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Publication on July 20th: Woolwich Arsenal, the club that changed football. The book that re-writes the Arsenal story.
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This article concludes the piece about RVP and his website statement. Part one of the article appeared here.
By Anne
Now let’s take a look at some of the media response to the RVP web site “announcement,” and see if it might suggest any specific media agenda in association with the “announcement.” And if there is, you have to question the credibility of the “announcement” itself.
(Please forgive me for not including links in this section, like I normally would. I wanted to get this article up as soon as possible, and I was pulling too many direct quotes to save links to all of them in a timely manner. If you want to check me for accuracy, you can do a google search for any of these phrases in quotation marks “like this” and it will pull it up.)
I’m just going to provide a list of quotes here. All are taken from the same media sources that have established a reputation for being “unfriendly” to Arsenal in the past:
> “Arsenal must decide whether to cash in on wantaway striker Robin van Persie after the captain insisted he had to leave the Emirates Stadium to win trophies.”
>“Arsenal must decide whether to quickly cash in on wantaway striker Robin van Persie after the captain insisted he had to leave the Emirates Stadium to win trophies. Photo Caption: Valuable asset: Robin van Persie will leave Arsenal one way or the other.”
>“Arsenal should sell disrespectful Van Persie before another summer descends into chaos.
If Arsenal were to sell Robin van Persie, it is likely they will be able to recoup the money they have invested on their new strike force, and still make a profit that can be invested in other areas of the squad.”
>“Van Persie has tainted his Arsenal legacy… there’s no way back now
Let’s get one thing straight. Robin van Persie’s statement was not ‘for the fans’, as he so lovingly professed, but for himself….Van Persie deliberately made his position at Arsenal untenable. There can now only be one outcome. Van Persie has his wish and is sold this summer to the highest bidder”
>“Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has warned..that [Van Persie] would be ‘slaughtered’ by Gunners fans if he is unable to secure a move before the new campaign…Merson told Sky Sports News…’He’s burnt his bridges. If he comes back and they don’t sell him the fans are going to slaughter him.’”
>“Arsenal must get rid of Van Persie
Following Robin van Persie’s revelation that he will not sign a new contract at Arsenal, I don’t think the club have any option but to sell their captain immediately…What is the point in keeping hold of Van Persie when replacements need to be sourced and bedded into the team? Not to mention the fact that Arsenal can make some money on him now rather than losing him for free next summer.”
>“The…dilemma for Arsenal is whether they can seriously take a stand and keep a player who has expressed such public dissatisfaction. And what is the point of losing out on a handsome fee in exchange for a player who will have lost the affection of so many supporters in an instant and who clearly wishes to be elsewhere? The logical option is to sell to the highest bidder.”
>[From Sky] “Gooners have taken to the net in their droves to express their displeasure at Van Persie’s decision not to sign a new contract…here are some of the best!….’/#RVP CAPTAIN, LEADER, LEG-IT’…’He leaves when he wants, he leaves when he wannntss, he’s Robin van persie and he leaves when he wants.’”
>“while there was loose talk…that Van Persie and Arsenal could see out their remaining 12 months of contractual obligation, the tone of the 28-year-old’s message surely signals the end of his career at Emirates Stadium. He left little or no room for manoeuvre as he displayed an obvious lack of faith in Arsenal to take him where he wishes to go and win the trophies that have eluded the Gunners since 2005.”
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It all seems to be a new twist on the same old story, doesn’t it? However, another reason that I believe that this is the likely agenda for the appearance of the “statement” is based on Arsenal’s response, which confirms that Robin has decided to leave Arsenal when his contract ends, but which also gives me the impression that this was decided between Robin and Arsenal a long time ago, and under terms that Arsenal has no problem with:
“We have to respect Robin’s decision not to renew his contract. Robin has one year to run on his current contract and we are confident that he will fulfil his commitments to the Club.
‘We are planning with ambition and confidence for next season with Arsenal’s best interests in mind.’”
I personally read this as a statement that Arsenal is not intimidated, and has no plans to transfer Robin early in response to this tactic. I also read it as implying that Robin’s decision to leave was not made for disrespectful reasons.
Personally, I still back Robin 100%, and I don’t believe for a second that the person who slagged off Arsenal in the media using his name was actually Robin. However, I am concerned about the damage that this individual has caused to the real Robin’s reputation, which I believe to have been entirely deserved. And I’m also concerned about the possibility that we might see this “forced transfer” tactic be attempted against other Arsenal players as the season goes on..
