Chamakh stays, Giroud scouted and this will really annoy you……

Morning all.

Yeah Rico, hosepipe ban starts today i think…

Didnt know Nicki Benthead was Moroccan ?

Morning Adam.
Feel a bit more lively today.
I see that Lee’s flight was delayed 2 hours yesterday.
They didn’t take off until 9pm.
Still, i bet he’s happy now…. 🙂

£50million for Giroud eh?
You’ve just gotta smile at those stupid valuations….
Even Man City wouldn’t pay that….

Kev. Glad to hear it. Watch out for me in Oxford Street today. I am travelling to that fragrant land known as Selfridges.

Glue I would think Matt.

ohhh i meant chamahk starting to sound like bentdner i can be the ‘im the world greatest’.. I think bentdner must of lent cham his R kelly greatest hits album 😛

Selfridges eh?
Haven’t been in there for ages Adam.
Popped into HMV a couple of weeks ago.
But i’m not working Adam, home for Easter.

I really cannot get my head around all the antipathy towards Aaron Ramsey.
All he did was get his leg smashed in 3 or 4 places wearing an Arsenal shirt….
Yeah, that’s right, playing for us ffs…
And now he’s a cnut.
I’m sure that must make his confidence soar…
Makes ya proud to be an Arsenal fan when you hear some of your fellow supporters, i don’t think!!!

Don’t worry Matt, the condition, though regrettable, is seldom fatal. I stopped reading newspapers altogether about 2 years ago and feel better for it.

Morning all. How are we today? Hope the Sessegnon story is true. Gotta admit, I’m a big fan.

I know AK, there’s some serious dipshits with a chromosome or 2 missing in the world….

HEY, here’s a shock;

Referees favour Barcelona, claims Zlatan Ibrahimovic, after two Lionel Messi penalties knock AC Milan out

Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s return to Barcelona ended with the Swede feeling “disgusted” after two Lionel Messi penalties led to AC Milan’s 3-1 loss and exit from the Champions League.

These people are a symptom of modern life I am afraid. Just like the current outbreak of trolls on the net. If you met them you would see that they are rather sad. inadequate individuals who delight in the pain and suffering of others because it somehow gives meaning to theirrevolting little lives. I include most football journalists in this category too. They infest just about every corner of the net these days and are best ignored although they are extremely irritating. Responding to them is best avoided.

By Telegraph staff and agencies

6:06AM BST 04 Apr 2012

55 Comments

Ibrahimovic was back at Camp Nou for the first time since his 2010 departure from the Spanish champions, after just one season, and while the striker set up the Italian club’s lone goal from Antonio Nocerino, he was prevented from scoring.

And, after the final whistle, Ibrahimovic echoed former Inter Milan and current Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho’s belief that Barca’s European success has been helped by match officials following a disputed penalty decision.

“I’m just disgusted,” the Sweden international said. “They are the best team in the world but at 1-1 and, playing with intelligence, you can do something. (But) I understand better why Mourinho gets upset every time he plays here – in my opinion it was not fair.”

Mourinho was handed a ban last season, following defeat to Barcelona, when he accused Uefa of aiding the Catalan club towards their European Cup title in 2009.

Milan’s players were left aggrieved when Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers booked Alessandro Nesta in the 40th minute for yanking down Sergio Busquets inside the area, as the pair tussled during a corner kick. It was the kind of shirt pulling that often goes unpunished in top games, and started well before the corner had been taken.

Busquets eh?

Compulsive diver. Stinking cheat. Classic Barca.

Agreed on Ramsey,but you only need to read posts straight after we lose a game to see how many fans lack true loyalty to the club.
These same “fans” bagged the crap out of Vermaelen,hide when we are winning,yet jump out of trees at the first hint of a loss.
Yes,I stay positive because….and plenty won’t like this….it is just a game,and losses occur,but they haven’t brought about the end of the world so far.
One loss from our last 8 games…..we truly are a disgrace!!!!!!!!
Morning all.

