So, I don’t have it confirmed yet, but according to Arsenal.com, Tommy V is still pencilled in for a January return. There seems to be a groundswell of people who are desperate to tell us that he’s out for the season at every opportunity. I haven’t heard anything to suggest he’s out and I’ve been speaking the Pam the Arsenal tea lady on and off for the past 3 weeks.
So what are we going to talk about today?
Well, yesterday saw the arrival of David Beckham at Spurs. Fantastic to see that his arrival coincided nicely with the announcement that his wife is up the duff again. You’ve got to admire him, he takes attention seeking to new levels, even my needy cat looks embarrassed when he sees Beckham on tele. I bet Becks is chuffed he’s finally in a country that will massage his PR driven ego.
Anyway, a bit of debate was sparked in the comments yesterday. Thierry Henry has been at most of our home games during the break, he was spotted in the tunnel chatting to Yaya and Kolo at the Man City game… so I was thinking, why not bring him back for training? We had Beckham over here last time he was promoting a hair cut and the players spoke glowingly about training with such an icon.
So why not invite Thierry back to at least train with us for the next couple of months? He’s incredibly experienced, he’s been very humble since he left and I’m sure a genuine talent like him can be nothing but a boost for team morale. My guess is he’s waiting for an invite. My suggestion, Wenger should send one out!
Should have checked Arsenal.com
Welcome back Thierry!
In other news, Arsene Wenger won manager of the decade. A superb achievement. As much as we give him a hard time over here, we certainly appreciate the consistency he’s bought to the club and our superb brand of football. My argument would be that Wenger shouldn’t just have won it, he should have smashed it. His decision making has been off kilter in the past few years. Hopefully we’ll see a return to the early noughties form for the next half of this decade.
Lionel Messi stormed the Ballon D’or, he said he didn’t expect to win it, which was a bit like Qatar saying they didn’t expect to win the 2022 world cup after emptying the oil coffers into the pockets of the chosen few. He’s a super talent, one of the best players I’ve had the pleasure to watch live and the most amazing part about him is that he’s only 23. Could Jack Wilshere ever achieve the high standards set by Messi, Xavi and Iniesta? I certainly hope so. We might even land ourselves a Messi of our own in the young Belgian who goes by the name of Eden Hazard. Could he be our first ever £20million player?
We’ll wait and see, but the vibe is strong.
It’s Carling Cup semi final eve. If you’re unlucky enough to have the displeasure of travelling to Ipswich, a few words of warning. Don’t get into a tractor unless you know the farmer in question, don’t look the locals directly in the eye and for god sake stay out of their Liquid and Envy. It makes the hills have eyes look like a beauty pageant.
I’m not going to do team previews today, though I will say I’d like to see Bendtner and Arshavin given a run out. Those two need to find their form and there will be no better game to find it in than against Ipswich away. The defence is down to its bare bones, so it looks like there might be a debut of Miquel. That or we’ll see Song slipping back with Denilson allowed to roam free. I wouldn’t be too against that if he could repeat his first half performance of the weekend.
Our reserve team was absolutely spanked 10-1 by Aston Villa. A pretty disgraceful score line at any level, I’ll leave Young Guns to explain away that result. John Jensen is set to make a shock return to English football as Steve Kean’s assistant over at Blackburn, good luck to the man who scored less times than Rick Waller. I’m also pleased to announce that ITV1 are going to play the Leeds game live for our viewing. That makes up for all the times they don’t put us on the main channel for Champions League games.
I’ve heard that Carlos Vela will definitely be moving out on loan. He has a whole host of clubs interested in his services including Bolton, Wigan (I’m there today in a corn flake factory, I f*cking love my life) and a few overseas clubs. You’d have to worry about his future if he went abroad, wouldn’t you?
Transfer conspiracy of the day? Gary Cahill to Arsenal, David Wheater to Bolton… sounds plausible especially considering that we know Bolton are open to offers, Cahill was on our hit list last year and he has a close relationship with Arsene.
Why is no one talking about Hangeland?
