NOT!!!
Feel that way Gooners????
The Merry-go-round seems to be our club these days, we go round and round in circles but never seem to jump off and make a crucial move. One which could take us from top four to top spot in the Premier League. A move which could take us from quarter-finalists in the Champions League to the final and one which would surely see us at Wembley each season with a real chance of winning a domestic trophy.
No, we just go round and round without making progress.
This summer we started well in the transfer window, snapping up three quality internationals and we looked a strong unit. Then we sold our top scorer from last season and the best defensive midfielder we had in the squad. Most believe we could cope with the loss of van Persie and Alex Song IF they were replaced but neither have.
Players In:
Lucas Podolski
Olivier Giroud
Santi Cazorla
Dejan Iliev
Players Out:
Carlos Vela
Manuel Almunia
Gavin Hoyte
Alban Bunjaku
Oguzhan Ozyakup
Pedro Botelho
Robin van Pursestrings
Kyle Bartley
Alex ‘Messi’ Song
Henri Lansbury
On Loan:
Joel Campbell
Denilson
Samuel Galindo
Benik Afobe
Ryo Miyaichi
Wellington Silva
Daniel Boateng
Park Chu-Young
Nicklas Bendtner
The first question is, why the heck did we sell Henri Lansbury and Kyle Bartley if we weren’t going to strengthen in the defence or midfield?
Why did we sell Alex Song if we weren’t going to sign someone better than him?
Why have we let Nik go on loan when all we now have in reserve is Chamakh?
Why have we sold Vela, after all, he’s a better option than Chamakh….
Why did Park not even get a chance?
And why the heck have we not sold Craig Eastmond?
But the biggest question is:
Why the heck as Arsene Wenger not assembled a stronger squad than he has?
It’s not funny any more, it’s embarrassing and it’s detrimental to our club.
Yes, it is our club, we are the ones who buy season tickets, merchandise and pay a monthly fee for the Arsenal player and what do we get in return?
Fobbed off, that’s what we get, bloody fobbed off.
Promised by Ivan Gazidis that we would make a signing this summer which will leave all fans excited (or something similar), well who was that then?
Please don’t say Podolski because IG’s comments were made after he signed.
Maybe it’s the young goalkeeper we have signed? No, it’s not him either and it certainly isn’t Olivier Giroud is it, even he would admit that.
No, it’s wool, pulled over our eyes in big clumps…
All that is left is to hope that this squad remain injury free and the forward players soon find their shooting boots and if the younger players are called upon, they step up and show a bit of Arsenal spirit.
A bit of spirit that this current board and manager have not. Yet again!
As usual, we have pretty much balanced the books with our selling and signing of players.
That’s my rant over, now it’s time to get behind the team, starting tomorrow at Anfield.
Have a good day all….
1st…somewhere we won’t see for a while..
Morning Rico. Very restrained. Angry, but restrained. So, Wenger must think that our squad an compete in all competitions and that it is strong enough. Is this the case?
Oh good post…Shame about the reason for it.
Morning all and there’s not much good in it as far as Arsenal are concerned….
Totally agree on Lansbury and Bartely. Why didn’t we keep Afobe as back-up rather than loan him? As for the Squid, surely a deal could be done to terminate his contract? What’s he being paid for?!!!
Morning Adam,
Had to adhere to my own ‘rules’ I guess but I am very angry. We have all been let down again. As Scott said, even just sign M’Vila or Capoue would have given us a better chance.
By doing so, we gain another creative player in Arteta…
Still, we have Craig Eastmond to fill that role…!
I didn’t mention Squilli as I’m hoping he will yet go, the French TW doesn’t shut for a few days yet…
As wil sell van persil why not board try and buy a sharp attacker that wil assïst djerud
Thanks GM… Shame it didn’t turn out as a very upbeat and positive one eh, blame SK and those who follow him….
I ask you This would you rather have RVP, Chamackh, Bendtner, Vela, Denilson, Song,
Or giroud, podolski, wilshere, Ox, walcot, arteta, ramsey, Cazorla.
Kolo toure or Vermealen?
We have a better squad than 5 years ago in my opinion.
The best teams in history have been full of good players collectively being great, not one or two superstars holding a team together. FACT!
Or Campbell Neill?
Why didn’t we try and get his visa and keep him, no, bloody Chamakh again, unless he departs to France in the next few days which is of course possible.
unfortunately the club has been operating in this manner for years now and they know there is nothing you fans can do about it. you will still turn up and fill the stadium on match day.
if you listened attentively to Arsene, you will have realized he says nothing new and wasn’t adding to the squad.
So what are you going to do?
Well we pray 4 the better most and a successful season.
dropgoal.
Its not about having one group or the other, it’s about keeping the best of them as a squad. That’s what the manager gets paid for and the owner should be ensuring that he does.
The idea is to sort the good from the bad, get rid of the bad and replace them….
Good Morning Rico et al.
I concur with Adam’s response. One small quibble regarding ‘Robin van Moneybags’. I thought we had adopted the convention of ‘Robin van Pursestrings’.
gaya – hope that AU soon makes SK an offer, that is what I’m going to do. Get a man with ambition in and see what AW does then…
If he won’t change, then there is only one answer.
But all the time the silent one in the USA does nothing, we are stuck on our merry-go-round….
Morning CG –
I’m sorry I got that wrong, I will change it immediately…
Now we know why RVP released his infamous statement. He was right all along about the ambition of the club. 2 first team players one with 30 goals and the other with 14 assist sold and no replacement. If Giroud gets injured that means we will be having Chamack who has zero confidence, afraid to shoot when he gets into goal scoring position. God forbid wilshere suffers a set back from recovery or Diaby goes back to the treatment table. Wenger clearly identifies the weakness in the team. A DM and a versatile defender but what happened on deadline day, he signed a keeper who will not take part during the seasons proceeding. We ve always being 3/4 players short of challenging for trophies. Sorry to say this, Wenger and the board are content with top 4 which is seen as a trophy. They don’t have the interest of the club at heart. They are only interested in balancing the book. £60m from the Nasribregas sale is still in the coffers not taking into account profits realized from previous seasons, gate takings, properties, tv broadcasting, sponsors(jersey), tours etc.
The list of those sold and loaned exc rvp song added nothing to the team/squad. So not being replaced is an irrelevance. We have sold 2 significant players and bought 3. Overall we are stronger. Add to that diaby and jack, missing the whole os last season (out come moans diaby will be injured again-mystic megs) then the squad does look much better. Walcott clearly will get his chance thru the mid as he wishes (no-i dont like him) and i expect 2 reserves to come thru and have a big impact. Ala the Ox did, who i expect to be a major player
Neill — I believe an offer was made to Squillaci to buyout his contract, but it was declined.
Well said emma, spot on….
i love arsenal, i go home and away but im all out of hope, it seems the only way out is for us to do badly, finish mid-table its only then that maybe we can have proper change, kroenke is the worst thing to ever happen in 126 years, arsene has run out of ideas and time, gazides is totally hopeless just kroenkes mouthpiece, those 3 run the club, there is NO board, just them, i cant believe they have bought me to this place = i dont care anymore
https://twitter.com/MickTheGooner/status/241816835471835136
Very annoying n humiliating.Now I get the logic of Arsene – trynna input the ”believe in yourself” spirit into the lads he’s got on ground.Now the question is,if Giroud gets injured for a long time,who will replace him?.Let no one tell me it will be Chamakh!
SS – i ddin’t say those out were relevant did I??
My point is, before the transfer window we need to sign quality players to catch up with the rest, we did that but then sold two players in key positions, both of which have NOT been replaced.
We all know how good Chamberlain is but if you think it’s in order to rely on him this season then fine. I don’t, he’s a young player who is still growing and if he plays every game, he will end up where Jack is now…
Injured….!
emma – i was just looking for those details, spooky. I knew we had sold off some land etc, but couldn’t remember where.
£100m – what a joke, half of that would have made us serious contenders but no, lets save it shall we Arsenal…
Nasri, Fabregas, RVP, Song, clichy, leave. Cazorla, Wilshere, Podolski, giroud, gervinho, arteta come in your point is? ultimately players come and go from clubs it is the nature of the modern game. Do you think this team can win anything?
sad gooner – no matter what is going on, i can’t join your hope to finish mid table…
Maybe it is Cazorla – hes an exciting player!
But you are correct we do need strengthening in some areas.
On the face of it we sold 2 first team starters and bought 3.
2 strikers to replace RVPs goals and 1 super midfielder to up our creative input.
