Morning all.
When Arsenal were drawn to face Preston in the FA Cup, my mind cast back to a joke I once heard. Not the kind of language I am keen on, but it was funny regardless.
Two Hard of Hearing Guys In A Pub.
Two hard of hearing guys walk into a pub in Burnley, one gives his mate a twenty pound note and says:
“You get the drinks in. I’ll find us a seat.”
So the guy goes to the bar and orders two pints of lager. The barman serves him and gives him two pounds change.
“What’s this?” the guy asks, looking at his change. “You charge nine pounds a pint in here these days?”
“Nah,” the barman says. “We’ve got a live band in tonight. There’s a £5 cover charge. You and your mate, that’s a tenner.”
“Live band?”
“Live band,” the bartender confirms.
“What, rock and roll, Indie, hip-hop, grunge…?”
“Country and Western,” the barman replies.
“Ri-ight…” the guy says as he takes the drinks.
He rejoins his mate and puts the drinks on the table.
“Where’s me change?” the friend asks.
He gets handed the two quid.
“What? They charge nine quid a pint in here now do they?
“They’ve got a band on. £5 cover charge.”
“A band? “What? Rock n roll, Indie, hip hop, grunge?”
“Nah,”
“What then?”
“Some c**t from Preston.”
Anyway, off to Deepdale the boys have gone, hoping no slip up is in store. Arsene Wenger insists the FA Cup is a “big priority” for his Arsenal team this season and he’ll only make a couple of changes to his strongest side. Alexis, Ozil and Koscielny are all rested for this fixture, Coquelin is the only name added to our injury list but some good news is that Danny Welbeck could make a surprise return. Youngsters Josh DaSilva, Chris Willock and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are all included in the squad too.
The last time we played Preston was back in 1999 and before we knew it, we were 2-0 down but Luis Boa Morte got one back just before half-time. In the second half, two goals from Emmanuel Petit and one from Marc Overmars ensured the game was won. Arsene Wenger played a mixed team that night, a few of our big boys with one or two of the squad players.
Alex Manninger
Lee Dixon
Steve Bould
Martin Keown
Nelson Vivas
Alberto Mendez
Marc Overmars
Ray Parlour
Emmanuel Petit
Patrick Vieira
Luis Boa Morte
Oh to have 3/4 of those kind of players in this current squad eh…
Arsenal haven’t played Preston since that day in January but we have come up against a side managed by Simon Grayson before, three times to be precise and all whilst he was the Leeds boss. The one which probably sticks in my mind the most was when Thierry Henry, on loan with us for the 100th time, came off the bench to score the only goal of the game.
Back in 1889, Preston became the first ‘Invinsibles’ but not only did they win the league that year, they won the FA Cup too.. In 2003/04 we became the new ‘Invinsibles’, albeit we didn’t win the FA Cup that season.
Twenty years ago, today’s opposition were in the fourth division of English football, today they sit 11th in the Championship. Their FA Cup run over the years gone by looks like this:
Winners: 1889, 1938
Runners-up: 1888, 1922, 1937, 1954, 1964
Semi-finalists: 1887, 1893, 1921
Compare that to ours and you’d like to think the odds are heavily against Preston getting anything from this game but the way things are going for us, you just never know what to expect from this Arsenal team, especially on a wet Saturday evening in the dark, away from home….
Transfer gossip made up by The Metro and The Sun:
Andera Belotti and Antoine Griezmann could be heading to The Emirates this month as Arsene Wenger wants to bolster his attacking force.
PSG are ready to tempt Alexis Sanchez with a bumper deal, one which earn Arsenal £60 million in transfer fees…
The latter could have legs I guess……
Have a good weekend guys and gals, although you won’t if the boys lose this evening…
good morning!
Tranfers news: have an eye on the new Hull City manager. He could be the next Arsenal manager.
What makes you think that Jm? Not seen anything in the news…
Arsenal will hand Santi Cazorla and Per Mertesacker new contracts, says Arsene Wenger.
Both players see their deals up this summer.
Wenger said: “We have an option on both of them and I think we will take it. The priority first is as football players but as well for their mental guidance.
