By Tony Attwood
It is not that I have anything against The Times newspaper – although its current state is a sad travesty of the paper I used to read many years ago.
It is just that their editorial teams is such a bunch of total prats. In fact looking at the Times this week, I am drawn ever more to the notion that they are the newspaper that the BBC had in mind when they ran the “Electric Ink” radio series. (If you missed it try and catch it on CD or on Four Extra.)
But first, to give a quick resume of the past. In the n0vel “1984” by George Orwell, Winston Smith had the job of re-writing the news in the Times. In essence nothing in the paper was ever true – it was all made up.
Now onto more recent days.
In 2009, having told us that West Ham were safe from relegation, and had been rescued so much that they now had a £20m transfer kitty, the next day they changed the story and said that West Ham were about to go bust and that they could reveal that the new owners were actually the same as the old owners.
They made it sound as if they were correcting the insanity of lesser papers in the UK. Only they forgot to tell us that it was The Times who ran the original story.
In the same year this august newspaper published a list of up and coming giants of the game and included at number 30 (and I quote exactly)… Masal Bugduv (Olimpia Balti) … Moldova’s finest, the 16-year-old attacker has been strongly linked with a move to Arsenal, work permit permitting. And he’s been linked with plenty of other top clubs as well”.
Sadly he didn’t exist. He was an invention by a web site that just wanted to prove that the Times didn’t have reporters any more and were simply lifting their stories from web sites.
Now it has happened again. Although this time is wasn’t just the Times that got suckered in, they were the one’s really caught out.
The website Les Cahiers du Football invented the notion that Qatar, in addition to buying the world cup and various football clubs, was setting up a tournament between the best teams in the world, to be held in the little countryette.
They said each team would have their own stadium, players would live on specially built islands, crowd noise would be plumbed into grounds and fans in England could watch holograms of their players in action. (I don’t quite get that last bit, but it sounds sort of modern).
It was all going to be called the DreamFootballLeague, and the Times and others bought it totally.
The problem was that Qatar then said,
“With regard to the story published in today’s edition of The Times newspaper concerning a ‘Dreams Football League,’ the Qatar Football Association and other Qatari football entities can categorically confirm that we have no involvement in any such initiative and has heard nothing to suggest such a concept is genuine.”
Even then The Times stood behind the story (despite earlier cases of being caught out by Untold and others), with the journalist behind it, Oliver Kay, telling Reuters: “I’ve been amused by the speculation about the source of this story, I can guarantee you 100 percent, 1,000 percent, 175 million percent, that my story had nothing to do with any website, spoof or otherwise.
“I’ve no idea about their modus operandi. What I know is that my source is very good, the information is very good and that there is more where that story came from.”
Tony Evans, Football Editor of The Times, added, “As far as we are concerned the story is true and we stand by it. Oliver Kay is an exceptionally good journalist who is unlikely to have fallen for a hoax story on a spoof website.
“He obtained the information after speaking to powerful people in football and after doing his groundwork. He has been working on it for quite a while and there is no reason to doubt he will be fully vindicated.”
If you heard Electric Ink on BBC Radio 4, you will know that this is incredibly familiar.
The details of The Times story said £175m would be offered to teams to compete. Four places would be offered to prestigious English sides as part of a group of 16 teams that would play every two years. The remaining places would be filled every two years on the basis of the top teams of the moment.
The first tournament was scheduled for the summer of 2015 and would take place in Qatar and neighbouring Gulf States.
All this comes at the time when all the newspapers I looked at on Wednesday were telling us that Mr Wenger was sending out a weakened team. No Theo, no Santi etc etc. Generally Mr Wenger was damned for this approach.
After the 2-0 win last night, I have not seen a single apology, instead it is just another run through of the old, old stories about Arsenal failure. OK some people think Arsenal is failing, but even if that is so, it would have been nice to say “sorry about our team selection and result prediction, we got it wrong.”
In the light of all this, and to distinguish ourselves from the completely out of touch media, I have insisted that Billy the dog, who does most of our match previews alongside Dennis Bergkamp, must issue full and complete apologies for any mistakes he makes in his predictions.
Now it is true that I have from around that time suffered a black eye, but I think standards should be fought for, so it was worth it. Possibly.
Recent posts
- It wasn’t even close
- Bayern – Arsenal, my preview and a new kid in town?
