Guest Post – A Sense Of Entitlement by TTG
Jul 15th, 2015 by 'holic
A big apology is due for the somewhat haphazard nature of the blog in recent days. I had no idea Cornwall was such a mobile broadband black spot. Anyway, something seems to have improved the wifi situation in the hotel. Can atmospherics really be the reason?
At least that means I can now share a guest post from our very own TTG (There is another Ned special in the pipeline too!). Thank you so much TTG for a really enjoyable, and helpful, contribution.
Enjoy, ‘holics.
I don’t do the Executive Box thing often. I try not to mix business with pleasure but in August 1996 I made an exception. We were opening the season against West Ham, just as we are this season, and we were also awaiting the arrival of Arsene Wenger.
His appointment was unwittingly revealed by the loveable Peter Hill-Wood although Wenger was still finishing up in Japan and not able to join us until the early autumn. I remember us speculating about what we hoped he would achieve.
The season before we had qualified for Europe amid joyous scenes as Bergkamp fired us past Bolton. Even now I remember sitting in that box and imagining some of the things we hoped Wenger would bring the club ;- ‘Stability’, ‘Success’, ‘Superiority over Spurs’, and the hope that we would continue the habit that Rioch had inculcated in the team of playing passing football from back to front. I remember a feeling in the discussion that this was a pivotal moment with football changing irrevocably as more money entered the League through Sky TV.
That wasn’t an exhaustive checklist of objectives for Wenger but I think we could give him a tick, in most cases a very big tick, in all of them. Arsenal has probably never been more stable financially, we have finished above Spurs for almost twenty seasons in a row, we have won the FA Cup six times, the League three (including two Doubles), achieved an unbeaten season, a feat that will hopefully be recognised as quite extraordinary as the years go by, and we narrowly lost a Champions League Final in Paris with ten men for most of the game. And no club in this country has witnessed finer football over the last twenty years.
Yet, many of the natives in N5 are still restless. The style and even the mere presence of Wenger is anathema to a large number of fans and we have a fan base divided by those who want him in or out. I would venture to suggest that the pro-Wenger faction has grown in the last two seasons as we have reacquainted ourselves with silverware but the tenor of many of the numerous (too bloody numerous in my view) blogs is that we need a change. I debated this at a pre-Cup Final watering hole in May with someone who two years ago felt vehemently that Wenger should go immediately. His opinion now is that this should be his last contract. Even his detractors are moving their positions quite radically.
I think most regulars in this bar know I have been supporting Arsenal myself for fifty seven years this August. Prior to Wenger’s appointment we had finished in the top four of the League roughly once in every four seasons ( in our time in the top division) Since his arrival we have finished in the top four every season. We had won the FA Cup during the pre-Wenger era of my support three times. He has lamentably failed to win us the League Cup (two previous wins) or a European trophy (two previous wins of minor European trophies.) but we have reached four finals in League Cups and in Europe.
Football has changed, people have changed, and social media has enabled us to evidence this at first hand. I have been labelled a Wenger apologist by critics in the Gooner simply for outlining the facts. But let me ask anyone interested in our great club where has this sense of entitlement that we belong among the elite of Europe sprung from?
In August 1996 we were directly comparable with Spurs, had a more glittering history than the other London clubs, but had been very up and down over the last years of the Graham reign. In one game against Manchester United we had fielded a midfield of Carter, McGoldrick, Morrow and Jensen if memory serves me correct! There was no clear blue water between us and the rest of London, let alone the large Northern clubs. Had there been a Champions League since the late 1950s we would have qualified for it thirteen times by my calculations in thirty eight years!
So labelling me a Wenger apologist (and those who read my stuff will know I’m still often critical of him in a number of areas) is one of the least damaging things you could ever call me. Two years on from that date in the executive box we hired it again only for Arsenal to mess the numbers up and give us David Platt’s box by mistake (the mean bugger only supplied sandwiches and no beer for his mates). On the Monday Ken Friar phoned me to apologise and as is his wont started to talk to me about the club. He confided that the big challenge was being able to build a 50-60,000 seater stadium that we could afford to build and fill every week!
