Morning all.
BT Sport 1, Saturday 1st April at 9PM. ‘Rocky & Wrighty: From Brockley to the Big Time.’
Now there’s something worth watching and fitting that this programme will be aired the day after the anniversary of David Rocastle’s death.
I read an article in The Mirror yesterday, one which the author, Steve Stammers – ‘The disaffected ones have short memories’ which clearly refers to those of us who crave a new manager. At the end of his short piece he said ‘Arsene Wenger has earned the right to have one last title challenge.’
He’s had the last twelve years to come up with a plan to win the league but time and time again he’s spectacularly. Excuse after excuse has rolled off his tongue for not being able to add to his early success and despite last season being probably the best opportunity he’s had in years, he and his team, cocked it up big time. Loses and draws against some of the lower teams in the league cost us dear, just as they have before, are now and probably always will whilst he remains as manager. Why? Well I think it’s down to not having anyone on the pitch who is prepared to take control. Big characters who will let those around him know what they need to be doing, to make things good when all is not going so well. Someone, or someone’s who when we concede, won’t allow the heads to drop but instead, get them going again, with fire in their bellies.
Back to the article. Stammers said that many a time over the 21 years Wenger has been at Arsenal, he’s been fortunate enough to interview him, especially when he first arrived. It was then that the Frenchman confessed to being concerned about the age of the back five he inherited:
I looked at their ages and thought, ‘Oh, that could be a problem. But when I saw them play, they were warriors. And you always need warriors.
Where are our warriors now? Alexis apart, does this Arsenal team have anyone who could be classed as a warrior? My answer is simple, no. Jack Wilshere is possibly the nearest but he’s down on the south coast, apparently mulling over whether to stay in North London next season or move to AC Milan.
Having seen how those warriors were key to Wenger’s early success, to then build a squad full of lightweights in recent years, it’s hardly surprising he’s failed to win the league and it’s certainly a big factor as to why our European challenge has been such a disaster. When we play, all too often it’s men against boys and we aren’t the team full of men. I’m not suggesting we need big brutes all over the pitch as every great side needs players with flair and they don’t all come with an edge to their playing style as we see with Ozil but a side can cope with an odd player who doesn’t do much of the hard work , just not lots all in one squad.
So if by some chance Arsene Wenger decides he’s going to stay, he’s got a seriously difficult task ahead of him this summer because we have a few players going into the final year of their contracts, some of whom will probably want to leave and there’s a good chance he’ll have to spend big to build a squad capable of winning the league.
And that Mr Stammers is what we disaffected ones know he isn’t capable of doing, otherwise he’d have done so long before now….
I’ll have the pleasure of meeting Big Sol next week and I’ll ask him if he can lace the boots up again.
There are very few warriors around anymore.
The world has become soft as have the people in it.
Look at the way kids are brought up nowadays-let’s not tell little Jimmy his team lost today, instead, we will give him a participation award for standing there and staring at the clouds.
People may thank that harsh but it also happens to be true.
Morning all.
Lovely day for it 🙂 🙂
Rico, I believe Wenger had a reasonable excuse for 7 or 8 of those last 12 years, but not the last few.
Ivan himself said a 3-4 years back we can no longer have the financial restrictions hanging over our head.
That’s still a long time he’s wasted Scott. Also, during those tough years after we moved, he sure wasted a lot of money on garbage…
I know, Rico, and I’m not attempting to defend that point.
Times up, surely.
In our eyes yes, in his? Probably not.
Morning all.
Gabriel came in as a fighter/warrior, Mustafi had some fight in him then they were taught ‘the arsenal way’ and became softies.
Gabriel impressed at RB.
I never watched Rocky play live, only glimpsed his tributes and videos on arsenal channels and damn he was good. I enjoy when some of the senior fans contribute and talk about old history. I learn and find it captivating. Some of the stories you can’t find them anywhere as they are filtered.
Morning rico, Scott.
How comes you meeting Sol, Scott?
