Well, the absolute worst outcome for Arsenal happened last night, we played our best striker in a dud game, against a terrible Frankfurt side, and managed to lose. Unai Emery stood on the sidelines like he was 40 feet from his front door watching the police remove his PC in plastic bags. He knows what’s coming, so do the fans.
The Emirates was painfully empty, even when you factor in the Frankfurt ticketing issues, it was embarrassing. No one wanted to be there. I had friends in chat groups desperately trying to give tickets away before the game to no avail. Last night felt like an end-of-days scenario for the manager… the players delivered a performance to match the feeling. Raul was right, the ‘noise’ of the fans did pass, because no one cared enough to show up.
Those that did dealt with familiar themes.
- We tanked a lead, again
- Emery insisted on starting Xhaka, again (makes error). Worse, he was all smiles and jokes with the Frankfurt players after the game. Get him out of the club immediately. He’s a disgrace.
- Brings on Ozil to save game (told the press a month ago he wanted rid)
- 2-1 down, last roll of the dice, he brings on Torreira (Pepe on the bench)
We could dive into the details of the match, but why bother? We know Emery is finished. Let’s talk about what is next instead, it’s far more urgent.
Raul is bad for Arsenal. He is going to try with all his might to move us down a path that suits his agenda. Everyone who matters at Arsenal knows this.
He’s not Arsenal material I’m afraid, so as supporters, we need to be very alert to what’s coming next, because if it suits him, it’s likely not good for us.
Emery was his idea. Sven left because of his ‘contacts’ approach. We made some very bad decisions this summer on his say so. Judge a man by his actions. Those actions in the cold light of day do not look good.
The next moves he’s hyping look even worse.
Ignore the nonsense coming from Wolves PR team. Nuno is on the Arsenal shortlist because of his relationship with Raul. Move past the bullshit notion that he wouldn’t take the job. We’re the biggest offer that’d ever go near him, there’s simply no chance he’d pass on it because he has ‘good vibes’ with his Wolverhampton squad.
Pay attention to Kike Marin reporting that Enrique is being seduced by a big club, it’s likely Arsenal because we’re in a contacts kind of world. We shouldn’t be giving him the time of day. No one in Europe touched him because he’s expensive and he has a poor reputation despite winning trophies at Barcelona. This is the same issue we had with Emery winning the league with PSG, you look at the wiki page and it excites you, read what the fans and press wrote at the time and it’s a different story. The idea that we’ll hire him after he fails at next years championships with Spain is quite frankly embarrassing. Being Raul’s mate should not be part of the equation, we should stop hiring managers other clubs don’t want.
‘Contacts’ recruitment isn’t good for Arsenal. It’s backroom deals. It’s jobs for the boys. It’s not how professional outfits operate because it removes merit from the equation. I know the ‘who you know’ approach happens in many walks of business, it’s gross regardless, it’s unprofessional, and it’s becoming rarer because it has a deeply negative impact on the culture of a business.
Sport should be the purest form of meritocracy, especially if you’re pushing the idea of an elite performance culture. Why would any player perform to the best of their ability if they had even the slightest suspicion that a teammate who was competing with them was getting preferential treatment because of their agent?
Now imagine the squad know the manager is there because they are pals with Jorge Mendes? Horrifying.
Our next appointment should be made against a strict set of guidelines, one of them should be that no one we bring in should be as deeply tangled in super-agent gunk as Nuno. He’s a no-go. We are too big to be beholden to the whims of a manager that will always have deeper loyalties to his agent than the club. Outside just the agent ties, why would you want to be making an appointment Everton fans would find bland?
Thankfully, most of you understand that this move is a terrible idea. Your response to the blog yesterday gave me hope (read if you didn’t). It showed that 99% of Gooners understand that values are hugely important, even if they have been used to defend mediocrity over the past 10 years. It also showed that together, we will go to war to make sure we’re not turned into a 90s Liverpool by grifters with no love for the club DNA.
Know this, there is a battle underway for the soul of Arsenal.
