Guest Post – Getting Fit For A New Season – A Physio Educates
Jul 22nd, 2015 by 'holic
Most of you will remember a very popular piece on here by our resident sports physio, Trev, back in October. I’m delighted to say he has written another informative look at the changing approach to pre-season conditioning. Trev, thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.
So with the trip to Singapore done and the Asia Cup safely locked in the trophy cabinet, pre-season 2015/16 is well and truly underway. While our trophy cabinet is once again being replenished on a regular basis, thieves have apparently broken into the trophy room at White Hart Lane and stolen everything in it. Police are said to be looking for two men carrying a roll of blue and white carpet.
In fact, pre-season has changed in recent years a lot more than some of those old Tottenham jokes. For Arsenal FC it used to be one week’s initial training culminating with a game at Underhill, as a thankyou to Barnet FC for hosting our U18 fixtures. That was followed, under Arsene Wenger’s management, by the two-week training camp in Austria and further games against low level Hungarian and Austrian opposition.
Commercial demands have seen the introduction of, so far, Far East tours, with this year’s ending with the higher profile 3-0 win over Premier League Everton. These tours have become a business requirement for teams who have to generate their own income, and are a reward and incentive for the thousands of foreign fans who swell the Arsenal coffers in the quest to dress in whichever kit manufacturer’s latest offerings.
So how does the modern top flight football team manage to fit in weeks of gruelling physical preparation and six mile runs whilst spending so many hours on long haul flights around the world? The answer, of course, is that they don’t. The days of gruelling long-distance runs are a thing of the past because of the growing influence of sports science. The long slog has been replaced by the shorter high intensity interval training regime. However, the introduction of state-of-the-art technology, including GPS tracking and heart monitoring devices, means that there is no hiding place on the training ground.
One of the most significant changes of emphasis is that it is often a conditioning and fitness coach, rather than the manager or his assistant, who takes the first couple of weeks of pre-season training.
After the early morning warm-up, the players are issued with GPS trackers that are linked to pitch-side laptops that give real time information on each player’s session, in terms of the intensity players are working at, what distances they are covering and then comparing that with their Prozone stats in games. If, for instance, Francis Coquelin covers 9km in a game and he only does 400 metres of that as high-intensity runs, then why ask him to cover distances much different to that in training? Players need to replicate in training what they are doing in matches.
Typically now the longest run that players will do during pre-season will last no longer than three minutes. The 60, or even 30 minute runs are a thing of the past – it’s now about stop-start interval training and, importantly, recovery.
Another reason why players have stopped plodding around for mile after mile is that runs of that nature were designed to shed the pounds and get players back into the shape lost lounging on beaches and indulging in beer and fish and chips for six weeks.
Players might now take a complete break for a fortnight at the end of the season but for the next four weeks they will train every other day for about 45 minutes. The club will know if they have been following the programme because they are checked against at least four different physical tests several times a year, including at the start and end of the season. The tests, as a minimum, measure speed and agility, fatigue levels after sprinting, leg strength and aerobic capacity. Anyone whose results appear outside their normal range will stick out like a sore thumb.
These days, though, there is little chance of that happening. In days gone by there was a widespread drinking culture and players would get pretty out of shape, whereas now they come back weighing no more than at the end of the season. Just as well with those new super skinny designed Puma shirts so popular with most ‘holics!
Training drills now might consist of sprint and agility ladders used for foot speed drills and high kicking routines, burpees, squat jumps and some of the old exercises but performed at high intensity over short periods with precise recovery intervals built in. Running drills will normally be done with a ball at the feet and control will be closely monitored. This checks the players’ concentration levels as fatigue begins to take it’s toll.
Interval sprints will also be an important ingredient, typically using multiples of 40 yard sprints with factored recovery periods, and incorporating square, triangular and T-shaped circuits. Running up and down the terraces and stands, as even seen in some old Arsenal footage at Highbury in the 1940/50s, will not.
There will be a break before and after lunch and then, typically, the tougher afternoon session.
More ball work, close control and first touch drills at a club like Arsenal, will all happen under the watch of the GPS analysts with their laptops. (Editor’s note, they also use a drone to track player movements from above.) The sort of distances and types of runs the players are performing will be compared with their Prozone match statistics and their individual training programmes adjusted accordingly.
Again, typically, although I’m not privy to Arsenal’s actual programme, the last exercise is the hardest part of the day. Three 800 metre runs each have to be completed in under 3 minutes, with 3 minutes of rest after each run.
The advantage of all the technology is that players now have individual programmes designed according to their current condition and their game requirements. And rather than push everyone until they throw up, players can now be precisely conditioned and once their strength, endurance and heart rates reach the required level, they can be held there without going over the top and causing damage.
Stretching still forms an important part of conditioning during the preseason day but some will be done as per the earlier Arsene Wenger era, while some, as fans on match days will have noted recently, will be done dynamically (on the move). That seams to have become a feature of the “Shad Forsythe” warm-up.
As ever, fitness and conditioning will be crucial to us this season. If, at last, it all comes good, we just might have a Premier League trophy to show for it.
Winner of the Emirates Cup Tickets
Congratulations to Paul from Bradford who will be taking a guest to the first day of the upcoming Emirates Cup on Saturday. They will see Wolfsburg and Villarreal battle it out before Arsenal host Lyon.
The correct answer was of course Alexis Sanchez, who made his debut in last season’s tournament.
Thank you to all who entered. It was certainly a popular prize, so thanks are due also to Arsenal for providing the tickets.
250 Responses to “Guest Post – Getting Fit For A New Season – A Physio Educates”
Nobody expects a new post at this hour.
Good and enlightening article Trev. The odds, let alone Shad Forsythe’s shiny new exercise regimen, must favor us this season in getting fewer injuries than the last two or three times around the track, or at least I should think so.
Back?
Good,
Right, I do not mean to impose upon the guest poster.
I have just come to update you all as promised.
The transfer negotiations are ticking along and nothing untoward has taken place yet. In other words, it is taking the shape of an ordinary transfer.
As such, I can now announce that terms are scheduled to be discussed today!
One thing I will say here though, remember to keep an open mind when considering who comes in and who leaves the club. Movement depends upon both clubs and the player as you know. Ultimately, the player decides.
Anybody who is brought into the team of a particular level is done so with the idea of enhancing the team. The competition within the team intensifies and players, who are about it, organically begin to improve (or so is the theory).
I don’t think we can expect Arsenal to remain stagnant. With trophies now starting to gather up back into the cabinet, with our squad improving and with Wenger at the helm, playing for Arsenal becomes even more attractive.
I see the press are gathering like a school of fish. The momentum that we are about to announce another summer signing increases!
Do also bear in mind that we are still only deep into July!
Enjoy your day Gooners!
UTA!
G54 AKA 😉
I have not seen Snr since he marched Poldi into the club! 😆
What a smashing post Trev.
I felt both of my eyebrows rising at several points made throughout. A most educational and interesting read and just shows how much times have changed.
what joe said
.
crackin stuff indeed trev
Thanks Trev..a very interesting and informative post. I still have that picture in my mind of players running up & down the steps of one of the stands – Fings certainly ain’t wot they used to be – and so much for the better of course
If the “shad effect” cures the curse of the never ending injuries, perhaps they should name an underground station after him…..oh they already have 😉
Interesting post, Trev. Thank you.
One picky, technical point. I speak under correction and without precise knowledge, but from what I understand of GPS technology I doubt that it is sufficiently accurate to track players during training. If it were up to me, I’d use some kind of low-power radio triangulation with three or four tranmitters around the training pitch. If forced to, I’d describe the system as “GPS-like”.
Secondly, if I recall your previous piece correctly (which I didn’t at the time :blush:), you explained why the injuries which our younger players were likely to be due to excess stress and strain on relatively undeveloped bodies. (Please forgive me if I have misunderstood or misremembered.) Do you, or did you, consider that this is likely to pass, given time and appropriate rehabilitation? If so, how long a rehab?
