Sitting And Wishing And Hoping And Praying
Jul 3rd, 2011 by 'holic
Hangovers don’t get any better the older one gets, let me assure you. How on earth did I used to get myself onto a cricket pitch in summers past?
Summers past. No internet. We would buy players in June (1983 Charlie Nicholas) and July (1984 Viv Anderson), and read about them in the News of the Screws before heading to the club, where we would sink a few pints before pretending to be Ian Botham or Graham Gooch for a few hours. The only thing that made you mad was getting out first ball to that stupid attempt to drive outside the off stump, or bowling criminally short of a length and wondering why I was taken off after giving away fifty free runs in five overs.
Nowadays of course it is all so very different. The aggrieved show impatience, quite understandably in many respects, when Arsene is quoted thus.
“Everybody has their cards in their hands, hoping for the big transfer. There is nothing moving yet. The period will be more active at the end of July when we will need to really strengthen the team.”
There is also an accusation levelled that we are leaving it too long and lagging behind our rivals in snapping up our targets. This just ignores the crucial fact that Chelsea and Manchester City have yet to spend a penny. Players that interest us also interest them, and so players wait to see if they will hit the jackpot of a Chelsea or City salary before saying yes or no to us. It’s a whole new financial ballgame.
In the absence of activity from the financially unrestricted the press have to keep the pot boiling to get sales and hits. Now I’m not blaming the journos when Fabregas is linked with Real Madrid for £50 million, or Nasri to Manchester City for £23 million. They are given these stories from very good sources for a reason. Ask yourself this though. Why is there an absence of direct quotes from the potential buyers in those stories? Who stands to benefit if potential transfer fees are ‘inflated’ in this way?
I don’t mind admitting I would have preferred to see some action before now, but I cannot get annoyed at Arsenal because they are not, contrary to popular belief, the cause of the inertia. I am concerned that we will not have sufficient time or resources to complete all of the deals currently in the pipeline before the serious business gets underway in just six short weeks. I won’t be getting too concerned though until that point if we are still in a fog of uncertainty. August will indeed be too late to still be facing a number of ins and outs.
We’re not there yet though, so I’ll put the hand-wringing on the backburner. I just wish I had a bat and a ball to take my frustrations out on, instead of this infernal computer.
326 Responses to “Sitting And Wishing And Hoping And Praying”
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Nice one ‘Holic
Hair of the Dog please
Off to a wedding. Quick sharpener please. Cheers all.
So The World isn’t going to end,then
Is it wrong that I was Geoff Boycott ?
Was always a Clive Radley man myself Tar Heel
We had a Boycott THG. Never happier than batting through forty overs and be not out 25…
Holic
Ha Ha Was once not out 17 after 40 for Potters Bar 3rd XI. You could not get me out but I could not hit the blasted thing more than 10 yards. Survived in the clubhouse by buying many a drink……
No direct quotes from city..but Nasri’s comments sure did leave a bad taste in the mouth.. Poor fellow didnt get a chance to win the Carling cup final for Arsenal — too bad.
It’s apologists like you who have contributed to us being in this state of chaos. Wenger should have been put out to pasture 2 years ago.
Wise words ‘holic. I am sure we are poised for a number of deals. They clearly depend on who is leaving. Seems to be a situation of waiting to see who blinks first and then there will be lots of dominoes falling. However I remain concerned that we have significant cash flow problems and may not be able to get the quality we need. I do think we are at a crossroads. The youth experiment is at an end. Do we slide into top 6 also rans or recover our title challenger credentials and quality? A Pineau des Charentes, please, barman.
Thanks Dave, of course it’s all my fault…
I do hope Wenger forgets about balancing the books this summer atleast.
Another calming missive ‘Holic.
Another ‘thing’ I heard explained was that clubs do not want to pay a player £500,000 plus for the month of July when they are not even playing for the club.
Suppose there is a point there, but squads surely need to go through pre-season together – especially when they have Champions League qualifiers in mid-August (sorry Cusop, if you’re in here again).
My fear is that we are having problems moving out the players we no longer want, in order to be able to bring new ones in.
How much would you pay for Squillaci, Eboue etc, etc.
And while it is true that ManUre have signed three players already, they are a 19 year old CB, a 20 year old Keeper, and Ashley Young.
Not really what we are looking for, I would suggest ?
Congratulations ‘Holic, never realised you were on the board !
I would say the blame finally has to go to Wenger. The reason why we are finding it difficult to offload the Rosicky’s and Eboue’s are because they are on wages they wont get at any other club. And who is responsible for giving unworthy players their safety net?
Would it make more sense, just to terminate contracts, pay them off and then get in the players we really need?
Sajit – doubt we could afford to do that.
Trouble is -if you live your life solely based on hope- you don’t get even as far as crossing the road safely.
More recently I have come to believe- based on the events of the last 4 transfer windows that the worst case scenario- looks the most likely outcome right now. Selling our most experienced and best players just as they are showing their potential is very disappointing, selling these players for far less than they are worth is even more disappointing and then to cap it all, selling these players to your rivals for less than they are worth and not buying replacements or buying one untried inexperienced ultra cheap Frenchman at the last minute-is tantamount to committing commercial suicide negligent even.
So what-no one at the club actually cares about football – it does after all get in the way of the clubs commercial ventures -maybe we could grow bananas Ivan?
Wenger will have convinced himself and all the AKB by then that the colour white is actually black and the exodus of the remainder of the players is a great thing and we will have the squad (average age 16 years) with by far the greatest potential ever. Personally, I will live for the day when I can sing Arsenal are back in 7 years time after we are promoted from the championship.
The current mess with top players wanting to leave is due to Wenger. He promised Fab he would sign the players. Yes he did but with poor imports from France who need time to get used to the rigours of the epl.Allied to his all out attacking syndrome with a porous defence,is it any wonder the gunners alway s crumble when the pressure is on.
If he doesn’t change and continue to buy cheap which means not up to epl std,he risks sending the gunners into further decline.
In retropect,had he taken action two or three years ago,all the current problems would not have arisen.
I’m hearing that some people have a summer.
How selfish. Rainy and rather cold here.
Goonergerry. Not much beer left in your glass, is there?
Ollliski,
You are still in Poland, I gather. Turning into quite a trip, eh?
Some great points here with regards to where fault lies, for me though it’s more of a combination of things than just one man, although if AW had grown some balls a couple of years ago we would not be in as bad a mess as we are today.
The board’s main priority was obviously to pay off debt in recent years so as to make their finacial nest eggs safe, taking into account more & more money has moved into the EPL in the way of sugar daddy’s this was bound to make the boards stance depreciate the playing staff.
AW is a long shot gambler all the way with his insistence on youth , lets look at it from a real world perspective this was never going to work, was it really???
My problem is that as a club/board they have not learned from any of it & as i have said before until people start voting with their feet, the board will never change & why would they, when its easy just stringing US along with promises year in year out.
I already hear you asking do I want a sugar daddy @ our club no not really, but in the cold light of day the other option is NOT working either, NOW IS IT???
Unless you want play their view of the future waiting in the vain hope that one/two of these sugar daddy’s either, go stint loss interest or just die in the long term. oh yes there is the 3rd option the option the people that run football will step-in & sort it all out, stopping all the major players from flexing their financial weight year in year our, not going to happen it with Barca & RM doing the exact same thing on the other side of the water.
Glad to see the main man GAG getting a mention. As for Arsenal, I’m veering between hope and expectation, with my fingers firmly crossed!
Yes indeed, ‘holic. Should be travelling back next saturday.
Spent some time in the Lazienki park this afternoon, thankfully the drizzle was light enough. Shame the weather still meant that the Chopin concert didn’t happen, bah.
Zywiec please, cheers!
Re Dave at 9 – I always suspected as much. Bloody ‘holic and his refusal to spout histrionics, it’s his fault and I’ve had enough of him.
In fact I will quit this establishment for another place where the beer is served with a complimentary side order of bile. That’ll learn you Mr Holic…
Ah – sorry forgot my jacket.
Ooh, that good seat on the veranda appears to be free. Never used to be when I used to drink here before I got sick of that Wengerboy ‘holic.
Maybe I’ll stay for one and join Dave later…
Heh! Alright Essex 😉
Rain stopped Chopin, Ollie? That’s one of the more unusual drinks I’ve seen…
Er – have we signed the Gervinho or not – yet? I can’t can’t quite work it out.
‘boy’
I might as well make it a treble – I posted this towards the end of Holic’s last fine blog and would hate to think that potentially interested Gooners would miss on a lovely piece of footage. It has the approval of that bastion of good Gooner taste Dr.z. Plus I am genuinely interested in finding out whether any of the ‘even more experienced’ than me Arsenal lags on here know the answer to the song question posed at the end. You Reds!
Just found another blinder of a vid on youtube posted by the same far-sighted genius who made the one above and obviously spent a lot of time filming Arsenal on his telly in the 70′s. This one is from ’71 and it’s against Chelski at Highbury. The players’ hair-dos and the crowd shots are almost as entertaining as the football – which is surprisingly (to my mind anyway) modern in that it’s intense and fluid and *says in an Alsace accent* ‘very technical’. We, as in the one above against the ‘ammers where we play lovely counter-attacking stuff, play in a very modern Arsenal way – one touch, lots of great movement off the ball and R. Kennedy (who of course eventually left us for a close rival – it happens and it hurts) – playing off the main striker – gets a couple of corkers. Maybe there’s an Arsenal DNA in our style of play right through the ages and Arsene didn’t make us beautiful – just more so.
And there’s a lovely little detail as ‘The Big Match’ and Brian Moore launch a competition to find a song for Arsenal fans to sing at Wembley – “and we have the backing in this of the Arsenal manager Bertie Mee and his whole team as well”. Was this song ‘Good Old Arsenal’ or did it never catch on, or what? Anyway I think if you have a look you’ll find it’s worth it.
Come On You Reds!
http://youtu.be/gLQvUayXjpM
Nasri and the others are actually saying what every gooner is saying, we all want trophies and we want to see the boss spend to get the players needed for those trophies. As everyone reminds us, we haven’t won anything for six years, which is a very long time for a footballer, all the boss has done is buy just enough to keep us up there, but not enough to push us that final furlong… come on you tight lot, get the ruddy cheque book out or risk losing all, players AND fans. How do you expect to attract the best players when you have no real urgency to ‘win things’. How do you expect to attract new fans (and their cash) when you have no real urgency to be the best?
Hi holic and holics it’s time 2 keep the faith nobody will no better than the gaffer bout what we need and who he doesn’t,hopefully he can get fab an nasri 2 c were not 2 far away..
Evening All,
Nice one ‘Holic! Agreed, let’s all do a Lance Corporal Jones and ‘don’t panic, don’t panic’ yet. Yes, it would be great to have bought/sold a few by now but it looks to me like there’s still sufficient time before the window closes. I’m of the opinion that there’s plenty of activity going on that we’re not aware of but maybe that’s just the glass-half full person in me?
Olliski – Good to see you in here during your Polish excursion. Spotted any more potential GKs for us whilst you’ve been out there?
And Lester – Many are suggesting that the ‘the boy G’ with his fivehead is a done deal. I’d be surprsied if his massive bonce didn’t squeeze itself through the neck-hole of the famours red and white jersey before the end of the summer.
Heh! to Essex at #s 26 & 27. Stay for another?
A cold, black one for me please Mr. Barman and one for yourself and all the reguLars..ISB 😉
Hello And Lester,
Good find. I was at the back of the Clock End that day. The song he is going on about is ‘Good Old Arsenal’, words by Jimmy Hill, who worked with Brian on The Big Match before taking the shiny coin from the BBC.
Another month of this so…better get my book and ipod. Waching highlights of Ray Kennedy over on aclf…my god could he head a ball…like alex higgins..
Guys just can’t see where your blind faith is coming from, where is your evidence that all is well in the garden?
All I can’t see (@ the moment) is all our major assets are being linked with other clubs mostly @ knock down prices!!! & NO denials from any of them what so ever, surly that’s speaks loud & clear to even the most full of glasses in this establishment?
Speaking as someone who needs a refill, IF we lose the big 4/5 big names being touted it won’t get sorted in this window let me tell you nor the next come to that, come guys get real please……..
Lee @ #37
Fair comments. My counterpoint is where is the hard evidence that tells us any of the players that we’d much rather keep (e.g. Cesc & Nasri) are definitely leaving?
When I hear a direct quote fropm Cesc saying ‘I have handed in my transfer request and I want to leave Arsenal now’ (or similar) or The Club announcing that ‘Nasri has been transfer listed and talks with potential buyers are underway’ then I’ll believe it. Until then, even with naughty boy Nasri fluttering his eyelids at Manure and not re-signing when he should have, I believe it’s all still yet to be decided.
Anyways, pull up a chair and please allow me to top-up your half-full glass. We’re in for a bit of a wait before either of us can be proved right or wrong 😉
Nice work ‘Holic – apologies if a gooner as longish in the tooth as me should know that (though it’s all just before my time) and it comes as a genuine shock to find out that the chinned wonder penned that one – although for me it was always a bit of a ploddy dirge. Re being at the back of The Clock End I notice there’s a bit of a crowd tumble/near Knees Up Muvva Brown situation right at the beginning of the footage – I do hope that was nothing to do with you ‘Holic.
TS ta for clearing up that fact that nobody’s clear about what’s going on with he of the striking fivehead. By the way does anyone genuinely know whether he’s any good or what type of player he is.
I’ll have a Pride please and whatever anyone else fancies. Ureds!
Hey TS. Well that Chopin had massive hands, but he is quite dead.
