I was born lucky. Very lucky, and what I’m referring to is the fact that I am comfortably the most buoyant person I know.
I am a floater, and this provides me with top quality thinking time. Wealthy women with small brains pay good money to enter floatation tanks. My tank is free, and it is called The Atlantic Ocean. Last night, as the sun set, I set off into the calm waters beyond where the waves break, pointed my feet westwards towards America and began to think. Naturally, my mind turned to the new season, and in particular, how the Managers of the top teams would affect the outcome.
Well, let’s see. First things first, the transfer mill continues to grind around and around, and will continue to do so, which makes evaluating the teams rather tricky. The Managers, on the other hand, are all in place.
Stability amongst the top three remains. Below us, Tottenham and Liverpool blood new boys, and in many ways Di Matteo is amongst this new breed ( It was at this point that some jellyfish drifted past me, and I spared a thought for Harry Redknapp).
I really hope Spurs get to keep Adebeyor, because he has the potential to upset a dressing room, and following the revolt at Chelsea under AVB, I do not think the Portuguese Man has it in his armoury to control the egos as and when they encounter a blip.
Chelsea under The Italian managed to bludgeon their way to some trophies, but wow did their League form dip. Has he got it? Well one thing history tells us is that time under Abramovich will be in short supply, and the egos that rose up against AVB remain. Oh, and they’ve added the Herculean Ego of Hazard.
Newcastle. Fantastic season last term, but Pardew has a record of chronic inconsistency, and a fragile temperament. Sorry Tooners, but I cannot see it lasting. Liverpool, on the other hand, have a brilliant new and very shiny man at the helm. A believer in the beautiful game, but untried at the highest level. Naturally, I hope he lights up the league with his Swansea style, but it will take time.
I really do believe that with our new men on board, we can look upwards. Mankins’ City, mmmm. We know about the strength of their squad with its rotational depth, and a manager who I believe is improving his Premiership credentials, however, I’ve just read GiE’s link about Mankini bemoaning the lack of funds, and I smell cracks. Players like to pass the buck, and the moment they sense their manager is not prepared to carry it, then the hierarchy of responsibility comes crashing down. A couple of early defeats and it will be very interesting to see how much of this responsibility Mankini is prepared to shoulder. Very little, GiE’s comment would suggest.
Perhaps the most significant contribution a manager makes is to maintain The Respect of his squad. Ferguson and Wenger have it in abundance. I do get the feeling old rivalries are about to be resumed.
Written by MickyDidIt89
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
“a floater”? Hmmm!
Morning Mickey, interesting post, loved the jelly fish quip about Harry, someone very apt…lol….
It is indeed key maintaining the respect of the squad, although it does seem that Fergie has it more than Arsene, with RVP highlighting this….
Hopefully this will be old red nose’s last season, which will see them start to struggle……
The first 8-10 games will paint a picture, really indicate what level teams are…….the new managers will bring something different to the dynamics of the top 6 thats for sure……
I think the top three will be the same not sure on order, but we have a massive chance [players stay fit] , chelsea will get 4th and Liverpool / spurs will joust for 5/6………
Thanks for the welcome backs yesterday, I am glad Peaches poked me…!!
My top half floats pretty well but my legs are full of lead shot.
I tend to use a pull buoy for swimming, but this has made me lazy in the kick department.
I’m hoping something similar is true of the light blue oilers. Mankini deserves little respect. I’m pleased Citeh’s bought success didn’t arrive while Mark Hughes was manager though. 🙂
The west London oilers will be interesting this season. Their defence still looks a bit ropey with the turf-muncher’s hoxton fin still leading the way. Going forward they will be hoping for more interesting things than their poor chavvy followers witnessed last season.
Adebayor upsetting the spuds dressing room sounds great. Perhaps they could get the FFBW on loan to renew his friendship with Gallas. 🙂
Newcastle’s Cisse and Ba must experience a dip in form and Rodgers at Liverpool will take time to settle in.
