Thursday, 10 April 2008

Arsenal's Snow King


After a 2 years trekking perilously through the frost-bitten land of exile, the Iceman returneth.
Not many people know what Dennis Bergkamp has been doing since he hung up his boots. The last we saw of his was his appearance marking the first match at the Emirates Stadium, fans getting a final glimpse of the former legend in an Arsenal shirt for the very last time. After retiring as a player, Bergkamp insisted he would not move into coaching and he turned down an offer as an Arsenal scout. It seemed he was obviously not too keen to cement his link with the club for very much longer.

But the romance between the Dutchman and N7 is not necessarily over. It has been announced that he has gone back on his coaching decision enrolled on a fast-track diploma for former players from the Netherlands. The course starts in May this year and Bergkamp, who lives in Hertfordshire, will study under his former manager at the Emirates.Could an Arsenal fairy-tale of Hans Christian Andersen proportions be developing? Arsène Wenger has been behind the manager's desk for over ten years now and looks like he could go on for another ten....but everyone has their sell by date. If Bergkamp were to re-enter football at a management level, it is only natural that fans are going to be calling for their God to get behind the wheel.

Apologies for being a kill-joy, but is Dennis Bergkamp really management material? If the fairy-tale came true, the Champions League could prove a problem. Unless Arsenal can swing UEFA into franchising the European Cup into an IPL-esque English tournament, with Bergkamp's aviophobia (fear of flying), anywhere unreachable by the Channel Tunnel is a no-go. Those difficult ties away in Israel with an absent manager is surely a too ridiculous an idea to comprehend seriously.

After all, he may get his chance behind the helm but he's no Flying Dutchman.

(Sorry).

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