Rooney and why it probably won’t happen | The German we quite fancied | Journalism and why it has to evolve

by & filed under News Review.

Last night I attended the FWA Awards to see Gareth Bale take his trophy for a marvelous season causing us problems. It was tough to stomach, but all in all, difficult to say he didn’t deserve it.

What was nice was seeing all the Arsenal players who’d taken the award. Thierry, Bobby and Bergkamp. Such illustrious names. Such incredible talents. One thing that is worth noting is last year, Robin was in and out. Bale stayed for an hour talking with people signing autographs. Shame we missed out on him… seeing as he’s a Gooner.

What was interesting was quite how old school football journalism is. Standing up top fronting the evening was Andy Dunn, lifetime achievements for Steve Curry and a load of other guys I vaguely recognised from newspapers yesteryear. The big question that came from the podium was… we have great footballers coming through, but where are the great writers?

This idea was perpetuated that social media has destroyed the art of football literature. I kid you not, Andy Dunn, of NOTW notoriety actually stood up and said that journalism was the place for ‘immaculately sourced information’. Yep, he said that.

The idea that this old boys club can be preserved is exactly the reason the newspaper industry is dying on its arse. Trying to take a failing business model and push it onto the Internet is doomed to failure. Publishing will never be the same again. Dismissing the social web is like dismissal Photoshop in the eighties, or brushing off the MP3 as a fad in the nineties. Writing about sport is no longer about who you know, it’s about how hard you want to work. Old business models need to evolved because people don’t need to pay for content. Those who make that work reap the rewards… like the Huffington Post, Mashable or Buzzfeed.

Anyway, rant over. I met some interesting people last night. Heard from a few people who are far more in the loop than me state that they have exactly the same vibe about the new season. Also, that Arsene Wenger isn’t likely to stay beyond his current deal if he thinks the fans are against him.

I also got to meet Paul Davies, what a thoroughly humble chap. Happy to chat. Still busting some fine attire.

The news around Wayne Rooney and Arsenal yesterday wasn’t a surprise, Arsenal are certainly interested in taking him on this summer. The wages wouldn’t be a problem as we’d be looking to make a splash, I think the simple biggest factor in his move being a no go… according to someone I spoke to last night… is that United wouldn’t sell to a rival. Ironic eh? Anyway, it’s apparent that the club are going to try and make a big impact this summer. I was told we had a fleeting interest in Müller until he helped rip Barcelona a new one. I was also told that Remy is very much on the cards. He was highly rated before he moved to QPR, I just hope he isn’t the extent of our forward line ambition this summer.

Right, that’s me done. Have a great day.

591 Responses to “Rooney and why it probably won’t happen | The German we quite fancied | Journalism and why it has to evolve”

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  1. Nasri's Mouth

    Sport are saying we have a verbal agreement in place for higuain dependent on us qualifying for CL.

    Of course they’re about as reliable as The Sun or The Mirror of course…

  2. zeus

    NM

    Funny that. ‘Verbal agreement.’ hehe.

    Considering Higuain has an astonishingly terrible record in the tournament for someone of his pegigree, Arsenal missing out on it may play into our favor.

  3. kwik fit

    You’ve got to hand it to the Arsenal PR machine. Yet again in deep season ticket renewal season were all throwing big big name’s about whose on the list of prospective purchases. Even Pedro is believing the rumours that this season were spending big.. Big I tell Yah! Yesterday it was Rooney today Higuain.
    Three Cheers to the Arsenal PR machine

    Hip Hip
    Hip Hip
    Hip Hip

  4. kwik fit

    Geoff I know your out there in cyber space. Give us a sign that your still out there. Anything , even an Hello how are you will do.
    Do you see geoff, we all would like to get your take on Arsenal today. Just one post thats all we what , just one.
    Go on Geoff you know it makes sense 😉

  5. kwik fit

    Another thing. The theme music before each game is pretty crap. Whats it called…..wonder of you by Elvis. I mean WTF has that got to do with Arsenal Football club. Any music that is played before a home game should be reflective of Arsenal the club. It should represent where we are as a club and what we aspire to be . Consequently, The theme music should be;

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZolhP_BENw

  6. zeus

    kwik

    Jeez. You miss Geoff that much? Pedro is the better writer anyway, though he is going too far in the Arsenal Utopia side.

