I thought you might like to see a different picture at the top of today’s post but even so, just seeing our manager should be enough of a reminder about how easy it is to catch this nasty virus which is doing the rounds. After all, he was the first to be diagnosed with Coronavirus in British Football I believe, after which, the game pretty much came to a standstill. As we read each day now, the powers that be throughout Europe are desperate for football to start up again but how that’s done is yet to be confirmed. But as we saw yesterday, the Arsenal players, at least some of them returned to training. Having seen the photographs, it was more like a car show with some of the vehicles on display. I’ve no idea what they are but they were pretty tidy and very shiny. I guess they’ve all been giving them a clean during this lockdown. Barring Lacazette of course.
Talking of naughty goings on, Wojciech Szczesny has been talking to the Arsenal Nation podcast about that little incident a few years ago which got him into a bit of trouble with Arsene Wenger. Szczesny was having a crafty cigarette in the changing room after the game when someone snitched on him:
Back at that time I was smoking regularly and the boss knew it very well. He just didn’t want anybody smoking in the dressing rooms and I knew that also. Because of the emotion of the game, I had a cigarette after the game when the team was still in. I went in the corner of the showers, so it was at the other end of the dressing room and nobody could see me, and I lit one up. Somebody saw me, it wasn’t even the boss himself, and just reported it back to the boss.
I saw him a couple of days later, he asked me if that was true and I said, ‘Yes’. He fined me and that was the end of it. He then said, ‘Look, you’re going to be out of the team for a little bit’ but there was no big bust-ups or big confrontations. I was very professional about it. I was fully expecting to be back in the team a few weeks later but we had a good run of form and David Ospina, who came in goal, played really well for those few games. He stayed in.
That particular game in January 2015 against Southampton was awful. Szczesny had had a mare, wed lost and Arsene Wenger had some kind of heated exchange with a fan, or at least one fan confronted our old manager as Arsenal slumped to 6th place and to make matters worse, one place below that lot down the road.
However, we finished the season in 3rd place so normality was resumed with David Ospina having been in goal. Szczesny played in our last match of the season, a 4-0 thumping of Aston Villa at Wembley in the FA Cup Final.
So I suppose 2014/15 wasn’t that bad a season in the end even though felt pretty awful as we went through it.
As for Szczesny, his days at Arsenal were over. Now look at him, number one for Juventus. Pff!
Stay safe guys and stay healthy.
Good morning Rico.
Szczesny eh? “I was very professional about it”. There is nothing “professional” about an elite athlete acting like a naughty school boy sneaking off for fag behind the bike shed.
Thanks for the post Rico.
Oh! I almost forgot, Barcelona have notified clubs that Phillips Coutinho and Ouseman Dembele are available for swap. I would take Dembele in exchange for Aubameyang, but they can keep Coutinho.
50 years ago today…
🏆 We won our first ever European trophy!
The first trophy for me after my first game in 1965(still have the programme!)
Morning Cicero. I think a lot of footballers have smoked whilst playing although goodness knows why or how. I guess for a keeper smoking isn’t such an issue other than the obvious. An outfield player though must really struggle.
Nice one Rico.
Wojciech Szczesny a very, very naughty boy! It cost him his place at Arsenal, subsequently. He was by that stage beyond old mother Wenger’s control and probably a bit of a bad influence on some of the other members of the squad. ( I have no evidence to support that claim). So he was loaned out to a team that was not so bothered whether he smoked or not.
However, going back to the mists of time. reputedly, Jack Kelsey wandered on to the pitch, prior to kick off but ready for the brief warm up they had in those days, smoking a cigarette. To his great credit, he threw it behind the goal on the cinder track and stamped it out, after a long final drag, and then took up his position between the sticks! Kept a clean sheet too! Circa 1961.
So Szczesny’s behaviour was not without precedent!
Keep ’em coming Rico. The posts are always a very welcome diversion from all the chores my wife seems find endlessly for me to do!
