Amazing how a win over AIOS (always in our shadow) and a big signing has changed the atmosphere around the club. Suddenly we have “potential” And BR is not one to be a party -pooper, or even a pooper-scooper (I resigned from that task when I moved to this fair land).
So how to continue in this positive vein. Shall I write about the way Mr Wenger has shoved it up the journalists who were so damning during the summer.? Or should I write about the plums who have spent hours writing about how the club is doomed on most AFC websites have suddenly disappeared? (whisper it, but even our troll has gone quiet). Or about how the noisy neighbours are once more reduced to talking about how they “will” rise to the top once the team is bedded in – like every season for 18 years?
Perhaps this should be a Le Grove-type post – an article about how Mr Wenger is extraordinarily mean with his money? Or how he benefits financially from his lack of spending? Or how he cannot close a deal? Or how AFC have no ambition? Or how Gazidis is a puppet for a man who is only interested in profit? Or how Kroenke doesn’t give a damn?
Perhaps I can write about the lack of noise in the stadium – yes, that stadium which was rocking for 96 minutes last Sunday. Or maybe a few words about how our midfield will never be able to be competitive against a group of big, strong men like Dembele, Capoue, Sandro and some other berk.
Would you like a post about how signing a midfield journeyman who bretrayed us a few years ago is a fop to the fans? Or that our mega-signing is money spent in the wrong area of the field? Or how we are desperate for back-up defensively ? Or what happens if Giroud is injured? Perhaps examine Merson’s assertion that our wins are “just papering over the cracks” – maybe he is right.
Of course, BR could write in his normal positive way, about how we have the best midfield in the country and how Ramsey is better than Gerrard. That Cazorla is better than Hazard or Mata or Silva. How the combination of Mert’s positional sense and Kos’s physicality is developing into an outstanding centreback pairing. How Walcott has become a player I never could have imagined – one with vision and genuine attacking threat.
And then there is Giroud. Half the price of Soldildo and twice the player.
So much to write ….. so little time. So I won’t 😀
Written by Big Raddy
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Or you could write that Arsenal say the same thing every season about winning the league but still won’t get near winning the thing!
Oh Gus, don’t you feel any better now that we’ve signed a worldy?
I could say that this is an excellent article.. but i do not have time. So I won’t.
or you could be like Myles Palmer over at Arsenal News Review.. completely miserable git.
On the other hand, support your team, get behind everyone, with confidence and some luck, we could end doing something good this year.
Should that not be AIOS?
Some “pundits” (Savage, and that guy at the ES, I suppose more will come, like on MOTD) are seriously upset with AW right now. He’s shown us they had no clue so they’re saying we’ll end up 5th this season.
Sour grapes. Come on, man up guys, and admit you’ll never be half the manager AW is.
Haha, BR. You tell ’em.
Soldildo. 🙂
Top post Mr anonymous author 😛
Nice to see the trolls are really boosting our hits – thanks guys.
One of the first phrases I put in room 101 was ‘papering over the cracks’ The interpretation of this could be, “OK so I haven’t been proved right but I’m so obsessed with winning a pointless argument that Arsenal’s fortunes are secondary to my over inflated ego”
Peaches is correct. Other top players will look at Arsenal differently now. We’ve paid a top price for a top player and that player chose to come to us rather than clubs that have the money but not the vision….. its bloody brilliant!
Or hang on fellas,there is premiere of a sequel going right now,its the wizard of oz season 1
Merson has nothing good to say about afc, the coke sniffing c*nt. just can’t wait to see rosicky, ramsey, Wilshere, cazorla and ozil ping ponging through premiership defences. The football we are going to witness is so exciting. Finally we are going to watch arsenal play the REAL Arsenal Way. I’m just praying though Giroud stays fit till January our whole season depends on him now, no pressure hey. So far though he’s been excellent he might not be fast but remember nor was van pussyio.
This is my most favourite post of all times.
I am off to look for some throats to shove it down to
And if I hear any of them saying ‘not won anything for 8 years’ I will punch them, lesbians or straight
I’m not happy that Madrid though their mouthpiece Marca, are trying to make it look like Ozil and Arsenal were somehow underhand in his transfer. The simple truth is that they had to sell him to make back some money on the ridiculous price paid for monkeyboy
Super stuff Raddy, thank you. How about how quiet a certain Mr Alisher Usmanov and his cronies have gone.