  7. kwik fit

    zeus

    Not dissing Pedro, but I loved Geoff’s straight to the point , take no fucking shit, this is how it is point of view.
    Geoff’s had balls that were made of cannons and when he got angry he’d blow his top. Great viewing. 😉

  10. Jurgen Klopp

    Kwik, fuck off, your negative attitude gets dull and old. You’re the unintelligent version of Gambon. Fucking irritating.

  11. Johnny5

    NM

    On twitter some dudes saying that we’ve been talking to capoue and its close to being sorted. Ill believe that shit when I see it with my own eyes

    Also apparently That Geoff arsenal dude apparently told a couple of guys that we’ve put in a £20m bid for Rooney. Also think that’s bollocks.

    All this rumour shit is starting to make me get paranoid that its all PR spin and we’ve all been had.

  14. kwik fit

    Night before cup final and again we are but mere spectators. Remembering cup final eves of years past has perhaps made me sombre tonight Jurgem Clap 🙁

  15. Radio Raheem

    This man would like you to help him get surgery

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-22457765

    My suggestion would be that he auditions for movie roles…maybe even for a role in Dr Who? It doesn’t have to be a talking role. With such a grotesque look he’ll get a part but also save the producers in make-up costs. I’m not being insensitive just practical.

  19. Nasri's Mouth

    @johnny5

    For as long as I’ve been on the Internet people have been compiling lists of the vast number of people we’re linked with. This year seems even worse given that the transfer window isn’t even open yet. Everyone thinks they know who we are going to sign.
    Once the season is over I’ll start pushing my ‘transfer speculator’ game on here to anyone who’ll listen 😉

  20. Eppy

    Enjoyed the piece again mate, followed some of your tweets while there. Lucky bugger enjoying an evening like that!
    Anyway, those that will believe any pieces of news (or want to) will, those that don’t (or simply have no intention of from the start) won’t. Either way it’s neither your fault nor your problem, don’t worry about it.
    As for Loic Remy, god help us if we really are looking at him, cheap or not. He’s not what we need and I don’t think he’s good enough for the EPL.

  22. Johnny5

    RR

    Fucking dirty shit mate.

    NM

    Its weird how early it’s all kicking off. But like you ill chime in with little bits I hear here and there too lol. Ill do it till I’m sick of it same as last season

  23. Keyser

    Football’s a cesspit of talent, teams have just pooled star players and let them fester into these masses of decaying matter.

    Real Madrid for example, all this skill and ability and bar Ronaldo most of them have disappointed, people keep mentioning Benzema and Higuain, both have been pretty shit this year.

    Lucas Moura looked interesting for PSG, but then he’s soo ridiculously over-valued it’s pointless, Gundojuan and Dortmund’s collective assemble, but they’re in the situation we’ve been over the years, building players into efficient entities and then selling them on for a profit knowing teams are going to struggle to get the same production out of them.

  28. kwik fit

    Fuck did you hear your man earlier Jurgen somebody 🙂

    What a bloke…… doesn’t like the negative attitude against Wenger yet calls him self Jurgen Klopp 🙂

  32. kwik fit

    montyMay 10, 2013 12:46:59
    I’ll Fuck anyone up here brah, Fyckun beta faggots, bet u are all insecure fat cunts behind a keyboard, do u guys even lift?.. the best thing about life is gym and getting shredded brah. Sickunt for life.
    ——————————————————————-

    What can a young man say . This is the sort of shit that makes LG Great!!!! Even in Germany Jurgen!

  35. kwik fit

    Heard that someone wasn’t allowed into these guys gig because they didn’t know the lead singer. Fuck everyone knows its Liam Gallagher!

  41. kwik fit

    Dave

    Yes he does but the secret is …..don’t fucking read them!

