The transfer window and a demonstration of faith

TRANSFER WINDOW AND DEMONSTRATION OF FAITH

By Damilare

Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you”. And he promised her with an oath, “whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom”. She went out and said to her mother, “what shall I ask for?” “The head of John the Baptist”, she answered. At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter”. The king was greatly depressed, but because of his oath and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl and she gave it to her mother. (Mark 6: 21-28)

Can we learn anything from this story in relations to the transfer market? My thoughts on this latter.

You must have seen the headlines: “Chelsea snatched Salah”, “Manure stole Mata” etc.  Today the transfer window will shut close not to be opened until summer.  Moans of ‘wisdom’ from the usual suspects are “Would it not be wise for AW to buy”… Draxler and Manduzic and Morata and  Pogba and …er, any player whose name is not too long for the new Puma kit or too difficult to spell and pronounce now before it’s too late?

It does not really matter if they are better than the players currently in the team or not. Just buy, buy, spend some f***ing money and buy. Buy now before chelski and oilers or manure (for that matter) ‘outwit’ and ‘outspend’ Arsene Wenger.  Buy now before our two Poles, Mertercienly, the British core, Ozil, Giroud, Poddy and NB52 all get injured. Buy Zzzzzzz….!

Well, do you just buy a player because you have the money? Or because all your competitors are buying? Or because it’s attractive, in vogue and media friendly? Do you really, really need to buy because of buying? Oh I see, on football manager, it is fun to buy all the star players just to deprive other teams their services.

Here’s a few things I learnt from the story above about the transfer market.

  • Timing of the transfer window makes it ‘a now or never’ occasion when something big must happen. AW’s view on this is consistent.
  • A club may buy a player just for bragging rights only. I once heard a certain club owner who bought a particular player as birthday gift for his son against the wish of the team’s manager. So simply because a girl danced, somebody must lose his head.
  • Some clubs do have misplaced priorities and simply do not know ‘value’ when it comes to players transfer. I think “half of the kingdom is better than the lifeless head of a man”
  • Unlike AW, some managers gave in to ridiculous ‘popular demands’ of dinner guests like the media, pundits, fans like AAA and selfish club board/owners to buy unwanted ‘stars’ and ‘names’. Those managers, like the king in the story, knew the decision was wrong but because of the ‘dinner guests’, he must act to save face.
  • So what would Herodias, the girl’s mother do with John’s head? Would she use it for ‘pepper soup’? Would she decorate her cabinet with it? Or would she just say ‘hey guys beware, I can get anybody killed’.

While I do not mean to say team strengthening is wrong, buying a player outside of football reasoning is wrong.

However, the transfer window imho is all about faith. Other words I would like to use interchangeably with faith are believe and trust.

A manager buys a player because he has faith that the incoming player is an improvement to his team. While he sells off another because he had lost faith in the player’s ability to impart positively on the team. Whereas for another ‘deadwood’ player, the manager may stubbornly refuse to let go in faith that he would come good.

A player moves to a new club either because he has lost faith in the ambition of his present club as some ‘little children’ within him may have suggested or because he (and probably his agents and family) now has faith in the higher pays on offer by the new club (a certain bloke robbing van of purses comes to mind). On rare occasions, a player’s faith in his club, manager and teammates makes him turn down overtures from clubs with a ‘bottomless’ pit of petrol money.

A player’s movement may also be because he’s lost faith in his own ability to come good in his present club. Fans of course may hinder or help his decision one way or the other. So when fans start calling for the heads of some players in the club they claim to support, while worshipping the various YouTube clips of their ‘idols’ from other clubs, you know where their faiths lie.

The media, pundits and self-serving bloggers are not too different from the agents in this equation. Their faith is not so much in the quality of the player as  it is in the ‘hits’ on their sites, hype and money generated by transfer rumours.

Like religious faith, transfer window faith must be respected. You may not see the sense in the mode of worship of the other guy and vice versa but you must not force your faith on others. It is commonplace however to see people embracing other faiths based on their convictions over time without being pressured. This has made some fans to stop ‘worshipping’ in the media temple and to join pro movements like Untold Arsenal and very few other fan groups who support the team, players and manager. I am one of such untold converts.

