Gourcuff – Joe Cole – Taylor / England: Two sides of the coin

by & filed under Uncategorized.

Now, call me a conspiracy theorist, a crank or a nutter, but something’s up in the world of media these days.

  1. Arsenal player wants to leave
  2. Blogs / commenters put in their suggestions for who they want as replacements
  3. Main stream media magically find source who confirms Arsenal interested in those said players
  4. Arsenal fans click away at favourable link
  5. Main stream media make some money from adverts

I’ve been suspicious this process has been going on for a while, but all you have to do is take a read of today’s Sun newspaper to know that it’s true!

An Arsenal source said: “While every effort is being made to keep Cesc at the club the boss is working towards an alternative.

“He believes Gourcuff’s finesse and grace will fit perfectly to Arsenal’s way of playing and will make it an almost seamless transition if Cesc does go.”

All sounds a bit too convenient to me! Not that I wouldn’t like to see a transfer like that happen, clearly I would… but that source seems to be a little too attuned to what the fans want to hear!

@1nil2thearsenal sent me this video from twitter the other day on twitter, just to whet your appetite!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q0EDnRRgjc&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6]

If Cesc does decide to get on his little Catalan bicycle and leave the Gooners, the Frenchman has to be one of the few players in world football who’s ready-made to replace him. He’s 23 years old, an untapped well of potential and he’s available.

Still, I’d rather we didn’t have to buy him…

STAY CESC, WE LOVE YOU!

How degrading was that…

Continuing along on the transfer front, we’ve been linked with Steven Taylor again. He’ s the powerful centre back that we’re linked with every summer. For me, if a move like that didn’t happen when Newcastle were relegated, I can’t see it happening during a promotion season! Still, it wouldn’t be bad idea to tap the Championship for up and coming defending talent. I don’t see why we couldn’t find a decent understudy in our lower leagues, plenty of them end up doing a great job in Premiership when they get promoted… Dawson was a Nottingham Forest player, now he’s one of the top performers in the league.

A rumour that didn’t hit the web yesterday was that Joe Cole could be making a surprise move over to North London to join Arsenal tomorrow. I don’t see why that couldn’t be true. He’s surely a good option for a midfield that sometimes lacks a bit of grit and determination. He’s perfect from a technical point of view, he’s an experienced winner and he’s  a Gooner. I really wouldn’t want to see him strengthen Spurs further and give them even more of an English spine.

We’ve also been linked with Makoun of Lyon. Is it me or are there about 25 African holding midfielders plying their trade at French clubs? We can’t seem to go a day without being linked with one of them!

Before I go it’s worth mentioning the England games. The senior game where we beat Japan after two terrific goals from Man United’s second top scorer, ‘own goal’, was an example of why I can’t ever get excited by a World Cup. England were gutless, pedestrian and clueless for large chunks of an embarrassingly boring game.

I didn’t even realise Theo was playing for the bulk of the first half until he knocked a ball 40 in front of himself in a demonstration of skill. I fear for the boy… the weight of  a nation is resting on his shoulders, which is unfair, because that nation still has Croatia on their minds. Theo shouldn’t be telling the press he deserves his place in the England side, because on form, he doesn’t. I hope for his sake he finds it though… because he’ll bet castigated in the media if he doesn’t.

The flip side of that coin was watching the Under 17′s beat Spain 2-1 after going a goal down. Benik Afobe played well despite not getting on the score sheet. The overall performance was disciplined and very impressive. This is the tournament Cesc won as a youth, so it certainly bodes well for the future!

Right, I’m off to deal with this world class hangover… have a good day!

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712 Responses to “Gourcuff – Joe Cole – Taylor / England: Two sides of the coin”

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  1. Robin's Choco Leg Special

    we’ll find out tomorrow won’t we :lol:

    Someone came on here and said PHW had links to the star..

    Now if he said gold and sullivan i’d have believed him…

  6. Gooby

    i am a midget, well not that tall. i have a very fragile ankle(i am crocked) i can pass the ball and i have good technique.
    well i can’t cross or put in a physical challenge but that doesn’t matter.

    i can play for arsenal, ahead of gambon!

