LOVE MATCH
Hartson: Arsene needs to say he’s going and Gunners fans will give him big send-off 2.68
JOHN HARTSON reckons Arsene Wenger will get a great Gunners send-off — IF he tells the fans he’s quitting this summer.
The Wales and Arsenal legend admits to being saddened by Wenger’s stubbornness in hanging on to his job, even after the club’s lack of ambition has been laid bare.
But the Welshman is convinced that at 68, Wenger still has time to prove himself again, elsewhere.
Hartson said: “I love Arsene and I think he should come out and tell everyone he’s leaving so that his legacy won’t be tarnished.
“If he declared it was time for him to go at the end of the season, I’m certain the fans would fall in love with him again, and he would leave with his head held high.
“Nobody wants to see him forced out – he doesn’t deserve that. He helped build the Emirates, and as a result of the money going in that, his team building did suffer. He’s also made mistakes.
“I still think Arsene has the will to go somewhere else and make a big impact.
“Paris Saint-Germain look as if they are going to change their manager again.
“And I’m certain he could walk into the England job in the future, if he showed any interest.
“Arsene’s a young 68. He still jogs around the training ground. He doesn’t carry an extra pound in weight.
“People say Arsenal is his life. Well I believe Arsene can prove people wrong and win things again elsewhere. All good things come to an end. “I hope he can let go, not be so stubborn, move on and create a new chapter in his life.” Hartson (left) is enjoying his own second coming, after his 2009 life-or-death brain operation to tackle cancer. It’s why he joined celebrities, including chef Ainsley Harriott, in baring all in a live TV remake of ‘The Full Monty’ male strippers act last Wednesday, the proceeds going to cancer charities.
Speaking during a break in rehearsals, Hartson, 42, joked: “Don’t come too close, I’ve had my first ever spray tan.
“I’ve never been more nervous. Getting absolutely naked on stage in front of millions watching on TV is some task, but it’s being done for a great cause.”
Hartson admitted cancer came so close to ending his life because his own denial had delayed dealing with a potential problem.
He added: “Little lumps on my testicles turned into a tumour over the four or five years I left things. By then it had spread onto my lungs and brain. I survived the six-hour operation. I was lucky.”