In all honesty, I never knew who exactly Arsenal should buy or when and at what price.  Pardon my ignorance, but it’s not my job. I may think I know but do I know as much as the manager? Except if I claim that I have the same years of professional and managerial experience as Prof. Wenger, and if that was true, I should be the manager of Arsenal FC now and not him. I have never seen any Arsenal player in person before yet I wish to be seen as being more knowledgeable than the man that sees them on and off the pitch almost on daily basis for years. Come on, have some respect!

So I let the leader lead and simply follow my leader. If AW feels he needs a player so be it and if he feels otherwise, he deserves nothing but utmost regard for his decisions.

In Arsene I Trust.

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53 Replies to “The transfer window and a demonstration of faith”

  1. On the subject of transerfs, I see now all the media outlets are claiming Arsenes failure to sign all the fictional transfers they created….again. Why do people fall for this time and again?

  2. I agree with your sentiments and keep the faith, although it is always exciting when Mr Wenger does dip into the market as invaribly he is successful. I do however have a gut feeling we are in for at least a back up forward with the club letting Afobe and Park go, further reducing our depth in that department. Arsene would never leave the club at a disadvantage however, and we must simply trust in whatever occurs today.

  3. What really vexes me is that we are not proactive enough. We knew we had injury’s that would reduce our options and we knew our schedule and how heavy it is.

    Its when players play to many games without rest the muscle injuries happen and we are seeing that now and it will be our main concern in the latter half of the window.

    Two or three squad additions would do wonders for us and give us a chance to rest players more. It looks like he don’t trust many of his squad players to come in and do a job so others may rest.

    Say what you want about Maureen but when he see’s that he needs a player to replace another or as a squad option he acts quickly.

    The danger here is that “lesser” clubs like Liverpool and spuds will do well not because they have a better team, which IMO they don’t’ but because they have more players they can rotate with.

    If he don’t act in the next 12 hours it could cost us dearly in the run in I fear.

  4. This is true Lishman and the often vented criticism of Wenger being heavily biased towards attack would tell you that he isn’t going to let us be short.

  5. A fine article if I may so myself. Back the management in their pursuit of excellence for the team. They know best. We place our faith accordingly.

  6. Well said. I totally agree that we fans can never claim to know the team (or the opposition as a matter of fact) as well as AW.

    If this Draxler saga is true (a big if), and AW decides that he’s not worth 37M, then he must know why.

    From the outside, I think there could be significant team management issues if he was to spend 37M on a kid. With a price tag as high as this, he would come with a tremendous expectation from fans and team member alike.
    He would be theoretically worth more than anyone at Arsenal -bar Ozil. Is he better than Rambo, Wilshere, Cazorla, or a Poldi? Unlikely. Outside Arsenal, the transfer fee would be on par with Mata, more than any of the ManC stars. In Germany he would be more expensive than a Goetze who went for €35M.

    So, if the price reflect the potential and the skills, he should be better than these. I would say there’s no way he’s better or he’s got more potential than those. But somehow he would be expected (by his team member and the fans alike, consciously or not) to be better. And that’s an enormous amount of pressure on a 20 year old – who isnt there yet.

    People can say that Bale went for much more than that. The difference is, Bale was a few years older and had already proven his exceptional quality. The pressure is there, but he knew he had the goods.

    Ozil came with a record price tag of £42M, and the expectation is huge. He is arguably the best Nr 10 in the world. Yet, just look at the way he’s treated by the media (and some bloggers) because of some performances where he’s been deemed good but not great (by the way I disagree with their view)

    No manager, including Arsene, could help alleviate the pressure and the tension that could come with such a price tag. He may buckle under this pressure. Then what? £37M down the drain. And the media would of course have a field day.

    In short, everyone’s entitled to their opinion. Mine is that AW is a fantastic manager and among the best negotiators in the world. If he doesnt get someone, it must be for a reason. In Arsene I trust

  7. The likes of Chelsea, Man City and Real Madrid have destroyed the transfer market. Players like Draxler, while good, should not be worth £37m. I’m with Wenger.

  8. Cant agree more. It is matter of belief. Wengers belief in players, players belief in team, boards belief in Wenger and so on. And it is also tied for same sort of belief with “target” and his club, manager and board.
    I believe Arsene is not masochist, and he is doing all to make his life as Arsenal manager easier. But, on our luck, he is man with character and he is doing hard to balance “good for him” and “good for Arsenal”, sometime even working against him self.
    Thus if anyone deserve respect and belief, it for sure is Arsene. Not because I am AKB (and I am, so what) but because 90 percent of population of earth mean same (10%+Jose, don’t agree).

