Morning all.
This year is flying by. It seems like only yesterday that the Christmas decorations were being packed up and put away in the loft for another year and now here we are today and it’s Good Friday, the start of Easter. There’s conflicting reports on the internet when it comes to Lent with some religious outlets saying it ended yesterday so today one can partake in whatever it is they’d given up, other sites suggest it’s midnight tomorrow but I’ve always believed it’s Good Friday, the day I can had a piece of chocolate, a glass of Prosecco or cheese. They are my favourite things so one always gets sacrificed this time of year. So at one minute past midnight, a Lindt ball covered in shiny red wrapping was undone and scoffed. Madness eh.
Talking of madness, no, not Suggs and co, Arsene Wenger. He’s lost his voice apparently which must be great for the squad just as it was for us when Steve Bould was the one to face the press yesterday morning. Nothing new emerged but just a different voice made a pleasant change. He was keen to back his boss though:
“He is remarkable. Behind closed doors, I’ve never known someone who’s as hungry and determined to win football games. It’s as big as I’ve ever seen, for sure. “I admire him immensely.
“He takes unbelievable stick off an awful lot of people and he’s just one of the great managers. It’s a pleasure for me to sit next to him. I understand that he’s doing a great job, as far as I’m concerned, and has done a great job for an awfully long time.”
I guess he wants to keep his job, whatever that job is but let’s be honest, he’s hardly likely to sit there and crucify the Frenchman is he although he could have been a lot less gushing. Wenger probably is as hungry as ever to win football matches but he’s lost the ability to match his hunger. Its happened to the best of managers over the years gone by but the difference is, they either admit to themselves and retire, or get sacked. Imo, Arsene Wenger at best is is mid table manager in England and that’s just where he’s taking us unless some kind of miracle occurs. Nothing is going to change between now and the end of May and it’s a big possibility that nothing will change then either. It should, but only time will tell if it does.
In the meantime, we’ve still go a few matches left to get through and the next few days are important for the club. We’ve two fixtures, Sunday v Stoke City which other than pride, there’s little resting on it but then on Thursday, it’s CSKA Moscow at The Emirates, and that’s a biggie. Alexandre Lacazette could be back for that one which is a big boost imo. After being left out for England because of injury, Steve Bould confirmed Jack Wilshere is fine and available for this weekend, Lacazette is too but he’s unsure if either will start against Paul Lamberts side. I suspect we’ll see the Frenchman in the squad, coming on around the seventy minute mark just to give him time on the pitch but Aubameyang is bound to start bearing in mind he’s unable to feature in Europe. A stupid rule which thankfully, has now been changed.
Stoke City are involved in a relegation battle, Arsenal are no doubt hoping to overtake both Chelsea and Totts to nab that fourth spot but I think both are out of reach. Keeping Burnley behind us is a more realistic challenge. The best and imo, only way back into the Champions League next season is by winning the Europa Cup.
With April just around the corner, this season is fast coming to an end and I’ll be glad when it does. We’ve just seven League fixtures left including a trip to Old Trafford and then the transfer rumours will kick into overdrive. The back pages will be telling us daily who it is Sven Mislintat has spotted to make us great again. Midfielders, defenders, wingers galore will all be mentioned no doubt as perhaps will a few goalkeepers. To be fair, they already are…
Freiburg defender Caglar Soyuncu tops the list of defenders but he’s linked to nearly every club in need of defensive reinforcements and we’re top of that list. The Daily Mail suggest that Arsenal and the players representatives have already begun talks to bring him to the club this summer.
The best one though, or perhaps the most ridiculous one is from the Daily Star who suggest that former England manager Fabio Capello has emerged as a potential replacement for Arsene Wenger.
I need a lie down after reading that, and some more chocolate of course….
Yesterday we had Steve Bould’s press conference to write about and tomorrow we will have real football to discuss. A truly exciting match against Stoke City a team struggling against relegation that statistically we should roll over with consumate ease.
This of course is the Arsenal disease , it should be easy but instead of sending a team onto the pitch with a lets get at them attitude all too often in these games we are treated to a lacklustre lifeless , limp ,tepid performance that sometimes scrapes a win and sometimes goes pear shaped and we drop points draw or even lose.
What will we get tomorrow ? Potentially Wenger might not be doing the team talk but whatever , he will be there , he will be listening and he will be overseeing everything that Bouldy says.. It’s a given that nothing will change whilst his spectre hovers over the dressing room door .
We need the points but I fear that the Moscow match on Thursday will mean that the famous handbrake will be applied
. Back in the day with the early Wenger teams we would blitz teams like Stoke get 3 up after 20 minutes and then rest and play out the game for a 4 nought win. Tomorrow I fear a struggle to overcome a team fully prepared for 90 minutes of attrition .
Happy days eh ?????
