The rumour mill is wild today with reports saying that Kolo is off to Man City, Eboue off to Italy and we are to sign Huntelaar and young midfielder Lee Cattermole.
Kolo at his age has one year left on his contract and the ACN coming up may not be bad business. He has lost some of his spark since he got malaria and he doesn’t get on with Gallas so maybe there’s some truth in it, I love Kolo but I won’t be devastated if this one is true and for £15mil, well I guess that represents good business.
Eboue on the other hand is a great right back and unless Wenger sees him as a midfielder I don’t see that as a great move, also that will make three departures and for a manager that said no one was going I have to cast some doubt on that rumour.
However, if all three are replaced properly and not from within, I wouldn’t be too upset, for instance if we got in Huntelaar and he did become that goalscoring machine it would be a shrewd move, if he replaced Kolo with a big strong centreback like Sakho or Zapata that would be a good move and if he brought in Cattermole for Eboue as a midfield replacement maybe that would combine his youth bit with the tenacious midfielder we crave, I just don’t know, but Cattermole did impress me at the under 21′s and he is a rising English star, dare I say it, but in the Nobby Stiles/ David Batty role.
Then we should think about selling Senderos and Silvestre as we will have more than enough cover with Djourou and Song in there.
You may all shout me down with Cattermole but this boy could be just what we need. Maybe this team is getting a bit stale and maybe replacing the trio of Ade, Kolo and Eboue makes sense.
We know Huntelaar can score, as he got the first ever goal at the Grove and we had Vieira, Henry, and Bergkamp in that game, maybe he needs the challenge after his nasty rejection by Madrid, what is clear is we do need a big lump at the back and maybe Kolo has run his course.
I just hope we do something, this team needs a change, we the fans are in need of some new faces to cheer on and maybe this will push us over the line to win the EPL this season. We will be fusing youth with experience and with Huntelaar, Vela, Robin, Theo, Arshavin and Bendtner around we won’t be short of goals, at least Huntelaar knows the offside rule.
I’m looking forward to the game tonight as hopefully we’ll get to see Eduardo, Arshavin and Rosicky in the same side, we won’t have Theo and Cesc back until the weekend so that will give him another chance to play Wilshere, Ramsey and Diaby, if Diaby can manage another game without an injury maybe I’ll start believing, he had a great game last time out so let’s see if he can continue tonight, Ramsey looked on fire, that’s for sure.
Watching YaYa at the weekend showed us what we could have had but there you go, we can’t dwell on the past, we need to bring in replacements for whoever we sell and if Kolo and Eboue go as well then we should have around £38 million left after the Vermaelen purchase, more than enough to bring in the fab three I mentioned. And leave some change over to help pay the National debt.
We’ll know more this week as I’m guessing all the transfer business will have to be concluded by the weekend when we host the Emirates cup.
Until tomorrow Grovers, enjoy tonight.
P.S. Pedro is out knocking on doors today, flanked by a couple of unsavoury looking characters… make sure your door isn’t one of them, sign up to our fantasy league in the sidebar and do it sharpish.
Touré is known for his pace and power, which enables him to force weaker attackers off the ball and to keep up with pacy strikers. He possesses good marking ability and most of his tackles are well timed which has contributed to his relatively good disciplinary record. Although relatively short for a centre-back, he makes up for it with an impressive vertical leap.
His attacking instincts have enabled him to score a few goals. At times, if he finds space, he will shoot from long range, if he does go forward. He also takes long range free kicks occasionally.
Touré has recently contributed to the team in a more attacking form. This was shown as he picked out Emmanuel Adebayor with a great ball against Reading on 19 April 2008, who then promptly opened the scoring after some great control. He followed up the feat with another good 35-yard long ball over the top against Derby County on 27 April 2008, which Robin van Persie converted for the second goal of the match.
Kolo, I thank you!
boom! just warming up in readiness for the start of the new season.
I’ll kick taig in the “quéquette” and his “bonbons” will do “des bons”
stitch that!!
gold bitches
1
cl place?