Just found this, would you Adam and Eve it 🙂
During the interview, Usmanov also expressed his support for Wenger, who oversaw a strong finish to the 2012/13 campaign as the team finished fourth in the Premier League to secure a Champions League qualifying play-off place.
“My point of view is that Arsene knows best,” the 59-year-old Russian added. “Of course, we as shareholders do point out some drawbacks in managing the club, in steering its way through.
“But I believe he is a great coach and he has already proven that last season.”
Ozil is a game changer.
We tried all summer to land a big fish – Suarez, Higuian, Jovetic, Rooney etc but none of them wanted to be the first mover.
Ozil has broken that ice – we will be able to compete for any striker we want in January because they will relish playing with Ozil and Santi.
They also know we have the money, the stability and the arena for top players.
But Ozil like Bergkamp (but perhaps more so) is a king maker, he will also double the value of walcott, giroud and podolski – should his assist rate continue then one or two of those is likely to double their goals return.
So a Walcott or Giroud scoring 30 goals is suddenly a 40million pound player.
This is a momumental signing – this is the powershift. I reckon we will win the CL next year.
Real Madrid have sold a thoroughbred for a one trick pony. Cynical and professional spainish defenders will work him out and limit him to occassional roy of the rovers moments.
Bale is no ronaldo he is a Steven Gerrard. Plodding generally but fearless and occassionaly exceptional in execution.
Real will not win a league with him in the team. Ronaldo will not score 40 goals..
Thank you Arsene, Thank you… my trust was starting to oxidise a little.. but this signing and all its collateral and potential has blown away my expectations.
F#*king Money Spent.
In Arsene we trust.
Nice post Big Randy
I have no desire to shove it down any ones throat, or come to think of it any were else
Arsenal will be successful because they have gone about things in the right way and in stone set the foundations of a modern super club.
Its not a question of if we have another great team, it is one of when.
The Ghosts of the Thirties are Stirring.
Before doffing my cap to Mr Raddy, I just want to say how nice it is to see the Rasper in such a positive frame of mind these days. Very feng shui.
Raddy, love the post, very elegantly done.
But there’s still plenty to see from our side yet. Like many, I’ve been a believer in this squad for a while now, their performances in 2013, built I would say on the now unbreakable partnership of Mertesacker and Koscielny, have been superb. Not necessarily awe inspiring but so mature and solid.
And now we have a new genius we hope can add the spark to bring the best out of everything we already have and perhaps also attract another bright light in January. But for all of the warm feelings of being able to shove all that crap we’ve heard back down the throats of no-mark has-beens like Paul Merson, we still need to see Ozil and the team prove it all on the pitch.
Some people (no one here) think spending big wads of cash and buying sought after players is what it’s all about. And of course, being able to show we’re not weaklings in that arena is important. But that’s all done now, I want to see it on the pitch, I want to see us battling for the top spot.
Equating signing Ozil with the signing of Dennis is interesting. In many senses, it’s accurate. But we forget just how far we’d fallen by the summer of 1995, when Dein handed newboy Bruce Rioch the present of Bergkamp and newly-returned-England-hero (now complete tool) David Platt. Our squad still had the great defence, though it would need Wenger’s magic to rejuvenate them. And it had the likes of Ian Wright and Ray Parlour. The remainder of the squad was appalling: McGoldrick, Hillier, Helder, Selley, Kiwomya etc. We were in much worse shape in 1995 than we are now, with a settled, solid squad, with some very good attacking talents already in place.
But I still want to see Ozil doing the business!
Wehey, I knew Terry would be bringing his thirty goats out to play at some point.
Nice post Raddy, and yes I agree with you, I wouldn’t talk about or even mention any of those points you just mentioned.
I too like everyone else am very excited. We could win something this year and even be title contenders this year, but I am still going to be slightly cautious about declaring that we will definitely win things and stick a time frame on it. I feel that would make me akin to a Spurs fan (this year, more than any other year, this year, we’re going to find a way……).
We may still find that we are still 1 world class player short of reaching our full potential but, as many of us have said, we now have the money and more importantly, with the acquisition of ozil, the right image that should make that signing possible.
The thirty goats are bleating.