As a prerequisite for the use of this tactic, there must always be some move to discredit an Arsenal player in the eyes of the fans. So, from now on, I think that all media reports about Arsenal players should be regarded by fans with extreme caution and scepticism. Particularly if they attempt to attribute statements to Arsenal players that would reflect negatively on the Club.
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Latest stories:
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- Untold Media: All the things Robin did not say (and how you have just been conned)
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After the article from the other day, I was ready for this one!
I have taken the precaution of wrapping my entire person in tin-foil and have fashioned aluminium space-suits for my cats. Can’t be too sure.
Personally I’m beginning to distrust one of the cats. How can I be sure he is who he says he is? When he says “meow” whose words are those? Whose interests is this cat representing? What is his agenda? Can I believe a word that is written on this cats website? You can’t trust anyone these days.
I’m not saying I believe that my cat is a secret spy for Manchester City, but if he is not, why hasn’t he released a statement denying it?
John,
Perhaps grinding your head with some sandpaper so as to not let it be so thick, and using a crowbar to pry open your mind a little, might help solve the mystery of this curious kitten. You might also want to use a mirror, reach over, and take that stick out of your ass.
Sorry, what are you saying here? That Robin Van Persie didn’t make the statement on his personal website?
LOL @ John – the sooner your cat comes clean the better, look at how this whole saga (to sign or not to sign) affected its performance at the last European Cat show.
If all that said abt Rvp is untrue, why can’t him deny it? We’ve hear 4rm anything 4rm him. That means its true.
@John – Brilliant comment!
I’ll probably get an ‘oik’ for not agreeing with this sites writers but this latest RVP conspiracy theory is something else.
I do believe that this site exposes some very important things, such as the refereeing bias but also some of it is way over the top hyperbole.
I’m thinking that this RVP case, and the Arsenal players being injured deliberately were articles that were way off the mark.
The facts:
Webiste in RVPS name and been proven to be his: check
Letter linked on RVPs own twitter – check
No denial of such statement from RVP – check
Face it. The blokes just another ungrateful footballer who wants a big payday before he retires.
ahh Spartan, he was such a good doggy.
Unfortunately we had let him go after he refused to fetch his stick unless we paid him £200,000 a week and he woofed his concern about the direction the frisbee was taking.
Anne, seriously, are you okay?
Very worrying if you believe that this is some sort of conspiracy.
The monetary offer was great but the main reason was the acquisitions of a young and lively Great Dane (Giroud) and a German Shepherd (Podoslki).What was an old dog to do facing that stiff competition?
“I am concerned about the damage that this individual has caused to the real Robin’s reputation,…”
The REAL Robin?
Well, if the theory that these articles have been based on has any substance, I wish the REAL Van Persie would hurry up and stand up to renounce the statement that appeared on his website!
Can’t say he’s tarnished his reputation in my eyes. He’s just another supremely talented but massively overpaid footballer with an inordinate amount of self-interest being advised by those who have no interest in anything other than lining their own pockets. There’s a lot of them out there.
actually the media is unfair to arsenal bcoz all the acquisitions r not true i knew he never said all tha damn
I’m sorry for being so dumb but could someone please explain to me why RvP hasn’t said anything to refute this statement, if it came from a third party unrelated to either himself or the club? Arsenal felt the need to immediately respond but Robin hasn’t. Rather than berate my lack of intelligence or resort to calling me stubborn, please enlighten me as to the reason that RvP refuses to refute this. I’m willing to listen but I simply can’t understand RvP’s silence on this matter unless he tacitly agrees with the message. If Robin and Arsenal have agree to see out his contract, why not just say that jointly?
RvP: Payrise please.
AW: Sure, 20%?
RvP: 20%, how about 50%, I could get 100% at MCFC.
AW: Robin, you barely manage to average half our games per season, you’re getting older, I’ve had to sign two strikers to cover for you, one of whom is going to play LWF just to get games. 20% or you can go in a years time on a Bosman.
RvP: I’m not signing on for a 20% payrise.
AW: Fair enough.
RvP’s agent: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
And thus starts the media machine – hacks, please dig my unhappy (actually reasonably happy) client out of his final year transfer hell so I can get my percentage of his transfer fee.
