Untold Media: All the things that Robin Van Persie did not say. (PS, you’ve been conned).

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Publication on July 20th: Woolwich Arsenal, the club that changed football. The book that re-writes the Arsenal story.

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Untold Media: All the things that Robin Van Persie did not sa

By: Anne

Well readers… I guess that all I can say to open this article is “welcome.” Welcome to a brand new age in the targeting of Arsenal through the media, as we abandon old and archaic notions like “splashing the cash,” and embark upon the bold new tactical age of “forced transfers,” in which individual Arsenal players will apparently be targeted for vicious and deceitful personal attacks.

And I have to say, this attack on Robin van Persie is an outrage. But first, just for anyone who might have been hiding under a rock somewhere and missed it, Robin Van Persie, on 4 July, supposedly published an “announcement” on his “official website,” where he said that he wasn’t going to renew his contract with Arsenal.

In this “announcement,” which was supposedly written as an “update” for Arsenal fans on Robin’s ongoing contract negotiations (because that’s such a normal thing for a player to do, right, to personally update the public on confidential dealings with his Club) Robin also supposedly slagged off Arsenal.

Specifically, Robin supposedly said that he was leaving Arsenal because “my goal has been to win trophies with the team and to bring the club back to its glory days,” but that he and Arsene Wenger “disagree on the way Arsenal FC should move forward.”

Now, call me crazy… But doesn’t something about those statements sound almost… familiar? In fact, I could almost swear that I’ve read something in the past where someone was expressing very similar sentiments, except in that case, the author was most definitely not Robin Van Persie. I’ll see if I can remember who it might have been and get back to you.

In the meantime (and I will absolutely stand by this 100% unless somebody proves me wrong), there is absolutely no way in hell that this “Update for the Fans” that appeared on some random website was actually written by Robin Van Persie.

Yes, I can see that the anonymous author who posted it wrote “Robin Van Persie” at the end of the post.  And yes, I can also see that it says “Robin Van Persie Official Site” at the top of the page. But here’s the thing. Anyone could do that. And if that’s all that’s required to prove that you’re Robin Van Persie, and to get quoted in the media, why don’t we all start making public statements on behalf of Robin Van Persie?

Go take a look for yourself. There is absolutely nothing on this website that authenticates it as being linked to Arsenal, or to the real Robin Van Persie. And if you think it lacks credibility now, then I really wish you could have seen what it looked like when I first went there (which was just after the first media reports about this “statement” emerged). When I first looked at it, there was absolutely nothing on it at all aside from this one statement.  When I clicked on all the other tabs, they were empty.

And ever since then, someone has been gradually updating it to make it look more credible. For example, when I first started writing this article (later that same day), one “earlier post” had been added. And when I check it now, someone has added even more “earlier posts.” But unfortunately, I can’t prove any of that now, which means that you shouldn’t rely on it when forming your opinion. So I’ll just analyze it working with what’s there now (although there might be more by the time you read this).

If this is Robin Van Persie’s “official website,” why hasn’t Robin published any personal statements on it before now? He doesn’t seem to have attempted to use this website to communicate with the public at any point in the past, and wouldn’t that be the whole point of  a “personal website?” Aside from this one “update for the fans,” everything else is just a direct link to Arsenal.com. And the site certainly doesn’t go back very far. Did Robin commission it while he was at the Euros?

You can all look at it for yourselves and form your own opinions. But just ask yourself this: What does the primary purpose of this website appear to be? Specifically, does it seem like something that Robin Van Persie developed himself because he wanted to have his own personal medium for communicating with the public? Or does it seem more like the website was put up for the sole purpose of conveying this one “message,” along with just enough other stuff to give it the superficial appearance of credibility? You know my opinion already.

And if you’re not sceptical based on the website alone, why not just take a look at the “statement” itself as it originally appeared? For example, this is how it begins:

“This is an update for the fans about my current situation. I have kept quiet all this time out of respect and loyalty for the club and as agreed with Mr. Gazidis and Mr. Wenger, but since there is so much speculation in the media, I think it is fair for you guys to know what’s really going on at the moment.”

I mean, come on. Does that sound like the kind of thing you would expect to hear from Robin Van Persie or any other Arsenal player? And have you ever heard any statement like that from any football player before about confidential contract negotiations? No you haven’t, and I’ll tell you why not. Because confidentiality agreements are put in writing. If Robin Van Persie has a confidentiality agreement with the Club, Arsene Wenger, and Ivan Gazidis regarding his contract negotiations, it’s in writing, and it contains provisions for repercussions in the event that it is violated.

In other words, you can’t just decide one day to violate a confidentiality agreement because you think it’s “fair” for the entire world to know what’s really going on. Of course, some (read: many) in the media have suggested that Robin’s real motive in making this “statement” might have been because he was attempting to “force a transfer” away from Arsenal this Summer, as opposed to leaving on a free transfer next Summer. However, before we get to that subject, let’s take a quick look at one more aspect of “Robin’s” “statement”:

“As soon as Mr. Gazidis is back from his 2-week holiday in America further meetings will follow and I will update you if and when there are more developments.”

“Ok…How nice of “Robin” to offer to keep the entire world updated on, not just this one little tidbit, but on all of his confidential negotiations with the Club. I’m sure that Mr. Gazidis won’t have any problem with that at all once he’s back from America… Will we be hearing from “Robin” again, I wonder? But getting back to the subject of forced transfers. I find the following quote relevant:

“In propaganda truth pays… It is a complete delusion to think of the brilliant propagandist as being a professional liar. The brilliant propagandist is the man who tells the truth, or that selection of the truth which is requisite for his purpose, and tells it in such a way that the recipient does not think he is receiving any propaganda… The art of propaganda is not telling lies, but rather selecting the truth you require.”

Applying this principle to the current circumstances, I have come to the opinion that it is completely and 100% true that the motive for publishing this “statement” was to force Arsenal to transfer Robin Van Persie during the current window, as opposed to allowing him to leave on a free transfer next Summer. And how would this work? By making Arsenal fans so angry at Robin that we would reject him as Captain. This would prevent him from having any value to Arsenal as a player for another year, so they would be left with no alternative but to go ahead and sell him. And this seems to me to be the only logical motive that anyone could have for making a public statement such as this one.

However (and here’s where the “deceptive” aspect of the propaganda comes in), it does not seem to be the logical method for Robin Van Persie himself to pursue if he was the one who was attempting to force the transfer. Rather, Robin has a multitude of other options that he could use to exercise leverage over the Club to force a transfer, and which wouldn’t require him to damage his public image. Also, I would imagine that any confidentiality agreements associated with contract negotiations would include provisions to severely punish any attempt to influence negotiations by leaking details to the public.

Rather, I would say that the most logical explanation for something like this being “published” would be if someone else was attempting to “force a transfer” of Robin Van Persie away from Arsenal. Because absolutely everything about this “message to the fans” suggests to me that it is intended to make Arsenal fans as angry at Robin Van Persie as possible. And for someone who doesn’t have any internal influence over the contract negotiations, and is attempting to influence the negotiations from outside, causing the fans to reject Robin Van Persie as an Arsenal player and captain would seem to be the only means available to exert enough pressure externally on the Club to cause this to happen.

So, I believe that the most logical explanation for what’s going on here is that someone outside the Club is attempting to force Arsenal to transfer Robin Van Persie one year ahead of time. Another reason I think this is because Robin himself wouldn’t have much of a motive to go to the trouble of forcing a transfer when he only has one year left anyway. But to certain outside parties, it would make a big difference.

Why, you ask? Well, let’s just say that, to us, Robin Van Persie is a football player and the captain of Arsenal. But to others, Robin Van Persie is nothing more than a non-cash asset that needs to be liquidated into cash, and it is of the utmost importance that this “liquidation” occur before the “asset” loses its monetary value. The idea, of course, would be for whatever cash was moved into Arsenal as a result of the “liquidation” to be moved right back out again, and “reinvested” into the hands of the party who forced the “liquidation” in the first place (in other words, asset-stripping).

In this sense, the “forced transfer” agenda is identical to the old “splashing the cash” agenda that we’re already familiar with, and which we’ve already rejected. Repackaging the old agenda would be a means of making a fresh attempt to sell us the same idea. Personally, I believe that this is exactly what’s occurring, and if I’m right, I don’t need to prove it to you now, because we’re going to be seeing a lot more of this tactic in the future. Along with a lot more “statements” of this nature that are reported as coming from Arsenal players.

This article will continue shortly with extracts from the media’s response.

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The Robin van Persie story…

141 Replies to “Untold Media: All the things that Robin Van Persie did not say. (PS, you’ve been conned).”

  1. He links it on his twitter site. Unless you that’s also fake, then the statement is real. Whether he wrote it himself or got someone else to do it is one thing, but he obviously agreed it.

  2. Arsenal.com responded to it so that gives it validity. I am SURE they know if it was RvP’s website or not so your conspiracy theory evaporates at that point.

