Morning all.
The Premier League, the best League in football were the words heard and seen written many times since it was formed. It’s just a glorified League Division One imo just with a fancy name. Foreign ownership, television deals, foreign players, sponsorships and foreign managerial appointments are the only real difference between then and now. Arsenal are one of the earlier clubs to appoint a manager from overseas, certainly in England and by one of the so called ‘top clubs’ With Arsene Wenger came a glut of overseas players as he plucked young, old, unknown or struggling players from Europe and beyond.
The Premier League was formed in 1992 which seems a long time ago now and hard to believe that for all but four years of its time, Arsene Wenger had been the manager of one club within it, just about pipping Fergie to the record for being the longest serving Premier League manager. Also transformed back in 1992 was European football as The Champions League was rebranded, a competition for the best of the best, while Europa was a competition for the best of the rest.
With the Champions League came the ‘top four trophy’ as to gain entry to the big one meant a better financial reward. Back then though the reward wasn’t as great as it is today. Over the years gone by, all we hear from pundits throughout the season is which clubs will finish in the top four, although last season, their views extended to a top six and we just about scraped into, meaning we’re in the Europa League for a second season running. It is what it is but hopefully that will change this season.
Anyway, after the little ‘top six’ blip, it seems ‘top four’ is back as Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness reckons this season will be all about four clubs fighting it out for the league title. You guessed it, we’re not one of the four. City, Utd, Liverpool and Totts, it’s all about them. Forget us, forget Chelsea too and West Ham who I have to say have surprised me during this transfer window. Whether Pellegrini is the man to make it all work remains to be seen but why not? He certainly knows what the Premier League is all about.
I’d imagine City will carry on where they left off last season and of course they’ll be favourites to win the league but the other three? Only Liverpool imo are looking stronger as they’ve added to what was an already strong squad. Signing Allison could turn out to be Klopps smartest move. How it pains me to write that.
Back at Arsenal, Unai Emery and co haven’t been sat twiddling their thumbs either though as they too seem to addressed many of our weaknesses too. A keeper, central defender, two central midfielders, a right back and still there’s time for more. It’s inevitable that pundits etc won’t give us a hope in hell of doing well this season. They’ve no idea how our new players will fair, no idea if Emery and co will get our defending sorted out and no idea how’ll we’ll play as a team. Mind you, neither do we do we? Then there’s the younger players like Nelson, AMN and Eddie. They might flop, but then they might not, they might be given a sniff and never look back. Under Emery and his coaches, anything could happen. Just look at the photographs on the official website, Steve Bould is actually being allowed to coach!
The next four fixtures might give us all a glimpse of what we can expect this season, but when City roll up on the first weekend of the new campaign, that’s when we’ll know if things are better and I’m quietly confident they will be. Football might not have come home this summer, as if it was ever likely to, but I might put a pound on Champions League football and The Arsenal being back together again by the time May 2019 comes around…
Arsenal make their debut in the Checkatrade Trophy this season and they’ve been plonked in Group E of the southern section together with Cheltenham, Coventry and Forest Green. Hopefully this competition will get some air time, if not on television on the Arsenal player. The under 23’s could go a long way, perhaps even win it.
Transfer news:
Porto have confirmed the signing of Kelechi Nwakali of from Arsenal on a season-long loan deal. Some reports suggest there’s an option to buy included in the loan although others suggest it’s simply down to him not being given a Visa yet.
Danny Welbeck, Petr Cech and David Ospina are all rumoured to be on the move. A return to Chelsea for Cech, Everton for Welbeck, anywhere for Ospina!
Coming in is Barcelona youngster Joel Lopez. A deal has been done apparently and an announcement is expected anytime soon.
It’s all go at Arsenal eh…..
Good morning Rico, another fine day and a fine, optimistic post to sweeten it even further.
We are in a unique position for the first game of the season, perhaps the only top club likely to have a full first team squad available. City will be missing Walker, Stones, Kompany, De Bruyner and Sterling who, in his club mode, is a much bigger threat than the useless lump he appeared in the World Cup Finals. United and Chelsea look to be in some disarray, while the Totts will be without a number of their England players as well as Vertongen and Alderweirdoe. Liverpool seem to be in a state of flux some good players in, but they still haven’t replaced Coutinho and the injury to The Ox will be a blow
The Totts will have to play at least four games away from home as the New Swamp won’t be ready for the start of the season.
All in all I’m more optimistic about our new season than I am about gaining any sort of deal on Brexit.