At the moment, the mancs season seems to largely rest on the outcome of Brave Sir Robin’s bid for freedom.
Cmon you Gunners. The ghosts of the thirties are stirring.
Welcome back, Harry (as I didn’t do it yesterday).
Hope all is good with you.
Thanks Chas, Life is well sort of good, single life has its perks!!
Hope to catch up with you all at a match soon…..
Hi all, super post Micky, I’m more optimistic this season than ever before and if the manager is the one who is driving all the new initiatives I will be even happier.
Hi harry, great to have you back again 🙂
If Song goes to Barca I shall submit a one line post “I Told You So”
Hopefully Real will accede to our request to have a ‘right to buy’ clause if Sahin is lined up to replace Song.
…. that’s me done, off to play cricket … and, come on Mo!!!!
Micky a very entertaining read.
I think you have highlighted the key differences, I was only laughing at Mancini as I read is as a complaint of not being supported, and if I was Marwood and others id be asking just how value for money his signings had been, Dzeko, Nasri particularly would spring to mind. I hadn’t read it as you have with regard to doing down his current squad. This is one area where Wenger is bemoaned but the sense of doing so is obvious.
If you are in the current team but your manager is openly chasing new signings just how will your morale be affected? We have all heard Arsene describe his squads as “the best ever” etc, I think if I was a player I’d prefer to be in that team.
If Song goes to Barcelona you have every right to say I told you so, but if he doesn’t what shall I write? lol
If Arsenal who has moulded Song gives in to Barca’s cheap tactics of disorientating their targets before even launching a formal bid agrees to sell Song to Barca for anywhere around the reported price of 15M, I’ll be pissed. Its time to tell all these guys that we CAN and WILL play hard ball to prevent these from happening again and again. (Exact same scenario as cesc) If Atletico bilbao will only consider selling Javi Martinez to barca for 40M, why can’t Arsenal do the same too instead of being seen as a pushover for Barca/Man city in the transfer market, especially when we have taken the time and effort to polish players to their current level. Will be pissed if we sell another first team player to Barca for two consevutive years.
Consecutive*
Nice piece Mickey thanks mate. Real football starts tomorrow so thought this was worth a publish as a coversation piece.
From todays Times.
Oliver Kay
Published at 12:01AM, August 11 2012
Do you hear that rumbling sound? It is the sound of football, the blood and thunder of the Barclays Premier League, getting closer. Even before the Olympic cauldron is extinguished tomorrow night, the new season will have begun with the Community Shield contest between the billionaire-funded multimillionaires of Chelsea and the billionaire-funded multimillionaires of Manchester City.
I can hear you groan. That’s OK. In the past fortnight I have heard plenty of football fans and more than the odd football writer expressing an unfamiliar sense of foreboding about the new season. Not many are ready for the radiant warmth of the Olympic spirit to give way to the antagonism of the football soap opera; or, to put it another way, for Jessica Ennis, Chris Hoy and Mo Farah to make way for John Terry, Joey Barton and Mario Balotelli.
Well, I am. London 2012 has been wonderful, surpassing even the highest expectations and casting the excesses of football in an unflattering light, but it was only ever going to be the most glorious of summer romances. It was always going to leave a void, not just for aficionados but for those who had never previously appreciated just how wonderful sport is. Better, surely, for that void to be filled by the resumption of a competition that is the envy of the world — a luxury that was not open to Sydney, Athens or Beijing after they hosted the three previous Games.
Too many people fail to see football for what it is, which is a captivating, compelling, fast, skilful sport that brings joy and despair to communities on a weekly basis. Instead they see it as a vulgar expression of all that is wrong with society, a perception reinforced by images of snarling prima donnas on the pitch, warring tribes on the terraces and headlines about multimillionaires cheating on their girlfriends or falling out of Chinawhite at 3am.
