They all reached that magical age of 30!
We had Keown, Winterburn, Dixon, Adams, Bergkamp, and Ian Wright, all played well into their 30′s and I have to say playing their best football, look at Maldini and Zidane.
The only reason Wenger wants youngsters is so they can dominate for ten years, then they’d be what? 30!
Trouble is they get to 24 and sod off, so the experiment is shite, it doesn’t work, look at those that have left, Anelka, Flamini, Hleb, Overmars, Reyes and now Ade.
And those that don”t even get to 24 Aliadiere, Sidwell, Muamba, Larsson, Stokes, I’m not saying they were great, but they all ate away at the wage structure and all came with high hopes.
Change the script Arsene, it’s not working.
Yes you get them cheap, but you pay them top wages to come, so with all the kids we have our wage bill is huge, so are they really cheap? I think not, then after years of watching them fumble their way around a pitch, they bugger off (Flamini) or go to the Olympics (Song) the last time a player did that by the way (Brazil game) was Edu, then he rarely played again until he went on a free, because you had the hump with him.
Then when players near the magical age they get thrown out, we need the experience, but we throw them out, unless of course they are French (Gallas) the point here is when they get to 27, they see their last chance for a payday because they know they only have 3 years left before Arsenal dump them.
Look at those we lost, Pires, Henry, Viera, Campbell, Ralph and now Gilberto, when you’re chasing trophies, it helps to have an experienced head, what have we left now? A sulky bastard that when the going gets tough, sits on the pitch and throws wobblies.
I wish I had an answer for why you are obsessed with youth, we know it’s not money because when they get good you have to pay them and those you buy young aren’t that cheap, Theo was £12mil (revised because the Saints got into trouble so don’t claim that one) and Ramsey was £5 mil, plus all the hundreds of £3 mil kids knocking around, it all adds up.
Finally how many of these kids make it? How many FA Youth cups do we win? Are these kids that good?
On that note a big thank you to Gilberto, one of my favourites and a great example of my experience bitch. You’ll be missed!
I don’t mean to sound negative but I can remember when the team was a little older and we probably had a much lower wage bill, so give it some thought, at least we won the odd trophy!
Barry is now back at the Villa skulking around no doubt and feeling a little humble, so the stage could be set to bring him to Arsenal, maybe add Santa Cruz or Huntelaar and get rid of the Togo twat, either that or bung him in the stiffs and sell him in the January transfer window.
He made it clear he’s only bothered about himself, so we should return the compliment, send a message to the rest of the team too, oh and junk Hleb the same way.
Radical? I know, but it’s time to make a stand Arsene, time to stand up to the pay packet bullies!
Way over 550 comments Grovers, what happens when we start playing football eh?
Andy B – nah JT and Cole love each other
Pedro , he voted Cole in his best XII on his DVD in front of NW03.
Glad to hear it Raif!
AndyB, I thought the same thing!
Wouldn’t that just make your year!
its true pedro, wenger does have that gentlemanly disciplined conduct when it comes to players leaving arsenal on their terms but when geoff called wenger a wimp it was not coz wenger used those kind words to bid farewell to hleb, he mentioned the contribution in reference to arsenal wining anything since hleb joined us and the gidster took it the other way around and carried the akb stench quite convincingly in his criticism to geoff’s post.
Goonerman – good point, do you think it was those 2 with their mobiles up their arses a little while back?
David, that was being a little over professional in my eyes!
AndyB –
i was thinking that aswell actully..
its a hard one to call i say. but i hope cole gets shown the door and someone like newcastle pick him up as there shit and wont win nothing.
nah – according to the English press JT is a man’s man. Bulldog spirir and all that; he would not stick anything UP THE ARSE
Oh right… I misinterpreted it!
I thought he was having a pop at Choy for saying Wenger should have slagged him!
I haven’t even read the comments… he always says the same though…
i agree with goonerman.
its pennant and cole who are bum boys
JT hold 3 buds in one hand… that is impressive, even for a chav.
Pedro, Geoff
We are getting a slating on ACLF again. It is a shame for that blog as I really enjoy reading Yogi’s posts. here are the latest comments
Ateeb, OMG, you were an innocent trying to engage in rational discourse at Le Grove??? You poor thing! That just doesn’t work over there! You’re one of many of their victims.
