This was window when very few clubs did deals. Newcastle signed anyone who is French and available, irrespective of quality, largely because they might go down to the second division. Queens Park Rangers are managed by Arry Redknapp and the Brown Envelope company so anyone moving and carrying the requisite got a job.
But it is interesting that it is being said that the QPR transfers don’t have salary reduction clauses in the contracts if QPR go down. It will be doubly interesting to see what QPR do this summer, should they hit the drop.
Aston Villa signed no one. Which will either be a brilliant move if they stay up or suicidal if they go down.
So, “There’s only one Ignacio Nacho Monreal” is the new song – or maybe not. He is a regular Spain international, he is 26, he can cover for Kieran Gibbs and he isn’t in full back terms André Santos. Santos was used pre-season in midfield and attack so maybe that was the idea all along.
Monreal signed until 2017 and can also play left midfield, and even left wing. But we don’t normally play left footed players on the left wing, so perhaps not.
Recent posts
Well Arsenal and Arsene have now got their ‘Nachos’ and hopefully HE will make a meal out of the opposition strikers.
With cheese or without …. as long this Arsenl ‘Nachos’ savours his position and devours the opposition’s attacking threats!!
Chant is Nacho Nacho Man. Borrowed from the Simpson’s episode where Homer and Ned become friends.
“It was another of those lovely moments where he sends the AAA off in the wrong direction, just for fun.”
Your ability to analyse is alarmingly immature. Gibbs will be out for many weeks and I dread to think what will happen to the left side during that time. Thanks to the Liverpool game, Wenger’ decision was made there and then that if there was to be any deadline foray it had to be at left back where Arsenal will be at there weakest. Before this, he was talking about a striker, but Walcott, Giroud and Podolski’ form has been very good lately. Others including myself felt it should be DM, but the manager prefers attacking players (except for this important left back situation).
Also, the press are right and you sir are wrong. I do not care about other club’ ambitions whether they want to buy or not, but for me Arsenal should not just be struggling to get 4th they should be struggling to win something. Our entire backline are nightmares to watch at times as I pointed out yesterday and one addition is certainly not enough to repair that problem.
While I appreciate you have to slavishly support the manager, but the rest of us who are not blinkered are entitled to a more objective opinion. May be your wasting time at poking fun at so called AAA is because there is not much to cheer with regards the football itself.
You’re right about the media Tony.
Sky Sports News this morning still managed to make Peter Odemwingie’s non-signing the headline news over our signing Nacho.
And Nacho’s signing was a very short item after about ten minutes of other stuff.
Never mind, we should be happy. It looks like we’ve got quality again.
There’s more moaning from so called Gooners than there is in the press. Which is typical. The rags linked us to every player under the sun except the one we got. Meanwhile people seemed to expect a Newcastle style overhaul mid season which would have been disastrous. Especially with no more players leaving. Should we have bought more players and have an even more bloated payroll?
Is it only the press moaning? What about our disgruntled ‘supporters’ who seem to see nothing good in the team anymore.Please tell them to go support Newcastle or, better still, ‘Arry and his gang!
Trouble is a lot of these ‘supporters’ believe the drivel the press come out with, which in many cases is clearly done just to wind the fans up!
Sounds like we bought the best player anyone in the UK did during the transfer window anway
It is a case of the media leading many gullible (but vocal) fans by the nose into believing that the club should be splashing loads of money around during transfer windows. In that respect nothing has really changed over recent years.
It is true that recent defensive performances have been poor and are a cause for concern. However, flashing the chequebook at this stage wouldn’t guarantee as solution. Players who up to few months ago were considered well up to the job haven’t suddently all become incompetents. (Although I might make an exception with Santos, but this has hopefully been addressed with our new signing).
I don’t know what’s wrong with you all, the real reason why everyone is having a pop at us is because a foreign manager is just about to clock two decades at an English club, and supposedly he’s not doing enough to develop English talent that are national team material. Yes you will point to Jack Wilshire, The Ox and Theo, but to them, there are English players supposedly better than Santos, Sagna, Matesacker, TV5, Diaby, etc.That’s where the problem is. Look at it this way, Liverpool are bigger that Arsenal (in the English set-up);Chelsea and Man City are currently better than us, but do they attract constant negative press than us?\
Do you even envisage what would happen should Arsene spend insanely and then we become broke like Leeds or Portsmount. They would hammer a stupid Frenchman who ruined an English team because of jelousy, greed, etc.