Take your eye off the ball for a minute and we’re fucked. We have to be vigilant when names are thrown our way. We have to use the power of Arsenal internet to call bullshit if we see something that looks off-key. So make Raul an agenda point with journalists. Tweet the bloggers when you see something that looks ghastly. Remember, the Arsenal agenda is set by the fans because you’re the people clicking adverts. The big publishers will follow your lead. Don’t let up. You have a part to play in making sure Arsenal are not dragged into the swamp.
Right, that’s me done. More tomorrow. x
Emery sacked best fucking Christmas present ever, should never have got the job in the first place. Now all we need is Raul gone and we can start to get our club back on the right path.
CG deserves a medal
I’m sure Valentin kept harping about Freddie not having appropriate coaching badges. He has all the appropriate licences for Head Coach.
Sack done a month too late. Still not extremely late like it was with Wenger. It’s how it should be and we’ve obviously improved on that matter. Patience is not a virtue when both game and results have sucked hard for a long time. Emery was clueless in how to turn it around so he had to go. Let’s see who the management will pick now. Freddie will do well for a bit and then slump. Need someone with a pedigree. Or someone on the up like Gerrard.
Finally!
Now let’s go get Arteta for the longterm.
I have to blame the players. First of all, for the first goal (the turning point of the game) Guen, Xhaka and PapaSok were all there but couldn’t stop the shot. After that, everybody gave up. Ironically, the only two players who still played for the shirt were Mustafi and Xhaka. The world has turned upside down.
Tr7
“One of the very best managers in the world Pochettino is available.”
Embarrasing commentary.
Your hero is an Emery-lite, doesn’t even have the trophies. No big club will take a chance on him and even if one does, he’ll be getting the sack in 12-15 months ala Emery.
That muppet Pepe will probably start striking the ball properly now.
Congratulations CG aka Nostradamus.
You called it right….I’ll forgive your Watford prediction!
Oh Paulinho as well in the list of devotees.
Missed that the first time
Emery’s biggest sin was refusing to learn.
In the EPL, outscoring the opponent is not a strategy you want to bank on.
I backed Emery last season and said he needed time and players, he got both and failed to deliver.
Leftside
“”””CG well played on your prediction”””””
Thank you.
Ill give you some more soon too. All exclusively here on Le Grove
And off course- all free!
Victorious – Yeah, I’ll look forward to your excitement when the next manager gets sacked in the not too distant future.
Remember United fans doing cartwheels when Moyes got sacked. How did that work out for the thick twats?
‘You called it right….I’ll forgive your Watford prediction!’
Slow down Buddy! CG made several wild predictions and got one right, the rest..the less typed the better.
Really out of all the coaches we would be better off with Rafa Benitez. Pragmatism must come first to get better. Rafa is good at improving a defence and also we have great forwards so we could do with some defensive stability. Pochettino is also good but last season’s and this season’s form for Tottenham was really poor. So I have some reservations. Allegri actually is sound but in untested league and a previous job where now sarri is looking great is a little concern. Nuno doesn’t Excite me.
Finally #EmeryOut. Maybe I can get back to watching Arsenal.
Next up though, #RaulOut. Make it trend people.
Vic
You were told Emery would get the tic-tac after the Wolves match on here.
You wouldn’t have it.
Words
“””””””You called it right….I’ll forgive your Watford prediction!”””””””””””
We play them last game of the season.
It could be a huge fixture.
Receding I also like your Koeman suggestion. Really he needs another shot. The job he did at Southampton was phenomenal.
As much as I wanted Emery out,I got to say some of the players downed tools to oust the manager. Unai is a nice guy, someone like Mourinho would have named and shamed them before leaving.
Like to see someone like Wilder given a shot.
Only manager out of all the one floating about that remotely excites me. He actually does something different, whereas everyone else is a boring clone of each other.
Emery has ultimately got sacked because the house fell completely down in very quick fashion.
The house being the home form.
And it fell down so quickly because the foundations were so suspect.
I wanted Emery when the news broke we’re going to pick him. He looked like the best available candidate of the ones running for the job at the time. Truth is he did so bad I wonder how he’s ever reached that top level at all. Truly mindboggling decisions that dig his hole and limited our team. I wish him success but fuck me was he out of depth. Kudos to the people in charge for sacking him kind of late, but not super late. With Ivan in charge we would have been stuck with Emery at least until the… Read more »
“Think he will be another Emery”
Gambon i think he will be worse in a sense
With Nuno we will win a few big games, flatter to deceive and before we realize we are not really going anywhere exciting it would take a while
Lots of people advocating Pochettino. Do we want another coach who falls at the highest hurdles?
