Wilshere will be 36, Ramsey 37 and Cesc 36, what happened to youth?

November 30, 2008

Ok I am taking Arsene’s comments and applying the youngest, oldest rule here, he said his current team will have a future at Arsenal for 15 to 20 years, so if we say the youngest members, like Jack and Rambo get the 20 year one, and Cesc at 21 gets the 15 year one, they will be all in their middle 30’s by then, and far too old to play for Arsenal, so what exactly is the boss talking about?

And that has always been my question, when Cesc gets to 24, his successor will be 20 and should be replacing him, so when Cesc reaches the age when he is most marketable, playing his best football and worth the most, we sell him and replace him with a younger player, who himself is now entering the twilight of his Arsenal career at 20!

Doesn’t make sense does it? You can only build a young team once Arsene, and if they are good, they will dominate, much like the Mancs did, and then you can’t split them up, so you keep them until they get old and by doing that you stifle the young crop, pissing them off so forcing them to leave early and so on.

So through all this experiment, you wait 6 or 7 years for the team to grow up, get a few years of domination, then they get old and break up, experiment doomed, what we should do is blend youth with experience and by that I mean a few 24, 25 and 26 year olds, not a 31 and 30 year old.

All this is to try and make sense of what the boss was saying about 15 and 20 years, so not a criticism just trying some theories out, and whichever way I cut it, the theory makes no sense, other than Arsenal save money.

Or do they? What we end up with is 20 odd mediocre players earning good money instead of 4 or 5 stars on great money, the end result is the same size wage bill, except one team wins trophies and the other doesn’t, which one would you rather be? and which one do you think we are?

What is clear to me is that Song is not an exceptionally talented footballer and if he plays today I expect us to lose. So onto today.

I would think the goalkeeper will be Almunia with a back four of Sagna, Gallas, Silvestre and Clichy. I would like a midfield of Nasri Cesc Ramsey and Vela but I expect a midfield of Nasri Cesc Song and Denilson.

If you want to put a bit of steel in there Arsene, put Kolo in and not Song, if anyone can tell me what attributes Song brings to this team, I’m all ears.

Forward line has to be Robin and Ade, though it wouldn’t surprise me to see Denilson and Song in a 5 man midfield with Ade on his own, I won’t be horrified with that but if he does it, then put Kolo in there instead of Song.

I feel Scolari will show a lot of respect toward us and play with a packed midfield, leaving Anelka alone up front, I don’t think it will be a free flowing game but more a tactical game of chess, I only hope someone drops the box that holds the chess pieces on Ashley Cole’s head early doors.

I will go for an Arsenal win, but if he plays Song, a Chelsea win, this has nothing to do with a ‘Song witch hunt’ I have never disliked someone I have never met, I just think he offers us nothing other than liability, I’m sorry Alex, but you’re not good enough, anyone else in the entire squad I would not have a problem with other than you, sorry mate, I’m an Arsenal fan.

Let’s shut these chavs up boys, it’s been a while since we collected our customary points at the Bridge, 4 years in fact, go get three points Arsenal, show the world what you’ve got and how you can play, show the world you’re The Arsenal!

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Posted by Geoff

Swap Flamini for Senderos, we then have our defensive midfielder.

November 29, 2008

Before I’m shouted down it is a deal that could make sense, Milan clearly don’t intend playing him as their first choice midfield dynamo, he hasn’t replaced Gattuso or anyone else for that matter, he isn’t happy not being the number one, he stays in touch with Cesc on a regular basis, he freely admits he is an Arsenal fan and has all but said he dropped a clanger by leaving.

He stopped short of saying the reason that Arsenal have stuttered this season was because he is missing and we have missed him.

When I saw him running up and down against Pompey I realised that I missed him and saw what Song will never have, if Wenger can bury his pride and ask him to come back, I think he would say ‘what time and where do you want me boss’

He is a Milan player with a 4 year contract so they won’t just let him walk but if we offered them big Phil and Song they may well say OK.

If we did get him back, we would save a lot of money on a Cana, Alonso, Barry or Velosa. Plus Barry and Alonso are not for sale anyway.

Either that or get your cheque book out and sign Xavi. Other news is we are sniffing around Podolski, unless we are offloading Bendtner, I can’t see that, he is very Eduardo-ish and Eduardo played for the reserves this week, so he is on his way back, when I don’t know.

I’m afraid I can’t see that happening, I like him but I think that’s dead in the water, our new CEO should go and find a way of bringing Flamini back, tying down Cesc for another 4 years is a bit pointless as he is already tied to us until 2014 and by then he’ll be too old for Wenger, so why bother?

I watched the under 16’s tonk Scotland last night and our young forward, who’s name escapes me (Afobe?) scored a goal that left him one short of Owen’s record, I tell you what though, he looks good.

Players like that and Simpson, Randall, Merida, Lansbury, Barazite and Wilshere look so good, I’m at a loss to explain how Song is above them all in the pecking order, I mean he by-passed playing reserve team football and he’s not a patch on any of them, I wish that the boss would just explain to us all why, I’ll listen.

