So the concentration is back on the Premier League race for top 4. This season is going to go down as one of the best in years. The League is still competitive between Liverpool and City. 3rd and 4th place look very much open to about 5 teams. The relegation battle is fully open as well.
Arsenal are in the mixer for the top 3. Yeah. I’m going to say top 3 because I don’t think Chelsea has been convincing this season and I suspect Tuchel needs a good Champions League run to justify his next major deal.
United slipped yesterday to Watford. As we’ve said many times this season, making top 4 is mostly down to doing well against the teams you are supposed to do well against. A point at Watford just isn’t cutting it right now. We should also factor that they might have a Champions League run in them, their players are toxic, but they love the big occasions, so you might see a dip in the league. Also… their March run is horrendous.
Arsenal has been doing well against so-called lesser sides this season and it’s just as well because 3 of the next 4 games coming up that are against sides you’d fancy us against. March is Watford, Liverpool, Leicester, and Villa. We’re at the stage now where slips are going to be costly. 3 wins is the expectation in those easier games. Liverpool is bonus ball territory, but as Johnny pointed out in the podcast, it really is about time we did something against them in the league. We’re good enough to do so if everyone is fit and the red cards don’t come out.
In an ideal world, you’d want to beat the lesser sides so the sting is taken out of the games against the sides that are tougher. You don’t want to have to go to The Bowl or beat Chelsea to make the top 4.
My view of the top 4 race is that we’re still not favorites, it doesn’t matter how excited you get about this run, United and Spurs have more experienced players. We have the youngest squad in the league, the youngest coach, you can’t pretend that doesn’t mean anything, regardless of how well they are playing, or how good the decisions have been of late. Spurs are 6 points behind us. We haven’t won the games in hand yet. It is going to be really, really difficult to deliver under the pressure.
… but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Again, we discuss the fearlessness of youth on the podcast. Sometimes a lack of experience means a lack of failure baggage. This team hasn’t achieved anything together, but at the same time, they’ve not had years of failing together to bog them down. Spurs have Spursiness, it’s part of their DNA. United players are thinking about futures beyond United this summer because there will be an almighty clear out at Old Trafford. West Ham just don’t look in great shape and their squad is mainly a group of older journeymen cobbled together that are overachieving.
There’s a bit of a tendency for people to create zero-sum scenarios when it comes to Arsenal. 8th place twice, instant sacking. Losing the semi of the Europa League, instant sacking. Losing the first three games of this season, instant sacking. Now we’re already seeing the rumbling of ‘no top 4 this season,’ instant sacking. It sounds good to chat like that because it makes people seem like they’re ruthless, but we’ve seen plenty of times how dumb that sort of approach has been.
Zero-sum management of a football club has seen two projects fail miserably.
Pochettino over at Spurs told Daniel Levy there would be a dip that they’d need to manage and a rebuild that would have to happen. The dip happened, the fans turned, Levy sacked the guy that had talent them to the Champions League because he couldn’t stomach the reality of the cycle that was predicted. He then hired a zero-sum manager, that failed. Now he’s on his 3rd manager since Pochettino, another zero-sum manager that is saying if he doesn’t get what he needs, he’ll walk. Spurs still have no philosophy, no strategy, and a slim hope of moving the club forward this season.
United had a similar issue, but it started with a transfer. They thought their was only one option last summer, to sign Ronaldo to stop City moving on him. He didn’t fit the profile of the project, he rattled the internal squad hierarchy, and he didn’t fit the modern system that had them in 2nd the season before. OGS suffered because of the chaos Ronaldo brought to United. He was sacked, then they hired Rangnick who wasn’t matched to anything they had been trying to do in the past. Looking back, was it fair to bin OGS for the club signing a nostalgia superstar? Who knows… but now they are rolling with a manager that isn’t right, potentially moving to a totally new system, because they didn’t have faith to look at the true root cause of their issues.
Top 6 is the target for Arsenal this season, anything extra is a bonus. We’re not in the race for top 4 because ‘everyone else is shit’ we’re there because we’ve been incredibly consistent this season and we deserve our place there. If we don’t hit the level this season, it’ll be because of experience, the lack of a functional striker, and maybe injuries. But we’ll have the platform, the players will have progressed massively, and we’ll have a culture that is perfectly set to absorb new bodies into it this summer. We can’t keep indulging the ‘I’m not convinced crowd’ because if you aren’t convinced by what you’re seeing now, you are too deeply entrenched in a weird agenda, or you just don’t get the game.
