By Walter Broeckx
As I had stayed clear almost the whole transfer window of the madness that surrounds these things I thought it would be nice to have a look at how fans reacted to it on the last day before the window slamed shut or whatever the expression is that people like to use.
So during starting up the sale of tickets for Dortmund away and the sale for Burnley at home for the Arsenal Belgium supporters club I also had an eye on all those experts out there who know much better than me (not that finding them is big a problem) but who also claim to know much better than Wenger.
And the people who talk as if they all are sitting in the negotiation room themselves. For if this were to have been the case I could imagine a kind of meeting room with in front on the stage two representatives from each club, the players agent in between and then a few hundred people who shout and scream at the people who are preparing to do the deal.
One of the funny things is that some people always criticise Wenger. This time he was heavily criticised because he went to Rome for a charity match. It is as if people still think that it is Wenger being the Arsenal representative up on that stage I imagined in my head. Let met get this straight for you guys: HE IS NOT THERE to do the negotiations. Not there at all. That is something that is done by other persons from the club. Wenger is involved as he is the one who sets out who they should try to buy. But then it is down to others to finish the job.
The only way Wenger acts with transfers is when he talks with the players. But that is about his position, the way he wants to use them on the field, what he has in mind for the future, those things. And as we have seen before it is very helpful when Wenger has a chat with his targets on football. It has been the key to many deals. But it doesn’t always work of course. Some players are not that much interested in the football part. No, they are much more interested in the money part. We cannot really blame them of course as it is their job but we also shouldn’t blame it then on Arsenal or on Wenger if such a money grabbing players choose to go to another club than Arsenal.
So from the early hours I could read all the abuse aimed at Wenger for him being in Rome. Some of those people really do seem to have a problem and I hope that they can find a place and a person that can talk with them and help them over the issues they seem to have. I really thought some wouldn’t make it to the end of the transfer window without getting a serious heart attack.
What also is something that caught my eye is the lack of cohesion in the “expert” world out there. Let us take Falcao who was also named as an Arsenal target by whoever invented the story. Now it seems that Arsenal were interested in the Falcao transfer but more to maybe do a good deal themselves in the process by buying Welbeck. I think any interest that Arsenal themselves had in Falcao would have ended very quickly when they heard his wage demands. And rightfully so. This would have been completely bullshit to pay so much money for a player on loan.
But the thing was that on twitter (that I gave the name ‘shitter’ yesterday) the opinion of the experts was divided. You had the AAA-types shouting each time: “buy him” followed by the very much necessary (for them) swearing and shouting and abusing of Wenger and of anyone how even dared to raise a mild question about us signing Falcao. Wenger again didn’t want to spend was the word. A famous shitter, sorry twitter ITK (In The Know – or in this case I Know Nothing) even came up with the phrase from last summer that Wenger was dithering again and that the board was going nuts over Wenger’s dithering.
People falling over each other (in a virtual world of course) in their desire to hurl abuse at Wenger and all with one goal in mind: be the king of abuse by the end of the day. I don’t know who won the trophy at the end as even I got fed up with all that garbage but it was very entertaining or depressing depending on how you want to look at it.
If social media like twitter is even close to the real world I really am not surprised that in so many places on this planet people kill each other for no good reason. There is no good reason ever to kill someone but the way people behave on places like twitter I am happy that this is only a virtual world. If they had the ability to shoot people on twitter they actually would. Well a few of them would I think.
Indeed some people really lost the plot on the internet yesterday. And I think it is strange because I have read that Arsenal have been the third highest spender this transfer window. So we splashed some cash but obviously for those in the moan (can I call them ITM – I will launch this on twitter very soon) on the wrong players. So it is not about being stingy it is about what is best for Arsenal without disrupting the team. Because we can all now start counting how long it will take before Wayne Rooney gets upset about the fact that the new kid in town will earn more than him. And then the disruption can start (or carry on as you wish) and it could cost the team points.
In a next article I will continue talking again about my impressions of the goonersphere on the internet on deadline day. But it sure was ugly, and that’s enough talking about them for the moment.
