#7

by .

Welcome to Wednesday.

A day of remembrance. It’s been 20 years since the passing of Rocky Rocastle. A player that no doubt would have thrived in the current setup we’re building, who still holds a special place in the hearts of Arsenal fans all around the world.

I don’t have sharp enough memories of him to give a full run down, I just remember my dad being absolutely gutted when he left the club under George Graham. The fact he cried tells you all you need to know about the player and the man (Rocastle, and probs my dad).

Quite touching that our current number 7, hoping to emulate his impact, is out here honouring Rocastle today.

The Athletic has run a piece about fan happiness up and down the country. The data looks a bit wonky on the Arsenal front, but the overall picture is Arsenal fans are very happy with the entertainment value of the football, and a bit above meh on the Arteta being the coach next season.

What grinds me are the people that are standards merchants ‘HAPPY WITH 10TH’, like the table is literally the only thing that Arsenal fans are looking at.

No one is happy with 10th, I can assure you. But what most Arsenal fans can now see is that things are moving forward, old problems are being addressed, and something resembling sexy football is starting to emerge.

If you accept that mediocrity and a lack of ambition crashed us over 10 years, then you have accept that in the real world, building back to elite was always going to take longer than 12 months… and ideally, if you were undertaking that, you’d prefer to do it without a pandemic.

‘BUT EMERY’

Time is a reward for people doing a good job. Emery did not do a good job. He was not respected, he couldn’t communicate, and things were as bad behind the scenes as they were on the pitch. There’s no world where more time for him was leading somewhere positive.

Back to the STANDARDS folk. Calling fans out for having a bit of vision about where we’re going is football flat-earthing. If the only way you can understand progress is the table, you’re missing out on a whole lot of nuance… particularly right now.

Happiness is not a single metric, never has been, never will be. Emery’s 22 game unbeaten run was not happiness if you knew what you were looking at. Wenger reaching 2nd in 2016 was not a celebration. Klopp crashing Dortmund was not the imminent decline of his powers at the top of the game. 10th in the  table isn’t reflective of where we’ll place next season, I can assure you of that.

The injury scene is looking fairly decent… the main worry was around the fitness of Smith Rowe. That’ll be bad news if he’s injured… the hope is that, like a few of the kids, he’s managing his body well and the absence is precautionary. Losing one of your stars to the misery that is Aidy Bothroyd really would be a sorry state of affairs.

Short one today, normally blogging will commence soon… and there should be a podcast tomorrow.

See you in the comments.

 

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Colney Gooner

Rocky, hero, RIP.

Colney Gooner

Interlul over, bring on Liverpool. Will Saka be fit?

Colney Gooner

3rd

Colney Gooner

Trophy goodnight all.

Colney Gooner

5th

Colney Gooner

6th

Colney Gooner

#7

Mr Serge

I loved watching Rocky grace Highbury he was one of my first heroes I remember exactly where I was when I heard he was sold by George Graham, I was gutted.

TheLegendaryDB10

Oh …. Rocky!!! Rocky, Rocky, Rocky Roooo….castle!!!

And that Saka, of all players, pays homage to such a club Legend… I can only say: we have another Legend in the making!!! 😀😊

Big up to Saka for keeping another very important subject alive:

Fuck Racism.

azed

First since 7pm EST.

Na me ooo

Looking at that England team it really upset me that Southgate is the coach of it. I m not even a English man and I want that team to do well .But I don’t think they will, because of who is in charge. Is Southgate’s father the FA chairman or something ?

That team is begging for a Tuchel, Nagelsmann type coach .

Na me ooo

Wish I saw David Rocastle play. I ve heard over the years that he was a hell of a player.

Pedro
Your dad cried when Rocastle left Arsenal ? I know the feeling. I cried when Hleb left for Barca.

China1

I know the feeling

I cried when almunia left as well

Ray+in+LA

@TheLegendaryDB10March 31, 2021 23:21:15

I liked the image of Saka in the Rocastle shirt too, but I’m just wondering whether or not it was a racist/antiracist statement or if Saka just appreciates Rocky as much as the rest of us…just saying

China1

Ray how do you mean?

