Much Abou About Nothing
May 5th, 2014 by 'holic
So that was what a meaningless end of season encounter feels like. We can be forgiven for having forgotten. As with the opening home game what happened in the pub was more enjoyable than the couple of hours we left it for. With a Cup Final to prepare for, and fourth place secured on Saturday, it was not surprising that the oft-mentioned handbrake was firmly on.
The first half was ours in terms of controlling the play, but clear cut chances were few and far between. Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla went close, and on fourteen minutes we were ahead courtesy of Olivier Giroud’s twenty-second goal of the season, a fine header from a corner. I cannot recall a meaningful West Brom attempt on goal in that half. It was a proverbial stroll in the park.
The second livened up little. Of most interest to me were the substitutions. With Abou Diaby restored to the bench I half expected we would see a cameo from him, but Tomas Rosicky and Kim Kallstrom got the nod first and with ten minutes to go Thomas Vermaelen was the last to be introduced.
The Baggies certainly showed more ambition after the break, but it is fair to say we were rarely extended defensively. Those crazy away games against our closest rivals aside our back four have been immense, Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny in particular. Again here they were superb.
Mesut Ozil went agonisingly close to a second, and Poldi hit the woodwork when a goal looked certain. The added safeguard wasn’t coming however, although there never seemed to be a sniff of Albion getting the equaliser. A strange feeling I have to say.
The final parade of the squad to those who stayed to cheer them was interesting in as much as the supporters sang with gusto, “Bacary Sagna, we want you to stay”. But what of Vermaelen, and Podolski, who also might have been playing at the Grove for the last time if rumours are to be believed?
With that it was back to the hostelry of choice. A season that raced by was reviewed as earnestly as we could muster. Tentative arrangements were made for Cup Final day, and there was a mixed reaction to news of Chelsea’s draw with Norwich. Fourth place it is then. A Champions League qualifier to spend the summer getting nervous about!
Enjoy your Monday, ‘holics.
290 Responses to “Much Abou About Nothing”
No-one else wants it?
Öskar
Second. Good to see you yesterday, maestro. Impressed at the productivity this morning. Goes to read blog.
Fine account, sir. The mood of the assembled multitude was certainly much better than after the opening game of the season but there is definitely a heavy handbrake on emotions. Even eternally springing hope seems to have a handbrake.
Hastily banged out and thin on content, bath, but there really wasn’t much memorable to record.
Apart from the company, obviously 🙂
The chatter in the North Bank was of cup final tickets (duly bagged for us but many regulars still looking) and Norwich plans (for those going – I m not). The sun was warm and soporific – at times the atmosphere around the ground resembled the Saturday of a Lords Test with a pleasant buzz of conversation rather than a Premier league match. Certainly the least intense game I’ve seen since I last went to an Emirates Cup match. Chant of the game was when a WBA player (not sure who) managed to fall over in front of the family enclosure with no-one within 25 yards of him. Immediately both sets of fans broke into “are you Gerrard in disguise?”. We managed to please this old school gooner by scoring from a corner. At the end the cuteness factor went into overdrive as the player’s kids came out. Mini Arteta (hair perfect) and mini Sagna exchanged passes up and down the pitch before the younger Bac buried the ball in the net in front of the North Bank to a huge cheer. Kos finally got his song and revelled in it. Despite the young children the BFG chant was loud and clear.
It’s a strange thing. The people I sit with and around me at football are, with exception of my son, people I only see in that context and environment. Yet they are firm friends joined in the love of the Arsenal, people with whom I share maybe stronger emotions than almost anywhere else in my life, men and women, young and old, multi-racial. It’s such a huge part of my life. Handshakes exchanged at the end, looking forward to August already …..unless we bump into each other at Wembley. Oh yes …the season’s not over for us quite yet!
Morning all,
It didn’t look much better on TV.
Holic @4 – sounds like Steve T’s hair style. 😉
The season does seem to have passed incredibly quickly for all the anguish the second half of it has involved. I seem to have spent too much of it in front of a TV screen.
I’ve missed all you fellas pre-match – hope to be back in The Tollie next season.
Steve T – looks like you’re the first one I owe a pint. 😉
Great stuff, countryman. 😉
Huzzah.
In a positive way I mean. 🙂
Re: countryman100. Nice account of the Bac and Arteta kids.
Hi All
A very fair account indeed, looked more like the very first game of pre season. Which in fact does us no harm no more injury worries and that is also pleasing.
Sound like Bac and Fab are defiently gone 🙁 a sad end to good players. Any hoo onwards and upwards im sure the boss has already picked out there replacements. I hope Bac`s departure will help Jec`s kick on as he has the potential just not the application just yet.
I some how have got next Sunday off so i can sit and vegatate infront of the TV on the last day of the PL. Cant remember the last time that happened.
Cheers all
Holic, I’m surprised you managed that long a report considering absolutely nothing of note apart from the goal and the shot off the post happened for 90 minutes!
dk from the last session: The FA may be able to justify their lenient, hush-hush treatment of Sunderland and their illegal player
This was the first I heard of it but after having read about it now I must say is sounds as if a points deduction would have been very harsh and it is, according to the Guardian, stated clearly in the rules that a points deduction is not mandatory when it comes to cases of international clearance. And besides, it would only be one point anyway which would still see both Fulham and Cardiff relegated and Norwich still having to win against us and Sunderland to lose both games so it would not really have changed anything.
Yesterday was my first Emirates game! woohoo! what a great stadium and Giroud’s goal was super as was the fan’s response! the next 75 mins was quite turgid sadly, but I guess no-one was really up for it 🙁 anyway, can’t wait for my next game whenever that may be. Watching a game live is just so much better than on tv. Interesting that no-one mentions Giroud hitting the West Brom player’s face when they were arguing! Really a dumb ass thing to do when he could be looking at a red card and a ban, especially before an FA cup final!
All in all a season full of such promise, and filled with ‘what ifs’. Anyway, if Arsenal, according to Alan Hansen Inc, can’t beat the big teams, Chelsea can’t beat the ‘small’ teams, and for all Maureen’s boasting/moaning and his super players (anyone want Ivanovic here…I do…such a tough player), Chelsea will end up in 3rd, one point above Arsenal, hehehe. Abramovich, take note!
We surely want Sunderland to stay up anyway, it’s fun seeing them torment Man City every year!
Correction: it would mean Sunderland has to lose one and only get one point in the other and Norwich still having to win against us.
“Mourinho will be fourth Chelsea boss under Abramovich to finish trophyless. The last three were all sacked… so, will he survive?”
you gotta love the Daily Fail…never stops, even on a Bank Holiday 🙂
Mourinho said he would leave if he didn’t win trophies and he won – let’s see now – er, none. Well, he would really, being a specialist in failure an’ all.
He’s running out of super rich dudes to take him on for a year or so, until the utter embarrassment he causes sees him given the elbow again.
I would honestly rather finish fourth than win something thanks to that snivelling, carping, obnoxious, snidey little shit.
Cheers Holic! And great stuff from countryman100.
Routine game, routine win. We never really got out of training ground mode. I’d imagine some rotation for next week, but not too much – want to keep out starting 11 sharp.
Enjoyed the lap of honour, even if it is most likely Fab’s and Bac’s last 🙁
Finally, a great interview from Rambo published at the weekend with the Guardian for those who haven’t seen it yet:
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/03/aaron-ramsey-arsenal
Such a class act.
Thanks, Sarah J – a good read.
Here’s an extract from it that the “Wenger ahhtt” brigade might like to consider. (No I don’t think AW is perfect, but he often doesn’t get the credit he deserves). –
“” When Ramsey was fighting the mental demons that followed his comeback from fracturing his fibula and tibia at Stoke four years ago, and the naysayers, including some Arsenal fans, were losing patience, Wenger stayed loyal and was remarkably supportive. “The manager had loads of chats with me about it and always said: ‘Never let it get to you, because I know what you can do,'” Ramsey says. “I’m grateful for what he’s done for me and for the faith that he’s had in me.
“Even when I was injured he gave me a new contract. Through the criticism he played me. He’s always believed in me and I can’t thank him enough for that. I owe a lot to him and hopefully I’ve delivered some of that back this season.” “”
Afternoon chums.
Nice account, countryman, thanks.
Looking forward to drinking your first pint of next season Trev 😉
Excellent article Sarah, many thanks for it!
Well the account was a very fair one . As you said Holic we have forgotten what routine end of season fare is like. Lots of excitement pre Wembley but I suspect there won’t be much at Norwich on Sunday. This is the quickest I have ever known a season pass , it seems like only yesterday that we began so unhappily against Villa. The World Cup will now take over the back pages but let’s hope Arsene doesn’t forget his day job when he’s commenting for French TV.
It has indeed raced by, ttg..
I can still see The Ox’s burst through the left wing to set up the goal that put us 1-0 up against Villa on the opening day.
Twenty minutes later I said to my neighbour that we may not see him again for some time, as we could clearly see the juddering halt his knee came to in the tackle almost right below us.
Sadly accurate as it turned out. And then, months later, as he and Poldi were due for returns, out went Walcott and Ramsey, followed by Özil.
Would one season with a fit squad be too much to ask ?
Maybe, if we have to have so many injuries next season, we could have these installed at The Emirates ……
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HuKva8GUwBk
It’s not new, but always worth another look. 😉
And if AW is scouting in Germany this summer, none of these please –
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aK1S59Jbpiw
😉
‘holic, excellent, and agreed. this was the first game i nodded off during after getting up at 5:20 am to watch. the second half was particularly difficult to stay awake through. at times it looked like park soccer, with so little pressure and so little intensity. i was just really glad not to have injuries and that wba didn’t by some miracle equalize at the end.
countryman, that’s a blessing, in your post.
thanks for a great article, sarah!
and trev 🙂 love the first one, still makes me laugh out loud (a tough thing to be able to explain at work!).