It seems to me that le boss has once again put his faith in youth to be the cover. Jenks is now firmly in place as Sagnas understudy. Arteta seems to now be Songs replacement in what he was supposed to be doing on the pitch with le Coq as his apprentice. His gambled that Diaby will stay fit but if not then Frimpong will step up. Then we have Jack to bed back in after his injury along with the Ox to help out Santi in the creative stakes, leaving Ramsey and Rosicky to fill in where needed in midfield.
Dropgoal the latter players you have mentioned aren’t fit to tie the bootlaces of the former I am afriad, that is the point.
drop – you are totally missing my point…
Apart from rooney, Gerrard and all the Barca team who in the modern game will stay with their clubs for their whole career.
Seriously man Im sick of it…Dont know why to support the club because for it is reduced to a football corporation rather than club, Only thing they care about is economy no value no emotions, And we fans wait whole week for weekend match.
Most of All, I despise the way Wenger manipulates his statements like we are fools. One day he says one thing next the other.When he knew Fab and Nasri would leave he kept on saying they would not and didnot find replacement(delayed transfer to get max money..again money..doesnt explain replacement) and to this day he put last season’s starting debacle on those two leaving.
And I smile smile when read I WILL ONLY BRING QUALITY PLAYERS, what like park, Chamakh…
At first you feel maybe he doesnot know what is happening but then you it is very calculated strategy to fool the fans.In the end they just want to make maximum profits out of Fans moneywith without admitting the club no longer has any ambition.
Writing this I ask myself What I loved about this club is longer there in it, why am i wasting time like loosers….
eastisdepaul. those players that cant tie the boot laces won what exactly?
Deise, Frimps is injured, he’s not even back training yet, he’s months away from a return and then no doubt he’ll need to go on loan. His ability and temperament is still in question too..
Also, relying on Diaby, Jack and Rosicky is a very dangerous game being played by AW….
Okay hear me out –
Arsenal FC can more than compete with the likes of City, Chelsea and United. Apart from the first name mentioned we could easily blow the others out of the water financially. Usmanov has previously offered to pay off all stadium debt for one mere place on the board, but they have refused?
Why?
What do they have to gain by keeping Arsenal financially crippled? We could go out in January and buy that league from in under city and United, no problem, hell with the people we have in place we could dominate and still be self sufficient.
Please comment, I would like to discuss this.
dropgoal – i realise that players leave, that isn’t the problem, it’s who replaces them that is. In this particular case, it’s no-one!
Where is our DM??
Oh I agree rico – but im saying that seems to be the thinking from le boss, dangerous indeed….
I must admit to being a bit disappointed, especially when santa came to spurs and City and didn’t stop at out chimney. But upon reflection, santa did come to us this year… or should I say santi. Undoubtably the buy of the window for all teams in my opinion.
Yes we didn’t get any presents last night, but I still reckon we are much better placed than last year for the following reasons:
1) Santi will be a revelation
2) More height in the team (better defensively and offensively – give them time to gel) – the game against stoke showed that we will not be vulnerable in the air again
3) Wilshire will be back
4) Ox, Gibbs, Szcesney, Jenkinson are a year older, which is a big difference at their age
5) The team feels rejuvenated and is less reliant on the big star
6) In podolski we will be more direct
7) In giroud, we have a genuine centre forward who can hold the ball up and play others in – he will be a threat in the air
There is a slight worry that if a couple of key guys get injured that we will be lightweight, but I doubt many superstars want to come to arsenal to sit on the bench waiting for injuries.
I do not think we will miss van purse-strings or songinho at all, but time will tell on that one.
Chin up guys, we are not doing so bad! And if you really want to look on the bright side we still have a chance of being invincible this year!
Well Nasri and Clichy have won the league. Fabregas has already won trophies with Barca. And please don’t turn around and say they are not better players….
Hi Esp – I have no idea what the answers are… I sure wish I did. I just want SK gone, if he had any backbone, he’d be on AW’s back to make us stronger…
I love this comment because they are dictate
am i the only one that feels good this morning? we have a good squad and more important steve bould. we dont see the players in training so we cant judge wenger yet. apart from man city no other team has a better squad. spuds have changed their entire middle. it will be hard for them to gel and when they do the boys would have been separated from the men. i am expecting a top 2 finish and a carling cup
“The first question is, why the heck did we sell Henri Lansbury and Kyle Bartley if we weren’t going to strengthen in the defence or midfield?”
This is the first question? Replacing 2 players with a total of 3 league appearances for Arsenal between them is your biggest worry?
“And why the heck have we not sold Craig Eastmond?”
Because he’s looking very good for the reserves. Because Frimpong has suffered another very serious injury and we’d rather have Eastmond as an emergency backup than any of the other young players.
Anyway, I am also a bit worried about the state of the 1st team squad (just found it a bit strange as to why you’re questioning the way the club has handled these inexperienced reserves who are unlikely to impact the 1st team this season anyway.
For the current side to succeed, we need at these 2 things to happen:
1 To avoid any more serious injuries to the defenders and arteta
2 Giroud and/or Podolski have to come good
If these things happen, we’ll be a strong side. If not, we’ll be in real trouble for the first time since Wenger took over. They could also be positively affected by Wilshere’s return or if arshavin (somehow) regains his early form.
The way we controlled the games against Stoke and Sunderland was highly impressive imo. We need to add the finishing touches in attack, which could well happen, as long as we don’t suffer any further injuries.
won at Arsenal ?
And do we dare admit that Clichy is better now than he was in his last couple of seasons with us?
But Gibbs will be better I think, eventually…
Today is the toughest day guys. It will get better over time. Going through the stages of grief takes time. I realized this a few transfer windows ago, so I am already at acceptance. Dropgoal etc, our squad maybe stronger, but not enough to compete for a trophy sorry. We were not good enough last year either, only for a fluke season by V’pursestrings and terrible season by Chelsea made us look better than we were. I for one will now be happy for 4th.
Sorry Deise – i’m on my high horse today 😉
To answer some of your rhetorical questions:
Lansbury clearly not believed to be as good as what we’ve got (and we have zillions of midfielders). Lansburyis a front of midfield player and you are saying we need aD M.
Bartley is not as good as Miquel and the latter gives us cover at LB.
Bendtner has made it clear he wants to leave and is a disruptive influence.
Vela once scored a good goal but is flashy and over-hyped.
Chamakh is definitely a better option than Vela and provides back-up for Giroud.
Park remains a mystery but how do you give him a chance in the very tight circumstances which attended every game last season.
Maybe no-one has made an offer for Eastmond and he is unlikely to be in the squad.
Where would you have strengthened the squad?
Defense – three worldclass CBs and an excellent back-up in Djourou; no problems at FB – Gibbs has recently looked as good as he promised to be; Sagna is the best RB in the PL, Jenkinson is hugely under-rated and looks real class albeit with a bit to learn. Santos is at least a potential game-changer – for either side!
Midfield – Arteta is now brilliant at shielding the back four; Coquelin is his understudy and is growing rapidly into a really good player; don’t forget he has played a whole season in Ligue 1 earning high praise; then there is Frimpong; the slot alongside Arteta can be filled by Diaby, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, or Cazorla; playmakers are Cazorla, Arshavin and Rosicky (and Wilshere). Wide we have Podolski, Walcott, Gervinho and Arshavin; then upfront we have Podolski, Giroud Walcott and Chamakh.
It’s a fantastic squad – no marquee players but we have always created those rather than buy them.
Yes I would like to have Hazard and maybe Kagawa but none of the other signings look any better than ours.
Rico i think arsenal will move from 1 deeper lying midfielder to 2 with Arteta, Diaby, wilshere, coquelin and frimpong filling those roles. Cazorla, ramsey, ox in CAM with 2 wide men and a striker. this gives us more protection seen in the first two games?
@rico – arteta is our DM, as he was last season. Song’s passing will be more sorely missed than his defensive play, which was important, but Diaby can cover that well enough, it seems.
I guess we’re banking on Wilshere returning well, because he really can replace Song.
clichy? he only benefitted from city strong midfield…. the only player i really miss is nobody. clichy will have less playing time in a 352 system
looking forward to the pool match… will be a tight classic. forward line of giroug gerv and walcott for me with pold comming from the bench
Hi slugboy..
We have positives I know and the points you raise are all valid but we have £100M sitting in the bank.
Why not sign a DM?
A striker better than Chamakh?
A keeper better than Fabianski and Mannone
And yes, injuries – should we get our usual quota, we’ll be in deep do do….
