Sometimes you’ve got to just love the sheer class that oozes from every pore of Arsene Wenger.
The summer transfer window had its ups and downs (culminating for us, of course, with the sort of enormous ‘up’ many of us haven’t seen since our teenage years).
But for me the most distinctive aspect of this particular window was the sheer quantity of utter S H one T that spewed from the mouths of managers who ought to have known better.
By 11pm on Monday there was so much liquid poo on the window that it could pass for the toilet bowl of a Nile cruise boat with an outbreak of Pharaoh’s Revenge.
What don’t these idiots get about negotiation?
You know: simple concepts like confidentiality, respecting your negotiating partners, professionalism rather than emotional hissy fit-ism.
Throughout the summer Arsene Wenger behaved with impeccable manners and decorum.
No word of any Arsenal transfer negotiations was ever put about by him.
Contrast that with the slack-mouthed jabbering of managers and even owners from some of the other Premier League outfits.
There was Brendan ‘Brent’ Rodgers bleating about our “disrespectful” bid for Luis Suarez, followed by his owner John Henry making snide comments about the Arsenal hierarchy. And for what? Because we made a bid for a player.
THAT’S WHAT THE TRANSFER WINDOW IS FOR, YOU MORONS.
And an opening bid is an opening bid. The idea is that you either reject it out of hand or reply with your own valuation. Then there’s some haggling. Then you either make a deal or you don’t. Oh – and you do it all privately.
What you don’t do is go running round all offended like a maiden aunt who’s had her embonpoint fondled by a moustachioed man on the train.
Rodgers and Henry displayed all the integrity of street corner pimps and the business savvy of Gerald Ratner. You may say their tactics worked because they got to keep their man. The truth is they only got to keep him because Rodgers went back on his word that Suarez could leave if ‘Pool failed to make the Champions League spots. That’s going to make for a happy camper in the Scouse dressing room, isn’t it? The bitey Uruguayan clearly wanted to make a step up by joining Arsenal and he won’t be happy with Liverpool’s usual battle for the top six or seven (don’t be fooled by their smart start to the season).
No sooner had Henry and Rodgers piped down than, not to be outdone, Alan ‘Not Very Good’ Pardew muscled in on the act.
The Newcastle manager was outraged that we made an opening bid for his midfielder Yohan Cabaye. How very dare we?
He could have kept his trap shut and negotiated properly with us – in which case we might well have made the deal at a much higher price than our initial offer and in time for him to spend the money on a replacement.
Instead he, too, is left with a player who spotted the chance of moving to a better team then got let down by the crass behavior of his manager and club.
Across the Pennines the new man at Old Toilet showed his naivety by speaking openly about his desire to sign our erstwhile hero Cesc Fabregas. A clearly frustrated Fab ended up having to appear before the press to say: “Look, I really have no intention of moving to that crappy part of England to play in a declining team led by that scary bloke from Lord of the Rings.” Well, they weren’t his exact words but that’s what he meant.
And through it all, like the Queen Mary sailing through a flotilla of dinghies, Arsene Wenger maintained the true and proper course of a man and a manager.
Thankyou Arsene.
The whole thing makes me wonder whether there shouldn’t be a code of conduct for doing business in the transfer windows. Even if there is nothing legally enforceable about it, maybe it will at least serve to embarrass the worst offenders.
What do you think?
RockyLives
Arsenal News 24/7
arsenalarsenal.net 
Well said!
I still don’t know what was wrong enough with the old system that they had to change it! 😀
Flippin’ amazing stuff, Rocky. 🙂
Embonpoint had me googling.
I love Pardew’s sobriquet.
Thanks for the Saturday morning chortle.
Forgot to say, well said Rocky… Think Brendan Rodgers especially made himself look foolish
Brilliant! 🙂
I loved the old anagram reply system so much, this one is a combination leading to two much talked about subjects of the transfer window.