- Arsenal are 38 points down each season before a ball is kicked
- So what is wrong with the Premier League? – part 2.
- The most bizarre rituals and superstitions in football
The books…
- 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 FC: crowd behaviour at the early matches
- Royal Arsenal: from the Common to the Manor. Coming next.
The sites from the same team…
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- Referee Decisions – just what are the refs up to this season?
- The Arsenal History Blog from the AISA Arsenal History Society
- Good Ad: reviews of some of the best and worst direct advertising there is
- The Massage Centre, serving Northants and Rutland
- Teacher News – UK schools from the teachers’ perspective
- UK Education News – rolling news service
What about the lies Wenger has told us? Has he ever apologised? Rvp will not be sold, Any club that sells Nasri and Cesc cant call themselves a big club nad then backtracked, We are moving to the Emirates to compete for the best palyers in the world, We are looking to sign 2 world class players(About 10 times) the list is endless.
The media and Arsenal haters has been hilarious, hastily adjusting their bitter agenda driven stances to maintain their level of negativity in the face of an unexpected, and in their eyes, damaging result. Well done to the team, manager and fans who made themselves heard out there. Jenkinson on the pitch was in the running for MOTM, off the pitch in his interview, hewas, if anything, even better.
If you want a laugh, just read this piece by the Mirrors resident clown, Darren Lewis
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-should-follow-tottenhams-example-1760874
Hash Tag Morons.
@Matt
Can you show your evidence of the said ‘lies Wenger has told us’? Links?
So Matt imagines if A lies, it is okay for B to lie? What a turd! In his feeble brain he cannot see that British newspapers do not simply ‘lie’ but are on a campaign to “Assassinate” Wenger with the proverbial ‘poison pen’. Go back for months if not the past few years; look; and think about it if you can, Matt.
It is time to seriously ponder taking fan action to oppose the media’s campaign against Arsenal. While our club’s performance has not helped the climate, the media plays a significant role in the quantity and quality of vitriol and poison that abounds. Perhaps, the fans at matches can make visible signs that name and express their feelings about newspapers and media and “Boo” them for their dastardly dark actions? Its time to gather and make an Arsenal response that is beyond the acceptable capabilities of the Club itself!
It would be funny if Arsenal managed to finish 3rd this season just to see the media reaction
I dont have a problem with the media,its the morrons who live their lives through the media and swallow everything they say line hook and sinker, that i feel sorry for. please stop spreading fake news it can be damaging
Steve, if last season is any indication the media has no shame or self-reflection! They will do what they have done this year, return with greater vitriol through sensational headlines and slimy editorials under the guise of “critical” perspectives for having proved them wrong!
‘Assassinate Wenger?’ Wenger has been a victim of his own experiments. He has no one to blame but himself. But when someone dares to point out the giant elephant in the room some people still ignores it.
What is ‘acceptable’ for a club like Arsenal? Socialist wage structure f*ck-ups, lack of game plan, terrible tactics and selection, poor signings, no motivation, complacency, no accountability, failures and more failures then fleece the fans, rinse and repeat.
We use the term “media” which is fine for glossy mags and TV shows where people give their opinions, but let’s not forget that the article is specifically referring to a NEWSpaper. Newspapers have gossip and opinion columns and they are labelled as such. The rest of the content should be both newsworthy and accurate.
The performance in the first leg was not up to the standard we have come to expect at Arsenal and that was used to add a negative bias to the performance from last night.
If we were performing the media wouldn’t be on Wenger’s back it’s his own fault.When we were winning he got a very good press from what i remember.
“Greencardusa” Another keyboard warrior, now depessing your life must be.
If you pull them up on twitter thay are often smug. When you prove them wrong they resort to trying to make you look stupid or blocking you. john cross is meant to be a gooner and he’s one of the worst offenders. Why don’t they mentionj the spuds trophy drought? You can’t read a paragraph about Arsenal without being reminded how long it is since we won a trophy.
Our fans really should make a stance against the propaganda war being waged against our club. Constant lies week after week designed to cause unrest. Unfortunately there will always be pessimists like sperez all to willing to take the bait & self destruct. Fortunately those people are the minority even if they shout the loudest. So its Best to try not to let them derail the good work done on this site as its more important to put this message out there than spend too much time being derailed by arguing with the sensationalist disruptive comments with are not realistic , much as its hard not to feed them!
But back to the main point, how do we ( arsenal ) make a stand against the extreme propaganda ?
