Le Grove

Ade’s agent enjoying breakfast

So then, it is official. Hleb is leaving for Inter Milan,

‘He is leaving Arsenal even though they want to offer him a new long-term contract and better conditions. Only time will tell if leaving is the right decision, but there’s no way back now. Everything will be cleared up in the next two weeks.’

By official I mean that agents seem to dictate to Arsenal, not the other way round. Tut Tut. Those words coming from the same agent who said,

‘But Alex loves life at Arsenal. He feels he is at the best club in the world.’

‘He has the ideal manager, he loves his team-mates and loves London. Why would he want to leave?’

Clearly an agent of class. Not as classy as Adebayor’s agent who is believed to be demanding £80k a week or his client will be off. You know what? Fuck off to the both of you.

If both stories really are true, Wenger has no one to blame but himself. He created this monster and now it is up to him to kill it. He has a degree in Economics - clearly not one in people management. All these players that are leaving are his, he knew their characters when he signed them so he should not be surprised.

The issue I have is that Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs in the world, when a player turns to them and says,

‘I am off’

Arsenal/Arsene should tell them to fuck off. If they don’t like it, rot in the reserves for a season… then we’ll decide what to do with you.

We sign them for peanuts, so we’re not losing out are we?

Every time we let a disgruntled player leave, we make it more and more acceptable for the others to follow suit. At least back in the old days we’d get at least a few seasons of class out of our players before they started whinging. Diarra gave us 3 months, Flamini gave us one good season as did Hleb (Unproductive at that).

Now Adebayor; last season’s biggest joke… is apparently demanding £80k! I am furious!

People will say they are only demanding what they are worth… well, the flip side is that when we sign them we pay them more than any other club. That is how we get so many youngsters to join us and that is why our wage bill is so high. They already get paid well. Do people really believe after 1 season of promise, Ade is now worth £80k p/w?

Season after season we seem to have to deal with greedy bastard player leaving for the greener grass of another country/club. Cashley, Sol, Thierry, Diarra, PV04, Anelka, Petit, Overmars…

How many big name superstars have left Chelsea, Liverpool or ManU recently… on their terms?

Not as many as Arsenal, that is for sure.

Grow some balls Arsene, tell Ade he is staying and if he doesn’t like it - Vik Akers has a place in the women’s reserves for him.

That would send out a message to the Clichy’s and the Cesc’s of the world. You sign for Arsenal on our terms, and you leave on our terms. Simple.

Sorry to grumble on a Friday, but the season isn’t even out and we are suffering.

Okay, following yesterdays poll of who would the Grovers like to see the boss buy this summer, we had nearly 500 comments and many interesting suggestions, so you all felt passionate, the short list was drawn up from the following,

Ferdinand (Anton), Schweinsteiger, Ben Arfa, Robinho, Richards, Caceras, Zapata, Dos Santos, YaYa Toure, Alex, Benzema, Diego, Villa, Kerlon, Velosa, Gomez, Buffon, Nesta, Lucio, Eto’o, Barry, Huntelaar and Lescott.

It was close and Robinho was felt to be the choice but you also believed he wouldn’t be on the radar, same with Huntelaar, Benzema and Richards so the final choice could have been different, but this was your pick.

Buffon, Kompany, Ya Ya Toure, Ben Arfa and David Villa. Will we see them at the Grove next season? Who knows, (except Arsene of course!) but at least we all know who we would chose.

Someone even suggested Paula Radcliffe, but I think that was tongue in cheek Raddy!

I would like to add that I think Walcott will be like a new signing next season, stronger, quicker and more confident and like Ade, could explode with goals. Ade I think will improve and work on his first touch, as he says, he could had have 10 more, which is honest and I like that, if we have a fit RVP, Rosicky and Eduardo there’s more there too.

We also have Barazite and Vela coming on board and the most important thing is we won’t have an Henry/Flamini situation, is he staying? is he going? Which I think is massively detrimental throughout a season and should not be allowed to ever happen again, take note Arsene.

I really believe that next season could be the one, but we have to buy and the list we have put forward is impressive to say the least, Arsene, are you reading?

Given the nature of yesterdays post we only had 2 AKB’s on all day, which either shows people are beginning to stand up to the bullying or the AKB’s are all back at infants school.