WTF!!!?!!!
ha ha
Beaten by a short head (rvn)
silver is the new gold TAIG…te-he-he-he!
top 1o
TAIG YOU ARE A LEGEND! BRING IN SAKHO!
bollocks top 15 then
Morning Geoff.
Agree.
Cattermole could be the surprise answer.
Still can’t believe Cana opted for Sunderland.
Even Everton were in for him weren’t they?
I dont mind the hunter – bring him in, but tell him he has to earn a reputation here!
Geoff – Nice post on ‘what could be’. If we made those signings it would completely rejuvenate me and a hell of a lot of other fans too I’d imagine! Surely the money grabbing board can see what players like Huntelaar can bring to the merchandising table too so they’ll be able to count their pennies! I like the cut of Cattermole’s jib! He seem’s tenacious, no push over, not scared of a crunching tackle and could possibly rise to the very top in a team like Arsenal where he can concentrate on his own game more than trying to carry at team forward. he did look very good in the U21′s like you say.
Come on Wenger, make me a happy man!
Arsenal4 – I think that is the new challenge! Surely its a hell of a lot harder to bag 2nd spot….although Cartman is usually quite good at it, ha ha!
Zak – Why thank you! Its a ll about dedication!
Ooh, a nice little trick of the hat too!
Gallas to Lazio??
AISG whats happening mate, do u know which day the PL kcick off on fox here?
Cattermole?? I hope not….
Don’t we have enough 21-22 yr old midfielders ( trying to be the next PV)…??
TAIG – The fastest f5 in the West!
Where can i watch the game tonight? ( don’t have ATVO )
Arsenal arsenal arsenal arsenal arsenal arsenal
Lets sell the whole fuckin team heh?
Where is my comment
good post geoff! kolo to citeh is good businees only if we bring another cb! as for eboue, coquelin might provide good cover there!
cattermole? i’ve seen him play only a few times and cant really say if he’s good or not!
Jay – Sup! Fox have us live on the first day of the season, 15th August. Here’s the schedule:
http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/tvschedule/shows/premierleague
i m totally against kolo leaving,i hold a view that kolo could be our much needed dm,and then selling him to citeh!!!
well we could easily manage without eboue.
Cartman – What qualities do you want in our potential new DM?
Morning all,
As you say Geoff, 3 departures during a close season when Wenger promised we would keep the squad intact does seem a bit contradictory – but he has a history of that(“2 or 3 reassuring signings” etc..).
I’ll be repeating myself here but definitely yes to Huntelaar and no to Numbnuts(Chamkakh). Yes to Zapata and no to Micah Richards. Yes to a combative ball-winning midfielder, no to a 15 year old Brazilian wonderkid.
As for Toure, I feel if we ship out Fish head and keep the others in for cover, e.g .some of the CB’s can cover full back positions, we should be ok (although Franchises twin brother, Djourou, really is in last chance saloon, in my view) if we keep Kolo.
If Wenger does ship out Kolo he will have completed his apparent mission of dismantling the Invincibles.
at least i can be 2nd, unlike this team!
i think catter will be a welcome addition to squad,but only in 6+5 rule’s pov.
I’ll be sad to see Kolo go as he was no push-over, had a lot of pace and could drive the team forward with his runs from defence. No one else in our backline can do what he does so this will definitely make us weaker. I wait to see if he brings in a replacement but I doubt it. We all know how Wenger works now – sell good players and promote from within the youth ranks as much as possible. It’s the same formula that has seen us not win any trophies for some years now and seems set to continue. Sorry to sound all discouraged but I haven’t seen anything to make me think we’ll have a great season this year.
Thanks Kolo for all your contributions. You’ll be missed.
Morning all! Cattermole could be our new Ray Parlour.
