A Message To Arsene Wenger.

I am very confident [we'll do better than last season],” he said. “We know in England that the Premier League is the biggest league in the world and everybody invests a lot of money.
 
“We invest in our work, in our beliefs, in the quality of our behaviour and I am confident that will pay off.

I don’t want to sound like I’m interfering Mr Wenger, but after studying your recent comments it seems as though you are seriously thinking about not signing anyone else to strengthen our squad this window.

If so, I seriously recommend you think twice about this. You are treading a very thin line and your once large numbers of loyal followers are dwindling year by year. After all the ‘noise’ YOU made about strengthening the squad for the up coming season I expect YOU to stand by your word and do your job. If not expect those numbers to drop even lower..

Do you really think the fans have forgotten last years dreadful performances by the same players that give dreadful performances every season. Do you really think the fans have forgotten the dreadful form of games where we won 2 in 10?? Do you really think the fans are going to accept another year of lies and complete poppycock that you seem to become so used to spinning us???

The bottom line is, you keep taking our money, silly money at that and you are not doing anything with it.. Why aren’t the profits you are so proud of making every season being put back into the team??.. I for one don’t class giving average players new contracts for doing crap as putting the fans money back into the team..If anything its wasting it..

If I fork out for a £300 quid Paul Smith jacket, I don’t want to get it home – only to wear it once and find all the buttons have fallen off and all the stitching has come loose. I don’t want to take it back to the store, only to be told by the store manager that I can’t have my money back, or indeed a better quality jacket. I don’t want to be fed the crap that even though the jacket has its flaws, it is a young jacket with great potential and if i invest another £300 on it we will work hard with the jacket and take pride when it fixes itself…

I want value for my money..

It’s the same in any field of business and if you want to treat the fans like customers instead of family then expect a lot of back lash..

The fans ‘noise’ is getting louder and louder every year and I think you’ll find it’s not in agreement with the way you are running things..Talks of a demonstration last year were quickly gathering pace..Nobody wants to demonstrate against you Mr Wenger but nobody wants to see Almunia or Fabianski in goal for the start of next season either. If either appear at the Emirates Cup then you can expect a few raised eyebrows and tut tut’s on the day..

We desperately need another CB.. Another top class one..It doesn’t matter how you spin it or how many youngsters we have coming through, the majority of fans will not be happy if we go into the season with what we’ve got..

You said after last year we had more money than ever and you were intent on strengthening the squad in the areas needed.. You’ve done sod all (again) only lose more players than you buy (again) and we are almost done with pre season (again)..

It is NOT your money. It’s the clubs money. It’s Arsenals money. It’s OUR money..Spend it and reinforce that team because we are weaker than last year and you know it…

You destroyed a perfectly good team. A strong team that had another 2-3 years in it and we’ve won nothing since. At one point we were the best. We had the best players and you let them all go. Top teams don’t let their best players go, they keep them and build on them and after 5 years I thought it would have been obvious to you where we were going wrong but I guess not.

You might be the best manager Arsenal have had but your starting to live off past glories. The club is bigger than you and if you take us into one more year of the same soap opera, filled with false promises and lies then don’t bother renewing your contract..Take a seat upstairs where your book-keeping is more useful and let someone else take over who’s hungry and doesn’t throw real trophies or see 3rd or 4th place as the best we can do…

I still think you’re a legend and what I’ve said doesn’t mean to come across too harsh. After all you’ve done for us I’m more than happy to let you see out your contract. After all, there was a time when you were clearing up and every top club was after you, but you stayed loyal to us.. For that I thank you. I also thank you for guiding the club through a difficult period and keeping our heads above water. Youve done an amazing job, but I think its time someone stuck a rocket up your arse and told you to get back in touch with the fans…If the board wont do it then believe me the fans will…

We have high ambitions for this club. Ambitions fed to us by you. If you want my opinion, if you want to achieve those ambitions you need to sort this squad out and quick.

I know you want that Champions League and I don’t think your going to get it, continuing to do as you are..

I have voiced my concerns and have given you my judgement, but I will stand by and support yours whatever you chose to do, but only for this one last time..Arsenal are the team I love. Arsenal are the team I support and I want them to do well. You are the manager of Arsenal and at the end of the day it’s only your opinion that counts. I just hope you know what you are doing in what could possibly be your last year.. Not just for your sake, but for Arsenals sake..

I don’t for one minute think that when you came up with the blueprints for this ‘project’ of yours, the fairy tale ending was to go 6 years without a single trophy and seeing your contract run out..Just keep that in mind before you put that dusty cheque book back into your sky….

Lets Just Play The kids??

In preparation for the worst case scenario this transfer window, I’ve convinced myself that Arsenal won’t be signing anybody else of real note.

If we don’t there is going to be serious implications for this years title charge. I don’t see how we can go into this season weaker than what we were last season and expect to do any better.

