I book hotels based on the what the lobby looks like, if it looks fancy, I’m in. I found a lobby I liked in Atlanta, the furnishing looked cool, the art looked interesting, pretty pictures of fine-looking southern cocktails… found out as I approached that I was booked above a famous strip club.
I made a bad choice. I’m currently sat in a trashy bar trying to come to terms with the fact I am sharing a building with the sort of people that travel between states for a fave stripper they ‘connect’ with. My room is on the same floor as the kitchen that sells chicken wings. The scene is not what I expected and I’m at the age where this has rocked my world.
I’m not crying about the noise. You are.
Still, we live with the consequences and move on. At least I have a voucher for a cup of tea in the morning.
Arsenal managerial news is still fairly murky, fans are struggling with French newspapers running hit pieces about names that are trying to land a foot in the door with an Everton exec team that seems as clueless as Arsenal’s. The latest name is Paulo Sousa, who is at Bourdeaux. I think it’s a fiction. Well, I hope it is. If you are Portuguese and have kicked a ball in the last 50 years, chances are you know someone that can land you an interview with Raul.
The latest I’m hearing is the same as David Ornstein (convenient) – that the club is pursuing Patrick Vieira and Mikael Arteta. The noises from the shop floor are that most favour Mikael over Paddy, but as far as I’m concerned that doesn’t hold much weight if Edu is a bros before non-bros kind of guy.
Either way, it’s looking very likely that Arsenal will end the month with an ex-trophy winning captain of Arsenal in the dugout. At the very least, that means the club will be treated with sort of tender soft touch we deserve because that touch will come with love. That’s a good start when you consider Nuno was in the running two weeks ago, that’s the touch of an insurance broker pervert on the C2C when you’re asleep.
Patrick Vieira hasn’t really been on the Le Grove radar for obvious reasons… he’s simply not done a good enough job for me to care.
I love him. Truly one of the greatest names to have pulled on an Arsenal shirt. He’d have my backing simply because of who he is. My worry? He’d be the closest hire we could make to Frank Lampard in terms of comparables.
Vieira matches up when it comes to legend status very closely with Lampard. Both managers had similarly average stints before the took a bigger job. Frank took Derby from 6th to 6th. Paddy hasn’t really moved the needle for Nice this season, they’re sitting in 13th, they’ve had a very choppy time of it, he’s only managed 3 wins in the last 11 games (after spending £52m on new players, net £29m). He moved them from 8th, to 7th . Good, but not glittering in a league where Lille moved from 17th to 2nd in the same period (and Mourinho just pinched their backroom team).
My other concern is this: City sent him to America and didn’t put up much of a fight to keep him in the group when he wanted a new challenge. Rumours were rife when he was coaching in England that the sheikhs were eyeing him as a successor to Pep. What happened? (Arteta)
Edu will have to tread a careful line here as well. Anyone in business who has hired in a friend will tell you what a fucking nightmare it can be. You always end up disappointed, they’re either shite and they fuck your rep, or they’re incredible and they push you out of the McDonald’s kitchen onto the tills, which is actually really boring, so that’s why me and Darren stopped talking.
Doesn’t matter if you’re in finance or brick-laying, everyone has a story. It is very difficult to hire a BBF into a job as cutthroat as football because things go wrong so fast. It can also have the negative impact of setting the wrong tone for the culture of the club, every decision can end up looking tainted, because really, hiring in someone because you like them isn’t 21st-century savvy (Ray Dalio has a section in his excellent book, Principles, where he straight up calls it morally corrupt). Worse than that for Edu, if there is deep support of Arteta, it’s an easier pill for everyone to swallow if things go wrong because the failure is shared. If the Brazilian Technical Director goes out on a limb for a manager with an average record and it goes badly, that’s ‘lose your job’ territory.
If I’m given the choice of a bland record I can sift through or rolling the dice for ‘Arteta the unknown’… then I’ll roll that fucking dice. We just hired in someone that won it all in France and it was toxic. I’m not sure what Patrick is offering to the Arsenal party outside a reputation, I can’t even figure it out in theory. The football isn’t special, he’s not growing out world-class players, and he’s not making the Nice team better than the sum of their parts like Favre did when he took Nice to the Champions League.
If Arteta is still in the mix after three years, that tells you something. He must be maintaining his rep in the game because the club aren’t excited about him simply because he has really nice hair and a fan blog dedicated to his potential. Huss & co are obviously getting good intel to back up the hype that follows him about in management books, player interviews, and Pep love-ins.