  9. Gooby

    out: sivestre, gallas, cambell
    signings: melo, sakho, diakhaté
    like new signings: djourou, ramsey, gibbs

    that’s 6-3=3 additions, sorted

    and we add a very promising mongolian 14 years old and another one form Zimbabwe

  11. Gooby

    you catch the ball Robin? go to the colney and let pat rice give you a trial with a few throws (if he is still there)

  14. Robin's Choco Leg Special

    i don’t have chocolate hands, just a chocolate right peg…

    I’m still pretty sure a full size subbutteo figure tied to a stick is a better option than Coco and flapianski..

  15. Robin's Choco Leg Special

    Any1 seen Mesrine pt.1 & 2 with Vincent Cassell? It’s very good if you can put up with subtitles :D

  17. Robin's Choco Leg Special

    yep.. Who do you think will be sent home?

    I’m going for:

    Warnock, Dawson, Huddlestone, Wright-Phillips, Parker, Adam Johnson & Bent

  20. Gooby

    Adam johnson deserves to be their
    parker too, as that prick carrick doesn’t
    dawson although it kills me to say it, ahs been decent this season

  21. Stu

    Yeah i would do the same RCLS, Johnson was good pace and a lot more trickery that Theo. Plus Carrick is just shit.

  23. gambon

    John cross just said Joe Cole is under contract til June 30th.

    Looks like hes signing for no-one for a while.

  24. Robin's Choco Leg Special

    Walcott will have to have a blinding WC otherwise he could see his career disappear down the shitter…

    If we sold him, I don’t think anyone over the age of 13 would shed a tear if i’m honest…

    He’ll have to prove everyone (except wenger) wrong.. 60k p/w means you should have a better touch, be able to look up and cross into space…

    All we get for 60k a week atm is falling over, running up blind alleys, the non ability to go past a man with nous and trickery and constant poor decision making with the ball in the final 3rd….

  26. Stu

    So Theo has no end product, a fairly poor touch, cant beat a fullback with any sort of regularity and has poor decision making. Well worth the 60k i’d say.

  27. A

    of course he is gambon, so was chamakh, so was merida, that doesn’t change anything.

    Would be very weird if cole did sign tomorrow, on day squad is announced. Would imagine the players will all have other things to do and other things to worry about

  28. gambon

    It is a joke. He literally only has pace, we may aswell play Usain Bolt there.

    Hazard is 20x the player.

  29. Robin's Choco Leg Special

    *note to self* ask for payrise. Use arguement in terms of percentages and theo walcott’s current income based/in lue with current performance level and achieved targets arguement…

  31. A

    gambon you can in the last month of the contract, which is why the date would be significant too….

    foreign clubs is 6 months, domestic clubs 1 month, though with beckford leeds and the player agreed to cancel his contract early, no idea why from his point of view

  32. gambon

    Oh OK, so basically he can start negotiating yomorrow, which makes it pretty unlikley he will sign anywhere til after the WC.

  33. A

    yeah that’s what i was thinking gambon. he COULD sign from tomorrow i guess, but would stink of tapping up!

  36. Robin's Choco Leg Special

    A – Aren’t you allowed to talk terms with other clubs 6 months prior to your contract running out?

  38. A

    robin only with foreign clubs i believe. Clubs within the same football association it’s only within a month i think

  40. sixx pac

    So wat if he makes 60 grand a week( i doubt that cause i read he is among the least paid England international ” by quite some distance”) its obvious that his wage is tied to the money that he makes the club

  42. Robin's Choco Leg Special

    sixx pac are you related to Theo or were you just moved by his childrens books?

  45. A

    well to be fair robin the reason theo is paid that much is image rights, fact that he’s english so sponsorship money etc. If he wasn’t english, and the press/sponsors/advertisers didn’t like him then he wouldn’t be on a biggish wage

  48. A

    it depends gambon, he does amazing things but has an absolutely terrible attitude, and is massively hyped to a far greater extent than his overall contribution warrants

  49. Robin's Choco Leg Special

    I’d prefer it if football players we’re payed based on their on field contribution…

    Players like paul scholes are what I call proper players..