Plenty to ponder today Grovers.

So line them up, Anelka, Petit, Overmars, Edu, Flamini, Cole, Campbell, Diarra, Henry, Vieira, possibly Hleb and now Cesc Fabregas, our future.

Do we blame Real, why? It’s Arsenals fault. Why? Well everytime we get to the close season and win no silverware the players get fed up, understandable but not enough to leave, then the players get their heads turned and everytime we let them go, everytime.

It matters not whether they go on to bigger and better, it’s the attitude we have, ‘if they want to go you have to respect that’ how many times have we heard that? We are fast becoming a feeder club for Europe’s elite, the players know it, we know it, it seems to me the only people that don’t are Arsenal FC.

Do ManU get that problem? No. Do the Chavs? No. Do Madrid, Barca or Milan? No.

Every year we seem to be building a team and every year we win nothing. What we do though, is lose the players we adore and have been patient with.

Don’t blame the rules as no one follows them, except for us.

Liverpool go for Barry, Berger says he should go and what do Villa do? They sack Berger, that’s the spirit Martin, we should learn from that.

Last season if memory serves me, we sold Henry, Freddie, Ralph, Muamba and Larsson, we brought in Eduardo, Fabianski, Diarra and Sagna, we actually made a profit and were a player down, the season before we were 3 players down, so that makes 4, do the math, oh and then we sold Diarra, before Flamini decided to go, cracking bit of business boys, if Diarra wasn’t what we wanted, why sign him in the first place?

Keegan says he would need £150 million to break into the top four, why? We spent nothing, over the last 12 years. We’ve only spent £20 odd million, against huge amounts coming in, so where does it go? Who knows, maybe Arsene does eh?

Keegan and Redknapp talk rubbish, Newcastle have spent as much as ManU and Liverpool since the Premier League was formed, they just didn’t buy good players.

Wenger has bought well, that’s why we’re top 3, so huge credit to him, but every year we go through the same old, same old.

We can talk success but we’ve never won back to backs and we’ve never won the European Cup, and we won’t as long as we keep giving in to players and big clubs.

Time to make a stand, buy some big players and show Cesc we mean business.

Why should he waste his career here with a club obsessed with youth? Come on Arsenal, you owe it to the fans.

Lets give the boss a shopping list and email today’s findings to Arsenal.

Let me say that this site loves Arsenal, loves Arsene and loves the way we play football, but we love trophies more, so lets start trying to win them, all of them, not just 2 of them, just like the other top clubs try to.

We’ll give you all the list that Le-Grove wants tomorrow, we’ll refine it to the best 4 players, plus a Flamini replacement and a Hleb one if he goes.

People power is the way forward, we are paying customers, we pay more than anyone and we deserve better.

AKB’s stay away, we don’t want your opinion. We already know it.

Have a good ‘un Grovers, today we make history.

So it’s now official, Flamini has gone, well, if we were losing Cesc I may be upset, the way I see it, is now the boss has a great opportunity to buy a world class replacement, one that can offer us more than Flamini did, as I said yesterday most of us wanted him out last season and hoped he was going to Birmingham, he didn’t and had a great season, take note Matty, one season doesn’t make a summer, we remember the other 3 crap ones.

I think you’ll at best be a utility player at Milan, good luck to you, they’ll find you out and you’ll end up as left back, your favourite position.

Nobby Stiles you were Ok, but you weren’t great, so good luck son, they’ll soon work out they didn’t buy Kaka mark 2.

We should now look for a goalscoring midfielder, who? I don’t know, but I’d like to know soon, so boss get on with it!

I hope the powers that be at the Arsenal learn from this experience and don’t let contracts run down, I think that’s why Edelman went, or was he just a scapegoat?

The time now is to get behind the boss and see where he’ll take us, he has an massive opportunity and must seize it with both hands, get the cheque book out or get left behind.

I really think he has something up his sleeve, but then I thought Flamini would stay, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Will Hleb go? I don’t think so, but as you all know, I’ve been wrrrronnng before, there, I’ve said it!

Have a great day today Grovers, let’s have some ideas on signings.