I’m beginning to get excited about tomorrow and can’t wait to shove it up the German chavs bottom, he’s predicting that they’ll whip us and be 13 points ahead by Sunday evening, if we play Song he could be right, if we go with Denilson it will be close, if he shoves Rambo in there, we’ll turn the Russian gangster rappers over big time.

I think Billy is due a big game and I think he’ll play him, maybe with Silvestre in this one, there’s no Drogba so we don’t necessarily need Djourou in there, but if he wants to play with a defensive midfielder in there I hope he goes with Kolo or Djourou over Song, my real choice would be Cesc and Rambo as I said, but I don’t think that will happen somehow.

A bit of a pointless day today, we aren’t playing and England will no doubt get stuffed by New Zealand so I may have to do a bit of gardening, ho hum.

Still tomorrow is another day, as Scarlett said to the staircase. Have a great day Grovers, manana the staircase fights back.

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Posted by Geoff

Fantasy Grove table + We’ve got £30mill+ in the kitty.

November 28, 2008

Welcome to a late addition of Le Grove!

First up… the fantasy Grove standings… are you top, bottom or in need of a serious rethink?

Me? Well, I just had to sacrifice 20 points to sort my team out.

Onto the leaders:

Position Team Manager GW Total
1 Dtox Dylan Clayton 58 810
2 empat mata tukul arwana 40 796
3 Galacticosly van de Jie 46 775
4 This Cesc Is On Fire Richard H 46 775
5 the Mustangz sAshi Nefarious™ 60 774
6 Waynes Wonders III adam curtis 40 769
7 ‘allo ‘allo XI willo Wilson 61 768
8 Tony Adams Jaakko Kalliokoski 46 759
9 1 Season Wonders Tom Bartram 54 758
10 CorkGoon Mark O’Connell 57 752
11 Extra Avanza peter randianto 57 751
12 Gunner 4 life Stephen Percey 52 750
13 Bad Boys 4 Tej Patel 58 743
14 Gommit Finnur Einarsson 58 743
15 Partisan Drumbess Damian McCaffrey 38 741
16 FSSSS Ramy Oraby 44 740
17 Trinidad_Gunner Stefan P 54 738
18 Saucepan Lids Mr Kate Winslet 52 737
19 One Damn Dolla FC Dara Feiritear 68 733
20 F5’s Arsenal Daniel Wilcock 39 725

Onto other news. PHW stated today that Arsene will have money to burn in the January transfer window. Asked whether there would be funds available in the transfer window, he replied,

‘Absolutely, yes. There have been suggestions we keep stopping him buying, but that is not the case.’

I assume Peter Hill-Wood was reading the Le Grove comments section the other night and decided to publicly deny the assumptions some of the Grovers were making!

I don’t have any inside information, but I’ve formed an opinion on this matter using the facts we have available.

1. There is nothing in the annual reports to suggest Wenger is being crippled by the property side of the business.

2. Danny Fizsman said the manager has money available,

“It’s not our decision who he spends money on, nor will it ever be our decision. If he said to us ‘I want this guy and he’s £30 million, can I buy him?’ the answer is yes. Absolutely yes. We totally back him. It’s his decision. I’m unfortunately not good enough to be a manager myself but I’d love to be.’’

3. No one has ever come out officially and said that the property aspect of the club is hurting our finances. In fact, totally the opposite. Here is what Ken Friar said earlier in the year,

“The finances for the Highbury Square development have been ring-fenced so they are separate from our usual football business,”

According to Ken, more than 90 purchasers have already completed deals to generate £39m (€49.8m) and 598 units of the 680 total have been pre-sold. So instead of being a leech on our finances, the property will be a bonus,

‘As such we have not budgeted for the profit and this allows the board to be flexible over its use as the money has not been earmarked for anything in particular.

“In that sense it will be a bonus.’

‘We have options available to us. For example, profits could be used to reduce the stadium debt or to strengthen the team if the manager wishes.’

4. The stadium debt does not affect our transfer budget. We turn over £3million (Double Highbury) a game and we have a mortgage to cover the cost of stadium. It is manageable! When asked about whether the stadium would negatively affect our ability to compete, Mr Fizsman said,

‘There is this constant thing that the Emirates is bleeding the club, that we’ve got these repayments — it’s total crap’

He went on…

‘Look at our accounts and you will see our net payments are £20m and the revenue increase from the new stadium is close to £50m. Explain to me how that stadium bleeds the club if it’s producing an extra £30 m-a-year. Our wage bill is very similar to Manchester United’s and substantially above Liverpool’s. It’s substantially below Chelsea’s, but that is expected.’

Can you get any more emphatic than that?

Why are people still trying to make excuses for Arsene? He doesn’t want to spend because he is on a promise. Whether that is right or wrong is a different debate, but until someone can provide categoric evidence he has no money, you have to go on the current facts and they all point to there being a substantial transfer budget (Especially when you do the sums for all the comings and goings, TV money, Champions league money, sponsorship etc…).

On to things of a footballistic nature… Wenger is feeling bullish ,

‘We can play and win everywhere in the world. We have not to consider too much who we play against. We know Chelsea are a great side with a great players. But at the end of the day you beat them if you play at your best.’