I SEE NEW GERMAN, RESULT OZ,
Who can be first to crack the code?…
I keep seeing bits of this article from the Telegraph posted all over. The whole thing gives me tingles. Sailing like the Queen Mary. 🙂
Mesut Özil’s £42m move to Arsenal sealed with one phone call from manager Arsene Wenger
There can be no single occasion during the entire 17 years of Arsène Wenger’s tenure at Arsenal when having a multilingual manager has been more useful.
After months of on-off negotiations, the club’s chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, was made aware on Saturday that Real Madrid would be willing to sell Mesut Özil for £42 million.
The problem, however, was that Özil himself had always seen his future at Madrid and would need some convincing.
Wenger immediately broke off from his preparations for Sunday’s north London derby, dialled Özil’s phone number and, after a series of lengthy conversations in German, was quietly confident that the deal had been done.
He had outlined his vision for how he wants his team to play, how he saw Özil becoming his creative conductor and, above all, how this would just be the start of Arsenal competing with the superpowers of European football for the world’s best players. Conversations with Per Mertesacker and Lukas Podolski followed, leaving Özil convinced.
While Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy was at the Emirates watching his team lose 1-0 to Arsenal, Gazidis was arriving in Spain to conclude a deal with Madrid.
Dick Law, the club’s contract negotiator, and doctor Gary O’Driscoll were also travelling to Germany to complete personal terms and a medical with Özil at the national team’s base in Munich.
The subsequent knowledge of firm interest and potentially more money from either Paris St-Germain or Manchester United did not sway Özil. What counted, after being so surprisingly discarded by Madrid, was the sense of having a manager with such total belief in him.
“At the weekend, I was certain that I would stay at Real Madrid but afterwards I realised that I did not have the faith from the coach or the bosses,” said Özil .
“I am a player who needs this faith. Wenger gives me the faith and I can develop further. I know what I can do and I know that I could make the grade with any club in the world because I am so convinced in myself.”
Soon after the deal was clinched, Jürgen Klinsmann sent Özil a message telling him that Wenger’s Arsenal would be the perfect fit.
“Mesut just wants to play, he wants nothing to do with the politics you get at some clubs, he just wants to have fun and, away from the pitch, his family are absolutely number one,” said a friend.
Of the seven people Özil employs to look after his affairs, five are family members. His father, Mustafa, also acts as his agent. Özil is a third generation German, with his grandfather moving from Turkey when Mustafa was just two.
His family settled in a largely Turkish neighbourhood in the Bismarck district of Gelsenkirchen and, like Robin van Persie in Rotterdam, his technical prowess was shaped while playing in what they called Affenkäfig: ‘the monkey cage’. It was a gravel pitch surrounded by fences that ensured play was always intense and continuous.
In the purest sense, Özil is the sort of street footballer that Wenger most adores. His hero was Zinedine Zidane. Lars Wallrodt, the chief football writer of the German newspaper Die Welt, has met Özil’s old friends from the Bismarck cage.
“They all said the same – that Mesut was the best player at the age of eight when they were all 12,” said Wallrodt.
“They didn’t have any chance. He was a fantastic natural player but also always focused on how he was going to make it. There is no more elegant player in the world. He is a quiet and modest guy, not someone you see out at parties.”
Although Özil has shied away from the celebrity circuit in Madrid, his relationship with singer Mandy Capristo has ensured he appears on the front as well as back pages of the German press.
Özil’s faith is also a significant part of his life. A practising Muslim, he recites passages from the Koran before he goes out to play. When his needs as a professional athlete allow, he also does continue to follow Ramadan.
The global following for both Özil and Arsenal was quickly evident on Monday. Within hours of his move being announced, Özil was taken aback to learn that he had added one million Facebook followers.
Similarly, Arsenal have noted that Özil’s Twitter following of more than three million actually exceeds their own club feed.
Özil’s popularity derives from his graceful playing style. Ruud Gullit has described Özil as “technically perfect” while Mourinho has likened his style to “art” and hailed him as the best No 10 in the world.
Having added experience at the highest level of club football with Madrid to his international achievements with Germany, Özil is entering his peak.
He has also been physically strengthened by gaining almost a stone in body weight during his three years at Madrid.
