Category Archives: contracts

Hoping that Andrei isn’t the ‘modern day money’ footballer

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Happy Wednesday Goonerinos! Hope it works for you. Or in my case, it’s just ‘work’ for me. But never mind, that can wait a bit as I speed into the centre of London cloaked in the working man’s noose (tie) and suit, for my next half an hour can be dedicated to The Arsenal. As it should be all the time, but hey, until I get paid to do this shizzle (unlikely given my completely flawed editorial style) or someone wants to reward me financially for just waking up, I’ll have to continue this schlep for probably another 30 years. Man, that’s depressing…

Anyway, there’s only one thing on everyone’s lips right now in the Arsenal world and its not how Julio Baptista managed to get into a Champions League quarter-final reaching side, but the future of our diminutive Russian Andrei Arshavin.

Yesterday it emerged from a few sources that the man himself was considering retirement at the end of his existing deal with Arsenal this summer. Apparently he’s become a bit disillusioned with football and the lack of any real offers that have come in for him over the last two transfer windows. I’m sure he was hoping to spark a bit of interest after a couple of good displays in the Euros last summer, but the reality was that nobody would be willing to stump up the cash plus wages that the little Russian was banking each month.

So Andrei finds himself kicking his heels in the reserves and barely even on the subs bench for match days. It really is a sad state of affairs for a player that seemed to be a real talisman for us when he arrived. In fact, it was his arrival that kicked the team into life and into achieving what felt at the time as an unlikely Champions League place.

I’m reluctant to go into any more detail about his past, as I’ll probably save his Arsenal obituary for when he is finally released from the club in the summer, but I do want to talk about the Arshavin of right now. I don’t really like to chastise players whilst their still at the club, but my own personal opinions of him are that his situation is symptomatic of modern day footballers. I hear all the time from some footballers that all they want to do is play football. In fact, for many, that is why they are happy to drop down to so-called smaller teams in the same division or even in a lower league. I wish every player had that mindset. When you hear and speak to old pros that have long-since retired, most of them will tell you they miss the playing side massively, and would do anything to rewind time and relive the thrill of top flight professional football. Yet for some players – those particularly in the Arsenal team sitting and watching every week – there doesn’t seem to be that desire. I know it’s easy for me to sit here having never played professional football and talk about a hypothetical world where I am good enough to, but if I was in either Andrei’s or Squillaci’s position, there is no way I’d want to spend two or three of my twilight footballing years playing reserves football and seeing out my contract. I don’t even care if it’s Arsenal. I would have loved to have played for Arsenal, but if I was at the club as a player and I was told I wouldn’t be playing any more, I’d seek pastures new. Because when I was 40, I’d want to look back on my career and know that I made the most of every opportunity to play.

But that doesn’t seem to be the case for a certain breed of footballers. Some footballers would rather maintain their wage packet than their playing time, which is the saddest thing in the world to me. Arshavin is a talented footballer. He is 32. He probably has another two or three years in the game. I understand that he loves London and does not want to move, but if these stories prove true and he does want to retire, it will have unfortunately confirmed my suspicions about him. He’s already a millionaire, he doesn’t need to secure another £95,000 per week contract, so why hold out for one? I’m sure if he approached a London based team and said he’d be happy to drop his wages considerably, there would be plenty that would be interested. But the real question would be: is Andrei really interested? That is what every Premier League manager would be asking. And perhaps that is why he hasn’t found anybody willing to take a punt on him.

I hope he still is interested. I hope that when he is released in the summer he goes out and finds himself a team that he can play football and find his form again (as long as it’s not Spurs, and he always plays badly against us!). Not because I have any great affection for the man, but more that it will fill me with pleasure to see that there is one less player in the game that is purely in it for the money.

Until tomorrow.

The need to spend?

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He’s been out of the blogging game on a short sabbatical recently for reasons that I’ll let young Ben elaborate on shortly, so I’ll leave today’s soapbox firmly planted beneath his feet Nd hand the reigns over. Take it away Ben…

Recently becoming a father, I have had time to think, probably too much time to think….So you can blame the sleepless nights and the international break for this…

Will the Increase of TV money make the strong, stronger and the weak, weaker? Or will it even out the playing field?

Richard Scudamore (Chief executive of the Premier League) on the effects of the new TV deal “The money is not just put into the hands of the top three or four clubs. The way this money is divided means our smallest clubs are able to compete and, on a match-to-match basis, take on the big clubs. In our league that happens more than anywhere else and as long as we can still have teams in the bottom three beating teams in the top three every season, then we have a compelling competition. And as long as that continues, people will continue to want to invest in buying that content.”

Richard Scudamore seems to think it will level out the playing field but is that the reality of the situation? If you look at the positive side of it, you look at Swansea – Having a manager of Michael Laudrup’s calibre, years of success springs to mind. Maybe that could be the success of Swansea, but perhaps their success is limited until he is grabbed from the clutches of the swans by a so-called…’Big Club’.

