By Tony Attwood
We are so used to Arsenal summers being tales of doom and despair, painted by the omni-watchful AAA as due entirely to Mr Wenger and the board, that it seems strange to watch the chaos elsewhere, while we seem to be sailing serenely through. We have no Flamini style departure (where he leaves to go to a bigger club only to find his bigger club didn’t actually qualify for the Champions League) no DNA transfers, no removal of our top scorer for pastures new at Manchester Untidy while we manage to score just two goals less than when he was here.
There are repeated hints of signings once the transfer window is opened up, and how you take that is up to you, but really the only big bit of business is that we have a new chairman, Sir Chips Keswick, a director of the Bank of England, although not many people seemed to notice.
What we did notice however was that three of the top four clubs changed managers. That should have been fairly smooth, as should the rest of football – for after all we know from the ceaseless reports that only Arsenal is in a mess – everyone else manages the summer perfectly.
But somehow things are not going totally smoothly. For example Manchester United head coach Rene Meulensteen rejected the offer to be David Moyes’ assistant manager at Very Old Trafford (built 1910) because he didn’t like Moyes “hands-on” approach to training. Hardly a mega crisis at Man U but worth noting that they have lost their manager and the guy credited with running the Carrington training arena for the past five years. Not a disaster but still a little crack in the Man-U continuity theory.
I may have missed some tittle tattle of news but I am not quite sure who makes up the Moysian team at the moment. Ferguson-the-lesser Mike Phelan has gone. Ferguson-in-goal Eric Steele has gone. Indeed Moyes himself has gone – on holiday.
So what else? Tottenham are looking over their shoulders at Paris St-Germain who seem to want their manager. Interestingly young André hasn’t said “no”.
Which reminds me that it is not only the Premier League that is a bit of a tizz at the moment as Paris St G are looking for a new manager because Carlo Ancelotti is off to Real Mad, and the club is getting very anxious about the ultra big spending of Tax Haven Monaco who are or were theoretically banned from the first division that they have now entered, because of their tax laws.
PSG are said to have discovered a buy out clause in young André’s contract of £10m, which, given that he clearly is a very talented manager seems rather cheap to me. PSG will seemingly go for young André now that they find they can’t get old Guus Hiddink away from the frozen wasteland of Anzhi Makhachkala (so named after the dance).
The difference between PSG and Tottingham is that Tottenham are backed by a tax recluse whose plans are not always clear, and have a stadium plan which seems to be stopped just for the moment (at least according to the lack of info on the official web site last time I looked) while PSG are in bed with the Qatar Investment Authority.
Which brings us on to Trademark Bale – the QIA seem to be saying to young André that if he will only sign for them he can have Bale and his trademark too.
Tottenham: release clauses are pesky things, and really one should have faith in a manager as good as young André. But they are clearing out the ex-Arsenal players although quite where Adebayor is going to go I can’t imagine. Gibraltar is now a member of Uefa I understand so maybe there is a chance there. (Or did I miss it and he already signed somewhere. I tend to throw up over my paper when I read his name, and so miss the news underneath. Sorry if I just damaged your computer keyboard).
Man City meanwhile are going to sign everyone and ignore FFP – as are Chelsea – which means that arrangement both in the Premier League and in Europe should cause us some interest during the season. But let us travel for a moment to the nether regions and seek out high flying Nuke Castle (well they were for one season – champions league placement was forecast for them I seem to recall only 15 months ago).
“Which one?” is the name now given to the first press conference that the now re-instated Joe Kinnear gave last time he joined the club. The reason for that silly name is the opening of the press conference. If I may warn those who might find this offensive, the following bit has naughty words in.
JK Which one is Simon Bird?
SB Me.
JK You’re a cunt.
SB Thank you.
JK Which one is Hickman? You are out of order. Absolutely fucking out of order. If you do it again, I am telling you you can fuck off and go to another ground. I will not come and stand for that fucking crap. No fucking way, lies. Fuck, you’re saying I turned up and they fucked off.
SB No Joe, have you read it, it doesn’t actually say that. Have you read it?
JK I’ve fucking read it, I’ve read it.
SB It doesn’t say that. Have you read it?
JK You are trying to fucking undermine my position already.
SB Have you read it, it doesn’t say that. I knew you knew they were having a day off.
JK Fuck off. Fuck off. It’s your last fucking chance.
In fact it was so funny I chose to run the whole thing on Untold, since most of the newspapers of the day skirted around it. Anyway the old boy is back.
Kinnear expressed his moral outrage of his first day as Newcastle manager on that occasion. Now he is back, talking as if he is manager when in fact he is director of football, only no one bothered to tell the manager.
Of course in those ancient days Joe was a mere 61. Now he is wiser and more mature and he can work with Graham Carr, the chief scout who is on an 8 year contract, as are the rest of the top team. Mr K told the hacks, “I’ve been very fortunate in my life as a manager, I’ve been manager of the year three times and I’ve had a great football career.” Yep. Can’t deny that.