Let’s advance nearly twenty years on and that stadium is built and filled (despite swingeing charges to watch matches!) while most of our rivals anxiously contemplate the same decisions.
So the next time the vociferous hordes suggest that we need a change at the top it might be helpful to explain that the very reason their expectations are so high is because Wenger has enabled them to glimpse a future never available to us before. That sense of entitlement has only come because we’ve grown used to a level of success that was denied to almost every other club over the previous seventy years. That might be food for thought over the long, hot summer.
104 Responses to “Guest Post – A Sense Of Entitlement by TTG”
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@Oskar in the previous drinks. Good thing you pointed out your restraint in not commenting about the defensive midfielder signings. Otherwise nobody would have noticed or offered you any praise. 😉
David Platt, beer and mates. Work that one out, Einstein…
Frankly TTG I expect a better standard of post. The quality that I am used to seeing has become my right and anything which fails to live up to this, even remotely, is unacceptable and a matter both for my intellectual disdain and my personal enmity. I am off to another blog to let them all know exactly what I think of you and then revel in the digital-faeces slinging.
That’s how its done, right?
I dunno about this, H. You have surely been hoodwinked… If TTG was really responsible for that last missive then wouldn’t it have had a lot more typos? And a tasty spill-chuck or two?
happy belated, pangloss.
tomorrow I meet one Charlie George. color me red!
TTG. Excellent food for thought indeed. I don’t particularly like Kroenke but he certainly got it right by sticking with Arsene Wenger when the criticism of him got heavy two or three years ago, and other times before and since when the media did nothing all summer but count the number of years since Arsenal had won a trophy. Thanks for putting the manager’s performance in its proper perspective.
Bang On TTG!
Tottenham Hotspur’s trophy drought
http://sincespurslastwonatrophy.co.uk/
Odd that the media aren’t ripping into them after 7 years without silverware; same about the silence over Liverpool’s league record too.
Almost as if there was an unspoken of bias out there.
It is interesting also to consider that Tottenham have employed more managers since the start of the Premier League than they had in their entire history before the Premier League. Maybe stability is something to value after all?
Nah. Sorry I mentioned it. 😉
Good stuff, ttg. Arsene Wenger, like any manager, makes mistakes. But unlike almost all other managers he makes very few of them.
I must say, that was a decent post TTG
😉
Good stuff, TTG if that’s who you are – GSD@4 raises some worrying questions.
I have a disturbing habit of looking at a post, deciding whether or not I agree with it and then (mis-)reading it appropriately. I have certainly crossed swords vigourously(!) with you in the past after not properly understanding what you had written. I’m not sure whether your contributions have always been as much those of a Wenger apologist as you say above, therefore I must either a) apologise for having misinterpretted you so regularly in the past or b) congratulate you for crossing over to the sunny side of the street. I’m not bothered which but will try to remember when considering your drinks in the future. (I am also impressed at your 57 years of support for the club.)
—
scruz@5 – Thanks. Enjoy your tour.
Proper football minus 23 days.
COYG
For me he is the best modern day manager of the world. I am not going to say i know a lot before him because i do not, hence for me the best ever and obviously he being an Arsenal manager makes me say that even more.
He has his flaws, he over estimates some players ability and is at times stubborn but then the man is a genius in bringing out the best out of people.
The Arsenal are back in action as we speak and there is nothing better in this world than to see them play. The telegraph had an article i believe from Jeremy Wilson wherein he says he is among the minority who feels Arsenal do not need to add anyone else and still can challenge for the league. I am in that minority too yet hope we sign a top notch DM.
Pangloss/ Whippersnapper
What I was saying is that some people would call me a Wenger apologist, I don’t consider myself to be one because a) he doesnt need me to defend him and b) I have been critical of him in a number of areas. To me the sunny side of the street which you describe is too clearcut. I don’t automatically believe everything he does is right, I don’t believe he always gets it right on players, neither is he perfect on tactics and he can be very intransigent.
