Author Archives: oaf12

About oaf12

Father of two, life long Arsenal fan and keen gamer. Run The Man Den blog and also blog on Suburban Gooners. Happy to discuss most things :)

Crazy Corner Conundrum

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Hey party people oaf12 here and welcome to Suburban Gooners!

 

It’s been a while since I have blogged on Suburban Gooners, yet it feels as if we are in the same position as we always (well for a while now) have been……nearly there!

 

My main worry is that the ‘there’ in ‘nearly there’ is the one thing that is changing! Over the years it has been the league title, then the top 2 or, at worst 3, but sadly now it is 4th and while I am still hopeful, even that target is looking rather challenging right now!

 

I’m not going to go into the who is or isn’t to blame – that has been done before, several million times. What I will say is that it certainly isn’t as black & white as simply being Wenger’s fault. Whilst he certainly isn’t blameless, I feel the main problems are higher up the chain. I would welcome David Dein back with open arms and as long as we didn’t ‘overspend’ I would also welcome a hungrier owner or at least one that seemed to care.

 

Anyway, enough of that rubbish, let’s get back to today’s topic and discuss our defensive corner policy. Again, I am not going to talk about why and whether we should or shouldn’t use zonal marking as that has been ‘done to death’. What I want to chat about is the fact that it drives me insane that we bring EVERY single player back to defend corners……

wtf

 

At first you may think “but oaf surely this is a good thing as it sures up our defence” but I would have to disagree! I really can’t see how, if anything I would argue the players probably get in each other’s way and play ‘the blame game’ when something goes wrong.

 

Also, I don’t know about you but if I were a goalkeeper (I have been, wow!!), I would feel more confident of collecting a ball within an area that doesn’t contain 20 players! By remoiving even 1, 2 or 3 it will create more space for Szczesny to manoeuvre, crazy huh!?!

 

My main concern however, is how much this limits us and invites yet more pressure. On the odd occasion a cleared ball may fall to, say, Theo on the edge of our box when cleared – this happened in the Newcastle game. Like lightening he carries the ball forward to launch a counter attack, so fast in fact that you start to remember how we used to play, how we used to be able to soak up pressure and then pounce!

 

Sadly, that is not the case anymore though is it? What actually happens, again as in the Newcastle game, is that the opposition have enough players back to crowd us out and we lose possession.

 

That is the odd occasion……

 

What usually happens is that when we clear the ball, all of our players are in or around our box so there is nowhere for the ball to go other than into the possession of the opposite team. Usually an opposing player picks it up and has enough time, as there is nobody there to hassle him, to look up and pick a pass / cross back into the danger zone.

 

Corner

 

It also invites the opposition to push more men forward, why not if there is nobody to mark! This is Sunday league stuff – if they (the oppo) have one striker forward you leave 2 defenders back, but if they have no strikers then you have a licence to push more men forward for the corner.

 

I’m not saying leave Giroud forward, he is good in the air so should come back but leave someone mobile, quick and maybe not as strong in the air up top. There will still be enough defenders and it will give us an outlet rather than blindly giving the ball away.

 

Imagine defending against Theo, or the Ox or Podolski at that matter, on the halfway line while your team have a corner. If that ball gets cleared over your head you know you are in trouble! Especially if one of the others are on the edge of the box to carry the ball or link up play too.

 

At the moment when we concede a corner our only target is to defend. With an outlet we could use (cleared) corners to our advantage – we cannot do this with the current set up.

 

To me this is obvious, simple, stuff and needs looking at ASAP.

 

What do you think Gooners? Are my points valid or talking nonsense?

 

Would be great to get your views in the comments below.

 

Cheers all

 

oaf out

Pep Guard ‘I don’t really know ya’ – my thoughts on the Spaniard

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Hey party people oaf12 here and welcome to Suburban Gooners!

There has been a lot of talk recently around where Pep Guardiola will go next, especially as he recently revealed that he is ready to come back to the game.

During his time at Barcelona (as first team manager) Guardiola showed that he likes free flowing, attacking football – this is why his name is on the lips of many Arsenal fans as a potential replacement for Wenger given the current troubles the boss is facing.

