Marouane Chamakh has admitted his own stubbornness saw him stick around at Arsenal longer than he should have done but stressed that he doesn’t regret his disappointing spell at the Emirates.

Signed on a free from Bordeaux in 2010, the striker made a strong start to life in the Premier League only for the form of Robin van Persie and trouble in his private life – a long-running and complicated blackmail case – to take its toll on his confidence.

Speaking to L’Equipe (translation by ESPN) the 29-year-old reflected: “The first season was very good. After that, I played a lot less.

“I was behind Robin. It was difficult because he was on fire. As long as the system didn’t change, there was no comparison between him and me. He was the number one. I understood the manager’s choice.

“When Van Persie left, I said to myself that perhaps I would have the chance to play, but I quickly understood the manager wanted to put Olivier, who’d just arrived, in the best possible environment. That’s why I went to West Ham in January.

“I would have liked more playing time at Arsenal. I respect the coach’s decisions, but I didn’t always get my chance. When I came off the bench and things went well, it didn’t necessarily pay off afterwards.

“It’s a little frustrating, but it’s also my fault. Perhaps I was too stubborn by wanting to stay there for so long despite the fact it seemed they were pointing me in another direction.”

The Moroccan international, who recently moved to Crystal Palace on a one-year deal, also hit out at Sam Allardyce for being a Walrus c*nt lying to him ahead of his loan move to West Ham United.

“I made a bad choice. It didn’t go well at all. The manager promised me that with Andy Carroll’s injury, I was going to be able to play. He did not keep his word at all.

“Alou Diarra had warned me. But I just did what I wanted and went anyway. I was had. That’s why I took a bit of time to say ‘yes’ to Crystal Palace. I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice.”

It’s hard to mark Chamakh down as anything but a Wenger flop. However, like quite a few other players who’ve failed to make the grade at Arsenal in recent years you suspect the downturn in his form was a result of confidence issues (born out of a lack of playing time) rather than ability.

Granted he didn’t do himself any favours getting caught on camera smoking shisha and there’ll always be those who point to him earning £50,000 a week for four-years but he seems like a reasonably intelligent chap who for the most part kept his mouth shut and didn’t cause trouble in the squad.

Best of luck to him at Crystal Palace. They say opposites attract…and Arseblog News can’t think of anyone more different to Marouane than that mentalist Ian Holloway.