Morning all,
You know me well enough by now. I don’t do finance reports, never have done, so if you want to know what was announced yesterday about how much money we have in the bank, then I suggest you search NewsNow, they’ll be plenty of info. But I do believe we have a sum around Β£120 million spare to spend.
Most of us knew that though eh, that figure has been creeping up over the last few seasons, and last summer it saw a huge profit made when we made more than we spent on summer signings.
Fan’s don’t want to hear about how rich we are, what we want to see Β is a huge percentage of that money finally and properly re-invested into the squad.
Instead of a financial breakdown, here’s a really good post from Allezkev:
Defeat at home in the FA Youth Cup was quite a blow to our young Gunners.
But there were some good performances from some of our young prospects all the same.
One young English player, who has made great strides this season, is Isaac Hayden.
Equally comfortable at centre-back and centre-midfield, Hayden (18 in March), has a good eye for a long raking pass, turning defence into attack.
The noises coming out of the Academy are very optimistic, and we might see Issac fast-tracked next season via the League Cup.
Anthony Jeffrey has had a strange season. Despite a string of impressive performances, the club have yet to offer him a professional contract. He’sΒ a proper winger, takes on and beats the opposition full-back and puts in accurate crosses.
Not only quick, but has good close control, the 18 year old can switch from blistering pace to mazy dribbling…
The word is, a pro-contract is on the table, so Anthony, ‘sign the ting’…..
Hector Bellerin is probably the reason that a new right-back won’t be signed if Bacary Sagna decides to leave…
Another blessed with pace, and a magnetic hold of the ball as he rampages down the right-flank, the Spaniard, who turns 18 next month, is another who we might see fast-tracked over the next 18 month’s.
Jon Toral has had an injury plagued season. His presense has been sorely missed in recent Youth and U21 matches.Β Toral is one of a host of talented & technical midfielders pushing for promotion into the League Cup squad.Β Next season could be when we see this skillfull Spaniard make the step up to senior football.
With Thomas Eisfeld, Serge Gnabry and Kristoffer Olsson maybe six to nine month’s away from regular involvement in the 1st team squad.
There is a lot to look forward to, and we may see these lads eventually replacing some of the recentΒ underachieversΒ who now find themselves out on loan.
I’d rather see our own lads, who have come through the club’s own academy and have a connection to the club, be given a chance.
Chuba Akpom at only 17, has already caught the eye of regular Arsenal Youth watchers.Β This lad has the lot. He can play as a target man, or in the No.10 role, he can play on either flanks or do the lone striker role.Β As long as he remains fit, I think it’s fairly certain that this lad is going to have some 1st team exposure next season.
I wouldn’t mind seeing him on the bench a few times this season, as it goes…
Jack Jebb and Austin Lipman are two other names we should all look out for in the near future…
So it’s not all doom and gloom, just right now it feels like it…….
Written by Allezkev
Blessed are you Kev……..for you have the opportunity to see the next generation any time you want.
What would I give to be able to see them first hand? Better than the seniors I should think.
Good Morning my Esteemed Fellow Gunners.
As spuddie was on HH yesterday??? Oh Lord, why couldn’t I make it? I would have thorn him a new one the Kunt.
Gd day Rico.
Great post Kev. I love to hear we are creating good young footballers! Hopefully most can make the step up to the first team and make us all proud.
Morning Devil, Lewis and all,
Great read Ak, and to be honest, I wouldn’t mind seeing one or two on our bench for the run in, and certainly in Germany. Not only would they learn a lot, they’d probably give a lot more too.
But would their body withstand it Rico? Like you I would like to see them on the bench or on the pitch, but would their body be up to the rigours of the physical challenges by fully adult pros?
Next Sunday we will show Will the spud that “ALL IS HELL THAT ENDS WELL”
Good morning all.
Hi Devil….i hope all is well mate…
Rico and Kev, is there any chance i could copy and paste this post….the youth report bit….on an Aussie Facebook group page.
It will only be seen by members of the group….you may get some new faces on here Rico π
I have been telling the group on the odd occasion of our younger guys based on comments on here, so it wold be great to give them a more detailed account.
I understand if there is hesitancy.
Oh, and Kev as well as HH will certainly get the credit.
Good question devil, I guess that depends on their body frame, some like Gnabry are built well, others, maybe not but if we are 1-0 down on Sunday with five mins to go, I’d rather see Eisfeld or Akpom coming on than Gervinho!
Devil, I reckon taking a few over and, situation pending of course, give them even the last 5 minutes.
What a buzz it wold be, and would be a strong show of faith from the club that they indeed have a future at Arsenal.
Hi Scott, no problem, you feel free π
Hi Scott,
All is well. But work, coaching and family take a lot of time. Looking forward for May, when I will have more time on my hands. Was not here on Sunday since I had a game and then the afternoon spent it with the Queen and the little Prince. They need their time as well.
Not even Saturday did I see the game. I was busy showing the little Prince the bastions and telling him the history of our ancestors.
Morning all,
Totally agree Rico, good post ak. I’d love to see Wenger try a bit of youth like he used to. It will in the least create competition for first team places.
Hopefully we get some solid cb’s and a finisher next season with all the funds available.
Cut to an off topic point, as much as I like Wilshere, why put added pressure on him to be captain at so young an age?
devil – I am quite concerned ahead of Sunday…. Will Wenger tell one player to stick to Bale at all costs?
Bale has been given a free role and we should have one player tracking him all game because he will destroy us otherwise…
Which keeper is better at stopping shots from distance?
Will Wenger allow Bould to sort out things at the back in a week?
i doubt it!
Morning all . Nice to break up the normal doom and despondancy. In the words of Bing Crosby………. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive .
But that’s the PR departments job.
What’s the similarity between spxrs and Oscar Pistorius….?
They’d both be fucked without Bale!