So no.
TS, I’m nothing but easily bought so I’ll stay seated get my glass topped-up & hope for the best as I have for the last six year! Just not sure how many more summers I can spend watching my beloved Arsenal selling off the silver candlesticks, to pay the rent, when we already had that cover apparently.
As I remember being told on numerous occasions…Mmmm
holic its always nice to have positive outlook, my props to you. Now me on the other hand believe this will happen, AW will buy some cheap, never heard of before player i.e. Eduardo, except instead of one we will get 2 or 3 if we’re lucky…. My days of tooting Mr. Wengers horn are long, long gone, he has lost his way and has been out-coached by bottom of the table managers.
Oh as for Cesc putting in a transfer request, don’t think that’s ever going to happen as that would place him in a direct auction, where he would be sold to the highest bidder, & we all know that’s NOT going to be to the club of HIS choice, because they are the poor relations on the money from @ this present time…….
Lee @ #43
Yes, realise that it’s extremely unlikely that Cesc is ever going to use those actual words. He is, IMHO, a model professional when compared to his peers.
Olliski @ #40,
Sounds over qualified then? 😉
And Lester @ #39,
I think our agent in Poland (Ollie) may have seen him play a few games???
The problem we have with the Cesc situation is currently we being “The Arsenal” seem to still be playing with the same old straight bat with him.
But Barcelona have taken this as a weakness & know all they have to do is look down the back of the armchair for loose change to get him now, chivalry went out of the game many years ago & the quicker we as club act like the rest of them so be it in my book.
We as a club should be turning this situation to OUR advantage by extracting an enormous amount of money from them IF THEY ACTUALLY WANT HIM; this would give them a kick-up the nuts on two fronts
1, if they buy him it leaves THEM in a financial minefield for a couple of years (with any luck).
2, Next time they come knocking, they know to stop fucking about & bring the check book with them, instead of a kiddie’s piggy bank……..
Holic,
That quote could have been mistranslated as well as I’ve seen different versions to the phrase “then we will really need to strengthen our team”.
Here is one:
“Currently, everyone is standing still,” Wenger said in an interview with a French radio station.
“Everyone expects everyone else to make the first move. Everyone holds on to their cards, hoping for the major transfer.
“Nobody blinks until late July, early August. Then we will analyse the gaps in each team.
“But I am very active on the phone”.
Again, it all depends how it’s translated.
So Chopin is dead? When did that happen – nobody tells me anything!
I thought he was turning up for pre-season training this week…
Had him in as our new left back, TS
Chopping Chopin, a beast to scare Rooney, Torres, Drogba et al, Dr. z
Hello Snir. Yes, but the important part is the inference that everybody is waiting on City and Chelsea to show their hand. They buy Cahill, we go for Samba, as one possible example. I’m not saying that will happen, but that is the sort of problem we are facing.
We have so many deals to negotiate too, in a short space of time. I just hope we balance the departures and arrivals, and don’t offload a significant chunk of the squad before replacing them.
Or maybe just left back in the grave yard? 🙂
Chopin was a ‘handy’ player, zico 😉
‘Holic @ #51. I think many here share the same concerns. I’d rather we sign some before we move others on……. even Denilson (with all due respect) 😉
I’d heard that Holic, pity we can only sign living players – Uefa need to have another look at the rules!
According to the Telegraph everyone is leaving, having added RVP and AA to the list 🙁
It kinda drives you mental
Glass half-full as always Holic!
Good on you mate, someone needs to promote a level approach to transfer silly-season.
For all that, I can’t help but be a little concerned…no doubt shifting some of the dross & bringing in one or two noobs will help ease those concerns…like everyone else I hope it’s sooner rather than later!
UTA – a round of brightly coloured shots for everyone!
…oh, and an upside down Guinness for me please =)
Hey brf, great to see you.
Big week coming up. Will be hard to counter the naysayers if we fly out to the East next week without new faces to show off and promote shirt sales.
Just worked out in a discussion elsewhere that the window closes in an interlull. Could complicate late dealers somewhat.
Apparently not everything is as gloomy as it seems. Cesc is still an Arsenal player and the board ain’t giving up easily especially after their rude behavior, bitching on Bekkerin and Toral.
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/transfer-news/Cesc-Fabregas-heads-back-to-Arsenal-with-Barcelona-deal-still-being-negotiated-article755990.html
Nice link Snir, & I have a suggestion for Barca…
We’ll pay them the £700,000 for the two teenagers & won’t report them if they stop tapping up Fabregas.
The Kevin Doyle story which is at the bottom of that article better be some kind of wind-up…although it was entertaining. Mad Mick’s valuation of 50million almost made me spit tea everywhere.
Indulge me a little guys as I’m trying hard to get back into the “glass half full team” from my earlier posts.
Just been sitting here working out all the ramifications of the selling of players this summer & to my (very) rough calculations on the worst case scenario of players being sold (8) of those need to go anyway, I’m counting this could go as high as 11 player going out the door?
We have also been told we have a war chest of between 40-60m to start.
Wenger could end-up with £160-190m spending power, is that a bad thing?
I admire your eternal optimism ‘holic although I believe it unjustified, at best. I personally don’t buy this tripe about having to wait on Chel$ki and Citeh to show their cards first before we act. ManUre surely doesn’t believe that and have already made three significant signings (two of which will likely be in their starting XI). So, I’m not sipping that Kool-Aid. Personally, I believe our June was a month lost. And all this talk of negotiations possibly going on in overdrive behind the scenes will mean absolutely nothing if they do not lead to actual signings. They are akin to possession or shooting statistics without goals. Once we sign someone we score. So far we have not scored and have completely dithered.
An objective outsider, considering we must qualify to get into the UCL group stage and have a key two leg tie just around the corner, must be scratching their heads over this inexplicable lack of action.
I will need a cabin on the HT with a mini bar since I am currently hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.
Not giving you the gears, mind you, ‘holic. I’m just not seeing what you’re seeing. Maybe you’ve got special stained glass windows you look through in your abode? Or you could be taking daily happy pills from TS’s medicine cabinet?
How funny I could almost lift Holics roast replace arsenal for spurs and wenger for Harry Redschnapps, Nicholas and Viv for Ardullies and Chivers and you would get the same replys in Spurs Community. It reminds me of the Barker Corbit Clees.. I look up at him but look down on him sketch.
But a serous question if you had stayed at the Libary where would you be now ?
Round the corner, just up the road – you soppy …
Cusop @ #63
Just as long as you realise who you’re looking up to and that you know your place….
Are you angling for political asylum at the right end of the SS Road?
Put this twonk in the Noah carriage where he belongs…..when we’re bored we can poke him with sticks and other sharper objects.
Sorry but not really in the mood to be charitable to LWCs this morning – Mondays are like that…..
Happy Monday zico. I know how you feel…
@ stingy
Here here!!
I’m glad our tyrant manager has clarified that we don’t really need players yet. Nope, we don’t need new players to get used to there team mates, training etc. Ofcourse defenders (not that we need them – doh) don’t need to build partnerships either.
Whilst I appreciate the glass half full attitude holic I really am beginning to get the impression that this is no longer Arsenal FC but rather Arsene FC, and that the feeling of the fans is a very distant 3rd behind AW himself and the board of directors.
I’m not bitching about the 6 yr wait. That shit can happen to any football team and all teams at some point have had to suffer a barren spell. But things at the club are not right and the manager has seemingly been allowed carte blanche, post Dein, to run that club as he sees fit.
Yes we knew the constraints when moving but I’m sure Dein was removed for the view that we needed to spend on players to keep up with chavski and manure.
Wtf does he mean sign players when we really need them???? FFS we needed them in January let alone July/August.
I’m gonna go and eat some toast with marmite. I hate the stuff but its the only thing that can possibly keep my mind of going up London colney and smashing someone face in.
AAARRRGGGGH!
But a serous question if you had stayed at the Libary where would you be now ?
Looking down on LWC’s. Like we are now.
It’s like this. The current system plan hasn’t worked. It has almost worked but it hasn’t worked. We were left with the impression at the end of 09/10 that if no silverware was won the following season then things would change. However nothing has changed.
Sipping a nice Riesling, eating olives and taking walks along the Rhine over the summer I’m sure was much needed. But Arsene please don’t tell me we need to wait til the last minute to sign players. Come on that’s poor. It stinks of poor preparation and lethargy. It also sends the wrong message out to the players considering their future at the club.
Your better players will only stay around for so long if they think the club has lost any ambition. And sure 180 thousand reasons per week also may hold sway but the point is we’ve been made to believe one thing yet sold another.
Marmite is filth.
northbank1, I understand and agree with a lot of your frustration but Arsene has never said that we don’t need players. Many, you included, also seem to have completely missed the point of what he said the other day – hardly any clubs are doing any business at all. We can’t buy if nobody is selling, that’s the boring truth. Even the Gervinho deal has taken ages and still isn’t complete. Yes, ManU have bought three players and well done to them for that but then again City and Chelsea have bought none at all (clubs for who money isn’t an issue, remember, so it can’t just be about Wenger being tight-fisted), and Spurs have signed an out-of-contract 41-year old keeper who I assume is supposed to be the backup to the clown they have now. Liverpool splurged £20m on a player who might develop but then again could just as well start five games in the league and contribute sweet FA.
Wenger makes mistakes like anyone else, but I also think that even amongst us fans, few are as frustrated as him by recent events. I am also a firm believer of the theory that we as fans know next to nothing about what really goes on behind the scenes, so all we can really do is sit back and wait and see what happens. Is Arsene just stubborn? If so, he needs to be thanked for what was and then move on, but I find it extremely hard to believe that such an experienced manager would not try his very best use every bit of money available to him. We are, after all, talking about a man who, when managing a French team, had to stop the team bus on the way home from an away game so that he could go outside and throw up because he was so upset after having lost a game.
I’m not going in for any of this panicking, if you react to everything you read at this time of the year you’ll go doolally. Latest scaremongering headline, courtesy of Football365 (a bunch of smug twats if ever I saw some, who think they’re god’s gift to the beautiful game but in reality are down there rubbing shoulders with the gutter press): ‘Arsenal expect Fab and Nasri to quit’ (quotes included in headline) – this is according to “reports”. I mean, seriously, just take a step back from this steaming pile of horse manure and think about it for a second – no quotes from the players, nothing from AW, just a line nicked from the Mirror of all places!
It’s third or fourth hand recycled nonsense that probably started in the corner of a pub in Salford!
So what if we haven’t signed anyone yet. So what if we do the same old 11th-hour dealings we’ve done in recent years. As far as I’m concerned, this is the club I chose and whatever happens I’m on their side and I’m certainly not going to spit my dummy just because we didn’t sign Sneider, Buffon, Huntelaar and, er, Pastore on June 1st.
I think the club quite clearly lacks ambition. When your two top players want out that alone speaks louder than any words that come from the manager, the board, the owner, ‘holic, and all glass is full or half fullers out there. Actions speak louder than words and thus far our club has been totally inactive in the transfer market. I’m still a pro Wenger fan but he is clearly pulling the wool over the supporters’ eyes. In January, he said he would get us the needed CB help. Then in late January, he said we didn’t need a new CB because TV5 was soon to return. TV didn’t return until May. I guess that’s soon in AW’s eyes. Now, he’s gonna pull the wool over our eyes again. We don’t need to be active in the transfer market until the last minute??? What the hell is that load of bollocks about? Does he expect the best players to still be available at the end of the window? Maybe he believes he can get discounts at that time? He is known to be a rather thrifty shopper after all.
Sadly, I feel as if I’m listening to a broken record and as Yogi Bera said, “It’s déjà vu all over again”. I’m generally a fairly patient lad but my patience is really getting tested. How much more of the same old song and dance can the general critical mass of AFC supporters stand? We are at a very key point in the club’s history. If we’re honest with ourselves, we have already begun the slippery slide downward to a land of lowered expectations.
Here’s to hoping for some good news soon. A round of morning pick me ups for all ‘holics out there.
Happy fourth of July!!!! And up the Arse!!!!
It is interesting to read the difference of opinions expressed here.
I have sadly moved into the decidedly unhappy camp. I am not happy with several comments. I agree with those who are far from happy with AW saying we need to wait until the end of July. Just plain daft for me. Why would be my question? Why do we need to wait for others? If we really want Cahill then pay the asking price. Stop fucking about and do it. I really cant see how we can continue to moan at Baca for not stumping up the cash when we have done exactly the same for years??? Is it me or do Arsenal always seems to be in the lengthiest and most protracted transfer negotiations ever??????? Or does it just feel like that.
I have moaned on here many times about the squad lacking true leaders. I wonder if off the pitch we lack leadership as well. Put simply I want Arsenal to take control of situations. I want us to dictate, not be dictated to.
The PR in the press about us at the moment is quite frankly shocking. Why do we not address that issue? I have heard virtually nothing from the club whatsoever. Some will argue that we do not need to justify such ridiculous comments. I do understand that, but I am getting the distinct impression that we are being left behind here. Whatever your opinions of the bloke we do miss David Dien. We at least miss someone like him. We miss someone who is a figurehead. We miss someone who can talk to the media and rebut all of this spin and turn it into positives for the club.
Players start to drift back to training this week. In 4/5 weeks time we face a tricky Champions League qualifier. We prepare for that game not having a clue if half of our first team will even be at the club. We prepare with virtually no time to integrate any new signings that we seem fit to make. It smacks of unprofessionalism to me.
This is the time to remind the world that we are The Arsenal and what that means. Not a time for LWC’s with their begging bowls out to even think that they are entitled to join in our conversations. Time to stand up and be counted.