Bergkamp & Guardiola

I was going to title this blog ‘Pep Guardi NO la’ in demonstration of my feelings towards that idea but, in reality I’m not sure I know enough about the man (from a management perspective) to pass this judgement, hence the actual name of this piece.

Therefore, I thought I would contact my good friend Google and delve into the history of Mr Guardiola to see if there is anything that convinces me to change my view. My main concern is whether it would be wise to replace Wenger (at all in the first instance!!) with a man who has a lot of recent success, but with a team containing Puyol, Xavi, Iniesta and Messi among others (including Henry)…..let’s be honest, I’m sure it’s not the hardest job in the world. The one thing he did instil that I liked, and that set Barce above other teams, was their work-rate when they didn’t have the ball – how they hounded the opposition, surrounding them with two or three players showing an almost desperation to win back possession – this is something (baring a few players – I love Podolski’s determination in battles) missing from our team at the moment.

So Josep ‘Pep’ Guardiola i Sala was born on 18th January 1971 (happy birthday for next week Pep!) in Spain. He played for Barcelona over 300 times (if you include Barcelona B) and was even named Captain. He played as a Defensive Midfielder and also made nearly 50 caps for Spain (including captaining them to the Gold Medal in the Barcelona Olympic Games).

In 2001 Guardiola left Barcelona for Serie A (where he played for both Brescia & Roma) before playing in Qatar and finally in Mexico before retiring. It then wasn’t long before Guardiola was named manager of Barcelona B (07/08) with current Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova as his assistant. The following season (after winning promotion with Barce B) Guardiola replaced Frank Rijkaard as first team manager.

With changes in mind Guardiolia offloaded Zambrotta, Edmilson, Ronaldinho, Deco and Giovanni dos Santos, he also announced that Eto’o was not part of his plans however this following the strikers dedication in training. Lillian Thuram (who was joining PSG) retired due to health issues. With reinforcements needed Barcelona attained the services of players such as Dani Alves, Pique, Hleb & Keita there were also first team promotions for players including Pedro & Busquets. As with all clubs there were other ins/outs for squad players but these are the notable ones.

That season Barcelona went on to win their first league title since 2006 (after losing their opening day match to newly promoted Numancia), Copa del Ray and the Champions League (beating Manchester Utd 2-0 in the final) making Guardiola the youngest coach to win Europe’s most prestigious club trophy.

As the seasons went by other notable transfer activity included the signings of Ibrahimovic,  Alexis Sanchez, David Villa, Fabregas & Javier Mascherano. While there were out-goings such as Ibrahimovic (yep in & out), Eto’o, Henry, Marquez, Gabriel Milito, Bojan & Yaya Toure.

Wilshere & Fabregas

After winning an astonishing 14 trophies is 4 seasons, making him the most successful manager in Barcelona history, Guardiola decided to take a sabbatical from the game which now appears to be coming to its end.

Whether he would be the best person to take over at Arsenal when Wenger’s tenure comes to an end…..I simply do not know. Regardless how I feel, it seems ever unlikely given Roman Abramovich’s apparent fixation on Pep and also his apparent willingness to pay whatever it takes to get his man, but for the sake of this blog I will share my thoughts.

My main concerns are the difference between the two clubs and how they are run. Arsenal cannot simply announce who they wish to sign and then make it happen, we don’t have the same pulling power or the same disregard for finances. Guardiola isn’t a former Captain of Arsenal so won’t have the same affinity with the fans and while he has shown that he can work with different players at different stages of their career, I’m sure this is an easier job when you have experienced players such as Xavi & Puyol amongst younger players who idolise you as a former player.

Xavi & Puyol

It is also unclear as to how much say the Barcelona manager actually has when deciding new signings.

What is clear however is that Guardiola can instil a winning mentality and a high work-rate. He has experience of working with youngsters such as Pedro & Busquets and obviously likes the Arsenal style of play.

Would I be happy if Guardiola was named manager when Wenger calls it a day? Probably

Would I feel more comfortable if this coincided with Wenger moving upstairs? Yes

Do I think this should happen now? No, Wenger has always been honourable to his contract despite varying interest so I think it is only right we do the same (baring a terrible season of course).

That’s it from me Gooners, enjoy your day and feel free to let me know your thoughts.

oaf out

Fanuary – another last one…..

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Morning all.