Laudrup has been a breathe of fresh air for the league. He has brought a touch of class but combined that with his ruthlessness in the transfer market. Signing the players he has needed to move his and Swansea’s footballing philosophy forward. He has been very clever, and signed players from his own back yard – La Liga (Spain). A place he knows very well. Michael Laudrup’s move to the Premier League is similar to that of Arsene’s when he first arrived in England and his dealings in the transfer markets, i.e. being able to exploit an untouched market…

If a manager can sign players of the ability of Michu and Jonathan De Guzan with a small budget, is sky the limit with an extra £15Million to spend?

Will the influx of cash cause a domino effect in management casualties? Some clubs seem happier than others to splash the cash – Having so-called, ‘faith in the manager’. Take West Ham for example. Will clubs want ‘modern football’ with a philosophy? Will a club like Stoke want to lose the stigma of the ‘cavemen football’? We’re already seeing evidence of this by the fact tjat even some of the Stoke fans are now turning on Pulis. If a newly prompted team (For example, Cardiff) have the windfall off the Premier League distributed funds, will they want to continue with the work of the current manager or seek a Roberto Martinez (assuming Wigan are relegated) type character? The divide between the Championship and the Premier League will get larger and larger. Finically and technically. It will be a very exciting, but scary for a lot of managers and aspiring Championship clubs…

The current finical climate has had a huge say in what has been spent in the last few years. Varying from the fees paid for players and the current fashionable leagues to shop. Spain and Portugal are the current hotspots, because of the state the country’s finances. (The perfect timing for Laudrup’s move).

During the summer transfer window the total spend of the Premier League was £262.55m. By previous transfer windows standards the growth wasn’t as large as expected. £250m was spent in 2012. 2011: £180m; 2010: £200m; 2009: £85m; 2008: £215m; 2007: £240m. (Figures from Deloitte)

The Biggest spenders where Chelsea – Spending a eye watering £81m. (The Champions League winners money was the majority of it, would of been interesting to see what they would have spent, if they didn’t win it)

The top five most expensive purchases of the summer transfer window, as follows -

Eden Hazard (Lille to Chelsea) £32m
Oscar (Internacional to Chelsea) £25m
Robin van Persie (Arsenal to Man Utd) £24m
Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund to Man Utd) £17m
Javi Garcia (Benfica to Man City) £16m

Chelsea winning the Champions League last season (I don’t like to keep mentioning it, sorry..) was the only reason for the large figure. With clubs having a an extra £10-15million to spend, will that force clubs to spend? For example, will newly prompted clubs spend spend spend, or will it force neighbouring clubs to spend because of each others transfer movements? Will an ‘almost’ club like Everton be propelled into a lucrative top four position? Lots of exciting and unanswerable questions… But only positive signs for Premier League as a brand in my opinion.

A late night, and the transfer of Ricky Van Wolfswinkel from Sporting Lisbon to Norwich sparked this all off for me. The canaries have splashed out £8.5 million for the Dutchman for a 4-year deal, starting from the 1st of July. The fee is nearly double what Sporting paid to buy Van Wolfswinkel from Utrecht in 2011, but they will receive only 35 per cent of the income due to a third-party arrangement. Exploitation at its finest..

It took me a few minutes to process the transfer. What it meant, especially for Norwich. A swing in the divide? Sounds mad, but he is a very technically gifted player, he would of been a great signing for a majority of teams in the division. Maybe Scudamore is right?

Van Gaal on Ricky van Wolfswinkel: “He’s a potential international, he makes a good choice, the English league is higher than Portugal’s”

Looking at the fee itself it’s huge for Norwich. Considering the most they have ever spent on a player is £5.5m on Sebastien Bassong at the beginning of the season. The largest fee they, as a club have dealt with is the £7.5Million they received for Dean Ashton 2006. At the beginning of the season Norwich spent a very similar fee, £9.5m on -

- Mark Bunn
- Alex Tettey
- Sebastain Bassong
- Michael Turner
- Robert Snodgrass
- Steven Whittaker

Good players. Players, with the correct management and ‘know how’, can get the job required done. For Norwich, staying in the Premier League was the only objective…

I’m a big fan of Chris Hughton. The work he has done at Norwich and especially with his previous clubs, he has a very positive record. He is the sort of manager I would like to see with some disposable income. With these next figures he maybe writing his cheques as we speak.

These next set of figures I’ve taken from the very talented – The Swiss Ramble – Regarding Norwich’s finances. Norwich got paid roughly £45 Million of the Premier League distribution funds at the beginning of the season. The estimated growth between the 2014-16 season for Norwich City will be roughly £17 Million. Giving them a future grand total of £62 Million. Impressive to say the least.

With that extra (lets assume disposable) income. Hughton could take Norwich to a new level. Start a new philosophy for Norwich. Really make something of the club. If Chris Hughton went back to Sporting and said “I’ll take, Eric Dier, Diego Capel, Bruma and Jeffren” (unrealistic I know, just an example) you would see a very, very different Norwich. A completely different style of play. A force to be reckoned with.

