The Arseblog Thread [Archive]

Flavs

24-05-2011, 07:36 AM

Ok so i have contacted the man himself and he says that I can post snippets of the blog on here with links back to the main places, so below are the links to the various hosts and for the first day the whole blog, when the mods launch our blog i will move this to there but i have lost my IIP now so they need to pin this please

http://arseblog.com/

Follow Arseblog on Twitter - Click here (http://twitter.com/arseblog)

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here (http://www.facebook.com/thearseblog)

Download the Arseblog iPhone app - Click
here (http://itunes.apple.com/ie/app/arseblog/id369606006?mt=8)

Download the Arseblog Android app - Click
here (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.lineten.arseblog)

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Tuesday May 24th 2011

Morning all.

Dublin has returned to normal following the visit of some American rock star yesterday. Can't say I'd ever heard his music before but he must be pretty good to have entire swathes of the city centre closed off. I guess he was just lucky that we have so many unemployed people who could spend all day waiting around for him to appear. I mean, if you've got nothing better to do ...

Anyway, back to the altogether more amusing and interesting world of Arsenal and we'll start this morning with Jack Wilshere whose presence at the European U21s is no longer required. This is because he told Stuart Pearce he didn't want to go, citing the hard season and a decline in fitness as the reason. He said <http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/24/jack-wilshere-england-under-21s>
:

Over the last few weeks I have been feeling tired and my GPS results have shown that. It shows I am heading for an injury and that is the last thing I want. Especially heading into the Euros.

I said I wanted to play and I meant that. I wasn't lying. I wanted to play. I still want to play. But I think it's the best thing. Obviously there's a risk of injury and missing some of next season. I'm not saying I'm going to get injured but I want to be 100%.

Which is really quite sensible and the right thing to do. There will be the usual outrage from those who think anyone who turns down the chance of playing for England is capable of Queenicide whilst spraying graffiti on Stonehenge and wiping their arse with the flag but for me Jack is doing the right thing.

Comparisons with David Bentley, who a few seasons ago pulled out of the same tournament for much the same reasons, are sure to crop up but here's the difference. One, Wilshere is now almost fully established as a senior international, Bentley was not. And two, Bentley is a massive, chavvy, up his own arse cockplunger who thought he was god's gift to football. And he had stupid facial hair, like a retarded musketeer. Mongtagnan, you might call him.

Arsene Wenger will be relieved and Fabio Capello too. Although the Italian didn't have the balls/authority to tell Stuart Pearce to leave Jack out he'll have a better, fresher, fitter Jack Wilshere for England's Euro 2012 campaign next summer. And those who criticise Wilshere might do well to remember that too. Say what you want about the U21s providing 'tournament experience', the bottom line is nobody cares for one second who wins it. Nobody. And anything that makes England better for next summer should be a good thing.

Meanwhile, the manager has suggested he's going to be busier than usual in the summer although you hardly need confirmation of that given the current circumstances at the club. The boss said <http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/24/arsene-wenger-arsenal-active-transfer-market?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Ffootball%2Frss+ %28Football%29>
:

The market will be hyperactive because everyone believes financial fair play will happen soon. So we are quickly doing the last buying before the stores will be closed. And for the first time for a while, I will be very active, too.

I'm not quite sure what he means by the stores being closed. If we're spending our own money and living within our means surely we're entitled to go shopping any time we want. And given the financial situations at many clubs I suspect they would welcome our business.
We're not putting this on our Sharklay's Bank credit card, we've got c-c-c-c-c-ash and we're spending it like a fox.

As for the being active part well that almost goes without saying. We know Denilson is on his way and yesterday Nicklas Bendtner's agent and father, his fagent, revealed the Big Dane wants out <http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/23/nicklas-bendtner-arsenal-transfer-bayern-munich>
:

Nicklas has made his decision and told Arsenal: he wants to leave the club. I can say that there is serious interest from English and German clubs and it is not going to be a problem to find him a good club. In terms of his price we expect that Arsenal will treat us with respect, as we have always done with them.

Now, I think Bendnter's a decent enough player and at 23 has the potential to improve quite a great deal over the next few years. I also think he's a player who, if he applied himself more in training and took the football a little more seriously, would be even better /now/. He's had a mixed relationship with Arsenal fans but considering his starts, considering the amount of times he's been asked to play as a wide man, his goal record is pretty healthy.

That said, it does seem like he's gone as far as he can with us and we've gone as far as we can with him. A change is probably for the best for both parties. In terms of the price though, if the Bendtners are expecting Arsenal to let him go for a knock-down price then they ought to think again. We've spent a lot on his education and development and I think he's a player that will score plenty of goals in his career. I've no real issue with letting him go provided that a) we replace him in the transfer market and b) we get the right kind of price for him.

Meanwhile, the Mirror suggests Zenit would be interested in taking Andrei Arshavin back to Russia for a fee of around £7m <http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Arsenal-transfer-news-Zenit-St-Petersburg-want-Andrey-Arshavin-back-in-7m-deal-Real-Madrid-eye-Bacary-Sagna-Sevilla-Roma-Wolfsburg-are-keen-on-Denilson-article740220.html>
. It wouldn't surprise me at all if this were to happen and considering Arshavin is training with Zenit this week, ahead of Russian's Euro qualifying game, it might be the perfect time for him to let them know if he were interested in going back. I think we'd be prepared to do this deal if it were on the table.

So that's a couple of forwards out, there are further doubts over the future of Gael Clichy and I expect him to go. There's the Nasri situation and then, of course, we'll all wait and see what happens with Cesc. Already there are the stories doing the rounds that he said his goodbyes to staff at the training ground and if you were to ask me now to put money on him being at the club next season I don't think I'd take that bet.

Ignore any stories about Real Madrid, they are outright nonsense, but nonsense the club is probably happy to entertain for the sake of its negotiating position. It remains to be seen whether or not Barcelona can come up with a deal that's acceptable to Arsenal. When you see Torres go for £50m, Andy Carroll for £35m and Ronaldo to Madrid for £80m, this is the kind of territory we're in. Cesc is one of the best players in world, educated and developed at Arsenal, and again his fee should reflect that. If that offer comes in then Arsenal will let him go, so it's down to Barcelona now and how much they want him.

Perhaps Barcelona's new sponsor, the Qatar Foundation, will donate some money to the cause. Money they saved by having a work experience boy knock up their logo in Word. I mean, really? All that money and Times New Roman is the best you can do. Still, that's by the by.

So here we are and we haven't even mentioned players like Almunia, Rosicky, Squillaci and Vela, who are all thought to be surplus to requirements this summer. It means we're going to get the closest thing ever to a transfer frenzy at the club, they'll be coming and going like Karma Chameleons. Oh boy!

All the talk is of the players on the way out, and little about who's coming in. The Sun links us with Sergio Canales <http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3596631/Arsenal-and-Manchester-City-go-for-Canales.html>
whose Real Madrid career has not taken off the way many expected. He would be an interesting one but I don't give much credence to the story. The Mail suggests we might be after Stewart Downing <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1390171/Aston-Villa-winger-Stewart-Downing-targeted-Arsenal-Liverpool.html>
, a player who, if he were right footed, would be scratching around the Championship somewhere. As for the rest, we'll just have to wait and see.

Finally for today, the club has announced the pre-season friendly in Malaysia. We'll play a Malaysia XI in Kuala Lumpur on July 13. Details of the game in China are set to follow.

Right, that's about that. Welcome the off-season, folks.

adzzzbatch

24-05-2011, 11:33 AM

Arseblog :bow:

Flavs

24-05-2011, 11:35 AM

This needs pinning until the blog is ready please

Bergkampwonderland10

24-05-2011, 12:27 PM

You sure that's a 'snippet' of his blog? :)
Agreed with everything he had to say today.

Flavs

24-05-2011, 12:36 PM

You sure that's a 'snippet' of his blog? :)
Agreed with everything he had to say today.

did you see where i clearly said i would post the whole thing today as its the first time??

Mr.Singh

24-05-2011, 01:04 PM

Can the mods make this a sticky thread.....good idea PB

Jens' Face

24-05-2011, 01:47 PM

So, Flavs, it's clear that Arseblogger read GW. Which poster was he?

Flavs

24-05-2011, 01:49 PM

So, Flavs, it's clear that Arseblogger read GW. Which poster was he?

No idea sweetheart, the only one i think would come close was Jack White. Cant see any of these other muppets making so much sense

Plus did you know that Jack White invented the term "manc logic"?

dazthegooner

24-05-2011, 01:51 PM

No idea sweetheart, the only one i think would come close was Jack White. Cant see any of these other muppets making so much sense

Plus did you know that Jack White invented the term "manc logic"?

Jack White... Now there's a blast from the past, Livers is another one that has long since gone!

PGFC

24-05-2011, 02:39 PM

Good read, though it'd be better if the links worked Punchy :whistle:

Obiwan Kenobinil

24-05-2011, 03:39 PM

Arseblog :bow:

This

Bergkampwonderland10

24-05-2011, 03:51 PM

did you see where i clearly said i would post the whole thing today as its the first time??

Obviously I did not see that part ;)

Sirjackofwilshere

24-05-2011, 03:55 PM

I don't see the point..surely ppl would just visit the blog

cheesy bites

24-05-2011, 04:08 PM

We should really get this board mentioned on Arseblog. We could get so many new members.

The Wengerbabies

24-05-2011, 04:18 PM

I don't see the point..surely ppl would just visit the blog

We should really get this board mentioned on Arseblog. We could get so many new members.

This is the point I imagine.

Marc Overmars

24-05-2011, 04:40 PM

Le Grove is better, tbh.

Darth Vela

24-05-2011, 06:35 PM

Yep, there's a fair few people that muse through Arseblog at one point or other so if only a small percentage decided to sign up then it'd be tough to drive all of those people away.

Flavs

25-05-2011, 07:54 AM

Wednesday the 25th of May

Hello there, it doesn't really feel like summer's upon us yet despite the raft of transfer stories that abound. I blame the lack of sunshine. And summer breeze. The jasmine of my mind needs a good blowing through.

Let's start with possible ins. Today's main story is about Karim Benzema and some quotes from Arsene Wenger about the player. He says <http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Arsenal-transfer-news-Arsene-Wenger-drops-hint-about-Karim-Benzema-bid-article740434.html (http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Arsenal-transfer-news-Arsene-Wenger-drops-hint-about-Karim-Benzema-bid-article740434.html)>
:

Viewed from the outside, it doesn't seem impossible today. He's a player that I like. I think he's intelligent in his movement, I think he is capable of combining well and making a difference, and of doing individual moves as well. So, for me he's a player who's at the top level in the world.

With the rumour mill going into overdrive about Aguero crossing the city from Atletico to Real there might well be a will to make this happen on Madrid's part. They seem to have spent quite a bit of money already and while I know finances are different for them they can't have a bottomless supply, can they? Again it's all just speculation at this stage but if we're looking for a striker this wouldn't be the most outrageous transfer assumption to make.

More on Arseblog.

the easter bunnie

25-05-2011, 08:03 AM

Can the mods make this a sticky thread.....good idea PB

Boilk! top of the morning from rainy Dublin, my dog's got worms and I dreamt I was flying with Denis Bergkamp as pilot to the Champions League final and we were playing a team of gorillas in bikinis.

Flavs

25-05-2011, 08:21 AM

Boilk! top of the morning from rainy Dublin, my dog's got worms and I dreamt I was flying with Denis Bergkamp as pilot to the Champions League final and we were playing a team of gorillas in bikinis.

:lol:

Flavs

26-05-2011, 08:12 AM

Thursday the 26th of May

if Vieira wants a career in football once he's retired then where better for him to have it? Bring him home, Arsene.

One of his first tasks, perhaps, would be to find Patrice Evra and kick his fat mouth in. The world's gobbiest left-back has been talking about Samir Nasri <http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/26/samir-nasri-arsenal-manchester-united?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Ffootball%2Frss+ %28Football%29 (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/may/26/samir-nasri-arsenal-manchester-united?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Ffootball%2Frss+ %28Football%29)>
and suggesting he needs to go to Man United to further his career. In an unbelievably poncey manner too:

If Samir comes, he has to know there is no room for mistakes. I have been at Manchester United for five years and I can't remember how many trophies I have won â€¦ 13? 15?. So 'Petit Prince', if you want to be King, you know where you have to go.

Petit Prince? Petit Prince?! Right up there with 'Capi' for me.
Honestly, if there's such a thing as hell then Evra's fiery eternity will be spent on a lumpy, pot-hole ridden football pitch, perpetually chasing a 50-50 pass with Ryan Shawcross coming from one side and Martin Taylor from the other. With Glenn Hoddle and Chris Waddle performing 'Sussudio' at a volume setting of 11. Which is one louder than 10.