  3. i agree this is uncharacteristic of van persie. and i certainly hope all these are misunderstandings. im not sure, if the website is fake, then will the real van persie please stand up?

  4. It’s getting really quite paranoid and delusional over here, huh?
    Will there be a special reader offer of a build-it-yourself tin-foil hat soon?

    Mr Van Persie may not have written the post on robinvanpersie.com but he surely approved it and (a point which you convieniently ignored) posted it out on his twitter page.

    As for the site having nothing to link it to Robin Van Persie, let’s do a whois to see who owns it :

    “Domain name: robinvanpersie.com

    Registrant Contact:
    Sports Entertainment Group International B.V.”
    (quoted from publicly available whois records data)

    Who is Sports Entertainment Group? That would be Alex Kroes and Kees Vos (Van Persie’s agents / management group).

    So… please help me out here because I must either be too daft or not remotely paranoid enough to see the point of this article.

  5. noooooo rvp is gone were gonna put the wool over and say we got giroud and podolski even theo is gonna leave y take a measly 88000 why they being tight why not add 12000 more and make it 10000 thats because arsenal are fucking cheap skates

  6. Great write, Anne, sounds logical. I would happily believe this.

    But who knows for sure?

    Of course, RvP does. Let’s hope for a speedy rebuttal to that original message from the man himself.

  7. Hi there ,

    very interesting post indeed ( well i don’t expect anything less on the untold blog 🙂 ) anyways i’m one of those angry arsenal supporters who just wants to see rvp playing in the reserves for 1 year or sell to italy/spain.

    your theory has certain valid points and beside that it is not hard to believe to implement a stunt like this BUT i miss one thing in your argumentation …. WHERE IS the real rvp in all of this ? I mean why would arsenal.com react to a statement like this if it’s not real ? why wouldn’t rvp come out and say this is fake don’t be fooled ” i’m your captain ! ”

    No No there is something very dodgy in robins behaviour and this was already clear through his constant contract delays … if you have loyalty … you just do it and don’t delay time after time.

    Good article but i think to confirm your theory rvp should come out himself. until then rvp fxxx off … sorry it’s just the anger lol

  8. If this Website is nothing to do with RVP why did he link to it from his twitter account?

  9. its the truth the ambition is to buy no one and make money why should he go back out there with ramsey gervinho and the other wanders that can’t score 5 to 6 goals we need a creative midfielder and ramsey needs to learn how to assist not just pass left and right

  10. As with most conspiracy theorys there is an element of truth in your report, However Arsenal.com statement read
    “

We have to respect Robin’s decision not to renew his contract. Robin has one year to run on his current contract and we are confident that he will fulfil his commitments to the Club.
    So he clearly has declined a contract extension whatever other forces are at work the unsigned contract is the crux.

  11. Your article make sense I was more upset that he came out and said the things he did it’s just not professional it’s one thing that he wants to leave but why go about it in the way he did he threw arsenal under the bus and disrupt the entire club.

  12. The guy has a twitter account, I’m sure if someone was putting words like that in his mouth he’d happily take a minute to decry it as nothing to do with him. To take it a little further, just because this website came into existence for the principal reason of making this statement in order to force a move doesn’t mean it isn’t him behind it, I’m sure it is entirely his agents idea but RvP was willing to put his name to it which makes him as culpable as anyone.

    I’m as disappointed as any gooner that it turns out RvP is a bit of a dick and has little respect for Arsenal but I don’t think we should go digging for conspiracy theory laden rationales to try and exonerate him, we are the Arsenal and he can bugger off whilst we continue being the Arsenal.

  13. Much as I wish you were right and that it’s all a conspiracy, if what you write is true, the thing I don’t understand is why haven’t either RVP or Arsenal come out and denied that it was RVP’s official website? As someone known to use twitter, why didn’t the former when made aware of what has been all over the media, immediately denounce the speculation? I fear that it’s nothing more than wishful thinking.

  14. robinvanpersie.com is registered to Sports Entertainment Group International B.V.
    CEO is Kees Vos

  15. Spot on. I request all The Arsenal Fans not to panic about this so called RVP statement and hurl abuses towards him. He would never abuse and disrespect Mr. Wenger and The Arsenal the way the so called statement has done.

  16. A Balanced View on RvP

    I will begin by stating that RvP’s agent shouldn’t have released ‘the statement’. It showed a lack of respect for Arsenal, but what’s done is done. However I don’t see anything wrong with any player choosing any club at any stage of their career for whatever reasons they see fit. It is after all a profession, not a jail term. I just feel things could’ve been done more tastefully. Opinions are like arse holes in that way, in so far as everyone has one, but the level of vitriol from some quarters towards RvP is totally uncalled for. Supporters in general are an emotional bunch; they are also by nature unflinchingly hypocritical. The callers for loyalty only call out to the best, whilst a player with limitless loyalty but unmatched talent will be scorned and the butt of every pre-match punch line.

    As Arsenal supporters we were all saddened by Sanga’s injury, a player every fan I know speaks highly of, but if during his absence at the beginning of this coming season a new right back should enter our collective affection, with world class, commanding performances? What if the much praised Sagna were to return long, long before his form does? What would the collective’s new demand be then? (Feel free to answer these rhetorical questions.) Imagine if this player were to be Djourou, a player of loyalty to Arsenal but who is scorned for not being good enough when called upon and also for excepting the wage offered to him. I now unwillingly enter the murky water of the collective’s view of wage structure which isn’t where I want to be (if I had it my way all sport would be amateur).

    My point is rather an understatement, football supporters are fickle, and many if not all live vicariously through the players on any Saturday/Sunday/Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday they happen to play. (Add Thursdays for our soon to be Channel five watching neighbours.) With the injections of billions and billionaires there seems to be a get rich quick and entertain us attitude emerging from some supporters, generally calling for huge cash purchases that would put the club in the hands of it’s debtors, somehow with millions and billions being spoken of people lose this fact. However Manchester United are in huge debt and continue to challenge for titles, Liverpool are also in huge debt(dead pan). There are many who want Arsenal to adopt the Chelsea/Manchester City approach of running the club, the short term feel good factor, the long term domination, but is it possible if the rules change? I’m not an accountant/ fortune teller.

    If we had this money RvP wouldn’t be going anywhere, our squad would be stronger and we’d be winning trophies. We could become the new, new Manchester City or we could become the next Leeds United if the fat man were to pull the plug(or go back to prison). I don’t call players disloyal for wanting to leave, as I don’t call clubs disloyal for releasing young players without contracts. It is after all, all part of the game. Arsenal (currently) can’t afford all the best players in the world, but even without RvP (and the doe eyed Theo if he’s off too) we’ll still have some of them. I know I say this every year, but I think we might win something this season.

  17. I know you feel sad that he’s leaving. So are we. But stop fooling yourself with fake excuses.

    He’s very active on Twitter and he posted there. Above all its on ARSENAL.COM (the site which doesn’t confirm a player arrival almost until he has kicked the ball with our jersey on).

    Let’s just move on rather than give ourselves false hopes!!

  18. I think there may be a missing of the point here. Two major things don’t add up.

    First, that the site was initially blank apart from this article – and then filled in backwards.

    Second, that the information about Mr Gazidis was wrong – he was not on holiday in the States.

    These are fairly important issues to consider and just dismissing the article as being a “conspiracy theory” doesn’t actually answer the points made.

    It is quite likely that a deal was arranged with Arsenal that RVP would not renew, and that a more orderly departure would be arranged than was seen with Nasri. But then someone broke the story with this piece, and after quick consultation Arsenal came out with their reply.

    As for the ownership of the site, it is the easiest thing in the world to buy a site under a false name and address. My company owns around 120 sites with registrations from South Georgia (island in the Atlantic) to the Ascension Islands. We give the registration company details, but no one ever checks. Indeed I know that because of changes in the way my company works many of these registrations are now wrong.

    I would not say that any of us can prove what happened, but there are questions to be answered, and they can’t be dismissed just by suggesting the author is paranoid. That is, if I may say, more of a reflection on the author of the comment than on the author of the article.

  19. What a rubbish argument. RvP launched his official website months ago, he linked the article on his official twitter page and Arsenal responded with a statement in kind, to think this is some sort of hoax is delusional. Anne you’ve clearly wasted hours you won’t get back on a very poor post, stick to your day job

  20. U’re a genius. U completely changed my view on this issue and i really appreciate ur efforts. They are trying to force their way from outside but it wont work. Thanks mate and i hope other gunners read this as well. GOD BLESS U

  21. Good article but if the whole website and his twitter account had been hacked…I’m confident this Robin would inform the whole of such indicent. But his silence has said it all for me….he going!!!

  22. Think you conspiracy theory is wrong, however I would like to add one point that I thought was odd when I recently went on the site.

    Towards the top there is a scrolling set of headlines, The strange thing for me was that the official Arsenal statement appeared BEFORE the ‘fan update’.

