For you lot that chugged at my Ugs, you are mugs, cos I made it in for the suds!

by & filed under Uncategorized.

Ok cast your mind back to Christmas day and my post, I said I had been bought a pair of Ugs, all the way from Australia, I was laughed at, told only girls wear them and don’t bring them to the Villa game, I didn’t, I felt proper humiliated.

Today, London is in chaos, I woke up to 8 inches of snow and the BBC said don’t travel if you don’t have to, well we’re supposed to be going to the Grove tonight to smash Bolton, I had to, enter my Ugs, yes I wore them, I glided effortlessly into the station and made my way to work, Ugs 1, Grovers nil. And tonight I’ll get to the ground and warm up by drinking their beer, the suds!

Ok so my country cousins, fellow Grovers and no doubt Pedro will laugh at me when we meet, but I don’t care, the birds love ‘em!

So the snow was everywhere but not in London, will the game be cancelled? Probably, but I made it and you can laugh all you want, I don’t care, I have warm feet and I didn’t slip over once!

Onto tonight, I’ll be there if it’s on, I hope it’s on but in this age of politically correct cancellations for adverse weather, I suspect they’ll cancel it, it also means that Cesc, Song and Bendtner will be a game nearer returning and Wenger will jump at that chance.

He was bigging up Denilson yesterday which means he will step in for Song and not Diaby and it also means he won’t be buying a replacement, shame that, a few world class players will never go amiss.

If the Merida stories are true, it’s the first clear signs of my youth policy theory, that it’s not working, why? Let me explain. With a young midfield of Cesc, Nasri, Song, Denilson, Ramsey and Diaby all between 18 and 23 where do all the other 18-21 year olds fit in? Who’s place will Merida, Wilshere, Thomas, Frimpong, Coquelin, Eastmond or Lansbury take? When Coquelin is 23, Song will be what, 27? That’s still younger than Rosicky and Arshavin, so what will we do, get rid of Song? Unthinkable, get rid of Nasri, yeah right, so my fear is these kids, that are super, duper prospects will want to leave to fulfill their potential.

This isn’t a criticism it’s a fact, how do we keep all these great young prospects when they already have great young prospects ahead of them?

The boss ruled out Paddy coming back and I think that’s a real shame, he is still a monster and experience like that will help out the youngsters, I remember Cesc saying how much playing with Paddy and Dennis helped him improve, still it won’t happen, so we’ll leave it there.

No transfer news to report save if he does buy, he’ll buy early doors, but he seems to be waiting for the merry go round to start with City and Chelsea to get the ball rolling, me I’d go and sign Dzeko right now and get him playing soon.

I think Carlton Cole is a class act, but he’s like a fighter with a glass jaw, he’s the sort of player I would have, a cheaper Dzeko, but it would be like buying another Rosicky or an Overmars, way too risky, but the sort of gamble Wenger would take, if he worked out, and stayed injury free, he’d be a great addition and probably make the team for South Africa, but for me, it’s a big ask and a huge gamble.

We’ll see, I hope like hell the game is on, waiting 6 days between matches when all the golf couses are shut is way too long, Arsenal, I’m ready for this, get it on, if the weather stops the 4 Bolton fans for making the trip, so be it, London is clear and the trains are running.

It may be difficult for our board members to make it in their chauffeur driven cars though, so I’m not holding my breath.

Have a great day grovers, we live in hope.

1,182 Responses to “For you lot that chugged at my Ugs, you are mugs, cos I made it in for the suds!”

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  1. SA Gooner

    i know this is a bit off topic… but with song leaving for afcon and every1 saying we will miss his defensive qualities does anyone agree that we will miss his presence in attack? What I mean is that: Has any1 noticed how often he has the second to last pass b4 a goal ie the assist for the assist… take for example the goals at the weekend…

    any way im sure we can at least score enough goals without him here but no doubt he will be missed… in whatever capacity!

