Morning all.
Make no mistake, I’m no Arsene Wenger supporter and haven’t been for a long time, but isn’t it nice to see another manager making the headlines for a change, especially when that man is Mourinho. He and his boring football isn’t working and now he’s lost Lukaku and Ibra through injury. He’s strikerless (a new word) they say although I wouldn’t mind having Martial and Rashford to call upon would you? Two exciting footballers who don’t get much of a chance because Mourinho doesn’t like to play exciting football. He moans about not having enough money to spend and now, ex Utd players are suggesting he’s lost the dressing room, just as he did at Chelsea before being sacked. I’ll be glad if the Utd bosses do the same because a Premier League without Mourinho will be a much better League.
Arsenal FC will be a much better club when Arsene Wenger goes too imo. We’ll see different kind of players signed, different football played, different coaches although Wenger has recently changed some of his backroom staff and Sal Bibbo, goal keeping coach is one of them. The under 23’s also added a new goal keeping coach back in the summer in ex-Crystal Palace and Newcastle coach Andy Woodman.
Back to the here and now though, we’re stuck with Arsene Wenger, certainly until the summer I’d have thought. Tomorrow the transfer window opens and according to Wenger, it’ll be a busy one for him:
“In the transfer window I will be busy.
“Clubs will contact us to buy and loan players and I will be open to any possibilities to strengthen our team.”
How exciting. Not, well, unless he has a top notch defender and defensive midfielder ready to sign for us but the chances of that being the case are slim to none imo. I think he’s more likely to be busy negotiating a deal with another club for Alexis, securing a new deal for Wilshere and Ozil and moving other players out on loan. One of those could be Walcott according to the newspapers. Southampton are ready to offer him game time apparently and if I were Theo, I’d take them up on their offer. Giroud was another rumoured to move away from the club but his injury has probably put pay to that, although if it’s not serious, who knows.
Anyway, before the excitement of the transfer window begins, we’ve got a football match to play as we head to Brummie land to face a West Brom team now managed by another ghastly man, Alan Pardew. I expect the bickering between him and Wenger on the sidelines will be more entertaining than the football, that is if the Frenchman can be bothered to get up from his seat other than to zip his coat up.
West Brom stats from the BBC:
- West Brom are on an 18-match winless streak (D9, L9) – the longest such run in the Premier League since a 19-game sequence for Aston Villa which ended in January 2016.
- The Baggies have won just two of their last 29 top-flight games (D11, L16).
- They are without a win in six games (D3, L3) since Alan Pardew took over, scoring just twice.
- The Baggies have equalled their club Premier League record for most defeats in a single calendar year – 19 in 2014.
Yep, it’s all set up nicely for us to roll up at the Hawthorns and get beaten. It’s what Arsenal do but it all honesty, we should be spanking West Brom, a club which is sitting bottom of the table but our away form has be dire this season. Did you know we’ve lost our last two fixtures against today’s opponents at the Hawthorns?
Today Arsene Wenger will become the leagues longest ever serving manger in terms of games managed. Perhaps for once he’ll be celebrating a landmark with a victory. It would be nice for him eh, and for us as we need the points. Can’t have that lot down the road finishing above us for a second time eh…
Enjoy the game guys, it’s a 4.30pm kickoff and it’s live on Sky Sports if you’re not too busy getting ready for a night of partying. Whatever you get up to tonight, be safe.
I’ll be fast asleep by the time Big Ben chimes.
Morning all and thank you Rico.
It may be sad that we are no longer a title competing team, but on the bright side non of the hated other teams….Spuds , Manshafter, Scouse Gits and Chavs have a chance now that the CFG juggenault is up and running with Pep at the helm, if another team is going to take over and monopolise the EPL then better it be CFG than the previous stated ones !……………………Mourinho moaning about CFG`s wealth is the most hypocritical outburst from a football manager ever considering the rich clubs he has and currently manages…………twat !
I expect nothing other than a record EPL away score today against the BOTTOM team !………a calculator will be needed !.