We have 13 cup finals left this season. Watford is the next. We’ve seen what can happen to teams with massive firepower. Arteta needs to make sure the players don’t fall into the same trap the United crew did yesterday.
Just a quick thought on Chelsea and football in general. Isn’t it amazing how fucked the moral compass is in the Premier League? You have Putin’s right credit card putting Chelsea into a trust to avoid UK sanctions, and sections of their fanbase celebrating his intelligence. You have clubs with human rights abusers as owners standing in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Sky Sports have a journalist parrotting propaganda about Abramovich designed to confuse people. Honestly, how did we let money take us to this position? The idea that it was touch and go whether Russia could host the Champions League final tells you all you need to know. Grim, grim, grim.
Before I go, I wanted to wish Arseblog a happy 20th birthday. Writing about Arsenal every day, like he has, with so much quality and thought, with so much consistency… is an incredible achievement. His work inspired so many of us in the Arsenal creator community and he continues to set the benchmark for us all. If you get the chance, check out his 20 episode podcast series he pulled together, one for every year he’s been in commission. He invited me on to talk about 2018, a remarkable year for what happened and what did NOT happen.
Then when you’re done with that, tune in to The Arsenal Opinion Podcast with me and Johnny. I am very hungover, but the content was good.
1st
And
Bankz is here for the tr4phy again
My
4th
Hahaha
I deserved it anyway 🤣
Good post Pedro, not listened to the podcast yet.
We are favourite for 4th. We have to accept it and with the games we have in hand and how others are playing we are 100% favourites for 4th. If we do not take this chance it will hurt us deeply with money and types of players we sign (Arteta is a checkbook Manager) . If Spurs had won that champions league it would have been a game changer for their ambitions. Not setting all our efforts on 3rd/4th now is being afraid to fail.
Damm
The day starts with Le Grove.
Top ten?
Looking forward to seeing our financial results posted soon to see where we are with our debt figure. Looking back at The Swiss Ramble posts last year, that gross debt Spurs have is erm massive.
Broja, Podence, olise, and Bissouma/rice are the players i would go for.
We could get big money for Martinelli, Olise is already better than Martinelli, he has better technique, better balance, better final ball and can beat a player with ease…
Agree with benkind.. We are favorites for the 4th (or maybe 3rd with Chelsea’s connections to the axis of evil).
I actually went to Arseblog today, for the 3rd time this year or so… And couldn’t believe it is his 20th birthday… I was a daily reader from year 1… moved on from Myles at ANR back in the day.. and then from Andrew to Le-grove. I have probably spent way to many hours reading Arsenal blog over the last 27 something years…
Wolves manager making some brave decisions for this game , no jimenez, podence, semedo, Neto..
I expect it to be tight the first hour or so and then the wolves subs could make a difference
Gommit, I did a special podcast with him, check it out if you get the chance!
Pedro
You’re hung over or posing for a mug shot after your arrest for public indecency?
Drink lots of water and get lots of sleep.
Cheers
The league is crazily competitive this season.
There’s no clear.cut leader – city vs ‘pool
There’s no clear cut favorites for top-4; Westham have won only 5 or the last 15 games,…NLD yet they are still in the running.
There’s no clear cut/dead certain teams for relegation
As a result, every game is a cup final for many teams.
I wish we had some.more coverage for key areas, otherwise we just have to keep up with the chasers and hope for the best.
Fair play to you Pedro for your comments about Arseblog n 20 n.o. but you too do invaluable work here. You rake on the gibes the crap people throw at you and although I don’t always agree with you have massive respect. Broad shoulders, chin of granite etc it what I takes to be a social blogger so keep up the good work. Regards to you and all who visit here and gave a grand afternoon
Damn premitive txt lol
Pedro is right on point about the mistakes United and Tottenham have made in their development. Arsenal made plenty in the latter Wenger years and under Emery. There was no coherent plan in building that bloated squad with smaller fees but salaries that made players impossible to sell. Then the China virus made it even harder to trim that squad. One of the things I find missing here is the recognition that it ONLY took a full season last year, and part of this season to clear out almost everything we needed to, and in the process, one poor finish… Read more »
Tony, thank you, that is very kind of you to say! Andrew is a great blogger and the benchmark amongst creators. 20 years of doing this is crazy dedication. I think it’s 15 years for Le Grove this year?