Matt
We’re are not the only club who is not winning trophies, & the other ‘offenders’ have spent far more than us & haven’t invested any (let alone basically all ) of their money over the last 8 years on a new stadium
So why no lies & hatred towards any one else?
We are the only threat to the billionaire clubs & we have done it for eight years without any money , now we are at the start of a new phase can you not see that ?
Limpar
I couldn’t give a monkeys about other clubs TBH as i am an Arsenal fan.It’s not about winning trophies it’s a about doing all you can to be competetive.
We charge the highest ticket prices in Europe have made a net profit on transfers in the last 9 years have £125 million in the bank instead of on the pitch and have a wage bill £60 million more the Spurs and have a squad way behind there’s.Which suggest’s there is some mismanagement at the club.
Matt “couldn’t give a monkeys about other clubs”
So why should our £60m more than Spurs wage bill trouble you?
You either give a monkeys or you don’t.
Can’t have it both ways.
@Mandy
That did give me a good laugh thanks. What a fool that man is. It baffles me that these people can just make up rubbish, call it news, get proved to be totally inaccurate time and time again and still keep their jobs.
The closest to an apology from the media was from this morning’s Metro which said something like Arsenal did not field a weaken side as reported yesterday.
Because it means Arsenal is being mismanaged. Wenger spends his life courting sympathy but he deserves everything he gets.
Matt…..you’ve really fallen head over heels for the bullshit myths the press,TV and Usmanov-backed anti-Arsenal PR campaign has fed you. You say you are an Arsenal fan but you repeat the same lies told you by the Arsenal-haters:
1)We do NOT have the highest ticket prices in Europe, when compared to other Clubs’ season tickets (for the number of games provided at that price).
2)Making a net profit on transfers is a bad thing? If we had a sugardaddy, we could run the Club into the ground without fear of any consequences….just what the doctor ordered according to you.
3)Not even the Swiss Rambler, who is light-years ahead of you in research skills and editorial accuracy, dares to state how much we have in the bank, so this £125 million excretes straight out of your addled brain.
4)Our wage bill is NOT £60 million more than the spuds….and it is the player wages that really count….no figures are available, but don’t let that stop you from inventing whatever you want.
5)Our squad is NOT way behind theirs; we made it much further in the CL and are very near a top 4 finish once again. If you love the Spuds so much, go support them….and do all true Gooners a favour.
Nothing suggests mismanagement but your writing confirms that you are semi-literate and unable to compose a paragraph correctly;
1)I is always capitalized in a sentence.
2)Competitive not competetive
3)Commas are regularly used to delineate phrases in sentences, try it sometime, you’ll like it.
4)Monkey’s not monkeys, as it is a possessive noun,(ie:monkey’s ass).
5)Theirs, not there’s, which is a possessive adverb,a rarity in the English language.
6)Suggests not suggest’s.
We supporters accept all levels of language skills at UA,and even Walter, whose mother tongue is not English, is capable of writing more cogently and grammatically correct in an entire article than you did in one simple paragraph! Here’s a hint mate…its called spell and grammar checking….try it, you’ll definitely like it.
I know you will never allow your prejudices to influence your ignorance but LeGrove is desperate for fellows like you…just tell them Usmanov sent you.
Sperez:
“Socialist wage structure”? At last we may be getting at one of the hidden reasons why newspapers and especially football columnists have it in for Arsenal! Wenger does not seem to be playing the Capitalist game and is not advancing the Capitalist ideology and culture of current practices. Unlike Chelsea and MC, Arsenal seem to be resisting the Current Capitalist practice. Yet, Wenger is hardly socialist, at best he is one of the few humanists in this sorry scenario who treats his players with decency and the club as an efficient business.
As for “acceptable” this applies not to the standards of player expectation but to decorums of behavior acceptable to the Premier League as an institution. You an hardly imagine Arsenal as a club leading a placard demonstration, can you!
Quite spiteful towards the manager matt. What basis do you rate tottenhams squad so far ahead if ours? It’s not like we’ve not heard that before is it? How often over the last 16 years ? For a manager who spends his life courting sympathy I think it’s amazing we’ve even stayed in the top half of the table.that must be very time consuming
Weedonald
Look at the latest published accounts for the wage bill and bank deposits.
£1995 Is the most expensive season ticket in Europe for 26 games.