Thanks again.
COYG
Boy, all this transfer speculation is fascinating isn’t it? I hardly need to dig my fingernails into my palms to keep awake.
Yawn!
Another excellent post Trev. You manage to turn a lot of technical and professional knowledge into a very readable and understandable piece. I enjoyed it and am glad for your insight.
I would like to know a little more about how stretching, and types of stretching, can effect the chances of muscle injuries. If a player has to come on due to injury to a teammate there is not always time to warm-up and stretch as much as if it is a planned sub. What is the player’s best course of action in these circumstances?
Unfortunately Barkley scored against Cech- we beat Everton 3-1.
Pangloss- after last summer’s mayhem in here I am personally finding a transfer-related post or two a day, that are clearly written in good faith, with the aim of not winding us all up, to be valid contributions (if not always hugely illuminating). We know King GT likes his transfer news and we know you do not. Fair enough. It takes all sorts.
Just be bloody glad that EPM is history!
Trev- I did not actually thank you for your effort in producing that piece. But do not worry- I will do… Wink.
pan G
i’d issue each player
with a surveyor’s trundle wheel
and count the clicks
at the end of the session
cba
Are you Shad Forsythe in disguise?
combine it
with the groundsmans line painter
and ye have one cheap heat map
into the bargain
Cheers Trev, very interesting and informative piece.
I can also confirm that my pre-season training is moving on apace. Got back in the saddle with a few liveners for Everton. Will up the intensity with a solid, but always tricky, double-header this weekend, and then top off the preparation with a “banjaxed at Wembley” curtain-raiser.
And all done without the use of drones, GPS, or any discernible stretching! 😎
Excellent and informative piece Trev.
I had no idea we have dropped the tradition of running up and down the stands as Uply observes. Outrageous! I thought we were the bastion of tradition and time-honoured values. Wonga aht!
Heh @ cba @15 – brilliant.
Heh @ tabs @ 16 – Trev has indeed overlooked the importance of rehydration and lubrication.
Wow, GSD!
You should sky dive more often! 😆
Truth be told, I do not mind us strengthening our squad. Especially if it’s with ‘exceptional talent’.
I’m sure you guys will be the first to gun me if this story is a load of centipede feet!
But, I’m afraid this transfer has more legs than that! 😆
(Sorry I couldn’t resist)!
*heads for the door*
Just in case anybody’s interested, the debate about keepers has now come to a head.
As some of you may already know, Wojciech Szczesny is currently in talks to join AS Roma on a yearlong loan.
Good on him!
piece o piss
this training lark
with the money i’d save us
we could build a spare stadium
and use it to grow angry spuds
Cba & Tabs – hehs.
Tabs….assume the wallet being stretched is number 1 priority 😉
Right, off now for a re-arranged lawn bowls league match against local rivals. Baseball bat in boot of car in car in case it kicks off 😉
Morning / Afternoon all,
many thanks for your kind comments – glad it’s of some interest.
Heh Tabs,
Like it says, why ask you to do anything different in pre-season to what you do the rest of the year ! I imagine a GPS tracker would be entirely superfluous for you as your path is a constant, well known and well trodden one ! 😉
Pangloss,
These devices are certainly always spoken of as GPS trackers.
There does seem to be a variety of types though, which relate to the particular use to which the device is put. The difference is mostly to do with the frequency of updates. The constant, real time update facility comes, as far as I can make out, from a software system called ‘Telematics’.
These systems can be used to monitor sports like Orienteering, and Hang Gliding and Micro-light races – to check precisely where competitors have run/flown, to prevent cheating, and to measure distances maintained between competitors for safety purposes.
On that basis, I guess they can precisely track individuals.
Blimey ! No-one expected the Spanish Inquisition ! 😉
Heh @ cba. 🙂
King GT.
How do you know that Schez and Roma are in talks? There is a piece on Arseblog News about how this entire story has been made up because of Woj ‘liking’ Roma on his instagram account. I cannot find a single thing from any reliable source that gives this any credibility at all. Either you have more and/or superior info than me (which I would be interested in hearing about and where it comes from) or you have taken a bunch of meeja rubbish and signed it off as gospel to a group of people who, en masse, are not interested in anything printed in the Metro and the rest. Which is exactly what pisses everyone off.
Who are your sources?
Buy Sergi Samper! Take the risk!
😀
GSD
The info about ole Woij appeared on my phone as a notification from Sky Sports News!
This news is being described as ‘early stage talks’ whatever that means.
I have not read Arseblogs today. Saying that, with all due respect, he’s not actually somebody I would count as a reliable source for transfer news. He tends to give his opinion, particularly from a fans perspective from what I have seen.
Anyway, I hope that answers your query!!
🙂
Samper sounds like a prospect BB!
King GT.
Sky Sports write whatever nonsense they want and then add ‘according to Sky sources’. If I wanted to know what clickbait Sky are tempting people with then I’d be on their website. But I don’t care. So I’m here. Please let us not go back to having everything ‘reported’ over there rehashed over here. It becomes like a Newsnow feed. That is not my cup of tea and although I do not like to speak on behalf of other Holics I feel in this instance that I’m safe to say that most others feel the same. If that is your thing there are a truly astonishing amount of Arsenal sites that cater to your tastes – go check ’em out.
The article is on Arseblog News. It is not by him personally. It is well worth a read. It reports facts. Which at the minute there appear to be none of. If you had read it before you saw the Sky Sports ‘report’ it might have tempered your enthusiasm to believe them. Or to post their guesswork to us with no caveats as though it is true- which you cannot possibly know.
Nothing personal, fellow gooner. A drink on the bar for you.
I do hope we get an out and out striker and a backup for Coquelin… although it doesn’t seem likely.
Maybe Arsene will promote instead…!
😀
Great article and fascinating to understand the modern day training methodology.
There always has been a lingering doubt that a lot of our players injury woes are because of to much technicality in terms of training and the obsession to master it. I am not sure about it but yes, always made me wonder as to why our players are fragile and even more so as to why it takes them so long to recover. Hopefully Shad and team will ensure nothing untoward happens and even if it does, they are their to help recover. A fit team is a winning team.
Sergi Samper the latest name to be linked. Young la masia product who supposedly was also wanted earlier by us. A dm who knows how to pass typifies Wenger type of player but he is also as per most reports a potential star in the making and Barca do not want to sell their home grown players. In short another DNA case.
Why do i sense there is another deadline day mayhem across the EPL again? If we are signing someone then looks likely that it will be on the last day again. Till then looking forward to seeing The Arsenal play.
And I would agree about Blogs. In the absence of facts he does give opinion. But he does not confuse the two. He never posts opinion as facts or claims to be a reliable source for transfers. Much like the recent Benzema discussions in here in which various Holics have said that they have no idea whether the rumours have any validity or not and then gone on to express an opinion about the player.
How much computer ink have Sky already expended on ‘Benzema to Arsenal’ stories? But has a single thing actually happened? Life is too short…
GSD
Okay, if you do not believe what is reported by Sky Sports News, then that is up to you. Apart from maybe a couple of stories, which for one reason or another does not materialise, they generally tend to be on the money.
In regards to me ‘checking out other sites’, I have posted here, on and off for over 5 years. I have a fairly good idea of who here wants to read what. When something going on in here does not interest me I just disregard it. That has worked just fine for me over the years.
I won’t go into all of that other stuff because it’s irrelevant. You should never feel like you cannot ask me a question. Ask away. Just be prepared for the realisation that not every answer will be to your satisfaction. Such is life!
Anyway, unless you have anything else you would like to address, I’ll presume I have addressed your query. Or would you like to discuss more?
😉
Oh and if you find anything I post offensive, do let me know!