Nice review Holic, kudos on getting it done so early considering the circumstances 😉
countryman100 @ 5, thanks for your recollections on the lap of appreciation, anyone watching the match live on Sky Sports was cut off at the beginning of it as the feed switched to pre game at Stamford Bridge, what a dick move even before hindsight, especially as the game turned out to be a drab draw.
Peter @ 12, it would have been nice if some more exciting fair could’ve been served up for your first game but at least you got to witness a win eh? 🙂 Glad you had such an enjoyable time mate 🙂
Sarah J @ 18, I read that article on the way back from playing tennis yesterday, it made my heart swell even more due to the fact that such an articulate, charming and talented young man as Aaron plays proudly for the Arsenal. I really hope that each and every one of the people that contributed towards his mental demons by berating him at every turn of his return to the player he is now takes a deep, introspective look at themselves one day, if they haven’t already
What a disgrace for Arsenal that period of time was on social media, it made me realise that although people may support the same club as you and feel equal amounts of passion towards it, that doesn’t mean they’re exempt from being and acting like absolute cunts.
Thanks for the review ‘h.
Glad to hear that the company in the battle cruiser pre and post match was top notch, because that was one minger of a game.
“Lukas Podolski, we want you to stay”…at least I do.
If (when) Fabianski and Viviano leave, who’s gonna be second and third gk?
“Diaby – I have years in front of me.”
He is 9 years with us.
If he really played all those years he would be almost a legend.
That is sad. (and he scored 19 goals with little over 100 games)
Good luck, Vassiriki.
Lars re Sunderland. I agree it would be harsh but the FA has been harsh before. The inconsistency lies in the same FA docking lowly Altrincham 18 points for a similar offence. Plus they fined Sunderland and told them to keep quiet about it – as if anything can be kept secret in this day and age. I can understand the others being pissed off but, as you say, Cardiff and Fulham would go down anyway, so spending a load of money on lawyers is laughable.
Just another instance of what a bunch of clowns the FA are.
Go go Palace!
Surez crying like a little boy
John Terry, Ashley Cole and Luis Suarez all crying on the pitch in the same week. Am I in heaven?
Pressure does strange things to people, eh?
Season in and season out Arsenal’s consistency in achieving the minimum is rather remarkable in that respect.
Liverpool finding their true form again, I see.
Well done Palace – another crazy result in a crazy season.
Hope we will approach our Cup final comely and professionally and not too caught up in the media excesses that would follow the days before.
Pulis (of all people!) just won the manager of the year, funny old game.
Samir is laughing.
Disgusting.
We tried to sign Sakho-dodged a bullet there he is an awful defender.
And this crying by supporters and players is truly pathetic. I’ve had some awful moments following Arsenal but did I blub like a big jessy? Its a spin-off from the Sky era. Grow a pair Scousers
I don’t think Scousers will ever bring up 4-4 to Arsenal supporters ever again!
Tim, Palace’s turnaround has been quite extraordinary, and they played some good football as well, nothing Stoke-ish.
Goals against: Liverpool, 49; Crystal Palace, 46; Arsenal, 41; Man City, 37; Chelsea, 26.
So the football writers voted Liverpool players first and second in their player of the year poll. Why not just take all the other teams’ players off the ballot and get it over and done with? When Yaya Toure (#2) gets fewer votes than Steven Gerrard (#2) there ought to be an investigation. I can sniff something rotten.
Toure was #3 in the poll not #2.
@Dr. F – I know, I agree…they’ve played incredibly well under Pulis. I just wish it was happening under someone I liked a bit/lot more.
On a sentimental note I’m also glad Chamakh found a happy home. He was never as bad as many said.
“Chamakh … was never as bad as many said.”
Sentimental old fool, Tim. Of course he was.
he he … Liverpool.
Suarez in tears. But its only worth it if Stevie Me is also crying.
Well done Palace.
In all these BBC articles about the implosion of Liverpool’s title bid today at the end they write “More to follow” so here I am waiting for the next bad thing to happen to them. 😉
I’d rather have City win the Prem than any of the other two, especially not classless Chelsea and Mourinho. The man should be banned from football related activities and all his achievements expunged from the records. What a berk.
By the by, AW and The Arse did rather okay, don’t you think?
COYG
*chuckling at the Mickeys*
heh: https://vine.co/v/M6MQVvlm5Du
long may *this* last.
no better time for a suarez bid
Mourinho had a new excuse after their poor performance in the 0-0 against Norwich.
“The first half was a waste of time and the second half I think the team played the way the weather pushed them”.
Just do us all one big favour and let the weather push you – anywhere but here.
Btw, it was a suffocating, energy sapping, bordering on dangerous 13C !
And can I just add one more thing:
he he he … Liverpool.
Cole and now Suarez in tears at the end of a game. This season just keeps on giving…
Chelsea I abhor because of Mourinho, Abrahmovic, his ill gotten wealth, unfair and bordering on illegal use of said wealth, his treatment of Tinkerman Ranieri and their uncouth fans. Also John Terry. Especially John Terry.
My hatred for Liverpool on the other hand, has every thing to do with the smug, indulgent, self serving, self obsessed blinkered tools with a sense of entitlement beyond belief that support them. And the 6-0, don’t forget the 6-0.
I was out for drinks during the game, but I laughed hard after the initial disbelief at the result passed, especially at Suarez crying & the general shellshockedness on the faces of Rogers, the rest of their players and their fans. Ohh Liverpool… 🙂
Can’t think of any other blog that is so dependable for finding a continually repeating reel of a hated opposition player crying on the pitch.
Sorry fellas. Got it mixed up, shellacking causes that. 5-1 to the mug smashers and 6 zip to that @R#%. Not that anyone needs reminding.
Daily Express saying Citeh to bid £164 million for Messi. Has the world gone completely mad?
http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/473827/Manchester-City-prepare-to-snare-164m-Lionel-Messi-in-world-record-transfer
Tim & dkg @47 & @48: I am actually in Tim’s camp and it is not a sentimental recollection. I too think Chamakh was quite decent: a limited but hard-working and clever player. Not RVP class, but a bit of pre-Giroud prototype (not of Giroud’s overall quality and physicality, of course). Obviously Arsene has been after a player like that for a while — so much effort and time spent on Bendy — who can play that central striker role with good hold-up and link play. In the first six months or so Chamakh did a decent job and afterwards whatever little chance he got he was always okay. I think he scored two goals in his last match — that bizarre 7-5 League cup game at Reading. He has a good record in CL first with Bordeaux and then with us. Wish him the best for Palace. Little I saw of Palace recently Chamakh is deployed in a no.10-ish role with two fast wingers running off him and a no.9 attacking in the penalty box. Who would have thought? 🙂
NBN@63: If that happens after UEFA making such noises about FFP, well then that would be that for any notion of ‘fair play’. Why not 500 million? Maybe sooner or later the currency of player exchanges would be the number of oil wells and the rights to drill?
Trev@55: Not sure if you have heard this before, but apparently Jose would like to have a job for life in Chelsea. Such is your good fortune. 🙂 But seriously I think sooner or later the Portuguese national team job would be your only hope. The poor Portuguese, having already suffered so much in their recent history…
Ah, now I understand. The nauseating #YNWA that has recently appeared from the woodwork must mean “You’ll never win again!”
Friom the BBS website: “Chelsea need new striker – Mourinho”.
I believe there’s a Danish striker, widely touted as the best in the world, ever, who is out of contract this summer. Bendtner to Chelsea.
You know it makes sense.
COYG
Morning all! Sounds like I missed a good get together in The Tollie!
One day Rodney…. 🙂
Dr F… agreed, that would be the final nail in the FFP coffin.
Well, Citeh could buy Messi – but think of how many they’d have to sell to balance the books.
Re. Chamakh – my 48 was just a bit of jokey banter.
He started fine but lost confidence I think because RvP lasted the rest of season out for once. On the other hand, he’s not exactly made headlines at Palace – 6 in 33.
Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) tweeted at 10:25 AM on Tue, May 06, 2014:
Man City’s FFP sanctions: 21-man CL squad instead of 25; 60m euro fine over 3 years; no rise in CL squad wage bill allowed. Same as for PSG.
Forget the fine for Man City. That’s a red herring. The CL squad reduction is the real penalty, and one which can cause them some very real problems.
Any idea how long the CL squad reduction lasts? If it’s for 3 years – the time they have to pay the fine – it’s a swingeing penalty and not before time, some would say. “They’ll never enforce it”, others would say.
I just so loved it to see them in tears, this Gerrard wank fest was intolerable( excuse the language please). I mean they made him out to be a saint, the same guy who handed a transfer request and all those brilliant back passes. Suarez was the main reason for them to be flying high and i am so happy they have come crashing down. YNWA- you will never win again, you dumb idiots.
We need to win the FA cup simple or else this season will not go down as any progress. Yes we may have our positives but overall it will mean nothing if we do not win the FA cup. So come on you Gunners, lets win the trophy and may it be the start of a lot many more.
Player of the season anyone?, me- Ramsey
Dr. F: 🙂
Reading between the lines of the reports on Citeh and FFP it seems that (i) the CL wage and squad caps would apply to next season only, and (ii) this is a negotiable penalty that will only go to binding arbitration if the two sides fail to agree a settlement. So judgment on the impact needs to be suspended until the lawyers have done their weasely work.
