Not Counting The Pennies, Yet.
Jun 30th, 2010 by 'holic
Both ‘holic pounds survive. I have a two in eight chance of earning a few quid out of this World Cup after Brazil and Spain advanced to the quarter-finals in quite different styles.
I have to say though that with Cesc almost permanently planted on the Spanish bench I am taking no pleasure from their lacklustre performances and the fact that most of them are diving quicker than Barcelona submarines with lead nosecones. How on earth did he not get summoned as they struggled to overcome a Portuguese side with absolutely no ambition whatsoever? They should have enough to get past Paraguay, but they had better not take them for granted.
The Brazilian press may not be taken with Dunga’s side, but I have to say they look to have a super balance between attack and defence and would be my preferred winners at this stage. Of course they have to come through Friday’s mouthwatering clash with the Netherlands. Robin versus Gilberto. I do think the South Americans will advance, but this will be their stiffest test yet. I’m looking forward to it immensely.
The other two quarters are even tougher calls. I know a lot of people fancy Argentina to go all the way, but I have been impressed by Germany throughout, and the Argentine defence is not watertight by any means. I can envisage a penalty shoot-out in that one, and indeed in the Ghana v Uruguay tie. There will be massive support for the last African representatives, and I suspect they may just edge that one if they can maintain their discipline.
No News Is Good News?
So still we have little firm evidence of any progress in the transfer market. I must confess that although I was quite taken with the early speculation while there was no football to watch, it has quickly become tiresome, as it does for me most summers.
When the announcements are made I will offer some thoughts on what it means for us. For now though I have only one thing to say. If we are going to blood any new signings at Barnet they will have to be secured in the next fortnight and a bit.
Yes folks, it really is that close. Come on you Gunners!
Club Level Redevelopment
Regulars will know I made my bow in Club Level during the season just ended (thanks James). Now I know there are mixed feelings about the premium seats at the Grove, but I appreciate that those seven thousand seats are producing a real financial bonus for Arsenal.
It’s no surprise that the club have spent some time during the summer upgrading the facilities in line with the ‘Arsenalisation’ programme. By the start of the 2010/2011 season, Arsenal supporters at Club Level will be able to enjoy three luxurious restaurants, together with a stylish new lounge and sports bar which, according to the club ‘will redefine hospitality standards in world football’.
Further details of the improvements can be found here, and a taster of what the new Woolwich suite will look like is shown below. It’s a smart move to base the new designs around the images of Herbert Chapman and Arsene Wenger, highlighting Arsenal’s successes in different centuries.
It’s a million miles from what a drink in the old green shed behind the North Bank used to look and feel like, and for those who can afford the extra, why not? I know I wouldn’t mind another low-key fixture up there at some stage just to check out the new work.
Let’s hope the club invest as wisely in the general areas of the stadium. Some progress has been made in the last year as the ‘grey concrete’ feel of the place is consigned to the past. Some people will never be satisfied no matter how much is spent on improving the place, but most I think appreciate that the effort is being made to make the place feel more like ‘our home’.
49 Responses to “Not Counting The Pennies, Yet.”
1st drink? first time ever!!! Jack please bar man…
Evening ‘Holic.
I would like to see the same commitment to investing in the team as they are investing in developing the Club level of the stadium.
A bit nervous about our goalkeeping situation and also not convinced that Schwarzer is even a good short term answer (assuming there is some substance in that story).
As for taking money off the bookmakers – I am already in profit after predicting Germany and Argentina to win in 90 mins last weekend – should increase further if Brazil actually win the thing, but don’t think Ladbrokes will be getting any more of my hard earned.
A pint of ice cold Peroni please.
3RD STILL GUD!!
Blimey that Shed behind the North Bank stirs some memories! The bar under The Clock End, though, was a jumping place to be, especially when the northerners came down in numbers. Sammy Nelsons testimonial against Celtic was awesome, great days.
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Oh jay, the big double doors under the Clock End that sometimes mysteriously parted π
Well done Saffa, the Jack’s on me…
Hello zico, interesting one is Schwarzer, and the alleged coaching offer may have more than a ring of truth to it. Sadly I believe Fabianski is still very highly regarded. No, really. π
Am quite satisfied Schwarzer is the solution until Woj comes up.
He’s solid. Don’t see him doing such big errors like Almunia did especially at Birmingham (just can’t find a place in me to forgive him for that).
Fabianski – god save us.
What’s left of my hair will be torn out by Christmas then. π
I simply cannot believe that Flappyhandski has a future at Arsenal – unless he at least goes out on loan for a season to discover some confidence, and improves every aspect of his game except, maybe, the reflex shot-stop.