By 2014 we will be having new sponsorship deals which definitely will generate a huge amount of windfall for the club. We can compete with the likes of Chelsea, Mancity and utd like eastsidepaul rightly said but it looks like le professeur and the board are content with our top 4 finish. Take a look at Bayern Munich, they identified the weak link in the team and spent £35m to get Javier Martinez but Arsenal identified the weak link in the team and got a goalkeeper who is not going to play a part in this campaign. Lets just hope that Arteta doesn’t get injured when we need him in the big games. I wouldn’t want to put my eggs on Coquelin/Frimpong because they are still learning the trade and they need to go on loan to a PL club for one season to consistently play. Lets just hope that Jenkinson is able to hold on until sagna returns, I see him as a disaster waiting to happen. He also needs a season long loan in a PL club. I hope at the end of the season we don’t look back to say we wish we had strengthened those positions on transfer deadline day
Nothing much to say other than get behind the team and hope for the best.
COYGs!!!
davi – I’d rather see a true gooner like Lansbury stay and get his chance, and I’d certainly rather Bartley on the bench than Squilli..
But, that’s just my view.
I’m not sold on Eastmond, I think he’s rubbish, just again my own view…
Injuries… they are a huge worry….
for me i think the only player wenger should have signed is m’villa as song’s replacement but we all know its not his fault rather its kronke’s greed that is secretly denting our club’s image. I think it is the right time for usmanov to step into the board. As for poldi and oliver they would surely start scoring very soon.
Morning everyone. The thing is that we have a strong squad and i believe that we will finish in the top 4 again. The problem is AGAIN that another huge opportunity was handed to mr Wenger and the board to make this side highly competitive compared with Manchester clubs. Always one or two players away from being a top team yet noone arrives when it matters.. Frustrated!
Hi joyswed, I’ll feel better once my day of ranting is over… 😉
davi – that kind of proves my point really, Arteta is our Dm, but he isn’t A Dm so why are we playing him as one? By doing so we lose his creativity.
He’s a super player but we need him at the other end of the pitch 😉
Song, i won’t miss him at all. My point is he was meant to be our DM, once he left we should have signed one, a proper one.
Had we got Capoue or M’Vila yesterday I would feel a whole lot better today…
Rico — Re: “I just want SK gone, if he had any backbone, he’d be on AW’s back to make us stronger.” Does the fault lie with Wenger not wanting to spend or does it lie with Silent Stan not giving him enough money to spend? We know Wenger is a very thrifty manager, but is that his choice or him making the most of his situation? I don’t know.
While I am not as pessimistic as many posters about the team’s chances this season.; it is very plain that many supporters are angry and disappointed with the club’s operating policies.
https://twitter.com/samuelj29060/status/241827447929184256
martinez for 35 million is a waste of money.the only players in that bracket or worth more play for barca, madrid. do you think munich went trophy less because they lacked defensive midfielders…no. saying jenks is a disaster waiting to happen shows how much footballing knowledge you have. he will surely have a bad day like every epl player and coach but he is definitely a good player
There’s a lot of ‘hopes’ in there emma 😉
Hi gunnernet – big missed opportunity by the club, and AW said if he didn’t buy yesterday he would do in December…
Thats a worry because the next transfer window opens in January 😉
rico – I was hoping Lansbury would get a chance as well, but to be fair, his first touch has never looked up for it. I’m a bit sad he’s moved on, but I can understand why he hasn’t made it.
I’m more excited about Yenaris at the moment. He’s never looked out of his depth at 1st team level and shows real leadership.
Eastmond has had good and bad 1st team games, but seeing him recently, he’s much stronger now, and also looks like a leader in the reserve games. How well that could translate to 1st team football, I don’t know, but I trust the judgement of the management on these issues. The only reason a really good player would leave from our youth set up, Ozzy for example, is because they wanted to.
emma, sorry for questioning your footballing brain but i am sure jenks will also feel bad when he hears that despite his good performances this season
he is still a disaster waiting to happen
And the worst part is that these signings are affordable. If not Capoue or Tiote why the heck no Biglia then? He was offered to us at a cut price and we were desperate for a DM.
NO PLAYER IS BIGGER THAN ARSENAL FOOTBALL CLUB.
We will be a success in business and on the pitch as usual and only our unity will bring trophies.
Wenger must go….he said the same words as last year”if a top top player is on the market we will buy”‘Bluffing,excuses Where has the money of RVP gone???To the piggy to balance the books…shame
rico – “that kind of proves my point really, Arteta is our Dm, but he isn’t A Dm so why are we playing him as one? By doing so we lose his creativity. ”
He played the same last year and we only won a single game when he was missing. We’ve been excellent defensively in our 1st 2 games this season, and a big part of that is because Arteta has been controlling our midfield. He may have played wide right or as an AM for Everton, but he was schooled as a CM in the Guardiola-mould. He’s been brilliant in that defensive role, and I there are not many players I’d rather see doing his job. The bigger concern is whether young players like Coquelin and Frimpong are good enough, or are going to be available enough, to step in when Mikel is injured or needs a rest.
gunnernet… fans were desperate not wenger. if he wanted one he would have gotten one. sahin is no defensive midfielder. we stopped playing with one years ago. last season i always felt song was playing to instruction hence his songinho displays
.
From what I’ve seen, M’vila is a less experienced version of Arteta. He’d be a good backup for that position, and could surely contribute playing next to Arteta, but I wouldn’t want him to play in the DM position ahead of Arteta.
spot on davi
joywed – No problem questioning my footballing brain 🙂
I guess we are all entitle to our own opinion.
I feel Jenks needs to go on a season long loan to play consistently if we have gotten a versatile fullback in the transfer market. Lets see how he will react when he comes against a team that attacks. He will be tested tomorrow against Liverpool, so lets see how he comes through.
Hi joywedsjeff,I think I strongly concur with your inscriptions.The team is stronger than last season’s and will do better with the help of SB as the defence marshal.COYG keep the faith!
i find it hard to believe what some fans alters out of there mouth, u kept on saying if! and if!! our best players got injured tell me isnt it possible for a player to play a whole season without getting injured or minor injury of a wk or 2wk. pls and pls lets be positive with whats on our mind. van persie is a good example u all could remember how he escape 1 and half years without a fever. thanks
CG – that’s half the problem, we don’t know for sure.
Even if the club come out and say AW has money to spend, do we know they are truthing?
But then AW says he would happily buy a ‘special player’ but he doesn’t, why, because there are plenty out there if he really wanted to sign one..
If only SK would speak eh…
emma… lets wait till tomorrow.thats when we will be able to properly judge our team. prof steve… hows naija? are you really a prof
I am afraid Rico that in January a search for a top top player might be well underway but no club will be willing to sell their top players in the middle of the campaign. Only potential deal? Shipping Walcott for 8 m max. That would be our business then. And a man who admits that he will reinforce his squad in 4 months is deluded. Last year he was moaning that winter’s tranfer window should be shut.
Pretty nice post, sad though. Like some poetry. We certainly needed (actually, need but none will come now) a DM and a Striker to relieve some weight from Giroud’s back and to compete with him. This is not frienship Ligue 1, it’ll take some time before Giroud proves himself. I’m not disappointed about not signing “top, top, top players”, the disappointment comes with AW not replacing Song and RVP. It’s actually nice that we don’t waste money on super stars like Messi or CR7, but that we sign average, sell our worldclass and don’t replace them just invite us to think that RVP statement was pure and true: There’s a lack of ambition. This is not a trophy-winner squad, it’s just another Valencia/Udinese team with the money of a Man Utd/Madrid club. Saddes true. I’m sorry, I’m pissed off this morning as most of us gunners.
davi – we’ll just have to agree to differ on that one 😉
I can recall a few games where our midfield was awful, gaping holes everywhere but I blame Song for that and the fact that AW sold him so quickly suggests to me that he thought the same…
joyswed – I love Jenks and he seems a different player to last season, he’ll just get better and better imho….
But lets see how he does against more attacking sides, teams with left sided players with pace..
Glass half full – Arteta as a DM is more disciplined than Song, is a better passer and has more nous on the field. Sure id have liked a new DM brought in but Arteta did a great job in the 2 games so far. And as for Songs creative side – well Arteta has a better shot in him and can hit a mean free kick every now and then. Plus theres this little fella called Santi who IS the creative hub of this team
Prof – i’d have to agree that the side is a little stronger than last season, but it’s still not strong enough to really compete.
