Daily Bits and Bobs

Finally, Something We All Wanted To Read! But Will It Make A Difference?

Posted on by rico

Morning all.

Apart from the stuff in the States about Stan Kroenke and his new mega money project, there’s really little to write about.

So here’s a round up of all the gossip making the back pages:

Arsenal move for Winston Reid after Sam Allardyce admits defender has “no future” at West Ham. (Mirror)

Arsenal are continuing to monitor Southampton midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin (Evening Standard)

The Express – Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is a long-term admirer of the France international but accepts a January move is unlikely. But according to reports, the Gunners will step up their interest in Schneiderlin at the end of the season.

The Mail  report that Wojciech Szczesny is fighting to save his Arsenal career with Arsene Wenger actively seeking a new No 1. They reckon Cech or Lloris could replace him in the summer…  The same paper suggests that Arsenal are showing interest in Lorient left-back Raphael Guerreiro, who has been capped twice by Portugal.

Meanwhile, Bordeaux president Jean Louis Tiraud wants an answer from Arsenal in the next 24 hours about the future of Yaya Sanogo.

We are working on bringing Sanogo to Bordeaux. We are going all in on this target. We have asked Arsenal to give us an answer on Tuesday or Wednesday latest.

How exciting, we could find out today where the young Frenchman will end up playing for the rest of the season!

Joel Campbell could join up with David Moyes in Spain but only after he signs an extension to his contract.

Krystian Bielik could be on his way to us and so could William Carvalho and Loic Perrin….

Ok, I’ll stop there, it’s painful!

Whilst scanning the newspapers, an article in The Mail stood out.

Basically, Former referees’ chief Keith Hackett has called for current boss Mike Riley to be removed from his position with Professional Game Match Officials Limited and labelled the current crop of officials as the ‘worst that we have seen’.

Bullet points from the article are:

Keith Hackett has called the current crop officials the ‘worst we have seen’.

Chief Mike Riley should be removed from his position, according to Hackett.

He believes Mike Jones, Andre Marriner, Lee Mason and Chris Foy should all be stood down at the end of the season.

Hackett also wants to see Lee Probert pass a fitness test.

I don’t know what weight Keith Hackett carries, probably not as much as Phil Dowd but now it’s out there, someone has had the balls to make public what we all so often discuss on HH and on other Arsenal forums.

This current crop of referees are awful and their inability to be consistent or get the very basics of the game right are costing not only Arsenal but other sides points.

Fingers crossed Hackett has stirred the pot and the FA take note and react accordingly because until they do, football in England and certainly the Premier League, will never be fair.

That’s it for today, have a good one….

 

rico

161 thoughts on “Finally, Something We All Wanted To Read! But Will It Make A Difference?”

  1. Nickie says:

    Strange there’s no mention of Anthony Taylor, Jonathon Moss or Lee Mason. All dreadful referees. Happy new year everyone.

    Isco for 64m?? lol

  3. potter says:

    Actually this follows down a radio interview with Graham Poll on talk sport . It seems that there is a movement growing against Mavis Riley who really lives up to her catchphrase of “” I really don’t know “”. Hackett was on Talksport this morning reiterating his article and reading the subtext there is a worry about possible corruption and total lack of training within refereeing circles. This could be the beginning of the end for Riley.

  6. Adam says:

    Morning Rico, Potter, Nickie and all. As for referees, there are only two possibilities as far as I can see. Either they are totally incompetent or they are corrupt. This goes for Riley too. Some of the clowns who have shown up recently have had far too much influence on our injuries and results to make any sense. Yes, you are going to get some good and some bad decisions but oafs like porky John Moss et al rolling around the pitch waving senseless cards for nothing while simultaneously allowing shocking tackles says little for Riley’s credibility, if he ever had any. It was, after all, he who screwed us senseless when the unbeaten run came to such a corrupted and dubious end.

  7. rico says:

    Morning Adam..

    I think we can all accept the odd error as they are only human but the amount of decisions which go against us are dreadful. And yes, that 49th game was clearly worked out long before ko…

  8. Wavy says:

    Morning all. Great start to the day Rico lots here to react to!!