Come on Arsenal. Do your job.
Given our difficult early season schedule, it would be justifiably plausible for the objective outsider to say that this club currently lacks urgency, ambition, and professionalism. Things the club used to have in spades.
Steve T @ #74
Understand completely where you’re coming from. I can also feel a panic pulse building in terms of the fact that the CL Qualifier is now looming – 1st leg 16/17 August. It looks like that there’s an awful lot that needs to be done between now and then if we’re to build/re-build the squad in time to lauch a serious challenge for the major honours next season.
I agree that as a PR exercise we are failing miserably. A few strong and well worded statements from IG and co could help ease some of the tension but I think it’s action that we all crave and not (necessarily) wise words. I’m happy to look back on this issue and shrug my shoulders provided the important things get done between now and season kick-off.
I’ll echo your last line and hope/trust that things will work out well. If not, I can see heads-rolling early into our campaign.
In the meantime, I’ll be doing my best to maintain a glass half-full perspective on events as they unfold.
UTA!
Stingy @ #s 73 & 74,
I guess my comments to Steve are also in response to some of your points.
I really don’t think that AW is deliberately trying to pull the wool over our eyes but if that is the case then I believe, given the current temperature of fan sentiment, that it will be his un-doing. That would be a very sad day indeed for our club.
Happy 4th of July to you too! I don’t celebrate it being a Limey. You’ve just had Kanada Day. Are you really going to pop your corks for Amercian Independence day too???
Owen Coyle has today confirmed that there has been no offer for Gary Cahill. If the papers are to be believed and AW really wants him then why has there not been an offer? If we do want him I find that inexcusable. Or perhaps AW and the board are sat watching the videos of Cesc and Samir kissing the badge????????
Gael having a medical at Citeh.
Martin Samuels putting the boot in now.. Yeeeeehaw
SteveT, if we do indeed want him that is very, very strange.
Lars. You do not think that AW wants Cahill?????
Cusop. How is the collection going for the new ground???
Lars, may have misinterpreted what you have said. Is it starange he wants Cahill or strange we have not bid if he does???
Cusop,
50, 2, 17
Do the math you soft LWC.
@Lars
For me this is as much about the club moving forward as it is the club reconnecting to an extent with the fans. We are not demanding vanity signings to show the world we are a force (like Citeh or Chavski when the roubles rolled in). We are asking for the areas of the team to be improved that the manager himself highlighted at the end of the season.
I’m an Arsenal fan first and foremost so unfortunately I don’t buy into the argument of talking about what Manure, Citeh or Chavski have all done in terms of transfer. As all 3 of those clubs finished above us we have to assume that we have to improve if we wish to finish above them, just like the clubs below have to think about improving if they wish to get past us (well at least I hope so). Saying that no-one else is moving is not our concern Arsene. If anything that should make the board get the stick out of the arse and get moving to steal a march on those that are asleep around us.
What I want from the club and the manager are a clear indication that the weaknesses we could all see for the last few seasons are being addressed. As a fan that knows nothing about what is happening behind the scenes, any early signings would give me the confidence that the tactical problems we’ve seen over the past few seasons can start to be tackled on the first day back. It would demonstrate to me that their is an urgency to get things right and 100% focus that we must improve for the upcoming season.
I really really don’t see that and cannot see how that current approach is a better way of conducting your business. I tell you what, I’ll fix the roof once it starts pissing down with rain rather than a week before when its sunny.
Strange.
Steve T
I had read elsewhere that the player (Cahill) himself denies being in talks with Arsenal. It seems that this is another one of those press stories. Has anyone at the club ever gone on record about wanting Cahill (genuine question)?
I’m starting to think that the whole Fabregas fiasco is paralysing the club. That and not selling some of the “deadwood”.
Could it be as simple as cashflow?
Hi Holics,
I for one am not listening to all this tripe going on, the only ones that know are the club themselves and until anything is announced on the official website they are all still Arsenal players. Not surprised at Clichy going with the costly mistakes he has made and really abysmal crossing I think it’s more like Arsene has seen enough and not offered him a very good deal to stay. Nasri shouldn’t be allowed to hold the club to ransom on the back of half a seasons good play.
My guess would be Nasri to stay, I think Fab will go and Nasri will play in the center and a few additions and we’ll have a good team.
Up The Arse
TS. The honest answer is I don’t know. All I know is that we desperately need quality centre backs. We have been linked with Cahill for the best part of a year. We have been linked with players before and AW has issued an instant “not interested quote.” There hs been nothing remotely about Cahill. Therefore my interpretaion is that he is someone that at least is on the list.
Samba has given an interview saying that he was very close to joining in Jan. He is not the greatest in the world but comes with a big heart, leadership qualities and a never say die attitude. Would he have had what it takes to help prevent the capitulation towards the end of the season? Would we have shipped points for fun with a warrior type player in the side? Truth is we will never know, but I know what my opinion is.
North Bank. Your last paragraph hits the nail on the head for me.
North Bank, but looking at what other clubs are doing IS, in my opinion, very much relevant for understanding what is going on at our own club. If there are no sellers, then who can we buy from? I am in no way saying that their inactivity means that we don’t have to buy (although I do belive that unless Chelsea start bringing in younger players then the “new Special One” might be in for a very special season of negativity, but let’s leave that aside for now) and neither has Arsene done. What he has said is that the market as a whole is extremely slow at the moment but his words have been massively misunderstood and, I believe, in some cases (not referring to you here!) quite deliberately so. Saying that no-one is moving is very relevant for us – again, if no-one is selling then there is no-one for us to buy.
“What I want from the club and the manager are a clear indication that the weaknesses we could all see for the last few seasons are being addressed.”
So would I. But so would, I believe, Arsene. I may very well be wrong, mind, but that is what I believe and an indicator of how difficult things seem to be is the Gervinho signing – the guy wants to move, the club is willing to sell and we want to buy him but for whatever reason (could be Arsene being tight-fisted, could be the board, could be the selling club protracting things, could be an agent putting spanners in the works in hope of bigger bids for the player, could be… etc etc). You said it yourselcf, he openly highlighted our weaknesses, then why wouldn’t he do everything he can to address these weaknessess?
“As a fan that knows nothing about what is happening behind the scenes, any early signings would give me the confidence that the tactical problems we’ve seen over the past few seasons can start to be tackled on the first day back. It would demonstrate to me that their is an urgency to get things right and 100% focus that we must improve for the upcoming season.”
It would demonstrate that, yes, but then what if we buy someone early on just to show commitment, and then, when we have too little money left, a much better option comes along that we would have afforded had we not made the first purchase? In a perfect world we could have phoned Owen Coyle and said “right, here’s £20m, give us Cahill” and then said “Denilson and Vela, you know what? Here’s a lump of cash for you each, you can escort yourselves out the door and consider your contracts terminated” and then bought an attacker. But the world is a lot more complicated than that, we have a rather limited budget wether we like it or not.
I want us to strengthen the team as much as we possibly can. But I also know and understand that doing so is a rather difficult and complicated process. The reality is, unfortunately, that we do to an extent have to wait and see what is available after the big-money boys have taken what they want. I hate that, but at the moment there is very little we can do about that.
Lars. Not sure I fully agree. We have known the areas that need strengthening for years. AW will know. You would also hope that the reluctance of Clichy and Nasri to enter contract talks would also give him a hint as to where their loyalties lie. If he wants Cahill then start negotiations. Is it that difficult????? Whatever the outcome, the fact that we are now in July and nothing has happened is poor for me. very poor.
A lot of football is about winning the mental battle. Dare I say it but Arsenal are acting like a wounded animal for me. In my opinion it is now time to grow a pair and become a Lion again.
Some great comments here today with the notable exception of one very daft LWC who probably comes here because he can’t stand the vitriol form his own deluded family.
Steve T @ #88 – Agreed. Samba not the best or brightest but has gone on record about his desire to join. As you say ‘a big heart, leadership qualities and a never say die attitude’ might just be the missing ingredients that help to push us over the line and win something.
Lars @ #89 – High quality stuff from you as usual. Particularly agree with you final two paras. It’s hugely frustrating as a fan to be in this position but we also have to accept the reality of things. I also want us to strengthen the squad but with the best possible players and as you say, in a market with relatively little real activity (Manure excepted) being patient for some of the right players to become available may prove to be the right thing to do.
zico @ #86 – I think you have hit one of the nails squarely on the head. We may not like it but Arsenal is run very much like a business and cash is always king. AW is very sympathetic to this cause and I’m sure it’s one of the reasons why the board stand so firmly behind him at presnet. We need to know where we are with Cesc, Nasri and others (I get the feeling Clichy is a done deal) before sealing too many deals. Yes we have a war-chest already but we also need to know what (else) we need to buy before tieing up too much cash too soon. Pretty much what Lars said really.
Dr. z
Another point along the lines of your point on ‘CF paralysis’.
Stan maybe the silent type but if I had as much money invested in our club as he did I’d have my commercial team pressing IG and his team for all kinds of detailed projections.
IG went on record recently citing Arsenal’s highly complex systems to project the club’s finances. My point is that there could be some ‘analysis paralysis’ going on too which requires some of our key people to come back fom their hols and sort it out before we move onwards and hopefully upwards.
True story you lack insight, what I actually see is two clubs in North London in very similar positions
Both fighting to keep there star players
Both clubs with impatient fans waiting for the magic fix of some key signings.
Both clubs behaving fiscally responsibly
The fact we hate each other is irrelevant, I could trade insults, but I would quickly become unwelcome here!
Until Citeh and Chavski close the check books the market will stall.
Well we could eliminate some of that paralysis by telling Barcelona, in no uncertain terms
CUoCO
We are too nice for our own good, sometimes. The saga drags on because we don’t nip things in the bud, when it comes to their mind games – he has 4 years on his contract FFS. Steve T said it previously, we make this out to be more complicated than it is.
You can probably tell my Monday hasn’t improved much. 🙁
zico, on the other hand the club did tell Barca in no uncertain terms last summer (on several occasions, even, including a very official statement on Arsenal.com) that Cesc is not for sale but that didn’t stop the Catalans from having every Barca player and their dogs doing the rounds in the papers mouthing off about Cesc.
I think Austrian Gunner @87 is spot re wee Clichy. And it’s very decent all round of Citeh to keep overpaying for some of our shakier defenders when the club finally gets fed up with them. I heard from a bloke in my local chip shop that when we dropped the number 3 off in Carlos Tevez’s least favourite 2 restaurant town, someone at The Arse had had the foresight to tuck a specially spliced together DVD of a certain centre-halfs season of own-goals, heading his defensive partner in the face and general all round useless fuckery – down the back of Gael’s long socks for Mancini to find. My man says Arsene’s sat back in his office right now waiting for the phone to ring and the inquiries to begin.
“Well that depends ‘ow much you are prepaired to offfur Mr. Mancini?”
Up The Arse!
“spot on” – didn’t spot it
Lars – they must have a price in mind – tell them what it is and CUoCO – that’s all I meant.
Cusop,
Talking of a lack of insight I refer you back to your comment @ #79 and numerous others before that declaring the rise of the LWCs and the demise of our beloved Arsenal.
Hardly a basis for intelligent debate.
TS Yorked on 99!
Well done the century man, hope that’s brightened your day!
The HT Mk II security team may need to get unleashed very shortly. I believe I have been far too respectful @ #99 and I’m beginning to hate myself for it. I’m with you @ #66.
TS – don’t make icontact – it only encourages ’em
PS still no scouting report on the boy Gervinho – then
TS – do you want to borrow my sharp stick?
I know, And Lester. I shouldn’t, you’re right. But it’s a typical stuffing Monday, the press are having a bloody (misinformed) field day at our expense, we’d all like a little more clarity in what’s really going on and sometimes you just need to kick that proverbial cat 😉
Dr. z, thanks. I’ll keep it handy. PARS set to stun, for now….
I know its frustrating but I reckon Man IOU, Liverpool, City and the Chavs will prob spend shit loads this summer in the end. Why? because the financial fair play kicks in and this is probably the last chance for these idiots to spend what they dont have.
When the financial fair play finally kicks in we’ll see who is clever then but my guess is we’ll be up there looking down on the rest and their debts
Austrian @ #107,
I also made a similar observation in the recent past about FFP so have to agree.
I would hope that given a choice, a player would choose Arsenal over The ‘Pool as a better career prospect. The arguments against the others require more skill. Over to you Arsene & Ivan….
I really a have a question to all.
Everyone is saying replace Cesc if he indeed moves and failure to do so would be the board’s fault.
But lately I’ve been thinking, who On earth could realistically replace him?
The only Player I could think of in that position is Sneider and he’s either staying at Inter or going to Utd. The only other option is to put the greedy frenchman in the middle and Mata on the left but then again Mata won’t be bought if we get no money from Nasri’s sale.
What would you do assuming Cesc leaves??
It’s easy to complain but it ain’t that easy replacing when you realistically think about available (and not available actually) players.
I guess it’s official then?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2010893/Gael-Clichy-signs-Manchester-City.html
If so, I wish him all the best. He’s been a good servant to the club and acted with dignity through the whole process.
Afternoon All ,
Some good points made by all . I have to say I’m very much in the Lars camp . ” Arsenal in crisis ” is a good headline and will sell papers . That has been the way of things for the last 40 years and beyond and will continue to be so . Alan Ball being relieved of the captaincy , Macdonald and Hudson being sent home in disgrace , O’Leary and Rix being relieved of the Captaincy in quick succession , Tony Adams entering the Garden Design Business , PV4 on his way , TH14 wants out , and now it’s Captain Fab’s turn .