BUT no manager on earth gets it right all the time. I’m much more inclined to question his decisions on here than you but possibly less than some of the other contributors. On a spectrum of Wenger approval running from 1-10 I would be something like an 8. If you’re a 10 that’s great but if you are I might suggest your position is a little bit too quiescent.I believe that you certainly don’t have to accept everything Wenger does to believe he is a great manager.
My point in this article is that he has made a rod for his own back by establishing a sense of entitlement way above what we have had before.
Thanks for your comments. You are a lively protagonist but a lot of you young blokes tend to be.
Vinay, If not for our various injury crises we could have challenged seriously for the league on at least two or three more occasions over the last several years so if Giroud/Alexis/Theo can score enough goals and we do not suffer an injury crisis, such as a major injury to Coquelin or anything on a larger scale, I would be prepared to say we have a decent chance to challenge for the league. But those are two pretty large “ifs” unfortunately so new signings are required in my opinion. And this time I’m not counting on such good luck as we experienced last season with the amazing emergence of Bellerin and Coquelin at just the right time to lessen our injury crisis.
Akpom!
It has been conclusively proven that the purchase of a new striker will be unnecessary. We have King Chuba…
Akpom hat trick in Singapore apparently. Chuba me timbers.
pan G and thunder T
it’s like you younguns
have a language all of yer own
powdered eggs this
and vera lynn that
fascinatin
😉
Akpom, Akpom, you’re my Akpom!
😉
Reporter: So Chuba, what are you going to do with the (match) ball?
Chuba (with a smile): I’m probably gonna frame it…
Brilliant!
We play Everton on the 18th. They defeated Stoke on penalties.
Having watched that game I don’t think we could have got much more out of it.
Debuchy played well and showed some good fitness up and down the right. He is a top player. Wilshere looked good. And also pretty fit. He scored a penalty.
A hat-trick for Chuba. The last goal was a good header after some really determined work from Zelalem not to lose the ball in the area and then a lovely bit of skill from Bellerin which allowed him to cross perfectly. A year ago Zelalem would have been brushed off there.
Good playing time for the defence which is a good start in our aim to be defensively ready for the new season. We will start the season without all of our attacking players but all the defenders are fit and we need no additions, so hopefully they will click smoothly into gear before then. No Cech today but presumably he will debut against Everton in Saturday’s final. He looked relaxed with the other senior players in the stands.
All the youngsters looked good. Iwobi and Akpom combined nicely in the first half- the former looking lively. The last twenty minutes we had Crowley, Zelalem, Willock and Toral come on and they all showed the work done on the training ground at Hale End with their control and passing. A good looking bunch but a long way from our first team at the moment, even if there is a route there mapped out for them if they can make it. It will be interesting to see how they develop but they did as well as they could realistically do today.
*gets out of bath, wraps towel over shoulders, looks down dubiously at wet socks*
Well put, ttg. It is always tempting to think the grass is greener elsewhere, and easy to forget how lush our pasture has been these past near two decades so accustomed have we become to it.
Just to put it into perspective, in the 19 seasons that AW has managed the club, he has secured a top-four finish in the Premiership every time. In that time, only eight other teams have even managed a top-four finish:
Man Utd 18 times
Chelsea 13 times
Liverpool 11 times
Man City 5 times
Leeds Utd and Newcastle thrice
Tottenham twice
Everton once
Nice article TTG. I think Arsene has done a phenomenal job these past 19 years – no other manager would have achieved the level of success and consistency with the financial constraints he worked under. Not Ferguson or Mourinho or any other you can think of. Equally he is not
Mr Perfect – who is (apart from Oscar of course;-) but there is no-one else who I would want to manage the club at this moment in time.
Cba @ 18. Clever man, you mention G & T and Vera Lynn in the same prose. Time for us mature gentlemen to partake – with some tonic, ice & a slice – no need to wait for the sun to go down. Cheers 😉
Good stuff, TTG.
Wear that badge with pride, mate.