Here’s the thing: I don’t think the decision is that crazy, even if it was, who cares, we need a moonshot to kick-start this 2.0 project. Safe is not a strategy that correlates with our situation. Safe is literally 14 years of Arsene Wenger and 18 months of Emery. Safe is code for meek, stagnant, unoriginal. It just pushes you further away from taking the drastic steps needed to make Arsenal competitive and relevant on a meagre budget.
If Pep Guardiola says Arteta is an excellent analyst that always comes with innovative solutions, that tells you that he’s looking at problems, formulating plans, then executing them with success on the training ground… for a club that won back to back Premier League titles with record-breaking points.
If the press reports are true and he holds most of those training sessions, that tells you that his ideas are good. It also doubles down on the notion that he’s an elite communicator.
Arsenal needs a coach, I think he can be that coach.
Sure, there are parts that he’s going to have to learn. Being the go-to for managing a squad of egos is going to be tough. He’ll be the lonely one in the dugout, but look, he’s not some nutter tactician that hasn’t managed groups of players before, he’s been a captain at two top-level football clubs. Commanding the respect of fellow professional isn’t going to be a steep learning curve.
I also think the club should be able to build experience around him, just like Barcelona did when Pep took over at Camp Nou when he was exactly the same age.
The most valuable thing Arsenal can spend their money on is great ideas because we can’t afford to unload another £200m on players this summer. We have a great group of kids coming through, we will waste their talent if we give them to Carlo (I don’t think we’d go here, but in a fit of panic, he is basically Emery of 2019 after being freshly fired into a narrowed shortlist). We’ll need to reshape the squad in the summer, likely with young kids. They aren’t coming here for an average coach and boring football. We need something to offer them. With the names on offer at the moment, I don’t see anyone in the pack of managers that has a higher ceiling than Arteta.
Take the chance, the season is lost, there is so much to gain in an environment of incredibly low expectations.
Roll the dice, let’s bet on future football.
P.S. Listen to my podcast and 5* rate that bad boy.
Marc
“I’m pretty sure if an English footballer commented on the Basque or Catalan political situation they’d be pretty quickly told to fuck off and worry about politics in their own country.”
Donald Trump springs to mind.
Left
It ain’t gonna happen
When the silent majority come out once again to vote for something that should have been done and dusted nearly 3 years ago
Fucking jokers
I don’t trust Boris to push this through. He’s going to do a Teresa May on it and push through a shit deal that ties us to them and present it as a victory. We need to leave with no deal and then negotiate. They aren’t taking us seriously because they know that are politicians are reluctant and are looking for some way to fuck over the great British public
Marc
“I’m pretty sure if an English footballer commented on the Basque or Catalan political situation they’d be pretty quickly told to fuck off and worry about politics in their own country.”
Donald Trump springs to mind…..
The point is that posters keep on blaming Ozil, but fail to recognise the collective problem.
That’s not true. I’ve never seen anyone and I mean anyone put the blame solely on Ozil it’s fictitious. You do realize that mentioning others who are struggling neither absolves Ozil’s current problems or makes a great case for him. Yeah sure Willock and Torreira are playing poorly but Özil’s playing even poorer and for longer. I’m not sure 12 games is going to change anything
Bellerin gets attacked here because his views are very different to those of the knuckle-draging right-wingers on here. If he called Muslim women bank robbers or black people Piccanninies, refused to say how many chidlren he fathered or hid in a fridge when asked a legimtate question by a journalist, I suspect he would be appaluded.
Words
Anyone commenting on politics on here is a) anonymous and b) is doing it to a handful of people not 1.8 million.
Un na naai
Farage backed Johnson to get Brexit done, what a blunder that was lol
Red
Not sure what you mean there.
Michael
Bellering gets slagged off on here for his politics because he earns an incredible amount of money, pays an account to make sure he pays as little tax as possible and if Corbyn gets in and starts taxing high earners Bellerin will fuck off to another country ASAP.
WOAB
He is abusing his high profile position at Arsenal to make a political point. He is paid £110,000 A WEEK to play football not influence what political party we should vote for.
If Boris wins Bellerin should vote with his feet and shuffle off back to Spain, where only the likes of Real Betis would have him.
Marc
Accusations of attempted interference in a foreign election are being leveled at U.S. President Donald Trump after he phoned into a British radio station Thursday.
During the on-air discussion with Brexit Party head Nigel Farage, Trump praised British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a fantastic man who is “the exact right guy for the times.”
Trump urged Farage to cooperate with Johnson, leader of the Conservative Party, ahead of Britain’s Dec. 12 national election, in which Brexit is a core issue.
