Morning Gooners,
Arsenal FC are in a crisis!
Well, that’s what the newspapers are printing isn’t it?
Gone:
Cesc Fabregas Ashley Cole, Gael Clichy, Samir Nasri, Adebayor and Thierry Henry are just a few players that have departed and don’t they like to remind us? All of course couldn’t get away from North London quick enough either could they?
Arsenal are a club with no ambition, they just amble along losing one top player after another and now their talisman Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott are heading the ‘who goes next‘ list!
Alisher Usmanov of Red and White Holdings has also thrown his two penneth in, he also believes that we are sinking fast and he wants to be our saviour which makes it all sound like The Arsenal are up the creek without a paddle.
Poor old Arsene Wenger, head in hands and at his wit’s end, he along with Ivan Gazidis and Stan Kroenke are scratching their heads in disbelief what has gone wrong with The Arsenal.
Arsenal Legend Ian Wright has written his thoughts in the newspaper and has said that Arsenal FC are dragging their heels and are being surpassed by hungrier Premier League sides. He believes we are allowing our best players to leave and are replacing them with ‘not so good’ players. He believes that we penny pinch over transfers and we often miss out on all of the top players because we will not allow ourselves to compete with the big spenders of The Premier League.
Arsenal Football Club are falling down the list of top clubs in this league, and oblivion is where we are heading!!
If we are to read and believe the blogs, newspapers and listen to a few bitter and twisted old players, we The Arsenal are doomed!
We read about clubs like Rangers and Pompey, clubs that have been dragged down through heavy debt and bad Management.
But, everyone seems to ignore that and instead choose to write a story about The Arsenal, they seem to be pushing that knife in harder and twisting it just to make sure – to make sure that the whole world and it’s dog thinks that we are a club in trouble and a club that is soon to wither away and die.
WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP.
Arsenal Football Club is one of, if not the best run football clubs in the world!!
Yes I mean the world, not just in England and it would wise for many other clubs around the world to look at us and consider us as the role model.
Yes we have two very wealthy part owners, but neither one has put his own money in trying to improve the football itself, yes they brought shares in Arsenal Football Club but that is all they have spent and I would say that is a sound investment.
As far as selling our best players and buying second-rate replacements, lets not forget where these great players we are selling off actually came from.
Cesc Fabregas, he was my favourite, was plucked from Barcelona’s own Academy at a very young age he was nurtured by Wenger who transformed into the player he is today. Barcelona saw how Cesc had matured and made it their business to pull all the stops out to get him back in the fold, and what a saga that was but I won’t bore you with that!
Samir Nasri, not many people had heard of him untill Wenger brought him to Arsenal, well that’s because he wasn’t a star but when he left us the papers said he was a superstar.(what a joke)
Thierry Henry was signed as a winger, again a virtual unknown until weaved his magic and then Henry the super striker emerged. Yes he scored many many goals and then left, but he went as a superstar, one that was heading towards retirement.
I won’t go through all the list of players but will mention Robin Van Persie and Theo Walcott.
Robin as we all know had a great season and his goals secured our top three position at the end of the season. He alone was signed for peanuts and who knows how much we will get for in the open market. Theo Walcott, also into the last year of he’s contract with us, this young winger has come on slowly but if he should leave, we should at least recoup what we paid for him.
Now that is how a successful Football Club like Arsenal do business they buy cheap and sell for more, after all its business!
Many would suggest that as we sell these players each season, we lose the chance of winning trophies and maybe you are right, but Arsenal are in it for the long-term. They see business as getting a cheap product and moulding their product then try and make a profit on their investment, and who can say that is wrong when Arsenal Football club is ranked as the sixth richest club in football?
All without heavy spending from wealthy investors.
Arsenal FC have maintained a top four position for fifteen years on the trot which is phenomenal, yes that’s the only way to describe that achievement, phenomenal.
Arsenal in crisis?
Ii don’t think so, that’s how Arsenal Football Club works and they are getting richer and richer they won’t be changing their tactics as their system works.
We have a squad of players earning very good money, coaching staff and a manager all earning a fantastic wage, yet we still turn over a profit.
Who in their right mind would interfere with that system? A system which may just produce a winning team, and when I say that, I mean trophies because that is the only thing missing – silverware.
Remember The Invincibles, that comes round perhaps once in a lifetime I was privileged to have seen it here at Arsenal, all the big spenders have not managed that achievement yet and I don’t think they ever will.
Don’t think that this Arsenal team have little to no chance of winning trophies, they do! We have very good players at our club and we have a squad capable of doing fantastic things, we just need that little bit of what every team needs, and that’s lady luck.
I must just finish with a word on Arsene Wenger, Ivan Gazidis and Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov, with your skills and sound investments you have a right to be proud. You have made Arsenal Football club a club to be proud of and I am extremely proud of Arsenal, but please just a little more money for Wenger in the transfer market. Thank you.
Written by Steve Palmer.
Titbits: Rémy Cabella is reported to be on Arsene Wenger’s radar according to special agent Agent_ITK on Twitter, the little midfielder was a team-mate of Giroud at Montpellier and suggestion is he could be signed if/when Robin van Persie leaves.
Also, Capoue is again linked with us but Barcelona are interested in him too so no hanging around, get in there and sign him up PDQ!
Other news going around is to do with Laurent Kosceinly, it seems the club are ready to tie him down to another long-term deal, and the player doesn’t need to think much before signing it – now that is committment!!
the basic problem with this article is that , football clubs should not be run for makin profits but for winning trophies, but i do agree that arsenal is not in that big a trouble as the media is showing..
BS… IT CAN BE AN ORDINARY BUSINESS TO YOU AND OTHER SHARE HOLDERS AT ARSENAL, BUT TO WE THE FANS, WE FUCKING NEED TROPHIES. A TEAM MAKING PROFIT AND NOT MAKING TROPHIES IS NOT COMPLETE AND TO MY OWN UNDERSTANDING, THAT IS THE REASON WE LOSE TOP PLAYERS YEARLY. TELL WENGER TO BUY TOP PLAYERS FOR US AND STOP SELLING OURS. WE ARE CALLED FANS, AND WE DON’T HAVE ANY GAIN FROM THE PROFIT ARSENAL BOARD ARE MAKING, WE WANT TROPHIES THAT IS WHY WE SUPPORT ARSENAL SO THAT THEY CAN GIVE US TROPHY. GOSH
Morning all..
Good post SP, but i’m not convinced we will win much in the near future, not with the squad as it is and not if we keep selling our better players. We need stability and we need to start keeping the better palyers and build on them.
I know we got good money for Cesc and Nasri etc but sometimes money isn’t everything, not when we are not challenging for top spot…
SK, any real need for the caps?? We can all read…
very nicely said. i was waiting for someone to say this. thank you for a wonderful post. to hell with the critics.
KG – it’s one mans opinion, some will agree, others won’t. The article is a very good one, just because you and I don’t agree with SP’s view, it doesn’t become bad.
My own view, and its just my view – we need to find somewhere in between – we don’t want or need to become like Citeh, but we do need an extra injection of cash to get the squad looking capable of really challenging.
Whether SK/AW will do that this summer remains to be seen…
Morning all..
Welcome Billy, you in SA? Could be a first here 😉
Morning Lee – liking the Capoue story, surely he’d prefer to play for AW ….
Any club with our sort of history that goes seven years without winning anything is in crisis.
It is all good that the club is being run the right way but we are a football club and that is what the fans are most concerned with. the football side of things, you make it sound like we are nothing more than a money making machine and it shouldnt be like tht
LSG – to a degree we are a money making machine, ok we sign the odd player or two around the £10M mark, but usually we take a punt on younger players knowing full well that if/when they go, they go for a good price.
And no, its not right…
Getting the best price when selling a player is ideal. However constantly selling your best players and replacing them with players of lesser skill is stupidity. There is an expression “you have to speculate to accumulate”, Arsenal need to actually just push the boat out a little and sign two or three of the top players we are after to challenge for honours. The signings we have made so far are above average players, but they are not exceptional players. If we continue selling off the best we have, we will be left with nothing and a slow journey down the table. We start dropping places, fans start leaving, sponsorship is less, income is down and you have even less to compete with. You go back to the Arsenal that had crowds of 20,000. It can happen and it will unless we do speculate and the fans think we can challenge for honours.
Good post SP, but like a lot of the rest, this current team will not win trophies and therefore we need to re-invest. It is clear the current deadwood are on far too much money(wages). Maybe our rich owner can dig deep and sack them and pay them off as we are not shifting them and they are bleeding us dry.
Then our model will allow for us to re-invest in the right way, quality player quality wage.
SH – totally agree re the ‘speculate to accumulate’ – spend a bit more, win a trophy or two and watch the better sponsership deals being on the table, selling of shirts etc will go up and the money will come in…
Off the pitch we are top class, but it appears that this is to the detrement of what goes on on the pitch and that is what really matters to the fans…
Like the post but the board makes profit and the fans gets trophies as a reward for their support……i know our top 4 is secured but to win the EPL is just no now as we keep on losing our star players..
Lawrence – maybe we are asking too much for our deadwood, Fiorentina have said they haven’t made a bid for Chamakh as he’s too expensive and AW can’t have it all his own way.
He won’t pay silly money fo players, Cahill and Schwartzer (spelling) showed that and we lost out on both, so he can’t expect other clubs to pay willy money for players who in all honesty are very average.