Hey Lars …! 🙂
Ned@75. Agreed, nothing is yet set in stone. However, I for one will continue to get much more excited about this than about our chances of signing insert name of player here.
COYG
The last paragraph of this otherwise content-free interview in The Guardian suggests to my mind that Woj is expecting Fab to play at Wembley.
http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/05/wojciech-szczesny-arsenal-premier-league-title
Pangloss, The arbitration panel would meet in June. Its is a racing certainty we’ll have no one new signed by then (or July, or August). So what will you do for non-excitement for the rest of the summer?
I was watching last nights game live here in the bar, but there was a group that wanted to watch something else so I obliged them and turned the channel at HT knowing that I recorded MOTD so could catch it later.
The way Lineker introduced the game I thought that there may be a shock on the cards, well a shock table wise, I had predicted a draw, but with the Mickeys 3-0 up with 12 mins to go I thought it was done and dusted…..
That was some capulation.
Shortest season ever? That can only mean one thing. Get ready for the longest summer ever. 😉
World Cup small consolation.
Ned@79. That’s a very fair question, and one that has been exercising me quite a bit of late. I might work myself up into a lather about some of the drinks in this bar, or I might post a whole lot of nonsense here myself. I might even attempt to adopt a demenour of zen-like calm and sit in the corner muttering ooooom, oooom – after all it worked last summer!
Any suggestions, preferences?
Hello Catalan, is that an emoticon or are you just happy to see me?
Hey Catalan 🙂
Heh Lars…. don´t go there!
Wind! Always a pleasure…..
Just get away from finance and back to some football –
An Early Bird’s Eye (Pre)view of This Weekend’s Game.
So to Naaarrch for, amazingly, the final Premier League encounter of 2013-14. We will want to deprive the Canaries, at the tail end of the season, of a final day feather in their caps, so as to maintain some momentum in the build up to Wembley.
Whatever promises Mr Wenger has made to his goalkeepers, and whatever claws Lukas Fabianski may have in his contract, remains a mystery, but the manager is highly unlikely to budgie from his usual plan of playing Szczesny in league games.
The defence is likely to be unchanged but the centre backs will need to be cagey, and the full backs alert, as the Canaries are sure to make good use of both wings.
In midfield Wilshere and possibly The Ox, or even Abou Diaby, could be readied for action with a quick rub down with the Sporting Life and a few parrotsetemol to ease any last minute aches and pains. Whoever plays there will have to beak careful to protect themselves from the physical threat of Bradley Johnson, whose assault on Bacary Sagna at The Emirates could justifiably have seen him doing bird.
Up front, lack of options mean we have to stay with Olivier Giroud, who is a pretty boy, then, although he will have to steer clear of any more of the milletious behaviour that could have seen him red carded against West Brom at the weekend. He will have to stay on his breast behaviour.
Victory for the Arsenal will see the Canaries knocked off their Premier League perch and returned to the Trills and spills of the Championship. Summer could see them on a Norfolk beach undergoing sand-trayning in a bid to get fit enough to get them on the promotion ladder back into the top flight.
*is that my coat ?*
@Pangloss
I will be building a large zen garden in the corner of the bar, commencing a week or so after the cup final. You’re welcome to assist if you’d like.
Excuse my language. But allow me to say…
…what a fricking weekend Aye?
Aye?
South London we did it again! 😆
Just two more games to go and how important they both are.
It may be a little too eaarly for me to talk about finishing 6 points behind the winners, but hey, it’s not rocket science. We all know what happened!
Or do we? really…
…anyway, two more weeks and a bus top parade I say!
Anyone for an F.A Cup?
No how about a prem next season?
That’s it!
Very good Trev….
We need to get our midfield on song so we can play some intricate passerine.
Hey Trev! Long time….
Well if we do H2H, we’ll all be in raptors. 😉
Hey Catalan, good to virtually see you !
Heh! Almost… 🙂
Hehs Trev. It’s a good time to be playing Naarwige on Sunday as AW can have a close look at some of their team who will be going cheep after relegation 😉
Heh Uply. 😀
You should tweet that.
All you Holics hawking cheep puns around should be given the bird.
Is that really nestacary?
The chickens have to come home to roost, mate.
Plays the lofted through ball…
The bird in the hand is worth two in the bush thats what I say.
I guess an ill wind can blow some good from time to time. 🙂
Swoops in….
Too late.
Trev that soaring post is a real feather in your cap.
And theres nothing like a flock of holics pecking around a scattering of puns.
Heh, you know it Joe 😉
It’s a question of timing H2H – I was practically drumming my fingers waiting for you to think you got there first and then I pressed the “submit” button.
Yep, well in Joe.
I saw you had it, but wasn’t going to waste the chance to use the word “swoop”. 😉
You’d be mistaken for a scouser with a sense of timing like that H2H 🙂
Nothing worse than throwing away the league some 8/9 games out than waiting for 24 years and then blowing it in the last game or two.
Well in Joe, must have been waiting about the same time as it takes a pint of Guinness to pour 🙂
h2h…any more of those puns and you will be up before the beak 😉
A punfest, eh? I wood pigeon but it is salad time…
Trev. Canaries sure to make good use of both wings? I should have thought of that one. 🙂
Oooo Joe. I’ve bn accused of some nasty stuff, nothing as low as being a mickey though. 😉
Uply. You trying to have me sent up the Swanny?
(That would make me look even more scouse)
Enough of these bird puns
Will you lot be-aviary
A team of Bird footballers
Nigel Martin
John Sparrow
Peter Swan
Raheem Starling
Dan Gosling
Chris Hoopoe
Eider Gudjohnsen
Jay Jay Okocha
Chris Eagles
Tony Woodcock
Robin Van Persie
Subs-
Gavin Peacock
Ronnie Fowler
Chris Crowe
Ledley Kingfisher
Dave Pheasant
Ian Thrush
Christian Ben Turkey
Manager Brian Chough or Louis Van Gull
Referee : Howard Webb
I’ll get me coat
Birds puns? I’m all chirpy here.
We’ve got a load of twitchers on here tonight.
Eggselent TTG.
Ttg, that merits a frothy reward to wet your beak!
a new red devil taking flight puts mancs up on hull…
to mimic cba
i’ll be avian
some
beaks caws i want some.
I’m hearing Lor Wren Koscielny has signed a new contract- a five year extension. That is seriously good news.
Sadly same French source is saying Sagna will join Man City although that is not a clever deal for a club in deep doo doo over FFP. Would suggest Micah Richards will play even less next season.
To clarify Koscielny is signed until 2019, a two year extension on his present deal. Clever work with Real sniffing around.
Giggs just substituted on from the dugout.
Hahahahahaha!
This season’s drama never ends.
TTG A real flick of puns.
Expect a Delia riposte at half time to the Naarwige supporters ” Lets be
Avian you” 😉
Sagna will go to Fenerbahce.
Grr… Auto correct – TTG Should read A real flock of puns.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.
This is a page from tonights Manure programme;
http://ichef.bbci.co.uk/live-experience/cps/512/media/images/74668000/jpg/_74668479_programme.jpg
Who’s got the heart to tell them that Everton are in front of the Totts in 5th. 😆
Hehs @Uply and ttg. 🙂
Shame Holic ducked the challenge. 😉
Heh H2H @127 !
Surprised they’ve got colour photos in it. 😉
I see the punfest broadened into the much easier realms of any type of bird, whereas the original post limited itsself to only Canaries, budgies and parrots – all of a type – and cages. Just sayin’ …… so there ! 😉
and washed-up, 🙂
trev, the punfest is not dead. it’s just resting.
Trev
I was actually going to restrict myself to finches but then I couldn’t think of any decent footballers called Finch! I’m much better on fish
Ttg’s fish puns are simply off the scale ….
No, better put an end to this now – or as they say in France, “Fin”.
😉
Swimmingly done, Trev.
Mental. The lot of ye 😉
Hey, Lars 🙂
now, ‘holic, if you’d said “barking, the lot of ye” as you so often do, i’d’ve said it’s just because we’re a bunch of dogfish…
Trev: you rule the roost.
Pangloss: assume the most zen-like position you can with a bottle of Highland Park. Imbibe inscrutably and mutter mmmm, mmmm.
No transfer will disturb your summer.
TTG@120: That is an excellent news indeed if true. Not only Real, Bayern & Barca as well are in for a ball playing defender. Along with Ozil and Rambo in current for our most valued player.
If I was Sagna I’d go to Man City, sit on the bench most weekends and take home some massive wedge without the risk of injuring myself. No pain, all gain. I can’t imagine a more pleasant way to spend my 30s. Except possibly as owner of a harem full of nubile young women with father figure complexes. What Trev might call birds of a feather f**cking together.
Öskar
Oskar@140: Or grandfather complex? 🙂 Sorry, couldn’t resist it …
Sagna and Clichy are very close friends as well, by Sagna’s admission his closest friend in English football. I don’t think he will mind being a veteran ‘don’t have to play every match’ alternative notching up a few trophies and exorbitant salary for a few years. I think Man City is as likely as anywhere else in Europe.
Bundesliga for Arsene once he leaves us? http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/it-could-be-germany-calling-as-arsene-wenger-eyes-bundesliga-move-9326448.html
ttg: My monks tell me that there are a couple of American defenders in the NASL called Jamie and Justin Finch. And a couple of Linnets playing in Denmark. I tell them none of that negates you point that there are no decent footballers called Finch.
If UEFA’s sanction on Citeh is actually enforced, surely Sagna is not at all the player they need? 8 of 21 will need to home-grown.
