Never mind the buglers, where’s the FA Cup/4th place or better?
The fans are split, that’s a given.
But they are not split between AKB’s and WOB’s. Oh no, there are another set that sit between the two extremes. Just like in politics, the battle is won or lost in the middle ground. The vast majority of fans are floating voters. Within this middle ground there will be – and is – a full spectrum of ever changing feelings.
I would guess that up until Xmas the vast majority were happy and very much behind the manager.
Now? Who knows?
But it will be a whole lot less. And the amount they have shifted their positions will also differ greatly. Some will have had enough, while others may just have some nagging doubts.
Here is the crux.
They are all Arsenal fans.
They all want what is best for them. (Oh sorry – I meant “what is best for the club”). They all want us to win every game, they all want to win stuff, and they all want to be happy.
There is however, a basic divide.
Have the last 9 years been a success (as I believe) or have they been a failure? Therefore, has the manager overachieved or underachieved ?
David Dein recently said that the stadium move would have been impossible without the success Arsene had brought. Ray Parlour said that some of the loans to build the stadium were conditional on Arsene signing a 5 year deal. Arsene has told us he agreed to stay knowing that the league title was very unlikely. Ivan has admitted that there were indeed financial restraints that they had previously denied .
So taking those things into consideration, what was in Arsene’s job description? What did the board actually ask of him?
What was best for the club?
Arsene himself had said that his priority was qualifying for the Champions League with the financial rewards that follow it. He did that every year, and given his resources, that was an over-achievement. This isn’t my opinion, it’s a fact backed up by impartial data. The AST had an analysis done (I suspect they were disappointed with the results) which proved beyond doubt that this was the case.
People will point out that it’s not his job to make the club money, his job is to win trophies, but the reality is that his job is to achieve what his employers ask him to achieve. That may be very different to what a fan would want him to do.
If we finish in the top 4 and win the FA cup, I expect the undecided will once again shuffle towards us.
If we don’t?
Well we know all too well what will happen.
Positively Arsenal 
You are in fine form this morning George – it must be a great frustration for some to discover that football is not a huge reality tv show in which you get to vote on who stays and who goes – despite what the media tells them.
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Some pithy observations as ever George; your political analogy is spot on in my view.
Hopefully AW re-signs in a few weeks but one does wonder whether the club has now got itself a permanent three party fanbase. When other clubs go through change – generally we are talking change of manager/chairman, but also financial crises could be included – fans tend to split into two camps: “x manager/chairman in or out”.
That AFC have such polarised hardlines with a soft, mushy floating centre, makes one wonder whether such battlelines will simply fade away post-Wenger? Should the board somehow cock up the AW succession, will we be condemned to a never-ending cycle of two entrenched extremes with a moving centre ground which sways weekly (and weakly) in the breeze of the ebb and flow of footballing fortunes?
Will be mighty tedious if so.
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Great stuff PG
We have far too many Statler and Waldorfs’ online at in the crowd.
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Very nice summary of the status quo. I suspect the board know what they are doing, what to expect, and will do what they think is the right thing to do regardless of the fans demands.
I think their own recent pronouncements are telling. They have money, will spend money, if that is what is needed. Fine by me.
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I miss the Muppet show, fucking brilliant!
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You layed it out very clearly and beautifully. It will be great if we finish in top four or three. And wonderful if we win the FA cup on top of that. But if we don’t, it will still be a year of overachievement. This campaign in my opinion was still a year of transition granted we were able finally in stopping our talent from leaving as the WALCOTT affair clearly demonstrated. We still can’t go toe to toe in spending with shitty, chelski and pool add to the bunch the spuds but we showed that if the talent was right fit for the club we can and will pull the trigger on deals in excess of 25 mil or even 35 mil. As the OZIL scenario indicated. Our financial deals are set to kick in and our debt certainly manageble. The future looks very bright and stable. The team looks very happy with each other and the chemistry is there. The potential is unlimited. Assuming there won’t be any major and unexpected exits this summer and adding a couple of good talents in areas where we could have been a bit deeper I’ll guarantee the coming campaign will be much more exciting and fun to witness and we WILL WIN SOME OF THE COMPETITIONS we will be playing in. The team members will be that much more mature and intelligent and we shan’t see the few minor tangent issues that took away from our focus this year. Looking at you OG & JACK. The concentration level will be out of sight and every player will give one hundred percent effort to the cause. God willing the FFP will start having some effect if not fully gathering ots momentum. The year after the level playing field we all long for might not be fully restored but the situation will not be as out of hand and disgusting as it were from 2005 to 2013. All in all it looks super appetizing to say the least. That’s why AW will be staying. The tree is about to deliver its first fruits.