Maybe once the goals go in, I’ll cheer up a bit 😉
agree rico… i will judge wenger tomorrow and not in may. pold two weeks excuse is over
Welcome to those just joining HH this morning, and it’s good to see that we can all agree, disagree, and debate without insulting each other… Thanks…
Note this mr wenger reserve center defence post for emmanuel fripong.thanks
I totally agree with this post. This is bullshit! Its a conspiracy. I don’t care how they share the blame, I’m tired of AW’s wrinkled face and stupid lies. Sir Alex had the decency to announce he was done with signings while AW kept telling us lies about Sahin not being a defensive Mid fielder. What did he think he played before he approached Madrid to sign him? Its bullshit! We watch for trophies, players play for trophies, I don’t care what happens outside victory. This is a sport not wall street. I’m gonna watch every game because I love the club but I don’t have faith in their madness anymore
joyswed – tomorrow we will be up against an attacking team, if there is any game to open our scoring it will against liverpool. Win tomorrow and we’ll be on our way…
Glad that Kos is back, hopefully Ches will be too as the thought of Mannone against Suarez really frightens me…
gunnernet – imho Theo will shortly sign a new contract and he’ll be moved off of the wing into the middle, the reason why I think AW didn’t sign another striker.
bigsanty… hope the boys give you something to cheer about tomorrow.
I totally agree with this post. This is bullshit! Its a conspiracy. I don’t care how they share the blame, I’m tired of AW’s wrinkled face and stupid lies. Sir Alex had the decency to announce he was done with signings while AW kept telling us lies about Sahin not being a defensive Mid fielder. What did he think he played before he approached Madrid to sign him? Its bullshit! We watch for trophies, players play for trophies, I don’t care what happens outside victory. This is a sport not wall street. I’m gonna watch every game because I love the club but I don’t have faith in their madness anymore… Fuck Kroenke! Fuck Gazidis!! & Fuck all the Board Members/AW!!! Am tired of there antics tricks to us fans always… Time for USMANOV to come in
BigSanty
I’d rather we heard a bit more honesty, just tell us ‘no more signings’, then we wouldn’t all have had to sit through yesterday hoping….
Calm down Bigsanty, you will give yourself a hernia 😉
calm down… i am sure most people love AU to come in but until then arsenal is still our club and spuds our enemies… we will have the last laugh. 2nd
pride of london
got to go. be back later… lets keep the faith…COYG
davi – imagine a midfield of
Santi, Arteta, M’Vila/Capoue & Ox
Pod and Giroud up top
🙂
Spot on joyweds…. have a good day..
“Yes, it is our club, we are the ones who buy season tickets, merchandise and pay a monthly fee for the Arsenal player and what do we get in return?”
And her with in lies the problem. The sheep will continue to buy the tickets, shirts and merchandise and as long as that continues we will be fed the same shit.
I have done none of this for the last three years and if you get even 20% of spending Arsenal fans to do the same the club revenue will lower considerably and Stans investment wont be as attractive any more. The chances of this happening? Slim to none and slim is out of town.
Understand you Rico, but I’ve lost my respect for AW… Yesterday was really *awful when nothing happened!
I haven’t either TT, a family member gave me a top from the afc store, i nearly returned it but….
But when we all love a club the way we do, we’ll always want to watch them in every way we can. It’s not the players fault and they’ll always deserve our support….
I got that impression BSanty
Like seeing a lot of newcomers today!
Its a pity its under such circumstances.
Okay this might sound a little crazy.
How about a midfield of
Coq
Ox – Cazorla – Arteta – Podolski
Arshavin
Giroud
Slightly off topic and of slight comfort to those so obviously disappointed with our club’s lack of action in the closing days of the transfer market; but for all the money that Chelski have spent this summer, it was heartening to see Atletico Madrid rip them a new one in the European Super Cup. Atletico pressured Chelski from the start neber letting them find their rythm for more than a few minutes. Chelski were ohasing shadows and giving Atletico players
Part II – plenty of space and time to dribble, pass, and shoot. It helped to ease my disappointment.
Esp, if AA has the same attitude as he has last season, i hope he stays firmly rooted to the bench…
It is good to see many new bloggers, hopefully most will come back another day….
Hi just a thought
When we sold fabregas and na$ri was the money put in a pot for 12 months so the finances looked better than they really are?
The reason i came to this we spent £40m this year
that came in the main from Fab (whatever barca paid us up front) and na$ri
plus agent’s fees we were never going to buy anymore players in this window
The season before we bought Arteta, Ox, Gerviniho, Merts, Santos
approx £47+m
and that came from the City cash from Ade, toure, ect 12 months before that
What i am worried about is who will we be selling end of this season that can genarate £40m to make the books look good Vermaelen?, Sagna?, Wilshire?
And who will we replace them with from the money we got from Van persie, Song, Vela, ect £42m
It is a merry go round but if we dont get CL football end of this season the players we will attract will be a lot poorer than we got now.
Just look at the Spuds and liverpool you have to pay well over the odds for average players and we dont even pay over the odds for good players!!!!
I can understand (but dont agree) why the board thinks CL football every year is like a cup and will only do enough to qualify in the top 4
CG – reminding me of that has cheered me up somewhat 🙂
I have to go out for a couple of hours, so catch up later….
Have a good day all….
Well said Emma, I agree Jenkinson has still some way to go to hold his own in the EPL. Definitely a position we should have bought in a player.joyweed we will see after tomorrows game just how strong we are, let’s hope no injuries eh, that’s all we need considering where we are postioned on the table. Maybe the new strikers might find the net lol.
Why are arsenal fans so scared to spend money? Why is every arsenal fan all of a sudden some sort of accountant, praising our financial prudence!? It’s fans like these that piss me off no end… Martinez is not a waste of money at 35m euros, whoever said that is a retard who’d rather we kept spending 12-14m, which these days gets you half decent players in the last year of their contract, a up & coming kid or a player you nick from a team in financial trouble..
Why are we trying to sign loanees from chelsea when we are sitting on 100m? This club has become a joke! It’s all well and good saying ‘support the lads on the pitch’ but i’m not paying £125 for a cat A game to see us get beaten & showers of shit like jenkinson, mannone, diaby, ramsey, gibbs, santos, giroud, chamackh, gerboue,podolski, wally & djourou..
Any1 who seriously thinks we’ve a stronger team by somehow selling our 30 goal a season striker, centre mid general who provides 15 assists and having the other major assist provider wanting to leave in the dressing room is , quite frankly, fucking deluded. The players we’ve brought in aren’t nothing to crow about. Carzorla’s only getting so much love because every other player in midfield is sub standard (yes, even Arteta) or a kid.
We’ll finish 6th at best and there’ll still be some ‘fans’ thinking during the next transfer window Arsene will spend and fix it, forgetting we’re now a fucking europa cup outfit and with the renewals coming up soon as well..
Christ, this club is a beyond a joke and trying to keep a smile and positive spin on it just pisses me off even more.
Rant over, where’s my drink?
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4511012/Arsenal-Frank-McLintock-fury-at-club.html
Welcome to those just on this morning…
Rico -“imagine a midfield of
Santi, Arteta, M’Vila/Capoue & Ox”
I’m sure it would be good, but you could replace M’vila/Capoue with Diaby or Wilshere, and I’m not convinced it would suffer (particularly as I’ve never seen Capoue :))
A 4-4-2 formation might be beneficial, though. Podolski’s a good left midfielder, and we could use Walcott or Arshavin up front.
Berger – £100m in our bank, top 4 could easily be top 2 if we spent some of it…
Phil – Even VdW would have been a good addition imho, yes i think Jenks will come good, very good as long as he keeps improving but with Sagna now having suffered two broken legs in the last season, we have to have a concern there. I’d liked us to have signed a versatile defender to cover Rb and Lb…
IG, fans are not afraid to spend the money, the board and AW are…
were fucked!! until usmanov gets in we will never compete…. i hope and prey for protests.
Morning All,
I felt very let down last night that we had not made at least one “Top, top quality signing” in the CF or DM roles. Over the course of this season when injuries occur, and they will, we will be counting on players to step up that are either too inexperienced or quite truthfully, don’t have the skill to do so. Knowing our luck, this lack of strength in depth will be exposed during games against other title contenders or cup knockout games. I just hope that we get plenty of luck with injuries, as we have been due some for the last 6/7 seasons!
On a more positive note, I still think we have a very strong 1st XI to rival most!! Let’s hope we can pick up another clean sheet and also knock a couple in tomorrow or the headlines for the foreseeable future are going to make very grim reading!