LCM. 50 years ago. WOW, how time fly’s. …
I was in the North bank that night. Just out of my teens…… Went berserk, as all Arsenal fans did that night.
The only time I ever set foot on the Highbury turf…..not proud to have jumped the railing after the final whistle, but it had to be done.
Appy Day, Bruvva.
Thanks Wavy. Yep, Szczesny was in the bad books and as we’ve seen so many times, there’s no way back with Arsene Wenger. A great shame really as he’s providing now what a good keeper he is but at Arsenal, perhaps he thought he was better than he was at the time.
Following Lehmann Szczesny was the best bet we had as a keeper , his rivalry with Flappy and Manuel was really a one way street he was in truth at the time on a level but logic said that he would go forward to be much better..
it wasn’t just the smoking incident though , if you remember there was an underlying problem with his father an ex Polish international keeper turned coach who was openly critical of the coaching methods at Arsenal and as we all know one thing Arsene could’nt handle was criticism especially if it was fairly accurate.
I believe at the time our goalkeeping coach was Gerry Peyton , a journey man keeper that had played for 10 different teams up and down the divisions and currently is working in China. Fabianski was quoted that Peyton’s methods were one of the major reasons that he wanted to leave Arsenal and along with Szczesny having left have improved immensly.
Wenger in my opinion was too cautious with keepers . His treatment of Szczesny was akin to that of how he bought Seaman back after Manninger was proving his worth . Had we looked after Szczesny we would not have had the conversation this week about Leno and Martinez . He is to my mind head and shoulders above both of them.
Potter….Totally agree with Szczesny being better than Leno and Martinez.
Dictator Wenger made an example of him imo.
Shane he didn’t outlast Wenger, as he would be between the sticks at Arsenal at this moment, in sure.
Nice to see RA back with us,…………..Keep well and stay safe HH’ers……
Light relief…
The Presbyterian church called a meeting to decide what to do about their squirrel infestation. After much prayer and consideration, they concluded the squirrels were predestined to be there and they shouldn’t interfere with God’s divine will.
At the Baptist church the squirrels had taken an interest in the baptistery. The deacons met and decided to put a water-slide on the baptistery and let the squirrels drown themselves. The squirrels liked the slide and, unfortunately, knew instinctively how to swim so twice as many squirrels showed up the following week.
The Lutheran church decided that they were not in a position to harm any of God’s creatures. So, they humanely trapped their squirrels and set them free near the Baptist Church. Two weeks later the squirrels were back when the Baptists took down the water-slide.
But the Catholic church came up with a very creative strategy! They baptized all the squirrels and consecrated them as members of the church. Now they only see them at Christmas and Easter.
Not much was heard from the Jewish synagogue; they took the first squirrel and circumcised him. They haven’t seen a squirrel since!!
Morning all.
Not too many fans were upset when Szczesny left us.
I definitely was as there was always a fantastic keeper there, he was just young and cocky.
Wenger has to penalise the guy though, no question, and for any player, when you’ve got the spot, it’s yours to lose so giving Ospina his chance was all on Szczesny.
Shame.
Nice post, Rico 👍
Ah good old Szczesny… I wish we’d kept him instead of buying Cech…was sorry to see him go, but glad he’s doing well in Serie A.
Rico, I’m loving Ozark, almost finished season 1 😁
Try this one then :-
A little girl was leaning into a lion’s cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by the collar of her jacket and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, all under the eyes of her screaming parents.
A biker jumps off his Harley, runs to the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch. Whimpering from the pain, the lion jumps back, letting go of the girl, and the biker brings the girl to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly.
A reporter has watched the whole event.
The reporter, addressing the Harley rider says, “Sir, this was the most gallant and bravest thing I’ve seen a man do in my whole life.”
The Harley rider replies, “Why, it was nothing, really. The lion was behind bars. I just saw this little kid in danger, and acted as I felt right.”
The reporter says, “Well, I’ll make sure this won’t go unnoticed. I’m a journalist, you know, and tomorrow’s paper will have this story on the front page. So, what do you do for a living, and what political affiliation do you have?”
