The fall-out from our weekend defeat to Aston Villa has been an unedifying spectacle to say the least.
Fans turning on fans, seasoned bloggers sulking off, the Underminers* out in force.
I understand the frustration. We lost our opening game of the season for the first time in 13 years; we lost our opening game of the season at home for the first time in 20 years; our squad resembles something from The Walking Dead; we don’t have any shiny new players to get excited about…
But come on! Let’s keep some perspective.
We have lost one game – and we lost it because of an (at best) incompetent referee.
We were better than Villa for most of the match and had the chances to at least equalise even after we were down to 10 men and a goal behind. I have no doubt that if Koscielny had not been sent off we would have gone on to share the points or win.
Referee Taylor’s eagerness to give Koscielny a second yellow (for not touching an opponent, let’s remember) stinks like a week-old kipper and deserves further investigation. Not that it will happen.
But read the press and wander through the Arsenal blogosphere and you discover that actually, no: the result had nothing to do with the extraordinarily bad officiating. It was all to do with Arsenal not having brought in enough players so far this summer.
I happen to think we should have signed some reinforcements by now, but I don’t think that had much or anything to do with losing to Villa.
And at the very least I am prepared to write it off as a bad day – the sort of bad day that will also happen to Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea and those darlings of the media, Toddling Potty-Smears at times during the season.
We play 38 league games in an EPL campaign, for a maximum of 114 points. Three of those points have now been flushed down the lavvy, but there are still 111 left to play for.
Talk of our season being over before it has begun is (while understandable) really a bit knee-jerk and emotional and supporters need to calm down and regain their sense of perspective. One headline on Newsnow (from a supposedly Arsenal supporting blog) scweamed: “Thanks Arsene, out of title race before it even started.” Seriously? After the first game of the season we’re out of the title race? Come on! Like no team has ever won the title after losing on the opening day.
Likewise, the idea that potential new signings will be deterred from joining us because we lost a single game while some of our rivals won their single games is far fetched.
The club itself certainly bears some of the blame for this atmosphere of irrational hysteria, as does the media, but we fans are not obliged to fall into line with such a discordant tune.
The players that managed an amazing run in the last 10 games of last season are still there. Referees won’t always be so biased against us (although they do line up in our oppositions’ colours more often than seems to happen to other clubs). Injuries will pass and we will win games.
We certainly need to strengthen the squad before the end of the transfer window if we are to have any chance of competing for trophies this season, but I am also confident that good players will be brought in (if they are not, I will be singing a different tune).
So, we can’t be happy about the Villa result, but we can keep our feet on the ground, take a chill pill, let the toys stay in the pram (insert metaphor-of-choice here) and, most of all, not despair. Better days are coming.
- “Underminers:” opposite of “Supporters.” See Post in archives from April 15th 2013 for a full description.
RockyLives
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Next time remind us is 108 remaining….and the same as games come and go please don’t tire
I want to be very honest and would not want my emotions to cloud my good sense of judgement. Yes I know that we need to sign new players but we lost not because we don’t have depth but because the referee was completely incompetent. You can transfer you aggression to Arsène Wenger but the truth remains that it was a very-very poor officiating and I don’t know what the FA do about this kind of inconsistent referring in the same match. Arsenal is the only club that has more International players and we hear that the EPL referees don’t like foreigners that much.
This article is the best I have read so far. The writer is extremely positive and we need this to bounce back. We lose some battles but win the war and the war still has 111 points to offer. We fail early and learn quick and move forward. I don’t think after this we will get any as bad officiating as this
Good morning to you all.
Well done Rocky, a fine attempt at sticking your finger in the dyke (a reference to Dutch folklore AND NOTHING ELSE). 😀
You’re right of course, there is still everything to play for, the transfer window is open for two more weeks and we know that the club are intent on bringing in the desperately needed reinforcements.
Trouble is that these are rational thoughts and football supporters are not the most rational of people when it comes to their own particular club.
All we can do is take the advice of Michael Winner and “calm down dear”.
Ok, the ref had an absolute shocker, but we can’t blame him for losing the game. Arsenal once went unbeaten for 49 games, you can’t tell me that we didn’t have a game where the ref was poor in all that time. If there is enough quality in the squad, it doesn’t matter about the performance of the ref, that quality shines through and the team get the result.
At the moment this squad doesn’t have enough quality, like many have said we are 3-4 very good signings away from having a squad that can challenge for the title and/or domestic trophies.
This transfer window has been a complete failure so far, yes we may have been targeting players that have the quality to push on, but how many of them have we signed? None.
Wenger is now apparently after Michu, who while I respect and think is a decent player, he’s not going to win us the title.
How a club can go into a season with 3 centre backs, one injured fairly early on in preseason and not find some cover is almost negligent. We have 2 first team defenders available for the game in turkey, which means that Arsene is going to have to throw on some young kids, which us not fair on them really is it?
I don’t think Wenger’s entirely to blame, there is something wrong at all levels of the club, whether the scouting staff are poor or the board are lining their pockets, until it is fixed, we’re not going to win the league!
This is all to familiar…. Don’t let our ignorant pursuit of positive, from what is, cloud the clarity of this reality. Arsenal FC Attitude ,as a whole, has to change!!! For what is happening AGAIN is…. ALL TO FAMILIAR 2006 -2012 and 2013???
Seriously? Have you actually taken your head out of the sand, or AW’s backside? Saturday was a culmination of AW’s short sightedness, ignorance and arrogance, lack of tactical nous and complete disrespect to not only the fans, but the players as well.
Catch a wake up sunshine.
At last a rational article and all true. I am more annoyed that the club that invented proper defending during the Chapman, Mee, Graham era’s had lost all knowledge of how and why it is essential.
I am 71 and have suffered being a Gunner for 64 years so Ive seen it all before, but I never expected this amount of stupidity even from this board. Six years ago (when I had a few friends working at AFC) I sent a letter to the board expressing the concerns we fans all had about Arsene’s total lack of interest in defending and the need for constant reinforcing of the defenders from under fifteens onwards. Since then our defence has lost us a few trophies and many games that were in the bag. I look at out U21 and junior sides and see not one kid with top potential for defending. All AW is interested in is nippy players who can pass constantly……..that era is now gone and it did not serve us well when it was ‘The Thing’. I expect a couple of panic buys as per last year and the year before to keep some fans happy. But I do not expect (A) a great goalie (B) a great defender (C) a great DFM or a great golascorer.
What we have is a U21 French lad with a bit of talent but who is no better than 500 other UK players who AW never even contemplates. Worst of all I see the Spuds using all the £85 mill they obviously have agredd with Madrod for Bale………If he had been ours, AW would have spent £15 mill of it and that’s the rub isn’t it?
If I could , I would have written exactly this article. Well said. All these numb sculls on the net act as if the sky has fallen and ofcourse it is AW’s doing. What a bunch of crap. The Arsenal will be there or there abouts at the end of the season.
maybe Simon can tell us what quality is “enough” to win games with10 players…. And why can we NOT blame the ref when he is obviously to blame.
wait is it because we can always blame AW . He is the easy one to blame.
Excellent comment RockyLives ……Rather than reporting the news the press are trying to create the news. I watched the press interview, it was like a pack of hounds closing in on their prey!
Try telling that Arsene’s lack of signings is not the reason again when we will be dumped out of the CL because we put on kids in a crucial match.
Gunnerpete you are 71 so I guess it is understandable that you have a myriad of phobias.
Your football knowledge needs to be updated ….please.
It is sickening to see media turning this to Wenger. I am just wondering what their reaction will be if the match went our way.
I understand the disappointment of the fans, but dancing to the tunes of the media and some sick pundits left me a pity feeling on them. Just imagining that fans are against the man who completely transformed the club from the point he took charge is disgusting. He made our club a better one and he will make it best, probably the greatest one. These are just some hurdles on the way and we will overcome it, I am completely optimistic of that.
Moreover the article is so soothing and thanks for that. I liked your phrase “will sing to different tune”. Anyways lets hope for the best.
Man U make a 28 million bid for Baines and Fellaini.
Is there anyone here who really believes that Fallaini’s agent didn’t get a tip off via the player’s ex-manger not to sign else where as a bid would be coming in?
Yet, again there is a perfectly good reason why Arsenal have been thwarted over a player they probably wanted to sign.
This comment will almost certainly open the way for the squeals of: what about x then or what about y.
One at a time, the answer always arrives.
Great post Rocky, if you were a car today lol you would probably be a Hummer — taking no shit.
..And riris has no doubt that we WILL be dumped out of the ACL… Unbelievable …maybe you should replace AW
I feel like people are worried more by the number of injuries we have and out paper thin squad. Who on earth are we going to field on wednesday, for example?
Oxlaide-Chamberlain — out for Fenerbahce game
Oxlaide-Chamberlain — out for the rest of the season.
Oxlaide-Chamberlain — to lose leg.
Oxlaide-Chamberlain — feared dead.
Nothing like a bit of exaggeration without the facts, is there?
Crispen,
If we had the quality we wouldn’t have gone down to 10 men, and even if we did, we wouldn’t already have been behind, we would have sat on the lead we had by bringing on another defender.
As it is our defence is about as thin as it could be.
As I said in my first post, I’m not saying it’s Wenger’s fault entirely, but clearly he has to share some of the blame for not bringing in the likes of Higuain etc.
I’m not calling for his head, far from it. What I am saying is that things need to change, we need to be proactive not reactive in the transfer market, be willing to pay the little bit extra if need be and get players in early and settle them in during preseason.
