By Tony Attwood
[this story was updated on 9am, UK time, following publication an hour earlier]
As you might have gathered, transfer rumours on this site are pretty much the province of Sir Hardly Anyone who just a couple of days back ran the story
Unbelievable Transfer Shock; Arsenal sign £20m striker in secret.
Here’s what he said…
Earlier this week in British newspapers it has been leaked that Arsenal are in secret talks with World-Class No.9 but the name of the striker remains unclear.
Some of the British sources insist that its Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy who has scored 24-goals in the Premier league and being named as PFA Player of the year.
… However, his move from King Power seems unlikely after Leicester City FC agreed on the new five-year deal with their star striker who led them to their first Premier League title.
Now we have the absolute irony of them all. OK, the headline that site ran, which we took as our own to make the point about how stupid transfer rumours had become, was of course untrue. But what seemed to be a made up story from a web site in Balkans could turn out to be true. At least according to reports.
The Guardian claims an exclusive on it this morning saying “Exclusive Arsenal trigger Vardy’s release clause in move for Leicester striker“.
It might have been an exclusive last night when they published it, but it certainly isn’t now that all the papers have copied it.
The heart of the matter is that there is a release clause in the Vardy contract which means that if the player agrees he could leave if the deal is £20m plus.
Now of course we have been here before with release clauses. Arsenal supposedly offered £40,000,001 for Suarez from Liverpool, who promptly denied that clause in the old vampire’s contract existed. He kept on denying it so much that the media believed him, until he admitted it at a conference, and boasted how he had conned everyone with his lies. That event is one reason why Liverpool have found buying the players they want quite hard for a few years; everyone tells fibs but the people who are not trusted are those who boast about it.
It was never at all clear if Arsenal’s bid was serious or just a wind up; they made no attempt to make the contract clause public to prove that they were right and Liverpool wrong (and they clearly had the contract otherwise they wouldn’t have known about the clause), so the most likely scenario was that it was a wind-up to help avoid the media looking at other deals Arsenal were trying to make but were struggling with.
But back to Vardy – he signed a new contract last season, and according to our old friend “Reports” Liverpool, Manchester City and West Ham have said they want him. Man U are apparently fixilated (new word for the day) on God or Zlatan Ibrahimovic as he was known in Paris. And no one has denied Vardy’s exit clause exists.
Indeed this might be where the Leicester approach of running their PR and marketing operations Trestellar, from an unmarked office in the Shepcote Office Village in Sheffield backfires since they probably don’t have the muscle to move in to handle such a story, quickly enough. Indeed when David Conn of the Guardian went looking for the company that trebled the sponsorship income of Leicester what he found was an operation “set up on a Sheffield trading estate by the son and daughter of Sir Dave Richards, a former Premier League chairman.”
Sir Dave Richards resigned as chair of Sheffield Wednesday when they faced relegation and huge debts. Then his company went into administrative receivership (meaning a creditor wanted their money back). He then became Premier League chairman. The Guardian puts his opening salary as £176,667 per annum.
Now the amount Leicester City have got in “sponsorship” seems to be completely out of context for what clubs without a worldwide fan base can get – and of course it seemed unlikely they would win the league when the sponsorship deals were struck.
As was reported in the article that covered Leicester’s finances before…
Several chairmen of Championship clubs have, according to the Guardian, raised serious concerns about the whole Leicester financial model and Damian Collins, the Conservative MP on the House of Commons culture, media and sport committee, has said: “Leicester should answer the questions publicly, to explain this arrangement, which looks unusual to say the least, to reassure people it was not an attempt to evade the FFP rules.”
Meanwhile Vardy is on £60k a week or £70k a week (depends on the paper you look at), having been playing for Fleetwood until 2012, and if he were to transfer now, at the age of 29, that would be his one big move both in terms of clubs and in terms of salary.
Arsene Wenger is quoted in the Guardian as saying Vardy is worth up to £30m “because he is the best goal-scorer in the league. You have many players under him who have been paid much more, and who don’t score that number of goals. Without a doubt, he is worth that money today.”
The Guardian’s take (unlike that of the Balkan site that Sir Hardly took his story from) is that if the deal is done, it will be done quickly because England’s Big Boss doesn’t like players doing transfers during the internationals. Actually I don’t think there’s much he can do about it.
So what does this tell us about Sir Hardly and his tales?
Maybe we shouldn’t be laughing quite so much at the media. Or maybe we should remember that the story about Vardy has been around for quite a while, but then so have 56 other transfer tales we have logged in the Great Arsenal Transfer Index.
Either way, there will no holding Sir Hardly now. He was unbearable before this happened. Now, well, I dread to think.
- Infantino under suspicion of being Blatter II; Fifa under suspicion of being, well, Fifa.
- Memo to the Metro Newspaper. Just how miserable would you like me to be?
- Maybe it is wholly appropriate that the PL has a ref system different from all the rest
- Arsenal won the Fair Play League this season. I wonder why the media didn’t mention it.
This is by far worst news so far this close season.
With all these “exclusives” being claimed it’s left to the blogs to ask if the supporters actually want Vardy in their team. Of the ones I’ve read only Arsenal, Arsenal are in favour, while 7am & Untold have come out as anti. I would expect Le Grove & OnLine Gooner to be for it taking the line that Wenger will say “well you wanted a new striker, so here he is”.
Please let it be smoke & mirrors.
Tony
I’m afraid you are making pretty wild accusation there. If Arsenal had been offering 40.000.001,00 pounds for Suarez just to wind-up someone, that would have meant we hadn’t acted in bona fidei manner and that Liverpool!!! had had right to lie to those who had been acting under false pretences themselves.
And, last time I checked Arsene Wenger was not Harry Redknapp (check the whole Ryan Babel-Rafael Van der Vaart story to understand why).
This rumour could hold true, if we piece the puzzle we can see:
1. Investment firm said Arsenal have about £54 million to spend on player transfer after taking out the £50 million overdraft.
2. Arsenal bought Xhaka for around £30 million so balance is around £24 million.
3. Vardy’s release clause is around £20 million so it meet the transfer budget that the investment firm predict.
I be extremely surprise if Vardy ends up at Arsenal because of his age and playing style. But I guess it’s football so anything can happen.
I believe AW really wanted Suarez but he got played by Liverpool. You can see the way AW reply when asked about Liverpool transfers, he didn’t take it to kindly.
Josif
I think it was a ‘bona fidei’ offer, in the sense that if Liverpool/Vamps had said ‘yep that’s fine, see you Monday’ Wenger would of been doing handstands around the Emirates.