Ricky Van Wolfswinkel may have opened his mouth a little to soon. The Dutchman has spilled the beans on Chris Hughtons future plans…

“The intention is that the club in the coming months will also capture an attacking midfielder and two wide players. I recently went to see things for three days in Norwich and the conversations I had with the manager and what the technical director claimed were decisive.”

Exciting for any football fan. Especially for the Norwich supporters..

When it comes to finances and Arsenal football club, it is a touchy subject for many of the fans. It’s a debate we could all talk about for hours and hours and still not come to any agreement. These next set of figures will add even more petrol for the fire (if money isn’t spend in the summer).

The estimated Premier League distribution money for 2014-16 for Arsenal will be *drum roll please* …£80.1m. That is only for domestic fee. Previously we were paid £56m. Quite a difference, and a welcomed one for the Arsenal board and Arsene Wenger.

If you believe reports we had – £60m available for the January transfer window to spend (remember the cost of wages are included in that price). So if you where to add season ticket renewals plus the extra tv money, also the remaining property money, you have quite a kitty. Saying all that, it must be remembered that if we were not to make the Champions League, that would make a big difference with the money available. So, to put all those figures into my magic Suburban Gooners calculator…..Roughly, £90m to spend? I’m not a finical expert at all and I’m not going to pretend I am… I understand the very basics, but even I can work out we have enough to make the adjustments to the team…

The last two seasons have been poor for Arsenal football. An unbalanced team on the field and a disjointed board off it all tied together with a strange transfer policy has lead to many fans calling for the managers head – Never has it been so prominent…Which isn’t good for all aspects of the club.

I personally believe this will be the summer to spend. Not just because the money is bulging out of the chastity belt of the club. The stadium debt at an all time low (Keep in mind we wouldn’t pay it off the stadium debt – The penalties for early repayment, won’t be worth it), players will be leaving, freeing up squad places. The majority of the possible candidates, their contracts are expiring, so there wages can be used for possible new players. Having ‘better’ players will obviously improve the team but also give Arsenal the weight when it comes to renewing expiring deals, the kit manufacturers for example.

Others teams near us will able to spend and won’t hesitate in the way we have in the past. Tottenham may be able to buy that world class striker they have longed for, Everton, could improve the quality of their squad, The Manchester clubs could double the already gaping chasm between the teams. Alarm bells anyone?

Surely we’ll buy now?! Surely….

I personally believe the ‘Bigger teams’ will still blow the others out of the water, but the gap will slightly shrink and with improvement for football will be fantastic. The issue will be for the promoted teams from the Championship trying to play catch up -a huge ask. It makes me lean towards the ability of the manger and the bottle of the board…

All makes for an exciting League next season…

I’d like to personally thank The Swiss Ramble for letting me and The Suburban Gooners use the figures from his blog. Please, if you’re not already, check out him out on Twitter – @swissramble and his website -http://swissramble.blogspot.co.uk/ – Very, very talented writer.

If you would like a more in depth look at the figures used, check out -
In The Premier League, The Sun Always Shines On TV – http://swissramble.blogspot.ch/2012/06/in-premier-league-sun-always-shines-on.html

Cheers for reading,

Be Happy,

Ben

The sadness of Abou, Jack’s caution, and a content feast

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Where to even begin my gooner friends, where to even begin??? I’ve been wandering through the virtual desert of international nothingness and I’ve reached the end filled not just with luscious green growing content fruit, but a fabulous metaphorical waterfall of quotes from Le Boss and talking points with which to pour my thoughts all over. It’s great stuff. So, like the thirsty, hungry and weary blog traveller I am, I shall gorge myself on everything I find. Feast with me my brothers and sisters, feast with me.

Well, not all of it is good news actually, as there are a few sad bits that Arsene gave us yesterday. Perhaps the saddest news of all is that Abou Diaby tore his anterior cruciate knee ligament in training during the week and will be out for around nine months. It is a horrible thing to happen and you just hope he can mentally keep himself going. Nine months is a heck of a long time in football and right now, at the beginning of this, it will feel like forever for the poor fella. Unfortunately for him, football doesn’t stand still, so I will be very surprised if we aren’t looking at permanent replacements for him. It is harsh and unfair what happened to him because of a disgusting challenge up at Sunderland, but I’m afraid the world of football is passing him by and I suspect his Arsenal career is all but over. I have no idea how long his contract runs for, but if anybody is thinking about anything other than letting him go at the end of it, then they are mad. I’ve read comments on Twitter about selling him, but that talk is folly, because nobody would take the same gamble Arsenal have on him. He’s probably going to have to think very carefully about whether or not his body can handle the rigours of professional football and I suspect that he’ll be retired before he’s 30.

The news about Jack was a little bit more positive. Of course the ‘three weeks’ timescale set by the club was a falsehood, but the good thing is that Arsene said that Jack isn’t feeling any pain, they are just being cautious with him. Hey, if it means he can be ready and at his best for the last seven or eight games in the season, then that’s fine by me. In Diaby we have a perfect case study of what can happen to somebody with a serious injury and we don’t want Wilshire to tread the same path, so caution is absolutely the name of the game and I think the club are taking the right approach.