    If your out there Yosh there is still a possibility I will read your next post 🙂

  42. Dannyboy

    ‘Fyckun beta faggots’ I stared at this for hours and couldn’t for the life of me work out what it means…

  43. kwik fit

    Dannyboy

    The person that wrote that shit is a fuckin Genius. He’s thinking outside the box. or maybe he’s allowed out of the box occasionally.

  46. kwik fit

    Dannyboy

    What other blog would have such intelligent people on board.
    I have a feeling that this guy is even more intelligent than you know who. But I would never make a judgement about someone’s intelligence on a blog unless I was a fool!

  51. kwik fit

    I know there is a real few grovers out there who are Rockers . I could name names but I won’t . just untie your maine and release Baby!!!!!

  52. Dannyboy

    Kwikky boy, you pull out some right bangers when you’re off your head! You’d make a cracking DJ mate! Remember at a festival I was at, Weezer were there, and they sang ‘teenage dirtbag’ as a pisstake, cos like 90% of people confuse them with Weatus… haha was actually much better than the Weatus version!

  62. Arsenal 1886-2006

    I will take a chill pill then.
    Quite like rainbow, i am actually into a wide range of stuff not just heavy stuff but some real slow melodic stuff.

    Heres some Echobelly for ya’

  69. TitsMcgee

    So UTD don’t sell to Rivals but they are gonna strengthen 1 of the 2 teams that pose them a threat?

    Are you guys sure you have the right Bender? There are two. Lars and Sven.

    Villa is a very risky potential signing. Old and coming off a broken leg. Might be good enough for 10 goals a year maybe 15 but he’d improve us marginally.

    higuain would be a good signing. Young and clinical even though he’s had an off year.

    Benteke is the way to go for me though. Cheap and allows us to sign multiple people since he won’t cost an arm and a leg.

  72. Arsenal 1886-2006

    Blue!!!!!!!! omg dannyboy.

    Can’t argue with the Stranglers there Kwik, better than Rolf (Do you know what it is yet? yeah it’s your cock and i’m ten years old you old perv) Harris.

  76. Dannyboy

    Pedro, if you want to make a bit more money from the site, instead of the annoying Walkers crisps adverts, produce a ‘Kwikky boy’s 50 greatest hits’ Album, and sell it for 99p, you would be able to buy the club in a week!

  86. Keyser

    Kwik when he falls asleep leave quietly, make sure he don’t follow you, you know what SDE’s like.

  97. mahessar

    Also, much to our surprise, not a single club has shown any interest in Thomas Vermalaen so far?

    Probably Dortmund after they have sold Hummels to either Madrid or Barca.

  103. Arsenal 1886-2006

    The Stranglers were good, there seemed to be more of a social edge to bands in the past. They all seem so nicey nicey and manufactured these days, guess it is to do with the age creeping higher and the cynicism rising along with it.
    Probably why i am attracted to LeGrove ;-).

    Off to bed now. Have a good one.

  111. Keyser

    Gwaan with Christopher Lee narrating ? is it THE Christopher Lee ?

    Never come across them, sound interesting thanks, just put the Gregorian chant up because I was watching old re-runs of Never mind the Buzzcocks on youtube and Lamarr was trying to work it into the show.

    I remember a great series from back when I was a kid, they were played on the BBC, it was called ‘The Storyteller’ created by Jim Henson.

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092383/

  113. Keyser

    Along the lines of that film ‘Labryinth’ with David Bowie, classic up there with The Goonies.

    Also remember gregorian chant from a film Called ‘The Rose’ I think with Sean Connery, and the song Sadness by Enigma.

    That’s me done on Gregorian chant though.

  114. Arsenal 1886-2006

    Keyser.
    Christopher Lee was a student at the same university that M.R. James taught at, go to http://librivox.org and download all his stories you won’t regret it.
    They are read by volunteer readers who are pretty good, and most of the videos are on youtube and other sites.

  117. Arsenal 1886-2006

    The Who, class act and one of the best bands to come out of England.

