When Robin Van Persie first injured himself one of my ‘know it all’ scouse mates said that there would be no way we’d cope without our striker. We stuttered a little and a world class striker could have made things a little easier, but overall, we’ve dealt with the issue extremely well.
Manchester United have benefited from a fantastically inform Wayne Rooney this season. He’s been knocking in Nani and Valencia crosses with incredible regularity. Arsenal fans have cursed his fitness and the United fitness team’s ability to cure his injuries… they also claimed if United ever lost him they’d struggle badly. Well, the injury came and so did the United collapse… they lost to Chelsea, went out to Bayern in the Champions league… and yesterday, they drew to Blackburn!
One man team anyone? I mean, it’s embarrassing that Arsenal can throw a 22 year old Dane into the mix and he can deliver a load of important goals, United throw a £28million striker into the mix and they still lose all effectiveness!
That means if we win the rest of our games, we finish second this year. That’s a fantastic achievement and one we can build on for next year.
That means that the Spurs game becomes the closest thing to a cup final we’ll have all season. Spurs went out of the cup in humiliating went out to cash strapped Pompey. Lord Justice clearly sprayed his magic dust over Wembley in a fantastic day for the south coast club. Spurs hit the wood-work plenty of times but when it came down to it… Pompey were just too clinical for them!
Oh… and Palacios is suspended… Kranky might also be out with a nasty injury.
Poetic or what?
Harry deserves everything he’s getting down at the lane. His awful management of Pompey’s clubs finances and his selfish quest to line his pockets first, think of the well being of the club second should have had him suspended from club management at the very least. Instead, he was rewarded with a cushty job at Spurs. Well, at least we can make sure they don’t take 4th and end the season potless.
We can hope they’ll be mentally drained for us on Wednesday… but for me… there’s no chance. Spurs have 4th to play for and they’ll need to restore their pride.
Wednesday is massive.
I think we’ll be just as up for it though. If I was going to make a prediction, I’d say this will be an incredibly passionate game. I think it has classic written all over it and if I was a betting man, I’d have money on some red cards!
I think we’ll do them… our players will want to banish the ghosts of the Nou Camp and give the faithful something to brag about in the office!
RvP is back in the mixer apparently and JD could be as well. I’ve heard through the grapevine that Robin is training really well and JD is looking sharp. If there was a risk involved, I wouldn’t play Robin. Nik has done more than enough to justify a starting berth. Song will be back to boss the midfield and you’d imagine Sol Campbell will be massively up for playing against his old club. Nasri and Diaby in the middle should be far too much for Spurs.
It’s going to be brilliant. I’m so excited, I’m thinking of investing in some Tena men… my bladder can’t take it these days!
Could we still win the Premiership? I’m not so sure… Chelsea are looking pretty strong at the moment. The best thing we can do is fight till the end and score maximum points. I’ve also got a bit of a problem with Man City. I’d like to reassert some dominance over them! Can’t have them thinking they’re a better team, can we?
I think if this season has proved anything, it’s that we have developed a good base of a squad. Some players haven’t risen to the challenge, but a number have. If we can avoid losing players this summer and replace where necessary, next season could be a different story. Imagine if we had a world class keeper and four top class defenders to choose from? Add Chamakh into the mixer and we could win the Premiership next season.
One bit of worrying news that was shared with us by one of the Grovers in the know, was that Arshavin could be off this summer. I don’t think he’s endeared himself to the faithful this year and I can’t imagine Wenger takes too kindly to his press out pourings and his sometimes lazy displays. Hopefully Arsenal can work around that because the guy is a huge talent and it’d be shame to see him somewhere else. Sol will get a new contract according to the source. This guy gave us the Ade news very early last season and he gave us the Sol resigning story as well.
This is going to be a cracking few weeks… enjoy it, you’ll miss it when the world cup comes!
Come on Arsenal!
P.S. If you haven’t read Old Birds Barca post, make sure you do. It’s an excellent account of an away day experience in Europe. I also forgot to post this excellent article from Who at all the pies yesterday. It fitted quite nicely with my talk of England, until I deleted it and had to start again.
I’ve got 4 away tickets for the Wigan game. If you’re interested, drop me an e-mail and I’ll put you in touch with the owners. My e-mail is in the side bar —->
Oh and just to clear something up. Marmite is a British delicacy that you spread on toast, bagels, potatoes or anything else you can think of. Their slogan is ‘you love it or you hate it‘. That’s why we call certain player the marmite’s, because they divide opinion. If I catch anyone making racist comments or insinuations, they’ll be lobbed off.
I love it more than Bendtner
Le Grove is a blog of love… the only thing that defines a Grover is their opinion. Simple as that.
- Facebook: facebook.com/legrove
- Twitter: @legrove @oldbird42 (Barca Post)
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Le Grove is now smart phone compatible!
Pedro
Geoff
Waaaaassssssuuuuuuuuuuuuuuppp!!!!
Morning all
ManU drew y’day which is gr8 news. It gives us the chance to leapfrog them IF we beat Spurs on wednesday.
We need to win every game from now and i think the only games Chelsea can lose are against ManCity so therefore we’v gotto go for it
3rd?
Let’s all laugh at totnum la la la la
Haha Spuds. CHOKE CHOKE CHOKE..
and no Palacios. That is massive.
It’ll be a pity to see Arshavin go
Pedro – Awesome post! nearly as good as one of Geoff’s!!
A couple of things. I make you right about having a good, solid base of players now. We just need to add some established quality to the team and we’ll be flying.
As for the Arshavin thing. I know he hasn’t performed well but lets not forget Wenger has done the usual Wenger thing and played him out of position 90% of the time. That would be enough to upset most players and I think this is the root cause of Arshavin’s grievances. I’d go back to the traditional 4-3-3 which actually plays out more like a 4-3-1-2 with AA in behind the 2 front men rather than 2 flanks of 3. I think that would work so, so well with the players we have and should have by the summer (Chamakh & Co.).
As for the whole Marmite thing……I don’t think you should be sexually rewarding people for being rac ist!! I’ve never heard it being referred to as getting ‘lobbed off’. In my day it was just called a wank.
Harry deserves everything he’s getting down at the lane. His awful management of Pompey’s clubs finances and his selfish quest to line his pockets first, think of the well being of the club second should have had him suspended from club management at the very least. Instead, he was rewarded with a cushty job at Spurs. Well, at least we can make sure they don’t take 4th and end the season potless.
Bang On that twitchy cunt got exactly what he deserved yesterday and i hope the pompey fans gave it to him,
On a side note i see the media hasnt gone into overdrive about the Terry tackle on milner i saw it for the first time this morning and its a sickner that bloke is pure fucking filth and i hope he gets a serious fucking injury like a broken neck the no good cunt,
Whats the News DDM i take it its your story regarding our little russian ? I wasnt about much at the weekend so havent seen the comments,
Who “ate” all the pies.
Arshavin in a straight swap for Tevez
I wont be too happy if Arshavin leaves – it would be hard to replace him.
However if we sold Arshavin to Barca for say 30 mill, and bought Torres for 50 mill, would that be an issue?
Old fashion 4 4 2 – with Torres and RVP up top !!!
Top 10? Atleast rvp will be bak to fuk up dat cunt wen man shitty cum dwn to emirates!
I mentioned about a week ago that I thought AA would go for a few reasons. Talks too much, wants to go to Barca, wants more cash and is lazy. Great shame. The big reason is Arsenal always try to balance the transfer books. I do see one hurdle in that I cant see why Barca would want him.
i got 2nd
it keeps getting better and better
yep i’d hate it if we lost arshavin because i know Wenger will stick Nasri there!
Arsenal should sign Tottenham Hotspur’s Wilson Palacios – Perry Groves
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2565/exclusives/2010/04/12/1870714/arsenal-should-sign-tottenham-hotspurs-wilson-palacios-perry?
This man is 100% right. He says we need a big DM, CB and a keeper like Lloris.
Great and informative post!
Best pain reliever… sp*ds losing to pompey
what a joy watching spurs going down
I fear for Sir Alex Ferguson if he doesn’t get cash to spend at Manchester United
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1265041/GARY-LINEKER-I-fear-Sir-Alex-Ferguson-doesn-t-cash-spend-Manchester-United.html?ITO=1490#ixzz0ksAeSq8j
it’l be interesting if Fergie has no cash to spend because then we’l see how compares with Wenger who also had his hands tied financially
We’v lost so many players but still march on towards the title…however ManU lose 1 player (Rooney) and they are shite!
KM. We had Palacios at our place allready, we gave him to Brum.
Will Terry (cunt) be up for the FA for that tackle.
They get a lot of decions go their way, and may now win the double, cunts
Hope Song returns for wed, and put Rvp on the bench
Spuds leaving Wembley must have been like a vacuum, there are none to be seen
Terry filth: refereeing does not punish the reckless
http://anotherarsenalblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/terry-filth-refereeing-does-not-punish.html
check out this tackle from Terry on Milner….
its really sick. Terry didnt even go in for the ball, he went for his leg…..this was a ‘Shawcross’ tackle… crunching tackle, going for the man, this was not a timed tackle – no way! however i bet the SUN & the MOTD idiots will still be bigging up Terry.
This should have been a sending off and 3match ban
morning all, have to say i couldn’t stop laughing watching all those sad spurs faces on the box! especially after a night in the boozer with a load of them gloating about 2 trips to wembley!! ha fucking ha!!
Great post Pedro. Coming second with the season we’ve had will be monumental (although still dreaming of top slot obv). Am already excited about next year. Sad but not too bothered if Andrey goes. Some good signings we’ve been promised plus a fit RVP and Cesc and wow. And lets not forget our talented loanees who seem to be doing great things and will return a year older and more experienced. Never mind new signings lets get excited about Wilshere, JET etc. Plus we will have Gibbs and Ramsey back. OMG Roll on August…….
Big Dave
yep, Wenger recommended Palacios to Steve Bruce. However we definately need a DM in the Yaya Toure/Essien mould
Mornin Gooners and Goonerettes
I will go crazy if we lose Arshavin. He is being wasted on the wings, to accomodate the mediocre talents of RoadRunner Walcott, and Denilson. When played as a number 10 in a 4-3-1-2 the lad is sublime.
Fabregas is our player of the season, but if Arshavin is played as a #10, the lad is mint. Change of pace, two footed and a big game performer…Arshavin You Beauty!!!
He is easily our best player
Big Dave
Re.Terry tackle. I dnt think FA will act on Terry’s tackle because he is a key England player. However this is a shame because if this was anywhere else in Europe this would be a straight Red card. The referees in this country are too lenient on these type of tackles…. they’v got the ‘lets get stuck in’ mentality. Football is not all about tackles flying in.
Without Rooney, who has got them a lot of points they would be mid table
Arsenal Tom,
Mate you must have HD i didnt see any spurs fans faces all i saw were empty red seats after the 2nd went in lol
Would Guardiola actually be interested in a player (Arshavin) that has shown near zero commitment and work rate?? A player like that could not fit in with Pep’s philosophy on tracking back and the 7 second chase down!!
terry wont get anything because the ref saw it and dealt with it.
chippy, lol mate.. what a beauty it was… prefect hangover cure!
Meneu10
how would u set up our side in a 4-3-1-2? We would struggle with no width.
The only solution is a 4-4-2 imo.
RvP/Chamakh
Arshavin/Theo
? Cesc Nasri
Song
back 5
O’Neill hits out at Terry
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11095_6086802,00.html?
arshavin isn’t our best player. he’s top class but i wouldn’t be surprised to see him and gallas off in the summer.
chamakh to come in a keep the same numbers up top.
JD will be like a new signing to replace gallas
and a nice 15m profit from the arshavin sale
CHELSEA’S JOHN TERRY WON’T APOLOGISE FOR JAMES MILNER TACKLE
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/football/view/130494/Chelsea-s-John-Terry-won-t-apologise-for-James-Milner-tackle-/?
proves Terry has no morals and is a proper thug
Zenit want AA23 back. Barca wont buy him
Myles P is right in what he says about Kroenke today
imo JD is 3rd rate…he’s just not good enough for Arsenal. He belongs in a mid-table side
Big Dave
could u post the article from Myles Palmer plz
Sir Alex Ferguson admits Manchester United have handed Chelsea the title
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1265244/Sir-Alex-Ferguson-admits-Manchester-United-handed-Chelsea-title.html?ITO=1490#ixzz0ksH8gQYl
feel sorry for Berbatov because he was such an amazing player at Spurs and now he looks out of sorts at ManU
le Grove is a blog of love
Could someone explain that to poor soul Jaguar?
It’s got to the point where it looks as though Howard Webb doesn’t even watch most of the game, he’s too busy strutting about like the complete cunt that he is.
He’s worse than Graham Poll and that truly is saying something.
feel sorry for Berbatov because he was such an amazing player at Spurs and now he looks out of sorts at ManU
—-
Has Fergie played him out of position?
Djourou is good enough to play for Hull perhaps but not Arsenal.
KM
I was thinkin
Sagna,SpeedyPowerful CB, TV, Clichy
Song/Diaby Fab4/Ramsey SpeedyPowerfulLDM/Denilson
Arsh/Nasri
RVP/Vela Chamakh/Bendtner
The fullbacks can push up and Song along with our New DM can cover them. Arshavin and Fab4 are free to direct traffic.
The only way our defense will get in better in a 4-4-2 is if Fab4 plays on the right.
Fab4 + Song in the engine room = no clean sheets
KM how does your 4-4-2 work?
And some in the media wanted that piece of filth to keep the countrys armband,
You imagine if that was one of our foreigners that had made that tackle we would still be being shown it now on continous loop, When he finally does snap a fellow pros leg at least we wont have to indure hes not that type of bloke bollocks !!!
Tom, Sure was fella, It was like a great comedy that had me chuckling for hours
KM.
http://www.arsenalnewsreview.co.uk/index.php?mact=News%2Ccntnt01%2Cdetail%2C0&cntnt01articleid=1569&cntnt01returnid=42&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ArsenalNewsReview+%28ANR%3A+Arsenal+News+Review%29
Carlos is my favorite player. Nice blog.
I don’t feel sorry for Berbatov at all.
He was utter tosh yesterday, Fegie paid £30 mill for him !!. He was very good @ spuds, defo gone down hill, but fuck him, and city will do utd on sat
Liverpool 0 Fulham 0: All square at Anfield as European hangover dents Reds fourth place hopes
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1265205/Liverpool-0-Fulham-0-All-square-Anfield.html#ixzz0ksI5yJ9M
L’pool have shot themselves in the foot so many times. Hopefully they’l beat Chelsea
thats all i ask of them
KM
Without Torres?
