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Arsène Wenger Speaks on the Bracewell-Smith Renunciation

Arsène Wenger has finally broken his silence on the chaos surrounding Arsenal following the dramatic excommunication of Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith from the club board. (Technically, she was excommunicated from two boards, one belonging tothe holding company and one to the football club, because at Arsenal, even the boards are hyphenated.) Anyway, as I was saying, Arsène Wenger-Fitzpottington has finally broken his silence on the events surrounding the Bracewell-Smith/Hill-Wood débâcle and the rôle played therein by Danny Fiszman-Wimpleflex. Unsurprisingly for a weathered diplomatist such as himself, Wenger-Fitzpottington’s reaction was, “My view was blocked and I did not see the incident.”

“It has no impact on me, what is happening there,” said Wenger. “I do not know really what is behind that, but it is a bit like what is happening inside the dressing room — you talk as little as you can about it.

“What is important in a football club is the directors do not speak about technique and that I do not speak about shares. Will it have an impact on the future of the club? I do not think so. I know Nina Bracewell-Smith, and she did a good job when she was on the board.

“What were the deep reasons why she left? I do not really know.”

Of the two most likely interpretations of this statement—that Wenger knows all the horrible details and is simply deflecting the question, and that Wenger genuinely doesn’t know or care anything about this—I suppose the first is overwhelmingly more likely. But there’s a part of me that would find it easier to believe the second.

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Arsène Wenger Speaks on the Bracewell-Smith Renunciation

by Brian Phillips · December 19, 2008

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