I couldn’t agree more… our recent defeats haven’t been down to bad luck, they’ve been down to a lack of fight and a lack of confidence. Hopefully a win on Sunday can kick start a great December.

Have a great evening Grovers, Geoff will be back in the morning with a ripping post!

P.S. There are tickets in Le Exchange and a need for more. Oh, and 65% of you are backing the boys for victory on Sunday! Lastly, read what he thinks of the new boy here.

Update: Wenger has asked that the fans do not target Cashley this weekend.

Arsene, I think I speak for all the Grovers when I say this…

We promise not to shout abuse at Cashley this weekend, because it is immature and unfair on old Cashley. We certainly wont be making any remarks about mobile phones, Jermaine Pennant and that old blonde slapper he got himself into trouble with.

Honestly Arsene... we promise...

Honestly Arsene... we promise...


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Posted by Pedro

A minutes silence for the poor people that lost their lives in India.

November 28, 2008

We are not a political blog, but we must all unite against the senseless killing of innocent people the world over and we have a lot of Grovers from India and Pakistan who I feel sure must feel sick and worried today, my friends our hands go across the water.

Football unites us here and the proof of that is on this blog, nothing and no cause is worth dying for.

Today I go to lunch with two chavs so I hope you all understand what I’ll be going through, I’m just sorry it’s not Monday, when I’ll be doing some serious bragging after taking those unsupported rich kids to the cleaners.

Last night I watched our reserves play Milan, a few ex/current Arsenal players were on show with Kanu, Traore, Flamini and Senderos, and it could have been Diarra, Lauren and Campbell too, so including Adams that’s almost a team and a manager. Kanu scored a great second, it was just like watching Arsenal.

How does it feel Flamini? Hey Phil, now you’re playing for a truly world class team, is it better? I bet you aren’t for much longer though, after watching your assist for the first, it made me realise how glad I was you went to Italy!

When I saw the players that Milan had I thought how on earth can they afford them, playing to massive crowds of 10,000 week in and week out, they are constantly linked with the worlds finest, having Goofy, Kaka, Sheva, Pato and Inzaghi in their ranks made me a little envious but when you saw them struggle against Pompey, it made me realise how lucky we are to have the EPL.

Tony Adams looked like the sort of manager we need next to Wenger, no offence Pat but he does shout a lot and I think that’s what we need.

So how can they afford those salaries and transfer fees and we can’t???

All the shit we get from Arsenal about sitting down, keeping quiet, watch the language, all I heard on their PA system was ‘please don’t invade the pitch’ - go figure, and we wonder why they make a noise and we don’t!

Onto us and the weekend, it looks like we’ll have all our regulars back in the shappe of Nasri, Sagna and Ade, I think the key will be the midfield battle and how best they protect the back four, please, please don’t start with Song, I think Cesc and Ramsey or Denilson should be the midfield with Nasri and Vela out wide.

I believe the key to beating them will be wide play and feeding Ade and Robin, Robin has to click soon and this could be the day, a RVP hatrick and Ade to get a brace, with Nasri and Cesc getting one a piece, you do the maths!

Robin came on as a sub at the Grove last time and could have had a hatrick, I really believe the boys will step up and lets face it, on Sunday, they have to, lose this one and it’s all over.

Chelsea against the unknown French side were shocking, even Milan could have beaten them on Wednesday.

Playing at the Bridge is not far from being a home game and we’ll have more supporters there than they will so it will be very vocal, I won’t be going this year so you’ll have to do it alone Grovers.

This really is for England for Harry and St. George boys, go get us three points.

I love you Arsenal I doooo!


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Posted by Geoff

Send on the clowns, we’ll never have a better chance to smash their record..

November 27, 2008

So Maureen says he wasn’t at the Drogba meeting, lying bastard, but interestingly the President of Inter says Drogba is too old and he is the one initiating the whole deal.

I think it’s time that FIFA banned that horrible little scrote, he did this with Cashley, lied and got away with it and now he’s doing it again, I understand that before when he was a chav he could do what he wanted because Abramovich has money and the FA take it up the arse for that, but to do it again is taking the piss.

I think it’s great that the chavs, once a footballers magnet are the team no one wants anymore, now everyone else has money, the chavs have gone back to their old unsupported team in the Kings road that Peter Osgood used to play for.

Now the Russian isn’t the richest owner anymore I think he’ll find something else to piss his money away on, last night they were shit, and if it wasn’t for Arsenal reject Nikki Anelka, they’d have lost that game too.

So we go there with 9 players out, but I still think we can beat them, in what looks like Gallas’s last chav game before he goes in the window, I think if he plays a team that includes Ramsey, Vela, Nasri and Cesc in the midfield and Wilshere lurking somewhere close, we can pass them off the pitch, providing Wenger remembers to send Song on holiday, we won’t be giving them the ball and that means they won’t score.

Did anybody notice Cech’s king size twitch yesterday? How funny was that? No wonder he lets in simple goals these days, he can’t see them coming!