I thought it might be worth telling you that long time Grover Kreshnik has kindly offered to build the site its very own iphone app. I don’t have an iphone, but I’m still very excited about being able to watch other people enjoy the exciting functionality he’s hoping to bring to the app. I’ll keep you posted on the progress!
Finally, picture the scene. It’s a cold grubby football cafeteria, the camera pans out away from two cold bowls of porridge to reveal David Bentley and Alex Hleb sitting at the table miserable, reminiscing fondly about the days when they used to have a future. Good luck Dave, I’m glad leaving Arsenal worked out so well for you. You have the money, but you’ll never have the prestige of a great career.
Happy Tuesday Grovers, see you in the comments!
Altinop won goal of the year last night, I’ll leave you with the top ten… a morning feast for the eyes!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbMBCWnQvXU&fs=1&hl=en_GB]
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*UPDATE
Unless Vermaelen injured himself over the weekend, he’s in training and working towards full fitness. There is no conspiracy of silence. Also, had confirmation that Squillaci didn’t pull his almunia, he’s genuinely crocked for 3 weeks or so. Also, just so you know, Wigan is quite nice!
Jaguar reloaded says:
January 11, 2011 at 17:04
My money is on the worst,cheap and shittiest defender in the French league.
£10 Jaguar
We might be able to get Jagielka in the summer. He and Kompany are the best CBs outside the top 4 teams.
Pedro, I’d prefer someone from the league too but we all know Wenger doesn’t work like that and our choice is quite limited anyhow.
Merdesacker…oops..shouldn’t really be giving people ideas now should I..would be a phenomenal signing of intent although I have my doubts as to whether a combo of him with Djourou could realistically work.
Man, he was looking at the Prem in the summer apparently, but fitness and price concerns were the issues that pushed us the way of Kozzer and Squillaci.
On Babel’s twitter – I guess the truth hurts.
In other news, “Coach of the Decade” was translated to mean coach who has not won anything for half a decade and can somehow keep his job.
David, exactly, he will bring bartley back. Mark my words!!
GM, he wont pay out…
My point exactly, Pedro.
Wenger will sign someone, he wants to win something and it won’t be a short-term solution, Squid was the short term solution while Bartley and Miquel groom into them expected potential
JJ, i thought it was awesome that babel put that photo on his twiiter. Facking class!
Mark Hughes is a massive cunt too so you can rule out Hangeland as he’d want a replacement first and time might be an issue. I forgot about Westermann yeah he’d be decent.
I’d be willing to bet money that Lionel Messi wins the Ballon D’Or for the next 5 years consecutively given that he doesn’t fall prey to injury.
Pedro
Neither do I (in case gambon is reading)
Lol David, Nasri winning the Ballon D’or??
You kidding?
Jags,
Because the Prem is harder than La Liga, and because Nasri is clearly the best player in the league, (please dont mention stats and Nani in the same sentence)
Pedro,
We’ve been here before, down to bare bones in the DM department, buckets of money,
No signings.
Down to bare bones in the Striking department, buckets of money,
No signings.
Im preparing for the worst i guess.
I rate Westermann very very highly. Having watched the bundesliga a fair bit (granted not for a year) he was one of the very best…
Haven’t seen too much of the younger generation but they’re very highly rated. Top top prospects they are. We could always pick up some nutter from Eastern Europe though.
The real question should be:
“In March, who will we find out we were close to signing, but we wouldn’t pony up the extra 1.5mil for?”
Gambon, you don’t think he’d win it ever?
Rohan
Jack will win years 3,4 and 5. Have some faith
Nasri’s been good this season..but not THAT good. If that were the case, Jesus would be in the running also.
Oh and Cesc is the best player in the league imo.
Gambon Im dead serious!
Ryan Babel needs 2 things.
1. Shut his tit faced trap
2. Stop rapping.
jesus doesnt need the ballon thingy
he is the son of god!
David: HE’LL SIGN, WE NEED A CB, HE SAID IT HIMSELF, BEFORE IT WAS A MAYBE, NOW, IT IS A NEED!!
Expect it to be a someone from ligue 1, Budesliga or even Savic :L
Ciani too could be an option and a good one cause Bordeaux aren’t the same since losing Gourcuff, Chamakh and Diawara
Oh, Nasri could definitely win the Ballon D’OR at some point during his career. WC 2014 would probably be his best bet.