  2. SA Gooner

    he plays for CFR Cluj which I think are one of the top Romanian Sides at the moment… all i know is that he is indeed very tall, has “decent” pace, has reasonable control for his size, and can shoot well with both feet. hes ivorian so would be another african…

    personally i prefer the sound of romelu lukaku, the 16 year old anderlecht striker… he sounds like an unbelieveable prospect althought that opinion is influenced by ann unreliable media…

  3. Cotto

    mangoon, why?

    do you want me banned?

    make your feelings known.. been posting all day having some nice gooner convos/debates

    every single day you are starting with somebody… i loved the way geoff belittled you the other day and put you on your virtual backside

    hillarious and well deserved :lol:

  4. SA Gooner

    yip.. personally i dont think hes going to buy a striker anymore… bendtner is nearing fitness and unless its on a very short term basis ie a loan, it could even prove a counter productive exercise…

    atm i think a single signing of 1 player comfartable in central defence and defensive midfield is more important… provided he is happy to play second fiddle to gallas, tv5 and song… the problem is finding some1 like that…

  5. patthegooner

    Hi Paul

    This was the line from his agent earlier

    Merida’s representative, Joseba Diaz, insists nothing has been signed with Atletico or any other club, saying the only team they are currently in talks with are Arsenal.

    “We haven’t signed anything with Atletico because, simply, the only club with whom we are negotiating is Arsenal,” he told Marca.

    “The absolute priority of the lad is to renew with them. I repeat: There has been no agreement with anybody.

    “Only if we don’t renew with Arsenal will it be the moment to talk with other clubs. There’s been interest from four clubs in Spain but I’ve not sat down to negotiate with any of them.

    “Arsenal have the priority. Moreover, as always, they are acting like gentlemen.”

  6. patthegooner

    part of me wishes that NB is out for a few more weeks than expected as it might force Arsene’s hand

    I still think he wants Chamakh or nowt though.

  7. patthegooner

    I hope he is going to stay and fight for his place Paul.

    I remember when we were first linked with him. It took over a year for him to sign with us.

    Wenger needs to give him a few more chances though.

    He had a stinker Sunday but then look at how he played in the CC cup game. Would be nice to ease him in during a home game.

  8. patthegooner

    Reggie I have been thinking it all month.

    Agent is definately playing the cunt game Cotto. He is probably generating the Atletico interest to get a few more pounds out of Arsenal.

    I am pleased that it sounds like he wants to stay though.

  9. Cotto

    that is exactly how i see it ptg, re:meridas agent.

    i think there is way to much smoke here without the fire of him joining the madrid side.

    such a shame

  10. patthegooner

    That Lacina Traore would fit that bracket Cotto,

    But is he at the ANC at the moment, if so, I dont think that rumour would make sense. I will google the Ivory Coast squad

  11. Cotto

    i dont think he has any choice but to sign another striker, even if bendy is fit… one striker with all the games we have coming up wont be enough.. and at the moment we only really have a half fit 1 striker.

    if he does not sign anyone, it will certainly backfire badly.

  12. SA Gooner

    although i would be delighted if he were to stay… i dont really see a place for him in the first stage… hes so far down the pecking order and all those in front of him are only slightly older(in ramsey and wilshere cases younger)than he is…its going to require a song-esque improvement on his part… still… fingers crossed

  13. Cotto

    hmmm, not sure ptg.. he is only 19, i think he may want a more estabilished first team ready player.

    remy or gignac seems the most likely.. although we cannot give up hope on our le grove fave dzeko.

  14. AA23

    Cotto
    maybe we will sign an actual top drawer. from a chest of drawers. we could put it in goal instead of Almunia, I bet it would be just as good.

  15. Cotto

    i hope he signs.. even if for the sake he cannot break through next season we can at least get 5 or 6 mill back from a transfer fee.