  9. Great article Damilaire,

    I believe in the players we have. They have been top of the league for 17 weeks this season and one point behind for now.
    They are the ones that have brought us in this position, they are the ones I trust.

    If Arsenal buys someone: fine. But if we cannot reach an agreement with a club about their players (the selling club has to agree to make a transfer) so be it.

    But the players we have should know that we are behind them all the way. Because that is the only thing that matters come tomorrow till the end of the season.

  10. I concur to all that is written above.we should keep faith and continue in AW building process for it as helped the club of so many financial crisis we would have found ourselves if we had danced to the tune of the media pressure,but yet we are highly rated in european football.

    In Arsene I trust as well.

  11. All the ‘fuss’ about buying a striker is completely misplaced. It must be obvious to anyone but a village idiot that modern football demands sharp creative movement in front of the ball. Mobile ‘midfield’ players are required in abundance. Arsenal do have a lot of quality in that department.

    Just look at manu to see where a ‘get it wide and cross it’ style produces. It will take them years to catch up on the likes of Arsenal, Barcelona and Bayern

  12. I also believe in the players we have, at least a lot of them, the problem is, with our injuries, and the fact that we have too many that arsene appear not to be believe in, including a seasoned German international, taking us down to the bare bones. We have a chance to do well this season, let’s get a couple reinforcements in.

    Gutted to hear about Ramsey, but not surprised. The injury curse has struck again this season. Theo, Rambo, ox, arteta, Cazorla, NB, Jack, Tom R,let alone sanogo and Diaby all out for significant time. That is a big chunk of the squad.Right at top of the injury table again.Yes, you get accidents like NB, and with Rambos history , injuries are not surprising, but is having so many untrusted players reducing the chance to rotate, causing some to be over played? We have debated this all before, but I really hope the powers that be are looking at our injuries and changing anything that needs changing.
    I have faith wenger will be in action today, maybe a loan and an under radar signing, but suggestions shalke asking too much for draxler.

  13. We know how well we’ve done with the players we have but the problem is they’re beginning to drop like flies, either through suspension or injury. It’s essential we add to the squad. I think Wenger planning this and I’d be surprised if he doesn’t get one or two players in.

    As for Julian Draxler I hope we sign him just because he sounds like a James Bond villain. But seriously 37 million is an awful lot of money for a 20 year old yet everything I’ve read about him suggests he is going to be a massive talent. Not sure I’d stump up the cash though it’s rumoured that some of the board will pay it and Wenger won’t. Can’t say what I’d do but I’d hate to see him becoming a worldwide talent at Chelsea or City.

  14. Damilare wrote:

    “In all honesty, I never knew who exactly Arsenal should buy or when and at what price. Pardon my ignorance, but it’s not my job. I may think I know but do I know as much as the manager? Except if I claim that I have the same years of professional and managerial experience as Prof. Wenger, and if that was true, I should be the manager of Arsenal FC now and not him. I have never seen any Arsenal player in person before yet I wish to be seen as being more knowledgeable than the man that sees them on and off the pitch almost on daily basis for years. Come on, have some respect!”

    BINGO!!!

    How can I add anything to this? You expressed my sentiments to perfection.

    Kudos bro!

  15. bjtgooner,

    I love it when unapologetic AKBs come out and let the world know where we stand. I have always been an AKB and I have never had any cause to be ashamed. “Arsene Knows Best” – where Arsenal is concerned – is not a sycophantic statement, it is just fact.

    Now, talking about the AAA, that’s another matter altogether.

  16. i cant agree less with all you said, but i have one problem with the people working with arsene.if a player gets injured, we hear about the length of the injury from outside sources before it is confirmed by wenger. who is leaking the information to the press? why must every bad rumour we hear about arsenal players turn out to be true while every good rumour turns out to be false?

  17. Arsene said 80:20 he will add some reinforcements. So, knowing Arsene, there is someone already in London, doing last medical exams. Probably someone we didn’t think of and who will immediately have impact.
    Draxler would be Theo-like long term project, and that can wait, so one who is coming is someone who will probably be able to play in PL and CL, and again with big IF. Transfer market is all around one big IF, if you don’t have rich owners, but even than.

  18. desmond,

    I don’t think we should even be dignifying rumours with any serious consideration but that’s me. Whatever your position on rumours though, it’s a bit of stretch to blame AW for rumours turning out to be true or false. Words from the club is official and sometimes they want to be absolutely certain of the information that they are sending out before they do. Rumour mongers have no such responsibility and are therefore less constrained.

