By Sir Hardly Anyone.
Well, my little ducklings, Well!
Have you ever wondered what all the little blogettas do outside the so-called transfer “window”. (OK I know it is not really “so-called” and there is no need to put “window” in “inverted commas” but it is the sort of the thing the blogettas do because the writers feel that this is how grown ups write so I thought I ought to put you in the mood for what follows.)
Well now me dearios (as Kenneth Williams used to say) I am going to tell you. There is no apology for being wrong 99.999999999999% of the time. Not a single word. Of course not. It is straight on to new business.
And you might be a little surprised at what they get up to.
Take the web site “Soccersouls” – not one I noticed during the heady days of August, so maybe it is a start-up, or maybe those souls were resting during the window and have now risen from the dead. These are important suppositions!
But look, what is this…
Breaking: Arsenal remove midfield superstar from their Champions League squad
Interesting thought – how could someone be removed from the squad that was set up a few days ago. The regulations don’t allow for that do they? And a superstar? Someone else injured perhaps? Special permission from Uefa?
Here is what the guardian of our souls says…
“17-year-old defensive superstar Krystian Bielik who has now been at the club for nearly six months was not included, which might have surprised quite a few. After being bought for a price of £2.7m from Legia Warsaw during the January transfer window, Bielik was not considered good enough to play in Europe.”
So not “removed” but “not included”. Slightly different. But still a worry. Problems in the training camp? Bielik (who along with some other members of the Untold gang I’ve watch play for the under 21s and he is in my view a mega-mega-top-drawer-super-duper whatnot) in bust up with Mr W????
“When the youngster was signed, the Frenchman had suggested that the Polish defensive midfielder would be involved with the first team this season though his chances have been quite slim,” continues the keeper of those at rest.
So what is this terrible story?
The Champions League list of players which Untold dutifully reported contains two types of players – A list and B list. The A list is the normal bunch of superstars you might expect. The B list is for under 21 year olds, and is unlimited in number. Except that the players on the B list have to have already spent at least two full continuous seasons at the club.
And Bielik hasn’t. And that’s it. It is all a made-up fantasy. Well! Fancy that! A blogetta making things up!
But moving on…
Revealed: Real Madrid set to snap up £45m midfielder from Arsenal!
Oh my it gets worse. We didn’t sign anyone which is a disaster (or so I am told, because seemingly prizes are not given out any more for winning stuff like the FA Cup but for signing players) and now we are going to lose the few men we do have. So what’s the deal?
“According to the reports in Spain, Real Madrid are keen to sign Marco Reus from Borussia Dortmund for the next summer.”
Errr? Not Arsenal then?
That is from EPL Scouts.
Breaking! Arsenal Star Unhappy With Manager Arsene Wenger, Might Leave In January
A chance to go back over the past and say it all again it turns out.
“Things are not looking too good for Arsenal at the moment, after the Gunners failed to secure a major signing to boost their attack upfront.” Oh my god oh my god oh my god, I didn’t know that, no one ever told me.
“However, now yet another star has expressed his unhappiness and this time it is French international Mathieu Debuchy.”
Leaving aside the fact that we don’t know who these “other” players are in the phrase “yet another” it seems Debuchy’s unhappiness is about in not being picked. But then no one is happy at not being picked.
That is from Soccersouls. Again. Getting quite a reputation is that site!
But how about this. The last window, in which all the blogettas got everything wrong all the time is hardly over and now we have
Stunning: Arsenal set to agree triple deal with PSG!
According to the reports in France, Arsenal will try to sign three PSG players for the next summer.
The gunners are reportedly keen to sign Adrien Rabiot, Edinson Cavani and Zlatan Ibrahimovic for accumulate £95m triple deal.
And why should we believe this? Oh, because EPL Scouts says so.
BENZEMA TELLS ALL ON WHAT HE REALLY WANTED THIS SUMMER
Actually I can tell you what really happened. A bunch of plonkers who want to trick us into reading adverts on their sites kept telling us that Benzema had signed. All summer long. I estimate there were 8,354,284 sightings of his car in the car park under the Ems.
And now
Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema has insisted that a summer move to Arsenal from the Spanish giants was never on the cards.