Footballers do not help themselves. The amount of money they earn is obscene — albeit market-driven — but uncouth behaviour, whether on the pitch, in nightclubs or behind the gates of mock-Tudor mansions, is not the norm. There are players who attract trouble but there are also players who do hugely commendable things for charity. Craig Bellamy, of Cardiff City and Team GB, could be said to do both; the man described by the late Sir Bobby Robson as “the gobbiest footballer I’ve ever met” spends much of his income and spare time running a foundation in Sierra Leone.
Olympians are rightly seen for the dedicated athletes they are. We revel in their stories of sacrifice and lifelong commitment. But footballers do not reach the top of their profession — and certainly would not stay there — without dedication and sacrifice. If Rooney were an Olympic boxer, we would enjoy his interviews and call him down-to-earth. If, in victory, he swore down a camera, we would laugh. And if he had an encounter with a prostitute, nobody would know, much less care.
There are double standards in the way footballers and other sportsmen are perceived and portrayed. It fits the narrative to talk fondly of Olympians letting their hair down, having a well-deserved night out or cavorting with each other in the Athletes’ Village. Rightly, nobody questioned the commitment of Britain’s swimmers or begrudged them a consolatory drink after they fell short of our expectations. But a footballer drowning his sorrows after a poor result will routinely be deemed a disgrace.
Footballers are not national treasures in the way that athletes are. If England won a World Cup — or even came close, as in 1990 — that might be different, but as it is, their best moments come with their clubs. And when Terry lifts a trophy for Chelsea or Rooney scores a goal for Manchester United, the instinctive reaction among supporters of rival clubs, to say nothing of the wider public, is pure resentment, not pride. Football cannot unite a country like the Olympics can. It is far too divisive, too tribal, for that. That tribalism is both its biggest turn-off and its greatest appeal.
But do not tell me it cannot move people. The last ball that was kicked in the Premier League was the extraordinary goal that won Manchester City’s first league title in 44 years, a moment of drama that encapsulated the appeal of what we like to call the beautiful game. Yes, it is ugly at times, yes, it lacks the universality of the Olympics, but in a country that will soon be mourning the end of a summer romance, football should be welcomed back with open arms.
Oliver Kay is chief football correspondent
Don’t you just love Oliver Kay 🙂
chas – this time next week you’ll be easing JC from his chair and we’ll be leaving the Tavern en route to The Home of Football 🙂 🙂 🙂
Peaches – easing JC from his chair?? Pshhhhh…..
Good topic DidIt! Thank you for the post. Personally I cannot see a better team than AFC, but best team sometimes doesn’t win.
I suspect that Shitty will dominate the League again, with the usual suspect close in tow. Do you know what, I don’t evne know who is managing Chelsea or Liverpool now, cannot keep up with the forever changing managers. Thank you for reminding me that AVB is gone to Spurs, what an ejeet
Have read the post but cant digest any of it as my mind keeps going back to ,” I am a floater ” ” and I smell cracks ” !. Jesus and I get some stick !. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Charity Shield doesnt do it for me, except for the money it makes. For me real football started today with the League Cup and Rangers kicking off!
I didnt count the SPL last week as Rangers were not in it!!
[Half Irish background] :>)
Talking about Rangers I mentioned late in a thread last week how I admire those players who stuck with them, probably many missed the post. I just hope we have a few of those type of players at Arsenal, players who WILL put the club above money.
In total agreement with that last para neamman
Do do do do Mo’s a Gooner!
Less than a week to go, peaches.
I can smell the fried onions and horse sh*t in my nostrils already.
I’m looking forward to some of this….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns3PvDmm6AU
Oh yes, those were the days 🙄
Are you ready?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPU5eaonujk
Morning Chas,
You are so right. The smell of horse shit.
Not funny, just true, but a ROLF anyway.
peaches,
JC’s ready for his 75th season up the Arsenal!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf7RlncWF_k
Are we steaming towards that last minute transfer panic again? Surely we need to balance the books a bit, and that means at least one from Song, Theo or Brave.