Simon
Please tell us why Wenger should take some of the blame for not signing Higuain?
Rocky
As a headline writer you are second to none but I have already explained my views earlier on today. Just look at the broader picture not just Saturday’s game. It just doesn’t bode well IMO
Thank you for the post Rocky. Like you, I will be waiting for the end of the window to judge our transfer business. Not buying players early was always a risk, but it might have been a risk worth taking. That we are talking here about it already being too late, is because of the referee causing us to lose. That isn’t an excuse, it’s a reason
Although I always remember a program I saw where a member of the magnificent magyars of 54 saying how they lost to West Germany in the final due to the referee (he claimed this was because they were communist), and how, because they were favourites they were treated as failures despite their best efforts. You could still see the pain in his eyes. Losing can never be explained. Winning doesn’t have to be. Those were his words, and they have remained in my mind since.
I just watched Jenkinson’s post match interview. His voice is shaking, he looks like he’s close to tears at times, and yet you can see the determination, and the anger at what transpired. Refereeing performances like that should never ever be accepted as just one of those things. It isn’t the same as refereeing errors. That was a travesty to the game of football.
And if the referee didn’t basically goad Villa into kicking us about, we wouldn’t have had all the injuries and knocks that we had. Anyone who says we should learn to take care of ourselves, should know that the players were given a clear signal that they would be punished for this through Wilshere’s yellow card, as well as the fact that free kicks were given to them for nothing, and bookings handed out to Arsenal for first or second offenses. So, while the referee didn’t make us defend poorly for the first (or even the second) goal directly, the influence of the referee can extend to beyond the immediate decision. Even into the next game.
We now need a miracle against Fenerbahce. We were gambling a bit anyway. But because we got cold decked, we’re on the verge of a disaster. I just hope we can get through. I have hope because I believe this team has heart.
Morning all,
so I got my first gloating text from a Spud yesterday who is overjoyed at the weekends events, yay !
Thank you for your, as expected, “positive” post Mr Rock. I don’t agree with most of it as to me it appears you are looking at this one result in isolation(as for the game Wenger himself said villa were a counterattacking side, so why not set up the team with that in mind ?) .
I see it as a culmination of the results of a number of years of badly planned transfer windows, we have botched them up especially badly wherein one half of the plan, getting rid of the deadwood who are stinking up the wages roster, has been done and drafting in replacements has not.
Going into the Villa game we alrready had injuries, Arteta, Vermaelen, Monreal and the ever present Abou fornicating Diaby, so we already had a thin squad. A number of those injuries we’ve known about for a while so where was the urgency to supplement those positions ? Similarly we knew about suspensions to Kozzer and Santi for the now very tough Fenerbahce game before the season ended yet we glided through the first two months of the transfer window with an almost bhuddist serenity.
The reason fans turned against the club/Wenger on Saturday was the outcome was so predictable based on our inaction in squad investment and not merely as a result of losing the first game of 38.
It’s well known that we have the funds available now, and have had unused amnounts from years brought forward and yet we have failed to bring in anyone.
Don’t tell me that a Lique 2 player, who managed a grand total of nine games last season, is going to have any impact on the first team – if he is that imlies he is the only “calibre” of player we can now attract – a wannabe postman who has already got a broken leg on his injury resume.
If we continually buy mediocre players, or only put in lower than marklet value bids, the old adage “you get what you pay for” springs to mind – unless, as a guy on ArsenalTV said, “you get what you pay for unless you’re an Arsenal fan”.
This transfer window is already a failure as we should have got our players in early, now it looks like it woill be the mad trolley dash for anything still left, but as the selling clubs know we are more desperate, and they have less time to find replacements, we wil end up paying more than we should if we had got on busniess done early, as Gazidis said we would.
It will come as no surprise to those who know where I stand on this, but I put most of the blame on Wenger, he decides his market value and his obsession, in my very humble opinion, with getting a bargain has hampered us.
He is no longer the man for Arsenal.
Thank God for Rocky
Well balanced and correct article.
It seems some people want to rejoice and revel in all the bad points. Yes, our transfer policy is not good enough and has left the squad thin, but there is still time for this to be resolved and for us to have a very good season.
Quite frankly, i am annoyed that those who relish in the negatives are having there day. Arsenal is a great club with a great manager. The club has a fantastic basis and exciting future and the doubters will be proved wrong.
I say take the rough with the smooth. In a couple of years time we will be were we belong, top of the league fighting for titles.
Rocky – your positive attitude is formidable, I only wish I could share it with you.
As I said earlier on – I am less worried about losing the opening game of the season and more about what that defeat has done to the team’s morale. All the preseason happines is all but gone. Injuries are another frightening fact.
Like you, I am confident that AW will sign some good players before the transfer window shuts, but it might be too little too late. And whom exactly can we still sign?
And my final question remains – what would have happened if we had a sympathetic ref and had won the Villa game?? Perish the thought. They would sign noone claiming (again) that the squad we have is good enough.
Sorry Rocky, but I quit the happy clappy club for now
We the fans should be sticking up for Wenger, not lambasting him.
People should have more respect. This is a guy who has set the foundations for our club which will be enjoyed by generations long after we are gone.
Mr Syrup, you can respect Wenger for his past achievements, they are facts and not a matter of opinion, but still question whether he is the right man going forward,
People change and lose their effectiveness with time/circumstance – I see no disrepect there.
LB
we all know Wenger is heavily involved in transfer deals, even if he isn’t talking to the selling club directly. He decides the value of the players and he must have the final say on whether we sign him or not.
I agree chary, that is not disrespect. In fact, I can totally understand why some think he has had his day.
I am talking about some of the abuse he gets, but apart from a few idiots it dosnt occur on this site.
Silent stan doesn’t care abt us. Gazidis rides his ferrari coz with our money Wenger has lost the. Fire in his belly
I think I need to be a happier individual Mr Syrup, the last two months, and this weekend, have made me look forward to the 2014/15 season – I don’t like the look of this one already !
Arsenal board:
Chairman: – Sir Chips Keswick
CEO: – Ivan Gazidis
Non-executive Directors:
– Lord Philip Harris of Peckham
– Ken Friar OBE
– Stan Kroenke (also the majority shareholder)
======
Arsenal senior management (key executives):
Chairman: – Sir Chips Keswick
Chief Executive Officer: – Ivan Gazidis
Club Secretary: – David Miles
Chief Financial Officer/ Chief Accountant: – Stuart Wisely ACA
Chief Operating/Commercial Officer: – Tom Fox
General Counsel/ Chief Legal Officer: – Svenja Geissmar
Head of People & Operations: – Trevor Saving
Customer Relationship Management Executive: – Adam Rutzler
Head Negotiator (on contracts): – Richard Law
Manager: – Arsene Wenger
=================================================
Reference again:
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2009/sep/23/arsenal-premierleague
Arsenal appoint Richard Law to chief executive Ivan Gazidis’s team
• Appointment formalises long-standing consultancy role
• Arsène Wenger remains chief decision-maker at club
[Start of quote]
Arsenal have made their final appointment to the executive team in Richard Law, bringing to an end the recruitment process that began with the departure of the former chief executive David Dein in April 2007.
Law, a trilingual American who speaks Spanish and Portuguese, will take responsibility for player contracts in support of the chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, and the club secretary, David Miles. The appointment formalises a long-standing consultancy role Law has held with Arsenal’s scouting operation in South and Central America.
Arsenal have been keen to stress that Law will not become a traditional director of football, a role that might suggest the diminution of the manager’s influence. Arsène Wenger will remain the supreme decision-maker at the club, with Law instead acting as a facilitator for the manager and Gazidis.
Law, who has been central to the club’s partnership with Salamanca, the Spanish second division side who have taken several Arsenal players on loan, will also act as a buffer from the management team for agents attempting to place players with the north London club.
Upon Dein’s departure Wenger made clear his intention to bring in an executive to assist him in his transfer dealings but with Miles and Gazidis jointly assuming those responsibilities, the position has been recalibrated. The new appointment ensures Arsenal have a single point of contact on transfer matters.” [end of quote]
==================================================
(An incomplete) List of top managers who are between 60 to 75 years of age, and have managed/are managing top level clubs and national teams:
(1) Jupp Heynckes, 68yrs, retired (last managed Bayern Munich), 36yrs of management
(2) Ottmar Hitzfeld, 64yrs, Switzerland (till 30 June 2014),
31yrs of management
(3) Otto Rehhagel, 75yrs, unemployed (last managed Hertha BSC), 41yrs of management
(4) Sir Alex Ferguson, 71yrs, retired (last managed Man. United)
40yrs of management
(5) Arsene Wenger, 63yrs, Arsenal (till 30 June 2014), 33yrs of management
(6) Vicente del Bosque, 62yrs, Spain (till 30 June 2014), 27yrs of management
(7) Giovanni Trapattoni, 74yrs, Ireland (till 30 June 2014), 42ys of management
(8) Fabio Capello, 67yrs, Russia (till 31 July 2014), 23yrs of management
(9) Marcello Lippi, 65yrs, Guangzhou Evergrande FC (in China), 32yrs of management
(10) Louis van Gaal, 62yrs, Netherlands (till 31 July 2014), 28yrs of management
(11) Guus Hiddink, 66yrs, unemployed (last managed Anzhi Makhachkala), 33yrs of management
Some are managing national teams, a couple retired, a few unemployed currently. AW is one of the few (if not the only one) still managing a top level club side.