I do agree with David that FIFA are a bunch of dipsticks and usually always go with the La Liga or Serie A player.
Pedro
Not this season.
Ever?….probably not.
I’m pretty certain we’d sign a CB but I’m also pretty certain none of us knows who he is going to be…so lets just kick back and relax.
I would love it if we put a bid in for Howedes from Schalke
Nasri for Premiership player of the year. I doubt he’ll even be nominated for the top 3 next year.
Look at Cesc..world cup winner and gave assist in final…19 goals and 19 assists in 38 appearances..wasn’t given any sort of recognition.
Winning the ballon D’OR is rare in this league isn’t it? Or am I confuse with something else? Ronaldo was the first since owen no?
if pele or maradonna were playing for arsenal they’d find a barcelona player to give it to.
cant believe henry never won it.
The year Cannavaro won over Henry with Henry netting something like 30 goals and getting to the World Cup and Champions League finals and then finishing 3rd behind him and Buffon was a complete joke.
Cesc will win the Ballon D’Or at some point.
Oh and gm..it won’t be Jack..I still hold high hopes for Aaron Ramsey. Always thought he’d be the bigger player.
Gambon
I think your forgetting that Nasri’s been more consistent and has won us a few games by himself. Also going very close in certain games, hitting the bar and is often the only player that gives two cents about us winning.
I say if Arsenal win the PL or we beat Barca.
Its an easy choice.
Rohan,
I dont think Cesc has been better than Nasri this season.
David – Babel just tweeted what everyone else has been thinking for years. Call it a Gallas moment.
Gambon, you do know he’s not fat anymore? It’s ok to like him…
gm
In general its hard to argue a prem player shouldve won it.
Ronaldo did, Henry definately had a case, and Bergkamp in 1998.
But when you consider the likes of Fat Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Zidane, Figo, Rivaldo & Messi you can understand why they havent won it.
Infact Henry is probably the only player that has wrongly been overlooked, but a lot of that is down to Wenger building shit teams in Europe most years.
Win the CL and your star man has a great shout of winning the Ballon Dor
Pedro
I like him a lot.
How come no one ever mention this fella/ beast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMHxBHKSoNM
….but im a realist!
A, we’ll never the truth if Wenger knew how bad the injury was or not, however it does beg the question IF Squillaci wasn’t injured would wenger be looking to buy and would they have broken the news about Vermy now or towards the end of the month? IMO no they wouldn’t have, but tried to get through the season with what he has. Once again trying to prove that his methods are best.
Oh yeah, definitely not this season David. Just in general.
For Nasri to win, imo we’d have to win both the League AND the Champions League, with him scoring atleast 25-30 goals and half as many assists and having a big role to play in the second half of the season.
Even then, at the rate at which Messi’s been scoring, it’d be a tough call. I can’t see it happening tbh. Definitely not this season
Lol
JJ
Im not saying that i agree or disagree if Wenger deserves the award or not.
But to tweet that he’s suprised Arsene still has his job is taking things a tweet too far.
The twat still cant get into the first team ahead of N’Gog under 3 different managers.
at least Babel has a sense of humour.
shit footballer tho, hasnt got the right attitude to play right at the top.
Question: If DB10 is God, what is Henry?
Henry is Bhudda
nasri is mohamed
fabregas is soon to be judas
How many people would honestly be suprised if at the end of the window Arsene comes out with
“We enquired about several possibilties but the global financial crisis and lack of liquidity in the football transfer system means that no one was selling. We have several internal solutions including Song who has proven himself in this position”
Cue denilson getting 20 starts this year.
Laters.
Gambon
Henry came behind pavel nedved in euro player of the year. I agree with what you say but Ronaldinho wasn’t considered when he was at the dutch club (psv?)
In 26 appearances this season, Messi has scored 28 goals and has 15 assists. That is simply outrageous.
Even if La Liga is easier than the Prem, he’s still been by far and away the best player in Europe this season. The sheer weight of numbers eh…
Premier League player of the season is definitely within his grasp although that could depend a lot on how we finish the season. Not only Jesus..van der Vaart has been admittedly been very very good and has the stats to back him up.