Messi stepped up to score his second spot kick of the match to put the hosts back in front, before Andres Iniesta’s second-half goal sealed the win.

“The ball wasn’t in play and he called it. It was weird, odd, it ruined the game,” Ibrahimovic said. “I still don’t understand what he whistled. If he calls those he should call the others. Without him the game would have been 50-50.”

Barca eliminated Arsenal last season in the quarter-finals after Robin van Persie was given a second booking for continuing to play after the whistle had gone early in the second half, with the game tied 1-1.

In the semi-finals, Real were left with 10 men for most of the second half of their 2-0, first-leg defeat when Pepe was red carded, which led to Mourinho’s criticism.

“Sometimes the referee made too many concessions,” Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri said. “I don’t know if it proved decisive. We made a mistake on the first penalty but he helped on the second. Playing Barca is never easy.”

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola offered few apologies after leading his team into the Champions League last four for a record fifth straight season. Only Real Madrid have achieved such a feat in the history of the European Cup, on their way to a record five straight triumphs between 1956-60.

“You can talk all you want about referees but that makes it five straight semi-finals, the fruits of our talent and a lot of work,” Guardiola said.

Apart from the penalty, Ibrahimovic – who played one season for Mourinho at Inter – did not leave with an entirely sour taste in his mouth.

“It was a good experience, we lost the game 3-1 playing against the best team in the world,” said Ibrahimovic, who joined Barcelona from Inter in 2009 in a swap that included striker Samuel Eto’o. “We were there until the second penalty, and this we have to discuss.”

morning all…..biscuits still remain a diving cnut…….what is Chamug smoking….would take Afobe,Wellington and campbell over him anyday

The title run of the team awash with Middle Eastern money is faltering. The difference, in France, is that advantage is being taken not by the league’s most prestigious team but by one of the least.

Montpellier HSC have never won Ligue 1, their best finish being third in 1987-88. Their average attendance is eighth in the league, their annual budget 14th. But they are top, ahead of Paris St-Germain, on goal difference, and have a game in hand, to be played against Marseilles one week today.

Given the imbalances of modern football, it is quite an achievement – all the more so, in a French league where the Qatari Investment Authority’s injections into Paris St-Germain loom over everything else. This summer PSG spent a French record fee of €43m (£36m) on Palermo’s Javier Pastore. Their official budget for the season was €150m, joint top with Olympique Lyonnais. Montpellier get by on €33m, just over one fifth of PSG’s funds.

A title race pitting exorbitant wealth against provincial thrift will inevitably push fans only one way. “I think there is a certain charm to Montpellier,” Tom Williams, a French football journalist for AFP, told The Independent. “People are fascinated by the notion that this unspectacular provincial club could pip Paris St-Germain and their billions to the title. People are enjoying the fact PSG are tripping up. And Montpellier would be the perfect team to deny them because of their background.”

While PSG are a metropolitan club fuelled by foreign money, Montpellier are so provincial that they cannot always command the attentions of even the locals. Montpellier, like many towns in the south of France, is devoted to rugby first. The football team play in the Stade de la Mosson, which could hold 32,900 people but usually only has to put up with half of that. Montpellier’s average gate this year is 16,826, less than half of that at PSG or Marseilles. “It’s only very marginally picked up now that they have a chance of winning a title,” Williams said.

Their history can certainly not match that of Marseilles, a few miles along the coast. Their all-time top goalscorer is Laurent Blanc, one of France’s all-time great defenders, with 84. “Montpellier are known for having the odd iconic player,” Williams said, pointing to their peak in the late 1980s, with Blanc, Carlos Valderrama and Eric Cantona taking them to French Cup success in 1990. “On a national scale, they’ve never really been one of the teams that people look out for, except perhaps for that brief spell.”