“We need to have a balance between youth and experience and they are important in that as well.”
Morning Rico. I had completely forgotten about Per. Not the best idea for a forward-looking manger I would have thought. I doubt he’s got any quicker over the past several months.
Made my day reading this.Now he can get even more pissed in luxury on our money
Arsenal’s majority shareholder, Stanley Enos Humpderdinklage Kroenke, has made a massive January investment.
Before you get too excited though, he’s bought a vineyard in France. The American has paid a reported £85m for the pretigious Bonneau du Martray, making of some of the finest Burgundy wines.
Bonneau du Martray has only had three owners in more than 1,200 years. It was first the personal property of Emperor Charlemagne and then the Church, but was confiscated during the French Revolution and then sold to the Véry family. In 1835 Marie-Eugénie Véry married Charles Bonneau du Martray, whose descendant Jean-Charles le Bault de la Morinière has just ended the two-century family ownership.
And now it belongs to Kroenke who [insert your own joke here about making it the 4th best vineyard in France or whatever].
Surprised Santi but moreso Pers got a new deal.Tight git doesn’t want to spend and how old are they both.
Difficult game tonight though we don’t have that many options which shows this squad isn’t any stronger than before.
Morning Adam. I doubt he has either…
Quiet start to the day…
Are you going to watch Utd v Reading?
Merts might be the defensive coach one day Kelsey… 😉
Rico. Probably. I am just hanging out today really. 🙂
Nice joke Rico.
Not easy tonight. Are we going into the hat for the next round or are we going to be the laughing stock?
What Arsenal is going to turn up…Who know’s
One thing is for sure. Wenger won’t motivate the side much…..same old, same old.
I’ve seen enough now Rico. 🙂
Ditto Adam. Shame Rooney just scored!
I liked it too Vcc…
Agree, it’ll be more of the same, unless something changes and I can’t see that happening. I think we’ll win, but not convincingly…
It’s got 2-2 written all over it Adam… 😉
I think so Rico 🙂
I never realised that Stan K owned Screaming Eagle Wines too. I’ll have to move back to Blue Nun now..
M United is much better than at the beginning of the season. Martial then …
Rico: I’m convinced that the new coach of Hull (Marco Silva) will be a strong possibility to come to train Arsenal. He is a trainer that I like and with a curriculum. Attention him!
Is the the French vineyard he bought the other day Adam?
We have to get rid of Arsene first Jm….
No Rico. Apparently he has co-owned this one for a while. The new one is in Burgundy.
The first on is in Napa Valley I think. Maybe the French one needs a manager , someone good at figures and not too ambitious , like a red and speaks the language.
likes
I’m looking to the future…
Have I missed something with the spelling in the post title ?
I didn’t know that Adam…
Stws- no, why?
Wow this is how far it has gone. We are talking about Preston here. Am a fan of the Championship, I watch it every week thanks to BeinSports. Overall IMHO it’s better played than EPL. Preston is not that good to scores 2 against Arsenal. If they score 2 that means ARS will have 5, because it’s a football game being played.
Btw, Per may not have the legs but has the brains, about time we kept some vets to help out the players. Who here will disagree that Xhaka and Elneny wouldn’t benefit from Arteta right now. Imagine the things that both Wilshire and Ramsey can learn from Santi. Imagine Gilberto or Viera in Coq’s ear. Sometimes people criticize just to criticize. Per right now would probably be behind Holding but that doesn’t mean he can’t educated the kid.
it’s very foggy at Deepdale.
Stan will buy anything but invest in our club, no way.Anyway now he can get pissed in two vineyards or ride around his 500 million dollar ranch.Oh why did we sell out to this man.
Obi
can you or anyone else explain to me why I keep hearing we have a stronger squad than ever.Sanchez is miles better than anyone but is human and he has run himself into the ground and being too reliant on him might be a real downer.AW doesn’t know how or when to rotate or who is in form and who isn’t.He has lost it completely.
Rico. Yes, it seems Stan is moving into the luxury-goods world. They don’t come that much more luxury (price-wise) than Screaming Eagle.