Gonsterous

When we have fans on social media asking for xhaka to be captain again, it goes to show, we will have xhaka at the club for another couple of seasons, and we will be flirting around the top 6 as long as he is here.

Pedro

How come you never come out and say what the minimum requirements for arteta is? There’s always an excuse from squad poverty to top 4 since Christmas table. Given that we don’t face any serious teams in the EL, is it too much to ask arteta get us to the final?

Sid

I cried when Diet pep joined Arsenal

chris

Like you Pedro I was quite young when Rocastle left (about 8 or 9) so don’t have sharp memories of him, but knew what a player he was when I was watching all the old season reviews on VHS growing up. 20 years ago seems like yesterday, remember Pires honouring the 7 shirt by scoring against Spurs the day after his death I think it was.

I don’t think I have ever cried over a player leaving Arsenal but I was absolutely gutted when Cesc left.

Zacharse

Apropos of Lows comments about germany losing due to werner just want to remind everyone that I told you so. He’s been a wilting lily his whole career so far. Whether its not being able to play in marseille in the EL final because of ‘the noise’ or fucking off his last team by refusing to show for CL semi so he could join chelsea sooner, we dodged a bullet w him and he is at the club where he belongs. Another overpriced money laundering transfer

Goobergooner

China 😂😂😂😂

I’m assuming that was crying of happiness haha.

I had a bit of a tear when we sold Thierry. Still my favourite player amongst a host of absolutely brilliant ballers we’ve had/ has been in the game.

Northbanker

Had the privilege of seeing Rocky play a lot. Every time he got the ball there was a sense of anticipation as he d take players on He did have a tendency to go down blind alleys a bit and I assumed at the time that’s why GG got rid of him, although it always seemed strange to me given we had no real replacement That said Rocky never really hit it off anywhere else I remember him being pulled off for Chelsea and he was blinking madly as if was afflicted by something. That face he was pulling still… Read more »

Bob N16

Northbanker, I remember also the rise in crowd noise created by the anticipation of Rocky starting a run. One of my strongest memories was being in with the Spuds supporters ( the away end was rammed) at the Shit hole when we beat them famously 2-1 in the League Cup semi final. He was the man!

It was a terrible when he got a knee injury that pretty much ended his heyday, causing his transfer out of Highbury.

But the young Rocky created enough memories for all Gooners of a certain age! Arseblog printed a brilliant letter from Wrighty today.

Goobergooner

Bob, that wrighty letter is heart felt. I’m just sorry it ended so abruptly. Could have gone on for days to be honest.
Thanks for pointing it out!

Pierre

Was having a look at the soccerstats link i posted and our problems seen to stem from being slow starters . This season we conceded the first goal in 56% of the games, which is the 2nd worst in the league. Our first half of games form has us in 14th place , conceding 22 goals…goal difference -2 2nd half we are a respectable (not brilliant) 5th , conceding 10 goals….goal difference +10. Personally, i think our poor form is due to the manager sending the team out in a negative mindset. Lots of sideways passing , no risk football,… Read more »

Sid

‘Personally, i think our poor form is due to the manager sending the team out in a negative mindset.
Lots of sideways passing , no risk football, and it is not until we go behind that the shackles come off and the team start performing’

You can take this to the bank!.

China1

Goober Almunia was the one that got away

I didn’t follow his career after he left arsenal and I’m not going to google it. But it’s fairly safe to assume he was picked up by a team like Real Madrid and won a host of elite titles and probably individual awards too

😢😢

China1

Goober cesc leaving was the brutal one for me. Also RVP in particular because it was to Utd. For different reasons both of those transfers were really gutting I don’t think there’s anything we could’ve done to convince cesc to stay at the time because his heart was set on playing for his boyhood club when they were the greatest club team in history. You can’t compete with that. But that’s part of what made it so FSU’s appointing was the futility of it all. Then when we refused to bring him back it was a monumental mistake from wenger.… Read more »

China1

Man I never thought about it before but if arsenal had bought cesc and a proper DM we’d have had the most dominant midfield/attack around.