Actually, there’s absolutely nothing for the man to apologise for. Everyone makes the odd mistake. I don’t agree with every decision he has made but if he had listened to me I am certain that as a result we would have spent more and won less.
Excellent article TTG.
I am with Vinay & others: Arguably the greatest club football manager among his contemporaries. Not the most trophy-successful, but greatest. There is the longevity and tremendous consistency, but also because the things he created and built and ushered in are longer lasting and have influenced and would continue to influence Arsenal and wider footballing world many years after he retires.
Finally there is his remarkable humanity. In a job that cut-throat and demanding where he has nurtured and guided so many of the great talents of last couple of decades it is a magnificent achievement that none of them have anything but the fondest words about him: Weah, Klinsmann, Bergkamp, Adams, Vieira, Henry, Pires, Gilberto, Cesc, RVP …. and a few years from now to that list we will add Rambo, Ozil, Rosicky, Alexis, Koscielny and others. Whatever the arc of each of these players’ career and life post-Arsenal it is extraordinary how he remains a positive central influence in their mind.
An injury free season and i do believe we are in with a shout.
Jack at no 10 today again reiterates we are amply stocked there and it makes me wonder if we will even contemplate replacing Santi when he leaves( next season i presume).
Everton on saturday should present a good test but honestly just want everyone to be fit and fine for Aug 2nd.
24 🙂
itnever too early
.
chin chin Up
Tried watching the match on NBC SN live, but they insisted on showing only the Everton Orcs match well after it was done. Will catch the highlights later over a Pimm’s.
Like the away shirt; reminds one of Wiltord at the Old Toilet.
What’s with the new ttg? Was he so on edge ensuring that he correctly typed thundertinygooner that he was too exhausted to spell (or de-spillchuck) the remainder of his drink? Were his contributions better-spelled that blessed memory suggests? Has he been taken over by aliens? Who would think that the ability to type “whippersnapper” correctly would prompt so many questions?
I don’t think I believe that Wenger is always right – although I could easily be manipulated into attempting to defend that proposition. What I think is that over the years when he incurred most criticism, he was in fact doing a heroic job maintaining a top-four team without any funds to speak of.
I’m prepared to cut him a great deal of slack based on my not observing that he’s made many mistakes. It amuses me to see so many seeking to defend opinions of Wenger that were formed during the lean years when the proposer/defenders chose to believe that, contrary to what economic common sense might have suggested, the club was liberally supplied with cash. (I don’t think ttg has fallen into this trap.)
Finally, one man’s “stubborn” is another man’s “”confident in his opinions, and willing to stand by them”. Ttg has previously mentioned having privileged access to insiders who can judge between these two behaviours, but as one who has to rely solely on his own observations I can’t judge which is a better characterisation of Arsène Wenger. Since there is no-one I would prefer to see at the helm of the club and the team, I choose to characterise his behaviour as steadfast confidence – it’s a choice and everyone is free to make their own. As with most, essentially irrational, choices we’re unlikely to persuade anyone else to change theirs.
Still proper football – 23 days.
Ttg – A very fine piece. Bullseye!
I can very well remember feeling mildly miffed when Cruyff (who I’d heard of) was passed over in favour of Arsene Wenger (who I hadn’t).
It took all of one press conference for Mr Wenger to win me over, and i’ve never really cast an envious eye over different pastures since.
As you quite rightly state @14, being pro-Arsene does not mean agreeing with every single decision he’s made. No-one is infallible, and at times the ‘Arsene knows’ brigade have rivalled the Wob lot for crass stupidity.
Where I might disagree with you is on the extent of the ‘divide’ between Arsenal fans these days. Certainly the Internet attracts all manner of weirdos. However, at the ground, as all the previously held tenets of being a Wob have, one by one, fallen by the wayside, I sense that the debate has largely moved on. Still a Wob? Either it’s a troll or a seriously misinformed individual
Joe @last drinks – Hello mate. Nothing to disagree with you there, although I have a slightly different opinion on Benzema
to you. I think it’s because his face irritates me! Despite the media speculation, I have huge doubts that we will spend £45m + on a 28 year old whose sell on value will be negligible in 3 or 4 years time. Certainly not without a fairly major departure imo. Significant upgrade? Maybe, maybe not. I’m happy to be proved wrong in this regard.