I never thought classy and Jens would be in the same headline of a piece that I had written, but yesterday Jens, you were a class act, I actually felt quite emotional, I even began to think you were treated harshly, but thats football.

You were up there with the best I’ve ever seen, you saved us on more than one occasion, you were part of the greatest team that ever played football, the Invincible’s and if it wasn’t for diabolical refereeing you would also have a Champions league medal, Jens we salute you and thanks for being an Arsenal legend.

Flamini looks like he’s off, see ya Matty, you had a good season, not bad, 1 in 4, if you have moved on, we’ll move on. I think we should bring Steven Sidwell back, he could be the perfect replacement, Parlour’esque, a great ball winner, an eye for a pass, a never say die attitude and we could pick him up for a couple of million, or get him and SWP for a firesale price, that would take care of 2 problems at once.

Don’t forget he was the captain of our last FA Youth Cup winning side, that would then free up funds for the big name players we need, like Sergio Ramos and Robinho.

My preferred choice would still be Barry, Johnson or Niko Kranjcar (in the event of Gilberto going too) but we won’t spend big, so back to Sidders for me or Kranjcar in the event of losing Silva.

I think Fabianski is a way off first team football, but he does look like our long term keeper. Nikki B looked like we could save some money with another of his trade mark ’slam dunk headers’ yesterday, don’t forget, this was a good team we played and this kid scores whenever he plays.

I left the ground up-beat and a little emotional yesterday, but a few signings like the above, would turn us from bridesmaids to brides, and it wouldn’t cost large.

Maybe with the kids coming through, our squad would be big enough with just 3 new signings. Have a pleasant and hopeful Lunes Grovers, we could still finish second!

So despite all the rumblings that Hleb can buy out his contract, Le boss has come out and said twinkle toes has 2 years left on his contract and he is not for sale. I am no expert in ‘Websters Law’ but I thought you could only invoke it it if you had 1 year left on your contract… something Wenger seems to believe.

“Alex Hleb has two years’ contract [left],”

“He is not for sale.”

Good for you Arsene, that sounds distinctly like you are telling a player he can’t go? Are you finally showing some back bone when it come to players? If so, Le Grove salutes you! A contract is a contract, end of.

In other news, the Flamster still hasn’t decided what he is doing. Le boss said,

‘The deadline moved for negotiation problems. Only he could tell you [whether he will go or not]. For me yes he stays, but does he tell me the complete truth, I don’t know.’

What a marvelous guy Flamini is, he is most likely waiting to see whether Milan make it into Europe next season before he decides… all at the expense of his current club. If he goes, I would wager some cash on him not making it. Arsenal suits his game, and only this particular team… he has never looked that great in seasons past (Centre Mid), and I would say a few other players are responsible for raising his profile.

Anyway, I’d like him to stay, but if he leaves… so be it. He has certainly shown a lack of class and respect for the fans during this contract debacle. Only at Arsenal eh?

Wenger was in bullish mood in the press conference yesterday,

‘If we won at Man United, which we could have done, we would be champions.’

‘You cannot say just these two have been good and the rest are rubbish.’

‘It was very tight between the three teams.’

I believe there is a saying that goes,

‘If your Aunty had bollocks, she’d be your Uncle.’

I agree that it has been tight this season, but at the end of the day Arsenal capitulated. We weren’t in the chasing pack all season… we led, then fell away with some costly draws.

Lets hope he has some plans for the summer, because a little tweak in the right areas could give us the extra 6 points next year.

At least now you can enjoy your breakfast safe in the knowledge only one player can leave.

Have a good day Grovers!

The latest rumour on the mill is that Man City starlet Michael Johnson is being eyed up by Wenger, this is a signing I would like, he reminds me of Carrick/Flamini with a bit of Petit rolled in there, I would prefer Barry but that’s looking unlikely.

There’s talk of Mark Milligan from Sydney coming but that has to be nonsense, not that I have anything against Aussie footballers, but it’s hardly premiership quality in that league and we need finished products, not more hopefuls.

With the departure of Edelman yesterday, talk is of bringing Dein back, I would welcome that as he knew where the cheque book was stored, but that’s a long shot, and by now they may have moved it to a shoebox that Dein doesn’t know about.

