You may be puzzled by the continued reluctance of Arsenal to use club legend Tony Adams in a coaching role and you wouldn’t be alone. Adams was seen as a lynchpin for club and country, a leader and warrior who played with pride and passion. He excelled in the basics of defending, but he was also someone who could offer much more than a vital interception or hoof into the crowd.

The skipper could provide a quality pass and had the ability to score quality goals, especially in a Wenger side littered with an array of foreign talent. He acted like a leader on the field and you sensed that others drew confidence from his considerable presence and highly competitive attitude in the heat of battle.

Tony Adams was a proven leader and winner, an integral part of the successful Arsenal sides spread over three decades and he was also the on-field general of George Graham and Arsenal Wenger. So, when he retired in 2002, it was almost expected that he would join the Gunners in some capacity but the phone simply didn’t ring.

Back in an age where specialists were beginning to find a platform in Premier League clubs, Tony Adams’ talents as a defence coach were entirely overlooked by Arsenal. The man dubbed ‘Mr Arsenal’ didn’t even get the opportunity to turn down an offer at a time when the club had embraced former defenders Pat Rice and Steve Bould.

It didn’t make sense, but it seems the reasons for Adams’ omission weren’t based on his considerable skills or professional ability. During his various well-documented troubles, he had always spoken truthfully about himself and his circumstances and his opinions regarding his former club were equally honest and opinionated.

It’s thought that the club feared that Adams would bring that honesty to any position and that his propensity for truth would prove to be too difficult for the playing and coaching staff. He may even have proved to be a challenge for a manager (Arsenal Wenger), who enjoyed complete control over every aspect of the club’s operation.

The marriage between the most successful manager and the most successful captain in Arsenal history seemed inevitable, but Wenger must have sensed problems ahead and resisted the temptation of bringing the player to the Emirates as backroom staff.

Adams was and is a huge personality and character. He’s a club icon who is adored by the Arsenal faithful to this day and so it’s fair to assume that on the day of the wedding, the bride didn’t want the bridesmaid to steal any available thunder. Wenger and Adams, who had served each other so well were never going to meet in the middle and as the club moved towards a new era of stagnation and disappointment, Adams may have made a major contribution.

Adams himself has ideas on his exclusion:

“Back in the day I said in an interview coaching wasn’t Arsene’s strong point,” Adams explained in his book ‘SOBER. My story. My Life’, being serialised by the Sun.

“Actually in the original draft, I said he couldn’t coach his way out of a paper bag. And though I modified that in the final article, it didn’t go down well.”

“It all left me feeling that I would never get a chance in any capacity while Arsene was there. Much as I respected him for his long and successful tenure, my occasional willingness to pass comment on him and the team probably counted against me.”

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Tony Adams continues to offer his insights and opinions as a pundit on various sports channels and it’s clear that he still cares deeply about Arsenal, having served the club for 19 years. I’m sure he is genuinely devastated that an opportunity wasn’t forthcoming.

Tony Adams statue looms large outside the Emirates as if it were guarding the stadium and memory of its considerable successes. It also serves as a reminder of a player and leader that always gave everything even during the dark days of alcoholism. Adams never faltered, he was always committed and left everything he had out on the football stage. Pity that a role was never found for one of the club’s leading lights.

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