Don’t buy all this “Arsenal are now everybody’s favourite second team ” nonsense . If you don’t support Arsenal , you generally hate them . So many reasons for this , the counter-attacking football of the thirties ,and the Bank of England tag that went with it , the ultra blue blood of the Board in a working man’s game , the perceived negativity of the first Double side , the long ball tactics of GG and 1-0 to the Arsenal , and now the barely concealed Xenophobia now that Wengerball has dropped a few notches from the heady heights of 03-04 .
What has changed from days gone by is that we are now being attacked by some of our own as the self-serving Blogsters elsewhere sharpen their quills and are as prepared to misinterpret and misinform as the most shameless of the Fleet Street hacks . It amazes me that the mildest of hints of positivity from ‘Holic which amounted to little more than ” wait and see before you condemn ” , was greeted with vitriol by names I don’t recognise on here , with one bright spark even suggesting that ‘Holic was part of the problem .
I share the frustration expressed by some that we have yet to make our statement of intent , but I refuse to get carried away by transfer speculation , for that is all it is , speculation . If it turns out that we let Fab go for three shilling and sixpence , and Nasri ends up at one of the bastions of C*ntheadery in the North West , and they are replaced with a couple of teenagers and Barton , then I will be foaming at the mouth as much as the next man . I remain convinced that both will still be at the club next season .
As regards Clichy , I never thought he would get the contract he wanted , and that therefore his time at the Arse was up . That he is almost certainly on his way does not constitute a crisis . There are better left backs out there .
The PR of the Club is , as has been mentioned elsewhere , appalling , bordering on the shameful . Not so much in the failure to quell /encourage transfer tittle- tattle , but in their failure to launch a media charm-offensive designed to defend AW from some of the more hysterical commentators out there .
Oh and Cusop , is Martin Samuels really the best you can do ? Really ? Martin Samuels’ biggest claim to fame is coming third in a Demis Roussos look-a-like competition .
Good to have you back tabs.
Without wishing to diminish a very eloquent and agreeable post, I’m wiping the tears away from your last paragraph as I type this.
Comedy gold. I’ll fetch my kaftan 🙂
Cheers TS . Pint ?
tabs,
Oh yes! Been a tough day so a pint of Stella would be preferred.
The CMC is open again along with the windows.
Some better news:
http://younggunsblog.co.uk/2011/07/cesc-present-as-arsenal-return-to-training/
At least the source (YGs) is a reliable one.
My Monday just got better – brother tabs is back.
And the Windows are open.
Water please 😉
TS here’s your Stella .
Afternoon Dr Z .
*sip*
Cheers tabs,
Thought you would appreciate this :
http://anotherarsenalblog.blogspot.com/search/label/martin%20samuel%20fat%20slag%20shut%20it%20arsenal%20opinion%20supertars
Cheers TS , good article and even better headline 🙂
Samuels is more slug-like than when Slugger the Slug slugged other Slugs in a Slug-fest .
Either that , or he’s just a scumbag journo ” Forever and Ever ” 🙂
TS, Tabs, anyone at the bar.. I’d like to hear your opinion about my post @109 please
Snir, there is no-one who can replace Cesc as a player – except of course for perhaps Xavi, but I think he might be a bit difficult to pry away from his current club. What we have to do if Cesc leaves is to change our style of play a bit. We would probably have to play along the wings a lot more (in much the same way as ManU have done in recent years when they lacked creativity in central midfield) because I don’t think Ramsey is quite ready yet (fuck you, Ryan Shawcross) to take on the creative role in the middle. He probably needs another season to build consistency into his game.
Snir ,
I firmly believe Cesc is going nowhere because I don’t believe Barca can afford him .
However , if I’m wrong and Barca stump up , Arsenal will buy Kaka .
You heard it here first !
Found in my local rag and translated
Arsenal continue to think about Benzema. , Arsène Wenger hasnt totally ruled out Karim Benzema. In effect, if the sale of Cesc Fabregas happens, the directors are ready to invest a good part of the proceeds to obtain the signature of the Frenchman, whose future is doubtful at Madrid with the possible arrivals of Neymar and Sergio Agüero.
Snir
This is going to sound really weak but I agree with the above two gentlemen in that
A) I don’t think Cesc is going
B) If he left, we’d change our style somewhat as the team is built around him. Candidates from within are Jack in a forward role, Rambo and Nasri assuming he stays put.
We’d buy in a different sort of player to compensate for the changes within the squad. A speedy winger would be good who could cross really well too – maybe that’s Fivehead G? Maybe we’ll put in a bid for the Simian from Sp*rs? Another world exclusive?
Who knows? Arsene probably has a good idea or two but he’s not sharing 😉
Clichy to Citeh official BTW. He’s even on their website. I’ll be giving him a warm welcome when he returns to the Ems.
That is, until he touches the ball 🙂
So basically you’re confirming what I thought.
There isn’t a player who can replace Cesc. The thing I’m afraid of is the backlash the board will get for not replacing him.
I totally agree with Lars that of Cesc leaves we’ll need to change our style to 4-4-2 with Jack and Song, 2 wingers (please let them be natural wingers) and RvP along with another striker (Benzema, Higuain anyone?).
Thing is how do you think the board (and the players) will cope with the enormous amount of pressure and backlash from the fans for not properly replacing Cesc (or do you think a Mata/Benzema/Higuain signing will satisfy the fans even though none of them are a direct Cesc replacement).
Another question, assuming Cesc stays do you think we should stay with this formation? Before you go ballistic just remember we don’t concede a lot of goals from open play with the current formation and set pieces is a whole different issue when it comes to positioning.
Good luck to him , he’ll get a polite clap from me when he’s next in town , but it’ll be a long way from the bouquets of flowers Charlie George got when he returned .
It’s difficult not to like him – boundless enthusiasm , articulate , and clearly one of the good guys .
In truth though , he has gone backwards . The excellence of his 06-07 season , ( when it was the commonly held view that we had had the better out of the Cashley deal ) , seems a long time ago .
He has never recovered from that last minute penalty up at St.Andrews in 07-08 , and always appears on the verge of a defensive ricket . Unprotected he may be , but Gael is woeful in the air , lacks concentration , and over-commits at times whilst doesn’t get tight enough at other times .
Goodbye to the last Invincible .
Snir, we need to do something about how we defend set pieces regardless of who comes or goes. I am not really sure we need new defenders, I think we need to change our tactics.
Snir , AW won’t be changing the formation anytime soon , though I hope he shows more flexibility in the last 20 when we’re chasing a goal , than he did last season .
Lars, that’s something I’ve been saying at the bar for quite a while.
It seems to be a footballing world consensus that our defense is shit but let’s not forget that the same Kos that hiccuped at the CC final closed Messi, Drogba and Chicharito down perfectly. Our defense is not shot and is strong at times.
Our problem is that inexplicable panic that makes us just hoof the ball away from the defense and invites attacks and long balls against us (Newcastle away), or in other words – defensive possession.
As a Swede you’ll know what I mean when I compare it to when a Hockey goalie covers up the puck just to slow down the opponent’s momentum. We should hold on to the ball much better in the defensive third.
Tabs, agree but I have a feeling AW is guilty of what most managers are and that’s believing in their selection and waiting for the players to do their magic. He does alter (Barca at home for example – NB for song, and switching Messi to Kos in the 2nd half) but sometimes I get the feeling from that he’s just waiting for the likes of Cesc, RvP et al to win it for him.
tabs @ #127
*raises glass, wipes away tear from fond memories of Gael*
Fair play to Clichy for making no fuss about the whole thing. Good luck to him
He was our last link to the invincibles squad, wasn’t he?
*Nostalgic*
I’m up for a pint,anyone?
Bah, I’m seeing that Clicheh is officially a Shittizen.
I used to like him.
Harsha, technically you could say that Cesc is the last link. He didn’t play in the league that season, but he did make the bench a couple of times towards the end of the season. Also, I agree about Clichy having handled himself impeccably during the transfer. No bullshit in the media or anything. I think we can replace him and even improve on what he contributed.
Snir, I get exactly what you mean and I agree.
Guys, take a look at these articles, and note when they were published:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/19/barcelona-cesc-fabregas-arsenal?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/may/18/cesc-fabregas-barcelona-arsenal-transfer?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487
I think I mentioned this the other day, look how similar these articles are to what is being printed today. It is claimed that Cesc has “unequivocally” told Arsene he wants to leave, it is claimed that we are looking for £40m and Barca expect to have the deal done before the weekend and so on. Nothing turned out to be true, why should it be more true this year? Last year we had one bid from Barca, and they were basically told to go fuck themselves. This year Barca made a bit and were again told to go fuck themselves. There were no negotiations, no counter-proposals, nothing other than “not interested, goodbye”.
A half-full pint of ale, please.
So another Arsenal player can’t see beyond the £ signs – oh well, life goes on.
Just wait till the Blue Loons find out he has an aversion to crosses that Dracula would be proud of. Oh and he sees dead people when defending set pieces (copyright of “Up for Grabs”).
So whose our new regular left back then – Gibbs (scary), or new bloke Jenkinson? Knowing AW, it could be Eboue!
Vermaelen? Or is he our new centre back?
I thought it was Chopin Dr Z 🙂
Ha, so rumours of his demise are somewhat exaggerated then?
Cashley gone and now what can we nickname old Gael?
Chequebook Clichy?
Credit Card Clichy?
Casheyed Clichy?
I’m not going to panic about losing him as the general informed consensus is he made huge strides going backward, but its a sad sign when we are now struggling to hold onto average players 🙁
Just wanted to tip my hat to Clichy.
Good, honest pro of the kind you rarely find in the game these days. A parting of the ways was probably the best thing for all concerned at this stage, but I hope he rediscovers his best form at City, other than against us.
As for the rest of the Newsnow nonsense – meh.
We’ll see where we are in a few short weeks. Obviously, it would have been nice for the club to announce Benzema and Baines by end June but I think it’s reasonable for Wenger to point out that, even if Utd have been flinging the dough about, the Market hasn’t really warmed up yet. That said, I do like to think that we’d not have allowed the Clich transfer to be finalised without lining up some sort of replacement.
While I wait for it all to kick off properly I’m making my own entertainment by logging into Le Grove every day and listening in as the squealing becomes higher and higher pitched.
On the last day of the Season, Arsenal’s loyal away fans sang loud and clear at Fulham May 22, “Spend some fucking Money”. 11 points from our last 11 games. The lowest points tally since the 05/06 Season. The worst defensive record on set pieces in the League, worse than Blackpool, who conceded 74 goals. Our worst home record in 14 years. We had an 8 point lead over Man City with 4 games to go. Absolutely no fighting spirit or mental strength in evidence, we finished 4th.
Wenger said he knew there were weaknesses that had to be addressed and would do his transfer business quickly. A Summer w/ no European or World Cups to get in the way.
Fast forward to July 4, when Players are returning for pre-season training and we’ve added 1 teenager from 3rd tier Charlton.
When AW kept Pat Rice for another Season, amidst rumours last Season he was quitting, that had a distinct Wenger feel to me of “Fuck Off I’m doing my own thing”.
Everyone knows what Wenger has achieved for this club, we all know of the title’s he ONCE won. Now that we’re out of the woods financially and with the stadium move, why’s he so allergic to spending money?
Since 2004, Wenger has made a profit of 20.56 Million English Pounds on transfer fees and won 1 FA Cup.
It might be a great business model but it’s a shit football one.
Between 1996-2004, Wenger Managed a brilliant Football team on the pitch, from 05-11, Wenger has Managed a Football Club.
Arsenal are a big Club, who won 10 League titles long before Wenger arrived at the Club. When Wenger is paid more than Ferguson & Guardiola you really need to ask yourself what fact-based justification there can be for keeping him in his role.
In the last 5 years Man Utd have won 7 trophies and based on their pre-season transfer activity, it’s easy to see why. We’ve won nothing.
Earlier this season when Cesc was interviewed in Balon, he said of Arsenal, “Either go out and win silverware or develop Players”. That sealed Cesc’s fate in my opinion, Arsenal’s Youth Project Poster Boy telling Wenger, it’s not working. That’s why a deal is being sought this Summer w/ Barcelona. That’s why Barca are playing hardball.
Vierra in April said “Arsenal lack the physicalities to impose themselves and they don’t have the killer attitude that a team like Man Utd have”.
Now we have Clichy gone, Nasri & Cesc both want out and RVP & Walcott are probably next to want away. It would appear that our Top players know that “Arsene doesn’t know anymore”.
Yet we keep the dross. Between Denilson, Rosicky & Diaby they started 56 games last season with another 30 substitute appearances, they scored 3 goals between them.
With Arsenal finally going to Asia to begin establishing their brand globally, we have no new signings to showcase. Not at all surprising.
Steve T & Stingy Voyeur, I hear you both loud and clear.
Was astounded to see that Gael made more tackles than any other left back last season but I suppose stats never tell the full storey as I would be of the opinion that he was forced into a large percentage of those by his own positioning. Was one of the good guys but increasingly teams attacked our left flank due to a percieved weakness there ( assisted by Arshavin on occasion ). Must admit I am not overly worried as I think Arsene will defo have this one already covered and I wonder how much playing time he will get at City but the lure of silverware ( bracelets , chains, teeth, vibrators etc..) was too hard to resist. Adios Gael…you will not be forgotten but never remembered either..
And I mean that in the nicest possible way of course as that is only what a gentleman deserves
Good stuff Noel73 .
TS – you have mail .
