Time may be up for football’s ‘daft trader’

The latest bank worker accused of losing his employer billions of dollars cut a lonely figure in court last week.

Kweku Adoboli, the Ghanaian UBS man, had to wipe tears from his eyes as he became a public figure in the least desirable way.

The man nicknamed cruelly, but brilliantly, as the “daft trader” (check out Star Wars if you miss the play on words) faces having every aspect of his life scrutinised and broadcast across the world.

One of the first things that became public knowledge was his last Facebook entry; realising the extent of his predicament, he had written “Need a miracle”.

So, caught in a most unusual situation (not everyone is accused of losing their employer $2.3 billion) Mr Adoboli reacted in a very common way.

When faced with a difficult problem or knowing that the game is up, the natural thing to do is to look for a quick fix, and a miracle is as quick a fix as you can get.

Football’s very own “daft trader” (judging by the last days of the transfer window in August, that’s what he is) must now realize that the game is up for him.

When all the evidence is piled high, it is surely now time for Arsene Wenger to admit what many of us have been able to see for a long time: it’s time to move on.

Immune to criticism

For years Arsene has been immune to criticism. He had transformed George Graham’s team.

From a time when the two most well known songs from the terraces about the Gunners were “boring, boring Arsenal” and “One-nil to the Arsenal”, there has been a major change in the way Arsenal are viewed.

There were two seasons in which the club won both the Premiership and the FA Cup.

In 2003-04 they went through the whole season unbeaten. And they did it with great style, playing a brand of breathtaking football that won many admirers – that’s why East Africa has so many Arsenal fans today, despite the lack of trophies in the past six years.

The decline, at first imperceptible, has gathered pace in the last 12 months.

It is now running downhill so fast, that an almighty crash looks just around the corner – something the owners, however hands-off they have been, can surely not let happen.

Last season started brightly enough, but before Christmas the first worrying signs appeared.

Arsenal strolled through their opening Champions League games, winning the first three ties.

But then a combination of rested players and casual defending resulted in the Gunners finishing second in their group.

As a result, they were drawn against Barcelona in the first knock out round in the New Year. The inevitable exit from the competition resulted.

After that time, misery upon misery was piled on Arsenal fans.

Most would point to the last minute defeat to a poor Birmingham City side (who were eventually relegated) in the League Cup final as the start of the rot.

And it is true that this game provided a combination of slack central defending and goalkeeping blunder that has become Arsenal’s trademark.

But there was a game before that when Arsenal’s frailty was exposed.

4-0 up after barely half an hour away at Newcastle and heading for the top of the Premiership, Arsenal contrived to concede four goals without reply in an amazing second half.

Over the close season break, you might think Arsenal would strengthen their squad.

Instead, their three best players, Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy were sold – all three have subsequently excelled at their new clubs.

In their place, in that flurry of “daft trader” madness came Mertesacker and Santos in defence and Benayoun and Arteta in midfield.

These two plus the forward Gervinho were supposed to make good the departures and the weaknesses of a squad ruthlessly exposed in the 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford the weekend before.

Arsenal fans could talk themselves into believing that a new phase in the season was beginning – indeed that was what Arsene Wenger himself said before the game at Blackburn a week ago.

As that game proved, this is the sort of “need a miracle” thinking that hasn’t helped Kweku Adoboli.

Buying players in a rush before the transfer window closes is not an instant solution.

The new players performed quite well – Gervinho and Arteta scored as Arsenal opened up a 2-1 lead at half time. An easy win seemed to be in prospect.

Genuine title challengers

But the second half collapse was all too familiar. While still ahead the defence looked shaky; indeed the whole team was paralysed by fear.

Andre Arshavin responded to the criticism that he never tracks back when he doesn’t have the ball, by tracking back, fouling an opponent on the edge of the penalty area and giving away the free kick that led to the first of two own goals.

After the game Arsene Wenger gave a press conference that, by his standards, was most unusual.

Gone was the defence of players, the claims of not seeing incidents and the optimism that a new phase was beginning, that Arsenal were genuine challengers for the Premiership title.

In their place, was criticism of Arsenal players – a real Wenger rarity – and no sign that the manager had a solution for the defensive ills that have plagued this team since the days of Tony Adams and Steve Bould.

In fact, the Arsenal manager looked as defeated as if, well, as if he had been discovered after losing his employer $2.3 billion.

In the case of Kweku Adoboli it is a long road to rehabilitation that awaits – there is no miracle.

Likewise for Arsenal, with or without football’s “daft trader”, a single win won’t redeem their season or make things good again. Get prepared for a long haul.

When not thinking about football, Guy Maughfling (Facebook Group: “Premiership Chat”) is a director in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Advisory business in East Africa. The views expressed here are his own.