Robin returns | Andrey to Germany | Arsenal fans awful

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Goooood morning Grovers! Well those of you that can see the site. Apologies for the many problems we’ve been having over the past few days. Let me quickly explain…

We’ve been housed as a site on WordPress servers for the last 4 years. That means that everything works all the time, but very little changes. It also meant we couldn’t redesign the site. An issue I know many of you have raised over the past year.

So, I took the plunge this week and shifted over to our own server. From there we’ll begin to tweak the site, integrate new features and hopefully, if God grants me the the earning power, we’ll overhaul the design and bring out an app. You’ll still be able to login via Twitter and Facebook, they’ll ask you if you want to let Le Grove give you access to your e-mail, don’t worry, it’s nothing sinister, it’s the minimum requirement, I won’t be doing anything with your data. Those of you on our mailing list might have to wait while I sort that out. You’ll also be pleased the mobile site is looking superb again.

That does mean we’ll have to enter into the murky world of advertising. We’ve gone pro bono for long enough and traffic was getting to the point where WordPress.com were selling United advertising inventory on our site. We want control if they’re going to do criminal things like that.

Anyway, the user experience is at the heart of what we do. So we’ll consult all the way. We’ll take suggestions for the new site as well. If you’ve been unable to get on over the past two days, that’s because your ISP is playing catch up on our servers. I’m very sorry if you had to read rival blogs… Unless of course they are a friends of the site.

News today….

I’m already cringing at the blogs who have arisen out of their slumber gearing up for the transfer rush of December. Amazing how many go to sleep when they have to use their brains to write about something other than a rumour they didn’t hear.

First up is the news that German side Schalke maybe interested in snapping up Andrey. This one could have legs but not until the summer. He’s out of sorts but I’d rather have him on the bench than in another squad. We have a nice amount of depth at the moment (widemen wise), let’s not start shipping out players in January unless we have someone ready made to jump in.

Robin…

The ‘no sh*t shurlock’ award this week goes to James Olley of the Evening Standard who says if Arsenal don’t qualify for the Champions League, he’ll leave. How he deduced such a conclusion with the information on hand is a journalistic marvel.

A wasted Talksport article. It’s very rare they look to wind up Arsenal fans to improve traffic to their site. They’ve become the new Daily Mail… ‘I’d never read or listen to such drivel, though it has to be said I’m an expert in all their content’.

Is this a familiar retort at work if you send a Daily Mail link to a group…

‘I’m not sure what’s worse, the caliber of the story or the fact you’re reading the Mail’

Usually a line spurted from someone who has The Guardian app on an iPad (No wait, that’s me!).

Back on topic…

Aaron is going to the Olympics… Screw the rest of you if you think otherwise! I don’t blame him either. I’d be there, mixing it in a fancy Great British shirt vying for a once in a life time chance of a Gold medal.

What we should be doing is possibly delaying the start of next season. Or maybe aligning all the leagues in Europe to one calendar. Surely fit and healthy players make the league a better proposition for TV?

It’s telling now that the average top level career of a player seems to be about 30 max. I’m sure back in the day a striker didn’t come into their prime until they were 32.

The Sun have run an interesting experiment on fan noise at Arsenal. They’ve taken the quotes of Cesc and Nasri, multiplied them by Andy Emery’s (who!) opinion and come out with an ‘Arsenal is quiet because of rich fans’ article. What a load of nonsense. Just goes to you how talented some of the staff at NI are when they can’t hack phones for a story.

Internationals…

Park Chu-young scored some more goals. It’s hard not to when you’re playing a UAE beach volleyball team. Still, it’s all about confidence. He just needs more game time.

There were some rumours last night that Robin is done with international duty for this week and he won’t feature on Tuesday. The Dutch mindful of his fragile health and the importance of keeping him fit for next summer.

England are going to let Spain play football around them tonight. You know you’re in trouble when a broadsheet has to make the suggestion of Darren Bent playing in the hole Rooney is vacating.

Hopefully we won’t see John Terry on the pitch. Maybe Theo will have a blinder, something which is both a good and a bad thing. If he plays well, he goes on the Madrid / Barca shopping list. If it goes badly, Arsenal fans will start calling for Oxo to start.