Our board and senior management will have taken note on this and put into consideration on their final Decision (as well as availability of managers after WC2014: e.g. Joachim Loew/Germany, Cesare Prandelli/Italy, Didier Deschamps/France, Alejandro Sabella/Argentina, Paulo Bento/Portugal, Marc Wilmots/Belgium etc)
AW might feel it is the right time to make a move. The French Football Federation(FFF) president, Noel Le Graet, has previously approached him in summer 2012 (while he has still 2 years contract remaining, and thus declined then).
At 63/64yrs, moving onto the FFF and taking charge of the national team’s assault on Euro2016 and WC2018 (for at least 4 years), bringing him to 67/68yrs then, will give a fitting and completing cycle to his illustrious managerial career.
==================================================
end of post (JM)
No one in the Arsenal world can be happy at Saturday’s result, but thanks for a little perspective. I believe a certain Man Utd lost the first game of last season. Now where did they finish…..? That’s not to recognise the issues we have (made all the more acute after an unfortunate spate of njuries), but I for one am not about to run up the white flag after one loss. Get a grip guys, as RL says.
Thanks for another upbeat Rocky post.
In terms of your analysis of the game there is nothing to disagree with. In terms of the wider context, there is plenty to to be unhappy about.
The administration (my term for the owner, Board and manager) were not to know that we were to pick up 2 injuries and suffer an unfair sending off, but shit happens and they are solely responsible for us not having any depth on the bench …. we ran out of defenders!
We do not need to know whether we went for player A or player B.
We do not need to know whether we were gazumped by this billionaire or that billionaire.
We don’t have to be informed by the club of their behind the scenes transfer dealings.
We need to see the results of their best efforts in the form of quality players being added to the squad. In this they have failed. Other clubs smaller than ours (Swansea, totts, Villa) have succeeded in the transfer market. We have only publicly bid for one player.
I believe kelsey is correct that there are problems behind the scenes – this is an opinion not the result of inside info in my case.
Whether its a conflict of opinion between AW and IG or AW and the Board I don’t know, but unless AW is not the man of integrity I believe him to be, then by now someone should have done the honourable thing.
Before I was put straight on here, I had assumed the Board was populated by a clutch of faceless business tycoons. But no, it’s really just SK and IG with a token chairman, a ‘Lord’ to add some finesse and Ken Friar who is a great servant to the club. I now believe that SK has total control of the Board and no-one on the Board is going to try to go against his wishes.
SK has very little interest in football. Arsenal is just part of his business portfolio and is currently growing in value at a rate that must please him. Lady Nina’s comments have now been verified and so it appears she believes the club was handed over to the wrong man – I’m sure she wouldn’t prefer Usmanov as an alternative.
Rasp, very good points and also very worrying.
Your point about Arsene doing the “right thing” is exactly why i think things will turn out ok. I can not imagine Arsene staying if there was this level of conflict.
I have faith in Arsene, i do not have much in Kronke and the current Board.
If it turns out that somehow Arsene is a stooge, then i will give up football and buy a place near Sheepy in Wales, were i will spend the rest of my days looking after and nurturing my flock.
Arsenal had 4 shots on target, villa had 6 so how you dominated the game I don’t know also delph hit the post, you hit the bar but to say you deserved the win is laughable.
you’re as deluded as he is if you think it’s all the ref’s fault and saturday was just a bad day at the office. we were not the better side. villa fully deserved their win. the ref had nothing to do with our calamitous defending. you need to look at the bigger picture and the bigger picture is one that features stunning vistas of ineptitude and incompetence from the board and the manager. they have both failed this summer. although admittedly we do have 13 days in which to bodge up the job and paper over the cracks by buying somebody else’s crap.
Hi Rocky, 🙂
That is a dreadful Post and you should be ashamed of yourself!!
You have made people unleash a torrent of downbeat words including;
ignorant poor, failed, incompetent, ignorance, arrogance, AW’s backside, sickening, gloating and unbelievable, the majority of which have been aimed at Arsene Wenger, the club, the team or other fans.
You need to stand up and take responsibility for this, and stop loafing about in a Canadian bed!!
On the other hand, once these pent up feelings have been unleashed it is possible that your positive, sensible article full of Rocky aphorisms will have a therapeutic affect on some of our more disgruntled brethren, as well as those who have had their patience and confidence tested lately.
Excellent, as usual!! 😀
I wa supposed to be going to the Stoke game, I don’t know if I want to now. this summer has killed my enthusiasm for football.
Yeah, I know, jerk, reaction and knee.
Rasp.
We have JM to thank, this morning, for reminding us of the constituent members of the Arsenal BoD.
But your response seems to be treating the information as new, when we have had endless discussions on AA on this very subject.
It may have happened when you were particularly busy at work and not able to get onto AA, but this is a perpetual problem on blogs that, unless you keep repeating yourself, which is really boring, the same old arguments and misconceptions keep repeating themselves.
Having typed that I am not sure why I did. It is simply a fact, and I cannot see how to overcome this perpetual inventing of the wheel.
And that, of course, is not your fault – it’s down to my impatience! 😀
You are not a jerk, Charyb — you might be a knee! 🙂
James Taylor,
That’s fair enough for a Villa fan to say, but oddly enough this is an Arsenal site, and although you are not totally wrong, we are looking at things that are important to us as Arsenal fans.
Anyway, enjoy your win, and perhaps it will help you when Chelsea take your pants down and give you a good hiding – which they will. 🙂
Ha ha Redders, better a jerk than a cock (as you said the other day) !
Thanks, Rocky.
Sulking off is all I feel like doing unfortunately. 🙂
Someone on twatter just suggested Koscielny can play on Wednesday. I assumed he was banned following his second caution (in last year’s comp) against Bayern last season, so I had a look at the document in the link. The quote is from page 35, clause 22.05 being the relevant one.
Article 22
Yellow and red cards
22.01 As a rule, a player who is sent off the field of play is suspended for the next match in a UEFA club competition. The Control and Disciplinary Body is entitled to augment this punishment. For serious offences the punishment can be extended to all UEFA competition categories.
22.02 In case of repeated cautions:
a) before the group stage, a player is suspended for the next competition
match after three cautions in three different matches, as well as after the fifth caution;
b) from the first match in the group stage, a player is suspended for the next competition match after three cautions in three different matches, as well as following any subsequent odd-numbered caution (fifth, seventh, ninth, etc.).
22.03 Single yellow cards and pending suspensions are always carried forward either to the next stage of the competition or to another club competition in the current season.
22.04 Exceptionally, all yellow cards and pending yellow-card suspensions expire on completion of the play-offs. They are not carried forward to the group stage.
22.05 Cautions and pending yellow-card suspensions from club competition matches expire at the end of the season.
Click to access 1796869_DOWNLOAD.pdf
p.s. apologies if this is old news.
This is an updated quote in the London Evening News regarding Lady Nina Nana.
—- Arsenal’s honorary vice-president Lady Bracewell-Smith has spoken of her ‘deep regrets’ after allowing Stan Kroenke to gain a controlling stake in the club.
Bracewell-Smith sold her shares to Kroenke in 2011, helping the 66-year-old become Arsenal’s majority shareholder.
And the former Gunners director (above) took to twitter to declare her unrest, following the opening-day defeat at home to Aston Villa.
She tweeted: “What a shame the board recommended a Kroenke takeover and paid Rothchilds 3m fee, and how deeply I regret selling to Kroenke.”
The American businessman secured Bracewell-Smith’s 15.9 per cent stake before promising an influx of silverware at the Emirates, but two years down the line and Arsenal’s pursuit of trophies remains fruitless.
The 57-year-old followed up her rant on the social media platform, calling for a shake-up at the top.
“Bring (back) David Dein and give Usmanov representation on the board if we are to have success going forward.”
Bracewell-Smith, who has since deleted her tweets, has not shied away from demonstrating her opinion in the past.
Following Arsenal’s penalty shoot-out defeat to Bradford City in December, the outspoken businesswoman splayed her feelings on twitter once more.
“If making money was the motivating factor, surely there are better ways,” she said.
“Football is a business of passion and Stan Kroenke has no passion for AFC.
“(Kroenke) shows he cares very little. Why he wanted to be part of AFC I do not know.”
Having taken £128m for her shares — now she has the nerve to say she made a mistake selling to Kroenke!
Great post Rocky, I am less positive today than I was on Saturday morning but I will never become a member of the underminers brigade.
To be very honest I’m disturbed with the level of emotion in peoples comments. I’m even more disturbed when some of our key posters are driven away by others lack of consideration and their insistence on repeatedly driving home their points.
Whenever emotion takes over all is lost and so far what we have witnessed is way over the top. I am less than happy with what I’ve been reading on AA but it won’t drive me away (yet) but it certainly forces me to be selective in the posts that I choose to read.
With the honourable exception of Kelsey, who does have links to sources at the club, none of us have clue as to what goes on inside Arsenal.
we can only surmise that Wenger chooses which players to target, although logic suggests it must be the case. We do not know who sets the bid price, we do not know who approaches the target’s club or agent, in the past that would almost certainly have been David Dein, but now? We do not know who actually carries out the negotiations.
What we do know, because it is a plain as the red nose on Ferguson’s face, is that whoever is responsible is failing abysmally. Since no one person is putting his head above the parapet, we must assume that there is a collective responsibility for the shambles that is unfolding at our once great club. Kroenke, the board, the host of suits drawing salaries, and the manager are all failing and something must be done before it is too late.
Having said that, the season tickets have all been sold, the television rights money and the sponsors cheques have all been banked so I don’t expect anything to happen beyond the last minute signing of a handful of mediocre players in the next fortnight.