Babel tweeted he’s surprised Wenger still has a job? I’m surprised that guy hasn’t given up on football cause football has given up on him. Got the finesse of a retarded seal he does
Djorou is already better than or as good as Vermy. Would not mind Samba, at least we’ll not be susceptible to areial ballsa. He will also give something extra in our colrners
Ronaldinho never played for PSV.
Ronaldo did, but he left at about 18.
so Ryan Babel is getting charged now ?
we really need messi to do a hamstring or something before we play em
Westermann was good 2 years ago not anymore would rather take hummels ! Love his character wants always to win !
As far as I know, Babel hasn’t said anything about Wenger.. You sure about that, David?
I thought all he did was post a pic of Webb wearing a Utd shirt which I found hilarious.
Im surprised Wenger still has a job TBF!
We3ll gambon I’m qobviously very mixed up then
. You should have bet me on it
I mixed up psv with psg
and the 2 ronnies
Yeah I’ve heard good things about Hummels but even better about Howedes although I really haven’t seen much of either of them.
Do you remember Hummel kits?
They were nice… well, not the Spurs one.
Well TV has broken again, should have got the 3D version
but have a look at these stats very interesting http://www.7amkickoff.com/2011/the-webb-report-or-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-man-u/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+7amkickoff+%287amkickoff%29
I think Babel should get a award!
incesc
Heh. Judas……never
Hard to know who we’ll sign but I’d like to see it happen fairly fast and not get too drawn out like usual
David – Babel didn’t comment on Wenger, that was me.
Babel posted a picture of Webb in a Utd shirt and said, “And they call him one of the best referees. That’s a joke.”
Howedes is ok just to raw makes lots of mistakes and red cards galore ( well some people like that ) ! Hummels is a winner for me and that show for bvb this season !
I guess my post at 17:14 is causing some confusion. Babel never commented on Wenger’s award.
They were 2 separate comments. One on Babels’ post and the other related to Wenger’s award. IMO Wenger should be embarassed by that award. Red nose and Jose have clearly achieved more in the last 10 years.
Yeah JJ
I misread that. I do that alot apparently
How Mourinho didnt win it ill never know.
Confident,
Ive been touting JD as a great defender forever when everyone else was calling him shite.
But even I wont say he’s better than Vermy.
Vermy is the best Central Attacking Defender in the World.
JJ
T depends on your defn of achievement.
Why didnt Diaby win that award? Shocking decision.
Did Babel say that or not? You guys have. Be careful how u quote people on blogs. Seriously. Bcuz that quote u just put up is all over facebook now.
Do you need me to bring out QoS and her libel laws lecture?
Love how Spurs milk the fact that Beckham is training with them, try to make it look like the move of the window. Did we do that when he trained with us last year? Don’t think so. Beckham is shite anyway
I still say we should bid for Lescott.
Mark – Good article. I just wish a reputable news source had the balls to publish these stat’s. Webb (and the FA) have to realize that people are onto them…
sixx – my quote of Babel at 17:46 is a cut & paste from the BBC’s website.
Oh shit really JJ? Ive just been on twitter and told babel I’m going to beat him like he owed me money!
zeus – lol, but you are right. If your definition of “achievement” means not winning anything for half a decade and still keeping your job in a top club, then I guess that is some kind of achievment…
JJ yeah. I was talking about the second part about Wenger. I though u were quoting Babel there. A few others did too cuz I’ve seen it on facebook since you put it up. And Pedro refered to it on Twitter
Haha QoS. You can still beat him. Just make up a different excuse… I suggest that you accuse him of stealing your money. He is probably used to that by now.
Arshavin’s agent not ruling out a move this window. Fair enough
nasri and cesc are definite ballon d’or material, they have it in them to be better than xavi and iniesta, cesc is already better than both but doesn’t have xavi’s experience.
looks like we are signing someone, hope it’s a top CH
haha, in a spot of trouble are we now, JJ.
i am getting excited who are we signing??