Morning all and another insightful post AK!
Brad…………TA06 was the same age when he took over. Around 20 to 21 he was made captain……….and STAYED.
Wilshere is the closest footballer I see to one of my favourites….Roy Keane. Same cold blooded stare, same tackling, same will to win, same leadership skills. But with more technical capabilities.
Lee says:
February 26, 2013 at 10:20 am
Whatβs the similarity between spxrs and Oscar Pistoriusβ¦.?
Theyβd both be fucked without Bale!
Lee……….you are the top one on witty remarks.
Rico…….I do not think he will allow a player to be wasted on Bale. I think he will focus on possession which means that Bale will have to go deep to search for the ball………..meaning he will be a lesser threat.
Morning all,
AK, you old dog, i love your enthusiasm with our youngsters, got to be honest i learn more from you as i am mostly concerned with the first team, but i know you have been banging the drum for them and you know what your talking about. I look forward to seeing some of these names entering the frey. Arsene Wenger likes to keep the clubs money tightly in the bank, well for the time being, so i think you could be right that some of these youngsters will start to show. Now i am all for our youngsters to be given chances, but i feel that the first team should all be playing to their potential first, as i don’t think its fair on youngsters coming in and if they do make mistakes as they will, it would be nice to see experiened players help them out. Personally i would like to see experienced players who i can trust, and at the moment i see confusion between them. I would like to see our youngsters come in in dribs and drabs so pressure is off of them but while our team are still building confidence i feel its not a good enviroment to be thrown into. What i would like to see is that when a youngster has been doing well for the reserves that when he is introduced he plays in the position he has been used to and not asked to cover. I am still uncertain of players like Jenkinson as to what his real position is Horses for courses in my mind. but bloody good post mate..
Ok Devil, just hopefully his game doesn’t suffer like TV’s this season. Unless that’s just a coincedence.
Thanks Rico….much appreciated.
Devil, good to hear.
Our training starts tomorrow.
One last season of coaching my boy, i reckon.
He will not be playing for the local side next season.
The coach of the kids reps squad had a chat the other day, and our side is 3 wins from 3 against some of the bigger Sydney clubs (a very big deal) and he rates the little fella with the best of our group.
The reps football will take over from the local stuff……we have to give him his chance at it.
Rico, i would tell Kozzer to stick right on Bale.
He has the speed to do the job, imo.
Just needs to keep his head about him.
Morning Lee and Potter..
That’s funny Lee, very funny….
There are so many ‘eligible n gifted’ players in the reserves. They will be given every opportunity to show their skills in the first XI …. and even oust some of the supposedlyseniors!!
Thinking about it devil, I doubt Wenger will do anything about the threat of Bale π
Hi Sp, Brad….
Jenks will be our future CB imho π
That is what I think also Rico regarding Jenks. So that will mean we need two right backs.
When United had Beckham and later Ronaldo they adopted a tactic of dropping like stones just outside the area, Spurs are adopting the same and the dummies with the whistle are “”falling “” for it. Their use of dead balls last night was excellent , I worry about our zonal marking and I fear they will get a number of free headers. Going to be a difficult Sunday afternoon.
Regarding giving the young guns a look in over our established flops. I remember against Spurs a few years ago a goal that was very similar to the Brady- Rix – Sunderland one. It went Gibbs- Wilshere -Gibbs cross to Lansbury Goal. The looks on their faces was amazing, sometimes you can’t beat youthful enthusiasm .
I thought the hamsters let parker have way too much posession, we gotta close these fekkers down!
I reckon he’d be great there devil…
A step further Rico…..our next DM??
Scrap that…he isn’t ugly enough π
Carling cup game Potter? 4-1 in extra time π
We are guilty of always giving players too much room, do that on Sunday and we’ll be beaten….
Sign a proper DM Scott, not shift players around to suit… but i get your point…. π
No Scott. I do not think Jenks will be a DM. Why not put Sagna there instead? He did well as a ball playing centreback. he can play there without the pressure of being the last man before the keeper.
We will be belting the Spuds.
Devil, i agree on Sagna….i asked for it π
we have 123million cash but we also have 255million debt still to pay off.
I wish I had your confidence Scott…..
I saw the Milan vs Barca game last Weds. Milan played a 1-4-4-1 system. And it really killed Barca. They did over 760 passes and had nothing to show for it…… but on the two forays Milan did they got two. And Milan are not doing well this year either.
But they forced Balessi (Messi π ) to go down deep to search for the ball to the extent he was playing as a DM.
Well the last high fives two the spurs you and the majority of us did not have any hope………..and we high 5ed them didnt we.
Now we should aim for double figures. IN ONE FEKKING MATCH
morning all .. just in
https://twitter.com/Matt_Law_SM/status/306356596928282624
Sorry SYG………I would only take two players from the spuddies…..Walker and Bale.
Morning bdw
Hi Syg..
Add Lloris Devil π
No Rico………..I prefer Julio Cesar then
I prefer Begovic, but wouldn’t complain if we signed Cesar…
Add Lloris Devil……………………………..
Could have had him.!
Great minds Potter
Cesar was free Potter. And he has champions league winning experience. and he was schooled in the italian championship on how to organise the back four.
No doubt his wages must have put us off , because free or not he ain’t here.
NN I think you will find that the debt is called a mortgage and we have 14 years to pay that off… it cannot be paid off early either due to penalty payments so apart from the 20million a year we pay on the debt the rest is free for operating costs and player purchases which would mena we currently have approx 90million to spend excluding up front emirates money due in June/July and extra tv money from the new deal. A lot of money there to spend if we choose to do so…!
No its not the wages Potter. Its AW’s stubborness which stopped it since Woy is from within and has cost nothing and can prove a point.
I missed that Wath, the good old mortgage/debt saga… π
I have a mortgage, but doesn’t don’t stop buy my groceries…
Morning to you by the way Wath….