I thought that Dein had fallen out with the board about overseas investment and there was no way back except through Trojan horse Usmanov, but why has Edelman gone then? Stranger things have happened.

Unless of course he got canned for lying about how much we had in the transfer kitty, time will tell, but getting rid of him with two games to go tells me something is about to happen.

Kolo has said he will call Thierry and urge him to come home and that I welcome, come back on a reduced salary and help coach the kids through, I know he’s injured a lot, but who isn’t at Arsenal these days eh?

I know a lot of you will be against it, but it does make sense to have some experience back in, a bit like Dennis was and he retired at 36, so with him, Henry and Adams back, it could be a match made in heaven.

Today’s press conference will let us know whether or not Flamini’s going, but if he does I hope to hell we replace him with someone either proven, or ready.

Gattuso isn’t the one for me, he hasn’t the flair we need, Kolo can do a Gattuso job if needed.

There has been talk of Sergio Ramos but I can’t see Madrid letting him go, Robinho would be great, but where would we get the money, unless of course we could peruade them that Eboue would suit them better than what they have currently.

Back to Everton, we need to win not just for the chance of landing the league, but as a send off to us, the fans.

Why Wenger is resting Robin is a mystery, what precaution boss, it’s the end of the season?

Finally with all this talk about climate change and carbon footprints, what would the carbon footprint be to send two lots of fans to Moscow for a day? Or should I say one lot as the Chavs don’t have any supporters.

I know a chav (formerly a Leicester fan until he got free tickets) and he’s going to Portugal to play golf instead, imagine that? Well that’s a Chelsea fan for you.

Finally many of you new bloggers were held in moderation in the early hours, sorry about that, you’re on now, so a belated welcome.

Have a speculative day Grovers, we may know more tonight!

So without much to talk about in the world of Arsenal, I thought I’d have a look at the worst case scenario for us this summer.

There has been talk of Ade leaving, but I think that is a load of old tosh. Ade has catapulted himself onto the wanted list of most major European clubs this summer and his agent knows this.

Chapter 1 in the ‘Beginners guide to becoming an Agent‘ is titled:

1.0. Why earn less, when you can earn more?

So lets not get our knickers in a twist over this minor problem because at the end of the day, if somone offers you 20k more a year in your current job, you’re not staying loyal to the manager who taught you how to do a pivot table in excel… right?

The problem we have at the moment is that someone is saying to Flamini, here is £20k a week more, oh, and here is another £2million to sweeten the deal. You have to say, that would be pretty hard to turn down. I have faith he will stay, but I had faith that Henry, Paddy, Overmars, Petit and Anelka would stay. I think they call it blind faith or something?

The Hleb deal is also interesting because he has the option of buying himself out of his own contract and getting a signing on fee. Again, I have faith, but lets just say both are greedy bastards and decide to make way.

So what will we be losing?

Flamini is a good player. I like to think of him as Ray Parlour on red bull. He averages 18 miles a game, and rumour has it he runs home instead of getting on the team coach. He has bundles of passion, bundles of drive and he is just about to reach his prime. Since his introduction into the midfield, Cesc has been given more freedom to roam and Arsenal’s attacks have been able to move forward quicker.

He is good, but he is not world class (Yet).

Hleb is a great dribbler of the ball, I like to think of him as Messi with no product. When Messi was running about like a headless chicken the other night I couldn’t help but think of Hleb. The things the man can do with the ball amaze me, he brings Cesc into the game, he pulls defenders out of position and I would say he is just as responsible for the team ticking as Fab4.

Like I said though, he has no end product. No shot and minimal assists. This cannot be over looked, he is there to produce, not look pretty and make the purists go, ‘Wow, he is soooo technically gifted’.

So what are the options from within if both leave?

Flamini internal promotion candidates

Diaby: Patrick Vieira’s younger brother and illegitimate love child of Will Smith. He has been played predominantly out wide this season despite preferring a central role. He is immensely skilful, but a bit tackle shy. He has an eye for the odd spectacular goal, but he also has an eye for a shockingly inaccurate 3 yard pass. Is he good enough to takeover that CM birth? Maybe… but I wouldn’t bet my house on him being a success.