Tonight for the second time in just over a week I will after a few sherbets be crowned again in my own mind the greatest dancer Launceston has ever seen, if only I could hear the sweet dolcet tones on Darcey Bussell giving me a TEN !……….hahaha
Morning Lc and all.
Yes, if we can’t be winning the league, and we can’t under Wenger, I’d rather see a guy like Pep do well than any of the others, most of who I detest.
Mourinho is an absolute fraud.
Morning Rico
I second to that.
In regard to Lukaku i would not be surprised if he plays tomorow because Moaninho play them till they rot
Morning Alex, you going to the game later?
Maureen has always been a fraud. Wherever he’s been he has had lots of cash – or significantly more than any rival (Porto). When Abramovich refused him any more money he was exposed as a useless coach without any tactical game plan. Why, if he is so special, did he not go to Sunderland and make them champions? Turd!
Could you imagine him at a club like Sunderland, I’d love to see it it though..
Mourinho is all about one thing and that’s himself…
Notts Forest have sacked their manager. Shame, they’ll be in ‘new manager’ mode when we face them in the cup..
Going to buy a car/van……You?
On Arsenal matters – can never figure out why Theo doesn’t get Iwobi’s game time. Yes, Theo can be annoying but the boy can finish and Iwobi is becoming irritable.
No, live too far away for a trip to Brummie land.
Agree re Theo and Iwobi. Iwobi starts well but rapidly fades and the then flaps his hands around before losing the ball or missplacing his pass..
Wenger on the legacy he would like to leave …
“That I had a positive influence on the club’s life, that I worked in accordance to the values that were important to me and important to the club, that I respected that and I worked with complete commitment and integrity. That’s basically it. Also that the club didn’t suffer on a major setback during my period, but moved forward.
Read more at https://www.arsenal.com/news/west-brom-v-arsenal-brief#5gduxV6CvfyKtQeO.99
Funny thing is, or rather the sad thing is, Wenger did take the club forward in so many ways but all the great he once did he has undone. Plus more..
We should be the club still battling for the title, not one which looks like it’ll struggle to get into the Europa League at best. If it wasn’t for the rest of the league being so average, we’d be mid table at best..
Interesting that he is talking about leaving a legacy , Is writing appearing on the wall
Just what I thought, hopefully his words mean he’s thinking about stepping away next summer. Hopefully he’d have secured a top four, won the Europa Cup and one of the two domestic cups too…
Wake up Rico… lol
Morning all, good post. Also if we hadn’t got Sanchez rico, I believe we would have been only upper mid-table last year, and despite his ‘supposedly’ poorer form, mid table this. What ever anyone says, he turns a game. Dread to think what our crab-like play would be like without some of his finishes.
Thanks Andrew. Agree re Alexis both this season and last, last especially. Yes he gives the ball away or looses it often but it’s hardly surprising when there’s so little movement around him.
We’ll seriously miss him when he’s gone..
Afternoon Rico, yep, that sounded very much like an epitaph to me.
http://news.arseblog.com/2017/12/report-sven-mislintat-brings-new-team-of-scouts-to-arsenal/
More changes?
Interesting….
http://news.arseblog.com/2017/12/report-sven-mislintat-brings-new-team-of-scouts-to-arsenal/
I reckon the club will spend most of the 2nd half of this season setting up new signings for next summer and I’m not sure that many of them will be of players we’ve heard of before either.
Could be a few ‘long shots’ picked up from La Liga and the Bundesliga?
Snap ?
Afternoon Kev, spooky…
As long as they’re top notch, I’m not fussed if I’ve heard of them before.. ?
Those are usually the best signings Rico as they arrive with no baggage and no expectations.
Difficult to get players like that these days, but Koscielny was one, so they’re still out there.
Klopp picked up Salah in much the same way we got Vieira, Henry and Pires, that is talented players who had underachieved after big moves.
Agree Kev, and no ego..
Good effort by Crystal Palace, shame about the penalty.
Never a penalty though Kev. Zaha was throwing himself all over the place when we played them the other night. If he stayed on his feet he would be a much more useful player.