Bubble Lovers drawing 0-0 with the Midlands Pups. I hope it stays that way. That would be a great result for us as far as the table goes.
Nigel “I look at our current group of players and I feel like it’s almost a miracle that we got to this group from that bloated squad in less than 2 years including the pandemic.” We have spent 3/400 mil since wenger left , and we have trimmed the squad by either letting them go for next to nothing or paying them off , so i wouldn’t go too over the top with the praise . How difficult can it be to let a player like Aubamayang leave for nothing , or pay someone like ozil 10 mil to leave,… Read more »
Pedro
Just listened to the podcast you did with Andrew Mangan
It was like reading poetry, listening to you both.
It reminds me of your excellent appearance of Latte Firm
I think I got introduced to this Arsenal blogosphere in 2008 and since then I’ve been reading Arseblog and Le-Grove , Untold was never my cup of tea . Arseblog was really the first one and then Le Grove , Congrats to you too Pedro for maintaining this community well . Still I do have one criticism , I know its not easy doing it for free and stuff but really you should do weekly guest blog where you invite someone like Mike McDonald or interview some people who have done work with Arsenal ( ex-players , staff , coaching… Read more »
Nigel Brilliant comments. To be fair mist people know that but some prefer to ignore the sheer difficulty of the job he inherited. I spoke about that many times As you say, we spent years moaning about the crap players, the contracts awarded, their lack of effort etc. so when people suddenly get amnesia it is hard to fathom. What you mean we used to be soft? For me when Freddie went to the board you knew this was years in the making. Emery struggled with the Egos that were messing around until they turned on him and downed tools,… Read more »
Get in !
Pedro, Andrew refers to the offer of having a beer in Barcelona in the early days of his blog.
That was me, I was working in Valencia at the time and travel to Barcelona regularly.
He understandably didn’t want to meet as in those days the internet socializing was a bit raw.
All you bloggers do a great job trying to find news and debate each day. We all have our viewpoints and they must be respected and not rudely thrown back as some do.
Well done everybody
Well done for the blog Pedro and kudos to Arseblog.
I was a long time lurker here just started contributing I go back to the inception of fanzines for giving the fans a voice pre computers and what a great tool they were.
The Gooner still going the defunct one nil down two one up etc.
Great reading on match days on the way home showing my age again!
Yes the landscape of the world has changes in football the owners of many clubs have very suspect backgrounds.
Chelsea but seeing Man City denouncing the war in Ukraine with their ownership hardly a bastion of respecting your felow human being.
Arseblog and le-grove are pretty much the only motivations for my own blog as an Arsenal supporter. Kudos to Arseblog for completing 20 freaking years and thanks to Pedro for providing this platform for us to fight over Nketiah :))
Whatever happens between now and the seasons end the squad is moving in the right direction.
Younger average age with upside and a less bloated wage bill with players that add little to nothing.
Pierre would sell Martinelli and buy Broja/Podence, lol what a clueless mug he really is.
Loves Eddie to the point he depises his competition in Martinelli, sad really.
There’s this poster (can’t remember the name lol) on here going on for a while now that Wolves are major worry for a top 4 place, always found the opinion very odd because they’ve looked dull whenever I see them play, at least maybe now he could give it a rest
Seeing Ramsdale pick up our defense after that early error is true leadership. He has so much positive energy. I’d kill to play in a defensive unit with him. He didn’t even say much to Gabriel either, so it didn’t come across as false positivity either. It almost doesn’t matter who is captain, when tou have someone who radiates such confidence, charisma and selflessness. Impressive.
Topside Norttbank Do you remember the fanzine Gunflash, I think it was? Highbury High? There used to be a few, all selling around the ground. My dad always bought The Gooner because the bloke used to be on the St.Thomas’ Road other side of the tube station in prime location to sell! When my dad stopped buying them I carried on. Used to live reading the Highbury Spy, he had some amusing opinions that could be a bit moody. I’m amazed The Gooner is still going in this day and age but fair play to them. Also to Arseblog on… Read more »
I think the media probably have us down to finish top four at this point, the pressure will crank up the closer we get to the end of the season. It will be great to see this group of players deal with that pressure because I believe they have shown much grit and character so far for the most part. Both Wolves games were different set of difficult situations which the players ultimately handled brilliantly. It bodes well for the run in, the ability to handle pressure will be just as important as the quality they possess.