😉
Interesting and informative read, Trev. Many thanks. Game-mimicking training makes sense. I am reminded of something the great long-distance runner Emil Zatopek once said when asked why his training consisted of 400m intervals instead of long runs, “Why should I practice running slow? I already know how to run slow. I want to learn to run fast.” However, while I can see that the high-intensity work would push up VO2 rates etc, don’t players still need to do at least some long runs build up their endurance levels and lactose tolerance?
Arsenal and many other Premiership clubs, and teams in other professional sports, use the monitoring products made by StatsSports. It calls itself a world-leading provider of “GPS performance analysis equipment”. There is tons of stuff about its systems and kit on its web site, http://statsports.com.
Excellently informative article Trev.
If the players think there is no hiding today, let them wait for 5-7 more years and the commercialization of nano-technology.
There will be “ingestible” (like wearables today) for accurate and fast chemical analysis of blood oxygen and hormone levels, stomach composition etc. Maybe the training sessions would start with the players swallowing a fluid full of such nano-bots that would be continuously emitting data through embedded Wi-Fi and every aspect of change in their internal chemical composition across different levels of stress would be plotted.
Bould: “Olivier, mon ami, your signal says at least three glasses of red last night. Last warning!”
Arsene to the data analyst, whispering: “What red?”
After a few seconds of pattern matching with the database of wine spectrometer analysis, analyst: “Looks like Languedoc-Roussillon.”
Arsene, shouting to Giroud, “Imbecile! I knew you had something to do with those missing bottles in my cellar.”
Giroud, “No boss, it was Mesut…”
Mesut, busy praying, turns around and gives Giroud the evil eye …
GSD – Drink on the bar for you.
One for you too, Trev. I’ve always believed that commercial GPS systems jad an accuracy of “a few tens of metres” which is more than good enough to help you drive from Lands End to John O’Groats, and that military versions were more accurate, but for thr type of trscking you’re talkong about above I’d guess you need an accuracy pg rather nettrr yhan a metre. I don’t yhink that ehen you’re trying to get nasty explosives domrehrr you need that degree of precision so I doubt that satellite-based GPS has been developed to the required extent.
Apologies to those bored by this particular speculation.
#incarceratebalotelli
COYG
God, and I proof-read mine@34. Shades of ttg.
Drinks on the bar for all those who can make it out.
@32 NBN
..But didn’t Zatopek do something like 60X400m intervals?! at a time, that would cover some mileage too I’ll wager.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c4Z8cbcIiA
😀
King GT.
I have said my piece. And I have read your response. I did not understand all of it but I believe I got your gist. We clearly see the media differently and we will have to agree to disagree. Although I will say that I have never found (or claimed to have found) your posting ‘offensive.’ As you are never rude to anyone on here if I did find your stuff offensive I’m sure it would say more about me than about you. Anyway, to quote Steve Hughes, ‘If you live in a democracy and expect never to be offended then you’re an idiot.’
And in future I will make no comment about your style of post- we all have our own way.
There is another drink on the bar for you. And if you don’t mind I’ll join you for one!
Cheers Pangloss.
After much deciphering I believe I now qualify for two drinks. Much obliged and please have one on me.
I’ll be smashed soon at this rate!
Doc.
I am sure you are right about ingestibles and the way the technology is going. Still, some of this stuff scares the life out of me. Personally, were I a player in the future I would refuse this invasion of my body. But then I might not get a contract in favour of another player who would submit to this. Whatever peoples’ opinions this is the sort of tech that should spark an ethical debate before it is commonplace, not long afterwards when it is too late.
GSD,
Ah! Good on you kind fello! Good on you!
I appreciate and respect your opinion ‘believe half of what you see and none of what you hear’ and all of that!
Cheers! 🙂
Baff, Ups and Trev – Sadly, you all knows it!
GSD @ 39: I predict that day would not be far away when players would be screened for genetic predisposition to certain types of diseases etc.
There are pros- and cons-, technology always has been like that. Pros would be detecting potential of life threatening conditions developing on the course of a career.
Cons- would be of course misuse, abuse, exclusivity. However exclusivity has already arrived in top level sports. When Arsene spots a talent and he is brought over for a full medical check-up, we are not going to bring him if we find he has say an early onset macular degeneration…no matter how much talent he may have.
Technology by itself is not scary, it is simply application of knowledge to a craft. The abuse of technology is scary and for that the only ones to blame are us.
You are a Londoner, and you got used to those freaking cameras everywhere capturing your daily activities. You will also get used to your doctor running a monthly nano-scan on you remotely from his hilltop villa somewhere in the swiss Alps. 🙂
We adapt to technology upheavals in a rate that we never think ourselves capable of.
Cheers fellas.
Ingestible tracker systems – there’s food for thought …….
Trev @ 43: Some might find such changes hard to digest …
Who says Sky Sports is not a reliable source?
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-more-popular-west-london-6117039?
Horses’ mouth:
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/9912919/which-is-the-most-watched-premier-league-team-in-your-area
8 ball (enjoying himself :lol:)
Oh shite
I meant 😆
Fair warning- this one has nothing to do with Arsenal really.
Doc@42.
Technology does not exist in a bubble- how we feel about it must depend on how it is applied.
Your general points are sound and I agree with your analysis of how these things play out. But you have misjudged me personally. I have long grown used to the fact that I am in an incredibly small minority of people who are profoundly concerned by the erosion of privacy and the personal rights people glibly concede. Especially in my generation.
Did you know that many phone apps (really popular ones) have as part of their agreement the clause that they are allowed at any time to remotely use your camera (and audio recorder) and that any images and sounds recorded are legally their property? This is in theory so that if they send you an offer or somesuch they can record your micro-expressions and hone which products to advertise to you based on how receptive you are to them. In theory. But what is to stop them using it when you are reading Goonerholic on the bog?.. (which is bloody hard in GSD getup!). And if they did so then that image is now legally theirs. By your previously given and legally binding consent. People assume benign motives but if those motives change where will be the recourse?
I have not lived in London for over 8 years. I hate the bloody cameras. I refuse to register my oyster card. I read this blog for years before I decided to contribute- simply because I did not want so much of myself available online. You could learn a heck of a lot about any of us just by carefully backdrinking and making notes. The information available to the tech-savvy and unscrupulous is truly vast. There is an almost infeasibly large list of examples like these but you get my point- on these issues I can curmudgeon the mudgeon out of any of our more, ahem, experienced Holics.
Anyway, as long as people are debating these issues then we can blame ourselves for the outcome. I certainly have no answers but I do get concerned by the lack of questions. When we simply ‘go with the flow’, whilst we can hold ourselves accountable for the results to some degree, we should not forget the influence of some of the richest and most cunning people and organisations in the world and their ability to harness all sorts of social and psychological tricks to influence society en masse to their further their own vested interests.
Geez. Talk about off topic. Apologies everyone for that polemic- I dunno what came over me… Some days I feel like Cassandra. Others days just like Moaning Myrtle…
This is a good one. Someone I know works in marketing. He and his missus have no children and no plans to have any. But, knowing the system, he used his Tesco clubcard to buy some nappies (diapers), and then sat back as Tesco, assuming he was a new father and had little time to go down the pub, proceeded to send him all manor of discounts on their beers and spirits… Quids in!
Well done piece, Trev.
Carry on.
BmBd (need my own preseason)
Dr Trev, a very good read. Cheers for that!
Pangloss, GPS is far more accurate than “a few tens of metres”. It can go down to about ten centimetres.
Top top quality article there Trev… So much fitness talk just inspired me to start using my gym membership… Eagerly awaiting the start of the season. Actual football is so much more interesting to discuss than transfer speculation…
Lars inches closer to the truth …………
Thanks to the latest kind commenters.
It is good to know people find it interesting.
desi- Snap! Trev has a lot to answer for – I just went to the gym for the first time in months. It nearly killed me.
