Burnley. A cake making town frequented by the first king of the Saxons.

Posted on by Tony Attwood

Bulldog Drummond wanders through the undergrowth

In the world of advertising, more and more placement of adverts is done by semi-autonomous robotic systems that buy space  based on the algorithms that have been programmed in to them.

In the world of writing football match previews more and more of the writing is done by emi-autonomous robotic systems that conjure up sentences out of last week’s prose and then try to convince us that it is all new, and interesting.

Here’s an example – and I kid you not.  This is from the build up in the last couple of days…

“Arsenal face going into tomorrow’s Premier League match against Burnley with a deepening injury crisis in defence…”

Which is what they said last week, and the week before, and the week before that.

So we know that Jack Wilshere is likely (no, is “set to” to miss the game.   Kieran Gibbs faces a late fitness test in which in deference to the connection between Burnley and the aircraft industry he will be asked to define a Dihedral angle and struggled.  It is of course the upward angle from horizontal of the wings or tailplane of a fixed-wing aircraft.

Mr Wenger went on to confirm that Wilshere could recover in time to play a part in Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Anderlecht, but admitted that it may come too soon for the 22-year-old and instead could target next weekend’s trip to Swansea for a return.

And thus journalists, having cut and pasted last week’s preview and handed it in to their couldn’t-care-less editors, are back in the pub where, scissors and sticky tape in hand and a treble whisky on the side, they paste together their match comments that read like the last set of match comments…

“With Laurent Koscielny and Mathieu Debuchy already missing, the absence of Gibbs would mean asking Nacho Monreal to move to left-back, bringing teenager Hector Bellerin into the team at right-back and starting with Calum Chambers and Per Mertesacker as the two centre-backs.”

Which is a gnat’s whisker from what they said last week….   And because only the grimmest of news is good news for the press, Our Jack has injured both legs, has twisted his neck, has amputated his arm, has replacement knees, and a severe case of tennis elbow.

Or to consider it from another direction,  “There is a slight problem with Wilshere. I don’t think he’ll be available against Burnley,” said Mr Wenger.  “He will be out for six months,” burbled the media.   “It’s very, very short term,” said Mr Wenger. “He’s not going to get off the sofa for a year,” screamed the media.  “He took a kick on his knee. I don’t know if Tuesday will be too early or not. He’s not training at the moment.” said Mr W.  “He’s gone, it’s over,” said the emdia.

Yaya Sanogo is available to play, having recovered from the plague. But Theo will have to make do with a spot among the substitutes after Mr W said he is “not completely ready.”    So he’ll run up and down more than before in the warm up.  If we go three-nil up I think he’ll come on.

“He is eager to play but that is always the period when the patience of a player is tested. They feel ready and they want to play and usually it is only later that they realise they were not completely ready.   I know Theo well and he is a very intelligent player. He knows as well that he is not completely there yet.”

Olivier Giroud is apparently already champing at the bit, and if past tales are true, looking for a bit, and will return after the international break which now appears every other week, since Gibraltar and the Outer Hebrides were admitted to Uefa as independent territories, thus clogging up the schedules.

As for the opposition…. King Alfred the Great was a well known gastronome who toured his kingdom teaching Christianity and cookery, until he got to Burnley when he left his baked deserts (known as Lees) in the oven too long and thus gave the town previously known as meadow by the River Brun, its new name.

Indeed Burnley a market town in Lancashire with a population of around 73,500 at the confluence of the aforementioned River Brun with the River Calder and

The town is surrounded by villages such as Worsthorne, Cliviger, Hurstwood, Fence, Higham, Loham, Lower higham, Higher Lowham, Bestholme, and Giggleswick, and has a reputation as a regional centre of excellence for the manufacturing and aerospace industries.

Of Burnley Mr Wenger said,

“Their stats show that they are better than their points. They have been punished in games because they couldn’t take their chances.   Sean Dyche has done a great job because nobody expected Burnley to be in the Premier League this year. Overall, I think his style of play is positive. They create chances.

“The consistency of what he has achieved is remarkable. He has taken the maximum potential out of his team and that is a sign of quality for a manager.”

“As for King Alfred he is the only monarch in British history to take the title ‘Great’ which tells you something, but I suspect Untold is wrong in placing him in Burnley, despite the coincidence of the name.  I think he will be a little short for  the game.”