That was the exact issue with Wenger years towards the end, and he still managed 3 FA cups.
Pochettino couldn’t inspire his team to put it past an almost dead on their feet Liverpool who were playing Stoke level long ball football in the CL final.
Ok Ishola , have it your way
Taking Torreira out of the DM role was a stroke of genius by our former manager.
Good ebee ending!
Well done to everybody who didn’t attend last nights match, that was the straw that broke the camels back.
“Would rather someone that is used to managing at the top of the league/CL.”
This was my point. Arsenal is a huge club with a history of success and we need a top daw manager with experience working at a club this big. Not some 5 minute wonder who’s only had to manage a limited expectation.
With the toxicity amongst our fan base, anything less than someone like Rafa, Allegri etc will lead to more dissent as soon as results dip.
This is a huge decision.
Freddie cannot be interim manager beyond 12 weeks. He does not the UEFA Pro.
So someone will come in.
drawer
“No No No , he has won nothing ,just flatters the press all the while waiting in vain for Real Madrid . Both will never happen and the last thing we city fans want is a petulant non winner . Give it a break” “City? A team driven to excel by a tactically astute, driven and focused manager in Pep could somehow be managed by a man who failed to get a tune out of the players at his disposal at Spurs? I’m a Liverpool fan and an admirer of Pep but Poch doesn’t appear to have the belief in… Read more »
Tweet from John Hartson:
Ljungberg was a great help to Emery last night.. sat down for 90 mins.. surely you get in the managers ear if you can see what’s going wrong.. Emery had to go.
……
Meanwhile Keown, the muppet, slagged Emery off for twenty minutes only to end by saying that he hopes Emery stays and is given the chance to turn things around.
Pochettino is far from the worst choice we could make right now. He’s not won any trophies. But he dramatically improved Southampton and Spuds, getting far more out of both teams than the sum of their parts. He has Premier League experience, which is important in my view. With the players and resources at the club I’ve no doubt he would significantly improve the team, the way it is set up, the transitional play and ensure round pegs go in round holes. He would certainly put us back in the CL qualification places, which is the next major milestone for… Read more »
We should be going hard for Benitez as caretaker.
Although super hot in CKs, Freddie isn’t the guy.
Well Emery’s gone which seems to be something everyone is agreement on.
Let’s see who we bring in before we start slagging off Sanllehi. If we were to go for Arteta Pedro’s post is going to look pretty daft.
From AST:”Last night more than half of Arsenal’s season-ticket holders didn’t bother attending the match despite having paid for their tickets.”
Marc… It’s all your fault!
Jamie
Benitez is on £12 million a year in China. Do you think he’s going to walk away from that for a 6 month job?
We’d also have to pay compensation to his current club.
Freddie in for caretaker…..Get Big Tone in for an inspirational “lets die for this club ” speech….set the “tone” no pun intended..
Whats needed right now is the fighting spirit.
We wont sort all the probs out for another season or two…but we can give it our best shot. ENTER :TONY ADAMS..
The quality manager will in time slot in hopefully.
Nelson
Your right – I did it, I’m glad I did it and if I had the chance I’d fucking do it again!
90% of what CG said at beginning of the season came true. Hate to see it really.
I was sure the caretaker way was the way to go.
I’m sure the permanent appointment is Poch if we can get him or Allegri if Poch can’t happen.
This is because this time around the club will make sure the appointment raises zero question, even if it fails, people must not look at them.
The most obvious right fix is Poch unless he really can’t come due to contract obligations.
Receding
Poch will be a great appointment if we get him. Klopp too failed at Dortmund towards the end and yet everyone knew he was a great scoop by the Pool when they got him. Your continuous denouncement of Poch basis his sacking by Totts is wrong just as your continuous defense of Emery was basis his Europa wins.
Nelson
On a serious note I’m surprised that half of the ST holders turned up – it didn’t look like there was anywhere near 20,000 in the stadium.