But Wenger is not stupid and was 99% sure it would be rejected, for whatever reason, but mainly because the Vampire had his heart set on Barca (or Madrid), and Liverpool would of been seriously against him staying in the Premier League.
So it was ‘bona fidei’ in one sense, but in reality, knowing the likely outcome of the bid, it was also a smoke screen for other ‘irons in the fire’ that where proving a tad troublesome.
So not ‘lying’ or ‘acting under false pretences’, just being clever.
Despite what the Sun tells us, Wenger is actually quite clever you know.
@Jambug
Mr Wenger is clever (he wouldn’t have survived among the hyenas for 20 years if he hadn’t been) but he is also a man of honour who respects contracts and other obligations. He wanted to sign Suarez as a perfect striker but Liverpool!!! didn’t want to sell him to Arsenal even if that took them to make a big lie about the clause in his contract. There is no shame in being a victim of a liar. However, entering negotations knowing that there won’t be a deal made is not honourable.
Furthermore, to claim Mr Wenger was just making a distraction bid is based on no evidence at all. We do know that Arsenal were looking for a striker to play with or without Giroud, that we made an offer that was rejected, that there was an attempt to get an authentic interpretation of the clause that didn’t go well for Arsenal and Suarez and that Henry subsequently admitted there was a clause in the contract.
but people, doesn’t paying or offering to pay release clauses create a lot of problems for the buying club?
I mean first, the selling club may not want to deal with us again in future. We might have to pay release clauses to get any player henceforth.
Second, is there not a chance that other clubs may increase value of their players in future?
I hope Vardy comes to the Emirates. Blistering pace, good accuracy, can shoot from a distance. Kept himself injury free for most part of the season. He is a determined chap that he rarely gets shoved off the ball. Short term solution, I don’t think so. Zlat Ibra nicked his best goal tally last season. He is 33 and still looking for action. Besides his price is not over the top and we can definitely sign a young striker to groom and take his place.
Leon
i dont think Wenger follows the media while making transfers. He has never in 20 years.
As far as Le Moan is concerned it will continue to discredit Wenger even if he won the PL title.
Never follow Le grove it is a Chelski/Spurs blog.
As far as Suarez is concerned i think Wenger was quite serious in signing him but Suarez had eyes on Barcelona imo.
Suarez is a champion footballer worth signing even with the vampire label.
I think Wenger should now go for Mahrez instead of Vardy as he was the real force in Leicester sucess. Anothee Algerian Ali Sulaimani offers good value. He was quite good during the WC in Brazil .
Josif
“However, entering negotations knowing that there won’t be a deal made is not honourable”
I didn’t say he KNEW a deal wouldn’t be done, I said I thought he would of been 99% certain a deal would not be done. But why not try, you never know.
“Furthermore, to claim Mr Wenger was just making a distraction bid”
I didn’t say ‘just’ did I? I said it was a genuine bid, if a bid almost certain to fail.
Like you I am only expressing an opinion based on what I see and hear. For all we both know, Wenger was confident the deal would be done.
Either way, I just think to accuse Wenger of acting dishonourably, given the behaviour of others, is being very harsh.
But neither you, I, Tony or anybody else for that matter really knows what was in peoples minds, or there true intentions where over all this. I just know, when it comes to ‘honour’ who my money would be on.
Jerwmy Wilson of the telegraph seems to believe that Vardy is a done deal. And this obnoxious guy seems to tell us this only to suggest that Wenger is planning for his retirement.
Fcuk off
On Vardy
I certainly am taking all this with a pinch of salt, if I admit with a slightly smaller pinch than usual, but we all know what these things are like.
But for a second, lets assume it’s all for real and we are going to see the diving little s**t…., sorry, the, inscrutable, honest as they come, Mr Vardy in an Arsenal shirt next season.
Is he a good fit?
Well, on the face of it no.
As has been shown on here in another article, our biggest problem when it came to scoring goals was breaking down the bus parkers. So on the face of it JV is not the kind of player to help with that particular conundrum.
BUT, that’s maybe the point here, because what the aforementioned article did show is that when it came to scoring we was at our most effective from ‘turnovers’, either from being under pressure at the back, or interceptions.
Maybe Wenger has decided that this is the way to go. Concede possession. Invite the opposition on and hit them on the break.
The fact is we have already done this to some effect a few times. In Europe especially. Also in the PL on occasion, away against Man City particularly, if I recall correctly.
So given how few times we’ve employed this tactic, and it’s relatively high success rate when we have, maybe this is the way Wenger is looking to go.
If this is the case, then the possible arrival of Vardy, or a similar type of player, would make a lot of sense.
No one knows the true picture of the balance of Arsenal’s transfer money in their bank accounts because Arsenal don’t make their bank account balance sheet public.
Notwithstanding, I think I can reasonably believe the multiple media publications on Arsenal bidding for Vardy transfer to Arsenal. Because the rumour is too strong to be without smoke smoking out beneath it.
Arsenal have committed around £34m in their signing of Granit Xhaka. And I believe they still have a good balance of money left in their bank accounts that can accommodate the transfer of Vardy and other ones too before they bid for Vardy.
Let’s forget about the failed Luis Suarez transfer bid to Arsenal. Arsenal can only learn a lesson or two from that episode and use it to guide themselves in any further transfer they’ll be involved.
A transfer rumour has also linked Arsenal with a left back player at Wolfsburg. I don’t know if Arsenal will eventually signed him or not. But one thing I do know is, Arsenal are in need of a young top quality left back as another top option and cover to Monreal for a revamping exercise of the Gunners defense line that should see the Boss brings in a top quality CB too.
We shouldn’t be surprised if Arsenal sell off some players this summer whose progress at Arsenal have stagnated. These sellings will enabled Arsenal to make rooms for new top quality players to come in and to also recouped some of their spendings.
Ormstein has also reported it, apparently he comes with some reputation,of infallibility, a bit like the guy in the Vatican.
Just something that does not read quite right though….perhaps as it sounds very unwenger.
As for being a racist, I have to defend Vardy. Yes, he said something racist, but immediately went on a course to make him aware of different races and cultures ….after the club had fined him……so that makes it alright then!
Anyway, on a purely genetic level, there is no such thing as race, just different pigmentation, characteristics and customs built up over millennia . So if there is no such thing as race, he cannot be a racist…..perhaps a pigmatist or whatever……so on that logic, we are free to sign him. Or sign a possible true target all this MAY be masking.
But racism aside, he is a diver though.
