“Robin Van Persie could’ve died out there today”

51 Replies to ““Robin Van Persie could’ve died out there today””

1. the one the thing old purple nose has done is draw the attention away from robber v p’s blatant dive.
   if watch a replay of the incident you will see robber loses the ball because the swan’s lad get’s between him and the ball. robber then sees the penalty area and decides he’s got to dive.
   he wraps his leg around the swans players leg nad then dives into the pen area. blatant dive. not a word said about it.
   as for purple nose trying to get another teams player banned after the ref’s dealt with the problem that is disgusting and fergie should be the one getting banned not williams.
   it is a players instinct to clear any danger. if williams hadn’t cleared the ball his manager would have gone mad.
   fergie is just getting the ref reeady for the newkie game.
   get your money on a manu penalty and a newkie red card just to make sure.

2. if Wenger had said that there’d be mass piss-taking from Talk-Shite, 606, and all the tabloids. Instead, they’re actually taking it seriously. An utter joke. There has NEVER been a player die from a ball to the head, never! It was farcical what Fergusson said, completely idiotic.

   And this from a manger who saw Keane end a players career with a studs up knee-smash, and Cantona kung-fu kick his studs into a fans face. But THIS was the worst most dangerous thing he’s seen in football. The man is an imbecile!

3. What made me laugh was today on SSN they had neurolists from the US backing Fergies argument! Incredible.

4. i’d forgotten about that el.
   i’m sure we’d all prefer a football to a 16 stone flying frenchman trying to shove his foot through our heads.
   i’ve heard a rumour that our troops have chucked away their rifles and are now using footballs to defend themselves with because they are more deadly than bullets.
   what a t****ad purple nose is.

5. Hey guys he has a chocolate head as well as a chocolate leg… It was so painful hearing the commentary to the Wigan gun thats why I watch on mute most of the time!!

6. SAF wants the Swansea’s Ashley Williams banned by the FA.

   I wonder if the recently appointed vice-chairman of The FA ( current Chief Executive of Manchester United F.C) David Gill will be able to implement SAF orders.

   No conflict of interest there then.

   Merry Christmas.

7. Would of made my Christmas, and old whiskey nose is a twat

8. Your just too sensitive. I think Ian and Macca do a fine job covering Arsenal. They are never overly negative. In fact, theyve had some very nice things to say of late. I think your just reading too much into it all.

9. @ Cesc, have you tried using an SA80? a size 5 mitre delta is probably more effective.

10. As far as anti-Arsenal commentators go, the Darke/McManaman team are the closest you can get to impartial. Perhaps we should try and collect info on the commentators, on the spin they give to the Arsenal performances – I do tend to hear a lot of flak leveled at the club, Wenger, and several players, but then, over the past two seasons, we suffered from some quite traumatic failures, but somehow no one seems to care about them after awhile.
    I recently saw a piece on goal.com, recounting the greatest beatings of the EPL, and while the selection seemed pretty weird, the inclusion of our last year’s OT lashing looked like a desperate attempt to pin SOMETHING on Arsenal (another choice was our 7:0 over M’boro). It’s the same with Bradford – yes, everybody seems to always mention it as if it was precisely the game that defines us – and yet, it so rarely makes the headlines. Crisis at Arsenal is an old saw, and I think even the journos don’t know how to recycle it for the 15th time without boring the audience.

    As for Fergie’s comment, he’s lucky to be a nobleman and an old fart – otherwise I’d see some disciplinary measures against himself. What’s he trying to do is press the refs yet again, while handing the bad boy plaque to yet another rival. I think the media would benefit from making fun of him rather than Arsene, who, in fact, is pretty boring. SAF, on the other hand, old man time that he is, makes those blunders very regularly…

11. I have to admit that I now watch Arsenal games with no volume on because of the entirely negative comments that are constantly made about our club. It boring and frustrating in equal measure. When I listen to commentary I want to know about the game not about what those idiots have to say about the club. I say ban them all!!!!! 🙂

12. Actually, despite Ferguson’s hyperbole, and the target, I thought that Williams deserved a red card for what he did.

    I don’t think RvP would have been killed but it is quite common for players to be concussed with a ball and at that distance there would be little to protect the player. Looking at how Williams paused and then how he followed through on his kick leaves little doubt in my mind that he was aiming at RvP.