COYG!!!
davi – but Jack is still injured and the other, well, who knows how he will play this season 😉
Really must go now, later guys and gals…
Walcott to score 2 tomorrow…. 😉
rico – mbiwa would have been a good versatile defensive signing, from the sounds of it, but I don’t think it would be fair to shove Jenkinson out of the team after his solid start to the season, and I don’t see how Mbiwa get’s into the team otherwise..
later rico
The Arsenal model is not about winning! But just going through the motion!
I give the Americian owner 2 years before he puts the club up for sale.
The quicker these players improve, it’s the faster they are put up for SALE! The mistake anyone of them make by requesting a pay rise, is the faster they are put out to market.
Nobody is praying harder than Wenger, that these strikers start to bag a few goals – so that fans blinkers remain on!
Davi we shouldn’t leave Jenks out of the squad, however he still needs time that will allow him to show what he’s made of. But we do need to replace Song and that’s a big hole at the moment as he was so important to Arsenal on and off the field. We will score goals as the teams confidence grows, but the major concern for me is that we haven’t spent this season and still find ourselves lacking depth and cannot afford injuries.
So many fans are like kids in a sweet shop, “Ive got some money and I’m going to spend it”.
Just because the Manc Oilers have spent another fortune Arsenal should do the same. Well that’s rubbish! What’s the point in bringing in half a dozen or more new players, they take time to settle in, the more new signings the longer it’s going to take.
We’ve got a good, strong, experienced squad backed up by some terrific youngsters, stop the moaning and support them.
Well I have done enough wailing and gnashing for one day. The team is what it is until the next transfer window opens in January. I’m focusing on our game away to Liverfool tomorrow. I think we will see the writing on the wall with respect to the team by the end of September. Till then I’m going to Always Look On The Bright Side of Life.
Till tomorrow fellow Gooners, keep the faith.
There will be lots of calls to sack wenger. I really hope he stays. He is the difference between us still being in the CL and having some chance of attracting guys like Cazorla. If he leaves, I am sure we will find our own Brendan Rogers or Kenny Dalgleish to ride us into complete and utter mediocrity. From there we will be looking up at Spurs for decades. I guarantee that our list will be much worse without the CL euros. I agree that we will not have much success with SK at the helm. But that will not change. So lets be realistic about who and what we are now. Support the team and love the ones your with. In Wenger I trust, with what he has got. Out with SK at the first chance, but not in place of an irresponsible person who will put us into huge debt or leave us in the situation that Malaga is in. I am excited about this year, even if we are a shell of what we were just a few years ago. If we can get 4th place next year, then we are still in the game and one day we might just steel a nice trophy.
You want to see a change in attitude!
Wait until the transfer window closes before rewiing membership, season tickets, purchasing club shirts and other items, you mIght see a shift in attitude.
Until them it’s like waiting for the Primark sales!
I certainly hope not, but it until we start to finish behind teams like Fulham n Everton the Wenger brigade will stop being as loyal!
With the inability to strengthen Arsenal, London’s ‘new’ selling club are without doubt seriously looking like heading out of the Champions League placings this season.
With the past 3 seasons Spurs finishing 4th, 5th and 4th (1 point) and the additions made I think that there is now a very realistic chance that Spurs, as well as others, could actually surpassing Arsenal this Season and push them out of Champions League placings…..
It’s gonna be fun to watch
OK BearMan,
You want Wenger out, name his successor and give reasons for your choice.
Good morning fellow gooners! Strangely enough I dont feel as bad as I thought I would be feeling this morning.
My question to everyone who thinks M’villa is the best CDM prospect in european football, why is it that no other club went for him?
Even shitty with their PV4 influence did not go for him but went for a more expensive and older Garcia. I am disappointed because people like Phil ‘Thinpson’ and Matt ‘ Match fixer’ Le Tissier will have a field day on sky sports. However, if we put things in perspective, our mildfield 2 of MA8 and SC19 will walk into any of the top 4 teams in my opinion.
‘Munchini’ bought for the sake of buying according to ‘the sun’ and hes still not happy. Are Shitty stronger? I doubt that. Maybe Manure is stronger because of our Robin but is a Frimpong or Shawcross tackle away from injury.
I think Frimpong and Coquelin will be good. PV4 was also very ill-discipline (spitting and all) and his red cards in my opinion lost us a couple of titles ie 1999.
COYGssssssssssssss
BearMan,
Gone all shy suddenly?
Just picking up on a few comments:
Can’t believe that people don’t think Jenks is the real deal. He is fast strong and young. He will be an Arsenal legend with time. Plus he will be loyal to arsenal, being a gooner.
People have been suggesting Walcott through the middle??? I’ve heard this for a few years now. The skills you need as a striker are speed, skill, preferably height and ability to score. He is fast. and occasionally takes his goal… that is it…. As a winger he does not use his pace. As a striker, he will not get the chance to use his pace, as everyone ‘parks the bus’. This tactic leaves us with no room to run into – all the play is condensed in the opponent’s half leaving no room for runs. He is not tall and cannot hold the ball (gets bundled off the ball). He is not a striker. If he learned to get past people he would be great winger but until then he is average in my opinion.
Personally i would have thought Cazorla was that ‘Special Signing’
Ambition is a strong desire for success. Lets be real people, afc is not an ambitious club. Good morning, u all have a wonderful day, its a waste of time trying to hide from the truth.
Afternoon Gooners.
Post from the heart Rico.
Today is a day for getting it off of your chest.
Sunday is another day and all this transfer window crap will be on the back burner.
I will turn up at Anfield tomorrow in positive frame of mind.
I still think we have a very strong squad, thay’ll gradually improve with more imput from Bould/Banfield, it’s still early days for the new coaches, but I like what i’ve seen so far.
One more good signing, would have had a positive effect psychologically on everyone.
Maybe Sahin was that man?
But we must thank the interference of malignant Mourinho for that.
Gotta do some work.
Lata
Morning all…well,its late evening here.
I had my rant earlier….Rico can post it here if anyone cares to read it.
Either way,i said it…..had my say….i let the world know what i think…..done and dusted.
It took five minutes,and thats it.
It is time to get over what is wrong with the club,and get on with what is right with it.
Regardless of what is happening in the boardroom,you are either an Arsenal fan or you aren’t.
You can not pick and choose when or where you follow the club….you either follow them or you don’t.
Forget the shit,let’s just beat Liverpool,and they are there to be beaten,and move forward towards a top 4 finish…..who cares if that’s all the wankers at head office want….realistically,it is what we are capable of.
Support YOUR team,or forever hold your peace.
Afternoon all.
Well after taking day off and sitting in front of SSN all day, i have to say i am a bit ‘miffed’ we didn’t sign someone. Oh to be a gooner huh!
All in all i am happy with squad, hope we play a 4-4-2 with Theo thru the middle, we’ll see in the coming weeks if failure to purchase a DM or ‘top top top striker’ costs us dearly.
Lets kick some scouser butts tomorrow!
COYG!
Afternoon guys and gals.
Sorry for those in moderation, you are free now..
We signed anyone 😉
Hello Rico, Kev, Emma, Scott, CG etc….
It is disappointing that we never added to the quality that we had already brought in. That I admit.
One of the major problems we had is not necessarily procuring a couple of big names but ridding the club of all the shite we are currently employing and as as been stated, Chamakh and Squillaci may still go.
At least we can now see where we are going.
Van Persie I wanted to stay, Song I did not.
It isn’t the end of the world.
Wenger’s problem is that he stands by players that don’t fit into his philosophy – a philosophy of quick powerful counter attacking football.
At the moment Diaby has been drafted in alongside Arteta. Diaby is the new “problem” that Song was and that is the position nearly everyone wanted filling.. Capoue, M’Vila, Sahin, Toulalan, Moutinho and Essien were all probables…. We got none.
Wenger protected Diaby. I have no idea why. Diaby’s not a bad player by any means, but he would be better served in Ligue 1. I’d love to be proved wrong, but I doubt it.
Oxalade-Chamberlain, Wilshire and Cazorla could all play alongside of Arteta, and all would give the team a better shape. Me personally, I would push Arshavin in the hole and run with a Walcott. Giroud, Podolski forward formation…. Those dynamics would suit the team much better…. The defence – I think once Sagna comes back – we have a great, great side ….
We have moved forward …
Hi Ben, hopefully tomorrow will get off the mark finally and all will start working…
Hi Syg,
I don’t want to keep ranting on and on, it will do no good..
If Diaby can keep fit, get his feet and brain to work together he could prove you, me and many fans wrong..
Bould/Banfield could be working on his defence game and IF he gets that right, he has every chance of being better than Song..
We all need to remember this is his first season where he’s got through a pre season and a couple of games and can still walk.
