Bouncing back
HOW BLUEBIRDS STAR BENNETT HAS TURNED THINGS AROUND SINCE MAN CITY HORROR SHOW LAST SEASON
IVAN Gazidis is to leave his position as chief executive of Arsenal to take over a similar role at AC Milan.
The 54-year-old has worked for the Gunners since 2009 and has described his move as “the hardest decision” of his life.
Gazidis will leave Arsenal on October 31 before taking up his new post at San Siro on December 1.
Arsenal announced that they will not directly replace Gazidis - with Raul Sanllehi, currently head of football relations at the Emirates Stadium, to become head of football following his departure.
Meanwhile Arsenal’s chief commercial officer Vinai Venkatesham will take over the role of managing director at the same point.
Gazidis oversaw the process to appoint head coach Unai Emery to replace Arsene Wenger in May and has also been behind the change in management structure, playing a major role in introducing roles such as Sanllehi’s, as well as that of head of recruitment - held by Sven Mislintat.
Those appointments wrestled some power away from Wenger, whose 22-year tenure came to a close at the end of last season.
Emery has since taken the reins after a thorough interview process headed up by Gazidis - who explained his decision in a message to Arsenal supporters.
“For the last 10 years I have been privileged to dedicate myself to this great club,” he said.
“Arsenal is entering a new chapter and I have done everything I can to ensure that it is strongly placed to take on that challenge.
“This includes world-class facilities and outstanding leaders in every sector who carry the values of the club, including, of course, Unai Emery, Raul Sanllehi and Vinai Venkatesham in whom I have enormous faith.
“We have rebuilt the off-field capability of the club, which is necessary for prolonged success in modern football, we have recently concluded new primary partnership deals that, together with the new league broadcast deals, secure our medium-term financial future.
“We have updated our stadium and rebuilt our training facilities so that they are now world-class and we have transitioned to a new football structure that is capable of taking the club confidently into the future.”
Having overseen such wholesale changes - with more expected to come given majority shareholder Stan Kroenke’s bid to take complete control of the club - Gazidis felt it necessary to lay out why he decided to leave at this point.
“Given this platform, I know many will think this is a strange time to be leaving but I believe it is the right time for me and for the club,” he added.
Milan, meanwhile, released a statement confirming Gazidis would begin his tenure at the club from December 1. THE very mention of Manchester City is enough to send shivers down most defenders’ spines these days, but for Cardiff City’s Joe Bennett it must illicit even stronger feelings.
Last season’s cup tie against Pep Guardiola’s behemoths was billed as a mouth-watering prospect for everyone connected with Cardiff.
With promotion by no means guaranteed back then, it was the chance to welcome the Premier League’s best team to Cardiff City Stadium and give them a thorough examination.
The result was very different as a flat Bluebirds’ team performance left fans frustrated – City cruised to a 2-0 victory.
Bennett, meanwhile, had his world tipped upside down. The left-back found himself at the centre of a vicious media storm following a tackle on Leroy Sane.
As Cardiff prepare to host Man City again – this time as Premier League equals – it’s worth charting Bennett’s journey from Public Enemy Number One to arguably the Bluebirds’ most accomplished top-flight player...
THE FLASHPOINT
THE visitors were already 2-0 up in that late-January FA Cup fourth round match when Sane steamed through the Cardiff defence just before the break, threatening to put the game beyond doubt with a third goal.
Bennett brought down the German with what would be termed “excessive force” by most referees. Lee Mason made the wrong decision by showing just a yellow, but Bennett was eventually sent off for after a second bookable challenge on Brahim Diaz.
But it was the nature of the tackle on Sane – the pictures and video footage showing its severity – that prompted a furious reaction from the Manchester City camp and on social media. Not to mention a worrying ligament injury for the winger.
Guardiola lost his composure, City fans targeted Bennett with a volley of awful abuse on Twitter and even Warnock was forced to condemn the tackle.
Pundits weighed in to lambast Bennett, who had only been sent off once before in his career and pleaded that there was no malice intended.
“I did catch him but I didn’t mean to,” said Bennett.
“I’d only had one red card in my career before that so I’m not the type of person to injure a fellow player on purpose. I didn’t mean to do it, I meant to bring him down but not to catch him in the way I did
“He [Bennett] is a bit upset and it looks bad on the still, but he didn’t mean that at all,” said Joe Ralls.
“Sane is rapid, he’s just trying to bring him down because he’s probably going to score otherwise and it’s one of those unfortunate things and hopefully Sane recovers as soon as possible.”
THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH
WARNOCK’S punishment of Bennett at the time seemed harsh.
He actually went and signed a new left-back, Armand Traore, just two days after the game and revealed Bennett was training on his own.
‘”I slaughtered him when I saw it, I said you do a horrific tackle like that and I get three days of hell,” said Warnock, referencing the fact he also got his fair share of flak for Cardiff’s supposedly heavy-handed tactics.
It did not bode well for the former Aston Villa and Brighton full-back, who had previously been a consistent performer and one of Warnock’s favourites.
Traore impressed on his Cardiff debut, a 4-1 thrashing of rivals Leeds, and scored on his second appearance against Bolton.
It appeared Bennett had slipped down the pecking order, with many in the media citing that Warnock can hold grudges against players who
upset him. What followed was a U-turn and a masterclass in professionalism.
THE RECOVERY
PERHAPS it was Warnoock’s slightly unusual decision to play both of his left-backs against Middlesbrough on February 17 that plotted a route back to the fold for Bennett.
An injury to Traore was also helpful as Bennett re-established himself as the first choice on the left side of Warnock’s back four.
At the end of March, Bennett admitted how difficult things had been for him.
“At the time I was disappointed and upset, but I managed to get my place back,” he said about that dark January day.
“Armand has come in and that’s been good competition. But I feel I’ve been playing alright most of the season, the manager has put his faith in me and hopefully I can repay that in the last nine games. I was in every day that the lads were off that week. I didn’t mind, it was something I had to do, a bit of discipline.”
Bennett clearly responds to Warnock’s man-management as thereafter he was the model of consistency through Cardiff’s promotion run-in, playing the full 90 minutes in crucial wins against Norwich, Nottingham Forest and Hull.
With a promotion winner’s medal around his neck, he had proven a lot of people wrong.
THE STEP UP
TWO fresh challenges have been thrown Bennett’s way since the promotion celebrations have died down.
The first question – could Bennett make the step up to Premier League level with ease? – is one many expected him to answer with aplomb.
And he has, an assist against Arsenal and strong showings versus Newcastle and Huddersfield reinforcing that belief from supporters.
The second was brought about by another new challenger to the leftback slot when Greg Cunningham was signed from Preston North End in the summer.
Despite Cunningham arriving as a player whose signature Warnock had coveted for years, the Irishman still awaits his Premier League debut.
Bennett’s form has simply been too good to even consider dropping him.
It seems whatever obstacles are put in Joe Bennett’s path, he finds a way of hurdling them.