Seems the Heebs are turning on twitchy Fuck me this rant was as funny as watching them sink like the Titanic yesterday,
how patronising can you get ,this was wrong from the first whistle ,harry do one & resign ,even all the harry lovers are quite ,yeah this is one game but it`s been coming ,harry a good manager ? don`t make me laugh ,harry out harry out harry out ,the mans a muppet ,if he was a nice bloke like martin jols i`d say give him a chance ,but he`s a disloyal jumping ship tax evading ,back handing dollar pinching crook ,so no ! i don`t care he`s a w`a`n`k“e`r always has always will be ,thats him ,i won`t rest until he`s gone but i do have more important things to worry about so i won`t be a spurs fan until he`s gone ,i don`t like him never have ,he`s an `orrible little twitching man ,don`t care about anyone except himself & his ego which has now took a battering ,`arry out `arry out
Worrying thing is that was posted by Daniel xxxx lol
Big Dave
i hope City beat Utd but i’l only be happy if we win our remaining games.
Meneurdejeu10
my 4-4-2 would be:
Sagna Song TV Clichy
DM
Nasri Cesc ? (new signing – a proper left winger)
Hazard/Elia
Arshavin
RvP/Chamakh
Chippy,
Thanks for the laugh.
BNSB
as i say:
Hope for the Best
Expect the Worst
Those drop points to Brum, WHU both away still pain me
Who gave the news that AA23 is leaving?
Liverpool for sale: American owners admit they will cut a deal for club with £237m debts
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1265106/Liverpool-sale-American-owners-admit-cut-deal-club-237m-debts.html#ixzz0ksLAIHfX
These american owners have fucked up bigtime. Benetiz has also had a big hand in this by buying so much shite
Bellamy, at times he looks speedier than Theo and at his age has good control over ball too. And a loud mouth to top.
KM.
It’s a big ask with our depleted squad to win all our remaining matches sadly
A&N, Double Gooner and a someone I know who is close to the club confirmed something similar.
yep we should have won at Bham…..we took it too easy after we scored our 1st goal. we lack urgency and are not ruthless.
bnsb, Bellamy is quick, but what makes him look even quicker is his footballing intelligence.
He hardly ever gets caught offside, he knows how to time runs perfectly.
KM: sorry, but absoltely zero chance of Pool beating Chavs. The game will be three days after Pool’s semi against Athletico. Also, by then they will have no chance of fourth spot.
Big Dave
RVP, Djorou are “like new signings”
Thanks Pedro, just wanted to know whose comments I should be reading instead of skipping past
We are going away to Blackburn like Man Utd.
Did United play poorly or did Rovers defend well?
… and our matches are fairly well spaced.
Did United play poorly or did Rovers defend well?
–
Both IMO, United wasted many very good scoring opportunities.
mendeur10… bit of both mate. blackburn are hard to beat at home, they’ve only lost twice all season!
i got murdered on here a week or 2 ago for saying arshavin looks like he’s off now its not a big deal!?! i reckon he’ll go to add a few quid for a deal for hazard
BNSB
Bellamy is cracking because he has everything in his locker…. skill, speed, gr8 shot,strength, good control and a lot of heart. However not sure if he’d want to jump ship for cheapskates like us. However we should really go for someone like Hazard/Elia because Arsenal would be a big jump from playing for Lille/Hamburg
I was reading some old blogs about the man city v arsenal game, and that has really fired me up for 26th april, the cunt stampin on rvp, kicking song, trying to savage fab4 ankle and that fuckin sprint he did towards us.. Cant wait 4 dat cunt! Rvp is on a mission, he wanted to play in the carling cup bt wenger didnt let him, so rvp gets his chance at emirates
Marmite on potatoes? sick fucks
KM
No, I didnt mean we go for Bellamy.
And another thing. No Liverpool international player is going to risk injury against Chavs in a meaningless match two games before they head off to WC.
on paper the ManCity & Spurs games look hardest however these litte teams like Blackburn are bloody hard to beat
I had Marmite for breakfast.
Not on toast, but on weetabix with milk.
bellamy will be done in a few years… he’s had something crazy like 9 knee operations in 10 years… 3 left years tops
i think your going way overboard with the bendtner comments,both of us are out of europe and the mancs are still above us.
So Arshavin wants to leave, doesnt want to play next five games feigning injury to “two muscles”, collect wages and bonus and scoot.
Nice, very nice if true!
Interesting…. No wonder Chavski and Manure get the decisions. We havent won in ages.
“One of the reasons for that is that Mike Riley reports into a board which is basically run by the Premier League. So it’s the clubs themselves who are dictating policy as opposed to the laws of the game.”
And leave Jaguar alone.
BBK
Shoe is on the other foot, we have a game in hand!
ManCity atm are raping the teams they play. They are on fire esp. with Ade back. I would really fear these fukkers if they reached 4th and added a top manager
Arsenal Tom
Hey mate thx for the reply. A fully fit Arshavin is able to leave his imprint on major matches even more than Ronaldo and Fab4.
Arshavin stated we needed three or four more players. He was right. Or does Wenger love his sheepwalkers like Denilson and Walcott? He owes less to him because he came with a reputation after the Euros.
Is Walcott on 60K a week?
I have said for a while now that AA23 looks like he is already thinking of his next club!
Myles Palmer summed it up perfectly. Pep Guardiola doesnt tolerate mediocrity.He wont include Almunia,Denilson,Eboue,Diaby,Walcott,Eduardo (ie,a majority of our team).Arsene rewards mediocrity
I long to see a winger at our club taking on defenders, running at them at pace a bit like Overmars use to do for us.
We need to inject that back into our game, sometimes it feels like we are slow to break.
Arsenal needs a sweep up, get rid of the rubbish and repalace it with new, otherwise it will be the same ol same ol again, we are not that far away and we have done bloody well to be in this position without the likes of Rvp, but we need to that extra quality to take us over the finishing line.
Just would like us to beat Man u /chavs for a change
Finally all rumours come true, right?
BBK, if we beat Spurs, we’ll be above United.
Bendtner likes scoring against Spurs and he’s scored some crucial goals this season. He’s not the finished article yet… but how many are at his age?
Jaguar, Diaby hasn’t been mediocre this season… nor has Eboue.
The rest have a some explaining to do… but there are plenty of players you could pick out for Chelsea and United who haven’t had blinding seasons.
EBoue4Pm – you’d be fired up 2 days after the game mate, the Shitty game is on the 24th April.
Pedro, your Barcelona namesake and Bojan Krkic are both pretty special players.
it’s a game we won’t win,we should not be having to put up with all these young players,they are getting us nowhere
watched the El Classico on the w/end
Ronaldo looked so rubbish it was unbelievable. He has pace but not enough dribbling skills. He couldnt beat his man for skill but tried to outpace them but did not get any success. Real came out all guns blazing and played like a bunch of veteran bruisers. However i thought Barca’s ball retention was outstanding. I’v never seen a side so good with the ball. Imo Xavi is such a gr8 player…Messi would be nowhere if he didnt have Xavi pulling the strings and providing him with gr8 assists. Madrid huffed and puffed but just didnt get going!
Beat spurs, “Young players” would have got us to second.
Meneurdejeu10, I’m not sure Bojan has been that great this season… I’m certainly a fan of Pedro!
Barca have exceptional young players, most of the time, we merely have good ones.
I don’t know how Barca get away without the development stage!
Still, Jack Wilshere, Kieron Gibbs and Aaron Ramsey give me plenty of hope.
Its not about youth,its about the quality,and we lack it.
There has been so many twists this season that i think we still have a chance.
Meneurdejeu10
the 60k a week thing is pretty much what people have assumed he’s on but i dont know for sure.
arshavin is class but the problem is its only when he wants to be… he’s not going to do it every week for us because he’s lazy – he admitted that himself. i like the bloke and the player but i just think his attitude and performances look like someone who’s not in it for the long haul.
id rather he went than cesc or RVP to be honest
I often blame Almunia and the back four because they are poorly protected by our adventurous midfield. Team structure and quality of players is the issue.
Who is responsible?
Wenger the CEO/MD/LLB/Chartered Accountant/Physio/Nutritionist of the team
Mr B “and leave Jaguar alone”.
Come off it. He is an endangered species and should be treated as such. Caged, controlled breeding, and his diet should be carefully monitored as part of his anger management treatment. Cut out all red meat immediately. Then he can become the tame little pussy cat we all know and love, not the big nasty creature of the night.
Jaguar, we have plenty of quality. Just not in goal… and our back up DM isn’t the best.
i’m not going to believe that Arshavin is leaving until its a done deal…
pedro… and our back-up CB’s and CF’s mate!
Pedro,the likes of Diaby wouldnt have lasted long to come good to being average,under Pep Guardiola,while our manager uses the club as a platform for the development of average players,who wont cut the mustard in a big club.
arshavin is one of our best players, only cesc is more important, we do not want to lose him, yes there are certain things that he needs to improve on, but that goes for everyone apart from cesc
lets not forget that AA23 is our 2nd top scorer and has our 2nd highest assist record
losing him will be going backwards
MG
What if we replace like for like? If we dont it would be another Adebayorgate.
Pedro,quality=Fabregas,Van Persie,Gallas,Sagna
Vermaelen is almost there.The rest are just average incosistent players who have had one great season.
On another note would Merida fit into Arsha shoes?
Jaguar, true… very true. However, Diaby wouldn’t have been average for so long had he not had his ankle broken against Sunderland.
I’m all for filling the team with quality players, but if a player has glaringly obvious talent, I can live with development.
There aren’t many players in our team who aren’t cut out for the big time.
Denilson (Not living up to expectation)
Silvestre (Gone in the summer)
Almunia (Probably gone as well)
Big Dave
i like this kid and he’d be in our price range.
i like Di Maria but he would be too expensive
Eljero Elia HSV
There is no chance of Wenger parting ways with his love children Almunia and Denilson. Its a disgrace to all gooners that Clownmoonia ever wore a captains armband.
We lost four midfielders in 08 (Diarra,Flamini,Gilberto,Hleb)
We are on the verge of losing four centrebacks in ’10
(Gallas,Campbell,Silvestre,Senderos)
Has this happened at any other club?
Meneurdejeu10, I’ve heard Campbell is definitly getting a new contract.
Gallas… well, I’d like to see him stay, but he probably wont… Silvestre… well, who cares!
I think it’s a good thing. It forces Wenger’s hand.
Sounds like we did well to avoid Smalling!
I use to think this blog is Foolish blog, I just can’t stop reading your articles even though you people annoy me but as you said, what makes a grover is the division of opinion.
As for Arshavin, I think he should get the fuck off. We can always use the money ( hopefully as much as 20 million ) to buy someone better than him.
He is good but he does not have the interest of the team at heart. He talks to much and plays as though he does not care.
He is obviously trying to use us to go to a bigger club. His media out burst about the injury make me hate him the more. I want him sold and as soon as possible as that.
Great blog, but we have different opinions.
Latest Football News, some times the most interesting opinion to read is the one that disagrees with your own.
I find that anyway. Glad you like it.
Pedro, why do you say that about Smalling?
Pedro
With new signing Johan Djourou and Gallas likely leaving you will get one more CB.
TV,New CB,Djourou,Campbell.
The question I have had for two years will we sign the defensive midfielders with above average size and speed to permanently kill the smurf Denilson?
pedro… heard anything on merida?
A&N, I don’t think he’s been in the best form when he’s got a game.
Meneurdejeu10, too true about the ‘new signing’.
Not sure I’m as anti-JD as everyone else. I’m not sure I remember him having too many poor games for us? I quite like him!
Denilson is most improved player in the whole premier league – next season
Nothing AT… I think he’s off though… Flamini-esque… without the great season.
I’m shocked he didn’t get the run in the team he deserved. I thought he was a great talent.
People were full of praise for JD in one of the games he played. Dont remember which one though.
If we could live without Ade’s goals we’ll be fine without Arshavin’s…I’m indifferent if he stays or goes, I’m just pleased we’ll be adding a quality hardworker like Chamakh.
Well done Pedro, enjoying your posts
ped… me to mate, he was always billed as a ‘left footed cesc’ and maybe that was taking it a bit far but he looked to have everything you’d need to be successful with us.
how reliable is the sol contract info?
Imo Arshavin is peeved at playing out of position in a under-strength team. Wenger just needs to splash out a bit and re-jig the formation, if he wants Arshavin playing on top form.
Lyon interested in Eduardo?
http://www.footylatest.com/lyon-preparing-to-make-a-bid-for-arsenal-striker/13772
bnsb… probably the chav game where he scored an oggy ironically… he got up and got on with it and had a pretty solid game.
bnsb
You are a f**k*n hero with that news mate. Greatest day since we signed the Arsh!!!
That Smalling thing was all very strange i travel into work with a Fulham season ticket holder who couldnt beleive what us and United were willing to pay for the kid, Its not that he hasnt got ability or potential because he has its just that he thought the money was well over the top for the risk we would be taking,
I couldnt see any sense in it at all we are crying out for experience in that position as centrebacks dont every really hit there peak to at least mid to late 20s and weve got a handfull of young centreback prospects that are around the same age as smalling ie nordvet ayling bartley etc so just couldnt understand spending another wedge on another kid,
KM, I don’t think he’s played out of position. His former coach has said his fav position is either left of a 433 or behind a striker…Wenger tried him behind the striker in some matches and he couldn’t handle it so he shifted him to left where you naturally find more space…he can’t complain
With Chamakh coming in maybe the team will accomodate him more, a bit like how Rooney worked hard for Ronaldo to shine
Pedro,
Sorry but have you got what was written regarding Arshavin ? Ive gone through the comments section and couldnt see anything?,
Blimey if they sold him there would be some seriously pissed of fans !! We cannot keep selling our best players he hasnt had a great season granted but hes still a menace when on form and to be honest i really dont think hes been fit for the best part of 2 months,
Kevin Prince Boateng – Is he from WWE?
When we play chelsea we could line up with
Bendtner-RvP (if fit)-Chamakh
Diaby-Song-Cesc
That should take away any excuse of physical complex
Boatang was awesome yesterday.
Spuds must be kicking themselves about letting him go, he looks like a gladiatorial powerhouse.
A&N
You mean Maximus Decimus Meridius?
apparenyl lass diarra is up for grabs again from madrid… id love a cheeky 10m bid for him
RE.Eduardo to Lyon
interesting. would be gr8 business esp if we could do Eduardo + cash for Lloris
yes bnsb!
AT, I was surprised Diarra did not play in el crapico! He would have got to grips with Xavi.
Morning all,
I wouldn’t bat an eye if Arshavin was to leave – he is so non-committed I often forget that he is even an Arsenal player.
Interesting to see the likes of Diaby and Eboue dividing opinion – although the former is no where near the player Arshavin is, I would much rather have him in the team; for me he has probably been our best performer of the season outside of the holy-trinity (Cesc, Tommy V and Song).
As for Ebou-seless, the man is quite simply a legend!!!
A&N… apparently him and pelligrini arent very good friends at the moment!
arshavin situation is quite similar to hleb… remember he slapped and got banned for last three matches of campaign
if only dolphin head sorted his attitude out he would be great.
Imagine him and Song in our midfield protecting the back 4 ! Most teams would struggle to break them down, at the moment only Song does the dirty work and he needs help!