    My personal attitude is to patiently wait for the club’s official announcements on any issue. Like the saying goes where Damilare and I are from: “The groom should not be straining his neck to catch a glimpse of his bride”.

  19. Thanks to Tony for the opportunity to contribute my first Arsenal article ever.

    @Walter, Bootoomee et al thanks for your comments.

    Let me add that I am an AKB too. That didn’t come easy or overnight. In my early years of supporting Arsenal, I had abused and say some nasty things about Arsene. E.g “Did Diaby and Ramsey bribe Arsene to play them always?” At that time, only injuries could have kept these two players out of Arsene’s team. I felt very guilty of my shortsightedness in the past and proud of Arsene and the ‘star’ Rambo was becoming from 2013 till date. Imho, had Diaby been fit all these years, Yaya Toure would be like an imitation of him by now. Wait, you don’t believe me? Ok how many of us ‘cursed’ AW for sticking with RVP during those frustrating years? I did. And see what he (rvp) did in 2 seasons (last with us and his first with manure)without injury. I have come to conclude that AW saw what we just witnessed in Rambo in the last 1 year or thereabout so many years ago. That’s foresight.

    I saw on another thread recently that what AW did in the post Highbury era would soon become a worldwide prototype of successful self sustaining model-‘The Wenger Model’.

    I do not only trust Arsene, I love his personality. He says and does the most apt things… that’s wisdom. He is not perfect (nobody is) but I prefer him to Sir rednose, jose and the rest.

    Sorry I digress a little, AW said “we are active but not close to signing anyone” “…on the final day, it’s hour by hour”,“The Draxler situation has been created by the newspapers, not by me,” he said. “You ask me, what is that situation? I say nothing is happening on that front. He will stay at Schalke.” “It is 80:20 [that someone will join the Club]”

    So I keep my finger crossed and again, In Arsene I Trust.

  20. the only thing you can do about inflated player prices is stay out of the transfer market,i dearly hope wenger doesn’t take this route.after all is said and done especially by the AKBs arsenal need to sign a striker THIS transfer window,(the rest of the managers are not fools in doing so).signing ozil added morale [players admission] to the team and we topped the league as a result,a signing now would rejuvenate them again..

  21. We are injured and in multiple competitions for cups. We have needed quality insurance for injury and rotation. And on the last day we still need quality insurance. It did not happen proactively. We’ll very soon see what AFC can do in response. When the smoke clears, I’m backing our players, whoever they are, no matter what. That said, my hope is that the club manages to find the way to seize the real and present opportunity to get beyond the 17 weeks we’ve been at the top, at the top.

  22. Sometimes bullshit statements get repeated to the point of being accepted as fact. One of those is that Ozil signing lifted the team’s morale. This is from the media. they made it up and then ask the players what they thought about it. What should the players have said in response to such question? “No, we are actually depressed by this new signing?”

    This is nonsense. All additions boost morale but players are never signed by Arsene (or any competent manager) to please anyone or to lift anybody’s spirits. Ozil was signed because of tangible contributions that he can bring to the team; not to make ANY player happy.

    Of course many fans were happy about the signing and those suffering from “buy player” tourettes were overjoyed but only irresponsible managements buy players for the purpose of “boosting morale”.

    Analysis of our results (equal number of games before and after Ozil’s arrival) disprove another wrong notion that we are only topping the league because of his addition. Ozil is a great addition to the team but enough of the worship already.

  23. Best wishes to Frimpong – off to Barnsley on a permanent deal.
    Shame injuries scuppered his chances a bit but hope he does well…..injury, that word again…

  24. Bootoomee at 12.32PM

    You are suggesting in the first paragraph that the signing of Ozil did not boost the squad morale, that the media put these words in the players mouths, but in the second paragraph you say “all additions boost morale”. Which is it? I think you are wrong on both counts.

    The right signing will always boost morale, and Ozil, a world class player, was the right signing. Few would disagree that he gave the whole club a lift, never mind the squad.

    Also I disagree that “all additions boost morale”- if the wrong character is brought to the dressing room, or you bring in players that are sub standard, that could even reduce morale.