Re the future Mr W said, “I don’t write ourselves off, other people do it. It is a little bit linked with mathematics but it doesn’t consider against who we have played, the quality of the teams we have played against, the kind of players you had missing in the big games.   I think our attitude and dedication has been fantastic. On the efficiency front we can do better.  If you look at the chances we have created and the chances we have given away, I think our finishing has not always been at the expected level.”

And what did the press make of this clear and forthright exposition?

“Arsenal are, by Arsène Wenger’s own admission, struggling to find their rhythm. ”

It makes one wish to weep. Here’s the team:

Szczesny, Bellerin, Chambers, Mertesacker, Monreal

Arteta

Ox Sanchez Ramsey Cazorla

Danny boy.

The unusual ploy of playing without a goalkeeper and having five at the back is seen to be risky by some, but has been welcomed as a refreshingly new approach by Billy the Dog McGraw.  “It’s a refreshingly new approach,” he said.

Arsenal  Subs on the beach could be any of these: Martínez, Coquelin, Flamini, Rosicky, Walcott, Podolski, Campbell, Akpom, Gnabry, Gibbs, Sanogo

And so to the stats and stuff…

We are the only team in the Premier League with no home league defeat in 2014; unbeaten in 22 games since Aston Villa last season.

If Burnley don’t win today they will be in a group of the worst starters in the Premier League.  Blackburn (11 games), Everton (12 games) and Derby (13 games) have all done worse, and amazingly, all stayed up. .

  • We are unbeaten in their last five top-flight matches against Burnley.
  • We have lost only one of the last 12 top-flight home matches against the Clarets (1-0 in September 1974).
  • But Burnley were the first lower league side to beat an Arsene Wenger Arsenal team when they won 2-0 in the 2008-09 League Cup

But now here’s a dodgy bit of news.  Arsenal have been behind in each of their four home league games this season.  On the other hand we have scored four 90th-minute goals this season, two more than any other team in the Premier League.

And… Alexis Sanchez has scored eight goals in his last 11 games for us.  Apparently, in training “He doesn’t walk out, he runs out,” said Mr Wenger.  “He has a natural level of energy that is unbelievable. You would love everyone to have it but it does not work like that.”

“I said many times: when you see where he comes from, where he was born, and you think he finishes at Barcelona and Arsenal, you need something special or it does not work.

“If we look across Europe and the world of football, then South America is the only continent to develop strikers today. You will see that at least 80% come from South America.

“So we have to question ourselves: what can we add to our academies to develop strikers again? If you look at the 60s and 70s in England, even when I arrived in 1996, in every club you had strikers that could head the ball, on every cross they were present.

“We have less now. Germany went to the World Cup with Miroslav Klose, who is 35. Maybe in our history street football has gone. In street football when you are a 10-year-old, you play with 15-year-olds so you have to be shrewd, you have to show that you are good, you have to fight to win impossible balls.

“When it is all a bit more formulated then it is less about developing your individual skill, your fighting attitude. We have lost that a little bit in football. Society has changed. We are much more protected than we were 30 years ago. We have all changed. We have all become a bit softer.”

So, as for today, we know that Burnley have let in 12 goals in their last four league games.  And one last one

  • Arsenal have drawn as many games this season as goals that Burnley have scored, five.

Now we’re all off to the big Untold pe-match party.

With cake.

Untold Arsenal is here

 

 

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106 Replies to “Burnley. A cake making town frequented by the first king of the Saxons.”

  1. Now the start of my long arduous journey begins from sunny Birmingham , but I can’t wait to get there. No chance of an upset today surely ?

  2. The strange part is this: Wenger is a genius of a man. His football knowledge, his ability to grasp key aspects, develop new thinking. A visionary and a footballing guru. But he somehow seems to be stubborn in refusing to admit or accept some fairly obvious facts. The fact that we’d be a powerhouse with one strong holding midfielder added. Or that Giroud is not good enough as a lead man for a top 4 club. He’s great value for 10Mn, but not great value for the expectations that Arsenal fans have and the club has.The point is – for a man of such genius, why not fix the very few, but very critical things we need to fix? Come on Arsene, we’re almost there. I’d love for you to win the PL & Champion’s league in the next two years. I’d love it for you to stuff Mourinho in his face. Almost there – just add that little bit to take us over, come on.

