Parlour – Wenger will buy two in January

On Sunday afternoon I, and the rest of the Goonersphere Podcast team, was fortunate to be invited to the Emirates for an event hosted by Europcar featuring a Q&A with Ray Parlour before watching the Swansea match.

The event was a wonderful way to connect the club, its sponsor, and the fans. Europcar were kind enough to lay on some food and drinks and did an excellent job at creating a really social event with good vibes. Giving the fans the opportunity to meet with and, for some of us, to speak with Ray Parlour on a one-to-one basis was a superb touch and made the day all the more memorable.

Ray started his Q&A by telling us a humorous story about Tony Adams ordering 20 rounds of every sandwich on the hotel menu during an away trip only to wake up in bewilderment as to why there so were many trolleys of uneaten sandwiches around him.

An affable character with fine oratory skills he soon had the audience in the palm of his hand as he spoke about Anelka being the fastest player he ever played with – with no heckles about Henry further displaying how enraptured we all were –  as well as how the training methods are the same but we seem to get more injuries now, which possibly puts to bed any lingering assertions that Wenger’s training methods are somehow to blame for our poor luck with injuries.

Just before kick-off James ‘Raul’ Stokes and I sat down with Ray for some individual questions on behalf of the Goonersphere Podcast and our respective sites. Ray was as amiable and generous in person as he came across during the Q&A and during his time as an Arsenal player. I accidentally knocked Ray’s phone on to the floor when I pushed my 11 year old Arsenal Magazine under his nose to sign which he initially brushed off with a smile but he got his pay back when he posed for a photo with me, James, Big Ted and Arsenal Ted by punching Arsenal Ted squarely in the face with a cheeky grin on his face.

Ray spoke to us about what he missed at the club, what he thinks has changed the most and his belief that we’ll see new faces in January.Here is the transcript.

Daniel Cowan & James ‘Raul’ Stokes (Goonersphere Podcast): Of all the Arsenal players you played with, which do you think will benefit the current Arsenal team the most?

Ray Parlour: Without a doubt, Tony Adams. Absolutely. He was a leader at the back and I don’t think you would have seen that the other night (against Anderlecht) at 3-1 up. He would have been like, you get in there, you get in there and do your job. He was one of my best mates but I wasn’t doing my job he would hammer me – “Oi you, sort yourself out”. And I’d be like “Well, okay Tone”. I think he would be the most important player for me that they are lacking these days. But people like him are hard to find, he came through the ranks and he knows the club inside out – Tony Adams without a doubt. Or Patrick Vieira maybe but I’ll go with Tony Adams.

GP: Having been involved in transfers yourself – how easy is it to get one done?

RP: It’s not that easy these days. It’s very complicated. I promise you now, you’ve agents trying to negotiate… I went to Middlesbrough and mine was very straightforward because it was a free transfer but when there is money involved. What clubs try to do – it’s like a game of poker, the transfer market is like a game of poker. Clubs think, what is my player worth, what are they going to offer – they don’t know even way – sometimes it’s negotiating late into the night and that’s why it’s so easy to buy players in the summer because everyone is waiting in the January window looking to see who is going to buy who and then when you start competing with Man City and Chelsea, well you can’t compete with that because they’ve got so much wages to give to players why should they come to Arsenal? So it is difficult, a lot more difficult these days – that’s why lots of clubs do everything in the summer because they’ve got weeks before the season starts.

GP: Is it unfair the club are criticised for not bringing in a centre-half? Everyone’s looking and we’re getting hammered for not doing it.

RP: Yeah, everyone is looking but come January I’m sure Arsene Wenger will bring in two or three players in January – I guarantee it. Look, it’s not going to be easy to get these players in but the Chief Scout will be out watching players now. I was out at West Ham and he was there watching players. Maybe Winston Reid or Vlaar but I’m sure he’ll be watching players.

GP: Maybe he was watching Jenkinson?

RP: He was also specifically watching Jenkinson.

GP: I’m not sure why we loaned him out.

RP: He’s on loan now and you’ve got to respect that.

We pause for a minute’s silence.

GP: What do you miss about being around the club on a daily basis?

RP: The banter, being in the dressing room area, being with your mates. We had such a good relationship between every player. You miss the training. The training I loved. I loved training, I was in there every day. I miss the lunches as well. The lunches were brilliant, 3 course meals every day. Generally being a footballer was superb, the main thing is match day obviously but during the week we had such a laugh and worked hard so I miss all that, definitely.

GP: Since you joined the club as an apprentice what has changed the most for the better?

RP: This new stadium. Absolutely. I played at Highbury, I loved Highbury – it was such a great stadium but this stadium now is amazing. And that’s where the club had to go to. It’s the next level up. It’s competing with – hopefully now – the likes of Real Madrid, Bayern, Barcelona, Chelsea, Man City but they’ve got lots of money – now though, the money coming into the club because of the stadium. I think the stadium is amazing and I’m sure you’ll agree with that as Arsenal guys. Moving stadiums so close to Highbury was brilliant as well. Definitely the stadium.

GP: Thanks for your time Ray it was fantastic to meet with you.

RP: My pleasure chaps, enjoy the match.

Sadly the match did not go to plan but overall it was a wonderful day with memories that even the defeat cannot taint.

This interview was brought to you by Europcar, the official car and van rental partner of Arsenal Football Club.

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