Özil will certainly add stature to Arsenal. The message on Tuesday was that this was just the beginning and tangible evidence of a new era at Arsenal of permanently enhanced financial firepower.
Most importantly, it is a signing that has prompted a shift in the narrative that surrounds the club. Staff at the Emirates on Tuesday were excitedly calling it a ‘Bergkamp’ moment.
From regularly selling some of the world’s best players over the past three years, Arsenal have become a buying club again.
but yes very shabby behaviour from the above mentioned
Thanks for the post RL & Chas @ 11:08
In Arsene We Trust 😀
Thanks Rocky
I am proud to have my club represented by a person like Arsene Wenger. He gets a lot of rubbish thrown at him, and I’m sure some of it will be seen here as well. But he is an honorouble, principled, decent man, who enjoys playing football and strives to make it an art.
Liverpool can keep Rodgers and Suarez. Mourinho can woo the press and make Ibra fall in love with him. Moyes can get RVP to lie through gritted teeth (heh), but none of them can compare to Arsene Wenger.
My summation of Pardew has always been ‘snivelly little runt’, and I think that suits him perfectly.
naked goon
That was too easy 🙂
OOToBeYa
I have a theory about why the system was changed. I’m not sure of it myself, but I think agents had a lot to do with getting the transfer window started. The reason cited is that it’ll force clubs to give young players a chance. But I think what it does more than anything, is artificially create a scarcity, and hence raises transfer prices. More money for everyone to feed off of.
last one from me
Chas..
That article contradicts Ozil. Ozil said he didn’t manage to speak to Per & Poldi (sounds like a comedy act) before agreeing to the move.
Excellent post, Rocky. I think Liverpool will be a bit better than you predict this season, otherwise I agree with every word.
A very good comment from Exile on the profile of our squad for compliance with homegrown rules etc got stuck in the no-man’s land that is the tail-end of yesterday’s thread, and since he’s too shy to do so, I just wanted to repost it for others’ benefit:
“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.”
Chas,
99% pass accuracy: Mesut Özil’s (Arsenal & Germany) Individual highlights v Austria.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NCjPWLto4Ss
26May,
Doesn’t Joel Campbell count as under 21 too?
I know I said ‘last comment’ but I have to say that GIE seems to think a lot like me. Yesterday I typed out a full comment about how our squad might shape up next year and how the transfers have to take the squad rule into account, but I didn’t post it, thinking no one will be interested since it seemed to come out of the blue, and besides,there’s been too much talk about transfers recently. 🙂
I did save what I wrote about who all need to be registered in the next 2 years and whose contracts are running out, thinking I’ll mail it in as a post in case there is a shortage, even though it looks just like rambling. Which it was.
Oh damn.. I just remembered. I still have to do a post on my trip to Barnet..
https://twitter.com/mikesanz19/status/375324049708441600
Shame the picture gets cropped by wordpress( or it does on my screen at least) Here it is including Mesut.
Shard,
I don’t give a Gareth Bales if the whole thing is made up, it stills rings my bell.
Haha, the whole picture from that tweet is now showing.
Bloody wordpress making me look like a Gareth. 🙂
well done Shard, anyone else know the answer?
was it really too easy?
MOAW
Rocky article and Chas reply, MAGIC !
All the crap comes from Blogs, but A.W. gets the blame
Rocky – that’s a rather belligerent article from Mr Happy! Raddy yesterday and you today, are we at war?
You are right of course, Rocky. Wenger is not only a gentleman but also a great diplomat. And a winner! He’s done the best deal of the window, leaving many completely gob smacked 🙂
Pardew, Rogers and J Henry are utter disgrace, but nothing compare to that mob from N17. Not only they made fools out of their own fans mouthing that Bale is not for sale, knowing full well that he was going, but on the back of that deal they wanted to hurt us by trying to hold Real to ransom demanding that RM don’t sell to us! What a mupper show
i am no loner Mike, soz
chäß – say Happy B to Ant from me
Nice piece Rocky though u failed to mention the way Jose conducted himself during that last day. Taking all afternoon an the best part of the evening to realize he was talking to Arsenal about a loan move for Ba and deciding late, as in too late for us to go after another player, to inform us he didnt want to loan the player to a rival.