  3. Having followed our great Club since the mid 1930’s, in triumph and disaster, one boring policy has prevailed throughout all that time.
    From Chapman to Wenger, the principle of having a player nominated as the goalkeeper.
    Now, at long last the Doc has come up with the idea of a back 5!
    Can you imagine the terror when the opposition, reading the match programme just before kick-off, realise that their attack will have to face no less than 5 defenders (anyone of whom may be wearing a cap and gloves!). 🙂

  5. I have said several times on here that the academies are killing football. yes they produce lovely little identikit players who can play lovely 5 yard triangles but they kill off any individual flair a player has.

    Look back a few weeks and I asked, who was the last natural “baller” we have produced as a nation.

    Gazza maybe, maybe Rooney.

    We need to let kids play together in the street to produce those players.

  6. @Sammy the Snake,
    Or even 5-6-0.
    That would empty the grounds and turn them into snooker halls…

  12. Ooooo santi change your shoes please. Or the socks or the shin pad…

    Superb from Alexis.

  17. We have been wasteful? yes in a way, is the ref having a good game?? He is THE spectacular 12th man for Burnley!!

  18. Time wasting indeed. Hand ball red card penalty. Certainly the new ref has been instructed well.

  28. Ramsey cross field passes have been impressive this season..

    Chambers. Oye oye oye oye…

    Come on gunners.

  37. Lucky Emirates mascot Walter strikes again! Well done the Arsenal!Onward and upward
    COYG! Aha and Amen!

  38. It’s official. We have at least one of those very special players. And if kept fit, we all know what such players can do for a team.

  39. The professional gambling match official limited (credits to a commenter yesterday that I can’t remember) has an unwritten rule for all referees and it goes thus:
    1. Where a decision in favour of Arsenal can be ignored, ignore
    2. Where a decision against Arsenal can be ignored, don’t.

  42. Whoever says refs has nothing to do with the results, please check Chelsea penalty
    We as Arsenal fans do dream we get the obvious penalty and look how Chelsea (whom did not play well enough today) was rescued.

  43. The Arsenal team were incensed at the not given penalty, I refer these dcisions as “sub-clause 8b”. UNLESS AN ARSENAL PAYER IS INVOLVED. This sub-clause has been appended to the rule books issued to all PGMOL Officials but is omitted from those supplied to the general pubic.

    The Burnley keeper was certainly adept at time wasting but in terms of his shot stopping he played a blinder today with at least four brilliant saves. For that well done son.

  44. Well done lads! Didn’t watch but here we were denied another stonewall penalty again, have we even got a single penalty at all this season? Meanwhile I hear hazard dived again for a winning penalty to help his poor side get all three points. And I’ve seen comments to the effect ‘chelsea were poor but that’s what wins you title’s on the BBC site. Wonder if they’ll also say that about us when we squeeze past one of these lowly sides.

  45. Then theres the special sub clause(8c) I pointed out the other week, for Arsenal to be awarded a penalty the opposing team must catch the ball and run around for a bit, and even then only maybe.A definite penalty is when the opposing team catch the ball and throw it to each other as if they were at the beach for five minutes, then and only is it an Arsenal penalty.
    Shame Poldi couldnt get one in today.Well done Cal, and Sánchez is a inspiration.Glad to see Theo back.
    COYG etc

  47. The BBC is already spouting the “Arsenal team are being carried by Sanchez” crap.
    Also no mention of the penalty denial.

    (just like they didn’t mention Labour beating UKIP in yesterday’s election in South Yorks)

  48. The handball was as blatant as the foul on Flamini in the hull game and the Cahill Red tackle. Is this really coincidence?

  49. BBC already spouting the crap about us being dependent on Sanchez and how he is carrying the whole team

  50. Good win for the guys after a very dominating performance. Some great football and very very attractive play, esp towards the end of the match.

    Burnley fought very hard to prevent us from playing, fortunately we were too good today.

    Three valuable points – well done the team!

    I have been very busy this week – but on returning can’t help noticing some of the usual AAAA suspects seem to be missing – perhaps seeking comfort on Le Groan!