Morning all,
Have a butcher’s at this, it’s Tim Stillman reminiscing of the last day at Highbury:
http://www.arsenal.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=511222
“Reminiscing about”, of course.
Sadly true, Dr F. No offense taken. I don’t suppose you know the whereabouts of such an establishment?? 🙂
Öskar
Mesut Özil. Mesut Özil. Mesut Özil.
What a ball-achingly wonderful display on Sunday. Delightful scenes. Bought back memories of Henry and Bergkamp in their pomp with that swagger that told everyone he knew he was a level above the opposition. And they knew he knew it and knew he was right.
Now the important business is taken care of, been a long while since I had a drink due to work. In between it’s been a fairly gourmet month. Opposition may have been standard grub, but we certainly feasted on them. Just check out that goal of the month compilation on the official site. Tasty scenes.
A cup win. Some serious transfer action. The World Cup. UEFA showing some balls and sticking to their guns with City and PSG.
As the first 3 have some realism to them we actually have quite a bit to look forward to.
UTA
bird puns? phooeee
*spits out feathers*
Esso: Sagna could help Citeh in this way. The loophole in the wage-cap sanction is that it applies to basic wages for the squad for next season compared to last. So Citeh could front load the contract of any incoming player. The player would get a bigger signing-on fee in return for a lower first-year basic wage. Or the club could back load it. The player would get a disproportionate share of their wages in years two and three. Either way, the basic wage for the new player is less than that for the one he replaces for CL games. That would free up more money for existing players who might be due for a new contract. Dzeko, Nasri and Milner are all heading into the last year of their contracts, for example, as perhaps more saliently are the defenders Micah Richards, Kolarov and Demichelis. Lescott is out of contract at the end of June. At the same time, it would help keep the wage bill for the squad below the sanction limit. Sagna could probably get a big bump in his current weekly wage by moving to Citeh and still be cheaper than what the club is paying its other right backs. Being the cup right back (CL, FA., L) and utility back-up defender in the league could give Bac as many games as his body can comfortably handle.
If Sagna’s looking for a ton a week plus, then maybe Citeh isn’t the place to look;
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/european/manchester-city-risk-champions-league-expulsion-if-they-tackle-uefa-over-ffp-punishments-9328548.html
H2H, this looks like it’s going to be a bit of a soap opera. Although they should simply suck it up and play ball, the ego of the AbooDabby’s is now offended and they are going to give us all some late season entertainment.
Lars
Thanks for the link @ 144!
That was a really pleasant reading.
H2H
Why would Bac turn down an alleged 75k a week when he is only looking for a ton?
If what you are saying is true , he is not setting his sights very high at all, is he 😆
Bath.
I hope they appeal and piss off UEFA who decide that the only fitting punishment is a full out nuclear strike………
Unfortunatly taking out Salford as colateral damage.
A win/win situation. 🙂
G’town.
That’s an extra 1.3mill a year.
Sights seem pretty high to me. 😉
Garry Monk appointed at Swansea. Good appointment in my opinion. Especially since they didn’t appoint Mark Hughes or anyone of his ilk. Swansea seems to be a well-run club.
Not that I really know whether Garry Monk is of Mark Hughes’ ilk, I should add. I just like the idea of appointing somebody who hasn’t been around the track with 17 or 18 different clubs.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/10814502/Arsenal-make-approach-to-Bayern-Munich-for-transfer-of-Javi-Martinez.html
The Telegraph seems confident that we are after Martinez. Now, that is what I call a perfect signing.
For all those who were wondering who was going to score against us for Fulham next season.
http://www.caughtoffside.com/2014/05/07/fulham-to-offer-deal-to-out-of-contract-arsenal-forward/?
Whoops!! I forgot they were relegated. But it could be a better chance for Nicky B. to shine his stuff!!
And maybe he’ll score against us in the League Cup anyway!!!
bt8b
He is to replace the michael jackson statue?
Save the singing of Jenks and the Ox this really isn’t all that bad.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2054732-arsenal-players-fa-cup-song-rendition-is-quite-bad?
Not that I would watch it more than once of course. 😉
Bath. It’s a good thing they moved the Michael Jackson statue or there is a good chance Bendtner would have been humping it at 4am. 😉
He’d never have caught it. 😉
That’s Bad 😉
Heh @ 164 & 165
cracking up here
Uply. Just to give you a visual idea of the moves to which Bendtner aspires. 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsUXAEzaC3Q
Various hehs.
faTGSTEL in the Chumpionship?
Oh how the mighty (in his own mind) have fallen.
Bt8b. Thanks for that….sadly the only resemblance NB has is purely in the title.
Uply, if you are going to make such puns you can just Beat It 😉
uply, that was just a thriller. nb, though, he’s ben there, done that.
Michael jackson statue?
I always thought it was Nani.
Heh @ Bad video, Wesley Snipes looking coolioooooo.
Bendtner signing for Fulham as easy as ABC?
He’s out of my life, bt8b 😉
Looks like the Norwich game’s gonna be a dead rubber too.
It’s interesting to read the views of many of the better broadsheet journalists and Martin Samuel who are basically anti- FFP. Their arguments vary from objections that the current leading sides are being protectionist to the feeling that nobody will ever break into the elite without a cash injection from new owners.
We all know the arguments which we are generally more sympathetic to which relate to financially ‘ doped’ clubs. For me the argument comes down to what is good for football. I resent the fact that by and large league standings correlate almost exactly with the wage bill. And I support a big club with a deep financial footprint. I think to a large extent the excessive money has caused wage inflation and thereby price inflation for supporters which is taking the live game away from its roots. I sometimes think my relative dissatisfaction with our performance in the transfer market is aggravated by the fact that I shell out over £ 3 grand preseason on two season tickets. That’s an immense amount of money which Mrs TTG doesn’t resent as far as I know but one that I find increasingly hard to justify. So I think there is a realistic link between financial doping and supporter detriment. Gone are the days when an ordinary dad can takes his boys to home games every fortnight.
I am comfortable with the sustainable model argument which Arsenal espouse and it is good that the U word has not been mentioned around the Grove as an alternative to Kroenke . In a sense turning to Usmanov would simply be a recognition that we have fallen into line with all the other doped clubs. But if in twenty years time we have not won another Premier League things will become increasingly fraught. The Arsenal fan population is split between those who are believers in Wenger , although that belief varies from those who believe he is deified to those of us who believe we need to careful what we wish for , to those who believe with increasing ferocity that he is holding the club back. I think the vast majority in this bar are supportive of him although as I have said from time to time I think we are unlikely to win the League or the Cup with big ears with him in charge. That doesn’t mean he has not done an incredible job which many have taken far too much for granted.
A fanbase who are relatively apathetic about fourth place and a probable FA Cup win illustrates the problem that we have. If FFP bites as it threatens to on the likes of Citeh and PSG we may be very well placed indeed in a few years time. But I can’t believe that the large clubs in Europe with all the best players won’t be able to use leverage on UEFA to tone down their ultimate punishments. If that happens there will come a very sad time when the pressure from supporters is so great that a much less desirable model which makes us indistinguishable from Chelsea , Citeh and a new generation of financially coped upstarts may come to pass. How sad would that be?
Agree with just about everything TTG says above. The massive inflows of cash from TV revenues, Sugar Daddies and squeezing fans until the pips squeak have flowed straight out the other end into players wallets. Whilst one can hardly blame them (and their Mr Ten Per Cents) for making hay whilst the sun shines it still leaves a foul taste in my mouth. Improvements to infra structure, which I will grudgingly admit have taken place, have not been the priority, only in foresighted clubs like ours; witness the shitholes that clubs like Everton play in.
Football is too expensive full stop.
Football sold it;s soul years ago.
It was doomed the moment a corperate sponsers name was blazed across a football shirt. The rest has just been a natural evolution of greed in which, and let’s not kid ourselves here, our beloved club has played a major role in.
We were one of the rebel clubs that forced the breakaway from the football league, to gain a larger slice of the growing pie. The money in the game grew and where there’s big money to be made, big money will come in to get it. The likes of the Oliegarchs were again just the next step in an ever growing bubble that will, inevitably have to burst in the future, whether it be through FFP or too many clubs going bust or, most likely, the average fan being priced out and attendances dropping. The TV money is enormous at the moment, but take the fans out of the stadia and the tv companies won’t be so eager for the “product”.
We made our own bed here and now the Abby Dabby Doobies are coming for a sleepover, stealing our blankets and leaving with our cups.
3-0 for Citeh.
That’s when it get’s dangerous, they better be careful now…….. Oh.
Aw nevermind, Toure’s made it 4, that was some goal.
Although I’d like to agree with everything TTG and Esso have said, I do quibble with Esso’s assertion that all the benefit of increased revenues have flowed to players and their legal men and women.
Top-flight professional sports is, with very few exceptions, a billionaire’s game now. The man or woman who has the wherewithal to write multi-million (currency) checks is making multiples of that amount for his or her personal wealth.
I don’t begrudge an athlete getting every (unit of currency) he can. It amazes me that we still fall for the “Wizard of Oz” trick and pay no attention to the man “behind the curtain” (unfortunately, no way to work in a “man in the mirror” reference) who is making the “real” money from sports teams.
On a different point, here’s hoping for victory at Wembley. I know it’s moot, but, regardess of the outcome, I still think this should be Wenger’s last season at the helm.
BMBD
Yaya Toure 4-0. Wish he played for us.
Lonestar.
You’re thinking of the US sports model.
It’s literaly a different ball game in the Football world.
