FOR a few seconds at Highbury on Saturday it was almost possible to believe that George Graham had returned to manage Arsenal. As soon as he emerged from the players' tunnel the home crowd, preferring to recall the honours his teams had won rather than the murky circumstances of his dismissal, gave him a standing ovation.
The illusion, however, was fleeting.
Instead of turning right to sit in the Arsenal dug out he had occupied for nine hears Graham moved left to join the Leeds United bench which has been his lot for seven weeks.
Within 44 seconds Dixon had given Arsenal the lead. Another five minutes and Bergkamp had increased it, leaving Graham trying to make ends meet near the bottom of the table.
It would be hard to guess precisely which aspect of Leeds's fifth defeat in six league games since Graham succeeded Howard Wilkinson at Elland Road caused him more discomfort the supine state of his new team or the way his old one posed, preened and pirouetted once it became obvious that an emphatic win was theirs for the asking.
Graham's Arsenal would hardly have dared take such liberties. Presumably, under Arsene Wenger, a spot of Froujrou is in order every now and then, although Saturday's most pragmatic Arsenal performance was provided by a Frenchman, Patrick Vieira.
Not that Highury will be concerning itself with such niceties for the moment. Arsenal overnight Premier League leaders the previous weekend, are now assured of top place for at least a week. With Adams and Bergkamp restored to the team moreover they have the means to mount a serious championship challenge.
"We are defensively strong and with the good technical players we have in midfield we can be dangerous against any team, said Wenger, hardly needing to add that with Bergkamp and Wright united up front Arsenal's match winning potential is on paper, formidable.
A 3-0 win is a 3-0 win, but against Saturday's opposition it would have been easy to get an exaggerated idea of Arsenal's present quality.
Graham, by contrast, is under no illusions about the enormity of his task at Leeds. "It's going to take some time to get things right," he said.
Persuading the disaffected Tomas Brolin to play again would be a start. "He should come back and fulfil his contract with Leeds United," Graham insisted, "not just for us but for his own good.
"I'd like to be able to buy three outstanding players tomorrow," Graham continued, but I'd be a tool to think I can go straight from basement to penthouse. Maybe I'll have to settle for something in between to get some solidity into the side. Perhaps he should give John Jensen a ring.
Vieira's surge past Beesley, with Couzens in vain pursuit, set up the opening goal for Dixon. Radebe's failure to keep an eye on both Bergkamp and a dropping ball led to the Dutchman scoring a sweetly angled second, and the only surprising thing about Wright's third for Arsenal was that Highbury had to wait another 50 minutes for it.