    No interviews, adverts, magazine articles, hello phtoshoots, pouncing about in designer shops, page 3 scandals etc…

    He probably just chops people up and buries them in the garden :lol:

  50. gambon

    I dunno A.

    he’s a 19 year old striker, who has 28 goals & 14 assists in 83 games, mainly from the bench.

    He is tall, very powerful & quick.

    Undoubtedly his attitude could ruin his career, but i get the feeling if he had TH14s attitude & intelligence he could be the best striker in the world by some distace.

  53. gambon

    The biggest problem with Theo is he keeps on mouthing off to the press, then producing absolutely shit performances.

  54. Robin's Choco Leg Special

    funny how you have quick direct access to those links incesc for some reason…

  58. incesc

    whats the big deal with yossi benayoun?

    his average at best, i was amazed when liverpool bought him but now chelsea…

  60. ethangunner

    When benayouns good he is awesome, but he has a lot of awful games.
    ———————————
    sounds like half of our players !

  62. ethangunner

    inspired by Robin’s Choco Leg Special , and in my homophobic ways i , today .. will hold court
    on ‘Robin’s Choco Leg ‘ , and try and answer once and for all …

    is RVP gay ?!

  72. ikon

    Put someone like David Villa in front of Arshavin, David Silva and a little less dumb winger than Theo along side, we will see a different Arshavin.

    The guy who sees a pass 2 seconds before others, can see that its out of his hands to play with these players and not affect the match outcome any bit.

  73. ethangunner

    Rohan says:
    June 1, 2010 at 05:43

    Radiohead=win!!!
    ——————————————-
    the best song – and best clip , right there baby !

  74. ethangunner

    ikon ,

    ive been crying like a little welching bytch’e for 3 years for david villa to join , 2 seasons ago when arsenal were STUPID enough to give cesc his own show , he said on it his good friend david villa will join maybe ..

    cesc was even giving us hints back then !

    wenger knows best :)

    WKB ..

  75. Rohan

    Gourcuff is the real deal people. :)
    Plus the guy will apparently push sales from shirts etc a lot coz my sister is in love with him because of his so called good looks etc.

  76. ethangunner

    well rohan ,if cesc does leave which unless wenger changes tact and play hard ball 10 % chance ..

    he is off ..

    and SOURCES at the club say gourcuff will replace him .
    it seems too right field to be anything but the truth .

    or at least an accurate account of a plan YET to be exicuted ..

    i think the joe cole story is a 50 – 50 ..

    i mean if joe cole is on a free surely he wouldn’t go to man U or man Shitty .. he’s a london boy ..
    he’d stay in london and surely Arsene would get 1st dibbs , as who the fuck would want to join the suds :)

    remember the watches :)

  77. ethangunner

    the suds :) mean’t spuds :)

    hahahaha i love it ethan your a bunny farstard !

    i actually like ‘the SUDS’ better ..
    :)

  79. Pat

    Oh fucking cunt, go break a leg or shut up!

    Interviewed by Spanish daily Sport, Xavi commented, “Two years ago, I said that Cesc would end up playing for Barcelona and now it’s clearer than ever. In addition he has already expressed publicly that he wants to come to Barcelona. It is clear that Cesc will come to Barcelona.”

    He never stated it publicly you fuckwad. Lost all respect for that shithole of a team. Mes que un club. yea they are more than a club…they’re a pile of shit

  81. ethangunner

    doesnt everyone here remember the way it felt as a boy at christmas ? the anticipation ! thinking your going to get exactly what you wanted !!!

    MUM (arsene) wont let you down !!!

    i feel like that now every year in the transfer market .
    today is my christmas morning !!!! :) ..

    I dont get a buzz out of birthdays or chrissy presents but i feel i bit excited on june 1st !

    and obviously for the past 5 years ive been a very bad fucker because my tree is bare :) !