And if he wears the Arsenal shirt, pundits, and referees will call him just that. If he wants to keep doing what he does, he would perhaps be better off at Leicester.
It would be a great signing if true.Lightning quick with a great eye for goal and doesnt mind getting stuck in also .His work rate too is phenomenal. Giroud will be a good back up and plan b.
The Vardy story makes sense in the context of the failure of the wide right position having produced so few goals last season and the fact that we have the leagues best attacking right back to allow the player playing in that position to play more as an inside forward than as a right winger. His age means that he will not be too much of a long term threat to youngsters coming through in that berth and, anyway, does anyone remember a chap called Ian Wright who joined us in his late twenties and had a bit of a career with us?
Mandy
He didn’t refer to colour though. He called a Japanese a “jap” which although bad enough isn’t the worst I’ve ever heard.
As you say, “still a diver”
I think that Vardy had a decent season and scored a good number of goals, but if there is any truth in the stories about his release clause then I hope that it is not triggered by Arsenal. He is not the player Arsenal needs and I don’t think he will repeat the goals tally he managed at Leicester. If we are really looking for a class striker then I hope we can secure Alvaro Morata. He has played for big clubs and his pedigree far outweighs Vardy, also he is only 23 (hope I have got that correct) as opposed to Vardy who is 29.
Hmmmm?
He called a Japanese a ‘Jap’ did he? And that makes him a racist does it?
I that case does that make anybody who calls me a ‘Brit’ a racist?
If so, there’s a hell of a lot of racists out there.
Re the issue of buying Suarez from Liverpool, what surprised me was that Arsenal were widely reported as making a bid for £40,000,001 – which is such a specific amount it seems to me it was either completely invented by the media and then swapped around from place to place, or it was done just to annoy Liverpool. As I understand it, and from what I have been told, the normal approach on a buy out clause is to say “We’ll meet the buy out clause”.
Of course to be clear I don’t know what happened, I was just speculating – although I do tend to believe that Henry’s speech at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference in which he claimed to lie was accurately reported.
Just to be clear on what I said in this article (above)
It was never at all clear if Arsenal’s bid was serious or just a wind up; they made no attempt to make the contract clause public to prove that they were right and Liverpool wrong (and they clearly had the contract otherwise they wouldn’t have known about the clause), so the most likely scenario was that it was a wind-up to help avoid the media looking at other deals Arsenal were trying to make but were struggling with.
Perhaps to be pedantically clear I should have said, “so for me” the most likely scenario was” rather than “so the most likely scenario was” but I think you should (and most readers do) take it that comments and articles are personal opinion, drawing conclusions from the evidence around, which is what I was trying to do.
“Jap” …is that what he said…..think I may have been mixing him up with the antics of other Leicester players last summer.
Guess such a word depends on the context……of could be offensive, or could just be like calling someone an Aussie, Yank…or as posted, a Brit.
Remember George Bush using a certain shortened word for a Pakistani, which would certainly be considered racist over here, but the ex President, for all his obvious faults, said this word maybe in an unfortunate way, but seemingly without meaning any racist…or whatever context.
People do say things they shouldn’t, and maybe unfairly get branded….sometimes. Our own Jack Wilshere has been caught using a homophobic , commonly used in years gone by, a term that now could get people sacked in the UK.
So, maybe the racist thing is a bit over blown.
But, still seems a strange signing, if in some ways understandable signing should it happen.
So Tony
What’s your serious opinion on this Vardy business? Would you like to see him at Arsenal?
None of that “if the club signs him I support him” mantra.
What do you honestly think?
Nobody’s judging you.
Would you welcome Vardy to the club?
things getting hotter by the hour.
Now Vardy’s wife is reportedly being attacked on all quarters on twitter.
Mandy
Yeah, I think he said “Yo jap, walk on” and continued using “jap” in an aggressive manner which probably was mildly racist.
I get shirty if called a Pom, and it’s not so terrible really is it?
There’s a music Genre called Krautrock and the Germans don’t mind at all.
I’d like to see Vardy at Arsenal. All this stuff about “he wouldn’t fit our style of play” is specious. No style of play is sancrosanct (even Barcelona’s tiki-taka style has evolved – watch Barca ’09 and compare them to Barca ’16). Wenger changed our style of play to accommodate a midfield that he was building around Fabregas, so presumably he can change it again. But I get the feeling that too many Arsenal fans think Vardy is too “low rent” and “chavvy” for the club. It’ll be interesting to see if he signs and to see if he’ll be afforded as much support as Giroud has received.
Political correctness gone mad, when I was a kid all the children’s comics ran stories about the Japs getting their planes shot out of the sky , It was every day parlance as was many other similar nicknames given to many other people. The world is too scared of it’s own shadow nowadays , even the Jewish kids I went to school with in St John’s wood used the word YID to address their mates.
Vardys wife being attacked on Twitter…….disgraceful……even if these reports are true, and I am sure there is something in them…..as it is mentioned on the Srsenal Horse Twitter feed…..but there is no guarantee he is signing anyway.
If he said that, as you say Leon, sounds pretty agressive …and mentioning race. Pom is not the worst, especially if from an Australian cricket fan or player after we have defeated them ….but as with all, depends on the context. There are clearly a spectrum of these words, amongst the worst are those that suggest in some way racial inferiority, or, as alledgely used by Schmeichel Sr , Ron Atkinson, and a recently departed manager not here to defend himself,have have connurtations with things as unpleasant as slavery, guess others are little more than nicknames, or abbreviations, or references to foodstuffs consumed by certain nationalities. There are regular references to frogs in the press and some blogs when referring to our manager….think he has experienced far worse.
But, still cannot defend him on the diving, wrapping legs around defenders, hope that if he comes here, he will stop that immediately, not least because he will not get away with it.
Assuming he does sign for us I think he will be a noticeable upgrade on Theo, Joel and, for now at least, Alex O-C. We have a number of youngsters coming through who will be ready for first team action in 2 to 3 years so his age isn’t a problem.
According to stats from 7am kickoff, who generally knows what he is talking about, he scored 18 goals from open play this season, against an expected figure of between 13 and 14. Look up his ‘by the numbers piece’ on “Arseblog News” for full details. Giroud’s tally was almost exactly as expected. Giroud had a goals / expected goals ratio of 0.96, Vardy was 1.3.
I think a front three of Alexis, Giroud and Vardy will scare the sh.t out of most defences next season.
To those of you who say he is a cheat, would you rather him use those abilities for us or against. For too many years we have been too nice on the pitch and to have a forward with a bit of nastiness about him can only be positive.