“Arsenal players had lost faith in Emery and his methods and communication was a big issue.”
From Sky Sports.
Pedro was right on that front.
He can use that against the numpties who suggested the opposite
Pochettino is a bottler. I also don’t want a Spurs cast off. Not under any circumstances, he’s not at our level.
We need a manager who has experienced success and knows how to manage at a big club. with the level of expectation.
This is a massive decision to save our club from mediocrity.
Tweet from John Hartson:
Ljungberg was a great help to Emery last night.. sat down for 90 mins.. surely you get in the managers ear if you can see what’s going wrong..
At least someone else gets it
“Arsenal players had lost faith in Emery and his methods and communication was a big issue. From Sky Sports.Pedro was right on that front”
……………….EVERYONE knew that.
Marc –
I’m not sure, but I’d like to think he’s more ambitious than staying in the Chinese Super League for much longer, irrespective of his pay packet.
If a half-decent European club comes calling, I’d bet he’d take it for significantly less money than his current deal.
Who knows, though..
As for compensating his current club, yeah, I’m not sure what to do about that either.
‘Taking Torreira out of the DM role was a stroke of genius by our former manager.’
‘By our former manager’
The mockers are coming😀😀😀😀
TR7 he ultimately failed at Spurs, it ended with a sacking and no trophies won
Spurs players are now excited they have a chance at winning because their present coach has actually won things and will show them how
Klopp won the below with Dortmund
Bundesliga: 2010–11,[37] 2011–12[39]
DFB-Pokal: 2011–12[45]
DFL-Supercup: 2013,[67] 2014[69]
Stop comparing them
He’s gone!! Hahaha
Brilliant
Sorry Unai. I do genuinely think you’re a nice bloke but this is above you
You’re not at a small club or at PSG with cheat mode activated
Onwards and upwards. Please god no more clowns
So it’s not true Pott said he would never go near Barca or Arsenal? I read he’d rather give up football and go back to his farm in Arg than manage us, Barca or Rosario He needs a break anyway….. Allegri’s had one…I dont understand why he isn’t a done deal, unless he doesnt want to manage us? We need a coach the players respect and fear. Arteta? Do me a favour……Allegri is as perfect as we can get to what we need right now. Surely he’ll get us defending as a team better. And the players wont take liberties… Read more »
raptoraNovember 29, 2019 10:41:43
I wanted Emery when the news broke we’re going to pick him. He looked like the best available candidate of the ones running for the job at the time
Raptora
Fear not. I pardon you. Even though you lobbied to get me banned like a girl
“Poch will be a great appointment”
It will be a terrible appointment on every level. A Spurs cast off who bottled big games and never won a bean. How low will we have sunk.
Presumably those of you who don’t want Poch would be happier with Ranieri
Poch would be great, stop it.
It won’t happen though.
Freddie cannot be interim manager beyond 12 weeks. He does not the UEFA Pro.
—————————————
Where is this from that he can’t be in charge longer than 12 weeks?
Also how long does it take to get the “UEFA Pro”? Maybe he can get it quickly.
I actually turned the game off last night and watched a film with my daughter
Never have I ever done this before. Good fucking riddance man.
What an awful experience emery has been.
We got our arsenal back
We got our arsenal back
Now for poch or Arteta to come in and rip up the gloom that Dracula bought from his coffin
Let’s hope it wasn’t too infectious
“Allegri is as perfect as we can get to what we need right now. Surely he’ll get us defending as a team better”
This.
We are the Arsenal and it’s about time we started acting like that.
No to Rafa, he spoke on a megaphone that he’s no more ambitious by going to China.
Jose turned down a much bigger China offer, Spuds can’t have him while we have Mr China.
Presumably those of you who don’t want Poch would be happier with Ranieri
Two of them are not the only coaches in the world
We have a lot of options, stop restricting yourself to a Spurs castoff and calling him a “dream”
The club should accept that we’re not making the top 4 this year, so there’s no point bringing in a manager who can get a quick rise out of the players, but can’t / isn’t interested in building a long-term project. Goal should be creating a clear identity to our play that makes best use of the players we have available, restoring a positive environment so that PEA and Lacazette sign new deals or agree to be sold on beneficial terms (not sulking and waiting for Bosmans), and top 4 at end of next season (1.5 years in job) will… Read more »
We will know how good the next appointment will be by seeing what kind of next summer transfer window the guy undertakes.
