Saints Next On The Pitch But Continuing Chaos Off It
May 9th, 2017 by 'holic
It has been an interesting day as people have been digesting and assessing Arsene Wenger’s press conference ahead of the visit to Southampton on Wednesday evening. It is yet another ‘must win’ fixture for the Gunners as the pressure builds both on and off the pitch, it would appear.
The team news centred around fitness tests this afternoon for Laurent Koscielny and Granit Xhaka with the boss suggesting that the latter was in better shape. Both would be a big miss but either Shkodran Mustafi or Gabriel will be ready to step back into the side if required. Mohamed Elneny or Francis Coquelin will also be able to deputise in midfield. As Arsene also said today the whole squad will have to be ready to contribute if we are to win the final four league games in eleven days.
As for Southampton there could be a return for Charlie Austin who made his comeback from a dislocated shoulder in an under 23 match on Friday night. So too did Matt Targett following a hamstring injury. In demand defender van Dijk is ruled out for the rest of the season. Interestingly manager Claude Puel has suggested that fatigue may be a consideration in his selection as his team, like Arsenal, played on Sunday.
The ‘holic pound
Despite our sensational win at St Mary’s in the FA Cup this season we have not won on our last five league trips the Saints stadium. On the basis that such runs are made to be broken I am sticking with the prediction I made on the Bergkamp Wonderland podcast last week, so a 1-2 away win inspired by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain against his former employers. Shop around for 17/2 against that scoreline.
“There’s Been Talk Of Restructuring At The Club…”
“No, no, no, sorry no.”
Arsene Wenger seemingly contradicted the message that Ivan Gazidis shared with attendees of a recent Supporters Forum meeting at the Arsenal. The official minutes of that meeting are rather less detailed than I understand was discussed, but do suggest that the answer is very much yes, yes, yes!
‘He (Gazidis) acknowledged we are not where we want to be… We need to use this as a “catalyst for change” and think carefully about the right steps we need to take to move the club forward. He said the most important thing is that we evaluate accurately and carefully and that we make the right decisions.’
The manager’s agitated response followed an utter denial that there would be a director of football at the club if he is still manager next season. That in itself appears to be generating the headlines and recent rumours of a power struggle at the club will not go away while conflicting messages are being broadcast in the mainstream media.
The summer is set to be pivotal for the club. Gazidis was employed at the suggestion of Stan Kroenke prior to his acquisition of the majority shareholding in the club. His public silence since that Supporters forum meeting is not helping the atmosphere around the club at present.
If the manager and the CEO are at odds about the future set-up then it seems inconceivable that both can survive this summer. The club deserves better than outright civil war between Highbury House and Shenley, and a hands-off owner.
61 Responses to “Saints Next On The Pitch But Continuing Chaos Off It”
Maybe they can both leave and solve all our problems 🙂
Well put Holic we had started to debate this in the last drinks. We actually need to win first and argue about structure afterwards at the moment although one might argue that the structure and personnel manning it might be more important going forward in the long- term than missing out on the CL next season. The reality is though that signing top players is easier if you are dining at the top table rather than feeding off scraps on Thursday night.
I think Wenger’s reaction today is very concerning though not surprising but as you say the silence from Stan is deafening. He really does need to turn his mind towards Arsenal for once this summer.
As for tomorrow I’m going to back the Holic pound and go for a 2-1 win.
Midweek football fix please. Just so long as it gets us three points.
” We need to use this as a “catalyst for change” and think carefully about the right steps we need to take to move the club forward.”
Think carefully about the right steps???? To move the club gorward??? Ground breaking stuff from Ivan. Proper revolutionary stuff. If only he had thought of that 6/7 years ago????
TTG. The problem is that when we did dine at the top table we still gorged on the scraps.
Personally I would love to see Stan bugger off. He can take Ivan and his band of merry geriatrics with him. I never thought I would ever say it but I would give Usmanov the opportunity, bring back David Dein and move Arsene upstairs.
Southampton away? Who knows. Which team will show up? If we have any chance of making top 4 then I don’t think we can drop another point.