  51. The magnificent Levy splashes £100 in search of a top goal scorer and gets praised to the rafters.

    Liverpool likewise.

    Wenger has a holiday. Plays a bit of beach volleyball. Enjoys an afternoon chat with restless Chilian. Gets slaughtered by the AAA’s and there allies in the media.

    Grovelling apologies accepted with grace.

  53. Yes Jambug, tho,I wish he didn’t wear those speedos on that holiday!
    I seem to recall he was also away….at a charity match, meeting a rather important Argentine guy in Rome…..when he completed the Welbeck deal. The aaa were reduced to spinning a story that Ivan signed Danny without wengers approval…..the same aaa that says wenger has way too much control at the club!
    Strange to see last years media darlings getting slaughtered …..seems Rogers can do little right at the moment, and things could get worse this week! Balotelli not looking such a great signing…..but having said that, as bad as he is, is he any worse than Falcao so far?

  54. Have not seen either, but look forward to seeing ours…and Chelsea’s penalty claims….and penalty given on the unbiased source that is MOTD. Hope we don’t get more pundits embarrassing themselves over Chelsea…as usual…..because from what I hear of their performance today, they deserve no such thing.
    Still, a tough start, the worst injury situation I can remember, new players fitting in, the pgmol doing their worst, and wenger tweaking tactics and formations, we still sit fourth.

  55. BJ to busy supporting the team making sure that money is pouring through the turnstiles, you ought to try it you never know you might enjoy it

  56. @jambug
    November 1, 2014 at 6:56 pm

    HAHAHAHA perfect!!

    We MUST NOT FORGET our NOT given clear penalty!!!

  57. AB

    Pathetic post.

    In my time I will of put more into the Club than you will ever do.

    I followed them for the love when we where so bad losing was a result.

    Putting money through the turnstiles doesn’t give you wisdom or the right to take the moral high ground.

  58. I disagree completely with the premise that street Football produces great strikers. In Germany, it is the youth training that produces excellent all around Footballers and specifically good strikers. what the UK lacks is the youth training setup that France,Spain and Germany enjoy. Preparing kids to have fully well-rounded skillsets (heading,dribbling, shooting etc.) is far more rewarding than letting them randomly learn both good and bad habits on the street Football venue.

  59. omgarsenal

    I think you’ve missed Wengers point.

    He was saying EUROPE, including Germany, Spain, France etc etc where all failing to produce strikers, not just England.

    Sorry if I’ve misunderstood your post.

  60. Good win despite obvious penalty not given to Arsenal.

    Rodgers lost again. Klopp lost again. Martinez can only draw at home.

  63. @jambug

    I like the qualification to AB ……”on the other hand”…..

    Very apt – what a twit!

  67. The common thread that runs through skilled strikers is bare foot football when young. It develops a feel for the ball and kicking skill to avoid damage to the feet. Brian Clough also picked on this trait but as usual very few understood.

  68. As I posted a few days ago Chelsea are the new chosen ones and the media darlings.
    I stated or infered in the that post when Chelsea need help the Refs will be there to help them.

  69. Apparently Talkshite where up in arms because they felt Chelsea should of had a penalty last week.

    Despite exonerating refs for failing to preserve our players health over the years. Diaby. Ramsey. Eduardo etc.

    Despite exonerating refs for failing to award us penalties time after time. The cup final being a prime example.

    Despite exonerating refs for failing to card opposing players for aforementioned assaults, whilst and at the same time carding us for breathing too heavily on opponents.

    Refs are suddenly in the firing line over one game that didn’t quite go Chelsea’s way.

    That Talkshite lot really are a sad bunch of wankers.

  70. looking forward to seeing the boys tonight.

    I also cant wait to see how MOTD turn Chelsea’s ref assisted, scraped victory into a Jose master class and Arsenals cake walk into a worryingly one man show.

  72. Gunnerjoe,

    The same idiots had a different opinion on Austin’s goals for QPR. They said it’s great. Their verdict about Chelsea after their unimpressive showing at home to QPR: they fought to get the ball back quickly!

    The rats failed to show the denied penalty.

  73. MOTD spent a lot of time on Chelsea’s penalty but ignored the Arsenal claim with a mere mention. Hazardous cheating going on methinks!