Never again…
GSD @ 49: I do not disagree with your concerns. However if I may add that the erosion of privacy has been an inevitable consequences of all technological evolution. I am at work and would reply in details later, but just as a reference remember La Dolce Vita was made 50+ years ago. 🙂
Just a small point regarding Woij and this whole ‘speculation’ regarding ‘negotiations’ and ‘talks’.
Any such ‘negotiations’ and ‘talks’ would of course depend upon the availability of David Ospina, who is back from extended leave in around 10 days.
I just thought I’d add that as it’s been playing on my mind and I couldn’t say anything earlier because my phone battery died. It must have been those pesky network providers accessing my camera.
Other than that, it’s as was tiswaz!
🙂
Cheers Doc. I will look forwards to your response. This sort of thing is right up your street and I’m sure I’ll learn a few things. I just had to google La Doce Vita- so I’m learning already!
correction: Dolce
Lars – Thank you for the correction. I stand (or, currently) sit corrected.
Evening all.
The Goonerholic FPL code is 640670-159535.
I’ll try and sort the Europey invites soon.
BB@36: 60x 400m is for boys. At one point Zatopek was doing 50x 400m in the morning and another 50 in the afternoon — which is almost a marathon a day — at pace. This Guardian profile has more about his training over the years.
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2012/jun/22/50-olympic-stunning-moments-emil-zatopek
Looks like those who were in the Europey are being automatically registered. 🙂
Lars and others: the SportsStat system that Arsenal uses employs a pitch-side antenna so there must be some Bluetooth or local wifi technology employed just as a running watch communicates with a heart rate monitor strap while at the same time using GPS for distance tracking.
GSD@49: We’ve learned that you are a nutter who jumps out of perfectly good planes…:)
Ned: yes, the GPS is just part of it. Heart rate and stride length are two other measures.
It’s all too scientific for me today
Jog up a sand dune, do a few assault courses, dive in the bath, go home and eat steak and chips.
Training for MEN
And sink twelve pints plus a bottle of vodka on a Tuesday night, eh Cynic? 😉
Only if you play for Manchester United.
Knock me darn wiv a fevvahhh (no – not until the season after next – at the earliest, please), fascinating stuff, Trevvv – ta.
https://youtu.be/eiulgP9kR7c
Ozillusion
Top work Trev.
And AL’s back! 😀
Excellent informative post Trev
On a more sombre note,it is the 2nd anniversary of the passing of one of our much loved Gooner’s Terry Adams Williams,aka Gooner Terry.
The first Anniversary passed whilst the bar was in a state of flux last year, with a lot of aggression and back biting between posters,that got quite ugly at times,which GT would have looked quite askance at,so i let it pass with just a quiet toast by myself.
But this year i thought with the Bar in relative harmony,that everyone might like to raise a glass wherever you are,in memory of the nicest man you could wish to meet.
I did pen a humble Epitaph to his passing at the time,which i have reproduced below.
I hope it does him justice.
He dreamt of marble halls and fields of green,
Of Kings long past and those not yet seen.
Of battles fought on far distant shores,
where blood sweat and tears were shed for the cause.
He heard them calling his name,
even those who never knew him,but loved him just the same.
He dreams no more of Kings of Yore,
for he walks among them evermore.
Here’s to the memory of Gooner Terry. Slainte
Nice touch Clive. Very thoughtful.
Here’s to Gooner Terry. Best wishes to his family.
Night all.
Cheers zico, AL, Clive.
Here’s to Terry – can that really be two years ?
Clive,
I was one having a bit of a set to with the transfer gossip writers, I know. Any mention of Terry would have far outweighed any other spat – I understand why you decided not to though.
Cheers.
Evening Joe,
Thanks for your comment this morning.
Jeez Trev, who’d be a footballer! Fascinating insight into their daily grind, thank you for it. And we all (well, some of us) thought they put their feet up after the Cup final and had to be dragged reluctantly from their lazyboys a couple of months later to kick a ball around again. Maybe they’re not so overpaid.
But of course they are, otherwise all of us could attend matches regularly without risking bankruptcy.
Öskar
Also some fascinating insights into Zatopek’s training schedule, thanks for that too. Although it’s worth remembering that he’d be lapped by today’s best following their quite different, modern regimes.
Öskar
Really interesting read, Trev.
@63 NBN
He did do 60x400m(even 80X400m!)… although that may not be the norm for him. Another excellent summation and his weekly training plan(article below) does indeed show him do 40X400m repeats… He’s also known to jog in his army boots too..
Good to know he did get his rest on Sunday… by jogging and exercising for 2 hours!
http://eightlane.org/vintage-running-emil-zatopek/
But more than the records was the man… couldn’t find a better more humble and giving character.
😀
Remembering GoonerTerry.
Two years! Time flies fast…
Nice one Clive
*Raises a glass for GT*
[Non-football post]
GSD @ 49: Finally got some free time to reply.
First of all, apologies if you felt I was assuming you to be a certain type, any type, of personality. That is not the case. When I written “you will get used to…” I had meant “you” simply in a representational sense, “us”, “we”, most people…
While fully agreeing with all the possibilities of technology abusethat you had pointed out in this ever expanding “Internet of Things” , and sharing your concerns (let no one tell you those are paranoia, the reality would always be stranger and more shocking than what we can imagine), I think we should also acknowledge that it has always been thus. Some people have always tried to pry upon, manipulate, control and abuse others for the sake of wealth, power, hegemony…sometimes successfully, sometimes not so. Every leap in technology has simply increased the “blast radius” of each such destructive and abusive action. It is no coincidence that twentieth century witnessed the greatest rate of technological advancement in human history (no disrespect to the Pharaohs or the Roman architects or ancient Indian astronomers) as well as mass slaughter in an unprecedented scale.
In that sense technology in the wrong hands could be a de-humanizing & destructive force. But printing press in the wrong hands was a destructive and de-humanizing force too…families were destroyed by lampoons, lies and propagandas were used to keep a population misinformed and under control…but only for a while before it too became a common tool that everyone can make use of, and offered no special advantage to the malicious and the power-hungry.
Evolution is a messy affair. It is not perfect, you always have those strange outliers that are not going to survive beyond a few generations, the horrific mutations, the arriving at an eventual steady state that will carry some remnants of less than desirable configurations and tendencies (what really is the fucking purpose of a genome that gives rise to uncontrolled cell growth?).
Same with technological evolutions of human societies ( and maybe we are getting very close to the world where that plural is inaccurate: society). Because the driving force behind that evolution is human consciousness and how it perceives the world within, the world outside, and how it perceives how others perceives the world within and outside … and consciousness, or rather most instances of consciousness, sees the world in terms of “fight”, “opportunity”, “survival”. If consciousness being an emergent phenomenon can sustain a stable state while at the same time somehow inheriting these basic “forces” of lower level genetic drives, the collective social consciousness too being an emergent phenomenon at a higher level can sustain a stable state while inheriting the same very destructive forces of individual consciousness.
Technology (Science applied to craft), Science, Art, Myths, Folklores, Music … they contribute to an ecosystem of sustenance, self-realization, and evolution for civilizations. Just like Man doesn’t sit outside nature but part of nature a civilization doesn’t sit outside the ecosystem that it is an essential part of. A civilization’s collective anxieties about its technology is one of its defining characteristics, just like an animal’s anxiety about the nature in which he draws his sustenance and material for future evolutions.
Don’t take the analogies too literally though. 🙂
Thinking of Gooner Terry and his family. A top ‘holic. Thank you for the reminder, Clive.
If there is anything to the speculation of Woj going to Roma on a year-long loan, it makes a nonsense of the notion that Cech’s arrival provides a mentor for the Pole in Goal.