——Santi-Dm-Cesc
Ramsey———-—-Ozil
—————Giroud

This would’ve had zero natural width and not much pace but can you imagine the infinite flicks, runs and linkup play? Would’ve been unreal. And that midfield could carry ozil when he felt like going into passenger mode

Tenerife+Gooner

I loved Rocky ,but his time to move on was right.I had come off the Golf Course.The Steward ,obvious for me to hear,said.The Rats are leaving the sinking Ship.I said ,who have we Sold.Rocastle to Leeds for 2 million.I said that’s good business.

Rich

Cesc + Cazorla as a midfield pairing would have been enough without a DM

……….Cesc Cazorla
Rambo Ozil Alexis
…………Giroud

Imagine if we’d have just put the £55-£60 mill on the table for Suarez as well

Kroenkephobe

I loved watching Rocky and the entire team seemed greater than the sum of their parts when he played. Grit and toughness combined with some wonderful ability and pace. Those runs down the right where he’d get past several defenders when he had no right to and put a cross over to smudger or s(o)uper Kevin Campbell. The crowd would roar in appreciation. I think fans of other clubs admired him too for the most part and wanted him in their own club. Liverpool 89 – wasn’t his best game in an Arsenal shirt but he was vocal and fully… Read more »

Sid

Imagine id we’d signed luiz suarez instead of willian as well

Bob N16

Kroenkephobe, I think we identify with players that come through our youth set up. That 89 team had a nucleus of players that came up together. It’s why I usually give more leeway to those who are attempting to establish themselves in the first team. Many on here judge that certain players are not going to make the grade early on and often they’d be right but I find myself letting my heart rule my head. I’m hoping Nelson and Willock can push on and I haven’t completely given up on AMN. They may not be as good as Brady,… Read more »

AFC Forever

Nice post Pedro. Morning all.

I am a few years older than Rocky would have been today, so I have fond memories of watching him play at Highbury. He made his debut in September 1985 against Newcastle at home and went on to become one of our best players under George Graham. He could certainly play! He scored the winner in a league cup semi-final against Spurs and scored an incredible solo goal, which finished with a clever chip, at Old Trafford. Here it is:-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juxu6Ev7a6A

AFC Forever

PS: They actually took that goal off Rocky and registered it as an own goal against Schmeichel. The people who run the game really are a clueless bunch.

Tony 2

Morning guys. True story. Circa 80/81 my uncle was head of catering for AFC. I was asked to cater for the reserves away to Southampton (think the game was on friday) I got to the ground boarded the coach and it was my duty to serve tea, sandwiches etc to the players. There were 4 seniors in the res that day Sunderland Chapman Allison an 1 other. To cut a long story short (we lost 2 1 btw) on the way back to London I became very ill so sat ashen faced at the back of the team bus. No… Read more »

Uwot?

@ AFC Thats because (They the Fa or whoever) were absolutely gutted by that sheer bit of class from Rocastle( Arsenal) who they hate.How on earth does that go down as an own goal lol! Bitter c** ts.

AFC Forever

Uwot

I have said it for years, the people who run football aren’t in it for the love of football. These are the same people who think an armpit can be offside.

Sean M

It’s crazy how ignorant you’ve become in your football opinions Pedro. The league table is and will always been the main indicator of progress. The best & most consistent teams across the whole season end up higher up in the table. We are 9th because we deserve to be 9th based on the season we’ve had so far. We know you love Arteta but it’d be nice to have some more balance.

Miss when you’d rant about your best pal Don Raul.

AFC Forever

Tony2

What a great story mate. Enjoyed that.

Rocky had a reputation for his kindness, apparently, he was popular with all the people who worked behind the scenes. I read somewhere that he was quite close to one of the groundsmen, an Irish guy and they used to sit and sing Irish songs together. A lot was different in those days, they didn’t have the huge wealth the players have today, social media or Playstations, so they were a lot more grounded and less distracted.