  74. Yes, not a lot about Arsenals penalty claim ……but motd say that Hazards was a pen. Having seen it, yes, the rangers defender moved his weight in the area, but hazard made the most of it….possibly wrapping his legs around him. My own humble conclusion, it was possibly a pen, but not one we would ever have been given. Make of that what you will.
    Hard to judge the pundits, as I trust keown, and he praised Chelsea. But as for shearer, I am sure that when he makes love to his wife, he imagines she is Chelsea. Sorry mrs shearer!
    But just how good is Alexis! Hope he carries on and defeats the Chelsea media mafia to player of the year. Wenger mentions comparisons to Suarez, without the bitey racism stuff…..but he has started in this league much quicker than Suarez. Wenger can make this guy an icon, but may need to sign an SAS guy good at football to protect him, because the knives will be out and the pgmol will not protect

  75. Back home 20 hours after leaving it.
    Had a great day, meeting lovely people, having a nice group of of our supportersclub, seeing Arsenal dominate completely and winning completely deserved and with some excellent football at times.

    yeah it was a great day! Now off to bed. Goodnight…. 🙂

  76. Several untolders have pointed out how the Chavs were assisted shamelessly by the PGMOL, and I fully agree, as I had to endure the game using the corner of my right eye on the NBC sports channel on the TV screen. NBC Sports Extra had our game on for subscribers, so I watched our game on a slight delay / ongoing buffering nightmare while listening to our Arsenal Player commentators. I hope the AAA stays quiet about the comparative results with the Chavs, or they could organize a huge collection of funds to bribe the pig-mole, or put a contract on the rat so he can join Luca Brazi with the fishes.

  77. Are they PGMOL trying to destroy the invincible’s achievement? Glad they won! But we should have so much more points now… COYG!

  78. Arsene’s Arsenal were awesome, Alexis was out of this world !Poldi’s shooting was frightening !

  79. T35 – we’ve had this point so many times before. There is no evidence.

    There is evidence that none of the top half dozen holding midfielders were available to come to Arsenal, there is evidence that at least six other teams in Europe were after a player for the same position, and there is evidence that buying below the top level would not help us.

    Remember the club needs to release the player, and the player needs to want to come.

  80. Don’t you lot ever stop moaning about refs. We won, enjoy it. Yes Chelsea will probably win the league because they have the best squad. With their squad we’d be odds on favourites, just be thankful we have Sanchez and not them. We finally have a player who looks the equal to any of the best in the league. A couple more players of his stature and we’ll be among the title favourites.

  81. @Rantetta, thanks for the link. Hazard was obviously shoved though I’m sure some refs would have let it go. If it had happened to us and no penalty was given we’d all be whining for a week.

  82. No we do not stop discussing referee tilting, why would we?

    Is it wrong to call a cat a cat, a dog a dog or a cheat a cheat?

    That Chelsea has the best squad meme is funny isn’t it. Man for man on a fair playing field Arsenal has the best squad in England. Chelsea only beats Arsenal in having better goalkeepers and Costa.

  83. @Chapman’s Ghost
    Don’t you ever stop acting the ‘only adult in the room’, you are worse than that other annoying git Rupert (who thankfully no longer graces our pages.

  84. @Chapmans Ghost – You seem to accept poor officiating if we win and only want complaints if we lose. Poor officiating is unacceptable. If you don’t like us criticising the cheats then don’t read our comments. Arsenal are being robbed of fair officiating -win or lose.

    @ Sav Chelsea only beat us because they were allowed to bend the Laws with the bent Atkinson doing it for them. QPR were robbed of fair officiating also, so were Liverpool!

  85. Chapmans Ghost seems to do more whinging than anyone else. He would be better served rattling chains with similar fossils on Le Groan rather than continually whinging here.

  86. Sav, Mick & Menace,

    That’s Chapman’s ghost for you. His fake ‘only adult in the room’ schtick does not fool me at all. He is an AAA apologist with thinly veiled contempt (if not hatred) for the regulars and AKBs on this site. He loves to whine about us being ‘mean’ to the AAA while excusing the cause(s) of the ‘meanness’ in the first place.