Well said bernard @141. I would say that it is no coincidence that we have not won a league, even silverware, since the financial burdens the new stadium has placed upon us. In my opinion, we will not be able to compete at the top level until it is fully paid off (about mid decade from what I hear). Until that time, much like going after some women, we have to live life with lowered expectations or a “new normal”.
To 8ball, Mr. G, LG, and all other fine American ‘holics I bid you a happy fourth. A round of Sam Adams all around!
TS,
I’m a Kanuck who likes to celebrate both the 1st (Kanada) & the 4th (Amerika). It makes for an extra long weekend and it’s always good to have an excuse to sip the suds 😉
PS. Do the English still harbour resentment towards the colonies for their own petulent ambition over seeking a better deal? A situation very akin to many of our past players seeking better deals in greener pastures due to our own inability to match or better such deals. It never fails to amaze me that many of us slag past players for doing what is only human nature and then belittle such players with silly nicknames (i.e. Cashley). Put yourselves in their shoes. I would jump for a better payday and better prospects of winning trophies too. Who wouldn’t? If a competitor to my employer offered me a much better deal than I presently have, who amongst us would not take it? A man’s gotta eat. A man’s gotta feed his family. Even if it is a family of but one.
‘Put yourselves in their shoes. I would jump for a better payday and better prospects of winning trophies too. Who wouldn’t? If a competitor to my employer offered me a much better deal than I presently have, who amongst us would not take it? A man’s gotta eat. A man’s gotta feed his family. Even if it is a family of but one.’
With respect, that’s an absurd parallel to draw. I presume you don’t earn what an average top flight footballer earns (I certainly don’t), so your comparison is meaningless. If I’m earning £25K and someone offers me £30k at another job, that’s somewhat different to a footballer who is earning £80k a week, and is then offered over £100k a week elsewhere. How much money can you possibly need? They’re not exactly wanting for food or feeding their family.
And I wouldn’t necessarily take a higher paid job offer anyway, I like my current job. If we were all motivated by money alone, we’d all be lawyers and bankers.
Blimey going by some reactions on other sites I thought I’d just awoken from a deep sleep and was back in the 80s Reading that we’d just sold Samson in his prime!! Gaels a good guy and good pro but for the last 3 years has looked like an imposter at left back he’s been nowhere near solid enough, And to make it worse he offers zilch going forward, Saying all that fuck me Arsenal really need to get some good news out there as this sitting on hands whilst Rome burns is a million miles away from a big club show some fight for fucks sake,
If there was one summer the club needed to show direction and a willingness to improve this was it they’ve still got time even tho that’s ticking because if they don’t the Emirates will be mutinous next season and they’d have only themselves to blame,
Tipple anyone?
Agent Larsh @ #135, good work again! Are you going to join Agent Olliski in the Eastern bloc for your next assignment or return to base? No, I have no idea what I’m talking about either so I’d better buy you a drink for a change 😉
Draped @ #139, that’s a little harsh on the fella, I think and I may be forced to tell our mother. C*ntley Hole was a different proposition all together and, being honest, a better footballer than Gael too.
noel73 @ #142, “( bracelets , chains, teeth, vibrators etc..)” – heh, what are you trying to tell us? 🙂 I’m with you in that Arsene might have this covered already or even surprise us with a ‘like a new signing’ replacement for GC. Let’s just pray he doesn’t have Squilly or Eboue in mind…
tabs @ #144, YGM2 😉
Evening Holic & Holic`s
Rightly or wrongly surely it would be best to get your transfer done ASAP. The longer the squad has time to gell the better.
The pre season games kick off before you know it and who will be there ? Cesc, Nasri very doubtfull Clichy gone. Arshavin ? RVP unhappy that top players may not be replaced. It dose not fill me with the greatest of confidence at this moment in time to be fair.
Signing players that have never played in the CL a week before being thrown into the fray, not ideal ! Say what you will of the red nose raindeer of the north. At least he is getting his signings out the way as so as he can. All turning up for pre season together and the man has a fairly stocked trophy cabinet so there may be something to that.
Has AW got funds or are we having a fire sale for the sake of it ? There is talk of selling to replace ! HOW ? With the most expensive match tickets in the land, statements of the club being on a firm footing ect ect. There has to be some money surely.
The long and short of it is that I am concerned !
Stingy @ #146,
I’m liking this Kanuck thing. Why celebrate once when you can do 2 for the price of 1? Not sure about the parallels that you are drawing but OK to agree to disagree. This bar is good for that. Enjoy the suds.
Charlie @ #147,
I’m reliably informed that the collective noun for bankers is a wunch 😉
Chippy @ #148,
Yes please. I’m on the Stella tonight. Cheers!
RVP is only unhappy if you believe that beacon of journalism that is the Daily Star. Frankly none of the media are covering themselves in glory this summer with the amount of shit-stirring.
It’s all relative Charlie no matter what the actual figures are. Basic economics. Basic supply and demand. It’s a well known fact we cannot offer wages that the other big boys can. All things being equal, I would move to another job for more money. All rational men would.
Now, add on incentives other than basic salary, all other things being equal. If a competitor offers a company car, added vacation time, and other perks your present employer does not, who amongst us would not jump. A rational man would. Every rational man would otherwise the man would not be rational by definition. The non salary perks we can no longer offer are trophies. Because of this, it is becoming increasingly difficult to compete for talent. We can’t compete on the salary front and now we can’t compete on the incidentals either (trophies).
That’s why it’s a slippery slope.
Too many of us see our players through the lens of a marriage contract. In that case, I agree, we should all remain loyal. However, players are not generally married to their current clubs (I’d say that there are exceptions out there — one that I can think of is Barça, whose players largely grow loyal to the club from the crib, develop through the academy and cannot fathom ever playing elsewhere — but that is the exception, not the rule). So, generally speaking, players are not married to our club. They are employees just like most of us. The numbers are bigger no doubt but the principle is simply the same. And their careers are much shorter than ours so there is an urgency to get what you can whilst you still can.
An urgency that our club is sorely lacking.
TS..I have expensive tastes and sometimes they border on the obscene…Gael is one of those players Arsene has decided to let move on as he has with Hleb, Wiltord, Toure..never really fought for them publicly and to my mind with good reason…Arsene still knows you know , he just does’nt know he knows himself sometimes..if you know what I mean. A little bit of vocal from the club would go a long way tomorrow..
But all things are seldom equal, and you didn’t address my point, footballers are not a good barometer because the money they earn is so high. If you’re earning an obscene amount and want an even more obscene amount, that;s not rational, that’s just plain greedy. And humans are not always rational thankfully, you seem to think the world is like an Ayn Rand novel.
Wiltord may not have been an Arsenal favorite but whenever I see the banner ‘ Old Trafford Champions Section ‘ draped across the away end I get a fond remeberence of the nonchalent little man being hurdled by Kanu….just so you know
With you noel especially re: the ‘little bit of vocal’. It could do us no harm, with the possible exception of a half-cut PHW getting on the blower to his red-top mates, might even do our club a power of good. Regarding your tastes, welcome to The Secure Unit, there’s no shame here 😉
I think the HT is stocked with enough lunatics for me to melt quietly into the background TS…Maybe in a quiet corner by the bar with a Guiness and a Bushmills chaser
Noel, it’s well stocked in all departments. Pull up a chair and settle in. The ride is often bumpy, rarely quiet. Guinness and Bushmills please Mr. Barman, on my tab.
Charlie – Again, it’s all relative. I don’t believe they are any more greedy than any of us given better offers. It’s simply human nature, acting in one’s own self interest, basic free market and Adam Smith economics.
The money we all make in our jobs in western economies would look like gold mines to many in the third world. We should dispose of class envy. If the market dictates a better salary for you in your career — go for it. I do not hold it against players (people, employees, etc.) seeking to make a better life for themselves. Again, ceteris paribus (all things being equal), it’s just capitalism and the world which we all live in. Employment should not be viewed as marriage. Whatever profession you are in.
Have a Samuel Adams to commerate Amerikan Indepedence. Rounds all around. OLTOC (On Lars’ tab of course).
Great stuff in the back channels TS 🙂 , and have replied .
I personally don’t think it’s rational to want to leave the Arse – very very few have gone on to have better careers than they would otherwise have had , had they stayed . Ray Kennedy , Liam Brady and arguably PV4 are the only 3 that spring to mind .
I’m also with Charlie on the whole how much money do you need thing . There are only 3 massive clubs in this country – ourselves , Manure and Liverpool . Everybody else are just there to make up the numbers , and a move away from the big three is a step down .
Make that ‘commemorate’. Damn spelling mistakes. Another round of Sam Adams OLTOC!
TS – So, are you still bitter about the colonies declaring independence and for the Boston Tea Party before that 🙂 ?
Cheers tabs.
Good point re: the ‘really big 3’. Worth remembering that Chelski and Citeh have an awful lot of catching up to do even with Chelski’s golden period under the Abramovich billions. I’ve no doubt Citeh will do a Chelski now but prior to Shake Mansour they, like Chelski were decidedly average with trophies very, very few and far between. As much as I hate to admit it Cashley can probably join that list of 3 players too but he lacked their class.
Stingy
As far as I’m aware, we still haven’t ratified it, nor should we. Meh!
@ Bernard 141, here here
@ Lars 89, sorry for taking so long to reply and i know everyone else has moved on but just wanted to remark on a few things.
The suggestion the market is slow cos no-one is selling….well usually a club bids or enquires first and then negotiations etc start. I don’t often remember a club announcing their best players (cahill in this instance is for sale). Yes they might say that if someone was to buy they’d have to pay up but usually thi sis followed by “we don’t want to sell one of our top players blah blah”. So is the market slow cos we aren’t inquiring or because the seller isn’t playing ball. Gervinho the latter, Cahill more of the former.
Also this suggestion that AW knows what we need and its unthinkable that he wouldn’t address these issues. Really. Dec 2009 when RvP had to have an op that would see him out til April, AW said we would be in the market for a striker in Jan even stating that he wouldn’t be afraid of buying a player that was CL cup-tied. However he stuck AA up front we did very well through the xmas period got ourselves somehow back in the title race and guess what? AW turned round and said we didn’t need that striker anymore. Then guess what? We were pants at the biz end of the season and we ended up with nada.
At the end of the season AW said we had been very average defensively and said that was an area he would definitely look to strengthen in the summer esp as it looked like Gallas was gonna walk out the door. Some high profile screw ups from the keeper also had him quite publicly stating our need for a new experienced keeper.
What did we get? No new keeper. Okay we got Woz but the fact is a GLARING weakness wasn’t addressed, and the fact that we came close again to signing Schwarzer and rumour of Reina meant Le Boss knew we needed something to start with. Yet nothing.
Defensively what did we get? Kos and Squilaci. Now I think Kos has got a bit of a rough ride. I think he hasn’t done too bad for his 1st season in a much harder league from where he came. Squillaci hasn’t been very good at all and once again the fact we tried to sign Samba in Jan suggests AW knew we were struggling with no TV5. He gambled on TV5 coming back. That gamble back-fired. However neither Kos or Squillaci was really at the quality level a championship winning team needs/needed.
And so here we are again.
So in answer to your question, our manager has form. At the end of a season or even through it he will see the weakness, make all the right noises about addressing those weaknesses, then doesn’t address the weaknesses adequately.
I love the man, and I love the club but for crying out loud somethings gotta give. And that’s what hurts the most – the longer he leaves these the more the old broken promises come to the fore and the old feeling of de ja vu reappears.
Finally, feck waiting for the big money boys. We have our budget and players within that bracket and they have theirs. We’re not bidding for Sanchez or Modric. Maybe I’m misunderstanding you but I don’t think we shouldn’t bid for Cahill, for example, cos Chavski have got more money than us and they too may want him. He may not want to go to them. Ramsey didn’t opt for Manure over us despite them having more money. Kaka didn’t chose Citeh over Real. No don’t agree with that one little bit. Make the bid, if he says no fair enough but to wait around for scraps off Citeh/Manure/Chavski table is what I’d expect from them lot down the Seven Sisters Rd.
For everything I’ve said I hope I’m wrong and will have no problem saying I was when the season starts and we have a team good enough to lift the title in May.
At this point though, today, it feels like we’re being fed the same old bullshit!
And that ain’t on….
noel73 @ 158 – whatever gave you that idea?
TS – I expect you to challenge these aspersions being cast on our Trolling Rolling Stock…..
tabs,
You sound like a die hard Arse fan. Nothing wrong with that. Cheers.
I’d say old Thierry made a move up, no offence. Went to a club that could deliver the Holy Grail to him (a UCL trophy). Even if his salary were the same, all other things being equal, he got something he could not, sadly, with us. I’d say he won out by moving. Good on him. I don’t begrudge his move.
I definitely think LFC are no longer such a massive club. That was twenty years ago. And to be honest, neither can we atthe moment. We are sliding. Chelsea, based on the past decade, are objectively bigger than us. And Citeh, based on the current economic model, have more muscle than we have.
I hope that FFP gives us a level playing field and we can return to past glories. Make no mistake, after six years, I’m beginning to feel like a Liverfool fan.
A double bourbon for tabs, barman, OLTOC.
TS – rumour has it, that you are such an oldtimer, you were at the Boston Tea Party 🙂
Do they do Ovaltine at this bar? (Big Yawn)
TS , you only have to look at attendances and shirt sales . Chelski have to advertise on the radio , and often struggle to fill a relatively small stadium . The immoral Russian Billions wont be there for ever . Go abroad and you rarely see a Chelsea shirt . Similarly , City just dont have the heritage and are decades behind . There is a kudos to being an Arsenal player which you simply cant replicate at City , no matter how many millions you have in your bank account , and which you’re strugglin to spend .