Win the game. Just win the game. Tell Nacho to just hit the thing and at m it towards any of their defenders. That seems to work.
Nice post H.
FIFA is investigating Man United for untoward behavior in the Pogba signing. Let us see how stringent their sanctions can be.
A must win, and we will!
So Arsene Wenger’s decided to call the owner’s and Board’s bluff! “It’s either all of me only, or none of me?!” Risky and ballsy play mate; and especially if you don’t end up finishing in the top 4 and wining the FA Cup! You should have probably kept that opinion prudently to yourself for the time being. But I guess when you’ve run everything football-wise from top to bottom at our Club for over two decades, you can become somewhat deludedly arrogant and self-grandeuring in that time?! ?
UTA All Day & All Night!
AFCOF!
It’s hard not to see that Arsene has been allowed to settle knee deep into the footings of the new stadium and training ground before the concrete was poured. Kroenke wants both and didn’t foresee this situation. Maybe the answer is both should go?
Trouble is the only man who can make that decision doesn’t give a shit.
Not sure i agree with the criticism of Gazidis in this sorry saga.
I don’t think when he was recruited he realized the amount of power Arsene wielded at the Club.
Back when he was hired,the Board still thought the sun shone out of Arsene’s arse.
So Gazidis had to suck it up and keep his own counsel.
Only now when things have gone completely pear shaped,and the Board have finally decided to do some major restructuring,has Gazidis got their backing to bring in those changes.
He has had to wait 6/7 long years,but while ever we were finishing top 4 and winning a couple of Cup finals along the way,Arsene was always holding sway.
I think his recent silence has been very judicious,not wanting to inflame an already divisive situation with our esteemed manager.
With still a lot to play for in the final month of the season,i think the issue will have to be resolved next month,as the players will be reporting back for pre season training early July,and they won’t want to be coming back to a cloud of uncertainty still hanging over the Club.
He’ll soon be giving a shit; it’s inevitable!
Arsenal FC is not like those other American sports’ franchises that he owns and he’s decimated. It’s not just a business; it’s a religion and It’s life for millions of Gooners. Other Yank owners have tried to play the “it’s a business card” with our football clubs and have got got fucked! So, goodluck in continuing to overlook this stark reality Stan mate! Your time’s running out like it did for all the others who’ve come over here and tried to have a go! You better wake up and smell the coffee, buddy!
“Have a nice day!”
UTAAD&AN.
AFCOF!
Thanks for the info regarding Directors of Football. The inference from the media is that Aw does everything at the club, ie scouts players, negotiates contracts as well as coaches the squad etc. Surely that is nonsense. AW will surely have the final word on who is signed and who isn’t, as do all other self-respecting managers. I can’t imagine City or Chelsea go out and buy players the manager does not want.I would have thought we have people at Arsenal doing the same jobs as people at other clubs. They may just have different titles.
It is interesting how everything gets revised over time. At the start of the season, the consensus on this site was that we had recruited very well with the signings of Xhaka, Lucas, Mustafi and Holding. I still think we did, though I have yet to be convinced by Mustafi. Nor do I think our recruitment has been that bad in previous recent seasons. Elneny, Monreal and Gabriel are good enough squad players at least and worth the money we paid. Sanchez has been called world class this season. Welbeck has been unlucky with injury but is worth continuing with. Chambers may well return a good player. I don’t believe things are as bad as some are making out.
@Devon stu.. So coaching is the problem then.. guess who does the coaches? Yep The dictator Wenger. No one is arguing about us not having good players presently or in the past good enough to win the league at least once in the last 13 years. No more excuses it’s time for him to go.. Wenger out….
Buy 11 world class and We still will not win the league under Wenger . Never again
Whether Stan selling is the answer rather depends on who the buyer is. A quiet American could still be better than a bolshie Russian, or an oily sheik. Be careful what you wish for.
If you’re awake, cba, you were asking in the last drinks about Hello Sailor? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa8eK7QjZ1Y
Cheers H. Nice post, both parts.