Lets be realistic,if giroud gets injured between now and January we are up shit creek,and with only Sanogo and the best striker in the world to call upon.should have made a striker priority,don’t get me wrong Ozil is a wonderful player,but a goal scorer he isn’t.my choice would have been HIGUAIN all day,young and a fantastic strike rate,don’t know what went wrong with that deal,oh I know went for Suarez….never was coming to AFC and also a striker on loan? Are we that enept in the transfer market or was it just Ozil we were after.just papering over the cracks is true Wenger needs to wise up and get back to the days when we had the best players I.e berg,Viera,Henry,overmars.can he not see what we all see,decent first 11 but no back-up for any position
26May, good point. Do you feel, like I have, that some sections of fans would have viewed Flamini as a better signing if we had paid £15m for him rather than getting him on a free as. I think he will be important to us this year and if he had been on a 4 year contract at another club I feel it would have taken £10-£15m to prise him away.
Let Arsene get his bargains where he can still find them and then use the money saved to go big when the time is right.
GoonerB: Had we not signed Ozil, I am sure plenty of Arsenal fans would have written off Flamini in the way you suggest. But having made the signing, I think the anxiety of many tabloid-obsessed Gooners will have abated, including in how they view Flamini. Sad really, but there you go.
Dennis Seymour: You have a point about the potential for injuries, but I would turn it around: what happens if Giroud doesn’t get injured, and neither does Ozil, Cazorla or Walcott? Then we would be rocking. And luck on the injury front plays such an important part in all this. We’ve got used to having the longest queue at the sick room, but one reason our greatest side, 2001 to 2004, did so well, despite actually having a pretty thin squad, is that the first XI didn’t get injured much.
As for Higuain, he’s a very good pure striker, but he isn’t the guy who finds pockets of space, whose movement bamboozles defenders. He may be better than Giroud, but it’s close, and they are certainly very similar players, so can’t really be used in the same side. Ozil isn’t a striker, but the dynamics of the attacking unit with him will give so many new opportunities and create so many new scoring chances. Even if Giroud is injured, I do think the False 9 route means we would still be a formidable attacking proposition. And that’s without thinking about Poldi returning to the fray (he is a striker, after all), or Walcott playing up front. Or, dare I mention it?, Bendtner?…..
OK, I ruined my argument a bit there, but I think it’s one-dimensional to think only about wanting to have a like for like replacement of Giroud were he to get injured. We have options.
Dennis, I think many of us feel we have left ourselves a striker short. AW went for the one he thought was better and it didn’t come off and by then Higuain was gone. It is not an exact science getting in the right players and hindsight is such a wonderful thing. You probably thought you could have done better, but by all accounts it was the mere presence of AW that persuaded Ozil to come, and that will likely act as the catalyst for other top players to choose us over the next 2-3 years, so maybe we should be grateful that we have a manager that has that pulling power.
I can’t agree with your last statement that we have no back up for any position, which seems a bit sweeping and knee-jerk to me. I wrote a post about that 2 days ago going through the squad and looking at our choices and strength in depth in different areas of the team. maybe you could go and have a read of it then come back and comment again with a reasoned argument on the areas where we have no back up. It surely can’t be every position as you have stated.
Denis. Thanks for the comment but I cannot agree.
OG brings one game plan, the other is the Barca model where our attacking MF’s and wingers take up the goal scoring roles. We have the players …. Santi, Ramsey, Ozil, Pod, and especially Theo will score goals a plenty this season.
As to back up —- perhaps you have been influenced by the media narrative. Name me a position outside of centre forward (see above) where we are not adequately covered.
Reading that back, the phrase “tabloid-obsessed” sounds snooty and snobbish. I didn’t mean that, especially given that there are journos at tabloids who are perfectly measured in their assessments, and there are some at respectable outlets (BBC, broadsheets etc) who are just as much victims of the gossip machine as anyone else in the ludicrous world of Planet Footy. Sorry for sounding like a snob.
Flaming went on a free after his best season,AC Milan was wrong for him he’s an industrious player not your 40yard+passer,good to see him back,but need top quality in his position.i’m also hearing that Wenger has money to spend in January?will there be anyone available?or will he say he does not need players now that players are back off the injured list I.e Ox , Arteta Podolski.
Off for a bit now but just read a nice article on N.N from Vital football-Arsenal about the AST. Well written and analyses the AST from a couple of interesting angles.
Dennis @ 12.14. I don’t know what AW will say or do in January, and my guess is neither do you. Most people never credited him to spend in excess of £40m on one player despite him saying he would and thought it was all just a PR stunt. Maybe he will surprise us all again and put more nails in the coffin of the scrooge like deluded character that some fans like to portray him as.
It is a good article on the AST, GoonerB. Here’s the link: http://www.arsenal.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=537096.
Following on from my exchanges with the AST a few days ago, I think I’ll write a post on them very soon.
London Derbies x 2 .
1 away, 1 home.