Terrific post Trev. I always enjoy your stuff and it makes me realise how the whole area of fitness and conditioning has changed in the last few years. I can imagine it would have found out the likes of Merson and Adams much quicker if it had been around in their day. Thanks
A small story to contrast values at our great club with others. I am involved in a charity project helping severely disabled people. One has had a brain stem stroke and has lost the power of speech and ability to move but is recovering very bravely . He is a lifelong Bolton fan and we wrote to the club ( using the good offices of Sky as well) to see if they could make him a special guest at the club. After much prompting and several months they have sent him a voucher for a club tour.
I contrasted this with a story I heard yesterday. In connection with this project I met an FD of a major architects who has a friend gravely ill with cancer. He has supported Arsensl for over fifty years and regulars at his pub wrote to Arsenal to tell them. He received by return a long, personal letter from Gazidis, Wenger arranged for a framed and autographed picture of the squad to be delivered to him and he has been invited to a match when he is up to it( sadly that may not occur) .It has been a huge fillip in an awful battle. Bolton Wanderers might learn a little one thinks.
Gooner Terry RIP
Clive, thank you.
To Terry.
Dr F and GSD … In the face of the rampant technological espionage you worry about I think it incumbent on all of us to infuse any information we offer here (and everywhere) with equally rampant hyperbole in order to keep whoever analyses our pearls in a permanent state of hyped-up certainty that they are on to something, when they are not. Provide enough figurative stretching of reality and their systems will soon become about as reliable as a used condom.
Öskar
Ned,
It looks like there might be an option to buy as well.
A pretty costly cigarette if you ask me.
To Terry. And wishing his family all the best. It’s one big family in here- thanks Clive for ensuring we all remember the life of one of the best of us. Slainte.
Here’s to the memory of GT – thinking of his family at this time. Thanks Clive.
The Doc
Thankyou for taking the time. I enjoyed that post greatly. The link to our individual and collective consciousness was interesting. Much food for thought.
This place really brings together all sorts. I feel lucky to be here. I tip my cap to everyone involved- top people the lot of you.
*raises a drop to gooner T*
.
slainte
Morning transfer buffs!
All has gone quiet. I can only presume, all is well.
😉
GSD,
I took your advice and clicked onto an Arseblog link.
This morning, he appears to be reporting that Woij is going out on loan and implies that his Arsenal career is over.
I did not read too much into this, due to what you told me about Arseblogs previous report and wasn’t sure if he is being facetious!
Anyway, as he also states, Woij is still a popular player at Arsenal and I agree with many others, that it would be a shame to see him leave on a permanent basis, as with most loyal servants who venture away from the home of football!
UTA!
King GT
I did not take today’s report as facetious- simply that the story had moved on and now had a bit more base to it. Quite what though I have no idea- beyond more people reporting it. But presumably Woj or Ospina will go somewhere so maybe this is it.
If true, then Joe’s point about an expensive cigarette is bang on. Given, as you noted, that this is(?) all happening before Ospina has returned to the club it would show that Wenger’s mind is made up regardless. Although I’m sure Wenger and Ospina have spoken if there was anything that needed immediate discussion. We shall see…
boom!!!
First of all, here’s to Gooner Terry!
Ned@87: not necessarily, that depends on who initiated the loan deal.
I have always maintained and still do maintain that Szczesny is a far better keeper than Ospina whose main asset was that he was a fresh face and people were too busy enjoying our wins to notice his shortcomings but I have also always said that talent on the pitch is not enough. I trust Arsene to make the right decision in this case but I do feel the alleged €5 million buy-out clause seems very very low for a keeper who should be about to enter his peak years. I would hate to see him become a top keeper for some other club, but then again Arsene knows far more about what Woj is like off the pitch than I do.
Then again, not too long ago Ospina was only paper work away from signing for Fenerbahce a few weeks ago so I still have some hope that this is all bollocks, but there does seem to be an awful lot of smoke for there not to be a fire underneath it.
Ospina’s fitness will need to be assessed upon his return. Presuming ‘negotiations’ materialise, the club may insert a term where the on loan player can be recalled in the case of injuries.
Nothing has been discussed regarding Martinez, but it appears as though he is very much part of the first team set up at present.
All seems well, regardless of what decisions are made.
Ultimately transfers are decided by the players. Fees and terms can be agreed by clubs but decisions are made by players. If the player decides he wants to stay then the club cannot terminate his contract. Take for instance the case of Bendtner. His Arsenal days were numbered way before he finally ‘decided’ the time was right for him to accept an offer for his services. Likewise with players, but there are types of legal action players and clubs can take to terminate contracts but that is beyond the scope of discussion.
Sorry if I am being repetitious or sound like I am dictating!
Ah two more sleeps until our next game!
Is there a doctor in the house?
I feel as though I have a case of transferitis!
Nice and informative post Trev, thanks.
I think that Arsene made a good choice between Woj and Ospina. Ospina is by far more natural talent and technically superior GK, with better reflexes, positioning, understanding of the game, etc. The only things that goes into Woj favour are his height and his homegrown status, and that is about it. Not that he is a bad GK, he is just average one, at the moment, love it or hate it.
If someone still believes that loaning him is all about a cigarette or a bad behavior off the pitch, and as nothing to do with his performances, it is their choice. Knowing Arsene I seriously doubt it.
Anyway, he is off to a good club, where he can surely make some progress and learn a thing or two. As far as I am informed there is no option to buy in the contract, so I think that he will be back here next summer and Arsene will have to decide than. As I said, his homegrown status works in his favour, will he be clever enough to take advantage on it, or will Martinez take that chance, I guess we will find out next summer.
Here’s to Gooner Terry, will always be remembered in this bar.
To those who care,
Rafa is trying to poach our chief scout!
Can you believe it?
That tells me that, we must be doing something right, when it comes to finding talent! Established or otherwise!
UTA!
Remembering GoonerTerry. Continue to Rest in Eternal Peace my old friend.
Informative post Trev. Cheers.
Ah, GoonerTerry.
A man who made this bar an infinitely more entertaining place to hang out, not to minimize the contributions of anybody else of course. Actually, it says a load of positive stuff about everyone else in the drinks, and especially the barman himself that he chose Goonerholic in the first place.
Yep, he was a pain on Fridays though ! 😉
This is either:
a) Mourinho’s latest strategy of psychological genius (no doubt the way the media will play it); or
b) Conceivably the most disastrous start to a preseason by the defending champions in recorded history
http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/33632645
Those four second half goals against Begovic were scored by New York Red Bulls developmental players, including one unknown 16 year old who was among the goalscorer, against a Chelsea side that included:
Terry, Azpilicueta, Ramires, Matic, Hazard, Oscar, Diego Costa
Were they Leyton Orient in disguise?
bt8b: I wouldn’t be surprised if Mourinho realizes he got away with a ‘soft’ title last season — Man City erratic, United rebuilding, Liverpool disjointed, us slow out of the gate, Tottenham being Tottenham — and that he will have more of a fight on his hands this coming season, so he is engineering a little reverse psychology to snuff out any complacency within his squad from the getgo. Either that or he was just giving Abramovich the finger for letting Cech go. Wouldn’t put that past him, either.
having been traveling I haven’t written anything about my trip to the home of football, but reading clive’s wonderful remembrance I have to tell a little story.
my son and I looked for the holic stones after our tour with Charlie George. we looked in front of the armoury, per h2h’s direction, and couldn’t see the stone there (so many, and the light was horrible to see the gold on red). as we were going to leave from arsenal station, we made for the Tony Adams statue, and the stones there. my son climbed up on to the upper tier, and I started to scan tier by tier. I couldn’t find a holic stone! so just as I got to where he was sitting, I was going to ask him to move over so I could see the stones under his seat and feet…and before I said anything, I looked down between his feet, and there was Terry’s stone!
I admit I shed a few tears for terry, feeling strongly the spirit of this place in a 6″ piece of carved stone. to terry!
My Chavski mate has gone missing.
He mentioned Cech conceding to Barkley, but then disappeared before I realised what happened to Begovic!