Reggie – getting rid of one of our 7CB’s who is at the end of his career, doesn’t get on with our best defender, who’s contract is nearly up and who will be off to the ACN at the start of 2010 for £14m is damn good business I’d say. But he has to replace Kolo with someone better as through all of the above facts, Kolo is still our 2nd/3rd best defender! Its a shame Senderos doesn’t have the ability to command such a figure!
this team needs experience was the cry a few months back
we could end up selling 3 of our most experienced players
if we dont start replacing, season is over
Can someone explain to me why we seem to be obsessed with strengthening man shitty
Geoff – You bite your tongue! There is only one Romford Pele! And his ex is a fucking whore bag might I add!
TAIG…I gave up my precious gold position, just to cheer you up a bit, after all, Wenger has been annoying you with his lack of summer signings, and judging by your recent comments, I know this will go a long way in cheering you up. Mind you, it will be a different ball game when the full season commences. Great post by the way …..Jeoff.
if toure and eboue go then getting rid of 3 of our africans in an ACN year is top business, especially if it gets close to £50m – blimey! hope numbnuts and kalou are just rumours. just hope that who come sin 9and it must be a who not an if with that much cash in the bank) is the quality and positions we need
teerex – I think Vermaelen is seen as the guy to bring the ball out from the back now. In my mind he should be a back up for Gallas and Djourou should be a back up for a Hangeland or a Zapata!
Taig: read what mark gooner just posted !my sentiments are the same!
Vucinic is being linked with us…….id love him to come he is good as long as he doesnt take any penalties 4 us…lol
arsenal4 – I need to get the good times where I can right now because Wenger certainly isn’t providing me with any!
If Kolo does go and Wenger doesn’t sign any more players can anyone honestly continue to stand by Wenger? I really, really don’t see how they could!
Saturday, Aug 15 Aston Villa v Wigan
Saturday, Aug 22 Arsenal v Portsmouth
Saturday, Aug 29 Manchester Utd. v Arsenal
what a start to the season…Cant wait… luckily my cousins wedding will finish early – so i can go home and watch the game!!
Completely agree with Mark GOoner
our potential dm? thought ur team got cana
but i want a tough tackler, box to box player, with lots of energy! one that cud let the attacking players to play freely knowing that there’s sum1 behid them to cover the ground in case of a counter… (flamini)
I said about cattermole when bruce was bidding for him and most said he was just a cart horse!!!! i like him
haha look at the le chump of the week…. quality…
did A see it ??
The interview with Usmanov’s mate has got everything stirred up a bit hasn’t it?
my predictions over the defence are looking good,also on sky sports eboue is shown in midfield not defence
TAIG – Maybe so but we would need to get in another defender in my view. Gallas, Vermaelen and Djourou are ok but we should be getting rid of Senderos and Silvestre before Toure. I bet you Wenger thinks we’ll be ok without replacements but I hope I’m wrong.
Reggie/Mark – I know keeping experienced players is paramount but this deal is a bit of a no brainer. Firstly I would argue that Adebayor is not greatly experienced and even if he was he cannot convey this to his team mates. As for Kolo, there are just too many arguments that support the sale. Gallas is hands down our best defender, let alone CB. He is one of the first names on the team sheet. Kolo doesn’t get on with him, never has done and its probably (definitely) Gallas’ fault but footballing ability usually comes before players feelings. Kolo was turning into a headless chicken more and more last season, his contract is nearly up, he will be off the ACN during a pivotal period of our season and is only getting older. We wont ever get a better chance to make so much money out of selling a defender. That’s not the aim of the game, I know (it might well be for Arsene) but it does mean he can bring in someone better. That is where this deal is at its make or break point for me. Its a bad sale if he doesn’t reinvest with quality but a good sale if he does.
Moving on the African contingent. Not a bad idea given international commitments this coming season.
Why are people so afraid of the ACN?? Is my continent not allowed to have its own fucking tornament and have its best players play 4 the arsenal!!! Just a thought…..
Its three steps backwards if wenger sells Toure and Eboue both….. He needs to make a long jump forward…i hope it come thru huntelaar,hangeland/zapata and a DM.. else it does not look to sunny at Emirates.