Le Boss also talked about Gibbs possibly not making it at the weekend, but thankfully we have the potato-based snack sounding Spaniard who has just come off the back of an excellent performance against France, so we’re alright in that regard for this weekend. I’ll go over some thoughts on the game tomorrow, but overall we look like we’re covered in most parts of the park with players that have hit a bit of good form of late. Monreal, The Ox and Ramsey all did good for their respective international teams, so coupled with the fact Poldi, Cazorla, Giroud all had less to do with their national sides and will therefore be fresher, we should go into this weekends fixture with a bit of confidence that we can get the result. Actually converting confidence into points is another matter entirely, but lets cross that bridge when we come to it tomorrow.

There’s some stuff from a FIFA registered agent saying that Jovetic has already agreed to a move, but I’ll believe it when I see Arsenal related clips of it on YouTube. Obviously I’m kidding. I mean, surely we all look to that Ben Fairthorne character on Twitter for the most accurate transfer news before it happens, right???

Finally from me, a quick one on Szczesny, because there really isn’t much more to say than the storm in the teacup that was shaken around a bit by the media now seems to have passed. Arsene was asked about his dads comments, he said he had no problem and thought he dealt with the situation really well. A ‘tick’ for Woj and Arsene seemed satisfied enough to praise him and talk about the great future he has at the club. This was never really anything. I like Szczesny. He seems a sound lad who, whilst a little bit mental at times (he is a keeper, after all), has a level head on him and will I’m sure soon find himself back in the first team.

Anyway, that’ll do for one day. It’s Good Friday and I’m off to…err…be ‘good’ or something. Actually, given that you’re supposed to not be eating meat or drink too much, they should have called it ‘unfortunate’ Friday or something.

Ciao for now folks.

Eye of international storm; Sagna’s fall from grace

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Yep, still colder than eating cold cuts whilst locked in a fridge on the outskirts of an Iceland Village.

Tonight we find ourselves in the eye of the storm. We’ve had build up to this pointless round of international friendlies, tomorrow we’ll have fall out and an assessment of who is injured, fatigue or has been kidnapped, but today it is quiet as all of the players relax before their meaningless friendlies.

A few of the Arsenal players have been talking about various things. Theo Walcott talks about playing up front (surprise! Shock!), The Ox talks about biding his time (I like AOC, he seems to have a good head on his shoulders), Capello talks about Wilshire being future England captain (meh) and Giroud talks about himself being like a Diesel engine (huh?).

As you can tell by some of that in-depth analysis, I’ve thought long and hard over those (non) stories. But decided to focus on one particular issue right now.

Bacary Sagna spoke of his future and went as far as saying that he will give 100% commitment as a player contracted to Arsenal. Forgive me if I don’t swoon and hoop and holler over that statement, but surely that’s the least he should be expected to give?

The conundrum that is Sagna and his contract is at quite an interesting stage I think. It has been well documented amongst gooners that he has not exactly had the most effective season at right back, with many suggesting that Carl Jenkinson be given a run in the side, given his form whilst Sagna was out. I don’t disagree that Carl is worthy of more minutes, but Sagna’s consistency since he arrived at the club has established him as a first teamer with relatively few questions asked and we all know that when Arsene has something set in his mind it takes a big situation to deviate away from that thought process. Just think about how players like Senderos, Cygan and even Eboue were at the club a little longer than many of us thought they would be. I’m not trying to group Sagna into that particular rabble of clearly limited players, but merely trying to point out that Arsene will most likely want to keep Sagna in the side for a little while longer before giving Jenko the nod.

I find it interesting how Bacary’s contract dispute has changed in terms of fan sentiment since the start of the season. When we learned that the club weren’t tying him down to a new contract in the summer, there was quite a bit of outrage and accusation of yet more hesitancy by the club to keep its best players. We all thought we were going to get another Nasri and ‘some Dutch tosser’ situation, so calls to sign him up were almost as strong as Theo. Yet today we find ourselves questioning his commitment, his form and his ability to be one of the first names on the team sheet.

My how the mighty have fallen. And the trouble his, should Sagna’s form continue to deteriorate further, there will be calls to simply let his contract run down. Such is the pace of the world of football, we could have a situation where fans are applauding the club for having the foresight to not offer a mega-bucks deal to a player who’s decline does not merit it.

In many ways, I think that sometimes, unless a football club has a crystal ball to gaze longingly into, they are on a hiding to nothing when it comes to their players. If you pay them what they want and they quickly decline so they are removed from the first team (otherwise known as the ‘Wayne Bridge’ effect) shortly after receiving a mega bucks contract, the club is accused of mis-management. If they try to leave contract negotiations until a decent time before it expires, they are guilty of procrastination. They genuinely can’t win. It’s easy for us to talk about that Dutch man with a child inside him and say how the club messed the situation, but if he’d have signed a £150k-a-week deal with the club and injured himself for the season, there would be questions raised about his fitness much like they are raised about Diaby now.