The club would probably like to retain RvP’s services, even if only for another year but relying on him isn’t/hasn’t been particularly clever given his injury record. Hence why there’s been no reprisals from the club, in fact they have attempted to go to extreme lengths to not act aggressively.
Err… Sorry Anne but I first read the statement via a link on RVPs twitter. Or what, you’re going to say the mans twitter was hacked too? The man with the glass shin wants away following his first full season at Arsenal. I say let him leave. We Are Arsenal. Bigger than any player, manager or staff. He leaves, we replace him. Its that simple.
What if RVP were to respond by appearing in Arsenals training pictures smiling with his Coaches and other players
Again, I seriously doubt the media response says anything about the validity of RVP’s statement. It must have been approved, by proxy or not, by the man himself. Lack of comments on his part can be read any way you want, then.
However, what I think is curious is that for the media a player with a year on his contract is always “wantaway.” It doesn’t matter if there’s any talks going on or not. “If you don’t sign an extension, you’re goin out, pal!” Would someone clarify to me, why is this binary logic applied to situations where it clearly doesn’t (because there are at least 3 ways out)?
RVP’s statement was very irritating, which explains why people of weak minds (some supporters, Campbell, Merson,…) assumed very early that this was it. Still, with all the loopholes in the statement, it required only a minor amount of sanity to see that the talks will be resumed. RVP was on vacation after the Euros, and has only just come back. Yeah, I know Aruba’s boring, but does it mean you should let your manager spoil your vacations? In other words, the media again showed how news are made these days – whether there is a reason for worry or not, the journalist’s responsibility is at all times to irritate, undermine trust, question, doubt and act unreasonable in the face of logical explanations.
Woolwich,
Nice one. IF RvP and/or RvP Agentry is playing ulta-hardball to leave, I see two sides: if we hold him to his contract, RvP would start to get the “timely chronic back problem disease” that was pioneered by x-Cesc to effectively go on strike against us and subvert the very ambition that he decided was not there and surely not possible. The psychosomatic injury mesages this: do what I want or I’ll demoralize and undermine your squad and leave anyway. That said, however, if RvP shows himself to be so “injury prone,” then he will have seriously devalued his next big payday – or be exposed as a liar. So, in that sense, AFC holds some serious cards in this next round this week.
Yeah, I mean, I think “conspiracy” takes it a bit far — it’s just more noise being made by an agent that the player should have let go. RVP’s net financial gain from transferring for big money this year vs leaving on a Bosman next summer is only the difference in wages, but for his agent it’s a 10% cut of the transfer fee versus nothing at all. And you’re naive if you think RVP’s twitter is his alone, not curated in conjunction with said agent.
This is what player agents do (not just Dein) — look at Ibrahimovic’s “public statements” or the Tevez sagas for more evidence.
I think your article is absolutely bs or a recent dream. If we are left to speculate on what was presented us, there are much more stuff to believe RVP is a goner (not a gunner/gooner). Sorry I can’t envision such guy wearing Arsenal shirt again. Let’s wish him much time in physio rooms wherever he decides to realize his dream.
Bob,
Precisely, he’s Captain Sicknote, if he spends his usual amount of time on the treatment table (or is perceived to) his contract value will plummet – he’ll be forced to take a payCUT to sign on somewhere else.
If there is a media conspiracy, it is to drive through a transfer, whether that is to benefit RvP’s agent or to damage Arsenal, who can say?
@Anne
Personally I’m not convinced by this conspiracy and here is why;
You mention a lot about the authenticity of the robinvanpersie website and seem to think that it was a website just thrown together.
After looking at it for a few moments it looks fairly comprehensive for something ‘thrown’ together. Also, the website was created in 2003, bought for 9 years and updated in May 2011 – http://www.enom.com/whois/default.aspx?DomainName=RobinVanPersie.com (follow link to see registration details), you can also get an email address for the registrant at the bottom of this page and a phone number if you wish to pursue it further, though it seems legit to me. The fact that the registrant hasn’t opted to hide their identity makes me more inclined to believe it is legit too.
I’m also lead to believe the link also appeared on the official twitter of RVP. To do this the Twitter feed and website are presumably linked and the password and private details of RVP would need to be known to achieve this.