Emiratesstroller

Rich Arsenal have made some very poor transfer decisions in recent years and the two which have resulted in the club’s decline as a major force were the forced sale of Ashley Cole and our failure to pursue Suarez following an initial offer when Liverpool called our bluff. Whilst there is some evidence that Arsenal are becoming a little more professional in their transfer and contract negotiations we are still making some serious errors of judgment. If Arsenal are going to get back on track we need to make good decisions this summer. 1. No player should be allowed to… Read more »

Uwot?

First things first.We are ninth because of the REBUILD job Arteta inherited.To say anything else is disingenuous.To judge purely on a league position as the yardstick for progress is quite frankly…….disingenuous.Unrealistic expectations of achievements in first full season are part of that criteria.And Emirates,Saliba being purchased for £30 million plus hopefully won’t be added to that catalogue of transfer blunders.

Dream10

Emirates

I’m expecting that Lacazette will stay. Like Elneny, I believe Arteta values his application in training and work ethic. He’s the type of player who follows the managers instructions to the letter

Tony 2

AFC Forever thanks. Mayb us older fans should take a trip down memory lane once in a while. Highbury. One memory i have amongst many was when we played Sunderland one Tuesday night. To fill you chaps in Sunderland were in relegation trouble and hade to field their 3rd choice goalie Barry Siddle. He hadnt played 1st team all season. Suffice to say he had a blinder and we drew 0 0. The whole of the North bank gave his standing (couldn’t sit down anyway lol) ovation as he made he way off the pitch. And don’t get me started… Read more »

Leedsgunner

Tony 2

What a lovely tribute to Rocky.

He was a gentleman. On and off the field.

I love the fact that we have a mural of him on the Emirates… what a great player he was.

Rich

Lacazette has been playing well for a while, the cynic in me can’t help but think it has something to do with contract renewal time, and he’ll switch off again the moment the ink dries on his new deal He rarely lasts 70 minutes, he gives a lot when he’s on the pitch, but throwing a 3/4 year deal at a 30 yr old, who was a £50 million downgrade on Giroud, doesn’t sit well with me Only 1yr extensions for over 30s from now on, make the players chase their next deal, keep them hungry Our plan for 2022/23… Read more »

bacaryisgod

Pedro-not sure why Emery always has to be brought up as the straw man in defending Arteta. Yes, Emery was wrong for the club but we’re now almost a year and a half from his departure.

Arteta has probably shaded it when it comes to be allowed another transfer window to make further changes due to our form since Xmas, but to ignore the results from Sept-Dec (when many of Arteta’s problems were self-inflicted) makes you look too blinkered in your support of him.

Dream10

Rich

Arteta will probably get his way and keep Lacazette for another couple of seasons. Edu and Vinai did not stop him from Willian getting a three yr deal, so I expect the same here

China1

I just hope we sell one of either auba or laca this summer

Both offer something but solid money for either would be worth more to us reinvested imo

Sid

Bringing up Emery as an SI unit, so us to prop up Diet/r Pep is mediocrity

Rich

Dream10 This is why we need a strong DOF who rules with an iron fist The type who laughs a 3yr deal for a 32yr old Willian straight out of the room Sells Aubameyang last summer, and invests in a young and hungry player, who’ll hold resale value, and who we’re paying a fraction of what we’re paying Aubameyang If we give Lacazette anything other than 1yr extension, we’re out of our minds I’d sell him if anyone offers us £15-£20 mill this summer, and wouldn’t be freighted of losing him on a free in 12 months time, particularly as… Read more »

Terraloon

ES. 1) In theory that is fine and is already stated Arsenal policy but how do you enforce that if the players says sorry not moving and I have every intention that I will run down my contract? 2) Again highest bidder may not be the one that pays the player the most so again how does that work if a contracted player just says no not going anywhere 3) He is under contract to RM. From everything thing I read it’s very much 50-50 that they will let him go and although he is making decent statements , if… Read more »