Hiya W.A.T.H.. How are you mate?
goody for you yesterday regarding the spuddie. wish I was here.
Popping off for a short while, need to find my way home π
https://twitter.com/DavidWoodsStar/status/306368903771222017
https://twitter.com/wayneveysey/status/306366688553738242
i think we just need a top s forward then we will be all good 1st though get rid of the dead wood !!!!!
Enjoyed the post. Erm, project youth seems to have been kicked into the long grass these days – another piece of PR spin that had served it’s purpose. After all Wenger has been so successful in recent years, producing players like Wiltshire and ………er ?
Some people talk of Arsenal before Wenger as being the dark ages, but one of the joys of going to Highbury in those days was watching the developing talents of so many young players like Rice, Neill, Brady, Rix and Parlour.
Rocastle,Davis , Thomas , Adams and Quinn . Always good to follow one of your own.
Merson !
Gus Ceasar……….. π
Afternoon Dev, How you matey…? All well I trust…!
Morrow Selley, Hillier, Parlour & Ceasar don’t forget Potter lol
SYG, the daily star gets the scoop again… what a laugh…!
Hiya young WATH …..The Daily Star is an embarrassment of a newspaper …..
Gus Cesar was shit. Wenger would love him.
cmc… Only a forward…? what about a proper defensive midfielder..? A commanding centre half…? A real winger who wants to only attack the full backs and get in crosses..? oh and a decent keeper as well…..
Just a thought
Hillier? Selley?
Afternoon all!
evening all
O’ Leary
Hughes….
Romford Pele…..
Hayes.
unfortunately we hear the same thing every season. randall, landsbury anyone? ignassi? eastmond? henderson? so few make it. less than one a year on average. our acadamy has a poor record
I like Ignassi silentstan………….. The rest are 2 bob…!
Get shut
11 DF AndrΓ© Santos
20 DF Johan Djourou
26 MF Emmanuel Frimpong
29 FW Marouane Chamakh
30 FW Park Chu-Young
51 FW Benik Afobe
52 FW Nicklas Bendtner
00 MF DenΓlson
18 DF SΓ©bastien Squillaci
21 GK Εukasz FabiaΕski
22 MF Francis Coquelin
23 MF Andrei Arshavin
24 GK Vito Mannone
27 FW Gervinho
2 MF Abou Diaby
62 FW Sanchez Watt
non have a future with the club…… I don’t even think Ryo Myachi or Joel Campbell will make an Arsenal player…. I’d loved to be proved wrong, but I doubt it….
Afternoon all fellow HHers,
A fine post Mr Ak.
I am surprised you left at Aneke …. I know he has that Santos, AA23 body language issue but he is definitely class and he has the stature to excel in this league. π Olsson is the closest to Laudrup or Romanega I have seen in football for a long time. Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Meade all have potential. Judging from the few Next gen matches I have seen this year we have a strong youth squad.
Potter, I understand your comment on our zonal marking system but you failed to stress how teams such as WHU, Everton and others such as Sunderland and AV to name a few all look far disorganised using the ‘popular’ man marking system. What I am trying to say is that it is not the system that is the issue but the application of thus…
PHW been on the sauce??
Hello again all….
We are not different than the others mates. Yes Barca have practically half a team which they produced. But equally to every one which makes it there are about 14 or 15 who fail to make the final step up.
Remember when we used to complain in the GG days that our academy was shit? Now we have the numbers but at least we produce some. Szcezney, Gibbs, Wilshere are all three players from within. That is already 3 out of 11. Already one fourth of the team.
I forgot …. 44 MF Craig Eastmond
why do these spurs always wait for the last seconds to score winners that leave us all gutted ! aka fergie time. can’t wait for sunday’s game coyg
Joel campbell is getting good reviews in Spain and betis seem to want to keep him , so he might make it. What I casn’t work out is why our geniouses spent so long on getting him when they couldn’t get a permit and spent all their efforts and allowed Mata’s sell on clause run out, when apparently he wanted to come to us.
Agree with TS’s above post. The system in itself is only as good as (a) the players used and (b) the coaching of those players to play the system properly. We just do not attack the zones at set pieces, meaning all too often our players look like static idiots, as the ball ends up in the back of the net.
SYG – I’d still keep le Coq. At least for another season. I would like to see more of Yennaris, but fear his time with us is coming to an end.
evening SYG – wow look at those wages – mind boggling
Morning nn Debt. An often misunderstood subject because it is so confusing and the press have a habit of clouding the issue for chaep headlines. W.A.T.H is spot on.
In simple terms there is good debt and bad debt (but no debt is the best, LOL). Good debt is a debt like a mortgage that is usually on a low interest rate and is paying off a future asset. Bad debt is writing off losses, like almost every football club. Often that debt rarely gets paid off in full, so you are forever paying it off. That sort of debt is usually on a higher interest rate. This is the often misunderstood element of football financing that gets confused. The stadium debt is on a very low interest payment and a large chunk of the debt was paid off due to the Highbury redevelopment and of course the regular CL qualification. Arsenal only have good debt, a debt that will be quickly paid off. Like I said, it is good debt.
The reason why it was so important to build a 60,000 seater stadium was to increase matchday income and sponsorship etc and all that comes with it. That creates more profits for reinvestment (providing it gets re-invested of course). Just like us earning more money in our wage packets, we have more to spend. That is why Spurs and Liverpool are so desperate to build their own stadiums. It will be harder for them financially but remember we had to also had to find the money to redevelope our old home at Highbury. (Tough at the time but that is now a major reason why the stadium debt has reduced, the profit made on the sale of the flats).
To compete, you must generate higher levels of income but also control wages. This is the idea of FFP (however diluted it becomes) but the sole reason of Fair Financial Play was, in a nutshell, to stop clubs going bust as so many are in debt. Although TV (Sky) money increases, instead of going back into the clubs it goes into the spirralling players wages. Dont kid yourselves, we are also helping to pay the players wages.