    Not sure about corruption, that implies tapping up and considerable amounts of money changing hands. Can’t really see it myself.
    But,
    Bias. That is a whole different department! When we witness week in week out the Big Clubs awarded dubious penalties or questionable free kicks which are obviously goal scoring opportunities, you have to ask how the decision was made? And so on…..
    Taken in conjunction with the ‘resr’ so carelessly ignored and how many blatant fouls committed by the opponents go unpunished? Or are seen a yellow card awarded, end of incident! ( Cahill on alexis?).
    Yes, we need a top down overhaul of the Refs, starting with the most biased Riley, get him out and perhaps movement forward may begin!

  9. Adam says:

    Rico. There is a simply tremendous story there for any journalist with the bottle to dig deep. But I imagine that the PL themselves must be seriously concerned at what would turn up and who would come crawling from under the stones that would be overturned. Most football writers are already part of the problem and this negates them from becoming part of the solution. We saw what happened when the penny finally dropped that the Italian league was crooked.
    A lot of the money would drain from the PL with its credibility and many of those on the gravy train so copiously furnished by certain owners would certainly suffer.
    I could never see why the refs weren’t provided with the sort of technological back-up that would help until I realised that leaving match-deciding sessions in the hands of one porky incompetent or other suited Riley’s agenda much better. It begs the question of who is operating Riley’s strings.

  11. bradster says:

    Morning all,

    The worst is that we’ve all come to accept that we will get bad reffereeing against us and that we need to rise above it.
    i wish the managers could sit in a review the Monday with the guy in charge of the refs and have him explain how the decision was correct by the ref of that specific game.

  12. rico says:

    Adam, there is and you are right re the journos, look at how many have over the years jumped on the ‘Arsene whining again’ headlines when all he was doing was highlight so many obvious errors being made. Now Jose is moaning, they are listening..

    The sooner someone digs deep and reveals all the better but it’s going to take a person with great courage.

    I’m just glad Hackett has opened this bottomless can of worms…. And Poll seems to be right behind him…

  15. rico says:

    Morning Brad, that’s what Riley should be doing with the ref’s but he’s at the top of a dreadful bunch and as long as his favs get the decisions on match day, I doubt he gives a toot…

    It’s a bit like Arsenal really, get the rotten apple out at the top and things will improve…

  16. Rick says:

    Morning Rico and the house.
    Good post Rico. Hackett is following Graham Poll who wrote the same story in the mail last week. There is one differanc Poll listed the Refs and the mistakes they had made.

  17. Adam says:

    Rico. There are so many vested interests. Corruption doesn’t have to be one person handing someone else an envelope stuffed with readies. It really beggars belief that an assault like Cahill’s on Sanchez goes by without a red card. The influence on the game was probably enormous. Why can’t a referee, sitting behind a monitor and seeing the whole thing in sharp focus advise that it is, by any standards a red card-all day, every day. No equivocation, no matter of opinion. Ask yourself why that red card wasn’t produced.
    Let’s not forget either that a very similar and equally spiteful tackle was carried out on Alexis by Melo only a few days before in the CL. Either could have put him out for months. Yet the silence is deafening because it isn’t Mourinho gobbling off. We know, as SS panel tell us every week, we all love Mourinho as he is such “Good value”. What a crock of shite. But, as we see once again, vested interests. It is really not in the panel’s best interests to rock the boat and tell the TV audience what a ghastly little toe-rag he is because they are all on about £10 grand a week plus to spout their propaganda.

  19. eduardo says:

    it is not in the interests of the FAPL to have the PGMOL investigated, and it is not in the interests of SKY, BT, the written media, or anyone who makes money from covering the FAPL.

    Why would anyone have faith in the FAPL to do anything about corrupt or inept refs when their own chief Peter Scudamore came out at the start of the season and basically told the whole world that the FAPL wants Man Utd to do well, was his statement anything other than an open letter to refs to start aiding utd again like the once did.

    On the corruption idea, well unlike what wavy suggests, there does not have to be vast sums of money involved, I know of a ref in another sport(GAA) who never took a bribe and would not even consider doing a favor for a club, but his family members and close friends made tens of thousands betting on the games he reffed, one of his favorite ways of stopping a team was giving them lots of freekicks, every time they had a breakaway or where on a charge he would call the play back and give them a soft free back in their defense.(now how many times have we seen Arsenal breaks stopped by a free being give to us and of course the ref holding up the taking of a quick freekick so he could have a word with an opposing player, but no card of course, then when free is taken all defenders are back in place, threat over), as they say there is more than one way to skin a cat.