Deliberate move to prevent us from improving our squad by a manager who again proved at Old Trafford how scared he is about competition to him a 0-0 is a great result
Cheers Shard @11:29
Morning all very amusing post Rocky.
Unfortunately the managers just provide tasty morsels for the feeding frenzy, as you say sometimes it would be better off behind closed doors.
I do like the Italian system of all meeting in one hotel, but perhaps the issue there is that you never know what’s in the suitcases, and whether the same person who brought it leaves with it.
OoToBeYa may get my vote as best blog name ever 😀
Great post Rocky………..the diarrhea is mostly media inspired (as it always is) and regurgitated by moronic bloggers who think it is mead and manna to their fevered brains.
We mustn’t forget that all this BS from the likes of Rodgers, Pardew and Mourinho is simple grandstanding and the usual pantomime aimed at creating a pseudo-reality to cover their own ineptitude. What manager wants to be caught asleep at the switch like those 3 were by Wenger, and risk the derision and scorn of their fans by selling a prized player to a rival. They panicked and instead of keeping everything under the radar, they spewed out patently false information to try and finger AFC as the villains. That was a classic FAIL so they invented fabulations to explain away their incompetence and lack of class.
Great post!
I have been one of Mr Wengers biggest critics over the last few seasons, but the last few weeks I have had to admire his strength and his unwavering belief in his methods and principles.
I think a lot of the criticism and anger that has been directed at him by myself and thousands of others is because we find it hard to understand someone who will not be swayed by public opinion and is willing to put his reputation on the line to protect his players as well as his ideas.
As mentioned in today’s post he also managed to do it all with a bit of class and it is all of us who made angry and judgmental comments towards him who may yet be left looking idiotic rather than Mr Wenger.
There are still a lot of Mr Wengers ideas and ways of dealing with things I do not agree with, as a fan of 30 odd years i get very passionate about Arsenals results and dealings but as today’s poster said maybe I’ll take a leaf from Mr Wengers book and conduct myself in a more graceful manner.
A bit quiet today..
Arsenal’s Under 18’s today lost 2-1 at home to Man Utd U18’s. The Arsenal side featured Dan Crowley, Chuba Akpom and Gedion Zelalem.
Thanks Rocky an impact post if ever I saw one, Alfygun well done for having the gumption to hold up your hand and be counted.
AW of course epitomises all that Arsenal has always stood for and is indeed class personified and a beacon of light in a sea of crass mediocrity. How other clubs fans must look at their managers and some of our so called fans as they rage against against the man and the club. Shaking their heads in embarrassment, Knowing they would give almost anything for their club to carry such Kudos.
Nice Post RL,
Wenger has again proved everyone why he is the best man to lead us.. I have one question here does Ozil capture make us title contenders?? I don’t think so but Yes by capture of Ozil a new era of arsenal will start..
Great post Rocky. And thanks to the boys for the article and german core pic. Really cool.
what do i think? Some of us were beginning to doubt Arsene and our regime, especially Kroenke. It was a ” SHOW ME” moment. I couldnt believe ivan would talk such a big game unless he was honestly prepared to go for it. Only worry was disagreements within the organization, fouling things up. Alot of people will owe Gazidis apologies, but the same lot owe the same to Arsene for years.
i for one criticized the Higuain situation, thinking we could have wrapped him up long
before the price was raised, when it was only us
and Juve. Would be nice to have him now.
but i said all along that my faith would only be restored by a nice surprise before sept 2.
i could not have been more satisfied or happier. Yes we wanted another striker, but this move opens up all the possibilities in the world.
who wouldnt want to play in front of Ozil, Cazorla and the rest of our midfield, for Arsene Wenger?. All that was missing was the money, and the perception of Arsenal as big boys. We are automatically back in that group again.
the future is bright, but we must go out and show Mesut our quality every week, with or without him, and especially defensively. We cannot be complacent or depend on him too much. Lets keep up our good form.