LOL. Nice one Rico…
It’s not all doom and gloom …. well not just yet, anyway…
jeez calm down fellow gooners…..it could be worse. what if we didnt get santi, giroud and prince poldi? am so chuffed for the new season. the biggest signing was that of BOULDY and BARNFIELD! am not worried yes i am dissapointed but like i said last night i think we are better placed than last season. we ll be fine. keep the faith.
opps morning folks…
hey SYG, feeling better?
Stan the man.
Hi goonster, it could be a lot worse but it could be a lot better too 😉
No Syg, not yet 😮
Did about three bottles of red wine and a few Budweisers last night, Stan… Am over at the gym now trying to burn it off ….
I’d be flat out in bed trying to sleep it off ….
good to see you in high spirits pal….rico, relax we ll be fine and to prove it we are gonna thump your “special” enemy liver poop tomorrow. i guarantee you.
Just back from work so I am late joining in however I read this earlier
:- Nasri, Fabregas, RVP, Song, clichy, leave. Cazorla, Wilshere, Podolski, giroud, gervinho, arteta come in your point is? ultimately players come and go from clubs it is the nature of the modern game. Do you think this team can win anything?
I would answer that i don’t think it can and my reason being if you take your lists and accept that you had a team with 5 substandard players and the rest good and 5 of the good leave and get replaced you still have a team with 5 substandard players.
Yesterday was not about buying superstars , it was about shoring up a squad which has not been good enough to win things for the last few years.
We better had goonster, Theo to get off the mark and start playing like he cares…
Hi Potter – that’s just what my post said yesterday, we didn’t need superstars or special quality players as AW said, we needed more or similar quality of our better players and get a strong squad.
two would have done, 3 would have been better but….
Did you guys see the story in the Sun today about Mankini??
Afternoon all,
Well said rico, we really are a gullible lot us Arsenal supporters.
Glad we’re playing away tomorrow, think it will work in our favour, pressure will be on the scousers.
SYG, looks like your quite big in Norway mate !
No it’s not about wanting Wenger out, but honesty from the Board n Manager. I have alway felt the club shows lots of interests in players they have no intentions of bidding for. At first I thought it was to put other clubs off the scent from players they wish to purchase, now I realise it’s to give fans the impression they are active in the transfer window. The hope always is that another team will jump in with a higher bid.
The club is only serious when they can get a player at a price they can make a sizeable profit on. There is nothing wrong with that practice, providing you let it be know the known.
I have been juggling a thought in my mind all morning. How long before the American Owner decides its time to sell?
Hiya Micko… Norway?
Afternoon Micko, had to get if off my chest…..
Did the dippers do much in the transfer window? Sahin and some guy from Swansea wasn’t it?
Someone said to me the other day, Reading will stay in the PL for 3 seasons….
Autumn, Winter and Spring……
🙁
They are looking a better prospect than Fulham.
They’ve just lost the only two decent players they’d got ….
Looks like Liverpool fans only have their “false” number 9 to look forward to this season.
There was a joke in there Syg 😉
Can we entice the former Barca manager, that would be nice. You see I love a manager that likes to win. A manager that can think on his feet; a manager that is a motivator of men.
Again Wenger/Arsenal left the team short by three players to make it a team ready to compete in all competitions and put in a decent challenge. Again we have a decent first team, but insufficient strength to rest players. So it will be required of some players baring an injury to play every game. Now I ask! Was Alex Song worth £75k per week? Of course he does, because for a player with a bad attitude n lazy on the pitch he was a work horse. Compared to Squallaci that is always early for training, well mannered but you will not trust him to play in the junior league. Look back at his first game in the reserves.
So glad the coaching issue was addressed and Pat Rice said goodbye.
Despite all the negatives about management. I still cannot get Arsenal out of my blood. I would have much sleepless nights if Everton, Fulham, the Spuds, Swansea n Newcastle finish above us.
Lovely Post RICO, I am currently working in my garden while enjoying reading the comments during my mini breaks.
Got 5 Live on in gym – Neil Taylor for Swansea down. A bad injury
You talking teeth Micko…
Rico, as we sit here, there is a boatload of angry Norsemen rowing up the Humber.
Run for the hills…. 😉
Hiya SYG. Man I need some gym as well.
Not for another fortnight unfortunately.
Stan, you ok today?
Mick, you going to Soton?
Thank you Bearman…
I’m not sure any of those teams will finish above us, we will still challenge, just not for what a club like ours should be….
Hi Ak, how you doing?
I am putting in my request for tomorrow early:
COME ON ARSENAL! I want 6 v 0 tomorrow, to help me get over the transfer window!
Come on lads, let’s get this season started!
Funny old day Rico.
Had a big barny with one these Olympic stewards on the taxi rank, at Kings Cross station, made a right dork of myself.
Mr Sensible I don’t think.
Maybe it was a hangover from yesterdays day of lies and spin?
I’ll be ok tomorrow… 😛
Hiya Kev. Do you know something that I don’t know??
I assume you and Micko are making references to Bjorn Stoohpid
I’d take a 1-0 win Bearman, but I think there will be a few goals…
Oh dear Ak, put it down to the club indeed, wool and spin….
Off to walk the woofa, just a quick one so back shortly….
Come on allezkev,
Go back and apologise to the nice steward!
Gotta larf SYG, otherwise we’d go mad… 😉
Does anyone know the goalkeeping situation?
Mannone or SirChez tomorrow?
I really wish we hadn’t sold Vela, that guy could finish a ball like no other!
me too paul……he’s classy. shame though, he could’nt cut in england……morning kev, how are ya?
any team playing currently?
BearMan,
Stan Kroenke has never, ever sold a single share in any of his sports franchises. Financially he has no need to, what makes you think he will do so in the case of Arsenal?
BearM, I already did… 🙄
And leave my picanic basket alone BearM… 😉
jeez kev stop rolling them eyes..its too girly. its something rico, AGAG and emma should be doing. not a hairy back merry like you!
i am gonna try to be positive, i have a feeling what Arsenal are doing even though it hasn’t quite come off as yet. Maybe in a season or 2 it will. All i can see is that Wenger has been collecting mediocre players for years now to keep us boyant. Maybe Wenger has been saying to the board we need better players and a better wage structure. The board has then said…of course, you can do this BUT you are not going to load more players onto our club and make the wage bigger than it already is, get rid of the crap then we can afford to do it.
This might tie in with the likes of RVP leaving etc also, because basically it has taken years of medicore buys to screw up our wage structure, to be able to compete without damaging ourselves we have to get rid of these mediocre players. Wenger probably thought he could do most of this, this summer……and thought there will be a lot of people calling us enquiring about nicking our players on the cheap. Summer came and the board and Wenger realised we cant even give the buggers away. The self professed best striker in the world and Juve only took him because they could score no one else and basically took him on loan because they dont really want the guy (cant think why) and it is the same with all of the other stupid sods that our killing the wage bill. Who would want squillaci and chamakh etc………we can’t even give them away and they are miles too comfy earning 60k a week for doing squat knowing no other clubs will ever be this generous so basically instead of us culling the whole lot of deadwood in 1 season and making space for a lot more quality i think it is going to be over the next few years as contracts die off. RVP etc don’t want to wait that long and who would when you are 30 and maybe only have a few years left playing.
So i feel the squad will start to fill with decent players but it will be like 1-2 decent players a year as we manage to terminate deadwood…….but untill we can kill off all the crap in squad and revise our wage structure it will be like us painfully slowly walking through treacle. I also hope to **** that the board and wenger keep on top of contracts etc also, because who wants to wait years and get through the hard stuff only for the likes of Cazorla etc to think oh ok 1 more year on my contract lets see what else is out there.
Stan
Premier League
West Ham3-0Fulham
Swansea 1-2Sunderland
Wigan 1-1Stoke City
West Brom 0-0 Everton
Tottenham 0-0 Norwich
Championship
Millwall3-1Middlesbro’
Burnley0-1Brighton
Leeds1-2Blackburn
Barnsley0-0Bristol C
Palace1-0Sheff Wed
Forest1-0Charlton
Hull City1-1Bolton
Derby3-0Watford
Ipswich0-1Huddersfld
Birmingham1-0Peterboro
JW 12:08 to BearMan
“You want Wenger out, name his successor and give reasons for your choice?”
I don’t want AW out because I admire the Man, but if I was to answer your question I would say Josep Guardiola for starter. So many reasons but to name a few.
The guy is a winner, and he has shown it with Barca. He has bought players and merged players from there academy that are doing well with the first team. Youth and experienced players have show that it can be done,just like Arsenal. Hate Barca or love them, they are winners because of Guardiola.