I read that all our young kids are supporting the appointment of Cesc and that has to make Gallas feel like a whore in church, he said what he said and that’s done and dusted, but he referred to ‘the 25 year old’ and made out Nasri being young was a crime.

Now he has to take his orders from a baby, so I just can’t see that happening, and whilst I like Billy boy and rate him as a player, now would be a good time to cash in and replace him with that monster we all want.

Veloso overtook Cana as the defensive midfielder we need and I’m happy with that, I really don’t see the point in appointing a new CEO that deals with player signings, if we aren’t going to sign a few in the window. So expect something to happen soon.

Carlos Tevez looks set to cost West Ham £36mil as they have now lost their right to go to arbitration, so bringing Matty Upson home looks a real possibility, and for those of you who say Arsene doesn’t bring players back, remember when he said he was tracking Sidwell and said he wouldn’t hesitate to bring him back? Graham did it with Keown so we do have a history there.

Upson wasn’t sold because he was shit, he was sold because he was a crock, he seems to have put that behind him now in much the same way that Gael Clichy did and Tomas Rosicky will.

On that note when will he and Eduardo return? they could be like two new signings, but then again they may come back as half the players they were, so Arsenal need to have something as back up, in case we do go all the way in the cup comps and get back in the title race.

Sunday is a must win game so thank god we’re playing the chavs, at least they’ll come out to play and the last team that did that were the Mancs, we should have Ade back and hopefully Nasri and Sagna, so in theory the chavs unbeaten home record of 2 league games will be smashed.

My apologies to Paul yesterday for getting bent out of shape regarding club level, I got the wrong end of the stick, which shows that even super genius journo’s like me get it get it wrong occasionally, but being man enough to admit that you did, is what makes you a real man.

Haven’t changed my mind on Song though so don’t hold your breath!

Have a great day Grovers, we qualified for Europe on Tuesday, Sunday we need to qualify for the Premier league.

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Posted by Geoff

Unsporting behaviour just made the spectacle even more enjoyable.

November 26, 2008

A buddhist monk witnessed returning from the Bergkamp testimonial.

A Buddhist monk witnessed returning from the Bergkamp testimonial.

There is a concept originating out of ancient India known as Karma:

‘Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one’s own life.’

A great example of Karma in action would be, say, if a Dynamo player went down injured in open play… looked up… saw that his team were attacking… then got up immediately and joined the attack.

The karma would kick in when later in the game, after Kiev fail to roll the ball out of play with an Arsenal player down injured (for real this time), a drop ball is awarded, the Kiev players expect the ball to be rolled back to the keeper… but instead, Cesc fires a 50 yard ball into the path of a player who is wearing pink boots… then that player scores to win the game.

Oh, and then the cheating Dynamo player gets sent off for foul and abusive language after complaining about the righteous path Karma has led him down.

That my friends is what happened last night… don’t feel ashamed, just respect Karma and the effects it can have on your life.

I’m not going to give player ratings today.The game was pretty dull if truth be told and I don’t think anyone excelled/decelled (<- why not?) enough to merit an 11 man write up.

Arsenal’s line up was what we had all been calling for, bar Alex Song.

Almunia

JD Silvestre Gallas Clichy

Denilson Cesc Song Rambo

Vela RvP

I still for the life of me can’t understand why Wenger persists with Song in that position. I guess Denilson does a better job out wide than Diaby…

It was a strong team considering the injuries we have been suffering at the moment, and the game kicked off in promising fashion. The players looked comfortable on the ball, without ever over exerting themselves. We played in a contained manner… never really looking under threat. There was a lot of pretty passing, but very little penetration. I’m struggling to remember too many chances we had in the first half and I am struggling to think of many stand out players.

RvP went close with a couple of good freekicks. The first was fizzed into the box, only for the keeper to punch it away. The second from a similar position, about 35 yards out to the left, was superbly kneed over the bar by Silvestre. It’s a shame nobody told him he didn’t need to defend down the other end as well!

Song didn’t have his best game… but hey, when does he ever? People keep on saying he is lazy because he jogs around the pitch. Sorry guys, I have bad news for you… Song isn’t being lazy… he is just incredibly slow. That jog… is Song sprinting. Song is the only player in the Arsenal team who couldn’t out pace a sit down lawn mower…

What was interesting watching the game from home was the rows of empty seats… actually, that wasn’t what was interesting… what was interesting was the noise coming from the fans despite this. We could really hear the singing from home… and we even noticed a few songs for Willy G! Well played guys… he looked a happy player out there tonight. Geoff informs me that club level has returned to normal… stand up and face ejection. Well… that little experiment didn’t last long did it? Geoff asked me to make a special mention to stewards, Angela and Dwaine Djourrou. Apparently they stepped in to calm things down when an overly officious member of their work force tried to step in.

Back to football… Gallas had a mixed bag. His first clanger was Clichyesque (Birmingham)… but luckily the Kiev chap smashed his shot at the post. Then later on, he managed to flick a Song header into the net with his back to goal… only to be flagged offside. Then in the second half, after a goal mouth scramble… RvP drilled a shot in low and hard at goal… with Gallas there ready to defend the shot.