I seriously don’t see any advantage in buying Zaha weve had plenty like him going back to Marinello, Helder, Owusu Abeiye, Christopher Wreh,Boa Morte ,Adrian Clarke. Ineffective when they faced someone good. Big fish in small pond , leave him there.
Makes our result against Palace look good… 😉
He probably learned that at Utd Adam..
I didn’t see it Adam (God I sound like Wenger ?) but they said on the radio that even though there was contact, that it was a soft pen…
I guess it’ll be up to us to stop them going unbeaten.
Our match with them will be postponed if either club reaches the League Cup final, so what’s the odds of it being put back towards the end of the season. A kind of 89 Mk II…?
Two big injuries for City then KdB and Jesus…
Yep Potter I tend to agree about Zaha, but then that’s what I thought about Ian Wright when we signed him.
At the time we had Alan Smith, Kevin Campbell, Paul Merson and Rocky knocking in the goals, 1990-91 vintage and I kinda preferred Dean Saunders who was at Derby but joined Liverpool for around £3.5 m…
So when we signed Wright I thought “what have we signed him for” and the rest is history, so what do I know?
Or any of us for that matter
Have to say I was estatic when we signed Wrighty, another of those players in lesser teams who I thought was stand out !
As for Zaha, if Wrighty thinks he`s good enough then that is good enough for me as the last player he raved about to buy was Deli Alli !
Seems like Wenger doesn`t like former players recommeding players !………………………….Wrighty with Alli……………..Keown with Maguire……………………..Bergkamp with Eriksen !…………………………….Arsene Knows Best !
Afternoon Rico and All
Going by what I’ve just seen
City will be on the Trombone in the morning for
Sanchez.
The January window that Arsene hates.
After the summer window Gazza had this to say:
Ivan Gazidis told Arsenal staff that the transfer window
in which Arsenal added just two players,
failed to strengthen key areas of the squad,
and turned a profit of around £30m was a success.
Gazidis also spoke about the situations of star players
Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, saying the fact that
both remained at the club was, ” …a clear statement of our
ambitions and should help refute suggestions
we are just about the money.
That is simply nonsense.
Ignoring the fact we tried to sell Sanchez to Man City
on deadline day to fund a bid for Thomas Lemar.
What time is the Chuckle Brothers New Year Show on.
I’ve just watched the goal against Palace again and Henry got things very wrong. Alexis celebrates in front of the fans with a few players whilst others go to Jack, then they all join in the celebration with Alexis…
Tsk tsk Thierry…
Looks like Ozil has been given another holiday.
cech , mustphi , chambers , kos , kolasinac , xhaka , wilshere , alexis , lacazette , welbeck .
subs ospina maitland niles , coquelin , elneny, walcott , welbeck.
No Ozil.
Winter break or away .
One good thing today although City remain unbeaten they can no longer equal our never mentioned 2002 double winners who scored in every premier league game.
No Ozil in the squad. Will he be gone by tomorrow night? I wonder?
Afternoon al. No predictions from me today, I don’t seem to ever get them right! There was a time when WBA was a sure fire win for the Arsenal but seeing as we can let them beat us so that that they can resurrect their premiership survival hopes……that’s the Arsenal charity act for this Xmas!!
Well we’ll see come 6.30. Three points for us would sit very well on my Christmas pudding!
Let’s hope there is plent of resolution in our performance today and we all get a belated present from Santa Pardew, such a generous man I’ve always thought!
I think Zaha would be useful for us with a bit of coaching and motivation.
.he is very direct and a part fom sanchez who is apperently leaving, we don’t have any one like that.
He has strength, trickery and pace that scares any defense. and can actually put a decent cross in…
he would be ten times better than the like of Walcott and iowbe for sure. .
But then what do I know. .lol..
Hope the boys are up for it and not thinking about the party later tonight!
Is welbeck gona get any chance starting a premier league game ?
He certainly couldn’t do worse than iowbe!
Lucky Red Shorts today ?