If Montpellier have missed out on some of the modernisation of 21st century club football, that is not all bad. They are fortunate to still be owned by Louis Nicollin, the controversial and abrasive waste disposal magnate who has owned MHSC since 1974. Known as either “Foufou Nicollin” or “Loulou Nicollin” – such are his eccentricities – he literally dwarfs everyone else at the club, taking up two places as he sits on the bench for home games.

“He’s a typical old-school club president,” Williams said. “Lots of clubs, when they started out, were presided over by these very avuncular local businessmen. The idea was that the club would confer glory on the local region. He’s as old-school as they come. He’s most known for these colourful outbursts. He speaks his mind. Before Christmas he said he’d ‘stab himself in the arse with a sausage’ if Montpellier won the league.”

Nicollin presided over Montpellier’s rise from the regional third tier up to Blanc-inspired success in the 1980s. Another five-year spell in Ligue 2, from 2004 to 2009, has been followed by very impressive performances under René Girard, now in his third season there.

Girard is well suited given Montpellier’s financial dependence on youth development. He was assistant to French national coach Roger Lemerre before working with the under-16s, under-19s and under-21s. “His pedigree of working with young players is pretty much second to none in France,” Williams said. “That fits with Montpellier’s business model as they don’t have money to spend on superstar players.”

Fortunately for Girard, he has some excellent young players to work with. Montpellier won the French youth cup (the Coupe Gambardella) in 2009, and that generation form the basis for this year’s first team. The best of them is Younes Belhanda, a 22-year-old French-born Morocco midfielder who plays behind lone striker Olivier Giroud in a 4-4-1-1 system. “Belhanda’s been a real star this season, probably with Eden Hazard the outstanding playmaker in Ligue 1,” Williams said. “Giroud is the guy who scores all the goals but Belhanda is the guy who makes them tick.”

Giroud, with 18 league goals so far, is the division’s top scorer and is rated by France Football magazine as the second best player this season (behind Hazard). He could well be playing Premier League football next season; Nicollin accepts the need to sell at times.

Following Giroud out might be Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, another academy product and France under-21 international, who has impressed enough to be usefully marketable this summer. One player who has come in and done well is John Utaka, until relatively recently of Steve Cotterill’s Portsmouth.

With just nine games left, Montpellier can continue to dream – and perhaps keep praying. “We never would have imagined this,” Nicollin said this week. “To be champions seems impossible. If we become champions of France I will be crazy. I am under no illusions, but it’s true – the Lord is with us.”

Facts in figures

18 Ligue 1 goals this year for French striker Olivier Giroud.

16,826 Montpellier’s average attendance, which is eighth in Ligue 1.

3rd Montpellier’s highest ever Ligue 1 finish, in 1987-88.

33m Montpellier’s budget in euros in 2011-12, compared with PSG’s 150m.

40,791 Average PSG crowd

AK Most blogs are just there to park someones attention-grabbing xenophobic sarcastic irrational personal brain fart.

50 mln hey? Like I posted yesterday: ghost value to entice speculation of any kind. The player’s name will be engraved to raise topic value next week and the next and the next and as such provide a guaranteed CTR (Click Through Rate) when the transfer period comes knocking. Papers are a dying business model, many are owned by media groups neck deep in www infotainment/revenue.

Morning Rico. 20 impressive.

Morning all! I watched the entire match and believe the ref was fair. Shirt pulling is AGAINST the rules, when it happens in the box should be a penalty. Besides if the ref wasn’t lenient, Ambrosini would have had two yellow cards minimum.

What’s on the rumourmill over de Noordzee today Dutch?
Anything on Vert..?

Kev no news worth the letters of the alphabet.

Morning Scott, the only thing that bothered me was nobody intercepted as if they were all aware of the offside. Positional wise it was unorganized.

I know Dutch,but Vermaelen copped the blame from the vast majority…..
Again,I can read criticism of players,but it must be directed accurately.