So wither the Pardew? Well take a look at his team, and then remember that on March 10 2006 he made a public statement denouncing Mr Wenger for not fielding enough English players. Then look at the Pardewian crowd these days where the dressing room contretemps is said to be due to different nationalities fighting. It is hard to feel sympathy for someone who goes with swings and roundabouts quite so readily.
And moving on just to complete the roundup (although I know there are many that I have missed) Gus Poyet, the very successful manager of Brighton and Hove Albion, failed to attend a disciplinary hearing at the club on Monday after he was suspended with other senior staff after the Championship semi-final play-off defeat by Crystal Palace.
The League Managers’ Association however have said, “Brighton & Hove Albion FC ordered Gus Poyet to attend a crucial disciplinary hearing today, despite the fact that he only returned from annual leave yesterday and the charges were not particularised until 13 June. Gus needs to have a fair and reasonable opportunity to respond to what we believe are unfounded charges against him.
“Also, it has repeatedly been made clear to the club that Gus’s LMA representative, Richard Bevan, was not available to accompany him today, but was available to attend on Thursday 20 or Friday 21 June as well. These two dates fall within the five working-day period for an employee to offer alternatives to the original date set by the club as set out in the club’s own handbook.
“We believe that our members are entitled to the same legal protections that other employees enjoy. Football clubs need to observe basic employment rights like any other employer in our view. Just to be clear, however, we are confident that Gus will demonstrate there is no case to answer in this matter. Notwithstanding these important points, the club decided to go ahead with the hearing in the absence of both Gus and Richard Bevan. Late this afternoon the club agreed to adjourn and reconvene the disciplinary hearing to Thursday June 20 2013.”
The circus, once more, is back in town – although not, it seems, at Arsenal.
18 June Anniversaries
- 18 June 1993: Eddie McGoldrick signed from Palace
- 18 June 1979 Paul Davis signed professional forms for Arsenal.
Recent posts
- Who do you think you are fooling Mr. Riley… fewer fouls given does not mean more goals
- Ref Rumours: It is a postcode lottery
- Refs report only 5.8% of all the errors they make in a match.
- Mike Riley gives us numbers, but the explanation makes uncomfortable reading
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
The sites from the same team…
- Referee Decisions – just what are the refs up to this season?
- The Arsenal History Blog from the AISA Arsenal History Society
OK. you want circus.
True story.
As a seventeen year old I started working in a pub in Totteridge called the Orange tree. Rich area full of famous people including (later) our very own head honcho.
Being only Seventeen I was only allowed to work in the restaurant and not behind the bar, so, after a bit of training Im guarding the front of the restaurant when the phone rings.
“Hello the Orange tree” I say,
“Hello” comes back at me “is Joe there please”,
“Joe who, please” I say in my most polite teenage voice,
“Joe Kinnear, is he there”,
Please remember that I was a cocky little shite bag when I was younger, but also knew exactly who Joe Kinnear was, Wimbledon boss at the time.
“Hold the line please” I say,
I didn’t move, as I thought what sort of tw*t do you take me for, “joke in here”, that’s what I was thinking, Im not falling for that.
So I wait a minute then get back on the line and say “sorry no one by that name here” and hang up.
Feeling pleased with myself for dodging a wind-up, I tell my boss of the phone call.
He takes me straight into the bar and introduces me to Joe Kinnear.
True story, Brickfields, that ones for you.
Thanks for that Adam ,nice .As they say if you’re going to fuck up , do it in style !
As the following tale shows….
(This is supposedly a true account recorded in the Police Log of Sarasota, Florida)
An elderly Florida lady did her shopping and, upon returning to her car, found four males in the act of leaving with her vehicle. She dropped her shopping bags and drew her handgun, proceeding to scream at the top of her lungs, “I have a gun, and I know how to use it! Get out of the car!” The four men didn’t wait for a second threat.
They got out and ran like mad. The lady, somewhat shaken, then proceeded to load her shopping bags into the back of theold woman car and got into the driver’s seat. She was so shaken that she could not get her key into the ignition. She tried and tried, and then she realized why. It was for the same reason she had wondered why there was a football, a Frisbee, and two 12-packs of beer in the front seat.
A few minutes later, she found her own car parked four or five spaces farther down. She loaded her bags into the car and drove to the police station to report her mistake. The sergeant to whom she told the story couldn’t stop laughing. He pointed to the other end of the counter, where four pale men were reporting a car jacking by a mad, elderly woman described as white, less than five feet tall, glasses, curly white hair, and carrying a large handgun. No charges were filed.
Moral of the story? If you’re going to have a senior moment…make it memorable!
By the way , Tony ,thanks for that story – its the first time I’m reading about it – I think I only started following this site some months after that.
Could our new chairman, ” Chippy ” have said this ?
“I used to be a banker, but then I lost interest.”
