one for today

[Ken Gargett]

granted not the gunners best season, but hardly their worst, with a glorious FA Cup win. and really, if you had said two decades ago, would you take 19 out of 20 for top four, i think most clubs would be all over that.

i most especially love that the ref had the balls to send off a cheat. let's hope that it happens a lot more, whatever the club. if you dive to gain an unfair advantage, you have deliberately cheated and deserve to go. we'll never know how much that cost them but it did not help.

[Ken Gargett]

seriously? the photo was in the preview post. FIX THE FORUM!!

i'll try again.

[Ken Gargett]

[Rustyman]

And is there something wrong with the picture????  I think Lanestra is a great name for a little girl and far less messed up than many of the kids names I hear whenever I go to pick up my youngest son at school.

(P.S. I am an Arsenal support and have been calling for Wenger to go for the last 6-7 years)

[99call]

Poor, Poor child. she might as well be called Latrine, or Kentuckifriedchickiniqua. Here's some more ghetto-names for you enjoyment

 

[Auspaul]

Quote

That video is a joke isn't it they cant all be real names

 

[99call]

My favourite is  Beethoveniqua

[seville23]

6 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

granted not the gunners best season, but hardly their worst, with a glorious FA Cup win. and really, if you had said two decades ago, would you take 19 out of 20 for top four, i think most clubs would be all over that.

i most especially love that the ref had the balls to send off a cheat. let's hope that it happens a lot more, whatever the club. if you dive to gain an unfair advantage, you have deliberately cheated and deserve to go. we'll never know how much that cost them but it did not help.

 

Moses sending off took real courage on the part of the ref - and hopefully will send a message not only to footballers but to his fellow ref's that cheating will not be tolerated.

It would help too if the journalists and pundits would stop pussyfooting around the issue and stop calling it "simulation". Its not "simulation": its cheating.

[Rustyman]

5 minutes ago, seville23 said:

Moses sending off took real courage on the part of the ref - and hopefully will send a message not only to footballers but to his fellow ref's that cheating will not be tolerated.

It would help too if the journalists and pundits would stop pussyfooting around the issue and stop calling it "simulation". Its not "simulation": its cheating.

Absolutely!!!  No matter which team does it.  Diving is cheating and calling it simulation simply legitimises it.

[canadianbeaver]

OMG the video is the bombishi'queashqua!

[perkinke]

15 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

granted not the gunners best season, but hardly their worst, with a glorious FA Cup win. and really, if you had said two decades ago, would you take 19 out of 20 for top four, i think most clubs would be all over that.

I listen to the "Men in Blazers" podcast and Rog made an interesting point about the top four finishing.  Paraphrased, professional sport is only about winning.  Finishing in the top four, absent any other trophy in the season (congrats to Arsenal on the FA cup), while it is a good BUSINESS result it is a poor sporting result.  Qualifying for the Champions League and then getting knocked out every year is little different than not qualifying for it, in sporting terms.  It's also one of those things that is hard for a lot of Americans to get their head around in football.  The "There's no points for second place" mentality is pretty deeply ingrained in many of us.

The second point about the champions league is debatable.  Being a United supporter the lack of Champions League, not to mention not even putting up a decent fight for the league, has been rather painful.  But in the modern game, particularly the EPL, branding and ROI seems at times to have taken precedence over a team's competitiveness. 

[Ken Gargett]

41 minutes ago, perkinke said:

I listen to the "Men in Blazers" podcast and Rog made an interesting point about the top four finishing.  Paraphrased, professional sport is only about winning.  Finishing in the top four, absent any other trophy in the season (congrats to Arsenal on the FA cup), while it is a good BUSINESS result it is a poor sporting result.  Qualifying for the Champions League and then getting knocked out every year is little different than not qualifying for it, in sporting terms.  It's also one of those things that is hard for a lot of Americans to get their head around in football.  The "There's no points for second place" mentality is pretty deeply ingrained in many of us.

The second point about the champions league is debatable.  Being a United supporter the lack of Champions League, not to mention not even putting up a decent fight for the league, has been rather painful.  But in the modern game, particularly the EPL, branding and ROI seems at times to have taken precedence over a team's competitiveness. 

there is a lot in that of course. sides either win the whole thing or aim to qualify for a different competition. the advantage of that is it gives you a chance to win that competition, which serious sides want. it also means a lot more cash to sides - i've read around 40 million euros. not to be sniffed at.

it is a debate i'm having with a few mates - who had the better season (granted arsenal have been in the headlines all year for wrong reasons, while others have been praised for their play) - liverpool/spurs/man city or the gunners? don't know that there is an easy answer. if it is the gunners, then the endless campaign against wenger seems absurd.

my view is that three contracts really cost the gunners this year - ozil, sanchez and wenger. the focus on those three just seemed to drain the club and the players. if they had tied up sanchez and ozil early (christ, this and cousins with the skins - i am over contract debates) then far less fuss about wenger and i have no doubt they would also have been top four, perhaps a lot better - they beat chelsea twice this year. but no one to blame by themselves.