Good work Rico for digging this up. Steve Stammers who spent all of his career claiming to be ITK. Now shows his true colours, just an Arsene apologist .We all have our own thoughts on the situation but whether he stays or goes it serves no one any good to keep everyone on tenterhooks. The atmosphere despite what the protesters say must be affecting the players it certainly has the support,already it’s toxic but the longer it’s drawn out the worse it will get for alll parties.
The earliest Wenger could have called it quits was in ’08, at ’12 he had already overstayed. Now am believing he’s after SAF’s record. Which is absolutely ridiculous and stupid as trophy-wise he can’t hold a candle to the Scottish.
Yep, David Rocastle is a legend. That such a fit, healthy looking guy, died so young was unbelievable.
Back to reality though. It’s all gone a bit quiet because of the International break, but I hope le prof has had time enough to reflect on everything, and realise that when we get stuffed by City, then by the others we have lined up, he really should have bowed out perhaps.
I don’t think anyone really wishes a man, who clearly loves a club he has been with for twenty years, a shameful exit, but I can see the writing on the wall.
The divisions in fans opinions will always leave a bad taste, and I think it will take a long time for things to settle down, particularly if the next manager doesn’t cut it. But hey ho, no one is indispensable, and time le prof understood that.
I thought I was, in my last job, until I was made redundant!! lol.
Life goes on.
Looks like Sanchez may be off to BM. Interesting. They won’t put up with his selfish attitude and hissy fits.
Marshall, I met his sister a few years back.
She’d never been to the Supoorters Club so we took her down, and it was like getting hit with a sledge hammer on what football, Arsenal and indeed Rocky, meant to the locals.
Gents in their 70’s talking to her and walking away with tears in their eyes is something I’ll never forget.
Andrew, with the club heading over in a few months, Sol is doing a “100 days til we visit” promo tour.
A few of us from Arsenal Australia are lucky enough to get a gig.
The best thing is I also got a ticket for my boy!!
He knows who the big man is 🙂 🙂
Agree Marshall re Gabriel and Mustafi. What’s changed I wonder or has Wenger changed them? My hunch is the latter…
Morning Andrew.
He’s not alone Potter. So many journos who have enjoyed many a year of stories slating Wenger are changing their tune. Most I believe suggest he deserves to stay…
Maybe they are concerned they may have to soon change their slant towards our club….
Thomas ,Davis and Rocastle (the three degrees).had everything that we don’t have now.Actually that’s not strictly true. Davis had silky skill, Thomas worked hard had an eye for goal and made late runs was extremely mobile and Rocky had the lot .On top of that he loved the club and would fight until he had nothing left. There’s the difference for me we have skilful players we have runners when they choose but apart from Alexis no-one that wears their heart the way Rocky did. Rocky however had the full respect of his peers and could carry them with him. It’s said that he cried when Arsenal sold him ,so did I and I am sure that I was not alone.
Perhaps being surrounded by players who work hard for the team as he does for us, and a manager who knows how to manage would be just right for Alexis Meerkat…
Top comment Potter.
Rico, in all fairness he had that at Barca and they sold him.
He’s never extended a contract and that in itself is a concerning fact.
Pep didn’t play him much did he? And as we know, he loves to play…
Also, the Bara squad is and always has been stronger and deeper than ours so I guess getting into the side and staying in it was difficult back then.
Fair call, Rico, and I may well be reading the guy totally wrong, but based on his history, the question of whether he was ever going to stay has to be asked.
If we change managers, he stays and kills it, I’ll be the happiest person alive to admit to being wrong.
Would he get more game time at Bayern than he does with us?
Scott, feels like he was an arsenal man through and through. Shame his kind aren’t around anymore. 7 years playing high level football isn’t to be scoffed at.
I’ll be sure to catch the BT tribute.
Marshall, imo, money has almost put a halt to local kids coming through the ranks, unfortunately.
How many make it now?
I reckon that also has changed how local fans feel about clubs they support-there isn’t much better than seeing a junior come through the ranks, and you know they’ll give their all for the right reasons.
