Daily Bits and Bobs

Wenger confirms he's staying! Walcott, Szczesny, Gervinho and Vermaelen show just why players need time on the bench!

Posted on by rico

Morning all,

Arsene Wenger has just one year left on his contract after this summer, July 2014, he could walk away for free…..

Should the club sell him now and try and get as much money for him as they can, or do they let him walk away for free?

Surely they won’t offer him a new contract as he’s over 30 years old…..

Ok, tongue in cheek, apart from Arsene Wenger’s contract of course, it really is up next summer.

Some, me included, believe he could walk away if we don’t achieve top four but it now seems far more likely that his staying…

I have always respected my contracts and at my age I will not change anything.

I am concentrated on the next match and I am already preparing for the next season.

So, regardless of what you think of our manager, unless Kroenke sacks him, he’s staying!

Maybe Wenger believes that Mr Usmanov is ready and waiting, and will finally make his move…

I actually hope that is the very reason Arsene Wenger wants to stay. To work under a man who has money, is willing to spend it and together they will finally get this Arsenal show right back on the road!

One thing that won’t happen this summer, or ever again is Fergie signing one of our players, regardless of who they are.

When asked if Fergie might be interested in any of his other players, Wenger replied:

I don’t know but he will not sign them from us.

Lessened learned I guess! Lock, stable door and a speedy horse come to mind……

Wenger has learned is if players aren’t preforming, drop them, rest them, tell the world they are injured. Whichever, a certain few have found themselves on the bench!

Walcott was pretty average pre-season, he was omitted from the starting eleven when the season begun but when he finally got his chance, he was on fire. Then, as the weeks, games went by, his game has dropped again. Now he needs a match on the sidelines to give him a short sharp kick in the pants! Then start him in the last two fixtures.

Szczesny is another. He had been awful during a long run of games. I’m sure that had Fabianski been fit, Szczesny would have been dropped a lot sooner than he was but Wenger had little choice but to stand by him. Then, once Fabianski was available, Szczesny was dropped like a hot brick and his replacement was very solid…

Annoyingly, the older Pole then suffered injury. However, having had a reality kick in the pants, Szczesny came back a much improved player. Didn’t he?

Koscielny is another, he went through a bit of a rough spell. He missed a few games earlier this year for whatever reason, but now look at him, we don’t mention him after matches because his performance is always pretty much flawless.

Same can be said about Gervinho, not the ‘flawless play now’ bit but he he was dreadful, absolutely dreadful. His inability to find the net when it looked more difficult to miss than score was painful on the eye. He too was dropped, sadly not soon enough. But when he came back he looked a little more lively, he tried a bit more trickery, he even managed to nab a couple of goals……..

It didn’t last though, he’s back on the bench. Thank goodness.

Then there is Thomas Vermaelen. Wenger has shown that wearing the captains armband means little if you are playing badly. He’s another who I believe, had the strength in our squad been much deeper, he’d have been dropped a long time ago….

I wonder if he’ll ever wear an Arsenal shirt again……

Have a good day all….

rico

0 thoughts on “Wenger confirms he's staying! Walcott, Szczesny, Gervinho and Vermaelen show just why players need time on the bench!”

  8. Jay says:

    So the penny has finally dropped at Arsenal.Dont sell your best striker to Man U.David Herd in the early sixties ,Frank Stapleton in the eighties ,and RVP last yearAl these sales affected the club badly ,as the sale of many other top players over the last 50 years or so.Dont sell our best players to anyone ,not just Man U .

  12. Lee says:

    I was all half full after the manure game Scott, shame the players couldn’t play like that for the majority of the season…..

  15. Bradster says:

    Hi all,

    It’s so strange to see some blogs are going with the Wenger will see out his contract and others punting for PSG to take him.

    Sad though, that we can’t give players like Cazorla and Arteta a rest that they need. Only 3 more to go, let’s hope they have the mental and physical strength to perform.

    See my punt, ole Benteke scored a hattrick? Still think we should’ve tried harder for him when he was pondering a contract renewal.

  16. sebastian says:

    What’s this????? “Should the club sell him now and try and get as much money for him as they can, or do they let him walk away for free?

    i dont get u, how can a club sell a coach??

    “Surely they won’t offer him a new contract as he’s over 30 years old…..”

    unless we are toking on players n not Mr Wenger

  17. GEO says:

    Why cant that stupid email sign in box be closed???