    We also have this notion that refs never take charge of a team they support, but can take charge of a direct rival clubs game, and there is nothing to stop a ref who lets says supports Barnsley but his kids support Utd, taking charge of a utd game, now in that scenario does anyone think that the ref will not be a little influenced by the fact his kids are utd fans

    No one in the English game, including the media, is at all interested in properly investigating the refs, it would kill the Golden Goose (even if all was revealed to be clean, the very suggestion of corruption would cost the FAPL money),

    All we are seeing at the moment is a few friends of Howard Webb looking to get him to the top of the PGMOL, maybe they also have a little score to settle with Mike Riley, maybe he did not get them a role in the PGMOL, none of those ex refs speaking out are actually revealing anything and are not going to either.

  20. rico says:

    Adam, re corruption, I know… 😉

    And I think it’s clear why nothing was given against Cahill or Melo, Arsenal aren’t liked, neither is AW because he’s always highlighted such things…

  21. tsgh says:

    Mavis Riley? 😀 classic… that name suits him very well Potter.

    Morning again all..

    Great read Rico…

    Lloris may move to Manchester next summer.. rumours 😉

  22. rico says:

    Eduardo, it might not be in their interest but does that matter?

    The game needs cleaning up for the sake of all clubs.

    I liked what the Leicester manager (i think) said after Liverpool were given two penalties last weekend when clearly neither should have been given. Instead of landing himself a hefty fine for berating the referee, he simply said ‘they need the help of technology’..

    For me, technology is not an if any more, but a when….

  23. tsgh says:

    Morning rick.. how are you Sir?

    I posted a question for you yesterday re Maitland- Niles…

    Have you been impressed with his new position as a DM? He looks a natural in that position , me think.

  24. potter says:

    Nothing will dissuade me from thinking that a brown envelope changed hands in the famous 50th game . Riley was so biased that day something had to have been said. The head of the PGMOL at the time was Hackett and he lost his job to Riley at the end of that season. Revenge is best served cold and the man who maybe instigated the coup d’etat is no longer a manager. Riley has used his power to wreak his power for some time and it is possible that the worm is turning. I think that there is probably suspicion but no proof , the day that the instigator pops his clogs I expect the worms to creep out of the woodwork.

  27. Wavy says:

    If there is corruption in the system it needs a few brave men to expose it. Who, what, when, where and how? If it’s incompetence it needs rooting out. If it’s bias it needs dealing with. But who will actually blow the whistle? ( no pun intended).
    There are a number of problems attending such a purging, not least of which is, who would be left to. ref any of the games?? It’s not the most popular of occupations! Not an excuse, that! The use of technology would certainly aid the process of fairness and accuracy when calling or not calling a foul, a la the Rugby model, references to the video ref. They are not infallible but they usually get it right. It was suggested a few years ago tha continental refs should be shipped in, mind you would they be any less corrupt? They may be less ‘personally’ involved, so bias should not enter the equation. And so on…….
    A bit like FIFA the whole method and personnel of the EPL needs thoroughly overhauling and updating to a point where poor decisions are rarely made. The argument that is invariably levelled at this ‘solution’ has always been, but then you would remove all the talking points and disputes that follow the game. I would counter that by marvelling at the way the players play, how the tactics unfold, how anonymous the ref was! Etc football may then become a game for the purists, the analysists (of the game) and not left in the hands of the reactionary morons who mindlessly pontificate about the game we all love, but about which they judge on the basis of false results and violent assaults!
    Technology is obviously the answer because no man is an island and further more our crop of refs are insufficiently skilled to be allowed to make judgement calls of the magnitude that they do when so much is at stake money, performance, skill and pride amongst some of them.
    21st century football is not even close to modern expectations. Time to get a grip.

    Rant over…..?For now!

  31. Uwot? says:

    Yeah that 50th game match fix still sticks in the throat,shameful from “old mother Riley”.every time yoe see it,it beggars belief..by the way how come the infamous “mike dean” isn’t on that list??up there with rest of the conniving bunch.absolutely hates us….