There’s not really a lot going on at the moment, as we count down to Sunday’s crucial game against Man City. Le Boss might poke his head around the door at the press centre in London Colney, but that’s probably it. He knows he’ll be asked about player availability, transfers and Theo, so nothing new at all I suspect.

With that in mind, I thought I’d re-post a blog on Fanuary that good olde Oaf12 did last week, but unfortunately we were poor in our communication and I posted something shortly thereafter. So let me hand him the floor and tell us who he wants to see with the remaining window days ticking down. Take it away Steve…

Hey party people oaf12 here!

So with all the excitement around the Fanuary series it seems mine was missed – queue the world’s smallest violin :(

The sad truth is that it was actually rejected the the evil bendtnersnettercousin who decided that it didn’t contain enough detail, which was fine. However, he also decided not to bother telling me…….pure evil I tell you!!

Anyway enough of him and back to me, you and the second final Fanuary :)

Enjoy.

Do you honestly think we are going to sign a number of players in January despite similar promises in previous seasons?

Really unsure about this one…..I’m usually very positive but I find it hard to see us signing a quantity of players after (by our standards) such a busy summer.

I know to us fans there are a few areas that obviously need strengthening / back up but what is so gloriously obvious to us isn’t always picked up by the boss – like the fact that Gervinho really isn’t a striker!

As usual we aren’t any the wiser with Wenger saying things like “Can I say we will be active? Yes. Can I say this will be concrete? No.” or statements about his main priority being getting Theo to sign before looking elsewhere – for all we know this night not happen until the end of the month, if at all.

I will remain hopeful though; let’s hope it pays off…..

Do you feel Wenger needs to buy a ‘big’ player in January in order to make a statement to the fans or just make the right acquisitions?

I don’t think it would hurt, yet I don’t think it is a necessity. I would have included Cazorla & Podolski as big players and I think that’s the level I would like to see us look at more – i.e. not Messi / Ronaldo level but still top class players. I would have definitely included Huntelaar within this level but he has signed a new deal at Schalke now :(

I know it’s not likely but a signing like Lewandowski or Cavani would be one hell of a statement and would be a great boost to the team. It would be a nice middle finger to players such as RvP and Nasri too.

The only negative would be that if they performed we would then need to worry about how long we keep them for, not a nice thought but unfortunately a reality at the moment!

Which position needs the most strengthening and which player would you sign to improve this area of the team?

I would say up top and cover out wide. Regardless of results and how we have been playing the stats are positive towards the number of goals we concede; we are just missing that clinical player up top to finish the job for us. Could this be Theo? Maybe – but should we put our eggs in a basket that may potentially be gone before too long, I’m not sure.

I’m also puzzled as to why Giroud seems to be playing fewer games since he looked like he had hit a bit of form….

I would have LOVED to see Huntelaar come in for two reasons 1) He is pretty damn clinical and is used to being the focal point up top 2) He doesn’t seen to like van Loser (as my son calls him).

With him out of the picture one of the two I mention above would be nice. I can’t see this happening though so let’s hope we pull another gem from somewhere…..hmmmm. We should have snapped up Ba.

Squad wise we need a keeper (I don’t even want to think about an injury to Szczesny right now some decent back up / competition like Butland, or us making it worse by him playing with one like last season), a left back (would love to see Baines come in but Shaw at Southampton has also impressed but the my hinder Meade) due to Gibbs’ fitness record and maybe some steel in midfield. I don’t have anyone in mind for this so can only point you in the direction of Ben’s post as he clearly has a preferred choice here.

I’d like to see Eisfeld get some game time too though.

Are we still in a situation of where we need to sell before we can buy?

I don’t think so but that’s probably not the view from the club. It would be good to get some of the players off the wage bull to make room for some of the above – unfortunately I would probably include Diaby is this.

It looks likely that Chamakh, Squilacci and Djourou may be out which is good for both them and their careers but also for our wage bill.

With Diaby my main concern is his injury record. Every time he comes back seems to coincide with a transfer window and he is hailed as ‘a new signing’ he then plays one good/great game out of 5 but is worshiped for this before getting injured for a few months just as the transfer window shuts.

We cannot rely on this and must sign reliable players and see his (and possible Rosicky) fitness as a bonus as and when it happens.