Ozil is injured apparently…
Kk, I wouldn’t mind Zaha either but you did suggest he needs coaching… ?
I forgot Gibbs is a Brom player now..
Only other point of interest is, who will Wenger the record breaker ‘hook’ first, Iwobe or Lacazette?
Iwobi I hope Wavy
rico iowbe had his customary best 15 minutes and he has been wasteful to put it in a nice way!
Slow, boring, lethargic and predictable…
Agree re both kk..
‘Songs of praise’ was more exciting than this turkey of a game!
Sideways, sideways turn it back for, more sideways, sideways….ad infinitum!
Is there any reason at all Sanchez would want to sign another contract and keep playing in this team? Its stale and monotonous. And that’s in our best areas, fortunately defence not tested too much.
I wish he’d get Iwobi off..
No – no reason at all..
iwobi is absolutely shit…..
So typical of Dean! Knob!!
Dean as his best!
Well. .
Happy new year to all of you
yet again Mike Dean steal’s the show…
but as usual we were fucking pathetic and the quicker Wenger fucks off the better.
Just wanted Wenger to slap Dean one at the end, get a season long ban, and move on!
When Neville says No Way a pen against Arsenal, then you know you really are hard done by. After his Costa fiasco, Dean shouldn’t be refereeing Arsenal.
We were awful of that there’s no doubt but not even Gibbs was appealing for a penalty..
Dean is the only one who thought that was a penalty..
Cech and Wenger were pretty angry in their interviews, no surprise really..
Happy New Year to you too Kk..
Two more dropped points.
Usually the same.
Poorly consistent, Arsenal forget that the game has 90+ 4-5 minutes, the players seem to be disconnected from the game.
Team that can not be 100% concentrated in the whole game, can not be candidate for anything.
We were crap but didn’t deserve that finish
I thought the kit looked nice !.
I`m thinking BRI-Nylon shirt and crushed velvet flairs for tonight, enough static electricity to give me an Afro perm !
Rico
Dean done it again……
My conclusion on this ref is rigged absolutely dodgy ref.
Men in black do mistakes as humans we accept that.
But Dean is different category on Arsenal.
If i was one of the MI5 agent and had those special gadgets i would have a catalogue of evidence that will show this man is rotten corrupt.
Having said that we do not deserve more than what we got.
Iwoby …..???? is just another championship player.
Inept and clueless, no change there. What is the matter with these players? How can they put in the kind of combative, competitive performances that they displayed against the mighty Crystal Palace or even the scum and then play like they have today? Is it that they are just not good enough? Is it the Director of all Arsenal operations? Or is it something extra terrestrial? God knows?
The one certainty is that it’s time for a change at all levels of first team affairs, including many of the players, as well as the manager and coach.
What a miserable end to December and 2017. I should like to wish Rico and all the happy contributors to the House a very prosperous and exciting new year . Thanks for giving me endless hours of fun and a conduit to express my feelings about all things Arsenal, sadly too many negative comments and often down right despair. Oh to be an Arsenal fan. Here’s hoping!
Happy New Year to you too Wavy, let’s hope for a better one for our club too. Hopefully from June onwards…
A Happy New Year to you all.
We can argue till the cows come home that it wasn’t a penalty but quite honesty yet again it was a poor game against the bottom side.We need a complete forward line to compliment Lacazette as Sanchez is going.Welbeck,Walcott and I wobi need to be moved on and quickly. As I said before Sanchez shows passion and he doesn’t need to play with such mediocre team mates.
I would add if the whole team played with the passion and desire of Sanchez we would be a team to be feared.I he so unpopular because he is a greedy,I doubt it, it’s because he is so much better than the majority of the team.With regards to Wenger,enough is enough.You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time
Rico and all you Gunners !
H>>A>>P>>P>>Y
N>>E>>W
Y>>E>>A>>R
I guess Kelsey, it depends if Alexis goes next month, if he does, we’ll be in the mire if Wenger doesn’t replace him.
I’m off for the day guys.
Happy New Year to all…
Happy new year folks , Kelsey I am surprised that he fools anyone any of the time.