More on Arseblog

Flavs

31-05-2011, 08:02 AM

Tuesday the 31st of May

Morning all,

some interesting quotes from Arsene have emerged from a radio interview he did in France. They've been carried via the Twitter account <http://twitter.com/#!/ascfr (http://twitter.com/#!/ascfr)> of the President of the A/rsenal supporters club France/. And if yesterday's performance by Mr Blatter has taught us anything it's that Presidents are men of honour and quiet dignity who are to be trusted implicitly.

I don't want to throw the two gentlemen into the same category by any means but there's some interesting stuff in there. He talks about
Nasri:

With Nasri there's a little disagreement on the financial terms of his new contract. What is certain is we won't sell Nasri to Man Utd.

Which tallies with what I've heard about the problem. Some suggest it's because he's looking for a role in the team that he can only have if another player leaves but what it's coming down to, as I told you the other day, is money. I'll leave it up to you to decide if he's worth what he's looking for (alleged parity with the very top earners at the club) on the back of one admittedly good spell at the start of this season.

Then he talks about Cesc:

This year, there's no interest for Cesc. So I want to keep him because he's the best midfielder in the world and he's our captain.

There might well be a key word missing there when he talks about no interest, and that's 'yet'. The Mirror <http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Arsenal-transfer-news-Barcelona-have-launched-their-latest-attempt-to-sign-Cesc-Fabregas-but-face-being-outbid-by-Manchester-City-article742907.html (http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Arsenal-transfer-news-Barcelona-have-launched-their-latest-attempt-to-sign-Cesc-Fabregas-but-face-being-outbid-by-Manchester-City-article742907.html)>
runs a story this morning saying Barcelona are ready to bid £30m which is all well and good but when £30m won't buy you a fully grown Andy Carroll they'd want to seriously increase what's on offer for Arsenal to consider it. And I think they will do that, whether that ends up being acceptable to the club remains to be seen.

As for the rest he says he'll be trying to buy defenders from the Premier League to help make our defence better able to cope with the Premier League (Cahill? Samba? John O'Shea?), he won't be going on holidays because he'll be going to South America to look at players (Copa America?) and that old reliable:

More on Arseblog

Flavs

01-06-2011, 08:30 AM

Wednesday the 1st if June

It's quiet, man, like John Wayne in Ireland.

Still a few rumblings and grumblings regarding transfers with Nicklas Bendtner's agent and father (who is also his mother in a hilarious real life version of Cartman), speaking about how much his son is worth. He says <http://www.sport.co.uk/news/Football/53867/Bendtner_given_high_valuation.aspx (http://www.sport.co.uk/news/Football/53867/Bendtner_given_high_valuation.aspx)>
:

One hundred million crowns!

I'm not the only one hearing Doctor Evil, right? He goes on to say:

He has been valued higher before. But of course, if you are on the bench the price goes down. Nicklas has the qualities to live up to this sum and we can certainly find a club that is willing to pay.

Can they though? Can they really find someone to pay £10m for Nicklas Bendtner?

More on Arseblog

Flavs

02-06-2011, 08:07 AM

THursday the 2nd

Some transfer rumours this morning involve Gonzalo Higuain <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1393281/Arsenal-Spurs-Man-City-target-Gonzalo-Higuain.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1393281/Arsenal-Spurs-Man-City-target-Gonzalo-Higuain.html)>
, who is apparently available from Real Madrid, and Wigan's James McCarthy <http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Liverpool-Chelsea-Arsenal-Wigan-transfer-news-James-McCarthy-will-be-allowed-to-leave-Latics-but-club-claim-no-offers-yet-article743662.html (http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Liverpool-Chelsea-Arsenal-Wigan-transfer-news-James-McCarthy-will-be-allowed-to-leave-Latics-but-club-claim-no-offers-yet-article743662.html)>
, a player I know the manager has had his eye on for some time. The latter more likely than the former but still not that likely, in my opinion. It would require a Diabpature for it to be realistic, I think.

Apparently Alex Song has had some kind of Nasri-esque bust up with Samuel Eto'o on international duty and been dismisssed from the Cameroon squad. I don't have much interest in this, to be honest. I know some people might suggest that Song, being a young guy who has won precisely fuck all in his career, ought to be more respectful of a guy like Eto'o who has won quite a lot, but then who really gives a shit what any of them do on international duty?

More on arseblog (mainly about Cesc)

Japan Shaking All Over

02-06-2011, 09:39 AM

:bow:

all this

especially this

Some suggest it's because he's looking for a role in the team that he can only have if another player leaves

Punch becoming a legend!!

Flavs

07-06-2011, 08:40 AM

Tuesday the 7th of June

I don't think I could be a football agent.

Firstly, I'm just not that kind of hard-nosed businessman driven solely by money. Secondly, I'm not a particularly great liar. Mrs Blogs always knows when I'm spoofing because of the look on my face. I tend to make a face which suggests that I'm making a face so as not to look like I'm fibbing but the face says "I'm fibbing". When she asks who left the beer bottle caps in the cutlery drawer, in with the little spoons, I can never successfully blame the dog.

So when a player came to me and asked me if they thought our course of action was what was best for their football career they would know that I was having them on. That the course of action was, in fact, best of their bank balance and ultimately best for my bank balance.

More on Arseblog

Japan Shaking All Over

07-06-2011, 03:46 PM

dans ce cas je vous pense le besoin de parler français

Flavs

08-06-2011, 08:51 AM

Wednesday the 8th of June

Good day to you all and we'll start this morning with young Theodore of the clan Walcott who was speaking yesterday at the launch of something I don't care about.

It seems that as much as we're thinking about who might come and go, he is too. Let's start first with what he says about players coming in <http://www.express.co.uk/football/view/251474/Theo-Walcott-warns-Arsenal-silver-comes-first (http://www.express.co.uk/football/view/251474/Theo-Walcott-warns-Arsenal-silver-comes-first)>
:

The manager has said he is going to spend and Iâ€™m intrigued about who is going to come in. You need to add players. Weâ€™ve had a small squad, so Iâ€™m interested in who weâ€™re going to get. Iâ€™ve heard rumours about Real Madridâ€™s Karim Benzema. Someone like that would help you hold on to your best players and get the crowd on their feet.

More on the blog

Ironing

08-06-2011, 11:44 AM

Link to the relevant piece on arseblog at the end of your post each time would be nice, if you're gonna do this every day

x

LDG

08-06-2011, 11:56 AM

Link to the relevant piece on arseblog at the end of your post each time would be nice, if you're gonna do this every day

x

Just "like" the page on Facebook dude, and there is a direct link everytime.

Ironing

08-06-2011, 12:04 PM

Nonsense response really

We're not on facebook, we're reading a thread on goonersweb. The guy is posting snippets of the daily blog and putting 'More on the blog' at the end. Would be nice if there was a link at that point, so I don't have to go anywhere else to read more.

Since he's taking the time to do this every day and is most likely already viewing the page from which he's taking the snippet from, he may as well link!

Flavs

08-06-2011, 12:36 PM

Ironing

08-06-2011, 12:52 PM

Flavs

08-06-2011, 12:55 PM

I know they are. Why not just copy and paste the link at the end of your snippets so we can just click through? It's not exactly a big hassle for you given the effort you are already putting into taking a snippet and then formatting it into some weird font

People want to just click the link. Not go and find it.

It really is very simple. Seriously.

Hmmm effort, i am copy and pasting it from the email i get. I guess that is a huge amount of effort compared to typing www.arseblog.com (http://www.arseblog.com) into the browser window yes

Simple? Yes, yes you are

Ironing

08-06-2011, 12:59 PM

Wow. You really are a mentalist.

Why are you doing this thread every day then? What is the point?

It is simple baffling that you would bother to do this (seemingly for the benefit of forum users) and then stubbornly refuse to listen to a (really basic, obvious, simple, easy) suggestion that would make it better?

Ironing

08-06-2011, 01:06 PM

Edit: Punchinello deletes his own posts

Flavs

08-06-2011, 01:14 PM

Indeed you have pissed me off! What was meant to be a straighforward one line suggestion has seemingly turned into a mind-boggling mini debate with some random person deciding to argue on your behalf

Read any other website, blog or forum that posts snippets from articles. There is a link at the end. It's basic stuff really.

Suit yourself though

:doh:

ok thanks :good:

Coney

12-06-2011, 09:50 PM

From today's Arseblog:-

£15m on Downing would make £7.5m on Bebe look like a bargain.
He is so terrible at football that he has an entire syndrome named after him.

:haha:

Flavs

14-06-2011, 07:42 AM

Tuesday the 14th of June

Morning all,

much of what's about this morning stems from Ivan Gazidis and his meeting with some of the AST <http://arsenaltrust.org/ (http://arsenaltrust.org/)> membership last night. He came along, answered the questions, said all the right things and none of it was in any way earth-shattering or unexpected.

He said that the manager had the 100% support of the board <http://news.arseblog.com/index.php/2011/06/gazidis-wenger-has-100-support/ (http://news.arseblog.com/index.php/2011/06/gazidis-wenger-has-100-support/)>
, which I think we already knew. What was interesting was when pressed on what might precipitate a change of manager and to whom Arsene was accountable, he said:

Arsene is ultimately accountable to the fans - they ultimately make judgment. If you are seeing the relationship between the fans and the manager break down over time that is unsustainable. But I don't think we are anywhere near that.

I know fans are important, and some fans certainly like to feel important, but to me the manager should be accountable first and foremost to the board, to those who run the club. It just strikes me as odd that the board will gauge fan reaction to make a decision about the most important footballing position at the club.

It's clear there are those who feel Arsene has taken the club as far as he can and that a change is overdue. There are others who believe he should be given more time. So where is the tipping point at which the board will decide one point of view is most widely held and therefore most relevant? Does it suggest that there's a lack of footballing expertise in the current set-up?

More on the blog (Including videso of last night)

Coney

14-06-2011, 09:26 AM

More on the blog (Including videso of last night)

Can you post the URL for that to save time?

isv

14-06-2011, 09:34 AM

Can you post the URL for that to save time?

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/free-video-gazidis-qanda-session-part-one?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arsenal-news+%28News+Feed%29

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/free-video-gazidis-qanda-session-part-two

Coney

14-06-2011, 09:36 AM

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/free-video-gazidis-qanda-session-part-one?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arsenal-news+%28News+Feed%29

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/free-video-gazidis-qanda-session-part-two

Thanks - already done those and not what I meant. I was just doing a Flvas wnid-up. ;)

Flavs

15-06-2011, 08:03 AM

So, in the wake of the the meeting the whole thing has gone transfer crazy now.

Firstly, Lille confirmed
<http://news.arseblog.com/index.php/2011/06/lille-confirm-arsenal-talks-with-gervinho/ (http://news.arseblog.com/index.php/2011/06/lille-confirm-arsenal-talks-with-gervinho/)>
that we were to 'have talks' with Gervinho and that we were the player's preferred destination. Until he talks to Man City and they offer him two spaceships.

This morning The Mirror
<http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Arsenal-transfer-news-Gervinho-Chris-Samba-Gary-Cahill-targets-in-30m-spree-designed-to-stop-fan-backlash-article746959.html (http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Arsenal-transfer-news-Gervinho-Chris-Samba-Gary-Cahill-targets-in-30m-spree-designed-to-stop-fan-backlash-article746959.html)>
links us to a raft of players under the headline '*Arsenal will spend £30MILLION on stars to stop fan backlash*'.

Surely a more accurate headline would be 'Arsenal will spend £30 Million on players to stop falling apart at the end of seasons and to not lose cup finals against shit-kicking cunts, managed by the footballing equivalent of Hans Moleman, who end up being relegated because they're so shit. And also to replace some of the players who might leave'.

Ok, it's a bit wordy for a headline but the aim of spending is not to prevent fan backlash, it's to make us a better team, a more competitive team, and a team that might win a trophy after so many decades and centuries in the wilderware (that's the wilderness for silverware).

As always more on Arseblog

Flavs

17-06-2011, 07:44 AM

Hello from an extremely miserable Dublin. Honestly, this summer is worse than getting really drunk at a party then waking up in a strange bed to find yourself spooning the John Terry girl <http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/resources/images/791687/?type=display (http://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/resources/images/791687/?type=display)>
.