Someone really needs to tell our defenders they only need to defend up one end! Overall though, I thought Gallas had a great game. He made a superbly timed interception just before our first… so well played that man! Whatever you think of him, he is our best defender. So do your best to grit your teeth and support him… because if we want a trophy this year… he’ll be at the heart of it.

I’d also like to highlight the crucial save Almunia made in the second half. Kiev floated a superb ball into the path of their striker who found himself one on one, but Almunia came rushing out to block his shot. A superb save and a clean sheet to boot. At 0-0, that really was a crucial stop… so a big thumbs up to Al!

A quick mention for the new boys to the team tonight:

Rambo: Not his best performance for Arsenal… but for a 17 year old, he played pretty damn well. His passing was ok and he is certainly more adept at handling the wing than Diaby. It’s a real shame he isn’t a few years older… because we wouldn’t need to go out purchase a new centre mid if he was 20.

Vela: He struggled to make the same impact he usually does. I think at times he held onto the ball for too long… but he is only 19 and he is just finding his feet. One thing that is apparent… he has the same sort of pace and trickery Theirry did… you have no idea what he is going to do next!

Wilshere: You can’t help but get excited over this lad. He is special… there is no doubt about it. His body movement, his pace, his vision and his superb passing make him one of the best young talents to come out of this academy program. He came on… looked a little small for mens football… but he still danced around the Kiev players. The only thing I worry about is a jealous player taking him out to prove a point. You do feel that if Jack was a vase, he’d be one of those Ming dynasty ones… valuable, but fragile… and perhaps only for display on special occasions. He was good, and I think all gooners are united in thinking he should be given a few more cameo appearances this season.

Finally, a word for the great Dane. I have been a constant defender of Nik B’s talent this season… and I’ve come in for a lot of flak because of it. I wrote some pretty strong comments about Nik in my last post… mostly about his fairy boots and his attitude. I suggested Carlos should play ahead of him.

Well, he did… and when Nik came one… minus the hair gel… he proved a point with a sublime take down of a 40 yard pass and a superb finish. That is why I rate him… most of his issues this year can be attributed to confidence… lets see where this goal can take him now. Hopefully he will prove a few of the, ‘he’s a championship player’ doubters wrong in the coming weeks.

So, overall… Kiev were a weak team… but they had an impressive away record and we contained them. I remember years gone by when the invincibles would have given their right pink boot for a ground out performance like that. How many times did we have face up to morning headlines of,

‘Arsenal get suckered after dominating <insert eastern european team>’.

That was a professional performance. A win is a win… lets take it and move onto the next game where I predict we will win again. Don’t ask me why I think that… but I had the same vibe before the ManU game!

Let your thoughts be known in the comments… oh, and remember… wearing pink is cool.

P.S. I had an e-mail from the President of the Le Grove appreciation society Canterbury Christ Church Student Union yesterday checking that Le Grove do not have ill feelings towards students… Liam, Le Grove and it’s authors (One an ex-student) do not have ill feelings towards any group, and definitely not students!

Every group is welcome… well, you know… almost every group!

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Posted by Pedro

The best decision you’ve made since buying Cesc Fabregas.

November 25, 2008

Cesc to be our new captain, fantastic! or should I say ‘Captain fantastic’ he should have done that in the summer but better late than never.

I don’t believe it’s a cynical ploy to keep him this summer, I think Cesc wears his heart on his shirt and always has done, he’s as Arsenal as Tony Adams and his face when scoring against Milan last year and Sunderland this, says it all, making him captain will bring his game back.

It will also give him a say on how we play, who, if anyone we buy, and it gives him a voice on the team for the first time in his career and that can only be good for us, the fans, it may also attract some world class talent in January.

All he needs to do now is tell the boss what he thinks of Song, but enough of that now, lets talk about tonight and Sunday.

I believe that we will win convincingly this evening and if Cesc can convince the boss to let him play alongside Rambo, with Wilshere and Vela out wide we could be unstoppable.

I am going to suggest a line up that is unique to football and if Wenger reads this and follows it, it could unseat the chavs on Sunday as well as Kiev tonight.

2-4-4 what you say? 2-4-4? there’s no such thing, well read on my friends. Injuries permitting.

Fabianski

Djourou Gallas

Sagna Fabregas Ramsey Clichy

Wilshere Simpson RVP Vela

With two of the middle four going back when needed and the same with the front 4.

Pedro and I have always remained faithful to our policy of not commenting on other blogs (save our good friend Wrighty7) especially if they bad mouth us, that way we starve them of oxygen and don’t allow them their 15 minutes of fame, however I’m breaking the rule for this twerp but not so much that I’ll publish his name, I won’t give him that satisfaction.

Yesterday we had a classic AKB on, only this one writes his own blog. People in the past have used their blogs to rant about Le Grove, which we have always found amusing as it’s often the only way they get read, however this particular blog is so dreadful he only got 7 comments for his article all day, in fact I went back and found he only had 28 comments for his last 11 posts and some of those comments were from Grovers telling him what a sad bastard he was. Well pencil dick, if you don’t like Piers Morgan, Myles Palmer or me don’t read our sites, I sure as hell don’t read yours.