I still think we have 3 problem positions

The goalkeeper needs a shake up..Both Almunia and Fabianski have failed in their auditions to hold down the number 1 jersey so we need to change it. Almunias not a bad keeper, but makes way too many mistakes throughout the season to be seriously considered our number one anymore. Fabianski’s performances on the other hand make us wish Almunia was back between the sticks and that says it all really..

The solution is not Schwarzer. Has the situation got so bad that we are wanting to sign another average player? If we want to improve the situation then a ‘stop gap’ is not the answer. Schwartzer is no better than Almunia and we need to stop all this ‘short term solution’ talk.

If Chesney really is the answer and everyone thinks he will be number 1 in a years time then he’s ready now. Forget Schwartzer. If we aren’t going for the likes of Hart, Akinfeev, Lloris etc then lets not waste our time on anymore duds. Lets give the other squad members a chance. Put Chesney in goal, tell him hes number 1 and keep him there all season. Like I said I think Almunia and Fabianski have had enough chances, give someone else a go..

I think the likes of Denilson and Diaby have also had too long. Denilson just isn’t a strong dominant midfielder. He lacks every attribute a player in his role needs and he’s not taken his chance. When the play is in front of him and he can see everything he does ok, but once the play is stretched and goes end to end he looks lost. The game (and the refs) just pass by him. Diaby on the other hand has the attributes of a midfield monster, but you could shine a torch in one ear and see the light in the other..Theres nothing there. He lacks application and fire in his belly and that’s something that can’t be taught.

Again, if we are not looking to replace these players and invest in some top quality, then promote from within and give someone else a go.

Frimpong, JET and Wilshire are all rated highly and have played well in the youth teams. I’d much prefer Wenger to use these players more and tell Denilson and Diaby to take a seat on the bench..They are not good enough. They’ve had more than enough chances and its time for a change

I don’t have much to say on the CB issue..Although I’ve convinced myself they’ll be no more signings, I desperately want to see a top quality CB brought in.

Gallas was one of our best players last year. He was our best defender and they are big shoes to fill. I don’t think Kos is the answer and I don’t think there’s anyone we can promote to replace him. He needs replacing like for like but that will cost money and that’s what worries me.

Other than the CB position, I think we may just have the answer to our other problems already at the club. They just need the chance the others have got.

If the kids have got talent, then lets see it.

Another CB?? Forget it..Djourou Will be Arsenals ‘New signing’

Before I start ,I must say that I have no inside information or no ‘sources’ and I’ve heard nothing on the Arsenal grapevine. This is solely my opinion formed on what I’ve experienced as an Arsenal fan by witnessing Wengers transfer market ambition (or lack of) for the last 5 years..

I may be wrong and I hope I am. I really want Wenger to shove a huge slice of humble pie in my face but I dont think he will, nothing over the last 5 years has made me believe the hype that Wenger will  seriously invest in the squad this summer.. Arsenal FC will not sign another CB.

Wenger is not the type to fork out £10million on a first team player, nevermind a backup, so Kos will not be a bench warmer next year.. He’ll be playing and he’ll be playing regularly. This is not the key factor that forms my opinion. The fact that Arsenal.com has been blowing smoke up JD’s arse the last couple of days tells me that Kos and JD are our ‘new’ CB’s..

The defender spent almost all of last term on the sidelines with a knee injury but is ready to fill the void left by the departures of William Gallas and Mikael Silvestre.

Says it all really.. If my opinion is correct this leaves us in serious trouble..Kos is a nobody and is nothing like Tommy V was..TV was captain of Ajax and was a regular in the Belgian International team..Kos has never played a big game in his life and Wenger expects him to come in and do the job in the toughest league in the world?? Not a chance..I’m not saying this guy is the next Stepanovs, but I very much doubt he’s the next Tony Adams either..I’d say hes somewhere inbetween and he’s the next Cygan..Is another Cygan really the answer when what we really need is another Keown, Adams, or indeed a younger Sol Campbell..

Can J.D. do a job? He’s big and strong, fast and athletic. He looks like he has the perfect attributes for a top class CB..Saying that I don’t think he’s the answer either. Everytime I’ve seen him play he’s not been very convincing and the fact he’s spent the last year out with injury means there are huge doubts over his fitness and form. Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying he wont stay fit, but we all saw what happened to both Dudu and Rosicky after lengthy absences. Dudu was, in the end, sold and Tomas has never regained the form that earned him his nickname when he was younger.

Buy basement bargain unknowns, wait for injured players to return and promote from within has been Wengers philosophy for a while now and I don’t expect it to change. I think Wenger will be happy with TV, JD, Kos, Song, Nordtveit and Bartley and will tell us we are ready.