A&N, i reckon if we brought him back as a DM he’d be fine.
Losing Arshavin would just a nightmare. Scores goals, gets assists etc etc.. Yes he goes missing big games at times, yes he can be lazy.. But he is still a talent.
Also it sends out the wrong message that our top players are available.
He has only been here 14 months roughly. Would be sad to see him go unless a proper replacement came in.
Great,
So Arshavin will be sold and replaced with a 17 year old.
What is Wengers obsession with constantly rebuilding?!..
Arsenal Insider
let me tell you of a call I had yesterday from a pal in the know who told me that Andrey Arshavin was on his bike from the Arsenal in the summer. The chap who told me, a die-hard Arsenalista, has close links with several Premier League players and has never told me worthless tittle-tattle before — he has no reason to dream this up and in the past what he has told me has been accurate. So, there, you are. I am told no more than that and don’t write it as fact, merely passing on what I have been told.
Given his lacklustre performances of late will we miss him? But that’s not the point is it? He needs to knuckle down and deliver the displays we know he can turn in, even if it is only for the remainder of the season when he is fit again. Perhaps his home life in London has irked him and his missus and he fancies a switch for that reason. It’d be a shame and mean AW will have to draft in an exceptional talent to replace him but if his heart isn’t at the club then it’s best for all concerned that he leaves I suppose.
So Pedro’s friend called every other blog
No surprise if Arsh leaves – Arsenal offloads its best players and then starts moaning that they cannot win… This season they lost to every big team there was, with the exception of Porto – and it was Arshavin.
AT. No for Dairra, he had his chance, cried like a baby and was flogged, move on
Jay20h – I know what you are saying mate – he definitely falls into the ‘match winner’ category and one of the criticisms I have had over the last few years is that we don’t have as many of those type of players (those that can turn a game even when the team isn’t playing well) as the other top sides. Arsha is definitely one of them, but that only tells half the story…
…his body language absolutely stinks. It looks like he has few or no friends in the team and constantly undermines his colleagues, manager and club in the press (whether he is right or not is a whole other debate!) His decision making is consistently poor and belies his undoubted talent. When he doesn’t fancy it we might as well be playing with 10 men – add Denny and Manuel to that and we have played a large number of games this season with what is effectively 8 men!
Whilst I can still see him going somewhere else and having a big impact (being played in his favoured position might help!) I can equally see him doing exactly what he has done for us; going missing, sulking, not tracking/covering and trotting out the ‘me, me, me’ celebration on the 10 occasions in the season when it all comes together.
Bnsb, I have a real Arsenal insider in my phone book and I you can go back 3 days and check our resident insider, Double Gooner.
If AA is going then it has to be that guy Dutch guy KM showed us or Hazard
Bnsb, cheeky bastard… Arsenal insider posted that 2 hours after my story went out!
Pedro
Arsenal v Fulham…… tickets?
I can’t believe arshavin might be leaving!!
Adebayor over NikiB everyday
hi guys
What’s Arshavin’s favoured position? 15 metres in from the touchine and twenty metres from the byline?
He’s played everywhere for us and exactly where he plays for Russia. Left-sided forward. He’s just not that good.
People trying to read into Arshavins lazy performances are wrong! He has always played that way and always will.
I’d be gutted to see him go…
Paulinho, he is a good player. He just hasn’t applied himself this year.
maybe arshavin needs to be the main man to motivate himself, this year its been the cesc or verm show almost all year
If Arshavin leaves then I think its enough to prove Wenger only signed him for the money because I think we’d sell him at a profit. He has scored some important goals for us and although he hasn’t been ‘amazing’ he hasn’t done enough to warrant being sold on.
Arshavin’s natural game has been killed by Wenger who has played him out of position for 4-5 months.
We knew what we were getting when we bought Arshavin, he has always been a impact player who is quite lazy and moody. We cant expect him to change at 28.
Arsh won’t leave, on the basis of his performances this season I don’t see Barca or RM bidding for him. Man City will bid for him I’m sure but he doesn’t like them and won’t go there. None of the other clubs who can afford him can guarantee him trophies + good football. So whether he likes it or not he’ll be staying.
taig
I think its other way round. Arshavin does not want to stay.
Mayank
I think he will go back to Russia.
Arsh plays when there’s a real incentive for him playing. Cup finals, critical clashes for 4th/1st position. If he gets it into his head that his performance won’t make a big impact he conserves himself.
Arshavin would be more at home in LaLiga imo. however not sure if the big2 would want him.
Morning gooners..
I would be gutted if Arsh goes. Attitude apart, he is a genuine playmaker who has game changing ability ( which our entire first elevel used to have at one point) . Please, let’s not lose him !
Not sure about where he will go though. Who will buy him? Barca has too many talented players and he will only sit on the bench. Same with RM.
Bayern would be a move down from Arsenal and he can’t be assured of CL football. Inter is too physical and Mourinho does not recruit players with his height.Same for SAF and ManU. Milan and Juve are struggling and again, would be step down. The French league will not give him the world stage he wants.
So where will he go ?
Heh, think some of the criticism for Arshavin is a bit over the top, he’s been here a year and a bit and we haven’t put out a regular team once, he’s not someone who runs the lines and puts in crosses, he’s the explosive player we’ve seen run the length of the pitch to join in with attacks or skins the last defender.
I doubt he’s used to having to track back but he still does it when he can, he plays through injuries and despite what people read in the papers what he actually says isn’t anywhere near as bad as what people make out, considering half the time people will agree with him.
All I want for next season is maybe a player or two more, but for everyone to be fit for the start of the season, instead of us having a stop start season we actually build momentum from the start, if we manage that I think we’ll see a far more consistent player in Arshavin aswell.
It’ll be a bit of a failure to go back to Russia not winning in any of the major leagues. I wonder if he’ll consider the Italian teams. He can wreck havoc there. Although the rest of the players will be way behind him.
KM if you are still there. How can you feel sorry for berbatov he’s a fucking spud and a manc.
Keyser
Have said many times before. Dont replace, add to first team squad.
He’s a top player and we should play to his strengths.
However, one this is clear… it doesn’t matter who you are, if the fans don’t fell you’re putting a decent shift in, they’ll get on your back.
Djourou is quality and will prove it next season…A point re Barca have a good youth system but also spent 80 million + on a forward and right back.
What are the odds of Manures bidding for Arshavin?Proven,with PL experience,would cost less than 15 million,not as lazy as Berbatov.
Folks would be right in saying that these 4 players have to be replaced: Eduardo, Denilson, Silvestre and Almunia.
Zero Jaguar.
SAF won’t have a player like Arsh in his ranks, although he’d be scary playing off Rooney. Fergus likes industry among all his players. I still think he’ll stay simply because no-one will bid much for him.
I think Arshavin unfairly gets called lazy when I see Nasri put in exactly the same amount of effort but because he is fat he is let off the hook.
GM
i’m here
he is classy player at the wrong club. he was amazing and a joy to watch at Spurs. Simples
A&N, superb comment!
I think Arshavin is a dream of a player. I don’t think we get the best from him though…
Arshavin is a world class player at his best – i love the way he runs with the ball, his shooting and his ability to pick a pass….
But, for all the talk of Almunia and Denilson and Diaby early season and the lack of depth at CB,
Arshavin’s failure to play up to last season’s standard has been the single biggest cause of us dropping points imo.
Whether he stays or goes is more about contract negotiations imo – Having paid £15m or whatever, Wenger won’t want to risk him leaving on a free -
So if he doesn’t sign a new deal the pressure’s on – and would be even if he was playing well.
Pedro,
RE: Double Gooner, are you alluding to “we will be sad in summer”?
At max how many signings will we make this summer assuming Eddy Silv adn Gallas leave? Answers are not to include the words “French”, “Senile” or “Mug”.
My bet is 3 CF, CB/DM and GK.
No, his avatar is DoubleGooner.
He called the Sol story and the Adebayor story earlier than everyone else.
Lets hope he and my contact are wrong.
Pedro we just haven’t had the chance to get the best of him, Van Persie, Arshavin and Fabregas have probably only been in the same side together a few times all year, I remember we scored 6 twice when they were though.
He needs to play in a settled side, so instead of his unpredictability being a negative it’s a positive.
At the maximum two,a 35 year old Goal Keeper,who is available for peanuts,and a CB to cover up for the loss of three CBs.
Wenger wont bring in any DM,as there is no worse defensive midfielder in the universe,who wouldnt kill Denilshite.
I’d go with 4 Mayank.
A keeper, Loic Remy, Rodwell and Hangeland.
Exiting – Vela, Eduardo, Almunia, Silvestre and Gallas.
Keyser, no one has played with RvP this season… that’s not an excuse.
I don’t think he’s done terribly, he just hasn’t hit the heights of last season.
If we sell Almunia,and Silvestre,we will have to pay the buying club.Who in their sensible minds,who mind two clowns to play football?
we give up too quick sometimes on gems. why should arshavin be let loose
havent we learned any lessons from the invincibles?
United have gotten some stability in their rebuild process cos they kept some really experienced players
arshavin is rumoured to be playing injured most of the season. he deserves another year IMO
IMO he is also quite pissed off that he was played as a CF for a big chunk of the campaign, he is also not exactly happy re the lack of signings by wenger
Silvestre goes on a free… Almunia will find somewhere.
Pedro are you leaving Chamakh off that list because you think he is already signed or you do not want him??
Have forgotten. How many games did Van Persie play for us? TIA
Fran, I think the decision is down to him… not the other way round.
I mean this season, sorry.
Pedro you don’t reckon Chamakh is coming?
Jag I forgot to include “Denilshite”, but if you think we’re buying these 2 don’t you think with Chamakh that makes it 3.
A 35 yo keeper won’t be a bad thing. 2-3 years is enough till Wozza comes into the fray.
… because he’s already in Chipo.
It will be like football manager. Silvestre-release on a free transfer….you will have to pay 1.7m in compensation….confirm.
Does anyone remember how annoying it was when you had a player thats work permit expired. You couldn’t renew it and noone would buy the dam player. You then had to pay him 2-3million to release him
Pedro – those 3 have still played together twice where we’ve ended up scoring 6, it’s nit sn excuse it’s more a reason.
Last year we had momentum, we finally got somewhat organised, players were playing regularly we just couldn’t score and Arshavin gave us the edge we needed.
To be fair after scoring 4 at Anfield I think people were expecting the Henry type of player we used to have.
So Pedro you’re expecting 5 players this summer. lol I can’t wait for the post on Sep 1st.
I’m thinking Chamakh, Neuer and Rodwell if Gallas stays and Brede if he leaves.
This would be a PL winning team IMO.
Keyser, you seem to be mistaking me for someone who doesn’t like Arshavin!
I’m one of his biggest fans… I’d love to keep him, he has an edge no one else has. But saying we haven’t had Robin all season doesn’t rub… Cesc has still done a great job scoring and assisting.
In all fairness, Robin will always be out injured…
Assuming you guys and Wenger are right about Chamakh and Newyear.
Scoring five/six doesn’t really mean anything these days. Any half decent side does it a couple of times a season.
Mayank, I don’t think he’s got a lot of choice.
The goalkeeper has to go, at least two defenders will probably leave, he’s already got one forward… I guess the only debate is whether he needs a Rodwell or Melo.
Can Rambo make a come back? Or do we learn from Eduardo that you can’t rely on butcher victims for at least a year?
Pedro sometimes u need to sit ur star players down and prove u r heading the right direction
Arshavin wont be fooled if Wenger wants to continue with his yearly self imposed handicap.
Wenger needs to make some proper marquee signings IMO that is the first step to turning our creche into high school
then the next step is to win any trophy next season. The carling cup being the first to be handed out might be a good start.
Franchise – I don’t think he’s unhappy especially he just gets on with it, but he’s our last go to player, we’ve got 3 players who are extremely good and somewhat consistent with it when they’re playing, with Van Persie and Fabregas out we look to him and we’re disappointed when it doesn’t come off for him,
we’ll sign 3 players, wenger has said before singing more than 3 can upset the balance of a team.
chamakh
CB
GK
Arrggh! there you go again with the Robin is never fit thing, okay without throwing ‘games played’ stats at me when was the last time RvP was kept out of the team due to injury-proneness.
*3 players max*
Arshavin should not be allowed to leave lightly. If he does go Arsenal must make sure it is for top dollar. That means at least £30m. You realise we only got him for £15m because of his short contract at Zenit, we got him half price.
Wenger has not seen the best of Arshavin. I dont think our strikers suit 4-3-3 at all. Most of them are either a target man or the second striker, all of them could do better in a 4-4-2.
Thats not to say Arsenal should play 4-4-2 because our midfield would suffer. If you play 4-4-2, your wingers need to willing to track back and protect the defense, and both the central midfielders also need to be good at both defending (working hard) and attacking. its a big ask to always have 4 players in the team who can do all these things, so the 4-4-2 generally does not suit us.
Maybe we should try 2 DMs in front of the defence, 2 strikers, and then the other 2 midfielders are floating – play left and right. Your strikers are also expected to drift left and right. But you play effectively without wingers.
Mayank, the season before his only fully fit one when he only managed 20 games.
Robin is never fit.
In 6 seasons, he’s managed one full year. That was the exception, not the rule.
But then Arshavin is always singing the praises of Denilson. So i’m not sure about the argument that he doesn’t have faith in Wenger’s projects. He just likes a moan I think.
I don’t think he likes Diaby though. He never releases the ball for him.
IMO the Mentality of our team needs to change
the players need to realise that getting plaudits about how well we play and how young we are is not equal to silverware
then Wenger himself has to let the team understand that loosing is not an option
he cant keep kamikazing the carling cup and fa cup and expect us to have a proper winning mentality
if u want to play kids play the best, but mix the teams intelligently
its becoming a piss take how we just allow ‘big’ teams to rape us consistently
SONG OUT.
Just had confirmation that Song is ‘very doubtful’for wednesday.
I don’t think he likes Diaby though. He never releases the ball for him.
—
Good point and vice versa
That’s a shitter DG!
I actually think Denilson is playing better than Song. No great loss.
Pedro – we’re not arguing we’re discussing a topic mate, we’re a far better side with Van Persie in the team, despite the popularity of writing players off, you’d still want to plan for him being in the team unless Wengers actually got a medical report that says he’ll miss games every season.
There you go with the games played thing. Truth is he hasn’t had a muscle injury since 2 years. Better than Gallas.
Paulhino Denilson is one of the most fair distributors of the ball if he can stay on it. His physique and mentality pose a real problem for him in the PL. Much like Arsh.
No song and no palacios… gonna be very open in midfield
Paulinho,
Against teams that are not overtly physical, yes.
I wouldn’t get rid of him… I just think you need a talent that is equal to him in the squad… because history tells you he’ll only give you 20-30 games a year.
Chamakh is a good start… I’d like an additional pacey striker as well.