We should have dropped the asking price for Denilson and got him off of our books, but no, another loan and we are reported to be paying his wages..
STEVEN NZONZI has sparked a scramble for his signature after failing to join up for Blackburn’s training camp in Austria.
The £5million-rated French midfielder was watched by Chelsea, Arsenal and top foreign clubs last season.
Nzonzi, 23, had a volatile relationship with boss Steve Kean and the right bid could see him move on.
What a fucking nonsense u are talking about we fans don’t need your fucking profit we need trophy notin more fuck arsenal board
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/marouane-chamakh-costs-too-much-say-fiorentina-7931829.html
chamakh going nowhere it seems…he is on a 3m a yr deal…hope he exchange him for jovetic n some money….he has to take a paycut though
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/marouane-chamakh-costs-too-much-say-fiorentina-7931829.html…
srry for d double post….
Thats really is a quality comment Emir – not 🙄
No worries Ron, links sometimes send you into spam, thats where i found you 😉
Someone is fibbing about Chamakh, AW said they’d had a bid for him…
Hi been busy at the beach.
Rico 10.06 I agree with that. We need a nice injection so we can have a go and stop the hemoraging of best players. The general direction is “stand alone” and has strong roots but we are becoming a feeder club and that is what riles most fans. It means we make alot of £ to spend and be sustainable but it leaves such a bitter taste when our talent bails on us to Man city and win stuff.
A couple of months back we debated what would happen now in this TW and foresaw the exact events. Uzmanov would appear if RVP even considered leaving simply because the fans would demand answers… People just arent CONVINCED that the club is being run correctly and untill they are it’l continue like this. One way to stop it……show commitment to winning and buy some players whilst keeping the good ones too.
;)…AW said thy bid for him..n fiorentina deny it…it is d oppssite it is usually we bid for someone n thn AW denies it…hope we get jovectic quality player can ply upront n as a am will bring in a lot of creativity…anybody knws wht has happ to d supposed mvilla deal???
Whilst I understand the reasoning behind AFC’s management of the club, I do have some uneasy feelings. The “sustainable model” could become unsustainable if the fans continue to show their disappointment at a lack of trophies against a backdrop of ever-increasing prices and give the proverbial “Bollocks to that” response. The law of diminishing returns takes over and the downward spiral becomes inevitable.
We don’t actually need to win trophies to keep everyone happy but we do need to make a good fist of competing for them. We need to think that they can or might win something to maintain our interest.
Exactly Thorny..
Ron – just heard that jovectic would cost £24 Million, think we can forget about him 😉
4th place is a trophy for AFC. Not too sure if we can manage that this season given the way other teams are spending. Even spuds are investing in quality players. Are signings are completed for the season. We have giroud as replacement for Van and poldi for theo.
Agree most, disagree some. Some things for all of us to remember is that we don’t know and never will know the specifics of what takes place behind closed doors…i.e. RVP saga is not a closed deal one way or the other. Wenger appears to be different, more active in this market, let’s hope he continues and brings in more good players. We can’t dispute that the ones he did thus far are not good signings but it might be a while into the season for us to notice it. Lastly I must agree that for our team to be considered successful and us the fans to be happy; TROPHIES ARE A MUST!!! and I don’t mean A Carling Cup although it would be a decent start..
Of course we are one of the richest clubs in the world ,how many supporters pay the price we do for a season ticket . Dont tell me we cant compete in the transfer market ,there is no one we cant buy but who wants to come to us when they know they will win zilch
I would like to make one small point.
Yes the club is run as a business and for profit.
But where does the profit come from?
It comes from the pockets of us fans to the pockets of the board and shareholders.
Correct me if I’m wrong but don’t we deserve better than a top four finish for paying the highest prices in the league AGAIN!
ya i guess so another quality player gone….just thinking who will come to replace vp whn he is gone…
scott – i don’t think AW has finished with his signings, not yet…
Cabbie – we can, we just choose not too because of the ‘long-term’ plan…
Back in a bit – few things to be doing…
Morning all,
rico 10.55, I wouldn’t trust Arsene, he’d steal the milk outta your tea while you weren’t looking.
Billboy, totally agree, I’d hate to think we were only in it to make up the numbers.
Gud morning gooners!! Every body has their way of saying things,sp gud article but in this case we really needs to stop putting our honorable AFC in jopady in the name of making money. This whole thing started when d erection of emirate stadium,dept thing and all that, it’s all over now…take for example chEalsea fc..we need gud investment..
very nice post but a little bit more money 4players plzzzzzz.i hate seeing how clubs are taking our players and we dont react to show the all world that we desire what thos rich fuckin club desire.i believe in wenger and hope dis season we can do something guys.
Morning all, Another post from SP where he’s thrown the line into the pond 😉
The thing for me is the current board are relying on one thing and one thing only, they are happy with zero investment and preaching about self sustainability all the while they looking at 2014/2015 for the new commercial deals and tv revenue to bring us in an extra 20/30million a year in profit… They also then looking at FFP to kick in which think we all know isn’t going to work in a million years to curb the big spenders..! The risk is all heaped on us keep making CL footie which we seem to scrape into but for how much longer when the board refuse to invest and then that new sponsors will be prepared to part with millions on a team that doesn’t even compete..! It’s like Billboy says at least show we can compete for trophies it’s not about spending hundreds of millions to try buy one is it..? A little speculation on a few more quality players could completely change things yet they seem far to blinkered in lining their own pockets and NOT putting a penny back into the club.
chelsea have signed Oscar who is rated as high as hazard. Chelsea will be the team to beat in EPL this season.
Woke up this morning and all news seems to surround the Spuds…Adebayor, Loris, Montinho…now i know some of these moves wont happen…but still….whats wrong with Arsenal???
It’s a football club not a business. Success is not measured by profit but in trophys the club wins. Your article is a load of rubbish re think. We are in a crisis!! Since we have not and will not win a trophy till money is injected! Lastly usmanov wants to put money into the club but the board won’t allow him to! Get your facts right before you right an article.
Hardly think the article is rubbish James as it’s about debating opinion so write one yourself before you call someone else rubbish…!
Totally agree we are a football club but if you also don’t think we’re a business then your sadly mistaken, football is now a business and has been for years but as most businesses find out if you lack investment you get left behind.
HIGHBURY’S HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY!!
Far back in the mists of ancient time, in the great and glorious days of the former Empire, life was wild, rich and, on the whole, dept-free. Mighty stars plied their way, seeking adventure and reward amongst the furthest reaches of ambition.
In those days, spirits were brave, stakes were high, men were real men, wags were real women, and small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri were real small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri.
All dared to brave unknown terrors, to do mighty deeds, to boldly split infinitives that no man had split before. And thus was the Empire forged. Given birth to invincibles.
Etonian men, of course, became extremely rich, but this was perfectly natural, and nothing to be ashamed of, because no one was really poor — at least no one worth speaking of.
RICH POOR
Then these extremely hyper-rich mastodonts, of whom sought their own enterprises, meteorized onto the scene. Their life eventually had become rather dull, and it seemed that none of the worlds they settled on was entirely satisfactory. Either the climate wasn’t quite right in the later part of the afternoon, or the day was half an hour too long, or the sea was just the wrong shade of red.
(GULLS CRY)
And thus were created the conditions for a staggering new form of industry — custom-made luxury planet building.
The home of this industry was the planet Manchelsea, where vast hyperspatial engineering works were constructed to suck matter through black holes in space and form it into dream planets, lovingly made to meet the exacting standards of the Galaxy’s richest men. And so successful was this venture that very soon Manchelsea itself became the richest of all time, and the rest of the Galaxy was reduced to abject poverty. And so the system broke down.
A long, sullen silence settled over the Galaxy. Highbury disappeared and its memory soon passed into the obscurity of legend. In these enlightened days, no one believes a word of it.
[RvP] I don’t believe a word of it.
[Wenger] Listen to me, Robin, I’ve found it. I swear I’ve found it.
[RvP] Highbury?
[Wenger] Yeah!
[RvP] A non-existent planet.
[Wenger] Yeah, er no …. Listen … it’s …
[RvP] Myth. Highbury is a fairy story. What you tell kids if you want them to grow up to become economists.
[Wenger] We are currently in orbit around it!
[RvP] YOU may be in orbit around it!
[Wenger] Computer!
[RvP] Oh, no!
[Computer] Hi, there, this is Stan, your shipboard computer, and I’m feeling just great, guys. I’ll get a bundle of kicks out of any program you care to run!
[RvP] Is this necessary?
[Wenger] Computer, what is our trajectory?
[Computer] A real pleasure, fella! We are currently in orbit at an altitude of 300 miles around the legendary planet Highbury. Golly!
[RvP] Proving nothing. I wouldn’t trust that computer to speak my weight!
[Computer] I can do that!
[RvP] No, thank you.
[Computer] I can even work out your personality problems to ten decimal places.
[Wenger] Take us down, Computer. Take us down nice and low.
(SQUEAKING)
[Hill Wood] What’s going on?
[Gazidis] According to Wenger, Highbury is this legendary planet, which no one seriously believes in. And now we’re going to land on it.
[Hill Wood] Oh? Is there any tea on this spaceship?
[Wenger] That is the planet we’re orbiting around, and that is Manchelsea! They’re the same! Check, check, check!
[RvP] Check, check, check?
[Gazidis] Can we see it at all, Computer?
[Computer] Hi, there.
[Gazidis] Can we see it?