Don’t misconstrue my thoughts here as any kind of endorsement of the clubs contract negotiation policy; I still think they make too many mistakes and have messed around a bit with their succession planning, but I guess I’m just trying to say that there are so many factors that are all in play, so many balls in the air at once, that I can see how things can change quickly and leave a club with egg on their faces.

As for Sagna, I’m still undecided as to whether I think the club are doing the right thing or not. I half wish he had two years left on his deal from this summer, because the timeframe would probably work quite well for a natural transition from him to Jenkinson as first choice. However, it isn’t two years and so the club have a serious decision to make. Right now, if I was in charge I’d pay him handsomely, but given him an extension of one or two years on his current deal. But I know it’s not as simple as that, so I’ll just have to hope the club are going to invest in a crystal ball and make the right choice.

Until tomorrow.

Theo signs, Tony talks, and I have eggs for breakfast

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Happy cold and chilly Saturday to you gooners. My evening and morning has been sprinkled with a white blanket outside my front door and a free Saturday to do with whatever pleases me, on account of a distinct lack of Arsenalness.

The Arsenal world itself is never free to roam. There is always something going on. Always something to keep us occupied and today is nothing different. Finally, after what has seemed like an eternity, we’ve seen Theo sit down at a table and sign a new deal. Arsenal never disclose the length of the contracts of the players they have on their books, saying only that it was ‘long-term’, but the speculative masses have already had their day and the general consensus is that it’s a three-and-a-half year deal worth around £90,000 per week with various performance-related bonuses.

First things first – the most important thing for Arsenal and us as fans is that we did not continue the worrying trend that had set in of players running down their contracts and forcing moves out of the club. It was beginning to look as though we had broken the seal, set the precedent and would now regularly each season fall foul of having every player hold us to big fat contracts that matched that of the unsustainable Moneychester City, Chelski, or to a lesser extent Manchester United. This contract may not stop a player from demanding Samir Nasri style wages with two years to go, but it at least sends a message to the fans that each player will not always follow the same path. In that regard I am very happy. Theo is no doubt having one of – possible THE – best season he has had at the club and by retaining him it means we can all focus more on the games and not the politics of football.

I also think it is interesting to note that Arsenal have now moved to tie down five British players on new contracts. Again, this is purely speculative from yours truly, but I wonder if this is a clear public declaration of recognition that when you buy good overseas players, you always run the risk of them jumping ship regardless of how much you have done for them. After all, they have no affinity with the club. These five players all have an affection for the club and let’s hope that with Theo and Jack as the key chess pieces now in place for the next few years at least, they can all reward the club with a transfer from potential to realised ability. Theo in particular, needs to show that he’s worth his big money contract, because he won’t get much of a honeymoon period if he doesn’t live up to the expectation.

This contract hs given everyone a boost and is great news. But I have one tiny element of it that I was a little concerned with. Although I don’t know for sure the length of the contract, if it is indeed a three-and-a-half year deal, that means that this game of cat-and-mouse that we’ve just had the best part of a year talking about will begin again when Arsenal talk about extending the deal with two years or a year and a half to go. Which would effectively mean that in 18 months time we are going through exactly the same process again. The only difference will be that Theo will want more than he’s currently got and ill be looking to get parity with the top earners in the league – which is perhaps not something Arsenal will be able to offer. But it is a worry for another day, so let’s worry about it then.

There was another story which has come from the Independent yesterday which featured an in-depth interview with Arsenal legend Tony Adams, talking about himself, all things Arsenal and his plans for the future. I won’t go into the minutiae of what he said, but there were a few things that struck me as slightly odd. In the article he seemed to both respect Arsene, and question him, talking about how he understands him less and less every time he meets him. He clearly has a love for the club and a desire to be a part of it in some way – he says it in fact – yet then makes some comments that would suggest to me that if he ever wanted a call from the club about having a role in future, then he’s probably just blown it.

He also said that Arsenal were a ‘million miles away from a trophy’, which again, I found a little odd. There have been worse Arsenal teams than this one that have won the Capital One Cup, FA Cup or dare I say it The Champions League, so to me I think that comment was quite wrong. You only have to win six games to win the FA Cup and if you get a kind draw – as Chelski seem to get every year until they reach the semi final (find a sports almanac and look through all of their earlier round ties when they play Hinckley Town or other smaller teams at home that gives them an opportunity to rest players) – and you can be lifting the trophy. If his comments were aimed at the Premier League itself then it would be hard to argue against. We are, after all, closer to QPR at the bottom of the table than Manchester United at the top. But they didn’t seem to be. Since he’s left the field to try his hand at other roles in the game, he’s seemed like quite an eccentric man to me. It’s good that he’s not short of an opinion, but his opinions seem to be more akin to an old uncle who never watches football and makes comments around the wages of footballers being too sky high which makes you roll your eyes as you think ‘next thing you know you’ll be telling me the sky is blue and grass is green, than that of an experienced man well-versed in the game. strange indeed.

There is some other stuff on the official site about Abou Diaby and the need for him to take his chance whilst he’s now fit, but to me that is as much a story as the fact I’m going to have boiled eggs for breakfast.

That’ll do from me today. Have a good’un gooners.

