I missed a day yesterday. Forgive me. but what is there to write about really? There’s no football, no sport, no nothing or rather anything. But it doesn’t matter. What does matter is your health. The health of the NHS and all key workers here in the UK along with the equivalent organisations around the world. We might not be by their side as they go about their day but what we can do is stay at home and do the best we can to keep the virus at bay.
A sentiment shared by our now recovered manager:
“We are living in a unique situation, so I think all of us are trying to react to the situation that is coming on a daily basis and trying our best to overcome the situation. First of all I would like to send a message to all the people who have lost their loved ones, those who are suffering in hospitals, having difficult moments and are sick – we have a massive gratitude to everyone who is involved in healthcare, in hospitals, people in services, people trying to provide food, transportation, everything that is so relevant to us. And please to everybody, we are a little bit behind other countries, for example Spain, where I know the situation they are living at the moment, and while we are having the opportunity a little bit to minimise the risk, I encourage everybody please to be responsible and stay at home as much as possible. That is all we can do from our position, we don’t have the ability to help others in other circumstances, so please at least stay at home and do what is required. We have to try to help the NHS as much as possible and we have to give the opportunity to the elderly people who needs this more than anybody else to get the treatment they require. We have to slow the process down and the virus down, so please stay at home.”
As long as the ‘stay at home and keep your distance’ message rings loud and clear, (morning prime minister) there’s absolutely no way the footballing bodies can even think about the game returning. I don’t know why they can’t just accept the season is finished. Make the decision across the entire leagues and put an end to all the speculation. Players can be expected to be match fit if the season restarted tomorrow let alone in another months time or two depending on how this pandemic carries on. Playing behind closed doors might sound feasible but it’s not because at least twenty two men will be breaching the safe distancing advice which here in the UK, doesn’t look like being overturned anytime soon. I know this topic has been written about before, discussed here in the comments too but until a decision is made, it’s not going away.
Nor will the transfer rumours which for us right now involves West Ham’s Declan Rice. One of Sky Sports finest pundits Paul Merson reckons he’s the solution to our midfield. Chelsea let him go when he was just 14 years old but now they want him back. Do you agree with Merse about Rice? Chelsea let Eddie Nketiah go when he was young but here he is now, just starting to get he’s feet under the Arsenal first teams table. Either that or Mikel Arteta has put him out there in hope of attracting some attention from other clubs. Another Arsenal player turned football pundit, Charlie Nicholas says Aubameyang should only be sold if the money is reinvested into the squad. Never thought of that Charlie…
All money raised from player sales this summer has to be reinvested into the squad because it’s the only way Mikel Arteta can make this squad his own. But there’s a way to go before we’ll be seeing any live football let alone transfer moves.
It’s your lucky day today as you’ve two Arsenal classics to look back on should you wish to.
The first.
The second.
A great ending to an otherwise disappointing season.
Stay safe guys and stay healthy.
Hi Rico and Scott I know its not soccer but the Victorian police just arrested 3 men for starting 40 bushfire in Victoria between November to January this year also seeing people in England standing and clapping your NHS workers brought a smile to my face well done all.
I wonder if football is about to recieve the long awaited shock to it’s system regarding transfers , wages , contracts and general finance.
Certainly since the onset of the Premier League the game has been going away from it’s base and the traditional methods of money raising has been like a runaway train. It was a simple concept , a club played , people came and paid to watch and the more succesful they were the more people came and the more money they made. This enabled them to get better players and continue to win things and consequently get richer.
This spiral was interupted by firstly shirt sponsorship , then T.V and then stadium naming rights ., it’s now out of control I mean do I want to go to Tesco in Norwich with visit Rwanda on my arm ? . No !
I can’t see this continuing at the same rate . Companies are going to have severe problems coping with the long period of economic shortfall . Fans will also be firstly wary of big crowds , they will be more selective about where they spend their money and also they will have got out of the habit of going.
Season tickets are unlikely to be renewed and come June clubs rely on this injection . All of them are going to have cash flow problems .
Papers , the media , pundits are reacting as if nothing will change . People like Merson who I loved as a player seems to have no idea of the way finance works , the belief that money will be available is naive to say the least . As I see it the only movement of players will be for those out of contract and players will have to realise that the days of astronomical wages are likely to be over.
Morning Rico. There seems to be no end in sight, so if and when the football can kick off again is anyone’s guess at the moment. Emotionally trying times ahead.
