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Row Z: Ten Hag takes on Arteta talking about facts, not words, and protecting Hearts’ assets

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Row Z: Ten Hag takes on Arteta talking about facts, not words, and protecting Hearts’ assets

Welcome to the sixth edition of Row Z, our weekly column about The Athletics sheds light on the crazy side of the game.

From clubs to managers, players to organizations, every Friday we bring you the absurdities, the greed, the contradictions, the ridiculousness and the quirks of the game we all love…

It’s important not to get too high or too low in football, right? Whether it’s after a big win, a crushing defeat or even a favorable or less than favorable draw, you want your club’s head coach to remain firm and consistent and not show histrionic emotions based on just one result, right?

Especially at a big club like Manchester United, where surely the focus is on long-term growth and tangible incremental improvements in their intriguing new INEOS era?

Here are also Erik ten Hag’s comments after the match so far this season.

Fulham, 1-0: “The victory is very gratifying… we have a foundation on which to build.”

Brighton, 1-2: “It’s very disappointing. As a team we should have done better.”

Liverpool, 0-3: “It’s not like I’m Harry Potter.”


Ten Hag thinks about the upcoming press conference (Michael Regan/Getty Images)

Southampton 3-0: “The match was all ours.”

Barnley, 7-0: “This is the perfect evening.”

Crystal Palace, 0-0: “We ate them alive.”

Twente 1-1: “I have to look in the mirror.”

Mikel Arteta refuted accusations that his team used the dark arts during Sunday’s tempestuous 2-2 draw with Manchester City.

“I always prefer facts to words, or assumptions,” Arteta said.

Fair point, although words can be quite important too?

On a completely unrelated note, here is Arteta during the Manchester City Amazon documentary in 2018, when he was Pep Guardiola’s assistant: “David (Silva), Kevin (De Bruyne), Gundo (Ilkay Gundogan) – make mistakes. If there is a transition, make a mistake. If you can do it, better than Gundo, better than the defenders.”


Guardiola and Arteta during their days at City (Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Also words, but not facts, from Arteta in February this year after Arsenal lost to Porto and was asked how a manager develops dark arts in his squad: “There are ways to do it… it’s the way you deal with them talk, and show them clips, training – taking them through scenarios, giving them a few pinches too, learning from other players who are doing it really well and from teams who are masters at it.

“It’s very important.”

Typical example of a tweet from Chris Smalling at Manchester United…

Typical example of a tweet from Chris Smalling at Roma…

Typical example of a tweet from Chris Smalling at Al Fayha in Saudi Arabia, a country that has no interest in sports washing.

Row Z readers, would you pay £69 ($93) for a garment you’ve never seen and won’t receive until 2025?

How about a pair of shorts you’ve never seen before for $30? Or a pair of socks for €15?

Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Sheffield Wednesday.

The club gave their (long-suffering) fans a deadline of September 23 to reserve kits for the 2025-2026 season. Not the home kit, the main kit or even the away kit, but just the third kit.

What could they tell the supporters about the shirt they had to pay £69 for? Well, her confirmed the colors white and blue, plus a retro owl emblem on the left chest.

Why were they asking for blind money now? It was of course the ‘optimal solution’, having spoken to fans at a recent meeting and, with the 2024-2025 third kit having sold out in a day, said on Wednesday: ‘We would like to avoid such a scenario next year, that the supply matches the demand and that the ordering process is not overestimated or underestimated.”

Which it certainly is wasn’t was an exercise in exploiting the loyalty of the supporters and making some quick money so that it would look good on this season’s accounts. It wasn’t that at all.

Also from Wednesday: “Please note that once a pre-order has been placed, it cannot be canceled or refunded.” Textbook.


(Will Matthews/PA Images via Getty Images)

It has been a big week for asset protection in Scotland.

Here is Hearts CEO Andrew McKinlay on August 9 after head coach Steven Naismith was rewarded with a contract extension until 2026: “We have a truly exciting year ahead.

“By extending the contracts of the coaching team, we reiterate our confidence in them and reaffirm our belief that they can continue to take the team on a higher trajectory.

“Good coaching teams are not always in abundance and other clubs are always on the lookout, so the club also has peace of mind when it comes to protecting its assets.”

And 45 days later, after Naismith’s firing?

“Unfortunately, there is little evidence of a possible upturn in fortunes.”


Naismith was fired this week (Paul Devlin/SNS Group via Getty Images)

Guardiola’s influence on English football cannot be quantified; he forever changed the way we think about and play the game.

The way teams build attacks. The way they play from the back. Oh well, even how we think about goalkeepers. Pep left an indelible impression.

Or, if you’re a Huddersfield Town fan, he has a lot to answer for.

(Top photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)

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