The four clubs that generate the most income are Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Man Utd. We have just joined that group. It is very important to compete without gambling with money you do not have. Spend money you don’t have and make a few bad buys or key injuries are you are in trouble. Ask Leeds fans, they lost their gamble to push on. Portsmouth, Rangers etc.
Real Madrid and Barcelona are massively in debt but they get 50% of the Spanish TV money between them and other ‘handouts’. Read the link I posted, it is really interesting. Man Utd are also in debt (thanks to the Glaziers) but they can service the debt although they have to find the money to do so. Man City and Chelsea cannot. Arsenal are ina really strong position and a totally different place. As long as it is spent wisely, of course. . It is so easy to misunderstand, especially with the misinformation and quotes that get regularly used by the mischief makers.
O.K TSGH, lets rephrase it , the way we operate a zonal marking system is prone to be disasterous as they like to whip balls into the box and have players that actually attack it.
Know what you mean Potter. And it wouldn’t shock me if Campbell doesn’t do it for us, and doesn’t stay long.
Potter – Agreed. Shambolic all too often. And Chzzer is dogshit at commanding those around him. And lets face it…. When I see him tentatively coming to claim a cross through a crowd, I cack my pants.
Ts.
I think we are similar when defending corners and attacking our own corners.
No player, either defender or attacker is so strong and confident that he will commit himself to either heading clear a dangerous ball out of the area – just like up front, where players won’t attack the ball trying to score…
Most of our aerial play is very soft….
Gavin Hoyte, he’s still with us isn’t he?
tsGH Afternoon mate.
True. Zonal marking is fine if you have a big well disciplined team with players good in the air. We do not. I tremble with fear when the opposition have corners -:)
Steve
it is ‘Wilshere’ not Wiltshire π Saw a lad with it spelt wrong on his shirt, must have been listening to a commentator or ex pro.
rockyrocastle07 (Rocky is my favourite player of all time, I met him lovely lad – well done for honouring him)
Anyway, I just hit the Like button. Static at corners, not attacking the ball and yet we have Steve Bould coaching them. Where is Tony Adams when you need him?
Only two I would keep from that list SYG is Afobe and Coq, I think Coq is a decent squad player and Afobe has never had a run to see if he good enough,
CHezzer is dogshit….. Don’t beat around the bush Rocky say it how you feel mate lol π
lol
W.A.T.H
We have a young ‘keeper learning his trade behind a poor defence. We need an experienced, quality keeper for him to learn from.
I’m with you on that KJ …. Rocastle was my favourite player and a cracking one at that … Upset as hell when he got sold to Leeds ….. I fcukng hated Leeds when they were in the top tier ….
WATH …I haven’t seen much of either Afobe or Coquelin to make me think either will pull any trees up with us …. I only saw Afobe in preseason and he was shit …. and Coquelin is so one-paced even Usmanov would get past him wearing slingbacks …
Also – re: Liverpool & Spurs building stadiums …. one thing that rarely gets mentioned …..
We were looking at buying a house in Liverpool …. A 5-storey Grade 1 listed building that was in great shape ….. under Β£500K ….
The same house in London would cost anything between Β£7M and 11M …..
There’s a massive difference …… Myles Palmers house uprooted from north London and stuck in Liverpool would be worth about Β£50K ….
What Arsenal have done stadium wise is very-IMPRESSIVE. We just need a team worthy of playing in it…
Ches, Mannone, Flappy, none can be relied on.
And imho, Miquel doesn’t look much better…..
difficulty with zonal marking (never likes it myself) is the runners have a clear advantage, we’ve seen it so many times. You have to be some kind of defender to beat a runner in the air from a standing start
agree Rico
syg – so a world class team for a world class stadium hey mate – good idea π
Chezzer’s not shit he’s just no way near as good as he thinks he is….
KD, we on here all said we missed a trick when we didn’t get Friedel on a freebie and I say also another trick missed not getting Jasskelienen as well also on a freebie, no threat to Chez but seriously good experienced back up when we would need it most…!
Afternnon all!
Not good scores yesterday.
Lloris – Barcelona?
I’m not very confident for sunday. Moreover, tootts has more then 50 points now. My prediction was reach them before the 50 points.
Barcelona- Madrid today π
He has no competition Lee, it’s all to easy when your place is safe and who does he learn from..?
ozgunner10 – Zonal marking = Nightmare. Man to man so they know who their responsibilities are and match up like for like. As I said, not sure how Bould has made any difference?
Afternoon Gooners…
Afternoon Rico, thanks for the sub-edit.
And thanks to all the positive responses from my fellow HH’rs.
Sir Steve, I just follow your template buddy.
Ginge, I did a bit on Aneke previously, about a year ago. He kinda stood still in his development for awhile, but joining Crewe has got him back on track…
SYG, have a bit of patience with Afobe, it’s taken him a long time to recover from his injury of Aug 2011…
Coach, I know you luv hearing about the youngsters. I do these posts with you in mind.
Very busy today, so I’ll see you guys n gals a big lata…
That’s it Ozzie ……
Clear out all the shite ….. and purchase 4 or 5 super class players …. No fckng African players and no fckng Polish goalkeepers ……
If we want Jovetic, then buy Jovetic.Β£26-30M
If we want Capoue, then buy Capoue Β£10.5-Β£12M
If we want Torres, then buy Torres Β£24-28M
If we want Paulinho, then buy Paulinho Β£10.5-12M
If we want Jagielka, then buy Jagielka Β£9.7-11M
Five outfield players valued by http://www.transfermkt.co.uk that can be got and who would make us great……
W.A.T.H
Yes, agree (he says hitting the like button). Friedel is quality. Reina?