No offense Z..am merely a hitcher ( not the Rutger Hauer version mind ) wondering how the hell I got here and will I be able to get off with my limbs atached..
North Bank 1 @ 165 – a lot of sense in that post. None more so than acting like the LWCs begging for scraps. Signing for Arsenal should still mean something – if we can’t get players because we are in an auction with the Chavs and City, then we should move on to the next target.
As for the fair play thing, I think too many people are building too much hope in a level playing field existing in the future – creative accountants will win the day and the bank rolled clubs will find loopholes in any regulations that Platini et al try to introduce. Call me cynical if you like but it happens in every other walk of life so why should the business of football be any different?
Noel, I can personally guarantee that you will be able to get off with your limbs attached – stay away from Treatment Carriage 1 though, because once Trev and Dr C have had a few, your limbs might end up attached, but in the wrong place 😉
zico – Do you have that custom made cabin with its own fully stocked mini bar on the HT for me? I’m gonna need it …
The application for a license to dispense alcohol is currently caught up in some red tape in Brussels SV – we are all on water 🙂
Hey Stingy ,
Cheers for the drink – your good health Sir .
Not arguing with you that City and Chelsea have more wonga to throw around , and if that is the only definition of a big Club , then , they are , temporarily , big .
In terms of the interest they generate and the fan base they have , both at home and abroad , they are simply not in the same league as the other three .
City and Chelsea could clean up between themselves for the next decade , and they still would not come close to the other 3 . Liverpool haven’t won the league for over 20 years but in my book they are still much bigger than Chelsea .
As regards TH14 , i give you that the Barca move delivered the holy grail , but who’s to say we wouldn’t have won it in 07-08 or 08-09 with him in the ranks . That medal aside , his move wasn’t a great success from a personal point of view . He was often played out of position , and got quite a bit of stick from the Barca faithful . A nice swansong with a very nice winners medal , but the heights of TH14’s career were all reached at Arsenal .
*sip , sip , sip*
How come cusop ‘s name appears red on my phone when all other posts appear black – is because he’s a c u next tuesday?
Would be nice to see some strengthening of the defence – oh I see we have – Clichy’s gone! Thanks citeh!
heh
*sip*
Conductor zico – I hope the HT is closer to being on schedule than our silly season signings which are currently off the rails 🙁
Will the HT depart fully loaded, as I long to be, before the first ball is kicked in anger (as you Brits say)?
Btw, saying this as respectfully as one can say such things, Harry has made out quite well. That Kate is some looker blessed with a fine figure. Don’t know about those silly small sideways hats though. How does she keep them on? With glue, staples, tape?
Signed,
Perplexed
Err, make that Will, not Harry.
Hey Dr Z , I’m not sure this idea of private compartments on the HT is a good one . Get to the Bar like everybody else Stingy – its alright Lars is paying .
tabs – no doubt that TH’s best years, his prime, were at AFC. But the main point is that he had to jump ship to reach his ambition. At least we had him during his prime. It looks like we won’t be able to say the same about our current best players (CF & SN). In the recent good olde days we sold off our best just after their prime and certainly before they hit 30. Now, we are somewhere amongst a top six, closer to the bottom of the six, and will be bringing in youngsters as before but selling before their prime. We’ve become an accelerated selling club at the top end.
zico – You’re right FFP won’t be a real level playing field. I agree with you on that. As an accountant I know. What do you want 2+2 to equal. But, under FFP, I honestly believe we will be able to compete more evenly with the top clubs (ManUre, Chel$ki, Citeh) than under the present model of spending without end … especially Chel$ki and Citeh.
As a Scot, what is your take on the monarchy? Are you a loyal royal apologist or do you want the oppression of your fair land and specifically, the Kingdom there in, to cease and desist?
Private, fully loaded, cabins are helpful during the sleeping hours after the liquor car is closed and during relative difficult periods of our upcoming season.
That DSK Frenchie is quite the old hound, ain’t he? He’s got a new sexual harassment allegation to fight now. Stay tuned ladies and gentlemen.
“I really believe if you are a player who thinks only about money then you could end up at Manchester City.”
Gael Clichy after Ade joined Citeh in 2009.
Bernard @141, North Bank @ 165. Excellent posts.
My points are really simple. I am not a business person at all. But surely any business is only as good as its assets? Sometimes you just have to speculate to accumulate.
My other point is that I do not expect us to be spending the same as the Chavs or Citeh. Or the Mancs for that matter. I do not believe we have to. But as I have said many many times before, all I want is for the club to be the best we can be. Bernard has done the maths for us. If AW is over 20 million in credit since 2004 you have to ask the simple question, Why? Figures like that and those continually published by the board declaring record profits and turnover would lead to ask “where has all the money gone?”
In my opinion we have no reason not to be competitive in the markets. I also do not sunscribe to the school of thought that says we have to wait to see what others do. Top players cost top money. It is not rocket science.
As I said above, I just want my Arsenal to be the best we can possibly be. My opinion is that over the last few years that we have not done that. I do not think we have made the best with what we have.
Steve T – I would say that much of the club’s profits are going directly into paying off the debt over the stadium. I don’t believe Wenger has the money to spend to be truly competitive at the top end until the stadium is paid in full and FFP kicks in. This is just my reasoned financial speculation, without looking at the books, but it is the only thing which is plausible under the circumstance.
We are going to have to be even more patient than we have been recently. This hasn’t ended yet. We’ve got a way, and a few more years, to go.
Excellent Blog Goonerholic,
Devastated by what is going on, we need top tier players in, its obvious!
Putting my neck on the line here but Samba, do you guys really think he is as good as Kos?
I would take Cahill over Kos….But Samba?
Stingy. We were told when we moved that any loans taken woul dnot impact on our transfer fund.
If you are right and it makes sound business sense then all I want is a bit of honesty.
It looks like Enrique is a target to replace Clichy.
What is your opinion on that? I know I’m not fond of the idea of having a right footed LB.
Another long day, and not feeling too good tonight but I have fought my way through practically all the posts.
Tabs, TS, (a very succinct) zico – usual good stuff.
Lars and Steve T, some very good posts, from slightly different points of view.
And there’s the problem. I’m sure, in our heart of hearts, we must all share that sense of frustration and anger that nothing has been done yet.
And then we put our sensible hats on and try to remain calm, because we’re sure it must all be going on behind the scenes.
AW doing his Basil Fawlty crouchy/hoppy thing on the touchline every week has not looked a contented man to me. I cannot think that he would allow us to begin another new season with a real probability that it will all just happen again.
The problem is NONE of us KNOWS. Journos, fans, radio and TV presenters – nobody knows.
Reading the last 150 posts, you get a fair sense of the levels of passion and anguish felt by everyone, but that reading becomes really hard work. It can’t be good for the health.
In 2002 the various media were awash with “quotes” from Patrick Vieira and his “close friends” on how PV had kicked his last ball for the club. “The club knew” that Vieira would not return after the summer, and was on his way to Real Madrid.
At the start of the 2002/3 season Patrick Vieira lined up as Arsenal skipper.
For this, and other similar reasons, I will not/cannot damage my health by continually stressing over who is coming and going.
We are apparantly in meltdown because Fabregas, Nasri and Clichy want to leave (have left).
Fabregas – brilliant, but not properly fit for two seasons.
Nasri – half a good season in three years.
Clichy – very decent man, continued lapses in dangerous situations, hard-working, awful crosser, half the fans claimed they wanted him gone anyway.
In general, fans have said for a long time that the team needed strengthening in all the key areas.
Many players needed to go in order to rebuild the squad.
Different kinds of players were needed, in terms of experience and physical attributes.
As soon as it begins to happen, we are apparantly in crisis.
Sorry, but I refuse to join in. No posts from me about transfers and players. Just posts about posts about transfers and players.
Sorry to be frivolous but how about setting off early on that Lake Superior trip on the HT Mk II. Could we add an Insane Carriage fully kitted out with straight jackets for all tabloid readers.
Have we actually got toilets on board – don’t recall seeing them mentioned before.
(prepares for yet another volley of vile abuse from Highbury Spy if he’s been out drinking tonight again. Just joking mate – previous apologies already accepted!)
Ovaltines all round ?
Just artic
Who invaded my post with “just artic” – do you mind?
After a spell of trips abroad it pains me to come back to the bar in this sorry state, full of half-truths, distortions and outright lies. Russians have a proverb to the effect of “my mother-in-law is always right after the facts” and it looks like there are many Arsenal “fans” intent to emulate the russian babushka…
I’ll start with something strong and malty, and a little foreplay too
@bernard and a few others on the same topic: “Arsenal are a big Club”
Really? Since when?
I’m a glory hunter who started supporting Arsenal during our last pre-Wenger successful period and had you mentioned Arsenal in the same breath as the powerhouses of the day (Milan, Juve, Barca, Marseille etc) you would have been laughed at mercilessly.
This season we were the 5th spenders in team wages in the league and something like the 10th in Europe. In the last 6 years we’ve spent less than anyone else in the league bar the championship clubs.
Until we spend like a big club we won’t be one any more than Roma or Valencia and the likes. Unless of course you think they are big clubs too…
Steve T – That’s just typical Arsen(e)al speak to keep the unwashed masses (us, the fans) from revolting in the only way that impacts them in a serious way — the pocket book. If they were honest with us from the onset it would accelerate the thinning of fannies in the seats. The longer they can conceal the truth, the better, from their point of view. Pravda tells us what we want to hear while deep down they know a different truth.
We are run like a business with profit maximization as the ultimate goal (the bottom line is the bottom line). We are not run like a real football club any more.
A North American analogy I can cite close to home is the Toronto Maple Leafs (ice) hockey team in the NHL. They are owned by Maple Leaf Sports Entertainment (MLSE), a corporation, which is owned in turn by another monolith, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, who view MLSE and it’s subsidiary, the Toronto Maple Leafs, strickly as an investment. Toronto is a hockey mad city with only one major hockey team for miles around. They hold the Toronto hockey fans captive in a monopoly market situation when the Toronto market could easily sustain three NHL teams. The supply is set, and the demand is extremely high. The corporation takes advantage of the situation. They know the arena will be sold out for every match and well in advance. Win or lose. There is no incentive to make the playoffs or even to improve because there is no financial incentive to improve. If they spend more on players it will lower their bottom line (profits). Since it is owned by a corporation, their bottom line (cabbage) is the bottom line. It is not about winning.
Although we are not owned by a corporation, we are run like one. Until the fans stop filling up the Grove they will not listen. Fans are concerned about winning and trophies. Corporations are concerned about making money. Until we, as fans, start voting with our feet and affecting the decision makers in the only way that matters to them, their pocket book, there is no incentive for them to change their behaviour.
Stop packing the Grove and they will respond. Writing letters to them is only futile.
Just read Independant article on Clichy telling the world he has gone to City to win trophies….what? like the way you contributed to us winning trophies ? the way you kept your disipline and learned from your constant mistakes…These fucking parasites are really making me question the sport I love…Good riddance
@SV: “We’re run like a business”, do you know any big club that is not run like a business?
“Fans are concerned about winning and trophies”. Then please explain why 16 clubs who have absolutely no chance of either are able to fill their stadiums? Could it be that they are supporters who simply love their club no matter what and not “fans”?
@Noel: At the same time it’s not like his agent will tell him it’s good PR to tell the world he went there to double his earnings.
I’m perhaps too cynical, it’s possible having to defend behind a guy who consider himself above tracking back and take a lot of abuse for years to come did not hold him back.
Matt,
I’d say most clubs who are in debt, like ManIOU, are run like football clubs first and businesses second. And I’d say that we are run like a business first and a football club second. In all other business sectors, other than sports, organizations do not deliberately run deficits and are constantly in debt. We are a sound business not keen on winning trophies. ManIOU are run like a national government that keeps their socialist hordes happy. But they could turn into Greece some day. There has to be a happy medium and we are not there yet.
Fans, or supporters, want to win. Businesses (AFC Inc.) want to make money. Our fans/supporters are accustom to winning while most of those 16 teams you speak of are not. If the BOD keeps this up, the fans/supporters of AFC will eventually stop filling up those 60,000 seats. Blind faith (my club/country/religion right or wrong) is plain silly. Fans/supporters must hold the club decision makers accountable. Those who wish to be mindless sheep, be my guest — bah! As the venerable Richard Nixon once said, “I’m not a sheep!”
Ah Stingy, I’ll be in there packing my seat with Her Nellieness and kids in theirs. Can’t wait for the Emirates Cup games.
We could have played shitty football like Manure all season I suppose. Or bought the FA Cup like Citeh or won the Carling Cup and been relegated like the Brummies, or spent 90M on Torres and won nothing or bought two kippers like Suarez and Carol for 58M and won even less.
I’ll take our team and the way the play every day of the week over any of that. My bum will most certainly be there. I won’t be bleating or booing so include me OUT of your planned boycott if that’s what your hankering after.
Gael Clichy? I won’t miss him. Can’t defend and for an attacking left back, he must be the poorest crosser of a ball after lamp-post 19 on Upper Street.
Cheers BtM fine sir. Top of the evening to you and a Happy 4th to both you and yours. I’m not calling for a boycott I’m just very tired and frustrated. It’s a catch 22, the only way they will listen is if people stop filling the seats or stop buying the merchandise and affecting them in a financial sense but then you want to support and see your club, live if possible, and cheer on the team of your boyhood memories. Catch 22. Vicious circle.