Teerex – I think we should be getting rid of those dead weights AS WELL AS Toure. But selling Toure will provide us with enough financial clout to bring in some quality. Whether Wenger does or not is an entirely different story!
So Tony, you know Ray’s ex then eh!
arsenalised, err no!
RKJ welcome, you are now free to blog.
arsenalised…
Nothing against the tournament…just that it comes at an important time of the season…and teams are scared to lose important players..
Arsenalised not if it fucks up the Arsenal, no, who’s paying their wages?
Also if they had it every 4 years like the World cup and the Euros and had it in the summer we wouldn’t mind.
If it’s too hot go south.
morning all, id take cattermole happily, he’s got the balls and running in him to stop us getting bullied and pushed around, he’s not big but neither was flam!
arsenalised – that is noway near the point of what people are getting at when they talk about the ACN! During the ACN we have these fixtures (not sure of exact order):
FA Cup 4th Rd
Man Utd
Chelsea
Liverpool
Champs League
So it makes sense to bring in less players that we will lose during these games! It has to be Arsenal that comes first. So selling Toure and buying Hangeland for example would be a good idea.
Cattermole isn’t a fashionable target, but he also impressed me during the u21′s, he was arguably englands best player. He has a habit of making wild mistimed tackles but he showed a different side in u21′s, he was energetic, and had a superb range of passing. Anyway, I think steve bruce has already gobbled him up so no point in arguing this one.
Geoff – I wish I did! Then I’d punch her right in the baby maker!
also who the fuck has been doing the contracts gallas,kolo,senderos all out of contract at same time next year,but ade the whore got a new deal with three years left on his old one muppets
Why the hell are we not buying!! The seasön is close to starting and my manc friends are on my case already…..i fucking hate them
Steady Tone, what about the Skandi nations cup that takes place then?
and it’s every 2 years. if it was every 4 years then would take the hit.
Mark Noble anyone? Would cost more than Cattermole I think but he could provide some steel whilst having some talent too!
Geoff – I have no idea of that, what’s the deal with that?
Nick – good point! Lets hope Gazidis stops all that nonsense! I doubt it though!
Nick, good point on contracts. It is clear that since Dien left our contract handling has been shocking, Flamini is just one example. Next year we will lose Gallas for nothing as well.
I made it up to get my point across about pointless tournaments!
Okay fuck the ACN then!! Id rather watch arsenal my country aint going anyway!
You’re right there Nick, whoever has been responsible for timetabling contract negotiations should be dismissed for negligence; it’s the Flamini/Edu situation all over again. It really does make us look very amateur.
Incidentally, was it Cattermole who pole axed some player by the corner flag(Benayoun?) with a crude lunge that went unpunished or have I got the wrong person ?
Manc friends?
Tell them they replaced world player of the year with a has been!!
gallas said he doesnt want to sign a new contract…he wants to leave for free next summer …and said it was his way of showing that he was hurt by the treatment he got at arsenal…
just saying what he said in an interview…
Arsenalised what country is yours mate?
Morning,
Looks like good business, but I always liked Toure, maybe he can recapture his form. But I say if we keep him, we have to make him sign a contract. It’s either he signs or we sell.
ardent – I think selling Kolo and us winning either of both of the EPL and CL would change his mind. Lets hope so because I rate the lad.
Geoff – ha ha, fair nuff! Wondered why I hadn’t hear of it, especially in my industry!
If he said that Ardent we should not play him again and replace him. See if he likes reserve team football for his last year.
ardent, which interview? got a link?
lol taig, we have no chance for the CL!
Plus, Vermaelan looks like he is there to replace Kolo and Kolo will want firs team football. In all honesty I think his deal is good for everyone! He’d go with my blessing and my best wishes…..
Kenya…
Cartman – EPL has to be the priority no matter what though!
Evening all
Is it true that Paddy V could be off to spuds
If ardent is right about Gallas I would go with Geoff and say stick him in the reserves.