He MIGHT then come back with a chance. He surely cannot come into the side this coming season with such a catalogue of disasters behind him.
Points dropped in the Premier League are usually hard to make up.
Arsene Wenger said at the end of last season that we had been shown to lack experience, and that transfers this summer would redress that imbalance.
Is he really likely to risk it all – and hopefully a last chance to persuade our captain that his longer term future is with us – on a keeper who has cost us goals and games almost every time he has played.
Just what you need to settle in a new central defensive partnership!
True Trev, I’m stunned, just stunned Fabianski isn’t finished at Arsenal. Great points, esp. if we’re trying to attract more defenders and convince a certain someone to stay on for another campaign.
Zico: Fantastic point regarding club level. Clearly Wenger had nothing to do with that project or it would’ve been built with inexpensive, imported materials.
Heineken please, barman, for Friday’s quarterfinal clash.
Club level looking good. Love the look of the new home shirt as well. Has a late 70’s retro look about it to me.
Interesting comments attributed to Cesc in the morning papers. Apparantly he might stay now, he is not too sure. Bless him. 90k a week and all these tough decisions to make. Life is really hard?????
A nice ale please holic. And one for your good self. 45 days to go until the new season. I can’t wait.
Steve T, I also read the quotes attributed to Cesc about staying at Arsenal. It seems the benching he’s getting at the World Cup isn’t to his liking. Thank God. Although the new Barca President starts July 1 and no doubt we’ll hear the same old noise. However, looking at the “new” Home shirt & Cesc possibly staying, bring on the new Season.
I won’t join the hate-fest on Fabianski. Rather than making definitive and exaggerated statements on the basis of 2 bad games, perhaps it would be beneficial to try and understand why knowledgeable people like Seaman, Cesc and Arsene all seem sure he is a top-drawer keeper. Remembering his many good performances I see their point and if Arsene decides this is the man we can rely on then I’ll have no qualms giving him a chance.
Cesc’s interview is in the Mirror here: http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Arsenal-transfer-news-Cesc-Fabregas-says-he-may-not-join-Barcelona-after-all-article503423.html
Matt, I admire your optimism. But about “his many good performances”, would you care to refresh our collective memories? Arsene’s given him plenty of chances.
Thoughts, anyone, on the new home shirt?
New home shirt is marvellous – may just buy one for me and the young nipper. Which name on the back though? RvP? Chamakh Attack? Verminator? Too many decisions – may stick with Brady.
A Coopers Pale Ale cheers very much.
@eboueboue: all of the games in which he played with the exception of the Porto game and the last few games of the season where the players only cared about not injuring themselves before the WC. As for “plenty of chances” that’s 10 appearances last season, 18 the season before and 8 the season before that, half of them in cups.
On average he conceded one goal a game in the league since he joined us. Compare that with Almunia last season:1.1 and Lehman: 1 in 2006/07 and 0.7 in the Invincibles era.
Thanks for the stats. I remember more than two bad games of his, but it doesn’t matter since I’m obviously not the manager. Let’s agree to disagree. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t enjoy slagging him off, however should he return to the side, I think it’s fair to say he has a lot to prove
@Jezza:
DB10 for me. Always.
Matt,
you can say what you want with statistics – me I believe my eyes – he’s gash. I would like him to be the real deal but he just seems to be overawed playing for a club of Arsenal’s stature.
Not looking for a argument here and I usually agree with your posts – just giving my humble opinion. There is no point in any of us wailing and gnashing about Fabregas leaving if we are going to have sub-standard players in other critical positions becauase the end result will be the same – lots of “if only” at the end of the season.
Fabianski has got many qualities, but consistency is not one of them (yet, anyway). I quite agree with Matt in that he had some very good performances for us this season, like for example v West Ham in the FA Cup or the away game v Olympiakos, but I also agree with those who say that his performances against Wigan and Porto (away) were absolutely dreadful.
But I still think that Szczesny is the future although probably not next season already. That man has massive potential – he’s quite tall, he reads the game well, he has that aura of calmness and assurance about him. That, and the fact that he speaks better English than most players on the English national team…
And as for Club Level, if you get the chance then give it a try. It’s nowhere near as bad as many seem to think, I was there for the Eleven Second Derby and the atmosphere was great. There are a lot of people there who are not there primarily for the Arsenal, but on the other hand there are also a lot of non-English Arsenal fans like myself there because most travel agents only seem to have Club Level tickets to offer. I’ve also actually seen a fight break out up there, it was at home v Fulham at the end of the 2006/07 season when a Fulham fan was a bit too cocky and an Arsenal fan got tired of him. I must admit it wasn’t much of a fight though, ’cause the stewards where there within about 0.00001 second and dragged them apart. And, would you believe it, none of them were evicted!