Now as far as the fans:
1) they can see this picture and get fully and unconditionally behind the club and AW and the players and enjoy the ride to the promised land even though some don’t deserve to be on that bus or
2) AW & the players will make due and carry on as they allready have dealing in solitude with the minor factions noise and the medias amplification. They realized the fact that beside the diehards they were by themselves and couldn’t even count on vociferous support in their own stadium . Sad but true. If the support had been there for them through the tough years the storm could have been dealt with much easier and the media would not have had as big a h••• on for the ARSENAL as they have had these past nine campaigns. We opened the damn door to them and enabled them to treat us the way they have. Maybe the penny will drop for some and maybe it won’t. I have no doubts the club and the players will be ready in either case. As for the eternal moaners and armchair managers that will never shut up even if we win the league I predict they will add on a black head scarf to go with their black shawls and black trash bags and make use of the streets around the new HIGHBURY as their fashion show runaway. Making fools of themselves yet again.
The ARSENAL will march on with AW at the helm and great strategists at the board room down to youth team setup to take the greatest club that ever was into THE NEW ERA.
The ERA OF ARSENAL DOMINANCE!!
here we come.
ARSENAL GUNNERS
ARSENAL GUNNERS
ARSENAL GUNNERS
ONWARDS AND FORWARDS
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“The ERA OF ARSENAL DOMINANCE!!”
Might be wishful thinking that Kam !
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Well Goonerkam, it certainly is Good Friday…..
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Hunter is either dishing out the zzzzzs or has gone to church……
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Is the an orthodox boy? Hes unorthodox on here.
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He must be Orthodox because they are the most irreligious, religious people……I should know, I have evidence of me being submerged three times in font….and look at the effect it had on me…..
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Personally, I’ve always maintained that I don’t believe Wenger has had the funds made available to him to spend and a backroom agreement between him and the board has seen him as the best paid manager in the premier league on the condition he takes all the blame and abuse. I would do it, wouldn’t you? He’s basically been paid about £70 million to take the blame on behalf of the board so if the fans turn against someone, it will be him and not the club.
What we don’t realise is how lucky we are. Aswell as Madrid, PSG….. Wenger is certain to have had offers from Chelsea, Man Utd and countless others who could offer him more opportunity to build a winning team free of restraints. This is why the board don’t interfere (another common complaint from the boring lot), they worry he might leave to a better opportunity. I could go on, should write an article really.
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Besides, the priest that dunked me had a bowl of fagioli beans beforehand. I know because one got entangled in his beard. It kinda became the focus of many folks’ attention and took the spiritual shine of the occasion. But then that can only be prescient as far as my spiritual development was concerned…
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Well why dont you do just that Stuart?
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I believe GEORGE. I do indeed. Just as I believe that HUNTER 13 is as far away from orthodoxy as he is from ludvina.
(0(
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I’m with Kam. Providing UEFA have a set of balls (pardon the pun) and implement FFP, then those who have ignored it will see a decline as they must withhold investment and even offload many players. These top quality players will be relatively cheap as they will be in abundance with very few clubs having enough cash to buy them. Apart from us, only the German clubs really have surplus money so if everyone wants to play in the premier league, clubs will have to practically give the players away to us.
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I may do PG,
Been a couple of seasons since I’ve written anything so will need to dust off the cobwebs.
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STUART1979
I don’t believe that for a minute. This whole affair has been a labor of love for his project THE ARSENAL. to prove to all and sundry that you don’t have to buy your way to false glory. That the is a right way of doing things and the wrong way. We are within sight of the promised land and we didn’t have to auction off our soul to get there. And we could have sealed the deal 07-08 & 10-11. That’s the most amazing part. It would have taken a decade or two to accomplish what ARSENAL and AW achieved in less than seven. And we never dropped from the top four. F•••••• amazing feat if you ask me and finished an state of the art stadium complex costing close to half a billion pounds. All with out outside help or pillaged funds from a third world country and/or Russian mob money. Fans of other clubs would kill for that and are dumbfounded as to the behavior of some ARSENAL fans. And at no time did he or they give up and steadily march towards the goals layed out from 03-04 onwards. Against all odds. Most incredible. All others are envious and our own fans ( a minority on the Uzbeks payroll ) can’t seem to grasp the enormity of the task.
