Standing Ovation

In the last game of Gooners amazing season all they required was a draw to take the division 3 silverware but as had already been stated by the manager a bottom division cup was not a priority and seen as more of a bonus if anything. According to his pre match report the seasons outcome was not important, what had already been acheived had far greater implications.

This all became very apparent when the team line ups were announced, true to his word FMR had played a very weak defence to allow for match experience and rather than send out a winning 4-5-1, he opted for a 3-5-2. It may have looked like a bad decision to anyone not clued up about the team but Wright was lacking much match experience & form ofter his long lay off and Henry was within a whisker of taking the golden boot. To leave either player out would have been criminal, many a fan questioned why FMR didnt elect to play 4-4-2 but after the game he silenced those critics by declaring that the risk of spoiling any possible double jumping players form was not in the clubs best interest for the future. He also went on to say that 3-5-2 gave Henry the best chance of reaching his needed target and that highest scoring team was the the real prize to be had!

Unfortuneatly the part of the team which was at full strength didnt perform on the day rather than a strong five man midfield dominating they left the inexperienced and understaffed defence exposed. The formation is one never used by FMR before and is not in keeping with Gooners style of play, many will feel Gooners have showed a deep disrespect for the league with both the line up and formation in such an important game. One thing is for certain Gooners would rather see Wortley named champions over Dream Team and on the whole Wortley were probably more deserving than Dream Team but should Gooners have sent out their strongest side and shown more respect for division 3? Everyone will have their own strong views on this decision.. wether it was the right decision for Gooners themselves only time will tell.

Come the end of the game the fans were not overly dissapointed and many understood the reasons for not fielding a full squad (although many were in disagreement) yet no fan could question the players comitment and desire and it was these attributes that would have fuelled the crowds raptuous applause. Every Gooner fan will be waiting with anticipation for next season. A season in which FMR will add his stamp to the team properly and it will be his first pre season and full season with the squad. The club has also promised to spend big and that all funds generated from sales will go back into strengthening the team. FMR has hinted many times that he will also shrink the squad as he already looks to build for division 1 and premier league push and would only fill those places with very strong young players.

FMR declined to give a full press conference but had this to say briefly after the game... My congratualtions to Wortley! My apologies again to the fans and i hope they can understand the reasons behind the decisions made. I have also apologised to my players and made clear that if anyone should be blamed its myself... although i hope i have gained the trust of both the players and fans and will put the smiles back on their faces during the course of the next few weeks. Promotion was far from a certainty some weeks ago and the true spirit of this team was shown during that peroiod after the Dream Team game... in which i think they proved to all that they were by some measure the best team in this division. We are now looking to build the best team not in the division but across the league and i feel we have the correct base to build from.