sticking to your guns

no pun intended.

trying to understand where we are now.  arteta won two trophies in a couple of months playing a certain way and i think we misread the signs.  we did not become world beaters overnight, nor are we crap after losing to villa.  the truth always lies somewhere in between, and that's the real message in today's polemical world, where outrage (whether real or faux in the case o trollers) is the main medium.  we are either fantastic or crap, no in-between.

there are parallels everywhere, even in my prayer chat group of old boys.  you'd think that is the last refuge of reasoned discussion, civilized debate and upliftment/encouragement.  well you'd be wrong.  you just get the guise of civility, dressed up in the language of faith.  voting for so and so means you are (insert your own description).  disappointing.

back to football.

arteta found success with a certain formula and now i wonder if he got a bit lucky like wenger in his early days.  would wenger have been such a great success if he had not inherited that back four?  maybe, maybe not but it certainly saved him a world of trouble and bought him time and a lot of credit and goodwill.  all leaders need that.

did mikel craft or stumble onto a winning formula, or it was really a no-brainer given our disastrous defending?  not going to get into the football bits.  no one really has the answer anyway.  what's more interesting to me is this. what goes through the mind of a leader when he comes to a fork in the road?

villa was arguably that fork in the road.  it might provide the defining moment of the season because it presents him with something to ponder, a decision to make for the first time in his short managerial career.

and the key question is "does he stick to his guns?"

this is a question many leaders will face at some point.  ironically it is probably more likely to happen to good leaders who have a plan that those who don't.  those who don't have a plan and are just winging it, will simply just change course without a second thought.  but if you have a plan and things aren't going well, you need the courage of your conviction to stick it out.