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- Woolwich Arsenal: The club that changed football – Arsenal’s early years
- Making the Arsenal – how the modern Arsenal was born in 1910
- The Crowd at Woolwich Arsenal
I feel you Walter. Sent an article to Tony on similar topic. The attitude of Arsenal fans last night was downright disgusting.
Excellent.It always amazes how much people are willing to blame wenger for. For god.s sake why does the man let it rain when the team are playing.
We dont spend they moan. We sign five players and they still moan. I just dont get the opinionated section of our fanbase. What do they actually want? why even bother supporting a club when all you can find is faults? Wouldnt it be easier to support another team?
Internet Arsenal Fans are crazy. Yesterday every one of them was going berserk.
Some said “Why is Wenger in Rome, as he be should signing players”
While others were …”Why is Wenger given power to sign players”
For God’s sake our manager has been working has been working everyday for the benefit of the club, and yet the AAA are thankless and keep complaining.
AAA
All we want is to be competitive.- We where.
All we want is for us to spend some fucking money.- We did.
All we want is to win something.- we did.
All we want is for us to spend some more fucking money.- we did.
HOW DID WE KNOW THAT WAS NEVER REALLY THE CASE.
What a complete and utter bunch of dick heads that lot are.
I hadn’t noticed the abuse re whether or not we signed Falcao, but he torrent from quite a few regulars over the imminent Wellbeck deal was very “interesting”. Some are still not convinced about him though. The BBC after the deadline day panel think it was the deal of the day, me too.
Many thanks Walter, you can feel your irritation in the piece as you paint the picture of the last transfer day, but I still cracked up laughing at the term “shitter” instead of twitter, which pretty much sums it up! Its shocking how much inappropriate hate Wenger gets, but hes one smart man, certainly smarter than the AAA put together!
COYG! Aha and Amen!
oldgroover
“Some are still not convinced about him though”
I think that’s fair enough. We all don’t have to rate the same players and are all quite entitled to reserve judgement, but that isn’t what the standard AAA type does is it.
If it doesn’t fit there idea of the exact signing THEY think We/Arsenal/Wenger should of made, they go into meltdown, throwing about the most vile and OTT personal abuse you can imagine.
They are a disgrace.
Personally, as I said earlier, I think it’s a decent signing, that could end up being a great signing.
Deal of the day? Not sure about that, but it’s nice to know at least some of the media are giving it a fair assessment rather than just falling over themselves to big up every thing United touched.
Unfortunately there is that section of the fans known as the AAA who started watching football when arsenal were invincible and then were bombarded by negative press during the emirates years. They are young immature and belive (thanks to being part of the Facebook generation) that their opinion is important and everyone should listen to it and hit ‘like’
Then there are the rest of the fans who enjoy watching football, chatting with their mates about the game and having a bit of banter with opposing fans. Unfortunately, spending half their lives posting their opinions online (like the AAA do) is just not in their nature, they’re mainly too busy watching football, having sex and generally having a life.
The saddest part of it is the fact the AAA are missing out on what really matters in football – football. Football isn’t about trophies, it’s about people kicking a ball around, something that would continue to be enjoyed even if every trophy disappeared into a black hole.
Great article as usual boys . This is my first time posting on this site, been following untold for about four years .by the way van gaal was out of the country as well yesterday welbeck is a great signing he will prosper here so now let’s look forward to a great season the aaa, should ask themselves are they really arsenal fans.
Spot on Jack! Great post!
Gunner jack,u are very correct…..great post Walter,
Wenger himself admitted a couple of weeks ago that we were light defensively. We have three decent central defenders in the squad. Arteta is our first choice holding midfielder, a great player in his time but now decidedly over the hill. His backup, the combustible but limited Flamini. We desperateley needed a powerful D M in the Matic mould and another central defender in case of injuries. I have been a loyal Gooner for over 50 years but I think I have every right to criticise the manager for what I believe is woeful negligence in not addressing these issues. And if you don’t believe that he has ultimate control on who is signed and for how much then you’re being very naive.
Anthony
Of course you have every right to criticise but that doesn’t make you right does it.
Reading your post suggests to me that you’ve spent a good part of that 50 years listening to talk sport and reading the SUN.
Not a particularly wise choice I’m afraid.