I don’t for one minute believe Wenger will sign a GK either. He has recently gone on record as saying he doesn’t know his number 1. It’s an honest admittion but it’s nothing we didn’t know already. The GK position has been a serious problem for a few years now and it didn’t change then and I don’t have much faith it will change now. Just because the manager admits he doesn’t know who is number 1 is doesn’t mean hes going to buy one..He’s just accepting the fact he’s got a couple of average ones and a couple of unkowns and he’s expecting (hoping) one of them will step up to the challenge..

For a start Wenger doesnt see the GK position as an important position. Even Bob Wilson said he didn’t see eye to eye with wenger over how the GK was trained. Secondly, Wenger will never in a million years spend big money on a GK. Given was available for a measly £7 mil and Wenger saw it as too much!! Really???? Thirdly, Wenger thinks that spending £2mil on a problem position is the answer. Well Mark Schwarzer is not the answer and we should stop wasting our time chasing players who are no better than what we’ve got already. Thank god we’ve been priced out of a deal by his £4mill price tag. I would normally see being priced out by £4mill as embarrassing, but under the circumstances I think its a blessing in disguise. We need improvements, not another average player to compete with average players..

Wenger will again go with what he’s got, hoping for somebody to do a ‘Flamini’.. If that’s the case then he’ll need about 5-6 of his players to do a ‘Flamini’ becuase we weren’t good enough last year and we won’t be good enough this year if we don’t sign anyone else.

The CM, CB and GK positions have been a problem for the last few years now and have been neglected in every window until the situation has become unbearable. I dont see the situation changing.

If Wenger was out to improve he would have done it by now..

Everyone wants to see improvements, Wenger has promised them year after year with no conviction. What makes it any different this year?

Arsenal are a top side, both foreign and domestically, but they don’t act like one. Arsenal should be at a stage now where the only players that can improve the squad are world class ones. The fact we are still signing players who were playing french league two football only a year ago tells us how big Wengers ambitions really are and how weak the squad is in certain positions.. 3rd place is a trophy and I won’t hold my breath to see any major signings this summer.. I’d even go as far to say we wont be signing anyone else.

Sorry for seeming so negative, but I’ve had enough. I haven’t believed a word Wenger has said for the last few years and I didn’t believe him when he said our team would be sorted before the World Cup or indeed Pre-Season.

Thinking about it, he probably was telling the truth. The team is now sorted. No wonder Cesc wants out..

Cesc will probably leave next season and if the situation doesn’t change at Arsenal then I wouldn’t lose any sleep if Wenger followed him out of the door..

Wenger is a fantastic man. A wonderful innovator and a brilliant accountant, but over the last few years his philosophy on squad building, man management and team tactics has been quite ridiculous and his legacy as being the greatest manager Arsenal has ever had is in serious danger of being tainted and stained.

In trying to take us forwards we are going backwards and it seems everybody barring  Arsene Wenger can see it..

We are The Arsenal. Filling the squad with basement bargains, crocks and kids is the philosophy of Allardyce, Coyle, Mcarthey et al.

In an age where everyone is skint and we are the only ones, barring Citeh and Chelsea, with any money I find it ridiculous that we still aren’t stamping our authority on the transfer market.. I don’t understand how in the same year we can give 17 players new contracts, pay £150 mill off a loan and still announce profits of over £40mil and do absolutely nothing in the transfer window… I don’t get it. What are we waiting for? After the performances of certain players, not just last year but the seasons before, does the manager think they will be any better this year?? 

Lets hope we see some real activity in the next few days..Otherwise we are in for another season of ‘ fingers and toes crossed lads, lets aim for fourth see how far we get beyond that and hope for the best’, instead of saying ‘we are genuine title challengers, we will be there from start to finish and not fall away at the end like we always do’..

As things stand,I’ll be happy with 4th place this coming campaign…

Arsenalisation, Signings and (zzzzz) Cesc.

It’s good to hear that the North Bank and the Clock End with clock included, will be back next season as the Arsenalisation machine continues..I think the club realised last season that 60,000 scarfs placed on seats at a cost of pittance was a bit of a shitty way to get the fans giddy, so they’ve invested some more money into bringing back some of the old memories.. Since the move to the The Emirates the club has lost its identity a little. This is a good way of getting it back and the fans will have a proper feel good vibe about the place. Hopefully it will spread into the squad and the club as a whole..I think its a good move I just hope it’s not coming out of the transfer kitty..

I really hope these are the first steps in creating a better atmosphere around the place. The North Bank and Clock End are a good idea but that was Highbury and Highburylisation isn’t the answer..It’s not a substitute for success. The Emirates needs its own identity and the way to do that is trophies. They are the best kind of memories. Nobody will be sat in the pub in 5 years time and say to their mates with pride;

“remember that game in 2011 when we had 99% possession but lost 3-0 and Denilson had the best stats”

What a boring, unambitious and downbeat way to talk about the team you love. It should be more like;

“remember that game in 2011 when Denilson hit a 30 yard screamer into the top corner in the 93rd minute? Won us the game and the league and 60,000 of us sat and watched the presentation of the best league trophy in the world at the best stadium in the world. What a day for the arsenal”

The Emirates needs that kind of memory. The only way to kick-start our ambitions and prove we are actually going for the title and not some fingers crossed, half arsed attempt like we are usually do is the need to sign players of quality, good enough to improve the squad because we obviously aren’t developing them as quickly as Wenger expected..

