Why Captain Vantastic will stay….

With the arrival of Podolski to Arsenal seemingly imminent there are as many touting him as a replacement for Robin Van Persie as there are those lauding him as the perfect partner for the hottest striker in the world.

I personally do not believe that PodGOALski, as I like to call him (and have tried in vain to get trending on Twitter), is coming to be a replacement for Van Persie. There are many reasons from Podolski’s point of view but the main one is that he wants to leave Cologne because of their perceived lack of ambition. Why would he then join a club that has struggled to challenge for trophies for 7 season, lost two of their most influential players of the season before and struggled to cope with that for the first 4 months only to have the pressure of being a replacement for the best striker in the world?

Lukas is coming to be Robin’s partner, or at least he thinks he is. He would have wanted some assurances from Arsenal about Robin and maybe, just maybe they know something we don’t or they have told Podolski that Robin wants big players to sign before he signs and that he is a big player and signing will convince Robin to stay.

I really hope that I am right about Robin staying because I spent most of last summer telling people that Cesc and Nasri weren’t going to leave and I honestly believed that. Cesc eventually left because his heart and mind were no longer with Arsenal and although Barca were his boyhood team I still felt let down by Cesc but most of all by the club.

Wenger knew that Cesc hadn’t been 100% ‘with’ Arsenal for at least two years and with him constantly being tapped up by the Barcelona playing staff in the media and probably directly he knew he was probably fighting a losing battle but he had one card to play that he just left in the deck. He could have made things very public and either got a decent price for Cesc or proven that Barca didn’t want him as much as they said they did.

Publicly Wenger could have stated that if Barca want Cesc then they need to pay £50m for him because he was and is a £50m player. He should have given them until July 31st to make an offer of £50m or that the door was closed until summer 2012. I personally think that Barca would have backed off and Cesc would have known that he wasn’t wanted at Barca as much as he thought he was and maybe would have started to think about Arsenal some more again. Remember, Cesc came to Arsenal because he didn’t think he could make it in the Barca team, so of course when they start to say “Actually, Cesc, now you can” he is going to yearn for it.

Nasri I honestly believed was going to stay with or without Cesc because I thought he would see a chance to become top dog. Bottom line is Nasri left because he was a greedy little wanker and Arsenal did well to get £25m. That’s a total of £71m from City in 4 years for our cast-offs. Thanks.

Back to Robin.

The difference between Robin and Cesc and all of the others is that

1. Wenger doesn’t want to cash in
2. Wenger doesn’t need to cash in (unless we don’t finish in CL spot)
3. Robin actually loves Arsenal and has always wanted to play for us (see this video or below)
4. Robin has a settled family life in London and loves the city
5. Robin likes being top dog and thrives on being the technical and motivational leader

RVP has often been quoted talking about his love for Arsenal but I think more crucially is his love for London. His family are settled here, he likes the school that his kids go to, he likes the local environment and the British character. He also enjoys seeing his children grow up with “English manners and values” (proper English manners, not the town centre at 2am on a Friday/Saturday night manners).

The English people are so incredibly polite where I live. People are nice here. That makes life a real pleasure.

‘My children have become more English than Dutch. They have taken up the culture and values of England.

‘It makes me melt at times when I see how well my children are doing here. When Shaqueel has half-term with school, he does not want to go back to the Netherlands any more.’ – Robin Van Persie

Why would Robin want to take his family away from that? He is a really passionate family man and I think his desire for his family to be happy outweighs his desire for personal glory. Robin is so passionate and driven about winning stuff, as his comments about lifting Arsenals first trophy for years prior to the League Cup final last year show, for him to be more passionate about family than footballing glory he must be Dad of the Century!

Robin also loves how the Arsenal fans love him. Like Thierry I think RVP is player that needs to be loved and I think he knows that the deep, sincere and unconditional love the Arsenal fans have for him can’t be replicated elsewhere.

‘That is the biggest compliment I could wish for,’ he said. ‘Arsenal fans are real lovers of the game.

‘They don’t miss a thing. I like the banners, everything they do. When I come on to the pitch, I hear them chant.

‘At Arsenal the fans so want me to do well. And that gives me a kick. That’s what I do it for. As a thank you, I want to give them so much in return in matches.’

It’s for these reasons that I think Robin will stay and sign a new contract at Arsenal but I think there are a few things that need to be done first.

1. Confirm Podolski early to show we mean business in the transfer market
2. Give RVP £150-200k a week
3. Improve the backroom staff

The third is easily done. With Pat Rice retiring I think we need to make an appointment from outside for Assistant Manager. There are lots of calls for Steve Bould but I think we need something fresh.

Robin Van Persie wants Tony Adams back at the club and I think he’d be perfect as Assistant Manager and maybe he can be groomed to be Wenger’s successor. I personally do not think he should be Wenger’s replacement as romantic appointments hardly ever work out but if he is already in the club and has a few years as Wenger’s assistant I don’t see why he shouldn’t be given a chance.

Van Persie took over the captaincy at Arsenal when Fabregas left for Barcelona last summer and has already been compared with legendary Gunners skipper Tony Adams.

‘I feel flattered but Tony Adams was by far the best captain Arsenal have had. If he could return in some capacity, I will be the first man to support this. He is the perfect example of a born winner.’

So, Robin is staying, Podolski is joining and next year we’ll win the league.