[Rustyman]

Ken's reply is the serious considered approach.  From my point of view, as a supporter, while winning the FA cup is nice, it is not the main game.  

For me, winning the league is the key, then the Champions league.  

Despite Arsenal being in the top 4/ qualifying for the Champions league most years, I simply have not believed for the past 6-7 years that they were a chance of winning, especially after Xmas.  Now this is not about talent, this is about ambition and desire.  I have felt that the Gunners in general and Wenger in particular, are quite comfortable simply ending in the top 4 every year and raking in the Champions League euros.  Whether it is the language used, the inevitable post-New Year collapse, the dicking around of the defense or simply settling for lesser players in the transfer market.  The focus being on maintaining the status quo rather than making the step up to competing for a championship, even if this brings the risk of a big name bust like Pogba.

Finally, if a team like Leicester can win the comp, even if it is a once in a 100 year occurrence.  A club like Arsenal who is always close to the top should be able to convert at least once or twice in the past 15 years.

 

 

 

 

[Ken Gargett]

9 minutes ago, Rustyman said:

Ken's reply is the serious considered approach.  From my point of view, as a supporter, while winning the FA cup is nice, it is not the main game.  

For me, winning the league is the key, then the Champions league.  

Despite Arsenal being in the top 4/ qualifying for the Champions league most years, I simply have not believed for the past 6-7 years that they were a chance of winning, especially after Xmas.  Now this is not about talent, this is about ambition and desire.  I have felt that the Gunners in general and Wenger in particular, are quite comfortable simply ending in the top 4 every year and raking in the Champions League euros.  Whether it is the language used, the inevitable post-New Year collapse, the dicking around of the defense or simply settling for lesser players in the transfer market.  The focus being on maintaining the status quo rather than making the step up to competing for a championship, even if this brings the risk of a big name bust like Pogba.

Finally, if a team like Leicester can win the comp, even if it is a once in a 100 year occurrence.  A club like Arsenal who is always close to the top should be able to convert at least once or twice in the past 15 years.

 

in fairness, we have won twice in the past 15 years - 02 and 04 - but i would argue that we should have done better. we should certainly have won it once or twice in recent years.

this off season, i'll be happy if they at least maintain the status quo. madness to let sanchez leave. give him a cheque and tell him to write his amount. it would be a massive set back if he leaves. ozil also but not as bad. and another big name or two most welcome.

i go back and forth on wenger but someone made the excellent point - if you are going to sack him, and no way will they after the FA cup, you have to have someone better with whom you can replace him. otherwise, makes no sense. is there someone better? people will argue both ways. i think he is there for another year or two. my issue is that they stuffed this season by not signing sanchez and ozil early and sorting out the wenger issue.

[El Presidente]

Who won the FA Cup in 2016?

Who won it in 2015?

does anyone really care....I suspect chelsea struggled to get into the mood after two weeks of partying the EPL title.  

[Ken Gargett]

Just now, El Presidente said:

Who won the FA Cup in 2016?

Who won it in 2015?

does anyone really care....I suspect chelsea struggled to get into the mood after two weeks of partying the EPL title.  

i think any side would and that was why i always felt that the gunners were more than a good chance (depending on which gunners turned up and if players like Ozil actually remembered that the reason they were on a football field was to try and win).

but i think you diminish the FA Cup a little. i think it is the oldest football comp in the world? when younger, i really couldn't give much of a toss, who won the season. the Cup was the highlight. less so now.

i also think, tough as it might be to get back up for the game, winning the double is a very big thing over there. our english friends can probably shed more light. i think chelski would have wanted to win very badly - people remember the teams that win the double.

and manspew won in 16. we won in 15, and also in 14. three times in four years is a real achievement. wenger must wonder what the hell he has to do.

i understand that man c followers may have less interest. when did they last win? have they ever?

 

[El Presidente]

Fair play to Arsenal. it was important for them 

 

And so like a an episode of a cheap soap, the Arsenal story has been told again. 

 

Brilliant start. 

Challenging for the lead. 

Form slump

Knives out. Retribution. Coach out. Melodrama   

Good Finish

Positive for the future. All good. Kumbaya. 

*Top 4  

*Almost

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ken Gargett]

6 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

Fair play to Arsenal. it was important for them 

 

And so like a an episode of a cheap soap, the Arsenal story has been told again. 

 

Brilliant start. 

Challenging for the lead. 

Form slump

Knives out. Retribution. Coach out. Melodrama   

Good Finish

Positive for the future. All good. Kumbaya. 

*Top 4  

*Almost

in fairness, i don't recall any brilliant start this season. pretty much a trainwreck all year.