We are doing ok at the moment but we are spending nothing and every time we face a big opponent we get schooled. We aren’t as good as them but imagine how good we’d be with a few more quality players?

The important thing to remember here, is that Wenger said he’s got the money. He said that the financial shackles had been lifted and he had the money to compete with Chelsea. Although we obviously can’t afford to compete with them on wages, transfer fee wise we could sign anyone we wanted. The wage package Chelsea could offer players would make them a bigger attraction for a target, but they can’t sign everybody can they? Which Wenger also pointed out..

Even Fizsmann has gone on record saying that if Wenger wanted £30mil to spend on players he could have it.. That was back in 2008 so imagine how much we have now?

Whether Wenger will spend it or not is a mystery..Everyone seems to think this will be the season Wenger must see he has to spend. He has no choice. We aren’t good enough to win the two (not four) trophies we aim for and we need to stop making excuses and start producing. Recent trends however,over transfer windows past suggest we don’t seem to do too well in the window and the trend seems to be continuing this year.

Chamakh excites me a little but he was free and I’m not that thrilled with Kos if I’m honest. We need more. We need about 3 more…

If we add to these signings and get another solid, take no prisoners CB, a keeper who has the ability and agile niftyness of a chimpanzee and a midfielder with the mental strength and winning mentality of the incredible hulk I’ll be over the moon.

I’m not saying let’s go out and spend £150 mil but £40 – £50mil should do the trick. With today’s market prices if we want good players we have to spend big. No messing about. If we can really compete with Chelsea then lets put our money where our mouths are. Stop talking about it and just do it. This is what we moved to The Emirates for, so we could compete for the best trophies with the ultimate opponents..

By the way I’ve got my new arsenal away kit for this season and yes I have got Cesc4 on the back. I’m not too happy about whats happened and I’m sure Cesc wasn’t innocent in the whole saga but he’s class and if he stays which i think he now will, I’ll support him…I just don’t want to see no badge kissing when he scores because its bollocks..

Cesc… You Signed on the Dotted Line.

I have admired Cesc ever since he pulled on the red and white way back in 2003 he has in abundance something Theo seems to struggle with, “Awareness”. He either has a third eye or a memory that can judge 20 players positions at the blink of an eyelid and pinpoint the positions where they are going to be before they get there.

But this transfer saga is getting me down now, for years Cesc has said all the right things up until this summer, now there is an eerie silence. Until today when it is reported that Cesc wouldn’t want to hand in a transfer request in case he upsets the Arsenal fans. Or more likely if Barca don’t come up with the asking price and cannot match Arsenals valuation his future at the Emirates next season would be a tad uncomfortable to say the least, as soon as anything goes wrong he would be the scapegoat (although he probably will be anyway if the season goes wrong).

If it is true that Cesc wants to go home to the club that wouldn’t have given him half a dozen first team games.

Why the badge kissing last year?

Why the quotes like this one from last November “ Barcelona rumours don’t affect me- I may even stay at Arsenal forever”?  and more to the point.. Why sign an EIGHT year deal? Of course the answer is money £100k ish a week. Poor old Flamini gets a caning for leaving when his contact ran out, probably a quarter of the salary that Cesc was on. Where was his contact extensions?   Flamini got treated like shit and left, Cesc is treated with kid gloves and gets everything Arsenal can give him yet he is ‘showing’ a desire to leave. In my opinion Cesc is showing us less respect than the Flamster who I would take back at the drop of a hat.

If I was Arsene I would look at the long-term future of the club, another half-hearted season out of Cesc may not be the best thing for us, having him as club captain may not be the best thing either, Just having him around sends messages to our younger players to be disloyal. Or are Arsenal cosmopolitan and professional enough to let these things not affect them?
We seriously and not just us, look at how we set up the player contracts, In Spain when Barca signed Hleb they put a buy out clause in his deal, If any club comes in for him they must pay 90 million euro’s, then he can go. I mean players like Chamakh wouldn’t turn down the chance of playing for us with that minor line in the contract would he? But if he turns out like billy big boots Adebayor and forgets how much he initially wanted to play for us we then have an insurance policy against his agent whoring him around Europe because it wouldn’t be worth it.

The other day our beloved Dudu left us pastures new,  he said all the right things in his final speech, I never rated him as the greatest player Arsenal ever had, but what a true gentleman and professional, a credit to football, best wishes.

Have a good day fellow Roadsters.