Thanks El Rico. 😉
I`m with Obi !…………………………..can see an easy thrashing of the northern bastards !………….actually, anyone east of the Tamar River is a northern bastard ! hahaha
I`m still struggling with the Usmanov thingy !………………….correct me if I`m wrong, but I think/know he cant sponsor Arsenal through his companies, so what`s he do…..sponsor some northern bastards !………seeing as he is best mates with his mate the 49% owning Everton shareholder….fcuk what`s his name ?……………anyway, let`s just call him …fcuk whats his name…….why didn`t Usmanov say to fcuk whats his name……………..I`ll sponsor your northern bastard team for £50M ( or what ever it is ) and you sponsor The Arsenal for the same amount !………………….that way, Usmanov who cant sponsor The Arsenal through his own companies gets fcuk whats his name to sponsor The Arsenal because he probably cant sponsor the northern bastards through his companies !………………..is this as clear a s mud ?…………….because Im` confusing myself now ! hahaha
Anyway, cut it short……what a load of bollox we are turning out to be, we have a majority shareholder who is buying up France, but doesn`t and wont ever put a penny into The Arsenal and a second in line shareholder who is sponsoring some northern bastards !………are we the laughing stock or what ?…………….my immediate thought is that anyone who doesn`t want Kroenke to die a painfull death is a northern bastard !.
I wish he’d invest in wine a lot more Adam, maybe then he might need to sell a few shares to
Usmanov…..
??
Kelsey
I would not say the best ever, but I think definitely since the Invincibles. The depth and the different skills sets on this team is far better. Kelsey, compare position by position of the top players. Collectively Sanchez, Ozil, Kos, Cech, Mustafi, Bellerin, Perez is awesome – I have watched him for 2yrs unbelievably skilled- etc are much better.
The problem as you pointed out is AW and his ineptitude when it comes to rotation. The only players that can probably get on the squd is RVP and Cesc but even Cesc may not start over Ozil or Santi imho.
For the life of me why is Sanchez playing 90 minutes every game even when we are winning by 2 goals, no manager played Ozil 90 mins until he got here. Why can Monreal and Gibbs rotate? … on and on and on.
Fcuk what`s his name is Farhad Moshiri !
Obi, yes, but this isAtsenal we are talking about….
You got there in the end LC… lol
To tell the truth Rico, until I read your post I didn`t know PNE were in the Championship !………………….I thought they were in some kind of Northern Bastard North League ! hahaha
Too strong a team for some North Northern Bastards………….expect an FA Cup scoring record !.
https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/817769146758922241/photo/1
?? LC, glad I shared something new with you…. lol
Slightly disappointed that Holding’s not being given a start but I guess that’s because maitland-niles is playing….
Thanks Rico, you are a constant source of imformation that has enriched my life ! 🙂
Wife`s going out to some party in Plymouth, so I have the house and dog to myself !……….haven`t got SKY, so do I try and watch on some internet fuzzy stream or watch Deadpool for the tenth time ?
Decisions decisions…………not used to it, I`m usually told what to watch ! …….actually, I`m not even told, she just makes executive decisions without any shop floor imput ! hahaha
Hmm, I’ve heard that there’s a rave going on in Plymouth…
Afternoon All
Afternoon Rico…
Strong team at Preston, I’m hearing we’re going 4 4 2….
I will celebrate victory with a large glass of Black Tower…
I’m not sure if Black Tower is in a Burgundy bottle or a Bordeaux bottle?
Forgive me if any of you think Im being Northist !……………………………..I do actually like North women as I`ve watched Geordie Shore and it`s obligatory for them to have sex on meeting you…..a bit like saying good morning and shaking someones hand down south !.
Hahaha Kev……….lets hope the missus get arrested and sent down……….oh for a peaceful life……………plus I could open up a B&B for northern women !………………..cant wait to welcome them at the door for sex ! hahaha
Cocker, I recommend a long weekend in Blackpool… ?
It’s on BT sport LC… 🙂
Afternoon Kev..
Black Tower, ghastly stuff….