On talk sport the other night they were talking to some spud from Blue (the boy band (I use boy in a very lose term) who are obviously making a come back (whyelse would they have him on)) anyway Im drifting away from the point. Anyway he said that the spuds new ground was going to be started to be built at the end of next season and be ready for the 2016 season. I had a quick look through a spurs forum and there is talk of two or three differing designs with differing capacities within them. I am wondering if it all depends on where they finish in the PL over the coming seasons as to which they build?
Re: Manchester United
Would you if you was a player now go to united this transfer window or would you wait until Moyes and his team have settled in and see what the situation is?
Re: Man city & Chelsea
We might aswell not worry about them as they are just going to go out and buy and pay what they like for players. The city fans can get all excited about paying over the odds for players while we can now leave the national media to get as far up JM’s arse as possible.
Re:Newcastle
Just think Arsenal could have a chairman like that!!!!
Tony,
As a honorary Gibraltarian (on account of numerous hols there) I must protest at your associating Adebayor with the UEFA member.
Some years ago, en route by car to Gib, via France and Spain, I was mildly surprised by the repeated attempts in the latter country, by rather large articulated lorries, to edge my small car off the road.
On reaching my destination I was told that my GBG plates were taken to mean Gibraltar by the Spanish, whose claim to the Crown dependancy continues unabated.
For the record, Gibraltar plates are GBZ.
@Swales68 10:11am
Spot on, your last line summed it up for me.
I do recall the amount of noise being made last summer and again in January regarding the players that Newcastle were signing and the fact that they would be taking our place in the Top 4.
Also it was Mike Ashley that was allowed to break the law by drinking his pint in the stand at The Emirates. He should really have been prosecuted for this and dealt the same ban as any other supporter.
Be interesting to see what Tottenham do about their new stadium. They seem to have bought the site behind their North stand, only question is if they have the land and planning permission why is their no movement?
The plan for Tottenham (as I understand it) is to build 3 sides of the new stadium to the north of where they currently are located. The 4th stand (which is currently their north stand) will then be knocked down and rebuilt to complete the 4 stands of the new ground. Essentially the North stand is turned around to complete the new stadium. Tottenham will play for one season in their new home with 3 stands, with the 4th stand to be open for the start of the following season.
They will then be able to sell / develop the land where WHL is currently located. Looks like a workable plan only their silence is deafening!
Just catching up on Untold – great link to article by Amartey on Gunners Town. Cheered me up no end after another ridiculous discussion yesterday with a Man U fan and an Arsenal ‘fan’.
The thing is that wenger will never change mate. The fool hasn’t got a clue. Look at how we went out of the F.A. Cup last season. A nailed-on home victory against Blackburn Rovers and the stubborn old buffoon keeps Jack, Walcott and the Pod on the bench – until after we’ve gone a goal down and it proved too late for the players to force an equaliser. The same in the transfer windows of late. The last day panic buying of Santos, Park, Metresacker and Arteta was truly pathetic. And now the board have given this clown close on £100 million to spend – it just won’t happen. He’s too scared to spend big and put his managerial head and nice little £7.5 million a year earner on the block. Stubborn, delusional, clueless and a coward to boot. And I wish we could boot him. Into the Channel.
Terry,
Thanks for the rant!
George Bernard Shaw -if he could post here on UA and answer the AAA – and beat the crap out of them .Sigh !
The secret to success is to offend the greatest number of people.
The secret of being miserable is to have leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not. The cure for it is occupation.
Few people think more than two or three times a year; I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once or twice a week.
A little learning is a dangerous thing, but we must take that risk because a little is as much as our biggest heads can hold.
I would like to take you seriously, but to do so would be an affront to your intelligence.
Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.
Oh well keep repeating it as much as you can Terry. I’m sure it will make you feel better. Maybe it is some kind of therapy some have to do? They have to go on the internet and repeat the same over and over again.
But maybe it would be better if they would congregate somewhere together so they can be happy unhappy all together.
I would dare to offer them a link to the vilest Arsenal place on the web but I have visited that site once (it is not Le Grove by the way, really there is some nastier place) but I cannot make myself to type the link to that website.
Search for the truth is as far as I can bring myself I would say…They will love you over there Terry. You will feel amongst equally minded.
Maybe the complaining by Arsenal is behind big name players moving away from the club as soon as the deal is right. And young players, with all the criticism of their lack of experience, don’t have the confidence of stepping up to the next level. If Van Persie was sold two seasons ago, many fans would have lauded the move. The same goes for Nasri — before his sublime run of form. As players also read blogs, they feel disposable and cheap. Fans act as if they have second hand talent in the club. Peopld dismiss Giroud yet Bayern Munich seriously wanted to sign him. And big money buys are not quality. Dortmund almost won the Champions League with a striker who is paid only 40 K per week and with a midfield that was largely upgraded from its youth ranks. Barcelona also created the core of their team from the youth ranks. Wenger recently pointed out that he regrets not buying Bale when the player was young. Wenger has obviously made mistakes in signing young talent but so has Ferguson. But dismissing young prospects is more hazardous than gambling on them. Also, committing to injury prone but talented players makes the player feel valued. Ben Arfa is sticking to Newcastle because the club signed him even when he was on a long term injury. The ‘prefect signing’ is a myth perpetuated by massive transfer fees.