My final point, which many people have brought up, is the fact that RVP has not yet come out to refute this statement. If he had not made this statement or had any part in it then I have no doubt he would have immediately rubbished the statement so we could all move on.
So it may not be him that wrote it, but it certainly seems it is his views, or at least close enough to his views for him not to feel the need to refute it.
For all sorts of reasons (but mainly FFP) the transfer market is changing. Chelsea have just ‘released’ two players with a combined cost to them of about £25m who both played for them in the Champions League Final. They may not have been first choice players but they had a value in the market that the club ignored in order to get their salaries off the books.
Man City are reputedly willing to sell Adebayor to Spurs for £6m (the remainder of his amortised transfer cost?) so as to achieve the same benefit and to free up a slot in their, already bloated, squad.
RvP cost Arsenal around £3m about eight years ago and threfore owes th club nothing in that respect. Without competition for his sinature his ‘value’ in the market could be quite low and the saving would only be worth the one year of his contravt that remains.
Whatever he may or may not have said it might well be the case that Arsenal have decided to use their wealth to play hard ball. Effectively to throw down the challenge to him to have another great season and, off the back of it, to earn himself a free transfer move to someone who is willing to pay silly money for a thirty year old with not such a great injury record.
If that is the case he will have to retract what has been said by him or on his behalf – otherwise emotiona bridges between him and the fans will have been burned.
If this scenario turns out to be somewhere near the truth then, if he did say what is claimed, he was very badly advised by someone. Maybe someone who wanted to open a door for Red and White to walk through?
You’ve hit a point, it’s so bad I wonder if he relly meant it but I’m sure he wrote it – more’s the pity
As John says – we did this the other day so its a bit tiring you weren’t embarrassed enough by the last foray into conspiracy theory.
A few facts to urinate on your cornflakes. 1- The website belongs to RvP. 2- RvP either wrote it or agreed its publishing so by proxy the message is from him 3- He wants to have a big payday so did this to force Arsenal’s hand into selling him 4- I was told that Lord Lucan was his advisor. They met on a grassy knoll to discuss his contract and Lady Diana’s sad ‘accident’ all those years ago. Mulder and Scully popped up to try and get to the truth but it remained ‘out there’ and so Robins agent is going to fale a moon landing to deflect the negative press that the ‘real’ RvP is getting.
Please….
Just my regular reminder that I am blocking some comments where they are simply abusive to the writer. Standard Untold policy. Doesn’t mean that we won’t publish comments which are against the views of Untold writers, rather that if you want to argue against something on Untold you need to present an argument, rather than abuse.
Most correspondents are perfectly reasonable in this regard, and it seems a basic common courtesy to me.
@ DanT. I think you’re right that the RVP site is his “official site”, but I’d bet money that he doesn’t do a thing on it. It’s owned and run by Sports Entertainment Group International B.V., which is owned by his agent. The point Anne makes is that it is entirely possible his agent put the statement out without approval from RVP. I find this hard to believe, but it is possible.
Well I guess it is possible that RVP comes back from holiday, denies everything and fires his PR team including Darren Dein. It is possible. It just seems a little unlikely. Again though, football has ceased to surprise me… and even if it is all crap… I just wish this hadn’t happened. It sadly has dropped RVP (even if it was totally fabricated) in my eyes : (
@Anne. I agree with what you say, absolutely plausable.
@Todd. Exactly, the conclusion i have come to.
@iain. Read Todds’ comment. Van Persie website is owned by his Agent.
Van Persie is still on Holiday, http://beta.cloozup.com/ambassador/ruudgullit/lifestyle/739.
If i was a big professional footballer, playing for a big european team, i wouldn’t be notifying the club/the fans about my intentions via a text message(BM).Respectfully and professionally it’s not the done thing. It smells of something rotten.?????
@John,
I’m with you all the way on this one, although your cats have never liked me.
As for Shard’s comment, some paranoid medecine needed here, I think.
How can we be sure this is the real Anne writing this theory? There could be a rogue Untold out there, complete with doppelgänger Walter, Tony et al.
Come to think of it, when I looked in the mirror this morning, there seemed to be a slight delay in my reflection appearing. A telltale sign of a duplicate me??
Maybe should have had one less last night.
Much as I wish it were not so, in the absence of any denial from RVP, I have to conclude the story is as is and move on. He is replaceable and the world will not end.