John Smith Extra Smooth for me, Mr Barman!
Great blog- quite agree about Brazil and Cesc. If Cesc joins Barca he will have blisters on his arse from sitting on the bench by this time next year. Maybe Cesc is drawing the fine distinction between making it clear that he wants to play for Bracelona- but not stating that he wants to leave Arsenal. Can he play for Barcelona without leaving Arsenal?
Frankly if Cesc doesnt leave and his head is intact-I will not be in the slightest bit bothered that Joke Hole joins Milan or better still moneybags Arry.
There aren’t many more prudent managers than Wenger, but when it comes to keepers, it appears to be his Achilles Heel. We have had no less than ten keepers play for the first team in his tenure,and quite frankly
I don’t see Schwarzer being much better than Almunia. Remember Manninger, he stepped in for Seaman at the age of 21 During the 1997./98 when Seaman suffered a long spell out injured and Manninger ably covered for him, enjoying a spell of eight clean sheets in a row in the league, a club record. and subsequently was part of the double winning team.He was subsequently dropped and never really regained the early promise he showed.When Seaman retired we got Richard Wright and Manninger left. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Nice to see The Arsenal will be playing in a proper Arsenal looking home kit next year if only we could drop the Disney Logo id live happily ever after again π
All jokes aside its a vast improvement on some of the shit theyve had us wearing over the last couple of seasons,And lets hope memorys of past greats and their work ethics filter through to this current batch!!
To jump into the Fabianski debate i was a big admire and he looked to have it all and ill still say that save he made from Zaki in the Carling Cup was one of the very best ive seen, But he has made some absolutley elementary mistakes in other games and the one thing you cannot teach seems to be sadly lacking and that is the mentality to play for a big club ive no doubt he will go one to forge a good carear aat a club where the pressure is not so intense but i cannot see that being at Arsenal,
Reckon we could be in for a hectic few weeks of transfer activity !!!
Morning all:
As for the club level improvements I read on another site this morning that these improvements will not come cheap to existing member as they are charging upgraded prices for the new facilities when this is completed. For me this is not an issue because I’m not likely to see the benefits of them any time soon, but if this brings-in even more dosh through the doors from a sector that CAN afford it well where’s the harm?
However I would like to see the board also put some effort into increasing the capacity in general terms for those big especially when more are locked outside then in the stadium, this can be done I’m sure with a little effort on their part.
I’ll have a pint of London Pride please barman……
Lee,
I believe that they cannot increase the capacity it is as big as the council will allow so thats a no go,
Personally id rather they spent money on improving the squad !! As without a fully competive side they wont sell out the facilities they are improving π
Is that right chippy?
Well I’m sure a few more tickets for the bigwigs on the council in the Diamond Club would change their views on that issue!!!
If not though we could always steal the German model of pockets of standing areas around the ground, again this would increase income on match days?
…if this brings-in even more dosh through the doors from a sector that CAN afford it well whereβs the harm?
Exactly, Lee. They are premium level seats. That means those that use them pay a premium. It ain’t rocket science.
Lee,
Id love standing again thats for sure :-),
It would also help to create a better Atmosphere as well as make available affordable tickets for the community in and around the area.
That would be a Win Win Win situation but i think the Goverment and Football in general still associate standing with holigans and id be surprised if standing was re introduced in my lifetime π
Im sure that was in the original plans that at no time in the future could we apply to have the ground extended,
Holic and some of the other more in the loop regulars may be able to clarify it but im pretty sure thats the case,
Is capacity or size that’s the issue do we know?
I have had this debate a million times before with people I really don’t see a problem with current security measures knocking around today for standing being an issue all you would have to do is perhaps have more cameras in those areas & a quick response team if any problems accrued, + life bans for the offenders if it’s proved they were @ fault?
Lee, according to Perry Groves who guided a Legends Tour that I was on, just over 60.000 is what the council gave permisson for. Arsenal wanted to build for about 80.000 but weren’t allowed to. According to him, the reason for the 60k limit was that the Tube/buses are not considered to be able to handle any more than about 60.000 people.
@Lars: Thanks a lot for the info. about the Grove capacity. It is something that always puzzled me.
Hey holic, you know that English octopus in that German tank called Paul? The one that’s correctly predicted all of Germany’s games thus far.
Well the tentacled fella predicted that Germany would beat Argentina.
As a Brazilian, I’m going with Paul the English octopus. π
Matt, i usually find myself agreeing with your comments, but not, I’m afraid, about Fabianski.
My remarks were not intended as a hate fest, and said in fact, that he COULD come back with a chance of making it, but he surely needs a spell away from the club first, as one more bad error would finish him for good.