Oh my goodness. Who would have believed it? Well, anyone reading Untold I guess.
That is from Readarsenal.
But stop stop stop stop what’s this?
Real Madrid in bid to sign Arsenal star player, Florentino Perez reveals
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has revealed the club missed out on signing Arsenal star Patrick Vieira back in the summer of 2004.
I kid you not, that is on “caught offside” today.
Now meanwhile you might expect a bit of contrition from the old buzzards at the Telegraph. After all they got every single prediction wrong in the summer about Arsenal transfers – every single one. But do they apologise? No, they don’t even have the good grace to laugh at themselves, shoot themselves in both feet and jump into the Serpentine. No they do not. Instead they run
‘Arsenal to bid for Cavani in January’
And if that were not enough we have
‘Arsenal plan Zaza bid in January’
Wenger is considering £22m move for Juve forward in next transfer window
- 7 September 1991: Arsenal 1 Coventry 2. Lee Dixon from ten yards out from his own goal near the touch line, punted the ball back to Seaman but it went beyond his grasping hand. It caused Arsenal’s first home defeat in a year and a half.
- 7 September 1996: Final match of Stewart Houston’s reign as temporary manager; 2-2 draw with Aston Villa. He had managed six games while waiting for Arsène Wenger to arrived, but won just two of them.
The Untold 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
So, no news of our signing Higuain now or very soon? I bet Merson is yet to cool down after blowing his top.Is anybody out there with a thermometer keeping a check on things?
No news still that, at the next home game, Arsenal fans shall unfurl the banner that will inform Wenger and the board the exact amount by which they were shortchanged for not buying Benzema plus Schenedelin plus Vidal plus Martinez for all of the £200m cash we were rumoured to have lying somewhere there in the boardroom?
The day the transfer window closes, the people who claim to be able to read Arsene Wenger’s announce the targets whom he is considering buying in the next one, in 4 months time.
Some gullible people will then criticise him when it doesn’t happen.
Sorry, insert “mind”
“Karim Benzema has reiterated he is happy at Real Madrid and says there was never any truth in speculation he was planning to leave the club in the summer. Arsenal had been strongly linked with the 27-year-old French striker.” Evening Standard
hahahaha
But why didn’t AW sign him, why did Arsenal not spend the money?? hahahahaha
Yes, the situation is laughable. Why do so many people fall for this, then get annoyed when something that was never going to happen…..doesn’t happen?
I’m all for supporting AW, and admire what he’s done for our club. I would love him to stay on and win the lot with us.
But how any Arsenal fan can be content with that terrible transfer window is beyond me. Cech aside, we failed to add to a very promising squad. That could be a scouting problem, managerial dithering, inept negotiators, any reason. Not looking to point the finger of blame until we know what happened, but it was a poor attempt to improve the squad.
As fans we are entitled to be unhappy with that, we also deserve an explanation of some kind.
@ GoonerDave
September 7, 2015 at 10:18 am
Yes it was a terrible window for us.
Arsene failed to splash the cash 50 million for a teenager who might or might not make it.
He failed to persuade a striker to leave Madrid who didn’t want to leave Madrid and yet everyone media and pundit but not the player and Arsene knew categorically he would leave if Arsene splashed 40 million plus.
Arsene faild to find a central defender. What a joker! Arsene is useless.
Have you ever wondered how it is that the players do not think Arsene is a joker! Because they are useless and don’t know any better. Is that your answer? If you do think that then you disagree with the pundits and media whose song you sing.
This inevitable criticism following every Window closure is becoming farcical.
We simply have no knowledge of what went on behind the scenes during the transfer period. How close we were to a signing.
Not a single official word was issued from the Emirates, yet Benzema was said to be unveiled after the Liverpool game, having watched it from the Directors’ Box.
And a downmarket site is currently forecasting who Arsene Wenger should buy in the 2016 Summer Transfer Window!
I think we must learn to separate wheat from chaff. The only “wheat” worth digesting is that cast from the Emirates. And until we are privy to the Club’s transfer negotiations, we should rely on Arsene and his specialised staff to do the bes
t they can for the Club.