Saying that, knowing our luck, should these players leave they will probably never have an injury again and go on to play consistently for another team.

Do we need to sign replacements for potential summer outgoings in this transfer window?

Yes, without a doubt! Theo has actually been a bright light so for this season. We’ll need to replace him should he go and the sooner that is done the better. I’m sure that if he stays one extra man in the squad won’t derail the whole team.

Squad players (Chamakh and co) always need replacing but hopefully with more quality so that we can actually use them. Bringing Gervinho on or rotating him as a starter is really hindering us at the moment. His form at Lille and some of his early form shows he is obviously capable but at the moment he can’t even kick a ball cleanly – kind of important for a footballer – and constantly just runs into defenders. A decent winger to replace him and having the Ox (to remove some pressure) as back up would make a real difference.

Sagna is still one of the best right backs about (despite recent strange form) so if he heads off young Jenks will need some help and ideally another potential mentor. The French right back Debuchy impressed at the Euros and if he was willing to go to Newcastle…..

Would you like to add anything?

It’s been such a frustrating season so far as I had such high hopes for this team as on paper we look very good.

I don’t think major surgery is required (I seem to find myself saying that every year) but wouldn’t say it will be a simple key-hole job either.

We need to stop putting blind faith in players such as Diaby and also need to be harsher when assessing ability / form. Gervinho gets 90 mins when he is less effective up front than Mertersaker would be – this needs to stop.

I know I have focussed on our attack more than the defence but for me a strong attack really does help the defence. They are out under less pressure and there is always a focal point, conceding a goal isn’t as soul destroying and actually if you look at our (1st choice) defenders individually there are plenty worse players out there but not piles of better ones.

We also need to stop paying the mid-tier of players so much money so that clubs aren’t put off by their wages. We seem to have this the wrong way round – our worst players can’t find new clubs as their wages are too high, yet our best players could go to Liverpool and get more money.

Seems odd to me…..

Thanks all, until next time.

oaf out

Gibbs v Bertrand v Baines v Santos

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Hey party people oaf12 here!

I have been thinking about this for a while so, while I sit on this delayed train from London (first time for everything…..) I thought I would start jotting it down. Goodness knows when I will finish & post this!

My main inspiration for this blog surrounds the two younger English left backs mentioned in the title but may sway as usual along the way.

As much as I like Andre Santos, as I blogged a while back, recent weeks have shown that Kieran Gibbs is by far our best option at left back, both in terms of defending and also going forward. Don’t get me wrong I would still snap someone like Leighton Baines (wanted him when he was at Wigan) up in a heart beat as not only would he add class and stability to our back line, he would also give an obvious choice for set pieces, but I still don’t think Gibbs is a million miles away.

My main concern with Gibbs is his apparent injury proneness, he has great potential but unfortunately he is only playing a few more games than Abou Diaby (slight exaggeration I know, but only slight) before he is out again :(

I read a blog a while ago stating that players were not injury prone, it was all just random…..this came from an Arsenal fan too. I think Diaby, Gibbs & Rosicky may argue let alone players like Darren Anderton & Ledley King – maybe there is something in the air in North London?? NORTH LONDON IS RED!!

I was happy to see that Gibbs made the recent England squad (not the Sweden one, the squad before) only or him to pull out injured but at least people are noticing.

In all honesty I think time has run out on Diaby. His fitness record isn’t good enough to warrant his wage bill and although he shows some signs of greatness (he was back in the France squad and being likened to Yaya Toure after the Liverpool game) for me this still isn’t consistent enough, even when fit (maybe one good game in six). Plus at the top of their game I would rather Arteta, Jack & Santi over the Frenchman – am happy for someone to persuade me otherwise…

When I look at Ryan Bertrand I see a good young left back but despite the fact he has more experience, gained by going out on loan, I still don’t think he is as good as Gibbs. Yet Bertrand gets a lot more media attention plus England & Team GB call ups. Whilst I’m sure fitness plays a huge part in this, I also think opinions are swayed by the fact he made his ECL debut in the final. Yes he did OK against Robben but if the Dutch winger had brought his shooting boots that final would have been a different story and the spuds would be playing on Sky & ITV rather than Channel 5.