Technically, CharyB — you said it.
Maybe I should have said ‘peahen’ instead – that would have confused you!! 😀
Thank you JM. Hopefully that will put an end to the discussion of where responsibility lies. But i doubt it.
As ever Rocky you are a voice of sanity and reason. Top post!
NG,
That is a thoughtful comment, as usual, and there is nothing to argue with really, but I think there might be a little more to it as well.
There is a triumvirate involved in transfers, and maybe Chas can dig up the quote from Gazidis on it (he is a genius).
Gazidis agrees the transfer budget, Wenger selects the player(s), and Laws negotiates the contracts with club and player.
Clearly these responsibilities are not homogeneously sealed from each other and there must be some to-ing and fro-ing between the main parties, but the process seems pretty clear.
[One fails – all fails].
But what cannot be forgotten, is that both the player involved must want to join us (Gustavo did not) and the club must want to sell and agree a fee (‘Pool did not want to do either).
Therefore those who want to blame Wenger for his failure to sign players are being somewhat unfair, because they do not know which component part did no go according to plan.
GN5, I take it your comment @12:15 was directed at me in relation to GiE.
He’s a top bloke and one of the most valued contributors to this site – I have no wish to upset him and certainly to drive him off the site.
If you look at the comments that surrounded the debate you will see that I was in the minority as I acknowledged at the time. I felt I was just responding to the points others were making as part of the discussion.
GiE, if you’re reading. I hope you did not take offence and will be back blogging with us soon 🙂
@wally August 19, 2013 at 12:22 pm
We have a CEO (along with the club secretary), a CFO/Accountant, a General Counsel(for legal matters consultancy), a Head Negotiator (on player’s contracts) along with the manager when approaching transfer signings/releases. Each have their own role to play and responsibilities (who sources list of players, who contacts and negotiates with clubs and players, who decides to finalise the spending of money, who drafts the administrative/legal papers etc)
It would have been hilarious if a general manager overwrites his CFO’s and CEO’s decision to spend money (when the latter two are in-charge of the company’s finances). The general manager should be fired for overstepping his authority while the CFO and CEO removed from their posts for being incompetent/push-overs in their roles and responsibilities.
RA,
What we do know is that Gustavo chose Wolfsburg over Arsenal. A team well down the list in the bundesliga over a ‘powerhouse’.
There are three possibilities
1) We didn’t bid for his services
2) Our bid was too low
3) Our bid was acceptable and he preferred wolfsburg over us.
None of the three possibilities reflect well on the organization and you have ask why.
Whatever your answer it falls on the football leadership. And who’s responsible for that.
Rasp,
I think the majority of contributors to AA are wise enough to recognise that everybody is entitled to air their opinions, whether or not one agrees with them is another matter altogether. There are of a number of trolls whose input is beneath contempt and are rightly ignored by the more sensible regulars.
In all that I have read on AA today, from regulars, there really is nothing for anyone to take serious umbrage with and nobody should feel guilty about expressing opinions that others may disagree with or indeed dislike.
It would be a sad and bland site if there was no dissent.
My personal frustration doesn’t come from the result, after all, events transpired against us, mainly due to poor refereeing as you pointed out. What irks me is the apparent lack of direction within the club and an inability to be proactive in the transfer market. If, as we are led to believe, there is a ‘war-chest’ available to the manager, why are we waiting before CL qualification is confirmed before spending money? Also, if you look at AW’s comments after the Villa game, there seems to be a disagreement as to who is responsible for spending this money!? Gazidis came out at the end of the season and pushed it towards AW, but now AW is claiming its the clubs money and not his to spend and there is a ‘team’ working 24 hours a day to buy players. Who do we believe?
The other issue I have is where is the club heading? We had the perfect opportunity after a positive end to last season to unite the fans by bringing in some quality players and showing some positive intent. Instead, we have let the TW pass us by and are now back to square one with in-fighting and disgruntlement. The board have allowed the club to slip to a level where it is no longer an attractive prospect to top class players. Wether true or not, the perception of AFC is one of stinginess, lack of ambition and inability to win trophies. I think most fans have been patient enough, and it’s time to put the money where IG’s mouth is!
Wallt,
You forgot d) it’s a World Cup year in his own country, and he will be desperate to get guaranteed 1st team football. What’s betting he moves on in 12 months?
@wally August 19, 2013 at 12:42 pm
[quote]
RA,
What we do know is that Gustavo chose Wolfsburg over Arsenal. A team well down the list in the bundesliga over a ‘powerhouse’.
There are three possibilities
1) We didn’t bid for his services
2) Our bid was too low
3) Our bid was acceptable and he preferred wolfsburg over us.
[/quote]
I offer the 4th possibility. His personal desire to obtain a German passport and becoming a naturalised citizen.
Part of criteria for naturalisation in Germany:
– lived in Germany legally for at least eight years (seven years if the Integrationskurs/Citizenship education is successfully passed)
Gustavo is in his 5th year stay and signed a 5-year contract with Wolfsburg till 2018.
We can never ever beat that.
Simon
Your response doesn’t answer the question.
“Please tell us why Wenger should take some of the blame for not signing Higuain?”
@Red Arse August 19, 2013 at 12:03 pm
It weighs heavily on me when I wrote the long post.
You’re right Redders, Peahen would’ve sounded too girly.
JM
I like you, and I like your logic.
Rasp,
I was taking aim at no one person in particular but everybody in general. There have been far too many overly emotional views expressed, of course we are all upset about where we find ourselves but we need to be rational and display some realism in our comments.It also wants American owner Stan Kroenke to take decisive action.
Here is a sample of the views that I endorse. This is part of a statement by the AST.
………………………………………………………………………………..
“Stan Kroenke does not attend many Arsenal matches nor seem to have the time to devote to the affairs of Arsenal,” the statement continued.
“But it is clear to all that the football personnel he is ultimately responsible for are failing. The AST calls on him to appoint an independent expert to conduct a review of all football functions at Arsenal.
“Clearly the interaction between our scouting, negotiating and player purchasing processes are failing and need urgent improvement.
“A decision on whether to offer an extension to the manager’s contract, which ends in May 2014, should only be taken following the closing of the transfer window and assessment of the team’s performances.
“Considerable improvement must be shown for us to be convinced this should happen
Wally,
You could be right in all aspects, but you may have to go further.
1. We did bid for the player — and (a) were turned down – or (b) the bid was accepted. [Go to 4).
2. Our bid was not to low (see 4) below.
3. Our bid was accepted (see I.(b) and 2 above, but the player chose for his own reasons to stay in Germany see 4 below.
4. The player agreed a contract with Arsenal — or he did not.
If he agreed a contract that was financially acceptable but still preferred to live in Germany for family reasons (which is what he said), again, why would either the club or the negotiating team be blamed for that.
I probably would have flow charted it differently, but it still holds together.
So many if, ands, and buts, so how could anyone find fault with an individual or the negotiating team without knowing the definitive answers to the possibilities above?
But they do!
Racey,
You just cannot divorce what happens on the playing field from what you call “external factors”. The one is entirely dependent on the other.
NG, racey is one of ‘them’ 🙄
RA,
If he wanted to stay for purely personal reasons then fair enough. Anything else….
And this type of situation is far too common. As someone noted recently it’s like Groundhog Day. No lessons are being learned, no lessons are being applied.
Lunch calls.
Well, apparently we’ve just bid for Cabaye!?
Turning to Wednesday, surely no one is hoping Fener get thrown out of the CL by their appeal as UEFA will simply reinstate Salzburg in their place, the team Fener beat in the previous round ?
JM,
As you know, I think you are a mine of relevant and useful information in a way no one else can match! 🙂
We could probably do with a ‘library’ with all your stuff and other detailed info from UEFA, FIFA etc that we could refer to quickly and which would scotch a lot of arguments as to what the relevant ‘facts’ are when a disputatious comment is made by a blogger, from time to time.
[Rasp, I suspect that is not practicable, but would be great if it was – especially if JM and Chas ran it!!] 😀
CharyB,
I would be perfectly content for Arsenal to qualify that way, if necessary. 🙂
It would not be acceptable or practicable for UEFA to reorganise yet another round of games for Arsenal with an Austrian team or anyone else if Fehnerbace were thrown out – that would not happen.
Delusional to think the referee was the sole purveyor of Arsenal’s defeat to Villa. Were it that simple – investigations of the highest order would be called for, to root-out the corruptness and blatant match-fixing by BPL referee’s.
Not the case. Arsenal lost by fielding the same team that has been luckily falling on the correct side of the precarious talent fence they have been straddling for the last few seasons. That fence can no longer hold the weight of incompetence in Club (note I mentioned Club, not Team) management.
Keep analyzing and digging for excuses, but it is plain to see that their is a form of cancer within this Club and as much as we poured our hatred out on RVP when he seemingly stabbed us in the back; I can now realize that he saw/heard/was told/became convinced of what was coming and got out when he could.
I speak for so, so, so many fans when say: “I’m sad.”
fair enough, wally, but you can see why it is wrong for aspersions to be made when no one knows which of those options occurred.
I am sure you agree with me when I say that relying on guesswork in terms of attacking someone’s reputation is not acceptable.
What gets me Redders is that UEFA decided not to hear Fener’s appeal till Aug 28.
Total idiocy.
Bit like our transfer policy.
LB
I was using Higuain as an example, admittedly probably not the best one, but my point still stands, Wenger isn’t the only person involved in a transfer deal and obviously not all that do not happen are the fault of Arsenal, but the ones that are, responsibilty has to be shared between Wenger, Dick Law and Gazidis.