And yes that will mean selling off a few current players.
With the right appointment we might actually salvage this season and stop the mass exodus that is bound to happen if we remain 8th all season.
I’d keep Freddie in charge unless Allegri or Poch want in immediately.
If not lets keep Freddie till the summer(as long as the whole badges situation allows it) and then reassess the situation.
Either way this is the right call to make. Immense pressure on Raul, Edu and Josh to make the right choice though.
CG,
Congratulations you called it right: Sacked in November!
I thought that you were going to be wrong because of Raul’s insistence of keeping him.
Emery back to Spanish midtable mediocrity where he belongs! Should never got got the job, not fit to even clean the windows of the armoury.
“Following the announcement of Unai Emery’s sacking, Arsenal are working on finding his permanent replacement. On Sunday Freddie Ljuenberg will sit on the bench, but there are ongoing contacts with Nuno Espírito Santo who is currently managing Wolverhampton.
There are conversations between Jorge Mendes and Raul Sanllehi who have a great reolationship and seen the agent’s influence at Wolverhampton, Espírito Santo can be considered the favorite. Mikel Arteta is another option, he’s currently in Pep Guardiola’s staff at Manchester City. ”
Gianluca Di Marzio
This guy does not do idle rumors
I am worried
Receding HairlineNovember 29, 2019 11:05:29
Presumably those of you who don’t want Poch would be happier with RanieriTwo of them are not the only coaches in the world
Hairline
Then who?
At last a positive and Emery and his coaching team sacked. Hopefully the players will now react in a more positive way than has been apparent. The club needs to put in place in short term a coaching team which can get the players back on track. What is imperative is that the appointment of Head Coach is the right one. Frankly my expectations this season will be fairly modest whoever comes in, because the gulf between us and top 4 is now quite wide and I think that it is blindingly obvious that our defence and midfield is not… Read more »
Receding
Please spare us the scare mongering.
You were fine with the Emery appointment and it turned out a disaster appointment.
Will this mean Arsenal can get a rare away EPL win at Norwich now?
lol
“Hairline
Then who?”
You asked me this question not too long ago and i gave you my thoughts on it
Can’t keep repeating myself
Pochettino was sacked 10 days ago from Spurs for a reason
We do not have any advantages as a club above Spurs as things stand
What % of the blame does he take for his sacking? 1, 5, none?
I am not surprised by all of this.
We will have several more Emeries in the coming years…… just wait and see.
“Receding Please spare us the scare mongering.”
Oh do shut up
Nuno is no improvement and there is no Portuguese revolution coming
For guys all giddy to get Emery sacked your ideas of dream replacements are laughable
Well Receding you are doing lots and lots of shouting here considering your judgement on Emery was so wrong.
Maybe just a little bit of humility from you perhaps.
Perhaps not lol.
I really feel our guys in charge wouldn’t attempt to fuck about this time around. Pedro was right, Emery was a contact book who you know appointment. This time around the questions will be stiffer, the faces will be sterner.
Josh would go:
‘What do you think gentlemen?’
‘Pls Raul, put away that your petty contact book, not wanted here any more’.
Not in words of course, but in action!
I reckon many of you should be thanking Mesut Ozil as he was the architect in Emery’s downfall. If he had meekly surrendered to Emery’s unjust treatment and walked away from the club with his tail between his legs, Emery ( and Raul) would have been empowered by this action and Emery would have remained at the club to wreak havoc. Ozil , in effect has saved the club , he was the only one to tell Emery what he really thinks , he put his neck on the line and told him he is not a coach . Without… Read more »
Pedro obviously didn’t have the instant tic tac feeling.
Otherwise he would have delayed just a little his 29th November blog entry.
Now he has to do another in quick succession
Pierre
“I reckon many of you should be thanking Mesut Ozil as he was the architect in Emery’s downfall.”
Sledge hammer trolling.
Did FL has a support team in place? It will be interesting to see how we line up against Northwich City.