What are your wise suggestions of improving a consistently declining performance problem at the club? Do you have any?
@Stringy V: I rise your ManU with Leeds, Juve, Valencia and Marseille. Their current success is not even enough to allay the fears of their fans. Point taken on the middle ground, since our contracts will be unlocked in 2 years and we have money from the sales of the properties we could start bridging the gap before then. Should we consider paying Nasri the 120K/week he’s asking for?
As for the supporters of lower teams, you failed to answer my question which obviously made you uncomfortable since you came up with a distortion of what I wrote and an insult on top as has become the norm with the unhappy Arsenal “fans”. Still at least you acknowledge that the successes of the 90’s/early 2000s have attracted a lot of fairweather/bandwagon fans and I can only concur with you.
Anyway I hope you will be successful with your boycott campaign, I’d rather have us play in front of 50K red-hot supporters and 10K empty seats than having to watch game were these extra “fans” jeer at every misplaced pass when not outright abusing their own players from the get go.
And your question to BtM is twisted too. We’re not declining, what made this season so galling is that we beat Barca, United and Chelsea, all of them easily and managed to meltdown. For the first time in 6 years we finally had the team with the skills and talent to win everything against the best teams in Europe.
So no, we’re not declining, I guess your question was what is needed to take us to the next level?
1) Experience as a team.
2) Better psychological conditioning of the players.
3) More money to remain competitive in an environment where inflation is out of control.
4) Better resource management (no more B team please and keep improving the injury prevention efforts that started to bear fruits this season)
5) A couple of players but I won’t hold my breath on that one as we don’t have the financial means to buy players who will make a huge difference straight away. For all the doubts leveled at Clichy it won’t be easy to find a player that is noticeably better at the wage level we can afford to pay him.
Matt,
Damn you for getting #200!
As for the other clubs of the so called lower teams, they have stadia with lower capacities, so selling them out is not generally something to write home about. As they become more successful, and demand for more seats increases, they expand their capacities over time (i.e. The Old Toilet or Parkhead). Not quite getting what you are getting at with your question regarding the smaller clubs. Generally, in North American sports at least, teams that are not successful do not have stadia filled to capacity. It is the only power the fans have over the decision makers of the club.
Stingy: notice the club in 3rd place in the 2010 attendance list?
1 Manchester United 1,427,077 75,109
2 Arsenal 1,140,480 60,025
3 Newcastle United 906,640 47,717
This is not North America. I live/lived in both places and the passion in the UK (and Europe in general) is totally different than the one in the US. I’m not talking about the intensity, rather the foundations of that passion. As a regular of the bar, I’m sure you’ve noticed that yourself when reading Holic’s memoirs.
For those interested, here’s the complete list: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/stats/attendance/_/league/eng.1/year/2010/barclays-premier-league?cc=5739
Valencia are selling their players who are at or nearing their prime due to financial necessity (their club debt). We are selling players (assuming both Cesc and Nasri go this year or next) before they reach their prime. We never really used to do that in the past. Henry didn’t go until after his prime. So, I would say that is case in point of a decline. We’ve become accelerated sellers. Buy young players low, develop them, then sell them later at a profit. But as you start selling your best players at earlier ages, you are logically going to be a weaker outfit over time.
I believe Nasri deserves a pay raise but if we give him that amount it will throw our rigid salary structure out of wack. He wants a pay raise and deserves one but we will not/can not give him one because of our salary policies. We are victims of our own salary constraints. For Nasri to get his raise he will have to seek it elsewhere (as well, it seems, his ambition for silver). There’s an article in the Guardian today referring to this ‘problem’ of ours. I can’t give you the link since I’m on a phone. Even RvP mentioned our salary constraint policies as problematic. We are in a certain market and are preceived by many as being stingy wrt transfer fees and wages. This is life. C’est la vie.
Honestly Matt, we never had the defensive discipline to ever seriously challenge for the league, let alone the UCL, this season all the way to the wire. It was déjà vu … injuries (lengthy) to key players, having insurficient quality cover, refusal to delve into the midseason transfer market to improve on glaring deficiencies (CB), followed by the customary and predictable last season implosion.
Also, beating both FCB and ManUre by one single goal at home certainly wasn’t “easily”.
And I would say we are declining, especially in a relative sense. We only got fourth spot last year in the league and now have to qualify to get into the UCL group stage. ManC are here to stay and will only get better over time due to their financial strength. ManU and the Chav have been consistently better than us for a while. The Spuds and Liver are nipping at our heels and there is a pretty tough top six mini league within the EPL that has never existed before (at least it was a top four for the past decade or so). So, even if we have as strong a squad as last year (which I honestly doubt), since the top of the league has become more competitive, we have less of a guarantee of staying in the top four and the lucrative UCL. So, yes, based on that, we have declined.
Interesting article from The Telegraph – buried in it is this stat –
Wenger has managed 15 consecutive top 4 finishes. In the 92 seasons in the top flight before Wenger, Arsenal managed 23 top 4 finishes.
Now we know top 4 is not everything, and i think we all want Arsene to modify his teen-age midget masterplan with some more battle-hardened/physically imposing/game changing signings – but Wenger is right, and history proves it, this top four consistency thing is some achievement. Up The Arse.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/arsenal/8616694/Arsenal-Telling-time-for-Arsene-Wenger-as-one-player-leaves-and-others-consider-move.html
reading all this news day in and day out is quite depressing…. when does Wenger plan on buying some players…..
what about Sneijder??? He really needs to make a plan now>>>
‘The Spuds and Liver are nipping at our heels’
Only if ‘nipping at our heels’ means ‘lagging miles behind’ – Liverpool should have won the league two years ago and their last two seasons put our recent travails into sharp perspective, even with the relative upswing since Daglish returned. As for the Spuds, we’ve given them every opportunity to close the gap, and they haven’t come close to doing so.
Well that was an angst-filled evening.
@ And Lester – teen-age midget masterplan, love it. (Glossary, TAMM).
Weshall, speak to my good friend, Professor T Edwin Storey, who has something for what ails ya.
I have a feeling that something good will happen today. Large glass of water please Barman, need to keep “hydrated” 😉
North Bank 1@165: actually, I agree with most you say. I too think that if we want him then we should bid for Cahill no matter what Chelsea or City are up to, but Bolton would most likely not listen to us until they know if they can get their hands on some oil money.
I also agree that Arsene has failed to address the issues that we all know are there. Absolutely no arguments from me there, but I am 100% convinced that he knows what he needs. Now, as for WHY he hasn’t been successful, well, that’s another matter entirely. Is he just tight-fisted beyond reason? If so, thanks for the memories and good luck at your next club, that is what I feel. However, and I might just be naïve here, I just can not belive he would be so stubborn and stingy.
Anyway, I think you and I are pretty much in agreement. There is work to be done and we both want it done, basically. I very much enjoyed our little debate, have a drink on me!
Trev@190: “The problem is NONE of us KNOWS. Journos, fans, radio and TV presenters – nobody knows.”
Amen to that, brother. We can only guess and speculate.
Stingy@193: careful there, “fanny” in British English is not the same as in American English – the British version refers to a lady’s private parts, not bums in general…
PTES here, morning all!
Congrats to And Lester for yet another worthy addition to The Glossary. Super factoid too re: top 4 finishes too. My first prescription of the day goes to you, you lucky, lucky soul 😉
noel73 @ 194, yes it’s horrible to hear but he’s got to say something to his new fan base and was it a direct quote into a microphone or a little creative journalism or PR? The best way to prove all these naysayers (aka f*ckers) wrong is on the pitch next season. There’s always been a lot of jealousy surrounding our club so you can take guff like that as a back-handed compliment. Clichy knows his form was on the decline, he also knew that a lot of Gooners knew it too. The fact that Arsene let him go with no fuss says everything to me. So he’s gone to Middle Eastlands for some retail therapy, good luck to the fella. They don’t really need him. They prob bought him more to help weaken our squad as they look to secure CL football for the next decade or at least as long as the Arab millions continues to transform their club into contenders.
Charlie @ #210, and long, long may it continue. LWCs never have and never will be a big 3 club. They know it too in their hearts. That’s why they’re so bitter.
Trev @ #190, Super post really enjoyed reading that one. Dr.z has suggested earlier that you like to re-arrange limbs. Can you please do something about my bloody knee one day?
zico @ #211, how’s that license to serve alcohol coming along? I’m all for the magical properties of our special ‘pH0’ water but it lacks taste and my keyboard keeps changing hairstyles whilst hurling abuse at me from the ceiling in a thick Glaswegian accent.
What a way to start the day -’tis truly an honour Dr. Z to have my wee phrase inducted into the glossary like that … may have a glass of bubbly with me cornflakes to celebrate.
Come on Arsene my son make it a Super Tuesday and pick up that phone and splash some cash! (I don’t really think he will just yet – but you never know). Ureds!
Morning Lars,
I think we need a section on the HT Mk II for English language instruction and understanding how to interpret the press. Not sure what carriage it fits into best but if you’re willing to offer your services I’ll put a request into my good friend Dr. z and we’ll try to work something out including a reduction of that enormous tab.
When you’re ready, please have a drink and/or a prescription on me.
Cheers.
Storey, count me in as a teacher of the English language and the workings of the press – anything to reduce my tab!
TS – the pen pushers in Brussels are proving “difficult”.
Unless this can be resolved, I will put them in the new, hastily constructed, fannie carriage, which will be alcohol free, but will have bums on seats. I may relegate some uppity passenger who thinks they should get their own private compartment to this section as well.
Frequent travellers will know that mere beauracracy won’t prevent them from getting to their supply, whatever they need. 😉
With respect to Lars tab, don’t go offering any discounts – we will need funding for our golden pipes in Club Level.
It appears that I have been thrust into something of a moral dilema. I may be some time as I contemplate the situation….
A late night rant there TS and I would not believe a word the media say but the inferance was there in his comments where he blames squad depth even though last seasons collapse had nothing to do with missing personel. Just say your going for a new challenge and be done with it..the same for Denillson if the comments attributed to him are correct and Nasri too. How about the players take collective blame for last season and not let Arsene, who is being called unspeakable things in the comments of other blogs this morning, take the blame for their failings. New blood urgently needed…and these fragile players who think Arsenal are actually holding them back can fuck right off. Morning all by the way
Moral schmoral, don’t go sacrificing our perks Professor…
🙂
zico, I want you negotiating vs Nasri and/or his agent. Not sure the prof & co. have your killer instinct.
Morning again noel and thanks for the…er… distraction (see above).
Yes, certain blogs, written by lookalikes from The Office have surpassed themselves today. So very sad to see this polarisation amongst our fanbase being openly encouraged.
A mix of new blood required for sure inc. experienced signings of proven quality. I reckon we’ll get 3, assuming Cesc & Nasri stay, and perhaps the chance for another youngster to step-up into the first team too. It seems obvious to me too that several need to move on too now based on attitude alone.
Someones going to make a lot of money if that HT is built
Shhhhhh (why do you think we’ve got a bunch of Brussels pen pushers in a hastily constructed carriage?)
Ahem… I am assured that a large % of funds raised will be ploughed back into the bar.
IF the HT is built?
Build it and they will come they said……and they keep on coming.
70% of all proceeds of HT ticket sales will be reinvested in the bong, er sorry,
infrastructure required to keep the rolling rock, rolling stock, happily rolling along…..
See Gael is already making excuses for not getting into the Shitty team…..big squad blah blah blah.
Noel, yes to be fair the HT MkII has already undergone extensive testing and now enters a week of pre-training before embarking on it’s maiden voyage overseas. Negotiations for the reqd infrastrucutre are also well underway but have borne no fruits yet per se. See the parallels?
*winces and politely requests sinister figure in the shadows to remove sharp stick from nether regions*
‘Build it and they will come’
Heh! 🙂
Eye on the sports carriage again, Storey?
When are we going to see the fruits of your joint labours with your evil twin?
Cheers TS at 213 – i intend to take it and use it unwisely.
Am still keen to hear a scouting report re he of the striking fivehead (as he looks v likely to be coming our way) from someone here in the know – no takers?
How he can join city beggars belief…they have kolarov, lescott, bridge and am sure one other I cant think oh yeah its the money…he will end up loaned out to Celtic in january..Ploughing too much into the bar will give it that wetherspoons effect..keep it simple a nice snug and and old man singing sad songs in the corner when ever Arsenal draw 0-0 at home. As the toilet attendant keeps telling me ‘ Spend some faakin money’..
And Lester @ #229 – exactly as prescribed!
Agent Olliski if you’re out there – any intelligence of the ‘striking fivehead’?
Dr. z @ #228 – Found out again but I’m not into pain apart from when it comes to supporting The Arse. The fruity rewards will be with us before the next Arsenal signing 😉
Zico @173. No doubt about it….. you want to aim to be the last patient of the morning. At that time the hangover from the previous night should have diminished, and it’ll be before my lunchtime hair of the dog. Otherwise…. just trust me 😉
As the toilet attendant keeps telling me ‘ Spend some faakin money’..
Toilets and trading?
Looks like Wicky Alvawez is Inter bound…?
Dr C! Welcome back.
(I can assure you, you will have the full backing of the “company” at the merest hint of a malpractice lawsuit….)
To any wanting to ensure that they leave the HT with limbs attached, as you can see, timing is everything.
Seems that the little scrote that is Paul Scholes, who avoided the media like the plague during his playing days, cannot keep his trap shut at the moment…..has lots to say about us and one of our players. Fergie working them, even after they’ve retired.
Never did like the ginger fecker – there’s now some extra pins in his doll….