In order to be accepted over there, you HAVE TO, absolutely no qualifications, you SIMPLY HAVE TO despise Arsene Wenger and the Board, believe he knows absolutely nothing about football, believe that everyone on that site knows better than he does; and you must trash everybody who has anything nice to say about AW (like “he has nice suits”), accusing them of being a hopeless AKB and therefore an inferior subhuman.
They are the true guardians of Truth and Justice in Football, no one else. Naturally your posts were censored, civilized voices liked yours are not allowed to be heard over there.
The thing is as someone who used to post quite regularly over there, I actually find you get more freedom to speak here. Not because of Yogi being over zealous with the moderation as he is a very good host, but more because some people there will not accept any criticism of the club whatsoever
As for me if things at the club are great, hey even if Eboue has a good game I will say so, but likewise if I dont agree with something I want to vent my frustration somewhere without being told to go and support Chelsea. is there anything wrong with that? The post above pretty much sums it up why I no longer bother posting there.
geoff’s comment is at 9.11pm pedro
PS I only went across to see what they thought of the Hleb Situation
There is a centre half too and a certain spud who joins in as well raif! allegedly and all that..
if that russian didnt buy Chelsea we would have had Terry. what a shame.
but then again the russian would have ownd the scumy spuds.
so come to think of it im glad,
lol dont even bother about what others have to say about this blog pat…..they might not even be getting as many clicks and comments as this one does and they are quite clearly venting their jealousy and trying to make an anti le grove akb horde losers.
night all grovers gota get me some shut eye.
I was going to ask why you were cheating on us Pat!
People who post rubbish like that have never been over here. If they have, they broke one of the rules of engagement.
I think the fact we get 500+ comments a day says something about the debate over here.
ACLF receives less comments because they all agree with each other… there is only so much back patting you can do before you run out of things to agree on!
Over here, we all have differing opinions, all tell it as it is and the most important thing is that we all get on (Mostly!).
Every time someone slags us off… we get more regulars! They are advertising the site without even knowing it!
(I like ACLF, I think he writes great posts)
Laters Gunnerfever
im off for a bit aswell. ill call back later. once i finish watching this movie called 21
its got kevin spacy in it and somthing about Card Counting
Le Grove is on 618 comments how many on there site??
Pat tut tut tut….. how dare you go over to their site, go fuck off to Chelsea you rascal……………… just joking……… all sounds a bit cult like with that excert you gave us, like a extreme preacher…………. is it always like that???
actullly ill make it somthing else as this fake dvd i got is shit and it has no sound whats so ever.
New comments record coming up (600 previous)
Plus… I don’t hate Wenger… nor do most Grovers.
Ahhhhhh David, glad your name popped up………… the Simon Jordan thing………….. I’m sure Geoff has had a tear-up with him in the past at some function or other !!!!!!!!!!
Don#t mean to give Geoff a bad name, Jordan, Beckham et all !!!!!!!!!
Got your mail Bud!
Printing as we speak!
In Wenger we do not hate, in Arsenal we frustrate……………… feck me trhat rhymes………. Pedro, do you want that as Le-Groves new slogan ?!!!!!!!!!
I came on the Grove a while back coz i was disappointed with some of Wengers decisions in the run-in last season and wanted to share my thoughts. It was nice to find a place where there seemed to be some rational criticism of the man. I did say in my post that he aint god, and he does get it wrong sometimes.
But I will defend his corner if others just want to knock him for everything that happens. He’s just behaved in a impeccably classy way, and secured us a pretty decent fee for a player who’s scored 11 goals in 3 years. He’s actually done some superb business and hasnt felt the need to leave a sour taste in everyones mouth by spewing a load of vitriol. This type of thing is one the reasons he stands apart from the vast majority of other managers in the game, and he shouldnt be ridiculed for it.
Doesnt mean he knows how to make an effective substitution…. or rotate his squad….
I can imagine Bud… he wouldn’t hit it off with Jordan.
Pedro – What is the other site I need to do another one about, the one that has been slating us?
Gidster… I appreciate what you are saying and agree about the professionalism thing… but we don’t need good business! We need to keep our players!
Maybe it is out of his control a bit… but it strikes me that we are losing the battle with players at the moment.
Wenger used to be brilliant at persuasion!
Top site on our blogroll Bud.
Blame the Arsenal Press Office Gidster………. darkness and shit makes us feel like mushrooms………….. and I fucking hate mushrooms !!!!!!!!!