How can we trust someone with that attitude to play our important games?!
Fantasy league? You had better get a team in there Geoff
i agree taig!
hangeland, huntelaar and toulalan would make our squad arguably the strongest in the league
if i say i dont mind if viera goes to spuds?
Has Kenya qualified?
Arse&Nose
wait ..i think i can find the link… it was on goal.com or sumthin 2 weeks back….
Rohan, u can do it in fantasy league!
Then I would ask what you smoking Cartman?
arsenalised – I have a nice little Kenya footy shirt! Go on the Stars!
Gnarley it’s shit and I didn’t win.
Iceman:Nope,not yet anyway!
good one iceman! but he’s past his prime and if its the only way for him to play for the world cup, then wat’s wrong?
Good luck son, forget the ANC then, you’ve got the beaches!
and the lions
does anyone here think a defensive squad of
gallas
vermaelen
djourou
silvestre
song
IS GOOD enough to win the league
dont think selling senderos and kolo means we will bring one or 2 in, it will leave us with 5 CBs and numbers wise that ok, just not good enough in terms of quality
TAIG:good for you man,show the stars some love…..
Becasue if he plays for the Spuds he’d probably not make the World Cup squad!! Haha!!
No, but seriously, isn’t he ever injured?
I’m not sure how I’d feel him lining up against us in a Spud shirt…
losing Toure and Eboue wont kill us but not replacing them would. we can get better players for sure, but getting no players would be a disaster.
we should get rid of anyone out of contract next year that aint gonna sign a new deal lets get some money in kolo,gallas,senderos and silvest can all go gibbs and traore can cover clichy on the left so ne need for him now
Are they close to qualifying?
it was on football.co.uk
and goes by the headline.. ‘Gallas looks to run down last year of contract’.. about 3 weeks back…
vermin
JD
song
haagerland
richards
sagna
clichy
gibbs
happy with that!!!!
Mark, Gallas is a world cup, euro championship and prem winner… JD is hugely under rated in my opinion and passing a judgement on our new £11million defender is a bit rash.
You can’t write the defence off before they’ve even started and you can’t assume Wenger wont replace Kolo and Senderos.
Gallas only got injured last year because of a freak accident and before he did get injured, we were looking really solid.
Pedro, you’re an AKB!
Nick, I agree, should never let a player run out his contract, make him sign, or sell him. If he doesn’t want to go, stick him in the reserves for the season.
Stick Gallas in the reserves because he wants to leave on a free at 32?
two quality players for each position with richards in the utility cb/rb role
if vieira goes yids
he is a cunt
Cheers ardent, i fyou find it it would be great. However I hope its made up, I just cant believe a 1st team regular will be playing for us with the motivation to give us ‘payback’ for treating him ‘badly’. Reminds me of the time when he was at chelsea and he threatened to score own goals if they played him.
Cartman:and the tigers……in togo that is…i’ve never seen one personally
Yes Pedro, especially if he says he wants to pay Arsenal back for his bad treatment.
agree mark. 5 is enough but the back up quality is suspect
pedro
gallas is quality i havent a problem with him
there is still question marks over all the rest though
Did anyone see carlos last night
came on as a second half sub in concaf final
2 assists a lovely chipped goal and some brilliant passing and dribbling
man of the match, all the comentators were raving about him
I’m surprised that we don’t talk about him more, surely he is the most talented young striker we have?
I wonder how he can come into play this season
i think Vieira has done enough for us(400+appearances,pl ,fa cup trophies) and earned the right to do whatever he wants……..
what say??
peds at 32 gallas has still a few years in him maybe 8 in italy and he has never fully earned his wages for me so we should get something back on him other wise cole left for 5mill
“I am at Arsenal and my contract is valid for another year, so I remain an Arsenal player. We have not talked about renewing the contract, but I am relaxed and looking forward to next season with Arsenal.”
So that is the only quote I can find relating to the contract issue… the rest seems to be an assumption as to why he is going to run his contract down.