    We needed a striker in the summer, the pursuit of Suarez and Higuain showed Arsene recognised that. Gazidis repeated it a few months ago. We still have not got one and lost Walcott for the season. I think the acquisition of a top class striker would have given us a massive boost for the second half of the season. Who knows, maybe there are none available.

  25. kim kallstrom is the best wenger can pull out of the hat..spend some f”*& money,its not yours..

  26. A fable for all of the young men out there.

    A snake is crossing a set of railroad tracks. As he is slithering along, a fast train comes flying around the bin and chops his tail clean off.
    After regaining his composure the snake decides that he should go back and grab his tail. He looks both ways and doesn’t see any trains coming.
    So he starts slithering back over the tracks when another train comes barreling from the other direction. Wham! This train chopped his head clean off.
    Moral of the story: Never lose your head over a piece of tail!

  27. TJ,

    If all signings boost morale (my point), then it is redundant to keep hammering home the point about one single player when there were other signings. Did the signing of Flamini depress the team? That is my point and we can agree on disagree on that but it is not inconsistent. If you think it is inconsistent, however, I will save both of us the unnecessary back and forth by ‘agreeing’ with you right now.

    Thanks for confirming my point about how repetition of bullshit statements turn them to facts by repeating the same redundant mantra. Please provide the evidence that the signing of Ozil boosted morale of the whole club. I’m sure that like every other person repeating the statement, you heard it from some talking head on TV or read it somewhere and started repeating it too.

    Finally, whether Ozil or any player addition boost morale is of little significance to the management. They sign players based on what they can do on the pitch, not for how giddy they make anyone feel.

  28. A new pastor was visiting the homes of his parishioners. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door.
    Therefore, he took out a card and wrote “Revelation 3:20″ on the back of it and stuck it in the door.
    When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, Genesis 3:10.”
    Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter.
    Revelation 3:20 begins “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.”
    Genesis 3:10 reads, “I heard your voice in the garden and I was afraid, for I was naked.”

  29. @Edu, we’ve got several hours to go yet but if this is the best we’re going to do when Chelsea and Manu have bought decent players then I think we’ll be scrapping for third or fourth. We’re certainly not going to win the title. Of course Kallstrom maybe amazing but so far what I’ve dug up on him suggests he is slow though a good passer. Certainly not a player that’s going to transform the team but then you don’t get many of them in January.

  30. @ Armin,
    and the commissioned report by an independent on how referees are costing arsenal wins..i swear arsene is not one bit helping the lads in the changing room by not signing,i can almost see the looking at each other baffled SECRETLY saying ‘why the hell didn’t he sign’.they are going to dig really deep to keep up with city

  31. I really cant see anyone lose moral because his/her boss didn’t brought someone to take his/her job.

  32. Two snakes meet each other.
    First snake says “I hope I am not poisonous”.
    Second snake asks “Why?”
    First snake says “Because I bit my lip!”

  33. @Rupert Cook
    i sometimes feel if wenger was sinking in quicksand and was offered help for a fee,he’d rather sink than have to pay ‘over the odds’..i’m writing out of frustration but am rationalizing kallstrom is 31 and berbartov is 33 (tried and tested in he Epl) and knows where the net is and stylishly at that ala ‘the arsenal way’ just because he has history with the sp*ds if he can aid our cause just sign him!,since there aren’t any ‘special’ players right now in the market..

  34. @ brickfields gunners
    hahaha your hilarious..at times saying i told you so feels good when one insistently shoots himself in he foot..atleats you had the balls to go again he grain *cough* untold *cough*..

  35. One evening last week, my girlfriend and I were getting into bed. Well, the passion starts to heat up, and she eventually says, ‘I don’t feel like it, I just want you to hold me.’
    I said, ‘WHAT??!! What was that?!’
    So she says the words that every boyfriend on the planet dreads to hear….
    ‘You’re just not in touch with my emotional needs as a woman enough for me to satisfy your physical needs as a man.’
    She responded to my puzzled look by saying, ‘Can’t you just love me for who I am and not what I do for you in the bedroom?’
    Realizing that nothing was going to happen that night, I went to sleep. The very next day I opted to take the day off of work to spend time with her. We went out to a nice lunch and then went shopping at a big, big unnamed department store. I walked around with her while she tried on several different very expensive outfits. She couldn’t decide which one to take, so I told her we’d just buy them all. She wanted new shoes to compliment her new clothes, so I said, ‘Let’s get a pair for each outfit.’ We went on to the jewelry department where she picked out a pair of diamond earrings. Let me tell you… She was so excited. She must have thought I was one wave short of a shipwreck. I started to think she was testing me because she asked for a tennis bracelet when she doesn’t even know how to play tennis. I think I threw her for a loop when I said, ‘That’s fine, honey..’ She was almost nearing sexual satisfaction from all of the excitement.. Smiling with excited anticipation, she finally said, ‘I think this is all dear, let’s go to the cashier.’ I could hardly contain myself when I blurted out, ‘No honey, I don’t feel like it.’
    Her face just went completely blank as her jaw dropped with a baffled, ‘WHAT?’ I then said, ‘Honey! I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while. You’re just not in touch with my financial needs as a man enough for me to satisfy your shopping needs as a woman.’ And just when she had this look like she was going to kill me, I added, ‘Why can’t you just love me for who I am and not for the things I buy you?’
    Apparently I’m not having sex tonight either…..