Barring a huge upset, presuming that we take care of business away to Watford next weekend we will be sitting in outright 4th spot in the league by a point with THREE games in hand.
United are away to City and West Ham away to Liverpool.
Top 6 is the target for Arsenal this season, anything extra is a bonus Pedro Says who? Swap the number 6 in that sentence for a number 4 and it makes sense. It sounds like you’re setting yourself and others up on here to avoid disappointment. Let’s have the fucking courage of our convictions here. Four main things in our favour. -finishing 4th is mathematically in our hands. -no euroball distractions unlike some of the opposition. -we’re breathing down Chelsea’s neck for 3rd. An unpleasant metaphor but incontrovertible. -we’re on winning form, scoring and defending well even if performances are… Read more »
Chris
Gunflash was the supporter’s club publication. A bit of a halfway house between the programme and more editorially honest and in depth fanzines like the Gooner (which is my favourite). I also remember a relatively short-lived fanzine called 1 nil down (2-1 up). Strongly anti spurs which is a massive ✔️ in my book. Production values not as high as the Gooner but it never mattered. Like everything else at that stage, Arsenal even produced fanzines that were a cut above. Wish I’d kept them.
Weagle
“Pierre would sell Martinelli and buy Broja/Podence, lol what a clueless mug he really is.”
Maybe if you could read , i said and i quote ” Olise is already better than Martinelli, he has better technique, better balance, better final ball and can beat a player with ease ” and I’ll add , better composure on the ball.
I made you look a fool the other day when you said Martinelli’s stats were far superior to Eddie’s….
I am hoping that the extra edge now is going to come from Pepe. He has lurked in the background having largely unimpressed for so long in his early Arsenal days. Yet unlike the other players who didn’t adapt to Arteta’s requirements, Pepe has just got on with it and not moaned. His £72m price tag is almost forgotten and he seems to be adapting well. He has a great eye for shooting and rarely fluffs his lines in front of the goal. Yes, he looks clumsy at times with his runs but his unpredictability wins him plenty of free… Read more »
Arseblog and le-grove are pretty much the only motivations for my own blog as an Arsenal supporter
Mb
Don’t be modest mate. London is Red is also a really good fucking read with a fresh and different perspective. More people should give it a go as a counterpoint to some of the others. I’m a fan. 😜
As for websites, I also really liked Arsenal Truth (which I think has sadly stopped). They guy wrote some brilliant material that was original and thought-provoking.
On the other hand, I simply cannot abide Unsold Anusol and Mr Atwood. A conspiracy theorist’s Bible.
Weagle
“Loves Eddie to the point he depises his competition in Martinelli, sad really.”
I prefer to believe what i see with my own eyes, I like Martinelli, but i also like Eddie….it is possible to like both you know..
I would say that Olise and Broja are beter than Martinelli and Eddie and would improve the Arsenal starting line up.
So NBC is reporting.. that Abramovich didn’t even bother to tell his Trustees that they would be assuming responsibility of Chelsea and none of them have actually agreed to do it or talked to him about what that even means. . What a farce.
Hopefully the powers that be don’t fall for this crap but I’m guessing they don’t want to set a precedent of stripping ownership from morally corrupt owners or there wouldn’t be any left.
Anyhow… Good post Peds.. I won’t be happy with 6th place though at this point.
Kronkephobe
Agree, 4th is there for the taking, anything worse than 4th would be regarded as a massive disappointment when you look at the table now.
Pierre
So you are saying Eddie is better than Martinelli in that case?
And you only ever manage to make yourself look a fool old timer.
Your stats were all rubbished but you continue to vomit verbal diarrhea all over the blog.
Maybe just stick to golf chatter.
Willock remembers where the net is for x2 games after being woeful all season and now he slithers back out of his hole.
Eagle
Christopher Nkunku having a stormer of a season for Leipzig. We were hot on his tails in the Emery days when he left PSG
Weagle
“So you are saying Eddie is better than Martinelli in that case? ”
Have you heard of the saying “thick as shit”…
Try reading what I say , you are the one who continually compares Martinelli with Eddie., as i said i like them both .