And if that doesn't start your Friday off the right way then I don't know what will. If it hasn't, perhaps the news that we've agreed a £10.6m fee for the man with football's most expansive forehead might do the trick. Gervinho is all set to join, say The Mirror <http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Arsenal-transfer-news-Gervinho-to-sign-within-48-hours-Chris-Samba-Willian-also-targets-for-Arsene-Wenger-article748234.html (http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Arsenal-transfer-news-Gervinho-to-sign-within-48-hours-Chris-Samba-Willian-also-targets-for-Arsene-Wenger-article748234.html)>
, on a four year contract. It really is a sign that things have changed. Where has the ubiquitous long-term contract for an undisclosed fee gone?

More on Arseblog

Flavs

20-06-2011, 08:48 AM

Monday 20th

another week begins with much on the horizon but little concrete info to kick us off. There's the much vaunted signing of Gervinho, a possible defensive arrival, or two, the manager's transfer budget apparently boosted by some property dealing, and the inevitable departures/stayings of one or two.

A sell-on clause is bumping up the price of Christopher Samba, according to the Mail <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2005629/Arsenal-face-paying-12m-Blackburns-Chris-Samba.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2005629/Arsenal-face-paying-12m-Blackburns-Chris-Samba.html)>
. Blackburn now want £12m for him. Those clauses are fun though.
Arsenal have reaped considerable rewards from them down the years, especially in the last few seasons. Diarra going from Portsmouth to Real Madrid brought in nearly £5m, we've recently received a lump of cash for the Toure/Adebayor deals due to City's CL qualification, while the most incredible one of all was the fact we got the guts of £7.5m when Sp*rs bought the Rat Faced Chav from Blackburn a few seasons ago.

More on Arseblog

Coney

20-06-2011, 08:17 PM

On today's Arseblog...

Cesc Fabregas has more assists in top 5 leagues in last 5 seasons than any other player, ahead of Dani Alves, Messi & Xavi.

Flavs

21-06-2011, 07:52 AM

TUesday

I don't know if Cesc will sign or not. We'll offer less than â‚¬40m and if Arsenal don't agee, then Cesc will not come. We have â‚¬45m for signings, plus money from sales. There is no more money.

Which is good news for us, let's face it. If reports are to be believed it seems as if they're going for Alexis Sanchez from Udinese, which will cost them an estimated â‚¬30m of their â‚¬45m. That's a rather significant chunk of their transfer budget and once again, as they did with Villa last summer, they're making it fairly clear that Cesc is not their number 1 target, he's not their priority.

Plenty more on the blog

Flavs

22-06-2011, 07:37 AM

Wednesday

It's a quiet day thus far in terms of Arsenal news. And I sense frustration. Actually, that's a fib. It kind of implies I have supernatural powers, able to detect people's moods from their auras, or something, but reading around the various Facers and Twitbooks and emails I get, there's definitely a growing feeling that we're not doing anything and people are anxious for us to get our deals done.

I know, in an ideal world we'd have all the players we wanted to sell sold by now and all the players we wanted to buy bought, but the reality is it doesn't work like that. As Mr Stillman says in his latest column <http://arseblog.com/2011/06/methadone-and-forehead-insurance/ (http://arseblog.com/2011/06/methadone-and-forehead-insurance/)>
, it's not just a case of pressing X on your control pad. Would that it were. We'd have dumped Denilson, dispatched Diaby, released Roderick Rosiscky, vanquished Vela , ejected Eboue, bartered Bendtner and aborted Almunia.

more on Arseblog

Japan Shaking All Over

22-06-2011, 02:15 PM

aborted Almunia.

by the way he plays you would have thought that had alredy happened

Flavs

27-06-2011, 07:35 AM

Monday 27th June

This morning, however, we get our first little bit of excitement as both the Mail <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2008441/Arsenal-bid-18m-Juan-Mata-EXCLUSIVE.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2008441/Arsenal-bid-18m-Juan-Mata-EXCLUSIVE.html)>
and The Sun
<http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3660870/Arsenal-have-made-Juan-Mata-their-top-summer-target.html (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3660870/Arsenal-have-made-Juan-Mata-their-top-summer-target.html)>
link us with Valencia's Juan Mata. The Mail says we've spoken to his agent (like Nicky B, he's got his dad on the case), while The Sun says the two clubs have spoken about a possible transfer. An £18m fee is mentioned and I think it would be a fantastic piece of business if we could pull it off.

He's a really exciting player, he scores and makes goals, and if this is calibre of player we're looking to bring in then I'm beginning to feel a bit more reassured about next season. The obvious conclusion to draw from a bid for Mata is that he would be a creative replacement for Cesc but with Nasri's future still up in the air it could well be a factor in this too.
.

More on Arseblog

Flavs

28-06-2011, 07:40 AM

Tuesday

Well there was much drama yesterday when the BBC ran an article telling us what we already knew.

They quoted a 'senior Arsenal source' talking about the future of Cesc Fabregas. He confirmed an official bid from Barcelona <http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/13928823.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/13928823.stm)>
:

"The offer was made formally in writing to our chief executive (Ivan Gazidis), and we said no straight away."

Then was asked if they were expecting another bid:

"Possibly. If it's enough I expect we'll have to sell."

None of this is a surprise or new information, in any way, apart from the formality of Barcelona's bid. It was thought they'd made a verbal offer which we had turned down. Either way, it was refused.

Flavs

29-06-2011, 07:46 AM

Wednesday

As for Nasri the talk of a £20m from Manchester United continues. I think this story began life in Sunday's News of the World and it doesn't seem to be going away. I'm still a bit dubious about it, to be honest. I'm suspicious that it's a ploy to get Arsenal to up their offer to the player, threatening us with the possible departure to a bitter rival, but I have to say if United did come in with a £20m bid I'd be very, very tempted to take it.

For a player with 12 months left on his contract it's a big offer and would still represent a £6.5m profit on what we paid Marseille for him three summers ago. And if Nasri wants to go there, then fine, that tells you as much as you need to know about him. He'll become a vague pantomime villain, never important enough for us to be the real deal, and we'll move on and bring someone else in to take his place.

Flavs

10-08-2011, 07:35 AM

wednesday the 10th of August

Right then,

yesterday we had an actual new signing, yesterday we had, in Arsene's words, news about a player who becomes "almost like a new signing".
ALANS. Isn't that ironic?

Ryo Miyachi was granted a work permit
<http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/miyaichi-granted-work-permit-to-play-for-club>
under the 'exceptional talent' clause yesterday, causing much happiness for the manager as he gets to add to his collection of young, but exceptionally speedy, wide forwards. The youngster did impress during pre-season but it would be wise to a little cautious when it comes to what we might produce for us in the short term. This time 12 months ago he was playing school football in Japan, expecting him to set the Premier League alight this early in his development is probably unrealistic.

More on arseblog.com

Coney

11-08-2011, 08:45 PM

http://news.arseblog.com/index.php/2011/08/szcz-the-other-keepers-must-compete-with-me/?utm_source=feedburner.com%2Farseblognews&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+arseblognews+%28Arseblog+News +-+the+one+stop+Arsenal+news+site%29&utm_content=FaceBook

SZCZ: “The other keepers must compete with me”

Arseblog News is reminded of an old Irish saying: May he banish the ghosts of a thousand Almunias until they’re bleeding out their arse.

:haha:

Flavs

16-08-2011, 07:42 AM

Tuesday the 16th

Up front there's no Robin van Persie due to suspension so the manager will have to shuffle his pack. He could play Chamakh there and there's also talk of Nicklas Bendtner being involved <http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-bendtner-could-play-on-tuesday>
. I think it says a lot about our forward options at the moment that we're likely to use him at some stage this evening. I've said before this summer I'd like to keep him, unless it's a case the club are going to go out and buy another striker, but at this point in time it's hard to see the club going out and buying a pint of milk let alone a quality footballer.

I think he'll start with Chamakh because a) he's been more involved in pre-season and probably a bit sharper, and b) if Chamakh doesn't perform you can always take him off and try Bendtner or Gervinho through the middle. I'd have little faith that Chamakh could come off the bench and change the game if we need it.

On the plus side the back four + keeper that kept a clean sheet against Newcastle should provide a reasonable platform for us, albeit against more dangerous opposition. Keeping the opposition out tonight is vital. So I'm going with a starting XI of: SZCZ - Sagna - Koscielny
- Vermaelen - Gibbs - Song - Ramsey - Rosicky (or Frimpong/Lansbury) - Gervinho - Chamakh - Arshavin

There's no Arsene on the bench tonight either, he's suspended for his discussions with the referee after the Barcelona game. It's not a huge inconvenience but it just adds to the air of uncertainty around this fixture and the club in general.

All the same, it's the first home game of the season and I hope that the team's performance goes some way to lift the spirits. Frustration and anger is very quick to manifest itself these days so while the game is on let's hope the team get the backing they need and which could make a difference. It does work both ways though. Fans can lift the players but the players can lift the fans too.

I hope this game sets the tone for the weekend against Liverpool and all the other games to come. We need to see an Arsenal side that is fully committed and giving 100% at all times. We know we're lacking a bit of quality at the moment but spirit and heart can go a long way to making up for that. Not throughout the whole season but certainly until we get some reinforcements in.

Flavs

17-08-2011, 08:19 AM

Wednesday

And with absolutely no disrespect to the youngsters we have brought in, and the likes of Frimpong who is being blooded at the moment, is it realistic to expect them to be anything other than average? They are being asked to come into a team like Arsenal, where the standards have been set so high, and perform to that level with barely a first team game between them. Look at Frimpong, for example, sent on last night, to make his Champions League debut in a game of such importance, after a grand total of 6 minutes of first team football in his career!

In a way it's unfair on these young players. There's throwing them in at the deep end and throwing them in a deep end. I hope that people are aware of how difficult it is for these guys and show them the patience they need. I fear that frustration is so high at the moment this won't be the case and the fallout from that, and the damage to their confidence, will rest entirely on the shoulders of the manager.
He's asking for too much, too soon, in my opinion.

You cannot let a player of Cesc's quality go and not replace him. The same with Nasri. He may not be anyone's favourite right now but you can't overlook the fact the team, and the squad, will be weaker without him. It might well be a case the departures this week are Arsenal clearing the decks for new arrivals. Remember the 25 man rule, remember the number of players who have to be 'home grown', and if we're making space in the squad for the potential new recruits, then that's great stuff, but we need those new recruits as quickly as possible.

There's no scope for playing the market, no time for brinkmanship, August is too important to haggle over price too much. With the money he has available Arsene could bring in three or four experienced players, of good quality, who would add something straight away to the Arsenal team. They would add depth to the squad, allow the youngsters to develop without so much pressure, and provide experience and knowledge to the lads who barely have double-figures in first team football between them.

Flavs

19-08-2011, 07:42 AM

Friday the 19th

Arsene will have a press conference today ahead of tomorrow's game against the Mugsmashers and we might get a bit of clarity about what the plans are. Probably not though. As usual he will talk about how he's got to focus on the players who are available and not the ones we have sold. Or are about to sell. Or that we haven't bought yet.

Which, ahead of an important game is entirely the right thing to do, but I hope Arsene chooses his words carefully. I don't think he realises that one badly placed 'super quality' or a slightly premature 'We are not close to ...' could actually cause the entire internet to quite literally explode. There are people who make their living from the world wide web, he's got to bear that in mind.

Naturally there is concern and worry about where we are. Cescless, waiting for Nasri to complete his move to the sunny climes of Manchester, wracked with injuries and fretting over the fitness of Armand Traore. Nothing else quite sums up where we are better than that.

Early team news
<http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/team-news-gibbs-djourou-traore-rosicky>
ahead of tomorrow's game is that Gibbs is out with a hamstring problem but Djourou's strain is not so bad and he might be fit. Traore is, I suppose, a left back but if he's not fit then it'll be interesting to see what the manager does. Will he give Jenkinson his first Premier League start, maintaing the burgeoning partnership between Koscielny and Vermaelen, or will he move the Belgian out to left back and play Djourou in the middle?

The more pressing issue is in the centre of midfield where Tomas Rosicky is a doubt. If he misses out our midfield options are very light indeed. Wilshere is injured, Diaby is injured, Song is suspended, which leaves us with Ramsey and Frimpong (best Flinstones chant right here <https://twitter.com/#%21/anthonydelany/status/104265153247322113>
) and that's it. The chances of signing a midfielder between now and then seem slim, to be fair, so what does he do? Will Lansbury get a chance? Will he play Arshavin as the more attacking of the three midfielders and give The Ox a start as part of the forward three?