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The way I see it is 20% chronic moaners with an agenda to get the Uzbek in position of power or at least in the boardroom. 45% diehards that have seen the full picture and have never wavered. The remaining 35% moving with the wind back and forth during the good and bad times. Its their souls at stack that we must enlighten and bring on board. Check mate the Uzbek and the moaners. He might love the ARSENAL as he says but in my opinion it is first and foremost a bussiness proposition to him with the potential of enormous profits and prestige.
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As I see it, Arsenal this season are on course for 23 or 24 wins, 78 or 79 points now we have nearly a full, fit and hungry team. The FA cup is in the hands of the most capricious lady who has a history of not giving Arsenal what we expect.
This represents serious progress, 04-05 and 07-08 were the last two seasons we did better. Poor Eudardo, God bless him.
I think this can be the springboard for a season long PL title push and or UCL challenge within the next two years. The defensive frailties at some big away games will surely be addressed by the beginning of next season. Add another 20 goal a season man (oh, Theo how we missed you!) and we will be on fire.
Wenger has to stay to oversee this. I would trust no one else with the war chest, and if he ever leaves we know he would never leave the club in the right old mess Fergie did at Manu.
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Sell off hospitals, schools, roads, energy and water supply, and yeah some football club (a.k.a Land & Property) smack back in the middle of the worlds financial capital to the likes of Usmanov? Why are the cheerleading Groaners incapable or unwilling to disassociate themselves (they have been asked) from R & W Holdings?
How are all these Experts in finance unaware that no company would admit at the time that they were in financial difficulty because, you know, for starters that might affect those tasty and lucrative new deals from the new sponsors, and everything else..doh!
Elsewhere into the news two Princton academics try their best to catch up and have defined the US as an Oligarchy and not a Democracy.
It is what it is.
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“…it must be a great frustration for some to discover that football is not a huge reality tv show in which you get to vote on who stays and who goes – despite what the media tells them.”
Haha! I’m going to need a new cup of tea.
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Being Good Friday, isn’t it appropriate PG does a piece about faith and a divide in support? Without being sacrilegious, the Arsenal story has so many echoes of the biblical drama. On that note respect to the christians in our midst on their holiday.:
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Great stuff George,I hate the middle ground-get behind the team or fuck off is what I say-happy easter everyone!
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Could you pretty please link to AST’s analysis?
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Can someone provide that link? I only have it in an Email
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Enjoy
Click to access Arsene-Wenger-what-is-he-good-for.pdf
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so many good points in the article and in the posts underneath. I have to have a little moan at the regularity of good post on here, just as I was purring over AA’s post George goes and puts another doozie up.
There are many complete areholes that just like moaning and would moan if we won the league every year, these are just very sad people and some of these were even giving the youth team shit last night. To slag off sixteen year olds that were playing against a side on average a year older and who are brought from all over Europe on big wages is lunacy.
There are another group of the unsatisfied who been disadvantaged by the PL and sky and how football changed after Hillsborough and its acceptance for corporate rather than your traditional fan. This group are angry with the commercial world but their anger unfortunately is misdirected. I do have some sympathy with this group until they dig at the manager.
Then you have the group who have only seen the PL and are comparing Arsene with well….Arsene, obviously forgetting that early Arsene didn’t have to contend with the obstacles recent Arsene has had to climb. They assume money has no bearing on football and often use the old its still 11 v 11 and you still have to get them playing as a team.
Occasionally you will get the good old ARSENAL brigade who believe we were always the biggest club in the world and the gaps between the thirties to 48/53 and then to 71 and then to 89/91 and then to 98 just don’t exist.
Obviously one of the worst group are the one’s who will believe absolutely anything tv, radio or the red tops tell them. After reading the headline Arsene Wenger ate my hamster your not going to think he’s a nice bloke are you. Once again I have sympathy for this group but for a completely reason…. it just worries me they have the vote.