  16. SA Gooner

    AA23 very true… i cant see why wenger persists with him still… in this instance he is his own worst enemy to project youth (although fabianski is 24)…

  17. Cotto

    if only cole was not injured he would surely have been nailed to sign for us?

    premiership ready takes precedent above any other striker.

  18. patthegooner

    Hey I have praying to the Dzeko gods for months.

    I would prefer someone established if it is too happen, but this Traore kid would not surprise me in the slightest.

  19. Cotto

    fabinski has to be given a shot as our number 1, he always impresses me.. aside from a mess up or 2 in the cup last season.. the guy is so self assured.

  20. A

    I really rate him Mang, realistically he or Adriano are the only two rumours I’d really want if they were true, although there aren’t even Adriano rumours are they? Just on wish lists on blogs

  21. Cotto

    aa23 – cmon cole is a good player for us in the premiership, he has electric pace, strength and can finish smartly.

    we could do a lot worse.

  22. SA Gooner

    i was wondering what wenger intends doing in a couple years if (god willing) bendtner and rvp are both fit (god willing) at the same time and were still using a 433. he was determined for rvp to learn the ropes as a lone striker but he cant leave bendtner on the wing forever… and im sure he plans for them both to be in the first team at all times (in 2 years)… just a small flaw in the system… What u think?

  23. AA23

    Cotto
    Cole is injured right now.
    he’s actually injured as we speak.
    Plus I dont think he’s all that. Might look good at westham but at Arsenal?
    I reckon he would slow our attacks right down like that Cunt adebayor used to.

  24. AndAPrayer

    Gambon, sorry for my late response – been busy (not that anyone’s likely to have noticed).

    There seems to be a misconceived notion that Wenger buying young players stops him buying current players. I personally do not think this is the case. He has bought current players in recent years, think of TV and AA. Where this may be a valid criticism would be for players who are just about ready to break into the team properly – Wenger will often not buy a player for a position that he feels will be covered by such a player.

    To my mind this is different than focusing on youth over established players (he can and does focus on both) but is rather an issue of judging whether players can step up when needed.

    Example: A lot of criticism was levied at Wenger over the summer when he didn’t buy an established DM. At the time Melo was the name was often discussed. While I’m not privy to Wenger’s thoughts on the matter I’d imagine he was having to decide whether Melo offered a better option for Arsenal than Song did, both short and long term. To my mind, he absolutely got this one right with Song having developed into a cracking player (sorry Geoff) while Melo has been considered a flop.

    Alternatively, he presumably did the same last season and got it a bit wrong. The trouble is how do you resolve short term and long term success? Had he not given Song last season to mature would he now be the player he is? If not how else could you get him to that level without playing him?

    I know this isn’t a particularly popular view but I’d honestly prefer to see a team develop than a bunch of random players come in and win something. The fact that we, the fans, get to go through the losses with the team feels a bit like a bonding experience with them. We experience the highs and lows as a club, players and fans alike, and when comes together I think it will be far more rewarding for it. Obviously, if this continued on indefinitely and we weren’t right up there (if we don’t win but we’re in the mix I’ll struggle on as there are other teams trying to win it and we have no devine right) I may change my views but if anyone is going to get it to work it’s Wenger.

    Consider that we are currently sitting in 3rd place and have a real possibility of winning it with a team that contains cesc, song, diaby in midfield all of whom came through the ranks. This is also with a squad that has been decimated by injuries.

    Finally, I honestly have a good feeling about NB52 if he can get back to fitness – he may not get as many goals as RVP did (Eddy seems to be able to do that bit) but I believe he could do a good job acting in that pivotal forward role and putting our many attacking players into goal scoring positions.

    Sorry for the essay like length of this post.

  25. AA23

    A
    not yet he hasnt mate. he hasnt played a game yet. of course they are going to say he’s back in training, they are trying to offload the useless prick onto us.

  26. A

    Nope, not been that impressed with Dzeko, big risk no idea how he’d adapt to the prem, and doesn’t have the link up play nor the pace for me, which cole does.