Even talking about these potential line-ups gives you a real sight of just how badly this squad needs strengthening. I know there are injuries and suspensions but it needs it when those players are back too. Another week has chugged along and come to an end without anything happening. Of course we're not privvy to anything that might be happening behind the scenes but all we've got to go on is what plays out in public and what we see before us. And right now it's very worrying.

So no doubt Arsene will be asked about that today, about his plans, about potential newcomers, and he'll play with a straight bat giving nothing away. I'm sure there's stuff going on, there has to be, but sometimes you get the feeling Arsene plays his cards so close to his chest he can't even see them. Then when it's time to call and show what you've got he goes 'Ta-daaaa' and lays out the three of clubs, the six of diamonds, the king of spades, that one with the rules of bridge and Amaury Bischoff's business card.

Flavs

22-08-2011, 07:23 AM

Monday the 22nd

Arsene looked bedraggled on the sideline, but nowhere near as bedraggled as the fans who sat through the teeming rain to support their team yesterday. The most frustrating part of all is that you can see how these young players would learn and develop from having more experienced heads around them, in games and on the training ground.
You can see how more experienced players would have got us a better result yesterday, probably a better result in the first game against Newcastle too. It's hard to make any sense of what's happening at the club.

We have a lot of money at our disposal and a real need to spend it. We don't need 'super quality', we just need some good players. Without wishing to go all Championship Manager, put £25m on the table at Goodison Park and see if their precarious financial position allows them to turn down that money for Jagielka and Baines. Could West Ham turn down what we could afford to offer for Scott Parker? Three players, not 'super quality' but good, experienced professionals who would make this Arsenal team better, simple as that.

If we don't spend there's a real danger of falling too far behind early on this season. Yes, there's plenty of time, but two games, 1 point, a home defeat, 2 sendings off, and a rake of injuries and suspensions means we're in trouble already. And we face the Champions on Sunday. The Champions who, after winning the league, went out and bought some new players, good players, who add depth to their squad and allow them to properly blood the good youngsters they have in their ranks. We might not like it but there's a lesson there.

Our situation right now is critical but also fixable. It's not as if we don't have the means or the funds. It's down to Arsene, to Ivan Gazidis and to the owner of this great club, to quit the fucking around and do something about it before it's too late.

Match report and thoughts on the blog

Flavs

24-08-2011, 07:32 AM

Wednesday

Morning all,

there's a rather important game this evening so before we think about players who don't want to be here any more and who might replace them, we'll focus on that.

The team news
<http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/team-news-djourou-rosicky-wilshere>
is that Johan Djourou travels, as do Armand Traore and Tomas Rosicky.
The latter is still not a definite starter and will have further fitness tests pre-game to see if he can take part. If he does, I wouldn't be surprised to see Song start at centre-half alongside Vermaelen with Djourou providing some cover from the bench.

I imagine that as the only natural left back in the squad Traore will start there with Sagna moving back to right back. I think we need as much experience and solidity as possible out there tonight so all told I reckon we could see: /SZCZ - Sagna - Song - Vermaelen - Traore - Frimpong - Ramsey - Rosicky - Gervinho - Arshavin - van Persie/

We have the one goal lead from the first leg and the clean sheet which allows us to take advantage of the away goals rule. From the bits and pieces I've been reading from Udinese players and their coach won't be taking us lightly, despite the surface turmoil. He says:

I'm not buying into the "Arsenal are in crisis" theory; they are used to playing in this competition and if they've been successful over the years it's because they've been able to overcome moments of difficulty such as these.

Flavs

25-08-2011, 07:28 AM

Thursday 25th

I imagine it's moments like that which give the manager such encouragement about his team and his young players. From then it was pretty much game over. Udinese had to score three to go through and although I didn't start relaxing until around the 88th minute, the team played very well. They showed real maturity to slow things right down, keeping possession for long spells, and with the Italian season a little behind ours you could see the difference in fitness as the game went on. As they got tired chasing shadows we just passed them to death.

Afterwards, Arsene said:

Tonight, for 14 years on the trot, we play in the Champions League. We have a new stadium, a fantastic training ground, a very good financial situation and a very strong team. It was important today because we were under pressure so it was important to keep calm, composed and not do anything stupid.

Obviously Champions League qualification was crucial. As I said yesterday, not just for the club's finances but for the football side of things above all else. We were tested last night by a good Udinese side who led the game and could have, with home advantage, really kicked on, but when we needed to show some fight and some balls we did that in the second half, and that was really encouraging. Especially ahead of such an important league game on Sunday.

And with qualification assured it means the boss, and those who are involved in this side of things, can ensure they carry out the next most important task, and that's adding to the squad to make it better.
After the game captain Robin van Persie echoed the thoughts of many Arsenal fans, saying:

We have a bit of money now. Cesc left, Samir left, but we're in the Champions League now, we've got a bit of spare money and hopefully we spend it.

Flavs

30-08-2011, 08:08 AM

Monday 30th

Arsenal have had all summer to buy players. Why they haven't done so until now is very much an area of conjecture. Have we been unwilling to do so or simply unable to get our business done?

For all our frustrations, it's hard to imagine that we've remained as static as we have through choice. If the manager and the club accept we need new players just 3 days before the window closes I think it would be reasonable to assume they were aware of this throughout the summer. The defeat to Manchester United so close to the deadline may have sparked a bit of urgency, but I very much doubt it was a case of 'Oh, I thought our squad was better than that, better buy some players so!'

So what has been the problem? The money has been available since the get-go. Our transfer fund, pre-Nasri and Cesc, was around £35m which was to be boosted by sales of 'fringe' players. How many of these players have we actually sold? Vela, on loan. Denilson, on loan (despite the fact I'm pretty sure there were concrete bids from Spain). Almunia, gone nowhere. Clichy, we got some money for. What of Nicklas Bendtner, for example? Back in July Arsene confirmed he was being left out of things because he was in talks with other clubs <http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-bendtner-and-almunia-could-leave (http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-bendtner-and-almunia-could-leave)>
, and the player's father and agent confirmed there had been lots of bids <http://news.arseblog.com/2011/07/lots-of-bids-for-bendtner-bendtner/ (http://news.arseblog.com/2011/07/lots-of-bids-for-bendtner-bendtner/)>
.

So what's holding things up? Are we to take it that not one of the clubs who have been given permission to talk to him have managed to find a financial package attractive enough for him to accept? He made it very clear he wanted to leave the club. He might well be on higher wages here than he'd get elsewhere but that doesn't mean a new club has to give him exactly the same. You have to ask have Arsenal carried out their side of things properly? I can't believe that there wasn't one offer acceptable to Bendtner, especially given his desire to leave.

Coney

30-08-2011, 11:42 AM

Maybe Wenger realised that Bendtner is tall so he is going to play him as a CB and save transfer money.

Flavs

31-08-2011, 07:36 AM

Transfer day

Right then, here we are. It's TDD. Transfer Deadline Day. The sporting equivalent of Valentine's Day or Mother's Day. A load of shite made up by Hallmark simply to sell you tat you don't need.

And you don't need me to tell you that's exactly what Sky Sports have done with football. As clubs feel the pressure to buy tat they don't need (or tat they do!), their intrepid reporters like Johnny Sixphones and Jim 'Redknapp Rimmer' White, feed us non-stop information about who might on their way here, or who they understand is going there and for whom there's talk of a medical somewhere else.

Most years Arsenal fans are on the periphery of TDD. We go into it with hope and not much expectation. Arsene has already said he's done his business but, tantalisingly, says that if a bargain crops up then it's not impossible. As the window draws to a close that flicker of optimism is snuffed out, other clubs go about the place like market traders, a-haggling here, a-bartering there, and we end up with nothing. But today should be different.

We know of three deals done or very close to being done, more on those soon, but Arsene still has a big chunk of change burning a hole in his Farrah slacks pockets and we still need a player or two. So it could be an interesting one. There's hope, but there's also expectation. Who might we be after? How much will we spend on them? Will we break our transfer record? Who might we sell? What does Sixphones have for lunch? All these questions and more will be answered before the day is out. In the meantime though, we've done some business although not all of it has been made official.

Flavs

01-09-2011, 09:24 AM

Thursday the 1st

Well that was something, eh?

I can't quite remember a transfer deadline day like it from an Arsenal point of view. I remember when we signed Gallas, Denilson and Baptista back in 2006. Actually, that's a lie. I remember waking up the next morning to discover we'd signed them, but my sense is there was nowhere near the intensity that we saw yesterday.

And it went right till the chimes of Big Jim, the transfer deadline clock, rang out. All in all, I think it was a pretty successful day and the last few days have done plenty to counter the negativity that rightly surrounded us since the Old Trafford debacle. Whether or not we'd have been as active if that result hadn't happened I just can't say. And frankly it doesn't matter one bit. The important thing is that we needed players, with fairly obvious skillsets, and we got them.

The club first confirmed the deals we already knew about. Park was confirmed earlier in the week, then we got AndrÃ© Santos and Per Mertesacker. But we knew about them already. Where was the fresh meat?
The exciting new player we hadn't been linked with? The one that would make people go 'Ooooh'? The one that would add creativity to our midfield.

Coney

11-09-2011, 03:24 PM

http://arseblog.com/2011/09/we-won/

This is a team under massive pressure with little in the way of confidence, coming into a game with new players who have only been at the club a couple of days in some cases, on the back of an 8-2 thrashing, and any expectation that the feelgood factor provided by the transfer market activity would instantly spark an on-pitch revival was misplaced.

I said it yesterday, we are going to have to fight and scrap our way into anything approaching form. Yesterday was the first bout, we might have ended up a bit bloodied, but we did what we had to do. Yesterday was never about performance. Would people have been happier if we’d played scintillatingly well and drawn/lost? I don’t think so.

Confidence and form is built far more on results than how you play. How many times have we spoken about how well we played but just couldn’t find the breakthrough? I’d really rather not be sitting here this morning trying to dissect one of those games. The importance of the points was paramount, it didn’t matter how we got them, once we did. And we did.

Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie

04-11-2011, 11:37 AM

The Arsenal Podcast on 4th October was very interesting, it dissected the Arsenal Manager and the transfer question into bite size pieces

- Questions over extra marital affairs and his parents passing away has made him a more insular figure towards the press

- He has been allowed to assume more power and more responsibility in the day to day running of the club.

- The money has been there for transfers and for wages for the last few years.

- He was persuaded by the board to sell Samir Nasri, before the same of Nasri and Fabregas......he had 40 million to spend on transfers alone

- Ivan Gazidis the chief executive takes no part in transfer negotiations.

IBK

04-11-2011, 12:56 PM

Fuck that IS interesting.

Did his parents pass away this Summer? Might explain a few things.

Your post deserves to have greater prominence given the debate about the board on the Silent Stan thread. I've always suspected that the failure to spend was not a board dictum.

I wonder whether it is unusual for a CE not to take part in transfer negotiations - but the fact that Gazidis doesn't suggests that the board isn't holding Wenger back - as many would suggest.

Power n Glory

04-11-2011, 02:39 PM

Kano

04-11-2011, 03:12 PM

Fist of Lehmann

08-11-2011, 12:34 PM

it was from alex flynn of the guardian

http://arseblog.com/2011/09/defending-togetherness-arsecast-210/

Richard Law is the other guy that is involved with transfers, not Gazidis. It is Richard that is pointed out by a few people as elongating the process.

Yeah Alex Fynn, LDG warned me about this chump.

Anyway, James Olley did an interesting piece in the Standard a couple weeks back about Dick Law. In it he asked several agents what they thought about Dick, and although some thought he was decent (albeit lacking the contacts of Dein) one of the agents said something interesting.

He said that the reason why transfer negotiations with Arsenal took so long was because Law had to act as an intermediary between the various vested interests of different members of the board, be they corporate, equity or power.

Interesting because until now I've always viewed the board as 'The Board', a single entity. However this agent's comments paint a different picture, that of a collection of people with differing and conflicting agendas.

Corporate. Equity. Power. Those were the exact words used. If true it points to a level of self-interest that thinks little of jeopardising the club's on-field success.

I'm sure NQ will like that.

Coney

08-11-2011, 01:20 PM

Fist of Lehmann

08-11-2011, 02:49 PM

If true, now that Stan has controlling interest and thus has the power to hire and fire any board members, maybe that bullshit, if it exists, will stop.That is partly why I found surprising the implied lack of unity.

Kroenke took a controlling stake on 11th April after all, long before any transfer negotiations took place.

If they happened at all, this summer's personal agenda shenanigans happened on his watch.

Niall_Quinn

08-11-2011, 03:46 PM

Yeah Alex Fynn, LDG warned me about this chump.

