Why Arsenal seem to get more negative publicity than other teams

  This article by Jambreck initially appeared in the comments column of Untold Arsenal following a discussion of why Arsenal seem to get more negative publicity than Tottenham. I was reminded of it by the discussion on Radio 5 on Monday night which included clips of multiple Liverpool supporters calling for their manager to be …

Aubameyang joins Arsenal, Ozil signs new contract

By Sir Hardly Anyone Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has joined Arsenal for £56m. You might recall that this is transfer deadline day, but I thought I would mention it again, just in case you nodded off. There is still the expectation that Olivier Giroud will go to Chelsea and Michy Batshuayi from thence to Borussia Dortmund. The transfer …

When the group performance declines, what is to be done next?

By Tony Attwood It is often said, both in football and in other areas of life, that the time senior management really earn their money is when things go wrong.  Planning for the future when things are going right is less difficult because at such moments top management has time to consider, discuss, and evolve …

Swansea – Arsenal 3-1: the story of Jekyll and Hyde

By Walter Broeckx As expected Mkhitaryan starting on the bench. Wilshere was sick so he couldn’t make the trip to Wales today. Arsenal team : Cech, Bellerin, Koscielny, Mustafi, Monreal, Elneny, Xhaka, Ramsey, Iwobi, Lacazette, Özil. On the beach: Ospina, Chambers, Kolasinac, Maitland-Niles, Mkhitaryan, Nketiah, Giroud. A lot of water on the pitch it seems …

Swansea v Arsenal: the team, the possibilities, the options, and the transfer

By Bulldog Drummond The only news of late is that Jack Wilshere missed training this morning, although there is a suggestion he might still play.   And it is said that Rob Holding is going on loan to Burnley so he won’t be in the squad but we are told Giroud is. Meanwhile the issue we’ve …

Arsenal: The 7 biggest transfer stories of the hour, and recent games with Swansea

by Bulldog Drummond So now we have established after endless errors on my part that Swansea City won the Football League trophy and not the FA Trophy.  They are altogether different things.  Glad we got that sorted.  But I often wonder why there are people who want to tell me I’m wrong but don’t give …

Arsenal v Swansea: home & away form, lowest goals, wacky rumours, injuries, everything.

By Bulldog Drummond As pointed out before I made a mistake in analysing Swansea’s trophy cabinet, giving them two League Cup wins by reading the wrong column on Wiki.  What they won twice was the FA Trophy in 2006 and 1994.  They have of course only won the League Cup once and that was in …

Swansea v Arsenal – Tuesday 30 Jan 2018 – on a good day the ref is dodgy. On a bad day…

by Andrew Crawshaw A quick one this time I’m afraid and a sense of deja-view Firstly a welcome to a new referee for this week’s fixtures – Simon Hooper from Wiltshire making an appearance for the Newcastle v Burnley Game he did a single game in the PL a couple of seasons ago before being …

Abuameyang transfer starts to make sense in German newspapers

by Tony Attwood OK so maybe we are about to sign Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and maybe Chelsea really do want Giroud.  Maybe as GiveMeSport says, “Liverpool fans on social media are far from happy at news that Arsenal are closing in on the £56m signing of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.” But what does the situation look like in Germany; …

Swansea v Arsenal: Just how good does a new manager have to be?

By Bulldog Drummond Actually I wanted to call this, “Just how good does a new manager have to be; just how bad does an old manager have to be?” but it was too long to fit in the subject line. And I wanted the long title because it is a relevant question here.  Carvalhal has …

UNIQUE! All the latest transfer rumours translated into normal English

By Sir Hardly Anyone Yes I know it is hard to believe, and yes it has taken years of hard work, but finally scientists have now produced a translator that translates from journalistic gibberish to English. So without ado further here and forthwith are the current top transfer tales, complete with an approximate realisation in …

The top six is just an imaginary concept from an overexcited brain

  By Tony Attwood A couple of us were having a little debate about Mr Wenger’s comment concerning teams that had not won anything for 25 years, and this led us into all sorts of funny areas such as: When exactly did Liverpool and Tottenham last win anything? and which clubs have been the most …

Do you have what it takes to be a football journalist? Find out here.