Who Brad Free-del….right up Arsene’s street!
Unfortunately, our whole team play in the first half is always laughable. Including JW10 as well in almost all games. None of our players show initiative when it comes to key points in the game. Its like our game is too sophisticated that it becomes too difficult to implement under pressure.
For instance, in every game in the first half, most of our players tend to wait for a pass to arrive at their feet. (I thought good footballers were meant to met a pass). Its never like that when we go behind or in most 2nd halves.
Hi Kevin…
Bit like most of our players Wath, none really have another breathing down their necks wanting a start. It’s all too easy.
Hi Ak, busy days are good days, go steady out there….
Good point Rico. re 12:51. It makes it all seem strange why the BFG goes up front on set-pieces in the first place. He is so atrocious in that department, teams normally place one of their average height players next to him. π
There has to be 5 or 6 keepers in the PL right now who would be ideal for us, maybe even more.
Most of which are ‘gettable’…. IF we offer the right money.
syg – yep, i am with you mate
KD, I am not so sure about Reina….! Plenty others I would take over him if I was honest about it..! He’s ok but also prone to silly mistakes.
Ts – I don’t know why any of our CH’s go up for corners , they seldom get their head to one of them and all they do is leave us wide open at the back.
Why not do something different, play a short one, leave the defence back and with it, we’d cot our goals conceded down by 5/6 a season, if not more …..
Kevin KJ – I know what you mean about commentaters…. Listening to Clive “possibly the dullest man on the planet” Allen co-commentating on Absolute Radio on Saturday, I was getting angrier and angrier. I was praying someone would give him the teamsheet, spelled out phonetically. WilTshire… CARzola… SIRchesney….monDreal. What a fucking gobshite. I’m amazed he got Giroud right! I’m guessing more by luck than judgement
In between packing my suitcase and talking to you lot there are literally so many players that would make us a much better team/squad and we do not need to spend what we don’t have… Then again it’s been like that for 2/3 years now so what will change this summer… Anything..? Will the club crap it’s pants when the see the amount of ST’s that are not renewed…?
Will they realise whats going on when club level is half full and the Boxes are not sold out…?
1.35 Syg. Spot On.
The day we start to offer what other clubs value their players at will be the day we start signing quality.
Double standards Wenger has, likes to sell for maximum and sign for minimum…
Tight as a ducks doo dah, and the reason we have Β£120 million + sat in the bank!
Seaman …. World’s No. 1
Seaman 2
These were important matches
Reina?! Not a chance! He’s more error prone that Chezzer. Friedel, I’d definitely take. WHy do we not throw a load of cash at Spunky and try and get him to come in as a GK coach?
And we used to have ‘Cliche’ Rocky…..
And how can we forget Rositski
If we did Rocky, as soon as we stopped conceding, Wenger would tell him to stop coaching….
Off out with Fido. laters
1.50 spot on WATH
http://charlescrawford.biz/blog/arsenal-s-strangled-polish-pronunciation
Think I’ll just keep calling him Chezzer…..
When a goalkeeper bollockses up …. it’s a goal …
A good goalkeeper is like a good striker …. It’s the difference between success and failure …
I was down on some sewer lining job at the Millenium dome with this old sales manager who was a big Stoke fan in the 1970’s …. I mentioned Gordon Banks … who I had always thought was vastly, vastly overrated …. (Check out the four SemiFinal matches v’s Arsenal) …. He told me that Banks used to save them between 15-20 points per season ….
We would have beaten Bayern 1-0 … and Villa 2-0 with a proper goalkeeper
KJ,
re your comment yesterday about ‘like-minded folks’ not being around often, Scott is the one to talk to. π
On a serious note, I am currently very busy with work so I am not able to ‘skive out’ as much as I would like by coming on here ;). I work in an industry where our major clients expect us to deliver all their work before 31st March for invoicing etc and I am also busy trying to recruit as well.
On footballing arguments, its a complicated one. I guess most AFC supporters/fans want the same thing. On realism or negativity, I guess it is a fine line to tread. As an example, lost of fans argue AW is finished and that he plays square pegs in round holes (or something like that) but fail to balance that point out with successes such as JW being currently being converted to a CM. The fact is 3 years ago, JW had not played CM or no.10 competitively. Even whilst on loan and at reserve level he played as a winger. The same way most fans slated AW for not buying Rangel angel instead of CJ25 but AW and Brady were right there.
Some may say the errors are too many recently, but what is that being compared to.Gambles such as Denilson, santos, Gerv have not paid off but no one can wholeheartedly state that AW was wrong to buy them in the first place. At least it is not like Rednose who admits on manure TV that he bought Hargreaves, Bebe and Powell because AW and his scouts were looking at them. The same can be said of Kagawa. All AW buys have been calculated gambles and in gamblingg you win some and lose some.
Even Rednose bought Ronaldo without seeing him but thought the best talent spotter in football was buying him so he would outbid us. In that instance it paid off for Fergie. On the other hand we chose to go for Reyes instead as he looked much complete at that time compared to Ronaldo. Who could have predicted reyes will fall apart after his manager tried to tell him he was better than the monkey Henry?
Just a thought.
Look at Schmeical when he was at Man Utd. A quality goalkeeper does more than just make saves. He collects crosses, relieves pressure, organises the defence and most importantly spreads confidence throughout the team. It is a key position not one for a learner with potential. How many points is that worth!
SYG… that is why I always rated Lehman above Seaman. even Manninger was better than him but again AW was weak to confront player power when TA06 decided to throw tantums when DS1 was placed on the bench.
Never forgiven that prick reina for the Fabregas “incident!”
True KJD – But the same could have been said about Joe Hart when he was thrown in at the deep end for City. Chezzer has the ability. He just needs to cut out the stupid shit he does, stop giving interviews, and concentrate on what he’s doing.