A happy,healthy and prosperous New year to all who frequent HH….
Rico, no Prosecco?…You do surprise me…lol
https://twitter.com/afcstuff/status/947554434279792640
Just look at this and see if that rigged man in black does or does not.
Mike Dean is on a mission since the famous Newcastle crazy 4-4 draw
Happy and Healthy New Year all
Happy New Year.
Mike Dean is useless
But Dean shouldn’t deflect from the point that Arsenal were rubbish again and have been rubbish for most of this season.
Hi Rico and everyone who visits.
A very happy and prosperous New Year to all, in no particular order, the Brudders Adam and Lee, Andrew, Bob-John, to the comical musings of Cornwall, Dublin Gunner, Fred, Goonerisis, the wise older heads that are Kelsey, Kev, Potter and Wavy,
JM for his unique Portuguese perspective, Rick for his invaluable Youth updates, to Kel, Micko, and BT62 Gooner, who I may not know too well, but who all contribute to make HH the wonderful blog it has become. To Scott for his heroic one-man defence of Wenger. Good on yer! If you’re reading VCC, you too mate.
Hey, of course to you, Rico and Wath, for tolerating us and providing the platform for debate.
Please don’t be offended if I’ve not mentioned you it hasn’t been done deliberately, and the greeting is extended to every Arsenal supporter worldwide.
Now, Goonerisis.
A seeping brush of entitlement? Is that your description of any Arsenal fan who merely wants to see their club genuinely compete at the top table?
Your basis for being ‘proud’ of Arsenal, is three FA Cups in four years, and regular European football.
The first of those FA Cup’s was won in the backdrop of Wenger completely surrendering the PL title from a position of great strength in January, and so that he could justify stealing another undeserved contract. He wasn’t bothered about making history for the club when Watford beat us in the QF at home, when we could have won three in succession, though. For all your pride, winning the FA Cup is fourth in Wenger’s priority list, but as he now has no chance of ever hitting his first three, I get your somewhat flawed ‘celebration’. Like a comfort blanket to remind you things weren’t always as bleak as right now.
With Wenger, it’s all about his personal milestones, Arsenal just pay him an astronomical wage to indulge him.
In Europe, Arsenal have been an embarrassment. Since the stadium move, Arsenal haven’t even seriously tried to win the Champions League, and the last seven appearances, out at the Round of 16.
The sixth richest club in football can’t be bothered to put any real effort in for the supporters, and are quite content watching big trophies go to other clubs. And to put Arsenal’s pathetic European record into context, sure we’ve just wasted 20 years in the CL, but in terms of actual European trophies, Tottenham lead Arsenal 3-2.
I don’t mind you challenging my perception, Goonerisis, but let’s at least call a spade a spade and not try to make silk out of a pig’s ear.
A big part of why Arsenal are in this mess is because they backed the wrong horse. Penny wise and Pound foolish has been Arsenal’s strategy and now it’s biting them hard.
Of all the ‘big’ clubs, Arsenal were the only ones to opt for the full self-sustaining model, believing firmly that they were ahead of the game. There is only one way this model can work in the cut and.thrust, sharp end of football, and that’s if the movers and shakers are in your corner. Arsenal gambled their whole philosophy on FFP being fully implemented, they projected that only Manchester United would be ahead of them, financially.
But guess what? Just as individuals don’t like being told how to spend their money, it seems football clubs are like that too. Having put all their eggs in the FFP basket, you get a clearer picture of why Arsenal are being left so far behind.
So yes, Arsenal have won a few token FA Cups to massage Wenger’s needy ego, but Arsenal didn’t move to a bigger stadium to become a Cup team.
If you can’t see the obvious malaise, the downward trajectory and the turgid, unimaginative football being offered up, you and Wenger must use the same optician for the same rose-coloured spectacles.
I know you retain some modicum of hope, Rico, but when I see names like Mikel Arteta bandied about, I truly despair.
We are so far. removed from what we once were it’s hard to recognise the real Arsenal now.
Morning Kev, Herb and all.
