Arsenal outclass the gallant Magpies

HE IS foreign and he has won two trophies out of the three domestic prizes available this season. Familiar?

Arsene Wenger, however, unlike Wim Jansen, is certain to be in charge of Arsenal next season. The Frenchman's contract ends next month but said after the game that he would be sitting down to talk about the new one shortly.

''We will also get down to discussing plans for next season.'' said the dignified Wenger, whose walkabout at Wembley after the completion of the double - they, like Celtic, won the league championship - was in contrast to the way Jansen was tossed up in the air by fans after the Parkhead club's league title win.

Wenger is a close friend of Jansen and confessed he was surprised the Dutchman had left Celtic . . . ''But I don't know what happened behind the scenes,'' he added diplomatically.

Wenger won the major cup competition in Japan when his team beat the one managed by Jensen. ''I got to know him there. He is a great coach and I think he has done a remarkable job at Celtic, just as he did in Holland and Japan.

''It is not a coincidence that he has been a success everywhere he has been. For any club to lose quality people is sad and I don't know who Celtic will go for now. From what I heard Wim wanted to go and that is a surprise. But you must always give the new man a chance.''

It is certainly the case that Wenger has not disappointed the faith the London club placed in him. His team were never in any danger of missing out on of the double they last achieved in 1971 against a Newcastle side that had very little to offer in the way of creativity. In fact, Arsenal were no great shakes themselves but they would be entitled to be a little jaded after such a demanding but successful season.

As ever, the FA Cup final is about an occasion rather than a football match. There is nothing quite like it, a stage-managed spectacular that invariably tears at the emotions of the lucky folk who are present.

There was, for instance, the moving sight of Kenny Dalglish emerging from the tunnel at the head of his team holding the hand of the disabled boy who was the Newcastle mascot for the day. While Arsenal went on ahead, Dalglish went at the slower pace of the delighted young man all the way to the front of the main stand. Sometimes you actually do feel proud to have anything to do with this silly old business.

To suggest nowadays that a hymn be sung before a football match would be treated with astonishment, yet ''Abide With Me'' was sung all around the grand old stadium with great gusto.

It is a hard heart that does not beat a little faster as the supporters of both teams, their colours (black and white ARE colours if you are a Newcastle fan) raised in the air chorused ''Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me.''

In this instance, the man upstairs let us have sunshine, a glorious brightness that completed the backdrop for England's finest sporting hour.

Very few finals ever live up to that build-up and this one was another that fell below the standard we are entitled to expect. Arsenal did have some moments of inspiration, nearly all of them when Ray Parlour was involved.

Glenn Hoddle must be well off for midfielders for the World Cup if he can ignore Parlour, who gave a perfomance of astonishing energy and brilliant invention that made him the man of the match by a long distance.

Other than him and Marc Overmars, the Arsenal side was workmanlike, well organised and sound in defence. They have pace in every department, too, sometimes startling speed, as was demonstrated by Christopher Wreh on one occasion when he gave Steve Howey four yards of a start over 20 yards and still flew past him.

In a sense that was a cameo of the game. Arsenal looked faster, more athletic, and more confident than Newcastle, whose best spell came just after half-time when they hit the bar through Nikolaos Dabizas and the post through Alan Shearer.

The Geordies might have snatched an equaliser at the time, to nullify the goal scored by Overmars from a superb pass by Emmanuel Petit after 23 minutes, but it is difficult to imagine that even then they would have won in the end.

Arsenal made certain there would be no recovery after 69 minutes, when Nicolas Anelka scored a fine goal from a superb pass by Parlour.

Then it was on to the celebrations, with Arsenal very reluctant to leave the field at all. In the same circumstances, who wouldn't feel likewise?

Best of all, though, were the fans of Newcastle, who stayed on at the end and applauded the London players as they received the trophy. Sportsmanship reared its pretty head. Now that is something special.

Naturally, Wenger made a point of saying thanks to the Newcastle fans. So did Dalglish, who was obviously deeply disappointed but was right to say that his players couldn't have given him any more. They tried and tried but the truth is they weren't at the Blaydon races.

qEngland captain Alan Shearer admitted yesterday that he apologised to Tony Adams immediately after Saturday's FA Cup final at Wembley.

The two men had clashed when Shearer went in late on Adams and was rightly booked.

Shearer said: ''I told Tony Adams that I was sorry after the game. I don't feel I made contact but wanted to make certain that everything was okay with him.

''I'm certain we'll not get over it for the next couple of days. But I've got things to look forward to with England and I've got to put this disappointment to the back of my mind.''