Marc;
Interesting that you somehow know exactly all the details and inner workings of Bellerin’s private life and his intentions for the future. A wonderful gift.
Michael, are you one of those muppets who would like to see proven terrorists ‘rehabilited’ back on to our streets?
I’m pretty sure if an English footballer commented on the Basque or Catalan political situation they’d be pretty quickly told to fuck off and worry about politics in their own country. A British footballer in Britain commenting on such sounds unlikely. Difference is Bellerín lives in Britain. Plus they’re too thick generally. Sounds like people didn’t agree with what he said and are now attacking his right to say it. Which is kind of classic you don’t like it get out of our country/who are you to comment you’re not from here. I mean I’ve never been to North Korea… Read more »
Red
I’m not sure having Trump back you is a good thing!
Michael
It’s a gift I’ve picked up over many years watching people say one thing and then do another.
Marko
I meant if a English footballer was living / playing in Spain ie reversed positions.
Blaming the “collective “ for our midfield and defensive problems is rather cowardly. This is not a knock on Emirates, by the way. The Arsenal “collective” is a mismatched group of individuals that’s aren’t sited to any purpose. Mesut Ozil exemplifies this, had Arsenal realized that he will chicken out of playing for Germany, they wouldn’t have given him that contract. Essentially, he’s a semiretired footballer that has little motivation to raise his game for any reason. How can the collective work when you have a midfielder with little defensive awareness and poor ability off the ball. When is the… Read more »
Michael, are you one of those muppets who would like to see proven terrorists ‘rehabilited’ back on to our streets?
Did Bellerin say that?
Its times like this you can really differentiate between the educated and the uneducated among us.
“Michael, are you one of those muppets who would like to see proven terrorists ‘rehabilited’ back on to our streets?”
A seismic shift from Bellerin’s valid right to express an opinion to suddenly discussing terrorism. You sound desperate.
And before you burst a bloood vessel, my view is all terrorists should face proper justice and when convicted should serve their alloted sentence.
If you do burst a bloood vessel, don’t expect to get quick treatment at a NHS hospital under Johnson. I am sure the corridors will accommodate you, though.
GoB,
Let me guess – you’re educated?
So he told young people to get out and vote and said fuck Boris. Is that it? Some of you want to bounce him back to Spain because of that? You need to relax. Sell him for being shit and us deserving better but for saying fuck Boris you should instantly forget about it or move on otherwise you’re a twat.
I was saying about the Salzburg players, especially the Japanese and the south Korean guys, excellent players with lots of energy to boot, both better than ozil who we put on the field to play in that position. There right back isn’t bad either, we should be gambling on players like them , I read today liverpool are I. Advance stages of talks for the japanese guy, that’s the kind of deals we should be making. Do we actually have a scouting department? If so what the hell are they doing?
Marki seems to think hector is some sort of intellectual. Like himself. 😂
Michael,
I’d scrap the NHS, but that’s another story.
I think the club should publicly censure Bellerin for that uncouth tweet.
This is a footballer who has earned a paycheck for warming the physio table for a long while, hasn’t done much football wise for a long time but still feels the need to tweet such nonsense on the election day of the country hosting him.
Dissenter,
Exactly. Can’t vote himself but tweets on today of all days. His as gormless as he looks.
‘F***Boris!’ Arsenal’s Hector Bellerin leaves his 1.8m followers in no doubt what he thinks of the Prime Minister with a Tweet on election morning Arsenal star Hector Bellerin has weighed in on the political debate as people go to the polls ahead of today’s election. The full back, who boasts a 1.8 million following on Twitter, implored people to have their say as poll stations opened this morning with Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn vying to lead the country. Bellerin, who joined Arsenal from Barcelona as a youngster, shared his views on current Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who took over… Read more »
“I’d scrap the NHS, but that’s another story.”
Well that’s a vote winner.
I meant if a English footballer was living / playing in Spain ie reversed positions So if an English player was living and experiencing situations in Spain he should keep his mouth shut? Doesn’t seem reasonable does it. Bellerin has been here since 16 he’s fully bought into the culture and all that stuff that comes with being British. Does he have citizenship? You make it sound like he’s got no right to voice his opinion which is silly. Again only because you don’t agree with what he said. Which btw was fuck all. I’d be more incensed by all… Read more »
Mickey,
I’m not out to win any votes.
” I mean I’ve never been to North Korea”
I doubt you’ve been anywhere outside your local street.
I think the club should publicly censure Bellerin for that uncouth tweet.