Hopefully he will also I still some of his grit and fighting spirit into some of our other players who, whilst technically more adept, are lacking that part of their makeup.
Football is a team game and one thing that Leicester displayed far more than us last season was the willingness to fight to the final whistle to hang on to what they had in every game.
In lots of ways he will be an excellent signing, assuming of course that he does sign the thing.
certainly all vardy goals were not from counter attacks, besides we have been carrying out some with the finishes being inadequate. in every match there were opportunities to counter. I don’t care if he dives and wins us a penalty.
After Pearl Harbour, “Jap” was most definitely used as a derogatory term, as the Japanese people in America were being rounded up and put into camps.
goals Walcott 08, Oezil 07, Giroud 14, Vardy 15, Sanchez 15, others 18. if we can get that amount and defend better, just imagine
I really hope this is just a vapour transfer. Players of Vardys ilk (a racist cheater), do not belong at Arsenal. Call it political correctness gone mad if that suites you, but when someone continuously points out and calls someone by their ethnicity, there’s a reason to that. To my memory, i have literally never heard someone pointing out someones ethnicity (outside of describing someone/somewhere) as anything other than in a negative way.
@Stevo, I’ll disagree and agree with you. No one can say for certainty if Vardy will score up to 24 goals, more or less if he comes to Arsenal because we are not God who knows and sees the future.
But based on the evidence of his high performance level at Leicester that gave them the PL title last season, it will not be wrong if one says Vardy has become a top quality striker that can improve the strikers goals scoring ratio at Arsenal if he’s signed on by the Boss. Right?
I agree Vardy can operate better from the right side of the field than the senior and junior Gunners of, Walcott and Iwobi are currently operating from that position. So his coming to Arsenal can be a great value to the squad.
Arsenal are yet to sign a better top quality CB who is better than the 2 out the 3 who are currently co-manning the heart of the Arsenal defense-line. This signing is very important for the Boss to do.
If Arsenal are to successfully deal with the titles winning threats of, Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool and possibly Leicester and Spurs next season, All the 5 weak positions of CB, LB, DM(already dealt with), Strikers( look to be dealing with it) and LW in the Arsenal squad MUST be strengthened this summer with top quality additions or with a promotion of a top quality striker from our Under 21 squad(Mavididi?).
In this wise, It will be great if Arsenal sign Alvaro Morata in addition to their signing Vardy. Morata who is originally a LW at Real Madrid can be deployed there to Mann that position in conjunction with Alexis and Campbell in a rotation form. If Sanchez becomes stubborn wanting to start in every game, the Boss should sit him down and talk to him to make him understand that the general on the field success interest of Arsenal is far above any personal interest of any individual player at Arsenal.
If Arsenal sign Vardy, him and Giroud will be 29 years old. But they are still top quality players. However, it’s either the Boss deploy Morata to play centrally or leave him at the LW and promote Mavididi to the striker’s position as the understudy to both Giroud and Vardy.
In my opinion Vardy would not suit our style of play or any style of play we’re allowed to play. We’re a top team so we cannot sit back against the mid-lower teams as they’ll just sit back as well and get the draw they came for.
Also at 29 he’s getting far to close to the age of obligatory injuries and whilst so many (over half) his goals are ‘on the break (or penalties from ‘on the break’ situations) we’d just be waiting for his 1st injury to see his leg speed disappear and half his goals, with it.
Finally the clincher for me is that Piers Moron has given it his blessing, So I really don’t want it to happen….
If we (AFC) have made any enquiry about Vardys buy out clause then hopefully it’s just been asked in the knowledge that it’ll be leaked to the hacks to create some smoke and mirrors to mask the purchase of a better option.
He won’t come. He’ll realise his diving won’t draw the call in an Arsenal shirt. And temperment wise I don’t think he can go a match being held by the shirt, pushed and clattered in the box and not lose it.
I’m not concerned about style, AW has the tactical nous to get the best of his talent, although he isn’t fond of divers. Not my type of player, but, AKB.
Also, I am a bit disturbed by Vardys habit of punching himself in the face after missing chances. Dean/Atkinson/Taylor would send him off on violent conduct for that.
That aside, it does seem we need a striker, and not many around. Morata is oft mentioned, but no guarantees we can get him, and the quoted fifty million would represent a huge gamble on a raw talent in a new league in a foreign country. Lukaku….can look good, but similar scoring figures to what we have, would possibly be over priced, and Everton might not want to sell him to us. Cavani….maybe, but has done not much for a while, getting on a bit, and again, over priced. There is the young Dutch player…..a maybe, or perhaps some undiscovered gem. Or RVP anyone…..ok …maybe not.
IF we sign Vardy, I guess, as has been pointed out, would provide time to prepare youngsters, and carry on improving the youth set up, Ivan was at pains to mention such improvements in his impressive responses in last nights Q and A session…..see Tim Stillmans transcript over on Arseblog.
Brickfields where are you, when we need you?
We need cheering up. A couple of jokes would do it
This is getting serious, multiple English and Italian outlets are now saying Ranieri has confirmed Arsenals approach for Vardy……some suggesting it is imminent, below just one example
http://metro.co.uk/2016/06/04/jamie-vardy-arsenal-bid-confirmed-by-claudio-ranieri-transfer-could-be-done-within-24-hours-5923708/
So, whether you love, hate or are indifferent to JV, think we should at least ready ourselves for the possibility of further news
Andrew Crawshaw
“To those of you who say he is a cheat, would you rather him use those abilities for us or against. For too many years we have been too nice on the pitch and to have a forward with a bit of nastiness about him can only be positive.”
Sorry Andrew but we are not refereed like most other teams. Read the following from Goonermikey who highlights just a few of the instances of how differently we are dealt with when we transgress. There are some more examples given in the thread by others.
This from Goonermikey
June 3, 2016 at 10:49 am
“To follow up on what Tony and others say. I did not see the Graham teams as hackers but look what happened when we got into a brawl not one tenth as unedifying as the Chelski v Spuds game a short while ago. We got docked points while the other two just got a fine that wouldn’t even cover the cost of their Christmas party. That is what would happen again if we adopted your tactics.
– In 1988 Paul Davis got a 9 match ban for punching Glenn Cockerill
– In 1999 Vieira spat at Ruddock (a known thug) and got a 6 match ban and fined £45,000
– In 2008 Martin Taylor got a 3 match ban for effectively ruining Eduardo’s career (even when FIFA called for an increased ban the FA refused)
– In 2010 Shawcross got a 3 match ban and seemingly defended by the whole of football and the media for GBH on Ramsey’s leg.