I don’t have any idea how this will all play out but it seems like there may be some change brewing, which is needed- if we keep doing the same things we would be mad to expect a different result. We do not have the pull to attract players once the really big names come in for them, so good scouting is vital to get players in at the level of Mbappe last summer, when they have begun playing at the top level but before they have really started being TOP performers at that level. And good people to get those deals done. We need to improve this as much as anything else at the club. We’ll see.
I do think we can hold on to players better than few years ago, so Mbappe style signings who turn the heads of Barca etc after a good season with us are less likely to step straight from us up the food chain. Even more so if they help us to win things. We won’t buy a Sanchez every year. But it’s been a long time since we bought an Anelka. And all of our Anelka punts turn out to be Sanogos. Sort it out!
surely it is none of wenger’s business of what the club does. if he signs on he does his job as he is required to.
if he cannot then just manage a different club. simple.
he cannot decide how the club is run just because he manages the 1st team.
So much good stuff to comment on but I will be briefish.
Regarding the Gazidis and Wenger power struggle, I think Gazidis would be quite happy to keep him in place if the fans were happy. It has taken far too long for the wider fan base to wake up to what has been going on for years at this club and get pissed off with mediocrity being acceptable. The fans are to blame, IMO, for this situation. They’ve been as complacent as the people who run the place. Top four without ever really looking like winning the title has been good enough, and I think it would have been good enough again this year, certainly for Gazidis and co. Until the fans started kicking off, at long last.
Arsene Wenger should have been sacked the morning after 8-2 at Old Trafford, and certainly should have gone after getting smashed by Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea a couple of seasons later. The signs of rot were there for years but scraping into the Champions League was always good enough. It would be this year, had we done it.
As far as the club meaning more than his American franchises, it doesn’t. Not to Kroenke. And at the end of the day, when you have the ownership in the hands of one man, it’s what he thinks and feels that matters.
If he puts Gazidis in charge but over rules him when it comes to the decisions on “minor” things like who runs the team then we are fucked because even if Gazidis does want change, and I’m not convinced he would if the fans weren’t making things poisonous, he won’t be able to enforce it.
Like it or not, this is no longer a football club. It’s a money maker for the owner and for the man who really runs it, day to day, it’s a hugely salaried womb that he will never leave.
Nicely put Cynic. Let’s not be shocked about the DoF thing, although it was interesting to hear Wenger admit that he and he alone is responsible for the recruitment/transfer mess. It’s also interesting to hear Wenger go public with the dirty laundry. A DoF was a lose-lose for Wenger, even if his ego could possibly have accommodated it. A good 2017/18 and the DoF would have got the credit, a bad 2017/18 and Wenger would still have been blamed. Cynic is right, the fans need to take a proper stance here but we all know something like 5th and a Cup win or possibly even a reasonable performance and stoic defeat to Chelsea would probably leave thousands streaming away from Wembley, feeling content and charitable, thoughts turning rapidly to lazy summer days and anything but football. He’s still convinced at least half the Emirates crowd are onside and maybe he’s right. Until that part of the fanbase stops blaming Kroenke for Wenger’s failings, this torture and gridlock goes on. COYG.
I agree with you, Cynic, that some fans are to blame for some of our ills. I think Arsenal have now accumulated the most whingeing group of fans in the Premier League with a bloated sense of entitlement, who throw their toys out of the pram and stamp their feet at any setback. I thought Liverpool’s were the worst but not any more. Those so called fans, manipulated by the media, have created a toxic atmosphere around the club which the media whip up even more. Fortunately, there are still many fans who can maintain a sense of perspective, can ignore the media lies and hysteria, are aware of the history of the club and can distinguish between real crisis and no crisis. Thankfully we also have a very strong manager who knows how to deal with the crap from the media and those so called fans. I just hope the board still has the courage to support him.