Anyway, James Olley did an interesting piece in the Standard a couple weeks back about Dick Law. In it he asked several agents what they thought about Dick, and although some thought he was decent (albeit lacking the contacts of Dein) one of the agents said something interesting.

He said that the reason why transfer negotiations with Arsenal took so long was because Law had to act as an intermediary between the various vested interests of different members of the board, be they corporate, equity or power.

Interesting because until now I've always viewed the board as 'The Board', a single entity. However this agent's comments paint a different picture, that of a collection of people with differing and conflicting agendas.

Corporate. Equity. Power. Those were the exact words used. If true it points to a level of self-interest that thinks little of jeopardising the club's on-field success.

I'm sure NQ will like that.

Corporate. Equity. Power. When was it EVER different? You know my views on corporations, they go beyond petty financial jealousy - contrary to popular belief.

I already knew it. Every back room I've ever been engaged with - and there have been a few - is the same, which is why I can picture what goes on at Arsenal without being there. I should add I was never one of the people with money, just a hireling with a skill that involved me at the top level because of the amount of investment involved. Money does things to people, it makes them do stupid, counter-productive and even destructive things too. It makes grown men turn into absolute children, sniping behind backs, plotting, sabotaging (even when it hurts them too). Lying. Dumping their colleagues in the shit. Crying like babies when they are outmanoeuvred or exposed. It used to make me vomit. I'd be trying to get a fucking project completed (or even off the ground) and they'd all be fucking it up, the worst culprits being those who didn't need to be involved but poked their noses in anyway. The amount of waste I witnessed was often staggering. No over-complex, convoluted, bullshit stone was left unturned. This is why I left the corporate world even though it has cost me massively and caused me great hardship. At least I don't run into walls now.

Wenger has no motive to sabotage (from OUR view) the club but every other fucker on that board does (or did up until the point they sold out). Wenger may be stubborn, even misguided, an out of touch crusader, whatever. But don't tell me he doesn't want to win and he doesn't want to see the team he has sweated blood for do well. Whether he's capable or not is the issue, but his desire is surely there.

Those other fuckers though. Who knows what their ambitions and desires are? They are £500mill better off and they kicked none of it back into the club. That's my bitch, coupled with the fact I wonder what they ever really did for the club anyway? I don't blame Stan to the same degree because £500mill is a big chunk of money. I do wonder why he hasn't been able to shift these bastards out and get some competent people in. I mean competent at running a football club rather than skilled at milking it. This is why I'm suspicious of the guy. Nothing has changed and he gives no indication anything will change. He says he is happy as things are. So if he's one of them, fuck him. Then again, maybe he's playing a longer game and can't afford to rock the boat right now. Guesswork.

But Arsene for all his flaws is one of us. Whether he's good for us, I don't know. One day I think yes, the next no. The only certainty here is PHW and his merry crew are not with us and not for us, a bunch of cunts past their sell by date and stinking up the place.

They are the enemy.

Fist of Lehmann

08-11-2011, 03:59 PM

I knew you'd like it. :good:

Coney

08-11-2011, 09:33 PM

That is partly why I found surprising the implied lack of unity.

Kroenke took a controlling stake on 11th April after all, long before any transfer negotiations took place.

If they happened at all, this summer's personal agenda shenanigans happened on his watch.

Sure, but he might not have been aware that anything like this alleged disagreement among the board members took place before the end of the window. He presumably now knows. Let's see what transpires in January.

Flavs

15-11-2011, 09:24 AM

INT â€“ ARSENE WENGER'S OFFICE. ARSENAL TRAINING GROUND. THE PHONE RINGS. WE HEAR A VOICE ON THE OTHER END.

"Hello Arsene."

"Who is this?"

"It's Jose."

"Jose Feliciano, the Puerto Rican singer and virtuoso guitarist?"

"No, silly. It's Jose Mourinho, World's greatest football manager and ridiculously attractive man."

"I see. And how can I help you today, Jose?"

"I have a proposal."

"You do?"

"Indeed I do."

"Does it involve you engaging in acts of vicious self-harm before setting fire to yourself? Because if it doesn't I'm really not that interested."

"Oh you. Still not over that /voyeur/ thing, eh? Look, that was a long time ago. Let's move on and just accept the fact that if I was wrong it was your fault anyway. My omniscience demands that be true."

"It's not so much the voyeur thing. It's really just that you're a terrible, terrible person with absolutely no redeeming features whatsoever. You're like that monkey when you go to the zoo who goes around pissing in the other monkeys mouths. People find it entertaining at first but then they stop and think, 'Damn, that monkey is a complete asshole'."

"That stings, Arsene, old pal, but I've learned to take the barbs and insults. You see, I have found solace in the music of Stefani Germanotta."

"Who?"

"You might know her better as Lady Gaga. In fact-"

"Never heard of her."

"Yeah, well, whatever. Like her I was born this way."

"With a gee?"

"No. NO! Different from all the others. I wear the metophorical coat of meat when I manage my football team because I dare to challenge the conventional, the staid, the tired old routines. That's why they love me."

"That's probably why so many of them would like you to engage in acts of vicious self-harm before setting fire to yourself too."

"Look, I know I'm going to get nowhere with you. I figured you'd be like this. All the same I have something to ask you."

"Is that right? Well, I've heard on the grapevine what it might be. "

"Have you?"

"Yes, yes I have. The football world is a small one. And I must say I won't discuss it with you unless you get on Skype and turn your webcam on."

"You want to watch me! I knew I had you right."

"Don't flatter yourself, Joe."

"Jose."

"Joe. Jose. All the same to me."

"So why do you want me on Skype. You're like all the others, aren't you? You can't get enough of my rugged handsomeness. My dusky visage excites you, doesn't it? The perfect symmetry of my face stirs things in you that you can't even admit to yourself. The great Arsene Wenger, the haughtiest of all Frenchman, has got the hots for Ho-say, oh yeah!
That's why you want me on Skype, isn't it? Admit it!"

"No. It's so I can laugh in your face when you make the enquiry about Wilshere."

" ... you're mean."

"And you, sir, are a crashing bore. Good day to you."

WENGER HANGS UP. PRESSES INTERCOM ON HIS DESK AND SPEAKS WHILE TRYING NOT TO LAUGH

"Hey Pat, you'll never guess who I've just had on the phone ..."

FADE TO BLACK

:lol:

Xhaka Can’t

15-11-2011, 10:43 AM

Why have we got a pinned Arseblog thread?

Flavs

15-11-2011, 10:44 AM

Why have we got a pinned Arseblog thread?

Because before i forgot i asked the man himself if we could link to his site and post snippets of his daily blog, he agreed with this and we thought it would be good for us and him

Xhaka Can’t

15-11-2011, 10:58 AM

Thanks.

Kano

15-11-2011, 04:10 PM

Because before i forgot i asked the man himself if we could link to his site and post snippets of his daily blog, he agreed with this and we thought it would be good for us and him

you should have asked to be put on his blogroll, so people can click through from arseblog to gw

Master Splinter

21-11-2011, 05:48 AM

From the Norwich match report (http://arseblog.com/):

Norwich’s answer to going behind was to send on a really, really fat bloke to fall over and win free kicks, which he did quite well in fairness to him. However, when Holt threw himself to the ground in the box while Mertesacker looked on he rightly got a yellow card. Which he probably tried to eat because he thought it was made out of custard.

:haha:

Coney

21-11-2011, 12:20 PM

Flavs

24-11-2011, 09:05 AM

It was a functional performance, you'd say, but bar one or two moments (which you get in every game really) I thought we were defensively very solid. And you could see the team effort at times. Andre Santos had his best game yet, he looks fitter and sharper, able to get up and down and his composure on the ball is fantastic.

:blink:

Flavs

25-11-2011, 08:59 AM

Arseblog about Mikel

Mikel is an extremely important player in our team because he has both sides that make a team good. He is consistent going forward, technically fantastic and he works very hard for the team. He is an organiser too and does the job defensively in vital parts. We look solid at the moment and he has to take a big part of the credit because he does both jobs offensively and defensively - with quality.

I've spoken about him before, I know, but I've been really impressed with Arteta's influence on the team and the consistency of his performances. He's not flashy, he's had to curb a more natural instinct to get forward â€“ something he did at Everton because he was probably the most creative player in that team â€“ and he has added such calmness and composure to the midfield as well as positional intelligence.

There was one moment in the second half against Dortmund when it looked initially as if Song had been left to mark two players as they came into our half. As it happened Song won the ball back but Arteta had dropped back, in front of the back four to cover and provide a defensive option had they managed to work the ball back inside. And it's things like that which go unnoticed but which have played a big part in our increased defensive solidity. A canny signing and one I wish Arsene had made two seasons ago. Better late than never though.

Coney

25-11-2011, 09:04 AM

Arseblog about Mikel

You should nick that and post it on another thread.

Flavs

05-12-2011, 08:33 AM

Interesting!

There's a lot of talk about us being over-reliant on van Persie's goals and it's easy to see why. However, since the Sp*rs game we've scored 20 league goals, Robin has 11 of them, so while that's certainly a healthy percentage it's not as high as you might think and probably as high as you'd expect from a world class striker.

What's even more interesting is that on the creative side we're definitely spreading things around. This from the always fantastic 'By the numbers <http://news.arseblog.com/2011/12/wigan-0-4-arsenal-by-the-numbers/>
' on Arseblog News (from 7amkickoff <http://www.7amkickoff.com/>
):

*5 â€“ *Number of Arsenal players with four or more Premier League assists

*5 â€“ *Number of Man City players with four or more Premier League
assists*

2 â€“ *Number of players from each of Man U, Tottenham, and Chelsea with four or more Premier League assists

So as much as not being reliant on one player to take chances is important, so it is with creating them. Of course Robin is a big part of that too but overall we've got a front three that really seems to be gelling in the same way our midfield trio has. While Gervinho has still to convince some â€“ and there's no doubt he can improve on certain parts of his game â€“ thus far he has 3 goals and 6 assists to his name. When you look at who might be playing in his place, and what they've contributed in recent times, then despite his frustrating moments he's been a good signing (remembering as well he's only a few months into his career in English football).

IBK

05-12-2011, 10:30 AM

What does this mean (from yesterday's match report)?

Match report (with goal clips)

I think that’s what you’d call back on track. A solid, unspectacular performance, not aided and abetted by a ridiculous, bought sending off early in the game, and a display that showed lessons have been learned from away days at Wigan before.

Does he mean the Caldwell sending off at the Arsenal home fixture last season?

LDG

05-12-2011, 10:33 AM

What does this mean (from yesterday's match report)?

Does he mean the Caldwell sending off at the Arsenal home fixture last season?

Yeah, I didn't get that bit yesterday :D

Dunno whether he was referring to the Sperz match?

Syn

05-12-2011, 11:26 AM

Yeah definitely a dig at the spuds. Interesting stats on the goals/assists. Has to be said that walcotts playing very well right now. And vermaelen is prolific.

IBK

05-12-2011, 12:02 PM

Ah yes - all clear now! Must have been a comment on Sp*rs. (BTW how fecking flukey are those arseholes ATM). Pleeeeeease start dropping points, t*ssers! They are being helped big stylee by no CL and throwing the Europa league, BTW.

Flavs

05-12-2011, 12:17 PM

IBK

05-12-2011, 12:32 PM

Manyoo are worse, they just keep winning 1-0 over and over

fuckers

Annoying, but I can tell you who I would rather finish behind if push comes to shove...

Coney

05-12-2011, 12:39 PM

Annoying, but I can tell you who I would rather finish behind if push comes to shove...

Ashley Cole?

Flavs

14-12-2011, 09:28 AM

So you get to thinking what would make anyone feel better during a mini-Interlull and then you remember what time of year it is. Yep.
Excitement is building. Little children will be looking at their calendars, counting down the days, giddy with excitement until it's /that/ night and they can barely sleep. Tossing and turning all night long, their little pyjamas all crumpled up and no matter how much they close their eyes and squeeze them shut they just can't.

Eventually sleep will take them and the next morning they'll rush down the stairs and log onto NewsNow to see if Arsenal have signed anyone.
Yes, it's the opening of the transfer window. Oh, what manner of goodies will Santa Wenger bring them? A left back? A striker? A midfield enforcer? Sebastian Frey? Of course by January 31st â€“ after Arsene has been compounding his interest as much as possible and only then deciding to bring back a former player on loan â€“ the excitement will have turned to anger and dismay, and not even seeing Thomas Danilevicius in the mighty red and white again will appease them.