[Computer] From up here? No way! You wouldn’t want to anyway. It’s just cold and grey and a whole bunch of no fun.
[Gazidis] Great! For this, I got my ears pierced!
[Wenger] With half the Empire’s wealth stored on it, it can afford to look frumpy!
[RvP] I don’t believe you.
[Wenger] Why not?
[RvP] You tend to lie a lot. I think it’s just any old dead planet.
[Gazidis] The suspense is killing me (!)
Stress and nervous tension are now serious social problems in all parts of the Galaxy, and it is in order that this situation should not be in any way exacerbated that the following facts will now be revealed in advance.
The planet in question is, in fact, Manchelsea. The missile attack shortly to be launched by an automatic defence system will merely result in the breakage of three coffee cups and a mouse cage, the bruising of someone’s under arm and the untimely demise of a bowl of petunias.
Gazidis’ next question is very complex and difficult, and Wenger’s answer is wrong in every important respect.
[Gazidis] Is it safe?
[Wenger] Of course! It’s been dead for seven million years.
(FANFARE)
[Usmanov] Greetings to you.
[Wenger] Computer, what’s this?
[Computer] A seven-million-year-old holotape being broadcast at us.
[Usmanov] This is a recorded announcement as I’m afraid we’re all out at the moment. The Commercial Council of R&W …
[Wenger] A voice from ancient Highbury!
[RvP] OK, OK!
[Usmanov] … regrets that the entire planet is temporarily closed for business. Thank you. Leave your name and the address of the planet where you can be contacted when you hear the tone.
(BEEP)
[Hill Wood] They want us to leave. What do we do?
[Wenger] We keep going. Got that, Computer?
[Computer] Got it!
[Usmanov] (FANFARE) It is most gratifying that your enthusiasm for our planet continues unabated, and so we would like to assure you that the guided missiles currently converging with your ship are part of a special service we extend to all of our most enthusiastic clients, and the fully-armed nuclear warheads are, of course, merely a courtesy detail. We look forward to your custom in future lives. Thank you.
[Gazidis] If that’s their sales pitch, what’s the complaints department like?
[Wenger] Listen, you semi-evolved simian! Will you crowbar this into your cranium? We just triggered off an ancient recording device. It doesn’t apply to us.
[Hill Wood] And the missiles?
[Computer] Missiles? You want to make me laugh? Show me some missiles!
[RvP] I think they’re going to have a very good try at applying to us.
[Gazidis] What?
(BEEPING)
OBJECT PROXIMITY
[Wenger] Terrific! They’re trying to kill us! You know what that means?
[Gazidis] Yes, we’re going to die.
[Wenger] Yeah … no … maybe … It means there’s something down there they don’t want us to have, and if they don’t want us to have it that badly, I want to have it even worse.
[Hill Wood] So there is someone down there?
[Wenger] No. It’s automatic defence systems.
[RvP] What are we going to do?
[Gazidis] Just keep cool.
[Hill Wood] Is that all?
[Wenger] Er, no, we’re also going to take evasive action. Computer, what evasive action can we take?
[Computer] Er, none, I’m afraid, guys.
[Computer] There’s something jamming my guidance systems. Impact minus 150 seconds. (ALARM) Sorry. I didn’t mean that. Please call me Tongue Tied Stan if it will help you relax.
[Wenger] Right, Computer, I want full manual control of this ship now!
[Computer] You got it.
[Hill Wood] But can you fly her?
[Wenger] No. Can you?
[Hill Wood] No.
[Wenger] Robin?
[RvP] No.
[Gazidis] I can’t either.
[Wenger] I’d guessed. Computer, activate the manual consoles.
[Computer] Sure thing. Good luck, guys. Impact minus 125 seconds.
[Wenger] Here goes!
DG……………. R u bored by any chance 😀
Good Day to all you Fine Folk.
I see that there were some gentlemen here on today. They were trying to illuminate this fine site with their insightful knowledge on how the club should operate. They want cups and that is what their club should give them they say. I wonder if they have any cups in their kitchen!!!!! 😉 They should go and look them to satisfy their thirst.
Morning all
Llloris sign for Totts
WATH just exploring the origins of a Big Bang theory. Cuz I believe the more the Arsenal are compressed the bigger the explosion. 😉
Morning Dev,
DG you been on those rocket fueled muffins this morning 😉
That is my feeling also DG. The more that AFC are compressed and with backs to the wall the bigger the explosion may be in the near future……..and mind you, I will not be feeling sorry for the opposition when these hidings will come.
Good Day W.A.T.H.. We all have our favourite fuel. Mine is WINE. DG prefers rocket fuel…………..and you my friend prefer aviation GG fuel. 😉
AH but Dev you’d be surprised what fuel lights my fire 😉
I too enjoy the old grape juice…!
I looked in my kitchen Devilgunner and only found mugs.
Hope they didn’t cost you a fortune Billboy… 😉
No WATH. Mrs Billboy and I have a sustainable model. Can’t show a profit though or all the ex Mrs Billboys will be after it.
Mugs are important Billboy. They are there to remind us that not all of us are that bad. It makes you appreciate yourself and your real friends more when you see that mugs are on the same shelf as cups, pots, tins and pans. Its a kind of diversity which we should accept yet deep down we know how grateful we should be when we see the level of the mugs which try to satisfy our thirst.
I agree Devilgunner. But then my mugs are always half full!
Lucas Moura- man u
oscar- chelsea
Ade- Tottenham.. the follwoing transfers may happen… once again others will sign top players and we will loose top players.
Ade…….a top player?????
😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆
Top disruptor yes, but top player.
What did I miss?? Another one wants out, it seems. 😉 SSP, I love the hopeful tone. If only our Board were a little more keen on good investments instead of bargain buys.
Hiya, rico. Howdy? Are the chickens now fit for frying?? Dutch, that’s a mouthful. 😀 Hi, WATH– you have GG pumping through our veins, I’m convinced! 😉 Hey, Devil, how are you?
Afternoon Spastics…
Great post Sir Steven, one of your best sir….
Dutch…… what are you smoking amigo? 😉
You should be careful to fill them up more Billboy. Empty vessels make most sound and the larger they are the harder they are to fill and the sounds are usually more hollow. So try and replace them with some nice small looking cups. They look good when they are on the shelf and better when they are full to the brim with juicy wine or spirits.
Afternoon Wath, Coach and Shopping Buddy… 🙂
If there’s only 7 pints in there AGAG I want a refund on where the bloody rest has gone…………
Hiya habib. Hope you are well and resting.
Here we are frying today. go out during the middle of the day and you get sun burnt in a flash.
Garden finished yet mate????
Hiya Agag. We are all ok.
Greetings AK, hope your well mate… got ya wellies on or is it waders where you are..?
Evening all.
Great post Steve,and one I wholeheartedly agree with.
To those glory hunting ego trippers who posted early,I DON’T follow Arsenal so they can give me trophies.
I follow them because I always have,and if they were relegated I’d still bloody follow them.
Yes,I’d still wake up at 3 in the morning to watch them because I’m an Arsenal fan,not somebody who jumped on the coat tails after they had success.
The only crisis is the identity crisis some fans suffer when trying to remember which club they follow this year.
I will give you a hint,it’s probably Citeh this year!!!
All those in favour of giving up financial stability for trophies,say AYE,then piss off to Scotland and watch Rangers play!
What’s that,you can’t……why not,they’re massively SUCCESSFUL,if we use the yardsticks that measure success of Arsenal by plenty of fans at the moment!!
Garden is fine Coach…
You should the size of my onions… 😯
Back up Town later today.
no wellies where i am Wath, it’s sunny, but cloudy mate.
Hope your good?
My boy has got two tickets for Stoke, hmmmm, not sure laying out a big wedge to go up to that shit-hole….
*See the size* 🙄
Devil, you must be enjoying the weather, then. 😉 Boo, shopping buddy, howdy?? I wanted to go to Hong Kong to see AFC and get some shopping done; but the tickets sold out in hours and my cash flows aren’t too flowy at the moment. 😉 Some friends are off to Kuala Lumpur, so I’ll ask them to get you a programme. 🙂
WATH, why am I not surprised?? You’d be happy to know I had a good number of pink drinks over my hols. 😉 🙂
Goodmorningafternooneveningnightorwhatevertimeofthedayitis in OZ mate.
The post by Sir SP is great, but your comment on those glory hunting ego trippers is a couple of notches above the sky mate. I agree with that 100%
Cheers Agag… 😉
Oxford St was good last Friday, lots of offers…
🙂
No Agag. I do not like summer. Not even the sun. I prefer Autumn and early winter here. I do not like the heat. Its mostly indoors for me during daytime. Then after 17.00hrs I go out, when the sun is setting. And during the night its heaven. but during the day its hell.
Hiya, Scott. The mind boggles at how some people take time to post nasty comments. Why bother??
I’ll make a mental note to self, AK. 🙂
AK did you rip off a couple of punters to go shopping…? Dodgy git lol
You think the penny might of finally dropped at Arsenal? No one can afford to match our player’s wages…well apart from the Russian/Arabs!
Alisher Usmanov should be given a seat on the Arsenal board, according to more than 80 per cent of Gunners supporters who took part in a poll.
The survey by the Arsenal Supporters Trust shows substantial backing for the billionaire, who owns just under 30 per cent of the club through his investment company, Red and White Holdings.
More than 600 fans answered the questionnaire and, of those, 82 per cent said that Usmanov, or a representative of his, should be invited to join the club’s board.