@ Antony
Name all the DM in the premier league
Really enjoy this website. The best Arsenal website after official Arsenal channels.
On transfer front. I am happy with the players we have got, would have liked a defender but im sure Wenger knows what he is doing.
Moreover, i dont think Man. United will finish in the top 4 this year, and when they dont they will not blame LVG or his team but will do that on Moyes. I dont know why i think that, but its just my gut feeling.
No matter the case, it would not sit well with me if Wenger spend big money on ACL and injury prone players. Flacao, Kadira etc. But at the end of the day if he lets say had bought Kadira, i would doubt it but support the manager and the player because he knows more then me.
However, there are 2 ways of looking at the argument of ACL injury. Some say they momentarily recover but then all goes downhill and some say they truly never recover.
I truly wish and hope Theo does because without his pace, it will be difficult for us and difficult for him too.
We live in a “throw away society” but far too many football(Arsenal) fans are unrealistic enough to think we can just Throw away players and managers at a whim, we could become Spurs or even liverpool (what have they WON in recent years).Clubs whose player and managers come and go with the seasons,its very big odds that Pocettini and Rogers are both still in situ by May 2015
Usama Zaka – I was just going to post a comment making that point about the schizophrenic nature of some of the anti-fans when you beat me to it. Bang on.
Did a bit of surfing last night but soon gave up.
I really, really struggle to get into the minds of the anti-fans.
I try to think how I might behave if Arsenal were sh*t, or were taken over by Usmanov or in some other way less palatable. I might post the occasional comment critical of the board/management but I like to think I would be constructive and it certainly would not be an obsession.
In fact if it was Usmanov I like to think I would walk away and help found AFC Arsenal or somesuch.
The transfer window,saw us add 5 players.I have seen 3 of them play so far and very impressed,in Chambers,excited by Sanchez and reassured that Debuchy can fill in,more than adequately for the departed Sagna.I have yet to see our new goalkeeper play but like the reports that I have heard.Welbeck will be a very decent addition,in my opinion,giving a fast,powerful outlet,to the likes of Ozil,who I hope could form a great relationship.
It is however,the job of the owner/board/manager to ensure that we are not placed in a hazardous position,whereby we only have 3 centre backs to choose from and Chambers is a comparitive novice in that position,as 3rd choice.It is irresponsible and gambling uneccessarily with the fortunes of the club to be one injury away to a centre back,from being down to a situation where we are all having sleepless nights about Nacho Monreal partnering one of our recognised 3.We had the time and the money to purchase defensive reinforcements.
Before the accusations of being a TalkShite listener and Daily Mail reader are aimed in my direction,I will get my defence in 1st…I agree with a lot of what this blog does in pointing out the incorrect and unjust treatment we have received at the hands of referees and the media.I avoid TalkShite, The Sun and various other media outlets,for the very same reasons you do.I just feel middle ground has to be found,whereby anyone who criticises the club we all support should not be accused of being disloyal or somewhat dimwitted.There are those,on the other side of the fence,who are beyond help but that is their problem not mine.
No sooner has a Transfer Window closed than the hypercritical experts of our great Club, crawl out from their lairs and complain about our Manager, the players he should have signed and forecasting certain doom and gloom for our season.
Of course if we win our next game, away to Man Citeh and Alexis and Danny each score, attitudes will change for the better……until our first defeat, when all the destructive chatter will emerge once more.
I await the next few days when the blessed media will begin to speculate about the January Window in order to enhance ratings and
sales.
Gooner jack,
I like your comment, I like it very much. Especially your 2nd paragraph.
Spot on Walter and spot on Gooner Jack.
I spent a bit of time on twitter yesterday. There was one account in particular that summed up all the rubbish that was spouted. I won’t mention the account but he (I’m assuming it was a male) wrote tweet after tweet abusing Wenger, the board and anything to do with Arsenal because we hadn’t signed a certain player or a certain style of player.
Then came his next tweet which just made me smile. He said:
“In my 17 years of existence I have never seen anything as bad as this”.
A 17 year old kid, who had thousands of follower (one less once I unfollowed him) was spouting this rubbish. When Arsenal embarked on the move from Highbury to The Emirates this guy was 9 years old and now he’s the grand master of all things Arsenal.