  32. allezkev says:

    Interesting, to read the latest ‘exclusive’ from that ever reliable site Here is the City.

    They suggest that Wenger is gonna spend £96million on three players…

    That’s it, £96million!!!

    Now I know that Wenger is thought of in certain circles as a genius, but he’d have to be a magician to turn a budget of £20million into £96million… 🙂

    Hope he shares the secret with us all… 😉

  35. tsgh says:

    Yes Rico predominantly… But Maitland played 15 or so minutes against Gala’tasary in the UCl and has been on the bench 3 times this season.

  36. allezkev says:

    Afternoon All, By The Way…

    Frankly, Wenger should tell Sanogo, ‘If you want a career at Arsenal and to be a success in England, you need to go on loan to an English club’… Simples!

    And if he then still harbours a move back to France, Wenger should sell him and promote Chuba Akpom instead…

  37. potter says:

    Wavy , you imply that should we purge the refereeing system there would be a shortage in the ranks and in the short term that is true. Footballers hate being called role models because it gives them responsibility something they really don’t want. but the same goes for refs. If the T.V was not so full of baffling decisions and dissent from players it would filter down to Hackney Marshes et al. Consequently all the reasons why they don’t start now would be negated.

  38. allezkev says:

    Hmm, some sites on NewsNow are talking not of just Isco, but if Isco ‘fever’….

    Well I never….

    Adam did tell me that he felt a bit unwell, I thought it was the Vape at the time… 🙂

  46. Bob John says:

    Hi all
    First thing to say is that Keith Hackett in his day was as bad as anyone. From the same era as the likes of Roger ‘you’ve come to watch me’ Milford, Alan ‘smiley’ Wiley and Jeff ‘ permatan’ Winter. Not forgetting the odious Paul ‘little man syndrome’ Durkin. Or as Arsene once said “Durkin is Durkin”! Personally, I was convinced Durkin was Paul Scholes’ dad! My view is that although I wouldn’t rule out corruption, I think it is a simple case of most referees coming from ‘up North’ and being raised on the Pulis/Allardyce type of hump it and lump it ‘Proper Football’. A sort of bastardised version of Rugby League! In their warped minds proper good old honest English teams like Stoke and Bolton couldn’t possibly ever cheat (despite evidence to the contrary) whereas we are the dirty cheating foreigners who fall over at the drop of a hat and commit sneaky fouls every time we challenge for the ball (why else would these big strong honest Stoke players be falling down?). Most referees have made there minds up before a ball has been kicked! As for big clubs getting all the decisions. Certainly doesn’t apply to us! QPR game being a prime example. No doubt the ref didn’t want to upset ‘Honest’ Harry!

  48. Bt62 Gooner says:

    Hi Rico, good post, certainly causing much debate, don’t go along with the bung theory but certainly the bias theory…..

  49. Wavy says:

    Bob John, you are assuming that we are considered to be a ‘big club’! Manure, shitty and Chavski are the big clubs with dubious owners with the will to win at any cost! You can never say we are financially viable enough to compete with the kinds of cash they can throw at the problem of the referee!
    Potter, you are possibly right, right down to the hundreds that turn out week in week out on the Marshes and the officials who emanate from the tusks fields! Getting it wrong is a fault and getting wrong time after time is a crime, the transgressors should be weeded out. The difficulty I hanve with all this is largely bad decisions can be avoided with reference to a fourth party off the field and his judgement should over rule all others. It is nota sign of weakness to hold your whistle up and say you don’t know, or even that you got it wrong! A bit more transparency would he.p too, explanations of decisions made during the game would deflect an awful lot of criticism and condemnation immediately after the game etc etc. you’ve heard them all before!

    Last point, would technology lead to fairer decisions and greater transparency of how they were arrived at?
    I’m not really a believer in the conspiracy theories and strangely I don’t think the Refs are actually corrupt, they Ay be partial and their favouritism may lead to biased interpretations of the rules! Not that I condone that behaviour but I just don’t think that thereis a cabal of men who sit around plotting the demise of one team or another etc.

  50. Bob John says:

    Hi Wavy
    My point about us being a big club is more to do with the line that gets trotted out whenever we get our one dubious decision of the season go our way and some no mark like Peter Reid or Phil Brown will be on TV calling it.