Believe me, had Arsene bought 10 players yesterday, it would have been branded as panic buying, if he had not bought atall, he would be branded as pig-headed, stubborn; he buys one, he’s not good enough.
I think at one time, the dissapointment will be so much that he will quit, and everyone will then have e field day.
@GUNNER well said you took the words out of my mouth!!people expect changes to happen right away,i know some might call me deluded but im hopeful for the future,because its only this season that the club have realised their mistakes&started to do something about it like getting rid of the “deadwood” and we all know it is not easy but few of them are out of contract at the end of the season&few more will be sold,freeing money &places to add quality players which this time we will do.UP THE GUNNERS&IN ARSENE WE TRUST!!
Hi Y’all,
Good to see a new signing.
Of course since Wenger did it, it’s a panic buy and arsenal are in crisis. As usual.
Meanwhile Pardew has done a “revolution” (Don’t be under the mistaken impression that they were desperate, being on the edge of relegation)
Not to forget Hairy potter (the fat retard, not the teen one), the transfer magician. He has shown real intent (and stupidity) and done good business . Who knows maybe he can drag qpr to mid-table (or more likely drag qpr to administration 😎 )
But let’s not forget arsenal in crisis! Wenger out! [/sarcasm]
Am I the only 1 who’s disappointed with the transfer window. We signed 1 player with champions league ties which means probably Santos will play against buyern munich. We have no specialist in the DM department and pls no1 shud talk about our injury prone players coz they aren’t new signings. We have gradually become weaker 1 season at a time. 7/8 seasons with no trophy, high ticket prices, selling our best players, replacing them with less talented players and financial based decisions. Where is the love4 Arsenal football club? Financial management Wenger is unmatched but when it comes 2 the team and player management he is for lack of a better word pathetic. Same defensive problems recurring for year. Still he is arrogant in his methods and trying 2 prove the world wrong. Is it crazy 2 want a Cavani or Falcoa in the arsenal shirt. Is it a sin 2 want investments in the team. Right now I wouldn’t be suprised if we finished out of top4 coz we spent 7/8 seasons chasing 3rd or 4th best so long that we see it as winning. Soon if not now arsenal will be an average side if we Wenger stays coz he will neva change and we’ll always be a training ground 4 the likes of manchester
According to a good sauce (: Nacho was on Wenger’s summer shopping list but the need for a left back was so pressing he went for him early. So if Gibbs had not been injured it’s quite likely we’d have bought nobody. Good old reactive Arsenal.
Anyway he looks like a good player. Let’s all wish him well.
They could have signed Diame which would have made a lot of us happy. I know he has a heart condition and clubs have to have a defibrillator no further than 50 Yards or so away but at this point the lad is OK with playing and he has the strength and skill to have made a huge contribution to the Arsenal and with a buyout clause of just 3.5 million pounds why not?
This is well worth a read. It puts some of the issues facing every club into perspective. A lot more happens behind the scenes than we realise. Even with the incessant press coverage.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2271803/David-Sullivan-bullying-threats-violence-agent-demands-transfer-window.html
Amazingly I heard Niall Quinn on the Sky Transfer Deadline programme suggest that we should have gone in for Christopher Samba. This is the same Samba who jumped ship on relegation-bound Blackburn last February for a £100k/week deal at Ahnzi stating that his motives were all about ambition and playing under Gus Hiddink. Now just a year later and for a ridiculous £12.5 million fee, Samba sees more ambition at bottom-of-the-the table QPR with ‘arry. (and still on £100k/week apparently).
Previously I thought Niall Quinn to be a fairly Balanced pundit, but I think that this goes to prove that these guys feel obligated to open and shut their mouths with little thought of reality or common sense when it comes to Arsenal.
This transfer is not something Arsenal could have pulled off at the last minute. Transfers between foreign associations have to be logged on TMS (transfer matching system) and need to be well documented. so people who claim it to be a panic buy really need to adjust their stance.
It would also be interesting for transparencies sake to see the details on TMS as then we could find out if we have paid a third party for the players registration?
Shard, I believe Holland or Belgium introduced percentage caps on what an agent can earn from a players contract but England has no plans for such measures, a shame really because it just helps perpetuate the problem.
We do need more directors/owners to be forthcoming with the internal dealings in football, only then can we truly gauge the problems to overcome.
Adam,
I nominate you resident expert on behind the scene football matters.. I’d never even heard of this TMS. Well done sir. Any more information will be very welcome.
@Shard
Very interesting read.
Sullivan portrays a side of the transfer window we rarely hear.