I see the Irish spanked Estonia, that’ll make my trip over there pleasant next week. I’ll have something to talk about if there are any awkward silences.

I don’t have any final thoughts. Have a great day. While you’re out drinking beer and having fun, I’ll be buying toasters and decorative plants. I hate international breaks.
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P.S Congrats to Kozzer on his well deserved 1st cap.

This post was delivered via iPhone. Please ignore my spelling mistakes.

195 Responses to “Robin returns | Andrey to Germany | Arsenal fans awful”

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  4. Sid Murrey

    Morning all! Wife’s birthday, planned well on a boing international break! Get in.

    Agree Pedro, AA is better warming our bench than out finding some form with someone else. Chamakh and SS rumours his morning. Good riddance to both!

    RVP coming home (to Arsenal I mean) is great or us, but how knackered is he?? It must be obvious to thir meidical staff and therefore, obvious to ours!

  5. Freja

    TV and Per were benched.

    RvP is ok, and will rest against the Germans.

    Koscielny got his first cap. Almost saw red on his debut.

    Rosicky captaining the Czechs with a 2-0 win vs. Montenegro.

    Park Chu Young scored vs. UAE.

    You get the picture.

  6. KurtF

    Surely the decision to delay contract talks till summer must have come from RVPs side – he quite understandably wants to see if we’re playing CL football before comitting.
    If it’s a decision the club have made it seems like lunacy – basically saying they’re not too arsed about keeping him and creating another Nasri situation – i.e. got to sell if we want money for him – in summer 2012 (although I’m sure RVP will conduct himself with more class than Nasri did).

  12. Josip Skoblar

    Nice mention, Pedro. I watched a poor French side beat the US yesterday, and Kozzer’s was the only positive contribution for the French side. He looked strong, with neat passing (he has tremendously improved on this aspect of the game lately). Not long ago, I used to dislike him, but I have now to adnit that he is starting to impress me. Keep up the good work, Kozzer!

  14. roaaary

    International weekend in november….most boring weekend in football. Im off to earls court for the dog show. Woof woof bark

  15. eastofthelea

    Going to the game this evening, any grovers know the
    form for cheering cesc? got a feeling i won’t be able
    to help myself.

  19. Ricky

    Morning bitches!!!

    I agree all European leagues should be moved to one calendar too pedro… That’s including the winter break!

    The Xmas fixtures have become somewhat of a family tradition for me. Since a young age I’ve always gone to home games around that time for some reason it Just has a nice feeling about the place (well especially at highbury it did).

    However I do think the players need those 2 weeks rest. Especially in a fast paced league like ours.

  21. Pedro

    Morning all, hopefully we’ll get people back who have gone missing over the last 2 days. Good to see you back on DDM!

    How did Brek Shea look last night?

  23. Ricky

    Sorry suga,

    I was mainly on about the leagues in England, Spain, Italy & Germany…

    I agree it’s impossible for some countries like Russia to have a calender like ours..

  24. MOH4

    Cant wait for the phone app pedders but i gotta ask you, whats happening about the podcast? there is other sites doing podcasts that dont even deserve to, surely Le Grove must be heard

  28. Pedro

    DDM, people have forgotten your joke worth… You’re a fallen great, like Freddie Star…

    So, who thinks we’ll beat Spain?

  29. dennisdamenace

    I am the Arsene Wenger of the Joke World.

    I was once unsurpassed, but now any old Munta (like Pedro) can best me……

    Sad, sad days my friends……

  32. Pedro

    MOH4… Very soon, I have the equipment, the site can host podcasts now… So hopefully soon.

    The format will be 45mins, 3 topics. In time, we’ll involve some of you lot! Should be good!

  33. dennisdamenace

    James Corden??

    James fucking Corden??

    James Corden is about as funny as fucking syphilis, fucking gobby wanker.

  34. goonermart

    Good Post Pedro, agree it would make sense to keep AA till summer. Hopefully some of the other deadwood will be shipped out in Jan though.

    Looking forward to Jan to if Wenger will make a quality signing or two or prove he really is a top class twat.