When you are not performing well and make money on transfers most fans wouldn’t find this acceptable.
Most fans would say Spurs have a better squad than Arsenal at the moment.
Just because you are sitting behind a computer screen feeling like a big brave boy by abusing me.So what if my grammer is not the best, i know what you are tough guy.
Stan kroenke : Why have you not won a trophy this year Arsene ??
AW: I’m really sorry , but I’ve had a bad bad leg & I’ve not been feeling very well this year. Also, my pet dog got run over before the Blackburn game & I’ve been feeling really down about it…
I promise I’ll be stronger next year, just give me one more chance please!
Always courting sympathy Wenger !
I’m going to put forth a random list of some clubs.
Liverpool, Tottenham, Aston Villa, Lyon, Marseille, PSG, Hamburg, Hoffenheim, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Roma, Valencia, Villareal, Sevilla, Betis, Dynamo Kiev.
All those are clubs of varying histories, across various leagues, with various ownership models, and varying circumstances.
Off the top of your head (no google search, and no more than 2 minutes thought), when was the last time these teams won a trophy?
My answer is, I don’t have the faintest idea. And I would guess most people won’t know, or remember that either. Yet, ask fans of these clubs how long it’s been since Arsenal won a trophy, and I bet many will know, because the media harps on about it virtually every day.
‘ Most fans think ‘ is a very poor basis for your own theory
I also think it
Poor Matt! Are you in the mood to bet with me that Arsenal will finish in the top 4?
@Weedonald, Your my hero.
It seems the positive thinkers are fighting back, its a shame you have to, but I do take my hat off to you.
Yes in the mood to bet John.
You seem to think i want to feel like this i have had a season ticket for 15 years and want to feel positive about the club.
Adam you need to get out more if you find your hero’s on the internet.
Matt, why are you addressing me?
It is a complete joke as to how much the media is able to manipulate muppets that get pulled into silly things that papers like The Times say. Pinch of salt is needed with them.
Matt
Were you at the last 2 home games against Tottenham? Please explain the reasons why you think they have a stronger squad . Why not put it into an article & publish it on here via tony ?
In the meantime , the main point of this thread has been lost !
The problem is every body in the country has been bombarded with the eight years no trophy fact. It’s basically a form advertising aimed at keeping an air of negativity around the fan base & perception of arsenal in general. Even a respected main stream broadcaster like Nicky Campbell repeated it today on his radio show. You can’t necessarily blame most neutrals for falling for it even though its very annoying. I blame sky , talksport & red tops , the rest seem to just follow suit. The majority of people , inc journalists ( even though it supposed to be their job to ) dont often question what there told every day. The question is why is there an incessant drive to do this , to such an obviously biased & nasty level?
@Matt
What does “i have had a season ticket for 15 years” have to do with anything? I wish i had the money for a season ticket. You should feel priviledged for having it. If not, sell it. There are plenty of supporters waiting for Season Tickets.
Ironical that those who feel abused by persons behind a computer, is abusing the team, manager & the blog from behind a computer.
I think the answer to the topic question is a resounding “NO”. So called journos, will always come up with imaginary excuses- much like their imaginary news pieces- wherever they are caught telling lies like blaming the source. They will use diplomatic reasoning and simplistic rhetorics that leaves less to argue with. Primarily many journos are hacks.
I totally agree that we should make a list of Journos and newspapers who Totally lie about us.I can understand true facts, but what is going on at present is very wrong.Ashton in the mail wrote that AW was putting a weakened team,Talk Shite spent nearly 2 hours on wednesday(That wanker Durham) saying exactly the same.No apologises.Today they were going to have Piers Morgan on.I wonder why?.They expected us to get hammered.I dont think he appeared.AW has made them look totally stupid.I understand people on here having a go at AW,however lets not lie,lie about our Club.Oh,i understand Red noise has banned 2daily papers at his recent press conference.I wish our press office would wake up and do the same.
Good point paul
But I would rather the authorities woke up & realised that banning newspapers from press conferences by managers or clubs is a form of manipulation of the media & therefor corruption & punish the people who do it .
However If a newspaper has obviously made up lies they should be punished but this should be done through the premiership who have responsibility for the contractual obligations of the media & the clubs
Greencardusa, then why didn’t Lord Wenger take his socialist belief to set his own salary? Why has he excluded himself from his own socialist wage structure? Yes, he demands to be one of the highest earning managers in the PL. Wenger is really a hypocrite.