I only get BT Sport 1, Rico, so only see the EPL games ! 🙁
Deadpool it is then !.
Xhaka and Ramsey should be a perfect midfield combination on paper….
Download the app LC, you might be able to watch on there…
BT sport app I mean…
Morning all.
One has to laugh really…..
Solid start!!
That defending was comical.
That all started when Chamberlain failed to challenge for the header….
Simon Grayson said he knew our weaknesses… ??
Here we go again.
Fucking hell, it’s really getting rediculous.
The Ox ducks out of HEADER apologises to monreal as the break away and scpre. it’s the defensive dirty work thay undoes us every time.
L.C as I said it’s our board that spurned both Usmanov and Moshiri. They have reportadly made many offers to fund things for the club but our board always say no.
Chamberlain guilty again. Utter shit
Loses it and then just trots back with no urgency. No accountability in this team.
This is comical
Get ox off
No leader, no talking, no idea., no Ozil or Sanchez to give it to therefor no clue what to do with it. As for defending , whole different subject.
only 20 minutes gone but like Bournemouth,PNE are up for it,winning most tackles and we look allover the place.Depth in our squad? We will see. Should be 3-0 down
Yep, get ox off.
Which team is in the PL????
Ramsey seems scared to shoot.
No confidence at all!!!
Which team has a plan?
OMG. We could be 4-0 down.
Our defending is pathetic- worse than Sunday league.
So bad.
Ospina cops and elbow to the eye, and the commentator tells us it was “unconvincing goalkeeping”.
Insightful comments!!
Kos is a huge miss.We don’t have a defence at all.It’s pathetic.
Looks like Holding.
Maitland Niles needs to go off , it’s a repeat of the Chambers situation being hung out to dry.
Brutal….
Utter garbage.
Jesus! Have they no pride? Outplayed all over the pitch, our superstars. Embarrassing.
What a pile of poop!!
Nurse….HELP
Nurse, we need a&e Fred!
Ramsey unbalanced the team.
Ox is invisible
Xhaxha is completely slow.
we haven’t DM so the defense is very expose.
I don’t know mostly of the players at the bench but if they are fresh put them in the pitch
It’s been said million times But
What are them lot doing sitting watching that again
and doing nothing.Where is the Passion.
Them poor fans saturday night supporting a bunch
of lazy bastards on the pitch and on the bench
I gave up a little while ago surely them fans
can’t keep going..Can they.
We are arsehole lucky to still in this.
Get in there Aaron!!
People panicking everywhere, but we’ve seen this plenty of times in cup games.
Lets hope it turns his season round
Let’s hope so Potter, there’s a good player in there waiting to return…
letting them get under our skin.
Most games I think Scott
Ok Captain Mannering
🙂 Fred…
They don’t like it up ’em
No pen?? Shirt pulled, bear hug… poor Ollie…
Stupid from Gabriel
Neither do we although that’s the Gabriel that played in Spain.
Big bastard coming on , problems at the back.
People say Gabriel has had his physical approach coached out of him after the Chelski game, but fans tore him apart over that performance, yet now wonder why he’s changed?
Bet he’s as confused as I am 🙂 🙂
No game changer on the bench. Wenger under estimated them
Or just maybe
About effing time. How arsene let chamberlain have 82 bloody minutes on the pitch I will never know.
The refusal to centre the ball is so frustrating.
Did you guys know that Danny Welbeck dad, Stan, works for the bomb disposal team?
What did I say last season, he won’t will he??
Captain fantastic lol
As I said, we’ve seen this plenty of times before.
Good to see welbeck back. Looking forward to seeing his energy and selfless running up top
Lucky lucky Arsenal….
Nice back heel , I want to see more of Perez. At least that saved a cup tie credit.
Love Lucas Perez. Busy busy player…
Well job done… again first half to forget coulda been 3 down tbh…
2nd half we turned up and looked like a premier league team…
Delighted Ramsey scored hopefully he clicks into gear.
Great see danny back, love his attitude.
Shocking performance though…
Very true Rico.
We had some great times useing that word.