  51. eduardo says:

    on the subject of Sanogo going on loan, which is more important for his development, lots of game time which he is probably more likely to get with a Lique 1 club, or game time in FAPL. Of course ideally he would go to an FAPL club and get lots of game time, but who, Aston Villa have been strongly linked, would he get it there, Crystal Palace also mentioned,

  52. rico says:

    Bt, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s a bit of both, or should that be a lot of both…

    Hi Bob, you reminding me of all those from the past will give me nightmares…

  53. Wavy says:

    BJ, yeh I know what you mean but the failed managers panel are always on our back because we are the Arsenal! They carry the same jealousies andrejudices the refs do!!
    Accept your view though ☺️

  55. rico says:

    eduardo, I think he’d get playing time for one of the clubs at or towards the bottom of the league and the relegation battle would do him some good…

  56. joe says:

    Nice to see hh catching up with what I have been saying on here for years. 😉 We don’t have to go back to to the 50th game just look at the fa cup final.
    by the way I have seen nothing about refs been responsible for this awful weather. 😉

  63. joe says:

    One dive makes everything that’s happened to Arsenal ok. By the way why wouldn’t I make a comment on somethink I was derided for on this site ie the weather comment.

  64. allezkev says:

    The weather in London Town is cloudy and dull, but not too cold….

    That’s the weather report from:
    Vauxhall Bridge Road…

  68. Bt62 Gooner says:

    As for the standard of referring in the EPL, it’s pretty average to say the least.
    The introduction of technology and an independent panel to preside over real time incidents.would surely help….

  69. allezkev says:

    If you want to be a success in a foreign country, you stick it out and work at adapting to your new surroundings.

    You don’t scuttle home at the first opportunity, and I suspect that that is behind the proposed loan transfer of Sanogo to Bordeaux…

    To me, it shows a lack maturity.

    Contrast it with Cesc who, if I recall, was barely 16 when he left his home of sunshine for the chilly North of Europe and England.

    If Wenger wants Sanogo to join another EPL club, then it’s for good reasons, that alone should convince Yaya to stay in England.

    If, despite Wengers advice, Sanogo returns to France, then, to me, it sends out the wrong signals and asks questions about the players suitability for the English game and England in general…

  72. Bt62 Gooner says:

    Lee, correct, referring decisions do play a small part but the bigger reasons are far closer to home, than some would like to admit..

  75. allezkev says:

    Tbh, Arsenal have, throughout Wenger’s tenure, been on the end of some atrocious refereeing, but it didn’t matter so much when we had Vieira, Henry, Bergkamp, Keown, Pires, Ljungberg, Lauren, Campbell, Seaman, Gilberto, Edu, Petit,Overmars etc etc.

    Because they were top top players, leaders with a winning mentality.

    And they had enough ability to overcome the terrible refereeing injustices we suffered.

    That’s the kind of players we used to have.

    But not anymore.

  77. allezkev says:

    I believe so BT…

    He is often, to be seen, down Bethnal Green Road ordering triple pie, mash and lashings of liquer…

  80. Adam says:

    It’s all true. Especially the bit about Kev doing a U–turn in the face of oncoming traffic. That was Mike Riley’s fault too.

  82. allezkev says:

    Get Vidal in our midfield and it would be like another Vieira…

    But that won’t happen because Syrup is engaged elsewhere…

    Come on the Rams

  90. Adam says:

    BT. Having been a passenger in Kev’s cab has given me all the motoring excitement I need for the time being. You’ll find out when you come over. 🙂

  91. joe says:

    How about this for an idea and I know the will be very limited support for it. If people had to except that Arsenal has had a raw deal from the PMGO since Riley took over. They would have to except that the team is sent in to games with a handicap.
    How many times during a tread of an Arsenal game on this site has people made comments about refs how dreadful their performance has been.
    I hate to burst some bubbles but the refs performances back in the early years pl wasn’t as bad as it has been since Mike Riley was put in charge or the PMGO.
    If people are willing to look the are stats to back up my last comment.

  92. Bt62 Gooner says:

    Just been trying to sort out a membership problem with AFC, sent an email to the appropriate address, received a pretty quick reply.
    The reply was directing me to use a premium rate number to help resolve the problem, typical, always about getting a few more pounds into the coffers….