@colario
Did you actually read my post? Or was that just a generic reply to anyone who will not blindly follow the rhetoric emanating from the club? If you are replying specifically to a post, surely it makes sense to read it first?
I take it you think the transfer window was a success, I see it as a missed opportunity.
It is clear Wenger was trying to buy a striker. It is a matter of record that he did not. No one outside the club is aware of the exact reasons for this (although they seem to be largely economic), but whatever they are, it seems odd to paint the failure to sign a striker as some sort of triumph, or vindication of his genius. Whilst I don’t think he (or the club) should be pilloried for it, I fail to see how it puts Arsenal in a stronger position.
GoonerDave – ever considered the possibility that nothing is wrong with what Arsenal did?
It may be you have a problem with comprehension? Wenger has explained his requirements & that those were not met.
I was hoping Arsenal would buy PGMO because it has won everything it wanted & some.
ColG – the issue is a little more complex than you say, I believe. Let us imagine that Arsenal were after a particular player who would fit exactly with the team’s current style and approach, so no one else would have to change to accommodate the new man. And for the sake of argument, we might assume that the agent demanded that his player was paid more than anyone else in the squad as a condition of signing, and that this position at the top of the pile would be maintained.
Arsenal felt that this would be highly disruptive to the squad so didn’t sign, not least because although a new player in that position would be challenged in six months by a youngster who like Bellerin was ready to emerge.
Now consider either signing, and giving in to wage demands that would disrupt the squad in a year’s time, and cause multiple difficulties and requests to leave, and not signing and allowing the youngster to come through.
I would say in such circumstances not signing would put us in a stronger position.
@GoonerDave
A missed opportunity for what. Arsenal kept all our core players and strengthened in the GK department. We also brought in some young talents likely to develop. Can you buy a player under contract at another club if they don’t want to sell or should we have bought anyone just for the sake of buying? Do you need new toys to play with?
Tony – it would certainly be true that compared to signing the wrong player (or the right player for the wrong amount of fees or wages), it is better to sign no-one. I would trust Wenger’s judgement on this, and have no issue with the fact of it. However, Wenger (as far as I can see) definitely believes himself he needs to sign a striker, so he must be as disappointed as anyone that it didn’t happen.
Particularly with Wellbeck out for (effectively) the rest of the season, it looks an area of weakness. I have no doubt that Giroud and Walcott will return to form, but an injury to either leaves a lack of experienced options. My guess is he will sign someone either in January or next summer (depending on how the season pans out), but we will see.
hot news ,sergio wagonde-plob a bogatarian center forward who has scored a massive 105 goals ,is available on a free transfer,his mum says she will contribute by buying his ticket for him to travel to arsenal,his favorite team,its not thought that his medication will present any problem to customs as its for personal use only, although being generous he can do a lot of assists for his fellow team mates.He is said to be rely exited as its would make a change to kick a ball not made from a camel bladder.
Lupus, I think this must be a fake story. They don’t have camels in Bogotá
Tony, Lupus was making a reference to his diet not his geographic position. He claims his diet of BOGA is the secret behind his prolific scoring record.
Although llamas are native in South America – an easy mistake to make…
GoonerDave –
1. Who would you have bought?
2. How much would you have paid?
3. Which current player would they displace from the first team?
@Pete-
I’m not involved in football. I don’t claim to know who we should have bought and for what outlay. That doesn’t detract from my point in any way.
@Nonny-
A missed opportunity to sign players, of course. It is a transfer window after all.
Why the blind loyalty? Why not question why our board chose to sign nobody outside Cech? It may very well have nothing to do with AW, so why the reticence to ask questions of an owner and board who appear to want to hoard cash?
I repeatedly laugh at people who think top football club management is easy and believe they know best how to do it. Some people (including the media) would have us believe the job is really simple (after all they could do it). Those same people will also tell us that the club don’t want to spend money. Those same people then money about the salary AW earns.
THINK PEOPLE…..if it’s that easy and the club don’t want to spend money why do they pay him when they could just pop to McDonalds on the Holloway Road and get you!!!
It would appear that some are still disappointed that we didn’t get a new boytoy in over this window but WKB and since he’s done some superb deals in the recent past, he must have a faint idea how this works, unlike most of us as far as I can see.