Reus? Now you’re talking. More versatile, a much more talented player (imo), and 2 1/2 years younger. Count me in for the celebratory conga if we ever signed him.
Oskar @last drinks – I would have thought that the failure to repeat that silly bollocks about Ramsey and Wilshere being a better DM than Coquelin was more a sign of self-awareness than self restraint. No-one likes making a dick of themselves in public, despite the propensity of some to seek the limelight in that regard.
Did someone say conga?
Reus or no Reus- I’m in!
Although I have heard that Reus has conga skills nearly as great as his football skills, so perhaps it would be judicious to start the conga ourselves and then make eyes at him until he joins in. That is bound to work. Can someone let Wolfie know the plan?…
I have been notified GSD, and my pom poms are at the ready 😎
Blimey – the soccah pseuds and the mini-me-me-me manager types getting called out – this place might jus’ be a bundle of fun again next season…
UREDS!
Ozillusion
So Reus has conga skills.He will have to wait until the autumn then .The best thing is to soak your conga in vinegar to make it harder.Hence the expression ‘the vinegar stroke’
Wolfie. Your conga-sense must have been tingling!
I’ll obviously be in full GSD gear- by the time we throw in the allure of your pom poms (ahem) I don’t see how we can fail…
Reus is gooner!
wuif.
That is a phrase I have always loved. You have managed to make it better still! Superb work, that man.
Just saw the highlights at Arsenal Player. Youngsters looked good, as did Jack and Ox and Bellerin. The fourth goal was a beauty, Zelalem showing surprising strength to retain possession and then a neat piece of skill by Bellerin to set up Akpom.
Chuba had a few loan spells already. Should he go for one in summer or stick around and push the established ones until at least the winter transfer window opens up and then go for a loan spell if we have no injury worries?
Loved his interview. He has been here since he was 6 years old and would love to stay. 🙂
Wolfie is back? 🙂
We’d best start that conga before he’s off again H!
Never really went away ‘H.
Just busy in Paris, Milan, Wembley etc. You know how it is … catwalks, cocktails and calypso dancing … and before you can say “Good Lord, that dress looks good on me”, another season has passed.
Back now, and rest assured I will be keeping my coiffured eye out for any fashionista faux pas in these ‘ere parts 😉
Wolfie is back? Better warn the Tollie that a pint of lager with a cherry on a stick will be asked for 😉
Victor Valdes refuses to play in Van Gaal’s second team.
Arrogant bastard. Won’t tell you which one I mean though.
OK I give in.
Van Gaal is odious.
Has Wolfie risen from The Ashes ?
I guess it’s Open to question …..
Never mind, a Wolfie conga …. just needs a nice pair of ‘eels. 😉
Wolfie redux. The bar has returned to what passes for normal. Happy days are here again.
I am not sure that you need pom-poms for the conga, just an ability to wag your tail — so Wolfie and GSD should be quids in.
Electric, Trev.
Ttg, excellent stuff – only just read it properly.
In a piece after the Cup Final I was recalling the game vs Aston Villa in 2006 – the first competitive game at The Emirates – when our back four was Eboue, Toure, Djourou and Hoyte.
AW then let Gilberto and Henry go and eventually ‘replaced’ them with Denilson and Bendtner.
His achievement in keeping those post stadium move squads in the Champions League will probably not be appreciated until he has gone and someone else tries to maintain the consistency even with much better players.
Right, sleep beckons.
And hello to you too, tabs. It’s just an opinion mate. 🙂 And, at the risk of repeating myself (!), I’d sooner have another Paddy (if there is such a DMF lurking that only AW knows about) than either option.
Hear hear, Ttg (on your lead). He may be a little obstinate at times, and reluctant to spend money which (some claim) is available, but AW’s record speaks for itself. Nulli Secundus, Sui Generis, Nonpareil. And all credit to those who spotted the talent and brought him to Highbury.