However, majority shareholder Stan Kroenke has made it clear he will not make such an offer to the Uzbek, who last week criticised the board.
In a letter, Usmanov warned that Arsenal would struggle to compete at the top of the Premier League unless they relaxed their spending policy.
He aired his concerns after Robin van Persie announced he would not be extending his contract, which has only a year to run, raising fears among Arsenal fans they will lose another key player following the departures of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri last summer.
Seventy-two per cent of respondents also called for former vice-chairman David Dein to be invited back to join the club.
Dein left Arsenal in 2007 due to “irreconcilable differences” between him and the rest of the board, as he supported a takeover by Kroenke, who had just started buying shares in the club.
The poll also showed major support for Arsene Wenger even though last season was, at times, the toughest of his 16-year career at the club.
Arsenal rallied from their worst start to a season in 58 years to finish in third place to secure automatic qualification to next season’s Champions League.
Although their trophy drought was extended to seven years, 77 per cent of fans who took part in the survey said they were happy for the Frenchman to remain in charge at the Emirates.
And those fans actually ranked his performance last season as more impressive than Manchester City’s title-winning manager Roberto Mancini, considering the two sides’ relative budgets.
With the future of captain Van Persie in the balance it is far from certain Wenger will be able to repeat the impressive statistic that 89 per cent of fans rate Arsenal as ‘good or very good’ at playing attractive and entertaining football, while only seven per cent say they are satisfied with the club’s defence after a season in which 49 goals were conceded in 38 Premier League games.
But the testimony of supporters in the anonymous poll is instructive.
“Wenger is definitely world class,” read one. “I think he could use some more world-class players. I know if RVP leaves we’ll be okay, but who’ll replace him? He carried the team.”
And another said: “Arsenal’s performance in coming third was as good as could be expected, especially after the disastrous start to the season. I would accept third again this coming season like a shot!”
Meanwhile, Fiorentina have denied making an offer for Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh.
The Morocco international joined the Gunners on a Bosman free transfer from Bordeaux in 2010 but has failed to hold down a regular place at the Emirates Stadium.
Wenger was this week quoted as saying Fiorentina had made an offer for the 28-year-old but their sporting director Daniele Prade cited the player’s wages as one reason they would not be pursuing a deal.
Prade told SportItalia: “Have we made an offer for Chamakh? We have not made one because he earns three million euros per season.”
Prade did confirm, however, that Chamakh’s Morocco strike partner Mounir El Hamdaoui would soon join the Florence outfit from Ajax.
The problem is Lee it’s only for shit players…!
Afternoon guys and gals – agag you are naughty, they are layers…. 😉
I wish AW would stop getting French no hopers
It’s mental WATH we can pay players £50k pw that can’t trap a bag of cement but not reward our few quality players!
Alan, his track record on French no-hopers is fairly good….Viera,Pires,Na$ri,Henry & Kos who’d heard loads about any of them?
we ve signed two classy players…we are looking to get more what else do you nerds want? some people are never satisfied even if we sign messi!
Me Wath?
Rip-off punters??!
Perish the thought….. 😉
morning guys……shut up alan do you ever write any thing meaningful? french no hopers he says.
However WATH, Charlie,he’d rip your eyes out if you weren’t looking!! 😉
Who was the last real ‘no hoper’ from France Alan? Biscoff?
Please don’t say Squilli, he was only ever to be a 5th choice CB at most….
Stan wtf are you doing in the States? Time?
Stan, you Yank, now take a chill pill.
You should take a leaf outta Dutch’s book.
He is so chilled, so mellow.
Stan are you sure your a Nederlander?
You’re in a good mood today goonster 😉
morning lee, rico, kev, w.a.t.th……….hey did i just miss AGAG? awwwwwwwwwww
Has Lloris actually signed for the swampies JM??
Lee 😆
Yeah, that Charlie, he’s bloody ruthless… 😉
Devil/WATH I thought it was an suitable extract from a screenplay that amplifies absurdity, confusion and the uncertainty of any endeavor.
Saying goes ‘those who have the money, make the rules.’ I’m of the opinion it’s meant to devalue our standards. So we feel our civilization is lost not able to match forcefields and retain root principles and accommodating values. Forcing some to launch their panic/paranoid shuttle.
Rico, did you get my e-mail?
that”s cause DG10 is neurotic kev…..lee its 8’24 raliegh time. rico, am in a sour mood maam. folks like alan just tick me off.
Dutch, looking forward to the sequel where they crash land only to find a bunch of monkeys running around on our pitch.
I believe you Lee, he’s a bad one that AK fella….!
Just going through them Kev, and funny enough, just replying, thanks heaps 🙂
Ha Ha Ha Effin Ha;
Matt Fortune@MFworldfootball
Sky Sports reporting Robin van Persie could u-turn on that ludicrous statement and actually sign a new deal at Arsenal!
Agent_ITK@Agent_ITK
#Arsenal have increased their bid from Jan to £7.5million to Juventus for Miloš Krasić.
AK, that would’t suprise me…
fuck it kev….we dont need him. the damage’s already been done. sell the fucker to the highest bidder. we need committed players not pre madonnas.
Wouldn’t suprise me either Kev….
http://twitter.com/iGooner7/status/221256472082923520/photo/1
milos krasic you say? interesting.
You just couldn’t make it up AKB’s…
Maybe the money he wanted isn’t on the table?
Maybe Arsenal have made it clear that he’s staying, Bosman or no Bosman next summer…?
Lack of ambition 78 million pounds spent on players last season and so far this season, international players bought and the best young English player currently available. Experienced players brought in and yet all we hear is whine whine whine we don’t spend any money.
Debt on the club reduced through the last eight years by £250 million so we have a sustainable club and more importantly there will be a a club in the future. Sometimes I reckon we get the players and attitude we deserve, they expected to turn and be allowed to play and win, we expect to win everything and its a crisis if we don’t (a crisis is not having any shelter, food, water or medicine not a club not winning a trophy) well we have the fourth largest wage budget in the league and even if AU waddles in he cant spend any money on the squad.
And why do you think FFP is coming in? Because Real, Barca, Bayern and Manu cant spend what malaga, psg, chelsea and city can and they wont accept being second choice on wages which is where they are headed fast. They like us cant wait for it to come in as there revenue is so much more than the nouveau riche clubs.
Lets wait and see who else we bring in before we storm the barricades at the club, we need to see at least two more players and i think we will.
those were the days huh kev? pity we dont have em anymore. it breaks my heart. i dont think i have any favorite player anymore. first it was hleb that broke me heart then fab4 now van persie! i ll never put my self out there to get hurt anymore. from now on i support the team and wont droll on any team player. it hurts as hell.
Is this the new Arsenal Captain???
http://twitter.com/mushari16/status/222670087763673088/photo/1
Sorry about the CAPS on my first comment. We want trophies, after all, arsenal don’t pay us a dime, so for us to be happy as a fan, we need trophies, wenger and co are just so concern about their own money. BS
God bless ya vernat….. top comment best i ve read all day including alan’s drivel!
no i think it ll be TV5….
Vernat that all very good and well but they have only spent what we got from player sales last season and not a penny more….! FFP will make no difference what so ever the big teams will find a way round it, hiding behind FFP thinking the playing field will be leveled is plain wishful thinking.
Those were the days Kev…
Is that right, the EU are bailing out Spanish banks to the tune of £100 billion…?
What about the Spanish Government collecting the tax owed to them by their football clubs?
Shut up W.A.T.H we could only hope FFP works….and what is life without hope huh? and dont come up with an technicality crap. am old fashioned i believe it ll work. end of.
SP
im not sure what to say,but i realy hope you are more interested in winning than your post gives me reason to believe.??
we should always be a football club first,struggling to be the best we can,not ever being satisfied in being second best..in ALL sport its about winning and being the best,if thats not our goal..well then we should just pack it in..
as it looks at the moment the new season will be an uphill struggle,cant really see us competing with…manure,citeh,or chelski…so back to fighting for fourth…isnt that just dandy..??
on the up..the economic situation in Spain…not sure how long banks will be allowed to back teams like Real and the whores of catalunia(pardom my language)…
myself im reduced to hoping we will not fall further down the pecking order..what a great way to start a season,hoping we dont fall apart..NO its not the best of times to be a Gooner…players escaping faster than a loaded gun,the board merely acting as muppets for a hollywood looker,profit is what its all about..well that and waiting for better times FFP ;..
sometimes i feel like we’re just an episode of Dallas where bobby(kroenke) tries as always to be good but lacks punch and JR(usmanov)always makes havoc..still in the end its all about money,
we the Gooners are left with needles and pins..;
Yes Mr Gazidis this has been a truly great summer for kroenke ;..your one clever son of a gun…!!
That Rvp story isn’t on SS website, is it a spoof I wonder…
*any technicality crap* is that even a phrase? sheesh…
http://twitter.com/hitler3alotaibi/status/222673518498820096/photo/1
SK, no probs
vernat – i am not sure FFP wil make a dot of difference…
Santos looks like he’s been OFF the fisn n chips… 😀
Micko it takes some imagination to see the truth underneath it but I actually found it quite funny that the whole conversation only needed name changing. I’ve done little tinkering.