Dissenter is a weird bird isn’t he. Thought Ozil was a soggy sponge for not getting out and confronting armed attackers then thought fans were despicable for booing Xhaka and now is up in arms about Bellerin and a tweet.
Bellerin has every right to interfere in British politics just as foreign born immigrant Johnson has.
Guns of BrixtonDecember 12, 2019 14:54:26
Its times like this you can really differentiate between the educated and the uneducated among us.
Haha
So educated you live in Brixton. One of the most violent areas in the entire country
Yeah. Really educated
Nobody gives to squirts of piss about hector bellerin’s musings. He’s a thick mule headed mummies boy.
Communist Red,
Johnson is English. He can vote in a UK election.
Bellerin is Spanish. He can’t vote in a UK election.
Marko
Whether someone should or should not comment on politics in their adopted country was not my point.
My point is the Spanish would tell them to fuck off and mind their own business.
I also believe that “famous / sporting” personalities should not use their position to push a political agenda. They are very rarely qualified.
Un na naai
“So educated you live in Brixton. One of the most violent areas in the entire country
Yeah. Really educated”
Tories cutting police numbers doesn’t help.
Un,
To be fair GoB has a City & Guilds in being a numpty.
“Communist Red,
Johnson is English. He can vote in a UK election.
Bellerin is Spanish. He can’t vote in a UK election.”
Johnson was not born in the UK dipshit.
Redtruth
You can be born abroad and still be English.
What makes RT think any warped nonsensical thought that tumbles out of the hole in his face is in any way THE TRUTH?
Just his noodle armed view. The thing is. People who vote for parties like labour do so because they were largely not very popular as a child/teen and therefore seek retribution on the rest of society for shunning them. Either that or they are on the make. Always some ponce looking for a handout.
Marc,
Agreed. No one should give a monkeys about the thoughts of Lily Allen, Benedict Cumberbatch and Russell Brand. The Champagne Socialists who are all for immigration as long as it’s not in their back yard.
The far right have taken over the Conservatives hence all racists voting for them.
Un,
To be fair GoB has a City & Guilds in being a numpty.
Any fucking idiot can get a degree now. You seen the fools with green and purple hair getting gender study degrees? Watch them melt as soon as someone from outside the echo poses a question to them that challenges their soppy world view. They crumble/run away/start screaming.
Makes for hilarious viewing
Was it Gemma Arterton who as an adopted US citizen tweeted something about being ashamed to live in America and promptly got told if you don’t like it you can fuck off?
RedtruthDecember 12, 2019 15:22:01
The far right have taken over the Conservatives hence all racists voting for them.
Haha
You live in dream land red
It would be one way of getting brexit done and pulling the drawbridge up though.
I also believe that “famous / sporting” personalities should not use their position to push a political agenda. They are very rarely qualified.
That’s the thing how does one go about being qualified for a political opinion? Let’s be honest here we wouldn’t be talking about this or you wouldn’t care had word for word everything been the same except Boris replaced with Corbyn.
Red, I will refrain from calling you a bonehead.
Boris is a British citizen. He can vote in a UK election. He can’t vote in a US election.
Don’t know much about British politics but if Trump supports a candidate for political office in Britain, that means Putin supports that candidate.
Un,
50 shades on YouTube is good for a laugh.
Was it Gemma Arterton who as an adopted US citizen tweeted something about being ashamed to live in America and promptly got told if you don’t like it you can fuck off?
Dopey cow. We worked for her a few months back. Nice looking.
Left
50 shades?
Go to Rekt Femensit. Brilliant.
Left
Cumberbatch’s a complete cunt, goes on a Extinction Rebellion march after being paid a fortune to advertise cars in India where 670,000 people a year die from the effects of air pollution.
When he’s caught makes some excuse about being a hypocrite but still doing the right thing.
I notice that he never returned the money or donated it to charity.
Bellend is the Premier Leagues Rapinoe.
Bellend looks better in a blouse.
Most Jews are racist and intolerant towards Gentiles.
Un,
That’s my evening sorted. Arsenal on TV, Rekt Femensit on YouTube and, with any luck, the start of Brexit finally getting sorted.
Most Jews are racist and intolerant towards Gentiles.
Hahaha
Get this cunt a straight jacket. I bet you’re a hoarder too RT. Bet your flat stinks.
Marko
My personal belief is if you want to be politically active stand for office, work for your local party office etc.
Don’t use a position of influence as a footballer to involve yourself in politics, if your that concerned quit football.
Bellerin can say whatever he wants… but frankly why does he care?