Chary,
I’m not sure I understand this comment.
“Turning to Wednesday, surely no one is hoping Fener get thrown out of the CL by their appeal as UEFA will simply reinstate Salzburg in their place, the team Fener beat in the previous round”
……………………………………………………………………………
If Arsenal win the qualifier then regardless of the outcome of the hearing Arsenal should go through. But if Arsenal lose how could Salzburg be reinstated above Arsenal – surely Arsenal should go through or in the worst instance they should play another qualifier against Salzburg.
I’d say it hinges on the definition of guesswork doesn’t it. And one’s reputation is based on all of one’s history, not just a portion of it.
And now we’re on to Cabaye? How long has he been out there? Plan J?
CharyB,
I think you will find it is the Court of Arbitration in Sport , an independent international judicial body who are ruling on the UEFA v Fenerbahce dispute.
CAS set their own dates in these matters, but you are right — it is absolutely daft.
They have already ruled against another Turkish club who were accused of corruption, and who would have been next in line if Fen were ruled out of the CL qualifiers.
The bunch of them are pathetic!
You are a hard man to shake, wally.
Definition of ‘guesswork’:- The process or results of guessing!
Seems straightforward.
perhaps we should do away with the Courts of Law and just go with guesswork. Yup – he looks guilty, so I guess he is. Really? 🙂
GN5 – I mean if Fener win the tie and they subsequently go through but then lose their appeal would UEFA reinstate Salzburg ?
What I meant was we shouldn’t rely on a decision by a bunch of plonkers in Nyon to save our CL season, we should assume we need to win the tie and not rely on any help from UEFA officials.
Having typed that Redders tells me it’s not UEFA who will decide anyway – but a different bunch of plonkers.
Confused, you bet you !
Under the circumstances, id prefer to play a delayed tie against Salzburg than travel to a poisinous atmosphere in Turkey.
Rocky, thank you.
Hi Chary, i believe Metalist Kharkiv copped a ban. Who took their place, or re-instated? Was it Paok from Greece?
Prince, yeah, PAOK got re instated and are due to play Schalke in their play off tie, it’s why I thought Salzburg might get back in place of the Turks.
If your definition of guesswork is anything other than deductive reasoning then we’ll agree to disagree.
Looking at our board, we can do with a couple of additionals, after Sir Chips Keswick stepped up as Chairman.
Arsenal board:
Chairman: – Sir Chips Keswick
CEO: – Ivan Gazidis
Non-executive Directors:
– Lord Philip Harris of Peckham
– Ken Friar OBE
– Stan Kroenke (also the majority shareholder)
I suggest inviting heavyweight representatives from our shirt sponsor(Emirates) and the future incoming kit manufacture sponsor(PUMA SE):
(1) Tim Clark, British, President of Emirates(airline) and the Chairman of the Emirates Foundation. He is an economics graduate from the University of London and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
(2) Jochen Zeitz, German, CEO of *Kering’s Sport & Lifestyle division, overseeing PUMA SE.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jochen_Zeitz
(3) Björn Gulden, Norwegian, new CEO of PUMA SE. The former football professional who played among others for German Bundesliga club 1. FC Nurnberg studied Business Administration in Norway and obtained an MBA from Babson Graduate School of Business in Boston. Fluent in Norwegian, English and German, he will be based at PUMA’s headquarters in Herzogenaurach, Germany.
*Kering – Since 2007, Puma SE has been part of Kering – a French multinational holding company which develops a worldwide brand portfolio (luxury, sport & lifestyle divisions and retail brands)
PUMA SE sponsors clubs:
Borussia Dortmund, VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga; Newcastle and Cardiff City in the EPL; Bordeuax, Rennes in Ligue 1; Feyenoord in Eredivisie; Sporting Lisbon in Primeira Liga; Espanyol in La Liga.
National teams: Italy, Czech Republic, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Senegal, Uruguay
Emirates sponsors clubs:
Arsenal, PSG, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Hamburger SV
just spoken to someone who was at the game, a keen home and away supporter – he said the atmosphere at the game was poisonous and if I was considering going to a game in the near future he said not to bother,
Hmmm.
Also does anyone else think that the end of Fans Forum on Arse.com was due to too many negative/contentious callers phoning in so they replaced it with “The Clock End” ?
Also also, does anyone wonder if Aresenal’s cash situation is offsetting the debt of KSE(Kroenke Sports Enterprises) ?
Chary,
And they expect good results??
Listening to the Crystal Palace crowd was a joy to behold………….
Well Palace have been out of the Prem for 6 seasons so you’d expect them to be up for it first game of the season, GN5.
Wally,
Your disagreement is not with me, thank goodness. 🙂
I am just an old fashioned kind of guy, so I have to admit that I bow the knee in such matters to the dictat of the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) or more so in the past, the Merriam Webster, American English Dictionary.
So their definition of ‘guesswork’ is what I guess I will have to stick with. -:)
Your way seems more fun — make it up as you go along, and to hell with dictionaries. I bet you win a lot of arguments! 😀
Good chatting with you.
So now apparently we’ve bid for Cabaye. An underwhelming signing if it’s our only one in midfield, and will no doubt be seen as reactive. I hope it is. But not to the calls to spend money, rather perhaps a reaction to Ox’s injury, and that our prime midfield target whoevr that might be is still on the agenda. Very unlike Arsenal to sign a replacement for an injured player, I know, but this summer has been strange anyway. Ox was seemingly Gervinho’s replacement.
JM,
They commonly have sponsors representatives sitting on the boards of German football clubs – including Bayern.
Apart from reinforcing the industry norms of best practice corporate governance, it gives the sponsors a sense of ownership, in the meaning of ‘belonging’ to the club.
I am with you on this, and suggested on a blog (can’t remember which one now), that it might be a model of administrative oversight management worth copying.
Not sure that it would be acceptable to many of the owners of EPL clubs.
chary
The Clock End also has phone ins.
Shard, any talk of bids is total BOLLOCKS Shard, just hacks making up crap to fill inches – Arsenal need a midfielder – who’s french in the Prem ? Cabaye – let’s create a spurious link, I bet LB’s last item of clothing the Cabaye link is total horse shit.
I didn’t know the Clock End had a phonre in, I only looked at the link on arse.com where it said it had in depth analysis with a studio guest. So what’s changed from the Fans Forum to the Clock end ?
chary,
It probably is bollocks. I was merely reflecting on the possibility.
You know what Shard, do you get the feeling Wenger is hacked off with Gazidis for puitting pressure on him to spend and Wenger’s intransigence in buying anyone is his middle finger salute to Ivan ?
oh sorry chary. Missed your question about the details of the show. I didn’t watch the show in its entirety. I did watch the ‘highlights’ of it. From what I can tell, not much is different between Fans Forum and The Clock End in terms of content.
If you are correct as to the motive for attempting to sign Cabaye, Shard, then it might have been better to bid for Ben Arfa.
I will glady admit I was disappointed when having agreed to buy him 4 years ago, AW changed his mind and bought Nasri instead.
Mistake!
Glady is my tea lady and I meant gladly — obviously! 🙂
chary
We’re talking at cross wires here 🙂
I’m not sure about anything. I’m not even sure that Gazidis’ statement was meant to put pressure on Wenger to spend. It doesn’t make sense to me that Wenger would refuse to spend on principle. It makes even less sense that he would be sabotaging the club. That might fit neatly into explaining what is happening at Arsenal, but it seems highly improbable to me.
The only possible conflict that I had thought of being possible (as regards spending and purchases) was that Wenger wants the players he wants, while the board want to make a statement with their signing. The two don’t always go together.
I think I just added another question about the Gazidis/Wenger conflict/non-conflict. I should really have separated that extra question.
I believe most on here are utterly baffled by what has transpired this summer hence the resulting aggro as we try to fill in the gaps.
What is apparent is the rest of the Premier League is currently laughing at us and we are the class dunces at the moment.
Shucks, roll on the 2014-15 season !
chary
He who laughs last 🙂 Maybe ‘last’ will be the end of the 2014-15 season that you are already looking forward to. Who knows? 🙂
Maybe Shard, I don’t know why I’m writing off this season already, that’s mentallist talk. 😦
Good day all and thanks for the comments.
I am not immune to the frustrations and anxieties and doubts about our club and how we have handled the summer’s business.
A part of me could just as easily have written a very different Post today along the lines that the club’s senior management should be embarrassed and ashamed of themselves.
But I also think that so far all that has happened is that we have lost one game, in large part due to terrible (possibly biased) officiating.
Should we have got in our new signings before the start of the season? Yes, of course. In an ideal world we would have done and perhaps should have done.
But there is still time to get good players in and I am not prepared to throw in the towel just yet.
Chary, you got he last word in there! 🙂
I certainly don’t at home Norfolk – the ole ball ‘n chain sees to that, ha ha.
A bad day at the office accentuated by incompetent refereeing, is followed as surely as the spuds always finish below the Arse, by a media endorsed cacophony of negative sound bites. A purpose built platform for the disillusioned dreamers among our fan base to use to leap aboard the good ship Arsenal and attack her captain and crew for dereliction of duty.
Dereliction of duty would have seen us languishing in the relegation regions of the premiership years ago, funnily that has not happened. Neither have we won anything you cry!! true, accept perhaps over that time a lot of the very fans who now decry after one game and before the transfer window closes the ambition quality and goals of our famous club.