As Pedro said, nobody hatres Wenger. Its like my wife, I love her dearly, but sometimes she gets on my tits and I momentarily think to myself………. this wasn’t what it said on the marraige certificate…………. then I have a fag, fart or breathe and I love her dearly again !!!!!!!!!
It never used to be, but looking at the names, it seems a lot of the old crowd have moved on.
A bit like Pedro says, all back slapping and nice comments about everyones new rose tinted glasses. I have got nothing against people being positive, but it is when you get slated for any negative (But True) comment and I got told to go and support someone else once to often so I stopped blogging.
All I do now is read Yogi’s post in the morning which is a very good read and then come back here.
We are richer for your company Pat !
Now who can we slag off next…………. where’s GMR or Odub, their both good for a rumble ?!!!!!!!!!!!
Good post Gidster
But it is only good business if we use the money, That comparision chart that Choy posted earlier (Here again for those that did not) shows we have failed to replace people with adequate replacements in recent years.
http://img378.imageshack.us/my.php?image=5yearspendingcomparisonan4.jpg
I second that Bud! Glad you’re blogging over here Pat!
I saw Odub on earlier Bud! Loved your comment about Arsene! So damn true!
Anyway, I’m off… have a good evening Grovers
Pat… get your fantasy team up!
hey sorry for asking just trying to get my toes around this AKB thing
a coupla days ago i asked what it stood for and got a response so thanks for that
BTW made me laugh
now i am trying to figure what it means to be a AKB or i guess not a AKB
I like Le Boss and think he could be a real football visionary however he is beyond frustrating at times and feel he could stand a kick in the ass as a reality check
his policies are exciting in theory but comes with great fucking concern in reality
overall he is a maestro of fancy football but of late just not fancy title winning football
would this view make me AKB
ah i just read the AKB guide so my answers are there thanks anyway and congrats on such a successful blog
It is already there Pedro
Aiming for Midtable
Pleased to be here
JLP, you don’t sound like an AKB to me…
http://le-grove.co.uk/spotting-an-akb/
That is the official guide to an AKB.
After cross checking your statement… you are officially not an AKB.
You could be a Grover though…
Nice one Pat! I’ll announce the Fantasy Grove thing on the blog tomorrow… so hopefully we can get a few more on board!
How many teams are we on now Pedro?
22!
time to go people…
nite all!!
Nite Choy!
Pat -
22 teams so far
MUTV (SSN)
Are going to try decypher AW comment about Hleb, the bit that went He goes with our blessing. AW has probably said good riddance in a classy way.
Jeez… record day achieved!
We could get up to 700 tonight!
Evening El Tel!
Well done Pedro
Like you say, wait till we actually play a game
Barnet Saturday will surely be a new record
And good night El Tel!
What did you think about Seaman’s endorsement of Big Al?
Speak tomorrow!
Have a good one for the last time!
Cheers Pedro
The senile Seaman said nice things as expected from an Arsenal legend. Bet the old boy wishes he was 5 years younger.
Good night mate.
Ther was a film many years ago called the Arsenal Stadium Mystery.
They should make a new film based on the Arsenal called the Arsen Wenger Mystery.
Are the Arsenal the secret service of the football world.
I wonder how much Hleb, Jens, Flamini and Gilberto are off the wage bill
Do you reckon we will buy replacements before the weekend?
Surely it is worth a cheaky punt for Barry now
So it looks lke we will be left with that prick Ade after all. I was getting so excited about a new striker, the Hunter especially but it now looks like the Mancscum will be buying a decent forward and we will just have to hop the guys we have step up to the plate.
I think they will but it could result in a tactical change by Wenger again.
Ok guys the bar is empty it seems I will check out tomorrow to see who we are linked with.
Wont hold any hopes though.
Up the Arse
Just like to say ,FUCK OFF HLEB YOU UNGRATEFUL BACK STABBING BASTARD, I HOPE YOU GIVE THE BARCA FANS TWO YEARS OF SETTLING IN , i’m sure they wont be giving you the bird and white hankies.
come on boss spend some money ,it’s a joke we get money coming back with sell on clauses with other players as well as the cah we have,
BERTIE GOOD LUCK IN GREECE YOU OUR AN ARSENAL LEGEND(THE INVINCIBLES), like i have said before you got shafted by the boss ,when he took the captaincy off you to give it to arrogant blue, but remianed dignified and didnt go to the press and throw a hissing fit
ALL THE BEST,,
well said simon Bertie is a legend maybe a bit harsh on that backing stabing cunt helb though
Last….
till tomorrow morning. and the new Post
I said horseface going to AC would spell a quick departure for hleb ..
it seems thats what we were waiting on .. horseface’s sale …
So barca are cash strapped too ?