Walter that’s not answering any questions. I want to ask you, why Arsenal are so far behind Manchester United, and Tottenham so close to Arsenal based on the spending of the last two years. Here are the figures I have been given for transfer and wages spending from 2011-2013Manchester United £418mArsenal £397mTottenham £259mEverton £152mThese are not reflected in the relevant points gaps between the teams at season’s end.
@Terry,
With respect, at the end of the day, the over-riding aspect you forget is “human spirit”. A club could spend endlessly on players, manager and ground, but if the dressing-room camaraderie is absent, the chances of success are greatly diminished.
Terry,
Cool down mate. At this rate, you’ll have a heart attack!
I didn’t know those were questions to be answered Terry.
I must have missed the question marks between the abuse. Sorry about that.
Where have I abused? You are ducking the real questions my friend.
@Terry you have carefully ignored MAN$ and Chel$ea from the list. these guys bought madly and could you please explain based on your theory why arsenal is so close to chelsea and man city in terms of points gap irrespective of not spending anything like them? I hope you dont duck this question because like you, I am also curious to know the correlation between spending and points and why is it diminishing? I think my comment is not that “Pro-Arsenal” and its a fair question.
this club is such a farce it’s untrue but I have to say one thing, and that is that Gazidis has done his job well. He ha been very crafty and shifted the blame onto Wenger. Gazidis has gained Arsenal record revenue streams, which condiering we are a joke club that wins nothing, 8 years and counting, is remarkable work. Gazidis does not sign Gervinho, Giroud and Chamakh. Wenger does. Gazidis has made it 100% clear that there is BIG money there to be spent. All focus must be on Wenger, There’s not been any excuses in my opinion, money has been there in reserves since 2008 but this incompetent manager is more desperate to prove he’s some kind of footballing visionary by winning through spending nothing. Meanwhile, Martinez, McLeish and Laudrup have won trophies he couldn’t dream of winning these days! Nothign will change this summer. All the Fabregas talk? He will join ManU if he comes back to UK. Please remember, he left because he was fed up of being surrounded by losers. COming back to realign with Djourou, Fabianski, Giroud, Gervinho, Ramsey and Scezney after winning trophies with Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Villa and Busquets is not sthg he will want to do. As for Arsenal being the next Bayern? ROFL. HA HA HA HA HA HA. Bayern just won a Treble. Bayern have fired managers for finishing 2nd, meanwhile we have a loser who cannot beat Bradford and says ‘I would take 2nd place for the next 20 years’. Say that s**** at a Bayern and you’re sacked immediately. Bayern spend £40 mil on a big player every summer. Our idiot manager has Yaya Sanogo and shops in France. Bayern have a minimum objective trophy requirement for all managers, each season. The Arsenal manager is set no targets, but thinks 4th place is a trophy worth celebrating with champers on the final day of the season. I could go on, but until the incompetent overpaid manager who continues to blow our money on garbage players, and try to please his ego and not the Arsenal fans…we will go nowhere. Bayern? How about we try match Birmingham’s trophy count over the past 8 years first.
Can you back any of that up Terry?
006: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years 2007: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years 2008: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years 2009: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years 2010: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years 2011: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years 2012: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years 2013: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. YAWN. I’ll tell you what Ivan sure. What’s another couple of years between friends….Oh wait. Another 2 years will mark the TEN YEAR anniversary of Arsenal being trophyless you say?! SIGN ME UP! WOW what an achievement by Lord Arsene! A WHOLE DECADE in which he’d have managed to win less trophies than Wigan, Birmingham, Swansea, Portsmouth and Liverpool! And all for £7.5 mil a year! (maybe his new contract will reward him with a payrise, as Wenger FC is a club built on rewarding rubbish. The worse you are at your job, the more money you’ll get!)
Let it go Terry! You’ll Buster Bloodvessel! Chill!
The only Terry I know is a chav.
Back it up? Are you insane? Have you read any of my posts? The answers are staring you in your face and you’re asking me can I back it up? Wow, you couldn’t make any of this up
Personally I see little attraction in going along and being lied to year after year by the snake oil salesman. Every year we start the transfer window off full of promises indeed the year when we bought 5 players on the last day were preceded by reams of articles claiming the club were negotiating for every player under the sun. This year has started off the same and I have little hope of any meaningful investment in the team. The truth is that the money we have had has been poorly spent. How we scouted fatty Santos Gervinho and Giroud is beyond me. Santos is a Sunday league full back at best and with a Sunday league stomach to boot and unless the scout was myopic he could not failed to have see that. As far as Gervinho he is by some margin the worst player we have bought in over a decade Again any decent scout could see he was worse than useless. As for Giroud great commitment but far too slow for the premiership. So far this window linked with Jovetic (but will go to Juve) linked to Rooney (will not come to us) and linked to Higuain (again go to Juve). All we have bought is a French 2 tier striker who has had 2 broken legs. And then there is fabregas we have first option but where will he go Manchester no doubt. So that leaves lots of money to be spent on who? We need at least 5 players but more likely will get only 2 or 3 and substandard recruits at that. At the end of the window a lecture of how difficult it is to buy players and how we have the strongest squad in our history. Sounds familiar sounds like the last eight transfer windows past. –
Someone please help this guy; he will burst a vessel in the brain!