Queen of suburbia says:
January 11, 2011 at 18:09
Oh shit really JJ? Ive just been on twitter and told babel I’m going to beat him like he owed me money!
rofl
any good transfer stories or rumours lads? was just looking at skysports.com and seen verm has had yet another setback. not looking good
heard a dodgy rumour we are looking at this guy….
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Franco_Teixeira
Torres- TORRES -Torres- TORRES- Torres-now .
Kiingsley: Chelsea have first option on him, he belonged to them, but they let him go fc twente with a buy back option
That Douglas from Twente is supposed to be good though. Would prefer Thiago Silva but Douglas seems good.
Really? I haven’t heard that before. got a link to an info on it?
I think that Twente Chelsea deal is done cause apparently United are looking into a deal with them. Not a bad club really they’ve some decent players like Ruiz and that Theo Janssen fella or whatever his name is has one almighty left peg on him
Marko: I don’t us getting T.Silva, Milan are tough to deal with…
I read somewhere perhaps unreliably that we enquiried about him before but were quoted a ridiculous price. He is good though but is too costly for us it would seem.
Psv tried to sign him this summer. Also when steve mclaren was at twente he said in an interview that should they decide to sell douglas could pick from a host of clubs…anyway he also said he would be perfect for the prem.
cheap at twice the price…he’s out of contract in the summer.
http://www.imscouting.com/global-news-article/FC-Twente-reject-Juventus-bid-for-Douglas/4851/
i’m not his agent i promise!!ha ha. just stating that we are in fact looking at him…..well according to unreliable sources.
http://www.tribalfootball.com/fc-twente-defender-douglas-interesting-arsenal-boss-wenger-957631
Kingsley, it was done ages ago, he played for them two preseaons ago, but he didn’t impress scolari so was sent back to twente with a buyback option, chelsea also had Rajkovic their and yeah, Ruiz is good but i think he’d end up like Afonso Alves lool
I wouldn’t read too much into Chelsea not taking Douglas cause at that time they had stacks of defenders and Douglas it would seem has since gotten better and better and like I said I’m pretty sure the Twente Chelsea partnership is done.
triaballfootball is hilarious they are so quick spreading rumours
is he another fake brazilian? why does wenger love to sign brazilian defensive players? wellington aside
Chelsea earlier sent Miroslav Stoch and Slobodan Rajkovic to FC Twente. i will politely disagree about douglas.
In fairness Gilberto and Edu were seriously good players for us. Silvinho too was good.
Oh and today Twente signed Onyewu from Milan on loan so you never know.
i am not denying it marko, but i’d like to see one or two brazilians on the front line, they usually produce decent forwards
Oh me too
http://www.goal.com/en/news/10/italy/2010/03/09/1825392/fc-twente-defender-douglas-in-contact-with-serie-a-club
i feel it’ll be spahic
Douglas belonged to chelsea, but was sold with a buyback option, and your read Tribalfootball, HAHAHA, they are even worse than Goal.com and We’ve never signed a poor brazilian, as Marko said, Edu and Gilberto were Valuable members of the invincible and silvinho was brilliant until injury and then replaced by Ca$hley
Loool, Kingsly, Arsenal are not interested in him, Stop posting off Goal.com on here, There is a rumour site called Goonertalk, check it out
Gilberto was good player, not as amazing as paddy but did a job.
silvinho didn’t stay long
denilson is shit though.
Gooby: denilson is good imo, He’ll do a song soon
i don’t believe in denilson anymore, i tried hard enough over the season, but the boy can’t make it in my eyes. not arsenal standard. ramsey is here to take his place
u got a link to him belonging to chelsea? even an unrelaible one like goal? no? thought not cos ur wrong.
IF Wenger goes out and buys a big name centre back, IMO when all fit with Vermy and New CB playing and JD as 3rd choice and Koschielny as 4th choice we have one of the strongest choices of CB in europe.
Kingley, Loool, I’m don’t need a source, it is general football knowledge :L
over the seasons*
many seasons
When you think about it how bloody lucky have we been this season with our defenders, Djourou back after being out for a year and stays fit and looks good and then you got Koscielny in his first big move and critizise him all you want but considering where he came from and his quick step up from obscurity he’s done very well.
general football knowledge? ha ha. u made it up more like.