We’ll get nothing tomorrow Potter, we play on Sunday.. 😉
Morning Rico, Potter. Good opener Rico especially the chocolate bit. We have the same tastes in that, I have had a box of originals and a box of white chocolate ones staring at me in the cupboard since Christmas. Not for much longer!
Back to reality. Isn’t it strange to hear Bould talk of Wenger in such terms. He has been with him for twenty years, so I think much of what he said, he meant. A bit ott, but perhaps he needed to get the message accross that he was behind him all the way, because of all the criticism. I do admire his loyalty and I don’t think it’s all about saving his job.
Then I look at manure stuck with little big man. No one would ever come out and say such good things about him. Imo, he is as much yesterdays man, as Wenger is. I bet watching and listening to Bould stuck in his craw a lot.
In fact, when I weigh up all the other EPL managers, there’s only one I would want, and that is Pep.
Certainly there are others abroad (Simeone) that I would want, but please, not postman Pat!
As for games left for us, I am not confidant we will win many. There are few easy games at this level, and those clubs still with something to aim for, even to avoid relegation, will be hard to beat.
That is where we are I’m afraid, only City could go into every game as we once did, expecting to win, but without the wad of cash they have, Pep wouldn’t be there, and neither would any of their players.
Well whatever, I am still eager to see a game after the International break, so come on you gunners!
We’ll get nothing tomorrow Potter, we play on Sunday.
Shame another day for the Strepsils to work.
Hi Meerkat, thanks.
Well, Wenger has money as we all know but regardless of how much he spends, he still can’t get them to improve on the pitch.
True Potter, big shame..
Off to work now , thermals on , wood to cut , need fire , Cold don’t cover it , but I suppose they didn’t put windmills where the wind don’t blow.
No. If he is to stay, which it’s starting to look like, he must be told that he needs new blood in the coaching staff. Bould from 20 years ago just doesn’t cut it, though he’s a good deputy for Wenger, but we need new, ambitious coaches and styles imo.
At last, some members of the England touring team in New Zealand, show some backbone.
Jonny Bairstow and Mark Wood deserve a lot of credit for digging England out of a hole.
I read on the BBC website some comments and it’s the the usual ‘drop this guy and drop that guy’ but for whom Rico?
It’s not as if we have a whole bunch of batsmen angling to force their way into the test side as the all want to be 20/20 sloggers.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2018/03/03/andy-flower-will-examine-see-england-lions-have-correct-systems/
Afternoon Rico, Kev and all. Seems like Cricket is at a crossroads. Bit like Arsenal really.
I guess we’ll know about Arsene’s contract situation in a few weeks.
Btw, its interesting what change can do. Stan K NFL team, the Rams, fires a perennial losing coach, hires a young 32 year old, they become the most improved team, score the most points, make the playoffs, are sigining/ buying prominent free agent players, and are now one of the favorite for the Super Bowl.
Surely Stan has taken notice of the Rams situation as it may apply to Arsenal. Arsene is no different from Jeff Fisher the perennial losing coach; please Stan, let him go. You have another Rams on your hands. Instead of the Super Bowl think Champion’s League.
Perhaps that was Josh’s doing and that’s why he came for his spring break in London.
We can live in hope.
Afternoon Adam, all.
I’ve no idea Kev, perhaps England cricket is similar to Arsenal in that it matters not who plays when the coach is cocking things up…
Have a good evening guys…
rico, that’s one nutter down tonite, just one to go lol !!!
Potter 9.57, you make me laugh, we’re 41 points off relegation ffs ! What do you want……blood.
Gotta luv these international breaks, a chance for the finger-nails to grow back and you’d never even notice my nervous twitch these days.
rico, it could be worse, it’s not like we’re being linked with the “wally with the brolly” is it !
Oh and btw you know when Spring is in the air don’t ya…….. Adam starts talking cricket again.
🙂 🙂
relegation may not be a problem but if they want Europa football next season they have to get 6th.
How the mighty have fallen! Ffs!
Wenger on yer bike pal, nar.
Rico, Adam, not only do England have an issue with batsmen, but we’re currently watching the two most successful bowlers to ever represent England as they move towards the final stage of their careers, with pretty much nothing coming through to replace them, well certainly no where near their quality.
As for Arsenal/Arsene, it’s all been said Adam, the indifference among the fanbase is like a cancer that the club may find very difficult to recover from.
I can see a lot of fans turning their backs permanently on the club, finding other things to do on match days and only taking a passing interest in future.
Expect a lot of empty seats this Easter Monday, in fact the club have probably spent the entire Interlull dreaming up a whole raft of excuses.
I’m sure the quality is out there somewhere Kev, but I don’t watch enough domestic cricket to have a view. But you’re right, replacing Anderson and Broad is a tough tough task.
But we said that about Botham and then along came Freddie and latterly, Stokes.
England just need the right man to give others a chance and back them.. imo anyway for what it’s worth… 😉
New post up now…