13. Fergerson is a joke with that comment… he has made a fool of himself and I hope they fine him. Its the worest thing he has seen in football what about the tackles on Dudo, Ramesy and Diaby ????

    He is a c**k.

    I find the EPSN to neagative but they only whay to shut these idiots up is by starting to play better…. simply

14. Rarely can I have heard more sanctimonous claptrap as that emerging now from the mouth of Ferguson.
    He refrained from a single word of criticism over the years, against Roy Keane one of the biggest thugs in the professional game. Remember his assault on the Man City player Alf-Hing.
    The football world will be a far truer and honest place when people like Ferguson are no longer part of it.

15. Rvp could i have been dead by now according to Ferg,this is actually much ado about nothing i could not see anything criminal in this so FA should look at something and if there is nothing for them let them seek for a better Xmas……If the manchester manager could be talking about this as barbaric and unethical in football ,but what would he say in 2007 animalistic of Taylor when he destroyed the whole football career of Eduado at Arsenal during our match against his club……In all sincerity that was the end that lad career,and so many incident that happened to other players…..Please ferg,kindly keep your mouth for now….

16. Did Diaby get sent off against Newcastle For a similar reaction to a player as that of RVP? How much longer can Manchester Uniteds staff and players get away unpunished for violent or verbal attacks, that everyone else gets punished for?

17. Did Diaby get sent off against Newcastle For a similar reaction to a player as that of RVP? How much longer can Manchester Uniteds staff and players get away unpunished for violent or verbal attacks, that everyone else gets punished for?

18. This is just the latest example of Ferguson’s bullying, which is cearly calculated. Note also the MU players clamouring for a non-existent handball. The referee, who clearly fell short of expectations by failing to ensure 3 points for MU, will clearly face some consequences, –probably in the Conference next week.

    What’s the betting that Newcastle will also pay the price on Boxing Day, with a penalty at least, and possibly a red card as well.

    Notable also that VP has added accomplished cheating to his range of skills since his transfer.

19. in a rush to get up.. vanpersie fell forward, grabbing hold of the other guys shirt…. ” he lifts shirts when he wants , he lifts shirts when he wants… robinvanpersie.. he lifts shirts when he want.. ”

    RVP : shirtlifter extraordinaire

20. Here’s wishing all on Untold Arsenal, a very merry christmas, and may the results on the field go in our favour. May the refs learn some professionalism, may the commentators learn the rules and the meaning of impartiality, and may the drunk at manchester have some shame. Ok..sorry.. But football is like that.

    Merry Christmas 🙂

21. May the new Christmas bring light into the minds of AAA. Sorry couldn’t help it. Merry Christmas to you all!

22. A Very Happy and Peaceful Christmas to everyone.

    @deejay

    I would need to see the incident again to be sure, but I had the impression that as van Pursey jumped up to grab Williams by the throat, he was tripped by another Swansea player and fell forward, grabbing the Williams shirt to prevent a complete fall on his face. It would have been interesting to see what the ref would have done had van Pursey succeeded in getting his money counting paws on the Williams throat.

    Also, a quick aside, in the recent Manchester derby, did anyone notice towards the end of the match the Manures were defending a set piece; in the middle of which that nice boy Rooney had a Man City player in a arm lock, preventing him going for the ball? The officials did not “see” the incident and there were no TV repeats. It reminded me of my Judo days. I look forward to the ref report on this one.

23. If Fergie IS right about RvP and his near-death experience, then surely the game is far too dangerous to play and should be banned world-wide, immediately.

    Sarcasm.

24. This is how I know our team is rubbish at the moment when we are complaining and get angry with what pundits are saying. The reason they say this stuff is because it is easy to wind us up and makes a quick easy exciting story which is close to the truth.

25. nicky,
    truer words never been spoken about don fergus (though lo, you leave out his concubine at the hives of riley!). Cheers for the customary wit and wisdom. My new year’s resolution: not to have to bear witness to Lord Football and his new gunsil, RvP, our championship gift to him, hoisting the XX trophy at the end of the mendacity-paved road, with mickey r and dean and webb, all on bended knee, at the foot of the throne. merry xmas, nicky.