6 points.
“One team in London, there’s only …..”
GooberB fair comment I never read your comments 2 days ago but if you can recall our last game against the spuds our bench fielded 2 sixteen Yr-olds Gnabry & Zelalem wilshere went off replaced by Flamini plus we had 1 recognised defender on the bench.yes we have cover for most positions even Sagna can play CH but why have make-dos We Are Arsenal make-dos don’t cut it.We pay enough to watch do the decent thing and put Quality on the pitch not shit ie Bentdner and inexperienced youngsters.
Gnabry’s 18, and has already played for the first team.
Zelalem’s 16 but then so were Wilshere, Cesc and Theo when they got into the senior squad. Didn’t work out too badly with them…..
Any squad requires make-dos: it’s about finding the right balance.
Many of the players who’ve been written off and abused by Arsenal fans in the last few years are now being lauded as the best thing around.
those same moaners might now be celebrating. The club have given them pretty much what they wanted, so of course they are going to quieten down. Surely the chants of spend some f***ing money and all the pressure has had the desired effect? Maybe because wenger’s head was for the chop if they didn’t? Without ozil now on the books could Arsenal give him a new contract without an uproar? Silent Stan doesn’t want to lose Arsene and the signing was made to save his bacon? Without the moaning and the pressure and the feeling of discontent would we really have Ozil right now? Arsenal is very much a business and how can they keep thier customers (fans) happy if we dont tell them what we want? Was the message was heeded because it primarily made good business sense and keeping the boss from getting ousted? If so The moaning has done its job!
Im playing devils advocate really and whatever the reasons behind it, it is fan-f***ing-tastic. WE have Mesut Ozil! Personally he has been my favourite player for 3 years, gutted when he went to Madrid, he is just such a beautiful footballer. Messi and Ronaldo are the only ones I would’ve taken above him. He is such good value too. If you had a dream eleven in the world he would be one of the cheapest attacking players in it for sure. The way things are 35-40m minimum for a world class player. compared to Bale almost twice the player for half the price. Madrid must be nuts!!!
spurs point of view they’ve lost their superstar and we’ve just gained one to boot. Thats well worth waiting 3 years for! Thanks Los Blancos!!!!!!
Dennis,
Arsene has proved that if a quality player is available he will buy them no matter what it cost. Signing average player just to make up numbers will create a ‘deadwood’, like 52000 a week Bendtner.
LittleDano,
We got Bergkamp without the moaning and the pressure and the feeling of discontent of the fans.
The entire Invincible squad were built without the moaning and the pressure and the feeling of discontent of the fans.
Superb, Raddy, thats the spirit.
With the doomsday brigade away on holidays, I think most of us here are very optimistic for the year. It would have been great if he got a striker, but not having one is not the end of the world. It will be very unlucky indeed if Giroud were to be injured before Poldi returns. But still, not the end of the world. What I am excited about is the possibility that we may be able to give Sanogo some playing time (70 min sub?) perhaps every week. The rate at which our midfield (including Ozil) produces assists, it will be an absolute delight for any striker.
Very happy with Flamster in the utility role as well. Top man!
A bit worried about how much playing time Zelalem, Miyachi, Gnarby will get, though. But, we really need to be continuing to develop youngsters. Thats the Arsenal way.
The other thing I wish is that we are able to demonstrate to Suarez that moving to Arsenal would have been the way forward, not parallel.
26may: look forward to your AST post. Will be fun…..
May1989 I know Gnabry & Zelalem are young,and where most of our players have grown I’m not disputing that,but look at how many kids have been released this season we have enough potential on the pitch I.e JW OX CJ Theo & rambo.
The premiership is the here and now 8 Yrs with nothing has to change we need to revert to type buying Quality like Ozil and Suarez if we are going to challenge.
26may1989
“Our great defence” as you put it was in bad shape from 1992 onwards as was our strikeforce. He kept the defence intact but It’s a myth to suggest Wenger rejuvenated them.
Little D. As you say … you are playing devil’s advocate and just to fill a few minutes I will answer.
Would we have signed Ozil without the moaning? IMO yes. AFC had stated pre-TW that we were in a much better state to make a signature signing. We did so.
Would AFC have sacked AW if we had not made a signing and lost to Spuds? Of course not.
The moaning? It does nothing but set gooner against gooner. For the first time in my long Goonerdom there are rifts amongst the fans which I find very sad. I was on the terraces through the dark days and we were always united in our support.
Does the moaning help the club in any way? Of course not.