Not busting anything mate. Just stating the obvious. In a way I , I still think that Spurs have been doing much better business in the last few years. Vertongen, Lloris and Dembele were great signings which they brought in from the sale of players such as Modric (£27million). If you consider that Gervinho, Podolski and Giroud cost in the region of £35 million and have a goal per game ratio of 5, 3 and 3 it is not comparable to the £5 million that they spent on Adebayour (I’m not suggesting Arsenal signed him) who has a goal every 2.5 games. Granted Sigurdsson and Dempsey haven’t pulled up any trees for the £13 million spent on them but Dempsey still bagged a few from a wide position. In 2011 they somehow managed to bag £12 million for Crouch, the majority of which was shrewdly spent on Scott Parker. In 2010 Arsenal brought in Chamakh on a free but on an estimated £95k per week. He’s managed 5 goals in 40 appearances. The same year Spurs brought in Van der Vart for £8 million who netted 24 in 63 games aside from his overall contribution to their game. They also pocketed £10 for him when he left. You’d also have to ask the question Bale or Walcott? For all the flannel we hear about the Champions League bringing better players to the club I reckon Spurs did better business than Arsenal last year without getting qualification. Ok they didn’t make the CL this year but if they pocket £75million for Cheetah I bet they spend it better than Arsene –
@All
Terry (June 18, 2013 at 6:57 pm)
Copy+Pasted from
http://www.onlinegooner.com/article.php?section=editorial&id=432
“LOL 11:40am 11th Jun 2013
Great piece Kev. I mean this club is such a farce it’s untrue but I have to say one thing, and that is that Gazidis has done his job well. He ha been very crafty and shifted the blame onto Wenger. Gazidis has gained Arsenal record revenue streams, which condiering we are a joke club that wins nothing, 8 years and counting, is remarkable work. Gazidis does not sign Gervinho, Giroud and Chamakh. Wenger does. Gazidis has made it 100% clear that there is BIG money there to be spent. All focus must be on Wenger, There’s not been any excuses in my opinion, money has been there in reserves since 2008 but this incompetent manager is more desperate to prove he’s some kind of footballing visionary by winning through spending nothing. Meanwhile, Martinez, McLeish and Laudrup have won trophies he couldn’t dream of winning these days! Nothign will change this summer. All the Fabregas talk? He will join ManU if he comes back to UK. Please remember, he left because he was fed up of being surrounded by losers. COming back to realign with Djourou, Fabianski, Giroud, Gervinho, Ramsey and Scezney after winning trophies with Messi, Iniesta, Xavi, Villa and Busquets is not sthg he will want to do. As for Arsenal being the next Bayern? ROFL. HA HA HA HA HA HA. Bayern just won a Treble. Bayern have fired managers for finishing 2nd, meanwhile we have a loser who cannot beat Bradford and says ‘I would take 2nd place for the next 20 years’. Say that s**** at a Bayern and you’re sacked immediately. Bayern spend £40 mil on a big player every summer. Our idiot manager has Yaya Sanogo and shops in France. Bayern have a minimum objective trophy requirement for all managers, each season. The Arsenal manager is set no targets, but thinks 4th place is a trophy worth celebrating with champers on the final day of the season. I could go on, but until the incompetent overpaid manager who continues to blow our money on garbage players, and try to please his ego and not the Arsenal fans…we will go nowhere. Bayern? How about we try match Birmingham’s trophy count over the past 8 years first. – Post No. 38348
“
I qoute from your rant Terry:
“The fool” … “and the stubborn old buffoon”
“keeps Jack, Walcott and the Pod on the bench – until after we’ve gone a goal down and it proved too late for the players to force an equaliser.”(THIS IS NOT CORRECT AND A LIE – He made the changes and then Blackburn scored)
“The same in the transfer windows of late. The last day panic buying of Santos, Park, Metresacker and Arteta was truly pathetic”. So Arteta and Per are pathetic. Wonder which team you really watch then
And now the board have given “this clown”
“Stubborn, delusional, clueless and a coward to boot”.
No of course, no abuse towards Wenger to be seen at all.
Just a few lies I think.