Rich

China1 If we can get combined £30-£40mill for Lacazette + Aubameyang, I’d sell them both. Clear a reported £450,000-£500,000 p/w off the wage bill, and move in a different direction In Lacazette’s 3 full seasons we’ve finished 6th, 5th, 8th, and are on course to potentially finish even lower this season Players tend to start dipping in their 30s, why we’d offer an extension to a striker entering his 30s, and who hasn’t been good enough for us in his late 20s, is anyone’s guess…. We spent £50 million on a player who was a significant downgrade on the underrated… Read more »

Moray

We need to be setting out our stall for 2-4 years down the line. That means making hard decisions about some of our players now, particularly the older ones. Typical Arsenal; we fail to buy and invest sufficiently in young players (despite being cash rich) during a long period of player inflation and as soon as we try to shift our overpaid dead wood a pandemic hits and we can’t get shit for it. We really are the guy in the barrel of tits sucking his thumb. And those spurned offers for Xhaka, AMN, Nketiah etc. they could well cost… Read more »

Moray

In other news it seems Haaland might be off to Barca.

That would be fucking great (compared to the Man City option).

Dissenter

Dortmund are just killing the market
They got Haaland dirt cheap and are now asking for 180 million euros for him after less than 2 years.
Surely Haaland’s people put clauses into that initial contract.

Rich

The bureaucrats running Dortmund are at least a million times smarter than the idiotic bureaucrats running Arsenal If Haaland leaves this summer, you can guarantee they’ll already have his replacement lined up They buy players with high potential at the bottom and middle of the market, develop that talent, and then sell at the top of the market Any emerging elite talent would be smart to use Dortmund as a stepping stone before joining an elite club, and setting themselves and their family up for life Apparently we were very close to both Sancho + Bellingham The talks with the… Read more »

Nelson

It also depends on how the club develops those “prospects”. Emery developed Guen. After one year, we should have sold him for 40m. Saliba is supposed to be a prospect. His value hasn’t gone up at all.

Kroenkephobe

Tony2
Thanks for sharing that story about Rocky. I really enjoyed reading it. What a wonderful gesture when he was obviously just starting out.

I was never aware of one but does anyone on here know if there was ever a biography written about Rocky?

Tony 2

Cheers Leeds. Any1 remember the battle when we played Leeds 2 2? Will young and big Gordon McQueen both scoring 2? Or supermacs debut ist game of season against newly promoted Bristol city? Lost 1 0 Gerry Gow i think ( coukd be wrong) man i need to get out more lol

Kroenkephobe

I remember that game against BC (or “the shit” as they’re imaginatively called by Rovers fans) . I’d waited all summer for the season to start and we lost. I think they’d just been promoted and went straight back down again. I’m thinking it was 76 but I could be wrong. Pre season optimism wiped out instantly.

I remember the same feeling that time we got trashed by Coventry at home and Micky Quinn got a hattrick. “who needs Ian Wright, when we’ve got Micky Quinn” sang the Cov humourists.

Samesong

I remember that goal AFC

Rocky has skills to pay the bills. Rocky was one of mates cousins and I remember the devastation it had in the family. 😢

Pierre

When those players cross that line on the pitch its up to them to perform. The players have to be motivated to win.

I agree we have started slowly. The responsibility has to be half and half.

Kroenkephobe

Thanks Tony. I’ll have a look around for a copy.

Almuniasaynomore

Given that aguero is leaving and city will replace him thus starting the transfer dominoes falling are we really in the equation? Would a PSG losing mbappe have any interest in aubameyang? I cant see it but then again I couldn’t understand juve taking Kean back on loan so what do I know?

Dissenter

I love the way Arsenal PR is slowly making Saka the face of the club.

There’s nothing better than having one of your own blossoming to become a very good player.