  84. dennisdamenace

    Interviewed by Spanish daily Sport, Xavi commented, “Two years ago, I said that Cesc would end up playing for Barcelona and now it’s clearer than ever. In addition he has already expressed publicly that he wants to come to Barcelona. It is clear that Cesc will come to Barcelona.”

    How is this not tapping up???

    Why do Arsenal, the FA and EUFA sit on their fucking arses doing nothing, cunts the lot of ‘em…..

  85. ethangunner

    pat

    i think that is what barca said last season , they said they would not comment or chase him until cesc says he wants the move’ ..

    well they are either total plonkers or CESC wants the move ..

    because they are commenting !

    also if cesc left wenger’s office feeling all warm and fuzzy with the ‘ best convo of his life’ , surely he got the message to arsene that he wants out ! and got what he wanted …

    why else would you travel over a continent to see arsene ?

  86. Webster

    Is it worth having a sulking player all year though?, and surely we cant have him as our captain if he’s only staying for another year. Dont get me wrong im gutted but if he wants to go, fuck him, we need to move forward

  87. dennisdamenace

    I hope the fucking joke that passes for an economy in Spain fucking dies, collapses like the Greek economy, fucking third world fucking shithole……

  88. Gooby

    cesc is pissing me off, letting his daddy and xavi do the talk.

    maybe he should just go to barcelona, let laporta buy him a bicycle and few candy and ride it in the camp nou before the games so he can sit on his arse and watch his friends play football.

  90. ethangunner

    Gooby says:
    June 1, 2010 at 08:48

    cesc is pissing me off, letting his daddy and xavi do the talk.
    ———————————
    he knows how fickle the fans are mate ! thats why !

  92. ethangunner

    i think some spanish twat in the media asked him if he was going to 100% be with arsenal next season and he said NO !

    is it lost in translation ? fuknose ?!

    take it how you read it ….

    but is that the admission xabi is talking about i dont know because all i can say is ‘cahones’ :)

  93. Gooby

    i’m rather suprised that arshavin didn’t give his opinion on the matter. he probably dream of playing for barcunts too.

    am still waiting for PHW to come out and say that bendtner wouldn’t be able to get in barca’s first 11 anyway.

  98. insidealbania

    ethan there was no admission, just that if he was to leave Arsenal he would only join Barca.

    And spot on re: fickle fans.

  102. ethangunner

    im sure the convo with him and wenger consisted of home sickness , as the main focus .. cesc knows wenger would cave in and allow him to leave ,OR …

    go in to arsene’s office and say im leaving cunt because we dont win shit , probably wouldnt leave cesc feeling all warm and fuzzy , or confident of a move ..

    im sure the 1st one took place :)

  108. ethangunner

    wenger probably said leave the press and the mechanics of the deal to me as its inter-club business nothing to do with Cesc,just go away and play in the world cup be a star and lift your transfer value :) ill have your transfer under the tree when you return , poopy smooches :)

    xxx

  109. ethangunner

    Pedro says:
    June 1, 2010 at 09:07

    What the hell is with the permabold font?

    its great dont change it ,

    its good for us old folk :)

  110. Olly Parry-Jones

    “The senior game where we beat Japan after two terrific goals from Man United’s second top scorer, ‘own goal’”

    I’m a Man United fan and I still enjoyed reading that!! :-D

    To me, one of England’s biggest problems (ignoring the fact that the FA/Media seem to pick the teams… :P ) is that we play too many games on home soil. Before the Japan game, when was the last time we played a friendly in another country?!

    (Sorry, I didn’t bother watching the Mexico game so, I have no idea where that was held!)

    Olly.

  111. Manaee

    It’s almost a certainty and he has 4 choices. Lyon, Man utd, Man city & Arsenal all want him. Sources close to him say he wouldnt want to spend another season in France and relationships between the lyon coach and bordaux coach is heated so that rules Lyon out. Gourcuff says he wants to play for one of Europes biggest clubs and play in the champs. Lge, so that rules City out. Its between Utd and the gunners realistically. Arsenal have the edge, cus wenger has apparently been having talks with his dad and have a good relationship and also his ‘mate’ chamakh is already here. Plus theres alot of french players in the squad so he’ll settle in fine =)

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