The Pat Rice Appreciation Thread

[liam_cork]

he's got a few years left in him yet

[dubgooner]

Wenger has said before that Rice is Mr. Arsenal.

[Fabrestuta]

If Rice retired who who we get to shout "get to the ball". I don't care how loud a stadium is you can always here him yelling.

[GunnGunn]

If Rice retired who who we get to shout "get to the ball". I don't care how loud a stadium is you can always here him yelling.

Funny you should say that Fabby, he is definately the more vocal out of him and AW, you can always here him yelling and spurring the team on, giving instructions etc, and yet i read an article this morning, well, read it yourself..

The Arsenal stalwart does not appear to offer very much from the perspective of an outside observer but he has been coaching at the club for 25 years and was an Arsenal player for 16 years before that. He is Arsenal and yet, from watching their exchanges on the bench, it would appear that he is little more than Wenger’s yes man. Should the manager have a more questioning assistant?


Watching Ian Dowie and Alan Shearer on the sidelines at Newcastle, ignoring the suit, you would struggle to tell who was the manager and who was the assistant. In comparison Pat Rice hardly offers more than a whisper of encouragement to the side and more often resembles a stuffed teddy bear sat next to Wenger. Surely a happy medium is possible. The club have already denied that Rice is planning to retire but is it time for Wenger to shake up his back room team?


The same key personnel have been in place since he arrived from Japan with Rice his assistant and Boro Primorac the first team coach. All have overseen the coaching of some of the greatest sides that our club has known and yet, because of our comparative underachievement recently, there is an understandable demand for change, both on and off the pitch.


Wenger has been accused of being something of an autocrat and combined with this he is presumed to have developed a myopia that plagued all of the world’s most infamous dictators. Perhaps a more challenging assistant could provide him with a more balanced and detached view of his squad but there is little evidence to suggest Wenger would be willing to part with one of his most dependable allies. It does seem unnecessary to sack one of the club’s most respected men but as Wenger himself suggested, perhaps there is room for some evolution rather than revolution.


I have often advocated the return of Martin Keown after his successful spell coaching the defence during the run to the Champions League final. It seems ridiculous that Wenger did not retain Keown and I can only conclude that he must feel that he is too big a character. Keown’s mentality differs greatly from Wenger’s and I think the boss possibly feels that they would be pulling in two different directions when coaching the players. Yet evidence suggests that Wenger does struggle to balance his side between defensive resilience and attacking freedom and perhaps Keown, if not being called upon to replace Rice, should be brought back into the fold as a defensive coach.


He could adjust the mentality in our defenders who often appear to be more creative than destructive in their approach. We often give the opposition too much time but Keown would not give the back four a moment’s peace if they were as slack. A disciplinarian could be just what this side needs to regain the defensive balance that was only seen very sporadically this season.

http://www.clubfanzine.com/arsenal/v2.s ... p?id=19616

I think this is way off the mark, and to be honest, i don't know what Pat he is watching, he is about as much a teddybear as a crocodile is...

[Fabrestuta]

Interesting read, not sure I agree but interesting none the less. In regard to seeing Rice on the sideline during games, most of the time the camera pans on Wenger he is sitting forward looking constipated, that doesn't mean he's not doing anything. Just because Rice isn't jumping around like an idiot doesn't mean he is just saying yes to whatever Wenger mentions.
As I mentioned you can always hear him yelling out to the players so its a tad unfair to say he's just a stuffed teddy. Now what goes on in training is a different story, I have no idea what goes on so I can't comment. I do like the idea of having Keown give the defence a good kick up the arse though. He may not be Mr.Arsenal but he gave everything in every game.

[Inchpräctice]

Would welcome Keown back as defensive coach tbh.
We can't be any worse defensively than we are now!

[damo1583]

Would welcome Keown back as defensive coach tbh.
We can't be any worse defensively than we are now!

Saying that Inch, Adams did a wicked job when he was defensive coach at Pompey during their FA cup winning season. Just went west when he was given the big job........

[Libertine]

I know what he has been, but he has remained largely anonymous and is very much a behind the scenes kind of guy, i think if he was fronting the club with AW like Pat does now it would have a good effect.

Good effect on who though?
The players already see him daily at training.
I'd say most fans already know who he is and what he does.
I'm not desperately against him officially becoming Wenger's number 2, i just don't really see what effect changing his job title would have on anything?

[cescpistol]

pat rice is old school in the new school and it's all the better for that.

[Zenith]