Goonie me neurotic……more like excessive firing creative synapses in my upper hemisphere. Be a bit more flavour in your flattery 😉 😛
tomstoned – but JR got shot and Bobby died, only to have a wonder shower…
If Stan goes, we don’t want him reappearing like Bobby 😉
Don’t think it’s a U-turn kev, he made it clear from the start he would be having more discussions with the club, I’d be over the moon if he’s still with us next season.
A lot of us have been questioning the ambition of the club over the last few seasons.
Hope he has a good pre-season….
Maybe he still has a future with AFC..?
http://twitter.com/hitler3alotaibi/status/222673449003401217/photo/1
I know all that technical stuff a bit much for you to comprehend but focus Stanley… FFP won’t work in a million years, hope all you want..! Bob if you want..! 😉
There ya go Rico.. 😉
http://twitter.com/hitler3alotaibi/status/222673348088446976/photo/1
Hello all.
FFP in theory is a good idea, a level playing field for all teams to compete sounds like a great idea to me. But I think we can all see that it just isn’t going to work, City basically just shit all over this new ‘law’ and in effect showed the way to circum navigate it. There were grumblings at the time that FIFA or uefa were to investigate this dealing, but I don’t see how they can penalise this, surely it’s up to the sponsor how much they invest and if the sponsor just so happens to be owned by a member of your wealthy middle eastern family, then I guess your luck is in. If gazidis did send a letter to one of Usmanovs telecomm companies asking for sponsorship then what is wrong with that, yes gazidis should have done a bit more research but what is to stop Usmanovs company injecting more cash into sponsorship for us?
The biggest Issue most of us fans have has been said on here a million times, all we want is for the club just to go the extra mile for once so we can have a good go at challenging. Not to put the clubs future in jeopardy but spending a little more in the past I’m sure would have made us champi ons or at least a lot closer. Go get a DM, CB and back up keeper, get rid of all the shit, knock down their transfer fees just to get them off the books! at least then we’ll know that we’re going to have a really good go at winning something this year because at a big club, which I still feel we are you have to be winning trophies.
Sorry rambling on a bit there.
Just been looking at the pics on the website, Diaby is actually fit and joining in, Squilli and JD are there and Santos looks a bit slimmer….
Maurice too…
yes it will massimo morratti is a huge supporter.
Sorry Kev, didn’t see your comment on Santos 😉
http://twitter.com/hitler3alotaibi/status/222674229240406019
😆 Kev – I get it, have read it now 🙂
spot on Rico ;)….im gettin old and forgets fast..still thought Dallas was a soap,not a facit on how to run Our Beloved Arsenal ?..:)
On the RvP captain-gate.
I wouldn’t be surprised. We already classify it as a U-turn when he merely mentioned not being convinced. As Gazidis has proven before being more than capable of. Van Persie knows what to expect from Le Boss but to far lesser extent what the board mistake for vision. I think the whole thing was blown out of proportion when the Red and White Holdings statement got stapled to his.
You ramble on Lewis 😉
I think that was a huge gaff by Gazidis, had he realised there is no way he would have contacted that company, SK doesn’t want AU to have anything to do with the club, directly or indirectly.
If only though eh, if only they could give and take a bit….
Lee – hopefully not for much longer and what has Song done to his bonce…
😆 tom, i loved it back then….
DutchGooner !
it may have been blown out of proportion,still van pester was supposed to be Our capitan??..so me, i dont want that thing anywhere near Our Team…ever again…this is about The Arsenal not one player………
you and me both tombstoned and i am dutch!
Wengers buzz is to improve a player….we all know don’t we.
it’s only england and italy who want to buy old players and maureen prehaps.
Nearly everyone thinks we can win the league if we buy big,
2 trophys stand out each season,your domestic league and the champions league….well we know who won the league and we know who won the champions league…money won it.
Wenger when he has the time to trade,he will play poker,with clubs that have the young player he wants,he will pay big for young players as he has proved over the years and be very patient.
Wenger knows he can buy players of a certain standard around the 15million euro mark.
But nothing gives a coach a better buzz than improving a player.
thats why he took his coaching badges..not for money at the time..
we never even heard of him till he came here ..did we.
I still think that M’vila is a done deal.
And I still think Rvp will stay.
But, what if it turns out that what RvP has said and done gives the club a wake up call??
Fred I agree re M’Vila not so sure on RvP…
fred i ll rather have capoue….and i hope rvp is really gone. for his own sake he should leave cause the emirates ll be hostile next season. move him on pronto and let’s really smash the league.
fred – i reckon it could be Capoue, he’s a cheaper and some say, better option…
Tomstoned I get your disdain, disapproval and disappointments with Robin. But to me he took a bite larger than he could chew trying to be clever bob and force our club to be proactive early. How fair would we judge his opinion when we hadn’t reanimated last season. Now we blame him to be a one day fly. But to a large part it was his perseverance, experience and leadership that saved a lot of jobs including Wenger’s. Think he just maximizes his leverage either way. A tactic Arsenal is no stranger too themselves I might add. Giving armbands to raise price tags and protect investments. While the bearer gets vilified, nicely protecting heat from their own skin.
We have to except negotiations are part of gaining not losing out.
to maintain the status quo the top clubs like Real, Barca, Manu, Bayern and Us need ffp to stick because we cant pay what the oil or benefactor clubs can however they have not had the time to increase their revenue like the top clubs therefore these clubs can maintain there position as they can spend more in proportion as they turn over more
Don’t no much about Capoue,only y/tube stuff….
what I do is that wenger wait’s to his man
DG dont tell me you re backing him….hmmm i smell a rat. you rotterdammers do like sticking together though. am not surprised.
fred capoue made the team of the week in france for 12 weeks consecutively. he’s better and cheaper besides he does score the odd goal while mvilla is not known to be a goal scorer….but any of them ll do though.
rico, I sent you photos! 🙂 Including one of a chicken dish. 😀 😀
goonster, hyper as ever, I see. What scrape have you gotten yourself into, now? 😉
Dutch, Robin made sure to make himself controversial by posting that ill-advised message on his website. Is he still our captain?? I should hope not.
AW can’t wait too long during this window, there are too many clubs with new managers who will want their own players in the door..
Capoue or M’Vila – just get one asap…
Hello Rico and everyone. lots of varying opinions on here today, some more eloquently expressed than others. In the age of mass media and rapid communication it seems we all feel we have a right to know what is going on with Arsenal. With this desire comes a sense of entitlement that is most probably not shared by the club’s owner or management it seems. The reason they will not let us in on the real situation is probably because they know we won’t like it. But this lack of transpareency will only serve to inflame the fans even more I think. With each day that passes and no movement in or out we sense a certain inevitability about the whole thing. We are all dreading looking at the squad on the morning of Setember 1st and realising that this is not going to be strong enough to challenge for either the CL or the PL. This discontent breeds its own problems too as Arsene, fuelled by the weight of the ensuing negativity will be forced to come out and defend the indefensible. He will tell us that this is the strongest squad he has ever had and that he senses the inner strength required to win anything from 2 to 4 trophies. We will all know that is merely propaganda and we will feel a mixture of sympathy and anger. But it will give other sites the ammunition to wheel out the usual nutters to lay terrible siege to the manager, the players, the board and anybody else that they feel has betrayed them. The abuse will be fearful, disgusting and sickening and it’s cheerleader will be the one and only nut job himself. Inwardly embarrassed at his own inadequacies and ashamed of his sad, pathetic life in the office, he will be delighted at the opportunity to revel in his own psychopathy and to get back at a world that has simply failed to recognise his brilliance. He will speak in the gutter language of the inadequate imbecile and no profanity will be considered too vile to heap upon Arsene and the Board. Stan too will come in for fearful abuse. After all, what does billionaire Stan know about business that the office boy doesn’t? Only he will be able to assemble the pieces to form the whole. He will put 2 and 2 together and make 137 but that won’t be enough as he, emboldened by his own mental illness, will want to impress his genius on anyone who will listen and everyone that won’t. In everyday life nobody takes any notice of him but the right hand, that he has an intimate relationship with, can also be used to wield great power through his keyboard. Nobody will be safe from his censure. No sewer will be too deep that he cannot dredge the foulness from it and hurl it against a world and a football club that has ignored him for too long.
yaaaaay AGAG is here…hyper no way am calm asl kev. how are ya imelda? morning adam, how’s the missus?
I like what I see as regards to Capoue he looks aright handful in the middle…love to have him with us.
But as I know how Mr Wenger go’s about his transfer business it looks a done deal……Notice how quiet the M’vila news has stopped.
Wenger demands silence on all transfers within the club.
Another eleven days to go before the big kick-off.
3pm, Meadow Park, Borehamwood…. 😀
Goonster. Mrs Adam and myself went out for lunch and she spied a clothes shop. In she went and out she came with a pair of silky coloured trousers with elasticated bottoms, ficing an almost Ali Baba look I thought and a matching white wild top. It looks great I must say.
Hiya Agag.
I know that the AST are meeting this week with IG, to talk so the club is trying to communicate with fans groups and they also meet with the AISA to talk. This is more than most clubs do but it always worth remembering that
“The truth may be out there, but the lies are inside your head.”
Cracking Adam, Afternoon to you…..
Rico.did you hear the Rdio 4 program about keeping chickens this morning. It was called Atilla The Hen. If you didn’t catch it, be sure to catch up on BBC iplayer. It was really good.
Goonie/Agag in a war for profit there are always overstated realities. It’s sell or be sold.