If he wants to leave on a free to get one last pay day, I don’t see the problem with that.
gallas was a consummate professional though after he was stripped of his captaincy, though, i’ll give him that.
he put his head down and worked hard and he is our best defender and is world class.
vieiera won’t be c#nt for going to spurs. would be a disappointment but would forgive him. thing is their fans don’t really want him so can’t see him winning in either way.
blackburn is targeting russian striker pobrebnyak,another arsenal target.
yes Arse and nose it looks quite similar to what he did at chelsea…
But he’s a good defender…and before h got injured he did well…and dont forget he has a knack of scoring important goals for us….
We can’t sell both Toure & Gallas.
That would be madness.
Need to keep Gallas!!!
I’m sure the Lazio stuff is just paper talk.
For Spurs fans the idea that Vieira could wear their shirt against us would mean more to them than winning the league, such is their bitterness. I think that it shows a snapshot of Redknapp’s thinking. He knows he won’t be afforded the time to form any coherent strategy to building a squad and that Levi will move him out this season if things go wrong. So he is trying to resurrect Portsmouth (Defoe and Crouch) and bring the fans on board with his attempts to humiliate Arsenal with the signing of Vieira. That’s how he sees it anyway. He’ll want to make a lot of deals so he can cream off the top of agents fees I imagine. When you think about the enormous sums they have spent in the recent past, where they are and where they are heading with a crap manager like Redknapp it should be a lesson to any club as how NOT to progress.
Geoff, there are no quotes that say that… well, that I can find.
Nick, can you imagine the uproar if we did that? Sold our best, most experienced defender for £5million just before the start of the season to get a fee?
That would be the most ridiculous transfer of the summer.
If we do let toure and eboue leave then we have to get replacements in. Not just leave the money in the piggy. If we dont i would truely believe wenger has gone insane. Maybe his eyesight has got so bad he doesnt just not see bad tackles or penalty decision he also cant see whats wrong with our squad
i agree with pedro! why stick him in the reserves when he’s our best defender!
Guys – Arsenal will ask Gallas to sign a contract and I’m sure he will. He will do it on the understanding that he can still go but it just means Arsenal get some money for him. Putting in a release clause of a minor figure like £8m or so means that clubs would still be getting him quite cheap and we’ll be getting more than what we would if his contract was up.
This is what should be done. Not necessarily what will de done. And if it isn’t then the board aren’t so good at making money after all.
started last season hoping to see a lot of vela. will start agian this season hoping the same but not so convinced after the little play time he got last year
mark i agree… the fact he is even considering it apparently fucks me off
I would have had Gallas in my top 3 players last year easily! And nearer first than third….or maybe some where in between!
ardent, I cant find anything to prove that he is running down his contract in a malicious way to make arsenal suffer for ‘bad treatment’. So I will have to give him the benefit of doubt and back him.
On the vieira issue, in my opinion he will tarnish his legendry status if he goes to spurs. It would be a very sad day if that did happen, and spurs don’t even need him!
Huntelaar – 13 goals in 23 international games
101 goal in 128 games for Hereenveen, Ajax and Real Madrid….go figure Arsene Wenger.
he knows the hate and history between the 2 clubs
he knows it will upset the gooners
he probably has many other options BUT he is willing to take a 60% paycut to go there
if he does that FUCK HIM
he should have come out weeks ago and laughed this story off saying, hes an arsenal man and wouldnt consider going there
Chary
Why do you blame the club for Edu’s desire to play part of his career in Spain? Edu was on a set contract; he made it clear that he would honour that and then, as was his right, he openly explained that he would like to leave for Valencia. I do not understand why you use this innocent occurrence as a stick to beat Arsenal with?
Arse& nose..
he said that in a interview to french radio…i can’t really get it off the net since those sites are blocked in my office…i’ll get that one…i know it could be made up and just rubbish but it was on the net… and i dont hate the guy or anything ….i think he is our best defender at present….
about Vieira…he’ll always command respect frm me…