The cheating will always mar my memory of a really great Barca team. But how does that bloke Ambrosini stay on any pitch for the duration of any game? Now that is the question. Watching last night left me feeling curiously uneasy if that is the way we have to play to to progress in this competition. Something grubby about the whole deal. Unsporting certainly.

I do not EVER want to see Arsenal lower themselves to play the Italian,Spanish,English….actually,any other club do.
WE ARE ARSENAL,WE ARE BETTER THAN THAT!!!!
Winning is NOT everything.
Non Arsenal fans show more respect to our style of play and attitude than plenty of Arsenal fans.
We are respected throughout the football world.
No other club is!

Rico,the score doesn’t matter,Ramsey played well in that position v Villa.
Again though,its easy to find fault when things are bad.
Did Ramsey look good because the side was playing well?
Using that logic would suggest he only looked average against QPR because the side was ordinary.
It’s picking the obvious targets.
No mention of RVP having a bad one.

Rico,hatred is not the opposite of respected.
That is wrong.
You guys are ignoring the logic used to suit your argument on Ramsey.
We were good so he was good,but we were bad BECAUSE he was bad.
Come on guys,be fair.

We were crap everywhere though Rico.
Even Ox showed little when he came on.
It was just an off day,and it happens.
Any word on Fabrice guys????

Scott a chain is valued by its weakest links. That’s not to say the material its made of is worthless.

It did state its a closed door game.
Could be crap….who knows.

Rico,also just read its only a friendly.
Again,nothing official,but who knows.

hey i cant post!!

Rather have this one next year. http://gunnerblog.com/2008/11/28/arsenal-unveil-carling-cup-kit/

Good Afternoon Guys and Chicks of the Everincreasing Gunners’ Faith.

Hope you are ok.

Had two days off, but had to work bloody hard doing the odd jobs. Its funny how they keep piling up and up and then when you take some days off you work twice as much as hard.

DG…….you little sod. You took me in with the carling cup shirt. grrrr

tbh I do not like the home gear one bit either. I prefer the 2006 version, the last one at Highbury and the one we played in the CL final.

I know that AFC need to make money out of shirts but this fecking around has got to stop. It is making the club look ridicoulous. Barca do not change their fecking traditional strip do they?? Neither do Real. So why the F**K do we do so???

The Carling Cup kit would go really well with my fluffy slippers… 🙂

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Real Sociedad say Arsenal have delayed talks over permanent deal for Carlos Vela until summer. Sociedad want to pay €5m.

SergiouslyAFC – He says he wants to go, Arsenal have no reason to keep him, I think it’s hard to imagine he’ll play for Arsenal again.

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Arsenal XI drew 1-1 with Birmingham City XI this afternoon. Park Chu-Young with #AFC goal. Jack Wilshere didn’t play

So it’s ok to praise a player when he has a good game but you can’t criticize them when they have a bad one, I bet TV5 was the first one to hold his hands up in the changing room after the qpr game to say he had a bit of a mare.
Hardly makes you a doomer or takes you to the top of Interpol’s most wanted does it.

Devil, what I liked most about our kits a few years back were the collars, we don’t seem to do them anymore, shame i think, the redcurrant is nice but the poxy 02 sponser spoils it.

You know me Boss….. 😉

£4million doesn’t sound a huge amount, but if Vela progresses and gets a big move, then Arsenal should get something like 50% of any profit over the £4mill.

Rico, don’t let Mick upset ya, he can be a bit of a drama queen at times…. 😀 😀 😛

Hiya mate. Enjoying yourself back home???

regarding Vela I have a bit of a divided opinion. On one hand he is very skillful. But I feel that his heart is not in it. He does not get tough when the game turns a bit ugly. That is why in EPL I do like players who have a bit of height and are not afraid to dish it out.

The same was with Arshavin. Great players but not quite good at cutting the mustard in the EPL.

And with AW playing them out of position then it only makes matters worse.

Yes I do hope he succeeds elsewhere and goes on to become top player who may be sold for quite a good amount of money. In that way AFC will get more money in the future.