    To be honest I think this was just crap updating of the website, you would think that RvP could have employed someone with a bit more panache.

  23. Sorry those words were from Mr Robin Van Persie as an arsenal fan i don’t give a fuck about him leaving or not i just wanna see that twerp fuck off the team as soon as he can cause i hate player without loyalty. Even cesc didn’t go about is transfer saga the way robin did just want that ass to be shipped off to where i ain’t gonna see is face again e.g MLS or Brazilian League. No player is bigger than arsenal football club.

  24. I’m not doubting that this RvP site was brought into existence purely for the purpose of making this statement, I’m not doubting that the sole purpose of the statement was to get RvP a move elsewhere, although both are technically up for debate I agree with them; I’m just doubting that it was perpetrated by anyone other than RvPs representatives with his blessing, however vague that might have been.

    I love the idea, in a sneaky kind of way, as it would be very effective and I have no doubt the majority of agents would be willing to stoop that low but if it’s nothing to do with RvP he wouldn’t maintain his silence, it’s simply so unlikely that nobody involved would speak out that I simply can’t see it as a credible option.

    Sorry, just the way I see it.

  25. Erm..the article is well written, but the content I’m afraid is based on a premise that isn’t so much pie in the sky as completely out of this world!

    Does anyone really think that there is any slightest possibility that RVP would not have rebutted the statement had he had no say on it’s publication? Of course he didn’t write it, but no lawyer/agent would ever make such a brazen statement on behalf of a client that had not actually given permission for them to do so. Football agents/representatives may be many things, but stupid isn’t one of them. Had they published this statement without the permission of their client, they would open themselves up to litigation and even more importantly, have run the risk of committing commercial suicide.

    This blog contains many impressive posts/articles. Unfortunately, this isn’t one of them.

    The sooner we Arsenal fans accept that players do not always see playing for Arsenal as the absolute pinnacle of their career, the better. We fans would, naturally. But players generally are simply going about their work. Sure, AFC provides a great working environment, but so do other clubs. We have no monopoly in that regard. Trouble is, some other clubs also offer a lot more money than we can, and that will always lead to situations such as RVP’s.

    Please, let’s analyse and debate all things Arsenal. But lapsing into outright paranoia? I’ll leave that until they really are all out to get us.

  26. Unfortunately, this is as you say, an attempt to force a transfer, but even more, to lower his transfer fee.
    Arsenal are reputedly demanding a £30 million fee, which on top of reported 220kpw wages over 4 years adds up to a £75m investment, way too much for an injury prone 29 year old in the last year of his contract, as Robin and/or his people will be well aware. Utd will not take a gamble like that, cannot see Real or Barca doing it either, they do not need to. PSG are not interested, City – maybe but they have a surplus of top strikers they will find difficult to offload – why would they bother? Juve – cannot see it. Which leaves Anza or whatever they are called, or some Chinese /mid east outfit. The question is, does any viable team willing to make such an outlay need him that much?
    If he is forced to see out his contract, as Arsenal have indicated, he could easily get injured, or lose form…or alternatively, he might not, and move for nothing next season, where he wants with a fat signing on fee….but this represents a big gamble for the player and those who would profit from him.
    I cannot see where this will end, maybe even an uneasy stalemate, who knows. Unless his suitors have someone we want. I really hope the club do not budge on their valuation, and £30 million sounds a good starting point to me

  27. Good to see you back Anne. Whether I agree with you or not, you certainly get me thinking…every time I read something written by you. Thank You for this interesting theory.

    Well…I’d believe it happily. I’d believe that Usmanov, David Dein and everyone are at work to screw us royally. That I can believe. They want to force us to sell. Yes. They’d get more money if we sell now; than later. Also…probably yes…although I’d love to know why..after all wouldn’t an agent be the one to broker any deal, before or after a contract expiry? Wouldn’t Darren Dein always get his cut? Maybe RVP didn’t write it? Yes. The writer is a shady character who got all his facts wrong? Yes.

    The only thing that is certainly true is that RVP declined an extension; otherwise Arsenal would not have come out with a statement. For example: They don’t respond to every rumour that is out there; the latest one being we’re being Jovetic from Fiorentina for 30 million.

    So….while the disgraceful methods used were probably probably NOT RVP…there’s no doubt he’s left himself in the hands (knowingly OR unknowingly) of some awful people who have manipulated him (maybe).

    So .. my point is…maybe this has happened without RVP’s knowledge and I’m sure the club will find out what the truth is. However..even if that piece of crap had not come out, the fact that RVP would not sign would still be valid and he’d have gone.

    I agree though…in principle; someone wants to ensure this goes through. Could you or anyone explain how and why? I know you talked about an asset losing its value but I can’t understand how. I can hazard a guess at WHO though.

    Again…thanks for jogging the little grey cells.

  28. So you stand behind the statement that robinvanpersie.com does not represent Robin Van Persie then Tony?

  29. Usually, you are on the ball, but I think you are clutching a heap of straws with this.

  30. Sorry, I pressed “Post Comment” and then read Tony’s comment. So, in response to that…

    1. I bow to your greater knowledge with regard the site being “filled in backwards”. The simple explanation is that RVP was put into a situation where he felt that he had to be aggressive to ensure he gets what he wants. We’ll never know if it was his idea – it wouldn’t be at all surprising if this is simply the advice he received from his representatives as to how to play the situation. But if it was me and I wanted to try and force the issue, setting up a private website and making an aggressive statement would be one way I might consider.

    2. It appears that Mr. Gazidis wasn’t on holiday. I mentioned in my previous comment that agents are many things. Being economical with the truth (ie. lying!) to suit their needs would be one such thing. Simple as that – a clumsy way of making AFC look poor and their client justified in the statement he’s made.

    As far as the author being paranoid…sorry, Tony, but the article is based upon a series of theories and assumptions, none of which are verified by fact. As such, it therefore comes across as paranoia. As readers, we are surely entitled to question the author in this regard?

  31. Mandy
    Another thought for you, if RvP is forced to stay and perform a partnership with Giroud and Podolski he will be part of a front line that last season scored 80 goals between them. If subsequently Arsenal were to win silverware would he still be claiming a lack of ambition?

    There is another option i have seen and that is to plonk him on the bench and use him as cover for Giroud.

    We shall see, personally i think he will be sold and that Arsenal won’t reinvest the money.

    Much actually depends on whether Stan decides he wants to reap the money today, or hope for success and therefore more money tomorrow.

  32. @John: It well might. The point that Anne is making is bigger than that. It is that RVP might well have been ok to stay on another year..someone else does not WANT that to happen. RVP is just a pawn in all this. Something like the Tevez – Kia Joobarachian saga.

  33. Dzeko forming part of the payment can only be a good deal if his weekly wage is considered before arriving at the final valuation. Meaning that City should reduce the wage to #70,000/week through their valuation over Dzeko’s contract period to enable AFC consider the deal without breaking their wage structure. This considered, AFC is in for a fantastic deal.PLEASE FORGET ABOUT RVP THIS, RVP THAT and focus on fitting replacement of RVP.

  34. Dzeko forming part of the payment can only be a good deal if his weekly wage is considered before arriving at the final valuation. Meaning that City should reduce the wage to #70,000/week through their valuation over Dzeko’s contract period to enable AFC consider the deal without breaking their wage structure. This considered, AFC is in for a fantastic deal.PLEASE FORGET ABOUT RVP THIS, RVP THAT and focus on fitting replacement of RVP.

  35. The pre season training pics are on arsenal.com and no sign of RVP in any of them. If there was no truth in the rumours he would be there, also both RVP and Arsenal would have stated quickly that this was nothing to do with him. Instead Arsenal state that they will expect him to honour his commitments and nothing from RVP.

  36. John, until I received Anne’s piece I had no thought that it was anything but real – although the Gazidis on holiday slip puzzled me.

    The revelation that the site has been populated backwards with articles added to make it appear as if the site has been one that has grown over time, is concerning.

    As you appreciate, I run Untold, with a monthly number of visits now around three quarters of a million. As such although I am not a techie, I have learned quite a bit about the strange things you can do to blogs and sites, and have watched companies manipulate sites in all sorts of ways.

    What seems to have happened here seems crude – it would have been easy for my IT team to have done a much better job. Combining the crudeness of the back-filling, and the mistake about Mr Gazidis makes me think that yes, there is something not at all right here.

    I have often written that I believe (from rather more direct experience) that agents work with possible buyers to manipulate the market and destabilise otherwise happy players. I am starting to think that we are also seeing efforts by clubs (via 3rd parties) to cause havoc among their competitors.

    This is not unique to football – indeed I have seen this in industry at first hand.

    So my view is that for too long we have believed that football is a fairly simple moderately pure sport without too many dirty tricks going on.

    Which is a bit simplistic, when you consider what is going on with the banks.

    My answer is, if the banks are doing it (as they are) then it would be odd to think that there are not a lot of dirty tricks happening in the much less regulated world of football.