    Didn’t even read the article because of that, click out and visit another site that lets me choose what i want on screen…

  18. SD London says:

    I can’t wait for the financial fare play to kick in because it seems UEFA are serious about it.

    How are teams like Man Utd , Man Shitty and even Chelsea gonna cope with players been bought and payed with astronomical amounts ?

    Would not be surprised if Fergie makes use of a slight injury to start benching RVP and maybe Rooney so they get angry (pre Madonna style) and they seek to leave.

    Because one thing is for sure this team cannot run their club from their income Chelsea has a 40000 capacity stadium and they dont even fill it up at £20 a ticket 🙂

    Man shitty is borrowing the Millennium stadium and it is never full either you can still buy a season ticket this morning and you will get it by special delivery by 9am tomorrow .

    Manure Utd have to reduce the ticket prices to fill up their stadiums or else it will be embarrassingly half filled. City of Manchester is one of the poorest cities in UK.

    How are this teams going to survive?
    I can see Arsenal and Everton fighting for the league here Abrahamovic frustrated because he had to sell Edin Hazzard and he can’t even use the money because the money must be used to pay John Terry’s ridiculous salary 🙂

    Well thats if UEFA sticks to their guns

  20. Wavy says:

    As for Wenger is he our best player this year? If so the board will sell him on, contract or no contract! More filthy lucre to line line their over inflated bank accounts!

  23. Wavy says:

    Last remark for now. Sorry Jay, misunderstood what you meant, all went to manure, Baker went to Forest. Take your point. No more dealing with the shite heap, manure. Ever!

  24. Jay says:

    Right about Joe Baker though Wavy,he was a great player that we let go for a pittance,he had a great goal per game ratio ,and had the best right hook seen at Arsenal.He knocked Ron yeates out aganst Liverpool with the best puch I have ever seen

  26. Bradster says:

    I’ve always wondered, if the owner of the club sponsors a player or players in his personal name or one of his companies and says it’s to subsidise his wages when negotiating salaries. Surely that cannot be controlled by FFP.

    Also, can a team borrow money at zero % interest rate over say 50 years from it’s owner to build on it’s stadium. Firstly, is not included in FFP as no financing costs and because it’s developing their stadium by the club.

  27. potter says:

    Joe Baker , my first Arsenal hero, his goaltogames ratio still st Twiands up. I remember him and dennis Law start scrapping inthe North bank penalty area throwing punches at each other , Law legged it to the half way line and Baker was still hitting himwhen they got there. Two fiery Jocks the ref just laughed and gave them a verbal ear wigging then sent them off. He also poleaxed Ron Yeats Liverpool’s 6 foot 3 man mountain centre back , with one punch not bad considering that Baker was only about 5 foot 8 “.

  28. potter says:

    Things got a bit out of hand there. Miss spellings and typos. And factually wrong too , Baker despite being bought up in Scotland was in fact English with a broad Glaswegian accent.

  29. devilgunner says:

    Good afternoon Lady and Gentlemen

    just a short hop on today. We had the sports day at our school and now its time to put up my feet. I am knackered.

    Good post Rico. But I still feel that bar the deadwood Gervinho, TommyV, etc will still be at the club come next October.

  30. devilgunner says:

    My old Dad used to like Joe Baker. If I am not mistaken he was one of his favourite players.

    Sadly I can only get a few glimpses of him from old clips such as this one…………..

    but then I saw DB10 and BP07.

  33. SD London says:

    Bradster , I am sure the clubs will find a way round the FFP .

    But my main question was why did UEFA had to make the effective date of the FFP to be 5 years from when it was first announced.

    Was it a clever plot to get their favorite teams to figure out a way to beat the FFP?

    But I tell you, if the FFP comes down big , we will not even see Barcelona for like 4years in the Champions league because they are seriously in the RED and they stupidly keep buying players, especially when they don’t need them.

    But my hope will be placed on clubs can’t get round the FFP then it will coincide with Fergie’s resignation because the old red nose can’t manage a club on a shoe string budget.

    This manager bought Ferdinand for £30 million from a relegating LEEDs , who does that ?
    Try and put inflation into consideration and calculate how much that is in today’s money.

    Any accountant there ?

  40. Jay says:

    Joe would turn in his grave if he saw some of the fairys earning a fortune at the emirates now.He had somuch courage ,and would play carrying injuries that would see some of the current players out of the team for months.