Dr. z
Once a c*nty Manc, always a c*nty Manc. As you say, a snidey attempt aimed at getting Nasri to cross over to the dark side. Presume Scholes was well paid for that interview. I recall AW being really nice about Scholes earlier in the season during one of his pressers when asked about him. Another job for the HT Security Team?
You bet TS – I like to see guys enjoying their work 🙂
Trev @190
Agree with everything you say , apart from the bit about Ovaltine which tastes like baby sick .
Pint please Barkeeps and some water for the usual suspects .
Yeah Trev @ 190 – “could we have an insane carriage”?
Did you really need to ask? 🙂 🙂
TS at 222. You should know that pair of LeMoan fuckwits by now. If intelligence was gunpowder that pair of cunts wouldn’t have enough to blow their chav caps off.
Don’t get me started on tha Palmer pillock either.
Is there a sane carriage ?
PS my vote definitely goes for club level Golden Pipes . No moral dilemmna whatsoever as far as i can see .
old’ @ #241,
Nice one. Feel free to rant about that pillock too. We’re big on rants here at the moment 😉
Hey tabs,
To your first point, I’d say we have absolutely no need whatsoever for a sane anything.
To your second….. shameless tabs, absolutely shameless 😉
Afternoon all,
Flying visit. Back later, with something. Looks like it might just be Gael-based for now.
Come on Ivan, get me a signing too please 😉
Sane carriage – let me look at the blueprints
*shuffle, ruffle*
Sports Carriage, Treatment Carriage I, Treatment Carriage II, Noah Carriage, Security Carriage, Club Level Carriage (not available on all models), Dispensary Carriage, Library Carriage (Capital Letters for Dummies now available in hardback only), Self Sustaining Models Carriage (not to be attached to the Sports Carriage unless under supervision….), Arthur Guinness Anniversay Carriage……, Forever in our Shadow Carriage (for unwanted Pets, out you come Cusop),
feck, this thing is bigger than I thought…..
*looks through 300 further pages of blueprints….*
Er, I’ll get back to you on that one tabs.
Heh zico! Forgot about the FIOS Carriage! Funniest post of the day for me 🙂 🙂
Nothing is forgotten TS, just a lot of paperwork to get through 😉
Oh silly me….
Dr Z @246 – Brilliant .
Games Room Carriage …
tabs – see 248 🙂 🙂 🙂
my mistake Dr Z 🙂
z & tabs
Yes, playing with unwanted pets definitely goes down as sport in my book 🙂
…Having said that, I seem to recall that we did agree on a compartment to lay out Subbuteo and Striker pitches. There should be plenty of space in the FIOS Carriage. How many unwanted pets do we have???
TS, do you mean Almunia, Denilson etc…..?
Only kidding……
Cusop is the only one brave enough to venture here on a regular basis to be publicly humiliated as far as I am aware
Wouldn’t really want to encourage too many as their maintenance just impacts on the bottom line. Got to remember that Club Level comes with its own particular overhead 😉
Mmmm…. good points Dr. z.
I’m all for cutting out unnecessary costs in pursuit of the greater good 😉
Au revoir Gael, et merci. Au revoir (encore un fois) Jeremie, et…. meh.
Dr.C,
Jeremie, il va aller a Loreint peut-etre? Qui donne une merde? Meh vraiment! 😉
La “meh”!
Update: Ton ton Arsene contribue à Jeremie à nouveau
http://younggunsblog.co.uk/2011/07/wenger-helps-seal-aliadieres-lorient-move/
SV@193
I had opted not to comment on any posts again but your suggestion of boycotting the games changed that, not read past your post so this may have already been said but telling people to boycott matches you yourself do not attend is a bit rich don’t you think? Also while I’m here, I can only speak for myself but I find the name you’ve chosen for yourself in bad taste, if I’m not mistaken Arsene threatened to sue when he was called voyeur, did he not
O.K after checking again Enrique is left footed so disregard my post @189 🙂
TS – Is there a 6% raise on the admission fee for the HT? 😉
Glennw,
welcome back – need a job? (Heh)
Why the post boycott btw?
Snir @ 261,
I think you will find that since the inception of happiness, this is only the second time that Management have felt it necessary to increase the cost of travel tickets. We have electric cool aid acid bills to pay…..
Afternoon Snir
‘6%, we’re all having a laugh…’ 😉
Trev @190. Great post. Only just catching up with everything now – was a long weekend, and then yesterday didn’t exist!
Alka Seltzer please
Zico
a bit of moonlighting eh, well it couldn’t be for a better cause so hell why not, deal me in. As for the boycott well I was just enjoying the read to much, felt like joining in a few times but couldn’t find the right medication to get me on the same ‘ intellectual level’ guess I was looking in the wrong cabinet, things have certainly moved on in here the past few months!
Glennw,
you no longer need to look for the right cabinet – let me introduce you to tabs….. and welcome back!!
god forbid you should sink to “our” intellectual level though…. 😉
Glennw & Dr.C
The CMC is open for both of you.
There may be a small section for conventional medicines. Mostly hangover cures so Dr.C you’re probably in luck for what you require.
Glennw, have a quack’s prescription from me as a welcome back to the bar. The GT is on the top shelf. If you choose to use it expect a mild bout of bleating and a protein packed taste. It soon passes….
Glennw
To help you catch-up…
CMC – Columbian (sourced) Medicine Cabinet – originally procured by tabs via a very shady deal brokered in part by Robbie Savage (Lady Robbie) and Awwy Twitchface (even I can’t remember all the facts). It’s a regular fixture of the bar now but I think we originally bought it for the then planned, now real, HT Mk II.
GT – Green Tin packed full of PIK’s finest Californian homegrown. The GT was kindly donated to the cause by none other than Dr.C so it must have some real medical value.
Confused?
Would love to have a game of cricket to distract me now. I see there are people bleating about Arsene helping out Jeremie.
Yep, one phone call of recommendation to help out an old player – that ruins the work agenda! Disaster. Sack him. He doesn’t know anymore. Etc etc.
Life. Must find one.
Next patient….
Dr.C
Stay away from those nasty websites. They’re not worthy of your time 😉
TS – sadly was in the posts of Young Guns. Mind you, I paticularly enjoy the posts there when people complain about Arsene signing a youngster…..
Now then, I hear the GT is open? Off for a swim with Boy.
Cheers TS don’t mind if I do, in for a penny in for a pound and all that
TS – deduct it from his first wage, heh.
😉
Newsnow are reporting that at at 06.00 hours this morning AW took a shower , following which he had a light breakfast of croissant and Goats cheese .
I mean , what the fuck is going on ? Why wasn’t he on the phone offering £96 million for Cahill ?
It’s a bloody sad day , I can tell you , when personal hygiene and basic sustenance is put before the real business of spending some fucking money .
I’m so fucking angry I’m going to start up my own website with my imaginary girlfriend , Pam .
Good man! The LFC (Llama Flavoured Californina) is an acquired taste but it tends to hit the spot
*bleat*
Glennw, you do need to know what you’re letting yourself in for before signing a deal with the devil 😉
tabs, I bet Gareth & Gervais don’t eat (or wash) before they write their ‘stuff’ and if they did, it certainly wouldn’t be any of that foreign muck. Only £96 mill for Cahill, are we trying to penny pinch again? I bet he offered less than £50 mill for that Alex Oxcart fella as well. I’m going to march down to The Ems now and demand a Billion gets spent before 9AM tomorrow. We all know it’s available and it only takes a call and an email or two to sort out a player’s contract and agree terms.
*re-loads championship manager*
Zico
I get paid?????
I’ll bring the sandwiches TS , cheese and Tom right ?
I shall also bring water 🙂
*sip*
I believe you do glenn, but the currency of our realm may appear at first sight to be rather plain. And tasteless. Then after 30 minutes you won’t care.
Dr.z, it appears that we have a very happy customer/driver!!!!
Glennw, you’ll go far in here 😉
tabs, more bytes await you in the back channels.
zico @ #280, the devil indeed! 🙂 🙂
It’s just keeps getting busier in here, doesn’t it?
It took me the best part of the afternoon to get through the drinks, many different opinions, but no vile towards others, well done for that.
I’ll agree with one point that was made above, and that is that I believe that all the wrong noises are comming out of the club. We are been made to look like a sinking ship. Why o why is no one addressing this, and to keep with the nautical terms, steady the ship. As someone else rightly pointed out, this off season is turning into a PR nightmare.
I’m not into promoting other blogs, but with your permission ‘holic, this is a decent piece that many might find interesting;
http://yankeegunnerblog.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/arsene-wengers-lost-team/
Cider please, bar keep, and whet the whistles of whoever chooses to join me.
tabs @ #279
Yes please. Hard Cheese & squashy tomatoes. Could come in handy 😉
Sad times, we need players
G’day ‘holics,
Just want to reinterate from the rant last night that I’m not banging the drum for a boycott. I’m just brainstorming at what we, as fans, can do to get management to spend some fucking money.
Also, it has come to my attention (via Glennw), that my username is offensive to some. This was never the intention as I am big Wenger fan and always have been. So, to avoid continually explaining myself going forward, offending some ‘holics, and to steer clear of any potential lawsuits I am in the market of username shopping. I would welcome any suggestions from the esteemed panelists aboard. Currently, I am considering names which include a combination of: Parsimonious, Observer, Gooner, Kanuck, and any others fellow ‘holics have.
Thank you, in advance, to any thoughtful contributions.
Af’noon SV.
If you really want to change again, I suggest you put Kanuck in your moniker – good for the old heritage and that.
Kanuck Gooner or Gunner would be easy. KanuckArse a little more ….er…. daring 😉
I’m sure you’ll think of something 🙂
‘better’
H2H – great link thanks .
TS – Ta , and have replied .
SV – Do the contributions have to be thoughtful ? 🙂
Given your often solo contributions through the uk night , I would go for Moon Howler , or how about Goon Howler , to give it an Arsenal flavour ?
Other thoughts – Llama Lover , Kanu’s big Kanuck , Solo Cabin only , Ice Hockey Lover in Pink ….
What say you ?
Cheers TS. Appreciate suggestions. This may take some time.
Have a drink of your choice. On the usual tab in keeping with tradition and parsimony.
LumberJack Wilshire ?
SV
How’s about Kanadian Kannon
SV – I like Goon Howler or Kanu’s big Kanuck. You won’t get more amusing than that, heh! 🙂
tabs – please reserve Llama Lover for me should my moniker ever become (more) offensive to the fine clientele of this bar 😉
Cheers tabs. The inclusion on Moon Goon has possibilities. Adding that to my consideration list.
Have a drink as well tabs. Usual tab.
Consider it yours TS . 🙂
LumberJack Wilshire
*wipes tears from eyes*
Ooh! How about ‘Northern Over Exposure’ or ‘MooseHead Gooner’
SV – this could take all night mate 😉
Cheers SV , I’ll join you in a pint.
How about ” Who gives a Puck ” 🙂
H2H – Very nice. Good technique. Adding to my list of consideration.
Have your drink of choice. Usual tab. Time to run it up again.
Maple Leaf Malingerer…. naaah
300?
Like A New Pining?
TS – The more contributions the merrier I say. It stimulates the senses, gives me a greater sample size to partake from, and wards off Alzheimer’s in us all.
Pine Some Players Please?
Have We Pined Anyone Yet?
Er… are there many pine forests in Kanada? Famous for maple trees I know.
tabs – “Who Gives a Puck” is not bad as I’m a Kanuck who cares little for (ice) hockey.
Plenty of pine in Kanada TS. Plenty. Some say to much of the softwood and we need more hardwood.
Glad to be of assistance SV
Climb every Mountie ?
Stingy Voyeur was chosen as my moniker for my love of Special1TV … not to be offensive, mind you.
Good choice SV. Remember Puck was also a character in Midsummer Nights Dream. Just saying….
🙂 @ #307!
too much softwood
“Parsimonious Observer” is a less offensive and more Politically Correct version of “Stingy Voyeur”. Thoughts …
Many on here complain about too much deadwood.
—
How about a half full glass name;
Yes We Kanada.
H2H – That one is a very optimistic moniker in fine keeping with most of the half fullers in this fine establishment. However, I believe I’m usually one of the half empties in need of the HT.
Well here’s a refill on me SV and one for the esteemed gents (taTS)on the bar.
Time for me to get behind my bar. Laterzzz.
Cheers H2H .
Wouldn’t go with Parsimonious Observer . Think you need something which points to your Canadian roots .
Victoria Concordia Crescuit Falls ?
Meanwhile, from Curmudgeon’s Corner: Real Madrid have made their fifth signing this silly season. We have one, I believe.
How about Kanadian Kurmudgeon? Although, I wouldn’t consider myself old.
tabs – Nice moniker that ties our motto to Kanada. However, I never took Latin.
“Stingy Voyageur” would retain a similarity to the prior moniker but would make me out to be a cheap French Canadian fur trader. This could be workable …
Your choice SV . Last suggestion you’ll get called KK – bit too close to the hooded ones for my liking ,…
… and I think I would be safe legally.
Stingy Voyageur would retain the same initials, be reminiscent of the Special1TV character, ties it to the club, ties it to Canada (French Canada), fur trading, “spend some fucking money”, etc. This moniker has some real potential.
However, I’m sure some would mistakenly see it as “Stingy Voyeur” by missing the additional two letters and still take offence.
Off out mate so I leave it to you 🙂
Cheers tabs, TS, H2H. Thanks for your fine efforts. Still contemplating in chambers.
Cheers H2H @ #315
Pint waiting when you get back… just what you want after working in a bar all night 😉
New post up all.