Hi All just wonder when we restart the season with more injured players back and possible players back from loan will this make it easier or harder for Arteta to work out who to keep and who to sell.
we said the same thing 3 months ago Charlie Nicholas only if you had read this site then you would be up to date.
if we go for any Chelsea player maybe Williams for some EPL experience and help to take pressure off the younger players but would prefer to look else were first
Morning all.
Geoff, I hope the book is thrown squarely at those bastards!!
They deserve it.
Potter, I reckon the entire world is in for a shock when this is finally over.
Things will never be the same again, imo, and that may not necessarily be a bad thing.
Time will tell.
I think football is about to get a huge financial reality check. Something will have to change for clubs to carry on running imo. Those who live on the financial edge of FFP must be seriously concerned.
If footballers won’t take a pay cut, the ticket prices increase etc etc, serious trouble lay ahead..
Away from the devastation this virus is causing, perhaps football needed something like this.
Morning Geoff, Adam, all.
You mention Merson Potter. I too loved him as a player but as a presenter, pundit or whatever title he holds, I think he’s awful. In fact I can’t think of many ex footballers turned pundit who live in the real world. They sit on their comfy chair telling of how the game should be, which players certain clubs should sign etc etc and yet they’ve no idea how these same clubs operate financially etc.
I know they have a job to do but at least make some kind of attempt at being reasonable. Or rational…
Rico. You forget Merson’s irritating tendency to encourage our best players to sign for opposition teams. Reasonable? No, not really. Rational?A man that drives into back of a 30 ton lorry claiming he didn’t see it? You’re ‘avin a larf as Merse might say.
Adam, if you’re referring to Aubameyang then nope, I’ve not forgotten. 😝
I’m actually surprised Sky Sports stood by him. Especially after they threw Georgia (I think tha5 was her name) under the bus..
Georgie Thompson, that was her..
Rico. I didn’t think you would have😀
I hope the Arsenal community is in good health. Unfortunately, the peak of this epidemic has not yet been reached. The quarantine will last at least until the end of May or June. I continue to say that it makes no sense to reactivate this season after months of stoppage. There will be a time before the
Covid-19 and after Covid-19. For life, for clubs and for football. As historically it was defined and well separated, the period Before Christ and the period After Christ.
I hope I am wrong but I can see the financial fare play rule force the poorer club to sell top player just to survive and the richer clubs pick up top players at bargain prices
I believe they will still finish this season even if it means starting next season a bit late and the first matches that can be played behind closed doors will be the FA cup round and what ever small competition trophies are left then concentrate on the home and away season by playing 2 matches per week ( Wednesday and Saturday )
A little light relief for these trying times :- https://1drv.ms/v/s!AgP28_K8hQfrgosCoTsJFDsiBa69xA
Some things stick Adam. 😆
Nice : – it actually made me laugh out loud . My wife thought i had sat of a feather.
I hope is well with you and your family too Jm.
Excellent Cicero. Very funny…
Evening All…
Paul Merson has done quite well for himself since he finished playing, he could well have ended up like Kenny Sansom, laying in a park with a bottle of cheap wine.
I loved Merse the player and felt that he was quite hard done by by Wenger, was he any worse than Tony Adams or Ray Parlour?
I don’t watch Sky, so fortunately I don’t suffer the anti Arsenal shit they put out, maybe the Coronavirus epidemic will see a lot of people dump Sky and discover that they can actually live without it and the equally appalling BT Sport?
Merse isn’t, on the surface, a very intelligent man, and he plays that part, just like Chris Kamara before him, he’s the village idiot but he earns a decent living by talking rubbish and letting everybody take the piss out of him. He knows that Sky wants him to say controversial things about Arsenal in particular because it gets viewers and on line clicks, so if you fall for it then what else do you expect Sky to do?
I didn’t know that Declan Rice was on Chelsea’s books at one time, but I wouldn’t mind Arsenal signing him, I’d certainly prefer to see Arsenal sign players who are tried and tested in the EPL rather than some wonder boy from La Liga?
Tbh, if it was down to me and it’s probably just as well that it isn’t down to me, but I’d be inclined to scout the best England U18, U19 and U21 players that aren’t at the big clubs and try and bring them in before they become unaffordable.
Players like Maddison, Sancho, Chilwell were all affordable, but we dithered and they’re now out of our price range.
Take the kid at Bournemouth, Brooke’s is his name I think, he’s got a lot of promise and is gettable, but I bet he ends up at Leicester or Sheffield Utd…
There is a lot of sense in that who knows how the foreign player situation will pan out after the virus and brexit.
Will the EU survive this and either way, will it affect football??
I agree about David Brooks, Kev.. before his injury he was superb for Bournemouth 👍
New post up now.