On another note I would like to congratulate Carl Jenkinson on his England debut. Hopefully an Arsenal & England player for many years to come!

Do I think a fully fit Kieran Gibbs would provide us with a good enough left back? Yes.

Would I feel happier with a player like Leighton Baines? Yes.

Bendtnersbettercousin recently blogged that he thought our usual supply of left backs had run out. I think I disagree with this, while it was only for a small part of the game I was impressed with Jernade Meade against reading and while he may not be ready to contend yet, I do hope to see more of him in the near future.

Let me know what you think fellow Gooners! Is Bertrand better than Gibbs or does he get more attention due to circumstances and fitness?

Cheers guys

oaf out!

The quest to lose ‘supporters’

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Hey party people @oaf12 here!!

It’s been too long since I have blogged on suburbangooners, despite bendtnersbettercousin moaning (he is a proper whine bag btw) at me on every possible occasion which, being as we work together, is quite a lot.

Truth be told I have been waiting for Mr Right in terms of content, unfortunately this time round it has been Mr Wrong rearing his ugly head that has forced me to finally pen (should I say key nowadays?) my thoughts…

Before I get into full flow I feel I should point something out – the word supporter is in inverted commas within the title above. This is because in reality it is near impossible (I say near as if the club changed all of its name, country, colours, etc I’m sure a few would consider their options) to lose a true fan in my eyes. A club is for life, not just for Christmas :) but there have been a few events recently that will have lost us a few of the fair weather fans no doubt. Maybe that’s the master plan?

I must also point out that while I initially started writing this the day after the Sunderland game, I was also doing so from the patio of a beach front apartment in a hotel in Lanzarote with the sun beaming and the breeze cooling with no wifi access (hence you reading this around two weeks later) meaning I am away from the undoubted twitter frenzy, so I was certainly not in a bad mood lol. However, being as deadline day was yesterday some serious editing was needed today before publishing.

I did feel that there was a huge AFC conspiracy against me to ruin my holiday, the club sold van P£r$i€ the day I flew out and then I read in the paper (my only means on keeping up with the EPL) and saw that we had agreed to sell our ‘one Song’ to that Catalan lot. Where were they when we wanted RvP abroad????

I must say I am disappointed at how easy they turned Song’s head, even Cesc who is a Barce boy took two or three years and a full out campaign by Pepe Reina and the Barcelona squad (yes that’s right Reina you need to remember you don’t play for them anymore……..even though IMO you are better than Valdes) to convince him, yet Song was on the plane as soon as he realised they even knew his name…..and before all the Fabregas haters give me all that “Cesc went on strike!” crap please make sure you have a reliable source before you spit all your accusations ITK style. So, anyway, Mr Song I hope you rot on the bench behind Busquets and Mascherano and when you do play I hope it’s in you less favoured CB position, I hope that when Barce with trophies you haven’t made enough appearances to get a medal…….so there (blows raspberry).

I also read in the currant bun while I was away that Song wanted to stay for life and that he had been trying to negotiate a new contract for months, if this is true then it’s rather annoying…..do we purposefully let players run into their final year? Then in the same interview AS also stated that the Barcelona train only comes round once in a lifetime and you have to take it…..hmm slightly hypercritical then – I want to stay for life, until Barce want me!

Now for you Mr ‘scores when he wants except in the Euros’ or Mr ‘scores when he wants even when a girl says no’ (oh yeah I went there) its a “I’m not angry I’m just disappointed” for you. No words can justify how I feel giving the fact that you could do this to the fans but also that the club would sanction it. I have never been in the Wenger out club (the crazies as I like to call them) and have always been a realist – understanding that the club can only do what is within their current financial means, we have no sugar daddy and cannot afford to pay stupid wages etc etc. I like the way the club is run and I have no intention of joining the crazies anytime soon, this doesn’t however mean I am happy, far from it.

The deal for Batman’s sidekick aside I have kind of understood the rationale when considering each transfer in isolation, I haven’t been happy that we have let players like Na$ri get into the last year if their contract but when the time comes there is no point dwelling. Then when you look at all of them together you realise it becomes a bit of a joke, worse than Torres winning the Euro 2012 Golden Boot. I can no longer honestly deny when my friends who support other clubs taunt me about us being a selling club. I will refrain from wishing him injury (although I wouldn’t shed a tear if it happens) but just hope he flops and I mean FLOPS.