Cesc, the Fans and BARCA ………. What’s up?

For the last few weeks there has been a gradual souring of the fans feelings for Cesc Fabregas. There has been a mishmash of emotional and contractual ennui and contradictory statements arising from the fans, player and clubs.

So what is going on?

What are the rights and wrongs of this upsetting (to the fans) and unsatisfactory situation we find ourselves in?

Football reflects the normal human social and political values and mores. When you think of great human love affairs they will have almost certainly been between two consenting individuals; Samson and Delilah, Romeo and Juliet, Tom and Jerry, and so on.
Not so with the compact between the Football Club, the Player and the Fans. This is a three party deal and is inherently unstable as a result. Everyone knows that when a great affair starts to go wrong, lovers know only too well how to hurt each other deeply and sometimes unintentionally.

What is this “compact”, this understanding between the three parties?

A) The player. He needs to bring high level skills, hard work and “heart” to the party to achieve team success in Leagues and Cups.

B) The club. The club needs to reward the player with untold treasures (dosh) dependent on their assessment of the player’s part in achieving the Clubs aims of successfully winning trophies. They also need to ensure there are other quality players in the team to achieve their mutual aspirations.

C) The Fans. The fans will support and love their club forever, through thick and thin. No Less! They will also love, respect and idolise their players during their careers at Arsenal and for the rest of their lives. They will also rejoice and glory in the Club’s/Player’s success and dutifully gloat to opposition fans and players whenever and wherever possible. Without fail!
When things go well, everyone knows their role the club is successful and life is blissful!

But like all relationships things can, and do, go badly wrong. How is that characterised?

1. The Player. The player (e.g. Almunia, Denilson, and Diaby) will sometimes not be able to meet the standards of skill, endeavour or heart expected of him. The fans will lose respect and will withdraw their love, and wish the Club to sell them on. The skilful player can become disillusioned with the Club’s perceived lack of ambition, in not buying additional suitably skilful, hardworking players to help achieve success, and eventually will want to move on to a more ambitious club.

2. The Club. The club can decide a player(s) is no longer suitable and will wish to transfer him/them. Or the Club will decide the player is excellent, despite the views of the fans, and persevere with him beyond all reason. The club may antagonise the fans, by recognising the need to recruit new players but choose not to do so because of other financial goals or priorities set by the management.

3. The Fans. The fans may take a vehement dislike to a player. They may become dissatisfied and/or disillusioned with the Clubs transfer policy. They may be appalled by the Club’s lack of transparency and inability to communicate to them, or, worse to dissemble and bend the truth. (Commonly known as “spinning”).

When the compact is broken for any of the above reasons, the Club or the Player reaches for “The Contract”, in the same way other more intimate relationships reach for the “Pre-Nuptial Agreement”.
Note: at this point, the other party to the compact, the fan, is expected to sod off and await the outcome, while remaining in total ignorance of what is going on!

The Legal and related Issues. OH, DEAR!

This is why the world is full of wealthy lawyers.

This whole area is complex and fraught with “booby traps”.

Unlike you or me, footballers’ contracts are overseen by a number of overlapping authorities each with their own regulations and requirements. I am NOT going into all that. It is boring and would take forever.
Suffice to say; footballers are covered by the usual European statutory employment and human rights laws, as well as by the regulations of the game’s governing bodies FIFA and UEFA and the individual player’s terms and conditions, as agreed with the Club, and written into their contracts.
If statutory laws are broken, inevitably there will be another “Bosman” ruling.

So what, you may ask?

Legal:
The first thing a lawyer will say to his client is “SAY NOTHING!” At this stage of the proceedings, marital or contractual, the big issue is usually money!
Leaving aside the abominable role played by Barca and its players, Cesc has clearly felt there is a breach of the compact rules between him and the Club, as shown above. I leave you to make your own minds up as to what that breach is, and whether or not it can be fixed.

Related:
We need to bear in mind that for centuries, parts of Spain have tried to be independent countries in their own right. The Basque and Catalan regions fought as part of a bitter and bloody civil war between the republicans and the fascists during the mid to late 1930’s, before General Franco came to power.
These memories are still deep within the Catalan psyche and will also be part of Cesc’s current problems. Irrespective of any breach of the “compact”, he will have been very flattered by the desire of his fellow Catalans for him to join them, and cannot afford to offend, not just them, but the whole o f Catalonia by telling them to get stuffed for making inappropriate public overtures.
Therefore, he cannot come out and say either” I want to stay” or “I want to go” without mortally upsetting a great number of people on either side, let alone the legal ramifications regarding his contract.

I am also sure he loves Arsenal and the Gooners who, in turn, love him.

I suggest we give him room to sort out all these conflicting emotions and contractual niceties and reflect that, if Arsenal had replaced its star players over the last few years, none of us would be in this unenviable position.

For those of you who have stuck with me to the end, a very big thank you.