  44. Jay says:

    In the current climate a claim could be made against Eton if you were flogged as you say Adam.Your housemaster wasnt Jimmy savile was it ?

  46. Bob John says:

    Joe Baker, George Eastham, Geordie Armstrong, Peter Simpson, John Radford, Bob McNab, Charlie George all shamelessly disregarded comletely or virtually by England becuase Alf Ramsey was an ex-spud who, in McNab’s words, hated Arsenal.

  48. Jay says:

    Apart from Peter Storey mate ,even Ramsey recognised the need for someone with the heart of one of our toughesr ever players

  52. Bob John says:

    Almost as good as Joe knocking out Ron Yates who had kicked the shit out of him all game was Malcolm MacDonald chinning Terry Yorath when Yorath tried to break his leg and of course Paul Davis breaking Cockerill’s jaw after Cockerill had stamped on him and racially abused him. Funny how Davis, with an unblemished record got 9 games when serial offenders get less! Not that I’m AFC paranoid!

  55. goonster says:

    am good adam…cassie is in a better shape now adam. thanks for your concern. how’s mrs A? and where the heck is AK?

  59. goonster says:

    yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay lee my man…what’s going on fella? i missed u. hahahahahhahahahah AK still swindling tourist isnt he? poor old geezer.

  60. Wavy says:

    I was there the day of the Baker Yeats punch up. My mates and I had just walked right round the ground, on the terracing as it was, north Bank to West Bank, to Clock End East Stand and back to the North Bank. god knows why we did that tour, maybe because we could! I was reading my programme as the two teams came out for the second half and wasn’t watching! Therewas a mighty roar, I thought for the restart, but when I looked up Yeats was on the ground with Baker standing over him! It was like being in the school playground! Cries of hit him again and other pleasantries rang out around the crowd. then came the finger of the Ref pointing towards the dressing room and Baker was gone. I can’t remember if Yeats went too, I don’t think he did? And if I remember rightly Liverpool won, 1-0.
    Ah, those were the days!

  61. Adam says:

    Yes Stan. Very pleased about that news. I am not too sure about Jovetic but would imagine that it would depend on CL football next year.
    Kev is working I think. We all had a nice lunch a couple of weeks ago where we introduced Rico to the joys of sparkling Italian wine. A good time was had by all.

  64. goonster says:

    he looks really good though from what am seeing on youtube. he ll def improve us. hope we get him.

  71. Adam says:

    Stan. I decided that the opening chapters needed a re-write as it was just too depraved. Should be done in a month or so.
    Have you been back to Arnhem lately?

  73. goonster says:

    i gotta run adam….tell AK i ll be needing his cab soon plus his swindling skills. i missed you guys and blogging too. have a good one. see ya fellas.

  74. bob john says:

    Wavy. Yeats was sent off on a stretcher. Scousers knocked us out 2 years running at Highbury. 1-0 & 2-1

  75. Wavy says:

    I think it was the 24th january 1966, and the score was 1-0. Can’t remember who scored for them.
    Did Ian St. John also get sent off during that era, too?

  78. Kevin KJ Downton says:

    SD What a great post 11:29 and 12:48 was good too.

    Hello all, sorry its been a while. Hi Scott, love your recent posts. Nice to see some positivity lately, makes me feel all furry..!

    FFP: This is a much misunderstood issue due to the lack of information being provided. This is probably because they don’t know how to address all the issues or even know what they will be. But they have to do something.

    FFP is essential and a panic response to control the spending that has raised players wages to ridiculous levels. This has ultimately put clubs at risk of closure. It is an attempt to stop clubs going bust. Look at Leeds, Portsmouth, Coventry etc. In Spain, Malaga are flogging their best players, they are broke. In fact, the Spanish clubs are in a dire situation not helped by the fact Barcelona and Real get 50% of the TV money between them. And of course Barcelona and Real get other ‘benefits’ too. All these fans in the “spend, spend, spend” camp or claiming they want rich sugar daddy’s to take over their club, do not understand the long term threat they pose. Imagine three rich owners fighting to sign the Worlds best player. Where would it end? £5 million per week. You need controls in place. It is out of hand and the football authorities know it. (The players started ruling the game when Bosman won his case).

    Leeds were CL semi finalists and gambled to get to the next level. They failed and ended up slipping down the leagues. Look at them now. Those of us of an age remember the great Leeds sides, including the infamous dirty Leeds of the 70’s.