Goonie hating people is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat. I will judge him when all things are said and done.
agag – i won’t be looking at the photos then 🙁
hey here’s a thought adam, why not hook up mrs adams with AGAG? now that’s a combo made in shopping heaven. add rico to that and well you ve just made my day.
I didn’t Adam, I will catch on the iplayer though, thank you….
Be sure to Rico. I think it was part of Woman’s Hour. One of my favourite program’s.
goonster, you’re never calm. 😀 😀 I am well. And you?? I’m not gonna ask if you’ve been behaving. I should imagine that word is not in your vocabulary. 😀
Adam, you should’ve sent that to rico as a post. It’s obviously because we are all emotionally invested in our club, that we feel entitled to know. I just wish AW had more money to spend. Nobody believes the excuses trotted out after we perform poorly, now. 😕
Once again Adam, an inestimable, insightfull and sadly accurate view on the Arsenal support that hides in dark crevices and infests the more unsavoury neighbourhoods of the InterNet…
DG hating people is my specialty why do you think i cant stand fergusnose and that hairy bastard rooney.
Goonster. Mrs Adam and Agag have formed a telepathic bond already. As I speak Mrs Adam has entered the room in her new gaily coloured trousers and white silken top and told me that she wishes now that she had bought the pair in the other colours too. I believe it is the spirit of Agag talking to her from the Philipines, through the ether.
well i am AGAG ask my therapist….AK
Whoa adam upload her picture amigo….please make my day. i ll bet she’s a heart stopper. whoooooooooo
The intelligence of the creature known as a crowd, is the square root of the number of people in it.
Agag. Hi there. I was just getting a bit back in after the appalling attack on Rico the other day that you may have missed. You abuse Rico, you abuse me and will feel the weight of my keyboard in retaliation. Two can play at that game. 🙂
Stan, take 3 of these tablets, put on a CD of whales singing to each other, and lay down…. 😛
yes doctor-san
goonster, Adam already thinks that Mrs Adam and I should not ever speak of shopping. 😀 😀
Don’t worry, rico, I didn’t!! 🙂 🙂 Just pretty vistas.
Not just the wrath of Adam but of us all….smiley spastic akb’s the lot of us!!
Afternoon all.
Well Steve, if Lady Luck is with us, then like 2007/08 season, we will start with a bang winning 6 games on the trot.
Is Lady Luck with us?
Well, July 27 is the opening ceremony of London Olympic, the most widely televised programme after World Cup.
27 July?
Arsenal vs Abu Dhabi CIty in Beijing.
How many football fans will turn up?
ah common adam……hook em for pete’s sake. its a travesty against fashion mate. do it for me then.
Kev. Thanks mate. They’ve shut the Westfield car par in Stratford. Bloody nuisance.
Jamie Sanderson@YoungGunsBlog
It’s going to be a long summer: Fiorentina say no Arsenal talks over striker Stevan Jovetić, and he can only leave for £20m. Ouch.
Adam…imo your no better than the folks at Le Grove…you have a different view thats all…your post was racist and abusive..are you from Burma mate ?…*getting a bit back*to me you sounded like the late Lenin..
Thanks Adam & Lee 🙂
Goonster. It is a pity that multi coloured silk trousers don’t suit me as well. They make me look rather camp. Rather Dutch in fact 🙂
Wish it is true that Wenger is in France to sign up Lloris and Capoue.
Szczesny can only improved or throw a tantrum and demanded to leave if not No. 1.
I wonder if Wenger is going to sign Felliani, Scott SInclair, Gourcuff, et al on 31 Aug?
RvP?
Wenger can just repeat what he did with Henry running down his contract and then signed a 4 year extension.
My feeling is that Wenger had made known to RvP that he is not for sale and must honor his contract…and then leave on a Bosman if he sitll want or sign on in summer 2013.
Who know if due to him having another 30+ league goal season and we win the title and/or CL Cup with him driving the team…..
Recalled Steve gerrard on the verge of signing for CHelski and only made a U-turn at the last second after listening to all Liverpool fans’ protesting against his move…and he went on to lift the CL Cup and qualified for another CL Cup FInal…..
Pity Benitez cna’t keep that team together..Mascherano, ALonso, Torres, …
tomstoned, i’m not sure why you feel that way? I didn’t see anything racist and certainly not anything directed at you…
Adam, that’s for the duration mate….
My garage had to give me a special i/d so i could get into that zone.
It’s a security lockdown…
Best avoided if possible until late August mate…
Kev – it’s Chamakhs £70K a week that puts them off, how he is earning that much I never know….
Tombstoned. I am no better than anyone but I fail to see how my post was racist and abusive and I don’t remember mentioning Le Grove. Please explain. But you are certainly right in some regards. I am in fact Burmese and my name is Adam Lenin. Does that help?
tombstoned sorry mate but we have no racists here a couple of air heads(alan) but no racists. sorry if adam’s post got to ya.
I just read through the post again, no racialism there my friend!
shut adam stop being an ass and apologize you twit.
Stanley….
Really, Adam?? I couldn’t access HH from Vietnam. 🙁 I think blogs are generally banned. I will catch up, then.
Mrs Adam seems to have fantastic taste in clothes. 🙂
Calm, goonster? I thought not. 🙂
I apologise unreservedly to everyone, for everything.
lee you re bad……..hahahahahahaha.
Adam, your just a bounder….
You need a damned good thrashing….
And Wath is just the man to do it… 😉
Apologize for what? Am I missing something here??
but i am calm maam….i have to. am in the USA
A cad more like! Terry Thomas-esque!!
But it will give other sites the ammunition to wheel out the usual nutters to lay terrible siege to the manager, the players, the board and anybody else that they feel has betrayed them. The abuse will be fearful, disgusting and sickening and it’s cheerleader will be the one and only nut job himself. Inwardly embarrassed at his own inadequacies and ashamed of his sad, pathetic life in the office…
well..?…one should allow all to have their own opinion..glad im not an office worker who at the same time is abit angry and over the top..and god forbid is a Gooner..c’mon…most of us use ill chosen language at times..in desperation or just dispair..
but when Adam makes a statement like this..he does go very far in trying to discredit a large group of people…and to me that is bullish..and racist…..
Yes Lee i’m also sorry…
Please accept my heartfelt apology
Okaaaay. I’m lost myself, Lee. 😳 The Adam I know is a top man; and buys his missus pretty things. 🙂 🙂 Tombstoned, you got it wrong, I think. 😉
I agree wholeheartedly Kev and would not care to be a contributor to any site that would accept my contributions. I will shoot myself at dawn. Apologies once again for the rabid nature of my posts recently. I have been having hard time at home etc…etc… Mrs Adam has spent all my money on silky trousers and van Persie is leaving.. And now I face charges of racism…Goonster, can you provide polical asylum in South Carolina..? I am a prophet without honour, in my own house.
Sorry is just a word.
Tommystoned…..
These poor souls your defending….
Do they apologize to anyone/
Do they ever accept when they are wrong??
or do they just drone on and on and on…
You know that as you visit those sites…
Adam, you have nothing to reproach yourself about, as well you know…
In fact, i’m gonna make myself some toast, back in a jiffy…
Micko, you truly are the choosen one!
Good Morning all and to you Rico.
Sir Stevep, good read but beg to differ. What all Arsenal fan around the world will remember are trophies. The championship final with Barca 2006 not all fans will remember that day but the Invincible names and era lives on. No matter what kind of interesting footballing AW introduce to Arsenal fans, without trophies to back that up, it just another name (Arsene Wenger) in the Arsenal History Book.
The FFP is coming but until tested and proven I’ll reserve my opinion. Arsenal supporters are not happy campers but the Board Members are, and why is that? there must be a reason.
When PHW got rid of all those he disagreed with and brings those in that are closer or even those he had worked with in the past, that tells you something. If PHW loves Arsenal so much let him go without pay or paycut for a year and get rid of those puppet (yes-man) on the Board, let see where we go next. PHW…” is not as if we have been relegated..” Is he for real?
The reason why HH is drawing more people to this site it because we all share different views. The day we all start to agree on all issues this site will become boring as hell.
hiya micko, where have you been you irish bastard? i missed ya. you ok?
Sorry Mick…
Arsenal Football Club is one of, if not the best run football clubs in the world!!
Yes I mean the world, not just in England and it would wise for many other clubs around the world to look at us and consider us as the role model.
__________________________________________
As a business, yes, it is the best run in the world with property development contributing heavily to pay off the debt.
But as a football business, it is a flop since 2006/07 season with only 6% growth from 2006/07 to 2011/12.
[I had posted here before on this 6% growth]
Just compare this football growth from 2006/07 to 2009/10 basing on football business only without property development and without player sales taken into consideration:
Revenues increase from 2006 to 2009/10 in €-million
2009/10 … 2006/07 … Increase
349.8 … … 315.8 … … … 34.6 … 11% … ManU
274.1 … … 263.9 … … … 10.2 … 4% … Arsenal
255.9 … … 283.0 … … …- 27.1 … -10% … Chelsea
225.3 … … 198.9 … … … 26.4 … 13% … Liverpool
That Arsene Wenger, Ivan Gazidis, PHW & the Board failed to grow the revenues of Arsenal Holdings during the “Emirates Period from 2006/07 to 2009/10” by 25% from the same “Highbury Period” from 2000/01 to 2005/06 is a devastating verdict on their claimed financial success.
Since we have been resident at the Emirates in 2006/07, our revenues grew only by 4% which indicate Arsenal FC has no global appeal like those marquee clubs in Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester United.
