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As I read Ashley's interview, it became all too apparent that he shares my view of Club relations – his rhetoric was unmistakable. Arsene Wenger made another of his famous ‘wife' metaphors when the whole Cole affair broke; Ashley himself uses the language of relationships to describe his bitterness; it all feels a little like a Jerry Springer show gone wrong.
You see your relationship to a Club - whether it is the board, the management, the players or the fans - is like a long-term personal relationship. We get caught up in the same insecurities and misunderstandings and find ourselves asking ourselves the same complex questions again and again: does he want to stay with me? Is he seeing someone else? Is he only with me for the money? Sometimes you love them unquestionably, sometimes they do things that anger you, sometimes you feel as if they don't consider you in the decisions they make – but ultimately, you'll forgive them because you can't quite imagine life without them.
So imagine my surprise when I read the headline, ‘it's over with Arsenal'. Hang on a minute Ashley, after the FA Cup final you were waxing lyrical about how much you loved the Club, how you weren't ever going to leave. Surely all of the problems you are now articulating to the whole world existed two weeks ago? Surely all of the factors, which have left you feeling betrayed, hurt and upset, have been festering for longer than a fortnight? Or are you really stupid enough to throw away a 15-year relationship at the first sign of trouble?
You see Ashley, my problem is this: as an arsenal fan, it's me who feels rightfully betrayed, hurt and upset. I had faith in you and you quite spectacularly let me down. Regardless of the build up Ash, you made a choice to see Chelsea behind our backs. You knew how we feel about them but still you went. You didn't even have the courtesy to keep it suitably discreet and you didn't even feel the need to apologise. Instead you left the fans, board and your teammates in limbo, unsure of how or why this situation had arisen.
Just when we thought we could put this behind us, just when we were looking forward to a new season with you as an integral part, you declare it's over and seem perfectly unwilling to shoulder any of the blame. As is typical for cheaters, you say you were forced in to it and it wasn't your fault. We hadn't given you enough support, we'd taken you for granted, we'd not delivered our promises – all these excuses and yet I'm still not convinced.
You made a choice – not only an immoral one but also an illegal one – to go behind our back and publicly undermine the Club that has groomed you in to the best left-back in the world. For all this, and you still expect our support? You, as with Chelsea's Mr Buck, have tried to manipulate the situation to place the blame at the feet of Arsenal. You have only succeeding in showing yourself to be an immature little boy throwing his dummy from the pram when he doesn't getting what he wants. Arsenal couldn't let Chelsea get away with publicly flaunting the rules – their approach to Ferdinand and Arnesen has proved that it is a tactic they will employ frequently if they can get away with it. So it seems Ash, you've been used, not by us, but by Chelsea and you were merely another pawn in their attempt at a Russian takeover of the beautiful game.
Perhaps it would have been sensible for Ashley to have considered all of this before launching his diatribe at Mr. Dein. Perhaps Ashley assumed that the fans love for him is really unswerving, perhaps his inflated ego can't see past his own talents. For all the accusations Ashley levelled at David Dein, does he really think we'll buy in to it?
Dein - who has been fantastically loyal to the club, who has brought in some of the best players to ever don an Arsenal shirt, who has helped mastermind a stadium move alongside a squad capable of vying for the top footballing honours – will always command the respect and awe of the vast majority of Arsenal fans. If Ashley thinks that one article in the News of the World is enough to sway Gooner allegiances from Dein and Wenger to a solitary (and quite obviously dubiously-principled) player, I'm not sure how he can claim to be an Arsenal fan at all. Any true Arsenal fan, indeed any remotely intelligent person, would see the flaw in the logic.
I will always love Ashley, you can't just switch your feelings on and off, and I will also appreciate what he has down for the Club. I won't pretend I like or understand what he has done but I can try to forgive him even if forgetting seems all but impossible. He's let me and every other fan that has put faith in to him down but I guess living with that kind of burden should be punishment enough. So perhaps Ashley's fear is true – perhaps it is over. Perhaps there is too much water under the bridge to carry on and remain happy together. But there is the good news – it hasn't put us off left-backs for good. Clichy is waiting on the wing and perhaps that, rather than this enquiry, is the biggest threat to Cole's Arsenal career.