Does it help the players? No.
Does it influence the BoD? Who knows.
The moaners justify themselves by making your argument. To me it just fits their agenda.
LittleDano, you raise some interesting points.
I still can’t believe, and can’t stop smiling about, the delivery of Ozil to us by a combination of Real Madrid, Man U and Spurs.
I think Wenger played a blinder this summer but it was a high risk blinder, he could just as easily have ended up without Ozil or a player of equivalent talent and standing. He went for quality above all else, and I think he would have preferred to keep his powder dry than spend £20m on the types of players Spurs have signed. That’s not to criticise Spurs, the signings they made were precisely what they needed, because they were weaker and thinner than us, and the Bale money had to be used to drag upwards a whole squad.
I’m sure the spend some fucking money crowd genuinely do feel they are the ones to have ensured we made a big signing. I think they’d be wrong, Wenger really is stubborn about some things, and based on his knowledge, experience and skill, and the knowledge that we already have a very good, but incomplete, squad, I think he was determined not to cave into the crowd’s pressure. He’s been accused of being unambitious in recent years, but I think the truth is he’s actually much more ambitious than his critics, he wants the absolute best and nothing else.
stax. That is not what the entire Famous 5 say. To a man they state that AW extended their careers and made them better players.
@Stax: You’d better tell Lee Dixon, Tony Adams and Steve Bould that Wenger didn’t rejuvenate their careers, as they’ve all said as much.
Harry the Gooner @Harry2671 14m
Jurgen Klopp ” Mesut is a football grenade” – pretty much no one would have sold him!
Walking along singing a song…….can’t wait.
26may1989
I think Adams, Dixon and Bould have Petit and Vieira more to thank than Wenger.
I can’t help but think that the match with Spurs one day before deadline day was the perfect scenario for us While everyone focused on what could go wrong, we ended up quietening the Spurs and their media love in, and then spectacularly announced our entry on the big stage. Something which, despite some people attempts to paint it as a reactionary move to keep ‘customers’ happy, was actually 10 years in the making, and which was announced a couple of months earlier.
This is the problem with holding onto ideas too dearly. Even a change in the facts of the situation doesn’t change the thinking. Rather, the facts are twisted to suit the idea.
We’ve spent the second highest amount by a British club on one player, and it’s money we earned. I am so proud of that, and this is why I’ve been happy to support the club’s strategy. Imagine what winning a trophy will feel like knowing you won it, rather than bought it or had it handed to you by referees.
But, we still have a lot of work to do. On the field of course, but the Ozil signing can’t be a one-off. At the same time, we can’t turn into Chelsea. Bayern Munich is often cited by Gazidis and if you look at their first team with quite a few academy graduates, then I think that’s a good model to follow.
We have certain disadvantages compared to them, but we have one big advantage. Arsene Wenger. They’ve tried to take him in the past, and they will probably try again. I do worry that Wenger might leave us at the end of the season, but I hope I am wrong about that. I hope we win trophies this year, and for many more years under the management of the great Arsene Wenger, including the Champions League for the first time in our history. Suddenly, it doesn’t seem so difficult.
Hmm, and who signed Petit and Vieira????
Some of Lee Dixon’s observations on the influence of Wenger on the older players: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/arsenal/5382632.stm.
Raddy,
Just one big gloat really. How lovely and refreshing. Thank you. 🙂
26may1989
What Dixon is basically saying is that they were left to their own devices when it came to defending.
Oh, one tiny problem, the “maybe he is right” reference to Merson.
Now, I cannot remember a season when he didn’t predict Spuds finishing above The Arsenal.
Ok, so my memory is poor, but I cannot remember a time when they did ROLF
Fantastic, Shärd.
Wenger has been longer with the club than many of us, and I am reasonably confident he will not leave. At least not on his own. And he is made of stern stuff, and can take the hounding from the outside.
It is here, and as Raddy rightly points out, that the bickering amongst the fans is potentially harmful. Maybe not now, but in some point in the future, AST for example can become powerful enough to hound Wenger out.
Arsenal has been a good example in many ways, one of which is in showing the value of loyalty. This includes AW – how many years of continuous service now? Without leaving, of course, and without being hounded out (see the other also-rans all around us)? It also includes the players – what have they done on average after leaving Arsenal?
But, returning back to the point about bickering, I view this as a major threat. Opportunists can take advantage of this. But, we will band together, and they will not be able to. Right?
arnie
The only thing that will hound Wenger out is results on the pitch.