DanDan. I was sat with a casual Gooner client yesterday who said in astonishment that we had got Ozil because he spoke to Wenger on the phone, the astonishment not from the conversation but because by all accounts it was conducted in German.
Obviously German comes as a result of his Alsace upbringing, but my client was surprised when I told him Wenger can converse in at least 4 languages (French, English, German and Japanese). Do we think that’s the end of his linguistic skills, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen 5 quoted before.
As you say how many other clubs can say to have as intelligent a man at their helm?
Evonne,
Ant’s birthday is in early November.
Here you go GIE, French, German, English, Spanish, Italian and a leetle Japanese.
Great post Rocky. Has a kind of similar angle to something I was thinking about so I will have to see if I can still swing a post without sounding the same. I think the only thing we could be construed as having done wrong was the £40m + £1 bid, but we didn’t really do anything wrong in submitting this. A better description is that it was perhaps a bit cheeky and was always likely to irritate Liverpool.
Having said that you get the feeling that Arsenal felt they were being met with an approach that was almost dismissive and disrespectful anyway so maybe they felt they had nothing to lose in going this route.
Everything else you have said is absolutely right though. I think the most annoying to me are the ex Liverpool “greats”. The way they refer to our club as an insignificance, like something they just found on the bottom of their shoe, and why would anyone ever consider swapping the high and mighty royal institution that is LFC for the mere common upstarts that are AFC.
The second most annoying group are those that seem to have expressed moral outrage that we have bid for a player from their club during the transfer window of all times. I think I must have got the wrong idea as to what a transfer window is actually for…..
Step up Mr Alan Pardew, and I believe Mr John Aldridge, for the gold standard award for unfounded moral outrage.
I would have had Levy’s approach to undermine us as the most annoying but I actually think that has blown up in his face so well that I now actually find it hilarious.
“Pwease Florryworry, don’t give those mean nasty people down the woad Mesut, wat aboat our special welationship”.
chäß – so what? I’d be first 🙂
that is hilarious chäß 🙂 did AW received an apology?
Don’t know, Evonne, you’d have to ask Mr Windsor. It was certainly reported everywhere that Keith Hackett was going to apologise.
Shärd might know.
Chas,
that vid is funny but made my blood boil at the same time.
Maybe that was the start of Dean’s problems with us after being for ed to apologise?
Thanks for the language vid Chas, that’s the one that I remember, but didnt want to incorrectly give him too many 🙂
GoonerB I wonder what the press reaction would have been had Mourinho or SAF made that bid? (if obviously his disciplinary issues with both clubs hadnt occured) It fit the media agenda to take Liverpool’s side.
It was a cheeky bid, ok it turns out we were I’ll informed, but if we could get him for £40m + £1 why would we have offered £41m.
If you’re told that someone is accepting offers in excess of £100 do you offer £200 or £101?
Yes Evonne. Wenger was given an apology. Not by Dean or Probert personally. But by the PGMO. At least, that’s what I recall.
And this was before Riley was made the referees supremo.
GIE
I think the year is correct in terms of Arsenal’s record under Dean taking a turn for the worse, and maybe this explains it (although Dean didn’t have to apologise, and in any case, it was Probert clamouring to send Wenger off). I personally think Mike Riley’s elevation to the top job had more of an effect.
This might be complete balderdash, Gooner In Exile, but I’m sure I read somewhere last week that Arsene Wenger is fluent in eight different languages.
Nice Post, Rocky.
who needs Wikipedia when we have Shärd 🙂
Thanks everyone for the comments.
WATA
I bet he has a smattering of Latin, too 🙂
Of course, Latin being a dead language, it would only be of use when conversing with players who are dead to us.
So, that would be BSR, Barndoor, Na$ri et al.
Rocky 🙂
Hi Rock
I have to be a bit quiet. Just lifted my money tin from under the floor board and am now in the shed counting the coins. Up to £37.50, hope i dont lose count. Christ, its getting colder recently, but luckily, counting my loot gives me such a warm glow.