  37. “First, that the site was initially blank apart from this article – and then filled in backwards.”
    With all due respect Tony the site was recently upgraded, he announced as such on twitter a couple of months back, the same with his official Facebook page. It’s looking pretty bare because of that and if you look back on the posts you can actually see the time it was put up properly.
    Now Van Persie’s site was in bits all day the 4th from the amount of traffic, I couldn’t access it for hours and when I finally did bits of it weren’t loading properly.
    Also if you tried to access it last night his account was hacked by some Russian guy who put his own message on the site. You can google that to see what it looked like.

    “Second, that the information about Mr Gazidis was wrong – he was not on holiday in the States.”
    That too can easily be explained, perhaps in their initial chat they set a date for further talks based on Gazidas being on holiday and they’d talk when he got back, it’s not unusual for a person to cancel their holiday.

    Look it’s pretty clear to me what has happened and should be for anyone how closely monitors Arsenal news stories. I spend hours a say scouring them. I have a lot of free time.

    People are ignoring the fact that the day before, Wenger said they were going to keep him no matter what the cost. Hill-Wood also came out said there were no offers and that he wasn’t for sale. Now despite the media blackout and promise not to talk about it Wenger and Hill-Wood both broke that agreement so Van Persie who wants to leave yet knows there is no chance in hell the club will let him go this year because of the fact no one is going to offer enough money and quite frankly there would have been a fan revolt had he left had no other option but to sour the milk.
    It’s irrelevant who put it up, it has his name under it and he would have come out and firmly denied it had it not been sanctioned by him.
    You see for whatever reason Van Persie feels he just cannot be at the club any longer. So he gambled on the statement to let Wenger know that he wasn’t going to stick around for another year and be forced to see out his contract because in fairness to Van Persie he’s only one injured season away from being a 30 year old with the worst injury record of almost any player who has finally been able to show what he has and be courted by the top teams which our beloved Arsenal no longer are in terms of money nor trophies.

    Because of all this I’m not angry nor disappointed with Van Persie he wanted a move and this was the only way he could force that move. I’m not going to preach about loyalty when just bought Giroud and Podolski from clubs where they have some die hard fans. Where are the gooners screaming about loyalty there? They moved to a bigger club and people that’s logical, well newsflash lads there are bigger clubs than Arsenal out there too and history counts for nothing as compared to wages and trophies. Gooners need to understand we’ve gone down in the pecking order in the past few years and loyalty only applies to clubs winning trophies except in the most rare of cases.
    Van Persie wants out, he should be let go and we should focus on building a squad capable of winning something next year. People can cry and moan about loyalty but most Arsenal fans aren’t exactly loyal to our players at all, Djourou a very friendly, respectful and capable player gets abuse all day on twitter from Arsenal fans telling him to leave etc. Ramsey also gets all sorts of abuse. I don’t blame Van Persie and I don’t think he’ll shed a tear to see the back of such a fickle and abusive set of ungrateful supporters who only sing when they’re winning. I’m just glad to be irish so I at least follow one football club who’s supporters support the team and the players with every breath no matter the result on the pitch. Arsenal fans are spoiled brats, with over 40% of them wanting Usamov to take over and bankroll us. You really think Van Persie is the only person who doesn’t like where the club is going?

  38. Van Persie and his team is simply using the Arsenal fans as a pawn in his contractual game.

    I like Van P, I really do, but he has had one great season and now wants to go. Fair play. Its not a huge loss, he isnt a legend. He is part of a failing team. He can go to another team but he wont be as spectacular as he was last season, where a team was moulded around him.

    I dont think this is the end of it and I wouldnt be surprised to see him sign a new contract. If he was adamant that he would sign then there would be no need for further meetings.

  39. I have been following his twitter account for ages. So many of the playets post pics with him and he does the same so it looks pretty bona fide to me. His latest tweet is the link to the story on that website.

    Got to say for me it all stacks up and what you say looks like straw clutching.

    But it could still be an elaborate fraud 🙂

  40. Ian, the players who have played in the EURO will only arrive in training next week.

  41. I’ve said all along that he doesn’t express a wish to leave, just that he won’t extend his contract. Should he stay and we win something next season then it would really prove the point…I think Arsenal should risk the ~£20M loss…certainly better than buying a £10M player + £10M in wages for 3/4 years.

  42. @ Tony …Anne sure makes heads turn 180. Makes a lot sense.

    BUT if that website was a crap, then whats keeping RVP silent. Why is he allowing his image degrade and I dont think Arsenal are stupid enough to respond to such un-authentic announcements.

  43. @ian – usually the players at Euros/World Cup get an extra week off don’t they?

  44. John,(cc: Tony)
    You’re right or not. No one can know whether this is a legitimate registration or not. Do you absolutely stand by the implied statement you make that they absolutely DO represent RvP? Make your statement first. Are you trying to cause a libel suit against Tony/UA for making an absolute statement? Will you make that statement and be held accountable?

  45. This really is quite an interesting article. As pointed out, RVP in no way can be completely removed from it whoever it was written by. But – is it possible somebody has upped the anti to get things moving and the money flowing in?
    If Arsenal do insist on keeping him, as they well might, a pretty serious apology and clarification will be needed by the player, whoever wrote this. But ultimately, this guy is a professional and can do much of his apologising on the pitch, another goal fuelled season and the untenable becomes the forgiven.
    If as I strongly suspect, nobody is going to offer more than around £15m, it makes no sense whatsoever for us to sell him. Even 20 mil is not enough.

  46. I think the issue here is RVP has been shown a tremendous amount of loyalty by the club. Not only that by leaving (and going to our direct competitors) the likes of Nasri are fueling the problem – imagine where we might now be of those players had stayed?
    I think RVP should have stated he wanted to see out his contract, but as this article points out – there is a bit of a media hunt for us…I think it was on BBC One where I heard that RVP had LEFT Arsenal on the day of this announcement!? lol

  47. I must admit that when i first saw his statement / update (call it what you like) on his ‘official’ website, I thought it might have been hacked and was not of RVP’s doing.. However, no comment has come from RVP to deny it, and given the ‘hullabaloo’ that has followed, i’m sure he would have released some kind of comment to ‘debunk’ it… Also, it was confirmed on Arsenal’s website as well, so I think your conspiracy theory (although nice) is just wishful thinking. As for any confidentiality agreement between club and player, my understanding was that RVP had agreed NOT to talk about the matter while away on International duty with Holland during Euro 2012, but this statement on his website appeared a good 10 days after Holland were sent packing.. I’m afraid you are very wide of the mark here with your claims, RVP does NOT want to stay at Arsenal.

  48. Ian, Yes no RvP in the pics, but also no Schezny, Song, etc etc.
    I’m really disapointed with RvP over this, I thought he had matured in the last 3 years, finally got some clout in his head, but this really has left me with a real bitter taste in my mouth. Its more upsetting then when Brady left us.
    But what is really disapointing is that AFC have let another player run his contract down to one year. This is bad business management, a poor stratergy, a complete lack of fore sight and its going to cost far more in adminstrative costs to find another striker then to just give RvP an extension 2 years ago with another 10k per week.
    Next Theo is up….. and yet we extend Djourus contract last year??? What the F@@@ is going on?
    Key personell retention is vital and someone at AFC is missing this key point.
    Yours one really dispointed and upset gooner.
    PS, I haven’t allowed myself to put my 8 month old son in his Arsenal kit since hearing this, thats how upset I am..
    PPS: Anyone know how much a season ticket at Aldershot is??

  49. As Anne notes, we’ve seen these larger dynamics last year.
    A section of the mainstream media football stenographers and their background string-pullers and/or paymasters want Arsenal dismembered, one way or the other. This with RvP’s approval or without it, or against RvP’s disapproval. The deeper animus and economic competition and ideological differences with AW are once again in full effect. Next year. Another captain. Same background players. RvP, whatever he wants or doesn’t want (as we will soon know) knows what’s going on, or he doesn’t, or he doesn’t care or care to know. In any case, vigilance, unity and fairness are the most solid ground for fans to stand upon and demand.

  50. I really don’t know what to think about all this but if you dig a bit deeper there could be a few valid questions to be asked.

    1. A question is if there is anybody out there who can find from when this website has been on line and when the pages has been filled?

    2. I don’t know what to think about it but look at this time line:

    On twitter:

    Update for the fans http://robinvanpersie.com/2012/07/04/upd

    9:19 AM – 4 Jul 12 via Twitter for BlackBerry® ·

    On the website:

    Update for the fans:
    Published: July 4, 2012 – 4:03 pm

    “This is an update for the fans about my current situation. I…”

    So if we look at the hours on the same day it looks as if RVP has send a tweet about 7 hours before the statement came on line.

    Now could it be that RVP was in another time zone at the time and this could affect the hour mentioned.
    But the problem is that when I look on twitter the time line is always giving the hour of the tweet in the time zone I live in somehow.

    I just could check this by accident with Afobe who is in different time zone from me but still it just is in the same line as the other tweets I can see and in “time order” as they appear on twitter.