Zacharse

Bacary Emery keeps getting brought up because the problems we had/have are just as much due to his 1.5seasons in charge as to wengers last 10. To expect arteta to fully fix our issues going back to the late 2000’s in one transfer window, that window being right in the middle of a pandemic as well while the club were hemorrhaging money regardless is ridiculous. We had a rough spell, its over. That rough spell is pretty much the same as what happened the year before w emery in charge. Emery was unable to improve it, arteta has. Emery was… Read more »

Rich

Emery finished 5th with 70 points, scoring 70+ goals, and losing a coin toss final to Chelsea He was sacked when we were 8th, 5 points off 4th He gave first team chances to Saka, Martinelli, Willock, Smith-Rowe The same group of players who downed tools on Emery, may well have tried the same trick with Arteta in December, had there been fans in the stadium Emery turned Guendouzi into one of the highest valued teenagers in Europe Arteta’s turn in fortune happened with Smith-Rowe regaining fitness, loaning Odegaard, and the gradual development of Saka + Tierney This isn’t a… Read more »

Almuniasaynomore

Zacharse,you’re letting Pedro’s spin influence you. I presume you recognise that all clubs have been affected by the pandemic, it’s not solely an arsenal affliction. So how then does it account for our lowly league position? In fact there’s an argument that the unusual season with players isolating and condensed schedule actually played into the hands of the bigger clubs with greater squad depth. Throwing the pandemic in as a defence of Arteta doesn’t really hold water.

Pierre

Rich “, had the club backed him in ousting Kolasinac, Ozil, Mustafi, like they did with Arteta in January, and also backed him with the players he wanted like Zaha, then things may have turned out very differently” Would just like to point out that the 3 players you mention above ( plus Guendouzi and Torreira) didn’t take Arsenal to 14th in the league .. it was those players, under Emery , that took us to 5th in the league and the europa cup final .. The binning of Ozil, Guendouzi, Mustafi, Torreira and kolasinac did not improve our results… Read more »

Pierre

Correction
40 points not 49

Almuniasaynomore

Ah the spin. Never said the pandemic was a good thing Pedro, simply pointed out that it cant be used to explain our slump in the league when all clubs had to endure it.

Almuniasaynomore

Yes but you’re choosing to compare us to a liverpool team that’s in decline this year. To me that’s because you want to defend Arteta so you aren’t using a reasonable line of argument. You are fully entitled to defend him pedro but your standard seem to have dropped from the expectations you had ( and rightly so) of Wenger and Emery. You were a strong voice for many of us when Wenger was going off the rails and most were blind to it. That’s why we followed you and le grove. But you seem to have lowered the bar… Read more »

Dissenter

Pedro You’re so happy with mediocrity these days Liverpool have had an god awful domestic season that was plagued by injuries to key defenders. They are struggling to contemplate life without the CL next season Yet you are too happy to use their nadir as a baseline for defending the horrific season Arteta has served up up so far. He is the manager of Arsenal FC and he absolutely owns the off-field decisions that destroyed our domestic season leading up to December. You are too happy these days with drab mediocrity, at least Wenger served up elite mediocrity. The other… Read more »

Wiglaf

This comments section has really become quite sparse lately.

Pierre

Wiglaf Mant posters take exception to Pedro putting a positive slant on things, hence they have disappeared.. Marc, Marko , receding etc were only here .to promote negativity towards the present manager as they were solidly pro Emery… A couple of bad results will see the usual suspects come out of the woodwork. Personally, I think i am similar to you in that i am behind Arteta but recognise that his decision making can be poor and that the non negotiables has been a hindrance to our progress. One must remember that Pedro built up his loyal support on le… Read more »

Bob N16

Pierre,

Everything appears to have to fit your agenda. The fact that Arsenal hasn’t played for close to two weeks has more to do with the lack of traffic than anything else.

Almuniasaynomore

I can’t believe that you are being genuine Pierre. Arsenal are a huge club that should be challenging for the league. Those that love the club demand the highest standards. The slow decline over the last 15 years is agonizing to watch for those who love arsenal, hence the criticism and bitterness. It’s not a sense of entitlement, it’s a desperate cry for the club to be treated with more respect by those in whose hands it has been trusted.

Almuniasaynomore

Entrusted.

Cazorla

‘Should be challenging for the league’
‘Demand the highest standards’
Maybe you need a dose of reality Almunia of where we actually are.

Almuniasaynomore

I know where we are cazorla,we all do. I guess the argument is over whether we should accept it or not. I’m not really interested in deciding who to blame, I just cant accept that we shouldn’t be competing. I don’t think that makes me entitled, though I can see why it could look that way.