Perhaps Kelsey does have some inside knowledge, he certainly has a track record that demands he be listened too. I have no such knowledge, but what I do have is respect for the AA.rs who have kept this blog going in the face of constant criticism and negative insults from people who should know better. To see that any one of our most knowledgeable and regular bloggers are disenchanted enough to withdraw himself from the discussion because of the intensity of the argument after one game should serve as a warning to us all, that the good ship Arsenal is why we are all here and should this mutiny get out of hand, we could all find ourselves drifting in the manner of a Newcastle or a West ham,to a place this glorious club has never been.
Thanks for a super post Rocky
The thing is Mr Rock, leaving it this late means everyone will raise their prices now they realise how desperate we are. It’s not good business to do that – it’s shockingly bad, and negligent, business.
Ok Rocky, at which point would you throw in the towel?
Evonne, when all the sunbeds have been taken by the Germans! 🙂
Chary
Maybe and maybe not. It depends on how many targets we have. If, for example, we have two different CB targets then we are able to play off the selling clubs against each other.
evonne
About five minutes after I get out of the bath 🙂
NG 🙂
Why ‘male’ questions are being answered with all the seriousness and everybody is laughing at me?
Rocky – do not start me with the theme of you 5 mins after the bath, it could get dirty 🙂
We’re laughing with you Evonne, not at you 😀
RL Fine reasoned post.
I have to admit to being down-hearted by Saturday. Our goal was the only highpoint.
Mugabe lockdown seems the only way forward at present as AFC are subjected to another media witch hunt.
As you say, there are over 100 points to play for. We won’t win the all but I can guarantee we will win most of them
Well said, DanDan, 🙂
It can be really difficult on all the blogs to try and reason with people and express a perfectly innocuous contrary opinion that does not chime with the angry tide of abuse.
The usual reaction is one of ridicule and senseless unthinking personal abuse.
And yet the impassioned attacks on the club are understandable, if not justifiable, because it is the age we now live in.
Instant gratification is a must, measured thinking and empathy with the problems faced by a club like Arsenal just does not enter the equation.
I do not speak with any superior knowledge – I do not have any.
I do not feel I am a better fan than the dissenters — I am not.
I do not slavishly and unthinkingly support the club hierarchy and the manager – I reject that, but I do try to give them the benefit of any doubt.
I am not immune to doubts and concerns over certain decisions and actions or inactions in the transfer window — of course I have them.
I do not think all our ducks are swans — some players make me think we could do better.
But what I am, and many like me are too, is a simple soul who supports his club and his team and wants only the best for them — and I do not feel constant criticism based on little knowledge helps to achieve that end.
Holy Joe? No, I am well aware of my personal weaknesses, but my family, my club and my friends can count on me, despite those failings.
DD. 4.16 I just wrote a similar comment but threw it away!
As usual, you and Gn5 bring reason to the discussions. Proof that with consideration, maturity brings wisdom.
So, are you coming back to apologise to us all for your Post then, Rockadillo?
“But what I am, and many like me are too, is a simple soul who supports his club and his team and wants only the best for them — and I do not feel constant criticism based on little knowledge helps to achieve that end”
Exactly.
Nothing wrong with discussing how the club can improve but there has to be some element of positivity otherwise where is the fun of supporting “the greatest football club the world has ever seen”?
I don’t go for the ‘lock-down’ Big Raddish, the more critical the comments, the more people like us need to stand firm against them.
Sport is what it is, and I always watch the Paralympics with a sense of inadequacy at the bravery of the athletes in overcoming their disabilities. Now they have reason to complain at the hand fate has dealt them — but do they? No.
Losing a game of football here and there is nothing by comparison — though it does hurt! 🙂
Damn. Reading back my comments I sound like the Vicar of Twittley, and I am not even religious! 😳 Sorry!
RA. We are singing off the same hymn sheet 🙂
Crispen……thank you for the patronising comment. I noticed you did not come up with anything based on truth or knowledge yourself. I assume that you are very young and know little of the Gunners history….well my boy you can learn a lot from studying the past. Everything I said was based on fact no phobias listed. My case is simple……….until AW has a world class defensive coach who can also help search for great and potentially great defenders, AFC will suffer the same problems we have for 8 years.Aw himself inherited the finest defence in Europe and added the missing flair in midfield. We already had the forwards and defence so Viera & Petit were the missing links. Since then Aw has provided us with only one back four of note ie; the Invincibles and look how soon they were gone! It would be interesting to read your ‘ideas’ re AFC problems too!
If you are around, CharyB, the Mail have come out with a definitive comment on the Fenerbahce court hearing.
— Fenerbahce’s hearing to decide if their two-year ban from European competitions is upheld will take place on the same day they play against Arsenal in the Champions League play-off.
Turkish sides Fenerbahce and Besiktas, who were (both) found guilty of match fixing, have taken UEFA’s judgement to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
In a statement on CAS’s website, it said: ‘The hearing in the case of Beşiktaş JK will be held on 20 August 2013 and the hearing in the case of Fenerbahce SK will be held on 21 & 22 August 2013 in Lausanne.
‘In accordance with the usual CAS practice, the cases will be heard by the CAS arbitrators, in private, in the presence of the representatives of the organisations involved and their legal teams.
‘The CAS expects to issue its decisions on 28 August 2013 (Fenerbahçe) and on 30 August 2013 (Besiktas).’
When the draw was made a UEFA spokesman admitted to the Mail that they have yet to decide what happens if Fenerbahce win and are then kicked out of the Champions League.
The second leg against Arsenal will take place on Tuesday 27 August, a day before any definitive decision will be made.
We just need to beat them and take it out of the hands of UEFA.
Heloooooooo, anyone out there?
Can youuuu hear meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?
Rockyyyyyyyyyy, where the flip are yoooooooooooooo?
Bollix!!
Superb comment Dandan.
KELSEY. Somewhat late with my response to you but you have over reacted! Where did I ever mention your name? I did not? I was merely making a general statement and nothing more but your response only confirms my comment, some folks on here do over react and do not seem to take kindly if someone challenges them although I assure you that was not my intent at all. Clearly it was for all to see, nothing more than a general comment. I have no idea nor do I want to, of your personal life but you did comment you were stressed. Take my advise and do not take things so personal.
Guys – if this doesn’t cheer ye up somewhat 😆
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90TUbQixtsA#at=80
I thought it was sad days at Arsenal.
@Irish, that clip has to be the saddest thing ever seen in football. Im crying from laughter 😆
Prince – I can’t …. breathe …. it’s hilarious.
“Top 4’s our everything”
“Ledley’s knee will survive”
😆 – Cheered me up and most of the Gooners on Twitter
Irish, 😀
Thank you, I think! Soooooo sad.
I have got to meet you at the Tavern, you are a gem and torment my waking moments — when Rocky refuses to come out and play!! 😀
Oh, OK, so I was rude about his rotten Post — but he did run off when it came to buying his round in Molly’s Pub on 3rd Avenue, NY, and she is my Aunt!!
Ugh – what an ugly lot you get in N17
I’m here Redders 😀
What’s up?
One of the things that gives me most hope for the season ahead is that the Spudders are already out declaring how “this time” they’re going to finish above us.
I’ve never known them start after one game before, but I love to hear it. It just reminds me how wrong they have been for year after year after year.
You’re welcome RA 🙂
Just when you thought nothing could cheer you up you see the Spuds doing something ridiculous 😆
ahh sweet jebus that’s hilarious
Typical, Rocky, just as I have to go get my medicaments you turn up to chat with me.
Doesn’t stop my Aunt Molly from wanting you to do the decent thing — you did promise her!! 😀
Redders, I did notice that your aunt Molly seemed to have hairy hands and quite a lot of facial stubble, as well as a pronounced adam’s apple.
Are you sure everything is as it ought to be in your family?
My Aunt Molly has definite Irish extractions. Listen to this. She wrote to me a while ago!!
Dear (Mind your own business), 🙂
Several days ago as I left a meeting I desperately gave myself a personal search. I was looking for my keys.
They were not in my pockets. A quick search in the meeting room revealed nothing.
Suddenly I realised I must have left them in the car. Frantically, I headed for the car park.
George, (her current boyfriend) has scolded me many times for leaving the keys in the ignition.
My theory is the ignition is the best place not to lose them. His theory is that the car will be stolen.
As I scanned the car park I came to a terrifying conclusion! His theory was right. The car park was empty.
I immediately called the NYPD. I gave them my location, confessed that I had left my keys in the car, and that it had been stolen.
Then I made the most difficult call of all.
“Hello My Love”, I stammered; I always call him “My Love” in times like these. “I left my keys in the car, and it has been stolen.”
There was a period of silence. I thought the call had disconnected, but then I heard his voice. He barked, “I dropped you off!”
Now it was my time to be silent. Embarrassed, I said, “Well, come and get me.”
He retorted, “I will, as soon as I convince this f*ckin policeman I have not stolen your bloody car.
Aunts eh? But she loves Rocky, the runner!! 🙂
……….”AVB works i-in mysterious ways”…..oooh yeah
It gets annoyingly catchy, like those songs you cant get out of your head. eg start singing ‘Monday, monday’ by the bangles on a Friday arvo at work. Within 5min people will subconsiously humming it. hahaha
If only I had the time to explain, Rocky! 🙂
In fairness Redders, she was also wearing a very short skirt.
I remember thinking at the time: “That shows some balls!”