These are the kinds of people we are getting worked up over. Faceless kids and probably rival teams supporters pretending to be Arsenal fans. They are simply not worth thinking about.
And just let me add that there is nothing wrong with 17 year old people giving their opinion, there are a lot of very clever, and very mature 17 year olds out there but this guy was just an idiot.
The worst part a lot of the time is not what they are saying, it is the manner in which they say it.
I am all for a balanced debate and listening to other peoples opinions once they are well laid out but the majority of these people are just numbskulls and they have an awful approach. So, next time, when you are reading these ridiculous comments whether they are on twitter, Facebook or even on here just smile and pity the poor person who has written it for the more we engage them the more they will spout.
Nice write up Walter.
I did not listen continuously to the media yesterday – just an occasional update until late in the evening when the “will we won’t we sign Welbeck” issue began to be resolved.
I happily missed the media, blogsphere and twitter hysteria, although since then have caught up with some of the nonsense.
The AAAA plonkers involved in this brief campaign appear to have seized what they thought was an opportunity to damage AW and the board. They unfortunately will not stop their overall campaign until any chance of a hostile takeover becomes remote.
As for Welbeck – I think he is an excellent signing – welcome Danny!
What are the odds of Danny scoring a hatrick at old Trafford?
Do you really think it has been a good transfer window? Arsenal have only 6 defensive players of which one is already injured and based on previous years you can only expect to get half a season out of him.
We have to play 2 games a week nearly most weeks until end of December with these defenders, the workload will lead to fatigue injuries and yet again Arsenal will fall off the pace if they are every on the pace this year.
All it needs is an injury to either of the centre backs and they must be high potential injury candidates based on previous years workloads and the workload they will have this year for there to be serious issues arising.
My belief is that we do have 8 defenders to call on:
RB: Debuchy / Bellerin
LB: Gibbs / Monreal
CB: Per / Kos / Chambers / Hayden
In retrospect, the Boss did not trust Miquel, hence the transfer to Norwich.
Also in retrospect, the Boss did not value Kostas Manolas enough to fight for him; the same goes for Toby Alderweireld, who is now loaned to Southampton.
Sure, we could have gotten players whose agents are renowned bottom feeders, but that is not the Arsenal way.
Those who say we have 6 recognized defenders (whatever that means) are distinctly wrong as Ray pointed out. Here are our options currently:
2 right backs (both very high quality)- Debuchy (Fr.International who has replaced Sagna in their team) and Bellerin (showed his ability in pre-season
2 left backs (Monreal has really impressed so far) Kieran-english International and Monreal
4 CB’s 2 full internationals in Per and Kos, chambers has really impressed and Hayden is getting there
4 DM’s with Chambers being available now: Arteta and Flamini, Chambers and Diaby (Ramsey and Coquelin if needed)
5 AM’s with two who can also play as DM’s- Ozil, Wilshere, Ramsey, Cazorla, Rosicky (the Ox if needed)
Wenger knows what he is doing……..it is us who have no idea!!!
Ray from Norfolk, Virginia
Have a bit of respect for Manolas. The obvious reason why he went to Roma is to search for guaranteed first team football.
Over here he would have to duke it out with Per and Kos and the chances are iffy short of a long term injury.
For Sokratis, his position in Arsenal would be the same as in Dortmund, though being in the same pot probably scuppered any chance of a move.
Toby Alderweireld is someone Wenger didn’t go for perhaps due to certain issues. If he gets frozen out at Athletico, it is probably due to work ethic issues, Simeone looks like a raving workaholic.
Nastasic wouldn’t be sold to us as City’s balance sheet isn’t tipping over and they did sold the 1 foreigner they need to sell.
And of the day, the youth team better get ready for a baptism of fire as one of them is likely thrown into the deep end sooner rather than later.
@omgarsenal I fully agree with your post.
Wenger said if Vermaelan goes we’ll buy a CB. WE DID! Calum Cambers. Seems to me the numbers on defense are about the same as last year.