Do you think he’s going to stick around if Corbyn’s government starts asking for millions from his pay packet? I doubt it somehow.
It’s such empty posturing by a multimillionaire because he thinks it makes him look “on trend.”
What a tool.
Red starting on the Jews now! Is that you Jeremy?
Was it Gemma Arterton who as an adopted US citizen tweeted something about being ashamed to live in America and promptly got told if you don’t like it you can fuck off? Yeah certain types have done that to US born citizens as well though usually of a different colour. Again it’s purely out of not agreeing with someone else’s opinion had Gemma shit talked Hillary she’d be a fox news contributor and held in such high regard instead. You think anyone dismissed Antonio Sabàto the tv actor when he publicly supported Trump? Told him his opinions didn’t matter and… Read more »
Bellerin can say whatever he wants… but frankly why does he care?
…….
Ego. This is a man who enjoys prancing on the catwalk!
Marko
I think the Arterton situation was a bit different. Forget about Trump being racist the average American is very patriotic – Arterton got it from all angles.
I wish more of us were patriotic.
Un na naai Israel’s repression of Palestinian citizens, African refugees and Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza has become more brutal over time. Ethnic cleansing, land seizure, home demolition, military occupation, bombing of Gaza and international law violations led Archbishop Tutu to declare that the treatment of Palestinians reminded him of apartheid, only worse. How disgraceful that, despite the lessons of our struggle against racism, such intolerance continues to this day I’m also deeply disturbed that critics of Israel’s brutal policies are frequently threatened with repression of their freedom of speech, a reality I’ve now experienced at first… Read more »
Left
You’ll laugh your arse off. His 2016-18 videos at the height of trump and brexit derangement syndrome captured the mood of the loonies perfectly.
Red,
Are your ‘Ctrl’, ‘C’ and ‘V’ keys starting to wear?
Left
You may have to go to his Facebook page as most of his 175 videos are now inaccessible on YouTube
The cunts
Rekt idiots is good too
Left testicle
A right winger with a missing right bollock sounds dodgy fo me.
That’s his other channel
“especially the Japanese and the south Korean guys, excellent players with lots of energy to boot”
I am wondering why there is no Chinese player who is good enough to play in Europe. China is a market we should be targeting. Imagine that if we had a decent Chinese player in our team, we could be selling at least 5 times the Arsenal merchandises in China. It would also attract more Chinese visitors to the Emirates Stadium.
Jeez Red,
Left testicle is a ‘moniker’. It doesn’t mean I have one left testicle. Just like you’re not red, nor do you tell the truth. Do you see? I have two large testicles. Thanks for taking an interest.
Cheers Un. I’ll try and check it out, although I’m not on Facebook.
Red,
If you want to receive more abuse there’s a new post.
“MailOnline columnist Piers Morgan said the pair excluded him from a conversation at the event as they spoke Spanish.”
To be frank, whatever your political allegiance, most Arsenal supporters will gladly try to exclude Piers Morgan to any conversation they may have. Having that arrogant prat Piers Morgan leaving all flustered after he barged in your private conversation when he realise that you are trying to ignore him is one of those pleasures that nobody should be begrudged.
I think the Arterton situation was a bit different. Forget about Trump being racist the average American is very patriotic – Arterton got it from all angles.
Different how? Arterton British born American citizen critical of Trump told to go back if she doesn’t like it. Then you have Sabata Italian born American citizen critical of Hilary and supporter of Trump and he’s not told to back to his country.
Oh she was a woman too…
I dropped the bait in an move that was so amateur it still has crayon scrawlings all over it.
… and as expected the usual customers took the bait being completely oblivious to what that shows about them 😂😉
Un na naii,
I think that you have not been to Brixton in ages.
Brixton has been gentrified to the point that some called it financial cleansing.
Just to give you an idea the average property value in Brixton is £566,714 according to Zoopla. Ironically Foxtons the posh real estate has a lower average property price of £516,726. Foxtons the estate agent opened a branched on Brixton road near the tube station in 2013.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/class-war-breaking-out-in-brixton-over-opening-of-new-foxtons-estate-agent-8559284.html
The crux of the matter with Ozil is that he gives the impression he doesn’t care. His work ethic is poor and his general demeanor and attitude stinks. On top of this his matchday productivity is only minimal.
Being on £350k a week would be totally irrelevant if he showed positive traits in all the above.
He doesn’t though and for that reason he deserves the criticism.
Anyone watching the shambles going on in Belgium? Arsenal is really in a shocking state right now. The players clearly do not give a fuck. So annoying