I’ll catch him later! 😆
Jose knows that he wins titles by defending. Their defense is intact and he will get stones which makes them better. He knows deep down that he does not have an attacking midfield like ours/city or even united but he also knows he does not need to beat us or say city or united to win the league. His team will grind out results, they always do. If we need to win the league, we need to win more games which means win more of those games which we drew.
I am no Woj fan but i know a lot here are so i wont say anything but wish him well. He will come back for sure and i hope does so being a lot better.
Striker rumours today still suggest it is Benzema who is the likeliest to join us if at all he leaves. Well i do not see any more additions to the team, so bring on the community shield, we have a title to defend.
Oskar @ 91: I thought that is what we all are precisely doing here, all the times. 🙂
Scruz – brilliant !
Cheers ttg, Oskar.
Nice story too, ttg.
Top stuff Scruz- a special trip.
A stone to my old Dad is going down soon.
scruz – we all miss Gooner Terry, even those of us who never post.
scruz
jar on the bar
.
slainte
same to all ‘holics
good people
.
some aggravatin smart arses
but not a bad soul in here
.
.
(holds hands up to aggravatin)
.
.
mind you
fuck ye ya judgemental shower
UP THE ARSENAL
*blows raspberries*
*unreciprocated raspberries blow back skewered on tumblweed*
.
scottish spelling of tumbleweed
.
😉
*girds loins fer the two ton*
.
once upon a time
in an off license
far far away . . . . .
hours bastard walk
not on yer fuckin nelly
red cross parcel at half9
providing the duck doesn’t
eat me shoppin list
en route
ye’ll be quackin
other side o yer
YOU HEARD!!
On your own, cba?
A waste of a good man.
Hope all is well with you. 🙂
things took a moderately better turn ‘hol
my dealins with the peelers
has ended
.
too old for that kinda carry on
.
just thought
i’d waffle here
fer a bit
.
*eagerly awaits the duck’s return*
.
could manage a whisky
far too early
for a whiskey
😉
Just started here, but an early night for me. Off early to fight the wind and rain at Upavon Golf Club. I want my bumps felt.
Good news re dibble.
You spoil that duck. 😉
slainte big man
d’ye play ping pong ‘hol
.
😉
.
PING
dj jazzy duck
.
HELLO
.
nice leveller
not
the crusty band
though i’m sure they’re lovely
.
dog on a string and such
.
feckin shite band though
.
have a bastard wash
listen to some Roy Orbison
and
let the realisation hit ye
PONG
Back in the saddle again today
I took on the high and mighty
Mortgage banker on the telephone
Not to be self-aggrandizing
or anything nearly as bad as that
but it felt a little bit like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16u0wwCfoJ4
did yer mother not tell ye
its rude to point
pilgrim
gsd
is yer irish halfs accent
.
a/ like mine a glorious montone abrasive unnattended
baggage on the tube of a one
or
b/
to be sure to be sure
toura loura
ginger haired freckley donkey ridin holiday home sorta
begorrah
8ball
STICK IT TO ‘EM
🙂
“nuclear error” when typed into google leads to a page containing this informative information:
The nuclear button (Eagle Strike): Neither side in the Cold War had nor has a nuclear launch button, even in their “nuclear footballs”. The nuclear footballs contain information about nuclear strategy, and equipment for the leader to communicate with, and authenticate himself to, the military personnel in individual silos (etc) who would actually carry out a launch.
The above seems to say that all those people worried about whether Tricky Dicky had launch button access could have been resting easy all these years. But I wouldn’t be so sure.
cba- she lost it years ago (maybe she tried to drop it for work purposes when she came over in the 70s). If she’s in England you couldn’t tell from her voice.
But put her on the West coast with the Atlantic to her back and she’ll be chatting away to some farmer- cheerily getting directions in a language she later tells me is, in fact, English but that I can’t catch a single word of.
You can take the girl out Ireland…
howdy cba
top o’ the evenin’ to ye
🙂
gsd
champion answer
cheers 🙂 🙂
.
8ball
how goes it chief ?
Hope we have a few nuclear footballs stowed away for use in our home matches this season. 🙂
accents are fascinatin
i got a mickey mouse
letting agent to return
a security deposit
after he’d refused
my english flatmates
.
north of ireland stereotypes
sometimes are handy
twas north of 30 years ago
.
i sound like james mason now
.
🙂
Electric light
Radio
Turn it up
Switch on
One more time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIiUwZfqMSU
James Mason, did you say?
Oh you sexy beast, cba. (Scottish spelling 🙂 )
Think he meant Jameson. 🙂
Howdy scruz ye old world vermin ye. 😉
😉
shitefaced
gnight
trev
first prize
John j and james mason
are you irish too?
Best of luck to Abu Diaby, reportedly undergoing a medical this weekend at West Brom. If he can juuuuust get through it without breaking anything we’ll all be delighted for the unlucky bugger.
Although AW signing Messi would be a better bet…
Öskar
Down at the dog park yesterday exercising Öskar (the dog) I was assailed by a Tottnum friend (fellow dog exerciser anyway) recently returned from Blighty full of praise for a tour of The Ems she and her son had undertaken. Couldn’t speak highly enough about the experience. All parts of the stadium were visited with full commentary provided everywhere.
I imagine WHL regulars would be impressed by a tour of British Rail public loos, but she was genuinely gushing. Has anyone had the full tour? It’s something I regret not doing on my sole visit in 2011. In particular I’d like to see the exec boxes, one of which I intend hiring as a Goonerholic retreat just as soon as that elusive Lottery win eventuates… 😉
Öskar
Got to hope it works out for Diaby at West Brom, Otd, but it would be a perverse twist of footballing fate if he got a few injury-free years in the Premiership playing for a team other than us.
OTD
I did it three seasons ago with a number of chums. We had lunch at the Tollie before. Charlie George took us round. I enjoyed it, the facilities are impressive and the home dressing room is awesome.
I’d recommend it to any Gooner especially as the legends who conduct the tours are very open. We had a Qand A with Charlie afterwards. I remember him saying that none of the current squad would know who he was- sad if true.
Lord Harris may have spoken out of turn yesterday IF I suspect he had not been cleared to say what he did. It’s a Gazidis inspired coded message to restless fans ( not that many of us here are restless) Revelation of the cash reserves confirms recent speculation. As for the world class striker who is keen to come I have confirmation it is TGSTEL himself!
Morning,
Some class thoughts.
Still quiet. Apart from the Abou Diaby news. I said nothing in fear of retribution and stone throwing (not).
Anyway, hopefully Lord Harris of Peckham has at least reassured some ‘restless fans’ that we are going big this time and that the player wants to come.
All good things come to those who wait!
(How does Cba do it?)
UTA!
King GT
Although this was part of his quote he did not commit us to buying anybody. His quote suggested to me there is a deal we would like to do but his club may not let him go. I wouldn’t get too excited on the basis of that article.
It’s exactly the right thing to be focusing on. We should only bring in top quality because anybody else won’t improve a very good squad. And deals are increasingly hard to do.
Thank you Clive, a poignant reminder to all of us. It’s so important to remember and even more so respect those that have inspired us, and impress us still.
TTG
Any reaction to L.Harris’s comments are based pon the interpretation of the receiver.
Myself personally, it just adds to my sources that, something is cooking. Those comments have also led me to the conclusion that, ‘whoever’ the club are, they are playing hardball, ie: Liverpool over Sterling.
Unfortunately, these things take a long time. Months in fact. It has taken a long time to even get this far, however, things are progressing (the latter not to be drawn from L. Harris statements, but from a series of events not drawn from media outlets)
That’s all I can at the minute.
😉
Just a quick note on Diaby,
Although I wish him all of the best, I would rather not see him playing in the premier league with another side, from an Arsenal perspective. But I understand his reasons.
Good luck and UTA!