    “The name of the Rose” was a good film, strange to see Connery in this type of film but he was good.

  121. peanuts&monkeys

    @Guns of the brixton

    did you apologize for writing somewhere that PODOLSKI has been great as a debut season? Are you new to football?

  122. SurferX

    Pedders is getting really slack… 9:02 and no post. Days gone by, you could set your watch by Le Grove.

    I blame his cocaine lifestyle.

  124. SurferX

    Also, all the paper BS / talk seems to be about Jovetic. Am I the only one that would be slightly underwhelmed? I mean, he’s a good player- but I wouldn’t put him in the world-class category.

    Maybe just me though.. meh

  125. SurferX

    Nice article on She Wore A Yellow Ribbon.. while we’re waiting for Pedders to get his sorry ass out of bed.

    http://www.fansonline.net/arsenal/article.php?id=859

    Two more years and the dross is mostly gone.. a lot of contracts coming up that shouldn’t be renewed. And

    Fabianski 50k 2013
    Mannone 20k 2014
    Squillachi 50k 2013
    Sagna 60k 2014
    Diaby 50k 2014
    Rosicky 80k 2014
    Arshavin 75k 2013
    Chamack 60k 2014
    Frimmpong 20k 2013
    Bentdner 50k 2014
    Denilson 50k 2014

    By my reckoning, that around £35m pa off the wage bill right there. Add that to the commercials, the TV income increase, the existing war chest etc, etc- well, we have a shit load of dosh to spend. No excuses, we should be in for the very top players.

    CL qualification is a must…

  126. kwik fit

    The Helen Chamberlain appreciation society awaits the Pedro. Today she’s wearing a ‘low cut’ shirt. Oh I do love a ‘gezzer bird.’

  129. Arsenal 1886-2006

    Surferx.
    “Two more years and the dross is mostly gone.. a lot of contracts coming up that shouldn’t be renewed.”

    He still has two transfer windows to buy some more dross though, that is scaring me.

  132. SurferX

    @ Arsenal 1886-2006

    We’ll see. His incomings over the past two years havent been bad (Id say they’ve been average)…

    Successes:
    Carzola
    Arteta
    BFG
    Jenkinson

    Jury Out:
    Giroud
    Podolski
    Monreal
    Oxo

    Flops:
    Santos
    Park
    Gervinho

    Two things; firstly that is relative to what they cost- so while Jenkinson has made it yet- for £1m he looks like a good deal. All managers have dud buys- AW’s problem has been persevering with them in the team with 5 years. Signs are that has changed recently- Parc didnt work out- hes been shipped out and written off. Santos didnt cut it.. out he goes and replacement comes in.

    Secondly, what has killed us over that time is 1) the players we have lost 2) a lack of investment in the squad for the 5 years leading upto that.

    Fortunately (unfortunately?), we have no players that would kill us if they went in the same way that Cesc and VP departing did. We need 5 players minimum this year. Like I said, we’ll see….

  133. Arsenal 1886-2006

    SurferX.

    We need a dynamic signing to lift the club, remember when Bergkamp signed.
    I do not see Higuain or Jovetic in the same light, Jovetic I do not know too much about him and Higuain while a good finisher is pretty slow, (not Giroud slow) and will not outrun most defenders.

    I would take one wow factor signing and 3-4 solid experienced pro’s to solidify the defence and midfield.

  138. Arsenal 1886-2006

    Morning Kwik.

    It seems as though Higuain is a done deal according to some, but only if we get the top 4 place. Surely this would relegate Giroud down to the bench, will he be able to accept that?

  139. kwik fit

    86-06

    I don’t believe that Huguain is a done deal. Heard this morning that we could get Jovetic for about 15m. Now that seems about right. I agree with you that we need a bergkamp esquee signing but do you really think we would spend the money? need to put 25m/30m so I doubt it.

  141. Kiyoshi Ito

    All speculation…

    Nothing is a done deal with Marquee signings, under Mr Wenger..

    Long drawn-out transfer sagas..!!