  97. Joe says:

    BT like most refs that referee arsenal games I am doing a dreadful job it’s raining cats and dogs with high winds.
    I am happy that you have a different opinion to mine what’s the point of having a heated discussion if everyone is in agreement.

  100. rico says:

    Joe, I think we all know the referees are awful, but when we play dreadfully and hide behind or blame the referee for the result, that’s wrong imo.

    Yes they are bad, but our performances have been equally as bad at times this season….

  103. Joe says:

    Rico let’s assume that playing dreadfully will lead to Arsenal losing so let’s look at four of the games we have lost.
    I’ll start with the Chelsea game we lost that game as has been mentioned on this site it might have been you during that game Cahill made a tackle that should of been a straight red card.
    At the same time Özil suffered a forearm in to the face by the chelsea left back no card given or not seen.
    This is just a small issue Chambers was given a very soft yellow card when Hazard ran across of him and fell down.
    Here is reason I mentioned chambers yellow card during the lead up to Kos bring down Hazard to give away the penalty it was chambers who tried to tackle Hazard out side the box. And because he had got that soft yellow card he couldnt make a tackle or bring him down.
    Look that’s just one game and no matter what I write it will make no difference I’ll leave the other games.

  104. Bt62 Gooner says:

    Ts, i have very fond memories of the mk3 and considered it a very good car but had bm’s before and after….
    Did you get to see the photos?

    Off to finish making dinner…latta

  106. rico says:

    Joe, I’m not saying a red card for Cahill would not have made a difference, just like any other sending off might have if given but I think you are missing my point…

    We are terribly average this season regardless of red cards..

    A red card for Cahill and we went onto win would be great for the pl table, but it would also cover the gaping gaps in our squad and performances….

  107. potter says:

    Joe I think that the unfairness of those incidents were commented on both on this site and quite a few others at the time but it’s nothing new. Today the media /radio has been discussing many aspects of the poor refereeing and citing incidents from the past and of course Pires took pride of place. You have been supporting The Arsenal for long enough to know that this is not a new phenomenon and we all know that as soon as we look like getting up someone will try to knock us back. Just remember the injustice of the point deductions and singing to the F.A a song to tell them where to stick their 2 points.

  109. Joe says:

    Potter and Rico maybe I am not making myself clear I understand that the team has been dreadful this season. But what upsets me the most( besided losing these games) about the crap we have to put up from refs it’s that some fans think that the team or the manager should not be given any leeway because of this.
    With all the games we actually lost this year I can only think of two games Dortmund and Swansea that the was not a major incorrect refereing decision against Arsenal.
    Like I said earlier in the week we only finished 7 points from winning the PL last season I pointed out we lost 3 because of Taylor and he’s performance in the villa game.
    And the fact we were not given stone wall penalties at home against Chelsea and man City and away to WBA now as Potter has pointed out it’s been going on for years we don’t have to except it.

  110. Bt62 Gooner says:

    Joe, perhaps if we had turned up against Chelski, The Dippers and the worst Manure team in years last season we may have won the league.

  111. rico says:

    Joe, perhaps the fact that you acknowledge how poor we’ve been has either not been said or gone unnoticed, from your comments, I thought you were lumping all the blame for our losses on the ref…

  116. Bt62 Gooner says:

    Watching The Six Puppies, Rico….

    Hadn’t forgotten The Toffees, i’m sure people could add a few more to the list..

  121. Micko says:

    My money’s on a rotti Bt, I can just imagine rico saying “you be nice to me and he’ll be nice to you !!!”

  122. Rick says:

    Evening all. Sorry I have come back so late , its not been a good day for me.
    Bloody arthritis playing up and I’m struggling with the keyboard.
    Ginge ref AM Niles. I am not convinced he is being played in the right position.
    He has a very good right foot but he is not so good with his left. In the time he has been with the club he has mainly played on the right O/R and was very good .
    In the Champions League game he was caught out twice, and misplaced a . pass twice as well All occurred when he recieved the ball on his left foot.
    But saying this I agree he has had a very good season and is improving all the time.