We’ll know more by mid-season I am sure.
GoonerDave – But I’m afraid it does detract from your point! Completely. It is pointless criticising a course of action if you don’t come up with an alternative. I could criticise Obama for not bringing peace to the world – but that opinion is valueless if I can’t come up with any viable policy alternatives.
Even then, my policy alternatives may not be sound – but at least we can discuss them.
If you said, say, for sake of argument, buy Cavani for £70mm then I would (i) probably accept he was better than Giroud/Walcott/Welbeck; but (ii) would not think it is a wise use of finite resources since there is very little resale value there for a 28 year old. And we still wouldn’t know if even that was an option.
If you had said, say, buy Benteke for £32mm then I would have said I don’t think he is better than Giroud.
If you had said, say, buy Martial for £36mm, potentially rising to £56mm, I would have said “Who”?!
But you haven’t said any of these things so we can’t debate with you so your contribution to this thread is a waste of your, my and everyones’ time.
We’re already 8 points or more behind Man City with the same squad that finished 3rd and won another FA Cup. When you look at all the top clubs in Europe. Regardless how successful they were in the season. They’re always improving the squads. Arsenal are always 2 to 3 injuries away from winning the league and then playing catch up when it’s too late. Wenger has become a joke of a Manager. His excuses no longer wash with me. You’ve got funds, you’ve had plenty of time to get your players. Go and sign them. Plenty of players around Europe he could of signed and failed simple. I dont want to hear about behind the scenes because I use to defend him with the same shit coming from reliable sources. Like family members who play in the youth and reserve team. Man has to go. Time for change
Pete well said. Arsene continuously said he would buy if there was a player who could strengthen the squad. If he found the player then he had to ensure said player was willing to play for us. Then he has to get said players Club to let him go (i.e. agree a fee). Then it has to go to both Boards for approval. I am very Happy we didn’t just blow smoke, I mean cash at another Club like some (ManU, ManC, Chelsea) to name a few. Wenger does it the right way and builds from within. We have many players who are young and out on loan who could play for us soon. Not as many as Chelsea, but a few. The pundits have gotten everyone up in arms about us not buying and spending “our” money. Yet they haven’t a clue on who to spend it on. Just support our team and get over the supposed disappointment of the window. COYG
Thank god im not the only one who thinks all this hype is retarded!! Arsenal have a great squad. Get behind our players and SUPPORT them and the manager, instead of being led on by retarded rumors. Seriously people get a grip.
Peter
You are a bit odd.
Always asking the same inane questions.
Who would you buy, how much would you spend…
I imagine you are a hoot at dinner parties…
Gooners Dave
Just reply Reus and £45m to any ofPetes posts.
I have always defended Wenger and managed to keep an elevated perspective of things, even during the most difficult of times. That said, I feel the fact we didn’t sign a striker and a defensive midfielder constitutes a massive gamble that we Gooners shouldn’t have to experience in our financial situation whilst also paying premium prices.
There is no doubt that the lack of available players inflated the price, which AW obviously dislikes, but I still believe that a club of our stature should have gone all in with a mega bid for a big name striker, preferably Lewandowski or Suarez, or similar to send a statement and repeat the marquee signing effect that lifts the whole team to the next level.
@ZaGooner
‘a club of our stature should have gone all in with a mega bid for a big name striker, preferably Lewandowski or Suarez,’
Were they available then?
If they weren’t who was?
With all the talk about AW going to sign a striker in the summer transfer window, all came to a halt for me on the day of Community Cup at wembley, I had the fortune to be sat next to one of the Arsenal scouting team. When I asked him if there was any truth in the many claims that a new striker was coming to The Emirates, I was told that there was absolutely no chance that this would happen. I personally, am quite happy with our current strikers who last season put us within touching distance of the total scored by the eventual champions. If we had been given half of the penalties of those awarded to Chelsea we would have been comfortably ahead of them on goals scored.
@Mick
I’m sure they weren’t available in the sense that their clubs were actively seeking to sell them. However, that’s were I feel that a large sum would entice the respective clubs to at least assess and negotiate. God knows that Barca and maybe Bayern to some extent, could use the funds to be compliant with the laughable FFP.