    Dzeko if he made the step up would score more goals I’m sure, but his all round game and contribution wouldn’t be as good as Cole’s

  27. ethangunner

    PTG – DDm

    i think there will be one signing , like AA23 ..
    he seems to try and sign someone on the cheap at this time , its a very buoyant time for wenger to get recruitment’s . he doesn’t compete with as many clubs because most have already spent there budget and he can demand and command a better deal . mainly with players who are almost up on there contracts and or unsettled ..

    youll find him signing some attacking player .
    common sense must prevail !

    if wenger is touting nik B to remain fit plus become the main goal supply for this club he is clinically mad ! – officially

  28. A

    AA23 he’s back in full training, but just might not be risked at the weekend, and if he’s in training, then he’d be fit enough to take a fitness test and get the transfer through asap.

    He’s their best player, not sure they’d be looking to offload him!

  29. Cotto

    cole does have that massive advatnage of being a proven premiership player… before he got injured he was seriously dangerous for the hammers

    score the goal of the season for me against the yids

  30. ethangunner

    A

    you have positively NO PROOF cole would make it .
    and Dzeko wouldnt …

    this is when you start sounding whacked out !

  31. A

    Dzeko has turned into this mythical heroic player over the internet, and through stats, but could well move for big money, then completely flop, a la Huntelaar

  32. A

    ethan Cole is and has been playing and making it in the Premiership for a good while now. Dzeko never has.

    I’ve got no idea whether Dzeko would make it in the prem, i’ve never claimed that he wouldn’t, but NOONE can know, and it’s a big risk as a result.

  33. A

    Carlton Cole is massively underrated AA23, and we’ll see that in the next couple of years, whether with us, West Ham, or someone else.

  34. ethangunner

    yes A , and carton cole could just become another ADE to us also ..

    10 intelligent passers on the pitch and 1 hacker .
    ok 9 if you include almunia :)

  35. A

    ethan carlton cole has the same physical attributes, but is a very intelligent player, which is why I want us to sign him. He’s always been an intelligent player with great hold up and link up play, but always used to lack the goals, now he’s got the goals he’s a superb all round player imo

  36. AA23

    A
    If Cole comes to us I’ll give him a chance and you definitely know your football so I’ll go with you that he might be good for us
    But I dont understand the logic of buying a player because of striker injuries and then buying one with a pretty bad injury record.

  37. ethangunner

    A

    like i said earlier .
    in the OFF – SEASON , i cut and pasted all the top goal scorers from last seasons top goal scorers list and we went down the list of strikers available and im sure you said C.Cole wouldnt have enough class to be an arsenal player .
    im almost positive you said it !
    ————————————
    damn you Le grove for having over 800 entries a day , making me find this vital passage of dialog almost impossible to find !

    :)

  38. ethangunner

    agree 100% choy !

    A – listen im on the fence about him myself(c.c), but im sure you didnt rate him in the off -season because after we had the nungchuck debate , im sure when i suggested carlton cole to you , you said he would never make it here ..

  39. A

    AA23 I agree that the injury record is a risk, but the fact that he wouldn’t be first choice every game would work in his favour and should reduce the frequency of injuries, as it has with Van de Vaart at Madrid. It would be a risk, but of the players available or rumoured I really think he’s the best bet, apart from maybe Adriano, but again a big risk.

    I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have said that ethan because I’ve rated cole since before this season! I did believe in the summer though that we didn’t need a forward, as we wouldn’t if VP hadn’t gotten totally buggered by that injury!

    Might’ve been a different forward though, someone like kenwyne jones who i don’t think is our standard at all.

  40. AA23

    A
    I’ve heard Coles knees are fucked. Proper long term fucked.
    I hope we dont buy him, we have enough perma injured players. I’m fucking sick of it.

  41. choy

    You can SA.

    or you can use blockquote, more stylish

    SA Gooner Says:
    January 6, 2010 at 22:25
    why cant one copy and paste on this blog?