Good post as always GH, I’m a little more optimistic and am going for a
3-1 win for the lads tonight. I think we can get at the Soton CBs tonight,
although they defended well at Liverpoo at the weekend. As they are at home then I think Soton will come out a little more and we can take advantage plus we have more to play for and they will rest a couple hopefully. I seem to be talking myself into this so I will stop there.
On the future, I agree with you (and others) GH, Stan simply doesn’t give a shit and that is the fundamental problem. If Ivan loses this supposed fight and a new man is appointed it won’t change the situation in terms of winning as Ivan talks well but does nothing anyway. Even if we win the Cup and our last 4 games to sneak 4th (and I really hope we do) it won’t make any difference to the fact that we crumbled in the PL and we crumbled in the CL. I just feel it’s time for AW to take responsibility. I don’t think AW does it for the money but I do think he is finding it difficult to walk away after all these years. But then what if he goes? We must make changes to the structure so that the new guy is solely focused on driving the squad to the title. I agree with Devon Stu that we’ve made good signings and have a good squad but we can’t ignore the fact that they keep failing under pressure, seem to lack a strong leader, and mostly don’t adapt well if we go behind.
Oh, and we should fire that sports psychologist guy who was mentioned as working with the team on strength under pressure earlier in the season.
Anyway for tonight I hope we go with
Cech, Mustafi, Gabriel, Holding,
Ox, Xhaka, Ramsey, Nacho
Ozil, Wellbeck, Sanchez
I expect we won’t and it will be Nacho / Kieran again plus
Giroud in place of Danny, but I think we should let
them come on to us and use our speed on the break.
COYGs !
Stu – I disagree with you that we have the worst fans, Arsenal Fan TV has somewhat shone a light on some of the worst.. but I do think we have the most squirmy, excuse making, set of fans in the league. That is summed up again by ATV, with a couple of fans who will go to any lengths to find an excuse, whenter it’s shin pads (I still can’t quite get over that one, the shinpads being being too small) or the fact that it rained.
People like that are so complacent about the club’s position, they’re a large part of the problem IMO.
A Spurs fan was banging on at me the other day about getting into the Champions League “Where we belong” and wouldn’t have it when I told him that getting top four won’t be good enough for him in two or three years time, if they aren’t looking like winning the league. He’ll learn.
That’s not entitlement, it’s expectation and wanting to be the best you can be. If fourth is the best you can be and you give your best to get that position, that is acceptable. Knowing you are better than fourth and watching the same old mistakes and attitudes stop your team from being where it should be… well to me it is natural to show discontent.
I agree with your shin pads comments, Cynic, but see things differently about expectations. At the start of each season I like to think Arsenal have a reasonable chance of winning the league and have felt this way since AW arrived, but rarely before that. I will again next season no matter how we finish this one. I don’t however expect to win the league. In my opinion there are three clubs who will outspend us in the summer and will probably acquire supposedly better players than we do: City, United and Chelsea. They probably already have better squads than ours. Spurs, Liverpool and even Everton could do better than us too. So we could finish anywhere between first and seventh, or worse depending on injuries. Top four will be tricky and will remain so for years to come. We could probably be more certain of winning the if we could acquire the top players in the world. That would require a total change at the top with our version of Abramovitch spending billions on the club. You and others may want that, but I find it repulsive. Much though I love Arsenal, part of me absolutely hates what football has become and would love to see the whole industry go bankrupt. I don’t want a sugar daddy buying the league title for us as has happened at Chelsea and City.
I don’t really know what has happened with the players this season. Sometimes they look like square pegs in round holes and other times they look just fine. I can’t even blame injuries as in other seasons. But I do think we could mount a serious challenge next season, if the following happens: 1 We start well, avoiding the first day defeat and all the negativity that immediately piles up. 2 We don’t have too many injuries or too many all in one part of the team, i.e. four defenders out at the same time. 3 We have a kinder fixture list, e.g.not Everton away followed by City away, or consecutive away games at Chesea and Liverpool. 4 The right size shin pads.
Unlike many on this site, I still feel optimistic about the club and AW and would feel less so without him.
Hehe @ shinpad size.