  123. Micko says:

    Rick, a few on here were singing Olsson’s praises last summer, had a blinder against Boringwood pre-season scoring as well if my memory serves me correct, now he’s brown bread, the next big hope…. Hayden (if you believe everything his agent rico says) never seen him play myself, wouldn’t be surprise if I never saw him given a proper run in the first team, refreshing to see some-one who gives a flying fcuk about our youngsters !!! Maybe Bellerin might be the next one we can all get excited about !!! Then again.

  124. Joe says:

    BT all teams lose matchs even teams that go on to win the PL sometimes it’s because they have been out played and have been given a hiding but that has happened to to all teams over the years. The most recent team has been Chelsea and listening to Monday’s guardian pod cast the final score seemed to flattered Chelsea I didn’t watch the match.
    The games I listed and the was more was to show the way refereeing is effect how teams finish in the PL.

  125. allezkev says:

    Mick, what’s happened to all those really good young Irish players that Arsenal were so good at hoovering up?

    Been so long since an Irish lad came thru the ranks, where have they all gone?

    Night All

  126. Micko says:

    Kev, stop exaggerating, I can only think of Brady, Stapleton (no offence buddy), O’Dreary, Nelson, Jennings, Rice, Devine, Quinn, some special memories in there buddy !…………ran outta space for the legend McGoldrick, Adam will be gutted.

  127. Wavy says:

    The Irish have left ireland and moved all round the world! I blame the Euro and their parlours economic state!
    But we used to get good players on a regular basis, from McCullogh and Magill to Brady and Neill. Scratching my head a bit……I can’t think of any of any significance since 1979. We must have had a good Irish scout during that 25 ish year period. Just as we have a goodish French one now, and 10 years ago an African scout, I mean who found Eboue?

  130. Micko says:

    And born in Islington as well Adam, a blood brother, never got the respect he deserved, need I say any more !!!

    Nite Gooners.

  133. Wavy says:

    McCullough, he’d be sytner down by a flashing winger, he’d lie there dormant for what seemed to be half a life time, then he’d jump to his feet as if nothing had ever happened. A while later, you could be sure he would take a lump out of the offender who’d felled him, arms outstretched, palms upward claiming his innocence! But I don’t think I ever saw him booked!
    What an entertainer and he could play a bit.

  134. potter says:

    Couldn’t do a decent foul if he tried , McGill and Mc Cullough our Irish international full backs as Spurs won the double . Such school days and fights in the playground,

  139. bradster says:

    Morning all,

    On the refs, I can’t remember getting bad decisions under George Graham. I was only a youngster then but home teams seemed to get advantage and the bigger teams above the smaller ones.

    I think it all started when the Foreigner came in, made revolutionary changes, started winning things and didn’t keep his mouth about other managers, refs, state of affairs in English football and pretty much all round know it all (hence the proffessor). From then on everyone seemed to hate the arsenal.

  142. rico says:

    There were a few comments about Pardews side but yes, nothing like stick AW got. Same old same old eh, and of course Pardew is English…

  146. Adam says:

    Morning Rico and all. Shocking rain filled morning here. I need a coffee and a coconut macaroon. Oh and some good news about the Isco signing. 🙂

  147. Hell Raising Devil says:

    Bonjour Whiskeys and Brandies

    Have AFC signed KEv yet?? Or Wath?? or Rico?? Or Goooonniiiieeeee???

    so many players mentioned and I fear we will sign only one.

    Cech??? lol

    Isco??? lol

    I wonder why no one is mentioning FORSTER as a Ches replacement. Ospina should keep his place atm. But long term we should get Forster.

    And still…..why not Rodwell as well. He is burning his life away at Sunderland.

  148. Lee says:

    Adam relax, apparently Isco is undergoing a torso elongation operation and will be unveiled as our new DM on 24th January….

  150. allezkev says:

    Hi Coach, what do you know about Bielik?

    Seems that it’s all agreed bar the fee, as effin usual…

  151. Adam says:

    Brudder .:)
    Did you see Simeone’s Ath. Madrid mug off RM last night? What an absolute f..ker he is. Deeply interesting for us if someone had the balls. He can switch a game off instantly. RM just never got a chance to play. I found the whole game fascinating but hardly free flowing.

  158. Joe says:

    With the purchase of Foster as Devil suggests this would allow Arsenal to field a pretty decent all British team.

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