Terrys (June 18, 2013 at 7:58 pm) post
Cut+Pasted from http://www.onlinegooner.com/article.php?section=editorial&id=432
“Hawley and Hankin 12:50pm 11th Jun 2013
Whilst I agree that a comparitive transfer and wages spend needs to be offset by transfer income received, I still think that Spurs have been doing much better business in the last few years. Vertongen, Lloris and Dembele were great signings which they brought in from the sale of players such as Modric (£27million). If you consider that Gervinho, Podolski and Giroud cost in the region of £35 million and have a goal per game ratio of 5, 3 and 3 it is not comparable to the £5 million that they spent on Adebayour (I’m not suggesting Arsenal signed him) who has a goal every 2.5 games. Granted Sigurdsson and Dempsey haven’t pulled up any trees for the £13 million spent on them but Dempsey still bagged a few from a wide position. In 2011 they somehow managed to bag £12 million for Crouch, the majority of which was shrewdly spent on Scott Parker. In 2010 Arsenal brought in Chamakh on a free but on an estimated £95k per week. He’s managed 5 goals in 40 appearances. The same year Spurs brought in Van der Vart for £8 million who netted 24 in 63 games aside from his overall contribution to their game. They also pocketed £10 for him when he left. You’d also have to ask the question Bale or Walcott? For all the flannel we hear about the Champions League bringing better players to the club I reckon Spurs did better business than Arsenal last year without getting qualification. Ok they didn’t make the CL this year but if they pocket £75million for Cheetah I bet they spend it better than Arsene – Post No. 38366”
Terry,
do you get paid to do this? Copy and paste from other sites?
This is a reason to get banned on Untold, you know.
Who are ‘Terry’ or ‘LOL’ or ‘Hawley and Hankin’?
Who are you? ‘Terry’ or ‘LOL’ or ‘Hawley and Hankin’?
Doesn’t matter how much we have to spend if he keeps buying rubbish. No one decent is going to come to us unless we start paying proper money. He will have to outbid other clubs. At present it seems like ours is the starting point and the others just come in with a few monre millions and at that point Wenger throws in the towel
Dam I was going to have a rant back but as it copied & pasted I won’t bother.
Incorrect. And that answers not in the interest of national security
@Terry, Juventus has no money to afford a star signing, Conte told that they have to operate on a very tight budget.
Even if you go by rumors, the last rumor I saw about Higuain is that Juve cannot afford him and so Arsenal is in pole position and Juve are instead targeting Tevez as he can be bought for a lesser fee. After all these are only rumors.
How do you know for sure that Jovetic and Higuain are definitely going to Juventus. I need some facts here. If you are going to beat around the bush, fair enough.
I see one of the most visible patterns with your comments and it is quite common that every Arsenal basher in fact uses. Any one who leaves Arsenal and anyone who is reported to be targeted by arsenal but not signed by us is a star and anyone who is signed by arsenal is definitely a shit.
Another one from the same page:
Fed up 12:13pm 11th Jun 2013
2006: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years 2007: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years 2008: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years 2009: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years 2010: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years 2011: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years 2012: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years 2013: We’ll dominate just give us a couple of years Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. YAWN. I’ll tell you what Ivan sure. What’s another couple of years between friends….Oh wait. Another 2 years will mark the TEN YEAR anniversary of Arsenal being trophyless you say?! SIGN ME UP! WOW what an achievement by Lord Arsene! A WHOLE DECADE in which he’d have managed to win less trophies than Wigan, Birmingham, Swansea, Portsmouth and Liverpool! And all for £7.5 mil a year! (maybe his new contract will reward him with a payrise, as Wenger FC is a club built on rewarding rubbish. The worse you are at your job, the more money you’ll get!) – Post No. 38356
This is really bad, editors. You need to note the ip please.
So Terry what do you think then not the posters from the Gooner forum. A forum from what I can see is hemroging posters because of its one sided negative view and almost bullying of posters who show support for Wenger and or the board.
Well first of all can you back up your comment that Wenger has had all this money to spend all along. I’m not talking about your frustrations, I’m talking about your accusations.
What if Terry is a Macro that copies anti-arsenal comments from sites. Because seriously he/it cannot answer logical questions. May be I suppose he/it is not programmed to that level. Or is it the only way AAA works, blast a site with tons of copied messages and then gone.
Even this last comment is copied:
“Doesn’t matter how much we have to spend if he keeps buying rubbish. No one decent is going to come to us unless we start paying proper money. He will have to outbid other clubs. At present it seems like ours is the starting point and the others just come in with a few monre millions and at that point Wenger throws in the towel”
Ban this bloody Macro!
Oh yes, here’s the same comment under a different alias (Bard):-
Bard 14:39pm 11th Jun 2013
Peter Wain totally agree. Doesn’t matter how much we have to spend if he keeps buying rubbish. No one decent is going to come to us unless we start paying proper money. He will have to outbid other clubs. At present it seems like ours is the starting point and the others just come in with a few monre millions and at that point Wenger throws in the towel. – Post No. 38373
From here:-
http://www.onlinegooner.com/article.php?section=editorial&id=432#.UcC9rvnVCPw
Ok Terry, that’s it.