That is why I feel that Podolski and M’Vila and Verts are players who will succeed in the EPL. Because they are skillful and also aggressive at the same time.

Hiya Rico. Chinese good? Cook it yourself?

Evening Rico. I see that HH has been busy yesterday and today. Like a hive of bees.

A veggie pepperoni? I will check that out in H&B. Should I send recipes via the other mail address?

Morning all.
Very quickly,some responses to veiled messages directed at me.
Merlin,you know full well it was me who raised the question,so don’t play games.
Having said that,you did not even address my question…..you take a cheap shot,then can’t be bothered answering,so maybe you can explain that.
Furthermore,after your article the other day,it is going to take a hell of a lot of honest,thoughful comments on your behalf before I bother really taking notice if them again.
The article question was sensationalism at its best,and intentionally disrespectful and incorrect at worst.
Football is not played on a spreadsheet!!!!!
Micko,for probably the fifth time on this thread alone,I say again I have no problem with player criticism.
Again,then again,and again once more,I have a problem with people blaming the wrong player,and with people singling out one or two players when about 8 had shockers!!!!
I hope that is finally clear,I really do,and guys,don’t pussyfoot around if you wish to have a crack at me.

Anyway, delighted to see the Chavs squeeze through.
Not at all impressed by them at all, even considering the tension.
Still it’s make for a very busy few days and two games a week for The Pensioners…
Two massive games vs Barcalona with a visit to The Grove in between should make for some interesting rotation by Di Matteo and a few heavy legs….
Roll on the 21st April….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEpAjX42Fww

By Sami Mokbel, not the most reliable, but you have to hope…

Arsenal are lining up several behind-closed-doors friendlies with a view to getting Jack Wilshere playing competitive football within a fortnight.

The midfielder is edging back to fitness after having his season blighted by ankle and heel problems.

Arsenal have two scheduled reserve games remaining, which poses problems for Arsene Wenger in his bid to get Wilshere fit for his side’s Premier League run-in.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2125216/Jack-Willshere-play-friendlies-fit.html#ixzz1r6y3ZdO9

The French World Cup and European Championships winner believes the Premier League club should pay whatever it takes to sign the midfield anchorman from Rennes in the summer.

M’Vila has been closely trailed by a string of marquee clubs including Arsenal during the last 12 months and, although he has three years left on his Rennes contract, the manager Frederic Antonetti has said the player will leave this summer.

Desailly believes his countryman M’Vila, 22, has the qualities required to thrive at Arsenal or any of the leading Premier League clubs.

“I would just say that if I was the chairman of a Premier League club I would just close my eyes and put the figure on the cheque to get him,” said Desailly in an interview with Goal.com in London.

“Because he is really the future if you structure him. The talent is there. It is obvious.

“We hope he will come here. Arsenal is probably a stable club where he can have a bit of time or [Manchester] United where he has time to assimilate the changing of clubs and start slowly to perform.

“He needs to come to the Barclays Premier League. We want him in this competition because it is the best, first of all, and he can really develop his skills. It is for players who like to play with tempo.

“You can see by the way he gets the ball, control and passes straight away. Long ball, short ball. He has that sort of rhythm that the Barclays Premier League is demanding.”

Nevertheless, Desailly had some words of warning for a holding midfielder who he rates as even more talented than one of the greatest players in Arsenal’s history.

“He is doing too much on the field,” explained the Chelsea and AC Milan legend. “He is defending and trying also to create and make the difference up the field. He has to reduce his commitment up the field.

“He is a defensive midfielder. Fortunately or unfortunately his skills mean he can be a playmaker. Sometimes he is out of position, because he is capable of doing something else.

“I would just say that if I was the chairman of a Premier League club I would just close my eyes and put the figure on the cheque to get him.”