    Dial Square says:
    November 12, 2011 at 10:20

    Ha Ha quality

  40. Goonerpower

    Can’t read comments from my phone?? Also can’t get the site to switch to normal view instead of mobile site. Not sure if already mentioned in comments…….. hope its sorted soon it gets me through my boring day at work
    :-(

  41. Pedro

    Goonerpower… You can switch to normal view by scrolling to the bottom of the page.

    Try refreshing. The mobile seems to work ok for most? What phone are you on?

  47. caiden_ceaser

    Operation ‘kidnap gervinho for his own good’ failed gooners, I’m sorry, security was tight, I couldn’t even lure him over with my pet monkey :’( hope he doesn’t get injured.

  48. kwik fit

    Hello guys and girls of le grove the best fucking blog this side of the thames. No match today equals no pressure .Fuck I like pressure you know what i mean?

  49. irish gooner

    no injuries so far,,,rvp cant get injured anymore,,, he is made of steel these days!!!!!! euro 2012 here we come!!!!!!!!!! what a result,,,bring on england in the group stage!!!!

  50. albo

    Great interview with Alonso this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/nov/11/xabi-alonso-spain-england-interview?CMP=twt_gu

    Quite a lot of it relevant to the Arsenal I feel. Not just the obvious – deriding English football for its emphasis on tough tacking etc, but also the ‘what if’ factor he hints at here:

    There have been doubts, you know. Big doubts…maybe if we hadn’t beaten Italy on penalties at Euro 2008 the belief, the fidelity to our style, would have been lost. That was a turning point. Then you play Russia and, bam!, you destroy them. And Germany in South Africa and, bam!, our best game. That reinforced our collective identity. You think: ‘This is the way we have to play, this works.

    Sometimes I think the opposite has happened with us. What if Eduardo hadn’t broken his leg, or if the penalty at the end of that game hadn’t been wrongly given. Would we have won the league? Would that have led to a period of dominance as Fabregas, Hleb, Flamini and Adebayor and co found completely confidence in the team and the way they played.

    What if that awful mix up hadn’t happened in the Carling Cup? Would the confidence of getting the trophy monkey off our back have transformed the rest of our season.

    What if RvP hadn’t been sent off against Barcelona?

    I know a lot of people will bang on about ‘you make your own luck’ etc etc but that often misses the point. Once you’re used to being at the top, then you can make your own luck. But when you’re struggling to get there, that burst of luck can make every bit of difference.

    Spain are unquestionably the best in the world. No one would argue against that right now. And yet, had they lost on penalties to Italy, might they have remained the Arsenal of world football? All that promise, all that potential, all that devotion to the ‘right’ way to play…but they bottle it at the key moment every time. That’s how thin the margins are sometimes in this sport…

  52. itchyballs

    interesting points albo-we were once k/a “lucky arsenal”donkeys years ago-f**k knows why?certainly couldn’t be labelled that the past few year-stand up & be counted “MANURE”you jammy b’strds!p.s as ive said on many an occasion..”kozzer”is the dogs bo***ks!

  53. kwik fit

    This Jerferson Farfan talk is gathering momentum . There just might be something in it. I have been told from a reliable source than he was the main reason his team got to the CL semi’s last season. Talking of semi’s ….

  55. Mayank

    Great points there albo. Many might call it excuse making but that there is luck in sport is undeniable. And no, there is no way to ‘make your own luck’. You can have enough quality that it reduces luck to a inconsequential variable but is anyone really surprised that after spending 150m+ on a stadium that kind of quality would be hard to achieve?

    Sure we’ve had more than our share of bad decision making on our part. Dropping Arsh for the S/F, playing Cesc half fit etc. But every time we’ve taken a gamble its blown up in our face. Does that also reflect the mental fortitude of our failed squads. Perhaps. Our 07/08 squad’s spine was Gallas, Hleb, Cesc, Ros and Ade. Not offering much in the way of gumption.

    Hopefully a few decent additions to our current squad can get us to 07/08 in terms of quality. It seems we’re much better off on the mental side of the game.

  57. albo

    Mayank – I agree about the ‘mental strength’ thing, but even that I think is almost something that is ‘learned’. Man U for example simply ‘know’ that if they’re behind in the final 10 minutes that they will come back. And that is not based on mental strength as such, but simply a learned certainty based on experience.