Sorry about the rushed stuff @ 166 I’m literally ‘out and about’
😉
thanks, all; cba, cheers. it was a really beauty of a moment.
kudos to Ned, ttg, and trev for the guest posts.
I’ve not had a lot of net access, so reporting on the tour has had to wait. today is my birthday, it is sunny in Rostock, and I am lying in the sun resting ahead of bbq, beer, and best friends throughout the rest of the day.
ttg, my son and I also got Charlie, and a better tour I could not imagine (unless we were allowed to lie down naked on the Ems grass for a roll-around, but I digress). We saw the executive boxes, got to sit in the visiting team’s seats on the pitch (while performing some hex work against the coming season), sat in the Arsenal dressing room, saw the physio’s room, the showers, the baths/pools, and the stretching area, then exited the tunnel like a player. We also sat in the visitor’s dressing room, saw the booths where the post game interviews are taken, sat in the hot seat in the press room, and got to sit in the press center at the end. All the while we heard Charlie tell tales, give info, and crack jokes. Such a nice man, and hilarious.
I was the first one to get his autograph, in a book I bought on the A303 while stuck in horrendous traffic east of Stonehenge the day we drove to Devon. it was stop and stop traffic, and at one point a ford transit van was next to us, on my right. As we were stopped, I looked into the van and saw a red book with the word “Arsenal” on it. I hailed the passenger of the van and asked where she’d gotten the book, and she replied “We’re selling it, £2”. We rolled forward, and when we were stopped again I handed her a fiver, and she handed me the book and change. The book? “Arsenal on this day; history, facts, and figures for every day of the year”, by Paul Donnelley (who I believe to be one of Ned’s monks moonlighting from the scribe’s cloister). Charlie signed it on page 68, for Saturday, 8 May 1971 🙂
I did get to ask him a question around the circle in the press center at the end of the tour: did he know it was in? he said “as soon as it left my foot”… I wanted to ask him what he thought of them up the road (he had a “they who must not be named” thing going on in reference to the scum all tour long), but I didn’t want him to get in trouble like Jack got, and there were young children present. Someone asked him who was the character of his dressing room, and without hesitation he said Sammy Nelson, who could always make them laugh. He also said that, but for the money, he’d rather play when he did, when you could still tackle, when it was a real man’s game. he ran off a list of hard men from in the day, including Peter Storey, and seemed wistful.
I don’t have Instagram, or twitt, so I can’t share the picture of Terry’s stone, or of my handshake with Charlie in front of the picture of him with the FA cup top as a hat, nor the pano with my son inside the stadium…but I can say we have top notch facilities, and in Charlie an ambassador for the club who made us feel a part of the Arsenal family. Very well worth spending £85 on for the two of us (including the souvenir program, which I will examine in detail when we get home again).
and speaking of family, my son and I had some missed communication, and he ended up at Piebury Corner while I was looking for him at the stadium. when we went for a bite after the tour, they all congratulated him on finding his old dad, and we got to have a nice chat with the owner, Paul (who loves this site, and its denizens, btw). the Alex Ox-C pie was tasty.
After we saw Terry’s stone, we went to the marble halls on Avenell Road, We were on the corner at Gillespie Road, walking back to Arsenal station, and who should pull up but Paul….we were standing right at his house, on the original Piebury Corner, where he sold pies for a few years before opening the shop. He recommended we get a beer at The Gunner pub, so I had a quick pint in one of the hallowed grounds of highbury (we didn’t have time to get over to the Tollie, alas, that will be for when I get over for a game).
We packed a lot into 4 hours!
Happy Birthday scruz! So glad you and your son had a great time and thanks for sharing it- I really enjoyed reading those posts.
As well as a virtual beer I would also like to offer you a virtual rack of BBQ ribs in honour of the occassion. Taking the Alex Ox- C pie as inspiration they are ‘Devilled Diaby Ribs’- they literally fall apart as you touch them! Just don’t fill yourself up before the real stuff arrives…
Happy Birthday scruz.
Some quality tales told above, too. Glad you enjoyed your trip.
cheers to the both of you, and thanks for the ribs, gsd. they sound delicious… glad you enjoyed the tales! just off to the hauptbahnhof to meet a partygoer in from Berlin! tchuss!
A thought occurs.
Stan Kroenke is our majority shareholder, Sir Jon Chippendale Lindley Keswick is our chairman.
I now insist they be referred to as …
wait for it….
Stake and Chips
I’m here all week.
What do you mean, “Thank God it’s Friday”?
Scruz those are keeno drinks on your trip to the HOF and memories of a lifetime I am sure for you and your son. Very happy for you, not to mention envious. 🙂
He belts it out but can he pick it too?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHBCf5ioge0
I cannot see any way in which Lord Harris’ comments help our football club. If they are designed to appease and reassure any of our own fans who want us to spend more money then they only apply more pressure for us to do so, as well as driving up prices. I cannot see any other possible motive unless he is just boasting. Which would be odd.
This is very un-Arsenal like and I am unhappy about it.
Which kind Holic has a different perspective that will help me see his comments as something other than an a stupid and unnecessary blunder?
Can’t imagine the other directors would have much to say to Lord Harris if he can be expected to go and blurt it out to the international press to the detriment of our negiatiating position. What an upper class twit.
GSD, he’s behaved like an idiot. He should be laughed off the board.
My only opposing view regarding LH’s comments are in regards to our bargaining power in relation to any negotiations of fees.
But these comments correlate with previous comments made by Gazidis and Hill- wood. A lot of clubs have deep pockets and appear to pay through the nose in the transfer market, which again goes back to my point regarding Sterling.
I am in the camp that believes that there should be some type of retention when it comes to prices fans pay, as we are a self sustaining club as opposed to other clubs with so called ‘deep pockets’.
Saying that, i do understand Harris’ perspective.
It’s not un-Arsenal like at all really. We’ve had PHW and Edelman both going on about all the money we have in the past.
It’s not very clever but he’s hardly breaking new ground.
scruz
🙂
top tales
.
spent a bitta time in rostock
drowned in rostocker pints
did my shopping on a big massive docked ship
and went to ‘warnemunde’ ??? for a day out
.
🙂
lord haw haw and orville
GSD,
Having read his statements this morning, I toyed for a bit with the idea that his purpose was to subliminally set an upper limit to the cash we’d pay for Messi, prior to us commencing negotiations with Barcelona… 😉
I fully agree with you and bathgooner however; there’s no way his comments help.
and
apologies fer bein an ignorant cunt
happy birthday chief
lord haw haw’s birthday?
following the narrative
not the most straightforward
@ Bath and noy noy- we saw the same game.
@Cynic. I take your point but these comments seem more specific than ones I remember. And in the past we needed a lot of new players to compete to win a trophy, it would have taken a spending spree a la chavs/oilers, whereas now most fans seem to reckon the right signing or the right two signings would put us in a really strong position to go for it. So it seems a particularly bad time to come out with this stuff.
I reckon Arsene has a tough enough job without friendly fire reigning down on him. And I hope this does not prove to be damaging in our pursuit of the final pieces of the puzzle.
8ball
perfect sense was made
as ye well know
am a believer in sayin what I mean
and calling a spade a shovel
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=Qp6khgW2tn8
.
peanuts
.
the Arsenal
.
miming
.
no
.
🙂
Evening all. I am soaked through to the bone, stone cold sober, and certifiably mad. I will put one of those things right immediately.
dry yer drawers on the radiator ?
Spin dryer, cba 😉
Now then, assorted medical men of the drinks, is there a difference between tennis elbow and an arthritic elbow? I have deep seated ache/pain just around the corner from the far from humorous. (i.e facing the hole when I set up).
GSD
I think your take on Harris is completely right. While PHW was on the Board, every few months he would drop a clanger with his mate on the Star. Harris appears to have taken over that role !