“I would really like to, and I am planning to, get close to him and tell him, ‘No. Like a defender, first of all what is your mission? It is to defend. If you defend very well anything extra you do is fine. First of all, stick on one thing – defending very well and passing very quickly to the offensive players.’

“Once he will have understood that you will see he is the best midfielder – better even than Patrick Vieira.”

GUNNED DOWN?

8/1

Arsenal are 8/1 to beat Manchester City 2-1 on Sunday with Bet365

Desailly recognises that it is quite a statement to rank M’Vila above even his former international colleague Vieira.

“Yes,” he acknowledges. “Yes. You say potentially better than some names, some guys. Afterwards, we will see. Many people have said ‘He looks like Desailly he looks better than Desailly’.

“But did he perform and get to the level? Coped with the pressure and coped with the basics? Small details is where you see if a player is capable of passing his elders.”

Scott From Oz says:

April 4, 2012 at 8:56 pm

Morning all.
Very quickly,some responses to veiled messages directed at me.
Merlin,you know full well it was me who raised the question,so don’t play games.
Having said that,you did not even address my question…..you take a cheap shot,then can’t be bothered answering,so maybe you can explain that.
Furthermore,after your article the other day,it is going to take a hell of a lot of honest,thoughful comments on your behalf before I bother really taking notice if them again.
The article question was sensationalism at its best,and intentionally disrespectful and incorrect at worst.
Football is not played on a spreadsheet!!!!!
Micko,for probably the fifth time on this thread alone,I say again I have no problem with player criticism.
Again,then again,and again once more,I have a problem with people blaming the wrong player,and with people singling out one or two players when about 8 had shockers!!!!
I hope that is finally clear,I really do,and guys,don’t pussyfoot around if you wish to have a crack at me.

_________________________________________________

Scott, I suspect it is you, but not too sure…and too lazy to scroll up again.

I standby my belief that Ramsey unbalanced the TEAM and that VIlla match, I don’t even realised Ramsey was on the left nor remembered who he replaced.

SUffice to say, I standby my belief that Ramsey will be rotated back as ACM with Rosicky switching back to left-side to give better defensive cover at left flank.

Wenger will start his rotation policy due to Easter weekend with 3 games in 7 days, giving Gibbs a rest…and then rest Rosicky for the next match after ABu DHabi CIty, I think it is WOlves away, another mid-week match.

i.e…

This SUnday:

………..Sagna……….Koscielny……….Vermaelen……Santos

…………………Song……………………Arteta
……………………………..Ramsey

…..Walcott………………Van Persie………………..ROsicky

Again Wolves
(Expecting Kos to pick-up a yellow and 2 matches suspension)

………..Sagna……….Djourou……….Vermaelen……Santos

…………………Song……………………Arteta
……………………………..Ramsey

…..Walcott………………Van Persie………………..Gervinho

Again WIgan

………..Sagna……….Djourou……….Vermaelen……Gibbs

…………………Song……………………Diaby
……………………………..Rosicky

…..Walcott………………Van Persie………………..Ox-C

Our squad is rather thin and with too many deadwoods and out-of-form players………..let’s hope injuries and deadwood not undone this team again as in AUgust/Septmeber 2011.

Wenger cna’t afford to rest Sagna, Vermaelen, Song, Walcott and Van Persie.

ANd yes, ROsicky will need to play all the remaining games after given a rest against WOlves away.
WOlves is a physicla team and will adapt QPR tactics to unsettle and destroy Arsenal passing game.

WIthout a doubt, this team will turn-up against ABu DHabi CIty but it is a matter of whether TEAM-WORK will overcome the quality of ABu DHabi CIty players.

The game I am most interested in is actually against WOlves away…and see whetehr any comlacency and arrogance had rubbed off this TEAM and had gone back to “basics”..fighting for every points.

cheers mate no offence taken, love to debate with you…..

Hiya Scott mate……….If you go back to the Villa game you will see that I had mentioned that Aaron was on the left just to give us balance. And I said that I do not agree with it.