– Roy Keane is still revered throughout the footballing world and treated with respect despite admitting that he deliberately broke Haaland’s leg by stamping on it.
– Henry is as close to the anti-Christ as possible in many circles because a ref didn’t give handball against him in a game against the Irish Republic (yet nobody mentions the dive for the penalty which won an earlier group game for the RoI).
You see, that’s how things work.”
Lets assume for arguments sake we acquire JV. If he behaves in the way he did at Leicester he will be in the stand more than he’s on the pitch. Still at least he’ll be able to keep our other acquisition Mr Granite company.
On the Vardy signing…..works the bearing in mind, anything that seriously pissed Gary Lineker off cannot be all bad.
Mandy Dodd
Personally I don’t love or hate him.
There was no doubt in my eyes that he was a great finisher. His one on one conversion rate looked very impressive.
The question is, was it a freak? A purple patch? Was part of his success down to what he got away with? Who knows?
And yes he did get away with stuff he wont get away with at the Em’s, but is it his fault? Is he the only one? Hardly.
Either way, when a player comes to Arsenal he will get my full backing.
After all I was there when we signed Willie Young ! I sang his name the first time he pulled on an Arsenal shirt.
You don’t want to know what I thought of Welbeck before he joined. I love the guy now.
I wasn’t over enamoured with Cechs arrival from that dump eiter. But if he pulls on an Arsenal top I’ll back him and judge him on what he does for us, not his history!
So despite question marks, if he comes he’ll get my support.
Mandy Dodd
Re: Gary Lineker.
Here here to that. He really has turned in to an odious little man.
Mandy, there’s a couple of good young CFs in the Dutch league.
Janssen and Milik (ajax) have both been scoring well.
I’m not sure if scoring in dutch leages is a plus or not.
I can’t remember the guys name but I do remember Norwich buying the Dutch top scorer one year and the guy scoring less goals for them than there own ‘Own Goal’ tally.
I have a feeling Celtic did the same one year with a dutch striker… same outcome.
But Bony wasn’t a bad buy for Swansea (scored some and made them a few million pounds)…
Jambug, Vardy has been with them 4 seasons I think.
A poor one, a decent one, a poor one and an excellent one (in that order).
I can’t see him being successful in his 1st year and I don’t think the aaa would wait for a second year from him…
It’s all smoke and mirrors until it is confirmed by Arsenal.com, IMO. Half of me believes it is entirely made up and will be used to beat Wenger – you know…Arsenal had a chance at Vardy and parsimonious Wenger wouldn’t splash the cash.
Andy Mack
Most of the aaa wouldn’t wait for a second half !!!
You have obviously followed him closer than, I so I bow to your better judgement.
Although isn’t it possible his form was dependent on who was around him?
Ozil, Cazorla, Whilshere, Ramsey all feeding him through balls on the counter attack?
Jambug, Of course he’s done much better since Mahrez has been supplying him.
But numbers of 5 from 29 (12/13 season), 16 from 41 (13/14) 5 from 36 (14/15) aren’t great reading… And one injury (more likely at 29) could slow him enough that he can’t get on the end of the though balls…
I think this age thing with Vardy is a bit of a red herring. He didn’t play league football until relatively late in his career. Wrighty played on till he was about 35 and has said that coming out of non league helped him prolong his playing time.
Leon,
the PL is a much more energetic league now, especially with the ‘defend from the front’ style now required by everyone. If he was a CB or a DM where the speed is often less important than positioning and their distance travelled in a game was lower, then they can contribute until mid 30+, but Strikers and attacking MFs can’t keep up as they get older.
@ Andy, same with Memphis Depay at ManU, he was the rising star and was doing extremely well in the Dutch league, but so far he has been disappointing in the EPL.
Let watch Vardy play for England at the Euro and judge if he can handle a different style of play. If the price tag is £20 million for Vardy, it’s worth a gamble especially for a proven striker in EPL. The downside to this is that Vardy might lose the motivation or hunger after joining a big club as can be seen with many other players who play well for smaller clubs but drifts when playing for bigger clubs.
I would prefer Lacazzette from Lyon because he’s still young at 25 years old and is a proven goal scorer. Not sure why he’s not included in the French team for the Euro.
@ colario -June 4, 2016 at 2:58 pm – Am right here , Charles , reading the comments as it appears as though all hell is about to break loose ! To some at least ! Am actually enjoying all of this . Anyway here are some laughs for you .
Here’s the bet –
Two little old ladies, Connie and Evelyn, were sitting on a park bench outside the local town hall where a flower show was in progress.
The short one, Connie, leaned over and said: “Life is so boring. We never have any fun anymore. For $10, I’d take my clothes off and streak through that stupid, boring flower show!”
“You’re on!” said Evelyn, holding up a $10 bill.
So Connie slowly fumbled her way out of her clothes. She grabbed a dried flower from a nearby display and held it between her teeth. Then, completely naked, streaked through the front door.
Her friend soon heard a huge commotion inside the hall, followed by loud applause and shrill whistling. Finally, the smiling Connie came through the exit door surrounded by a cheering, clapping crowd.
“What happened?” asked Evelyn.
“I won $1,000 as first prize for ‘Best Dried Arrangement’…”
Andy Mac
I was thinking more that he wouldn’t have had such a hard time of it with Fleetwood & before as he would have in League football and probably has been more injury free and fitter now as a result. I think he played the whole of last season didn’t he? He might last a few more years with us than you would normally expect.
God, I’m already talking as though he’s one of our team already.
I take your point about changes in the style of play in the PL taxing front players more.
THE PRICE OF A BRAIN
Relatives gathered in the waiting room of a hospital as their family member lay gravely ill.
Finally, the doctor came in looking tired and somber. “I’m afraid I’m the bearer of bad news,” he said as he surveyed the worried faces “The only hope left for your loved one at this time is a brain transplant. It’s an experimental procedure, very risky but it is the only hope.”
“Insurance will cover the procedure, but you will have to pay for the brain yourselves.”
The family members sat silent as they absorbed the news. After a great length of time, someone asked, “Well, how much does a brain cost?”
The doctor quickly responded, “$5,000 for a male brain, and $200 for a female brain.”
The moment turned awkward. Men in the room tried not to smile, avoiding eye contact with the women, but some actually smirked. A man, unable to control his curiosity, blurted out the question everyone wanted to ask, “Why is the male brain so much more?”