Otherwise, how to explain that with a brand-new 60,000-seater stadium and the world highest ticket prices, that aggregated revenues only grew by 4% between the 2006/07 and 2009/10 seasons?
make that a double AK> i am starved.
How’s ya hammer hanging Stan ?
Lee, did I read your off on holiday again, you’ve just got back from your last one.
tomstoned, it was nothing more than an ironic comment following the abuse i was on the end of yesterday, actually, not only me, but the posters in general who comment – and that includes you….
Adam – no apology needed….
It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone’s fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I’m one of Us. I must be. I’ve certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We’re always one of Us. It’s Them that do the bad things.
A Disclaimer. To office workers everywhere. Including myself. It has been drawn to my attention by Tombstoned that I have disrespected you and that my words regarding a specific group of people could have, in certain circumstances and notwithstanding a chronic lack of intelligence in unspecified areas, have been construed as being racist and even anti-Leninist. I have re-read my words and have come to think that any reference to anybody, however small and tongue in cheek and even though it may or may have been made with the merest whiff of humour could be misunderstood. So,in the future, wheneverr I make any reference to any group be they minority or majority in size I will attempt not to give the impression that every single person who may or may not be considered part of that group is the target of my vilification. Thus, if I should opine, in the future that footballers are greedy, this should not be taken to mean that all footballers in every single part of the world are greedy. Nor should this be read as being racist to footballers. In this way and with these words I hope to make the World a better place.
Adam Lenin Of Burma.
Yep am off tomorrow night Micko. Nah not been on holiday for a while, although work at the moment feels like a holiday camp!!
Boo, Micko. Howdy? I really am still lost. 😉
In case I miss your departure in a while Lee, have a fab holiday and hurry back, we’ll miss you and you’ll miss all the excitement of all our new signings 😆
Micko – and there are always people around when ‘sorry is not enough’ – just ask Andrew Castle 😆
adam you had better apologize or i ll send my gangs against you the next time you re in arnhem.
I’m an orifice worker and wholeheartedly resemble that last comment!
http://robinvanpersie.com/2012/07/04/update-for-the-fans/
A bit dated, but handy for future reference…
Afternoon NG, spot on re the last paragraph and on here a blogger with a different opinion won’t get told to ‘F**k off’ or be called a ‘C’ word…..
Fucking spell check…. 😆
Lee. It was you I had in mind when I wrote that sickening post. But, apart from that, may I wish you a very happy and relaxing holiday for you and the family. We will miss you, though I’ll probably be banned by the time you get back.
Rico, don’t leave until tomorrow night and I think Spain have the tinternet web…so will be visiting you s.s.a.k.b’s!!
tell to him to go fuck himself….we don’t need him. we ve got park and chamakh.
I have the skin of a white rhinoceros so your vitriol just bounced off me!
But seriously let’s lighten up, eh?
😆 Adam, would you like the code to get back on in case Wath gets stroppy ….
And Diaby, Stan don’t forget him!
http://twitter.com/#!/search/%23AFC/slideshow/photos?url=https%3A%2F%2Fp.twimg.com%2FAxTBEbMCQAA9o2O.jpg
Is the “C” word Cygan??
They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but it’s not one half so bad as a lot of ignorance.
http://twitter.com/gunnerhandley/status/222014563405676546/photo/1
lee you read my mind. diaby, God i cant wait to see him make a fool out of AK, rico and all them diaby haters.
You what is quite sad about tha link Kev posted, we had to hear that from RvP, it proves that AFC tell us very little. Suggestion is they agreed not to announce this in order to give AW time to sign Giroud as it was expected that his price would go up knowing that we were desperate for a striker.
Ah, I never did understand that word synthetic Lee 😉 Your comment reminds me of Peter Kay, what a funny man..
No Rico. (he said tearfully). I am a big guy. I can take the criticism and will also take my medicine like all good Leninists. If Wath is horrified by my racism then I shall seek counselling with David Icke or The Church Of Scientology. I will be accepted by those people as a true Thetan and not cast aside by society as I am as Adam Lenin Of Burma.
Arsenal is a very well run club financially, but completely useless footballtastically – as Wenger likes to say. Seeing as fans don’t pay to watch dollar bills running around the pitch, I would say the club IS in crisis because it’s being run by a pack of wankers.
Or Cashley 😆
vernat – you lost me there, mind you, thats not too hard to do 😉
goonster – check the photos of the boys back in training – look at the weights Gerv is lifting, then those that Diaby is lifting – that sums up the weakling 😉 😉
And so you should Adam….
Why would I get stroppy Rico, I don’t work in an office so couldn’t give a fuck… feel free to carry on Adam 😉 Just watch out for Tom Cruise he’s a wrongun..!
Isn’t the news about Mark Boucher quite sad….
Rico , those weights are new ultra slim ultra heavy for big tuff guys.. they ordered them special for “The Diaby”
AK has had an emotional day seeing those pics, his hero is back…!
As a wicket keeper I cant see why he didnt catch the bail had big enough gloves on…!
James – bring in AU i say, and the return of the real AW…
I knew that would drag you out of your posh office Wath 😉
weights!!!! please rico W.A.T.H lifts weights yet am more man than him!
😆 wath – even I could lift those that he has…
the ball took a nasty turn off the seam and popped up, nasty….
“Be careful. People like to be told what they already know. Remember that. They get uncomfortable when you tell them new things. New things…well, new things aren’t what they expect. They like to know that, say, a dog will bite a man. That is what dogs do. They don’t want to know that man bites a dog, because the world is not supposed to happen like that. In short, what people think they want is news, but what they really crave is olds…Not news but olds, telling people that what they think they already know is true.”
Hiya Wath, yes i am deliriously happy to see my hero Abou back in business…. 😉
Talking of business, i have to hit the pale trail….
See all you Smiley Spastics a bit lata.
COYG’s
Have a good time, Lee!! 🙂 stanley, calm down. 😀 Adam of Burma, give tom Cruise (not the former Gunner, ha) a wide berth. 🙂
WATH, I think you should be mixing drinks and handing them out. 😉 Make mine pink.
rico, no chicken in the photos, I promise. 😀
later kev, give the missus a kiss from me.
Howdy agag, I don’t know what’s going on half the time either !
Enjoy ya trip AK…!
Stanley, that sexchange op doesnt really make you a man…!
AGAG, am not ruining the smooth silky decadent taste of a GG by making it pink, sacrilege….!
Micko, where were you Sat when ya bird was hugging people in the family enclosure after she won…?
Evening all,
Sorry to leave it all to you Rico, been all over the place today and just tuned you in many thanks as usual, now to read the stick 🙂
Wath, see may have her knockers but I still like her !!!
WATH, don’t knock it til you’ve tried it. 🙂 🙂 GG is prettier in pink. 🙂 🙂 Come on, give it a shot (pun intended); you know you wanna.
Go steady Kev ….
Evening Steve – don’t take any to heart 😉
I like my suave and sophisticated clean and crystal AGAG……..
Have you tried the flavoured GG’s…?
Trust you to pick on her knockers Micko !!
Did you win at the races, Micko? Or am I still very very very lost?
Serena agag…..
Yeh Micko’s lass is a bit of a nag AGAG lol 😀
I get sleepy too soon if it’s just GG, WATH. Of the flavored variants, just the lemony one. Is the cherry noir any good?
Seriously?? Serena… Eeeeek. 😕
Offski for a bit, back later…..
Your lucky I ain’t 10 years younger wath.
“The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they’ve found it.”
why the “eek” AGAG? I like her too….very well that is.
😯 Serena??? She looks like you could give her an innocuous look and she’d beat you up.
2B honest AGAG only tried the orange one, my mate adds a dash of cassis to the original one but not tried that yet either…. I’ll do that at the weekend and let you know..! I drink mine with sprite…! Mothers milk.
AGAG don’t go upsetting Micko he very protective of his bird..!
off for a while guys….catch up in the evening.
Good night, my friends! 🙂 🙂 Cassis sounds yum, WATH. I shall await your review.
Micko, sorry, I didn’t know you had a thing for Serena. 😀 😀
goonster, you be good.
safe driving, SAK. 🙂
vernat – i get the feeling that you are trying to tell us something? 😉
Evening all and Nighty agag….
Just that people are already on with there minds made up and no matter what is said and how it is said they will not change.
Good evening Fine Folk. This is what I have just read now as soon as I came in………….
…………..Because nothing can ever just be simple and straightforward even when it’s terribly painful, there are reports (from Sky Sports) that Arsenal striker and probably-technically-still captain Robin van Persie may be reconsidering his now-infamous statement and may be willing to sign a new contract at Arsenal after all. (Sky have taken down their post, which may say something about this whole mess. Here’s proof that they did say it, at 13:23 and 16:40. Here’s some more. My kingdom for a screenshot.)
The player will allegedly hold a meeting with chief executive Ivan Gazidis upon the latter’s return from holiday (which he may or may not actually be on, nobody seems to know for sure), which was a meeting scheduled before all of the insanity occurred. If the reports are true, it would certainly call to mind a similar stunt pulled by Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney a couple of years ago, when he demanded a transfer only to be given a new long-term deal shortly thereafter.