As Passenal was commenting on the other day some people will go to the game just to moan and some have literally been brought up this way, in the years since the move fans think this is a natural way to support your club they have been taught it, the more you criticise the more knowledgeable you are about your club and therefore the bigger supporter you are. If you shout out your not fit to wear the shirt it appears you have the knowledge to know what players have worn it in the past and you care so much more than any player ever could.
After years of not going to away games the first day I went back to old Trafford I couldn’t believe they didn’t sing, it was deadly quite until they scored. chelski couldn’t even sell out their ground in romans first years and so really in a way we shouldn’t be surprised about the discontents at our place however when you managed to acquire tickets to 75% of Wembley and get outsung from the start by a couple of northerners that’s when it gets embarrassing.
One final thought is the sudden change of attitude of those fans who said silverware was more important than fourth place until our defeat to everton and the abyss was being starred in to, amazingly Thursday nights didn’t seem so palatable.
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If I was in a tight corner being faced by the enemy ,I think I’d have Arse Or Brain on my firm,we’d fucking murder em!
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I’m just popping in to say hello to George the Pedantic. It’s been a while George. I like your blog and style. But probably won’t comment.
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and everyone else on here Mel we give no quarter on this site we have brains, braun, youth, experience, cultural variety and some with the imagination of a 60’s LSD filled pop star we have it all
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Why not Northbank. You are one of the people I was hopping would join us.
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Northbank, you know Frank lives here as well?
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that was very nice george…the peacebringer…maybe thats exactly what we need…the antidote.
oh and i agree with everything a_or_b says…spot on. the biggest irony is that the traditional fan who moans about not having access or influence is the first one to call for usmanov. it is sad for it proves they never understood what the club;s policy.philosophy is all about. they consider it very naive and unworkable so we might as well follow suit…
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PG, Northbank is in France and too fond of the ladies?
Northbank, like Limestonegunner and Harry (deflowered), need to stop censoring themselves on Acensoredleftfoot! All three need to develop a backbone?
The 3 concerned, crawling on their bellies, to avoid the brickbats from the rabble on that site, yesterday.. Know your enemy, say I.
PG, the AST have tried to find a witch, in order to stitch Mr Wenger up, for the crime of the century, as The Arsenal have not won a trophy for a few years.
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I really don’t know what NOTH speaks/write sometimes but man…he is good.
I lauhed at the A****LeftFoot refrence.. Man knows his tights..
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Yes George…. I know 🙂
Notoverthehill
You obviously know me better than i know you LOL…… my backbone has been ruined by women, not the Arsenal.
I may join in George…. but for the moment I’ll just drink my wine and read your posts!…… 🙂
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A5, cheers for the link. I have read that before but not been able to peruse it in detail. While it quite clearly vindicates Arsene’s policy and shows his achievement it is a shame there are still some negative comments contained within it. Also if you look at any situation logistically you have to include all the obstacles to their full extent. To measure only clubs that have won silverware and not include Aston villa,spuds,everton newcastle or for that matter Sheffield Wednesday and leeds does not show the whole picture. Its like taking the bottom 50% of figures out of a set of data and then calculating an average, it just not realistic.
The second anomaly is the year by year figures, if a team spends 100m in the first year the player sale value in the second year goes up meaning the net spend is perverted and is difficult to asses.
To come to any proper evaluation you have to know where the start point is and although there is plenty of data there is no start point to show exactly what point ARSENAL football club was at before Arsene joined.
I can see that this should be enough to keep ast quite for a while it really is only half a job and poor journalism and does not show the real effect Arsene has had on the club both on and off the pitch.
The marble halls would always impress people once they travelled to ARSENAL, but the difference now is people set out from all over the world to see just how we do things we are a world leader chelski,city bayern, psg and clubs from all over came,saw and modelled themselves on us and that is down to the vision of one man and the board who supported him.
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I hate the middle ground-get behind the team or fuck off is what I say-happy easter everyone!
hahaaa!!!!!
mel ! mel! mel! mel! mel! mel!
“To come to any proper evaluation you have to know where the start point is and although there is plenty of data there is no start point to show exactly what point ARSENAL football club was at before Arsene joined.”
my favourite subject….in one word : substandard.