Still, at least we know the manager's thinking about it. Speaking about the possibility of a January transfer or two, he said <http://news.arseblog.com/2011/12/wenger-eyes-opportunity-to-buy-attacker/>

:good:

Japan Shaking All Over

27-12-2011, 10:27 AM

Manyoo are worse, they just keep winning 1-0 over and over

fuckers

Looks like they are a bit bored of 1:0 results

Flavs

11-01-2012, 10:33 AM

I feel a bit sorry for Martin Keown. Not because of the clip showing his fantastic header but because he's in a position that must be amongst the most frustrating in the world. Firstly, he's having to listen to Robbie Savage squawk his half-witted shite to the world but secondly, he's doing it from within punching distance.

:lol:

Coney

11-01-2012, 02:25 PM

The Gunners have been spuriously linked with a host of top European talent (and Soloman Kalou) in recent weeks....

:lol:

Flavs

17-01-2012, 09:53 AM

A lot has been said about the litany of injuries we've suffered, meaning players are being played out of position which affects our normal game and so on. And certainly those injuries are a hindrance.
The lack of full backs is perhaps the most obvious, it leaves the team unbalanced and we have been exposed in that area during recent defeats. To be fair, however, having all four natural full backs out injured at the same with mid-long term injuries time is somewhat unprecedented. I've certainly never seen it before.

Further injuries to Vermaelen, the most obvious candidate to replace Santos and Gibbs, and to versatile youngster Francis Coquelin haven't helped. However, I do wonder if the biggest issue we face is the fact that our squad just isn't strong enough to cope. I know most teams would struggle to live with those kind of injuries but we're carrying a lot of players who take up space in the squad and whose contributions are minimal, at best.

These are players that the manager won't play, for various reasons, or can't play because their injuries and injury records prevent them from being selected. If you start from the back there's Manuel Almunia - 4th choice goalkeeper, the manager has long decided his time is up.
Vito Mannone, loaned out, would be surprised if he comes back.
Sebastian Squillaci - again, the manager will do as much as he can not to play him, such is his lack of faith. There is talk this morning that he's interesting AS Monaco and you can't help but think a move is probably best for everyone. He's been a bad purchase for Arsenal but came with a reasonable reputation. As Koscielny's reputation has soared, his has plummeted.

Kieran Gibbs, a player Arsene obviously likes, so much so he was willing to let Gael Clichy go a year before he did â€“ only for Mourinho's arrival at Real Madrid (the intended destination) to scupper the deal. Yet Gibbs, for all the potential Arsene sees in him, is a problem because he's injury-prone. Just 9 appearances this season. Ok, his problem is exacerbated the absence of Santos who, I'm told, is unlikely to be back before April, but there's no denying it's a problem.

In midfield Abou Diaby is traveling to see specialists in the USA and Qatar to see specialists about his ankle. On December 2nd Arsene reported a 'slight muscular problem' and said he'd be back in 10 days.
Let's be brutally honest about this, Diaby is struggling to save his football career. The litany of injuries he's suffered since Dan Smith's tackle is a crying shame but sooner or later we have to make a decision about his worth. I know Arsene won't want to give up on him but the reality is he's played a total of 25 minutes of football this season and we need more than that. His presence in the squad is restrictive now. It's sad that a player has been so blighted by injury but for how long can we allow the injury to affect the squad?

There's certainly a measure of experience and usefulness to Rosicky and Benayoun, even if both are too lightweight to start games, while up-front we've got three players in our squad whose contributions range from minimal to absolutely nothing. Andrei Arshavin has two assists recently but 1 league goal in his last 35 Arsenal appearances tells its own story. Marouane Chamakh, similarly, 1 goal in well over a year. Ju Young Park, well, what was the point at all? Yes, we left our summer striking business late but was this the best we could do?

A player we actively stole from under the noses of Lille, who had a reasonable reputation in France and internationally, who has yet to play a single second of Premier League football and we're in the middle of January. And this is in the middle of a period when we're struggling for goals. It's almost as if this wasn't an Arsene signing and the manager's reluctance to use him is borne out of that. Whatever the reason, whatever the circumstances, Park is taking up a place in the squad and has, thus far, contributed nothing of value bar a goal in the Carling Cup which, at this point in time, means nothing because it's a competition we're no longer in.

So let's recap, for various reasons we have Almunia, Mannone, Squillaci, Gibbs, Diaby, Arshavin, Park, Chamakh, all of whom the manager doesn't have any faith in, or can't rely on, yet whose presence in the squad does have an effect. It means that there's an over-reliance on the 14-15 players he does trust. It means that those players are being used, perhaps, more often than they should be, leading to fatigue, mentally and physically. It means that when they don't perform our options are limited, to say the very least. It means that competition for places is minimal.

very good, add in Bendtner, Vela, Denilson and the whole host of non work permit players we have out there the clear out we saw in the summer must be replicated again either now or in the summer.

Coney

17-01-2012, 11:19 AM

Interesting stuff. Are the backroom boys not being pro-active enough in finding places to ship them out to?

Boss

17-01-2012, 11:25 AM

Clubs don't want to buy our players due to our wage structure which makes sure most of the squad is on relatively similar wages, it attracts (talented) youth players to come to us because we pay them more than other clubs but also means nobody is willing to buy shite like Denilson/Diaby who are on 50k per week.

Flavs

10-02-2012, 09:27 AM

Arsenal play Sunderland tomorrow and under Martin O'Neill they've been about 61 times better than they were under Mrs Doubtfire. O'Neill, however, is one of the most annoying people in football with his voice and his face and his hair and his eyes and his limbs and his torso and extremities and his tracksuit pants. Obviously though this game isn't about how annoying Martin O'Neill is, not for Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal team anyway.

It's about making sure that we pick up where we left off against Blackburn. The likelihood of another seven goal haul is pretty slim but we have to come away from New Roker Park with three points tomorrow. I fancy United to beat Liverpool, Chelsea are going to lose about 5-0 to Everton while the combined ****ery of Newcastle and Sp*rs will hopefully open up a vortex to another dimension where everything looks normal but food eats you.

:lol:

Japan Shaking All Over

11-02-2012, 05:12 AM

Combined cutlery. . .great way to describe those two teams :ninja:

Coney

11-02-2012, 05:50 PM

Combined cutlery. . .great way to describe those two teams :ninja:

Is that a spoonerism? ;)

Japan Shaking All Over

21-02-2012, 08:02 AM

Is that a spoonerism? ;)

you should know!.....you cutlerist!

Coney

21-02-2012, 09:03 AM

Fork off

21-02-2012, 09:37 AM

too spoon :sulk:

Japan Shaking All Over

22-02-2012, 03:01 AM

Fork off

I think we're getting our chopsticks crossed!

Coney

12-05-2012, 11:15 AM

http://arseblog.com/2012/05/pat-rice-steve-bould-sun-mayo-arsecast-241/

And there are some lovely tributes from some of the players and staff across the years here. I particularly like Tomas Rosicky’s:

Hi Pat, I am very sad to see you go. Every morning I will miss that 10 minutes before training starts when you come into the dressing room and shout at us!

:haha:

Joker

03-08-2012, 10:15 AM

From his latest blog:

With all due respect to Alex Song and Theo Walcott I firmly believe Robin van Persie’s incredible run of form made them appear more creative than they really are.

:lol: What a load of BS. These two contributed 27 assists between them and he doesn't have a good word to say about either. Instead he's too busy waxing lyrical about Arteta, and although he was decent last season, didn't have the tangible impact that Song and Walcott had.

Cripps_orig

03-08-2012, 10:43 AM

Arseblog :lol:

Never take them seriously. Talk shit mostly

Joker

17-08-2012, 12:06 PM

Arseblogger on the arses RE: RVP

Honestly, I hope his entire life, not his career, falls apart.

:lol: and he acts all sanctimonious about Stoke fans being Neanderthals.

17-08-2012, 12:32 PM

Shut up

Japan Shaking All Over

17-08-2012, 01:14 PM

Shut up

I'd that if I were you. . .could come in useful when replying to anything our Joker posts, although he no longer has RvP to get on at, I am sure he will find someone

17-08-2012, 01:19 PM

I would but I don't know how to do the little tm thingy

Japan Shaking All Over

17-08-2012, 01:24 PM

I would but I don't know how to do the little tm thingy

Ask Letters. . .he doesn't know either :good:

Gervinho's Forehead

30-10-2012, 08:49 PM

Arseblog has been an arse over the last few days, I look forward to reading what he has to say to the fans that aren't happy tomorrow.

Xhaka Can’t

30-10-2012, 09:13 PM

I look forward to not reading him tomorrow as I eagerly do each day.

Joker

31-10-2012, 06:14 PM

He used to be insightful but these days he's become a total apologist for the board. The Arses are also dominated by a clique of Kroenke fanboys who are impossible to reason with.

Olivier's xmas twist

31-10-2012, 06:40 PM

Shut up

Never saw this before :haha:

Its disgusting how batman's rivals are treated on here :coffee:

Joker

04-11-2012, 12:03 PM

Arseblog on RVP:

His goal was inevitable and the post-game talk of ‘respect’ was pitiful, and insulting, after he failed to celebrate, the faker. The moment that stood out for me though was a horrible challenge on Bacary Sagna, one of the few not to give him a cuddle before the game, and to inflict that tackle on a man who had his leg broken twice last season shows the true measure of the man. Brilliant player, wish we still had him, but that was nasty and something we were quite happy to overlook when wearing our shirt (naturally so, I should add).

Conveniently ignoring the chants against him, given which I thought he reacted quite well tbh.

Ollie the Optimist

04-11-2012, 05:39 PM

Arseblog on RVP:

Conveniently ignoring the chants against him, given which I thought he reacted quite well tbh.

arseblog has said nothing wrong there. the chants are wrong, (esp the she said no) however he was always going to get abused. yesterday we had rio ferdinand being a **** about the abuse he got, convienantly forgetting his own fans sing "whose that twat from argentina" to tevez and "sit down you paedophile" to wenger.
abuse happens in football, but in cases like this abuse happens because the player bring it upon themselves. doesnt make it right, however doesnt mean they get praise for not celebrating either

Gervinho's Forehead

04-11-2012, 05:42 PM

Apparently there was a new song about Wenger being jimmy Saville, or something.

Olivier's xmas twist

04-11-2012, 06:21 PM

arseblog has said nothing wrong there. the chants are wrong, (esp the she said no) however he was always going to get abused. yesterday we had rio ferdinand being a **** about the abuse he got, convienantly forgetting his own fans sing "whose that twat from argentina" to tevez and "sit down you paedophile" to wenger.
abuse happens in football, but in cases like this abuse happens because the player bring it upon themselves. doesnt make it right, however doesnt mean they get praise for not celebrating either

:gp:

Pay me £1 million a month ,you can call me a **** all you like.

Gervinho's Forehead

09-11-2012, 01:37 AM

Jack also spoke about Theo Walcott, hoping his England teammate would stay at the club:

Theo has been great. His future is down to him and the boss to sort out. I hope he does sign. He has been great for us. He’s an English lad and great to have around.

Jack surely can't be worried that sir twatting **** would pick walcott over him in the summer!

Joker

29-11-2012, 09:49 AM

http://arseblog.com/2012/11/everton-1-1-arsenal-a-hard-earned-point/

In isolation that wasn’t a bad point at all last night. It was a hectic, frenetic, exciting game of Premier League football against an extremely hard-working Everton side, and in the end I don’t think we can have any complaints at all about the draw.

There were changes. Wilshere and Walcott came in, Vermaelen and Sagna returned to the full back positions (in Vermaelen’s case temporarily), while ‘illness’ ruled out Lukas Podolski. That meant Aaron Ramsey started on the left and he had an immediate impact, feeding a return to Walcott after the winger’s run inside from the right. His shot deflected off Tony Hibbert’s boot and looped over Tim Howard to put us 1-0 up inside 60 seconds.

The joy of the goal was tempered by the loss of Laurent Koscielny who strained his groin and is likely to miss around three weeks. Gibbs came on at left back, Vermaelen pushed central alongside Mertesacker and all in all it wasn’t too disruptive. Which isn’t to say we didn’t have our struggles – Everton’s pressing made it very difficult for us to keep the ball and they looked dangerous constantly. Some last ditch defending was necessary and I have to say that Arsenal defended well throughout, there was real discipline from the midfielders and even the forwards to track back and make tackles.

But it was carelessness that cost us the goal. Szczesny had it comfortably at the back and maybe should have taken a bit more time to allow us to get our shape. Sagna’s pass to Arteta wasn’t great, his effort to mop up when the Spaniard lost it under pressure gave it straight to Fellaini and his left footed shot from 25 yards is one that the keeper will probably look back on think he should have done better with.