If I could have a bet on who this twit is I would go for - never worked, still a student, may even be in the union, lives with his mummy when he’s not at Uni, thinks he’s intellectually superior to anyone who writes a blog and thinks he can do it better than anyone else. Finally because he’s still not a real man yet, threatens people when he’s on the other side of the internet where he’s safe, like the AKB children do at the weekend. Oh and has only been to the Arsenal with a grown up and sure as hell has never bought a season ticket!

Our policy obviously works because almost all the offending blogs now seem to share our view on all things Arsenal, which as you can imagine, we find mildly amusing and incredibly ironic!

Enough on that, we move on, so if Wenger plays this team and plays all these players in their real positions, I can see us taking the chavs apart too, we beat the Mancs, the chavs are no better and they will be super confident, so by my twisted logic, we can beat them too, then we’ll be back in it and that 40-1 bet looks like a good one.

So tonight let’s get behind the boys, let Cesc know what we think of him being captain and tear them three new rectums, tonight we can find Jerusalem, tonight we begin our long awaited season, tonight we qualify for the next round of the European cup we are going to win, tonight we win by three clear goals, tonight is Cesc’s night, go forth Arsenal and multiply!

And for all of us that are there, let the world hear the library has closed!

Have a great day Grovers, have a great night Cesc, pick the right team Arsene and God will do the rest, Whoever your God is!

P.S. Just before I go… Pedro has 2 spare tickets for club level tomorrow (half price)!

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Posted by Geoff

When was the last time we got a DVD Arsene?

November 24, 2008

‘It’s time for Arsenal and Wenger to part company’

No that wasn’t my headline, it was that of big time Gooner and former Daily Mirror editor Piers Morgan.

I have to say though, it could have been my headline, because that’s the way I feel too, not only crap team selection again and probably the worst display I’ve seen from Arsenal since the days of Glenn Helder, but also hearing that Wenger thought it flattered Man City, and because of that, I think he has lost it. Bad loser.

The players quite clearly get paid too much, much more than their ability warrants, Gallas had a point there and if he didn’t earn around £90k a week for doing what he does, I would take what he says much more seriously.

Wenger needs to spend in the window and get rid of some flotsam too, how the hell did he get Song on an exception talent visa yet have to wait 3 years for Vela? Who clearly is exceptional.

How many games do we have to watch someone that can’t pass, can’t tackle and can’t shoot and don’t say Ade or Robin because they absolutely can, why does he continue to play players out of position (Diaby) and expect a big performance, who is he kidding?

Arsene, you weren’t an Arsenal supporter 12 years ago, I was, you are a great coach, but a lousy manager, yes I really believe I could do a better job, look at Redknap, at least he can get a shit team going, why do you keep saying you have belief in this team?

Yes we beat the Mancs but on another day we would have lost 3 nil, let’s not kid ourselves, your team weren’t good enough last season, then you let Lehmann, Hoyte, Hleb and Flamini go and only brought in Nasri, what did you think would happen?

Regardless of what Gallas said, you stripped him of the captaincy and dropped him, you humiliated him and now you say he still has a future at Arsenal, will you ever learn??? - Get shot of him in the window and bring in 3 world class players, maybe then we can salvage something, you have fantastic players like Ramsey, Wilshere and Coquelin and yet you stick with Denilson, Song, Eboue and Bendtner.

Listen to me, THEY ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH, STOP BEING CHILDISH AND GET SHOT OF THEM.

You probably will do nothing, but heed my warning, the fans will stop coming, the predators will circle and your legacy will be like that of many managers in the premier league that got sacked, won us a few trophies but wouldn’t listen, do you want to be remembered for that Arsene?

I won’t mention Ramos, but at least he won them a cup. He gave them something to cheer about, and a DVD, when was the last time we got a DVD? It was for an ex player Thierry Henry.

I hope not because you’ve been too good for that, don’t spoil the last 12 years because you think you’re right, look at the results, look at the stats, they’ll tell you how right you are, you’re a stat person, well when it suits you you are.

Finally, look at all the other sites, they’re not calling you god now, time to change to plan ‘B’ Wenger or you won’t be getting that statue, and that would be a shame.

Finally if you afforded the same indulgences to English players as you do with Song we may still have Mathew Upson, David Bentley and Steven Sidwell.

Before any AKB’s tell me they hate Bentley, Upson was a crock and Sidwell isn’t that good, look at Sidwell now and think how much better he could have been had Wenger been as patient, at least he won 2 FA Youth cups.

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Posted by Geoff

The pink boot mindset and the worst crop of players seen under Wenger.

November 23, 2008

So Arsenal are 10 points off the pace, we’ve managed to pick up 5 defeats already this season… oh and we are 1 point ahead of Hull.

Crisis anyone?

This situation we find ourselves in is simply not good enough for a club like Arsenal.

I don’t care how close the kids are, I don’t care how much money we make or how fantastic our new stadium is… I care about results, some section have forgotten about that but in fairness, we’ve been spun into thinking that having a good business model and acting ethically out weighs competing on the pitch. Our Chairman told us it isn’t all about trophies, that statement was echoed by the manager… hold the back page a minute… if management are thinking that way, is it a surprise the players are?