26. olat,
    And yet, what would we say about how don fergus and micky r and the thugs van nestleroy and ferdinand and neville boyz and the divemaster rooney combined to kick us to bits at old toilet to end our run! That was, and remains, a defining moment. Old fart and nobleman are merely cloaks for toxicity. Skilled he is. Wolfish indeed: witness the little jig he then danced on the sidelines, as the brainwashed Nuremburgians screamed in the stand;, as though he were just hearing word of france’s capitulation, if you catch my historical (a)drift.

27. Matt Clarke,
    If RvP had gone down for the season, it was don fergus who was (acknowledging) having the near-death experience – because there would go the dream of the Rednose XXth and his ascension to Lord Football – all that Sky Celebration and Media Coronation so tragically deferred from last year’s last second loss at the altar. Don Fergus could not bear another such disappointment. And his steal of the year, Arsenal abetted, is RvP. He is this man’s ticket to paradise; and the don has let riley and the mininos be on notice to protect him, eyes wide open; just as they have so well protected divemaster rooney from red-carded justice. perhaps the ancient football gods are offended will have other plans to avert this farce…

28. The van is no longer our player but u keep featuring him in our news everyday why?

29. @bob,
    And a Happy Christmas to you, matey. I raise a small glass of Calvados to you and yours.
    As the New Year beckons, I must remember to totally forget all those Yesterday’s Men who have left us for greener grass.

30. Good to have you back in full flow Bob 🙂

31. Alex fergie is a pussycat

32. Furgus is a imbecile but who cares when he pukes others eat he never says anything wrong. A for a fact Swansea was to win that match. Evra dived as if Michu have punched him in the bolls otherwise the Guzman was scoring and for GOD’s sake i did not hear any commentary or a replay for that incident. And did furgus thank the young ref for that! twat.
    Thanks Wolfe and keep-it coming.

33. I wonder what that little boy in van pisshead’s head feel? Must have pooed in his nappy. I read somewhere that he got whacked for being disloyal to us.

34. Your all nuts Arsenal deserve those comments. I am a Arsenal fan and I will be happy only when I see Arsenal playing as they did 6 years ago again. when even if they took a bit to get the goal they always looked in control. Now I do not feel confident even when we do score and have a 2-3 goal lead. And it has been that way for a few years now. When it is 0-0 or 1-0 I am a total reck instead of being confident we will go on to more goals when we score, I expect we will have a gaff and loose.
    Yes we have 2 wins against two of the worst teams in the EPL and that would be great except we did not look comfortable even with a 4 point lead vs Reading Remember we let them score 5 when we played them in Oct. in the Capital One Cup Match. and the Wigan Athletic game that was hardly comfortable at any point. We scored 0 from open play against a team that gave up 7 in the 3 games before us and Liverpool scored 3 of those you know the other once top 4 club in crises. The one comfort in my life as a gooner is hay at least we haven’t sunk as low as Liverpool “Yet” And then I have to watch a boxing day match with RVP to saving ManU from a defeat vs Newcastle. I am really starting to believe Wenger did sell RVP just so ManCity would not win the league as he him self has no ambition to win it anymore. RVP is what is putting ManU above the rest this season with out him ManU would be chasing ManCity like Chelsea Arsenal and the rest in the 3rd and 4th place contenders their defense has been as badd if not worse then Arsenal’s it is just the man that Scores when he wants to that is keeping them at the top of the league.

35. Mike,
    It’s concerning that you think Wenger decided to sell RVP to stop Man City, in fact it’s a ridiculous thing to suggest. Wenger is a natural born winner by nature so why would he strengthen the opposition? It’s far more feasible that the board said we need to generate extra income so wish to sell a player and have an opportunity to get £xxx for RVP and wish to take it as we’ll not get half as much for him if we don’t do it now. Fact is, Arsenal are not in crisis, we are actually in the place where we should be according to our resources.