Also West Ham £100m in debt? Relegation would seriously hinder any plans the owners may have to rectify the financial problems at the club but then again I applaud their “Kids For A Quid” scheme in the face said problems.
@Shard a bit of info on TMS
http://blog.emiratesstadium.info/archives/25859
West Ham cannot complain too much as they spent over £4 million last year on agents fees to help them gain promotion, now they complain? cannot have it both ways.
Talk sport’s Adrian Durham was moaning yesterday that Wenget has brought the wrong player as he is not available for the CL. Now up to point this is true but knowing what talk sport and Mr Durham are like I can hazzard a guess that if Arsenal had signed a somewhat unknown left back from a non CL team it would of gone something like “why are Arsenal buying a player not good enough to play for other CL teams”. The other point is do you buy a player for 2 games in the CL or the rest of this season, the media in my opinion has an agenda that promotes some clubs and gives negative views on others.
I know you will say I am just paranoid and biased towards Arsenal but you can see this towards other clubs, Manchester City, Villa, Fulham and to some extent Chelsea also get a negative press. Teams like Manchester United, L’poo, Spurs & Everton get a more positive press.
Adam,
That link was a very good read!
You are quite right that a lot of guff is spoken out of ignorance.
Sadly too many fans say “facts? Sod the facts – let me air my own prejudices first!” And they do.
Steve,
I do not think you are being paranoid with regard to Durham.
He makes a feature of being the AFC Castigator-in-Chief, and runs a slot in his programme called The Arsenal or some such drivel.
He is deliberately provocative, and invites disaffected Arsenal fans onto his show to make them sound even more stupid – if that is possible.
Adam,
I don’t know how I missed that article earlier. A good read. Thanks or that.
TalkSport exists almost exclusively as a wind-up targeted at Arsenal fans.
@Rupert that is the most constructive statement you have made and it looks like you might be good this year.
Keep it up.
@Kampala
I think if you analyse that statement again, Rupert is actually moaning that this was an ‘enforced purchase’ because of Gibbs’ injury. He’s basically not happy with the fact that we made a purchase, rather he would’ve preferred if we had made this purchase of our own volition, not becuase other circumstances ‘forced’ us. This shows rupert is a hard man(assuming he’s male) to please. Damned if we do, damned if we dont
For those moaning about how we signed someone who’s not gonna play against Bayern, this is exactly why doing business in January is a tricky proposition and perhaps not the best, as majority of all the good players usually play champions league football, and they would be cup tied then. Cant we jsut be happy with one thing, that we signed somebody? Which is what a lot of the same moaners were bleating about?
Everton failed with a bid to bring in a player from a foreign association and its them we are in competition with for qualification to the Champions league next season as well as a few other clubs, I don’t think a team around us in the league pulled off a foreign signing so quietly. With the implementation of TMS a lot of teams are doing their business early to complete the necessary documentation needed. Look at Newcastle for example or Fulham. With the late completion of this deal it gives our competitors no time at all to react. We have 14 games left and are only 4 points from 4th spot. Not a great position to be in but not the end of the world either.
Feel sorry for Monreal if his is thrown in against Stoke couldn’t of asked for a worse debut team.
The biggest games apart from Bayern are Tottenham and Everton which are sandwiched between the Bayern ties, Could do with the Everton game being delayed a while but that depends on the FA cup.
Everton have Man utd soon and Liverpool have to play West Brom so there are teams around us that have to play each other and soon, We could see rapid changes in the league table as long as we do our bit first. Tottenham also have some potentially tough games starting with a revamped Newcastle.
We are still a little uncertain for CL at left back. Santos could spend considerable time studying Bayern. There is the possibility of TV5 playing left back. Yennaris has played right back, and I don’t remember if Ignasi Miquel has played either outside back.
Someone had mentioned that Benik Afobe has been recalled. A group of Bolton supporters wasted no time in slagging Afobe.
http://www.lionofviennasuite.com/2013/2/1/3940604/benik-afobe-bolton-wanderers-arsenal-loan-departure
It’ll be interesting to watch if Arsene finds a niche for Santos higher up-field, as a back-up for one of the left-sided regulars. I simply can’t believe that his days at Arsenal are over so early in his contract.
It was another of those lovely moments where he sends the AAA off in the wrong direction, just for fun.
21 points of the top and Wenger spends his time sending the “AAA” in a wrong direction and you Mr Tony are happy. I think supporting Fulham would do you and Arsenal a lot of good.