Well whatever it was pretty predictable for me …
Fuck ACLF ! nazi’s the lot of them ! don’t worry about them pat !
go there for a read and have a laugh at the inbreds ..
Like i said the other day if you lie for long enough you all start believing it …
And you’re right Yogi is a good writer , but he edges towards his disciples to keep them happy instead of keeping it objective and informative . I remember him saying Rumours are that hleb is leaving but its just a lot of paper talk ! He says that to every rumour he reports on .. Predictable and boring to read .. I’m sure he thinks ade is going nowhere either !
He doesn’t take into account that arsene has let every person who is unhappy at the club, go .. Backing the odds is a smart thing to do if your trying to use your gray matter ..
But i fully agree with you pat , that was a rant straight out of the ethan handbook ! well done to you .. and very true and informative , good to see you’ve finally got with the program ..
And if you re-read all your arsene quotes then add to it the current one where arsene states ‘he has money but wants to give the young players a go because it would be unfair to bring in players ahead of them ‘ !
if you can future what he means , it means we are in a transitional period again
Defensive midfield is a HUGE concern ..
from Flamini – diarra – bert – denilson ..
to
denilson ONLY ..
well it looks like its denilson’s year dont you think ????
HLEB
“I love this team,” said Hleb. “I will give my best and I want to win everything with Barca.
Hleb arrived at the Nou Camp on the day that Brazil star Ronaldinho was in Milan having a medical as he prepared to leave the Spanish side.
Hleb’s departure from the Emirates Stadium seemed likely all summer after the player admitted he was “mentally tired” of the combination of living in London and playing top-level football.
He joined Arsenal in 2005 after the club paid Bundesliga outfit Stuttgart £11.2m for his services.
Hleb becomes Barcelona’s fifth summer signing following the arrivals of Seydou Keita, Gerard Pique, Martin Caceres and Daniel Alves
so we made 500 000 on him !!!
well its still in the green ..
PS : there you go pat LIVING IN LONDON ….
665 is that a record ??
666 the Ethan number !!!
got to at least jump in and get 666!
haha… you snaked me!
i wonder if hleb will be “mentally tired” of living in barcelona after he’s had his wallet stolen 5 times…
I wonder how Hleb will fit into the Barca play style. He is a great footmaster, but goals . . . that is the mark of a great midfielder. Time will tell.
I like the comments from some . . . give Gallas a chance. What other choice do we have? Plus, I think that Arsene is going to keep him as captain.
So what happens now? So we can put the Hleb saga to bed. There is only one item left on the AKB list . . . Ade off to AC Milan or Barca. I forget when the transfer window closes, but I have to imagine that Ade is thinking to himself . . .
“whatamIgoingtodo?” (It’s all jumbled together because he speaks at mach 5). What his interpreter says is . . . “What am I going to do?” Ade, you had your agent run his mouth . . . you cried wolf, and now that everyone is running out of money . . . the le Grovers are pissed, and well . . . I can’t imagine that Arsene is having you over for French bread, wine, and a chat around the fire place.
So, at this point, we either pray that someone comes up with “magical fairy dust/money” and buys Ade, or he had better make the rest of the strikers look like a bunch of nancies next season.
At least he set the bar low.
parlane
sorry mate im sure a lot of people expected me to get 666
after being the son of the devil and all
but your right Spain is like Thailand you take away the good weather
and its far less desirable .. But he sounded like a recluse anyhow ..
so i don’t think he will be in the position to be pick pocketed 2 often!
transfer season closes 31 august i think maryland .
it finishes on the end of the month that our football season starts ..
thats always august so , im pretty sure the transfer window closes
31 aug … it over laps the start of the season by a week or 2 ..
Not sure if ade will still go to AC , but im sure another club will dive in for him ..
even if its man shity or chevski even ..
Arsene will be more open to offers with the 1st session failing ..
That would be a good Trojan , sending ade to chevski!
let them sell drogba and get ade .. id be laughing so hard id get a hernia !