You are breaking the rules that are clearly stated on the website. You are banned.
The AAA seem to have woken up. Notable that they promote the mass media line, not allowing reason or facts to get in the way of their prejudice. First, AW was criticised for not spending, now is criticised because he can’t be trusted to spend wisely (ie buy players like Parker and Samba etc). Not achieving 4th in league was going to be a catastrophe, now having achieved it is suddenly no big deal. (that alongside the insulting language used by some).
Spurs do better business? Still finished below us.
Wigan and Birmingham have won trophies ? Yes, as well as being relegated.
All AW purchases are rubbish? Yes, that’s why Arteta has such poor individual performance stats, why our defensive record is second best in league, that’s why Arshavin only scored 4 at Anfield, why Podolski and Mertesacker don’t get picked for Germany, why Giroud doesn’t play for France and why Barcelona are trying to sign Koscielny. As for Cazorla………
Any rational Spurs fan (if such a person exists), must surely envy us.
PS to previous post:
Let’s not forget the self-financing model and the successful completion of the stadium which is the envy of every other club, which provide a platform for long term stability and success.
Well that was a revelation to me!
Before our very eyes we saw how the anti-Wenger wagon rolls on.
Thanks to all the Untold readers who exposed those pasted tweets from ‘Terry’ (whoever he really is).
And thanks to Walter for banning him.
It is just a pity that some idiots actually believe – and repeat – all that old rubbish.
Thank you, eagle-eyed Untold-ers, for helping get rid of this pest.
The thing I don’t get with Arsenal fans like ‘Terry’ is its all negative not one positive. Being an Arsenal fan or any fan if any club shouldn’t it be about trying to look at the club from all angles, the positive and negatives. It is easy to sit at the end of a PC and just look at all the negatives (Gooner forum) it is also easy to bury your head in the sand and think everything is ok.
I have done my bit on forums defending the club be it from ultra negatives who can’t see past not winning a trophy for x number of years or Wengers wages to those who defend Wenger to the hilt and can not see the problems we have and do have as a squad. In the end it drags you down arguing the same points over and over again with the same people who refuse to listen. I do not think I know everything but, I try to look at Arsenal and other clubs with a balanced viewpoint.
Wenger had his problems, his almost to the second 70min substitutions, Arsenals frailties from free kicks (which go back a long way), our inability to deliver corners on a regular basis, his insistence on playing certain players out of position etc. He has many string points to counter these negatives but these are rarely mentioned by many. The same can be said for Ivan & Stan yes they may of made mistakes but they also have great strong points, the BSM must be happy at the moment as they have found out what Ivan does (negotiates new sponsorship deals and talks to the fans) and PHW has left the board.
Many fans are lead by what they read on forums and what is said by groups like the BSM these people have a responsibility to the many to give balance to the arguments. It’s ok having a moan at Ivan for appearing not to do anything but they should back him when he shows what he does do for the club. It’s the same with Silent Stan “oh he doesn’t say anything about what he wants for the club” how many other owners talk? Have we heard from Joe Lewis lately about the Spurs ground? What news from Abramovich or Sheik what’s his name from City. Lets sit down and listen to the wise words of the owners of Aston Villa or Liverpool shall we.
Yes listen to what these people say but don’t take it all as gospel, there are many differing reasons for what has been happening to Arsenal over the past eight years and what is planned for the coming years. What we have to do is sort the wheat from the chaff and work out for ourselves what is right or wrong with the club if we can.
I had a great example of this on sat night, there was a long discussion on twitter about Fellaini, there was four Arsenal fans in the discussion all coming from different situations regarding if we should buy him to where he should play. In the end we all agreed that we didn’t know and are glad we do not manage Arsenal. Non of us were right and none of us were wrong because in the end we do not know for sure. Yes we had our views and we argued them and that is how forums etc should be not total negativity driving out those with more positive views or the other way around.
Sorry for the rant
“Man City meanwhile are going to sign everyone and ignore FFP”
On that topic, One of the good things to have happened with respect to FFP implementation is the appointment of David Gill as the chairman of FFP committee. Rather than appointing someone unknown, its a good move by UEFA to appoint Gill who is always in favor of FFP.
My apologies, actually David Gill is appointed as chairman of club licensing committee. The committee has powers to look into financial performance of clubs and check whether they are inline with UEFA’s requirements and whether they can continue in UEFA competitions. It can make recommendations to revoke a club’s license for not getting its Financials in order.
this thing that AW plays player out of position is quite contentious. How does a player know it is his best position without trying other positions?
A GK can never be a CF but if some player plays as a Full back he surely can play as a winger, for example Gareth Bale.
If a player is a winger, given physical abilities, he can play as a striker and a damn good at that, for example Henry. If a player plays as a Winger during his youth he can play as a Left back, for example Gibbs. Arteta was a Defensive Mid at Barca youth level, at PSG and Rangers(?) before Moyes changed him into a AM and Wenger again converted him into a DM.