It will soon be time to tune in to the Queen Stage of Le Tour. A summit finish on Alpe d’Huez, twenty-six hairpin turns which the cyclists manage in about fifteen to twenty minutes. Around thirty-five years ago I did the climb in thirty minutes…….in a coach. 😉
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I can’t get into watching a bunch of drug induced cyclists, not my thing. However I often wonder how clean football is. We all knew the effects of the Tuesday club and although apparently things are tighter now I am sure that there are ways round them.
Afternoon all and thank you Rico..
It will be the U21`s in the Checkatrade Trophy, not the U23`s……………..saying that………. most of our good young uns are U21 anyway !.
Read an interesting article on another site about Dick and must admit Dick is growing on me !……………………..after years of Wenger never showing videos of the opposition to our squad, well Dick is obsessed with it !…………………that`s good imo as I never understood Wenger not sussing the oppo` out .
Think the footballers are paid a lot ?…………………………..Gooner Lewis Hamilton has signed a £40M per year deal !…………………………………I`m utterly pissed off !…………………..I get peanuts for being World Scalextric Champion…………………..yes, I get to travel to drive in attics and living rooms around the world, but come on !
£40 million a year, but Hamilton doesn’t get to drive around with a van full of meat pies. 😎
You passed the test Lc… lol
Thanks Cicero, evening anyone. Lol
That was a very good Post, Rico, many thanks.
I used to know a blogger who built his Shag Palace in Cornwall, and also terrorised the folks driving around innocently in the Midlands, while he was delivering Pasties of the highest quality — thing is he wasn’t called LCM — more like ….. mmmm ….. ‘Vanman Exiled in Cornwall’ ……. no, no —- wasn’t that — but he was really funny too!! 🤔
Ah, HenryB, how many names do you go by these days?
I make it three including Red Arse and now Penguin.
Redders my old buddy !!!………………….hope you are well ! 🙂
Had a jobs worth on Saturday !………….moaning about the temperature of the cakes whilst brandishing his thermometer probe and in all but name trying to blame me, anyway today I found out he complained about my attitude and unbelievably moaned about me wearing mirrored sunglasses !!! ……..Today I had to deliver to him again, armed with my own thermometer probe and of course mirrored sunglasses……………..after delivering, my wife then texts me to say she heard on the news that a man had been seen wondering around Cornwall with two thermometers probes stuck up his arse !……………… I then text my wife to first ask her….who the fuck gave her my phone number ?…………..then realising I didn`t want to have a torturous frying pan session I then said…………..cant be the same bloke as the Bastard of Bodmin I dealt with had a thermometer probe, a salted caramel chocolate torte and a pair of mirrored sunglasses stuck up his rectum !………..silly really about the sunglasses as he quite rightly screamed that there is no sunlight up there !………also found out he had an intolerance to salt !
New addition to the Checkatrade Cup rules………………………..we can play two over 21 year olds as long as they have played more than 40 games for first team !
Hi Redders. Hope your well. So miss the old times, take care buddy.
Henry/penguin, or whatever name you go by, and Lc, do you wish to swap email details so you can chat about Cornwall, pies, cakes,etc away from HH? Just let me know and I’ll sort it for you both..
Morning..
Le Coq,
I could not hang around last night so missed your reply reply until this morning.
Laughed so much I spilt coffee all over my keyboard!!!! 🤣 You and the lovely Terry should have formed a comedy duo a long time ago. Just think — you could have had as many thermometers to stick in appropriate places as you could wish for as the Ant and Dec of Arsenal!!
Really good to see you have not changed! 🤪
Arsenal pull off another coup. Mikhail Zhilkin. More a left field signing than a left wing signing he joins us from not CSKA Moscow but Candy Crush.
Hiking describes himself as a “data scientist interested in rational thinking, automation, data visualisation, machine learning, association football”.
A graduate of the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, he has a Master of Science and Applied Physics and Mathematics degree.
He will be our data scientist analysing injury and physical data.
When not fulfilling his main function he will oversee line painting, pitch dimensions and neatness of goal nets.
Nothing left to chance under our new management regime!
………Zhilkin describes…….sillybilly spell checker. 😀
Morning Rico,
I could tell you that I have various avatars to stop groupies following me all blog long — 😎– but the truth is, I have a slight problem nowadays, and I forget who the hell I am supposed to be!
Luckily whatever name I go under at the time – old friends still recognise me for the rubbish I write.
The years fly by, and you are still going as well as ever you did on Avenell Road — very impressive!!
Hiya, VCC,
Sorry to have missed you last night — but thanks for the good wishes — I have missed you guys too. Ships passing in the night, I guess.
New post up guys.