Öskar
A number of mentions of Reus, whom I’ve been championing for a couple of seasons now. Are there some rumours I have missed? We still have room for his kind of genius.
Öskar
That back-line you mention in #49 is more than a bit scary, Trev. Never mind the Silva/TH14 replacements! And yet we still made top 4, CL … if any further reminder of AW’s genius is needed.
Öskar
As for Reus all the rumours are that Poo want him. That is not good news. We really don’t want Poo in the title mix, and they’ll be much improved swapping Reus for Sterling.
then again the rest of their squad is rubbish, so don’t see Reus being interested.
What we need is some football…
Öskar
Van Gaal – a man who insists people use the correct pronunciation of his name, even though it sounds like a consumptive hawking their lungs into a spitoon.
We don’t want Poo in the title mix? Is that because they’re shit? *baddum-tish*
Still not seen our game and not really bothered about that, but I hope nobody is getting too carried away with a hat-trick against a side like that and suggesting we don’t really need a striker after all. Maybe we do, maybe we don’t but let’s not make a decision (real or fanwanky) based on that.
Anyway, cricket is back. Oh yes. Wake me up on August 9th.
Morning,
Good game for the kids yesterday.
Good to see the team back in action and good to see the new away kit!
More to look forward to on Saturday!
Expect to see the seniors giving it some!
No more new signings yet!
UTA!
wolfie redux ,eh ?
🙂
chuffed
.
string up the sparkly bunting 🙂
.
he came
he saw
he accessorised
.
.
and
o deus meus oskar 51
reus ?
lad should be grateful !
but fer yer
relentless championing for two seasons
and yer arsene rivaling scouting genius
he’d still be an unknown quantity to the rest of us
turning out in the sonntagsliga for der Dog und Duck
.
.
cheers fella
no scintilla of unwarranted credit
goes unwallowed in , eh ?
😉
.
.
only pullin’ yer leg
along with several other reprobates in here
you would be effin brilliant company on a day on the swally
slainte buddy
.
UP THE ARSENAL
.
(my spillchucker replaces wolfie with police )
(anyone surprised ?)
🙂
I take it it was the fashion police ………. 😉
🙂 trev
.
.
had an encounter with ‘real’ police recently
long time since
🙂
seriously
the shower where i’m from
they changed their name
have dramatically cut back on shooting us
and see the way forward as acceptance
and understanding
so
all things considered
huge strides forward
small shirts behind
so
not holding me breath
.
anyhow
anyhoo
.
this is an ARSENAL blog
.
gonna stick to fubble
like what I always done did 😉
.
.
ps
(something intellectual and library bound)
(#esoteric jazz)
.
🙂
Trev: when our back four was Eboue, Toure, Djourou and Hoyte.
…and imagine that two of those also played in the back four when we beat Barca 2-1 at the Emirates! Beating what at the time was quite possibly the best team in the history of the game with Eboue and Djourou in the back four should in itself be reason enough to have a stadium named after you 🙂
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=8c14buJtYSs
great song
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=fvxH64sB4sE
.
styled by mr smallgang wolfballs
and
the better men for it
;(
.
.
gonna get me a hat
.
mind you
those cool pics of VU
black clothes
all be-shaded
were cropped
cos Lou Reed had his drainpipe jeans
tucked into white cowboy boots
.
.
media masses manipulation
and
he looked a right spanner in ’em
so
GO MEDIA
wha
mind you
as a former telly man
the shadows of the kingsmen
don’t add up
ah yah yah yah
.
cont-i-fuckin-nuity
they’re ladies
and
so are the shadows
Hank Marvin’s a bird?
Sanogo for a season long loan at Ajax.