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

West Brom Preview: no punch-drunk performance please

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Happy Saturday campers. It’s less happy when your Arsenal tickets were sold off for a charity auction, meaning that you’ll not be frequenting your own church for the usual 3 O’clock Mass, but one cannot complain too much – it is for a good cause and this is the time of the year when people must be a bit more generous. So I’ll nee be hopping on the tube to head towards the Emirates this afternoon, but I most certainly will be keeping one eye on the scoreline as I go about my Saturday activities.

before I dive head first into the match preview and thoughts on the game, a quick word on Theo. Le Boss gave the first clear indication (in my mind at least) that the winger is offski in the summer in his presser yesterday. Hee admitted that talks had got nowhere and that he was feeling ‘frustrated’. I don’t know whether this is a new tactic of Arsene’s to trying and put pressure on the player and his representatives by making such a public statement, but it looks to me like the last throw of the dice from the clubs and Arsene’s perspective. Try to make the issues a little more public in an effort to force Theo’s hand. I’ve said for a while I think that he’s gone in the summer and as far as this latest round of commentary goes, it almost confirms it to me. I’d love for him to stay, but when he can probably get an extra £40,000 odd by going for free in the summer, why would he? So for my mind I’m going to support Theo for as long as he wears the red and white of Arsenal, then the second the contract expires and he dons the shirt of another club, he’ll be the same as all of the other money-grabbing mercenary whores that have departed for greener pastures and bulging pockets.

Walcott won’t be involved today, along with Podolski, which means there’s a shuffle in the deck for Le Boss. I focused on this area yesterday so I won’t go into too much detail, but I suspect we’ll see a combination of Gervhino (sigh) and probably Ramsey (again, sigh. But only because it’s not his natural position). It’s not my preferred option, as I’d try a bit of Arshavin and Santi with Rosicky playing just behind them, but I’m not the manager so I can’t really influence selection other than on my computer with football Manager and that really doesn’t help anyone in real life. Giroud has to start up top and we have to hope that the rest will see him ready to continue his form by banging in a couple today.

The midfield trio of Arteta, Wilshire and Cazorla have all had a good week’s rest leading up to this game, so there can be no complaints about fatigue for the players, nor should there be. They need to be popping the ball amongst themselves with more verve and zip and dictate the game in the middle of the park. Jack and Santi need to be the drive and cutting edge in between the lines of West Brom players, whilst Mikel must be strong in marshalling the team and sitting in front of the back four. All three players need to be able to provide an outlet for the back four, because one of the most visibly irritating things about last week was that the defence, when not finding a midfielder free to release the ball too, stuck to the monotonous display of horizontal passing between themselves which drove the crowd mad. All three midfielders need to ‘show’ for the defence to avoid that again this week.

The defence will, in the absence of Koscienly and Sagna, pick itself I think. Starting with Szczesny in-goal followed by Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Vermaelen and Gibbs, you have to be relatively happy with that line up. Szczesny has proven his worth with some good performances lately, Carl and Big Per have had good season and we all know what Gibbs is capable of when he gets a run of fitness. The only question mark this season has been Vermaelen, but after what I think was a good performance against Olympiacos on Tuesday, I think the captain can draw confidence from that.

West Brom are no mugs. They have players like Shane Long that will run all day and have an eye for goal that can hurt us. The few times I’ve watched the Baggies this season he has been their talisman. He can hold up play, is a battler and has a good goalscoring record. Steve Clarke has a virtually full fit squad to choose from, so players like Odemwingie can support Long, Mulumbu has a trick in him and from set pieces they have players like Brunt that can deliver. Zoltan Gera has looked really good this season, so I also expect him to prove a threat.

It will not be an easy game for us and this will certainly be no 3-0 or 4-0 win. We’ll need to be knocking the ball around with more purpose and drive this week. Last week the first half was an abomination and we barely got out of our own half. In the second half there was a bit more purpose, but we lacked creativity. That is where we need to sharpen up and we need that creativity to come to the fore from the first minute today. Mikel Arteta spoke during the week about how the players are looking at themselves, have analysed where they went wrong and want to put it right. That’s all well and good and I’m hopeful they’ll come out today like fighters that have been dealt a couple of sucker punches. What I don’t want to hear about though is if the team comes out of its corner like a punch drunk former champion, randomly swinging in the direction of his opponent, in the hope that something connects. We need guile and quality to knock out West Brom today, so now its up to the team to show us they can do that.

Fingers crossed guys.

Changing of the guard needs to be smooth: Sagna and Jenks

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Howdy to you.

Yesterday there were a whole heap of international friendlies, but I don’t give a whole heap of two carefully positioned pieces of faecal matter about them, I’m afraid. I’m pleased for Carl Jenkinson’s England debut but I have no knowledge of anything international window related, so I can’t really give any opinion. I could talk until the cows come home about why in all that is good and great in the world Santi Cazorla had to travel to Panama to play a friendly, but the conspiracy theorist in me already knows the answer: money-spinning tie for the Spanish FA, who are probably propping up the Spanish Government as we speak. Anyway, all Arsenal fans will be hoping the medical room at London Colney is relatively empty, save for the forlorn silhouettes of Diaby and Gibbs, because this weekend we have an important pressing engagement for the players – The North London Derby.