What about meritocracy? Have you ever heard about this? Do you have a job in the real world or what?
Why do good players (and the fans) have to be punished because of Wenger’s stupidity?
Just to subsidise the overpaid fringe players?
Just to prove the whole world wrong? His own selfish agenda to the detriment of the club.
Wenger a humanist? He is just an overpaid and overrated manager unable to adapt to the changes of modern day football.
It’s better to face reality and stop making the same old tired excuses. Wenger has been left behind. He is finished as a top manager.
Don’t you realise that our manager could have left many times to earn more money elsewhere ? Not everybody is as loyal as him , as we have discovered .
If you believe playing and winning in stadiums like the bernabeau , Allianz arena, San siro etc and having the chance to do that every season is mediocrity then you are truly spoilt as a football fan. No matter what you say re the details of contracts & money in the blankets, the basic fact is that arseanal would have won the league every season in f the last ten years if we weren’t up against clubs who had massively overspent compared to their own resources buy hundreds of millions, which is basically cheating if you believe in the new rules of financial fair play. All the rest is micro analysis which I’m happy to engage in but let’s not forget the bigger picture at the same time
* money in the bank
If you want mediocrity , take a look at Tottenham throwing away a three goal lead in front of a half empty stadium against a poor example of the not so long ago great inter Milan
Anyone who cannot see the blatant drive by the media to always potray Arsenal in bad light, esp when they are claiming to be an Arsenal fan, needs to have their head examnied. Yesterday all the press were rounding on us saying we were in disarray, were going to be shown no mercy in bayern, etc, etc. We won, and instead of congratualting us the tune changes to attacking AW who responded that maybe English football was in decline after he had been asked if that was the case. Today they are blasting him for daring ‘suggest’ that(John Cross at The Mirror for exapmle), insisting its Arsenal thats in decline and not English football. Facts back AW up, not John Cross.
I remember watching the pundits on ITV after the Barca comeback, where they all wrote off our chances in Germany, and all concurred English football was no longer at the top given that we were not going to have any representatives in the quarters(despite that Arsenal still had yet to play their reverse fixture). I didn’t hear anyone blast Adrian Chiles or any of his c’fellow experts’ for daring say that. But Wenger is asked if he thought our game was going down and he says yes and gets crucified for that. What pisses me off is that these same vultures who gang up on AW(despite him being forever nice to them) are quick to put their tails between their legs when ferguson bares his fangs, swears at them and bans them at will.
The treatment given to AW is shocking, its almost inhuman. Even a conference side manager is given more respect in England than AW, its disgusting. I love Arsenal, and want AW to never leave, but its come to a point where I wouldn’t begrudge him if he left as he deserves some peace and dignity. What has he done to deserve this? Going a whole season unbeaten? Refusing to pay exorbitant prices for average English players? Building a state of the art stadium without the backing of a sugar daddy? Envy is a terrible thing.
quite amusing, the Spuds absolutely battered (7 goals let in this week by their wonderful defence), yet the media and AAA members who prefer the Spuds to their own will still use this to batter the club. Have a strong feeling this result this evening is going to work in our favour.
Arsenal got a magnificent result yesterday, the main learning point from our CL experiences in recent years, FFS top the groupstage next year!
@Tony
the short answer to your question is no. 🙂
If Matt was a genuine season ticket holder he would know that the a ticket includes Cup games (not Capital One Cup), which is what makes the tickets cheaper than portrayed. Unless of course he is deliberately misleading everyone.
There is nothing wrong with having a egalitarian wage structure – the squad wins games, not individuals. It has caused some problems with players not ultimately justifying their salary, but show me the club where that does not happen.
AW doesn’t lie about players leaving. He said for example that he would fight to keep RvP, that he expected him to honour his contract. If you can’t understand the difference between “I will not sell X” and “I want to keep X”, then that’s your problem.
sperez:
Your frothing at the mouth is most revealing of the delusions reverberating in your head. You seriously need an exorcism!You have no clue about the culture of meritocracy – just a hint:take a brief look at the geniuses that are currently running the economy, almost globally, into the abyss at the moment. And, football is a team sport; yes, some are gifted with extraordinary talent but even they are dependent on a team of players. Is that hard to understand? With the least bit of information you appear to draw the most amazing conclusions and have the audacity to charge Wenger with ‘stupidity’. I’m not sure this particular conversation with you is worth pursuing. Signing off!
