"The rumours that there were problems with Robbie and the management at Anfield went on for a year but were always denied by Gerard Houllier.
"Then he suddenly left, which shocked me. He is a world-class player, one that we've been linked with over the years, so you'd have to say it seems odd that Liverpool let him go to one of their rivals.
"Robbie always seemed to do the business against Arsenal so it's good news for us that he won't line up against us this weekend. Maybe it's just coincidence that once he'd left Liverpool, we finally defeated them at Anfield.
"Either way, we'll be confident this weekend."
* 'French connection' - click HERE for more info.