36. Stuart,
    With all due respect, it’s concerning that you’re as one-sided as Mike, albeit in your rationalization for the sale of RVP: with no expressed strings; no wishes about like-for-like, no regrets about the hole in the attack; no shame that he is putting Manure and Don Fergus over the top into the glory of the Rednose XX (that you may feel is a bad thing for football, though I’m not sure); no view to what might have been or might yet be done with the money; only that tired unexamined saw that well, we (we?) need it (mantra); or sense that AFC could have played hard ball and dread tell him and Dein the Lesser no (and dare RVP to have a bad season when he’d need to have a great season, at his age, to get to his next lucrative contract, or even stay); or any anger about being betrayed, etc. etc. None of this: only your concern that Mike has gone mad by expressing his seeming (perhaps rhetorical and you don’t get that bit) sense that AW had gone mad, just to stop ManShitty – and with not a scintilla of perhaps AFC (and not Arsene) enforced its zero net transfer balance policy which has (unless this January shows otherwise) cloaked a profiteering/asset stripping policy, if not agenda. Now I hope that this list – even one of its items – might concern you too. If not, it would concern me. Do you think this transfer window matters? Would you go on record there? Or is it just fine if nothing substantial happens to enhance the quality of this team because, let’s say, we need the money? I am, respectfully, in watchful waiting.

37. Exactly what I was thinking Bob

38. Bob, RVP had to go. There was no way that Podolski and Giroud would have come and bench warmed for a season, and that sort of quality doesn’t come up that often. Some times you’ve got to take the long view.

    However I would also have loved to have said sod you Robin – lets see you put another year in like last year to earn your next contract elsewhere.

39. Cameron, I read this with some amusement – well, it’s laugh or cry, isn’t it? I think we can be over-sensitive sometimes but I do agree with you on the whole about the slanting of commentary. Long live Gary Neville. Whoever thought you’d ever hear an Arsenal fan say that?!

    @ bob
    Player power is one of the scourges of modern football. RvP left because he could not be persuaded to stay. AW was intending to keep him for the last year of his contract, but RvP was determined to leave last summer, not next summer, and he engineered his exit in a disgraceful manner. But you know all this, don’t you, really?

    @ Stuart
    AW has the final decision on whether we sell. His arm was not twisted by the board, it was twisted by RvP himself.

40. FunGunner
    Part of me wants to be believe we had no choice, it eases the pain of losing a player like that. Had we kept him and added just cazorla, maybe poldi, and either kept or replaced song..wow. We would have had an invincible side. I am confident in the one we have now, they need some time, but I feel like its a shame to let a player like that go without exhausting each and every avenue. In my opinion it would be like sacking wenger, you don’t just throw someone like that away. Who knows, maybe we did try our best and just couldn’t keep him. But at the end of the day don’t we have to sign off in order for him to leave? As bob as said before (and I a while back), the onus really would be on him to prove his worth. Obviously he’s having a great season, which could have been with us. It could have led to a title, it could have led to a change of heart, a loosening of the purse strings. He’s worth far more than 20 million. I personally believe he might have been more inclined to stay had we forced him to see out his contract (or maybe there didn’t need to be that much forcing?). Am I wrong in thinking we could have forced him to stay? Or is there some clause or policy preventing this? Or maybe it was the board, for which I would never forgive them. I think there’s a lot more to this story than van persie just wanting to leave

41. @ Iniez
    Be realistic and believe it. Technically, yes, you can refuse to transfer a player, although there are rules about players over the age of 27 which force a club’s hand – I don’t know the details, I’m afraid. But even without those, when this player is your captain and has published a letter saying that he has lost faith in the project, can you really do force him to stay in practice? What would it do to the dressing room? Could you trust that player to give his all? He wrote that letter because he knew that AW intended to hold him to the last year and he wanted out – NOW. It was intended to make his position untenable.

    If your spouse is sleeping with someone else, has updated his/her Facebook status to single and is telling all and sundry that the marriage is over because though s/he is fond of you, you’ll never amount to anything….then your relationship is over. The divorce is a technicality.