FunGunner
Or further still if you can’t see that “if we sell our best players, no one will take us seriously” was a sly dig at the board then there’s no helping you.
Another myth trotted out by Wenger (and his followers): ‘I could earn 10 times more if I left Arsenal but money is not my motivation’.
Yes, money does not motivate him that’s why he demands to be one of the highest paid managers and can’t accept that his own wage bill model be applied to his salary.
Real Madrid, AC Milan, Bayern…
Jupp Heynckes: “Two years without a title here means you have to do something about it.”
How many seasons do you think Wenger would be able to keep his job at one of these clubs ‘being paid 10 times more’ naturally ?
Do you really think Madrid fans would accept the lowering of expectations just to suits Wenger’s inability to win trophies?
How I wish Wenger could manage Real Madrid. I doubt he can last more than a season there with all the pressure to deliver.
I imagine how Wenger would try to hide his incompetence at Madrid.
Wenger: ‘You have to take into account that we have the second highest wage bill in the league. So, being second is actually an achievement. We can’t compete with Barcelona’.
BEWARE MADRID FANS, WITH WENGER IN CHARGE, 2ND PLACE WILL BE THE NEW TROPHY.
I don’t know if anyone here can understand Spanish but when these news linked Wenger with Real Madrid spread Madrid fans were terrified by this possibility. They see Wenger is a loser, a failure.
Greencard, in your head:
meritocracy = stupidity.
Socialist wage model = Wenger = Pure Genius
I can’t take you seriously, greencardusa.
a lot of truth in what you say Al. Wenger is a visionary, has the ability to see things coming and act accordingly. He has recently predicted a European monetary catastrophy could well be in the offing, of course nothing new there. I am not an economist, but I know people who are, and anyone that thinks Europe or the UK are out of the woods on that front are deluded. I do not understand or even agree with everything Wenger says and does…this season has been frustrating, nest summer could have its frustrations, but he love the club, he is privy to more info than any of us, and I can only assume anything he does is because he believes it for the clubs benefit. Cannot say the same of a lot of other managers….who get a much easier time with the media
I’m going to have to apologise to Matt – he didn’t try to mislead anyone about the number of games his ticket entitled him to. I beg your pardon, Matt and I withdraw the implication that you were posing as a season ticket holder. However, there are many less expensive season tickets than yours, and you have a choice – a hard one, admittedly, but a choice – as to whether to renew each year.
@ Stuart
I don’t see it as a dig at the board. Whether a big player leaves almost always boils down to whether the player is in an unprotected period of his contract or not, and if he is, the board has no more power to stop him leaving than AW does. Where money is the issue, AW decides on remuneration and he knows as well as the board that we can’t match or approach the silly money which is dangled in front of players by the doped clubs.
spur*z,
You got one wrong with AC Milan, if we look at their recent history we can see that they won the Serie A exactly once in the past 8 years. Their last 2 titles were in 2004 and 2011. So spare me the bull. Bayern are in a 1-team league and Real in a 2-team league, as far as the income is concerned, that’s why those clubs will not accept anything less than top position. Arsenal is playing against 1 bully with a huge cash flow and 2 bottomless pockets sugar daddies. Read some Swiss Ramble, might be actually useful.
@Tony/Walter
Just thinking out loud, would it be possible to flag up the commenter’s that have been ousted as Spurs supporters for example sperez. Yes I understand It could been Interpreted as censorship, and there Is such a thing as free speech, however on the Internet these vile people have plenty of Anti Arsenal sites they could visit. I’m just fed up reading the rubbish they Wright
Returning to the point of the original article….No “sorry” seen from the Daily Wail for this:
It’s a disgrace! Fans join Lineker in condemning Wenger’s ‘joke’ decision to rest key players for crunch Munich clash
spurz,
where did anyone ever say that Wenger could “earn 10 times more if I left Arsenal but money is not my motivation”
YOU say that this is a myth and you are right. Nobody ever said it apart from you who are trying to say we said such things. It is you who are trying to create this myth.
The real thing is that he could have gone to all those teams where he could spend all the money in the world and do what he did when he was here in his first years when he didn’t have to fight the big money teams aka Chelsea and Man City.