His system of playing (4.3.3) Arsenal plays the same style of football with Barca. Even Spain National Team have copied the Barca style of playing.
Josep Guardiola would not tolerate Silence-Stans or the Board selling our Best Players every season. With all due respect to AW, Guardiola is not a lay-back manager who allow players to call the shot. He wants players to prove themselves to be in the first team. He would not standby and allow his best players been sold. IMHO
Sustainable Mode, well that for another day.
What a nice, man you are Allezkev!
You remember to pack my honey?
NG,
In your own words, “Josep Guardiola would not tolerate Silence-Stans or the Board selling our Best Players every season”, you rule him out.
No Jw, if he was our manager the Board would not practice it because they know they would not get away with it.
Guardiola will be the next Arsenal manager…imho!
Afternoon all, we got the “like three new signings” spiel coming at any moment…. Ho hum, to be a Gooner!!! 😉
NG,
Why would he agree to come to Arsenal in the first place if “selling our Best Players every season” is the policy adopted by the board?
I think AW love Arsenal too much to tell Silence-Stan and the Board, ‘If we sell him, I’m leaving and find another coach.’ Guardiola would not, imho.
JW,
It is a practiced that have get worsen during AW regime and he has tolerated the practice during the years.If at all he stated no players get sold without his final approval, no player will get sold.
NG,
One other thing to take into consideration, at Barcelona Guardiola was the coach, his only job was to coach the players he was given. At Arsenal Wenger is the manager, he controls almost everything to do with actual football.
Two very different roles.
NG,
I don’t suppose that any player is sold without Wenger’s approval, he may not be happy at selling them but, as in the case of The Departed Dutchman, he had no choice and that was not due to pressure from the board.
Almunia’s doing well. He’s only let five in today….
Just woke up. Had a read. Didn’t understand much. Going back to bed again.
AVB????????????
Oh God! Can Watford return him as not fit for purpose?
Time for a couple of pre-saturday night curry beers!
Have good evening everyone.
JW
4:34 agreed, that I cant argued.
How are we all today?? Nursing hangovers? Still wanting to get soused? 😀 😀
Mygod, I don’t mean to be mean but… Almunia conceding five?? Tsk tsk.
Good old Norwich 🙂
Evening folks…
How long is devil on holiday for….
Almunia, 5 goals – oh dear, but he’s a nice guy apparently….
Hi agag – how’s things where you are??
goonie, did you send the HH comments into the record books yesterday 😛
Haha, rico. Poor Almunia (literally). It’s rainy again. 😕 And humid, yuck.
Did you not notice earlier the 800++ comments? And mine was the 800th!! 🙂 🙂 Our home is really buzzing now. 😉
rico, if you wanna make yourself useful shake Adam out of his stupor will ya.
Kev, without boring you to death, can only see me doing a handful of games this season, find yourself in a spot of bother tomorrow and ‘Bias a pint mate’ should buy you a bit of time, worked for me.
Hi agag, are your eyes still bloodshot from yesterday ?
Just finished my gardening and pleased with my day’s effort. Well BiG Stan is preparing his sizeable pension pot??? Sorry I could not keep up with the Bestest Arsenal Fans, but my wife was swinging the whip all day! Now I am due some Brownie points n me favourite Honey!!!
Have a pleasant night you’ll!
BiG Cheer for RICO!! HiP, HiP
Six nil to de Arsenal!
Now where I rest me honey!!!!!
Quite a lot of draws in the EPL today…
That’s draws not drawers Stan..!
I’m off too, hope your fuchsias are ok BearMan.
Over and out.
Hey, who has nicked my honey??????
agag – no prizes though 😉 Just hope all are safe
Night Micko, have a good one..
Adam – wake up, get up, we have a game tomorrow….
Hip Hip Bearman, why?
Thanks for the tip Mick…
As long the coach doesn’t have it’s wheels pinched, we’ll be ok…
Just gotta keep an eye on me wallet.
These Scousers are a slippery bunch.
Isn’t that right Emma??? 😉
800+ comments Rico, easily a record.
Might top the 1000 if we win something?! 😀
I couldn’t believe it Ak, blew the previous out the water 😉
Rico, I don’t think that Adam is very well.
Yesterday will not have helped him I reckon.
What was the previous record?
My coach leaves about 6.45 in the morning, so I think that I may turn in a bit earlier than usual
We have a 700++ and a 600++ (where Goonie was talking to himself, AK. 😆 )
Micko, nah, I have had time to catch up on my beauty sleep. 🙂
Adam has become a narcoleptic. 😀
Hiya, bearman. Savannah Bee gathers lovely honeys. 🙂 🙂
700 ish Ak, 🙂
I am sure Adam is fine, outside of AFC of course 🙁
Home tomorrow Ak??
oops, just realised Ak, Anfield ….
off to get dinner now, back in a bit….
Where’s devil gunner?its been ages.
Agag. I have certainly spent many hours in bed lately. It is true. Mrs Adam has been taking good care of me. 🙂
Yeah, where’s dev?? rico, tomorrow, our boys will give you good reason to be smiling; the dippers are going down!!!!
Adam, if she reads that, you may well be banished from the bedroom. 😉
Ak, how far away is Liverpoop from London?
January 2013 Transfer Window betting
to Arsenal
Yann M’Vila 11/8
Yohan Cabaye 4/1
Marouane Fellaini 6/1
Joao Moutinho 7/1
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar 10/1
Kaka 11/1
Daniel Sturridge 25/1
Courtesy of Skybet
210 miles agag
Soooo far! Are you going, SYG? Kev attends a fair few of our away games. 🙂 I think our traveling fans are brilliant.
I too think the away fans are tops agag….
Agag,ive travelled 1000 k’s to watch the Liverpool game.
Ok,ok,im not watching it live,and i really travelled to visit my daughter,but i still say it’s impressive 🙂
Mornng all.
Trying to get a little more nap time,so catch you later.
Hi Scott…
Hope you had or are having a fab time with your daughter…
I’m done for the day all, catch up tomorrow when we get our first 3 points…
Night all stay safe…
Rico,we went out for dinner last night to an Italian restaurant she works part time for.
She raved about the food for weeks.
Well,oh my god!!
The single best meal i have ever had in my life,by a mile.
Garlic bread comes out,and i said to Hayley i could just eat a plate of the for a main….ive never had bread like it.
Some sort of cheese souffle is next….absolutely stunning.
For dinner,i had a past dish,with a tomato,garlic and ginger based sauced,with Moreton Bay Bugs…..something in ths crustacean famil,local to these parts.
Normally,im not a big seafood fan,but took my girls tip and it was just extraordinary.
Even the good old Tirimasu was divine.
Seriouslu,if i wasnt still full,i would happily go back for lunch today lol.
Definitely off now…..it only 5.30 and i have long night ahead of later….catch you at game time.
Am I right in saying we have had 6 captains in 7 years?
Yep….Tommy will break the trend mate.
We need to keep faith in the squad.
We have all had our rants,but the longer it goes on,the more it will play on the playing groups mind.
Protests and petitions will do absolutely no good at all,quite the contrary,so i hope people give them a miss.
Just watching a few minutes of Wigan…..good to see Ryo getting some game time.
His movement off the ball seems to be sharper and smarter…..this kid has a real future.
a little disapointed in this article.sounds like it has been written by an Hysterical schoolgirl who missed out on getting justin beiber tickets. face facts arsenal is a business, ,and arsenal did pretty good business this summer. there are young players that will step up. coq and frim two excellent examples. they will be going into an experienced midfield. suporters need to start supporting the club. lets face it most of us couldnt manage our under fives soccer club. stop the whinging and except we are a well run club who have bought well this season. the club still needs room to develop young players, buying in is not always the answer. am a fan of the site by the way think you normally do a great job
Allezkev, it’s time to wake up man, you going to miss that coach.
Now don’t forget to wash behind the ear!!
Leave off that honey has my paws all over it, don’t touch!!
Have a safe trip, remember its to early to start the beautiful groan, save it for journey back!
Holloway Road. 200 miles to Scouseland.
COYG
Three points please AK!!!
Morning all…
From Patrick Collins in the Mail.
The late summer sun was shining but there was a chill in the air, and the reporters shivered gently as they stood outside the nation’s training grounds and gabbled their stirring snippets. ‘Charlie Adam is having a medical at Stoke … Rafael van der Vaart has just left in a chauffeured four-wheel drive … Dimitar Berbatov could — massive could — be on his way to Tottenham.’