I don’t expect us to win the league, or anything else, but I do expect everybody to do their best, and even when we were winning stuff we would play well within ourselves.
This might sound nuts but I think the only side we’ve had under Wenger that did its absolute best in every game was his first one, half of which wasn’t his anyway.
That run at the end of the season where we just felt unstoppable was the best time I’ve experienced under him. Even the invincibles didn’t play to their best in many games. We scraped draws sometimes against teams we should have swept aside.
The only team he has ever had that had that feel about it was 97/98, the rest of them have coasted too much IMO, and now we have a set of players who just don’t seem to care, as long as they can have a dressing room selfie two or three times a year.
“Like it or not, this is no longer a football club. It’s a money maker for the owner and for the man who really runs it, day to day, it’s a hugely salaried womb that he will never leave.”
This I agree with, sadly.
Blaming our current situation on Gooners for not complaining enough is not. That’s as mental as shinpads in my eyes. Just so many things wrong with that i’m gonna leave it alone and put a nice soothing brew on. I think we could all use one.
If we accept that the club is now Stan’s Golden Goose (and how can we not?) then under what rationale can we expect to win the league, when this will require investment and cut profits?
Or will our new manager reduce ticket prices, reduce the wage bill, make a profit on transfers, sign at least 3 worldies, win the treble, unite the fanbase, keep Stan happy and lure Phil Neville into saying something on air that is so unbelievably Neville-esque that he has to retire from broadcasting forever?
Managing us is a lot tougher than Arsene makes it look. And he hardly makes it look easy! He does plenty wrong, that’s for sure. I’m not overly bothered if he stays or goes. I’d prefer him to stay as he is a top man- but i don’t expect us to win anything whoever the manager is, so I’m just plumping for an unsuccessful and hugely frustrating bloke whose values i respect, rather than an unsuccessful bloke who is not the class act that Wenger is. (He’s not the manager he once was- but he is still a real football gent, the last of his kind.) Either way though, my apathy runs pretty deep. Would you like some meh with your cuppa?
And for that you can (rightly) label me unambitious, BUT…
A lot of fans do not accept that we aren’t challenging for a league any time soon, and it is the discrepancy between the reality of our situation and the hopes and dreams people have for the team’s success that cause so many problems. We have all been there, felt the disappointment of good chances going to waste- especially in the last ten years when we have come close and fallen short so often. But we are getting further away, not closer. Those chances are slimmer and slimmer and at some point we have to accept that we are long-odds for a reason.
It strikes me as bonkers to expect us to win the league anytime soon. Based on what evidence? Or winning Big ears? HAHAHA! *chokes on hot tea* NO CHANCE. I refer you to the quotation I opened with.
So why set myself up for a fall? Why have a wildly unrealistic expectation of the future and then get upset when it doesn’t happen? Why do we, as fans, seem to lose all grip on reality when it comes to assessing our chances of winning anything? Does anyone do that in any walk of non-football related life? What would life be like if that was our outlook on everything?
GSD: I would like a three piece suit, hand-made by the finest, blind tailors from the hitherto undiscovered planet of Gyoorg, please.
Greggs Sales Assistant: Err, sorry. We don’t sell those. I can do you a hot cheese and onion pasty, if you’d like?
GSD: *goes bonkers, frothing at the mouth, screaming at the unfairness of the world and bombarding twitter with as much hate and abuse as time and fingerspeed will allow*
I mean seriously, who ever heard of a womb winning the league?
Cynic @23.
I agree completely that it has been a long time since I felt like our team regularly tried its best, let alone played it best. I reckon that this is the strongest argument to get rid of Arsene and let someone else have a go. Not that we will start winning stuff, but simply that we will always give our all and make the best of whatever footballing resources we do have. Sometimes you just need to wipe the board and start again.
Having re-read that last sentence I’m not rephrasing it. It stands both ways.
GSD@25
I did laugh at the Suit / Cheese and
Onion example but….
We’re one of the richest clubs in the
world, we have a good squad and we’ve
spent money to strengthen. Is it really
so laughably out there to expect us to
win the PL. Can’t see it myself.