One player I’m sure we’ll see (and now it’s in online print I have probably consigned him to the treatment table) is Bacary Sagna, who has been speaking to the lovely people at Arsenal Player about his five years at the club, how nice.

It would be great to read if we hadn’t already heard his other concerns before the transfer window closed in September. He was very clear then that the club had yet to talk to him about a new deal and we’re now fast approaching the 18 month mark in his contract. Perhaps it’s indicative of the way recent transfer sagas have developed that my initial response to the article on Arsenal.comm was that it was little more than PR fluff; padding to fill some proverbial online column inches for Arsenal fans to lap up and convince themselves that the signing of Sagna’s contract is a mere formality. But like a lone lighthouse perched precariously on a rock being smashed by waves, we’ve been weathered and work down by the constant failings to conclude contracts satisfactorily for some time now, so stories like this have little baring on how I feel the contract situation will play out. In fact, the cynical old dog in me (as opposed to the little boy) feels like this story about Arsenal as his ‘family’ has been instigated in the wake of yet more protracted sagas in the summer.

Carl Jenkinson’s meteoric rise is fabulous for us to see, but there are not many Arsenal fans that are at the stage where we feel we can rely fully on The Corporal just yet. The thing that’s frustrating is that, should Sagna sign a contract for four more years, given his age you could hopefully see a clear ‘changing of the guard’ style progression for Jenkinson. As Sagna gets into his 30s, Jenks is given more and more game time until eventually the student becomes the master and we have a 23 years old fully experienced right back who could give us an extra 10 years of service. That would almost be the perfect progression for a change of personnel as it give Jenkinson time to learn without too much pressure on him. But yet again, I fear we will fail with a senior management team incapable of acting swiftly.

Prevention is better than cure Arsenal. This should have been seen up ASAP at the end of the summer. I take the point that the player has come off the back of two leg breaks, so there is an element of risk associated with a long term deal for an (at the time) injured player, but Sagna’s career at Arsenal has hardly been limited by niggly hamstring tears and pulls, or knee/ankle injuries, so surely the risk is minimised with two separate impact injuries like he had? When are we going to learn that sometimes its better to try and keep what you have rather than risk on something new. Prevention and cure and all that.

That’s pretty much it from me today. No doubt we’ll hear of seven separate injuries and knocks that will mean we’ve got a makeshift team for the NLD either later today or tomorrow, and that Dave Seaman has been drafted back in as a result.

Have a good one peeps!

Mouldy salad Internationals and Jack bursts

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Good morning. International windows really are the epitome of tedium aren’t they? They’re like a smelly old piece of salad that has sat at the back of you’re fridge way beyond its ‘use by’ date. You know it served a purpose and was probably good for you some time ago, but now it’s just making the other food smell bad. Yep, international football makes normal football smell bad. There, I said it.

There’s a couple of things Arsenal related to be talking about. Carl Jenkinson signed a new five year deal. All good stuff, but we all know that whilst he hopefully has a great career at Arsenal, he’ll need to dislodge Sagna relatively soon if he’s to progress. In his earlier years many of us had high hopes for Eboue and, despite his brief stint as a loveable joker towards the end of his time at the club (a place now firmly occupied by Santos, whose Arsenal career seems to be going in the same direction), he was never really the player we wanted – hence the pressing need Le Boss had to buy Sagna. I can see that situation being a more low-key version of that Man Utd player we used to know if I’m honest, but Bacary’s situation can wait for another day.

One man who has found his feet now is Giroud, and I for one couldn’t be happier for his recent goalscoring form, not least because the media vultures get off his back now and concentrate their efforts elsewhere for now. That player at Utd scored a hell of a lot of goals for us last season, but as I said in a blog at the start of the season, if both Giroud and Podolski both get around the 15 mark, with other players chipping in, then the whole team will benefit. Giroud already has five now (and is targeting 15 by the end of the season), with Poldi on the scoresheet again last weekend. Theo is scoring, as is Gervhino, so there is no doubt the goals have been spread around. However, they have dried up over the last month or so, so after this pointless window shuts we’ll need to get back into goalscoring habits.

Jack Wilshire has also spoken of his relief at getting back into the side and ‘getting his burst’ back. Rude euphemisms aside, I think his return has been great for the team, even if results have been the opposite. It’s clear for all to see how he compliments Arteta and Cazorla and I hope they can form a strong midfield trio during the perpetual absence of Diaby. We’ll need Jack to be well rested and ready for battle on Saturday lunchtime. I don’t even want to think about the consequences of any of the eleven that take the field against the Spuds not performing to more than 100%.