The doctor smiled at the childish innocence and explained to the entire group, “It’s just standard pricing procedure. We have to mark down the price of the female brains, because they’ve actually been used.”
scoring freely at home seems to be our problem. Don’t know if Vardy is the solution. Away from home we have already been on title winning form. Think we need a striker who can dribble past bus parkers
An English county bowler was having surprising success against the great West Indian Viv Richards, who’d played and missed at several balls.
Foolishly, the bowler piped up: “Hey Viv, its red and its round.”
A steaming Richards cracked the next ball into another postcode and told the bowler,” Hoy mon. You know what it looks like – go fetch it.”
Here’s a real stumper !
http://www.offensive-jokes.com/joke553-The-Official-MUFC-Maths-Workbook.html
A scouser is on holiday in Arizona, USA.
He’s staying in a remote frontier type town and walks into a bar .
He orders his drink and sits down at the bar when he notices a native American Indian, dressed in full regalia, feathered head dress, tomahawk, spear, the lot, sitting in the corner under a sign saying ‘Ask me anything’.
The scouser is intrigued and asks the barman about him.
‘Oh, we call him the memory man, he knows everything,’ says the barman.
‘What do you mean he knows everything?’ asks the scouser.
‘Well, he knows every fact there is to know and he never, ever forgets anything.’
‘Yeah right,’ says the scouser.
‘If you don’t believe me, try him out. Ask him anything, and he’ll know the answer’
‘Alright’ says the scouser and walks up to the Memory Man.
‘Where am I from?’
‘Knotty Ash, Liverpool , England ‘ says the Red Indian. And he was right.
‘Alright’ says the scouser, ‘that was easy you probably recognised my accent. Who won the 1965 FA Cup Final?’
‘ Liverpool ‘ says the memory man quick as a flash.
‘Yes and who did they play?’
‘Leeds United’ again without blinking
‘And the score?’
‘2-1’ says the memory man without hesitation.
‘Pretty good, but I bet you don’t know who scored the winning goal?’
‘Ian St John’ says the Indian in an instant.
Flabbergasted the tourist continues on his holiday and on his return to Birkenhead tells all and sundry about the amazing Memory Man. He just can’t get him out of his mind and so he vows to return and find him again and pay him his due respect .
He saves his dole money for years and finally twelve years later he has saved enough and returns to the states in search of the memory man.
He searches high and low for him. And after two weeks of trying virtually every bar and town in Arizona he finds him sitting in a cave in the mountains, older, greyer and more wrinkled than before but still resplendent in his war-paint and full regalia.
The scouser, duly humbled approaches him and decides to greet him in the traditional manner..
‘How’.
The memory man squints at the scouser.
‘Flying header in the six yard box.’
I must say, I am surprised by the Vardy story (presuming it is true). I wouldn’t buy him. At 29, he is quite old for a striker, and he only has one season at the top level to his name. One of the points I took from the Gazidis session yesterday was his repeated insistence that Arsenal had changed a lot in the last few years. He seemed particularly keen to stress the large number of analysts, systems and algorithms now employed by the club to assist them with judgement calls. Of course, transfers are the ultimate ‘judgement call’ that football clubs have to make.
He also (gently) suggested that Arsenal’s recent buys were all successful, and tried to link that success to the analysis which Arsenal are now doing. And this is an interesting point. Untold is often pointing out that most transfers are not successful, and this is quite true. However in the last three seasons, Cech, Alexis, Ozil and Elneny have all looked like good buys. Gabriel and Chambers have been reasonable buys who still may come good, and Debuchy looks like the only failure. Even Debuchy has been the victim of a series on injuries and the emergence of Bellerin, neither of which were predictable.
Gazidis is a bright man. He knows that the number of transfers involved here is not statistically large enough to prove a point. He clearly thinks that Arsenal might have hit upon a system and a series of analytics that allow them to make successful transfers. He is probably not convinced of the point himself, but was confident enough to hint at it. What is undeniably true, is that the club’s record with recent transfers is significantly better than the average. If their systems are telling them that Vardy will be a good acquisition, I for one, am prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Just like Toto Schillaci, we can be asking what happened to Jamie Vardy…. just saying…
Leon, I appreciate the non/lower leagues are slower but although that’s partially down to less talent, it’s also down to lower fitness levels. If he was playing to 100% of his fitness level then, I don’t think that would be any different to playing to 100% of his fitness level now.
I think he did missed one game through injury, but I think he’d have missed 2 if one of the weekends hadn’t been a cup weekend (when they were already out). Add in the cups and CL games, together with the refs allowing the opposition to kick seven shades out of him and I think he’d miss an awful lot more games if he was with us.
I don’t think Vardy is suited to our play, also, all season we’ve vilified him and the hypocrisy now is suffocating.
If Arsenal is to break the philosophy of not signing players 30 years old or older, then let get thunder-foot Lukas Poldoski back to the Ems. On a serious note Happy Birthday Lukas.
The silly thing about racism is the truth & the inference. Pakistan means ‘pure land’. So pak is pure (or ripe) & istan is land. The cockney & soldiers used ‘pukka’ which means ripe or complete. The problem is the inference is rude (strange creation of ignorance).
Dan
I don’t think there’s much hypocrisy on show, Most people seem resigned to having him in the team next season love him or loath him. I don’t much like the idea, but will give him a grudging welcome.
It amazes me that people on these sites are against us buying a top striker that we need.Cast your minds back 12 months and quite a lot on here didn’t want us to sign cech because we had chez and ospina.He has been the best player in the premier league this year as well as the best striker and you don’t want him because he used the word Jap and he has dived once? Get of your moral high horses and get in the real world..
@Leon
Let’s agree to disagree, UT comments on Vardy this season have focused on his cheating ways, Let’s pray this is paper talk.
Could bringing in one of the scouting team from Leicestere a few months ago have something to do with this…if this is true of course????
Aside from my personal disgust with Mr Vardy due to his diving habits and a racist incident in his record, I have to admit I don’t get the whole “Arsenal are no good fit for Vardy”-narrative.
If he is quick and an excellent finisher (take a look at his non-cheating goals against us last season), how on Earth he won’t find his feet at Arsenal?
Zlatan Ibrahimović is a fantastic footballer that I would love to see at Arsenal (I admit: I still hope he’ll have a change of heart and sign for Arsenal) but he didn’t exactly set world alight at possession-based (or should I say possession-obsessed) Barcelona of Pep Guardiola. Samuel Eto’o before Zlatan’s arrival and David Villa after Zlatan’s departure, however, did a pretty good job for Barcelona.
Maybe the whole narrative has been written because Vardy didn’t sign for Chelsea, Liverpool or Manchester United as they couldn’t trigger his clause due to absence from Champions League next season?