Arsenal forever!

 

Written by Red Arse, but you knew that

New number 10 and 11, New 9?? New rules….

The boys are in Austria training hard in preparation for tonights friendly. Robin, our new number 10 is yet to join up with the squad, as is our captain. Also missing is Eduardo, our  number 9 who it appears has left us for pastures new. I really hope his career kicks off again and he gets somewhere near back to his best.  Another player who has changed his squad number is Carlos Vela, he will now wear number 11. That just about puts to bed any suggestion that Vela is on the move, good!

But what to make of the now vacant number 9 shirt, will Wenger promote from within, maybe Jay Simpson, Sunu or someone else, will Chamakh or Nikki B now change their squad numbers, OR will we all be stunned by the signing of a new centre forward to fill the shirt?.

Talking of players, Red Arse has kindly provided an idiots guide to the new rules….

From next season the Premier League are introducing the new HGP rules restricting the numbers of players permitted in a first team squad and setting a maximum number of “foreign players” who can be included in the squad. More about the numbers game later.

What’s that all about, you may ask?

O.K. let’s have a look at the background to see how we arrived at these new rules.

Good old Sepp Blatterbum, several years ago, tried to introduce worldwide rule to help protect and develop “Home Grown” football talent. His “big idea”, was, in fact, based on the very understandable desire to protect youngsters from Africa and South America, in particular, being lured by European clubs and then being dumped far from home, if they weren’t good enough.
In addition, he wanted to encourage the opportunities for the development of each nation’s own young players, and reduce the mass movement of other countries’ youngsters.

He and Michel Platinum tried to force clubs into accepting a 6 + 5 rule. This meant each team would have to have 6 home grown players and 5 foreign players in it. Unfortunately for them, this proposal was not acceptable under European Law and was thrown out. Now the Premier League mandarins have proposed their own version of Blatter’s idea, probably to prevent future hassle from FIFA and UEFA.
So what are the numbers then?
Each Premier League club can have a maximum of 25 players over the age of 21 in their first team squad.
There will be a maximum of 17 foreign players over the age of 21.
Therefore clubs can have 8 “home grown players” in their squads.
Each club can also have an unlimited number of players, of any nationality, under the age of 21.

So there it is; Foreign players 17
Home Grown players 8
Maximum Squad size 25

Simples!

What is the definition of a “home-grown” player?

A home-grown player is one who has been developed by an English or Welsh club for at least three years before reaching the age of 21. The obvious effect of this is that there will be an even greater premium put on the market price of any English player. It will also eventually, it is hoped, improve the quality of the England team, though this is debatable. To give an example of “home-grown” players, over the age of 21, in the current Arsenal squad, would be; Clichy, Mannone, Denilson,Fabregas and Djourou.

Examples of foreign players over 21, would include; Arshavin, Diaby, Nasri and so on. I estimate that Arsenal have 14 or 15 foreign players in the squad at the time of writing. This may change if Arsene buys another one or two players.

When does this new rule take effect?

At 5 p.m. on the last day of the transfer window, each club must supply a list of its first team squad and its composition. The squad can be amended during each of the following transfer windows.
So now you know. What is your view on the possible benefits or problems arising from these rules. Will they cause Arsenal problems? Are they a restriction on clubs’ autonomy, designed to see a “levelling down” in the quality of the top teams?

Interesting?

Have a good day all, enjoy the game later

Cesc, Rooney and the Loyalty Myth

We have all become used to players “Kissing the Badge”, and assuring the fans of their undying love for their Club by uttering facile mantras, such as “Once a Blue, always a Blue”, and many other similar clichés.

We have recently heard, more and more frequently, particularly in the case of Cesc Fabregas, that a player possesses this or that “DNA” in their blood.
This “possessive identifier” does not only refer to players who have been born overseas, such as Cesc, but British players, such as Gerrard, Neville and Shearer, born in the vicinity of their clubs, who are inextricably linked to their geographical heritage.

On the other hand, fans become emotionally involved with their Clubs, out of choice, and once they become Gooners, Dippers or Spuds they will remain loyal supporters for the rest of their lives.
Whether a fan is born or lives within a stone’s throw of their club, or is born many thousands of miles away, makes no difference. Their love of their Club, their team and its football is what unites them all.

Gooners all over the world love to get together, either in the Pubs or on the internet, and talk, discuss or argue about their beloved Gunners; to discuss the latest rumours; to worry about who will be bought; who will be sold; and how successful the team will be in the coming season. And this is true for fans of all the other teams too.

The loyalty of the fans is absolute and unquestioned but what then about the “loyalty” of the players, with or without DNA.

Fans because of their identity with the Club extend this loyalty and love to the players.
In return, they expect the players to respond in kind and give their love and loyalty back to both their devoted fans and the Club itself. Sadly, this emotional link is very often misplaced. At root, players are professional sportsmen who in their relatively short careers want to make as much money and win as many trophies as possible.