I demand my team competes for trophies every year… If you don’t subscribe to those values, why do you support a team in a competition… why buy the most expensive ticket in football? I can’t imagine there was a period when Arsenal fans were happy with average?

Sadly we’ve not been competing for the best part of 4 years. We had a good year last year, but that squad was too light to last the pace… then we lost some key members of that small squad of players, Wenger didn’t deem it necessary to replace them and we are where we are now as a result of that.

This is clearly the worst crop of players we’ve ever had under Arsene Wenger… and I’m not talking about ability, I’m talking about the attitude balance. We’ve been lumbered with a Captain who clearly had mental problems at his old club, we’ve got a star striker who thinks it is ok to head butt a team mate during a game and we’ve got a whole host of other players who just aren’t up to top 4 standards… and you know what summed it all up for me? Nik Bendtner turning up in Pink boots.

For me it just shows a complete lack of respect for the team and the fans… I know you probably think I am going off on a tangent here… but there are certain things you don’t do in football when your team is playing shite… wearing Pink boots is one of them. Let me explain…

It smacks of arrogance that a 21 year old player thinks he is talented enough to make Pink boots look good. It also shows that as a player, he is more concerned about how he looks rather than how he plays. Why else would you wear something that so obviously spits in the face of convention? It’s a completely egotistical thing to do in my eyes… when your team is on a downer, you tell your sponsor to piss off when they ask you to market their new fairy boots, especially when you’ve been playing poorly. Those boots were a complete joke and they summed up our performance yesterday.

This was the line-up:

Almunia
Hoyte Silvestre JD Clichy
Diaby Song Denilson Nasri
Nik RvP

I thought that was a poor selection and I said so in the comments.

Firstly, Diaby has problems breaking into the team because of Cesc… even though he has looked a lot more threatening over the last few weeks. So why not pair him with Denilson? When has Diaby ever shown any sort of ability out wide? A stupid decision in my eyes.

Secondly… Why was Song even playing? I always try and defend players because I want to believe they have something and I hate to write people off. However, if I was an insurance claims specialist… I’d take one look at the wreckage that is Song’s ability and assume there must have been some sort of horrific accident… I’d write Song off and pay Arsenal the sum of his value before the accident (About £27). There is just no hope… no chance of reworking him into a player that can wear the red and white of Arsenal.

I’ve got a good mind contact Phil Woolas (Labour Immigration Minister: woolasp@parliament.uk) and ask how the hell Song was granted a work permit on the basis of exceptional talent. Especially as Wenger has gone on record saying we couldn’t sign a 19 year old RONALDINHO due to permit issues!

I’m sorry, but Song is a walking calamity and he has been since he arrived. The very fact that he is in the first team squad should tell you how low Wenger has let his standards drop since the introduction of ‘Project Youth’.

Back to team selection.

If you move Diaby into the middle… why not stick Rambo in at right midfield? At least he has the ability to play there… at least he has energy and creative flair. He is flying at the moment and has the confidence and ability to change a game… if he tired after an hour (A 17 year old athlete should not tire after 2 games in 4 days), sub him and bring Jack on for 30 mins. Wenger seems to be insistent on sticking round pegs in square holes and it is not working.

As for the striking combo… well… what the hell has Nik done to justify a start? He has been beyond dreadful this season and my patience is wearing thin with him. Rolling onto the pitch with his fairy boots clearly put him into character as he played like Tinkerbell, it was embarrassing. Matt Le Tissier was really quite riled by the arrogance of Nik wearing those boots… he said something like,

‘You simply don’t wear boots like that until you have done something in the game.’

I make him totally right. He hasn’t done anything for the club this season and I am at odds to why Wenger didn’t pick Carlos Vela? At least Carlos looks interested in scoring goals. When he came on late he wanted the ball to his feet and he wasn’t afraid to pull the trigger… unlike the sluggish Dane who is so low on confidence he is scared to shoot.

I thought the team looked rudderless and utterly unimaginative. They played with all the attacking flair of a Sam Allardyce team. RvP was woeful and looked completely detached from the team… he is like the odd piece in the jigsaw… no one seems to be able to read him and to be honest, I don’t know what his game is all about?

Samir Nasri was anonymous and a bit lazy. He just seems to wander around the pitch doing a great job of doing naff all. There is a real lack of productivity in his game when he is off his game. At least Hleb would run his socks off and create openings… Nasri doesn’t have that game yet… but what can you expect after 3 months?

Almunia was back to his dreadful worst. He was lobbed for Robinho’s goal when perhaps he should have been off his line a bit quicker and he was also lucky to get away with spilling a tame shot in the second half.

I think my biggest worry of the day was Clichy. He has gone from being Mr Reliable to Corporal fuck up in the space of 6 months. His mistimed clearance led to the first City goal… but to be honest, it was coming and we all knew it.

‘We lacked the maturity to deal with being in a dominant situation’

I don’t remember being in a dominant postion and If we lacked maturity, whose fault is that? Excuses like that aren’t acceptable anymore… you had all summer to rectify a lack of maturity.