No high-horse here, Tommy; just plain old morals. Something which Arsenal usually look for in a player and Vardy most certainly doesn’t fit that bill. If not liking racism or cheating is considered being on a moral high-horse, then i don’t think i want to go back to the real world. It was hardly just one dive, was it?
Where can you see anyone saying that they are against us buying a “top-class” striker? I think you’ll find it is Vardy in particular that most are against. Even with all that in mind, whether he is a “top-class” striker, is still up for debate. He has had one good season and is past the point where he is going to get better.
If you ask me, this just shows that strikers all around are heavily overrrated and there arent any world class ones available any more. Just some that a few like more… and others that a few like more… and tout around as the next big thing.
And honestly, I’ve ceased to care about who joins Arsenal any more. I get great pleasure if they win of course, but after what RVP said and did… something inside me died, wrt football, loyalty and all that.
So hey, if Vardy comes… I hope he plays well and Arsene wins the league again before he leaves Arsenal. That is it. I’ll watch games and hope we do well, more out of loyalty to the club than anything else. Beyond that, I’ve ceased to care much…
Its a corrupt sport filled with corrupt people and is manipulated by media, television, newspapers and every other source of information that I have forgotten to mention or do not know about. And why I should let THAT govern my life positively or negatively (as I have done until now… ) I fail to understand, logically speaking.
And then I see Mourinho back… at United, a move that he and his treacherous, leeching agent probably engineered to the last bit, at Chelsea… but which can never be proved, and hence useless as a comment.
Even with my much loved Arsenal, I know Bellerin broke through… and Iwobi might… and the occasional other player I don’t mention might, but largely Arsenal are just buying players now, and its hard for me to get excited about it. It truly is.
For me, finishing fourth with the Denilson generation (I just use him as an example, because he was one of the most most maligned by the disgusting AAA) and staying top 4 till now, was and will be a much much bigger achievement, than winning the league with Alexis and Ozil and Xhaka and Vardy and whoever will. Because now, you’ve spent so much, these players can do it… and sure hence, you stand a better chance. And we might win the league by say, 5 points…next year.
And I’ll be happy, just out of habit… but its not a massive achievement, just the EPL win, coz its… its sort of expected.
I’m sorry I’ve just rambled on unlike my normal posts (rare as they are), but this most recent buy (if its true) is hard to take. Like Xhaka was. We’re just spending now, like everyone. Yes, its our own money…yes we earned it… but the uniqueness of Arsenal today for me is now lost.
As for Vardy and his *dirty* side?, there was a time when I’d hate it. Now I don’t. I’m just numb. Comfortably Numb… as David Gilmour so eloquently says…
When AW goes, I think.. I truly think that’ll be it for me….. with football. Not just Arsenal. With football.
I’m not judging a single other poster here with this whole post, despite its controversial content… don’t pick out facts and throw them in my face today. I just felt the need today to talk about it a bit, maybe no one will understand or maybe a few will. Thank You.
Psycho “sciences”
Tony, Don and some others are comfortable here. I am not.
But, Ars Technica has an article about trying to predict who might be fascist, or in some way fall into supporting fascism. Or that is my interpretation.
To me, PGMO (not just Mike Riley, it’s entire history as I know it) is fascist. And it would seem I am a closet fascist.
http://arstechnica.com/science/2016/06/how-world-war-ii-scientists-invented-a-data-driven-approach-to-fighting-fascism/
Vardy isn’t a Wenger type of signing, and i wouldn’t really want to see him at our club. But if Wenger thinks it’s worth taking a punt on him then will just go along with that. IMO I’m tempted to think, should there be any truth to this, he’s being signed to improve our ‘relationship’ with the media and refs. Imagine this, a player who won (10?) penalties by himself in one season then goes on to not getting even a single one simply because he changed teams might look suspicious. Also, as he’s the darling of the English media at the moment, it may put all those fond of bashing Arsenal in a difficult position if he was turning out for us. Other than these I can’t really see why we would want to sign him. Arsenal have signed players from rivals previously, but don’t think any had quite a vile reputation as Vardy, making it easier to warm up to them.
Oh, and yes, shouting one’s ethnicity over and over is racist. Also, some ethnicity names are meant in a derogatory way, e.g, ‘paki’ is definitely derogatory while ‘brit’ isn’t. But the key thing is the context in which these are used; I am sure many would find someone yelling at them ‘hey, Brit!’ over and over quite racist, particularly if it’s done in a foreign country far away from home. Anyway, you simply don’t address someone by their ethnicity; you can use someone’s ethnicity to describe them but certainly not to address them, whatever the situation or location.
As much as we need a striker, I hope this is just a vapour transfer.
Just to add, Vardy has a similar reputation to Suarez’s when we tried to sign him. But the main difference is Suarez was genuinely world class. With Vardy, take away all those penalties and his goal tally looks very ordinary… just not excited at this one.
AL
“……a player who won (10?) penalties by himself in one season then goes on to not getting even a single one simply because he changed teams might look suspicious.”
A very good point, and one that had crossed my mind, and I would of thought a few others.
Alas, regarding the 2nd point you make:
“….Also, as he’s the darling of the English media at the moment, it may put all those fond of bashing Arsenal in a difficult position if he was turning out for us.”
Although a perfectly credible line of thought, I don’t think it will make the slightest difference. The medias hatred of Arsenal is so entrenched it could even work against us. You know, nasty old Arsenal fleecing poor little Leicester of there star player. Vardy could find himself morphing from ‘Darling’ to ‘Devil’ overnight.
As for your take on ‘Paki’ and ‘Brit’ you are right in the sense that used as they are now ‘Paki’ is seen as derogatory, where as ‘Brit’ is not.
But why is this?
In my youth the term ‘Paki’ was a common way to refer to somebody from Pakistan, in the same way ‘Brit’ is used to reference someone from Britain.
I am certainly not racists and used that word simply because that was easier than saying he’s a ‘Pakistani’. That is surely the reason all references to peoples origins are shortened, because it’s easier. Australian = Ausie Argentinian = Argy Poland = Pol Shall I go on?
So who was it in the first place that defined which one was an insult and which one wasn’t?
We still freely use the term ‘Pol’ to describe people from Poland do we not?
I’m sure at some stage that term will morph into a racist slur.
I find it all very confusing because I never, for one second, intended to insult anybody when in times gone by I used the term ‘Paki’, as similarly I’m sure a native of Pakistan would not mean to offend me by calling me a ‘Brit’.