The CL, maybe so at the moment,
but not the premier league.
Simply trying our best every week would
have the current squad close if not
winning it the last 2 seasons.
I want Stan gone as much as the next
man but it’s the players /AW who are
responsible for us not challenging for
the PL title.
Great preview Holic on both accounts!
Plenty of decent comments re ‘Dicator Wenger’ and it’s truly what it comes down to, however it’s the boards fault at large. They allowed him to take control of everything since Dein left the club and it has been like that for years now. No one is questioning him because he had such great success at this club to begin with. Then as many of you have already mentioned top four was always achieved and no one moaned. The fact is we have been in decline for years now, we sold our best players and never reinvested in the team as we should have. We now face the possibility of being without CL next season and everyone is calling for heads and I can understand that. To me the board have been too soft on Wenger exactly in the same way as he has been towards his players.
We invested money in players like Park, Sanogo, Squillaci, Bischoff, Santos, those names speak for themselves really. If Ivan had nothing to do with buying this lot then who did?
With all the shyte doing the rounds I’m very optimistic about tonight and going with 3:1 to the good guys with Welbeck scoring at any time!
COYG!
No wonder the whole world seems to be in a mess; we have too many complacent and defeatist pussies that accept the mortal whims of a few mens’ wet dreams?!
Stan Kronke’s not the only super-rich human-being/group out there who wouldn’t buy The Arsenal in the blink of an eye! For those obsessed with the financials; there is such a thing as a depreciating share value and something called a hostile takeover. What ever happened to Gillette & Hicks at Liverpool?
UTAAD&AN!
AFCOF!
Chaos Next On The Pitch But Continuing Saints Off It
Oddness from Wenger in his presser though. Reckons he will be continuing to make all the decisions as long as he is manager, then bitches about being blamed for decisions he didn’t make.
He controls everything, apart from the things that go wrong and people bitch about? Cobblers.
A reminder to debate with respect please, thank you. Anything personal will get binned.
Cech; Holding, Mustafi, Monreal; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Xhaka, Gibbs; Özil, Alexis, Welbeck.
Subs: Ospina, Bellerin, Gabriel, Coquelin, Iwobi, Walcott, Giroud
Blimey the bar’s in a black mood tonight and no mistake. I’m going to sit in the corner with Guinness and Jameson’s chasers.
Must win. COYG.
2 – 1 to the Arse. Welly & Ramsey; with Redmond for the Saints.
UTAAD&AN!
AFCOF!
Come on Arsenal!
Stone me, I switched the Madrid game over for about five minutes and when I went back it was 2-0.
FML
Simeone in for Wenger!
Atletico 2 goals back already within 20 minutes from being 3 nil down on aggregate vs Real . Who said Simeone’s all defensive? Poppycock!!!
Looks like Ox has done his hammy
Ox down. Hope it is not anything serious, looks like a hammy. Bellerin coming on.
Wake up Arsenal come on!
Here we go again that ref is doing it again!
Fuck off Isco! ?
Speed it up, guys.
He is fucking brilliant though! ?
Sanchez, you beauty!!!
Get in Alexis!
Get fuckin’ in there! Now where’s that new fuckin’ contract???
Is it or is Bellerin very sluggish?
Ramsey is not on his game today!
Bellerin appears to have lost a yard this year. Last year he used to be electric.
Scary moments!
Moss loves carding Arsenal player and ignores serious fouls by the opposition.
Long stops the ball over his head and Moss looks it over!
Giroud, the slow coach, to replace Welbeck.
Giroud, the slow coach, scores a simple header. His bitterest critic will admit he is a good header.
Super sub OG 😀
Slow coach but always gets a goal off the bench!
Goodnight Saints! Now off to Mordor!
UTAAD&AN!
AFCOF!
Great win at a venue we don’t win often. Well done boys.
Have it! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Well played Arsenal! We played with a purpose to start with then dropped off a little as there were few scary moments!
Overall a hard thought win! A job well done!