I liked Reyes… It was a shame to see him go …. The same with Edu … both great team players ….
Re: Ronaldo. I have to be honest, I thought he was something of a Flash-Harry type…. a serial step over merchant ….. I was very wrong on that one …
Ferguson said that it was his players who pushed him to buy him after a match v’s Sporting
KJ and Rocky – both spot on
tsgh says:
February 26, 2013 at 2:07 pm
More stuff I never knew, Ginge …. Is that when Manninger had a run in the side in 98?
I’ve seen Pepe Reina make soooo many dumb mistakes in games that I cannot begin to believe that anyone would consider paying for him. And after bearing with Almunia and Fabianski I just don’t see Szcz as a disaster. Sure he had some learning to do, but I haven’t seen the disastrous blunders that plagued his predecessors. GK is not a priority for me. Nor is Zonal marking. The problem with man making is that defenders must react to the attackers movements and not the ball. It is almost impossible to stick to a moving attacker without using your hands or being clumsy. The box becomes a clusterf*** of defenders watching and chasing attackers who are watching and chasing the ball. The zone requires players to react to the flight of the ball…. A much simpler task that actually makes it les likely that an attacker will get a free header in a good position… Note, I said less likely, not impossible.
Yes SYG. The honest man in Keown made that comment on ESPN.
i liked Reyes as well – when he hit the Chelsea goal i thought “here we go” what a goal that was. Rumor was TH didn’t rate him, not sure if that was true
Luis AragonΓ©s always knew Reyes’s issue was in his head. Something I am sure Aw knew but was too slow to get rid off straight away when he was hot cake. Luis thought TH was cramping Reyes style or jealous of him when he made that ‘alleged racist’ comment during training.
That comment ended up making Reyes’s position at Arsenal against a predominantly franco-african dressing room worst imo.
tsGH Thanks. I remain an eternal optimistic who supported the whole plan for the future of the club. Now we are near the end and have the money released I would rather it goes to Wenger and he gets the chance to spend what he has helped largely to generate.
If someone can tell me why a boring, miserable nobody like David Moyes should get this money (!!!!) and how he has proved to be a better manager than Wenger, well. Mind you, he would buy 11 great defenders. I just hope Arsenal fans get behind the club by christ we have enough knockers.
Yesterday they were talking about how much in debt Arsenal were on the radio, saying no different to Chelsea and Man City. Hello? It was utter tosh, a blatant lie and twist of the facts. It drives me bananas that they get away with it. They are either idiots or mischief makers. Unbeleivably Arsenal fans were even phoning up as if it was true. And the rival fans jumped on it too and we looked like a bunch of idiots. Honest. I had the right hump yesterday everything was gloom and doom.
Then we got the proft announcement π
However, there are key positions he has to fill now and if he doesn’t do that in the summer I will start questioning my own sanity. And Mr Wengers.
Cheers Ginge … you’re a star ….
Kj, Aw has periodically tried to rectify some of the obvious gaping holes in our squad. Its a shame the media choose to ignore those positives.
For instance Alonso was a certain but Liverpool chose not to sell to us at that time and guess what he went for much less to RM, 6 months later. Some may say good business by the dippers considering we sell to our local rivals.
When Bob Wilson said on 5 live that a bid had been placed for Reina 4 years ago no tabloid or mainstream media published it. In the end I guess the installments plan or the fact that Reina knew Cesc would be leaving a year later was not tempting enough for him to force the move.
Now it is Cesar, ignoring the fact he came to the uk first to meet with AW however, the player wants to stay in this cold country (make his kids learn English he says) after his career but we were not willing to offer him a coaching trole after his service so that he can stay here.QPR did and the rest is history.
The same can be said of the Oz keeper who Al Fayed had previously agreed to sell to us before Hughes took the role. Then all of a sudden M. Hughes wants more money when a deal had been agreed but some fans expected us to roll over like men with no pride.
In defence, Cahill and Jagieka and even Baines have had bids turned down. Some fans complain about not getting Mbiwa because they have seen him play 2 times against us forgetting he is no better than the players we already have considering players like Kis are ahead of him in the national set-up.
Capoue has in the last year turned down approach from PSG of all people because they want to form a midfield partnership with Matuidi. Why? Because maybe he is coming to us…some argue that we should have bought him in January but Casanova said Capoue was not leaving for less than Β£13M and even if a bid was to be accepted it would be until the summer because Sissoko was leaving and Toulouse are lying in 9th/10th in ligue 1…
Capoue has in the last year turned down approach from PSG of all people because they want to form a midfield partnership with Matuidi…
I meant PSG wanted to create a partnership of Matuidi and Capoue as it is in the national set up when Abu Dhabi is off on one of his sicknotes… π
SYG.. re Ronaldo you are right there. But the point is he was not willing to buy him based on the views of Gary Neville and nicky Butt until he heard that Ronaldo and his mom were in Colney being entertained and wowed by the French goonie (AW) π
At that time I remember Rednose saying that he called Queiroz to ask about the player when he found out that Sporting and Arsenal were in no mans land over 500k or 1million… based on what he was told him he decided to undermine us. He recently did the same with Smalling allegedly and Phil Jones…
Allezkev
Isaac Hayden,
Been watching this lad for a couple seasons,
been wondering,when his name would turn up on,
the one for the future pages,
he has what we lack in this team.
Hope he can make the grade mate.
The crap that is going on under Wenger has been doing so for years now. Not just the last few weeks, or this season, but years. Failing to utilise Steve Bould’s defensive nous is a chronic failure of management. All the flakes Arsenal have bought are down to Wenger. The problem is that there have been no consequences and no accountability. If we don’t get that 4th place this year, then that, at last, will be as a direct result of Wenger’s policies. If we do scrape home then I doubt anything will change. So, Stan sits shivering, watching a terrible game and sees 43,000 in the Emirates. Can he really be happy that paying customers can’t be bothered to even turn up for seats they have already paid for?
