MARCH means many things. It is the first daffodils of Spring, the clocks going back and road works everywhere as the councils use up the last of the budget writes Mick Jones
It is also the time that Fergie starts his mind games and, apart from the idea that Mick McCarthy is any more likely to save Sunderland than Howard Wilkinson, there is nothing funnier in football.
Some of it winds people up, especially the papers. They see it as a desperate throw of the dice most of the time.
To those who pay attention, it can do that but he also uses it to shield his own players or to wind up others. The main thing is, nine times out of ten, it works.
In the past it was Kevin Keegan who was famously wound up when he was Newcastle manager. Sadly, it's hard to say that winding up the man with the Pepe Le Pew hair was a major result.
Shooting fish in a barrel springs to mind. Our Kev snapped on the box and the title was already on the way to Old Trafford.
Now it's Wenger. The press like to say Wenger does not rise to it but that is partly because he doesn't raise his voice and partly because they fawn to his French "sophistication".
This man may have won a couple of titles and may well win this one too but rarely has a manager been so overrated.
He may have bought Henry and Vieira but he also bought Vivas and Stepanovs and there's plenty more where they came from. Cygan shows a lot of promise for this role at the moment.
All season long Arsenal have been lauded as the best thing ever. "Better than Brazil": as if!
They're a good side and could well be champions again but let's get a grip. If you read some of the interviews with players or manager, Arsenal could almost pick when they wanted to win the league so that it wouldn't coincide with a wedding they did not want to miss.
And so Fergie has started again.
"I'm surprised to hear them say they'd still win the title. I would never say that with eight games to go and neither would my players," said Alex.
He talks about "Arsenal triumphalism" and the fact his team have the experience to cope with "squeaky bum time".
All intended to get a reaction for Highbury.
Wenger hasn't risen to it but has come out with an interview in response. It's not the same as rising to the bait because he's French and sophisticated, you see?
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