Roll on August.
Yeah that’s why i like the Arsenal,all the news is about my beloved team all the whore-lists are getting overtime because of the Arsenal,every season is about the Arsenal.
What do you expect the Arsenal sell’s like a hot cake,any whore-lists have to write an article about the Arsenal for his news to sell,hmmm i just like it.
Those who have not talked since last season are up and stinkin in their noses, just keep it up guys we are the only team with some good news right now not until the beginning of the season;but we are used it is always like that.
VP has not denied this statement. He could have managed thesituation better. RVP could leave as a legend if he managed the situation well and armtwisted the management to the direction wanted by the fans and then use that as basis for wanting to leave. No fan want him sold to city no matter the amount. Wenger should develop another strategy for city by reporting the club for tapping to serve as a deterent. Mancini is temporarily shinning due to the avilable botomless pocket of the owner rather than any hard work. Considering all that he spent in a few years (over 800m GBP), and winning the EPL on goal diffrene on the last day, strggling with a team that spent less than 40% is no no serious achievement.
@john – cats will only look out for themselves and they have absolutely zero loyalty. Sure the last year may have looked like you were getting some love back but it was only one year out of eight. Get rid of it now before it craps behind the sofa and starts making everything smell bad.
Gazidis on holiday in the U.S for two weeks while the showpiece player of the team he supposedly runs won’t sign a contract and will possibly leave????
Somehow, I’d personally be cutting it short, unless this really is final.
What is this man on? I for one, think Gazidis is a pure banker (money at all costs, profit above his Granny). This fool shouldn’t run bloody Rangers!!
Tony, then why did you let Shard’s comment through? Where was the argument there? He disagreed with John’s satire so attacked his person. Abuse non? The last time I tried to post on this site, you had blocked it/banned me, but my follow up post, when I had the time, contained a full logical breakdown of my views…uncool man… even less cool was assuming you knew my views about Arsenal + Wenger and categorising me, when I’d said nothing about it!
This and the previous post on the subject, and the same looped comments of rebuttals (with facts, oh joy!) and insistence from pro-conspirators has become a bit too surreal for me. Reminds me of a Kafka novel. I find myself question my identity, reasons for my emotions. the motivations behind them, the make up of my personality etc
This whole line of questioning has some merit – the vested interest of agents/media spin etc – but we all know that exists. The FACT is that instantaneous communications make it easy for a player to confirm/deny the veracity of such a large story / decision about their future. Pretty sure they have the interweb in Aruba…
So in the end, this kind of feels like a distraction. The talk should revolve around the squad and players we know want to represent the club. Where we can strengthen, benefits of new coaching set-up, possible options for the new season etc. But maybe that’s not sensational enough….
Ok, I can see that people didn’t like this one too much. Sorry. But I suppose the main thing that caught my attention was the fact that the media has been full guns blazing attacking Robin Van Persie as a result of this. It is normally their wont to attack Arsenal itself, in case anyone missed it before now.
But in this case, they’re leaping to Arsenal’s defense and attacking Robin. Don’t know exactly what they’re up to, but something doesn’t add up about this. We’ll see if it turns into a pattern with other Arsenal players.
@Todd, I agree with your thoughts except for the part where Anne is pointing out the statement may not have been approved by RVP — he may not have approved every word but I doubt he would not have been made aware of the general tone.
At the end of the day, there are 3 likely outcomes:
1) RVP leaves this summer
2) RVP leaves next summer after fulfilling the last year of his contract
3) RVP signs an extension – does not matter when he does this but he does
(of course, a 4th possibility is he stays, gets his leg broken in our 2nd BPL game at Stoke and is forced to retire, rendering all other discussions moot…but let’s leave that off the table for now, ok? :P)
RVP will be condemned in either scenarios 1 or 2 — as long as he leaves AFC, reaction from supporters/fans will be negative. Now we can argue/debate about the amount of negativity but the fact is, AFC supporters/fans will not be happy. Therefore, if RVP has decided to play for another club (whether it be because of higher wages or other factors), he is going to receive a negative reaction from the supporters/fans, so who cares how the exit is arranged as long as it is arranged?
Anne, that is a good point. For once, Wenger and the club is cut out to be a sympathetic figure. Cannot believe the club would leak anything or have “friends” in the media. Let’s see how long this continues before the next round of “Arsenal a club in crisis” headlines.
