According to Harry Redknapp, Arsene Wenger is now officially 'The Nutty Professor'. But while Redknapp's idea of the cerebral Arsenal manager relates mostly to his outward intensity during Premier League matches, it could also apply to his loyalty to Manuel Almunia.
Is it too harsh to call Wenger a 'nutter' for persisting with Almunia when the veteran Spanish goalkeeper's repeated gaffes keep reminding us of that other Manuel: of Fawlty Towers fame?
Almunia came to Arsenal via Celta Vigo six years ago, initially as a back-up for Jens Lehmann. For a while his form was good enough to spark talk of a possible call-up for his adopted nation. But in the past couple of seasons, the 33-year-old has looked about as poised and composed as the thrill seekers running with the bulls in Pamplona.
Even in the wake of an outstanding away performance this week in the Champions League by number two Lukasz Fabianksi, Wenger hinted the Polish back-up would only grab his place in the Premier League starting team if Almunia failed to recover from an elbow injury suffered in last weekend's shock 3-2 loss to newly promoted West Bromwich Albion.
During his madcap 90 minutes at the Emirates, Almunia managed to give away and save a first-half penalty before being held accountable for two of three second-half goals conceded in Arsenal's first home league defeat since they fell to Manchester United in January. But Wenger refused to directly cricitise his custodian, merely acknowledging there were question marks over many of his players defensively, who had made 'massive mistakes'.
The Frenchman's unsuccessful pursuit of Fulham's Australian international Mark Schwarzer during the August transfer window was widely reported. Lesser known is that Wenger's network was also monitoring outstanding young Thailand national keeper Kawin Thammasatchanon before visa issues cooled their interest.
Already capped seven times at senior level, 20-year-old Thammasatchanon has received feelers from La Liga club Atletico Madrid and has been linked to trials with Manchester United through Thailand head coach Bryan Robson.