PERSONALLY i consider arsenal’s situation before wenger as …small time …and quite pity that the fans highlight is 89 when others have multiple european trophies and have left their mark on the game on an international level.
in a football discussion with a milan fan he will name maldini and baresi and van basten as club legend and we have …who exactly? same goes for madrid, juve ..all those clubs..our only era where we can claim to have legends of equal callibre is undoubtedly that of vieira henry pires gilberto silva. i appreciate what tony ian and lee did but when compared to the real big clubs of the game we have nothing on them and it saddens/pisses me off that the subculture of our fans doesnt get it. bergkamp came for a new beggining. it wasnt a figo from barca to madrid scenario….or a 40m zidanne from juve to madrid transfer …
also arsenal under wenger is one of the 20 most recognised sports brands world wide …the ny yankees the lakers real madrid barca manchetser etc etc…arsenal is one of them…even without leaving its mark on the game yet…thats the genius of wenger.
football is a dirty businees and after that its up to the owners and whether they want to be aggressive like chelsea or build like ajax/barca and combine with manchester united type commerciality. i obviously prefer the second as it is practical and much more ethical than what chelsea and city are doing.
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” chelski,city bayern, psg and clubs from all over came,saw and modelled themselves on us and that is down to the vision of one man and the board who supported him.”
Thats twittered.
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Hunter13
It must be very comfortable to see things as so black or white…. for some it isn’t so easy. Everyone has a different viewpoint, If history tells us one thing it tells us that… allegiances can change depending on the circumstances. I will just mention Jean d’Arc as an example.
I was 100% Wenger and probably still 80%, and am fully aware of what he has brought to the Arsenal….. but sometimes it’s needed to question. Supporting the team for me is the main issue, and I do. I don’t go to games these days, unless the game is in the south of France, but I have never advocated booing the team or the manager.
There, I said I wouldn’t comment George…. but ffs, I’m a supporter and I have a viewpoint 🙂
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Questioning Arsene is perfectly acceptable Northbank.
Why would anyone not ? I too have asked myself questions, but I always come back with the same answers.the man is a genius.
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Northbank, come on board, man!
I have fallen out with AW since Day 1 of his reign. I do not support his over-30 and a player is past it. WG, Jack Hobbs, Wilfred Rhodes and others were playing cricket well into their 40’s..
Northbank, I checked on you, I thought you were having a “kip”?
Welcome, a debate is fine. An argument is never kosher!
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A couple of years ago I would have agreed with you George, but I think his genius is now diminished somewhat. He looks tired and worn out. He’s given his all to the Arsenal and he deserves a lot of credit for that. But I have buts….. and questions as to if he is still the best option to take us to new glory. Another thing that history has taught us is that the future can spring surprises, we don’t know what the future will give us….. only time will tell. Some will go with Wenger and some won’t. Next season may give us the answer.
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Northbank, He does look tired.He is 64, so perhaps he would anyway. However he seems as shape as ever in exchanges with the media, and his vision is still the same.
The very least he deserves is the opportunity to reap the fruits of his labours. And make no mistake, they have been labours of Herculean proportions.
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Notoverthehill
You will often find me kipping…. apart from wine and women, it’s my third favorite pastime….. unfortunately, Arsenal only come fourth! 🙂
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It seems to me it is perfectly possible to support all that AW has done, acknowledge his genius, but still think that it is time for a change – or not, as the case may be. Likewise it would be ludicrous to think that everything he and the club does is always wrong or always right. But what I simply can’t sanction is any kind of public criticism that seeks to belittle and destroy: that is bad for the collective soul.
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Well, what a great exchange of views. NOTH and Northbank I hope you appear much more frequently. I’m with PG, I think Arsene needs to reap the benefits of his Herculean efforts. That is, from next season. Then we will know whether he is indeed, tired and past it. It is certainly not fair or just if he goes before then….
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OK George
I’ve made a decision… I’m in action mode tonight. I’ll do the morning shift on ACLF, cos I enjoy the banter with HB, CBob, Ras, Lime and Clock-end, and then, if I’m not having a siesta, I’ll drop in here. Seems fair….. if Frank has a problem then we’ll deal with that as or if it arrives. For me, I’m offering an olive branch. Lets see how things go 🙂
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Great post aob 4:39pm or anytime for that matter.
Tired and worn out? Nonsense. Look at bourinho and moyes and life gets sucked out of you. Tell me any 64 yrs working with that pressure but still so hungry for success. Or you really think it’s the money that drives him? Nonsense
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