42. FunGunner
    I am inclined to agree with some of your points. It could all go south if he gets so upset that he’s forced to stay that regardless of what happens during the season he still wants out and won’t renew. But I 100% believe that he would still give his all. He’s competitive, and he needs to show he’s still got it and that the season passed (past?) wasn’t just a flash in the pan. He’d need to prove it with another stellar season. If he didn’t he would only be sabotaging himself and his future (including his pay package). He may even lose fitness by refusing to play or by playing badly. He wouldn’t risk the bad advertising. Also, arsene is very diplomatic. If he was going to force him to stay I don’t think it would be in an angry tirade. It would be calm, collected, and with the aim of preserving some mutual respect, and no doubt in my mind robin respects him. I don’t believe it would have gotten so bad that the club would go into disarray. In regards to his captaincy, frankly I have no idea how to deal with that, but I think they’d figure something out, maybe let him keep it for the time being and see what happens, we have some good leadership on the pitch and anyway he lead by example and not his voice. Plus, even if he was determined to leave, and he still had suitors that he approved of, maybe he wouldn’t have gone to united. In the end choices were limited because of the price we wanted (and the salary he wanted?). Maybe he would have gone somewhere else, but I’m no psycic. I feel like we could have kept him with minimal damage and benefitted from it, whether it be getting him to change his mind, or keeping united from getting him. He does have a soft spot for arsenal, having a successful season and seeing some quality players join could possibly change his mind. Maybe I’m being hopeful, but I think it’s surely worth the gamble. We sold him to the team thats currently top of the league, he’s their top scorer and competing for the epl top scorer, putting in some impressive performances, and on top of all that, we have to see him in a filthy united jersey..how depressing

43. FunGunner,
    So glad to finally, at long last, to have the inside poop from you who were there and can demand the authoritative narrative of exactly who demanded what of whom in the RvP fiasco. No, I didn’t know any of it; nor did you, except you pretend you do, because you don’t. Only RvP, AW, AFC board and Dein the Lesser really really know. And you really really don’t. So we are left to speculate and project ourselves upon that Rorshach and, thereby, reveal oneself, FunGunner,as a party-line lemming. But, then again, you already knew that, didn’t you?

44. iniez,
    So well argued, alas. AFC management/ownership would rather leap at a low-hanging 20m than to play the hard ball that would have made him ours and opened up any number of possiblities, as you rightly speculate. But AFC/Bean Counting Dept is risk-averse. And its modus operandi is to fatten the cow via zero net transfer window balancing rather than risking, yes risking having a brilliant and affordable (get that word, FunGunner?) goal-scoring solution on the pitch to excite the fans worldwide. Dare to win – that’s what builds fan loyalty. Not the refusal to seek like-for-like when asset-stripping (or asset strip-trease) is so much more immediately quantifiable.

45. Bob
    What really frustrates me is that we can apparently spend a little more freely now according to recent quotes. So why is our budget more flexible now than it was a few months ago when we could have fathomed not making 20 million on him? And that’s exactly it. We weren’t taking a 20 million hit, we weren’t losing that money. We just weren’t gaining it. So would we have neccesarily been in a worse off position by gambling a bit? We really can only speculate, we should be wary of getting carried away by emotion, and this particular transaction took a massive emotional toll, to say the least. But really..we had alternatives that satisfied our needs both on and off the pitch and we chose to just cash the cheque. Feels like such a waste

46. Iniez,
    I’m with you. I can only now refuse to say “we” chose to just cash the cheque because, in my continued love for our side, I’m now fully disaffiliated from this management/ownership group. At this point of CL qualification, success in real estate, an unprecedented new TV deal for EPL sides, and another zero net transfer balance (craven) display, there is nothing that I find good about this management’s attitude toward what goes on on the pitch. Not that it matters to anyone but me, but my further relationship to AFC management/ownership is to be defined by January transfer doings. With stadium payments not at all a factor, their refusal of spending for excellence, ultimately of not daring to challenge for the top, is dishonorable and not worth my loyalty. I suggest to fellow Arsenal-lovers that there is a whole area of being able to love Arsenal the team on the pitch, whilst rejecting its management/ownership cadre. This may well be a distinction that Mr. Attwood would consider disloyalty; but that’s where (since Alex Song’s release) I’ve parted ways with his de facto tribal views. To stymie the usual accusations hereabouts, however, I will equally say that I have no desire to see Usmanov in the driver’s seat either. That said, 2-3 more affordable buys in the January window plus some affordable sheddings can spark a meaningful run that actual aspires to something more than 4th place – which, right now, is being dangled to all fans as a massive success. This, after giving Don Fergus the gift of the Rednose XX – by gifting them RVP with a sub-market value deal – like someone in the heat of battered wife syndrome. And that said, the RVP cave-in was the true eye-opener about this management/ownership team.