Right, Arnie 🙂
oh no. someone’s taken my name!
Can I change the subject, although feel free to carry on as I’m quite happy talking to myself if need be.
Jack Wilshere.
I reckon that Hodgson will play our man in the more advanced, creative role. I am right in thinking he did this against Brazil to some considerable effect?
Great post Raddy. Soldildo 🙂
How must Suarez feel? He could be playing against Marseille, Dortmund and Napoli with Ozil, Santi and jack behind him. If we get through the group and do well in the league I hope we go for him in January. He won’t be cup tied.
Merson should stick to spunking his money on horses
Thank God that LB is far away crushing his nuts on that pointy saddle of his, while I raise this subject 🙂
Bugger me, it’s GM. Howdee Fella, and hope all is well
GM
I was just sniffing around sites looking for England team news, and saw two references to AW going back for Suarez in Jan.
ärnie
I didn’t mean Wenger will be hounded out by the end of the season. I meant that he might see his job as done, and want a new challenge. It’s seems unlikely, but if he feels there’s a manager out there who can do a good job in the longer term than he can, then he just might step down. He has always said he sees it as his job to ensure that he leaves the club in better shape than when he found it, and also that he’s postponed his retirement many times.
It’s just an irrational fear. In all likelihood he’d like to see the job through with this team. After all, Ozil, and the likes of Jack, have said they see him as a pivotal figure in their future at the club. So I’m just being stupid I guess 🙂
Oh and about the AST. I think, if anything, they are going to lose importance rather than gain it. They gained their importance because the club gave them legitimacy. They abused that, for whatever reason, and though they’ve flourished for a while as a result of their past legitimacy and recognition, they’re throwning that away too, and the club as well have stopped giving them the importance they had before. Only the media has propped up the AST as ‘Arsenal fans’ whenever they want a negative view of the club.
GM and Micky
I’m not sure the January transfer window will be as fruitful for us. Firstly, most good players don’t move in January. Secondly, although Suarez might want to come, I don’t think LIverpool will comply. I also think, in many ways, Arsenal fans are to blame for that. The negative reaction that followed Van Persie’s sale to ManU probably means that no English club with any pretensions of ‘ambition’ (I’ve started to hate that word) can afford to be seen to do the same. ManU won’t sell Rooney. Chelsea won’t sell Mata. Liverpool will not sell Suarez. Domestically at least.
Thirdly, we have won this round of the transfer battle, and quite convincingly, but next time, it’ll be tougher. ManU for instance, will pull out all the stops to beat us to a quality player, regardless of their need, because they cannot remain to be seen as losing out to Arsenal (who have spent years being ridiculed) Their entire model depends on proclaiming themselves ‘the best club in the world’. They will throw a spanner in our works any way they can. Spurs already tried to sabotage us apparently. Chelsea and Mourinho fear us, and money is no object to them. Then there’s City, PSG, Monaco, Barcelona, Madrid, Bayern etc.. All of whom will also be looking for top players. So yeah. We pulled off a coup with Ozil. But it doesn’t get easier to buy someone. Top players might see us as a realistic destination, but we are fighting for their signature against clubs richer than us, and who will sometimes even go to foolish lengths to secure them. Something we will not do.
Hi Shard
Yes, but there is a but, if Utd appear by January to be on the downward spiral, and they may be, then the “attractiveness” or “allure” of clubs change.
I think Ozil will act as a significant catalyst, and of course, Arsenal will be perceived as the next great thing by January 🙂
Don’t quite know why I’m talking about transfers just now.
hahaha, ive just got that Soldildo joke. Very nice. hahaha
Am I the only one that doesn’t mind Merse?
He’s too stupid to have an opinion worth worrying about, so I just take him for what he is, entertainment!
I am so excited for the remainder of this season that not even Graeme ‘the c***’ Souness could dampen my mood! Who we got next in the league? In fact, who gives a s***, Özil is going to destroy them! Mwahahahaha…!
Two great Posts today and yesterday. Well done 26 and BR!
Too busy to chat, but loving it when I catch up with the comments.
Micky
All I can say to you is: thanks for Oktoberfest 🙂 It proper brightened my morning 🙂
Rocky
There was one with a most acceptable barmaid carrying 12 litres of beer. What a Wife she will make some lucky Bavarian.
Mourinho refused to loan us Ba stating he wouldn’t loan to a direct rival. Yet, he loaned Moses to Liverpool.