“Well Receding you are doing lots and lots of shouting here considering your judgement on Emery was so wrong.” I backed a manager to meet his requirements of champions league football, he failed by a point and lost the UEL final, maybe u need to check what so wrong means. “Maybe just a little bit of humility from you perhaps.” Maybe you should take your won advise Nuno’s wolves have conceded 16 goals in the league to our 19 They conceded 46 to our 51 while scoring considerably less, they also threw away a two goal lead just yesterday For… Read more »
Maybe Liverpool shouldn’t have hired Klopp because things went flat for him too just before he left Dortmund.
If you don’t know that Poch is quality I wonder what you are doing taking interest in a sport you don’t understand.
Can’t we offer 20+1 million to pool for Klopp?
Nelson
” It will be interesting to see how we line up against Northwich City.”
Rare away EPL win in the offing?
Receding Perhaps it would be an idea to look at the Pochettino situation at Spuds in the round? There was a clear problem with the board failing to back him for a couple of transfer windows. He became demotivated and it filtered through to the players. Klopp had a similar problem with demotivation and players tailing off at Dortmund. The Arsenal situation is ready made for Pochettino. He has some quality players to work with. He has come excellent youngsters to help bring through. He would be starting from a better baseline than he did at Soton or Spuds. He… Read more »
‘Can’t we offer 20+1 million to pool for Klopp?’
If you offer Liverpool the Emirates stadium they wouldn’t give Klopp.
Poch is not coming, simple as that.
For a brief period, we will all unite behind Interim Freddie.
Then all hell will break loose when the next manager is appointed – whoever he is!
Why exactly did Mr Unai “Good ebening” Emery did get sacked ??
He wasn’t speaking english well enough ?? This is scandalous!!
Where are the Arsenal values in that embarassing move ??
(P.s. : AT LAST THANK GOD!! LOLZ)
It is a total disgrace that Arsenal FC are in this position. We should not have to sack the manager at this point in the season. The necessity to do so has been brought about by neglect on the part of the owners to ensure that the stewardship of the club was in suitable hands. Historically those were the hands of Gazidis and Wenger and the position the club is now in is a result of their mismanagement. Currently Sanhelli holds that responsibility and if we are to be thrown to the wolves of the likes of Mendes then the… Read more »
Gentlebris
‘If you don’t know that Poch is quality I wonder what you are doing taking interest in a sport you don’t understand.’
Hear hear ! Some folks think winning micky mouse cups such as Europa and Carabao is all that it takes to be considered a good manager.
Receding
Don’t make out now that the Emery appointment wasn’t that bad.
Guy has beeb sacked in under two seasons, didn’t meet requirements in his first season and has now plumetted the club into depths that haven’t been seen for decades.
It has been a disaster appointment and you were all for it.
So why should we be intetrested in your continuous ramblings about the next appointment now?
Klopp won two bundesliga titles and three cups with Dortmund
You are comparing a born winner to a guy who has never won anything and you expect to be taken seriously
Words – depends on the appointment after Freddie…………………
Allegri or Simone, shows ambition, as does an Arteta or Jorge Jesus.
Apparently Allegri favourite with the bookies.
Gentlebris
Klopp had won stuff with Dortmund, 2 Bundesliga titles and a couple of cups in a 1 horse league. Poch meanwhile has managed to break into the top 4 in EPL, all the while failing at all relevant cup hurdles.
In the last 18 months poch finished ahead of emery by a measly point and actually below him this season before getting the sack. I think the Klopp comparison isint remotely accurate.
Some folks think winning micky mouse cups such as Europa and Carabao is all that it takes to be considered a good manager.
——————
But Poch didn’t even manage to win those!
“So why should we be intetrested in your continuous ramblings about the next appointment now?”
I am not standing over you forcing you to read and reply so please shut up
I agree with some others that it’s not a time to celebrate. Emery was incredibly annoying in so many ways but at his core he was just out of his depth. He shouldn’t be blamed for that but the selection committee should (of which 2 out of the 3 are already gone). Let’s deal with Poch first. There are two major reasons why he shouldn’t be selected even if his severance agreement allows him to come. First, he’s simply a burn out case. We’ve all seen it over the last year. He needs plenty of time to recover. In addition,… Read more »