Spot on Rock, Arsene has acted with his usual class whilst these other wankers have showed what mugs they are. £50, nice.
Specaily Pardew. What a pillock that man is. The stupid twat tried to blame one of there defeats on Arsene bidding for Cabye. One day i expect the fool to blame Arsene for the end of his marriage or the worlds climate problems. F*ck, ive been done, bloody Peso, looks like a pound coin. Never mind, i can use it next time when ime giving to charity.
I dont know about you Rock, but surely violence is the answer. Pardews all mouth. If i was Arsene i would wait until pardew is doing his customary adjusting of testicles and when hes scratching and looking down, chin him one.
Yes,£100 and one peso. You realy cant beat this Rock. Chatting football with you and counting my cash. Fantastic. If the Mrs hears and then catches me, i think i will start crying.
Rodgers should realy shut it. Hes to thick to be a good manager. He puts on a stupid act when giving interviews. All the while hes talking crap you can tell hes seceretly thinking about how hes going to sneak home early and dress up in womens clothing. If your a transvetite Rodgers just admit and embrace it, i have. You thick lump of lard.
£One hundred and eightyyyyyyy. Bloody hell, whats that noise? Sounds like a bloody owl, and an angry one to. Blimey Rock, if you had heard it. Its enough to give anyone the shits.
I dont like Moyes either Rock. Hes the kind of man if you see in the night you reach for a pitch fork. Hes bound to say something stupid about Arsene soon. Its not Arsenes fault your a miserable Ghoul Moyes.
£212.52, not bad, but wish it was more. Oh no, the Mrs is up. Well, its a horribile dark shadow moving around in the kitchen, so it must be her. Whats she doing up at this bloody time?
Got to sign off now Rock. The shadow has gone and ive just heard that bloody owl again. its probably after my money.
Night all
Night Terry 😀
I think you missed a quid that rolled down between the floorboards.
You going to get to any games this year?
Sir Terrence Lyle’s has a season ticket he purloined from his Uncle Socrates from Green Lanes. He doesn’t miss as far as I know.
Morning all….just saw this on Twitter and it kind of proves the change in expectations at Arsenal…..
How many times have we heard Wrighty say Arsenal should be competing at X level and getting Y players, he was as shocked as everyone else!!
aaaahh, how sweet!
Beckham has pledged his future to Arsenal.
That is 10 year old Romeo Beckham.
One for you GiE to get excited about.
chäß – apparently/allegedly Ozil is a sex maniac. Can you verify?
ooooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh
aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh ojojojojojojojojojojojojojojojojojojojojojojojoj
what a beauty!!!!!!!!!! that has made my day ::)
Evonne the story being run in the Mirror was not mentioned at all during his time in Madrid, seems Real are on a PR offensive to justify the sale of a much loved player.
maybe. Not that the story bothers me :), but Wenger doesn’t want any bad publicity surrounding his players. Any trouble and the geezer is out on loan.
chas is bound to be impressed though
RL. Super post with lots of laughs. It amazes me how many managers are from-bottoms and what concerns me most of all is that almost without exception they are British.
Did we get this kind of crap from Martinez or AVB or Jol?
evonne. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Ozil liking the ladies. 😉
Once again the British red tops (newspapers) display themselves as nothing more than garbage after running the Özil is a sex maniac story. The guy flew from Spain to Italy to meet with someone that (at the time) he was in love with. Flying from Spain to Italy is hardly going to tire him out. Whatever followed may have 🙂 but seriously, what a stupid thing to write about. Just proves the red tops are all about trash stories.
Raddy – are they ‘ladies’ though 🙂 I didn’t say it was and if I was Ozil I would probably be worse.
JanMan – we can write a little song about Ozil the Stud, rather than make excuses for him.
It is not football related, but too funny not to tell our AAers from abroad – the plods asked Prince Andrew walking in the Buckingham Palace gardens to identify himself 🙂 🙂 That’s some material for stand up comedians 🙂
Morning all
…………New Post ……….
Lol nice one Rocky