    Unfortunately, the result of our last 5 years (and at the time of their Italy penalty shoot out, Spain’s last 30 years) is to have learned the opposite. To be afraid of the defensive calamity, the injury, the poor decision, the opposition 100-1 wonder goal etc etc.

    Had we won the league in 07/08 how different the lessons we learned would have been…

  59. Hussain

    Who’s theo to say that the barca move was good for Fabregas? trying impress his suitors now, is he? Wouldnt be surprised if he is highly motivated and scores against the barca + Casillas xi

  60. Thomas, It's up for grabs now

    Albo..
    I reckon that could undo it alright! Going to be a great Jan I feel!

    A few good signings in and twitchy on trial :-)

  61. Mayank

    It is partly learned but that’s where SAF’s qualities as a manager shine through. He’s a manager focussed solely on winning, if that means tepid football so be it. That attitude rubs off on the players.

    Whereas for Arsene, he knows a certain style of football will be most effective for winning. He then instils that style into his team and expects the players to fill the gaps through self examination rather than giving them a dossier of their weaknesses.

    This has given us a distinctive style of football which hopefully will be part of our identity for the future. However it depends quite a lot on the sincerity and motivation of the individual players for improvement. Its part and parcel of an expressive style of football we all like. Can’t have one without the other.

    You are spot on about one thing though. Had we won some silverware with a bit of luck, it would have been a moot discussion.

  62. Hussain

    Plus does anyone know if Farfan is any good? I wouldn’t mind who we sign to replace Arsha with Gerv around tbh and Podolski coming in to replace Chamakh and Ju Young to be replaced by Afobe imo when he leaves for the war!

  65. Mayank

    Here’s an interesting fact. The four match PL winning streak we’re on right now is the best run we’ve had in 1.5 years.

  69. JJ

    Brek Shea was poor last night – did little and gave the ball away a lot.
    M’villa – same as above.
    Koz – was ok. Was a little sloppy at times but worked hard to get the ball back.
    Benzema (another ever-present link to us) – Was also average with some good moments but also some wasteful moment.

    A fairly boring game and not many players impressed.
    Apparently Wenger was there to watch the game. Could just be because he is French though.

  70. Tinyspuds

    Brek Shea is only with Arsenal to help him train and possibly improve, there’s no chance we’re signing him.

    so RvP is on his way back, as are AA and Gervinho. Ramsey will be back tomorrow, Song the day after. Arteta, Benayoun, Jenkinson and Santos never left.

    It’ll mean a decent few days off for most of the team to get their minds focused on the next Prem game. I’m always a little nervous we haven’t got our concentration levels up after a round of internationals

  80. Ricky

    Surely Walcott offers enough pace on that side lurch?

    The few games jones has played In that position he has looked top notch where as Johnson has been just about above average for most of he’s pool career.

  81. Lurch

    yeah he does Ricky but he’d compromise his positioning offensively if hes expected to do a job on silva and villa, we need our wings to run the channels, spain play narrow.

  83. Lurch

    don’t mind Jones in the midfield personally, but yeah he’s technically superior to GJ but also a little green at this level.

  86. Ricky

    I rate jones top 3 rb’s in the prem right now lurch.. Don’t know what it is, glen Johnson just doesn’t cut it for me…

  87. Lurch

    Ricky,

    I’d say its probably more to do with who’s in form in the midfield, I’d rather have Jones in the midfield over Barry or Carrick who offer nothing going forward…

  91. albo

    Haha. You gotta love English commentators. ‘England are frustrating Spain here.’ Cos yeah, they look so annoyed having 99% of possession playing a team incapable of stringing 3 passes together!

  93. Ricky

    I can’t help wondering wether busquetts had a sex change at a young age..

    He’s gotta be the biggest fanny in football right now.

  119. albo

    Ah the glory of English footballing ambition as described by the ITV commentator. ‘If you keep it tight sit back, you’ve always got a chance of nicking something from a set piece…’

  135. albo

    God I don’t think I can bear all the ridiculous, jingoistic nonsense that will be written about our team if we win this!

  144. OPG

    Parker is quality you have to admit he plays in a 2 man midfield mostly but looked good tonight in a 3 man one , a real workhorse.
    Torres is as useless as ever though, should have brought on Llorente instead.

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