  36. Some part of the fans are unbelievable.
    It seems clear that Arsenal had other players in mind to buy this transfer window. But their clubs asking too much money and Arsenal not wanting to pay over the top (rightly so) has forced us to short term solutions.
    Apparently this Kallstrom will be a loan move for the rest of the season.
    Once it is official will give you more information on him.

    But that same non existing part of our fans has already slaughtered him. Obviously he can do no good and is the shittiest player ever to set foot on a football field. Or thereabouts.

    He sure will feel welcome…sigh

  37. A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. Nelson Mandela

  38. The drunk walking along the country road saw the duck hunter lying in the brush with the gun poised toward the direction of the high-flying flock in the distance. “Shay, mishter,” advised the drunk. “Don’t waist a shot. The fall’ll kill’em.

  39. Bootoomee

    You are contradicting yourself again. You say at 12.46pm “Sometimes bullshit statements get repeated to the point of being accepted as fact. One of those is that Ozil signing lifted the team’s morale”. You are suggesting that is merely something that this is just accepted because it repeated in the media- when it’s not- its a fact that any regular to the Grove over the past number of years and since his arrival would testify to.

    I thought the point of your post at 12.32PM was that managers do not buy players with the specific reason to improve morale and I would agree with that. However you say at 1.46pm that your point was that all signings boost teams. If that was your point then surely you would accept the Ozil/ world class player boost as a fact without requesting that I provide the evidence that the signing of Ozil boosted morale of the whole club. There is much evidence in the quotes from the players in the media, but as I said already, experiencing it is believing.

    However, I further disagree with your point that all signings will boost morale for the reasons I explained earlier- but world class ones like Ozil and big characters with history of the club like Flamini (and Henry’s loan return a few years ago) will.

  40. A general noticed one of his soldiers behaving oddly. The soldier would pick up any piece of paper he found, frown and say: “That’s not it” and put it down again. This went on for some time, until the general arranged to have the soldier psychologically tested.
    The psychologist concluded that the soldier was deranged, and wrote out his discharge from the army.

    The soldier picked it up, smiled and said: “That’s it.”

    Goodnight, guys !

  41. @ walter
    the over the top pries being demanded are as a result of selling clubs being reluctant to sell in the first place but if they must they want to make it worth their while,hence those prices are the market prices..if exorbitant prices are deterring the arsenal hierarchy then were going to be stuck with mediocre signings for a while..or maybe sign really talented 2yr old to save on future costs

  42. Thanks Brickfields Gunners, I always look forward to reading from you too, man of humour.

    I just checked Arsenal.com now and the only transfer news is that of Frimpong. @Rupertcook & co, where do you get your story from? Well, that’s not important. We know whose report to believe.

  43. Bootoomee,

    As any AKB will tell you, it’s not the winning that matters, it’s about taking part….

  44. Nice article Damilare. Hope to see you write a lot more in the coming months. Welcome to Untold.

  45. Damilare.

    Great maiden article. I’m loving the Faith analogy. I think you’re further cleansed by admitting previous disdain, though it’s not surprising given the poison spewed towards Arsenal and Arsène. To then write this article… It’s just very good. Very, very good.

    Whilst it’s already here: Our kingdom come(eth).

  46. Brickfields,
    “Never lose your head over a piece of tail!”.
    Could you not’ve told me that before?
    (Can I write proper English, like?)

    You’re such a one. Thanks.

  47. Thanks Arvind for your comments and @ rantetta, Im honoured and I will say Amen to your last sentence

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