The other story yesterday was the fact Joey Barton was released on a free by Newcastle and immediately linked with us. I don’t think there’s any chance of that happening, to be honest, I suspect online editors know that putting Arsenal in a story means you get more clicks, but I would rather sign Joey Deacon that Joey Barton.
For all those who would espouse the ‘qualities’ he might bring, there’s a difference between being hard and being a thug. Getting stuck in is one thing, punching people (even if it is Morten Gamst Pedersen) another. Maybe we do lack a bit of character, but signing a bloke who will only add to ‘Arsene’s red card’ shame because he is incapable of controlling himself and his hair trigger temper is not the answer. And above all else his signing would surely be a sign of how standards have fallen, both in terms of the type of person we sign and the quality of the player. He’s decent but hardly the kind of signing that you’d be happy with to replace Cesc, is it? He’ll end up at Sp*rs, probably, which is far and away the best place for him.