http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/front_page/9559925.stm Clearly someones taken him aside and said he should be nicer about us! P.S sorry for the topic choice I'm aware everyones sick of it at the minute!
omg claridge said something worth saying, surprising!
Don't let your dislike of Claridge cloud your judgement. He often comes out with the sensible view. Yes, he often praises Saints through a tortured and constricted throat or gritted teeth, but he does say it. Personally, I agree with his assessment of OXO's situation, and that he did need a couple more seasons with us. Where I differ is whether he is better than Walcott was at his age, or not. I think they are/were on a par.
The problem with Theo is that he went backwards for a season or two, through not being played enough, and he's never fully revealed that extreme potential he had. Alex will have the same problem, unless Wenger has learned the lesson, in which case, Arsenal won't be winning any titles with a relative rookie in the team. It's a Catch-22 situation. Arsenal must play Chamberlain often for his potential to blossom sooner, and they weaken their team by actually doing so. Loan him back to us..? I think that's realistic. The truth is, as Claridge said, Chamberlain needed to stay with Saints for another two seasons. The issue for Arsenal was, they possibly could have been outbid in two years time. So they had to buy, at an inflated price, now.
I bet Cortese made them aware of that little nugget of info.
He will never be loaned back to us. He'd be spitting feathers if he was. Has any player ever been loaned back?