Fantastic, it really is and no one likes it better than we do, but don’t get carried away just yet, we still have to play the other teams in the top 6.
We had a couple of AKB’s on yesterday telling us that Wengers masterplan was right and we were wrong, give me a break! We’re only in September.
We would love Wenger to be right, but we’re not convinced our squad is big enough or good enough, that doesn’t make us Wenger haters, it make us realists but above all Arsenal fans who won’t follow the leader like mindless sheep.
We have Hull up next and that should be another three points and hopefully we should start getting our injured players back and that will make a difference, but Diaby and Rosicky are permanently injured, so I can’t find myself getting too exited about their return as I know in my heart it won’t be for long.
Still we are top right now and I for one am going to enjoy the moment, us top and Tottenham bottom, it doesn’t get better than that does it?
Well winning the Ryder Cup would have been nice but there you go.
We had a bit of a ding dong going on here yesterday so we will be policing today, try and be friendly with each other otherwise people will stop coming on and that would be a shame.
Wenger mentions this groups of players for tomorrow night:
“You are likely to see Gavin Hoyte, Abu Ogogu, Aaron Ramsey, Mark Randall, Jack Wilshere, Fran Merida and Carlos Vela. Maybe Bendtner will play. Song, Djourou and Lukasz Fabianski will be the experienced players. But you will have players like Emmanuel Frimpong and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas so it will be a very young side.”
Personally, even tho i want him to, i dont actually think he will return. After what he said on the milan site and that Wenger never denied that the senderos loan would not be permanent, i cant see it happen.
Hopefully he will return(if he even does) with loads learned form Nesta and the likes.
right off home… …dunno about tommorow will it be interesting or a failed experiment this time round… …this is the youngest and most inexpierienced squad AW has ever put out and with no experience from the bench it could get sticky.
On the other hand they could embarass the blades
unfortunatly this is not football manager playstation and players are not that easy to come by. Out of the five so called lost experienced players, technically only Flamini has not been replaced. Gilberto was a non starter, Lehmann was Nr.2 since the 3rd game of last season. Hleb has been adequatly replaced by Nasri and Silvestre has replaced Senderos. and if we are honest, if we can’t replace Flamini with the likes of Dennilson, Diaby, Song, Ramsey, then we have a problem. I am not saying we should not have strengthened, of course we should have but I don’t think we are as bad off as some seem to think. Of course time will tell.
TH14 was not clinical when he first came to Arsenal but after time he certainly developed into the worlds most clinical striker.
Ethangunner – You can’t just look at all the negatives, 4 goals in 17 outings ? He’d just come to the premiership and was finding his feet, something Villa would have to do aswell and even then he could end up getting his leg broken a few games in.
Eduardo wasn’t first choice but when he got a consistent run in the side we looked good. His 4 goals came against Everton away (2), West Ham at home, and Manchester City away before the Birmingham game.
In between them, we drew 1-1 with Birmingham, beat Fulham and Newcastle 3-0 a piece and also beat Blackburn 2-0, including 3 wins from all 3 games he scored in.
Also all those chances you can think of where Adebayor missed, like at Old Trafford where he was one-on-one with Van Der Sar can you see him doing the same ?!
other than the prem
dudu scored
2 against sheff utd
2 against rovers.. the second of which won us the match
1 against sparta prague
2 against sevilla home and return leg
1 against burnley
“We would love Wenger to be right, but we’re not convinced our squad is big enough or good enough, that doesn’t make us Wenger haters, it make us realists but above all Arsenal fans who won’t follow the leader like mindless sheep.”
Err….
“if we can just get the injured players back we will be unbeatable, imagine a bench with Nasri, Diaby, Rosicky, Van Persie, Eduardo and Bishcoff on it! We would terrorise the premiership”
‘finest’ has done the equivalent of going to sit on the halfway line.
I’d like him to come back and join the team again.
I’m not taking sides and I love ethan too! but I’d like to start a ‘come back finest campaign’ – it’s not the same without him…….
Vote No.1 – come back finest……..any seconders out there?
Has everyone gone home? </3
Yea get back Finest!!!
I don’t really blame him for going. But I’d rather he didn’t
yeah first gmr and then finest..
vote 2
Thanks guys – its gaining momentum, let’s hope finest is reading this
:3 d=D :K :V :’
Just playing..