H2H – I’d still happily take English football’s issues now over the ones it had in the 70s and 80s to be honest.
H2H – I don’t think I am. Show me a poor owner in the Prem, or Bundesliga, or Serie A.
Rich people didn’t get rich (and don’t remain rich) by paying their employees more than they make themselves.
BMBD
I can’t believe that no-one here has offered their sympathy to the Mickeys who haven’t even managed the consolation of being the first team to score 100 goals this season. Oh, perhaps I can.
COYG
Uply subtly refreshes the punfest … like a smooth criminal.
Ttg –
says just about everything I thought when reading about FFP today –
plus what Esso says about the cost of football now.
The journalists ttg refers to say, basically, why shouldn’t a sugar daddie inject money into a club if they so desire. If that injection is intended to elevate said club to the level of other ‘elite’ clubs, I would tend to agree.
Ultimately, it would be tremendously exciting if the Premier League consisted of 20 clubs who all had an equal chance of winning the title.
The trouble is, if that investment continues to the levels of Man City and PSG, it eventually destroys genuine competition and the League will die of inevitability and boredom.
An ‘evening up’ of the clubs would, in the long run, improve the game, while replacing the current elite with an even smaller group of untouchables will kill it.
Trev knows 😉
‘holic. Dzeko AND Toure in your FFL team?? It must feel almost as good as landing the ‘holic pound. Wise use of your millions, maestro. 😉
It was the TV money that started the inflation of player wages and transfers. Mega-billionaire sugar daddies only gave it a further puff.
Unless of course you want to argue that it was the abolition of the maximum wage in the 1960s that started the rot. Or the introduction of professionalism in 1885.
Perhaps we should go back to the 1885 rule that said the only players who could be paid had either to have been born or had lived for two years within a six-mile radius of the ground.
TGSTEL to the Championship? I think not. And what has the Championship done to deserve that.
Frimpong released by Barnsley. What a top top star.
All we have to do is win the Premiership, FA and CL Cups next season with our sustainable model and the oily mafia cartels will get pi$$ed off and sell up. Then we can have proper competition again and Arsenal winning everything every year for the foreseeable future. One exceptional year and the job is done.
Simple.
Öskar
Well, at least this is a glimmer of hope that the game isn’t plunged entirely in the dark ages.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2622683/History-making-manageress-Helena-Costa-dubbed-Jose-Mourinho-petticoat-Chelsea-boss-time-Benfica.html
Hey everyone, I’m hearing Bacs is heading to Turkey? Better than City if true. Could not stand another body heading across to the Citizens…
Btw, I came across this video of Podolski, Arteta and Mertesacker responding to Twitter trolls and thought I’d share 😀
http://soccer.si.com/2014/05/07/arsenal-mertesacker-podolski-arteta-tweets/
Threads a pass between defenders…
Scores?
It was so easy, even someone in hospital could have scored that, oh wait ……
Well in, Lurky. Impressive late run only taking an hour and ten minutes to latch onto ecg’s perfectly weighted pass.
GOOOAAAALLLLL!
Wait, what?
Anyhoo, I noticed on twitter that there’s a storm in teacup brewing over RedAction’s decision to not make a banner for Arsene Wenger for the FA Cup final. It seems they don’t want to get into trouble with the anti-Arsene faction of our fan support…
Do you lads and ladies have any opinions on that?
@Lonestar Gooner
People can say what they like about Stan, but he is not taking and has not taken revenue out of Arsenal. The expenses he charges, all faithfully reported in the accounts produced as a matter of law by a limited company in this country, are entirely reasonable and in line with the turnover of the said company. Therefore his ownership is not making him rich per se, until he sells his investment, whereby he will reap the rewards of the capital appreciation of the shares involved. That may or may not be the case in the future.
Note – The Glazers do extract money from Yanited, vast amounts of it. Some to pay the interest charges accrued inn their purchase of the club, but also a much smaller element which they just trouser.
Not what sure what your point is. If its to say that owners (not players and their agents) are extracting large fortunes from football in this country, I don’t think that’s true. They may be taking some but a drop in the ocean compared to players and their parasitic agents.
Lurky – Nice in, although I think even Giroud could have beaten you to the ball! Btw, hope you are healing quicker than an Arsenal midfielder.
COR – tape delay tellie coverage?!?!
@206: yeah, the stream for this bar is quite slow 😉
Esso nails it.
Nice comments indeed Esso.
I think your comments are spot on.
fantastic back drink
pun fun and finance
brilliant
.
big fat vat
of
fire water
on the bar
for all
.
happy slurping
Just two more weeks. 😆
Great post from TTG.
Regarding FFP, I think the “anti” lobby are being disingenuous. It’s all very well saying that massive cash transfusions will allow new entrants to break into the top four, but what happens when the top four is full of clubs who are powered by oil money?
What hope will a non-doped club ever have of breaking in then?
We are already at a stage where the only way City won’t win the league every season is if they cock up. Can anyone seriously argue that over the medium to long term having a handful of clubs with unlimited financial resources makes the game MORE competitive? I think that’s a laughable notion. You’ll get an immediate frisson from replacing the likes of us with the likes of City, but then the situation will ossify and you’ll end up with an elite group even more firmly entrenched than at present: an Animal Farm scenario, if you will.
What City have done (to take but one example) is terrible for the game. It has lead to runaway wage inflation (without the oil clubs would we be pondering whether to pay a 32 year old right back 100k a week? I think not), spiraling transfer fees and terrible exploitations of the loan system with a view to leveraging all that cash as far as possible. City are STILL paying 100k a week of Adebayor’s wages. That just cannot be right in any sane universe.
Meanwhile, City and Chelsea hoover up players with the clear intention of keeping them out of the hands of their rivals (will Lukaku ever have a career at the bus stop?), dump them on the bench for a few seasons/send them out on loan, and then dispose of them once they’re in sufficiently poor form. I want to see the best players out on the pitch: not sat on the bench earning 150k a week for doing nowt.
Jack Walker’s Blackburn are often cited as a “pro” example for the type of quick cash enemas that we’re discussing, but that overlooks the fact that (a) Walker was a fan from boyhood; (b) he didn’t spend a fraction of what the modern financial dopers have spent, even allowing for inflation; and (c) his activities didn’t disrupt the market in a dangerous manner. He spent about £30m, I’d guess, over a period of three or four years. Then he pulled the drawbridge up. He won the league with a team comprised of bargain signings and the odd star. He wasn’t stacking £25m players on his bench. He wasn’t paying two to three times the going rate in wages. He won the title once, and then the spending stopped. He represented nowhere near the same level of threat to the game.
FFP may not work. If it doesn’t, I seriously fear for the future of football, unless someone comes up with a workable alternative. The game does not benefit from Radamael Falcao plying his trade in front of 10,000 season ticket holders and outside the Champs League. It doesn’t benefit from higher player wages. It doesn’t benefit from reduced competition. And it certainly doesn’t benefit from oligarchs and fascist dictatorships having their finger in the pie: and no, not all rich people are “as bad as one another”.
Rant over.
That’s what I would have written if my English was as good as yours N7! Thank you and have one on me 🙂
Lonestar.
Esso’s got it bang on about Stan, and there are not many chairmen that take millions out of cubs, yes they are all rich, but they were rich before they got into football, some have invested vast fortunes in their teams, some have walked away after losing millions, check out Leeds. Portsmouth and Bradford, just to name a few to see where it can alll go horibly wrong.
The two “richest” clubs in the PL, the chavs and citeh, has posted losses of millions over the last few seasons.
The US sports model is different, with no chance of relegation, shared tv revenue and salary caps, the owners make out like bandits, even if their team has a disasterous season. Isn’t it true that the lower you finish in the NBA the sooner you can get your draft pick, ie last place get’s first pick, etc? Would never happen in football.
N7 nailed it too.
FFP has to work for the sake of football.
as has H2H
spot on gents
FFPHTW
need
motivate
meself
.
can’t
.
new
depressive midfielder
.
ARSENE?
.
i have two feet
and
they both
get on
apart from
the other one
but
we
dont talk about them
.
*glum*
Cheers Bath.
Let’s not forget that FFP is not only to stop Oil money taking over the game, it’s also there to stop clubs over reaching and jeopardising their futures, again see Leeds, Portsmouth, Bradford.
Also to stop clubs becoming rich mans disposible play things like Anzhi Makhachkala, remember tem?
http://provenquality.com/dramatic-rise-drastic-fall-anzhi-makhachkala/
Fair points H2H and Esso, not enough time today to give a proper rebuttal. But although your examples may indeed be the exceptions that prove the rule, I still don’t quite buy (pardon) the notion that professional football is the only for-profit activity where the owners / shareholders make less money on the whole than the workers employed by said for-profit activity.
There are many methods to calculate “earnings” for owners of capital. Folks who are paid for their labor, including “overpaid” athletes generally have only one measure for comparison, salary.
I guess my point is that every team owner loves it when fans and supporters discuss or complain about player compensation. This is likely because the more time we focus on player compensation, the less time we contemplate the “real” wealth behind the sport.
BMBD
Cheers Lonestar.
I’ll just finish off by saying that player power has never been stronger then it is now. Salaries are through the roof, but that;s just the tip of the iceberg. Check out what players like Beckham, Messi and Ronaldo (granted that these are the very top of the range) pull n in sponsership and endorcements.
Becks made so much he bought his own franchise ffs.
Got my Cup Final Screening Ticket, going with 2 gooner mates from secondary school/6th form college, now it all seems more real than ever haha 🙂
Nice one Wind.