In an unrelated Arsenal note, I noted with more disdain that the allegations against Mark Clattenburg were not substantiated by Chelski yesterday. If i was in Clattenburg’s shoes i’d be seeking some sound legal advice this morning. That clubs personal attack on him has damaged his reputation, kept him from doing his job for two weeks and meant the spotlight is unfairly shone in his direction. All because Chelski want to portray their own little defelction campaign away from their own media blunders. Perhaps I have my red and white tinted specs on, but what that football club seems to be able to get away with leaves me with absolutely no faith in the footballing authorities in the country. Tapping up, racism, training ground shootings, false allegations, you name it, in the last six or seven years that club has done it. What is it actually going to take for somebody to hit them where it hurts? What are they going to have to do? Blow up an orphanage that Nelson Mandela is just opening with a nuclear device that means a ten mile surrounding area of said orphanage is inhabitable for 200 years thereafter? We don’t have to go back far to see how other teams have been punished – say, oh, I don’t know, the brawl at Old Trafford around 20 odd years ago? Arsenal and United docked points. So where are the repercussions for Chelski? Fines? Well, that will certainly irk Abramovich when he learns his interest payments he receives each month are down by a couple of hundred Gs. The FA and Premier League seem to have an entirely separate rule book for Chelski and as I’m sure you can tell, it winds me up beyond belief. Suarez = 7 game ban; Terry = 4. John Terry should get a four game ban at the start of every season just for being John Terry.

Anyway, that’ll do from me today. I’ve subjected you to enough hot air already. Speak tomorrow.

Arsene’s tape player responses

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Yesterday Arsene Press-Conf’d it up at London Colney before the Fulham game; he’s getting quite good at mixing it up in that regard- gone are the days when you could set your watch by the ‘Press Conference Digest’ on the official site. I wonder if the Arsenal Press Office brief the media, with enough time to get their original and thought provoking questions across to Le Boss? You know what I mean, questions that probe into the inner workings of his mind like:

Arsene; is Theo going to sign a new contract?
Arsene, Arsene; when is Diaby back?
Arsene; do you think money is a big factor in football?

Judging by the always eloquent remarks of the Manager that’s obviously what was posed yesterday as he fended off more questions about Walcott’s situation with the standard response of ‘we’ll do all we can to keep him’ (less giving him more money, which is probably his motivating factor right now) and the more ominous recent addition to his stock phrase collection of ‘there will be a decision one way or another in December’. I think the latter response gives you a better indication where this is going than the former. If Theo hasn’t signed, it’s ‘cash those chips’ time for Arsenal. The worry we will all have is that Arsene doesn’t have the money to reinvest, but that’s a debate for another day methinks.

The team news must even have bored Arsene yesterday. He must feel sometimes that a cardboard cut out of himself and an angry and snarling looking Steve Bould with a tape player (not a new DVD/Blue Ray device I might add – one of those old cassette tape players with four black buttons and a red one for recording) to press ‘play’ at the appropriate moment. Diaby Out, Gibbs Out, Rosicky Out. The words have lost all meaning and its really quite sad because all are terrific footballers. I suspect we’ll probably see Vermaelen on the left again and Coquelin replacing Wilshire, but more on that and team projections (which will invariably be wrong) tomorrow.

With the absence of Wilshire through suspensions tomorrow, apparently there is an agreement in place with England manager Roy Hodgson about his availability and game time. I hope the agreement has been extended more than a courteous ‘give him 20 minutes. Max please Roy’ to include a restraining order forbidding Stuart Pearce from going within 100 yards of Wilshire, lest we get him playing in random games in Kasahkstan a week for a cup final or something equally as ludicrous. I’ve seen some bloggers say it could be a good thing to get him involved in the internationals, but my feet are firmly planted in the ‘keep him at home’ camp. We’ve got a vital game just after that fixture and the idea of having 10 solid days risk for Wilshire so that he is firing on all cylinders for then would be juicier than a litre of Tropicana. But there’s not really a lot we can do about it really. I had to shudder a little at the Arsenal.com headline yesterday which carried a quote from Jack saying ‘I could do with a break before spurs game’. There’ll be more than a few fingers crossed on Wednesday next week, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Arsene also said something yesterday that was interesting. He mentioned that it’s up to the players to show enough to get the fans motivated and enhance the atmosphere in the Emirates. It’s an intriguing admission from Le Boss, but not one I’d wholeheartedly endorse, as I think that there should be a bit of ‘give’ and ‘take’ when it comes to the relationship between the fans and the players. Yes, they have to show the commitment and passion to get the fans fully behind them, but I also think there is a degree of responsibility for us to drive the team forward as well. I think back to a few of the recent games when the atmosphere has been really great and it has tended to preclude a fantastic performance of the team. There has rightly been quite a lot of chatter online about how great the away fans have been in recent matches, despite the problems the team has faced. I am hoping that this recent example can be used as a catalyst for pockets of home fans across the ground to take their lead from those fabulous away fans that have represented us so well of late. If we can create a hostile environment for away teams it will lift the team to try and replicate the effort. However, there still needs to be the performance, because fans won’t show the level of noise required if we get abjectivity like Norwich away, Schalke at home and Man Utd away.

That’s all I gots fors ya today, so catch up tomorrow. Same time, same place? Well, maybe not same time…