[Rustyman]

35 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

Fair play to Arsenal. it was important for them 

 

And so like a an episode of a cheap soap, the Arsenal story has been told again. 

 

Brilliant start. 

Challenging for the lead. 

Form slump

Knives out. Retribution. Coach out. Melodrama   

Good Finish

Positive for the future. All good. Kumbaya. 

*Top 4  

*Almost

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Damn!!!  This is just far to accurate for my liking.  And it has been the same for the past 5 years or so.  Unfortunately, not all of us have dubious foreign investors to constantly buy us out of trouble.  (We have dubious foreign investors, just not rich enough ones)

[Ken Gargett]

1 minute ago, Rustyman said:

Damn!!!  This is just far to accurate for my liking.  And it has been the same for the past 5 years or so.  Unfortunately, not all of us have dubious foreign investors to constantly buy us out of trouble.  (We have dubious foreign investors, just not rich enough ones)

the problem is that stan the grub has majority control. he has the dosh - i believe around $7 billion - to happily buy anyone he wanted to. if he would bugger off into the sunset, fat chance, usmanov wants to buy him out, and then wants to buy players. i believe he is worth a bit over twice the value of stan. the 3rd minor shareholder only has a mere 2-3 bill so not sure what he wants to do, but he also owns half of everton so hard to see him wanted to arm a competitor?

if stan would hand over to usmanov, we'd be sweet.

one interesting thing that seems to be emerging is that while wenger is very often criticised for not spending big on players, it might be that he has far less access to the purse-strings than we've been led to believe (would fit with stan's usual MO). but wenger is far too much of an arsenal man and a gent to ever publicly criticise the club or board or anyone on it so takes the blame. no idea if true but would not surprise me. surely stan must see that if the club goes backwards, the value of his shareholding - which is what he is interested in - goes backwards.

[Rustyman]

1 minute ago, Ken Gargett said:

the problem is that stan the grub has majority control. he has the dosh - i believe around $7 billion - to happily buy anyone he wanted to. if he would bugger off into the sunset, fat chance, usmanov wants to buy him out, and then wants to buy players. i believe he is worth a bit over twice the value of stan. the 3rd minor shareholder only has a mere 2-3 bill so not sure what he wants to do, but he also owns half of everton so hard to see him wanted to arm a competitor?

if stan would hand over to usmanov, we'd be sweet.

one interesting thing that seems to be emerging is that while wenger is very often criticised for not spending big on players, it might be that he has far less access to the purse-strings than we've been led to believe (would fit with stan's usual MO). but wenger is far too much of an arsenal man and a gent to ever publicly criticise the club or board or anyone on it so takes the blame. no idea if true but would not surprise me. surely stan must see that if the club goes backwards, the value of his shareholding - which is what he is interested in - goes backwards.

Well, that is a bit of insight I wasn't aware of.  Also, despite all my criticism of Wenger, I think you are right.  He is far too much of an Arsenal man to publicly criticise the club, unlike that moaner up north who thinks winning the Europa cup counts for anything and even when he has all the money in the world, still cannot buy his way to success.

[Ken Gargett]

why can you not get a cup of tea at white hart lane?

NO CUPS

[wabashcr]

On 5/28/2017 at 9:57 PM, Ken Gargett said:

one interesting thing that seems to be emerging is that while wenger is very often criticised for not spending big on players, it might be that he has far less access to the purse-strings than we've been led to believe (would fit with stan's usual MO). but wenger is far too much of an arsenal man and a gent to ever publicly criticise the club or board or anyone on it so takes the blame. no idea if true but would not surprise me. surely stan must see that if the club goes backwards, the value of his shareholding - which is what he is interested in - goes backwards.

Xhaka £38M

Mustafi £35M

Lucas Perez £17M

That's £90M on three players last summer.  It's not in the Chelsea/City range, but it's more than Liverpool or Sp*rs spent.  Our wage bill is also considerably higher than those two clubs who finished higher.  He has money to spend.  Their rationale for not spending more is that they'll never be able to compete financially with City or Chelsea (or Utd for that matter).  So why waste more money than they need to in order to inevitably finish 4th (or 2nd, 3rd or 5th)?  Financially it makes sense.  Commercially the club can continue to trade on their history and status as the biggest club in London.  Despite supporter unrest, nobody is giving up their tickets.  And even if they did, someone else would step in to buy them in a second.  The board are perfectly fine with the status quo, and Wenger seems to be the ideal man for the situation.  News today that he's signed a new 2-year deal seems to confirm as much.

It's sad because it doesn't feel like the board have true ambitions of trying to challenge for the league.  Being competitive and finishing near the top of the table seems to be the goal.  Maybe they can't or won't engage in the financial doping of other clubs, but it's still Arsenal FC.  Winning the league should be the goal every year, regardless of circumstances.  At least give it an honest effort.