    If we complain after a loss, he would have said we were just blaming the refs for our players’ ineptitude. A more fair minded person would have concluded that the complaints against the refs must be genuine as we still do it even when we win IN SPITE of their terrible jobs. Boyd should have walked yesterday for 2 bookings and we should have had a nailed on penalty but got neither. On some terrible days, that might mean we only get a draw and we all know what Ghost would be saying after such a result.

  87. Talking about double standard by the yappers (wrongly known as the pundits), they all cleared Hazard on MoTD calling the penalty genuine although I believe very strongly that had the ref not given it, they would have said precisely the opposite because it was just 2 players body checking each other. I have seen John Terry get away with it countless times. In fact, I have never seen John Terry punished for it ever!

    Then in the Leicester V West Brom game, a West Brom player was hacked down in the penalty area. It was a definite penalty but since the ref didn’t give it, it was assessed as a non-penalty because the striker took too long on the ball and was looking for a penalty. Yes, according to the lying assholes on MoTD, taking ‘too long’ on the ball justifies being hacked down. BTW, that charge of taking too long is an outright lie. The guy was not.

    And naturally, there was no pip about Boyd getting away with 2 bookable offences and a penalty. Considering that our game was not shown live in the UK, none other than us Gooners who would endure crappy streams to see our team play will ever know that Boyd got away with murder (metaphorically).

    But let’s not talk about it or we’ll be called names by the thought police and the self appointed judges of what should and should not be talked about when it comes to our beloved club and its treatment in the hands of our detractors.

  88. Quoting Boo:

    “But let’s not talk about it or we’ll be called names by the thought police and the self appointed judges of what should and should not be talked about when it comes to our beloved club and its treatment in the hands of our detractors.”

    I have noticed these ‘thought police’ types on Untold. The names change with the seasons but the agenda remains constant. One wonders if they are all but one or two – shall we say – ‘agents’. One does wonder…

  89. Sav from Australia

    ‘That Chelsea has the best squad meme is funny isn’t it. Man for man on a fair playing field Arsenal has the best squad in England. Chelsea only beats Arsenal in having better goalkeepers and Costa’

    I realize of course that that’s your personal opinion to which you have every right, but here’s some numbers for you from a German Transfermarkt which assases players’ value based on transfer fees , performance, age and others.

    Arteta – market value €6M
    Flamini – €8M

    Matic – €26M
    John Obi Mikel- €15M
    Ramires – €28M

    According to a totally neutral and highly regarded German site, Chelsea holding mid is valued at 5 times more than Arsenal holding mid.

    And if you think transfer fees are the overriding factor for the player’s value, they are not. Performance and age are, hence Flamini’s value being higher than Arteta’s even though Flamini was signed on a free.

    My personal opinion is that there are better players in holding mid playing for a plethora of mid table clubs in the PL than what we have, but that’s me being disingenuous I guess.

  90. John Gregory said Areta was his pick out of any players from this Arsenal squad.

    Former manager. Former player. Tottenham fan. What does he know?

    He knows how to spot the player that more then any other helped to rebuild the squad after the two big players left! before the new big players came in (please refer to Liverpool and Tottenham).

    What price can you put on a player who is not a gimp for some third party agent? Mikel? Haha! He’s not much better, and Anderson cost Utd £18M years ago (football inflation!)

  91. We can be generous and say the former manager was talking about last seasons squad. But that doesn’t change anything.

  93. @ Tom

    You’re statement about independent valuations of players is fully accpted in the spirit it is intended. However, Arteta is 32 and Flamini 30 and subsequently have low resale value. Meanwhile Matic is 26, Mikel 27 and Ramires 27 which is probably the prime playing age and consequently will have a much higher resale value. You have largely acknowledged that age plays a major part in resale value but have still seemed to use resale value to justify the Chelsea players being ‘better’. If I’m wrong I apologise. In the meantime, I’d love to hear who these mid-table DM’s are that you rate so highly?

  95. @Menace, poor officiating helps no team. You lot are paranoid to the point of absurdity. We were unlucky to lose to Chelsea. What are you on about? We had about one shot on target. Yes we should have had a penalty yesterday but so should Swansea who once again were reffed poorly. Their handball was more blatant than ours. Wolves were also denied an obvious penalty due to a handball. It’s quite obvious that video evidence needs to be used in games, refs will always make mistakes as they can’t see everything. It’s easy to attack officials when you’ve got endless tv replays to aid your onslaught.

