MARTIN Jol lookey-likey Richard Osley (Jol fans may bristle) was not a happy chappy on Saturday.
Robin Van Persie was the object of my esteemed rival’s furious phone text rant to yours truly and frankly, I don’t blame him.
Like Mr Osley says elsewhere in this paper, the Clown Prince’s rash challenge saw the Gunners miss out on a chance to close in on the latest object of their desires – second place.
Good to see you Gooners are downsizing your expectations accordingly.
It made a nice change for the usually myopic Arsene Wenger to criticise his rather dim young charge afterwards though.
I expect he’s taking a leaf out of Martin Jol’s man management book. A treasured read in Holland. Unfortunately.
Still, I expect you fickle lot will soon forgive Jol’s countryman given the way you cheered Manuel ‘The Bird’ Almunia on Tuesday night.
The flapper went from zero to hero in the fans’ eyes after saving penalties my gran could have flailed a limb at.
Mr Wenger says the Spaniard was just showing the “quality” he displays on the training ground every day.
He’ll be telling us Pascal Cygan is world class next. I’m convinced, how about you?

THOSE dumb Spurs fans have been getting their knickers in a twist all week – they are worried Pumpkinhead is going to abandon whatever trial-and-error-and-error-and-error experiment he is attempting at Spurs and head off to Ajax.
I haven’t seen this kind of fear in the eyes of Tottenham fans since the happy day Sol Campbell took a stroll across town.
But, come on, who can blame Martin Jol for being tempted to head to Holland?
After all, what would you choose?
a) Tottenham – No major trophy since 1991. Rubbish ground. Rubbish fans (I saw the empty seats when West Brom played there in the FA Cup recently). Rubbish everything.
b) Ajax – One of Europe’s most prestigious clubs. Dutch Champions. Champions League football. Fantastic home kits.
It’s a real puzzler, that one.
Of course the stupidity of the situation is that Jol isn’t the genius that Spurs think he is. They have been brainwashed by a few home wins against Southampton and Fulham. Imagine living off such scraps. The fact is they are nearly 20 points behind Arsenal.
And if Ajax had their heads screwed on properly, they would look elsewhere for a manager that will bring them success.