So, enough moaning… onto the solutions.

Well, there really is only one… and that is play the Carling Cup stars. If your first team can’t cut it and your reserve team can… there is only one option. Ship out the under performers and replace them with on form young pretenders who are hungry to take their places.

Bring in Rambo, bring in Jack and bring in Vela. It’s not a top 4 solution, but I’m afraid due to our piss poor strategy this summer… it’s the only solution.

Long term, it is clear what Arsene has to do. He must return to doing what he has a proven track record of doing. He has to go out and purchase £30million worth of ‘nearly world class’ talent. He needs to sign them in January, get them settled and then see where he is in the summer. We need at least three or four 25 year old internationals with Champions league experience. We need a Keita in midfield, a proper winger and a centre back that strikes fear into not only the opposition… but his team mates.

I don’t want to hear that these players don’t exist, because the world is a pretty huge place and we are supposed to have the best scouting network around. Go out and ask about De Rossi, Arshavin or Chillieni… go and raid Madrid’s subs bench… ask Inter whether they’d let Adriano go and maybe help him reinvigorate his flagging career. I’m not saying those players are the answer… just that their are players out there, because everyone else seems to be finding them.

Wenger should do what he does best… make nearly players world class. Give up on Project youth, it’s a dead duck. Only the best players deserve a chance at Arsenal FC.

One more point I’d like to make… players should be judged on ability, not on their date of birth. Flogging players who have hit 30 is poor management. Would we be in the same situation if Gilberto had stayed this summer? I doubt it. He was still a world class player when you sold him and he would have made a great captain.

Arsene… we’re asking you to return to your old ways, because watching this team collapse in front of our eyes is sickening and if you continue to stubbornly pursue your dream… things will only end in one way. I do not want you sacked, but I do want to see a change in club policies. This can only happen by employing a new CEO. The task shouldn’t take over a year and it shouldn’t be decided by Wenger. He shouldn’t even have a say on it and I hope that is the case. Selecting your own boss is a bit counter productive. We want someone to kick the club on… not agree with everything Emperor Wenger dictates.

I’ll leave you with a Wenger quote.

‘In a big club you have to go through these periods, and how we deal with it will shape our future.’

UEFA Cup football, sub standard players and empty seats were never part of the future… and I hope you are the man to keep it that way.

Happy Sunday Grovers… at least all 4 of our rivals dropped 2 points!


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Posted by Pedro

Thanks for your honesty, take your toys, your pram and leave your armband on the side on your way out.

November 22, 2008

Let me start by saying I rate Gallas and I like him but enough is enough, so here’s my proposal Arsene.

Gallas shouldn’t resign, he should be sacked as captain because regardless of where he stands, he brought the team into disrepute and that for a captain of Arsenal football club is unforgivable and unacceptable.

You can’t give it to Kolo, regardless of how much he is liked because he’s not really a first choice anymore and he goes to the ACN every two years, so sorry but that’s not good enough.

Don’t give it to Gael because he is French and I think it’s time for a change, so for me it has to be Alexandre Song, he has the lot and he was signed on the basis of exceptional talent.

Of course I’m f**king kidding. Give it to Cesc, it may keep him, it will certainly fire him up, he is great with the press and stops rumours in their tracks, f*ck the age, if he’s good enough, he’s old enough.

Now we’ve done that to death let’s move onto the big game today, jeez, it’s been a long wait, always of course made longer by a defeat, we got beat, there’s nothing we can do so let’s move on and put it right, by now Gallas may have been dropped so I’m going for a team without him, if he plays drop Kolo and put him in his place, so from the back.

Fabianski, as Almunia was shit last time and the time before the time before that, work that one out and you’ll know what’s coming next.

Hoyte Djourou Kolo Clichy

Ramsey Diaby Denilson Nasri

Ade RVP

Go for the jugular because this lot will, Robinho will want to show Wenger what he could have had, had he offered him more than 17 shillings and sixpence a week a few years ago, but Real got him instead.

They will not sit back, and I can’t see them mixing it, I think they like to play football, so attack boys, attack.

To finish on Gallas, he has said that if he leaves Arsenal it will be to go back to France, but only to PSG, Bordeaux or Marseilles and who do we know that plays at Marseilles? Spot on, Cana, so why not a little player plus cash deal and now, in January, whilst Gallas is still in his prime? That’s win, win then is it not? we get rid of the awkward issue with Gallas, we get in the animal we all crave, he’s not French and Wenger doesn’t lose face by backing down, and we’ll throw in Alexandre Song as part of the deal as he has exception talent, how can they refuse?

The thing is the minute he takes  away the captaincy is the moment the player can no longer play for us and that’s why he didn’t do it last summer, Gallas has a few years left in him but with the emergence of Djourou and maybe even the improvement of Senderos next season, he can at last afford to let him go, bringing in a Cana or a Velosa gives Wenger options, gives us the much needed steel with lost with Flamini’s departure and gets rid of the disruptive influence in the changing room, whoever is at fault, and I take no sides, something is wrong and something needs to be done.

 

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Posted by Geoff

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