But last year he had RvP to lead the charge….
Lee. You are of course correct. Look what happened to him. π
Hello all, when does winter end??
Brrrr
tsgh It is not just the media that miss positives. In fact, i am just waiting to see which of the buggers is really Sergeant ‘we’re doomed) Fraser… π
Kevin. Am I to take it that is a comment aimed at me?
Yeah Fraser…
Lee. π
Adam. No, it wasn’t actually aimed at anyone, it was a genaralisation. But happy to collect guesses π
oops ‘generalisation’. Sticky keyboard.
But who is the forums Victor Meldrew? π
Hi Rico. It is horribly damp and the makes it seem even colder over this way.
I’d say I have to be one of the most miserable on here KJD. I am generally always in a bad mood.
I can vouch for that. π
Arsenal fans have been talking about our rubbish goal keepers longer than HH has been going, in fact probably even longer than Le Grove has been going, and I think they are the longest running Arsenal blog…
Says it all doesn’t it.
Richard Wright
Graham Stack
Stuart Taylor
Almunia
Flappy
Mannone..
We had a pretty good one in Manninger, but we let him go……
Rico. Are you moaning again? π
Rico Good list! What about Geoff Barnett
It is the same here Adam, cold, dark, damp and ‘orrid…!
Rocky, I think I could challenge you to ‘the most miserable’, and perhaps the most negative…
Me moaning Adam. Never a day goes by when I don’t, not when it comes to Arsenal….
I’m talking Wenger Kj.
He has been absolutely hopeless when it comes to signing keepers, in fact he’s been pretty bloody hopeless signing any player which involves stopping us conceding goals.
I know Rico. Do you remember how positive I used to be when I first arrived here? I think it was Kev who eventually “turned” me when I met him for that cuppa in Bond Street.
Rico – nowhere near. Adam has already testified to that! I am genarally miserable!
He is Rico. Adorable and handsome, yes. But miserable. π
Rico Oh sorry, Wenger again π
Can i cheer you up then?:
A man arrives at the gates of heaven, where St. Peter greets him and says: “Before I can let you enter I must ask you what you have done in your life that was particularly good.”
The man racks his brains for a few minutes and then admits to St Peter that he hasn’t done anything particularly good in his life.
“Well,” says St Peter, “have you done anything particularly brave in your life?”
“Yes, I have,” replies the man proudly.
St Peter asks the man to give an account of his bravery.
So the man explains, “I was refereeing this important match between Arsenal and Manchester United at Old Trafford. The score was 0-0 and there was only one more minute of play to go in the second half when I awarded a penalty against Manchester United.”
“Yes,” responded St Peter, “I agree that was a real act of bravery. Can you perhaps tell me when this took place?”
“Certainly,” the man replied, “about five minutes ago!”
God bless you Adam!
Adam, Rocky and Rico
Try this number, it may help: 08457 90 90 90
π
KJD – Or as I like to call that number “Speed-dial 1”
Rocky – ha ha. Like, Like Like…………. π
On that “cry-for-help” bombshell, I’m off for the evening. Have a good night folks. Catch you soon.
π Rocky and Adam.
Very good Kj…
But you must realise that women like to moan, and cheering up takes a lot more than that π
Safe journey Rocky, have a lovely evening….
Kj, I know that number – I work for them, voluntarily of course, they do a splendid job…
Adam, Rico and Kev can have their moments but its Rocky that unified the grumpy belts…in a good way though! π
Rico – A very worthy cause and just as well to be honest π
I know a bit about a woman’s moaning, it is my wedding anniversary Sunday, 24 long years but she is a Gooner so it’s fine.
PS: I run a Sunday morning football team and boy can those blokes moan. Blokes are as bad as women tbh.
Lee – Wouldn’t Happy Hour be fun……….
Good job I am on here waving the flag for optimism, this site needs a cheerleader.
I am off to cook a fairly hot Ruby tonight, once I get the base right the rest is delicious.
Night night.
KJ – Fraser didn’t have a rank ……. He was a Private lol
Cpt Mainwaring
Sgt Wilson
Corp. Jones
Ha ha Lee, you have been known to have a moaning session now and again too π
Good job Kj, because this woman is an old moaner, and I am not going to change now π
I hope it is the hottest ever Kj and you can’t eat it…
π
Rico – Why would you say such a thing? I thought women were supposed to be nice and fluffy, ecept during the usual π
It will have 8 chilli peppers and will be just hot enough, thank you. Two weeks ago I tried those naga chillies and I nearly blew my head off. I was sweating for days, learned my lesson
syg – thanks for that, still makes me smile.
Rico read this: http://abehnisch.com/category/arsenal/
I know you don’t do financials but this is written by a gooner (bit of a finance whizz). Don’t get bored, scroll down to see the bit about Yaya Toures wages. wow.
π Kj, well I hope it’s hotter….
I’m off to eat too. Back in a while
Mornng guys.
Last day of the working week for me.
We are off to Melbourne for the weekend to catch up with some greyhound industry mates and for my wife to see her beloved Sydney Swans play ( aussie rules).
The break is coming just in time π
Scott – Have a great break mate while we freeze ourselves here. Curry on the stove, that will warm me up.
Hi Scott – you going to miss the NLD ??
Kj, thought you had gone off for food??
Rico, now you should know i won’t be missing it π
I have already spoken to some Victorian Gooners, and if i can raise the energy, will meet them at a pub.
If not, i will watch it from the hotel.
KJ, i shall enjoy it, thanks.
Evening Rico.
KJ,
I just read that article…..interesting, to say the least.
I would suggest the reason so many Gooners get pissed off is because nothing is explained.
We just announce a massive profit, and everyone is left to come to their own conclusions on things.