@Sir Hardly Anyone
Nice article and I agree that we were never looking to sign Benzema in the first place. I wonder who our true targets were?
Do any of you think that AW might see Toral as the one to replace Arteta’s role next season?
@ZaGooner
How do you know we didn’t do exactly what you suggest?
How much is a large sum?
Add Squakar and Daily Star to that infamous lot. I will never read anything from them again. Promise
Wenger is the biggest fool ever. But he claimed he knows best. The most wicked manager who don’t listen to fans. There is no football without fans. Wenger has turned arsenal football into business for money venture
The truth ? – ” You cannot handle the truth !”
At school, Little Johnny’s classmate tells him that most adults are hiding at least one dark secret, so it’s very easy to blackmail them by saying, “I know the whole truth.”
Little Johnny decides to go home and try it out.
Johnny’s mother greets him at home, and he tells her, “I know the whole truth.” His mother quickly hands him $20 and says, “Just don’t tell your father.”
Quite pleased, the boy waits for his father to get home from work, and greets him with, “I know the whole truth.” The father promptly hands him $40 and says, “Please don’t say a word to your mother.”
Very pleased, the boy is on his way to school the next day when he sees the mailman at his front door. The boy greets him by saying, “I know the whole truth.”
The mailman immediately drops the mail, opens his arms, and says, “Finally! Now come give your old man a great big hug!”
I always thought that there ‘ is no football without the fans ‘ , meant PAYING fans . Not those plastic , fickle and armchair fans.
Then again , I may be wrong !
Response to Astrixdjs, I guess if it were so easy to get a striker, man United that has fewer strikers, and has more cash than Arsenal, would have bought the so called available world class striker. Who was available? At what price was he? Which of them was eager to leave his club and join Arsenal? After all, the pundits refuse to critisize Manunited when they are the ones with fewer strikers than Arsenal, besides Giroud scores more goals than Rooney and any other in Manunited
Why are people so easily deceived, the pundits say Arsenal needs just two players to win the league, let’s assume Arsenal bought the two, Liverpool bought about 9, Chelsea bought about, 7 not too sure, Mancity bought about 7, do we realise that there is only one winner? Are we concluding that because these clubs listened to the pundits we are going to have 3 or 4 winners? We need to wake up and support the players we have, give the confidence when they play rather than Boeing them. Probably that’s why we even get more points away rather than at home because the home fans are quick to call the players deadwood, donkey, rhinoceros etc.
Dex – I am asking the same questions because no one who complains can seem to answer them.
Reus at £45mm is actually an interesting suggestion. He’s 26 so still with a few good years. £45 a stretch but possibly justifiable.
My only question is that he is a wide attacker where we are already fairly strong? So possibly – but expensive.
Sighhhh. All the people who pretend they could do better than Wenger have absolutely no idea what negotiations mean. Buying players in the transfer window is all about negotiations and nothing else. Unless you are getting the player on a free. So. …
1. Had AW let on that Welbeck was a long term injury,-@@ all the values for potential signings would probably have tripled. It’s just business.
2. If you jump at the very first price quoted (assuming it’s not £1 million) don’t be surprised if the seller moves the goal posts. Real Madrid did that to us a few seasons back (Higuain). It’s just business.
3. If you try to negotiate in public you will get nowhere fast. Real business people like their business kept private until it’s concluded. It’s just business.
4. At the end of the day, the interests of all the parties to the deal have to line up…or there will be no deal. It’s just business.
5. One only needs to take a look back at how AW captured Ozil to see how skilled he is at the art if the deal (yes, it’d a skill AND an art). That was wheeling and dealing at its finest. It’s just business.
6. We should bear in mind that this process will happen at least twice per year. If you get your ass handed to you once you will forever playing catch up. It’s a high stakes game and it doesn’t suffer fools gladly. Is just business.
I keep saying that is just business because never mind what we as fans want, if the owners and the manager do not run our club like a business we will be out of the league in short order. Think Leeds and Portsmouth…. I have seen enough to be convinced that WKB. He drives me nuts at times. But he is very very skilled at doing his job. Don’t bother to ask what my day job is. … its just business.