Arsenal does not deserve supporters who are proud/content to be mediocre.
Apparently Toulouse said our offer for Capoue on deadline day was sufficent, but they couldn’t let him go so late without a replacement being lined up. Source is Jamie Sanderson(Arsenal Youth Blog guy), very reliable.
It shows that AW at least adressed the issue of our defensive worries in midfield. Hopefully he will join us in the summer. A highly rated DM in France.
Ive just read an article on the intersweat that goes over the whole transfer saga and states that Wenger is completely out of touch with the market. My ass he is. Who was there to buy even as a DM? Which striker? Come on, if Diame is that great whats he doing playing for the Irons-with all due respect?Im sure if hes that great Chelsea or Manure would have snapped him up before we could have.
Im not sure how many Arsenal fans had heard of Cazorla or Giroud before the beginning of this season. Come on look at those two and Der Prinz and see the quality that gelling together. Wenger keeps a sharp eye on continental Europe, it isn’t cut off by fog for him or the scouts.
I know hes sometimes bought players that haven’t developed, but so has every manager,( Grimandi used to give me the fear every time he got the ball) the thing is that its not dwelt on at Man Utd or by the press as much.It just isn’t. Don’t forget the media is sensing the demise of Wenger and for many its exciting like a show trial.Duh!Who would want that job?
Arsenal are a laughing stock to other fan bases as they know we have a good team and manager, but they think we’re whingers(to say the least)because half of the fan base just moan and groan with no solutions.We can all see the problems!It doesn’t help with the bullshit stories from the press, that we all take semi seriously seriously over the silly transfer season. I read that Poldi asked for our support. Says it all. Kölle Allaf!
Sometimes I think we’re becoming a club that only sings when were winning. Yodel-ay yodel-lay yodel-ay he o.
fedda
the arsenal youth guy as you put it, now works for the Metro. Sad to say, he has forgotten his loyalty to Arsenal, and now works like the rest of the gutter press. He was the one who twisted Sagna’s comments to make it sound as if he was wanting to leave Arsenal with some fiction about how he’s frustrated by lack of signings, when he said almost the opposite. I wouldn’t trust him. And the signing we were close to was probably Villa.
Well said, Kenneth.
“Should we have bought more players and have an even more bloated payroll?”
D1,
Do you want a CL finish or not? That is the question. Your statement is well, blinkered. Would you get there by not signing to fill gaping holes? You wrestle with that one.
“However, flashing the chequebook at this stage wouldn’t guarantee as solution.”
Stroller,
Are we accountants or fans? Does a guarantee have to be the standard of spending? You might consider which is the bigger risk to a 4th place finish in this moment in this season: spending or not spending? Your penny-pinching is a reckless gamble. This club can afford that gamble – and there was talent on this market, unless you’re eyes wide shut.
” It was another of those lovely moments where he sends the AAA off in the wrong direction, just for fun.”
Tony,
Your editorial line is so predictable on transfers. You make Arsene’s virtue out of a condition of our dire necessity and call him a genius. The fact is he/AFC would not have spend in this window, and were pissed off to have to spend at all, except for Santos gone bad and Gibbs (again) gone injured (oh, for only 3 weeks of course). Your support of whatever the club does or doesn’t do is down to the less penny, like its your piggy bank. And in this very window, at this very time, we would not have spent. And you would have approved of that as another stroke of genius, and let’s all kiss the badge and expel the naysayers (or loyal critics who want more that what we see). I can’t yet reconcile your brilliance on matters of race and corruption with this editorial line that feels compelled to find perfume where it is the perfuming of a condition that is much more flawed (to put it politely), and which the bean counters would not have fixed (were it not for the Gibbs injury/Santos collapse).
joe61,
It hurts, but I have to agree with your clarity and passion on the present moment on all fronts that you address.
How did we miss out on Fiscal?
http://newsthump.com/2013/02/01/next-qpr-squad-photo-to-be-shot-in-cinemascope/
Buying a left back who’s unable to play in CL suggests that Wenger already considers Bayers games as lost and is concentrating his resources on getting to 4th and it’s financial rewards for the club.
@ Kenneth Widmerpool
Good points well made.
Sammy the Snake -1
Sammy The Snake,
Your comment could be the result of flawless logic … or alternatively complete and utter delusion regarding the manager’s thinking.
Danny Mills isn’t cup tied for the CL and so would clearly have been a better buy.
Did we do enough in the transfer window? What does everyone think?