I sometimes wonder with you being so angry about the “socialist” wage structure and then being angry about Wenger earning more. Are you just jealous?
nothing that new here Tony, the Times have been fooled before. Remember Hugh Trevor-Roper authenticating the Hitler diaries in 1983? I could probably find miss-truths from the 19th century too (if miss-truths is even a word!)
@Adam, I don’t think Wee Donald would be your hero though. Look at the terrible grammar in your post. Or was that a joke?
I’ve just watched the neighbour’s cat chase it’s tail. Hilarious.
Tony, I agree the Times is no longer the accurate and quality paper that it once was and further, the story about Dream Football in Qatar was appalling. Similarly the silly stories put around about the team selection pre Wednesday’s match were more than deserving of an apology.
The trouble is that too many journalists are arrogant, dealers in spin and totally without integrity. Then there is the situation where many journalists have an anti Arsenal agenda and some seem to co-operate with the AAA sewer rats in an anti Wenger, pro Russian takeover campaign. It is not a happy picture. There is no easy solution, however, I will not purchase any newspaper which produces anti Arsenal propaganda.
Tony, sorry to come to the debate late, unfortunately I am having to travel a lot re work at the minute.
I do hope the cat that is amusing the rupert (AAA sewer rat) is an AKB variety and bites his ass off. That would amuse me.
I have just heard Keys and Gray on talkshite.A great comment by Richard Keys.Looking at todays newspapers he said”They are all saying Arsenal are in terminal decline,and the spuds were unlucky last night.As he said we win 2 nil to Munich,they loose 4 one.He hinted that there is an agenda here!
Yeh, we missed you and your insightful comments. I guess you don’t buy any newspapers then as you see anti Arsenal propaganda everywhere. It must be hard as I imagine you boycott shops that sell newspapers too. I’m actually amazed you exist. I suspect you’re some random generated computer creation like those vile shirts that appeared on Amazon.
Oh that comment was a metaphor but don’t strain yourself working that out. The neighbours do have cats but even they’re not dumb enough to chase their own tails.
@rupert
And we really wouldn’t miss you.
Turn it off for once you are the most boring annoying prick ever on this site.
The spuds fans at least have their own agenda while you are a just a sad disillusioned wanker who finds great pleasure in knocking the team that I live and travel the world to see.
@rupert
Please pick on me because I can destroy you 10 times more everytime.
Oh let’s pick on the genuine Arsenal fans.
You are nothing but a cock and don’t deserve to be on this great site
@Rupert.
“Look at the terrible grammar in your post. Or was that a joke?
I’ve just watched the neighbour’s cat chase it’s tail. Hilarious.”
Grammatically that is just as bad as the pot calling the kettle black ….to mix metaphor’s with a dash of salt and pepper.
“…the neighbour’s (correct apostrophe) cat chase it’s (incorrect…chase it is tail is not what you wanted to say I’m sure) tail”
Or maybe you were joking as well?
Confucius say: The cat that enjoys chasing its own tail is dumb; the person enjoying telling the tale of the cat is dumber.
This saying was actually the basis of a hit Hollywood movie starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. Except they drove around in a sheepdog, tailing a hot woman.
Confucius say: person repeating the same thing is dumb, those who believe it every time are dumber.
@ Gf60, it was a joke. Well spotted.
Though I actually meant to say “you’re hero” to highlight Adam’s bad grammar and then didn’t.
Confucius say: Lack of originality is a sad thing indeed. Except when you are a cat chasing your own tail. That’s just fun.
I am really wondering if Confucius said any of these things. Also if he did he had an unhealthy obsession with cats.
@sperez this Arsenal not bayern,madrid or barcelona its is the Arsenal.You will either leave within it or out of it. For your information Arsene is still here for a while as the board loves him.
Fast forward when we win the champions league league in 2020 you will be happy and Arsene will still be the coach,so my son hang in there we will be there soon. But if you can not wait for that ooh boy look for green pastures some where.
Spud trolls (Rupert,sperez,etc.) – no one here is gonna believe that you are Gooners.
BTW, saying ” I’m a season ticket holder for x years” is not fooling anyone.
GTFO. While I sympathize with the lack of any halfway decent spud Blog or forum, I still say GTFO…
We need a ” Tabloids out” campaign. If you See any daily fail, sin or mirror reporter, anywhere, spit,sucker punch or Lynch them. Immediately!
@Elvis, nobody will believe you’re called Elvis. So what?
Quite possibly I’ve been supporting Arsenal longer than you, since 71 in fact.