    Or has there been a second “update” for the fans at some moment in time?

    And I don’t know or believe anything, just a question I ask myself.

  51. Bongo you are spot on. The site crashed out that day due to the amount of traffic. I follow RVP (or did) on Twitter and he linked the site from his Twitter feed. Also i have been on his site in the past. Like bongo says it was recently updated. Although I dont think RVP wrote the statement himself, i do think he knew that the statement was going to be made or why would he link it from his Twitter account ?

  52. Bongo,
    Yes, 40% are indeed spoiled brats. However, that leaves a solid basis for advocating sanity and integrity and yes, demanding loyalty. I’m also among your 100% loyalty to that other team, and I’m not Irish. While I love ’em to bits, I wouldn’t exactly lecture anyone on loyalty, if you catch my drift. That said, wishing the best for both sides is very fulfilling for an earnest fan.

  53. Here’s what I find interesting: if RVP were to simply play out the last year of his contract and leave on a free he would be in line for significantly more money personally (look at Sol – the master of the free transfer). It would also open up a lot more doors in terms of which clubs could take him on, seeing as they wouldn’t have to pay a transfer fee. So if it would be in RVP’s best interest to leave on a free, why force through a transfer? Are agents compensated equally on transfer fees vs. wages? If they get more out of transfer fees than I think we have found our answer.

    The only other reason why Robin would prefer to leave now vs. next summer is if he thinks his value is at its peak now. Personally, if even he doesn’t believe he can replicate his form from last season again then why should we?

  54. The bottom line is that if the website isn’t affiliated to RVP, then why did he post the exact same statement on his twitter account.

    If his twitter account has been “hacked” by the same people that put up the statement(which is possible), then why hasn’t RVP come out and said so. And also why did Arsenal officially respond to the statement.

    Maybe the same group of hackers have hacked into Arsenal.com and are busy replying to their own messages…..

    All seems a bit farfetched to me Anne, I do hope you are right, but highly doubt it.

  55. wow. what a useless waste of cyberspace this post is. if it wasn’t his statement don’t you think he’d have denied by now? Loser.

  56. Robin van Persie ‏@Persie_Official
    Some good news today ladies and gents. My website has finally gone live!! Check it out! http://www.robinvanpersie.com hope u like it
    Collapse
    Reply Retweet Favorite
    517
    RETWEETS
    103
    FAVORITES
    11:42 PM – 1 Feb 12 via Twitter for BlackBerry® · Details

    There you go WalterBroeckx, February and if you look at the site itself you’ll see that posts and pictures all go back to that date. In fact if you look through his twitter you can see he’s posted about most of his updates.

  57. @ Thanks bongo , I was going through my RvP tweets about the site but could not find it. Anne is defending the indefensible. Another oik nomination from me.

  58. with one sided and a little bit silly article like this one

    it shows how this untold site is so one sided on wegerism

  59. Bongo,
    Are you the registrant? an employee of the registrant? John up there stated the Registrant was: “Sports Entertainment Group International B.V.” Is this you, or are you a wind-up artist or both?

  60. What happened to the 20 mil profit Arsenal needs to make every season that Wenger mentioned? Has Arsenal made enough from last season’s sales or do they need to sell again this transfer window?
    I’ve seen good points of how much would teams really be willing to offer an injury prone 29 year old and true, why would RVP and Arsenal not deny it if it is fake?
    Interesting times again at the Arsenal.

  61. Got a logic explanation for the different hours?
    Yeah there are plenty of possibilities really. First I highly doubt RVP is the one in control of his website so it was most likely sent to whomever the admin is of that, most likely a company that handles professional websites. If you look at http://www.alexoxladechamberlain.com/ It’s pretty much the exact same layout it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility that they too do his website. The point is the company who run the website could be anywhere and as we know it would have to have been put on the website before the twitter.
    He may also have used Bouchra’s phone, or he may have changed the time settings on his phone while on holiday.
    There are tonnes of different explanations, but I think the most likely one was the time it was posted by the website operators from where they are based or even where that specific admin was. Perhaps s/he too was on holiday somewhere and posted from there.
    “Are you the registrant? an employee of the registrant? John up there stated the Registrant was: “Sports Entertainment Group International B.V.” Is this you, or are you a wind-up artist or both?”
    A wind up artist? In what way?

  62. You’re absolutely correct in that the aforementioned “statement” is designed to force a move away from the club. However, for me RvP’s silence speaks volumes. It speaks to his tacit agreement to it. It doesn’t matter whether he actually wrote it or not. And as for RvP breaking the agreement to not publicly discuss ongoing negotiations, Wenger spoke about the club’s desire to hold him to his contract regardless of whether he signed an extension.

  63. Did anyone actually see Wenger make those comments the day before the RVP statement on TV? Or was ‘it reported’?

  64. or are there any reliable sources that can confirm that Wenger said this and that Hill-Wood said those things before the RVP statement?

  65. How does a person, someone who was a gooner as a boy, someone who has had ONE full season out of 7, someone whos wife and Mother has said that they expect the family to stay where they are, make a complete U turn and post this.
    Now I hear rumors that he will sign a deal!!!
    and PS: Bongo, is that helmet on you by instruction of your doctor?

  66. Whatever is at stake with this site, I don’t believe the statment to be fake. What may have happened was that someone went way out of line. Perhaps RVP’s agents, the owners of his official site, decided his being on holiday is a fine occasion to wreak some havoc. Perhaps their point was to make it easier for Arsenal to part ways with RVP. Perhaps they were working on direct orders from RVP himself, who might have approved of the statment without actually seeing it – or without consulting his hair stylist, as you do. I wonder who’ll pay for the damages? Is he going to sack his agents for the blunder? Are Arsenal going to sue him for breach of confidentiality? It would be quite funny if his supposed move was put on hold because of a libel… Wonder if that would change his mind.

  67. http://www.eurosport.fr/arsene-wenger_blog148/giroud-peut-etre-une-revelation-en-angleterre_post1480687/blogpostfull.shtml
    Yeah, Wenger said them in own blog on Eurosport when he was talking about Giroud. I don’t speak French and the video isn’t available where I am anyway but there’s the original article and video.
    That’s where everyone else got it anyway.
    Here’s Hill-Woods statement and if you don’t believe sky sports then you really do need to research better, they pretty much own the premier league and while plenty of their articles are wrong, they never misquote people. http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11670/7860963/Hill-Wood-No-RVP-bids

  68. i beg to differ Anne..whether or not Van Persie wrote that statement is one thing but he greenlit its publication so there is no way can you say it wasnt his doing and he even linked it to his twitter page

  69. Tee Song,
    I don’t see equivalency here. In saying that he intended to keep RvP, AW did not divulge the content of any negotiation nor did he address RvP’s intentions. Only his own intention.

  70. To be honest I really don’t see what other choice Van Persie had after those two statements and the interview on the 2nd and 3rd of July saying they were going to keep him. he had to come out and say something if he wants to leave. Either way the fans would be angry at him and you know what? He’s actually done Wenger a huge favour by becoming the villain of the piece for the fans. This way Wenger doesn’t get blamed too much for letting another player go, Van Persie has played the bad guy and perhaps saved Wenger his job and perhaps showed far more loyalty to Wenger that people would like to believe.

  71. @Anne/Walter/Tony – I have many a times read RvP twitter comments and there he had mentioned that his new site is coming up with a link to the same webiste. So the question of the site being genuinely his or not does not arise. It is RvP’s.

    Moreover the pages are getting filled now are because of the sudden traffic that have started receiving after the announcement fiasco. It looks stupid that your website has nothing else to offer but a single statement so whichever IT firm was responsible for creating the website has just expedited the whole process

    Also, I would not exonerate RvP of the charges that he is guilty of publishing the article simply for the fact that the website is his…the exact words may not be his but it would not have been published without his consent so I would not excuse him for even the choice of words.

    Lastly, even if I agree with Anne – what would it take for RvP to come out with a denial and stating that the statement was not his doing? It has not happened…so no matter how we try and look I will hold RvP guilty of this!

  72. My above comment with the links to the two articles proving Wenger said that and Hill Wood said that is still awaiting moderation but the titles are “Giroud peut être une révélation en Angleterre” on Wengers Eurosport blog and ‘Hill-Wood – No RVP bids’ on sky sports.

  73. lol. you lot are funny. rvp posted a link of the statement on his twitter page. what ever the reason it was intended.

  74. hey genius, how about the statement on arsenal.com about Robin van Persie?
    was that some kind of ‘hacker’ or even the same person that wrote this false letter about RVP?

  75. reality check,
    right or wrong, the “lot” here does its homework to a fault. If you lived up to your humble name, you’d know there’d be a lot of checking to do before accepting anything at face value in the media sewer. We don’t; your lot does.

  76. Anne,

    I like your thinking and loyalty, but the following information on who owns the website and how long it has been around should tell everyone that it is real. In addition, even if the website had been hacked and this was someone else posting on it, the webmaster would have fixed it by now.