Brilliant. Such a nice man. Oh, and soundtrack from top band of all time.
Morning Micky,
I watched this on youtube the other day.
Excellent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO2wBG4m-xg
Gotta go.
Chas,
Its a good film. Off you toddle.
“I love the smell of fried onions and horse shit in the morning.” (Coronel Kurts, gooner)
“Some day this close season is gonna be over” (Robert Duvall, Apocalypse Now, gooner)
Morning all
Anyone fancy doing a quick pre-match for todays game in Cologne?
Just about to leave for a quick cycle to Brighton…….back for the game though.
Game day, game day, game day!!! Well, almost 🙂
Chas – that’s fantastic!! Has JC seen it yet?
I was just checking the olympic medals table and noticed how poorly did Australia did compared to their great success in Sydney. I just hope that this country can build on this years success
Sydney Olympic village is a ghost town, dead
That’ll be a no then 😦
Morning all,
What a great night again on the Athletis track and the twelfth man did their job. Mo Farrah, I salute you.
I know in general most of us are fed up with the rumour mill, but the story is gaining momentum that SAF will bid 20 million for Robin van Wantaway and give him parity in wages with Rooney.
I don’t like SAF but he is no fool and I just can’t believe that United are prepared to take what amounts to a huge risk and even need our man.
Sorry Peaches. I don’t even know who plays for us at the moment, let alone suggest a formation.
Will be up to speed for the opener.
Chas great vid of JC. As Micky says great soundtrack too.
That Control film is brilliant, as is 24 Hour Party People although that doesn’t focus on Ian Curtis as much.
If you haven’t seen it I’d also recommend Sex and Drugs and Rock n Roll with Andy Serkis playing Ian Dury.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXtt020t-MM
Kelsey. Hi. It was a great night. When interviewed by Danish TV. Mo was asked how it felt to be roared home and he replied “it felt like scoring for The Arsenal”.
Kelsey I actually had a horrible dream last night with RvP in that horrible tablecloth kit United are wearing this season.
He had kind of morphed into Ruud Van Nistelrooy……what a front bottom!
A word of warning guys – LiveOnlineFooty are processing payments very slowly, get it sorted sooner rather than later
That is the angle for the post today…….no one has a clue what is going on and that is unusal.
Sorry I can’t help.
BBC Sports personality of the Year will be interesting this year.
Farrah,Wiggins,Ennis,Trott and Joey Barton 🙂
Woudn’t be surprised to see joint winners.
Evonne,
Liveonline have also stopped the season ticket. Didn’t save much money, just hassle 😦
Micky – yes, i know. Will have to remember to renew in time
Kelsey – you are funny 🙂 Jess for me, Wiggins for LB and Mo for all the Gunners
Peaches its in drafts
Kelsey i think Hoy will have a good chance of winning it, and Ainslee. But actually for the first time in a long while it might be the personality that wins it not the sporting achievement.
For me it should be Wiggins, Hoy, Pembleton, Farah…….like you say its going to be a bloody tough choice….maybe they should just give it to TeamGB gold medallists.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/19229542
Brilliant…Mo and Usain trade celebrations
GiE,
Being the BBC, it’ll go to someone for “trying hard”
I would think Wiggins by a country mile for the Tour on top of Olympic wins.
sorry peaches just saw your email, of no-one has done one/its only a small one i’ll strum something up so we can merge them together?
GiE – you are a wonderful man, thank you 🙂
No question that lottery Funding made a difference especially in the the rowing, kyaks and cycling.
A very difficult choice indeed.
oz!!!!!!! GiE has already done it but if you’ve written something already maybe I can put them together? Up to you ………
kelsey – hello 🙂
Hello peaches 🙂
I’ve sent it through peaches, just a few words if you need
Morning all,
Good to have you back Big Daddy
New Post …….. it’s a double from oz and GiE …… enjoy