But i think chevski’s robinho choice is far more scary for us .. And far more the sort of choices we need to be making !
Chevski are serious this season .. new manager deco the portugeezer right back , they have recruited pretty well ..
Ive got to say im with pat on this one . Im really disappointed in wenger ,with his recruitment so far , his faith in his youth will be the undoing again this season ..
He’s learned nothing .. We have 5 or 6 good players .. If we filled the gaps we could have had a crack this season … time is running out and all the GOOD players are finding new homes quickly ..
A lot of AKB are saying the transfer window isnt over yet .. well thats correct
but have you ever been to a clear out sale???
& by lunch time all the really good bargains are gone
to get a winner you needed to be shopping at 8.30 am !
(or before the Euros!)
no problem ethan,
i’ve read enough of your posts to know you deserve it more than me! haha.
i can live with being the neighbour…
i agree with you that chelsk under scolari is a serious proposition and i hope they don’t end up landing robinho. i remember dreaming about him being an arse player 2 or 3 years back before he moved to real… but knowing it wouldn’t happen of course…
hopefully you’re wrong about the clearout sale and the last couple of days transfers will get the wheels rolling a bit. hopefully we can get rid of ade and recruit someone who actually wants to play for us.
i think barry and the arshavin Russian will be a good prospect ..
but there ages at 27 dont make sense if you know arsene !
surely he would rather buy some star Brazilian unknown at 23 -24 for the DM job ?!!
plus if villa wants 18 mil for barry i think arsene will have none of it ….
also ive been reading the news .. and its said that nasri is the replacement for flamini in the gilberto moves story … and in the hleb story nasri is the replacement for hleb ..
sounds like the cunt will be busy
i just saw the 24 man squad for barnet…. barazite isn’t there… so he is definitely off to UDS along with bothello.
Rui fonte is included and so is wilshere…. major surprise… wehave more than 4 englishmen in the team..
lansbury
randall
wilshere
the hoytes
walcott14
i definitely dont see arsene extending his contract beyond this spell… he is certainly aiming for making a strong english background for the team…. so the “real arsenal fans” at le-grove must be pretty pleased…. I am not… I am an AKB… when he goes… you would understand why so many people were AKBs
Who will be the greatest gunner?
Dennis bergkamp (over henry). I hope so….
T14 will be a definite starter, as would Rosicky (if fit), and Nasri should be given the hleb role in the hole. But the boy can shoot better, and more of a threat. As for pressure of playing in premiership, it’s huge, but nothing new for the velodrome kid. Playing for Marseille is the most intense experience for any player, the atmosphere is second to none. He reserves his best against the best teams from europe n ligue1. Coming back from Injury, he could still trouble liverpool for the time he was on. And this is supposedly his worst year. haha, then imagine what he could achieve. It at all anything you guys could judge about a plyer from youtube, it’s his first touch, and control. Nasri’s is the best of all french kids (incl. Benzema n benarfa). Of course, he’s a more special talent than Benzema, and is the closest thing to be compared with young Zizou. His reading, vision, and passing is far better than Reyes (for one particular example). Wenger has done it again. He got the player when he is injured, and had an indifferent season (like how he managed to get Thierry from Juve).
Ikon, Barazite is in the squad, he is second on the list!!
I hope that after 3 months the little shit doesn’t start saying how much he loves Arsenal, like all the others do.
I hope Wenger does some kind of test on the psychological side of his new signings, I can understand if they were with us for 7 years, but these wankers don’t even finish their 4 year contracts.
It’s a joke.
So Barca sell Deco, Goofy and Dos Santos and bring in Hleb, who’s the fucking mugs?
Morning all!
Record day!
Wooo Hooo!
Where is this new post Geoff?
I’m posting at 9 Pedro, you’ll like it!
683rd!
Geoff / Pedro – What are the chances of getting a “le-grove.co.uk” banner made before Saturday????????
685 !
bud, if you parade one of those about all you get is more people who don’t post football related comments competing for first and last place every day.
687! boom boom!
NEW POST! 689!
geoff
you’ll have a hard time topping yesterdays post !!!
it was an ”academy award winner
the blog body count is justification enough 686!
690 a new record !!!!!!!!!
Thanks Ethan, I think todays is a postive spin on yesterdays negativity!
gday geoff and all, great post today, very positive and optimistic, just the way i like it, well written! nice stuff!
can we confirm bitchslapp is on the list yet?