I’m still pondering where to watch, really wanted to hop over to London, but unlike Mr Jagger, time is not on my side. Will probably head to Amsterdam, which will end up costing more then a trip to Blighty. 🙂
Back-drunk.
FFP: Any large penalties handed out will mostly likely give the doped clubs an added incentive to get the lawyers and accountants involved with finding loopholes and work-arounds that enable them to stay within the rules while maintaining their advantage (or duping the FFP administrators, which probably won’t be too difficult).
I’m not optimistic. The only thing that will make a difference is if punters start voting with their feet, i.e. mass boycotts, but for every fan who refuses to renew their season ticket, there will be 25 in the queue to take their place.
Professional football today is only one symptom of a financial system that is rotten to the core, but I guess that’s a whole other ball-game.
Totally off topic,
just watched few video compilations about Ronaldinho out of boredom, and what a player he was at his pomp. Shame that he was unable to maintain required discipline to perform on top level much longer than he did.
From what I have seen on the footage taken from last few years he is in Brazil, he still has incredible feet, talent like that is really very rare to find.
Ronaldinho was among the very best players I’ve ever had the privilege to see in the flesh.
God only knows what he might have achieved in the game if his levels of focus and commitment had matched those of his talent – he was arguably the most naturally gifted player of his generation.
Very good posts by Esso and N7.
While I had, and to a certain extent have ,reservations about Stan as the owner these are based on the fact that Arsenal are a possession not an obsession like they are to us. But although he said that he saw no objection to the Glazers saddling United with debt he has declined to take a dividend and has not borrowed against the club,not that he has any obvious need to. One more bad season at Old Trafford and the excrement will hit the fan at a great rate and the whole issue of ownership will come into focus although in this regard football clubs can’t expect to be any different to other companies where highly leveraged deals are common.
N7 explains Jack Walker very well. He was just a fan who had made a lot of money and decided to give it to his local club and he won the league(even with Tim Sherwood in the side). The amounts seemed astronomical then but seem almost derisory now.
I agree with N7 that clubs can’t be allowed to profit in a way that distorts normal competition . Losing £100 million a year wouldn’t be countenanced (or allowed) in any other business but Citeh and Chavski cheat to get around laws by fabricating deals that make no commercial sense or converting (massive) debt to equity. If FFP can prevent this -and it will be decided by tricky lawyers in the courts-it will prove a watershed in the development of a game, which may, if it continues on its current path, end up destroying its credibility and interest
Cheers everyone for comments on a great discussion.
Have a brilliant day at the screening Wind. Was thinking of coming myself with the little ‘un, however he’s been selected for a cricket match in the morning, which he really wants to play in, so its a non starter for us now. Will be still be a brilliant day for all Gooners worldwide. I’m fucking sure of that!
and speaking of vids, this one is hell of a good one 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulMTSJufVtw
Cheers, TTG and others.
One point I forgot to mention is that it’s the existence of the Chavs and Manc oil brigade, rather than the existence of FFP, that prevents the possibility of another Walker style scenario almost entirely. There probably isn’t a businessman in the UK who could afford to outspend those two clubs, even if they wanted to bankrupt themselves. The idea, as promoted by Martin Samuel, that FFP will stop a Jack Walker figure from realising a boyhood dream is either comical in its naivety or shocking in its duplicity, depending on how you view Samuel.
I find it really quite startling how little the press seem to understand why FFP is important. I listened to Sunday Supplement the other week and the hacks were incredulous – “what’s the point, it’s not as if City are going to run out of money”. Perhaps not, you mugs, but the rest of football might.
We’re still only three years on from one of the largest clubs in the land, Liverpool, coming within 24 hours of administration. That should have been a massive wake up call for all those involved in the game, but it barely even seemed to register.
Six years ago, Pompey won the FA Cup on a wave of spending and were cheered to the rafters for doing so. Now they’re a mid table League Two outfit, just about. Do the press care? Nah – they’re looking elsewhere, at Man City’s fantastic squad and their shiny new facilities, built to skirt FFP.
There appears to be a pathological need within English football to pretend that what Chelsea and City have done is OK. As if to state otherwise would be to undermine the fantasy that this is The Best League in the World. “Teams have always spent money”. “Utd and Arsenal bought their success too”. What utter nonsense. If you generally can’t see the difference between what we and the Red Mancs did, and what the oil mob are now doing, and the comparative effects these actions have had, and will have, on the game then give me 15 minutes, a bit of paper and a pack of crayons and I will draw you a diagram.
Will stop there, because I’m off again. This stuff makes me so angry. I love Arsenal, but I also love football, and football is fucked (or at least top level football) unless this mess gets sorted out.
Great post N7, truly great post.
Eandy. Loved that vid of TR7.
I could watch him all day.
And … er, … not in the creepy, stalking, ick way.
Yep, that totally came out wrong.
Whilst I don’t want to provoke N7, I feel I might benefit from a diagram.
I agree with almost everything he’s said. I support FFP and I would be delighted to see it succeed. I even understand why the current process with negotiated/agreed punishments is being gone through rather than the more draconian and popular “ban ’em from the CL for a few (tens of) years and see how they like it”. I certainly don’t subscribe to the “UEFA haven’t banned anyone, the clubs have agreed their penalties, for heaven’s sake, they aren’t serious” argument.
Despite this, I disagree on a couple of points:
Firstly, I don’t believe that the sheiks are building “shiny new facilities” to skirt FFP. My feeling is that they are building those facilities to win over the locals and to increase their popularity. If the press are impressed too and start trumpeting about the club really helping the local community, generating more widespread support for their ownership, so much the better. If, further, it helps with FFP calculations then that’s a bonus.
Secondly, while I don’t think that Arsenal in particular, and Manchester United have bought their success, I can’t rid myself of the worry that we are simply complaining about “new money” coming in. I don’t think that’s what bothers me but I’d have a hard time persuading anyone how to distinguish between my opinion and good old-fashioned anti-new money snobbery. A diagram would probably help me in the event I do have to justify my opinions.
Pangloss
That’s all fair enough.
A short version of the diagram….
(i) we spent a fraction of what the oil clubs spent.
(ii) while our spending probably contributed to wage inflation to some extent, it didn’t send the entire market through the roof in a very short space of time the way the oil clubs’ expenditure has.
(iii) with some exceptions, the money we spent was money we had earned the right to spend. We spent what we made, through success on the pitch, smart business practice and the commitment of our fan base.
(iv) closely related to (iii), if another club wanted to follow in our footsteps, it was possible for them to do so. Clever management, smart recruitment policy, prudent investment. No club can follow City unless they somehow locate someone richer than the Sheikh and convince him to open his chequebook, and that has nothing to do with football, that’s just a lottery.
(v) we didn’t use our money to take players off the market and park them permanently on the bench to keep them out of the hands of our rivals, or deploy any of the numerous other similar tricks currently being put into practice by the oil clubs to fully leverage their wealth.
I could go on… and on… and on.
We have been offered to choice to join Chelsea and City’s side of the street, via Usmanov. We, as fans have loudly given the raspberry to that notion. We have the moral authority to call bullshit on oil cash – don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
This isn’t about new money vs old. Comparing us to City is like saying no one can criticise Ben Johnson for doping because other sprinters were taking vitamins.
I can draw you a straight line between the oil money and the degradation of the game, and the potential ruination of numerous football clubs via dangerously rapid inflation. As with steroids, the danger is not just limited to the initial user: it’s in the competitors forced to take similar risks to stay in the game.
I am up for anything that sorts this mess out, even if it’s not in the immediate interests of Arsenal. This isn’t a partisan issue, and the mugs who tell us we’re “just jealous” only demonstrate their own inability to think beyond the most basic tribal bullshit.
This is mildly amusing. It’s a Paddy Power promo but still, it proves our lot have a sense of humour… apologies if already posted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP7k1QkkhZk&feature=youtu.be
‘Tours de force’ there N7.
Agree 100%.
Nothing to add. Wish I could have summarised it so coherently.
FFPHTW
Thanks N7,
My worry is that our sustainable financial model rests on foundations that were built by new money 80 or 90 years ago.
I don’t know anything about the financial climate of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, but I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if it turned out that Sir Henry Norris and the Hill-Wood family distorted competition as badly when they started to invest in Arsenal as the Emiratis and Abramovitches have more recently.
It’s true that we can take pride in having built upon any leg-up we may have received more than a couple of generations ago, and I would be utterly amazed if it turned out that the Abramovitch family were interested in investing in Chelsea for the seriously long term. On the other hand, I suspect that is exactly what the UAE royal family have in mind.
Enough discussion of FFP, however, we have a garden to build.
Huge apologies to all. Seems to be all I do these days. Planned to post tonight but ended up visiting someone who was hospitalised today.
Depending on how they are tomorrow I will put something together then.
Thanks for your patience.
I agree 100% with all of what N7 has said regarding what City et al have done to the game. At the risk of sounding like a broken record I would also add that the loan system is a joke and has been severely abused by both Chelsea and Man City. We have the high-profile case of Curtois at Atletico, a player who has been under contract with Chelsea for, I think, three years yet has barely set foot in London during that time and isn’t likely to either for a while longer unless Cech decides to call time on his Chelsea career. They also signed a player at some Portugese club this season but he is still at that club on loan with, as I understand it, no expiration date for the loan set – Chelsea have basically made sure no one else can buy him while they wait and see if he’ll be good enough, just like with Curtois. You could argue that they are doing the same with Lukaku and that is just ridiculous.