Says it all really.
you know something, it just occurred to me— we all know that Ozil is world class… but in my opinion… im not sure that Bale is world class!!! I really dont feel he has earned that yet.. after one great season.. maybe 2 or 3 seasons like the last…then yes… i hope he does become great– so the spuds will miss him, being replaced by e few decent players..i just hope he fails in champs league vs Arsenal.. we will eventually meet in the coming seasons for sure.
I was just swinging the conversation around to something more palatable, then in you tool with your sensible chit chat.
Johnnie,
My theory is that in trying to snooker us, Mr Levy has, in effect, handed us a huge “gap” on a plate.
No Bale to Madrid, and no Ozil to The Gunners. whoaoaaaa or similar noise 🙂
Raddy,
Mourinho has a thing about Arsenal. I think when he first arrived in England he taken aback by the size of the Club, realising that despite Abramovitchs backing Chelsea would never be as big.
He is also wary of Wenger, understanding hes a great manager.
I suspect he sees what we all know, That Arsenal is the Club that will soon go on a period of domination that will eclipse the great 30’s teams, leaving all others in there wake.
Hi Micky 🙂
Transplant
Will this period of severe domination include stirring ghosts and whatnot?
Thats when the Ghosts will awaken Micky. Chapman, Drake, Bastin etc, they will all be there.
Since I have met and spoken to a Ghost i know that they exist
I would very much like to meet Herbert Chapman. When we win the European Cup I have a feeling he will pay me a visit. hahaha
We AAers have long bemoaned our luck at the number of injuries we have collected at crucial times. So much so that many have questioned our training methods and the competency of the medical team.
Imagine what our glass half empty fans, would have made of a situation where we signed a player to cover an existing long term injury to a key player only to find the new man is out for 6 weeks with a Knee injury before he even kicks a ball for us.
This is the situation that confronts Man City today having purchased Martin Demichelis on Sunday as defensive cover for the injured Richards and Kompany he then gets crocked in training and leaves them with no experienced CB
Maybe the footballing Gods have decided its time our luck turned and relieved some of our dejected fans of their suffering and placed it elsewhere 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3Cdd48fRWA
If I could just stick to the headline and ex players like Merson making a very handsome living as pundits.
I have never met Merson but have met several others of our ex players and unfortunately Savage, Cole and Hansen.
once a yob always a yob regardless of their playing ability and unfortunately a very high proportion of players,mainly british don’t know how to behave in public.
I was talking to someone on here quite recently about the old days when you could actually identify with our players and have a decent conversation with many of them.They weren’t aloof in any way.
I could tell you scenes I have witnessed by Cole,Savage ,Barry and Hanson which would make an decent person cringe and in fact all these events took place in Spain, and I felt embarrassed to be English.
Did you know that the top pundits on Sky Sports Saturday get 10K a week, so they can mouth off as much as they like as it gets more viewers (as long as they don’t go down the Ron Atkinson route)
Of corse there are many that remain true gentlemen and though they may share the same opinion as some mentioned above they are more tactful in the words they chose.
The foreign northern european players seem to be generally better educated and perhaps because of that learn quicker and make it to be top footballers.
This club before country which was discussed yesterday seems to be a PL thing with mystery illnesses and injuries prior to a friendly International inparticular.
I know many will disagree with me but just look what Germany did in 1999/2000 on a 10 year plan going right back to grass roots and that was only as they had had a blip in world football,nothing like England since 1966.
chas. That vid killed the blog! This should be a Spud free zone
kelsey. It was much more innocent world. Can you imagine how difficult it must be knowing that every time you go out people will take pictures of you with their phones and it will be twittered around the world in seconds?
I am not surprised that those you mention are low-life.
BR,
It was dead already. Everyone is getting their top threads on for a Friday night wooing some spicy senoritas. (either that or stopping in with the wife). 🙂
Off out.
Hahahahahaha.
Of course you are right Raddy but is it a better world ?
kelsey: dont know the exterior world, that is a topic of philosophical discussion beyond the scope of AA, but with AA-glasses on, the world looks pretty nice to me. good fun, anyway. hahaha
kelsey what do you think I think?
Off out to see a group called the Ukelele Orchestra of Great Britain. Not up Chas’s strässe 🙂
Dunno BR
Some of them ukelele chicks can be dynamite…
kelsey: that was a bit brash, i apologise. hope you didnt mind. was meant as a joke, but didnt come out well….
No worries arnie, i am not the sensitive type 😉
Evening all, lovely post Raddy.