When Arsenal develops young players through their youth system, a very important milestone is passed when they reach 17 years of age. The Club and the player now engage in a purely business transaction which can often be brutal. Love and loyalty play no part in these discussions.

Firstly the Club will decide in a hard-headed businesslike manner, whether, or not, a young player is good enough for a professional career with them. For those who are unsuccessful there are broken dreams and broken hearts! No love or loyalty there then.
For the successful ones a contract is awarded with plenty of dosh, dependent on the deemed ability of individual players. No love or loyalty is evident there either; just haggling over money and security!

Immediately, from that moment, the dye is cast and the fans’ love and loyalty is divorced from the business of the financial contractual relationship of the Club and Player.
When Arsenal, Manchester City or whoever buy a player, they are in fact buying the player’s contract and the hard-headed business negotiations kick in again. No mention of love or loyalty! No siree Bob.

No matter how much fans would wish it to be different, it is this contractual relationship which governs Club and Player until the end of that contract or the end of the player’s career.  Consider the statements we continually hear from players and what they really mean;

“Once a Blue always a Blue”? Sod that, if more money and trophies are there for the taking.

“I love Arsenal”? Well until I am offered more money elsewhere, by Citeh.

“I am proud to be an Arsenal player”? Well until my DNA kicks in and I can go to a Club likely to win trophies and pay me a salary beyond my wildest dreams. Don’t cry for me Barcelona, the truth is I never left you £££££.

“I can only say it is in the hands of the manager”? If I say I want to go, it may cost me a big payout.
This is not to be overly cynical. It is reality! In truth, the players are not the only ones to blame for this state of affairs. From the age of 17 onwards, the legal business entity which is the Club, under the FIFA and UEFA guidelines, negotiates and dictates the financial relationship of the player to the Club.

The fans have no say in any of this, other than to provide the emotional and financial support without which the Club/Players would not exist. Cough up, pay more and watch the game!

Players’ Loyalty? Players’ Love?

Pahh! Don’t be naive, it’s just a MYTH!

Written by Red Arse

Robin’s rants, Henry plans Arsenal return, Ozil is up for grabs now!

Just what we need to hear from one of Arsenal fans favourites. Robin says it’s time to get tough and get in the faces of the opposition. We need to do unto others what they so love to do to us. Play the pretty football, yes, but when the chips are down, put the pretty stuff on the back burner and start showing some grit and steel.

Frimpong certainly wasn’t afraid to against Barnet was he, now the rest of our crop need to adopt a similar stance. One difference though between playing Barnet and teams like the Chavs is that the Barnet players don’t roll over like they’ve been caught by a stray bullet from the local firing range. Football for them is hard week in week out, they ride a tough tackle and dish out tough tackles, it’s called football. and we need to start mixing a bit of that in with our pretty stuff!

Shall we dance Emmanuel? Nah Audrey, let’s go get stuck in!!

During an interview Robin said this about Holland and Arsenal. Funny enough he was the first player that Howard Webb booked during the WC Final.

Just before France had to pack their bags, Patrick Vieira said to me that you don’t have to play well in the group stages of a World Cup, not even in the second round.Only later do you have to grow as a team and you will reach a high level. That will get you to the final. That is exactly the way we did it. Against Brazil in the second half, we were brilliant.

Van Persie added that five trophyless years at Arsenal are proof that great football does not always get its just deserts.

I know how difficult it can be to play wonderful football and not get the result you want, I see it at Arsenal more than I want to. When we play the likes of Bolton and Blackburn we dominate the game, we play attacking football and they score from a lousy throw-in or an odd corner-kick. Then we end up chasing them again. The criticism Holland got in the World Cup I recognise from what we get at Arsenal. It was a final. You don’t give up without a fight, do you?

Good man Robin, now tell your team-mates and your boss!

Thierry Henry has spoken about his move to the USA, it’s a short-term plan, he wants to win another trophy, then retire and come home to England and be part of Arsenal again – it wouldn’t surprise me one bit if he gets his coaching badge while in the States and is being lined up to be part of our management team, maybe with Dennis Bergkamp…. Now that’s a mouth-watering prospect!!

Sadly, as one great striker thinks about returning one day, it seems that another may soon be leaving us, reports came out yesterday that Eduardo will undergo a medical today at Shakhtar Donetskt – if its true then I really wish him the very best and I understand why he is leaving, this may also explain his sudden absence from the squad on Saturday.

Mesut Ozil is up for grabs after Werder Bremen admitted they will listen to offers for the midfielder, I’m not sure whether we would be in for a shout of getting him as his value is around £20M. If ever though a signing could happen to put the smiles back on the faces of Arsenal fans, it would be this one.

We could always offer Werder Bremen Diaby, Denilson and Almunia in a player swap deal couldn’t we??