@Woolwich:
“If there is a media conspiracy, it is to drive through a transfer.”
Can there be any doubt that this is the case? At this point, it just seems like it’s a question of whether Robin himself is behind it or not. And I personally consider that to be a question separate from whether Robin “approved” the message or not.
The important question to me is more like whether Robin actually “meant it,” and what sort of external pressure he might have been under when it came to “approving” the message. (although I’m still not ruling out the possibility that Robin didn’t approve it at all, but perhaps is in a position where he can’t deny it).
Because there’s also the question of Robin’s “agent,” who is supposedly one Darren Dein (as I believe bob mentioned). Now, he wouldn’t have any interest at all in this associated Red and White nonsense would he?
What do we know about Robin Van Persie and this man?
@Wooby:
My guess is that they’ve abandoned the “Arsenal in crisis” line for good this time. It wasn’t working on fans. And I’m also afraid that we might be looking at a future “crisis” of all our players “wanting out.”
And we’ll see. We’ll just have to wait and see.
What I’m actually trying to do here is call their next move, which means that there’s a gigantic and very real possibility of me being completely wrong. But at the same time, it’s essential to try if we want to protect Arsenal from these vultures.
You need a whistle blower? no pun intended, But I do think the only way we are ever going to know the truth behind these and similar dealings is if someone comes clean with the info. But who would do that? A gooner gunner maybe?
Anne, I think you are quite right to draw attention to the peculiarities of the RVP statement. As you noted earlier the statement was very strange and did look as if it had been written by a third party. What we don’t as yet know is the level of input that RVP had (or didn’t have!)
Then we had the opportunistic attack on the board by Usmanov – in a letter that also looked pre written.
Next, we had the co-ordinated media attack on RVP – totally out of character by the media – who chose to attack RVP en mass when recent history would lead one to believe the the attack would be directed at AW and the board.
Next the Sky story that RVP might have second thoughts and may stay at Arsenal – then the story was pulled.
Finally, the revelation that the RVP statement was released on a site owned by “Sports Entertainment” – ie his agent.
While much is still unknown, there are considerable grounds for suspicion. Someone has been pulling strings and I don’t mean RVP.
Forget conspiracy theory— there has been a conspiracy against us for ages and yes– it does evolve, as Anne says. We had Legbreakgate and then Refgate (still running as far as I can see) then Misergate , which was blown out of the water, so now we see the ugly face of Personalattackgate? Why is it happening? (and forget trying to label this a conspiracy theory– something IS going on) Well, Arsenal is the only big club which will cope if the ‘fair play rules’ are fully implemented. There is a hell of a lot of snout-in-the-trough money invested in all the big european clubs. This money is in grave danger of evaporation if clubs are hit or banned from competitions as a result of manic spending. Only Arsenal and Bayern own their own souls and they are probably the only two big clubs who want ‘fair play’. They are bucking the trend and spoiling the plan to drive a coach and horses over Platini’s baby. Seeing as the Banks control governments, media and the press and don’t want ‘fair play’ (when did they ever?) perhaps that is why the cry goes up- ‘bring that f****** club into line or bury it down the table!’ Whatever,– I think we can all look forward to the next trick when Personalattackgate fails? Arsenal supporters have too much class to fall for dirty smear campaigns. Solidarity and standing up to bullies is the best policy. Untold (and Anne) lead the way in that.
I think the situation is quite straightforward but many have missed it.
1. RVP has not extended meaning he’s not happy with the offer. He said “hmm….. you never know” when asked at the end of the season if there was any likelihood of him signing before Euros (means he didn’t expect change in the AW/Gazidis meeting).
2. His statement shows clearly:
a. No new offer on the table, meaning club running with existing offer (130 or 140k per week + £5m signing bonus)
b. The agreement to not speak about contract is broken – club and RVP followed it during Euros and until his stmt. Why? Probably because RVP unhappy with the pace things going in his sale and a few noises from AW that he will try to keep RVP (which he needs to make to show M City that they can’t get him for a song).
c. The high risk is with RVP meaning if Arsenal held him to the last year he is in a seriously bad position – he would be faced with being a free agent (turning 30 in Aug next year) and on the back of a season which will not be as good as this year (Arsenal bedding in the 2 new strikers) and no longer the main man. Good chance that M City would cast their gazes and money elsewhere in a years time (also he runs with this year on the lower salary). Therefore he makes the statement to show Arsenal that he is seriously against staying for the final year and wants to move quickly, so best to alienate the fans, and prod the club to move quicker.