Bati
Yeah man he is being heavily linked to City now, Gundogan replacement maybe? Leipzig’s best player by a mile this season.
Told you Kulusevski could ball by the way, was surprised you don’t rate him. 😀
Weagle
“Your stats were all rubbished but you continue to vomit verbal diarrhea all over the blog.”
Triggered ?
You like Martinelli in the same way people ‘like’ their in-laws.
Fooling nobody. Literally all you do is badmouth him, talking about selling him earlier and having Eddie in the XI, lol.
Batistuta
We could have got him for £12 million as well
The club should have backed Emery who knew the player, rather than handing the keys to a guy who’s background was in marketing
70+ and uses ‘triggered’ in his everyday life.
Weagle
“Willock remembers where the net is for x2 games after being woeful all season and now he slithers back out of his hole.”
As I said to pedro when he said Willock is shit because he hadn’t scored this season from cm……come back to me at the end of the season and I will guarantee you that Willock will have scored more goals in the prem than all of our CMs combined , xhaka, Partey, Elneny and Lakonga..
I think he’s ahead already and counting.
Kroenkephobe
Yeah I remember seeing the covers of the other fanzines and thinking they just weren’t quite up to scratch as The Gooner, think I had one copy of Highbury High. Also remember the editor of HH turning up on either Soccer AM or another Sky Sports programme, I can picture the bloke but can’t for the life of me remember his name.
What a save that was from mendy. Chelski really fixed their GK problems despite totally blowing 70 mil on Kepa.
Kroenkephobe
Haha, I still end up writing more on comments at Le grove.
Anyone familiar with northlondonisred.co.uk? Website is probably dead now but it was one of the blogs I used to follow some 10years back.
I wish I owned that domain though :))
Diaz looks like another shrewd signing by Liverpool, so far.
Eagle
I’ve been unhappily proven wrong so far on Kulukevski, plays with same hunger as he does for Sweden than for Juventus because he just never looked great here
Rich
Yea, some of the signings under Emery just didn’t make much sense
Diaz is another ideal Klopp player and is tailor-made for that fluid front 3 system.
Pool’s recruitment barring the odd flop like Chamberlain (injuries have not helped) has been near faultess since 2016.
4th place is definitely on.
6th would be a disappointment.
Based on where we are, games in hand and the fact we have no European or domestic cup commitments, finishing 4th is within our grasp.
What a miss by mount. Chelsea won’t get a better chance.
Bati
He only showed moments of quality at Juve, agreed he struggled there but he had no stability behind him as Pirlo didn’t fancy him and Allegri prefers his more conservative types that take less risks.
At Parma I watched him semi-regularly and he always stood out with quality and personality. Bad feeling he will go on to be very good for the Spuds.
4th is more than on, at this stage we are massive bookies favourites.
Would be massively disappointing to not finish there with essentially a 3 game advantage with just 13/14 games to go
Wow some misses in this cup final Lacazette would be proud of
Watching Liverpool v Chelsea just shows how far behind these teams we are at the moment. The pace of the game is excellent as well.
4th is in our hands. At this stage it would be disappointing to lose it. We need results at Chelsea, Spurs, Westham and Vs United at the Emirates. Get those and the rest will be a formality. The other teams are no where near consistent to go on a winning run. The only way they could pull us down is by beating us themselves.
“”Yea, some of the signings under Emery just didn’t make much sense””
Worst one was Pepe instead of Zaha. They were in same price range. Zaha was a gooner and imo a better player than Pepe. I would still take him over Pepe.
Chelsea match isnt as important as Spurs/Utd. We can afford to lose vs Chelsea, we absolutely cannot afford to lose to either of the other two.
We should be beating this United side at the Emirates. Would take a point away to Spurs.
Chris
Yes remember those fanzines I used to see the Highbury Spy in the Highbury Barn pub a few times.
I used to go a lot of games in the 80’s early to late and into the early 90’s.
Work took me away working lots of weekends but still went a few home games a season.
We had some very good fanzines The Gooner had some excellent writers like Amy Lawrence for example wonder whatever happended to her!!!!