Blimey – it’s like I’m the last person on earth – I can see tumbleweed blowing past me…..
It seems like you have to say something controversial to get a response or maybe commit the cardinal sin and get a statistic slightly wrong!
I guess I’m the Dan Quayle of campaign managers – Oh well, I tried
All opinions are valid – come back finest vote 4?
Don’t panic rasputin its dinner time!!
rico has gone awol
bring back finest
Just checked the tv listings to see what you’re up against rasputin – apart from corrie, I reckon its the Road to Morrocco on Sky Classics just started!!!!
dejavu at spurs just wait.Ramos is homesick,won’t speak english,is bollocking the board for not buying replacements for berbatov and keane and hates the weather
Yea peaches / terry
definite vote for finest to return,we are a unique site,let’s keep it that way.
Evening all! How are we?
Question..
If Arsene doesn’t spend in january and we go on to win the league. Does that mean that he does know after all?
Just asking like.
Positive
Don’t go there, I’m trying to heal some rifts not open a wound!
Positive supporter,
If I pray to good everyday… then I die… and God is there to meet me in heaven… was I right to believe in god?
Pretty dumb question really?
could be that he did all along. I for one would be happy with eating humble pie!
Rasputin, I am pretty sure that is Mean Lean from Arsenalvision.co.uk… he left the same message yesterday… yaaaaawn…
Maybe we should ask if Arsenal don’t win the title does that mean Le Grove knows and should take the job as Arsenal manager? It’s the same premise…
If Arsene doesn’t win the title on the back of having a weak squad… he has no where to hide… but people like ‘positive’ will still have a thousand excuses as to why we didn’t win it…
‘Oh but it rained on easter Sunday’
‘We have too many Gemini’s in our team’
‘Rosicky was injured…’
Pedro for Arsenal manager
Nothing wrong in eating humble pie, we should all try it some time but that does not take away the fact that we are under strength and the squad is thin but with that said, again not as bad as some think.
Terry, I think we’ll do really well this year! Injuries permitting, we could make a real impact on the title this year… I’m pretty excited and I’ve already eaten 2 pieces of humble pie!
Song and Denilson!
Actually, I am not going to eat the pie yet… I’ll let you know how it tasted if we smash the big boys!
I’m glad Almunia is doing well again and happy to see Nikki B doing a job!
On a serious note I truly believe Wenger will react in the Jan transfer window. (please)
Pedro
Thanks – I’m a bit naive when it comes to the background of the contributors!
Perhaps a better question would have been
“If Arsene doesn’t spend in January and we go on to win the league – will we give a shit if some people choose to deify him?” – personally I’ll be too drunk to care, its Arsenal that matters
rosicky and eduardo will return by then.. they will be like *new* signings!!
Pedro, don’t forget the 3rd slice for the passmaster, Eboue
Pedro how could you leave out Eboue the legend
who ate all the humble pie!
Steve Marriott
Hounddog, I am pretty sure Finest will come back. He is a valued member of Le Grove and I sent him an e-mail to let him know everything has been sorted out.
I don’t want anyone to leave the site… there is room for everyone’s opinion. Last week it got a bit heated and Geoff and I weren’t there to step in… not that we should have to be… but there you go.
At the end of the day… it is just a blog site… if you argue with someone, you put it behind you the next day and get on with it… I like to think we can all be buddies on here!
It’s been fine today though… and long may it continue!
Football:
Hounddog, I may have been vocal about Eboue being a horrible character, but if you go back through my posts… I have always given him good ratings… and I also spoke with Bud at length during the Barnet game about Eboue being a candidate in the middle.
Jeez… are you guys trying to fatten me up or something?
Rasputin, I don’t know why people think he will spend in January! There is no chance… inflated January prices are not Wengers thing… and not many teams buy a player in Jan that makes a difference!
Don’t you think that if we’re still doing well when the various injured players return to fitness they’ll have to earn their way back into the side. Past expeience has shown us that we often perform best when dealing with adversity.
God bless Keown for the vein bulging abuse he gave to van horseface that led to all those suspensions and a great season.