Back in the studio, a blonde in a blue dress informed us that precisely 11 hours, 28 minutes and 30 seconds remained of this momentous day. Then we broke for an advertisement, which invited us to apply for large and instant sums of money at an APR of 1,734 per cent. Thus did the crack troops of Sky Sports News bring us the deathless details of transfer deadline day.
So much froth, so much nonsense; there is a whiff of high camp about the preposterous ceremonial. It is an orgy of conspicuous consumption, a brash brandishing of banknotes.
No fee is too high, no salary too gross. Figures recently published by Deloitte’s Sports Business Group reveal that, even before the latest burst of excess, Premier League clubs have spent more than £4.4bn on transfer fees since January 2003. This takes no account of wages, which have continued to soar with successive television deals.
The fact most of those clubs are desperately in debt is no more than an irritation. It’s trebles all round and there’s more where that came from. This is the Premier League we’re talking about, this is the place where tomorrow never comes.
It is an unattractive attitude at the best of times but, in an age of bleak recession, it becomes actively offensive. Arsene Wenger understands. A prudent, reflective man in a sport which sets little store by such virtues, he believes that tough times will hasten reform.
‘I’m convinced that, basically, society will force football to become more reasonable,’ he says. ‘The standard of living is dropping, and you cannot imagine that will happen in society on one side while, on the other side, football continues to push up with inflation. That cannot work together.’
The Arsenal manager speaks with the authority of one who has built and financed one of England’s finest stadiums, produced an immoderate harvest of outstanding players and qualified for the Champions League for the past 15 seasons while making his club a profit every year. And all without the intercession of a sheik or an oligarch, the kind of benefactors for whom money is not a limitation, nor even a consideration. Inevitably, his prudence renders him vulnerable to the shallow clamour of those who demand cups and trophies, short-term prizes delivered by the power of the purse. When he loses a Fabregas, a Nasri, most damagingly a Van Persie, then his philosophy is put to the test.
We can sense his anguish on watching Robin van Persie celebrate scoring for Manchester United against Fulham: ‘I was thinking, “He has the wrong shirt on. Why does he jump around like that in that shirt? I don’t know at all”. Deep down I knew but I didn’t like it too much, you know?’ But he accepts principles carry a price. A dim-witted minority of Arsenal followers insist Wenger is out of touch with their version of reality. Short cuts are the order of the day; pay the price, buy the results, let tomorrow take care of itself. You know it makes sense.
Wenger listens and smiles. He bides his time and places his faith in UEFA’s tritely mocked yet essentially admirable attempts to create a level playing field. He believes in sanity.
‘I think Financial Fair Play will come through because big clubs who have been spending a lot of money are worrying about it now. They ignored it until now, but finally we see they are getting concerned,’ he says. ‘All the clubs are struggling and we find ourselves a little in the situation of Germany in Europe.’
Arsene Wenger as Angela Merkel; some will dismiss it as an impertinent delusion, others will recognise the analogy. When such an eminent man pursues his convictions with such tenacity, he wants to be certain that others are playing to the same rules. If Financial Fair Play can be equitably enforced, then Wenger will receive his just rewards and the game he serves will be placed upon a saner, fairer footing.
The alternative is miserably depressing. It involves a tiny number of elite teams exercising financial muscle and flaunting all the trophies that money can secure, while less privileged clubs tug their forelocks, give thanks for their loan players and generally make up the numbers.
What was once a league would become a kind of touring company, with two or three stars and a gaggle of bit-part performers. And that chill in the air which set the reporters shivering would take on darker, more sinister overtones.
Unless Wenger’s ideals prevail, then the unthinkable would swiftly become the inevitable. For all its faults and all its failings, football deserves better than that.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-2196966/Patrick-Collins-Big-spending-elite-heed-Wengers-demand-sanity.html#ixzz25I6zny4J
These are my sentiments exactly. Don’t castigate Wenger for not strengthening, castigate others for spending way more than they earn in an attempt at buying success.
Morning all..
3 points are there for the taking Lee…
Will, just spending a bit of what we had would be better, especially when there is so much in the kitty. A Dm would hardly have broken the bank.
Said many time by many people here, no-one is asking for the club to spend for fun, just spend on what we NEED…
Will,i cant speak for other Gooners,only for myself.
I have defended the man on a daily basis for a while now,as i agree with his and the clubs stance against wild spending.
However,he lied to us all,and thats when my frustration got the better of me.
Why could he not have just sold Song and RVP and told us all his business was done?
Why continually say we are working on hard on new signings and looking for super talent?
Give us the truth,as unsavoury as we find it and though we may disagree,we will at least respect the decision.
It is EXACTLY the reason i detest some of our recently sold players.
I dont care that they left for money,it pisses me off that they NEVER say they left for money.
Its time these men grew a pair of balls and told it straight!!
I still believe Wenger is the best manager for us,i really do,but never again will i listen to a word he says on transfers….never.
Morning all….game night!!
The Pig & Whistle in downtown Brisbane is the venue,and i,along with plenty of other Gooners,will be there!!
Scott, I want some of that garlic bread and I don’t care that it’s just after 8am here in the uk 😉
Rico,it was amazing…i couldn’t believe the entire meal!!
Garlic Bread just shouldn’t be that good!
From my memory, Song was slated as not good enough by people on here almost daily. Yes, I would like a DM but then, maybe we don’t need one if the midfield collectively defends and pressures high up like the old days. I also wanted a brutal bastard but now i am starting to see what Wenger is doing.
The Pig & Whistle is an English pub,and seeing i normally watch games at home alone,i just can not wait.
Apparently,the Gooners will be outnumbered by Dippers,but we will fly the flag with pride!!
Sounds yummy Scott, don’t like the sound of those bug things though…
Song wasn’t good enough Will, we needed someone better…
But yet again we sold without replacing…
We need another striker too, but we didn’t sign one..
Rico,think lobster,but nicer!!!
The P&W sounds very English Scott…
Ah, when you said ‘bug’…… phew 🙂
But we might have replaced him. Arteta has almost identical defensive stats as Song on all but one category, fouls. I honestly believe Wenger is moving away from the specialised midfield positions and going for more of a collective.
There only problem with this pub Rico…its full of poms 🙂
Nah,it is supposed to be a fantastic place to watch a game.
Arsenal have been in transition since 2007. Don’t be surprised it will be another one this season. It’s obvious to all but the most blinkered supporter and Wenger.
Wenger asks for more time and patience besided criticizing clubs who have spent big amounts. There are ways and means to make a club successful. Buying is one of them. Wenger can stick to his project y and wait time immemorial for it to bear fruit.
No other tem managers have criticized him except the gunner fans.
Whether Arsenal can be successful will hinge on the first ten matches. Then a pattern will evolve.
The jury’s is Dtill out on the attack. defence wise there has been a significant impprovement. We shall wait and see whether Wenger can surprise. If not,he will have to eat his words.
One thing i do know….if,yes it is an if,Jack gets back and finds form relatively quickly,we will be a real force.
I am wondering if we all forget just how good he is.
Arteta,Cazorla,Wilshire and Ox….how many better midfield groups would there be in the world??
Exactly Scott and we would have a good midfield bench as well.
Let’s hope it all works out that way then Will, imho it’s a very risky game plan which if it goes wrong could be the straw that breaks the camels back….
Have you not been there before Scott? And I just hope those Poms aren’t Liverpool fans… 😉
Rico,i am in Brisbane for the weekend…my daughters 18th birthday,so never been there.
Apparently they will maily be Scousers,but so be it…..more to bag when the Gunners win!!
Giroud and Pods one each….their defence is not a worry.
They’ve got nothing in attack that we can’t handle,so i am actually pretty confident.
Mohd Isa – other clubs/managers won’t criticise him because it helps them…
Scott – no-one can disagree with you about Jack but it is an IF, just as it is an IF Diaby stays fit and to a degree Arteta who is no spring chicken.
Just like the defence, one injury of a suspension and we’ll soon be looking at Djourou or do I dare suggest Squilli.
There has to be a reason AW wanted to sign Nuri Sahin, but what frustrates me is after he opted out, understandably, he didn’t move for another player.
Of course Scott, silly of me to forget you are away from home. I can be a numpty sometimes 😉
Its ok Rico…..the amount of subjects you have means the odd slip-up lol.
I think he wanted Sahin in case Jack didn’t get back,but good news on that front combined with Liverpool upping the ante helped his decision.
You are a forgiving man Scott 😉
I’ll sure be glad to see Jack back….
Not too many players can tear Barca apart…especially at 19 years of age.
New Post up…