Spot on Kev, on both Dean and our dreadful performance.
Herb, I do retain hope and just like all the transfer rumours, Mikel Arteta is just a name. I’d imagine Ivan and co would prefer to opt for experience to replace Wenger when he goes. It might be that Arteta is learning the Pep way before following in his footsteps, either that or to be his right hand man for a while.
Re FFP, had the footballing authorities had balls and stuck to what their idea was about curbing spending, we might be in a different position. That’s not me defending Wenger by the way but clearly he and possibly others believed FFP was here to stay.
Regardless, whatever he does spend on players, seldom does he spend enough and nor does he seem to know how to get the best of who he has.
Yes, I retain hope and always will because I know that Arsene won’t be at the club forever..
Morning Rico, Herb and all. A happy and healthy New Year to every HH’er. I can’t disagree with any of your comment Herb. I am incredibly frustrated with our club and Arsene and have been for quite a few seasons now as we have fallen steadily behind. Our performances this season, with a couple of notable exceptions (as per usual), have been truly awful and the inaction of the owner, the board and mostly Wenger, is biting hard now. Yes, Mike Dean robbed us of the 2points yesterday and all the usual crap that this man brings to the table is horrible and at some level or other, certainly corrupt. But, what the hell were we doing at the Hawthorns? For such a big, rich club to be turning out the narrow, thoughtless messy football that we are stuck in says it all. We have been steadily going backwards for years, buying the wrong players, not addressing so many issues and being overtaken by other clubs with much better managers while Wenger plods on, moaning and bitching about whatever he thinks will deflect from the fact that we are not a force in European club football any more and are miles away from being competitive. At some level he must know that but is too stubborn and blinkered to put the pieces together and come up with anything resembling an answer.
There is no future in Arsene. Gazidis knows this. I can only hope that the back room changes will herald his departure at the end of the season so we can begin on the road back. I also hope that Kroenke and the board understand that they are going to need to make a fortune available to the next manager and hope that they make the right choice.
It’s a long road back but I believe we can do it. But we really cannot stomach anymore of the nonsense that Wenger has served up for a long time now.
Morning Adam, we’re just drifting. Drifting along until Wenger departs. Everyone can see it bar Arsene and the board/owner haven’t the balls to tell him to go. Not right now but maybe in the summer. Perhaps this season really is/was his last chance and he’s blown it big time.
Win a cup and leave at the end of May. I think most of us would settle for that right now..
New post up.
Very well said, Adam.
True Rico, Arsenal might be in a very different position if FFP had been fully regulated, but the door for the PL clubs to be laden with riches of unimaginable scales was already opened by Rupert Murdoch.
Arsenal have always been a wealthy, conservative club entrenched in the Establishment, and there have been times in our history when the club blurred the lines between right and wrong, so to try to take the moral high-ground is somewhat hypocritical, not to mention extremely naive when you consider these are supposed to be intelligent business men.
Money talks every language, and as I said, if we don’t like being told how to spend our money, why should a wealthy owner of a football club be any different.
It was Kroenke’s choice that Arsenal be self-sustaining, not out of necessity, just because he doesn’t want to invest his personal money into the club. He has the personal fortune to make Arsenal the greatest club on the planet, but he wants Arsenal to make him profit instead of speculating to accumulate. He is the ultimate safety-first low-rise strategist, and whilst he isn’t directly hurting the club, he’s doing nothing to secure Arsenal’s long term future, and he isn’t around to make the tough, intelligent decisions that need to be made.
Essentially, that’s the only difference between Arsenal and the rest. Only Arsenal have this strong resistance to.spending what is needed to challenge at the very top, and every other top club have owners who are prepared to meet that challenge.
Arsenal are a bigger club than Liverpool, but we’d never show ambition like spending £75m on a centre-half.
Kroenke’s refusal to invest significant funds and Wenger’s useless management is killing Arsenal.
Herb. I get what you are saying but until a new manager comes in, none of us really know who is behind the lack of spending on transfers, but my hunch is it’s Wenger, not Kroenke.