Who will return first:
1:Eduardo or,
2:Rosicky
morning guys……… ok im really late this time evening guys…..
what happened with finest why has he gone?
not so sure about Wenger not buying in january Pedro, he bought eddy & reyes in the january window
Eddy? He was a summer signing!
I tought it was january before last , could be I was worng and stand corrected
We signed him in July… I was on a train coming back from Belgium… I remember thinking… who the fuck?
Evening Treze!
Pedro your as good as google
On the Arsene Knows question:
It’s never a case of whether the manager ‘knew’ beforehand or not, every manager is gambling on the personnel he recruits or promotes. There is no ‘know’ – will your new Spanish winger be up for it on a freezing January evening at the JJB? does your 20yo midfielder brought in from the reserves have the balls to succeed? You can’t know until you play them long enough to find out…. you can have a hunch, you can do your homework, but ultimately it’s all about risk and intuition and balance.
Wenger has obviously rated a lot of these guys for a number of years now, when you think how long he might have been following Bendtner or Denilson, he clearly saw something in them, and it has pushed us all to the limit waiting for them to deliver consistently. If they do it this season I will be over the moon, but it won’t mean AW *knew* they would win things, it will just mean he believed they could win things. As he has for the last 3 years. But if it all comes together it will taste very sweet, for him and us.
Good evening peeps!
Has no one seen that JD as signed a new, long term deal with The Arse today?
if u are looking for finestcuts google his name. he is everywhere or so it would seem,
bring back gmr bring back finestcuts bring back ken
And talking of January transfers and Spanish wingers not being up for it, oh look someone mentioned Reyes – the laziest player we have ever had. What a waste of talent he is.
COME BACK FINEST !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/johan-djourou-signs-new-long-term-contract
I DONT ALWAYS AGREE WITH WITH EVERY COMMENT FINEST MAKES HE TALKS SENSE , and argues his points well ,i enjoy his comments as i always enjoys BUD’S as well , so there’s always room for people who make a sensible argument in my book ………………
Seb
I’m not disagreeing with anything you’ve said. IMO, what AW has achieved up to this point makes him a brilliant manager.
What worries me is that when someone has been in power for a long time (Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair etc) they sometimes lose perspective and can’t distinguish between correct decision making and the hype that surrounds them. AW has changed over recent years in terms of his confused messages when communicating with the fans and the press and that worries me.
Well said Seb…
Does it mean that for the last 3 years Wenger hasn’t known? It’s a silly concept… and it just plays up to our AKB accronym… why would you ask that question?
It’s only Arsenal fans that do it as well! You never hear the Manc fans saying things like that and Fergie has had much more success.
Rasputin – Then at the same time football’s changed a lot even in the last few years.
We went 3 years after 98 without winning anything was there this much discussion over what we should be winning and how much faith should be given to Wenger ? If Abramovich hadn’t have come along and money wasn’t such a contentious issue would he have the same reservations about what he tells the fans.
Don’t know Keyser. Wenger is definitely his own man – call it stubborn / single minded / focused – it doesn’t matter.
I just thought that in the same way that he is totally committed to playing his style of ‘total football’ he was also not afraid to always tell things like they are – but maybe the financial pressures force him to play that particular game by other peoples rules?
Rasputin, we came 2nd in the Prem and were runners up in the Premiership… we also had an abundance of world class players and we weren’t relying on kids.
Simon, Finest will come back… he has to, there is too much love from the Grovers for him to stay away!
DDM, I saw that! I’m relieved! At least he wont be out the door in Jan!
Can’t kids also be world-class players?
How do kids become world-class players – you let them play.
I’m not arguing against you – just playing devil’s advocate
pedro i think that the bar has been raised.. when we did come second.. what was the total number of points at the end of the season.. and there was no scum!!!
The bar actually goes up and down. I may be wrong so I’m off to get some stats
Rasputin – Loads of things are different now, if we announce an interest in a player their price rises almost overnight, how many players have we been linked with over the summer, just the mere mention of Arsenal ensures players values increase or they get renewed contracts with better deals and that’s just one aspect.
Pedro – Yet Chelsea weren’t able to field reserve teams that were almost as good as their first team, we had a team working towards it’s peak and still to get to the Quarter finals of the Champions League or out of the group stages was an achievement.