  42. choy

    A.. with our footie we made Ade look good.

    Our team is a strikers heaven.

    Any striker with half a decent footballing brain and physical attributes will do well.

  43. A

    I’d be surprised ethan, my opinions on cole havn’t changed, though my views on our system have to an extent. Before the start of the season I was certain that Eduardo, Vela, Arshavin could all play centrally very well as well as VP and Bendy, but Vela and Eduardo really havn’t done it there for me, though it could be because of their injuries and loss of form.

    I do think now we could do with someone more physical in the front three, and in the summer I felt it wouldn’t make any difference at all.

  44. AA23

    Choy
    That’s why I’d like to See Dzeko or Huntelaar at ours. I reckon they would joyously shit themselves with service like they would get here.

  45. A

    If that’s the case then certainly we shouldn’t sign him AA23, but if it is then he’d fail a medical so no need to worry!

  46. choy

    SA..

    first open blockquote mention the word blockquote in between the brackets

    then copy paste the text of another blogger and close the blockquote mention the word blockquote in between the brackets

  47. ethangunner

    I said because he’s English :)

    , but i would rather we pursue saha !
    he seems on fire currently – so form is not the issue , he’s french and would fit in almost immediately .

    and thats what we need . all we need as a stop gap .

    but will dudu – nik b and even RVP make it ?
    who knows … none are where they need to be right now ! 1 for fitness reasons and the other’s 4 class and form consistencies .

    or lack there of .

  48. A

    yeah i agree to an extent ethan, i’d be happy with saha too.

    Short term wise Adriano would be the best bet, as he’d be very happy to just stay around until the end of the season, but there would be a big risk regarding his attitude, and adapting to the prem

  49. finestcuts

    Cluj President Iuliu Muresan has confirmed Wenger’s interest in the player.

    Muresan said: “We have been in contact with Arsenal but have not received any concrete offer. Four million euros is the fee we are looking for.”

    Lacina Traore Scouting Report
    League Clubs
    2007-08: Stade d’Abidjan – 10 games, 4 goals
    2008-10: CFR Cluj – 18 games, 5 goals

    source: mirror.com

    This guy is dubbed the new Adey.

  50. A

    if we did sign this bloke then it wouldn’t be as our replacement striker. He’s not even broken into the ivory coast squad.

  51. A

    If he went to Spurs he’d just do a Pavyluchenko not get in the side for ages, struggle to adapt, then be shipped off in 12 months! Redknapp isn’t going to break up defoe and crouch

  52. A

    imo Cole has the physical attributes of Ade, but is very intelligent too, the opposite of Ade in that regards! I’d hope that Wenger could do absolute wonders with him, as he did with Ade

  53. SA Gooner

    not happening for me choy… promise im not a cretin… i fell lyk im letting yo down and embarassing my country… what is a blockquote? do i right click first… it wont let me simply highlight text copy and paste it… it comes up with a sort of “no entry” sign!!! HELP!!!

  54. ethangunner

    A

    Before the start of the season I was certain that Eduardo, Vela, Arshavin could all play centrally very well as well as VP and Bendy, but Vela and Eduardo really havn’t done it there for me
    —————————————
    well i told you they wouldn’t ,

    the big surprise 4 me
    is that others in the midfield are chipping in
    to mask the striking inadequacies this season , which is good ..but still masks the problem ..

    choy is 100% correct in saying any striker would have a field day here ..

    they are supplied with a lions share of chances every game .. the mark of success is to make use of the wengerball tactics and finish SAID CHANCES !

    for 2 seasons now , all our strikers imo have failed to deliver !

    and now you see why i said we need someone there …

    like david villa !

    we might have to shell out 35 mil , but within 1 or 2 years wenger could sell him on for a ronaldo fee ..

  55. reggie57

    We must stop going down this line of buying cheap unknown players who might never ever get into the first team? time to buy quality and not quantity and as we all know quality costs!!