Recently over the various blogs people have been critical of the clubs or Wenger’s inability to attract Gustavo from Bayern. I was recently in Berlin and there was an article in the sports section of the Berliner Morgenpost that Gustavo decided on VFL Wolfsberg as they could guarantee him first team football and that was the deciding factor based on the upcoming WC. I feel that is a bit of a kop out for a player like Gustavo and he merely took the easy route. On another note if we have bid an excess of 40 mil for Suarez and that is a dead end why not make an equal type bid for Lewandowski (spelling) at Dortmund? He has not signed for Bayern and Dortmunds BOD made the statement they would not sell to a rival Bundesliga club this season. For the right price maybe it would be worth a shot.
No worries Janman 🙂
Call me old fashioned
But I reckon that Lowandowski has crossed Arsene Wenger’s mind.
Would be great if it happened though.
Rocky, 🙂
Irish 🙂 🙂 🙂 he he he he ….. OMG, what muppets
Kelsey. Thank you. Again I was not aiming anything at you, I generalizing. I have found the majority of your posts to be most interesting and you stick to your guns with your views. Cheers.
LB – I think you were off sick (are you better now?) when I posted a comment about Lewandowski. He went to press and slaughtered his club for not keeping their promise of a payrise, saying that he is the lowest paid member of the team, bla bla bla…. If that was not a transfer request then I don’t know what is
evonne. We have previously discussed Lewandowski. Do you know how long he has left on his contract or what Bayern bid for him earlier in the summer? I am sure it was less than 40 + million?
Evonne, he got his pay rise a few days ago. I cant believe they gave it to him even after he stated that Munich was his only destination.
Top striker though
I am off to read Dandan’s comment….
Found it! Yes, an excellent blog, thank you Dandan
JanMan and Paprika ( 🙂 ) – you are both right. I was just informing LB that the time to pounce on Lewandowski has passed; AW was clearly not interested
I just heard Martin Tyler say that Cabaye was due to start for the bar codes against Shitty until learning of a 10mil bid from Arsenal in which case he was left out of the squad.
I believe he is our next signing and the 1 signing that can be nominated for our CL team. Very important position for us, however i dont believe he is Arsenes’ first choice, but that is not to say that he would be a bad purchase or panic buy. Not my 1st choice either but far from being a bad signing.
Back to square on we are now after some average Newcastle player.
Same old story Arsen he’s not got enough
Sheep
We are a laffing stock
International player, definitely above average. Maybe a little weak physically.
Sheep, he cant be below average if PSG and Shitty were after him before the latter went for Fernandinho
So the press say pal.
Another average player unlike Rooney or Suarez
I was surprised we didn’t sign Cabaye first time around. He has everything AW likes … Vision, skill and a bit of bite. Hope we get him.
Once again Pardew makes a tool of himself. Why shouldn’t AFC make a bid ….. It is the transfer window!
MC looking frighteningly good. My bet for the title.
Here’s that spud vid again for those that haven’t seen it. (the version above has been taken down)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTlOKpSrK3Y
😆 😆 😆
Nope, its still the saddest thing i have ever seen.
What a bunch of knobs ….
Cabaye fits in to the side in a similar fashion to Arteta. Good range of passing and can break up play. Would’ve ideally had Gundogan but can’t see that happening.
A cheeky bid for Yanga-Mbiwa might be worth a try too. Seems to be able to play across the back 4.
Anyone think this World Cup is proving a hinderence for signing players? Wenger usually goes for cheaper players he can improve, most of which would not be guaranteed first team action at Arsenal. We’ve already seen it with Gustavo.
Does anyone know if there is a deadline for a player to be registered for Wednesday’s CL game? I would imagine it is already to late?
Personally I would think Cabaye is a good addition but at this stage of the game we cannot mess around with silly bids, we have to go with the market price whether we like it or not.
Janman. No idea about C L.
You are right that we should pay market price but does that mean an automatic acceptance of the selling clubs valuation?
oh no, I cannot really take it – can anybody listen to Jaimie Carragher for more than 1 minute??
Now gorgeous Gary is a different ball game 🙂
Shitty…..not good for us
I would say Cabaye is worth £15m tops, especially after a poor season last year when he had lots of injuries. Don’t have a problem with us starting the bidding at £10m.
I do have an issue with Pardew though. How can he say its unacceptable behaviour to bid before a game if Arsenal didn’t make the bid public!? Tosser!
Big Raddy, Good point but at the end of the day and considering the circumstances what is the choice? If Wenger wants a player this late in the game we have to suffer the consequences. It is just so disappointing that we have not completed our business earlier, then we would not face the possibility of paying blackmail style prices. As it is now, after the 40+ bid for Suarez everyone knows we have money and now they all now how desperate we are to strengthen the squad.
Janman. True.
Rockylives, thank you for your common sense post.
The mass hysteria that has broken out amongst the gooner ranks is amazing to see.
That so many people cannot see that Saturday’s result was a freak one, is sad.
They seem to be so keen to critisize, that thaey cannot se the wood for the trees.
AW and his team of merry men are not popping into the sweet shop for a bar of chocolate.
Whilst other teams are quick to buy and frequently end up with rubbish, we, on the other hand are not so precipitous. It may simply be that there is not enough acceptable talent out there.
The scum spend millions every window wihtout fail and yet are still below us when the season ends.
Yes, saturday was bad nd even embarrassing, but ti was not the end of the world and, certainly, had nothing to do with transfers.
As AW correctly said, the team that were on the pitch could and should have won that game.
Isn’t Cabaye an attacking midfielder? Don’t we already have cover for that position in the form of Rosicky, Cazorla and even Wilshere for those who still think that he will develop into a number 10?
I don’t have a problem with losing one game but the lack of transfer activity plus loaning out essential players without getting replacements worries me. How can we start the season with just 3 CBs???
Also our usual injury line up has started up again. Is it inept medical staff, bad training,pure bad luck or bad equipment [boots] but we always seem to have more issues with injuries than other teams.
We NEED a big squad as Diaby, Rosicky, Gibbs, Vermaelen and Wiltshire have all rarely had an injury free season.
LB
Cabaye is a versatile player, but I’d say he’s an Arteta type DM. He can also play at AM (as can Arteta), which might help with Cazorla going wide to cover for the Ox’s injury. Although I would prefer we buy another player to play DM and use Cabaye at AM, if indeed the Ox’s injury has anything to do with it.
It’s sort of funny that Pardew tries to imitate Brenda Rodgers by talking about Arsenal being disrespectful when all Arsenal have done is bid, and the fat man at the top tries to imitate John Henry by (apparently) making a ‘witty’ comeback to a business proposition. Seems like the news report about the bid weren’t bollocks after all.
Our transfers should all be done by july 31, this is ludicrous..
neamman
Ever think why Wenger keeps insisting that the transfer window should end before the season starts? Because he’d like to have the deals done, and all the squads decided before the first kickoff. The fact that the transfer window extends into the season, means that it will be used to prolong negotiations. Arsenal can either buckle and agree to whatever demands are made, walk away after their self imposed deadline passes, or continue negotiations till the real deadline.
arsenal have been in negotiations and resisting demands? With whom praytell?
Morning, anyone up?
Morning Peaches.
Hi vcc, how are you? Are you up early or not gone to bed yet?
I’m awake thinking about poor Alex The Ox 😦
Not good being a Gooner at the moment. All this speculation on the transfer market is tedious.
History repeating itself. Fans should wake up and smell the roses. It’s the BoD and Wenger conning us all again. Same old , same old story.
They are laughing all the way to the bank, while we argue amongst ourselves over the same subject.
He will panic buy now, and get the dregs that is left.
That’s another story Peaches about injured players. Yes poor Ox.
One time we had the cream = Fred Street…..Gary Lewin. …now we couldnt keep a snail fit.
Something wrong internally. I hope it all comes out in someone’s biography one day.
Keep smiling. Have a nice day, it’s going to be sunny in London Town. XXX
Well something is going horribly wrong but we need to get behind those young men that pull our shirt on don’t we? Both the AST and the Black Scarf Brigade have publicly stated their disapproval of the goings on and meanwhile we need to put a team out tomorrow night.
Thanks vcc, have a good day yourself.
Morning chas – have you changed your allegiance 😉
I’ll see your scum video and raise you a more cheerful one
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=feyM3Krqk5o
Oh no why hasn’t it opened? I’m doing it on the iPad, can’t see how to share it 😦 I’ll try again
Morning all
I have given this transfer window more thought and 2 + 2 = 5. Someone is not telling the truth or we are being misled.
Maybe Kroenke is not making any demands except to finish forth and anything else would be a bonus.
If that is the case we know the top 3 can blow us out of the water in money terms but only one of them can win the title.
I wonder if the bid for Suarez was a red herring and if not and we were to have got him it doesn’t solve everything.
it is difficult going over all the theories time and time again but to me is Wenger saying that any player we target there is an absolute maximum we will bid and if not accepted he won’t budge or is Gazidis either agreeing with him or privately thinking we should bid more. Laws is responsible for all transfer negotiations,but we never hear from him
Is this sudden under value bid in todays market for Cabaye a knee jerk response to show we are still trying to strengthen the squad but quite frankly he is no better than what we have already got.
I look back at the game on Saturday and there are 3 players in the current squad that concern me.
Szsney is not ready to be automatic number one,he has these made rushes to the head as shown in the Euros, at Spurs and again last weekend though I noticed he hardly kicked a ball away but chose to roll the ball out to start an attack.
Wilshere is not anyehere like 100% fit nearing the red light zone and at 21 it’s abig ask.to be the conductor. Cesc had a better intro as he had older and better players around him as he was slowly introduced to the team.