    If anyone thinks a player like Van Persie should earn £1 million per month, they need their heads examining. It is obscene and an insult to hard working people struggling today. Imagine the good causes that amount of money could do for the disadvantaged. And we are ultimately paying for these wages, we are being fleeced by greedy players and their agents, thanks to the rich owners who don’t have to balance the books. It is called cheating.

    Yes FFP is likely to get fiddled but lets hope not, as it is a start and the benefits are there for everyone. Except the players, the rich owners and the plastic Johnny come lately fans. Will it help Arsenal? Probably not until they close the loopholes and implement it properly. If that happens, hell yes..!

  79. potter says:

    What hope has FFP got when you read about Havelange resigning over bribes and brown envelopes in the 60’s , and it is inconceivable that things are not changing hands under Blatter and his regime.

  80. Jay says:

    The game when Baker and Yeats got sent off was a one nil defeat,Liverpool scored from a penalty by Ronnie Moran.I can remember John Barnwell stupidly fisting a corner away,seeing the end of our cup run for another year

  82. SD London says:

    Thanks Kevin.

    But your analysis just rings something through my brains…

    If I dare say it , It seems only Wenger is the only reasonable coach in England at the moment.

    Remember Wenger was the first to start warning the football world that clubs will go bankrupt, go down down, disappearing totally and people thought he was just been bitter and negative. People could not imagine.

    I bet there will be a mutiny,revolution or boycott of some sort if by any chance or in an alternate universal event , he is made the UEFA president.

    I am imagining what will happen which is making me to smile now because that stubborn Professor(Arsene) will change European football forever.

  87. Wavy says:

    Adam – nah, not Islington, used to frighten me especially at night!
    Originally I was a Chingford child and teenager, then moved north ish and have stayed in the Midlands ever since. I try to get to see Arsenal once or twice a year, home or away. Sadly the days of 2/- entry and 6d for a programme ars long gone. It’s now the best part of £130 for ticket, travel and sundries. In fact by the time I’ve been. In McDonald’s its nearer to £150. Hardly a cheap day out!
    Jay, thanks for thegoal scorer. I really have no memory of it, although now. You have mentioned Barnwell and Moran I do remember the penalty being taken, but the details….well???
    Thanks alll for the extended nostalgia trip. It’s been fun.

  89. Wavy says:

    Tempos fugit!
    One day, sooner than you think Rico, you will only have a very hazy memory TH14 scoring any goal! 30 of 40 years on!
    But you know, you just can’t beat a bit of nostalgia. Happy Days!
    If relevant I’ll drag out another skeleton tomorrow, just to stir up the history boys, and girls too!

  91. rico says:

    I do at this stage feel obliged to ask you Wavy, whether or not you would consider writing a post about ‘Happy Days’ ??

    🙂

  92. Micko says:

    Wavy, it does if your a pilot !!!

    rico, no chance of Arsene leaving Arsenal this summer unless they have to carry him out in a box, wouldn’t suprise me one bit if the club announce he’s signed another 2 year extension at the end of the season, probably with a nice pay rise to boot.

  93. rico says:

    Hi Micko, I thought he might if we didn’t get top four. But now he’s said he is already preparing for next season, I think he stay beyond his current contract.

    whether that is a good or bad thing remains to be seen. Just hoping that his lack of spending means he’s been saving the pennies for one big splash out…

    This summer of course being the big spend on the right players. No more cheapies….

  100. Wavy says:

    Perhaps. Not sure they were that happy, to tell the truth. Similar to now Arsenal hadn’t won anything for years, nor even looked likely to, until Bertie Mee unexpectedly turned up.
    Yes. I could do you a self-indulgent, semi-autobiographical piece, sometime. Give me a week or two to construct something readable and suitably nostalgic!

    Speaking of which, I’ve just seen Ozil miss a chance that was reminiscent of Yao Gervais missing a sitter. He couldn’t miss……but he did!
    Dé ja vu!

  101. rico says:

    And then he played wonderfully down the left, cut the ball back and… another chance gone for Real…

  105. Scott from Oz says:

    Morning all.
    After a quick review of the posts from today, could it be Wenger is playing a waiting game?
    Waiting for the financial demise of the power clubs throughout Europe?