Would you have even though of us beating a Real Madrid team containg the likes of Zidane and the Original Ronaldo ? they didn’t just beat United either, they schooled them.
speaking of finest the names change on here every so often. If you go back six months there were a lot of different people bloging .New faces come in old faces leave . only two stay the same Pedro & Geoff
What we know is that Arsene thinks his group of kids can be world-class players, thats why he plays them.
What some supporters want is an assurance that his plan is going to work.
This is sport, there are no assurances, on any day any team can beat another team.
Keyser
Maybe the imminent signing of a long-awaited replacement for DD will mean that AW doesn’t have to concern himself with the mechanics of acquiring new players. I can’t see him being happy with the nonsense that was going on during the summer.
92/93 84 points
93/94 92
94/95 89
82
75
78
79
91
80
87
83
90
95
91
89
87
Fuck me that was boring.
Rasputin… kids can become world class, but there is a price to pay for that… no trophies!
Can you keep doing that forever? Fans pay for success, we don’t want to be watching a work in progress for ten years… we don’t want the only success of the season to be in September when we announce to the world that we are mega rich…
Choy, raising the bar is no excuse… in truth, it is teams like Arsenal who raised the bar… players like Thierry, Bobby and Freddie helped mould the Prem into what it is today… that is why the fans are so critical of the current crop… we’ve had the best!
If the bar is raised, you jump higher right?
pedro on that last post.. you sounded like arsene wenger
GM, I appreciated it!
Pedro
We can’t afford to buy kids that have already matured into world class players. We have trouble holding onto them once they have achieved that status. It is only the exceptional players like Fab and Clichy that can’t be lured away by the glamour of so-called top clubs and a fat pay cheque.
The purchase of Sagna was a brilliant coup. We paid a realistic price for Nasri, but I can’t see AW ever paying 30 million for a player
Choy, did you here that if Arsene doesn’t get it right this year… they are giving me the job!
some free tickets then!!!
Since the premier league started paddy vieira is joint top for red cards with duncan ferguson on 8.
roy keane joint 2nd with vinnie jones and alan smith on 7.
Quite interesting the premier league site
Pedro,good evening who is mean lean.
Humble pie rasputin very good stevie marriott small faces those were the days when all good boys and girls lived at home and you were reduced to a shag in a misted up ford fiesta
oh and it say’s we’re top of the league and a team called spuds are in 20th position
Some guy who runs another site Kelsey.
fabregas already has two yellows
goonermichael, i am sure we are related
which goalkeeper got the most yellow cards in one season. yes you are right.
and still no rico
According to the premier league site (whish I promise I’ve closed now) Since the premier league started the taem that has conceded the most goals are the spuds with 850
I haven’t got any relatives except my brother and he’s an unmentionable
Steve Claridge on radio 5 just now “Arsenal have never replaced Bergkamp” Brilliant.
when A W bought thierry he was unknown as was bob fred & paddy but they gelled well maybe he is trying to repeat the trick .T H couldnt buy a goal first season with Arsenal
Bobby kept falling over his first season ,so it takes time with every player. It is starting to look like the time is right for this crop of players who would have ever tought Eboue could play like he is ffs
Argentina never really replaced maradonna
on eurosport goals tonight a journalist asked anderson ferdinand and ronaldo whoo was the best player ever? anderson and rio said maradonna and ronaldo said i am
Kelsey
I couldn’t afford a Ford Fiesta. I had a rusty old Anglia, but you’re right about the shagging….. Steve Marriott played a Gibson Les-Paul Junior, not the choice of rock superstars of the day but had a really raw sound.
Is the game on anywhere tomorrow.looking forward to see vela/bedtner combination but Emanuel Thomas looked awful in the Ajax tournament. beattie plays should be interesting.
samll faces were way better than humble pie.I think steve had to eat a lot of it after leaving them
Pedro
It was interesting that you said that you remembered where you where when we signed Eduardo. It made me ask myself “What was the biggest surprise I got from a signing and where was I?” The answer is without a doubt Sol Cambell. Where I was is not very exciting but the surprise, followed by uncontrolled laughter, will stay with be for ever.
I was in a Law Lecture with a spud lecturer! He was spitting feathers!
Kelsey, Steve Claridge is a distant relative of mine… !