But lets say I was insulted. I’m not a ‘Brit’ I’m British, does my friend suddenly become a racist?
Is it more about me projecting on HIM my perception of the word rather than his intended connotation of the word, that is the issue here?
Personally I don’t give a damn what anybody calls me. Insult or not, I’m strong enough, and confident enough in who I am, where I am from, to not give a shit to be honest.
My view on racism is the more exposure you give to these people the worse they become, the more emphasis you put on these words the more power they wield.
It seems to me the more words we keep putting in the ‘racist’ box, the more weapons the racist has to use.
Frankly it’s a bloody minefield.
@Jammy J
Ian Wright had a criminal record but we signed him. Tony Adams was in jail for drink-driving but we continued to pay him, kept him as captain and kept him when he got out of jail. Ray Parlour punched a taxi driver in Hong Kong. Paul Merson was/is a drug addict. David Hillier was also in trouble with the law.
Arsenal have had plenty of “dubious” characters in the past.
Jambug
I agree with the view that signing Vardy would not necessarily improve the relations with those in the media. After all we have some English gems in our squad (e.g., Wilshere) who would be labeled world class were they turning out for other sides. But they have never really been taken to the hearts of those in the media because they have always played for us. But Vardy being flavour of the month might just make it a little difficult for the likes of say the Neville sisters to start attacking him overnight. It might not work, or could even backfire on us (if he ‘lost his form’, which was never really there, if we removed the penos), but I’d think it may be something the likes of Gazidis might have thought about and thought let’s take the risk. But you’re right, it would never change our fortunes.
With regards to the ethnic terms, again you’re absolutely correct to think it’s all to do with perception rather than the actual meaning of the word. Take a look at us, people of African origins, for instance. While I should point out the N word is not the same as shortened versions of one’s ethnicity (I think it’s purely a racist term) we are happy to address each other by that term (like that incident in Rush Hour, for example). But have someone else that is not of African say it to you and you’re guaranteed there would be mayhem. It’s exactly the same word, but the fact it’s said by two different people makes all the difference.
I also tend to notice that shortened ethnicity terms usually become an issue where there’s some kind of underlying resentment. If people here started resenting the Poles being present then the term Pole could suddenly take a different meaning altogether. As you say, the more words we put in the box the more weapons the racists have. That is the problem, the racists take words we use daily and turn them into something we can’t use anymore because they start by putting a derogatory term before a normal word e.g., “fucking something-something”, and soon that word that was perfectly acceptable becomes unacceptable, as it will be labeled racial. It’s a minefield and I think things will just get worse with people moving around and settling in new and different cultures. You know, I once read a WHO report a few years ago that said global warming will cause wars, and I dismissed it then, but now think it might be true if one looks at what’s happening on the continent. It argued that people will be pushed to migrate from certain areas to other areas due to severe droughts and adverse weather patterns, causing resentment and anger in those new areas as the resources turn out to be insufficient for both the natives and new arrivals. Anyway, I’m digressing, but just wanted to show how a welcoming nation could easily be turned into an ‘unwelcoming’ one, building resentment which could lead to other things.
Like I said, the best way is to never use an ethnic term to address someone in their face. It changes the context; say to a friend ‘i was at the bar with two brits’ and that sounds perfectly ok, but if you addressed the same person at the bar as ‘oi, Brit!’ then that may be viewed a little unfavourably. Of course if this is between friends then it may not cause any offense. In Vardy’s case, it doesn’t look like he was being friendly to the Japanese chap, so to use that term doesn’t look good for him. Taken in isolation what Vardy said (referring to someone by ethnicity) has been said before countless times by different people, myself included even, but when you put some context into it then it creates a slight problem.
I’ve never met you, Jambug, but I am 100% certain you are not racist 🙂 And I must add I don’t believe any regular members of UA are either. In fact the whole Arsenal family is the most embracing to different cultures and races; Arsenal are a very popular club in Africa for that reason alone, unlike some big clubs up north. The way a club behaves is reflected on its supporters, and I find many gooners pleasant people, and therefore least likely to have a problem with race. That’s my honest opinion.
Al
Good post at 808
Valid points re Vardy.
Personally i am not a fan of Vardy as he cheated quite a lot to get penalty decidions.Not an Arsenal blood.
Would prefer Giroud and Walcot over a cheat Vardy.
Jammy
Having high morals and being squeaky clean doesn’t win you the league though.Where were our morals when we had Pires and eboue regularly diving ?where we’re your morals when we had keown Adams and viera threatening opposition players and putting the fear of God in them.
God they are days that I miss!!
Tommy
If you cant win clean whats the use of winning. You should follow some other sport or some other club who win by negative tactics.
Matthew, your post has come through to moderation with one “like” indicated. That is to say it has been “liked” even before it has been published.
I suspect this is because you have “liked” it yourself. While that is not of the same level of criminal behaviour of which you comment, it is somewhat dubious. Please ensure that it doesn’t happen again. I have checked our systems, and there is no indication that it is a fault within our programming or our servers.
So let’s get this right We want a world class striker who must-
Want to play for arsenal.
Must be cheap.
His wages must be low.
His club must be prepared to sell to us.
He must never cheat.
He must never have dived to gain advantage.
He must never use sexist racist or zeno phobic words.
He must be absolutely squeaky clean.
Good luck with that.it makes me wonder what some of you think about Wiltshire and some of his recent antics.
@ Tommy, if Arsenal want to be a community/socially responsible and family oriented Club then yes the cleaner the player the better.
I don’t think Vardy is a racist, I think it’s overblown, if you want to see a racist than look at those extreme right wing nutters.
Anyway, it look like Giroud pretty much confirm that Vardy is joining Arsenal, unless this is another Benzema episode like last season.
Tommy
Its called having principals and ideals. Not necessarily always achievable, but something to aim for.
I expect, if you have children, that you strive to instill these qualities into them too don’t you?
As for Wilshere, he has received his fair share of criticism on this site when justified, though most of his reported misdemeanors have been grossly exaggerated by the sensation seeking media I suspect.
And speaking of Giroud, what a rich vein of form he is in! 🙂
Al
Nice post.
I certainly am not a racist.
I judge people on many levels, but rest assured neither there colour, Race, religion or ethnicity are one of them.
On the other hand, whether or not they like Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Gary Lineker, Paul Merson, Piers Morgan, Michael Owen, Stewart Robson, Andrian Durham, etc etc, certainly is !!!
Thanks Jambug. I always knew we saw so many things from the same angle that I never even entertained the idea of us having different views on this a possibility! 🙂