Other snippets, suggestion is that we will up our offer for Phil Jagielka. I’d rather we walked away and use the money to get Cahill, he’s only valued at £13M. The Daily Mirror report that Jay Simpson could be given a second chance to prove himself at Arsenal. Having scored two well taken goals against Barnet at the weekend it could be the start of a new beginning. I hope so and with the new rules coming in, he may just stay and take that chance…

Finally, well done to Tom Cruise whose goal helped England under 19′s beat Austria 3-2 and Francis Coquelin played his part in a France 4-1 over Holland. Gilles Sunu was on the bench. Interestingly, there was the next  Sneijder generation on show in the second half. If Wenger is after another youth player, maybe he should be looking to snare him Rodney Sneijder is his name, keep an eye out, his current club is Ajax!

Have a good day all….

Arsene talks the talk, Jay walks the walk, Almunia finished?

I’m going to start at the end and share what Arsene Wenger said after the game when questioned about Fabregas.

There was a lot of unneeded talk, It is not pleasant to read this every day. Now, the story has to stop.

Cesc is our captain, he is so important to us and we want to keep him, that is why we were not listening to any offers.

It was not a problem of money, just the desire to keep him at the club.

We can only influence our own behaviour, and I believe things have now gone straight again with Sandro Rosell. We always had a consistent attitude and were always reluctant to talk about Cesc’s departure.

It is very important we give the impression that because somebody wants a player from us, we don’t just give in on.

We have shown our love and care for Cesc since the start. I believe Cesc loves the club, has shown his attachment to the club many times and I am very confident the story will end there. We want Cesc to be part of our club next year, and that is it.

What we want is to build a team for the future, to develop our team and are not in any talks for next year or the year after – we want our players to be focused on the targets we have at the Club.

So it seems Cesc is here to stay, well, for another season anyway, but be prepared to go through all this again each transfer window until Barca finally get their man! That is of course, unless Wenger sorts this current squad out and turns it into a winning side! Do that and the player may just want to stay on, especially if Jose turns the screw on Pep this season.

Was it just my stream or everyone’s who signed up for the £3 deal with afc.com?? There I was, 2.55pm having bought some fancy lead so I could watch the match from my laptop on the television but after ten minutes I thought I was going to have a seizure, no offence intended… Shocking coverage, just shocking!!

Yesterday’s game really was a ‘game of two halves’ – the second half saw a whole new eleven turn out.

Arsenal starting XI: Fabianski, Nordtveit, Vermaelen, Koscielny, Traore, Frimpong, Rosicky, Wilshere, Arshavin, Simpson, Emmanuel-Thomas..

First half I thought, Simpson, Frimpong and Wilshire shone from the ‘non regulars’ Arshavin and Tomas looked cool calm and fresh, ready for a season of hard work ahead..

 Simpson (2) and Arshavin (1) were the goal scorers.

If it were up to me, Jay Simpson would stay, yes it was Barnet, yes it was a friendly BUT the biggest yes is, Yes, he scores and he seems to know where the goal is…

Why oh why has this lad been told to find another club? He loves Arsenal, I think many fans already love him too, he really could be ‘the next Ian Wright’!

Not suggesting for one minute he’d be the first striker on the team sheet, but he has power pace and an eye for goal, is that not the qualities of a decent striker, a player who could come off the bench and gets us a goal??

Arsenal’s second-half XI: Mannone, Eastmond, Djourou, Miquel, Gibbs, Lansbury, Henderson, Nasri, Barazite, Walcott, Chamakh

Second half was dull, Walcott did ok, Chamakh didn’t have a fantastic half, but who cares, first game in an Arsenal shirt, I’m sure as the games get going and become more serious, so will he. Same for Djourou, finally got to see him back and without a bandage heavily strapped around his knee, he looked fit and comfortable on the ball, seems promising…

Nasri finished off after a hand out from the Barnet defence, 4-0 to us.

83 mins on the clock and the fans sing… Arsene Arsene give us a wave, me, I’d be asking him to give us more than a wave, a player or two would be better greeted than a bloomin wave…

Difficult game for all three goal keepers, they had very little to do, in fact I’m not sure Chesney even touched the ball? Or did I just blink and miss it?

Talking of keepers, what about Almunia then, having been named in the 22 man squad for the Barnet game, he’s suddenly missing – my thought is he’s off and he knows it – instead of being at Barnet, he’s sorting out his future and that future is no longer with us… Why would Chesney be wearing the number 1 shirt otherwise, or is that me just hoping

But for Almunia I think its over, nice chap but average keeper, all the best Big Al….

On to rumours, Everton have turned down a £14M offer from us for Phil Jagielka but it’s suspected that Wenger will up his offer this coming week. Good!! Also, if we want the kid from Ipswich it will cost us £10M, surely that £10M would be better spent elsewhere?

Have a good day all, not long to wait for the next game