WE
Completely agree about 4th. It’s weird that some are starting to talk down our prospects just as we’re getting the fundamentals right and winning in semi-ugly ways when we’re not fully on form. Thursday night was a bit of a revelation to me to see how much the players wanted to win. A bit of an overstatement but I was almost transported back to 88/89. Xhaka (yes, even him) , had a Rocky-esque look in his eyes in the second half.
Pepe vs Zaha isn’t even a question. The only reason we got pepe is because of the payment terms. What I was annoyed at was not getting Ziyech for 25 mil that summer. 6 months later he went to chelsea for 35 mil. We needed a winger who could create. but we didn’t even try before spending 70 mil on pepe.
“Watching Liverpool v Chelsea just shows how far behind these teams we are at the moment. The pace of the game is excellent as well.”
You must be watching a different match. The techincal quality has been really poor in this match. Its just that both teams are having a proper go when it comes to the physicality of it. That’s why it’s exciting. Not really because of the quality of football at display. A lot of mispasses/mistakes.
Gotta say despite my dislike for the scousers when they seemingly take the points off us these days more often than not… I’m rooting for them to beat the chavs today…. like I would assume most us of completely despise what Putin is doing and since my missus is Lithuanian (and I’m English, altho at times I struggle to feel proud of how this country is run… we are still by in large a decent lot) we need to push back against their aggressive nature. My ultimate concern is that Putin is as mad as a box of frogs…. however… Read more »
Xhaka playing further forward is hopefully a prelude of what’s to come this summer.
Would love Bellingham, but someone like Nkunku would also be very exciting, adding real attacking dynamism to our midfield
In a way, it’s good that club is taking control of the transfers via Arteta / Edu. Some of the incoming in recent years made no sense. Pepe over Zaha, Torreira, Lacazette over Giroud.
Buzzy,
You are watching but not observing as usual !
Weagle
Chelsea match is also important if we want to suck them back in to the CL race. The more spots open the better. If 3rd is a possibility, then there will be a better margin of error for us to achieve CL football. Not that I think we will finish above them.
Mount with another miss. Two sitters.
I can’t work out who I hate more in this match.
Why can’t they both lose?
Rich
Both of them would have lost if we had won the semi and this final 😂
I can easily say I hate Chelski more.
Diaz is a very good signing for Liverpool. All their attackers have speed and carry a threat in the final third. Formation doesn’t really matter with them
Chelsea one of the few sides who can actually compete with Liverpool in this manner. they’re less open than Man City
Well worked free kick
Offside VVD ?
If Naby Keita challenge were xhaka, Partey, Gabriel, or any other number of arsenal players, it’d be a zero hesitation red card.
And no chance that goal is ruled out if arsenal are on the other end of that
Thankfully Liverpool outbid Spurs for Diaz
Midwest “ I can easily say I hate Chelski more.” Totally agree. They are owned by.a Russian mafia criminal who has used money stolen from the Russian people to finance his hobby. His company are owed just shy of £2 BILLION by Chelsea , so the football club is a financial ruin. Now he’s tried to trick everyone into thinking he’s not running the club m, while making no statement about Ukraine. He was silent when Russian assassins were sent by his pal Putin to this country to poison people he didn’t like and he’s silent now. Because he supports… Read more »
Don’t see any reason why we can’t compete with either of these teams, we’ve got a really solid team now but for a worldclass striker,
we absolutely have to get that signing right though, if the striker signing is a hit we’ll be hard to stop I reckon
* Look at Newcastle,, how can that ever be morally right?
Why did Chelsea buy Lukaku – Was it so their rivals couldn’t have him?
Is there extra time or straight to Pen? Hopefully it goes to pen, I’ll like to see some heartbreaking moment for either team, don’t care who tbf
Mane didn’t do much wrong but that’s what happens when a club is overloaded with attacking talents
Yes completely agree… Chelsea is much like that dirty stain which will not wash off…. I can’t stand them!
AFC
They thought they were getting the complete CF. No one else was going to bid for him other than them. United had him, City want a CF with a better first touch, Liverpool won’t go near him. But he has always been this. A striker in between the best and the okay strikers. Never made the step up despite his Inter stint.
Habesha
You might be right. He divides opinion.
It’s strange that they buy a player like Lukaku for all that money but then don’t play to his strengths. He doesn’t get in their best eleven. Huge amount of money for someone who doesn’t fit your team structure. Hence my question, why did they buy him? Strange one.