The biker replies “I’m a British Army veteran, a Conservative and I voted for Brexit”. The journalist leaves.
The following morning the biker buys the paper to see if it indeed brings news of his actions, and reads, on the front page: UK VETERAN ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT & STEALS HIS LUNCH.
And THAT pretty much sums up the media’s approach to the news these days.
Potter,👍👍
Ah yes, I recall all that with Szczesny’s father which sadly, was probably true. Too many decent keepers arrived but never improved for it not to be.
Thanks Sue.
It’s a bit of a slow starter but addictive in a Breaking Bad kind of way which I loved.
True Scott but much of that was down to his behaviour. As others have said, it’s a great shame he’d didn’t hang around longer than Wenger.
Rico, people may say that now, but it wasn’t generally the case when he was playing for us..
It was only really when he went to Juventus that his stocks suddenly rose.
Not that I want to start looking back at football incidents, because even with hindsight I will probably get it wrong.
Thank you for the post, Rico, I enjoyed it as usual.
I recall my reaction when Chezzer got caught smoking, [OK, yes, I am going to lumber into something I know little about – but I did warn myself !! ] and frankly I initially thought it was funny as I had read the headline “Arsenal GK gets caught smoking a cigarette in the shower” and it seemed so ridiculous because who can smoke when standing under a shower – but if it was possible Chezzer would be the one to do it.
As time went on, I became pretty annoyed that the punishment did not fit “the crime” and sure enough in due course he was off to Italy. Candidly, Chezzer was a pillock for doing what he and others had been told not to do, but as he explained, he was uptight after the game and a ciggy helped him unwind.
I have never smoked – so it sounds potty, but Chezzer always made me smile, especially as he often ranted about the Spuds.
The incident and its aftermath reminded me that AW claimed (more than once) that he had had the opportunity to sign some of the best footballing talent in the world, but, for one reason or another, had turned them down, as if that was to his credit. Never understood why he wanted to reveal that, and for a very intelligent man it did not make any more sense than Chezzer trying the impossible and smoking in a shower. (I have been in the Emirates dressing room, and frankly he had a zero chance of not being seen by somebody). If I was a detective – trying to find out who had sneaked on him, it would not have been difficult — the only person to come out of it very well indeed was the other GK, wouldn’t you say? 🙄
Scott as you were to Ramsey , I was to Sczcesny , it was obvious to anyone that stood behind him on the North Bank that his reflexes and positioning was better than either of his two rivals .
So what if he was young and foolish and did things that 20 year olds do . He wasn’t alone , it’s said that Pires and Koscielny liked a cigarette or two , perhaps age just made them a little more careful or was it that as senior players Wenger let those pass.
Hi, VCC,
Good to see you too. 😎
Sue, there is a really odd/funny/scarey series on Netflix you might like to try – if you haven’t already – called “Call Saul” and it’s a mixture of all the things I categorised – and the characters eventually blend into Breaking Bad and that is terrific in itself.
That probably reveals more about my tastes than anything else, of course. 🤔
I’m with your view on Sczcesny.
he was always going to be a top keeper – and Arsenal must have thought so too, as he was carefully coach during his time with us.
Joining Juventus, the top team in Italy, shows they thought so too.
We lost a GK who has become possibly the top keeper in Europe, and could have made a big difference for us. Lack-a-day.
Potter, I was with you mate.
First time he played for us was v Utd and I said that day he’d end up a top class keeper.
He made a few howlers through his time with us as all keepers do, especially young ones, but was torn apart more than once by fans.
The cockiness and antics were then thrown up against him, and very, very few were unhappy when he left.
Sorry — my 1:22 was intended to be addressed to Potter.
Afternoon Rico. I used to play with a right winger who smoked during the match. He had perfected the art of curling his hand around the cigarette while in possession and unfurling it while hanging about on the halfway line.
Hahaha Adam,
We still have a few O/45’s who walk off at half time and inhale a ciggie!!