It’s a real shame as it was looking like a great summer having signed Cazora, Giroud & Podolski (the later being one of the first players I would have chosen if asked who I wanted us to sign) but a lot of it comes down to timing. We have gone from a high to a low rather than vice versa – if we had sold RvP then signed Giroud & Podolski, then sold Song but signed Cazorla & (for instance) Sahin I am sure less would complain, it would have been an answer to the negativity.

If Sahin or another decent CM came in I would have been happy with the squads ability to compete. Had you asked me months ago whether I would swap RvP & Song for Giroud, Podolski, Cazorla & Sahin I would have said yes. However if this included RvP going to Utd I may have had a different answer. I will never be able to understand selling one of your main assets to a rival, yes it’s a business but you are making the competition stronger!! Surely abroad for less money or no sale would have been the better option??

Unfortunately this sale all but confirms our fall from grace in many eyes which is painful. Last night was painful too, i think we all wanted one or two more at least but as the minutes ticked away there was no mention of us. Until the window closed and we were shown that while we were the 5th highest spenders we brought in the LEAST amount of players in the league – 3, yet the players out covered 3 rotations of the Sky Sports News side bar.

While I believe our first 11 and even some of the fringe players are good enough to compete with anyone on their day I just hope our current squad is good enough (not even mentioning injuries) and that we finally win something so that Wenger can stick it to the doubters and the fans get what we crave – showing these mercenaries and the crazies that you can still do it without spending beyond your means.

Heres hoping my fellow Gooners!!

Until next time,

Oaf out

Rumour Mill – Daniel Sturridge

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Hey party people, oaf12 here,

This is my second time writing for Suburban Gooners with hopefully many more to come.

The topic I have chosen for today is the ever changing rumour mill that constantly surrounds our club. This time focussing on Daniel Strurridge.

I read recently on one of the ‘We purposely made up a story with an intersting title so that you click on us’ sites that Mr Daniel Andre (yes Andre) Sturridge was getting rather concerned about being played out of position and would be seeking a move in the summer. It also suggested that a move across London to the Emirates may be on the cards.

I like Sturridge as a player, and have done since his younger days at Money Citeh. I was generally gutted when, as his contract had expired, he moved to Chelski in July 2009. As young Daniel was (and still is) under 24, and with the clubs unable to agree a fee, a tribunal decided that the transfer value would start at £3.5m with various appearance based add-ons which (including £1m for the first full England cap) have now all been met. Meaning the total value of the deal was £6.5m, plus Citeh get 15% of the transfer fee should he ever leave the Russians. (source – good old wiki).

I also remember thinking how (in my opinion) he had made the wrong move, I feel he was right to move from the blue side of Manchester as with all the money being pumped into the club his first team chances would have been slim at best, however the same could have been said about the blue side of London. This leads me to believe that money was a large decision maker, potentially even over football reasons, when deciding his destination.

Is Sturridge playing? Yes. Would he have been playing a lot earlier under le boss? Certainly, and the thought of Sturridge over the last fee years instead of Bendtner is an interesting one………

One of my Chelski friends asked me what I thought about the decision to send him on loan to Bolton. My answer was I was unhappy, as it meant they would get to see just how good he is, and with 8 goals in 12 games they certainly did.

So, do I think this is a likely transfer……..no, unfortunately not. My main reasons are the fact that although he isn’t playing down the centre (his preferred position I believe), he is playing. Plus Chelski still retain the ability to just throw money at a problem should it arise.

On the other hand, if we manage to hold on to fourth place and Chelsea miss out on Champions League who knows. It would certainly become more possible should we finally manage to get rid of some of our over paid (not even in the) squad players like Bendtner, Almunia and Denilson (aka the jogger). The issue when these players elect to go to one of the clubs that pay over the odds on wages is if it doesn’t work out the list of clubs willing, or even able, to match their salary is getting smaller by the day.

So my conclusion is, as with many of these rumours, as much as I would like it to happen……….I don’t think it will. I see the more likely outcome will see Sturridge offered a new contract giving him yet more oil money each week.

Thanks for your time Gooners, keep the faith, and lets hope we can at least finish above the Russians.

oaf out.