Once again, a squad limit of 25 (plus unlimited under 21’s) and if you have 25 players under contract you’ll have to sell one before buying which would immediately make the Chelsea loan abuse impossible. If you think one player doesn’t cut it but he doesn’t want to be sold then by all means ban him from the team and/or the training ground but he still counts towards your quota. That would make it impossible to stockpile players and wages would proably take a massive tumble as the rich clubs would be far less inclined to give average players massive wages as they have to be able to sell them if they don’t work out. It would also be far, far easier to implement and enforce than FFP.
Holic, you know what you always say about apologies.
Best wishes for the hospitalised.
No need to apologise on here, Guvna.
Good suggestion Lars. Something like that has got to happen or the game is doomed. The Chavs and to a lesser extent Oilers have exploited the loan system horrendously and probably ruined several careers in the process.
Thank gents. Strange day all round.
Lars – I basically agree with both you and N7.
BUT
I think there’s a risk that you both exaggerate a little. Have a look at your drink @ 237 above. You start by saying that “City et al” are doing to the game, and continue by complaining that Chelsea and Man City have both abused the loan system. You then present examples of how Chelsea have behaved towards loanees. In your last paragraph you present a suggestion which “would immediately make the Chelsea loan abuse impossible”.
I didn’t know some of the stuff you mention about Chelsea, and I agree with you entirely. My own ponderings on how to improve matters haven’t gone beyond thinking about banning loans between Premiership clubs; I hadn’t realised that clubs kept players abroad which would blow my idea out of the water.
You don’t provide any evidence to back up your assertion that Man City are abusing the system. A neutral reading your post might conclude that you had no basis for disliking City (someone who inclined towards City might even decide that you were just jealous of their finances). If it turns out that any of your facts is wrong, perhaps the guy you remember them buying at a Portuguese club is actually at a lower-league French club, or that an expiration date for the loan has been agreed, then your whole argument will be polluted by one irrelevant detail.
I repeat, I agree that Chelsea, in particular, and Man City are getting undue and excessive financial support, and that it’s not good for the future of the game. I think we need to be incredibly careful how we express our distaste and must take care that we provide the right amount of evidence to justify it.
That’s enough nonsense from me, except to say…
‘Holic – no need to apologise. On any sensible scale, its far more important for you to support your friend in hospital – and their friends who aren’t – than for you to pander to the desire of a load of virtual drunken deadbeats for their fix of Arsenalia.
COYG
Night all
Superbly constructed argument N7. I share your rage at how little the top football journalists ‘ get’ what is causing the problems in football.
Pangloss is undoubtedly right that Sir Henry Norris was a wide boy and possibly Herbert Chapman was the Fergie of his day but how far do you go back? Arguably we never earned our promotion to Division One but after a time you have to move on. At least we have proved we belong there.
Now I i will move on to one of the most irrelevant games of all time the match at Norwich.my suggested team is as follows but I suspect Arsene won’t go this far
Szczesny
Jenkinson
Vermaelen
Hayden
Gibbs
Kallstrom
Flamini
Rosicky
Eisfeld
Wilshere
Sanogo
Subs
Viviano, Bellerin, Monreal, Ajayi, Zelalem, Akpom, Toral
Apologies to all those making the journey but there is no need to risk injuries or red cards and with our record we could get both. And I think we might win!
Holic, sincerely hope all turns out well at the hospital.
Might be fortuitous that I did that early preview for you, way back @86. 😉
Some great posts all round above, esso, ttg, N7 and even good old Pangloss. 😉
I decided just now to follow up a music track I heard at lunch time today, and I have to say it rather hit me right between the eyes. Makes you think we are quite lucky to be able to spend so much time debating and worrying about the future of football. If anyone’s interested –
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cRZtiaEqOsc
Those are the things in this world that should really never be allowed to happen.
The name for my new band:
Virtual drunken deadbeats.
Brilliant. 😎
Pangloss, I gave examples using Chelsea but City have Bellamy and Adebayor in their recent-ish past as examples of high-profile loan players. It may also be worth noting that I do not exempt ourselves from this, we’ve done it ourselves to a certain extent (what if we had sold Henri Lansbury at an earlier stage, for example? Would he have developed more during those crucial years around 20? We can’t know for sure but I doubt it was better for him to play the odd reserve game for us and go on three-month loan spells than to have a proper squad place at another team) and I do not exempt ourselves from criticism here.
And no, I don’t particularly dislike City as a club. On the contrary they have a few players I really like (mainly Toure, Kompany and Silva who when on top of their game are magnificent to watch and none of them are divers or dirty players etc) but like N7 I really don’t want a situation where they can just outspend everyone else and, so to speak, not play by the same rules as others.
Got to dash to a meeting now, but I hope that cleared things up a bit.
Morning all,
Feelgood @245 – 🙂
Having an hour to kill as the first patient of the day has failed to turn up, I see that Helena Costa has been appointed manager – or should that be manageress ? – of French Ligue 2 club, Clermont Foot.
Clermont Foot sounds suspiciously like a dodgy French translation of our own erstwhile politician and tinned dog food advertiser, Clement Freud, or some sort of condition contracted by one of ‘cba’s’ cows.
It’s great though that a woman has been given a chance to prove her ability in such a male dominated sport as football. As AW said, the only consideration should be competence, not gender.
So, here’s to you, Helena Costa. If nothing else, the half time coffee should be fantastic ! 😉
Pangloss I appreciate it that you wish for some debate in the matter however the arguments and facts stated by N7, Esso, H2H, TTG, Lars resonate with me. Football is doomed if the current situation is allowed to continue.
Your 242 unfortunately I feel is full of holes – CFC and MCFC have continued to plough over FFP and common-sense. It’s a fact they hoard, absurdly buy and loan players, and have splinter-ridden Internationals playing golf on ridiculous weekly wages to distort the competition. I find it even more odd that you actually state that there is no evidence that MCFC are abusing the system given the plethora of evidence to the contrary over the last few years.
A year’s ban as advocated by Arsene suits me, and I admire his phrasing of “the current punishments are to complicated” – heh.
To Lurky – get well partner ‘Holic, I’m looking forward to seeing you back at the bar. Mr ‘H, as above there’s no need to apologise there are many things more important.
I think it was during a discussion I was having with tabs a few months back that someone said they weren’t “just being contrarian”. I took that as a description of many of my “contributions” and fear I may have posted some more contrarian drinks yesterday evening.
I don’t think I said anywhere that I had any sympathy for Chel$ki or Manciti, or that I doubted that they were, or had recently been, manipulating the system. I attempted to point out that some of the postings made by N7 and Lars, while claiming to be about both clubs were actually only about Chel$ki.
Lars has since referred to some of Manciti’s past transgressions, for which I thank him. I really didn’t intend to “state that there is no evidence that MCFC are abusing the system”, and if I did then I apologise and withdraw the statement.
My point yesterday evening was that if you make many points in support of an argument, or present a great deal of evidence, and one of you points is incorrect, or your pieces of evidence turns out to be wrong, then that spreads to all your other points, and your entire argument is wekened. Similarly if you/we say that two clubs are guilty of something and then only demonstrate that one of them is, there is a risk that people will decide that the second club is innocent and we are criticising them for some other reason.
We have good cause to dislike the way these two clubs have behaved in the past, let’s take care not undermine our case by presenting faulty arguments.
That’s it. I’ve written far too much on this subject already. I won’t say any more about it except to answer specific and targetted questions.
COYG
I won’t touch Greg Dyke’s rather bizarre ideas which don’t strike me initially as a work of genius.
I did find Wenger’s recent summing- up of the season as similarly bizarre. He came to the conclusion that Liverpool or Citeh deserved it because if their attacking potential but admitted that we lost it because we didn’t score enough goals.
Whose fault is that?
Lots of us on here didn’t agree that we were fight to go into the season back in September with Sanogo ( who was injured) and the clown that is Bendtner as our striking options. But at least we had Theo ( this assumes Poldi is not a central striking option which I think is fair). Come January there was huge concern that Giroud was getting burnt out, Sanogo had been out all season( as had Poldi) and then in December Ramsey who had filled in with a number of goals was injured and very early in January, Theo was ruled out for the season. So we were even more dependent on a talented striker without any pace and needing players who were now injured to run off him.
Yet Wenger did nothing, probably because he couldn’t do a decent deal although the last few hours of the window were studded with information about last gasp bids for Cisse, Kalou, Vucinic , Draxler and others. That, however you look at it is poor management and frankly his inaction is inexplicable. We were very lucky that Giroud had stayed fit even if his form dipped. We could have been in an incredibly vulnerable situation. So Im afraid our greatest deficiency has to be laid squarely at Wenger’s door .
Leaving aside our tactical deficiencies against the big clubs and our mental collapses in big away games we went into the season with an inadequate striking resource. He has to sort this now but the early noises are not encouraging. World class strikers aren’t cheap or easy to acquire but that’s why you get paid £ 7-8 million a year. So in any analysis of what went well and what didn’t the elephant in the room is a world class striker. Except he’s not in the room, he’s in Naples or Liverpool or Porto or Germany. But he wasn’t here when we needed him
@TTG
I know this will sound daft, but I don’t think we necessarily need a world class striker.
Giroud is going to end the season with a healthy goal tally, and has proved himself extremely effective against all but the top 4 or 5 clubs. He’s a potent striker when playing against teams who camp in their own half, as many do at the Emirates.
Where he’s not so effective is in the big games, where we need someone capable of getting in behind. With the best will in the world, that’s never going to be Ollie.
I would be perfectly happy if we were to spend £10m, add Loic Remy to the squad (a player with pace who will probably get 20+ goals over the course of a season) and move on. Spend the cash we save elsewhere, on a Draxler or a really top notch defensive midfielder.