    Domain name: ROBINVANPERSIE.COM

    Registrant Contact:
    Sports Entertainment Group International B.V.
    Romeo Towikromo ()

    Fax:
    Tesselschadestraat 12
    AMSTERDAM, 1054ET
    NL

    Administrative Contact:
    FXW
    J Bouten (bestellingen@fxw.nl)
    +31.402359290
    Fax: +31.402440584
    Doctor Cuyperslaan 76
    Eindhoven, NL 5623BB
    NL

    Technical Contact:
    FXW
    J Bouten (bestellingen@fxw.nl)
    +31.402359290
    Fax: +31.402440584
    Doctor Cuyperslaan 76
    Eindhoven, NL 5623BB
    NL

    Status: Locked

    Name Servers:
    ns1.flexwebhosting.nl
    ns2.flexwebhosting.nl
    ns3.flexwebhosting.com

    Creation date: 24 Dec 2003 14:08:00
    Expiration date: 24 Dec 2012 14:08:00

  77. A number of comments have not been published because they are abusive. Sorry if anyone finds this a silly rule, but I personally can’t understand why it is not possible to disagree with a person without calling them names.

    But maybe that’s because I’m old.

    (Some abusive ones did get through while I wasn’t looking, but I did my best).

  78. @Asif agreed.. Robin had the chance of coming out and deny it all but he hasnt which means he is okay with that statement whether those were his words or not he is okay with it..
    Wenger and Gazids must have told him he is not going to be sold no matter if he signed or not so Van Persie decided to play foul with that pathetic statement which puts Arsenal in bad position on negotiation front and hence sold on cheap.. Im sorry but imo Robin is guilty of all what happened

  79. Walter, one possible explanation for the time discrepancy is coding on the part of the individual/company who set up RVP’s website. On the article on RVP’s site, I checked the page source and there are two lines with respect to time:

    First is the line in the article:
    Published: July 4, 2012 – 4:03 pm

    and another at the bottom:

    The “Published” time was typed in (or copied) and not related in anyway to a system time and more important, without reference to a timezone. If RVP tweeted at 9:19am London time, that means the article was possibly published in a place 7 hours ahead of London time (e.g. Hong Kong, Singapore, Perth, Manilla – see http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/).

  80. Oops, the second line did not get posted (likely because I forgot to take off the html brackets). Here it is again, without the brackets:

    Cached page generated by WP-Super-Cache on 2012-07-04 16:04:34

  81. @Bongo: While I follow what you say (and very much agree with your point of view), I’d like to add another possible explanation to the “Gazidis on holiday” story. For one, it was RVP who was on holiday when the statement was posted. For another, on the look of it, it doesn’t seem that Gazidis would go on 2-week holiday when the transfer window is just opening. So, whoever posted this statement, must have written it with scant regard for facts. And this means one of several things:
    1) It was writeen by someone else, and in a haste – perhaps with the intent to jump the bandwagon and accuse the Arsenal management of mismanaging the club;
    2) It was written by RVP or someone else well before it was published, and was not adjusted to the time of publication (perhaps Gazidis was on holiday a month ago? or even farther back?);
    3) It was written by a representative as a response to Arsenal’s claims that they were going to tie RVP down regardless of his contract expiry date.
    I don’t believe there’s much more to it than this – I don’t believe RVP would want to taint his own image to “save” Wenger’s face. However, I do believe that, while on holiday, RVP left his matters to his agents, and they, working under direct orders, or without consultation, decided to produce this letter in an attempt to affect the market (by irritating Arsenal fans and by issuing a cry for more bids). It’s true there was no other statement from RVP, but that’s actually the last thing he posted on his Twitter, so it’s already been almost a week without any activity. There also must have been some cleaning-up at his website, given all these moves. Neither of these means anything, of course, and until they held these “peace talks,” we’re left with our irritation at the way it panned out.
    While I respect Anne’s work, I believe in this particular instance she overdid it.

  82. The issue has really been overcomplicated here.

    The only point is..Is RVP okay with what was written? Whether he wrote it or not is irrelevant. Where he wrote it and why is irrelevant. If he hasn’t denied it after 2 or 3 days, it means he is fine in principle with it. Maybe he is on vacation and has not accessed the Internet at all? If he comes back and finds out that DD or whoever have done this, his entire PR team will get fired on the spot. 100%. So I doubt anything was done without some ‘yes’ signal from him.

    @Bongo: If RVP wants to go, he can go..no one grudges him that. I am fine. There is a way to go though. Go and do it privately with AW and the board; not resort to cheap tactics through the media. Kolo Toure and Gael Clichy are 2 classic examples of how to leave. Don’t open your mouth in public. Arsenal will keep their part of the deal.

    I can accept every other thing wrt RVP. Not him “authorizing” or “typing” that letter. Unless his website was hacked and everything is a fake. And honestly, I doubt that…someone somewhere is going to issue a statement even if its hacked.

    Again….all the rest of the article could well be true. The point for everyone (largely) have jumped on is a sub plot. The root is some one wants to screw Arsenal. Try and focus on that without competing amongst one another to win oiks.

  83. To be honest guys I don’t really care whether he stays or go any more. I just want this to be over and done with sooner rather than later so we can focus on getting a good start in the league unlike last season. We have enough decent players at Arsenal to more than mount a good challenge on trophies next season with or without Van Persie.

  84. the statement was made on arsenal.com. I don’t see why anyone should be disappointed in rvp. With all honesty and optimism can you see trophies coming out of this squad as it stands right now? By no means am i discrediting the arsenal way nor the great future we stand to have if we can hold onto the players but this squad as it stands is a few years away. Ultimately yes, the last few years have been unfortunate with us losing players and injuries but at some point there has to be some responsibility (from all sides players, management and board) for what has happened and how the club as a whole has reacted. How can you blame a man who wants success (he is a professional sportsman after all) to go and chase definitive success on his last major contract as appose to risk never having it with us? I know its harsh it is just the way it seems to be these days

  85. Anne, I think I will disagree with you insofar as I believe it is not another club that is persuading RVP to leave Arsenal, but his agents.

    At 28 going on 29, with a history of injuries but one huge year, this is likely RVP’s last chance to secure a big contract (something like 4 years at 150K to 200K pounds per week). If I am his agent/adviser, I would certainly point out that it is not likely Arsenal is willing to pay that kind of wages to him and there is no better time than this summer to leave Arsenal and try to secure a contract of that magnitude. Given his age/history, it is quite possible that RVP will get hurt this coming season or his numbers may drop due to Wenger’s purchase of Poldi/Giroud to share the workload. Either scenario would see a decrease in his earning potential. Therefore, from an economic perspective, the time to act is this summer. And if you put the statement out in early July, another spin you can put on it is you are not dragging this out or somehow misleading the club (unlike Na$ri last summer).

    Where it does get interesting is whether RVP’s agents/advisers are aware of another team’s interest and willingness to pay the wages. It would seem they are aware at least one team is interested/willing – otherwise they would not be going through the troubles so in a sense Anne, you are right that there is a team lurking in the background. But I think the actual mechanics (posting the message on RVP’s site) is being concocted and handled by RVP’s team.

    Now, if you are wondering whether the owner(s) of said mystery team is interested in paying a transfer fee to Arsenal as a way of moving money they cannot otherwise move without generating suspicions on the part of law enforcement authorities…unfortunately we will have to wait to see where RVP ends up to see if we can connect the dots. But it is a rather dark and depressing angle to the world of football transfers.

  86. Anne, great respect for you, thou woman of great courage.

    Fact1: Update released in the name of Robin van Persie.
    Fact2: Afc released update in reaction to update released in the name of Robin Van Persie
    Fact3: Wenger Silent since update was realeased
    Fact4: Robin van Persie Silent before release of update and after release of update despite update promising further updates.
    Fact5: Usmanov and Co released written letter to AFC shortly after Update was released in the name of RVP not only in reaction to the update but covering other sensitive issues.
    Fact6: RVP is still an Arsenal Player until the books says otherwise.

    Conclusion: Make your mind however you will, get bitter if you will, as long as RVP remains an Arsenal player, he gets my support in favour of AFC.

  87. I’m actually very optimistic about the coming season to be honest and don’t care how many people on this or any other blog call me a fool for that.
    RVP going or staying is largely irrelevant to me. I truly would miss his magical goals but I have belief in the squad and I do think we’ll get some extras.
    I firmly believe that are two most important signings this summer were Bould and Banfield, I think the fans have been so distracted by the idea that players make the team and buying new players makes a better team to see that those two may well be the people we’ve been waiting for to make this team a force again. I mean United have some very average and woeful players but they’re coached by the best to the point where they work well as a team.
    You just wait and see, Bould and Banfield are going to make our team a powerhouse again we have the players to do so and now we have two very capable coaches to drill some tactical finesse back into them.