Supreme athletes, each and every one of us lol
Hi Scott. Oddly enough, he was very quick and quite tricky. If you lobbed the ball in front of him somewhere, he would inevitably get it under control and do something with it.
Two of ours are fat and unfit, yet the third is just as you describe, and with a left peg to behold.
We do have one gent who is 58, plays 3 games every weekend and is incredibly skilful.
Damn, he’d have been a player in his 20’s.
Football has been cancelled in France….
Hi RA…no, I’ve not seen that. Once I’ve finished Ozark, will give it a butchers, thanks! Haha yes that does reveal a lot about your tastes, just trying to work out if it’s a good thing or not 😝
How are you doing anyway? Hope all is well!
Quite a few oldies on this site and in these times I bet the most terrifying words they could hear from their children is…………………………..”we`re going to put you in a care home Dad!”
😯
Ozark is on my list, probably after I`ve watched Manifest!………………….
Showsw how we all have different tastes as I could not get into Breaking Bad………………Hunters is the best I have seen lately, a bit Tarentinoesque imo.
I’m fine, Sue, thank you.
Hope you are keeping well too — I was thinking about you recently with all the covid 19 pandemic, PPE etc.
Hi ya, Le Coqadoodle,
I find Netflix and Prime are useful as I travel around, but a lot of it is rubbish, except Precinct 99 – the star of that series reminds me of you for some reason!! 😜
Football is cancelled in France.
New rules for players outside United Kingdom.
Szescnik knew the Rules of Procedure. Violating he had to be penalized. Roma was loaned a year. The mistake, I think, is not having picked it up at that time, after having “settled the dust”. At the end of the interview, Szesnic only says good thngs about Arsenal.
He returns one day….
Scott, I was talking in hindsight really. Wasn’t he having an up and down time in goal too which added to the criticism of Szczesny?
Afternoon Adam, all.
I’m very well, thanks, RA 😊 Work has been horrendous, but we’ll come through it. Glad to hear you’re fine!
The main guy in Precinct 99, was also in a series called ‘Cuckoo’…. now that makes me think of Le Coq 😂
A man cycled to his local shop to buy a morale boosting bottle of gin. As he left the shop and put the gin in his basket he thought..if I fall off the bike the bottle of gin will get broken. So he decided to drink the gin before cycling home. It was a good thing he did..he fell off his bike seven times on the way home.
Howdy Redders( written with an American accent………..sort of Cowboyish 😆 )
Have not seen Precinct 99, but now I`m intrigued especially with Sue mentioning Cuckoo!…………………which funny enough, years ago on AA I self appointed myself with a majority decission as head of…………The Cuckoo Club!……………….E va va vonne was my secretary!………………….VCC wanted to be head of recruitment, but he kept trying to recruit himself by interviewing himself in the mirror, but did manage to bring someone back from the Pub…………………a fully loaded hat and coat stand!………….who ended up as my best ever employee!
😆
Germany’s return is in doubt too Jm.
Unofficial World Club champions 😆
https://www.theguardian.com/football/that-1980s-sports-blog/2020/apr/28/arsenal-world-title-1989-physio-sent-off-independiente-usa
Rico, you’re right, Szczesny’s form was hot and cold but I just put that down to his inexperience at the time.
He’s become the keeper I thought he would.
Is he better than Leno though?
I don’t know as I really haven’t watched a lot of him but I know our guy is a ripper.
We’ve just been told Rugby League here will start back up Ain late May-that’s the beginning, other sports will follow.
I keep saying it, though-we’ve done extremely well here in Oz with app. 80 deaths but don’t let anyone tell you we’ve done things extraordinarily differently to you guys.
25 million population spread over a country the size of Europe is our biggest defence in situations like this.
We’ve done well, but so we should, really.
As for Netflix, if you guys want to see some brilliant comedy, watch an Aussie series called RAKE.
One episode will hook you.
It’s brilliant, seriously 🙂
Hi Scott..is Wentworth (season 8) on in Australia yet?
New post up now