Giroud has shown me enough this term that I hope he stays involved. So we’re looking for a striker to play with him, maybe in a rotation.
What I don’t want us to do is spend £30mish on a striker who isn’t top class – say, Jackson Martinez. That would seem to me to represent the worst of all worlds.
Obviously, I’d like Benzema. But if we can’t find a Benzema, or equivalent, then I’d be happy with Remy – I think he’d do a job for us and it would avoid a scenario where we have to play cat and mouse all summer looking for a top class forward, because those are far harder to come by.
Realistically, does anyone seriously see Arsenal going out and spending £80m this summer? With the best will in the world, I don’t. I’d be delighted if we did, but utterly stunned.
I think we should look for value where we can find it, as we have a few gaps we need to plug. I would be amazed and delighted if we signed more than one player costing £25m+ this summer.
Just an alternative view.
Also cautious about going down the road of “only world class will do”.
Hand on heart, if you offered me Schneiderlin, Remy and Aurier right now, I’d take them and consider that a decent summer. All the major gaps filled with players who will compliment what we already have.
Obviously, I’d love us to end the summer with Reus, Falcao and Coleman, but – let’s face it – that isn’t going to happen, even in our wildest dreams.
Maybe we could get (Brian) Ruis, the original Falcao and Chris Coleman?
Heh @ zico.
Good use of a war chest, I’d say.
A pundit(former Premier league-player) from the swedish television talked yesterday about a meeting with one of the people responsible for Arsenals transfers a few weeks ago. Originally he wanted to ask him to be in one of their programs, but he had to say no because he was going on a trip and let it slip that they had been working on a couple of big signings for the last few months. No names, just confirmation that they’re working on atleast three big names.
Smokescreen or the truth?
Silly Season has already begun.
inverted commas
is it
“trev”
is that what it’s come to
.
“cba”
is
it ?
“cba”
.
why i oughtta !
.
after all
we’ve been “through”
.
thats it
i.m changing
the name
of the newest calf
.
how could you
.
*calls new calf stout*
.
so there
.
tendon boy !
In light of the discussions about our failure to get a striker to complement Giroud, Man City’s ability to draw upon the talents of Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko, not to mention Negredo and Jovetic (who contributed significantly but in bit parts in comparison) pushed them over the line this season. I know we don’t have the money they do but we should be able to draw upon a better set of backups than Sanogo, Bendtner and company.
**Studiously avoids the spat between cab and Trev***
Sorry that would be c b a without the spaces if my spellchecker didn’t get in the way. Don’t want to have a calf named after me, doncha know. 😉
wynonie harris
will
soothe
my
jangled nerves
.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxKqSjssSmc
.
(wasn’t me)
merry christmas bt8
.
next lamb
.
spray painted
.
bt8
.
thusly
.
*joy to the world*
*the angels etceterad*
Don’t know whether to bleat or to baa. 🙂
Nonsense, ‘Holic.
You should apologize. I should apologize. We should all apologize, all the time; for everything. I, under the Management’s expert guidance, have become extremely proficient at apologizing, to wit:
I’m sorry.
BMBD (sorry)
sorry
now
theres a word
heard of it “trev”
.
*flounces off wolfie style*
.
if you could see me
you’d understand
flouncing not an option
.
*flounces off regardless*
.
(for flounce – read trundle)
or
indeed
saunter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTtbRY5CuCE
N7G: When you say Giroud is a proven striker against all but the top four or five clubs, I wonder if that is a reflection of the effectiveness of the team as a whole against top four rivals as much as of Giroud’s abilities. If you stuck any of the big names being bandied about as transfer targets up front on their own with little service, they also might not look worth anything like the money being asked for them.
To my mind, you are spot on in suggesting that we need complements rather than a replacement for Ollie G, and greater ability to get behind opposition defenses.
alan partridge
.
yup
.
thats for my
diddleviddledee
player
.
sheepskin carcoat anyone ?
Ned: on that note it is worth noting that Luis Suarez’ total goals tally in six games against Chelsea, Man City and us is a big fat whopping zero.
We should hold onto HFB and find a complementary/alternative. I’m with N7, sign Remy – proven goalscorer with pace who is relatively cheap and wants to come. Bird in hand etc.
‘holic
it is within
yer power
to
stop me
writing shite
.
feel free
to
kick me
on
my
internet eyebrows
.
not
my real ones
they are too luxuriant
to mess with
cba,
calm down dear !
.
the ‘ ‘ thingys were purely
to separate your name from
the other text
so that it was not lost
in the confusion
.
not sure where the offence
was taken from
but none intended here
.
i’ve even written in my
best cba-ese format
in honour
.
pint of that
black stuff
on the bar. 😉
Some great contributions regarding the FFP from Lars and Pangloss, top work by N7.
The evidence of Citeh “abusing” the system is not that dificult to find. You only have to look at the cases of Bellemy, Roque Santi Cruz and Adebayor, from their first big spending spree. The first was loaned out to a second tier club, the second paid to do sweet FA, the latter was loaned to Spertz and paid over a ton a week by Citeh to play for a rival, before eventually being sold for a massive loss and with a ridiculous golden handshake that to this day means they are still subsidising his extortinate wages, which no matter how you want to slice it is competition fraude, because the Tinys could never of been able to afford him otherwise.
A couple of seasons ago they bought two promising home grown talents, Scott Sinclair from Swansea and Jack Rodwell from Everton, what happened to them? The first season they hardly even made the bench. Sinclair is now at WBA (loan) and I believe that Rodwell was last seen on the side of a milk carton.
But to be far, Man City are trying to change their policy, they currently have 8 players out on loan, which is one less then we have. The dispicable Chavs, on the other hand, have 26 players under contract on loan to other clubs. TWENTY SIX, that’s more then an entire squad.
As this place is full of lawyers – just to be clear –
“cba”
hereinafter – no idea what it means, but lawyers say it all the time and it’s the only way I can use three prepositions consecutively and, moreover, in the same word –
for “moreover” see explanation for “hereinafter” but for “three” read “two” –
referred to as cba,
my offer of a “pint” is in no way to be assumed to be an admission of guilt.
From “Trev” – hereinafter to be referred to as Trev.
Cheers. 😉
N7- as usual you make a lot of sense and I know exactly what you mean. I think it unlikely that we will get someone ax good as genuine World Class now and certainly Remy, Bony or Lukaku may all have the capacity for improvement. Lukaku would seem to me to be an ideal choice.But I gave seen Remy score some brilliant goals. We need a bit of variety upfront so someone needs to have different attributes to HFB. Maybe a tiny, very quick, effeminate, right- footed Angolan?
As for Aurier , I don’t think we can complain about signing unknown Frenchmen. We haven’t been served too badly by the likes of Sagna , Koscielny and the generation before them can we?
I do hope that each season we can add a genuinely world- class player a la Ozil to the squad. For instance if Javi Martinez I would be happy with him as our main signing this summer
Cheers TTG – I agree with every word of that, especially Martinez (and the kind words about yours truly)!
N7 & TTG
I too would be happy with any of those mentioned. Still have a hope about Luis Gustavo who may have come to his senses by now.
The problem is though that we get into discussing rumours mongered by know-nothings.
But then, what else are we supposed to do in the silly season?
How about read a book?
Recommended reading: My Stroke of Insight, by Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuro-anatomist at Harvard who did some research by having a stroke which destroyed the left hemisphere of her brain. The book is about what she experienced (and/or has pieced together of her experience) and how she got her brain working again. Totally fascinating insights into how our brains work – or why they don’t 🙂
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20140509/koscielny-signs-new-long-term-contract
Dk
I’m struggling through Thinking Fast and Slow by Kahnemann which is a classic book on the way in which we make decisions. I will add your suggestion to my book list.
It seems to me that Arsene is one of the slower thinkers among us- which does not make him a bad person!
My info on Koscielny was correct. 5 more years of arguably the best defender in the Premier League. He’s almost like a new signing!
Great news there Lars.
I’ll drink (lots) to that.
Koscielny like a new signing but with ready-made Arsenal savoir faire?
Serge Aurier 5 year contract rumor coming out of Italy and reported on a number of blogs today, including this one:
http://ladyarse.co.uk/2014/05/report-ivorian-defender-close-to-five-year-deal-with-arsenal/?
Bt8b
That Aurier rumour seems to have legs. Interestingly he would be affected by Dyke’s ruling on nonEU players unless his time in France makes him effectively home grown there . He has a very good goal scoring and assist record for a full. Ack. Hope he can defend too though!
Ttg. Hope he can defend and also hope he has legs, not just the rumor. 😉
Bt8b
According to You Tube he has and they move rather fast! I guess he will go to the World Cup with the Ivory Coast and if he has a good tournament his price will rise!
Word perfect, N7, as I’ve come to expect from you UNTIL:
“Obviously, I’d like Benzema”
Really? Our first disconnect? It may be that I just haven’t seen enough of the guy, but ‘Big Benz’ (as that annoying Geordie guy keeps calling him) doesn’t do anything for me that Ollie G hasn’t already done better.
I suspect Benzema will be available this summer and I also expect that we’ll spend at an unprecedented level. Right now I’m hoping that Monsieur Benzema won’t be on the shopping list.
Of-course, if he comes, he’ll be the ‘best thing since since sliced baguette’ in anything I contribute after his arrival 🙂
Historical guest post follows >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Today, I went to the beach front with my children. I found
a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear
and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched
her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is completely off topic but I had to tell
someone!
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