  88. Anne well come back you always rock me up,on July/8/2012@ around 8.15pm i had just returned from Bwindi Impenetrable forest(Gorilla and Chimps tracking) with 16 Tourist and i was at the Serena Hotel Kampala and a i was going through something Phil has posted(If FIFA had a brain;how to improve international football) It happened at the same time i was checking Arsenal.com and top of all the news, was V-Persie had signed a long time contract 10 of my clients saw this, and that very moment i posted to ask Phil or Walter if anything had happened.
    Walter replied to me @around 9.20shhh,Phil replied to me and Robl telling me what they thought was happening but checking back at Arsenal.com nothing was there. So if Anne thinks that someone is doing something to force our Captano out it might be true,if someone can do it on Arsenal.com why not on VP WEBSITE.

  89. @Mandy (and others who agree with Mandy)
    Sorry, I respectfully disagree. It makes (little or) no sense whatsoever for us to keep him… that is, based on one more season only, and then to see him walk away on a ‘FREE’.
    Better to sell him and reinvest.

    And, if you value him at £15m-£20m for one more season only, then how much would his transfer value be for remaining career of (example) five seasons? £75m-£100m.
    Or at £30m, re your earlier post (at 1.50pm).
    £150m. Gets a bit daft dunnit?

    And one more season only delays the inevitable… he goes. FREE.

  90. Rvp, or whoever wrote that, well they are absolutely right. I once believed this club as it is now could win the league,but I was wrong, as we are now run, we will not be winning anything major soon.
    What changed my mind, this remarkable article from 7am kick off.
    http://www.7amkickoff.com/

    This is a bit of a read, but based on a model. It quantifies how much we will have to spend to compete with Chelsea and city to win the league. And it also quantifies the worth of wenger.
    According to this, on what we spend and the worth of our team, there is a seventy five percent chance we should be outside the top four!! It also says we will now have to spend over two hundred million to win the league as things stand, but only 120 million as we have wenger. This makes our manager worth over a hundred million!
    If there is any truth in this, no wonder stan, usmanov and so many others outside the aaa rate wenger so highly. Under his stewardship, we are punching well above our weight , this many of us already know, but this research appears to quantify it. and to think the aaa begrudge him so much over a few ,Illinois a year!

  91. @Joe (at 2.50pm)
    Joe says:
    “So if it would be in RVP’s best interest to leave on a free, why force through a transfer?…
    …The only other reason why Robin would prefer to leave now vs. next summer is if he thinks his value is at its peak now.”

    Big Al says:
    The obvious reason is: He possibly/probably has five years (only) of his career left (at top EPL level). Losing one year out of that figure is 20%, and reduces him to four years only. He wants to go this summer; we should allow him to go this summer (providing the price is right).

    If you’re unhappy in a job, Joe, and want to move on (for whatever reason), would you want to delay for one more year?

  92. The AFCSF told me that Usmanvo paid RVP to announce the statement and Piers Morgan to rage on twitter.

    Does this clear everything?

  93. Good read! But i dont know if i missed it but I followed a link from RVPs official twitter to the site to view the “statement”

  94. Guys, lets forget about this RvP issue. Whatever the motive; whoever is behind it; that’s all irrelevant now. What’s done, is done. Let’s settle down and not fuel this saga any further.

  95. If truly this statement was not made by RVP then I expect that he should have known about it and disowned it. Secondly, why should Arsenal officially respond to a statement without confirming that it is from RVP? It is my opinion that he either wrote it o approves of it.

  96. Sweetheart that is the most deluded article i have ever read, talk about DENIAL. Do you honestly think if Van persie hadnt made that statement that him or the club would not have rectified it. he is not on holiday on mars!!!
    He drove to the end of season meeting full of his own self importance and went in telling wenger who he should buy and got firmly put in his place “you are no the manager you dont buy or pick the team” he drove back with his over inflated ego in bits. he lacks humility as most self centered millionaires do, and made his statement believing the fans would back him and turn on the club. come to think of it he is almost as deluded as you.

  97. Some entry level techy-ism here, those in the know hit up the Wayback machine for a bit of site history.

    Since 2003, RVP.com (can’t be arsed to type it properly but we are talking about the same site) has been crawled 9 times with most of the activity taking place seven years ago.
    For comparison, our old buddy Senor Fabregas’ site has been crawled 23 times over the same period, not regularly but on a fairly consistent basis.
    Archive.org is a fairly good guide to how often websites are updated, I would suggest that our Dutch friend has not been doing anything with “his” personal website for a very long time (last crawl was 2005, when you could buy Robinvanpersie.com for £350 if you were interested).

    I am not trying to lend credence to Anne’s theories, merely pointing out that if RvP hadn’t linked to it from his twitter feed (which so far as I can tell is real, given his followers and posting of personal pics) then alarm bells would start ringing given the above information.

  98. You do know that RVP linked the article to his official twitter page right? Its not some elaborate hacking scheme that everyone bought!

  99. Ok, thanks to everyone who took the opportunity to respond. I don’t have a chance of getting caught up on this thread at this point.

    However, what I do here is media. I analyze the media campaign that is targeting Arsenal, and my red flags about this statements are primarily derived from that. I can see immediately that all the usual suspects are, from the moment this statement was released, attempting to stoke fan anger at Robin, and are trying to force him out of the Club.

    That, in my mind, makes the statement extremely suspect. Whatever other factors might exist with regard to its validity. There is SOMETHING extremely shady about this.

  100. @Woolwich:

    That’s some interesting information about the website itself. Thanks for providing it.

    Just looking at the website itself, it seems very strange, in terms of the information that was chosen to be included on it. Doesn’t strike me as what you would expect from a celebrity’s “personal website.”

    As I said, it’s shady. Something here is shady. In my opinion.

  101. Duh.. He announced the statement via his twitter, of course it’s real.. And if, an extremely unlikely situation, someone hacked his twitter AND his website he would’ve told that to the media and Arsenal FC. He has a phone and reads newspapers lol

  102. As for whether or not Robin could immediately refute it, or whether someone could actually hack his twitter…. Well, that would just depend on the nature of the adversary.

    And particularly whether or not that adversary might have past historical experience with spinning “the big lie” to a point where it achieves maximum credibility…

    Overall, I’m not claiming to have the answers here. I’m just saying that, somehow, this doesn’t add up.

    And I’m very interested to see whether this turns into a pattern that will continue to repeat itself with regard to other Arsenal players.

  103. Anne, an interesting article and thought provoking. I agree that there was something very strange about the RVP statement.

    There are a lot of unknowns about this statement and the fact that it was followed by the aggressive (and probably pre-prepared) letter from Usmanov raises further suspicion.

    Today we have another strange story, I believe originally sourced from Sky that RVP is having second thoughts – did he really really publish his first thought? NB are there any former Arsenal directors/board members who have connections with Sky?

  104. @bjtgooner:

    Thanks for backing me up on this. There does seem to be not only the Usmanov letter, but also a coordinated media attack ON ROBIN VAN PERSIE that sprung up simultaneously with the publishing of this statement. That’s what I’ll look at briefly in part 2 tomorrow.

    I don’t know who might have connections with Sky in particular, but I think they have proven quite conclusively now that they are no friend of Arsenal’s.

    But why all this need for a coordinated media campaign to stoke maximum fan anger at RVP, and to cause fans to demand that RVP be punished?

    All of this “RVP should spend a year in the reserves” crap seems to be an attack on RVP himself. Why would he do that to himself?

  105. Anne – again I agree, the media attack on RVP after the publishing of his statement surprised a lot of contributors to UA, what was expected was a massive attack on AW and the sustainable model. For the media to miss a chance of attacking AW was very strange – and surprisingly co-ordinated!

  106. @bjtgooner:

    Yes, yes, YES!!! Glad someone else spotted this 🙂 Looks to be some sort of shift in tactics to me.

  107. Actually, the attack on RVP started during the Euros itself. From the first game in fact. I thought there were others who were far more deserving of criticism than Robin, but he became the worst player of the tournament according to many newspapers.

    The attack on RVP did surprise me then, because the entire year we were being told how awesome he is, and how Arsenal are doomed without him.

    There is something very strange here, but I still don’t know if there is anything beyond what we see. Robin could well have had his head turned by money. He could have been willing to go to any lengths to get his move. Or his agent could have slipped in some language designed to cause friction between RVP and fans, without Robin being aware of the implications until it was too late. This is one of those things that will always remain a mystery I think. Regardless of whether he stays or goes. I wouldn’t welcome Robin back without some sort of an apology though. And not the kind Rooney offered.

  108. @Shard:

    That’s actually a good point. I disagree that this particular RVP attack began earlier than the publication of this one statement. There has definitely been an associated talking points campaign incorporating all the usual suspects, which launched on 4 July with the publication of the statement.

    However, you’re right that there does seem to have been some degree of gearing up for this beginning with the Euros. I believe, if I recall correctly, that we both had some raised eyebrows over the following from Talksport:

    “The case against RVP

    …Looking to matters off the pitch, one possible reason for Van Persie’s lack of sharpness could be the distraction of his ongoing contract saga at Arsenal, and dropping him to the bench could serve as a reminder of where his priorities should lie.”