It’s a shame Carlos is so out the picture. I’d love to know the truth behind his exit.
Mayank
And a statisticians delight
Paulinho – stop being soo miserable, we were obviously doing something right if we scored six, it could just be coincidence that all 3 were playing, but I doubt it,
Though I think we also had Gallas and the others fit aswell.
Arsenal Holdings plc (the “Company”) announces that on 6 April 2010 it received notification from Daniel Fiszman and Stan Kroenke (both of whom are directors of the Company) that on 29 March 2010 Daniel Fiszman released from the charge granted to him on 27 March 2009 by KSE, UK, Inc., a company controlled by Stan Kroenke, 2,000 of the ordinary shares of £1 each in the capital of the Company (“Shares”) which were subject to the charge. Following the partial release of the charge, 500 Shares legally and beneficially owned by KSE, UK, Inc. remain subject to the charge.
There is no change to the number of voting rights in the Company held by Daniel Fiszman and Stan Kroenke as a result of the release of the charge. The number of voting rights held therefore remain 10,025 (16.1%) in the case of Daniel Fiszman and 18,656 (29.9%) in the case of Stan Kroenke.
7th April 2010
07/04/10
Pedro,
Rodallega story, any hint of truth in it?
So a MF of Diaby – Nasri – Denilson. Not good enough, Denilson and Nasri don’t play well away from home and Diaby’s hit a mini slump.
There hasn’t been much love towards Rosicky but I think he’ll have a good game.
open in midfield is good for us
Denilson has played better recently, which is great but no way is he a better bet than Song at WHL
Denilson should book a one way ticket to Rio ill pay for it
we dont need average players in our squad please
It’s more a case of Song being very poor in the last few months than Denilson being great, but without Palacios Denilson should be okay. At least he won’t barge into players indiscriminately all night and not know when to back off. Although Denilson will probably back off too much now.
Really Wenger should buy a bloody central midfield. He hasn’t bought an established one for about ten years, it seems.
Big Dave
Kroenke paid in installments for the shares he purchased.
That is bad news…
No Palacios, no Song. I feel another 8 goal thriller coming on!
(5-3 to us this time)
Keyser- You read too much into drubbings. Bendtner scored from 25 yards, Walcott calmly stroked home a counter attack after coming on as a sub.
Does any of this have any relevance when we play the big teams who close off space and haven’t given up? Nope.
What’s got you thinking Songs been very poor ?!
Song despite his progression, the same with Denilson and the likes of Bendtner and Walcott is still going to make mistakes if the more experienced members of our team aren’t playing.
Paulinho, I think you’re being a bit tough on Song who played great against WHam and was stabnding up in the first leg against Barca -
On the central midfield thing, who do you like better than Song-Cesc-Diaby in the Prem at the moment?
I find it funny that everyone thinks Wenger will buy a keeper in the summer.
I hope to God he does, but surely the appointment of Almunia as vice-capn tells you all you need to know about Wenger’s relationship with him?
Wenger has the perfect argument for not buying a keeper (he has 3 under 25s and one older one), so he will use it.
He doesn’t HAVE to buy a keeper, so he won’t.
I hope i am wrong but i think history tells us that this summer will be no different!
So our away game at Fat Sam’s place has been pushed back 2 days to Mon 3 May(from Sat 1 May) for ESPN coverage. I wonder if that idiot John Champion will be commentating with his virulently anti-Arsenal agenda again.
if im going to fine tune the first team squad ill get in a keeper and a no nonsense DM. I like Song it would be nice to have someone better than him though. he could still get 30 games a season easily at CB or Dm
We need some personalities in this side
Song gets pulled out of position too easily. Gives away daft free kicks. He’s average going forward. Because he’s out of form these weaknesses are showing themselves more.
Even on his best day, he takes too long to have an effect on games. Usually becoming a ‘beast’ in the last fifteen minutes. I think we need a beast for the whole game.
Song, Diaby, Fabregas is an overrated midfield. Never once proven against a top side.
Paulinho – I’m not reading too much into it, I’d just like to see them play more together, you’re making out that it’s complete co-incidence which would be just silly, we haven’t had all three play together once against the top teams this season.
Having your best players play against the top sides carries a lot of relevance as we’ve seen all year.
lets not forget what ‘class’ gives you. I’m thinking of Arshavin’s ‘strike out of nothing’ against Liverpool. The only other player in our team who can possibly deliver those goals is RvP and he has enough on his plate already!!
Chipo, Almunia is second v-c!!!!
Van Persie is Vice-Captain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
its hi time we start matching the class of the other top clubs. we cant only keep rubbing shoulders with them on a revenue based level
i want us to move from underdog tag to favourites tag
we have the monet. restructure the current set up and go spend some mony
wage bill currently is a piss take
dont know about u guys but that barcelona team has shown me where i want my team to be
im tired of wenger working ‘Miracles’ lets go back to the old fashioned way of spending money on the ‘potentially best’ available players
monet = money
Pedro and gonnerwhatever you name is:
Please Stop with all your speculation mate, I would rather be suprised than be told now, enough of what your insider is telling you, keep it to yourselfs
Slick, I’d rather not know about bad news as well!
Well, that’s a lie…
Chipo… Kolo was also vice captain!
Think I’m with Paulinho… Song is a good player, but I don’t think he matches what Flamini, Gilberto or Paddy did for us.
Pedro Agree on Paddy and Gilberto but songs a better player than Flamini already in my book,
Franchise Says:
April 12, 2010 at 12:42
Denilson should book a one way ticket to Rio ill pay for it
we dont need average players in our squad please
————————————————-
Add to it
Diaby to France-Simply the most over rated player at Arsenal.Hardly does anything against quality teams, than showing some flashes of brilliance against shit teams at home.
Song is not better than Flamini in terms of influence and work rate. But he reads the game better than Flamini.Flamini was a mad dog who covered up his draw backs with his fierce work rate.
Moreover,playing alongside Denilshite,would make any player (apart from Diaby),even more alert than what they normally are.
Setting up Theo for start of the move at the Nou Camp not doing anything anything eh Jag?
By quality opposition… are you stating that there are only 2 good teams in the Premiership?
Apart from that, he didnt do anything the whole match. Got owned one too many times. There are only two better teams in the Premiership,and he was found wanting against both of them.
what I would give for both Song and Flamini in midfield with cesc.
Cesc and Arsh must both stay. what does it say about our club if we repeatedly sell our best players whenever a ‘bigger’ club comes sniffing?
Jag – Diaby is a really good play and will be a real gem when he is 25, you heard it first
, but for you to say he is shit, wow, how many games have you been watching this season and he does turn up!
Meeting my source later, hope he has some good stuff to tell, will post tomorrow if he has
i wonder what cesc will think if aa goes
I am not saying anymore that he is shit.But the only thing is he is not as big as everyone thinks.We deserve better players than him.Obviously he can be a good squad player.But not good enough to earn a permanent spot against quality sides.
Jag, I think he’s demonstrated plenty of times this season that he could be a massive player for us.
I wouldn’t worry about him coming good… Almunia and Silvestre… they’re two different stories…
i would be happy with this team against Spurs
Denilson Nasri Diaby
Walcott B52 Rosicky
i’d like vela to get a game because he’s more tricky than Rosicky and direct….he can beat a man easily whereas rosicky likes to come infield.
RvP to come in the 70th minute and Vela for Rosicky
Jack Wilshire to score @ chaville on Tuesday, in draw
Great teams hang on to their best players even if they are having a shit time of it. Arshavin is world class, if we want to be a great team we hang on to him and add others of his standard to the squad.
Walcott has to have a good game on wednesday because he’s up against Bale…..who is fast and a v.good LB. I want to see whether Walcott can succeed by using his intelligence rather than pace
A&N – Argeed with you, Arshavin will not leave!!!!!!!!!
Blackburn v Arsenal – Date changed
Arsenal Football Club have been informed by the Premier League that the away trip to Blackburn Rovers, orginally scheduled for Saturday, May 1, match will now be played as under:
Barclays Premier League
Blackburn Rovers v Arsenal
Monday 3rd May 2010 (Early May Bank Holiday)
Kick off 5.00pm
Live on ESPN
hmmmm
Cant believe Franchise is an art thief!
haha, I love Monet.
One player that has to go is Manuel ‘nice guy’ Almunia.
He has lost the respect of his team mates. Every match I see includes a moment where one of our back 4 shakes their head or rolls their eyes at Almunia’s errors.
Every great goalkeeper commands his defence, Almunia can not because the back 4 simply don’t respect him.
lol check this link out of Wenger in his younger years, he looks like a 70′s porn star!
http://arsespeak.com/2010/04/12/video-arsene-wenger-at-as-nancy-in-the-1980s-looking-very-old-school/
Any thoughts about James between the sticks next season. He’s had plenty of practice with pompey this season. Could get him for a good price as well.
id go
lloris
2 defenders if gallas goes 1 if he doesnt.
feilliani
chamakh and hazard
maybe ship out almunia, silvestre and eduardo and keep the rest.
Tomb, he’s dropped more clangers than Almunia this year.
James?
lol
is that really what we should be aimimng for?
i want the next schmeichel
You gotta remember the guys infront of him are hardly top draw.
What will Cesc think if AA leaves?? All depends on how replaces him.
I do hope Wenger does not build up Wilshire to be the NATURAL replacement for Arshavin….
hes also 39 going on 40
another article by a spurs fan on arsneal.com
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/spurs-atmosphere-tougher-than-the-nou-camp?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arsenal-news+%28News+Feed%29
wheres arshavin going to go?
i really want him to stay obviously but i guess if real wanna give us 20 mil and benzema
Regardless of who James plays with its gotta be remembered that his club is being relegated. We bought Almunia from a 2nd division spanish club and he wasnt even first choice. NO MORE!
We need to be buying players from top clubs or at the very worst eufa cup regulars.
Ok Ok what about Robbie Savage . Nice teeth!!
james is another accident waiting to happen.
id take joe hart… 10m and he could be our keeper for the next 10-15 years
Robbie savage between the sticks – he gotta be better than Coco!
incesc, I’ve watched Benzema in a few Real games and he looks like a right plank.
He can’t even stay onside! He is at Bendtners level, and we need better than that.
Guys, how about Mark Schwarzer for Arsenal No. 1? He’s been having a great season at Fulham…
gts,
schwarzer have been great at fulham..however we need to aim higher,nueur maybe??
talking about fulham,roy hodgson have really transformed them..from relegation battlers to europa cup semi finalist..manager of the year,no??
Nice post.
No Geoff, Arsenal shouldn’t have to work around AA23′s ‘laziness’. If Guardiola has shown anything its that everyone has to pull their weight.
AA23 is not a patch on Messi, and yet I see Messi doing a lot of closing down and hustling. Why should AA23 be exempt.
anelka was shit at real, i reckon arsene could make a great striker out of benzema, who was quality at lyon.
Incesc, I’d agree… we show far more patience with players like that.
A & N
Benzema is an awesome striker….he just hasn’t caught fire at Madrid.
Benzema on form would make Bendtner look like a donkey
Benzema is quality, but a move from Lyon to Madrid was far too big. I mean, not even Kaka has handled the pressure well so far. For the record I don’t think Kaka’s injury has ruled him out for so long, about a month now, I think he is being made the scapegoat for the Lyon defeat.
Benzema has been rubbish. we need proven quality not another potential
the past couple of trips to the lane we have played shit,will these cunts ever start that game well and go on to beat them.
Benzema is class, but the Madrid player I would want for Arsenal is Gago–fantastic defensive and central midfielder who doesn’t get to play enough. We had Lassana Diarra, but he has burned his bridges by criticizing Wenger in an interview a year or so ago, saying he didn’t see what the big deal was about Wenger as a coach and that he didn’t learn anything from him.
thats because he doesn’t teach the team how to defend
Exclusive news just coming out.
Lady Nina has put her 16% stake in Arsenal up for sale.
who wants to put some ££££££ together and buy them,fan ownership is the way forward…..
limestone
Gago was rated as the new Redondo, but even his understudy at Boca, EVER BANEGA, has surpassed him in my estimation. Though, Banega is more of a playmaker who can defend, while Gago is a DM with top distribution.
The book seems closed on the Arshavin discussion, but someone above said he thought Arshavin was just using Arsenal to get a move to a bigger club. I didn’t see much response to that, but there is something very wrong with an Arsenal fan saying that with only a couple responses.
We are a big club. We should be among Europe’s biggest. Europe’s biggest city is London and we are its biggest club. Chelsea are newcomers. Our star players should not be leaving because we don’t win enough, show enough ambition, or don’t plan to recruit the best and most talented players. The debt is payed down, the stadium is built. There really is no excuse now for failing to build a championship side.
I agree with Franchise and others and really must object to the mentality that accepts the idea that Arsenal aren’t in the category of Europe’s greatest clubs. We haven’t been performing at that level recently, but that is where Arsenal belong.
How much is 16% ? i’ll see what i’ve got.
Diarra is a cunt anyway. I’ll never know how Pompey got 20m for him.
Saw Benzema against Barca. They may have been playing like shit but he looked like he couldnt care less. Grumpy face and looked like he wasnt even trying, even tried to catch the ball when Raul ran into him claiming a foul.
But he is a quality striker….usually.
16% is loadsa monet
i’ll see what i have down the back of the sofa
BBK, that’s what we need, real supporter ownership. I have been saying that this Kroenke takeover is possibly very dangerous and that there ought to be more fan concern and organization. ManUre have been winning trophies upon trophies the last few years since the Glazers and yet one year goes with sellign a top player like Ronaldo without replacement and they are busy demonstrating and putting together a takeover plan. Where are Arsenal supporters? We are put to shame. The balanced ownership is key-we don’t want one person controlling our club and we want to make sure it is run well and with ambition.
i love pedro
Arsenal are currently valued at 1 billion by sports finance experts.
16% would be £160,000,000.
Zeus,
You can’t compare Gago and Banega for the reason you mention. We are always talking about a class DM–I think Gago would fit very nicely. He is young but very good–anyone can get lost in the RM system–so many different coaches and players coming through and not getting the right playing time.
tomb @ 15.17,
It’s around £90m. Loosen up your wallet and grab a bargain, mate…
Arsenal make more money per game than Man utd, even though they have more seats!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/2816316/Arsenal-outguns-Man-Utd-in-valuation-tables.html
i will kick proceedings off with a big round sum of 5 pounds,how about you incesc
Stu,
Hes Quality and will show it the only thing im afraid of is that he will turn up at united in the summer and him and rooney would be almost unstoppable together,
That probably had something to do with the Madrid fans booing him onto the pitch
I’ll lob in my Luncheon Vouchers and my Tesco vouchers.
90 mil. Shit I would but my cars got a an MOT end of the month. Anybody else!!
Maybe we should all be joining Arsenal Supporters Trust.
i found a mars bar wrapper and some stale peanuts!
we are on our way
I have learned that one of the biggest shareholders in Arsenal Football Club has put her stake on the market, a move that will effectively kick off a fresh battle for control of the Premier League side.
Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith has hired bankers at Blackstone to find a buyer for her roughly-16 per cent stake, which has been owned by her and her family for many years.
At first glance, Blackstone may not need to look further than Arsenal’s two biggest investors to find a willing buyer: Kroenke Sports Enterprises, the vehicle of the American sports tycoon Stan Kroenke; and Red & White Holdings, which is fronted by the Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov.
However, I’m told that while Red & White may add modestly to its 26 per cent stake, Usmanov does not want to bid for the club at the moment, an action that would be automatically triggered under the City takeover code if its stake went to 30 per cent or more.
Kroenke, though, is unlikely to have such reservations, given that he has been slowly accumulating shares to stand on the brink of mounting a full takeover. Reports say that he is due to decide today whether he will sell his shares in the St Louis Rams, an NFL team, which would give him some of the financial firepower required to lodge an acceptable bid.
Kroenke made his debut on the Arsenal shareholder register in 2007, when he bought a 9.9 per cent stake from ITV. Since then, the club has enjoyed little real success on the pitch despite playing what most purists believe is the most attractive football in the Premier League.
My City sources say they are slightly puzzled as to why Lady Bracewell-Smith has appointed City advisers to sell the stake, given that she served on the board alongside Kroenke and knows many of the protagonists well already. Her decision to appoint Blackstone may therefore suggest that she has no intention of selling to the American.
This news about Arsenal caps a frenetic few weeks in the world of football finance. Last month, I revealed that a group of City financiers known as the Red Knights was plotting a bid to buy Manchester United; and on Saturday, I broke the news that Liverpool’s American owners, are to appoint Barclays Capital to find a buyer for the club.
Nobody involved in the Arsenal situation was available for comment today, while Blackstone declined to comment.
YOU CAN’T BUY fuck all with peanuts incesc
BBK, where is this from?
sky news blog
I put on here months ago that arshavin is on his way at the end of this season. Massive, massive shame, hope he gives it another year. Gutted I’d I get proved right on that one :-/
Cheers, BBK
Ass&nose….14:18
That cracked me up !!!
He looks the same as now but wearing a wig !!!!
You certainly can BBK. We bought that monkey Denilson.
BBK I agree
Barcelona show Manchester United how fan power can reap benefits
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/markets/article-23822574-barcelona-show-manchester-united-how-fan-power-can-reap-benefits.do
Fran,
why aren’t Arsenal supporters learning from this?
true john a,good point
I don’t think we’ll ever be in a situation where we can buy the club Fran.
An impossibility.
limestonegunner its the best model IMO. what we had was ok but im dreading the thought of being sole owned
Is there any truth in the rumour that RVP will be at the spuds game?
limestone
The reason I compare them is because of their time at Boca Juniors. Banega was seen as Gago’s successor and I think people underrate how good a tackler Banega is.
Gago though is very good and intelligent with the ball. Don’t know about a PL career though, if not La Liga surely he goes to Italy.
Pedro barca is run by 170,000-odd Barcelona members, or socios. it could easily happen at Arsenal
A good start would be a 50% fan ownership.
I like the fact that the club president has to be up for re-election every 4 years
imagine the situation at Arsenal
Would Wenger be able to tell us that he doesnt rate domestic cups?
or that he cant find any players better than what we have
or why our wage bill is ever increasing over £110,000,000 a year
the fans would know the truth which is all we are asking for
the president’s head would roll cos real fans wont be hearing that bullshit
Wardo, he looked like some porn star lol
GM, he’ll probably be in the crowd, giving some drunken neanderthals a good kickin.
Never forget when Traore was stopped trying to get into Shite Hart Lane with a pair of knuckle dusters. Pure class !
@ Franchise
There is a double edge sword to fan ownership as well. Fans are fickle and are sucseptible to knee-jerk reactions. A few riled up fans would have fired both Fergie and Wenger before either of them had a shot of winning anything when they first came.
John A, tell us more about the Traore story! Its the first I’ve heard of it.
zeus comon 170,000 strong……. i wish to believe that there are normally more rational thinking people in the world than irrational thinkers
We dont want to be mugged that is the bottom line
look at Pompey fans. They were lied to by their chairman and chief executive
the club was been run on loans
would the fans have done that to their club? Never
i read that portsmouth players got almost twice as much in bonuses for winning the FA cup than the actual prize money
isnt that madness?
Fran,
I agree completely with you, which is why I am joining the AST. My question is why aren’t Arsenal supporters thinking this way. I am very, very concerned to hand the club into the hands of a single owner. The club is perfectly set up to turn a profit in the next several years with the debt down, the stadium bringing in big $$ on matchdays, and a frugal youth development policy in place. Perfect for a single owner to actually take money out of the club rather than to invest in it.
Sure Zeus there are some drawbacks, but Barca’s structure is a bit more stable than you suggest. Was it supporters who got rid of Rijkaard and hired Guardiola etc…? I think there is supporter accountability but the Pres. and admin run the club.
Good report from the telegraph, but AFC still rely on selling their boxes and club level seats
And that was the problem. Ol twitchy was so disingenuous when he said he made them millions. Profit from one time sales aside, its been the astronmically high wages and bonuses that has ruined the club.
And certainly ‘arry had a hand in this. He must have been a part of the contract signing process.
Barca style supporter owned/member club would be the best. Right now it is pie in the sky, but what isn’t a matter of fantasy is that the club is close to being taken over by a single owner whose intentions are unknown and who does not have a history with the club. That is dangerous. In the short term I prefer the balanced, multi-shareholder approach. But in all honesty, this current board has been pretty passive about accountability and ambition as well.
Of course Harry is deeply implicated in Pompey and the troubles at Southampton, West Ham, and Bournemouth as well. How someone has managed to escape accountability for all that is truly amazing.
I can’t see Lady Nina selling really making much difference. The Yank only needs 1% more (I think) which he could find any time (at a price). Even supposing fans bought 16%, and The Yank took over, what kind of a say would they have anyway.
I would vote for Geodro or even Pedreff as president!
RvP is back!!! Let’s pop the champagne…
Just imagine if he comes on to score the winner in teh 90th minute via a thunderbolt of a 35 yard free-kcik. I really think he’ll give us the push required for us to win the rest of our games.
LJW to score a hat-trick against the Chavs in a 3-2 Bolton win. BOOM!
Its not really a barca style thing, its a Spain thing. All their clubs operate as such I think. Gilleme Balague wrote an interesting piece giving the reasons why such a system may not work in England. Dont have the time to search for it now though.
Bendtner has hugely impressed me this season after his injury. He has scored a number of absolutely crucial goals and if RvP stays fit next season and chamakh joins us and if Walcott/Vela/Arsh stay our forward line suddenly looks absolutely menacing. I might be tempted to get an allround midfielder in the petit mould along with a centerback or 2 if gallas leaves and a goalkeeper.
let’s se$$ couple more of our elite to man city… in a buy 1 get 1 free deal, say, denilson for 15m, with silvestre gift wrapped and delivered
A&N – http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/football/66567-gunners-youngster-caught-with-knuckle-duster
hehe. Denilson for 15m, how much have you had to drink today?
I Think Lady- Nina will sell it to Fatman imo, she is really good friends with Daivd Dein and i really wanna Dein back in the club!!!, we need him, and i also think Cowboy and Fatman should be working together!, and clearing out debt and give wenger the money he needs to SMASH IT, Then he’ll have no excuse
A+N,
Think he was stopped and searched by a steward who didnt realise who he was and when seaching him they found a knuckle duster in his pocket and one on his mate, He blagged it away saying he had brought it that afternoon in London and didnt realise it was an offence lol Reckon who he was got him off lol
Traore is a legend!! hahahaha
Zeus, I know it is more than a Barca model–using Fran’s example as shorthand for schemes of supporter ownership of various kinds. German clubs also have some mix of supporter ownership forms that limit the club from being sold or taken over by external parties. That’s what the danger is here. Let’s not be so literal! There may be reasons why the EXACT model of Barca and other Spanish clubs wouldn’t work perfectly but these schemes are flexible–the point is to introduce greater accountability to and participation of supporters.
guys Nigel De Jong or Alex Song?
Alex Demetri Song Billong.
Instead of raising all sorts of objections, what I’d like to see is supporter commitment for insuring the club isn’t taken down the wrong path. So perhaps, Zeus, and other Grovers could begin to think about what sort of action is possible or needed in light of the developing situation. Unless you all are prepared to take Kroenke’s ownership on faith as of unalloyed benefit to the club. That would be unbelievably naive, but for all the criticism of the current administartion of the club I find on this site, very little is directed at the board and the direction the club is going in. That seems to have been a fundamental concern of Le Grove, originally.
the only players i can see leaving are the players that are out of contract i feel silvest is certain to leave ,to be honest i feel the only reason he evon played as often as he did was the injury to dj and the fact he hardly ever played.when it comes cambell its by the amount games he has played is real indication of just how important wenger feels he is weather gets another contract depends alot on waether gallas stays or not.i feel risicky is 50/50 he is player that is very injury prone and at 30 that will get any better wenger will most likely offer him 1 year contract he is just squad player for me and nasri higher in pecking order. i feel needs to look for someone younger and less injury prone.but players like almunia delinson edwardo are going nowere for one thing both delinson and almunia have signed new contracts last year ,edwardo without dought as gone far down the pecking order and had wenger trusted him he would not have been looking for another striker.i think wenger needs add mor powerful and more efficient players in midfield so they can play more than just one formation
De Jong might have been Man City’s best player this year. But loyalty and his strong performance this year requires me to go with Song.
Franchise,
How about both?
That might be a solid combo for the DM position. Better than Song/Denilson, IMO.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_6090133,00.html
they are both good at what they do IMO but De Jong has a bit more zip and is more combative
if i had to choose i would choose De Jong so I choose De Jong as I have to choose cos it would be rude not to give my own opinion on a question I asked
twisted
Alexandre de Jong.
Fucking cnuts SSN are? they always try to unsettle us especially after Wanc u get a bad result!! CNUTS!!
Right got the info.
Takeover more then likely in the summer, but the talk is that Kroenke/The Russian could both work together, Fiszman wants out he currently has cancer sadly.
why what did they say reggie??
reggie why the space between e and 5
big dave-could you really see them having a cival partnership if they did work together
BBK, they’re not gay lovers!
GordoGunner nice one…… both would be nice against certain opponets like United and Chelsea
we can then afford a flying full back like eboue to support the attack
and what about wenger if the takeover does happen will he stay or go
pedro can you really see that being a good thing for the club,one would want to spend,and the other will be less inclined to do so.
Limestone
I’m not against fan ownership at all. I’m just saying that putting a body like the socios in place and the by laws and all of these things will take a really long time.
As you have said it would not have to be EXACTLY the way the barca system works but I don’t have the first clue how we could going about doing such a thing. At the end of the day though, youre right, situations like Portsmoth and Leeds are about to become far to often and if it can happen to Man Utd then it most certainly can happen to us.
For now we have no ther recourse other than trusting the board I suppose. But something has to change I agree.
to be honest i have found that both song and diaby have gone higher up the pecking order than delinson and only time delinson has played is if ramsey song or diaby have been injured but wenger i think has been looking for another dm
Miles Palmer thinks Kroenke should hire Guardiola. This assumes Kroenke cares about Arsenal winning. He might, since profits will be affected if trophyless seasons continue for too much longer.
I think Stan likes a spend up BBK… as does Alisher.
zeus its not easy but its possible and i think that is the way big clubs should be run
only a true AKB would deny the fact that Arsenal mgt. cock tease us fans too much
BBK, not sure. if they can, it is something I was told wonder if Dein would come back
http://www.teamtalk.com/tottenham-hotspur/6090017/Return-of-the-King-for-reeling-Spurs
hope this is true
Hehe. Thats the first time anyone has ever called me an AKB.
Just relax Franchise. I agree that things have to change but until then we are at the mercy of the board. And even if the ball gets rolling on this fan ownership plan, how long before it gets implemented?
Til then this entire discussion is moot.
Zeus, I agree it is too hard at the moment to conceive such a thing as the Barca solution. Problem is I am not that enamored of our board these days. No ambition and willing to hand the club over to Kroenke. The change that is coming, I fear, may be for the worst and what I haven’t seen, in comparison with Liverpool and Manc supporters, is the sense that gooners would really fight to keep the club in safe hands.
Shame Kroenke and Dein couldn’t team up. Why anyone would want that fat Utd supporting thug, I have no idea.
Franchise
Pedro,
What gives you the sense that Kroenke would put money in? I think there is every chance he’d like to take money out.
I believe they, will, We need Dein and i can gurrante you Wenger will stay because this is probaly why wenger is stalling on that new contract!
is moot dont mean we should not discuss it. we were only merely discussing anyways
i aint have no one approach me yet asking if i were interested in 0.00001% of Arsenal
how do you know stan likes a spend up pedro
He’s met him a few times at spearmint rhino!!
Yes, good call Franchise re: attacking fullbacks with 2 DMs.
I also think Song’s passing has improved a great deal this season, so he’s less one-dimensional than he used to be in midfield.
I would really like to see another central midfielder who can play the DM role and has loads of pace.
That would be a big help in breaking up counter-attacks when so many of our players get forward. Obviously Denilson doesn’t have that ability. But surely there’s someone out there who would fit the bill.
BBK – Check up what he has done to for his other Franchises
having a board is good but IMO our board are to secretive to the life line of the club the fans
we fund this bitch in one way or the other
gates – 80,000 attend
tv money – i have sky and so does a million others
merchandise – n no. of arsenal jersies and scarves
advertisement – well O2 wont sponsor if there werent thousands of fans out there thant need sim cards
Slickbanggoal his NFL team Rams have the worst record in the league for the last 2 years
their team is filled with kids with ‘potential’ but no experience
lolllllllllll reggie
Franchise: please tell me you are fucking kidding about the “kids with potential”!!
no Im not MDI89
go on a Rams blog
its hilarious stuff
the fans want him to sell they want change
But, they are Stable, not doing a Leeds united or a pompey? and look at his denver nuggets
, plus he is infact selling the St.Louis Rams 
Google
‘St Louis Rams Poor’
and click the first link
What the fuck is a denver nugget? Chicken based snack or somink?
Afternoon Mingebags!
American sports are kinda Leeds proof cos the regulatory bodies are more strict
All major pro sports franchises in America are money minters cos of the television revenue which is shared equally amongst the clubs
and everyne has a chance because of their draft system so the best talents dont always end up in the best clubs
that is how Denver got Carmelo Anthony and cleveland cavaliers Lebron James
Bonjour to you too, Monsieur Menace
True, but he makes a Lot of money and has alot and he does Owe abit of wal-mart and Asda.
Why are you all suddenly speaking Greek?
Fran
That is the beauty of American sports. While the great teams will more or less always be great, the draft system ensures that to an extent parity is restored and the ‘lesser’ sides have a real chance of competing with the big boys.