Star-divide
So, what’s going on here? That’s a good question, I’m glad you’ve asked. It’s possible that Sky Sports Sources are right, as sometimes they are, and Robin has had a change of heart. A thought experiment: You’re a professional athlete who loves the team you play for, but are dissatisfied with outcomes lately and steps being taken to improve. You’re used to getting what you want, so you decide to go public with your unhappiness to either get them to do something or get you out. But when you do, the fans aren’t upset with the club or the board (more than usual, anyway) or the manager: they’re mad at you. They demand to see you gone as soon as possible, they call you names I can’t print…the people who loved you turned on you, and fast. So that really backfired, didn’t it? It ceased to be a problem with the team and became This Athlete Is Ungrateful and Must Be Destroyed. Perhaps that might make a person do a quick 180 and reassess some things.
Sidebar: I often criticize Arsenal fans for being annoyingly ready to attack players, but this time I’m on your side. That statement was awful, and completely changed my perception of van Persie as an athlete and a person.
Or maybe this isn’t real. Maybe this is a PR stunt calculated by van Persie(‘s agents and handlers) to “win back the crowd.” Now, they think, the ball’s been put back in Arsenal’s court. If van Persie doesn’t sign it’s not a refusal, just a failed negotiation (by Arsenal, they’ll claim). The player goes back to being the guy who scored 30 last year and left for trophies, rather than the guy who made a public announcement that drastically cut his value and ruined Arsenal’s ability to negotiate fairly to sell him.
Sidebar: Yeah, can you tell I’m still a bit angry with him?
Or perhaps he really does regret the statement and wants to return, but the bridges are too charred to be salvageable? Maybe the other players and the manager (and management staff, and fans, etc.) feel too betrayed for him to be able to stay, even if he wants to do so. Honestly, at this moment, I’m not sure how I feel about him coming back – he’s a great player, and his goals are lovely, but I personally am not sure I can go back to feeling about him the way I did this year.
To make a long post short, don’t read too much into this. It may not be true, and even if it is, he still may not come back, and even if he does, we may not all want him back. My opinion is that it is highly unlikely that Robin van Persie will be an Arsenal player next year, and that this is a poorly-conceived PR move by his management team (who should all be fired, by the way). I do believe it’s possible he could return, but were I to bet, it would be on van Persie in another shirt in August.
One thing is very clear: there’s a long way still to go in the van Persie Saga, and none of this is going to be simple or easy.
I am sorry but with me he has burnt all bridges.
the last sentence describes my own feelings. The rest are an article on NN
hello!
Good or bad news?
My first thought is that the come and get me smoke signals from RVP have not attracted the suitors he thought he would have, no Barca, Real, Ac Milan just Juventus and if City can find some money down the back of the sofa maybe them. So RVP not feeling the centre of the world ( bad feeling for a dutch player) has to decide what to do as in effect he does not want the clubs that want him.
Not all vernat…
Hi devil – as i said earlier, if RvP has done this to wake up the board, and we get a few ‘proper’ signings in, then i welcome him to stay, with open arms….
JM – no news 😉
AK posted something earlier about RvP may stay, I too read it on Sky Sports but there are no quotes from the club or player – just mere speculation….
Rico…….my players know me. I offer my hand only once. Refusal for me does not allow U-turns or change of heart. I give a player all my trust but once its cracked it cannot be fixed. Having said that I have been seven years now at my present club and all those who have been under me know that I will always back them provided that they stay on my side. Once they crack that trust it means sidelines for them.
So for RVP to hang out the club to dry in front of everyone else I am sorry but that has burnt all the bridges. Had RVP been man enough to say to that this club has stood by him all those years and he will stay at the club forever than he would have become a legend like Bergkamp at AFC or Del Piero at Juventus or Totti at Roma. They stayed there even when Juventus were relegated or Roma were finishing mid table. Their loyalty was never questioned. They were Mr Club.
Following his statement RVP now will never be an AFC legend, not even if he stays there till when 31st February is invented.
Here are some photos from pre-season at AFC
http://www.teamtalk.com/arsenal/gallery/7887815/Arsenal-pre-season-training-gallery
I’m not sure he has done a lot wrong really devil, ok, I don’t like it from our captain but for me, all he has done is confirm what i have believed to be all that is wrong at the club we all love.
He has not battered Wenger or the fans, nor has he said he wants to leave for money – he has left because (i suspect) the club won’t buy players to make us have a chance of being winners…..
we were talking about the players back in training earlier and the photos – the weights Diaby is lifting looks a lot easier than Gervinhos 😛
I’m done for the day guys, catch you all tomorrow…
nighty night all, stay safe…..
Good night lady
c you tomorrow
Robin van Persie, fine della telenovela. L’attaccante olandese dell’Arsenal sembra prossimo ormai alla firma di un nuovo contrtto con i Gunners, nonostante le smentite del caso provenienti anche dallo stesso club inglese.
Il 28enne attaccante aveva preso di sorpresa la dirigenza londinese annunciando di non voler rinnovare il suo accordo con il club, in scadenza a giugno 2013. Juventus e Manchester City si sono lanciate al suo inseguimento ma ora, come riporta Sky Sports, la situazione sembra essere prossima alla soluzione definitiva.
Van Persie ha da sempre ammesso di amare l’Arsenal e Londra e che avrà altri incontri con Ivan Gazidis quando l’ad del club farà ritorno dalle vacanze. Rimane da chiedersi se ci sia effettivo bisogno di altri rendez-vous se Van Persie ha già deciso il da farsi. L’olandese si trova molto bene a Londra, dove i suoi figli vanno a scuola; ed è cosciente che il prossimo contratto che firmerà potrebbe anche essere l’ultimo di un certo valore economico della sua carriera.
According to the above in an italian website, RVP has decided to stay at AFC.
devill, do you understand italian?
I read it in anormal way 🙂
a normal way 🙂
English, Italian and Arabic are normal for me. 🙂
I read them and speak them fluently.
I wish I can also speak and read French.
Off for now
cu all tomorrow
Coach, you also speak some Carthagenian/Punic, don’t forget…
his arsenal career is over. arsene ll never take him back…ade the whore did something like this too remember. he needs to be sold pronto.
devil where are you from really?
goodnight AK….Seems like am all alone.
I’m still here Goonie.
Oh well. Gone now.
Good Morning Fine Folk.
Take a look at this.
Its in the sun with sources.
I simply knew it and used to keep on stating it……………
A SENSATIONAL betting scandal rocked the Premier League last night.
Former Southampton captain Claus Lundekvam has blown the lid on systematic fraud by top-flight players.
The stars made thousands of pounds by spot-fixing — just like the three jailed Pakistan cricketers.
Lundekvam, 39, insists other Premier League skippers colluded with the betting scam. In a series of startling interviews in his native Norway, Lundekvam claimed that he and fellow Saints aces raked in thousands betting on their own games — for a spell, doing it ‘almost every week’.
He alleged they used club staff to put big stakes on incidents like the first throw-in or corner, that they conspired with captains from opposing teams to ensure the bets came off and that the problem was rife in a Premier League where players lived in a ‘bubble’.
Lundekvam, who played for Saints from 1996 to 2008 and won 40 Norway caps, said: “It’s not something I’m proud of.
“For a while we did this almost every week. We made a fair bit of money. We could make deals with the opposing captain about, for example, betting on the first throw, the first corner, who started with the ball, a yellow card or a penalty.
“Those were the sorts of thing we had influence over.”
But Lundekvam insisted he and his team-mates had never doctored the result of a game.
He added: “The results were never on the agenda. That is something I would never have done. We were professional competitors. Even though what we did, of course, was illegal, it was just a fun thing.”
The English and global football authorities, not to mention the police and the Premier League’s millions of fans worldwide, are unlikely to take the same view.
Betting on penalties, in particular, would take the fixing into new territory since the outcome of matches would clearly be affected if a goal was scored.
And Lundekvam, who fell into cocaine and alcohol abuse after retiring in 2008, insists it was not just Saints players who were breaking the law and FA rules.
He declared: “I know it happened at other clubs as well.
“We footballers live in a bubble. It was part of the lifestyle and the excitement. Whatever we could bet on, we bet on.”
Its not something to be proud of Mr player. Doing this means that even though you deny it you still did bet on the result.
Lets see if the FA has the balls to examine matches.
Morning coach! I know your views on RvP but I’ve a feeling he will sign a new deal at Arsenal….
I’m ot sure we want him Lee.
Morning Devil.
Morning all..
RvP could be sorted by the end of the week, do we ever move that swiflty?
After last season’s performance, I’d take him in a heart beat. All he wants is us to have the players to win something as do I…we can’t keep losing our best players only to replace them with inferior ones. We should be adding the likes of podolski & giroud to strengthen the squad not as replacements!
I know Lee,and he is just a superior player,but those comments hurt.
I do also realise that fans are fickle and all will be forgotten quick smart.
Either way,I’d just like it to happen fast.
Off to trial Highbury Lad,so catch you later.
Plenty have asked me how I named him……it’s been fun explaining!!
Have a good one Scotty!!!
The truth does….
Good luck Scott…..
New one up…
It’s nothing to do with ‘Arsenal are doomed’…stupid statement. We are as a club punching below our weight, and believing falsities. Both the board and Wenger have said there is money for players available. As another summer goes by the best players are going and nothing is happening and with many of the best players still possibly available. Lots of paper talk but no Wenger talk. We have the most poverty struck board ever. Instead of representing the fans they are representing an owner, who is known in America as starving his five clubs. When all the greedy gits sold their shares to Kroenke, they sold out to the devil in disguise. At least Usmanov would have loved his club. Better a sugar daddy who loves his club than a father who starves it.