Good luck to him. Hope he stays fit, and learns all that he can from greats like De Boer and DB10, and eventually for us lives up to the promise that Arsene evidently sees in him. He has the physique, the mobility, the hunger … technique and composure need to improve and may become one more gem that Arsene discovered.
sorry ‘hol
life a bit chaotic again
feel free to zap me
if i annoy more
than is acceptable
.
chaotic isn’t the feckin word
angry is
my bastardin house back home is slowly
getting surrounded by the march of time
I don’t live there regularly
but
to see wee fuckin
pyjama wearin illegality exchangin cunts
swarming round what was a nice place
(matter of opinion I know)
.
the peace dividend for me
and many
is shite
.
yup
a complicated quandary
sorry
.
zap away
.
i’ll disappear off to http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=BxpZ5rOMH4U
.
🙂
cynic
indeed he is
god bless his
horn rimmed self
Sorry cba, fell asleep watching the cricket.
cricket
no
not for me.
.
enjoyed joe meek
.
.
mind you
major alert
I think youngest herself might’ve accidentally rubbed some
poundland oil into her fish fingers
and picked her nose thereafter
.
tragedy averted
.
we all had dinner
On a completely different topic, I just had a look at the seeding groups for the group stage of the Champions League. There was all this talk about how much more difficult it would be for us now that we’re no longer in the top group. These are the two top groups:
POT 1:
Barca
Chelsea
Bayern
Juventus
Benfica
PSG
Zenit St Petersburg
PSV Eindhoven
POT 2:
Real Madrid
Atletico Madrid
Porto
Arsenal
Man U (assuming they qualify of course)
Valencia
Leverkusen
Man City
Now, on the face of it, that may look like a much worse situation than earlier. But in reality I’d say it could just as well give us a much easier draw. If ranking points were still used, we’d have still been in pot 1 along with the Madrid teams and Porto while PSG, Zenit and Juve would have been in Pot 2 while PSV would have been in Pot 3. It’s true that we can now face Bayern or Barca in the group stage, but on the other hand we could just as well draw PSV Eindhoven. And if ManU qualify they will actually benefit from this as they would have been in Pot 2 in any case, meaning that now they will have a chance of avoiding top opposition in their group – but with the old system they would have been guaranteed to have one of Barca, Real, Atletico, Bayern, Benfica or Porto in their group.
In all, a completely rubbish and almost pointless rule change – all to appease Man City and PSG. Money talks? No, how can you say such a thing about such a morally and ethically upstanding game as football???
(If it was up to me I’d put all teams in one single pot and let anyone be drawn against anyone – possibly with the exception of teams from the same country but I’m not even sure I’d have that restriction. The group stage is predictable enough as it is.)
Lars,
I have huge sympathy with your point but that just underlines why you and I wouldn’t make TV executives. The demands of TV massage the draw and can you imagine if say United, Barca, Juve and PSG got drawn together in the Group of Death ( known to everyone else as the Group of Hysterical Laughter) and we were deprived of two of them in the Last 16. That’s how the European Cup used to be .
You. Ale a fair point about the draw. The last four in Pot 1 Ud take anytime but wouldn’t fancy the two Madrud teams who we can’t beat.
In the meantime U am starting to sacrifice wildlife on the TTG barbecue in the vain hope that Unoted fail to qualify for this stage. What a hoot if it came to be
In other news my 7 year old grandson took his first step on the road to World Cup 2026 when he was accepted into the Brighton Academy. Obviously got my genes!
sorry hol
i really apologise
things haven’t been goin great
.
all the best
ya bastas
.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LOi_wxypeGc
my spill chucker is back.
The middle bit should read
You make a fair point about the draw. The last four in Pot1 I’d take anytime but wouldn’t fancy the two Madeid teams who we can’t now meet.
In the meantime I am starting to sacrifice wildlife…….
I’m beginning to think Pangloss is right. I’ve turned into somebody else but the old habits keep returning
Apologies
ttg: I know exactly why the seeding exists. I have moaned about it many times in here so won’t bore everyone by repeating my arguments once more 🙂
cba, ya bollix, things haven’t been going great are my middle names. You’re among friends here, ya poor bastard 😉
Always here if you need to vent, buddy.
Lars @59,
that’s very kind but I really don’t deserve to have a stadium named after me. 😉
TTG – welcome back!! 🙂
Ttg,
Have you tried taking the boxing gloves off before you start typing ? 😉
The San Trev is up there with the Camp Wolfie.