Walmart and Asda? Guess we will continue shopping bargain basement. Cosmic.
Denver Nuggets = Carmelo Anthony.
Alan Iverson is a fool.
his wife does but why did he take so looooooooooong to pay Fizman for the shares he bought?
Worth and whats available is different
if he sells his stake in Rams then he might have some money to buy Arsenal
would he be ready to inject the neccessary funds say if we struggle to make the Champions League in one year?
or if we struggle to make money from unsold corporate seats?
if not what is the point of a Sugar Daddy?
we could become the pound stretchers of the prem
Are you all on friggin crack or something? I have no interest in the “Lesser” teams being anywhere near us.
American Sports teams dont have academies
Athlethes are picked mostly from College level into a draft where the lower placed and shite teams get the higher picks in the lottery
its quite a very organic approach that could only work in America
MDI89
Compared with the superclubs we are a ‘lesser’ team.
On a serious note, I thought all this financial prudence meant we do not need a sugar daddy.
Kroenke’s hockey team have won some championships but the basketball nuggets have been bottom feeding jokes for two decades of his ownership. Rams won a championships in the past but NFL structures are completely incomparable to Araenal situation. His reputation is not as a big spending owner but more careful businessman–developing kids fits perfectly. I am a yank and I say watch out for this yank/wank.
No need to be, Zeus
There’s blatantly some dodgy dealings going on with this kronke fella he’s trying to get the best deal for himself before he thinks of us,there all crooked cunts at the end of the day anyway,as long as they get paid it’s fuck the rest of you.
its when players are traded that the teams that really know what they are doing show themsleves
zeus we are a lesser team compared to super clubs
what annoys me is we generate as much revenue as them yet we dont have as much class as them
we sell adebayor for 25m and say vela is like robbie fowler WTF
we sell adebayor for 25m and say vela is like robbie fowler WTF lollllllllll that’s some funny shit
Fran
We are on the periphery of the super club frontier.
We have a brand of football only second to Barca and we have a cathedral of football.
we managed to sell a dud for 25m yet we refused to spend the money. the fans are truly the mugs
fabiano was available at 18m
our current board piss the shit out of me
Fran
To be fair Fabiano has been injured all season.
zeus Says:
April 12, 2010 at 17:45
Fran
We are on the periphery of the super club frontier.
We have a brand of football only second to Barca and we have a cathedral of football.But no silverware,and a club that keeps losing there better players,what super club is that i ask?
Zeus: I agree, a bit, but we HAVE to win the CL to be considered amongst Europe’s elite, and we have too many little englanders who would still rather win the cocoa cola cup.
coca cola?
zeus the margins are normally not that big
its either you push for it or you dont
we never push for it. the club keep selling it to us that the players would come great.
Fine but when? Wenger said we were going to win something this year. We have exited in earlier rounds in all the cup competitions we’ve entered
its only neutrals that care too much about brand of football.
I doubt any ManUnited fan would surrender their recent success for our brand of football that wins fuck all
Franchise – you can’t buy class and we’re doing fine, we’re only going to get stronger as a club.
well if he came to us he wont have been injured cos he would have not played the game he got injured in Spain
maybe he would have injured Van Persie in training instead, which might have made VP to miss 6 weeks and as a result not playing the friendly against Italy
Yeah we have to win the CL. Wenger however likes to point to our young players improving every year. The problem is no team improve exponentially. At some point we plateau and I think we are not far off that point.
The super quality that Wenger likes to harp on about must be bought to suppliment that quality now.
while wenger is here we won’t win the champions league
keyser no one knows if we would get stronger or weaker as a club. u cant just say we would only get stronger then sell players and replace them with internal youth
the truth is we are not pro active enough cos no one at board level is setting non-financial targets for the manager
i bet Wengers yearly target is
- Arsene make sure u finish at least 4th in the league cos of CL revenue
- and in CL make sure u go as far as u can so we can get more revenue distribution
- if u are not happy with any high earner u can sell them we would back you 100%
last year we got to FA semis, this year we bombed in 4th round
we played 3 games in CC last year b4 we lost, this year we only played 2
CL we got to semis and got raped, this year we were sodomised in the quarter finals
we are doing better in the league 3 points behind the leaders but we are very unlikely to win it IMO. last year we were shite in the league. unless we win the league the only achievement is CL qualification which wasnt any difference from last season
we need a new drink, one part Alize one part Crystal
Franchise – We’re working towards being a super club, that’s pretty much the whole point, all clubs work under different constraints if like you said we’re not quite a super club then why are you unhappy that we lose out to them ?!
The point to what Wengers supposedly brainwashing fans with is that since we can’t simply buy success we’ll find other ways to get to the same place.
We are getting stronger, how can you go against that ?!
Why should Stan change tact…trophyless seasons have been great for our bank account…its one year record profit to the next
weeeee
remember ‘genius’ o’neil has spent £80m net in the past 4 years and he still ain’t got close to CL spot, actually he ain’t doing better than o’leary who is rubbish apparently
We all know that without selling as well as adding three world class players, we could compete on all fronts. Why we don’t is speculation. Personally, I think it is a combination of AW’s stubborness as well as weird shit tightness/ignorance on the part of the board, but this is old ground.
Keyser we were a better outfit in 2007/08 IMO we regressed a year later there are no guarantees that things would get better even if we spend
other clubs wont pause and watch us
pro-activeness is the way forward
genetic modification
I don’t think we caan compete on all fronts ever. We get far too many injuries and even at full strength, fatigue would stop us. Not even Chelsea can do that, and they have gone closest to doing the quad than any other side.
that is the problem Man we would rather compare ourselves to the failures
i just want some action from the manager
tight the loose ends and stop celebrating mediocricity
FFS wage bill is over £110m and we dont have any brazilian national team players in our squad
Man: I don’t believe its that simple. As Geoff said on here last week, he heard that 90% of corporate will not renew. Big name signings and trophies change that.(I think 40% of match day income comes from corporate).
there was meant to be a smiley at the end of my last comment
Keyser,
What are you saying? Of course we should all be upset that we don’t defeat the super clubs–that is what tells us we aren’t among them! The point is there is no good reason anymore for us not to be one of Europe’s elite rather than the nearly men we are becoming.
Franchise – I’m not saying don’t spend, I’m saying in general as a club we’re still growing, you can’t look at specific seasons soo many different things can affect them, we could have spent as much money as everyone wanted and still not win anything because there are no guarantees.
Every year that goes by the debt lessens, and the more money we’ll be able to spend. We’ll only get stronger.
zeus see what Tony Adams said
Adams, who won four league titles during his time at Highbury, said he would rather be playing in the championship-winning teams of old, that perhaps weren’t as technically gifted.
http://arsenal-mania.com/articles/3108381/Adams-Arsenal-need-more-winners.html
lime
The nearly men we have been.
Wenger’s youth model only works if it leads to victories and silverware soon enough to keep non-hardcore supporters and corporate club level types from being disillusioned. (people like us will probably keep supporting). We are very close it seems to the point where casual fans will look elsewhere and corporate hospitality people will find other places to spend their diminished recessionary budgets. It has been a while and pretty football won’t be enough.
What, with Hayes and Groves up top…mmmm
And big Sol says
Everyone here has to learn and be honest about it. To ask where they want their careers going. Say that this is the level I want to get to and surpass. But you have to be honest with yourself and say ‘I’ve got to work harder, I’ve got to understand the game a bit better and realise it is a big world out there and there are a lot of good players out there at big clubs’.
This is where you learn. You learn a lot about yourself and where you are going to be. You can’t think you’re okay and you’re not. You’ve got to be a very quick learner. This is the level you have got to be at. You’ve got to look at yourself. This is a different level but you have got to appreciate what they are doing and raise your level.
This new set of players are fantastic – they have got great talent. But it’s getting the balance right. It’s all about winning something – going for it every year with all guns blazing. You’ve got to respect football in every way. You’ve got to go for the League Cup, you’ve got to go for the FA Cup, you’ve got to go for all competitions because you never know which one is going to come your way.
http://www.thegunninghawk.com/2010/04/12/sol-campbell-its-all-about-winning-something-going-for-it-every-year-with-all-guns-blazing/
Limestone: you are spot on. That is what will force the club to change tack. Money talks.
Franchise, if we don’t win any trophies this year we’ll win next year and if we don’t then I might just join your camp…Believe me that would be one massive shift in mentality but one I would hapiily embrace if I’m wrong
Micky
90% of corporates not signing? That would be huge if it happened and may perhaps force the board’s hand but I just get the feeling that there would have to be other pressing issues that might make the corporates not renew their tickets…the 90% non-renewal sound quite dramatic, even with all of Geoff’s moaning he still renews his ticket
ManUre has been winning and, unlike Chelsea, still playing an exciting and attacking game. Maybe not as technically artistic (monet instead of money, Fran!) as Arsenal, but still pleasing and entertaining. We can’t make it seem as if the beauty of our game is the only value to sustain us.
Limestonegunner – Theres upset and expecting to beat them like we’ve been doing it for years.
What do you mean no good reason ? It doesn’t happen overnight or over a couple of seasons, you have to work at it every year and that’s exactly what we’re doing now.
How would you judge it ? When did we suddenly become a super club ?! We’re on the way.
Man but u agree with Sol that we should take all trophies seriously?
Next is just to get a few assholes in the team. Lean mean football machines. With the hunger of lions to win trophies.
Franchise, I think we should take the top 3 trophies seriously. The CC? we can continue to experiment
Anyway, I’m off for a bit…laters
Corporate is not like Club Level. Most in boxes are ona company day out. No allegiance to Arsenal and often not even to football. They go to see the Arshavin’s and Cesc’s. Its about glamour AND winning to them. The club desparately needs their money.
Franchise – don’t you think he’s saying that as individuals you have to give your all no matter the competition ? I doubt he’s suddenly decided to voice opinion on the other cups.
Also you could say we went out if the FA Cup because we took it too seriously, we were doing find until we tried to win it.
Man its all about respecting the opposition. no one says dont play the kids. if u meet a decent team like when we met City. play 6 first teamers and 5 kids. so if we get knocked out of the 1st or 2nd round of the CC from when we get involved what really do the players learn?
MAnuinted kids won the shit last year with Wellbeck playing in the final yet they arent ready to help United in their prem push. What are ours going to learn? Bollox
Its all monetary decisions
IMO
if the prize money for carling cup were 25,000,000 watch Wenger take it seriously
Another issue is squad depth if you have a good reliable set of 18-20 first teamers you should be able to rotate your team appropriately
Keyser,
It looked like we were on our way in 2007-08, but we lost players and went backwards the next season. If we don’t win the league this season when ManU and Chelsea are both weaker, we can say we have improved but we have to be honest that the improvement has not been really massive, just a step forward. We won’t really be on the way unless we keep our best players and actually add quality to them for next year.
I will judge us a super club when we win the league and are favorites to do so, not plucky young outsiders, and when we get back to a CL final and win it. You have to beat the great teams to do that. We haven’t been able to do it for two seasons in Europe.
http://goal.com/en-gb/news/2565/exclusives/2010/04/12/1870714/arsenal-should-sign-tottenham-hotspurs-wilson-palacios-perry
Long article from Perry Groves here. He still has us coming 3rd.
He says we should get LLoris, Wilson Palacios from Spurs, Roger Johnson from Birmingham.
“Hunger of lions”; I like that, Zeus!
So Nina is selling her shares!!!!!
Good, hopefully this will end the limbo we are in, and one of our potential new owners will put there money where there mouth is. We are going to get bought out at some point, so lets just get it over with.
Also a question. If and god forbid if Chavski do the double, would we be in the Charity Shield?
We had better hold on to Arshavin.
What the fuck Arsenal. We are a big club we are not Crystal Palace for fuk sakes.
How many times has that Donkey’d Serena Williams look-alike Muppet Drogba demanded a move from Stamford shite since Mourinho left?
How many times did Ronaldo cry like a baby demanding that he was a slave and then saying he wanted off from Utd to Madrid and then it took a World Record before he left?
Are we just going to continue to let our star players go? Anelka, Hleb, Flamini, TH14 etc etc
Grow some fucking balls Arsenal.
And all these geniuses that keep saying that a player should leave if his heart is not in it.
Rubbish.
He’s paid to do a job.
How many of you have your heart in the job you do?
Just because your heart may or may not be in it doesnt stop you from doing a fantastic job. End off.
Some of these things i read are just grand idiotic.
David
No worries. Where the hell is he gonna go really. The club won’t sell him to another English club thats for sure.
No to Italy as well. So the only place left is Spain. He doesn’t do defensive work so no to Barca and he would never get playing time at Madrid. He stays.
Limestonegunner – the closer you get to the top the margins are that bit finer, I’d say we’ve got a lot more depth than last year despite a similar amount of injuries.
Even still you could have the best team in the world with a player like Messi scoring 40 goals if he gets injured the season after and the team struggles to replace him how do you judge the season ? And do you prepare for him suffering an injury again ?!
You can only go soo much before you just have to put your faith in some things going your way.
Zeus
Wenger could very easily sell him to Mancity. (Adebayor)
Bellamy is getting old and he’s abit of trouble.
Citech? I have no doubt that they would want him, but why in God’s name would he want to go there aprt from monetary gains.
Wake up Zeus
City are in the Champions League now.
I mean whats the difference? They dont win Trophies. Neither do we.
NOt quite David. Spurs may just……
Fuck it. If he goes he goes. I couldn’t care less about anything Arsenal related until pres season. Thank God there is a WC so as to keep me from having to deal with endless transfer rumours and everyone going mental.
Spurs have to play Us, Utd, and Chelsea.
Theyre’s no way their getting into the top 4
on wiki answers:
Q: why are st louis ram’s a poor team(stan kronkee’s american football club)
A: chronically dysfunctional front office, which failed to restock the team with quality players.
Good evening, grovers!
A few words about Arshavin, if you don’t mind. Being Russian myself and seeing Arshavin playing in Zenit for a long time I can say that Andrey has always been this way – that’s his character. He is not lazy at all but plays his best only if he has “inspiration”. He’s always had his own opinion on every aspect of the game and he has his own vision of the pitch and he never missed an opportunity to talk about that. It’s just impossible to “shut” his mouth – whoever you are. I understand that he is not an easy player to deal with for any manager – but this is just the way he is. About his relationship with his team – he is a devoted player and respects his mates but never expect from him to be really close to anyone, he is kind of in and oneself type of a person. I don’t know if he can ever become a real gunner, but I would be sorry if he leaves – I support Arsenal since Wenger’s era and was really proud to see a talented Russian in the squad who helped them to win in several games this season, when there was such a rotation of players due to… well, many reasons.
Can’t wait till Wednesday, good luck to us.
Seems like silent stan is only here for the cash,any one who wears a syrup as bad as that as got to be dodgy!!
hate burst your boble david but hleb flamster in fact most players that have left arsenal have floped there exceptions of course like henry ade but hleb flamster they are no were the careers have taken real flop
As per the question earlier
Chavski win the Double
We come 2nd
Horrible thought I know, but would we be in the Charity Shield?