  107. Lee says:

    My dad is from Finsbury park, and I’ve the DNA ingrained in me…before potter buries me I’m a young 46!!! 😆

  111. Scott from Oz says:

    A useless piece of info….apart from Arsenal, of course, Borussia have the most brilliant shirt in world football.

  112. agirlagunner says:

    Dortmund fully deserved to win, Scott. 🙂 If they had lost, Lewandowski would be slashing his wrists, cursing the chances he missed. 😉

    Madrid were uninspired. Boring boring whingeing Madrid. Lots of tackles and niggly fouls that went unpunished, too.

    Now for Bayern to beat Barfa! That’s another whiney team. When we almost beat them all they did was moan moan moan at the ref.

    Then for Dortmund to be crowned champs!

  113. potter says:

    My dad is from Finsbury park, and I’ve the DNA ingrained in me…before potter buries me I’m a young 46,

    Why would I do that ? you’re only warming up. I hail from Gospel Oak originally but now live on the Norfolk . I am 3rd generation Arsenal, my son is fourth and his progeny will be 5th . For it is written.

  115. agirlagunner says:

    Potter, wow!! Generations of Arsenal fans here. 🙂 Kev is another young ‘un who has been watching matches long before some in here were even a glint in their pa’s eye. ;). His grandson WATH also supports The Arsenal. 😀

    Kev, I have a shopping update for you. 😉

  118. allezkev says:

    Hi Agag. I got those shirts, they’re quite smart…

    Cheers Lee, actually I had a day off from the swindling. A bit of business to attend too… 😉

    Calm down Stan, I am keeping an eye out on you…

    Adam, hope to see ya on the 14th…

    3 bottles of Cobra, Rico?!!!
    Were you up on the table singing again??? 😛

  119. allezkev says:

    Got to see the Real vs Dortmund game.

    What a great performance by the Jerries. Thought that Hummels was immense.
    Reus, Bender, Subotic, so many fantastic players.
    What a great team. I so hope that they go onto win the bloody CL final…
    But Bayern are lucky gits!!!

  120. Lee says:

    I see Jabba is having a small punt on Apple shares…..oh to be a £1 behind him or Adam!

  121. Lee says:

    Arsenal shareholder Alisher Usmanov has hit out at fellow owner Stan Kroenke, claiming that the American shows a lack of ambition at the club.

    The duo have been tussling for Gunners shares for a number of years, with Kroenke currently owning the majority of the club with his 62% stake compared to the 30% held by the Uzbek investor.

    Usmanov, who has been critical of the club’s transfer policy in the past, denied reports claiming that he was willing to sell his shares and wants Arsenal to sign some top-class players.

    “The team has no superstars now,” Usmanov told the Mirror, who also believes that Kroenke “would probably be happy” with a fourth-placed finish this season.

    “In our understanding, Kroenke has no plans to sell his stake, but we also won’t sell out, as we are the team’s fans.”

    Usmanov recently climbed to the top of the Sunday Times Rich List for 2013.

  122. Adam says:

    Dig deep Great Jabba and oust The Syrup and his malign influence. Return our club to the greatness it once knew.

    Morning Lee.

  123. rico says:

    Tsk, why is it that some fans type what is the day’s post to be… 😉

    Morning Lee, Adam and all. Night Kev 😉

  127. Adam says:

    Morning Rico. My last gardening day, I hope.
    I very much admired the Germans last night and thought that Mourinho got done by the slightly maniacal Klopp. How did Ramos stay on the pitch?
    Klopp would do for me. His team’s work ethic was staggering I thought.

  128. rico says:

    I didn’t see much of it Adam. It was 0-0 when I switched over for Masterchef…

    I see the special one is returning in the summer and Roman is ready to buy the title back…

  130. tsgh says:

    Mauren-ho is a nasty, conniving manger who acts like he was not given enough attention or love by his fascist family and parents as a child.

    I am glad he is out of the CL. He says he will go were he is loved… maybe the media in Spain are not as wet behind the years to see through his rubbish, eye-gouging traits…

    He will be perfect for United or Chelsea as he is a win at all cost person…

    Morning btw…

  132. tsgh says:

    Heynckes is one of the very few who have succeeded going back to their old clubs….

    He should ask Mr Dipper Kenny Dalglish, Howard Kendall, Kevin Keegan. It all ended in tears….

  133. rico says:

    I’m not sure we’ll get it Lee…

    Hope you end up right Ts. Jm and Roman’s money… Not a good thought. Unless Jabba comes in 😉

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