This is outrageous !
The new seeding system is completely unacceptable !
This means we are going to have to play actual football matches before they give us the Champions League trophy !
We could end up having to buy a whole new trophy as I have already had the existing one engraved !
This never happened when Mr Blatter was in charge !
Whatever happened to good old honest corruption ?
This sort of thing doesn’t happen to Qatar !
Oh do fuck off, old boy !
Talking of things not going great, I wish this “Your flash is out of date” popup on Safari (under Mavericks) would bollocks off. How many more times do I have to install the same fecking fecker?
This is what is known as a First World Problem, folks.
Machines suspect my flash is out of date too but what do they know.
We know everything. 😉
The annoying thing is that YouTube won’t work unless I keep reinstalling the damn thing and it is always up to date.
For YouTube I mean Candy Crush 😉
Anyways, sleepy time!
You’re a treasure, cba, and here … http://irisharchaeology.ie/2015/03/beer-money-13th-century-tokens-from-winetavern-street-dublin/ … is a gift for yer. Did you perhaps lose them on a visit to Winetavern Street? 😉
Öskar
Nothing happens in Qatar, SM, it’s a fuckin’ desert. Can’t wait for the 2022 WC not to happen there too.
Öskar
Trev
W.oT d o u Me A n
I get cold hands if the gloves are off.
jeez
was at it again
and there was me
saying certain quarters here wank on about pseudo twaddle
and i am guilty of the same deal
albeit from the other end of the intellectual spectrum
but
low brow drunken just as annoying as high falutin sober
.
will install a breathalyzer and angerometer on my wee tablet yoke
forthwith
.
apologies
and cheers ‘hol yer a good fella
and cheers oskar
i had the house torn apart lookin for them
🙂
.
need to relax
take up a hobby
dealer clubbing perhaps
😉
.
bye now
.
UP THE ARSENAL
d’ye think peta would clatter me with red paint
if I turned their pelts into a coat ?
.
bye again
for real
mind you
ye’d need 20 o the feckers just to make a sleeve
emaciated wee cunts
.
.
.
cheerio
shuts up
Semitropical downpour at St. Andrews today. Emphasis on “semi” of course.
Ashes cricket. Davis Cup tennis. Tour de France cycling. Open golf.
I have a laptop and a TV. I need two more screens.
As a side, I have been thoroughly enjoying the sport this summer. The WWC also helped loads by providing actual football matches way past the domestic season. I have still missed Arsenal plenty- but notably less than usual.
However, despite the fantastic quality and variety of the sport going on this summer, if Arsenal were playing now then I’d be back to needing one screen.
One screen not enough for British summer? Still, more useful than sun-screen…
Seriously, in my neck of the woods it has been so cloudy and stuffy lately that I have barely seen the sky for about four days, let alone the sun.
I should’ve just gone on tour with the lads. Singapore looks sunny.
Forget the tennis and golf, they’re for the kind of people who drink Pimms with cucumber in it, wear checked clown pants and have teeth a horse would be ashamed of. The sort who’d be too mad looking to get into the last night of the proms (at least as far as the tennis goes).
Besides the golf won’t really warm up until tomorrow.
Two-footed magician with some head-spinning wizardry:
https://www.facebook.com/thearseblog/posts/10153171755423580
🙂
Doc. Santi got lucky that Hector didn’t ruin it for him…
https://twitter.com/HectorBellerin/status/621748657755410437
We are getting close to the hundred. Which is nice.
Steve Smith just reached two hundred. Which is not nice.
cynic
twas the 80$
before i encountered a real posh person
in its natural habitat
.
he told m
From just off the green …
Steve Smith is gone!
bloody phone
.
half hearted flollop
half hearted fllollop cba?
that is one under par
and nothing to be sneezed at
specially when done on the phone
🙂
Sorry missed you there GSD. Didn’t even see you there out on the course. 🙂
And now for a little bit of Ned… >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>