    I find it bizarre that when anyone comes on here and decides to have a different opinion people start being babies and calling people names. Only last week Blacksheep63 seemed quite supportive of people having debate without resorting to abuse and yet most of you appear to revel in it.

    @Bootoome, don’t tell me what I might say. I don’t put words into your mouth so don’t do the same with me.

    @Sav from Australia, no we don’t have the best squad in England. Fabregas, Hazard, Courtois and Oscar would be straight into our team. Most of our players would be on the Chelsea bench, good though many of them are. Again City have a better squad. We are building a team and are two or three players short of the finished article.

    @Tom, you’re one of the few posters on here who actually seems to accept reality and talk sense.

  96. And Hazard’s penalty was not two players bodychecking one another, Hazard was shoved from behind. An innocuous incident maybe and not every ref would give it but if it had been referred to video evidence, if we had it during the game, I suspect it would have been a penalty. As I said before if that had happened to one of our players you’d all be moaning for weeks.

    Bad decisions affect every team, not just us.

  97. Mike

    Mohammad Diame( Hull) , Sissoko ( New Castle), both have played holding mid for their respective clubs when needed and are also a threat going forward. Physical , with a great engine and ability to finish.

  99. Chapmans ghost

    How does outrage at those statistics equate to ‘paranoia’ in any way, shape, or form?

    Those statistics are neither ‘perceived’ or ‘imagined’.

    Those statistics are a disgrace, that’s what they are.

    Or

    a) Are you suggesting those statistics are made up?

    b) Are you suggesting they are irrelevant, and if so why are they?

    c) Are you suggesting it seems credible for one team, the same team, to constantly get more cards than any other team, EVERY YEAR?

    d) If so, are you suggesting Arsenal DESERVE to get more cards than anyone else?

    e) Are you suggesting it is an accurate reflection of reality that we are awarded less penalties than any other team?

    f) Are you suggesting it is an accurate reflection of reality that we concede more penalties than anyone else?

    Chelsea +30 Arsenal -10 Please explain that utterly unbelievable statistic. That is a fact. That is a joke. that is a disgrace.

    We have had more hand ringing and head shaking from the media over one match of perceived poor refereeing against poor old Chelsea and there whinging Manager than we have had, and will ever get, for TEN YEARS of similarly poor treatment against us.

    I look forward to your answers.

    NB: All comments and references are with regard to our direct competitors as used in the original table of comparison.

  100. Finsbury

    ‘What price can you put on a player who is not a gimp for some third party agent? Mikel? Haha! He’s not much better, and Anderson cost Utd £18M years ago (football inflation!)’

    Anderson is currently being valued at €5M , and he’s only 26 years old.
    Does that answer your question?

    Re Mikel, obviously you don’t watch many Chelsea games, do you.
    Every time he’s been called upon late in the game , he’s delivered by shutting down the opposite side and taking the sting out of their attack..

  101. Tom

    ‘Tacking the sting out of there attack..’

    Hmmm. Isn’t that just double talk for ‘parking the bus’?

    You know the thing Jose whinges and whines about every time someone does it to him.

  102. Jambug

    You can’t blame the player for carrying out managers instructions, can you.

    Mourinho’s hypocrisy is beyond question.

  103. @Mick, playing the only adult in the room. Is that an insult, calling someone an adult? If I am it’s because you’re so adept at playing the child.

    @jambug, what statistics are you talking about? Are they in this thread? Let me know where they are. Do you seriously believe the whole footballing establishment has it in for Arsenal? If so, why?

  104. @Chapmans Ghost – why does the eky not fall on our heads? We know that gravity pulls things down but explaining why is not so easy. If Jambug knew why Wenger & Arsenal are targetted. do you think we would all be here collating stats?

    What we are doing is looking at stats that commonly impact football and from them get ‘proof’ that some thing untoward is going on. Please spend some time understanding the stats & try to argue against the source or come up with a better way of collecting data but don’t ask why I think a red rose is more beautiful than a pansy.

    Just for the record, I believe that the media, the FA and a section of the Great & the Good have been exploiting young people for sexual purposes. Similarly they have been targetting Arsenal for reasons best known to themselves.

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