  56. ethangunner

    thanks choy :)

    and pedro .. you made my day …

    he cant be worse than ade !

    can he ?

    trust wenger to look to africa for recruitment

    on the year of the ACN !

    mastermind of logical deduction that !

    yes lets buy an african then not have him join until march – april

  57. A

    That’s not the case though – we create loads as a team, but only because the whole team is fluid, everyone gets chances. In terms of just one player, no one player gets loads of chances, or even as many as at other clubs

  58. reggie57

    Its embarrassing if you ask me being linked with a near 7 foot unknown AW talks a good transfer but never delivers!!

  59. A

    Look at how many shots our players have compared to those in the top scorers list

    VP 51
    Arshavin 47
    Cesc 44
    Eduardo 30
    Diaby 25
    Vermaelen 23 (lol)

    Defoe 76
    Drogba 105
    Rooney 112
    Bent 66

  60. A

    Gooby it didn’t originate in the Mirror thankfully, or it could be written off immediately!

    Saw someone in the Mirror that claimed they knew Wenger’s 7 targets, one of them was RVN, one was Agbonlahor, absolutely ridiculous!

  61. A

    If you just stick a prolific forward centrally, he wouldn’t get THAT many chances himself, and wouldn’t score THAT many goals.

  62. ethangunner

    That’s not the case though – we create loads as a team, but only because the whole team is fluid
    ——————————-
    ade was anything but fluid , he was a camper , made good by our supply lines .

    we dont need another unintelligent striker throwing away possession constantly by average finishing ..

    we need a class act and we need it yesterday ..

  63. A

    Yeah ethan that’s very true, which is why ade was offloaded. I’m sure if you looked at the shots on goal from last season with ade, the strikers would have had many more, as we had much less of a fluid system with him in the team.

    That’s why I want Cole rather than Dzeko signed, although Dzeko has more class than Ade, he’s still very much a goalscorer, with limited link up play from what i’ve seen.

  64. Pedro

    Ethan, he’s super prolific as well, which bodes well for us snaring him!

    Has there ever been a prolific 6ft6 plus striker?

  65. A

    reggie we don’t create chances for just one person though, so an out and out goalscorer wouldn’t be that good for us, and would limit everyone else.

    As with ade we’ve have one person scoring more than our other players, but as a team we’d score less

  66. AndAPrayer

    Reggie – who would you have Arsenal buy that would:
    A) be available; and
    B) not be the target of several other clubs several of whom could match our absolute top bid?

    all very well saying buy quality but it has to be quality we can afford (eg probably not in the £40m+ mark) and quality that the current club are willing to sell.

    TV is quality but was relatively unknown and didn’t cost the earth – more like that please but no doubt those kind of signings won’t appease the masses, at least not until they slowly realise Wenger knows a good player when he sees one.

  67. choy

    SA.. check the link i posted.. all the details in there.

    Nah.. I have loads of patience.. following arse we all do i guess ;)

  68. reggie57

    Yeah A i can see what you are saying but whats the point of creating numerous chances and having no-one to finish off the fantastic approach work

  69. Maksud

    Just read on another forum that the game will be replayed on the 3rd..

    So it now looks like this..

    24 Sun FA Cup A Stoke City
    27 Wed Premier League A Aston Villa
    31 Sun Premier League H Manchester United
    03 Wed Premier League H Bolton
    07 Sun Premier League A Chelsea
    10 Wed Premier League H Liverpool
    13 Sat FA Cup N Round 5
    17 Wed Champions League A Porto
    20 Sat Premier League H Sunderland

    Bolton between ManU and Chelsea, plus i hear the weather only get worse towards the weekend so Everton might be postponed too. Shit weather you guys have over there..

  70. ethangunner

    A ,

    its good that wenger has given them all a license to shoot .

    but it still masks the fact that our weak links have always been our strikers the past season or 2 ..

    if we had a goto man , we wouldnt see such a vast amount of scorers .

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