Gilberto: I love him for his loyalty and commitment on the pitch. He is a model professional but some would say he is past it. I wouldn’t agree with them, I think he has a lot to offer the team and his recent form has proved that he doesn’t need to start drawing a pension just yet. There is life in those legs, the question is… is it a step backwards considering our finishing position last year?

Denilson: I don’t get Denilson. He plays some lovely passes, he is quick and does like to stick the boot in every now and then. For me, he has had a bad case of ’secondseasonitis’. He hasn’t really offered the team that much this year… bar a cracking goal against Newcastle in the Carling Cup and RvP some company in the physio room. He is very light weight for a stocky chap so I think I would rule him out as a candidate.

Hleb internal promotion candidates

Walcott: Theo loves to play down the middle, but with competition stiff up front - a place out wide in the Hleb role could be the only way to secure a starting birth next year. He is fast, he is starting to develop some tricks and he is gaining more confidence with his shooting. I don’t know what you guys think, but I’ve noticed lately that he is trying to thread his passes through the eye of a needle… just like Hleb does. Is Theo impersonating Hleb… to become HLEB! No… because Theo had a shot the other night. A good option though.

Vela: What… the greatest player since God put on a pair of football boots? Oh yes, King of Osasuna… President of Potential… Duke of Youtube…! CARLOS VELA! He did well against Madrid didn’t he? He even has his own blog… how much do I know about him? Zero. Could he be played out on the wing next year? Probably! Would he be good? Maybe… Did I say he played well against Real Madrid? Screw it… he is going to be a sensation! Problem solved!

RvP: Contentious call… but, he does play out wide for Holland and he does a bloody marvellous job too. He could still take all the freekicks, he could score goals from midfield and he could allow us to have a little and large partnership up front (Ade + Eddie, Theo, Vela…). Could he be the perfect solution? I think so… will that happen? Doubtful… he is never fit!

Who could we bring in from outside?

I have no idea! I’ll give you 3 names for each to chew on though:

Flamini replacement:

• Diarra (Madrid)
• Veloso (Sporting)
• Gattuso (Milan)

Hleb replacement:

• Elano (Man City)
• Arfa (Lyon)
• Robinho (Madrid)

I know there will be a minority of people who will come on and moan about the Championship manager type suggestions, but to them I say,

‘Go and blog on Arsenal.com…’

You’ll never get an ounce of transfer speculation over there.

I like talking about potential transfer targets, as do all the Grovers.

So, I have given you 12 names to run the rule over. It’s the age old battle of internal vs external recruitment and Arsene Wenger is going to let you make the decision for him in the comments section.

I hope you have enough to talk about!

Happy blogging Grovers!

I really believe we will add to the squad, but it won’t be by much, Flamini is key to who he buys and I think if he goes, Barry will join. Robinho or Ben Arfa will come in on the wing and now Barca are out of Europe, Henry’s chances of an emotional return have rocketed, he will though look for an experienced centre back to bring in whilst the kids develop. I can’t see Senderos or Eboue going and I think we’ll hang on to Gilberto until Denilson develops.

Hleb will stay but Lehmann will seek pastures new.

The additions will come from the reserves, who I don’t know, but he really believes in his kids.

We can still win the league, but only if the other two collapse, 2 draws should do it but don’t get your hopes up.

I think he’ll make his signings the week after the Sunderland game and I think he’s been sounding them out already, well that’s what I would do, but with Arsene, who knows? …he does right!

We need a winger for sure, Rosicky can’t be relied upon, if Eduardo comes back early, he won’t sign a forward, with Bendtner and Ade showing signs of being the strikers we can rely on I can’t see him going for Benzema or Villa and that’s why I could see Henry coming home, a bit of experience to help them along.

We do need Adams back though, a defensive coach is what we’ve been lacking and if we can shut up shop at the back, and then we will win the quadruple next season…

Interesting that we had no chavs in the EPL team of the season, and more Arsenal players than from any other club, it shows that we’re not that far off, even if we don’t believe it ourselves sometimes.

There, now I can’t be more positive than that can I?

Good day yesterday Grovers and welcome aboard several new commenter’s, sorry it takes so long to approve sometimes, it’s the system, not us.

Let’s wish the cheating scousers luck over the cheating chavs tonight, they always have the refs on their side so maybe tonight as well eh?