Newby here but a long time reader, just a mesage to finest…miss your
contributions so come back soon mate!!! Pedro… Geoff you do a grand
job gents,keep up the good work.
terry
Those were the days – I only have the tinitis to remind me of the hours spent standing by the stack of speaker cabinets watching the likes of the small faces.
Rasputin those were the days of real music.What was that small club in soho where a lot of groups played.
Watched a documentary last night about Rocky music very interesting.We get a lot of the old groups that do a one off tour down in Gibraltar
marquee
I’m younger than you 2. My day was the clash at the roxy and the banshees at rhe vortex siouxsie in a see thru top I was in love
Pedro How Distant ? He’s had more clubs than Anelka
kelsey
I played at the Marquee (support, wasn’t much good) and the dresssing room ran all along behind the stage. The walls were signed with graffitti by everyone from Rory Galagher to the Stones and Clapton – I wonder what happened to it when the club was closed. It was a brilliant atchive of that era and would be worth a fortune now.
Marquee yes christ that brings back memories,.
goonermichael, I played on the same bill as bands like X-ray specs, the Cure etc at the 101 club, Nashville Rooms, Hope and Anchor, The Brecknock – really great music venues.
Cheers Charlie! You should contribute, your opinions will be welcome!
Kelsey, 2nd cousin I think?
Rasputin what was your band called?
goonermichael
I like to keep my anonymity – believe me you wouldn’t be impressed but I just had such a great time in those days – it suddenly all came back to me. It’s nice to know that the folks on this site also appreciate good music.
We have been lucky to have players bought by Arsene turn into brilliant, genius, awe inspiring footballers. Not every player can be a genius. Its not possible to replace Henry and Bergkamp, just like Argentina never really replaced Maradona – love it goonermichael !!!
Pedro
Is it just about winning trophies? Winning a trophy is fantastic I can’t deny that, but we all start from zero at the beginning of the new season. I for one loved every minute of those umpteen weeks that we were top of the table last season – didn’t you?
Rasputin, you played on the same set as the cure? That is amazing…
Peaches, its like saying I loved every minute I was with a beautiful women… until I caught her cheating.
Last year was hard to take…
I respect that rasputin.
I’ve seen bands at all those venues. My sister had a band called muvvers pridei n the punk era. Authentic punk- couldn’t sing. couldn’t play but we had aright laugh following them. Someone even made a website about them. I was in a band in the 80′s also authentic – a one fingered synth player. nut that was great too we played some unis and the greyhound ronnie scotts (upstairs) etc. it was a great experience even though I was a chancer (and a shit musician)
how the young lads must be buzzing tomorrow for the carling cup match!!!!
See full of celebrities on this site as they support the right team,not fucking Chas and Dave
I have a unique vynil LP the 1971 Cup Final taken from the commentary at Wembley.
goonermichael
I think I remember muvvers pride – did you ever see Gloria Mundi? Kilburn and the Highroads (Ian Dury) were regulars at the Nashville rooms – fantastic musicians, most of whom became the blockheads.
Pedro
Do you blame the team for failing to win the title? I thought you blamed Arsene.
I’d like to see Coquelin next to Rambo in midfield tomorrow – potentially an awesome partnership.
can’t remember seeing gloria mundi but I’ve seen Ian drury. I was really sad when he died and joe strummer
Is the Finsbury Park Astoria still about.i saw the beatles there,didn’t hear a thing it was just utter screaming and i think they were miming.
where does merida play? centre or wing?
Did the Finsbury Park Astoria become the Rainbow?
The astoria changed it’s name to the Rainbow in the 70′s
I saw Gary glitter, slade, roxy. and later sham 69 pil etc there.
It’s a weird religious place now (weird in that I don’t understand what it is, Don’t want to offend anyone)
Coquelin has been sick all week it seems rasputin
http://youngguns.wordpress.com/
I was at the first ever gig at the Astoria. It was the who. Before the start, the tiller girls were dancing in line back and forth across the stage and keith moon came on stage tagged onto the end making them all fall over. It was a brilliant gig. I don’t think it is a venue any more. I also saw Focus at the Angel Edmonton, but they didn’t have many gigs there afterwards – I think its bingo now or something
Tanks choy
Shame about Coquelin, I’m more impressed with him than Bischoff.
