR PROBLEM ANYMORE !!!!!

one day adebayor will realised what arsenal meant to him, how arsene wenger and the club has transformed him from a nobody to one of the top strikers (if he feels like it, that is).

he earns 160k a week? and he cant take abuse? if i was him, i would be at home counting my money or deciding what car to buy next rather than wasting time looking at the past.

and yes, there was intent in that stamp. its obvious, there's that second sudden movement. luckily it didnt do anything permanent to robin van persie's sight. horrible. disgraceful.

I gotta agree to all you guys who slate Adebayor. I used to call him Ade, but not anymore. And to think of it, he was named "man of the match" by City on Sat, huh?!?!? I thought Craig Belarmy woulda been a better bet, if they continue using the same criteria then Teves will be in the next match vs Man U, and probably Barry vs Villa and etc etc..............

I have only read the reports on this being on the wrong side of the world and currently without access to a TV.

On the slide, I think it is part of the theatre of football. To blame Adebayor for the subsequent crowd trouble, in the context of all that had happened in the past 2 seasons and the earlier part of the game - is just nonsense. The fans have to take responsibility for their own behaviour. We go to matches to be entertained, and to experience the highs and lows. Sure this was a low point for Arsenal fans but the rest of the country it was pure poetry.

My main point though is that there is something nasty about the current Arsenal team. There are a few comments in these stories about the Arsenal players giving it to Adebayor during the game, and it is clear that Van P went in hard against him just before he retaliated.

We saw this very clearly at OT at the end of last season when the entire Arsenal team went after Evra - in retaliation for his "Men against Boys" quip following the UCL semi final. One by one they scythed into him, trying to provoke a reaction - and the ref utlimately did a brilliant job in managing the situation. But I was left with the feeling that the whole Arsenal team (because it was clearly a team effort) should have been charged with attempting to cause serious injury.

It seems to me that exactly the same kind of "ganging up" has gone on here (though more verbally than physically - perhaps they felt a repeat performance of their OT antics would be spotted too easily). You'd have to assume this was with the explicit knowledge of Arsene Wenger. It was clearly wrong for Adebayor to snap and I don't in any way condone it. But I do see it as him losing his cool rather than doing initiating the attack.

PS I have nothing deep seated against Arsenal. I like the way they play and the way the club is run. But I think both the fans and the players are at least as much to blame as Adebayor here.

To all the City boys and girls out there, let's look at this way.Ade gets 3 match ban.Fair enough.If he hadn't avoided Van Pervie's (to use his words "intentional' & "malicious") challenge then he would have ended up with 2 broken ankles and missed most,if not all,of the rest of the season.Result methinks.What sickens me is that that Arse will get off scott free even though he sprinted 20 yards to scream obscenities at a City stand inhabited by women and children,aswell as their "supporters" obscene racial abuse.The F.A are,as usual,a bunch of numpty heads.

Adebayor is the Whitney Houston of football. Massive talent but married to Bobby Brown, aka his ego. Self-destruction is only one performance away, so enjoy it while it lasts City fans.

If the moderators will allow it the blog is here

/blogs/paulfletcher/2009/09/carl_baker_and_stockport_an_ex.html

Basically Carl Baker lost his brother days before a long away trip & decided to play. The away fans that attended the game brought a card to give to him after the game with messages of sypathy & condolences.

I was just wondering if you'd seen anything like that playing in the lower scottich leagues as like in England, the lower down you go the more fan - player interactions seems to happen

Thanks for the response Chris. I don't wish to labour the point but two weeks ago more than half of your blog was on the English transfer deadline.
I appreciate that it is difficult to write solely about Annan Ath every week so perhaps you could ask your ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ bosses if you could do the whole of the SFL.
I personally would like to hear how a small club survives financially, with your near neighbours Stranraer FC nearly folding, East Stirling forced to ground share etc.
Also, should the bottom divisions be regionalized. Surely Annan travelling to Elgin is costly. And can a pyramidal league structure ever happen.
Also, big time players are believed to do few hours does that mean part time players do even less ? Perhaps you could shed some light on training.
Also, maybe your remit could be increased to include non-league football.

As a local living in Singapore I like to keep in touch with what is happening at the local club, what Chris Jardine states he will do. However, he has now decided to join the the ranks of the national media, to tell us something that has national coverage, and to be frank, even in Singapore I am fed up listening to it. Come on Chris back to the original, what is really happening at ANNAN.

Toshcat

So what if he ran up the pitch and stuck it to his old fans?
Good on him.

The Van Persie thing is different - this 2 and 3 match ban thing is hardly a deterrent. Slap him with a 10 match ban for that alone.