Robben and Ribery are at their end of playing career at Bayern, chances are Alexis could get game time.
Yeah fair enough-Bayern it could well be then.
Possibly, possibly not Scott but Bayern have a few aging players to replace don’t they?
Scott, agree on money. Even at Arsenal where players were given chances to grow now it’s only Iwobi who’s an academy graduate. That’s probably the reason Wenger plays him too much – to field an arsenal academy player.
There should be a cap on how much you can pay these kids.
Nice one Scott, should be good!
I too agree on the money in football. It’s obscene. Wasn’t it JET who smashed up a £60,000 odd flash car aged 17. Disgraceful…
A cap on the youngsters, and a minimum number of them on the pitch 🙂
Can’t wait, Andrew-should be great fun.
Yes Rico, JET was the lad.
A mate over there said if he ever had a kid with ability, he’d never send him to Arsenal as a junior.
His theory is the kids are too busy telling everyone who they play for to appreciate the chance they have and give it their all.
Rico, I wrote that salary cap comment with that £60,000 car in mind. Such a kid will run off to the next club that offers him a bigger contract with little regards to his development.
I hope the development league will help in bringing local lads up the football chain.
Me too Scott, I wouldn’t send my kid to any top 4 academies. Bolton, Bournemouth would be a nice start. As long as by 26 he can buy me a £60,000 car too :).
Btw say his to Sol. Ask him if he can deliver a mail to e gaffer.
Fulham, Soton and another I can’t think of were his choices, Marshall.
I reckon he’d sort our defence out so hopefully the message is hand delivered lol
Southend was the other-are they good producers?
Yes, I remember well, me and , him in his short trousers and cap, standing on the Spion Kop at the Manor Ground, Woolwich, singing ‘Sam Hollis’s red and white army’, and that famous ditty, ‘Walking in an Andy Ducat wonderland’.
A bag of peanuts at half time then home to bread n dripping before putting some more coal on the fire and settling down to listen to the Home Service on the BBC or playing my gramophone.
Wath used to go out till late, playing with his mates, hop scotch, hide n seek, knock down ginger, breaking and entering, ah the good old days in Plumstead…
*me and Wath*
Southampton academy seems to be one of the best Marshall…
Hi all
Steve Stammers wrote a history of Arsenal a few years back. I got it for Christmas. Virtually every page I turned to contained a factual error such as wrong goal scorers or results. The sort of stuff that really annoys us anoraks! Got so fed up with it that I chucked it in the drawer where it has remained to this day. Pees me off that blokes like Stammers get paid for writing about football when they know bugger all about it!
I find the negativity around Sanchez very weird, the bloke works his nuts off and hates losing! Surely we need more players with those traits (and a winner for a manager) instead we have the Wenger gravy train ponces! They blow smoke up his arse because he rewards their mediocrity with bumper contracts!
Ozil is the one that needs moving on, a lazy luxury player…..give me a Sanchez-esque player any day of the week!
Has he left yet??
Re : warriors we have a few but they are not allow to be. Check out these players before they arrived at Arsenal, fortunately for me am able to watch games all week so I knew most of these players before they came: Elnery with Egypt snd Basel, Mustafi, Gabriel, Xhaka, ,watched Perez against Madrid , Atletico and Barce, Giroud at Montpelier was a beast dragging defenders. At some point we have to stop blaming the players and look at the only constant, AW.
Re: Sanchez, for those who only watched him since Arsenal. Sanchez is one of my favorite players even before Arsenal, his behavior isn’t going to change. As I said here before it comes with the package. Forget Barce and Arsenal. Watch Sanchez at Unidese, River Plate and with Chile. At Unidese a couple of times I thought Di Natale was going to kill him, with Chile he Vidal, Vargas and even Medal are always at it. Even to the point that in their last Copa Championship win the coach pulled Sanchez, using an unjury as an excuse. Let’s be objective, the dude is a head case, especially when things isn’t going smoothly. All am saying is that, I love the player, but let just call a spade a spade. I will never forget Pep gesturing to Sanchez to speed up the pass while the little Chile dances around with the ball….hillarious. Alex will always plays his way, am the best player on the pitch and i can do anything with the ball fcuk what anyone thinks.