Walcott I know improved last season in goals and assists but just when we needed him he went missing for large parts of the game,something he frequently does,so when people say our first team can beat anyone on their day,they are probably right but again it is never consistent and against the other top clubs we rarely come away with a win these past two seasons.
it’s a combination of not being motivated enough (points finger at coaches and AW) not enough quality in the side and not being clinical in scoring when it really matters.
I must mention Kos as well.He had an outstanding season and regardless of what happened with the penalty he should not have allowed himself to be yellow carded a few minutes later and subsequently sent off. he has done this on several occasions and now is third in players red carded under Wenger behind Viera and Keown and who is going to protect mertesacker in the next two games.
I have mentioned several times the window should close a week before the season starts and la Liga now starts the same time as us,which wasn’t always the case.
Is this true?
“Referee Anthony Taylor has been dropped by the FA for this weekends Premier League fixtures after his horror show at the Emirates on Saturday”
evonne
‘Dropped’ is harsh. He’s simply being rested so that he can prepare for his next big game and put in the same sort of man of the match performance he did on Saturday.
James Olley @JamesOlley
Some good news for #afc. Gibbs, Ramsey & Rosicky expected to be fit to travel to Fenerbahce tomorrow. Sagna doubtful, still being monitored.
11:33 AM – 19 Aug 2013
539 RETWEETS
Morning AA,
This season we finally, FINALLY got goal line technology in ‘Hawkeye’. Who knows, in 10 seasons time they might introduce a match review panel.
Football is SO ahead of its time. 🙄
Its true Evonne. Hardly a slap on the wrist when considering that teams get relegated or lose titles due to mickey mouse refereeing.
And by the way, the FA doesn’t drop or select referees. The PGMOL headed by Mike Riley do that
And also by the way…..Good morning 🙂
don’t Shard, this is not a laughing matter. That d***head should be put to rest permanently. Nothing else would satisfy me
Good Morning, 🙂
Everyone waiting on tenterhooks to see who insults us next?
How terrible that we should have bid for a Toon player and caused them to lose 0:4. Of course Pardew never bids for players, does he.
They are all jumping on the band wagon and some other managers that AW has upset previously will want to get their own back.
evonne
I agree. But the fact that he won’t be, should lead to questions beyond individual referees and their performances.
Hi Prince, 🙂
Mind you, UEFA and that good old guy Platini will not let Hawkeye be used in CL games. Far too dangerous.
Dear oh dear!
Last word, again, Shard? 🙂
Hi Vicar of Twittley 😀
No need for that. Platini has 6 referees on his payroll who sit just behind each goal 🙄
:X
Morning Shard and Paprika 🙂
I have listened to some Fenerbahce team news. They are saying that this is the most important game of their careers. Last year they reached semi-finals of the EUFA cup, grrrrhhhhhh……
oops..that didn’t work.. I meant 😡
I forgot about Meireles playing in Turkey. Havnt seen that peacock since he started ‘malting’ hahaha
on a positive note – we, the Arsenal family look stupid going to a new season with paper thin squad.
But think about the media, how pathetic their reliable information was. According to them with have signed at least 12 players 🙂
Morning all, a day off does the mind some good.
Can anyone tell me how Ox got injured, was it a foul or just an unfortunate tackle. Spoke to my old man yesterday who said it looked a nasty one, but I’m not sure if he meant tackle or fall and didnt really get time to discuss.
i like Meireles
GiE, if you can remember the 50/50 that Ox went into on the right flank where both players missed the ball (just before half time)? That is when his knee got collected.
The foul was given against the villain, but the call could have gone either way. Need i remind that the ref got his credentials from a cereal box
GIE
Did you not see the match? (Genuine question, no sarcasm)
It happened just before half time, Ox running down the touchline and runs the ball too far ahead, and slides to recover it (was never going to reach it), and the Villa player comes from the side, reacts to Ox’s slide with a slide of his own (pretty much ignoring the ball) and both collide. Ox had his knees up near his stomach to protect himself, and connected with the Villa player’s stomach. More painful for the Villa guy, but an impact like that can open up the knee.
I thought he was ok after it, and didn’t think much of it, but I can’t remember any other incident, so it must have happened then.
Prince Paprika
The foul in Arsenal’s favour was given by the linesman. Not the referee. He just didn’t overrule the linesman.
Mi dispiace Shard. You are correct.
Morning GIE
The Ox incident happened right in front of me. We had a very good break on the right, the Villa player had to stop him, the ball was pushed at speed by the Ox around the half way mark, the villa player slide across, taking the ball and the player. Nasty is too strong, bad would be better choice, I don’t believe that the Villa player meant to hurt the Ox, it could possibly be argued that the Ox followed through trying to hurt the Villa player and while doing so got hurt himself.
It should have just been a free kick, yellow to the Villa player and everyone get on with the game.
Shard – did you not read GiE’s match report? A genuine question, not a sarcasm 🙂 He is a father before he is a Gooner
I thought he was a Gooner before he became a father, Evonne 😉
He was a Gooner before he became a father.
But now he is a father before he is a Gooner, ie changes nappies before sitting down to watch a game.
I think Shard’s account describes the incident well.
I am to become a grandmother soon. And when Peaches will go to the Emirates to watch a game, I will be at home looking after our new Gooner girl Tilly
Morning Shard
I think your line that the ball ran ahead of the Ox is key, because of this the blame could never be levelled 100% at the Villa player.
Congratulations Evonne.
And welcome to the world, Tilly.
evonne
Hahaha.. what a stupid question it was to ask. Of course. GIE’s match report. I must be getting old.
Congratulations evonne.
Thank you LB, I cannot wait 🙂
We were told that we are not allowed to inflict the Arsenal madness on the child, especially if it’s a girl, but Peaches says we will ignore the orders 🙂 We must buy a junior Gunner membership for her 🙂
thanks Shard 🙂
Morning again thanks for the clarification, as Evonne says I had parenting duties between 10-45 minutes do had half an eye on a small screen on my laptop.
The problem with our delayed transfer activity, is that someone like Cabaye who was bought for approx £6m a couple of seasons ago, by Newcastle is now ‘available’ at £20m apparently.
Does not set my sensory buds aquiver. So too with Mich, a one season wonder, I suspect, bought by Swansea for £2m now they want £25m – ridiculous and not for me. Then there is Ashley Williams who was made to look an overweight plodder by RvP is valued not at £6m but £14m.
There’s a trend there don’t you think?
So, Cabaye = £20m
Michu = £25m
Williams = £14m
Total = £59m (and I don’t rate any of them).
Hi Evonne, 🙂
I am slightly confused.
Are you to soon become a grandmother, or has the child been born already? Congratulations either way!! 😀
RA
Our problem now is similar to the one ManCity faced a few years ago. They weren’t fashionable, so they had to pay 25m for Adebayor, 18m for Roque Santa Cruz, God knows how much for Wayne Bridge. They had to walk before they could run, and they had to do it by paying over the odds. (how many sayings can you put in a sentence)
No doubt Arsenal will cop the flak for not being fashionable (nobody wants to join us!!!), and perhaps they should have paid more attention to that aspect, but the perception of Arsenal is not really their fault. And like you said yesterday, constantly criticising the club without clear reason, is likely to harm their cause further.
True, Shard, and the clubs know they have us by the ghoulies too.
Back to a point I raised recently, that for a slick, professional, classy club we have made an amateurish attempt to spend ‘big’ money on quality players this summer.
Still time to go, but I would rather we went without rather than buy players who are 2 or 3 notches from the top rung.
Not a popular view, probably, but if we had walked away from the Suarez attempt that was clearly failing, as I said some weeks ago, we would not be having this conversation now.
I’m surprised to see some seasoned bloggers (not just here, everywhere) had finally let the media influenced they way they think about Arsenal.
I’m not targeting anyone in particular but i’m still smiling whenever I saw somebody wrote we should get this player, Gustavo, this player, Higuain, bla, bla, bla. I still remember not long ago that the fans were craving out for Samba and Scott Parker.
Do we need a player? of course, but the only first team player that we need to buy is a striker that have a different playing style with Giroud. Other than that we only need a BACK UP player, in midfield, in defence, and if Wenger can get a winger that would be nice too.
Wenger’s history on buying a back up player is not that good. Maybe he just want to make it absolutely right this time around. Because in each of his three league titles he won it with a stable squad and a super QUALITY addition.
And the feeling around the club after the first game is absolutely shocking. I’m absolutely concern about the player on the pitch more than the player the fans want to buy. If you ever played in a football game where your teammates were kick around and there was clearly a bias to another team from the referee you will know the feeling. To suppress you anger from exploding and to restrain yourself from knocking out the referee is absolute difficult. I know they are professional, but they are human after all.
I hope the team can get through this and still fighting for everything even though everyone including their own fans don’t believe they can. I do.
RA – soon, less than 3 months to go 🙂
The maternal grandfather thought that the imminent birth might be inconvenient for me, half way through the football season, he is a very funny guy 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feyM3Krqk5o
Rob
Stop being such “a head in the sand positive” you should be running around screaming — the sky is falling in, the sky is falling in.
And that’s enough positive clips from you as well Chas, can’t you find something that shows how you have been telling us for years that there is something wrong with the club.
COYRRG
LB, 🙂
Sorry I couldn’t reply that with another joke because I didn’t know what sounds funny to you guys. 🙂
and yep, thats too much smiley for a short comment.
Metallica will have a concert in my country next week. Maybe some Metaliica clip chas?
LB you do make me smile 😀
that’s what the spudz mascot says every year, Chas. 🙂
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