I dont know for sure but i assume United would be in the charity shield after winning the CC>
That would be pants Stu.
Would be nice to aim for something even if we can only get 2nd.
Zeus, David is right. We had better not be too arrogant about Citeh. I would have preferred Villa or Liverpool for 4th (even hated Tottenham) because Citeh has the $$ to be a new Chelski. If they recruit a top name manager because they are in the CL, they will get great players to come, not just the greedy mercenaries.
we played the runners up in the Premier League after our 98 and 02 Doubles,
But there was some clown on TalkShite earlier saying that it would be Pompey in the Charity Shield
If City get the 4th CL Slot
They will get in a new boss in the Summer, and will attract better players, and will be right up there this time next year.
But I think there will be a fire sale. Adebayor, Bellamy, Ireland, Toure, Richards, SWP etc
And I would take Bellamy and Ireland off them.
It’s not a syrup it’s a moleskin wallet get your facts right reggie..
And Given too. I reckon he will be given the choice of either becoming a 2nd choice Cudicini or out the door.
They will definately bring in a new keeper.
Lets have him too.
Keyser,
You haven’t made a very strong case for our improvement this year–slightly more depth. Wow.
Fine, let’s all have faith, which is what you need when you don’t have success and the results anymore. We can also have faith that because we are Arsenal, the Man Cities of this world can’t catch up to us and become Chelskis.
Hleb and flamster were parts of a welled oiled machine
Parts being the key word
Did I expect any of them to set their respective leagues alight? No way same way I expect players like Song not to do too well if he leaves us
Only great players can adapt to any system. Flamini especially is not that blessed with raw talent that is in comparison to hleb
But no mistaken the fact that they were key ingredients to our side in 07-08 and they were a big loss to our side the season after
U think that if Hughes was still around, we could sell Sylvester to Citeh for 10M.
After all, he has a lot of experience and medals.
Good one there Keyser
I hope Usmanov siezes his chance and buys Arsenal.
He’s got the cash to bring us top players. + DD is also going to be helpful.
Controversial there ritesh prepared to get mullared!!
Surely if arshavin goes we must sign a new winger!
This year arsenal has making money like a dog. Surely there is much money and with the sell of arshavin and maybe eduardo we could spend it on this player:
Chamakh free
Sabotic 15m
Boateng 10m
lloris 12m
Neuer 12m
Hazard 12m
Rodwell 14m
palacios 12m
remy 10m
matuidi 10m
zapata 12m
I will go for Hazard(for arshavin), Chamakh, Boateng and Rodwell.
Sznensy(too good)
sagna-Boateng-vermaelen-clichy
rodwell-song-fabregas
hazard-RvP-Chamakh
almunia
eboue-djourou-( talented CB)- gibbs
diaby-denilson-nasri
walcott-bendtner-rosicky
Agree?? And do you think that wenger will spend the money we surely have?? And which players??
if he’s got the cash, why should i prefer Kronke.
What does Kronke bring to the club…he has to see the rams to buy Arsenal. Can he give us money to buy the characters we need to win something? My guess is No.
Can Usmanov do that for us? Apparently, he even paid from his pocket to fund the Arshavin purchase. He’s fat and ugly, but he will make us win things.
Take his money I say.
I would go with Usmanov too.
Stan is too quiet, I think we would be in a position where we would never know his intentions. And when you look at what is happening at both Liverpool and Man Ure, I would rather not have a Yank in charge.
Usmanov would mean Dein back, and it was his forward thinking that should have been listened too in the first place.
Other than that, I dont suppose Carlos Slim is interested in Football is he?
i like this elia fella
Come On Carlos, you know you want to Buy Arsenal
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Slim
Maybe Vela would get a crack then too.
Without blowing my own trumpet… I think I’ve written a pretty damn interesting post tomorrow.
Quite informative comment Elena @ 7.14
I’ll have Bellamy cos he gives some money to Sierra Leone
as long as it’s about arsenal pedro were alright
about what Pedro
Pedro i hope you are not using my jokes
Elena – Thank you for the Arshavin insight.
Dutchman
LLoris, Rodwell, Nuer and Hazard will cost nothing under 20m each.
ritesh
The fat Russian contributed nothing to the Arshavin purchase, what are you on about. And if he does by the club I’m sure its gonna be Glasier style putting the club into massive debts as well.
None of these bastards have any strong feeling towards the club, remember that its just another money making venture. I guarantee that he wouldn’t do an Abromovich and spend 1/4b on this team.
What ever way we look at it,them cunts will get rich and the team will get poorer.
David Dein was wrong BTW. He said that we needed a sugar daddy when clearly we don’t cuz we are making money like pimps. Is there anyone there to put presure on Arsene to spend and improve our OBVIOUS weaknesses, no.
That is where we need Dein.
haha! I haven’t had the chance yet!
I bindipped last night… everyone thought I was really funny on facebook!
That i find hard to believe.
http://goal.com/en-gb/news/2559/rumours/2010/04/12/1875632/arsenals-bacary-sagna-will-be-inter-milans-no1-target-if
And so it begins.
Zeus,
The Russian has a lot of money. He needs fame. And fame you get with victories, by investing. He has called for the club to invest after our debacle last year and even said he was prepared to put his money on the table. That’s what I want as a fan. Not a guy who will come in and suck the blood out of the club.
What did the Stan do since coming on???
zeus- they have maicon, i feel they are getting him for backup
shows there ambition
ritesh
Usmonov is a pplaying polytricks. He knows that when he says he will invest 100m in the club that will endear him to some fans, but I say once again that nothing is free. He hardly has the personal wealth of the Man City owners so that 100m here is no water of his back.
One way or another he would have to get his money back. All these guys are here TO MAKE MONEY. They could give fuck all bout the club or stability.
We dont need any investors, we are loaded.
What we need is a manager that isnt terrified to spend money.
Exactly right-
What ever way we look at it,them cunts will get rich and the team will get poorer.
The prospect of Stan buying the club frightens the hell outta me. I dont think he has the money. Another fraudster posing as a sucessful business. He is more likely to do a Glazer/ Gillet and take a huge mortgage out on the clubs.
We know that leveraged funny money doesnt work. This would destroy Arsenal for ever. Just like it will destroy ManU, LFC , R.Madrid. I want to see Stan’s bank balance , his cold hard cash – not his credit facilities.
With Stan on board, we are in for a long haul before lifting any title.
hitman
Don’t worry about Madrid. Spain’s government will right off a handsome bit of that debt. Madrid is an institution that is too big to fail.
I even heard some of the banks that did not want to bank roll there exploits this summer recieved threats from persons holding money in these banks that people would just pull out and leave them bankrupt. Such is the way leaway that this club gets.
we are very good with multi-ownership. it gets the balance right, plus we are a club that generates loads of money.
i think that starting for this summer we will be in the market for real, as big boys
Zeus.
I heard that it was a Catalan bank that eventually provided Madrid with the finance. Presumably to ensure they are in good position to land the killer blow when Madrid do a Portsmouth.
Nations can only bail out their banks and institutions only for so long. Even teh bailout money will run out. The question is: will Spain survive? Its one of the PIIGS.
I agree with Gooby. The current mixed ownership sets appears to work for us. NOC is good. Lets pay of the current debt, steady as she goes etc. But these businessmen let they egos get in the way of common good.
If any of you think any good will come out of that fat uzbek cunt buying Arsenal you are in for a big shock.
real madrid are the kings club. there is no waythe government will let it fail
I think the Uzbek would fail the fit and proper person test. This test should also include a test of the business plan. Any body who wishes to use debt to buy an English FC should be told to eff off in no uncertain terms.
I’m sick off funny money fraudsters.
I would still go with Usmanov.
I reckon Stan’s wealth is tied up to much and we would not see much out of him.
We can’t avoid it for ever. We are going to be taken over at some point. I would rather just get it out the way and start winning shit
Even Madrid wasnt allowed to ‘fail’. It would be so crippled it wouldnt be able to compete financially with the mega euro clubs of the future like Barca, Arsenal & Man City!!
Whats the Spanish for League 1.
GM, I think you could easily say exactly the same about the freaky looking Yank Cunt.
I could’ve sworn I read that the crash also wiped out a portion of Usmanov’s wealth as well as Abromovich’s.
hitman
Madrid has the biggest fanbase worldwide. Don’t lose any sleep for them. They will be fine.
And look at all his other Sports teams
Denver Nuggets Won fuck all
Colorado Rapids Won fuck all
Colorado Avalanch Won fuck all
St Louis Rams Won fuck all
Why do we think we he will do any different at Arsenal??
The point is Pat being taken over does not guarantee success. It is about who and how you are taken over. Just look at the bindippers. They were going great until the leveraged takeover. Its been downhill since. ManuU are now going that way. They had decent players which has delayed their demise but they will win nowt this year and make a huge loss to bootcos of the interest payment.
This is serious. If Stan or Usman take over using a huge loan we will end up like LFC overnight. Kiss goodbye to 4th spot. And what was the point of these 6 years of caution if we end up with an even bigger mortgage. I dont think many Arse fans have thought about it.
Nuggets have a very good team though. Its not from lack of trying why they haven’t won the NBA title.
It doesn’t hitman
I do agree with that, but it is inevitible that someone is going to take over our club. It is already foreign owned by over 50%.
I think you are right, a lot of Gooners have thought about it.
But I see Usmanov being the better of the two evils.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=770203&sec=england&cc=3888
According to espn, everything is in a stalemate. Crisis averted for now. None have these guys have or can afford 1billion for the club.
Zeus. Maybe. But just watch how the huge glory hunting fanbase at Manu U will slowly drift eastwards as the sun starts to rise in East Manchester.
I dont think anyone is immune. ‘Fan bases’ are fickle. I dont care for R Madrid and certainly wont lose any sleep if their ‘business model’ fails and their fan base starts moving elsewhere . I hope it does. Just making an observation.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/8615796.stm
rvp = rip tottenham
Here is my 23/24 man squad for next year
This squad will win something
First 11
New GK,Gallas,Vermaelen,Clichy
Sagna,Cesc,Song,Diaby,Chamakh,
Rvp,Arshavin
Second team
Almunia,New CB,Djurou,Sol,Eboue
Gibbs,Traore,New DM,Denilson
Rosicky,Theo,Eduardo,Bendtner
Optional:Hazard/Elia
Loan:Vela,Wilshere,Jet,etc. Call
Them back if we need them Let’s
Attack the CC and FA cup with our 2nd
Team what’s the point of the
Kids playing a couple games
Then crashing out? Let them go
On loan fromthe start of the
Season so they will get playing timme
As their isless worry. About
Relegation battles
Zeus, let me put that another way
Arsenal have a very good team though. Its not from lack of trying why they haven’t won the PL or CL title.
This is what I mean, he is not renowned for pumping large sums into the development of these outfits. I know things are different in the States with the draft and all, but I just dont think Kroenke will be investing heavily in Arsenal if he takes over. I think he sees a cash cow that will continue to give him a good income as long as we continue to qualify for the CL.
PTG
You are the only one I have ever seen say that. Even the board members have come around to the idea of having Stan on board.
Never have they invited Usmanov to be apart of the setup.
I don’t think a takeover is worth it right now. UEFA regulations come into effect in 2012
They also once said that they would never have the Yank on board.
Things change.
Hey I would rather that nobody took over, we cleared the debt and the current board (with someone with fresh ideas) took the club forward (minus the Yank)
I just pray that before our club is taken over, that the powers that be put legislation in place to ensure that a Football club can not be plunged into debt as part of a purchase.
Spot on Pat.
Arsenal are no longer primarily a FC. We’re a business. The focus is to make as much profit as possible with as little risk. Winning trophies is secondary & incidental. The board and Wenger wont tell u that. But thats the reality.
Buying expensive players is too risky and unneecssry in the pursuit of profit.
4th is the new first. Its certinaly more profitable. Quarter-finals are the risk/reward optimum & everything is within budget.
Its why Stan wants to buy.
Listen
At least Stan has some experience in sports to have a say however small.
The Russian made his riches in oil and prostitution and knows absolutely nothing about football, this is simply a money making opportunity and if anyone for one second thinks this guy is gonna pump his own money in the club because he so loves the Arsenal, you are in for the shock of your lives.
RVP usually takes a while to get into his stride, i wouldnt expect too much too soon.
Again Zeus you can say the same about the Yank
You have no idea if Kroenke would pump his own money into strengthening Arsenal. His money is tied up in many sporting ventures and it is questionable if he would even have the floating cash to invest in the squad anyway
For all we know, both the Yank and the Uzbek might have invested short term in the hope some Asian or Arab multi-billionaire comes in to buy them both out.
And that would not surprise me. Maybe a 3rd party will come to the table with Nina’s shares.
Thats the RVP of old Gambon. Last season adn this season he’s been superb, even after injury. Remember, he didn’t score a single goal in our first 8-9 matches, but he was still our best player.
I read he was playing with an amateur team a month ago. He’s sharper than we might think he is.
hitman
really, thats why Stan wants to buy? Why doesn’t he try to buy Kobe Bryant then.
And hey
The Ruskie down the road at Chavski made his millions in a similar way to the Uzbek and it does not seem to have hindered them much, regardless of the fact he knows fuck all about football.
likewise the crazy bastards up north who have got Man Shitty on the verge of CL football in 2 seasons. A team that would never have even got Europa Cup football without them.
Yet Kroenke who does not sport has 4 sporting franchises and has won jack shit with them for years.
Sorry that should say
Yet Kroenke who does know sport has 4 sporting franchises and has won jack shit with them for years.
No idea. Is Kobe Bryant any good? Dont know much about basketball. Sorry.
And I also hope that whoever does end up with the club tells whoever is Manager at the time that the FA Cup is important and fielding a shite team with little chance of winning is unaceptable.
ptg,
Sure. But Abramovich and Usmanov aren’t the same. Do u hinestlt believe that he will invest 1/4b of his own money.
Plus Roman fucked it up when he started to tell Mourinho he wanted this guy and that guy on the same team as if he was playing championship manager.
hitman
He is the Messi of basketball if you will.
Zeus I dont believe either of them will do an Abramovich or a Sheikh Mansour
But in one corner I have a Dodgy Russian with an estimated wealth of $7.2 Billion
and in the other, I have a silent assasin with a history of under achieving sports franchises with an estimated wealth of $3 Billion
I am going with the Uzbek as he is twice as rich
If Arsh leaves surely Wenger will replace him. Arsh must be on soemthing around 80-100 thousand pounds a week, if CHamakh comes in on a 50 thousand pound a week deal, we still can afford another player on the pay roll. Not to mention the freedom in our pay roll that will arise if Eduardo and Sylvestre leave. What do you think Eduardo and Rosicky are on? Sylvestre was on 50 right?
AA23 won’t leave guys. Its a non argument for me.