To be fair to him he made up for it with a strong performance in general. He saved one off the line from Fellaini, stopped one near post from Jelavic, dealt with free kicks and corners well, and made one outstanding save from a Sylvain Distin header which had goal written all over it. He was also thankful to Kieran Gibbs who made a quite brilliant intervention as Naismith was almost presented with a tap-in – it might stick in your craw a little bit but it was reminiscent of Ashley Cole at his best.

At the other end the best chance we created came from a Theo Walcott cross (he swapped sides with Ramsey after about half an hour and stayed on the left until the end) only for Olivier Giroud’s header to drift just wide of the top corner. You could see the shadow of the ball on the post as it skimmed by. Howard had to deal with Ramsey toe poke which went through a number of players and Cazorla worked him with a left footed drive as Everton faded in the last 15-20 minutes.

And here is where I come back to our squad depth and not being able to take advantage of those tired legs. Everton had worked themselves into the ground and had changed from playing good, short passing football to lumping it long towards Fellaini. An effective option, no question, but one which was borne out of tiredness. A look at our bench and it was hard to see how we could try and take advantage. Rosicky travelled but was unlikely to feature after the manager said he needed some reserve action first. There was no Arshavin, no Chamakh (I know, but once again it’s a game without a striker on the bench), Oxlade-Chamberlain wasn’t used and in the end all we had was Gervinho for Ramsey.

It wasn’t enough to swing the game in our favour and you do wonder if it might be time to look deeper into the squad. Despite their youth perhaps Eisfeld or Gnabry might have offered something different. The difficulty though is that if they don’t produce it’s further evidence of the paucity of our squad (reliant on kids) and it is a lot to expect them to come on and perform at the highest level. And if we do take a gamble and lose what would have been a hard earned point, well … you don’t need to me to tell you.

So I can understand the manager’s reluctance to use them, but it doesn’t mean we don’t have an issue. But With eight games in December, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them at some stage, because the tired legs aren’t going to get any less tired.

Another thing to note is that you want all your players as involved as possible in a game like this. Walcott will have a goal to his credit, and fair play to him for it, but when you look at the stats (which I know don’t tell you everything), you have to ask if he did as much as he could for the team last night. In 90 minutes he made 18 out of 22 passes, 11 from 13 in the attacking third of the pitch. That’s not great when you look at what those around him did:

Ramsey 45/53 (18/20) – Cazorla 44/53 (20/24) – Wilshere 61/71 (18/23) – Arteta 59/66 (9/12)

I know he’s a different kind of player, not as comfortable on the ball, more direct and seen as something of an outlet, but at the same time to have contributed less than Wilshere in the final third and far less than Ramsey who was also playing as part of the forward three is quite telling. As I’ve said before his stats are a wet dream this season, but it’s hard not to look at him as a bit of a soggy blanket overall at times. I do have to give him props for some excellent defensive work though, he got back well all night and once or twice tracked back a good distance to help snuff out Everton attacks. I’d just like to see him want the ball more and not just when it’s easy for him to have it.

Anyway, those are observations which people can take, discuss, dissect and do with as they please. To my mind it was a good point last night, the frustration comes from the fact that we were looking to make up for the bad one at Villa Park last weekend. That was the poor result, not this one. We worked our socks off and really earned the point against a side that worked just as hard. The pace and intensity of the game was incredible and overall I have no issue with the draw.

Our next two league games are at home and as I’ve mentioned we have a run of fixtures from which we should be capable of picking up a good haul of points from. We’re going to have to dig deep to do it though, starting on Saturday against Swansea.

Till tomorrow.

Don't understand how the only player to receive any criticism from yesterday was Walcott. There were worse perfomers out there like Ramsey, Cazorla and Arteta who always get a free ride from Arseblog. He's lost so much credibility over the last year with his partisan, pseudo-objective opinions.

29-11-2012, 09:54 AM

:lol:

The purpose of a blog is to offer an opinion.

Ollie the Optimist

29-11-2012, 09:58 AM

http://arseblog.com/2012/11/everton-1-1-arsenal-a-hard-earned-point/

Don't understand how the only player to receive any criticism from yesterday was Walcott. There were worse perfomers out there like Ramsey, Cazorla and Arteta who always get a free ride from Arseblog. He's lost so much credibility over the last year with his partisan, pseudo-objective opinions.

what is it you dont agree with? he has made valid points about theo, he also critiziced others in that article too

Joker

29-11-2012, 10:05 AM

what is it you dont agree with? he has made valid points about theo, he also critiziced others in that article too

He uses the number of passes made as evidence of his opinion that Walcott "hides" in matches when things aren't going well. However, this is a misleading statistic, because he's comparing Walcott with central midfielders (I know Ramsey played out wide but he's naturally a central midfielder and he drifted in a lot) when he probably should be comparing him with Giroud. If similar wingers like Lennon, Young, Johnson etc were playing in the match yesterday, I don't think they'd get much of the ball either, as Everton pressed us back so much. Notice how he also praises Ramsey in the 2nd paragraph for making an "immediate impact" rather than Theo, even though both were involved in the goal.

He's obviously entitled to his opinion, but he tries to present his obvious dislike of Theo as based on objective statistics, rather than a personal judgement. Moreover, notice how he praises Ramsey

Kano

29-11-2012, 10:06 AM

you love arseblog.

you always read it and pass comment.

he must be a very important figure in your life.

Joker

29-11-2012, 10:16 AM

Yes, he's my dad.

LDG

29-11-2012, 11:32 AM

Yes, he's my dad.

:lol:

Gazidis is your mum.

Kano

29-11-2012, 11:51 AM

Yes, he's my dad.
explains why he is such a **** then.

McNamara That Ghost...

29-11-2012, 03:17 PM

:lol:

Gazidis is your mum.

We are committed to a self-sustaining (toy) model.

29-11-2012, 03:30 PM

If you google 'self-sustaining model' you get this...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XepncMd1Z20/Tg9lx7wer-I/AAAAAAAABws/6D2gUVUf2As/s1600/Gisele_Bundchen_-_Photocall_for_Arsenal_football_club__19_.jpg

:lol:

McNamara That Ghost...

29-11-2012, 03:32 PM

I can now understand the commitment.

LDG

29-11-2012, 03:38 PM

We really should be getting behind it.

29-11-2012, 03:39 PM

We really should be getting behind it.

And in front, with one underneath.

LDG

29-11-2012, 03:47 PM

I like the way they've front loaded it.

Joker

23-12-2012, 04:42 PM

http://arseblog.com/2012/12/wigan-0-1-arsenal-mik-nicks-it/

It’s not a game about which there’s a great deal to say. Wigan played quite well, certainly tenaciously, Arsenal stood up to them pretty well, had the better of the few chances that the game produced and won through a Mikel Arteta penalty.

We were unchanged from Reading but this probably has as much to do with Olivier Giroud being ill as much as anything else. Along with a similarly unwell Tomas Rosicky, the Frenchman didn’t even make the bench, and as the game went on you got the feeling this is one in which we could really have done with him. Theo Walcott up front is a buzz word, something that should trend on Twitter for a few moments and then everyone forgets about.

It’s not, in my view, something which suits him or Arsenal, and his ineffectiveness yesterday was plain to see. He’s not the guy to hold the ball up, he wants it behind the defence when the team need him to come short and lay it off, and physically it’s just not a role which he can play with any real success. Wigan yesterday were reminiscent of a Sam Allardyce Bolton side, snapping into tackles, leaving the foot in time and time again, and it was frustrating to see Jack Wilshere get booked for a fantastic tackle (which the Wigan players didn’t complain about, in fairness), then see Shaun Moloney commit foul after foul after foul without so much as a word from the ref.

On days like that you need a measure of physicality in your team, and an outlet to relieve some of the pressure. Theo doesn’t give us either, and the strengths he does have (his pace and his … erm … pace) are negated. With a more traditional forward yesterday I think we might have been able to lessen some of the pressure we were under, but that we didn’t isn’t Walcott’s fault, and he did win the penalty.

I saw @danlevy1 mention it in the same breath as Freddie Ljungberg and I think that’s spot on. He got in front of the defender, there was some contact and down he went. Soft, yes. Penalty, undoubtedly. After all, the ref pointed to the spot. Mikel Arteta stepped up, sent Al Habsi the wrong way and if it was something of a break then fine, I’m not complaining.

As the game wore on Arsene decided we have what we hold was the best policy. Aaron Ramsey replaced Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was probably our best player on the day. Then he pulled off Podolski to chuck on the Coq, before late on throwing on Koscielny for Cazorla to increase the defensive mindedness of the team. Wigan had been pressing without creating too much and when they did Wojciech Szczesny was up to the job.

He changed direction well to save a Figueroa shot which deflected on its way towards goal, and then came out well to save with his legs from Kone when he’d created good space for himself. In the immediate aftermath of the game they’re not saves that spring to mind, but they were important and made with a minimum of fuss. He looks more and more solid as the weeks go by and it’s encouraging to see.

In the end we hung on well, Wigan had a lot of the ball and it was amusing to see late them on, as they pressed for an equaliser them, passing the ball from left to right back to left, looking at a wall of well organised Arsenal defenders. If it seemed familiar it’s because we’ve often faced that wall and been unable to find space, so it was nice to see the shoe on the other foot for a change.

Afterwards, Arsene said:

They had a lot of possession in the end but we really wanted it. It’s good because [we showed] more determination than domination in the final part of the game.

It’s good but not enough. We want more. I hope that gives us a bit more belief and confidence and that we can play with a much more positive environment.

And look, sometimes you have to dig in and scrap one out. This isn’t a game which will win any awards for performance or excitement, but it will show three points for Arsenal and that’s the main thing. It’s also our third Premier League win in a row and while we’re still looking for consistency in our performances, that’s the first time we’ve done that since March last year, so that’s a good thing.

The tube strike means West Ham is cancelled and we don’t play again until the 29th, but going into the Christmas we’re sitting in third place. I can live with that, for now.

Right, not much more to it, last of the shopping to be done today. Have a good Sunday, back tomorrow.

So Arseblog thinks Walcott's only asset is his pace :lol: He's far too blasé about Theo leaving tbh.

Olivier's xmas twist

23-12-2012, 04:56 PM

http://arseblog.com/2012/12/wigan-0-1-arsenal-mik-nicks-it/

So Arseblog thinks Walcott's only asset is his pace :lol: He's far too blasé about Theo leaving tbh.

You really let this bloke, get to you, don't ya.

Joker

23-12-2012, 05:01 PM

You really let this bloke, get to you, don't ya.

He chats so much shit and the problem is he's got a legion of followers who'll accept everything he says as gospel. That's why so many Gooners are comfortable with the idea of Walcott leaving, even though in reality it would weaken us considerably.

fakeyank

23-12-2012, 05:42 PM

He chats so much shit and the problem is he's got a legion of followers who'll accept everything he says as gospel. That's why so many Gooners are comfortable with the idea of Walcott leaving, even though in reality it would weaken us considerably.

I used to read his blogs religiously till about a year or so back. He is literally like Arsene Wenger... spouting the same BS over and over again. I wouldnt be surprised if the fucker gets paid to be Arsene's ass wipe. I remember a year or so back, he mentioned that if we got the tactics wrong, the finger should point to AW. Guess what happened? He has continued with the same BS since then. He'll blame his stupid dog, bacon or his mum before there is anything wrong with AW! :lol:

Joker

23-12-2012, 05:45 PM

I used to read his blogs religiously till about a year or so back. He is literally like Arsene Wenger... spouting the same BS over and over again. I wouldnt be surprised if the fucker gets paid to be Arsene's ass wipe. I remember a year or so back, he mentioned that if we got the tactics wrong, the finger should point to AW. Guess what happened? He has continued with the same BS since then. He'll blame his stupid dog, bacon or his mum before there is anything wrong with AW! :lol:

I remember at the end of the 10-11 season, after we drew 2-2 with Fulham, he delivered a very strong, hard hitting blogpost and didn't pull any punches about how Wenger has to take responsibility for our failings. Then, he had some book deal with the club and started running competitions with Fly Emirates and all of a sudden there's barely a word of criticism towards Wenger or the board, and the only people who are criticised are players who have left or Usmanov. Definitely a sell-out.

23-12-2012, 06:40 PM

A really odd notion, I know, but just bear with me a sec...

You could, you know, not read it?

Olivier's xmas twist

23-12-2012, 06:47 PM

A really odd notion, I know, but just bear with me a sec...

You could, you know, not read it?

:haha:

23-12-2012, 06:48 PM

:haha:

No, I'm being serious.