No one with more ability than Chambers would come here to sit and anyone with less ability than Chambers wouldn’t make sense because we have Hayden already. Why is this such a strange Idea to some people?
People wanted us to spend 40 mills on Rues. Wait a minute. Marco Rues? From Dortmund?
What these idiots dont realize is that the holder of the contract, Dortmunds stand. They will face us in CL this season. Why would they sell one of their players who will strengthen their direct rival?
@ian Jenkinson
I hear you! I don’t think we can or should just ignore them. The mainstream media have been pursuing a negative narrative about us for a while now. These supporters that are adding to that chorus not only encourage the media to continue, but more importantly help to ‘infect’ our supporters with negative attitudes about the club, which has has had an impact in the stadium and even worse on the pitch.
Again, really good article. Deadline was completely frustrating because the whole day the media and social media was just ripping into Arsenal and Arsene Wenger as if we bought nobody and sold our best players. It was a complete joke and I think there is a huge number of self-hating, ungrateful Gooners out there who seem to pop up at times like this. When we won the FA cup I honestly feel like these types of fans (represented by movement like BSM and that yellow ribbon thingy) were actually pissed off at the achievement. It disgusts me but it’s nice to know you’re out there. Arseblog is good too but he tends to shy away from completely telling it how it is like you do. Big love and appreciation mate.
Very interesting article with many varied comments.
But I can’t help but feel that the likes of this site and Le Grove(polar opposites in the Arsenal spectrum,or in your own terminology the AKB’s and the AAA’s) are widening the chasm between arsenal supporters.I have no foot in either camp,Arsene Wenger is a ditherer (even David Dein has commented on how his intransigence used to frustrate the hell out of him when it came to transfer dealings)but he is without doubt the greatest modern day Arsenal manager (’71 onwards)in my opinion that’s even after acknowledging the work done by GG and there is no one I would rather have in charge of our club!
When it comes to transfers Mr Wengers record is no better or worse than any other manager for every Henry there’s a Jeffers every Vieira a Denilson a Campbell a Stepanovs,not even the “great” red nose was immune from that trait..Bebe, Anderson anyone?
So why not come out with a huge rolling banner on your home page saying you hate the AAA’s, they can reciprocate on their home page and those of us in the middle can have a bit of BLOODY PEACE and QUIET.
@Walter
If I saw any abuse of Arsene Wenger on my Twitter TL I blocked the culprit.
You make an interesting point about the trip to Rome, which I admired and made me laugh, it was probably a deliberate attempt by the club to demonstrate that Arsene Wenger isn’t the control freak that is portrayed by other blogs and experts! For him to go to Rome meant he was completely relaxed and trusted the Arsenal ‘team’ supporting him. Well played Arsene and Arsenal.Probably too subtle for some to get that.
I’m afraid Wenger will be Mourinho’s bitch again this season along with Rodgers and Pellegrini’s. We were top for 21-22 weeks last year and Wenger bottled it by not buying the quality or depth that was required to maintain our title push, that was our best chance of winning the EPL. I’m afraid that chance is now gone. Our squad is not only not good enough and it’s NOT, it lacks power pace and depth and the required quality to win the EPL Just look at Chelsea, Man city and Liverpool’s striking options and then look at ours apart from Sanogo and now Wellbeck they are all wide man. Imagine being Campbell or Podolski sitting on the subs bench every week watching that sorry excuse of a striker Sanago being picked before you week in week out. It’s a complete and utter disgrace from Wenger to put so much pressure on such a young man and also utter negligence to think that he is anywhere near EPL standard let alone score 25-30 + goals a year . Ask yourself honestly how many of our first 11 would make Chelsea or Man City first 11 two if we are lucky. Wenger never buys in the positions that have real need DM, CB and quality striker and when he does buy he more often then not plays them out of position. We did not need to spend like City or Chelsea we already had a good base but we needed true quality through the spine of the team that has been lacking for quite a few years now and once again he stuffs it up. $150 million in the bank and we spent $40 mill, of it. It’s past him by he will never win a major trophy again which saddens me but it is the reality and all we can hope for is that he is not offered another contract in 3 years time and we can get in a young hungry and progressive manager like Klopp, Rodgers or Martinez.