Still what do you think eddie and rosicky are on? And doublegooner was the one who told us all about sol campbell/adebayor, and toure too.
I also feel that the Uzbek has been dealt a bit of an unfair hand by gooners.
It is as if we have been spoonfed that he is a crook and he is going to fuck us over as it is the word on the street. Yet I have seen nothing 100% genuine to back that up, just hearsay and opinions (Which are fine but not always based on any fact)
Yet I have never heard Silent Stan even mutter a word about his intentions for Arsenal. And that cunt is on the board!!!!!!
What about Arshavin and 15 million to Valencia for ole David Villa?
Hows everyones arsehole for wednesday?
AA23
WHAT? hehe
I hope AA23 does not go, but it does seem to be a growing rumour from those who have been pretty spot on in the past.
I am not sure where he would go though. He is a very talented player (on his day) but he has been pretty dissapointing this season. You have to have him on the pitch though as he can do nothing for 89 mins and then bang.
I dont think he is happy at Arsenal though.
Luke
how about Arshavin for Ribery
Fuck Arshavin. If he really wants to go let him go. Just get some serious money for him.
Oh and actually invest in the team this time FFS.
Ribery couldnt stay fit in england IMO, always seems to be injured.
AA23
You obviously expect us to get well beaten Wednesday.
What could have been
Hugo Lloris
Sagna-Gallas-Vermy-Clichy
Cesc-Song-Xabi Alonso
RVP-Chamakh-David Villa
Wenger will probably say
I dont need to replace Arshavin as I have Vela!!!
I think Wenger will buy this summer. I really do. Atleast 2-3 players and chamakh
ptg
and Jack Wilshere. Plus Aaron Ramsey will be like a new signing when his cast comes off.
Luke,
When compiling a “what couldve been” im not sure Chamakh deserves a place.
I was just trying to be “semi-realistic”. Thats all…
Spot on
Gambon. Better include Messi who only decided to stay at barca cuz he couldn’t get a work permit. Wouldn’t want to see him in the PL though.
If Ramsey is too fast for the Ryan Shawcrosses of this world how would they cope with messi. They would have shattered him into a million little pieces long ago.
I definately dont think we’ll be signing Lloris. Ive noticed a lot of people want us to.
I reckon theres a chance he may go for a keeper, but it’ll be an unknown. If he cant take the credit he doesnt wanna know.
And to be honest, i dont think i will lose any sleep or feel really gutted if Arshavin left.
i would like him to stay, but he has been very inconsistent this season and has never looked like repeating the 4 goal performance at Anfield.
He just has not got to that Iconic status as an Arsenal Player. A bit of a Reyes really
Messi would tear up the premier league just like he does la liga.
I dont see a Keeper coming
Wenger loves his Almunia, and the vice-captaincy backs that up.
Sebastian Frey should come…
Gambon
Messi would be dead in the PL. Defenders in La Liga place more emphasis on closing down space and using smarts to deny attackers; as we have seen in the PL its KILL KILL KILL.
Just so you know people… my post goes up tomorrow at 0900 sharp. It’ll autopost.
Be sure not to miss it…!
Zeus, Messi would be fine in the Premiership. You’ve got to get near him to kill him…
Yep sadly Messi would be ripped apart in the PL.
English Mentality is to maim, especially if the little cunt is mugging you off with his unbelievable tekkers.
And I am English
I think it is partly the reason we get so many injuries. We are making the opposition look like we did against Barca and it fucking annoys people so they use the only weapon they have….a crunching tackle.
Pedro
you have built this post up like Wenger has built our team up, it had better not disappoint or you can expect a grilling at the shareholders!
If in doubt… knock him out.
Never stopped Ronaldo though, did it?
Or Cesc for that matter!
Gambon, you’ll like it… I’m not sure many others will! haha!
Right… off to facebook stalk some girls.
Have a good one!
Pedro, your text is becoming like deadline day
I hope I am not hitting F5 up to 9am only to be dissapointed and end up throwing the monitor out of the window (Like the TV)
Zeus
I thoight we’d get baten on wed, then they got done by Portsmouth and now I’m not sure again.
Getting done by those cunts is a horrible , horrible thought.
Hold your high hopes till Chamakh fucks up every chance created by our midfield.Work rate wont matter much,if you dont know where the back of the net is.
Jaguar youre poop
Im sorry, I didnt mean it, swear
Jesus wept! I come on here and just start catching up with the posts when on comes Jag with his usual bout of depressing melancholy! You really are one miserable soab!
Whatever,Luke.14 goals in 41 matches,in an inferior league hardly speaks of a great striker. We have enough players like him.A Strikers responsibility is to put the ball into the back of the net and he is shite at that.Everything else comes second.
zeus
messi is too good for any team in the world. the guy is unstoppable.
Do you think fat sam tactics would keep him quite or those teams like stokes or the cunts down the road? i don’t think so
Zorro,Who would you rather have in your team.A proven winner like David Villa or a mediocre striker whom Wenger is after only because he is a freebie?
I agree with Jaguar, Chamakh is a good player, but i think he will be a bit short at the level we are trying to get to.
in fact, argentina playing with messi, higuain, tevez and having aguero milito, di maria, lisandro lopez, palacio….
where does it stop? they have immense potential. imagine just messi tevez and lisandro up front! wow
Jaguar villa is 30 he will soon lose his pace. i don’t think chamakh will be a flop.
like vermaelen wenger probably watched him a hundred of times, he knows what he is buying imo.
We should be after great players,not just good or average players,who are available only because they are cheap.
Chamakh may be a good player.But he is shite when it comes to scoring goals.
Jaguar, that’s my point. i don’t think he is going for him just because he is free. lots of players are free every season.
And if wenger got a quality, it is getting right players. excluding silvestre, denilson
we should go for lisandro or aguero.
aguero is the new villa, similar style
Hmm yes, lets spend a load of money on DV.
Of course Thierry was tearing up the place at Juve, and Ade was knocking them in for fun at Monaco,
Is there anyway Fans can get together and purchase Ninas’ shares? I like the way Barca are run.
ZorrO
Chamakh is 26, its a bit different, he is in his prime.
Isn’t Kun Aguero going Inter? Maybe we can get Balotelli; a lot of people think he will be a superstar, I have not got an opinion on him as not seen him too much tbh.
it’s not like drogba came good at 20
yeah aguero is probably going to inter. he is class
Gambon, at 26 I still reckon he could have 4 very decent years in him. Besides, people moan like fuck that Bobby did not get another contract when he hit 30 so we should give the guy another 2 on top maybe.
Mind you, he fucks off to the ANC every 2 years which is a major pain!
Aguero should come to arsenal. I say Arshavin and 15 million to Athletico for Aguero.
Hah
Aguero is over rated.It would be silly if its not a straigt swap.
Only 2 Spanish clubs that AA would leave us for I think.
CHamakh may not be prolific in France but players perform differently in different leagues.
Forlan was considered a massive flop at United but has consistently been one of he top scorers in spain since moving there.
Torres never got more than 20 a season for Atletico despite being their captain and best player.
And anyway, Chamakh isnt being bought to be the top scorer, he is a squad player as far as im concerned, or to play wide right.
As a squad / wide right player Loic Remy would be far better.
I hope we sign both, with Eduardo & Walcott leaving.
jaguar
aguero is 21
last year he scored 25 and gave 10 assists(51 games)
the year before scored 23 and gave 9 assists(41 games)
his first season he was 18 and scored 16 in 26 games and gifted 6 assists
that is not excactly what i call over rated
Fuck me Gooby, he’s shit! Be better off waiting for Marlon ‘Abu Hamza ‘ King to get out of chokey!
Zorr0- lol
lovin the blog as usual, gutted 4 eduardo, sadly i cant see his future at arsenal
been saying this 4 yrs, but this time i really believe it (been sayin that 4 yrs 2) next season is ours, domestic double at least – you’ll see
you’ll think im mad, but seriously, big phil can still have a future with us, i know had some shockers, but was class in 2008 when kolo at ACN. belief and confidence from manager and teamates can inspire him to fulfill potential wenger saw in him!!!
we are just lowly red members – due to being crazy busy (work/home) as well as some serious lack of coinage, we’ve seen r boys twice this season! was desperate for fulham tickets, in queue for online bnox office, conncection timed out and was kicked 2 back of queue, narrowly missed out – am desperate for those wigan tickets or for any of remaining games, pls plspls, feel like such a loser, anyone who not using tckts fink o me, genuine lifelong fans, not fortunate enough 2 see r beloved team nearly as much as we desire
aliqasim@gmail.com
I’ve read a lot about arsh today.. What a pity….
He.s a player that other young players look upto.. He.s scored 5 goals at anfield… A rocket at ot… And if rvp had finished it off from his superb pass.. We would be right with the chavs….
So what if he doesn.t track back… Its not like the midfielders and defenders are hustling and running for their lives.. He scores 4 and we still dont win…
This guy wants to win… Of course he will moan .. He’s taken a pay cut to be with us…
He.s played out of position for most of the season with an injury as well…
And we.re going to replace him with another kid? Thats been the story of our club lately hasn.t it…..
any of u guys read this?
http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Bolton-boss-Owen-Coyle-says-Jack-Wilshere-should-go-to-the-World-Cup-with-England-article390521.html
i think the boy should go to the world cup. Both him and Adam Johnson (ManCity). 2 very good young players who i would like to see in the world cup.
Talk of Arshavin leaving is a bit depressing. I like him, and there is no denying he is world class. I think he should be given atleast one more full year, his fitness is what has really let him down. Messi does fuck all defending too, I don’t begrudge him for that. I just think Wenger has to find the right way to get the most out of him.
Also he has played a full season, a lot out of position at times. For a player who has never ever played anywhere else apart from Russia and still be 2nd leading goalscorer for us says a lot.
The media talks and team opinion is a bit of a let down I agree but surely to cut the cords so soon would be a rushed decision I feel.
I agree but surely to cut the cords so soon would be a rushed decision I feel.
—
Who has drawn the scissors out Wenger or Arshavin.
Good morning all
BTW would Berbaflop be a good buy? Will he fit into our system?
Anyone with half a football brain and able to stick in the back of the net will fit into our system. Also some size and strength. He can be lazy at times too though.
Wenger no doubt if any of the rumours are true. But that’s all right, I don’t have a problem with that. You have to let the cat cross the street once in a while and live on the edge.
So we all know what the post will be about but will it be at 0900?
Lazer, sorry I dont know yet ????
Lady Nina is selling her shares. The Lady is ga ga
Nina Bracewell-Smith (born 1955) is an Indian-born, United Kingdom-based businesswoman. She is a major shareholder and former non-executive director of the English Premiership football club Arsenal.[1][2]
Born Nina Kakkar in New Delhi, she is the daughter of an Indian diplomat.[3] In 1996 she married Sir Charles Bracewell-Smith, the fourth baronet (of Keighley in the County of Yorkshire); he is the son of the former Arsenal director Sir George Bracewell-Smith, (second Baronet) who was on the Arsenal board of directors from May 1953 to September 1976. Sir George was in turn the son of the former Arsenal chairman Sir Bracewell Smith, who sat as chairman from 1948 to 1962.
Lady Bracewell-Smith’s share in Arsenal comes from the estate of Sir Bracewell Smith.
She inherited the shares, that doesn’t make her an Arsenal fan
She is attempting to end a 70 year Bracewll-Smith relationship with The Club. I bet she couldn’t really care less if Arsenal won a damn thing.
IMO, her ownership is dorment. She needs to sell to someone who is active in their attempts to make The Arsenal No1. David Dein’s consortium maybe.
Lady Nina appointing US consultants to sell share: The whole exercise appears to be one to make the deal of shore one and to save some tax. Even hand in Glove with Mr. Silent.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/rams/2010-04-12-stan-kroenke_N.htm?csp=34sports&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomSports-TopStories+%28Sports+-+Top+Stories%29
gg9,
Honestly what would you do if you had inherited them?
LAzer
Thats amazing. Plurality of ownership will continue I hope. That explains Lady Nina, selling to third person.
So if the fans purchase 17 percent what do we get? A seat on the board, better fucking refreshments at the games, watch some world class players play in a world class stadium. Now that would all be so worth it!
And an endless haul of trophies.
Depends when she inherited them bnsb
So someone is buying, who is it? Is it a friend of mine?
No one bids outright is the best, you’re right bnsb.
Anyone heard anything about RBS calling in their Liverpool loans?
Answer me, you miserable bunch of fucking retards!!!!
Tell us a joke DDM,
id love to get those golf oneliners off you one day,
you know the one that had paris hilton as an expensive hole etc.
You half wit inbred twit, no I haven’t. But I really wish the fuck they would and they go bankrupt with relegation so Torres, RVP and Arshavin can play up front !!
DDM
LIVERPOOL FC’S American owners are set to be given another six months to find a new buyer for the club.
The Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to extend a deadline on Liverpool FC’s outstanding loan, taking the pressure off owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett – and avoiding the need for a rapid “fire” sale.
The move to ease the financial burden on the club’s two American owners will buy them valuable time in their bid to find a buyer, though is unlikely to please fans who want them out.
Liverpool has outstanding loans of £237m and its lenders, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and American bank Wachovia, had demanded a £100m repayment by this July.
But the ECHO understands moves are under way at RBS to extend the deadline by up to six months, allowing the club time to seek new investment.
http://tinyurl.com/yym2uov
DDM
I was throwing down a Peroni when you typed sorry. Talk about Indian Summers, the weather here is 
Thats an early start Gnarley
and a Tuesday no less!
St Louis Rams, weren’t they once the LA Rams. In the US a professional sports team is just a franchise. If Stan gets hold of Lady Nina’s lot he may move The Arsenal to Las Vegas
4.00pm isn’t early AAA
Where is Geoff? This share “option” stuff is right up his alley.
Las Vegas?? I was there earlier today!
Well can you tell us this, could Arsenal play home games there
They could be known as The Arsenal Desert Storms
thats already been used by George Bush 
Well if you like lots of tits in the home crowds yea.
It was all over the late news in Brussels last night that RBS had actually called in their loans!!!
When are the powers that be going to call in the loans on Manchester United.
Some spoilt arab shark
I mean sheik, from a different tribe of bedouins may pay out the United loans then it could be on up their in Snow town.
fat spanish waiter and red whiskey nose would never last without money to spend.
i reckon the top clubs of the years to come will be us, shitty and chavski.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/8615713.stm
Hansen
gnarley,
move The Arsenal to Las Vegas,
Probably still be cheaper than the Emirates experience and the lack of Atmosphere will be more than made up for and by the scantly clad waitresses lol
angeausarsenal – Just for you…….
How many Metropolitan Police Officers does it take to puch a black man down the stairs?………….None, he fell!!!
chippy
They could have a Hooters Bar @ the home Stadium. No bloke would go back out to their seat after half Time though
any team news yet?
suprised Rosicky is playing after he stunk out the Nou Camp
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