It’s amazing that after last week our players that have just been
interviewed have just said we have to start better next time.
How many times have we heard that Fred? Ridiculous….
That 1st half ruined my dinner. 🙂
Just the first?
Adam, funny you should say that but the more I watch The Arsenal the more I love my late dinners !
Rico. 🙂
I threw it in the bin and had the hump for the second.
rico, what you gonna do when Fred wants his old jokes back lol.
Micko. I know. It’s getting cruel now, just watching….
I love my breakfast….
? Adam, I had an early one, all finished before kick off.. Spered me from being put off…
Ha ha Micko. You old hoot… lol
Rico. I keep watching them and wanting to ask, “Is it me, or are we just totally awful?”. Part of me doesn’t quite believe what I am seeing. 🙂
Adam, trust me. We were awful….
Rico. I am pleased to have that confirmed.
? Adam.
Naturally Ramsey’s goal will be a kick in the teeth to some on here but I can see him going on and smashing his goal tally of 3 that he scord for us in 2016, I just got this funny feeling.
You’re on form Micko… lol
I’m offski, night guys..
Nite rico, think the last time he scored for us was against the scum last March….he’s on a roll I tell ya !
Evening Housers
I’m so excited about that convincing performance
Please sign a new contract Arsene
We need you
Malaga, can’t say I agree but admire your honestly mate, wish there were more like you out there not afraid to say it like it is.
Our two most criticised, detested players scoring.
Loved it.
Maitland-Niles, damn, he was lost at times.
His positioning was terrible in the first half, though I’m sure that was Rambo fault, but seemed more composed in the second, which we can thank Alexis for, no doubt 🙂 🙂 🙂
I’m actually starting to enjoy these below par performances at some level, because the fans efforts rise dramatically, and the entertainment value is just gold.
Hilarious stuff!!
I must be getting something wrong !……………………I keep saying we will destroy these puny teams like Middleborough, PNE and Bournemouth but it just aint happening !…………thank fcuk we weren`t drawn against Millwall !
Hope we get a decent puny team draw at home in the next round so I can come up and watch my northern bastard team .
Scott is from the southern hemisphere, so technically me being in Cornwall makes even me a northern bastard !
Hahahahaha LC, call of the day lol
I’m passed stressing over it mate.
Nothing changes until changes are made so why lose sleep over it?
I hate seeing us play poorly-results don’t bother me so much, but we have played one good/great games this season.
2/3 the previous season.
If we play well and lose, I really am not that upset but we are just playing ordinary, mid table quality football but are nicking a goal here and there to keep points ticking over.
Poor football-we should never be accused of it as we have shown, in glimpses, how damn good we can be.
That last line didn’t read well!!
I mdon’t ant we should ever be accused of poor football, because we should not be playing poor football.
And that line reads even worse!!!
Take more water with it Scott… 😉
Morning all…
Morning Rico.
Morning Adam..
Did you have trouble sleeping after that wonderful display of football? 😉
I drank a bottle of Screaming Eagle with a couple of friends Rico. Went out like a light after that. 🙂
The question is whether it’s a dip in form, a trend or the dying embers of Arsene’s tenure. I do feel for the fans who are committed to following the team around the country though. Some of the stuff they are enduring is really awful.
I wish I had Adam…
My guess is the dying embers….
Very possibly.
The embers have been dying for quite a while now. 🙂
1,2 or 3 great performances a season-that’s one hell of a dip in form, Adam 🙂
Change is required-has been for a while, but let’s hope they’re positive changes and move the club in the right direction.
Morning guys.
I think the embers have died…
Nah, they’re not dead yet….. they offer us a little flicker 1,2 or 3 times a season Lo
I was talking about the Chav game with a Chav mate a few hours back and he said he thought we win the League in a canter, at the time.
Rico. 🙂
I wonder if Ivan sees it in the same way?
That’s an illusion Scott, not a flame…
I’d like to think so Adam. He’s no fool is he?
Not from what I hear Rico.
Thought not Adam. Once a new man comes in, perhaps he’ll be allowed to do his job…
New post up now…