d. From the Arsenal perspective it is the same as Nasri. AW bought Gervinho as Nasri replacement nice and early (and to be fair look at the Gervinho stats for his first year in the Prem and they were v similar to Nasri with M City). So AW has bought Giroud and Podolski. So AW expects RVP to go, BUT WILL NOT DO IT FOR CHEAP MONEY. So AW waits until M City put up sufficient cash and ONLY THEN do they let him go. Same as Nasri.
Media know this and are pushing the “must go now quickly” which is clearly against Arsenal interests. Why sell to Juve for £8m when you can wait and get £20 to £30m later from M City.
Arsenal will sell RVP if they get a decent price for him. Unlikely to keep him, but you never know. There will be a low ball level at which it is better to keep him and show the squad they can not always force a move.
More interesting case is Walcott. Looks like AW has decided to drop him. Podolski and Ox-Chamberlain moving up. Hence, no contract progress and noises about other clubs interest.
Anne, sorry but it is pretty certain Robin or his Agent (with Rvp’s approval, either at the time or certainly has now by not yet refuting it) put that letter on his website, or they/Arsenal would have come out with a statement by now stating otherwise, it is very unlike that either party would let this much damage be done without responding publicly by now with a simple “someone made this story up”.
However I do find it interesting how the media is now standing ‘behind’ Arsenal and telling us how appalling RVPs actions are and that we should sell him. Almost like they want him to be sold? Surely if they think his actions so terrible then they would be telling Arsenal to let him sit in the reserves for a season to stamp out this type of behavior.
The motives behind the writers of these articles does seem rather strange and it would be an interesting comparison between how the media reacts now compared with when Rooney did the same thing a while ago.
London KONY. Untold publishes three articles a day – all of which I edit and publish (although obviously don’t write) and with three other volunteers try and monitor what is going on with Untold comments – of which there are sometimes 200 plus a day. And I have a full time job, which helps fund the site.
So the simple answer is, between us, we miss some things. I have not gone back to look at the comment in question – no time – but that is the answer. I do my best, and my friends who help run the site do likewise, but it is hard to maintain standards.
@ Anne re: 8.21
I think there is a motive behind the media no longer attacking the club but instead the player. The motive being that fans will also follow suit and attack the player thus forcing him out of the door and creating a self destruct mode by the fans.
I appreciate your efforts Tony!
Never meant any doubt about that one, just the previous experience seemed a bit censory. But no worries, I continue to read on and visit regularly.
I was just browsing around today and found that RVP’s representatives, the Sports Entertainment Group (SEG), also represented Ozyakup…who left earlier this summer.
Does anyone know or has anyone heard if AFC and SEG had some type of falling out (besides how much players represented by SEG should be paid :P) and hence, a possibility of SEG steering the players they represent away from the club? Further, does anyone know how many other current players are represented by this group?
I think you over-thought this one Anne. Napoleon is credited with saying “Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence”. Seems pretty close in my eyes.
RvP is a football player. He doesn’t work with his brains. Nor I suspect does his agent, beyond doing the sums for negotiating. RvP has had a brilliant year after a long, frustrating period of injury, rehab, injury, rehab, etc. Sadly, AFC isn’t likely to be able to sell him for much (viz. the previous remark about the long, frustrating period of injury/rehab). I’m sure RvP feels vindicated by his brilliant year, and is confident of a long string of equally brilliant years to follow, but he and his agent are going to have a hard time convincing anyone else. So he’s likely more valuable to AFC playing than being sold.
Shame about the puerile website/twitter thing. Now he looks a twit (if it looks like a twit, and acts like a twit…). Hope he enjoys his days in the limelight. And only £4.5 million (before tax) coming in this year to console himself with. I also hope he has the same kind of success on the pitch as this last season (unless he goes to MCFC or some other EPL club, in which case I hope he reverts to form).
Cant believe this…year after year our top players leave…opposition fans can see it in fact the idiots at ssn can see it only deluded people on here living in la la land making up excuses under the sun to defend wenger and the board for their pathetic displays. How long before TV and JW are off?
Keep dreaming…