Arsenal had agreed the Monreal deal to originally be done this summer.The player had been learning English for several months.However the severity of the Gibbs injury(revealed to be up to 2 months) meant that Arsenal asked Malaga if,for a few dollars more so to speak,the deal could be brought forward.Thus much of the groundwork had been done in advance.I heard all this from some Spanish reporter on the radio.We could also be getting Amorebieta from Bilbao in the summer,who will be available on a free.He is a big,no nonsense but ball playing centre half who seems ideally suited to the PL. Oh and bob,agree with every word you say re transfers;according to Arsene we apparently tried for another player on deadline day,the question is why leave it so late? Clubs don’t want to sell players that late in the window.With only 5 points won out of a possible 15 in Jan,one might conclude that the “club” finally realised that CL qualification for next season is under real threat.
Cheers, Linz. 🙂
@Kenneth, Chelsea and Manu don’t buy everyone. Apparently Chelsea were interested in Giroud but they didn’t buy him did they?
Of course the press don’t dwell on Manu’s poor purchases because, if you haven’t noticed, they are top of the league and challenge for the league every year. Our challenge drifts away around December.
@Al, course I’m happy we made a purchase and if it meant Gibbs had to be injured to do it, well that’s the price we
pay. Also Nacho looks a decent player so what’s there to complain about?
Rupert, firstly I didn’t say that Man U or Chelsea buy everyone. I implied that the sugar daddy clubs have more money and are ahead of every other team in the race for “big” name signings.
And yes, I have noticed that those teams challenge for the league every year,although Chelsea were 6th last year.
@Kenneth, yes Chelsea finished 6th but they concentrated on two trophies, both of which they won.
@Rupert – dear Chelsea fan in disguise…what are the two trophies that they are concentrating on this year? You got the most brilliant power…that of hindsight. Idiot!
@Asif, good post. I think Chelsea are concentrating on the league and the FA Cup. Thanks for your input, now piss off.
See that’s the level of stupidity I have to put up with and sometimes like deserves like.
now now boys!
@Rupert – master of hindsight! Chelsea will win neither…moron! Go find a Chelsea blog and stick your neck there…we have had too much of your negativity…i guess all your plants and pets must have died due to “exposure to a Rupert”
play nice you two.
Just one question,
Who or what is Talk Sport?
😉
Royal Bludger,
Your question answers itself. What you get on this issue hereabouts is summed up in the title of this posting. That said, you ought to consider being principled enough to post you own answer to your own question. (And why not?)
Kenneth Widmerpool,
Demanding answers by commenters here (in effect, “well, dammit, you tell us, who was available, tell us”) is a sorry if not dishonest trick. First, Fans have every right, and real fans have the duty to point out serious weaknesses. And to advocate, indeed, implore that we shore up – in advance – with quality depth. Especially when we are an injury away from (non-CL qualifying) disaster at several positions because of lack of spending, now, above the bargain rate at which AFC tries to force others to spend by waiting until the last moments of the last day. Your foul trick (which supports the gamble of reckless underspending) is to demand of commentators that we pinpoint exactly what AFC’s heralded worldwide scouting system will have seen and – in necessary commercial secrecy – will have recommended to AFC/AW. They do know what’s out there and we can only recommend a limited sample; and/or we can press, in good heart and sound mind, that our team spends the money that appears to be there in abundance enough to save this season. And to do so in order to qualify – not lose – the CL money and the rest of the attractiveness to quality players that comes with CL qualification. You, with your “show us exactly who, or shut up” are running interference and blowing smoke for an ownership/management/accountant regime that finds glory in reckless underspending and non-spending to achieve a good looking set of books, instead of an excellent product on the pitch. You have barked in their defense and I can only pray that your defense of the realm does not leave it in smoke and ash.
@AI i told you Rupert is becoming a real supporter so fingers crossed that he /she stays royal.
Stuart, TalkSport is an anti Arsenal UK based radio station. The most anti Arsenal presenter, Adrian Durham is so obsessed with us, he has a feature called the Daily Arsenal…A lot of the station features phone ins, covering of course all teams, but is a vital outlet for the self flaggellationists of our fan base, and Spud fans pretending to be them. Also present are ex players who share the anti arsenal agenda, such as Micky Quinn, Stan “Dogger” Colliemore, once a great player but these days better known for hitting his girlfriend in public. In fairness, Stan does suffer from well documented mental health issues, not that I am excusing some of his behaviour. The one Ray of light is the occasional appearance of our own Romford Pele.
The station is commonly known as Talkshite.