By Sir Hardly Anyone Could you be a football headline writer or a footie journo?   Here is a little test whether you should aspire to that august line of work.   You then have to consider how you would turn each of the following stories into a bloggetta or Daily Mail / Daily Star headline. Here …

Arsenal’s new manager, the myth of the new manager & the most expensive seats

By Tony Attwood Uefa’s report analysing trends in European football, is huge.  Page after page of complex statistics and analyses.   So what does the Guardian give us as the big headline at the top of its review? Arsenal: No 1 in Europe “For ticket prices, that is. The Gunners boast an average “yield” per spectator …

The Deconfusion List: exactly where Aub deal has got to and who else is coming

By Sir Hardly Anyone 1: Aubameyang: not all plain sailing Aubameyang CONFIRMS On Twitter He Is Coming To Arsenal says ArsenalInsidernews.com and of course we all know that if it is on Twitter it is true because they have absolutely stopped people putting up fake accounts. But even if suspicious of Twitter we can be …

Jack injury worries, Aubameyang worries, Santi worries, and a spot at the airport

By Sir Hardly Anyone at the Rutland International Aerodrome, Oakham. So that’s another match done, and another cup final on the way.  And the natter and chatter goes on and on and… there is chatter that Auba is not coming to Arsenal because he is still playing for Dortmund. Arsenal Get Bad Update on Pierre-Emerick …

A fulsome and detailed tactical analysis of the game. Oh yes. Yes. Yes.

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes …

Arsenal v Chelsea, the teams, shirt numbering, and beating Bayern last night

By Bulldog Drummond Some bookies have decided to take a new twist on the issue of Arsenal’s team changes and are talking up the possibility of a huge clear out by Arsenal, and offering all sorts of odds on everyone getting out of the club at once.   Well, not quite everyone but they seem pretty …

Arsenal v Chelsea: Mr Wenger in rhetorical and metaphorical mood.

By Bulldog Drummond Mr Wenger summarised the current position with a combination of metaphorical statements and rhetorical questions when he said to the assembled hacks, “We have been in a few finals – has it changed your mood?  No. I have no illusions at all.” The Mirror, reporting the comments along with several other papers, then …

Arsenal v Chelsea, injuries, recent games and “Aubameyang confirmed”

By Bulldog Drummond The injury list today seems to be full of slightly doubtful injuries The man How’s he doing? When’s he back For Chelsea? N Monreal Hamstring Injury January 24, 2018 Late Fitness Test A Ramsey Illness January 24, 2018 Late Fitness Test D Welbeck Muscular Injury January 30, 2018 Slight Doubt O Giroud …

The future of football: can the growth go on forever?

By Tony Attwood The new figures from Deloitte are out concerning the evolution of footballing income, and when one looks at the figures it is the growth in the gap between the Premier League and the rest of the top leagues in terms of income that is so staggering. This table is in millions of …

How on earth are we going to fit all these guys in the team at once?

by Sir Hardly Anyone, and some mates down the pub. Here’s a team that we could soon be putting out.  It’s fairly familiar with just a single change up front.  All very straight forward. Petr Cech Koscielny, Mustafi, Monreal Bellerin                                  …

Why do Arsenal fans criticise Arsenal players so much?

by Tony Attwood It’s been an Arsenal thing for almost a century: pick one of your own players and get at him.  Herbert Chapman railed against the “boo-boys” in the late 1920s and early 1930s, we had it again in the 1970s, it happened with players under George Graham (I remember Martin Hayes getting booed …

Giroud to leave as part of Aubameyang deal plus errors and spelling problems

by Tony AttwoodIn Germany it is being call “the big transfer domino” and of course it refers to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.  The newspaper headlines are Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would like to leave Borussia this winter. His transfer depends on several other players in the Premier League. If a deal does not materialize, a whole pack of transfers …

Alexis and the trouble with working out transfer values

by Tony Attwood And so Alexis Sánchez who signed for Arsenal in July 2014 for £31.7m has seemingly been swapped for Henrikh Mkhitaryan who we are told is valued at around £35m although Transfer Market has him listed as £31.5m.   Mkhitaryan was allegedly in London on Saturday night with his agent awaiting a medical with Arsenal. Speaking …