I cant think of any other club in Europe that a CB as strong as Kos as 4th choice, with Frimpong and Cocquelin coming back as def mid and Scezney as keeper, I think we are very nearly sorted
David,
You heard the vision, we primarily saw him as a sicknote, but now his abilities are there for all to see. He is the BEST FIT defender in Arsenal atm.
What do you think of Samba? I think he could fit in fast and would solve a lot of problems
Think about these partnerships
DJ / Samba
Verm / Samba
Kos/ Samba
plus we also have
Verm/ DJ
Kos/ DJ
Kos/ Squil for low profile matches
Awesome
**** heard = had
How’s Samba’s injury record ?
Any transfer news grovers?
Little Choy except we will be signing someone this month. Just the usual names
Bah.. thanks marko!
Back to work then.
‘arry Wednap is such a public cunt, this whole talk of Becks and wanting him, it’s getting ridiculous, who the hell cares!? Like they need him.
Wenger will gamble on TV coming back, big mistake…as usual, it is the annoying thing about the manager. But i for one, would have loved to see Nordtveit given a chance instead of selling him off, who knows what happened. Therefore if we are unable to bring in said names, I trust Miquel, but as the last option, he actual plays ball from the back, but defense and frailty could be a problem, we don’t want to “boo” him into craphood. I say Wenger look for a worthy Championship defender if non available in the EPL. I just hope JD and Kos can stay healthy.
This Carling Cup semi is important, a mixture of 1st and second is important, but Arsene will opt for the Denilsons and Rosicky’s
Is West Ham hammering Birmingham yet? They’s be yummie for the finals.
ah, West Ham conceded and are down one man…oh well, either team looks yummie for our final and first cup in 6 years.
can pat rice still do a job as a 4th choice CB?
Vermaelen is done for the season, Squillaci cannot be relied on, HE WILL be getting another CB, problem is who is cheap enough and good enough for Wenger? A Sol-like signing is on the cards.
we’ll beat either west ham or burms in the final.
i’d prefer west ham, london derby and birmingham have loads of dirty thugs
Agree Dale
I think Wenger will bring in a CB, but I have a feeling that whoever it turns out to be will not exactly have us all rushing down to the Armoury to get a shirt printed.
I hope its not Sol though. It may have worked last year, but it wont this. Samba does seem to be the obvious choice or maybe that Spaphic chap.
Dale
tbh i’d hate a sol type of signing, we need someone who can do a job on regular basis.
if we get sol and djourou gets injured for 2/3 weeks…we’re fucked
sakho would be a top top signing
Who buys defender jerseys anyway. Would you buy a Vidic Arsenal jersey? I think it’ll be a good signing coming this window, it has to be.
What is Wenger’s definition of “quickly” when he says “we must quickly go for a player” due to Squirrel’s injury?
I think a CB jersey would sell. The player just needs to be good enough.
I think Adams and Campbell shirts sold really well. And before Ashley turned into a cunt, you used to see loads of those around.
I hope quickly means a defender we’ve scouted for ages and really want as opposed to who’s available. It is exciting stuff though when we do sign someone
folks it wont be Spahic.
http://thegoonblog.com/2011/01/spahic-situation-arsenal-want-to-build-another-stadium/
we were interested in summer but we didnt push through cause he is not the answer.
I bet it is Samba or Cahill!!
All keepers make mistakes
tom cruise is back from his loan spell – hes like a new signing
Hazard surely coming in january or summer.
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12876_6651853,00.html
Arshavin will go after this season I think.
the fact that nobody knows what vermaelen has is beyond ridiculous
If it is Cahill, expect to here these words, paraphrased, from Wenger come the close of window:
“We were very interested, but it came down to not spending over the top money. I believe with our youngsters coming through and players to come off injury soon, we will have the defensive quality to see us through the rest of the season.”
Afterward, it will be revealed we wouldn’t throw in the extra 1.5mil Bolton were asking.
hear*
A reporter on the radio said we wont pay 20mill for Cahil
A4E.
Summer
I’d take Samba or Spahic atm.
gooby maybe its psychological?