Why read something if you can't handle what he's saying?

Olivier's xmas twist

23-12-2012, 06:56 PM

No, I'm being serious.

Why read something if you can't handle what he's saying?

Yeah i know that, which is why i laughed. Its just common sense.

Kano

23-12-2012, 09:03 PM

Joker definitely knows that Arseblog guy.

-Xs-

15-02-2013, 11:48 AM

Joker definitely knows that Arseblog guy.

Joker IS that Arseblog guy..:ninja:

Fist of Lehmann

15-02-2013, 12:02 PM

Dubious tbh. Arseblog is a moderate. Joker is whatever that thing he is, is.

LDG

15-02-2013, 01:21 PM

Dubious tbh. Arseblog is a moderate. Joker is whatever that thing he is, is.

Twat?

Fist of Lehmann

15-02-2013, 01:38 PM

Twat?

Thanks, but I just ate.

Joker

21-04-2013, 09:26 AM

http://arseblog.com/2013/04/fulham-0-1-arsenal-three-points-thats-all-that-matters/

In the 11+ years I’ve been writing Arseblog, and about Arsenal, I don’t think I’ve ever experienced such an outpouring of anger … after a win. Yes, there have been days when people’s frustration has gotten the better of them, but usually it’s when we drop points, lose cup finals or important games, or find our season over midway through November.

That, I understand, but the vitriol and viciousness yesterday of some commentators is staggering. I don’t think there’s a single person out there who would say we were at our best yesterday, nobody would dare suggest we played well, but at this point of the season there’s nothing to be taken from a sterling performance coupled with a poor result. It is all about getting points under our belts, and we did that. Being glad one of our players is suspended for three games, in a position where we’ve bemoaned our lack of strength all season, is an opinion so stupid it could take human shape as Joey Barton.

If you want my brutally honest assessment, I think we’re a pretty average team that doesn’t play particularly attractive football any more, we have certain players whose contributions are far less than they should be, the squad is missing the kind of quality to win things, and we are where we are in the league for good reason; not bad luck or anything like it.

But we’re also a team that has been working extremely hard in recent weeks, that has knuckled down to overcome some of its flaws, that has kept probably as many clean sheets in the past month as we have most of the rest of the season, and a team that has taken 19 points from the last 21 available in the league. In the grand scheme of things, there’s plenty to discuss and talk about; there are obviously improvements that can be made to the first team and the squad in general, but I think it redefines the word churlish to throw your toys out of the pram after we’ve won … away from home. We were poor against 10 men, so what?

Frankly, at this stage of the season I care little for how we perform as long as we win. That’s the position we’re in, like it or not. Other teams are criticised for winning ugly, when we do it it seems to be a cardinal sin. And not reacting like a spoilt child doesn’t mean you’re blind to our problems or that you think everything is A-OK, it just means you can appreciate that right now, it’s far better for us to play like crap and take three points than be tippy-tappy, flicky-flacky, pass masters who draw or lose.

That Arsenal’s two best players yesterday were goalscorer Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny tells you something about a game in which we played against 10 men for 80+ minutes. Fulham looked more dangerous than us throughout, we just did not click from an attacking point of view. Olivier Giroud had another frustrating game but also received little service. At one point I was playing Where’s Walco, trying to figure out which defender Theo was hiding behind, while Santi Cazorla was only marginally better than his corners which were, being brutally honest, so far below the standard you’d expect from a professional footballer of his talent that I just don’t have the words to do them justice.

What was interesting was how the substitutions, designed, I’m sure, to spark a bit of life into us, completely changed the momentum of the game. We were most certainly on top, if completely nonthreatening, with plenty of possession. We spread the ball well from one side to the other, Fulham worked hard and kept a good shape which made it difficult for us (on top of our own performance issues), but when Podolski and Wilshere replaced Rosicky and Walcott it was like somebody flicked a switch.

For the final 15 minutes or so, they looked far more likely to score an equaliser than we did a second. Only for some good assistant refereeing by Sian Massey and it might have been worse, their ‘goal’ was rightly cancelled out for offside, but we were living dangerously. Mertesacker and Koscielny dealt with increasing Fulham pressure and even with a man advantage we couldn’t get back on top of the game.

The late dismissal of Giroud made me think it was going to be one of those days, but in the end we hung on, we took three points, we did what we had to do, and ultimately that’s all that counts at the end of 90 minutes. I’d much rather be here talking about how we played poorly and won than the alternative, and if results go our way today then this is a game we can rightly consign to history and never think of again.

With regard to the red cards, I thought the referee made absolutely the right decision with Sidwell. It was, in terms of the challenge, very similar to the one which broke Eduardo’s leg at Birmingham. I don’t believe it was malicious, but it was reckless and dangerous and the sending off was 100% correct. As for Giroud, I don’t think it would have been a red if a Fulham man hadn’t already been sent off. I can understand why it was given, under the circumstances, but it’s still a bit harsh for me.

Assuming that we don’t appeal and accept the three match ban, it does leave us with some tweaking to do to the team for the next number of fixtures. I talked this week about how we need another striker for next season, we don’t really have one now. Podolski is an option, of course, but he looks genuinely unfit to me, the ankle injury he’s been nursing all season seemed obvious yesterday when he was given a decent pass to run on to but outpaced by one of Senderos or Hangeland. That’s not a 100% fit Podolski. Still, it’s something to keep the discussion going this week as we prepare for the visit of United next Sunday.

The players celebrated at the end yesterday, not because they played well, but because they knew how tough it had been and because, more than anything, they knew that simply had to win. Sometimes it just don’t matter how you get there, once you get there.

Till tomorrow.

Joker

13-05-2013, 08:44 AM

http://arseblog.com/2013/05/arsenal-have-clarity-in-a-crucial-week/

Morning all and welcome to a brand new, and incredibly, important week in the life of Arsenal Football Club.

As expected, there were no favours done yesterday. Sp*rs won against Stoke, no surprise whatsoever, and the other results at the bottom end of the table had a direct impact on Wigan. Both Norwich and Newcastle won which means that the FA Cup holders now have to win both their final games in order to stay up.

None of it really changes our situation though. While it might have been nice to have some margin for error, that was lost long before this weekend. It suits us to point fingers at the Orcs but the reality is we’re responsible for where we are and looking for that lot to do us a favour just isn’t right. There was an inevitability about Sp*rs scoring the winner but nobody was predicting anything other than three points for them so it’s no surprise.

Anything less than a win tomorrow night needs us leaving a favour from Sunderland at White Hart Lane on the final day of the season. If we win, a win at Newcastle will guarantee us at least fourth, and we could finish third if Chelsea lose their fixture at home to Everton. A win also relegates Wigan which means that Newcastle will have nothing to worry about on the final day. Update: Newcastle are already safe.

Yet, although the pressure is on, there’s absolute clarity about what we need to do. Two games, two wins. That’s always been our target and that hasn’t changed. We go into a game tomorrow night having had 10 days off. There can be no excuses when it comes to effort and endeavour. At this point of the season it’s practically unheard of to have that amount of time between games. It’s normally a slog from one game to the next, legs are tired, injuries and strains and aches shape team selection, but we should be in good shape.

And that’s something we need to take advantage of. Look at how we started the game against Manchester United a couple of weeks back. Think back to that awesome performance against Chelsea a couple of seasons ago. High-tempo football, pressing all over the pitch, giving the opposition no time to be comfortable on the ball. If we can’t manage that for two games as important as this, well, then we’ve got real problems.

Wigan will arrive with plenty of confidence having won a trophy, and beaten last season’s champions to do it, and, of course, they beat us in this fixture last season. But there’s also a reason why they’re staring relegation in the face and that’s what we need to exploit. The importance of Champions League football next season is impossible to ignore. It will shape what we do this summer, and how we can do it, and the players need to be aware of that.

On the one hand you want them relaxed and feeling good, not overly-burdened by the task at hand, but on the other these are professional footballers and pressure comes with the territory. If you can’t handle it, you’re in the wrong game. But our form is good, we’re 9 games unbeaten, the players have shown some serious resolve in certain fixtures even if we’ve struggled in others, and they should feel confident about this one.

It’s the final home game of the season, Champions League football next season is in our own hands and after some of the crap we’ve produced this campaign I don’t think we’re in any position to complain about the situation we’re in. Heads down, work hard, get on with it.

We’ll get some team news later on as Arsene meets the press this morning. I don’t think there are any fresh problems – unless somebody’s done something in training that hasn’t leaked – so we should have as full a squad as possible bar the suspended Giroud and Diaby. We can take a proper look ahead to the game tomorrow, and all the other bits and pieces.

Until then.

Joker

18-05-2013, 11:22 AM

Arseblog on Sanogo signing:

http://arseblog.com/2013/05/thoughts-on-tomorrow-and-yaya-sanogo/

Morning chums.

A quick Saturday round-up for you. Firstly, some quotes from some mad people who are genuinely looking forward to tomorrow’s game against Newcastle.

Arsene Wenger: Sometimes you think it would be nice to have a game with no pressure, but when you have one you think, ‘let’s get it back, it’s so boring’. What would be terrible would be to go to Newcastle and have nothing at stake for us. We have what we wanted so let’s just finish the job.

Jack Wilshere: I think excitement first of all. When we get into the game, we’ll see what happens. Maybe a bit of nerves will come into it.

Olivier Giroud has spoken about how Montpellier won the title in France on the final day of last season, and look, I get why the players and the manager have to make confident noises ahead of this game. They should feel upbeat, it’s in their hands, results have been good lately, and we’ve got the experience of having done this before. More than once.

Personally though, I don’t find anything enjoyable about it at all. If the result goes our way I’m sure I’ll be delighted and happy, but it’ll be relief more than anything else. Like finally getting off a train with no toilet and finding somewhere to have a wee after sitting cross-legged for an hour. It’s a lovely feeling but one precipitated by a period of increasing discomfort and pain.

I can’t get the final day of last season out of my head and that excruciating game against West Brom knowing that one goal would leave us in 4th. As bad as watching Mr Shinpads lift the Champions League for that pack of knobbers, knowing it would have deprived us of our spot in that tournament this season would have been unbearable.

Only a win will do for us tomorrow. Sunderland might try hard but they’ve little to play for and they’ll want to get away from their angry manager as quickly as possible. Spurs know they’ve got to win to have any chance of finishing top four and I fully expect them to do it. Although we beat Wigan quite comfortably on Tuesday night, you need only look at the sequence of our recent results to think it’s probably going to be a tight game tomorrow.

Before Wigan it’s been: 1-0, 1-1, 1-0, 0-0, 3-1, 2-1. The late, late rally against Norwich made that scoreline look more respectable than the game felt. But hey, I don’t want to come across as overly negative. I think we’ve got the form, experience and the quality to win tomorrow, but in all honesty I’m looking forward to it about as much as a trip to the dentist. And the dentist is drunk. And uses a Black and Decker drill. And instead of Novocaine he injects you with Painacaine, a new invention which makes you feel all the soreness multiplied by 75. And his hands are covered in warts and he’s not wearing gloves and at one point, as he’s leaning over you, he dribbles some of the spittle from the tobacco he’s chewing into your mouth.

So there.

In other news, away from the final day stuff, comes a story from France that we’ve agreed to sign 20 year old Auxerre striker Yaya Sanogo on a free transfer. I don’t know anything about him, really, other than he ticks a lot of the ‘haha typical Arsenal signing’ boxes in that he’s young, French and has had a lot of injury problems.

So he’s apparently very talented but somewhat brittle. Therefore, getting him on a free doesn’t seem like an unreasonable gamble to take. I don’t fall into the group of people who know with absolute certainty that this is the only transfer we’ll make this summer, eschewing more experienced and better quality options simply because he’s young, French and injury prone, just how we like ‘em, har har!

Shoot me.

I suspect this is about adding some depth to the striking position for next season. We’ve bemoaned it all season long, how we didn’t have anyone to fill in when Giroud was out, not even a promising youngster. Well, if he signs now we have that option. It doesn’t mean we won’t sign anyone else because as our defensive record show this season, it’s lack of goals that have hindered us, and I think that will be a major factor in what we do in the transfer market this summer.

It’s the age old ‘You can’t please some of the people any of the time’ thing when it comes to transfers. They complain when we don’t make them, they complain when we do. They are seeking Goldilocks’ porridge in every single deal but sometimes the porridge is a bit lumpy and sometimes the porridge is a bit cold. And hey, not all the porridge is good porridge but at least give it a try before you throw your toys out of the pram.

And on that horrendously mixed metaphorical note, I’m off to try and forget about tomorrow until it happens. Have a good Saturday.