Interview with Glen Oglaza
CD: Hi Glen, thank you for letting me do this interview with you. First of all, how are you doing and what are you up to nowadays?
GO: Very well thanks. I work for myself these days, as a Communications consultant, helping companies & charities with message development, media training, etc. I also work a lot for the British Army. I'm also visiting Professor of Communications at INSEAD, the world's Number One Business school at Fontainebleau, executive coaching MBAs and Executive MBAs. So, a varied diet. It means I get to spend more time with my children. I have a puppy and a kitten. I'm supposed to be writing a book. I'm trying to learn Spanish. So again, a varied diet. Arsenal need someone to sort out their communications ! I moved from North London to South Croydon 3 years ago to be near the children (I'm divorced), which was a bit of a culture shock, and it's a long way to The Emirates (it used to take me 20 minutes to be in my seat!!), but I'm getting used to it.
CD: When did you start supporting the Arsenal?
GO: My dad supported Fulham , though he's grown disillusioned with football now, thinks money has ruined the game (not sure I agree with that entirely), but I had an uncle who lived in Tufnell Park and used to take me to Highbury. I was hooked from the moment I first saw the red and white.
CD: Who is or who was your favourite Arsenal player?
GO: Bergkamp. Adams. Viera. Henry.
CD: It's obviously a very huge talking point right now, but what do you think is the problem at Arsenal FC at the moment?
GO: As everyone else says, really: Kroenke and Wenger. I think Arsene has totally lost the plot. If only he'd moved on when the going was good, what a legacy he would have left. Even after last season's FA Cup win, he could have left on a high. Now, it's too late. His reputation is tarnished and he is damaging the club. He has become unspeakably arrogant and deluded. We desperately need fresh energy and new ideas. And a tough DM, and two tough defenders. I have no idea what Steve Bould does! That pathetic capitulation in a Cup FINAL at Wembley was the last of many straws. I don't blame the players, well not so much: They had no idea how to respond, no tactical direction. To watch Pep encouraging his players, shouting instructions and to watch them running back, tracking even at 3-0 up, while we just strolled around the pitch and Wenger did NOTHING summed it up.
CD: I think I know based on your last answer, but are you Wenger in or out and why do you think what you do?
GO: As above. I think he has become delusional. He believes he will win everything NEXT YEAR ! It's been like Groundhog Day for years, same problems, same lack of solutions. We need fresh energy and new ideas, someone to galvanise the players and the fans. Wenger's players look clueless, as if they have received no instructions at all. They are talented professionals, so I blame the manger for the lack of passion, fight, tactical nous, team work. Look what Allegri did to Spurs (last night, as I write): Good substitutions at the right time, a tactical change, and Spurs were undone. I'd love Allegri, Jardim,or maybe Simeone to put a rocket up their collective backside! We could have had Pep ! or Klopp! IF Wenger had really cared about the club and done the decent thing. I respect him for all he's achieved for us, but he is well past his sell-by date and has over-stayed his welcome. Someone needs to tell him, or he'll have to be sacked. It's like a bloody Shakespearean Tragedy, the hero undone by his fatal flaw!
CD: As well as the manager, what are your thoughts on the board and players? Surely they are to blame just as much?
GO: Blame the Board for inaction, and Kroenke for apparently only caring about the bottom line. As for the players, yes, they have to take some of the blame, but the responsibility rests with the manager, and the buck stops with Wenger.
CD: Over the years that you have supported Arsenal, is this the worst ever time you have seen surrounding the club?
GO: Yes and No. Not in terms of trophies and position in the Table, but Yes in terms of how angry and frustrated people have become. I have several friends who have given up on this season (no great surprise there!!) and on Wenger, and are waiting for him to go before they'll return. That's very depressing. He is incapable of doing or even saying anything to dispel that sense of doom (unless we, by some miracle, win the EL), and is only making the problem even worse.
CD: What needs to change and why?
GO: Arsene needs to leave ! If we fail to get past AC Milan in the EL, that might be the time. It would give the new manager the rest of the season to bed in, identify the problems and what he wants to do about them, and hopefully have a successful season next year. At the very least, Arsenal should make an announcement about the manager's future, the uncertainty is highly damaging to everyone, including the players. The Board needs to steady the ship.
CD: Which positions in the team would you like to see strengthened in the summer?
GO, Like everyone else: A tough DM, two new defenders, and a new GK. How we miss Santi, irreplaceable !
CD: Last question Glen and it's a bit more about yourself, do you miss the news reporting and journalism that you did. Working for Sky News & ITN was amazing I am sure. Was it a hard decision to call it a day?
GO: It was, but the time felt right (at the time). My work at ITN was amazing: Young, single, bag always packed, passport at the ready. At Sky, I covered politics, with highly privileged access to successive Prime Ministers. However, I don't miss the daily grind ! I thought mid-2013 felt right, mid-election, the next election likely to return a Con/Lib Dem coalition or a Tory majority (or so I thought). I did not expect Cameron to announce a referendum to see-off UKip and the Tory Right, and no-one saw the 2016 Brexit decision coming, let alone the toal meltdown in British (and American) politics since! It would have been fun to cover that. I would also like to be reporting on what's happening in Syria, and in Russia, and on Putin's agenda in general.
CD: Excellent stuff, I really appreciate you letting me interview you Glen. It's been fantastic to see what your views are and to learn about the work you have done in your career. Take care of yourself and i wish you all of the best for the future.
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