Adams: you must fight to save the old Arsenal

The fall-out following vice-chairman Dein's shock departure rumbles on but Adams, who was close to all the central characters, is sure Arsenal are not about to implode.

Dein arrived at Highbury on the same day as Adams, who went on to make 673 appearances for the club. "I have to say that David Dein has has been absolutely magnificent for Arsenal," said Adams.

"He firmly believed that it was all about the football team. If he could get Arsenal to be successful, then he felt he could do his stuff commercially.

"While we were doing our stuff on the pitch, he was moving mountains off it. Some of us were getting the fame, others were getting the money!

"He has always maintained that the players enabled him to do it off the pitch. He may have upset some of them at times, but he had the club at heart.

"He took a load off manager Arsene Wenger. But Arsene is his own man. He always has been. He makes his own decisions. My experience of Arsene is that he keeps so much in.

"He oversees the coaching, the contracts. He likes doing it all. He can do it all and he does. He has a staff around him who are all very able but he is protective and does it himself. Arsene will undoubtedly be poorer for David's going. But the club won't collapse."

Adams took time out from fronting E.ON's National FA Cup Schools' Day to insist that it does not matter if investment in the club comes from abroad, just that the Arsenal heritage should be respected.

Prospective owner, American billionaire Stan Kroenke, has not received the rebuttal from chairman Peter Hill-Wood graciously but Adams said: "I love the chairman, as I loved his father. They have fostered the Arsenal spirit.

"The fact is it is special. The location, the history, the people running it. But I don't think it matters who invests in the club as long as the integrity is protected and historical roots maintained.

"Let's face it, if we are talking about foreign investors, what is Danny Fiszman? He's a diamond merchant who does a lot of work in Belgium or wherever.

"But people like him don't come along very often. He wanted to be involved and to invest money but did not want control, he didn't want too much influence. These people normally want something for their investment. He has bought into it."

But Adams does have one regret about the current Arsenal regime and that is their failure to hang on to older players to pass on their experience to the youngsters.

"I think they have missed Dennis Bergkamp this year," he said. "All the experienced players retired and moved on at the same time - Martin Keown, Sol Campbell, Patrick Vieira. I would have liked a bit more of an evolution.

"All the young Arsenal players have fantastic gifts but no one to turn around say: 'This is what we do here'. I was taught by Kenny Sansom and people before me.

"I once told David Dein they had to hang on to Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell but the pair of them went together as well. They have gone and there doesn't seem to be anyone who can pass on what was passed down to me."