I think his thinking is to reassure the fans but I’m not sure he has not had the opposite effect. I sit on a number of Boards and would love to be a fly on the wall at the Arsenal Board. While I love their respect for Wenger which is totally justified I’d like to see some interesting challenges to him just because it’s healthy to do so. I bet Harris hasn’t built up his carpet empire by delegating everything to his CEO and using very naive PR tactics but football does funny things to people.
I actually think Gazidis does provide a good counterpoint to Wenger and has pushed him on Ozil, Sanchez and Welbeck…remember the deadline last year?
The role of a Board with an iconic long- established manager is quite a difficult one. I guess you need to occasionally throw a few curve- balls at him. Be interesting to know what actually happens. Fat chance.
You filthy swine!
That was in response to 192
show off
i wash me clothes
dress the cows in em
and wallop them on their arse
to run them dry
.
fancy fuckin website owning dan
beep
beeps
Holic, I last did Orthopaedics in 1976 so the memory is vestigial. However I do believe they are distinct conditions and would be recognised as different through the symptomatology, clinical exam and radiological appearances. The age profi;e of many people with ‘tennis elbow’ is such that OA is unlikely to be the cause of the symptoms which if I recall correctly are self limiting with rest.
I prescribe two double measures of Ardbeg with a little Highland Spring. It’ll do nothing to the underlying pathology but you’ll feel much better.
had to be you
ya two ton stealin’
heather botherin’ bollix
.
I prefer your prescription, bath, but sadly limited to Teachers (with added peat!)
Big haha to Cynic and cba 🙂
The best blend there is will do the job very nicely H.
Awa’ an bile yer heid, cba.
now
ye see
that is the reason
we all blow snot bubbles at Scotland
.
hillbillies
*snots up a doozy in preparation*
Horlick
Trev is your man.
I thought Tennis Elbow was a sort of Bursitis which sees fluid build up. Arthritis is degenerative and happens to old gits. I’m riddled with it. But I know bugger all. I’d hit the drinks cabinet. It will take the pain away or you’ll forget it.
thunder T
trev gave me outstanding
advice
easy to follow
and
worked a fuckin treat
.
outcomes happened as predicted timewise
.
I suspect he be da divil
Scruz. – Happy Birthday, great tales, glad you had a very good day.
And I suspect Lord Harris will be carpeted for his outburst.
The other board members may well pull the rug from under him.
Evening cba !
mention his name
.
AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH
.
save yerselves
whisky and whiskey for what ails ye maestro.
Sounds like lateral epicondylitis, Holic, or, as you said, Tennis Elbow. 😉
It’s not the same as Osteoarthritis although the resulting pain could be quite similar.
There are three stages of classic tennis elbow. The first is inflammation in the muscle or sheath of the tendon – the trick being to discern exactly which muscle is causing the problem.
The second stage is a longer term problem where the fluid in the tendon sheath begins to harden and can eventually calcify. That will require surgery to remove the calcified fluid from the sheath but is much less common and, if caught early, can be dissolved by cortisone injection.
The third stage is where the bony insertion becomes bruised and softens. You then have a nasty problem.
In the meantime, ice, anti-inflammatory gels and a compression elbow brace – if you’re playing golf – are your best bets for self help.
The brace is just a neoprene strap with usually a triangular pad to be applied just below the epicondyle to reduce friction as the arm rotates.
Bon chance !
grow a pair 8balls
booooommmmm
my man trev in da house
.
yeah
I am too old for that 🙁
Friday night drinks 🙂
king GT
.
can I borrow a tenner ?
.
.
cue oskar or wonderboy
saying
of course you ‘can’
.
feckin pedants 😉
Like the six men in Birmingham or the four in Guilford Town,
the Old Bill will lift you and beat your knackers down.
The filth will get promotion and you’ll be up the farm.
You’re crime was being Irish,though you’ve done no one any harm.
when are ye coming to london oskar
i would save up and come over for that game
.
up bath tabs trev esso zico h2h 8ball thunder T cynic bTm
.
bloody hilarious company
.
I would lurk
def not clive
he’ll get us all lifted
🙂
SCG: glad you had such a great time at the Ems, and happy birthday.
As for the monks at Castle Ned, we are a unique and exclusive order. Beyond that I cannot say…
My only question about your @212, Trev, is whether the ice is for the whisk(e)y.
ned
don’t be a pussy
nail yer colo(u)rs to the mast
See me running,
running through the woods of the High Bog.
See me in the snow.
In the Woodburn Forest,
a dog barking,
the body of a hanged girl,
swaying in the wind.
Those rolled-back in-head eyes,
those blue lips.
The smell of piss,
and shit.
Dog Barking.
Silent cops.
Stuff of
nightmares.
GSD, Ttg, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Phil Harris comments weren’t part of a well deployed PR campaign to make everyone think we were going for a striker when really AW is trying to land a DM or fifth ‘goalie’ or whatever.
cba@222: If you force us, it would have to be raksi.
Thank you, Trev and bath.
The whisky is most definitely helping. I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that I am just getting older!
Evening, assorted other reprobates.
Two match reports this weekend? Oh dear…
alright clive
it’s ok
ye can come to the tollie too
sheeesh
Kebab
You’re welcome Holic – but I don’t need a bath !
A ‘holics takeover of the Tollie?
That would be the day. It’ll never happen. Too many friendly tribes. 🙂
I was thinking of sitting on a few boards myself, Ttg. I plan to make a garden seat out of a number of old Kwila floorboards reclaimed from a demolition. 🙂
Öskar
I wonder what Phil Harris has been smoking now… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VloC9WnnhaQ
Öskar
Hey cba. Can’t make it this year but hoping for next. Only question is whether watching the Arse or meeting yourself will be the priority. Just hope we’re both still aboard the mortal coil so far into the future. Or leave your final resting place address with ‘holic and I’ll visit you at home.
Öskar
Update for stateside Gooners, the Emirates Cup is back live on ESPN streaming, with both Spanish and English commentary
http://espn.go.com/watchespn/#type/upcoming/startDate/20150725/sport/soccer-futbol/
NBN @ 224: Exactly! Was thinking the same … or another attacking midfielder, maybe even a right back!
No, maybe not a right back. 🙂
Happy birthday scruz!
You can never have too many right backs to lend, Dr F. 🙂
I reckon it’s Gareth Bale.
Öskar
oskar 233
last line a cracker
🙂
CBA @227
That was a paragraph from the new crime thriller, Gun Street Girl by Adrian Mckinty.
The 4th book in the ‘ Sean Duffy ‘ series.
Cracking read,as indeed the first 3 were.
Arsenal team to play Lyon: Martinez, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Coquelin, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Iwobi, Giroud.
On the bench: Nearly everybody else you could imagine.
Villareal 2 Wolfsburg 1.
There will be no dramatic TGSWEL v. Arsenal showdown in this year’s Emirates Cup.
jeez
the bbc ‘live reporting’
musta threw a keyboard
into the local zoo
.
hack numpties
the worst sorta numpty
Header de-luxe.
Or shoulder…
Blitzkrieg!
Brilliant.
I think we just scored more than England’s last test innings…
A thoroughly enjoyable watch. The crowd seemed to be having a great day. Can’t ask for anything more at this point.
UTA!
That was a joyful watch! Some very nice goals and a well-controlled passing game. Good fitness and understanding on show.
The youngsters all looked good. Martinez was flawless in goal. Iwobi with a confident and tricky display summed up by a high-quality goal. Akpom with a few good runs and a good attempt at goal. But most impressed by the 17 year old new signing Adelaide, who showed some superb close-control and footwork, and very athletic.
Ozil was a pleasure to watch, best performer by a margin, and a well-taken goal to end his day.
Some excellent goals, Santi’s very clever free-kick — waiting for the wall to jump and then rolling in on the ground — is unique memorable.
We will add this year’s Emirates Cup to our pre-season trophy haul. 🙂
Scribbled as it happened so apologies for the elongated list!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>