Rasputin
The astoria hasn’t had gigs for about 15 years. lol the tiller girls. That’s a blast from the past. I bet the who were good to watch then
lol rasp.. we haven’t even seen bitchslap play!!!
I’m off for a while. Catch you all later. I have to go to a work do tomorrow so I can’t watch the game. it’s really annoying cos I’ve got 3 tickets for my son and it would have been my first game apart from pre season.
Angel Edmonton – I saw Rod Stewart there one xmas eve about a hundred years ago, fantastic gig, sang my heart out, had no voice for the whole of xmas – its now a Morrisons supermarket!!!
goonermichael
The Who produced the fullest sound from any band comprising just guitar, bass and drums. Entwistle was an innovative amazing bass player and Townsend is the best power-chord player ever to strap on a guitar. They were just one of those bands like Floyd who had a magic chemistry and epitomised the era.
GM, I was at the astoria a week ago watching Rhys Ifans shower of shite band! It’s still open!
I would loved to have seen the Who… especially in a venue as small as the Astoria. I’ve seen quite a few bands there over the last few years… it’s a great venue.
Anyone remember The Country Club in Haverstock Hill,Belsize park.Strange venue set between tennis courts but they had all the top acts there including the Stones,Billy kramer(ugh)and whoever was big at the time.No heavy metal or punk.
choy
Maybe we should have a second Prem championship for all the crocked players – a bit like the Paralympics. I think we’d win it hands down.
Rasputin
I saw the who play at shea stadium new york in th 80′s because I did Roger Daltreys hair a few times. But I’m not really a fan of those big gigs so I’d definitely swap it for your experience if I could. They were supported by the clash on that one but I preferred seeing the clash at the rainbow (astoria)
kelsey
I don’t remeber that venue, but I used to go to the Allan Pullinger centre in New Southgate. It didn’t serve alcohol, but a lot of up and coming bands palyed there – I remeber seeing Supertramp, Hawkwind, Mott the Hoople and Uriah Heap there.
rasputin your comment at 10:37 is brilliant
goonermichael
The Clash were fantastic live weren’t they – I only saw them at Brixton – I can’t remember if it was called the Academy then.
Hi…I’m new here.
haha rasp… west ham would be favourites as well..
on that nite all you rockstars!!!
Final word from me tonight.There are loads of english radio stations down here on the costa del sol and they all play mainly 70 and 80′s music,and Supertramp are by far far the most requested band.You just phone up and 5 minutes later you hear what you asked for,in a way its like a small community,makes it a bit personal.Goodnight.
The only band I have seen in London was King Kurt, you are all making me jealous..
That’s enough reminiscing for tonight.
Let’s hope we can look back on the 2008/9 season with such affection in a few years time.
Thanks to all Grovers for a fun evening. Respect to you peaches.
Nite all!
Good night all!
I hope everyone had a more enjoyable day today… normal service has been resumed and hopefully we’ll see finest back in a couple of days!
Catch you tomorrow!
Happy blogging!
Since we seem to be in a musical mood at mo,who do you guys
think would be drummer,bass,lead,vocals out of our players
at the Arse xmas party?
Christ you lot have gone all Myles Palmer on our asses!
‘Yeah man that was a helluva gig’
nothing wrong with live music i must add, seen and played in plenty of bands meself
Rasputin
Love the idea of a crocked premiership team competition. Would bandages and crutches be obligatory? What fun.
Nite nite all xxx
When we wake up we’ll still be top of the league he he. . . . . .
So is the game on the telly tomorrow? (|X0||)
Finesetcuts
Fractional Reserve Banking. I bet you thought nobody took any notice of that little nugget of information. Well I did and I would never have known what that was without you.
Much better today Grovers, see you all tomorrow!
Did anyone watch the clip where Alex Ferguson got spooked when the guy sitting right of him popped a balloon? LMAO alex got scared shitless. it was a funny scene. old red nose jumped off his seat when the balloon popped.
I don’t think eboue played that well, good performance all round by arsenal against bolton but we need to do something about the defensive headers. we were run ragged in that department by bolton. still lots of tough games to come and its still september. lets hope out premiership form wont’ drop at the critical point like last season.
sundays result was a good one for us. we are top of the table but to be honest, chelsea should have gotten all three points. If man u keep playing like this, they will finish third or fourth. that would be great