    So, “a reminder of where his priorities should lie.” Sounds like something of a threat, doesn’t it?

    http://www.talksport.co.uk/magazine/features/120613/klaas-jan-huntelaar-v-robin-van-persie-who-should-play-holland-against-g-174323

    Personally, I don’t consider this statement to have enough credibility to demand an apology of RVP in response. If Arsenal still wants RVP as captain this season, I will trust Arsenal. I’m looking to the Club for my cues as to how to respond to this.

  109. Ok, all he had to do was deny any connection to the statement, which he hasn’t done. The fact that he has not denied it is enough to authenticate it. The only reason for this not happenning would be that Robin himself has taken to spending his vacations in the wilderness alone with no connection to the outside world and doesn’t know that he is at the centre of the biggest football news story of the summer. Stop clutching at straws.

  110. Alot of agencies use these tactics, A good trick is to find out those who don’t. soccerbase, groupe usm, Soccer and more ltd, don’t resort to this kind of campaign (as far as i can tell).
    However sem group, sports entertainment, key sports and Gestifute do. Im still waiting for someone to prove that Dein is behind this latest statement.
    What needs to be highlighted is the fact that we all have free will and can choose to put a stop to this sort of carry on. Has Mr v.Persie done this yet?
    One thing for sure is that Sports entertainment will not have put this statement out, without his knowledge or signature. Unless we hear in the next couple of weeks that he has sacked his agent. They would have covered their arses with documentation that states he was aware of such tactics.

  111. Well, the thing is that he posted on twitter(as many said) and that made his “updated for fans” valid, and he knew who and what will be written.If someone twitted from his account without his knowing thats a crime that wont be without reaction in the first moment RVP spotted it, and there would have been reaction from Arsenal who RVP should have alerted. So no the message was posted with knowing from RVP, what rvp may have been manipulated is the reason, outcome and the reaction of the message. What i see valid in your post is the media full assault on RVP. There are such funny moments when you see Daily-mail and other newspaper write positive stories about Wenger and negative about RVP to crate polarity and all indicating that we need to sell ASAP. I dont bite that, i hope that we keep him even if its his last year here. The guy is one rare player and even half year with us will help us hit higher level then last year. What i find tricky is that Bouchra stopped twitting to for some time.

  112. Right there on the
    Terms of use

    Welcome to robinvanpersie.com (the “WEBSITE”). This is the official web page of Robin van Persie, which is owned by Team van Persie, represented by Sports Entertainment Group International B.V, registered at the Chamber of Commerce in Amsterdam under number: 34139303, address Tesselschadestraat 4 – 12, 1054 ET Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

    Spelt out – IT IS RVP’s Official site!

  113. RvP probably didn’t write it himself. I personally think his agents did in a attempt to secure a move out of the club, whilst not having angry fans at the same time, while putting the blame on the club itself. However, RvP posted the link on his twitter account, which in itself is enough proof of how he agreed for the article to be published on his fansite.

    He has yet in one week made a statement denying any of it. If it was a fake/hacked post, I would certainly be quick to deny I had anything to do with it.

    As of the skysports article saying RvP has made a turnaround and might sign a new contract, has been removed from their site.

  114. Adam,
    As you well know, because it is secret, no one can Prove anything right now. In the current climate, all we are able to do is infer as best we can. But, in the current climate, you (several times) demand Proof that “Dein” was “behind” that statement; and without such Proof you tacitly insist that “Dein” is NOT. And, for the record, have now several times leaped to the defense of Sports Entertainment, whom you see to regard, and whom we’ve learned today is the documented owner of the website where the statement appeared. Now this raises a few questions for me:
    First, which Dein do YOU mean? David the elder, Darren the Lesser? or both?

    Second, what exactly is it about Sports Entertainment that makes you so Certain they (either as a whole, OR any person or faction therein) would Never (“for sure” is your credo) put out a statement like that without RvP’s permission? Is Sports Entertainment a monolith that acts in total lockstep? Are there uber agents on its staff who are given neither latitude nor leeway to practice their arts and crafts, for which the company derives a fiscal benefit if stuff goes well enough? Please help clarify how this company actually works and how you and everyone else can know it. It would add to the collective understanding if you do know.

    Third, are you dead Certain that “Dein” – whichever one you mean – is NOT a major player (even THE major player) in advocating or helping to strategize/orchestrate RvP’s decision whether to leave or stay at AFC? Now, if you are Certain that “Dein” is not involved (greatly or marginally) in either the RvP statement or the overall RvP exit strategy, then on what grounds are you certain? Alternatively, you might just Suspect that either “Dein” is not involved (greatly or marginally). Again, on what grounds do you suspect that either “Dein” is not?

    Like anyone, we can sit back and wait to see what happens and what suspicions turn out which way. But along this murky path, in the absence of perfect knowledge, and as more important things spin our world, we try to raise or to squash different inferences. But insofar we two hypothesize and infer on opposite sides of who’s hand is or may be at work in RvP’s current situation, I’d like to know your answers to these 3 sets of questions.

  115. fedda,
    It is surely interesting as you point out that the fair and balanced ( 🙂 ) Sky Sports has first posted, then removed the story about RvP now STAYING at AFC. It’s something to remember for that hoped-for, if unlikely time when it all the pieces fit together and it all makes sense. 🙂

  116. Anne,
    Imo, you’re surely right to note that something smells rotten about the current media blitzkrieg (aka coverage). (And now pitting AW the Good vs RvP the bad, as their latest gambit.) Clearly, they continually con much of the public and you’ve been the sharpest at exposing it hereabouts. I think, however, that the headline to this part one of your article has over-promised, and the con job is yet to be proven. For the moment (and it may change as this nasty game continues to unfold by the minute), I think you were ill-served with an overblown headline, and while it grabs attention, it has raised more expectation of proof than is currently in hand. That said, I greatly look forward to your part two media (un)coverage; and equally to Tony’s piece on the Guardian. Eyes wide open.

  117. p.s. Also curious as fedda points out that Sly Sports first runs, then pulls the story on RvP’s now STAYING at AFC. Seems well worth keeping in play.

  118. Yes, that sky story is all over the net, what in the hell is going on there? Maybe a time for open minds and reserved judgement

  119. Anne thanks for that site, i could not believe it not until i saw that heading{ 11 useless guys and one stupid manager}.
    And you expect to take anything good from Krishit apart from when you want to die of a heart attack.
    Keep us posted.

  120. By the way V-P is still on holidays let wait and hear from the man himself. Remember the whore-lists against Ferbregas it took him a while but he responded.
    Van-P would do the same give him time. We have a lot of preseason matches you will see for yourself.

  121. One thing I don’t get about this thing is that not too long ago, RvP’s family members were all quoted saying that in their opinion, he should stay. Even his wife has said how happy and settled his family are on her Twitter account, as well as how much Arsenal have stuck by him in darker times, so I don’t quite understand where these quotes are coming from. Even the player himself has spoken of how important his family are, so why the sudden change of heart?

    I agree that something doesn’t quite add up about all this. If it was someone acting on RvP’s behalf, perhaps it was more of an attempt to get as big an offer from the club rather than securing a move away.

    One thing I will say is that when a player has done something similar in the past (namely Adebayor), a section of the fans will start booing them, and I really hope that isn’t the case should Robin stay.

  122. @southern gooner.

    Maybe that’s why he want to leave?
    Think about it, his mummy says to stay, he doesn’t want to anymore..
    Think about boys in general – we never like to do what our mummy says and often do the opposite.

    (tongue firmly in cheek for the above of course).

    As for booing him should he stay. I’m an ST holder. Would never boo a guy while they wearing the red and white, but I sure as hell won’t be cheering his name. I did the same with Adebayor.

  123. @GoonerPete

    Eh, we never do what Dad said to us, we always do what mom tell us 😀 But yeah, never boo Arsenal player thats disgraceful.

  124. @omglol

    In England, we never do as mummy says.
    We are mummys boys, but TELL us to do something and we won’t do it 🙂

  125. @Bob, You have jumped to a conclusion about me or my opinions and it’s unfounded. If either Dein is invovled it would not surprise me. However while this site is trying to highlight refs in the epl, I don’t like to see theories with no validation what so ever thrown out there. If Sports entertainment did not have RVPs authorisation then he could surely sue them. All you have to do Bob is research these agencies, See if you can find out who they have as clients and try to remember if their last transfer was predicted by any media sources. Then you will have an answer as to which agencies like to use the media as a tool.

  126. If you want to throw theories out there Bob, I’d love this all to be an Arsenal sting operation to highlight the behaviour of those behind it.

  127. Talk about deluded wenger and van persie fans, he said these things get used to the facts, and if he didnt he would have refuted it, simple. I am an arsenal fc fan dont care about individuals.

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