He has, unfortunately had a lot more than 2 bad games (Porto and Wigan) – think back to the FA Cup semi vs Chelski.
When you watch him live he just does not exude confidence at all and has no command of his area. It amounts to a vital ingredient in a top keeper, called “presence”, and while I dearly wish the guy,(seemingly a very intelligent, nice guy) possessed it, he sadly does not.
I wish all our players were absolutely fautless and consistently brilliant.
That, of course, is simply not possible, however much encouragement they are given.
There comes a time, even at Arsenal, when difficult decisions have to be made, and while i accept that those people you mentioned are highly qualified to judge a player, i don’t think you will find too many rubbing their hands at the prospect of another season with Almunia, Fabianski and Mannone.
To my mind, all peas out of the same pod, and there is a serious coaching issue there that needs to be addressed.
Trev,
Those 3 would be fine if they could all play at the same time π
Chippy, i think you’ve cracked it mate!
Chippy / Trev – not convinced that even with 3 we would deal with cross balls into the box – they would probably punch/palm it to one another volley-ball style and then onto the head of………..(insert name of opposition player of your choice)
I’m not one who continually insists on the “shiny new player” approach at Arsenal but we really need to do something about the goalkeeping position – Wenger has discovered some amazing talents in his time at Arsenal but I wouldn’t include the goalies in any list.
Yep good info Lar’s thanks for that….
& after too many rainy Tuesday nights trying to get out of north London I would have to agree to a point.
But my opinion on that is, if its only the transport situation that’s stopping us then in the year 2010 it’s not beyond the intellect of man to come-up with a solution for that little problem don’t you think, although not sure we can wait for London Transport to get their act together, cos if we did it won’t happen in MY lifetime it would probably have to be solved internally?
anyone saw this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_pkYxX7VQc&feature=popular
Chippy – you owe me a new top – I just split my sides! π
Flappy oh Flappy. Clearly Arsene thinks he has great potential. He is then I guess a bit of a raw diamond. It is the goalkeeping coaches job to turn him into a diamond – sadly, he just may remain flawed.
I am reminded of Reyes – fucking huge potential, but now he is once again (after a bit of a merry-go-round) discovering some of that potential at a second tier club.
Let’s hope the same fate doesn’t await young Fabianski?
Re: Fabianski: guys you read me wrong, I’m not trying to defend Fabianksi as I don’t think he needs to. I’m just pointing out that there’s a chance that he will be our main keeper this season and merely trying to explain why.
When David Seaman comes out to say Fabianski is a great keeper I acknowledge that Seaman knows much more about goalkeeping than all the holics together and I’m trying to see what he sees in him. When both Cesc and Wenger praise the guy there definitively must be something to it.
I do value your opinions very much but I simply trust the experts more on that one.
And I’d take Fabianski over Schwarzer. When goalkeepers fade it’s a rather steep slide (Almunia this season, Lehman in his last season) and I’m afraid it would be the one season too many for Schwarzer too. Either we get a top notch keeper or we go with Fabianski imho.
Speaking of GKs, supposedly we’re in contention with Man United for Eduardo ‘The Animal’: http://www.sport.co.uk/news/Football/40070/Ferguson_and_Wenger_to_do_battle_for_The_Animal.aspx
While our own Eduardo is on his way out, possibly to Villa!
Finally there’s a hell of a news today: Arsenal are rewamping their youth development policy and pull out of the reserve league! Young Guns is breaking out the news here: http://younggunsblog.co.uk/2010/07/arsenal-disband-reserves-reshape-youth-development/
The most immediate consequence is that there will be more young players in the first team and on loan this season. I don’t know what to think of it (time will tell) but I remember that when Spurs did the same thing earlier this year they were mocked to no end…
I hope to post something about that tomorrow, Matt. There is a very good reason for it happening now.
While I don’t have all the facts and arguments sorted in my head yet, this move regarding the reserves just feels really good. Hope for a good article about it tomorrow, ‘Holic, so I don’t have to go through the trouble of sorting it all out myself. But I do have a good feeling about it.
OH!
And that warm up jacket in the away colours Theo had on is now available in the online store! Come to daddy!
@Toby: Thanks for the heads up. It’s not on the US site yet but then the US shop is pretty limited. Pondering my next move…
Hogson for Pool and Platt to Citeh. Next season is going to be pretty different for sure…
Good thing you were not counting your pennies `Holic…
Haha, Matt.
Indeed. It is painful to be relying on Spain for my money. I’m starting to think Argentina v Germany may yield the winners π
Uru – Gha may not yield the winner nor the most technical nor tactical game but it’s very enjoyable, non-stop action stuff.
HEH