47. p.s. and, having forgotten to list it, I must hasten to add that the new 150m deal with Emirates, added to the rest, now utterly strips away any excuse not to go for it all, and in this very season – to put up a maximal fight; and, indeed, this deal now serves further to put the football legitimacy of the current management/ownership junta in the courtroom of fan opinion.

48. iiniez,
    Imo, what was foreseeable before RvP “had” to be sold was the new TV deal revenues and a much-improved (though not spectacular) sponsorship deal with Emirates. So where was the financial problem in not trading him — especially as keeping him could have ensured or greatly enhanced the probabilities of a high CL finish, continued high jersey sales (at MU his shirt is number one worldwide) and real contention for a possible 1/2 place finish. Plus it would have put all the pressure on RVP to continue to be in spectacular form or pay the price at his next contract signing. Plus the value-added and emotionally satisfying act of saying no to that asset-stripping predator, Darren Dein (aka Dein the Lesser) as but a partial payback for his stealing off with our other players to better line his litter box.

49. bob
    You’re preaching to the choir. I think it’s fair to ask questions and few here can question your loyalty if they’re familiar with your history on Untold. Just as an aside, while there are things that really stand out as shocking to me. I do still afford some belief to the management that they’re working in the clubs best interests. Yes there are some glaring issues that I question and don’t completely agree with. But in the end we really are very far from some crucial facts that could make a big difference in decision making. While I do concede to losing some faith in them due to the decisions made, I do acknowledge that I have not run a club and am unacquainted with serious decision making in football management. Frankly I’m slightly torn. What I need right now, and what I think you hint at, is some redeeming decisions. Some decisions to unequivocally prove my belief is not misplaced, and that they are acting in the best interests of the club.

    And just for clarities sake, I would not say arsene isn’t doing his best for us, not for one second. I do not think he was behind the decisions to lose some of our best players. Had he wanted to just make some quick money on robin he wouldn’t have waited 9 years in the hopes that he would make the miraculous recovery that he did, he would have gotten rid of him long long ago and moved on. Look at diaby. He sees something special in him, just as he did robin, and he is waiting and hoping that his patience comes good. He believes in his players and wnats to do well by them and our club. He’s truly a great man and I wholeheartedly believe he is the only reason our club has done so well while moving to a new club. He would have achieved so much more in these past years had there not been so much going against him..and oh so much has gone against him

    Which is in part why I get riled up with these decisions. Because it is his good work being undone. I retain my faith in ‘them’, but that doesn’t mean that they don’t need to prove something to me. I know how I seem a little hypocritical given my earlier comments, but I was just asking questions. Questions bring elucidation, and I am in need of some at the moment

    But that dein..I don’t trust him for a second. To quote an old show, I’d no more put my trust in him than I’d put my john thomas in the hands of a lunatic with a pair of scissors

50. iniez,
    I agree with you on Arsene. I say management/ownership and mean the way they work together. I also believe that that combination has undone what Arsene had built; and that his brilliance has been betrayed by the business side; which, alas, he is part of, and who knows what he’s been able to protect by being part of the management (but not the governing voice, imo, as so many assert in very simplistic and fact-free ways). I’m with you in wanting to see some authentic football decisions come out of that group. For myself, it would be a tonic and dissolve much of the corrosive cynicism I feel toward them. I want them to get out of the way of this team’s potential and to put our money where their mouths are and bring decisive quality to our pitch.
    Happy New Year, iniez, and joy to our side.

51. *moving to a new stadium. My english betrays me sometimes..

    Happy new year bob, here’s to a great one