And by the way am not being negative about Samchez… just saw Lee’s post, it’s just his make up. I personally don’t see Alex going anywhere. His behavior is to force AW or whoever to improve the team. If they improve the team or a new manager he stays. Ozil though am 95% sure he’s gone.
Afternoon Rico and All
Great post Rico.
Read that load of crap by Stammers the weekend.
Arsene has made Worrier’s out of warrior’s..More like it.
Afternoon Fred, all. And thanks Fred.
I too don’t get the negative stuff on Alexis, 13 more like him and we might win the league…
Obi, hope you are right re him trying to force change in Wenger, somebody needs too.
As for Ozil, don’t care if he stays or goes really and if one of the two have too, I’d rather it was him.
I know Steve Stammers, and tbh, if you are going to write a book on a subject, do your research. So no excuses there!
He used to run my eldest boys football team and I found him basically a nice guy.
He’s a West Ham fan but his Dad was a Gooner and I find that his stuff is usually pro-Arsenal.
He’s good friend with Frank McLintock who gave out the prizes at the end of the season when his team won the Double.
I’ve met a few journos in my time in my job and he’s been one of the best I’ve spoken to…
Can’t comment on the pro-Wenger article, seems as if the clubs PR dept are calling in all their favours…
It’s all bollocks and Wenger is staying.
if the amount of effort the club is uses on PR is equal to the one they us to run the club, Real Madrid would be wishing they had our galacticos!
I reckon he’s staying too Kev, players all behind him, the media too. The writing is on the wall….
Wonder why if his staying he is keeping Shtoom.
It’s not helping the Team,Fans or the Club..Is it.
Schtum, frednerk 😉
It’s a pity that there is a protest planned on the same day Rocky is honoured.
Maybe Wenger will sign his contract on April 1st.
13 others with Sanchez would certainly help,Rico 😉
He’s off, I just hope it’s not Chelsea or City who appear to be losing their star strikers.
Ozil is a luxury player and stamina isn’t great,a bit like a tap,can be turned on and off.
The club is doing untold damage to itself with “this announcement”
If he stays it will take at least 5 years to sort out the mess if he went a new more proactive man might control things better but with 7 players out of contract in 14 months and others wanting to leave or not good enough, I blame one man and one man only.
I have said it before, AW is in a time warp and still thinks we can become another Barca.All other teams have got wise to us, we have spent millions that have been wasted, but never mind as he has no one to answer to.What a shambles.
It’s not Fred but imo, he’s waiting for us to beat City on Sunday…. lol
I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes if we get stuffed by City, which is more than likely to happen.
I just wish the talk of Patrick and/or Thierry had some real substance.
Are either Vieira or Henry ready for such a big job?
Wonder if Arsene has a speech ready after the
Man/city game.Could it be something like this.
I have decided to agree a 2 year contract,
and will reinvent myself..In fact you will not know,It’s me.
Forget the last 10 years..I never had no money to buy all them
player’s that are winning trophy’s with other club’s.
Once I get rid of that little Chilian troublemaker who keep’s
answering me back……..You watch us go.
I have a great of backroom staff..Who will stay,In the Backroom.
I have the 100% backing form The Syrup and Josh plus
Oven fries King Sir Chip’s and the ShagPile King of Rugs
Lord Harris.
So back me Gooners to the top..Have I ever Lied to You.
?Fred…
The whole fecking scenario at Arsenal is simply depressing…
It’s enough to make ya want to take a dose of Night Nurse and have an early night with a slice of toast…
Make sure it’s the drowsy one Kev…
I’m off, night guys…
rico, I’m seriously thinking of necking the whole bottle and being pain free for the rest of the season lol.
Micko, what about next season? lol
Morning all..
New post up.