Podolski played just behind Klose during his first years as a German International,and at Bayern before becoming an one-man-striker at Cologne. Wenger played him at LW and has played well there. Wenger is working on him to make him better at CF.
Sagna,a LB, gave a MOTM performance against Sunderland playing as a CB.
Fabregas played as striker before coming to Arsenal. AW made him a CAM and revolved the team around him and not around the striker. This is still the case despite the personnel changes, which is one of the reason the current squad took a lot of time understanding each other.
For Some players like Giroud, Ramsey, Bendtner, Djourou its hard to change their position for some reason. And for some like Arshavin, who played well as a LW , the responsibility of tracking back might be too much of a work or another better player occupied his favourite position. Fabregas played as a free-to-roam role, which suited Arshavin.
Changing positions has helped many but cannot be a reason for players downfall. Its not positions its commitment. Chamack, squillachi, denilson were all played in their favorite position. somehow did not work out for them.
I am beginning to feel that Gazidis is starting to crumple under this ‘spend some fucking money’ bandwagon. He is clearly trying hard to dodge the thing. And people are reading too much into his statements regarding the same.
Having seen Mr Wenger operate (well from far far off ie), I feel he is just looking at 2 signings for the first team. We all saw end last season…the core has formed and is very very capable (potentially title winners) and it would be a stupidity to make big amendments to it.
Americangooner,
speaking about playing players out of position.
My local team in those days long ago was playing for the title in the then second division in Belgium to go up back to the highest division.
Our manager in those days was Rik Coppens. One of the most colourful players and managers in Belgium. A real local boy from Antwerp. (meaning usually big mouth but oh so skilful)
In a game we were winning 4-0 against one of the lesser teams he suddenly was going to make a change. And he brought on the reserve keeper who wasn’t that popular at the time because we never knew if he was sober enough to do his thing. (He had a real drinking problem). The crowd started booing as they thought our very popular goalkeeper (Tony – Antonio – Goossens) was going to come off. But no he took of one outfield player, put the reserve keeper in goal and put our regular keeper in the attack and played him as a deep striker.
And lo and behold the game finished 5-0 and yes it was our goal keeper who scored the 5th goal.
After the game Rik Coppens just laughed and said in his typical ‘I knew what I was doing’-way: I told him he would score a goal today and I knew he can be good enough to play there.’ It’s sometimes good to get another view on the field to improve your best position is the wise lesson one could learn.
My god, what a walk down memory lane
hilarious stuff. i think in one of ManC’s match Stuart ‘Bergkamp is no good’ pearce played James upfront. Mental.
And about Terry, well Tony wrote an article about a circus. We should have expected a clown somewhere….
I just remember that after our keeper scored the crowd started to sign: “Coppens is nen toeveneir” in English Coppens is a magician.
Mind you we didn’t sing about a magic hat… 😉
Still on playing people out of position, Kolo Toure (or was it Laurent?) came in as a defensive midfielder, likewise Djourou but AW feels they are not mobile enough for such a role. He kept on saying Poldi is best on the left but the fans went on about playing him down the middle “in his preferred position” but we all know what happened while Giroud was on suspension. Van Persie (sorry to some for even mentioning his name here) did not believe he could play a No 9 when Wenger began to train him for it. Even Bergkamp doubted and said so. We all know the rest of the story. A manager with so many years experience should simply be allowed to do his own thing. He will make mistakes, being human but, Tony, their mistakes “will all even out at the end”, won’t they?
Sorry for going off topic, but the new EPL fixtures are out:
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/barclays-premier-league-fixtures-2013-14
My initial thoughts:
1: Even with the Spuds as our third game (our second home game), if we can hit the ground running, we should hopefully be able to get a good early season points haul – I’m hoping for at least 20 points or so from our first 9 games in August to October;
2: However, Liverpool followed by Manure TWICE (November and February) – what’s all that about?
3: Tricky run up to Christmas – Everton (H), Man City (A), Chelski (H);
4: Tricker end of March/start of April – Spuds and Chelski (A), Man City (H), Everton (A);
5: However – assuming that we’re still in touch at the top after the Everton match on April 5th, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to crack on and mount at least a real challenge this year, IF WE CAN STAY IN TOUCH. No pressure…
Red-Man,
You notice our fixture list get tough when the second phase of the Champions league kicks off. Seems to happen each season.
February and March 2014 should be very interesting.
Maybe this is why we need two teams?
Sporting Intelligence has done another table comparing prices at the various PL venues and not surprisingly they have us at the most expensive. What is most annoying is that they compare the most expensive tickets and the least expensive tickets. Sure, there is a small disclaimer saying that club packages are different yada yada yada but the main table is so misleading. For all we know they are comparing the outlier prices.
GoingGoingGooner,
And then people like some clowns come on this website and demand that we are top of the league because of those “highest prices”
Our final 6 games should serve us well but either way, we still have to play against 12 men over 38 games, sometimes with only 10 players on the field for ourselves.