The club should, in my opinion, be more forthcoming with information so people can form an informed opinion.
As it stands, we get one slither of info, and the rest is left to our imagination.
Adam, are you going to the game??
Evening Adam. Brrrr
5-2…….a common scoreline of late v the Spuds.
2-5…..the odds of Bale taking a dive at some stage of every game.
Spot on Scott. We just get spin around the ST due time, garbage about how busy Wenger will be in the transfer window, and as for Stan. Has he ever had the decency to tell us his long term plan?
Er, nope….
Rico, i don’t mind the cold.
Seriously, i am a winter person, though i am yet to experience our kind of cold, admittedly.
Adam. Do you watch Monkey Life??
Ha ha Scott, I know you wouldn’t let this one go by….
Rico. I don’t. Should I?
We may well be the best run club in the world.
The guys on the board and Stan may genuinely have the clubs interests at heart.
We just do not know.
It is quite incredible how many fans of other clubs i know stick the boot in on our performances over the last several seasons, but when the banter stops, they have amazing respect for Wenger and the way the club is run.
I love the cold Scott, but when its cold, wet, windy all together, I struggle to enjoy it. I’m best left indoors with the log burner going on days like that. Days like today in fact…..
Yeah, bugger the rain!!
I figure you can always get warm with fire, blankets and Port π
Plenty of nights here you simply can not sleep due to the heat.
You certainly should Adam. it’s fantastic. I have been there. Wonderful place and they do wonderful things. It was on tonight at 7pm Channel 5…..
If you ever manage to get to Oz, you must visit Tasmania.
There are a lot of ex-pat Brits down there, because it’s climate probably replicates that of England best.
It is one spectacularly beautiful place as well.
I would go tomorrow, but the boss lady doesn’t want to be that far from her family.
She often says i can go though haha.
Mme, I wouldn’t like too much of that Scott…
If there are loads of Brits Scott, I wouldn’t want to go there π
Dorset’s Monkey World. I shall watch from now on.
They are ok Rico….the sensible Brits that moved out here π
Do Adam. We adopted one a few years back. Loved going there. Quite sad really as Jim Cronin (spelling) and his wife are responsible for such a wonderful place, yet he was struck down and died with cancer a few years ago. He was so young. His wife, Alison has kept going and the place remains just as it should be….
They do a fantastic job for primates from all around the world….
I will refrain Scott π π
That is sad Rico. It does seem that the good often die young. Remind me to tell you about my encounter with a full grown Baboon.
I will Adam….
That’s me for another day folks.
Catch up tomorrow, be good and stay safe…….
Night all….
Evening all…anyone watching el Classico? There’s a couple players on show that might get a start in our first team! π
Night Rico…
Just seen Cesc, for the first time, he was subbed off! Nonny mouse!
It was another peaceful day on Highbury House.
Then at 3.53pm it happened…..
Adam logged on…
And the moaning went up another notch… π
God help me tomorrow… π
Actually Adam, and this won’t surprise you, I have also been to Monkey World, twice in fact…
I even saw Charlie the Chimp…
No, I kid you not…
Charlie the Chimp eh Kev?
Bring some pics of him tomorrow. Does he bear a startling resemblance to Gareth Bale? π
Tnx Kev marvelous post on the young guns. I used to milk Sean’s blog every day to ketchup on the latest burger from our French fries academy.
Seems not all fast-food is wasted on the culinary, some might go on and be finger licking tasty. Keep us posted on the hot plate and employee of the month. Cheers!!
(You probably can tell I had a midnight Mac-menu for dinner and a strawberry flavoured milkshake……burbbbbb.)
http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/picture-arsenal-are-to-unveil-a-new-dennis-bergkamp-statue-outside-the-emirates/
Bloody right too….
Long overdue Lee….
Morning all, New Post going up….
Scott from Oz and Rico. Fair enough Scott, I tend to agree that the club does not explain things clearly.
Perhaps I will write a little piece that exposes the myths without any of my own opinions and Rico will post it. I am concerned that a lot of what gets said is based on untruths and rumours.
BUT the information is out there if people look for it, that’s why I posted the links. I bet few have read it though because it doesn’t support their own beliefs and that is why I have tried to show the different side to the argument with some facts.
This is what is wrong with legrove, other fan sites, Talksport, ex players and most of the newspapers, the same old rubbish that gets regurgitated but is total nonsense based on untruths. You wouldn’t execute someone based on just the prosecutions case, this is no different. Some of the rubbish that gets spouted is quite unbelievable. This site is refreshing in so much as there seems to be more intelligent people on here but we still get sometotally ignorant things said..
The classic line we hear repeatedly on the radioand on webistes is this little gem:
“All the money we make is going to line the pockets of Arsene Wenger, the Directors and shareholders……blah, blah, blah”
.
Is this true? No, it is a lie. If people took the time to do their research and actually read what is in the public domain, they would know the following:
1. Arsenalβs entire end of year profits stay within the club
2. There are no dividend payments to shareholders
3. or any other non-football ransactions out of the club.
So ALL Arsenalβs profits get spent on the football side……..”
Whilst you can argue, fairly, that the money is not always spent wisely, that is a totally different argument. So argue about wasting the money, and open a seperate debate.
Someone on here mentioned Bayern and why couldnt we even compete with them financially, as if they were some little club springing up from nowhere. This again is poorly researched nonsense. The writer did not know that Bayern are in the group of top 4 income generators (Barca, Real Madrid, Man Utd and Bayern), which we are just about to join. Again, demonstrates the stuff that gets spouted which is garbage, yet gets a reaction as if it is true.
I know finances are boring to most people but I would say to them in that case don’t comment on them at all, if you can’t be asked to find out f what you are saying is actually true or not
PS: I too am a regular visitor to Monkey World. My wife donates (our) money to them and some cats charity, so she likes a regular trip to see the primates.