Personally I think Arteta will end up doing a very good job for Arsenal, and Viera an equally good job for us, fancy us for a good cup run this year, beating the arse in the final, you heard it here first

It will be the measure of the man if he leaves at the first opportunity, if he stays for less than three years his status will diminish.

I think its a no brainer that they will. He's even playing the exact style that Arsenal are traditionally famous for. And to be honest it would be hard to stand in his way if he wanted to go as badly as we all know he probably will. It's surely his dream job.
This is one of the reasons I didn't fancy Vieira getting the job in the first place. Arsenal are in dissaray and its obvious who they look to if PV is doing well here.
All we can hope is that Parish holds firm and says no if they come calling at an inconvenient time for us (IE middle of the season) and that he holds out for proper decent compensation.

Perhaps they will, who knows? But I look at the fortunes of favoured players, the likes of Arteta, Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard, and think that managing at the top level isn't so easy.
In other news Cristiano Ronaldo is to be unveiled as player manager at Manchester United, reveals a friend of someone who overheard a conversation in Ronaldo's hairdresser. You heard it here first!

We should be hoping Arteta either turns Arsenal around or goes soon. The risk of us losing Vieira increases with every month that Arteta lasts. If Arteta were to be sacked at the end of the season and Palace finish in top half then there would be quite a high chance that Arsenal will come for Vieira. Before Christmas Vieira would still be a big risk for Arsenal.

People are bound to speculate about Patrick Vieira returning to Arsenal as manager. I even heard of him being suggested as a possible replacement for Mikel Arteta before the season began, at least by one of the few who wasn't making the lazy comparison with Frank de Boer and predicting he'd be a total disaster. Don't seem to hear much from that crowd anymore.

Yes, there may come a time when Arsenal make an approach for Vieira, but just because he used to play for them doesn't necessarily mean they will, or that he'll jump ship as soon as he gets the chance. A lot of players do return to their old clubs in coaching or managerial roles, but in most cases they don't and instead make a living elsewhere. Vieira may feel he has some emotional ties at Arsenal and will always be a club legend there, but they all relate to his playing days which are now long behind him.

Most if not all of his ex-teammates and coaches will have moved on by now. It won't be the same place he once knew, which is literally the case as the team doesn't even play at the same ground anymore. His role and reputation in the game is completely different now too, and since he left Arsenal in 2005 many of the club's fans will barely remember him as a player. What exactly then would he be going 'back' to?

There are exceptions, but most managerial appointments have a shelf-life of no more than a few years and it won't be any different with Vieira and Arsenal. What if he isn't able to deliver at a club whose fans weren't happy with only finishing fourth every year (back in the days when they did that)? Could he end up outstaying his welcome, or having to leave under a cloud? For what it's worth, how might that affect his legendary status?

Fans often like to believe, as I have myself, that a former player is bound to somehow understand the club more than anyone else and everything will be rosy if only they were to come back as manager, but it seldom works out the way we hope. Patrick Vieira has started a new chapter in his life, and I doubt he maintains any romantic notions of working for his old employers again at this stage. The past is usually best left where it is, in the past.

Oh, forget it. Who am I trying to kid? Of course, he's as good as gone, and we all know it!