I had my first conversation with a Spud today, a client of mine who fair play to him paid his bill this week despite the result, but who to his discredit decided to text me after our opening day defeat and continued to text every joke he found.
Anyway he had some stuff to ask me and I didn’t mention the result, then once business was dealt with this is how I raised the subject:
Me: aren’t you off on holiday soon?
Him: yep leave in a couple of hours
Me: maybe Spurs will be good when you return.
It is true revenge is a dish best served cold. 😀
Following on from a thread earlier that says that te voices of discontent somehow forced the Ozil signing….I have a couple of points:
1) the dissenting voices changed nothing in the last three seasons
2) the spending has happened when many of us said it would, when new sponsorship deals were signed, the key to us having more money to spend than others and the one area we were losing out on due to the early cash option we took to cover financing shortfall.
Well, I’m not going out chasing helpless women around. Back from a quick and lousy surf. Now to watch Jack in his AM role.
100% agree the dissenting voices changed nothing in the last three seasons (though I’d make it five seasons).
Rain 😦
Sun 😀
Beginning to dislike Norfolk.
Nice countryside. Good food. Striking distance of N5.
So everyone impressed with England’s demolition of Moldova then?
Actually player who impressed me most was Lambert, only thought of him as a goalscorer but he was actually good at hold up and finding a pass.
Haha Micky….no surfing though.
Bit of a shame yesterday as there was a two day Street Food event on in the City, we planned to go yesterday as I was getting back from work early, but unfortunately it rained all day and eating food standing on the street getting wet was not our idea of fun.
Battle of the bangers today so we will see if we can face a Saturday in the city.
Leaving in one hour to go here.
Another Dad’s and children affair. One hour, one night camp to surf all day today/morrow.
They have an Indian restaurant next to the campsite, so I take over an enormous pot. “Right lads, stick eight portions of Tikka’d Damsacked Rogan Joshi Lamb in here, with four portions of Hallo Gobbied Spinach in the same pot, and eight Naan Breads”.
Back to tents and onto the fire.
Oh, and Jack did not play AM, and narrowly avoided injury.
http://www.polzeathcamping.co.uk/tour/tristram-polzeath/
GiE,
“Battle of The Bangers”. That is a must-attend event.
Back to England. Watching Jack carefully terrifies me as he leaves those little legs of his in very vulnerable positions. He needs to learn to tackle properly, and by that, I mean safely.
I watch the highlight Costa Rica vs USA and Joel Campbell looks very good and scored a goal too. Now that he already got the permit I wonder why Wenger still loaned him out.
He must have rated Sanogo very highly then..
BR, Interesting slant on presenting the view on the chances we have this season….
Just back from Majorca, what a holiday, watched the NLD with a nervous expectation but belief, then brought them really cheap papers and checking the cheap Internet for news of signings.
Overall happy with our new additions, before the window, still thought a minimum of fourth was ours, since the window, I believe we can challenge.
I still despair with many arsenal fans who can’t see what we have, the versatility and ability within this squad, added to stability of no major players leaving really sets us up. I am excited as much by Flamini as ozil…. Wenger makes mistakes like every one else, but anyone who seriously still wants him out, need to….. Well I just give up with them.
Micky it’s not the kind of bangers you posted videos of yesterday morning 🙂
Morning all
The International fortnight has taken our Arsenal away but I’ll have a look in the cupboard and see if there’s something else to read. Back in a few minutes
Ooooh look, I found this …………
……..New Post ……………….
Rob my only thought is Arsene wanted to leave a couple of places open for overseas talent in the EPL squad. We have 15 overseas (according to homegrown rules) which only leaves room for 2 more….Sanogo is under 21 so doesn’t have to be named, seems Wilshere qualifies as under 21 too. Should say the non homegrown does include Park so realistically we had 3 spare.
If we had signed Ba, or a centre half Wenger would have had a decision to make.
Also leaves us some room to play in January. Thankfully we haven’t got to worry too much about homegrown rules in the near future.
Jack, Jenks and Ox will qualify as do Theo, Rambo, Gibbs, NikB, and Szczesny.
We named 21 players, which leaves space for 4 to arrive in January.
But this is where the manager really starts earning his coin. The 4 under 21s I’ve named plus Miyaichi, Sanogo, Campbell all need to be named at some point going forward. Ok Park and Nik B are surplus to requirements, Arteta may have to be released due to age…but with a young squad and young replacements and with still some modicum of sensible spending enforced we really can’t afford to bring in 4/5 players in one window for big money in case somewhere down the line we end up paying people who will never play.