Greetings Positivistas! Whether we like it or not our football holiday is almost over. The Arsenal troops are reassembling, there is the smell of gunpowder, canons are being cleaned, occasional explosions are being heard; a clear signal that the competitive battle in the EPL is about to resume.
OK my metaphors may be overblown but today’s game with RC Lens is the definitive sign that the 2016-17 season is almost upon us. Hard to believe that in four weeks 8-9 months of annual football warfare will resume.
While some of us may have been somnolent during this holiday winter, the outside world has been awash with dramatic events which in my opinion will eventually have some impact on our footballing lives. Chief among them was the BREXIT, a subject which was very precious to many of us on this blog. Despite the temptation, unlike President Obama, I decided against offering an opinion since I am not a Briton and won’t have to live with the consequences.
But the thing that struck me most during and after the referendum is how similar it was to the annual WEXIT we Arsenal fans have had to live through, at least for the past five years. The evidence is abundant.
By 2011, six years had passed since the club had last won a meaningful trophy. After the shock defeat in the League Cup final to Birmingham City, of all the clubs, the unimaginable became apparent. After years of disparaging other club supporters for being fickle and reactive to short term results our fans begun to publicly question the future of their most successful manager. This was reflected in the mainstream media when CNN’s Ben Wyatt wrote a piece published April 25, 2011 under the headline: Has Time Run Out For Arsene Wenger
“There will be calls for the Wenger tenure to end, for the man who delivered so much to be deposed now his Midas touch has seemingly vanished.”
Later that October, one Mirti Murunj writing for a publication Run Of Play opined that:
“No philosophy, not even the most transformative, should go on forever”
The shit was really to hit the fan at the beginning of the 2011-12 season when Barcelona finally completed its 2-year seduction of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri’s half season goal explosion the previous season was to see him succumb to Sheik Mansour ad Manchester City poking big bills in his garter belt. As Wenger himself was forced to admit, Arsenal could no longer count itself as a big club when it was losing its best players to bigger clubs. Arguably the nadir of the season, exposing how much the club was weakened, was the 8-2 shellacking by Manchester United. The Arsenal Action blog pulled no punches and declared “Wenger Out”. Sounds familiar?
Unlike the BREXIT, despite five years of incessant campaigning by a noisy, whiny, self entitled minority of Arsenal fans who are enabled by the mainstream media, the annual WEXIT has been unsuccessful. Last Spring when I made my first ever trip to the Emirates, I witnessed the last desperate and eventually futile attempt to conduct an in-stadium referendum. As we all know, Wenger was the clear winner forcing even that noisy anti-Arsene celebrity phone hacker, Piers Morgan to concede defeat.
Despite never falling out of the top-four in his twenty years at the club (unlike United, Chelsea, City and Liverpool) and his prudence in running the club despite an era of the greatest ever financial excesses, exemplified by United’s willingness to pay over £100 million to buy-back a player they released on a free only four years earlier, the upcoming season will see more desperate attempts to unseat Arsene. The Daily Cannon’s Helen Trantum on Jube 24, 2016 did not express whether she was for Leave or Remain but the headline of her blog was very telling:
“Can we have a referendum on Arsene?”
But the sage of Dublin is taking no chances. He has been stirring up his massive following with portents of doom simply because Ivan Gazidis had the temerity to make an empirical observation in an exclusive interview with ESPN FC:
“The big clubs can’t financially bully the smaller clubs in the way they used to, so I think a lot of the differentiators between clubs become more subtle now,”
“It’s how well you can identify talent. It’s how well you can develop talent. It’s how strong your club philosophy is. It’s how together you are as a football club, what your support services are like in the medical field, fitness, analytics, psychology. All of these things become differentiators.”
As said in the past, the sage usually speaks out of two sides of his mouth and today’s blog was no different. While in the past attacking other clubs spending massive amounts of money on mediocre players and praising Leicester City for defying conventional wisdom by proving you can win the League without spending massive amounts of money, he proceeds to deliver the following howler:
“Look, I’m all for a bit of common sense in a world gone mad, but isn’t the message we get from Gazidis indicative of what frustrates people about this club? We have an absolute fortune at our disposal to use to buy players to make the team better and more competitive – yet the Chief Executive is focusing on clubs who can spend more, and citing a once-off fluke season from a team who will never win the league again as a model for success.”
But inevitably the target had to be Wenger, all others are collateral damage:
It’s not about what other clubs do with their cash, it’s about what we do with ours, but we know that Arsene Wenger is a man obsessed with value.
WTF you may ask? Isn’t the interview with Ivan Gazidis? Isn’t he the boss, the chief executive? Clearly not, if you go by the sage of Dublin.
Strap yourselves in boys and girls, the fun has just begun.
Positively Arsenal 
I know it was just a public training game, but it was good to see the boys in red and white again. Even though I only managed the first 30 mins, I don’t get the definitive judgements being made about certain players already. The real thing is going to be fun and games if the judging and condemnation has already started in pre-season!
LikeLiked by 1 person
arsenal announce provisional squad for usa tour games
http://www.lagalaxy.com/post/2016/07/22/arsenal-fc-announces-preliminary-traveling-roster-match-against-chivas-guadalajara?
LikeLike
The provisional squad named in the article is
Goalkeepers
Petr Cech, Emiliano Martinez, David Ospina
Defenders
Hector Bellerin, Krystian Bielik, Calum Chambers, Mathieu Debuchy, Gabriel, Kieran Gibbs, Rob Holding, Per Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal
Midfielders
Santi Cazorla, Francis Coquelin, Mohamed Elneny, Jack Wilshere, Granit Xhaka, Gedion Zelalem
Forwards
Chuba Akpom, Joel Campbell, Alex Iwobi, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Theo Walcott, Chris Willock,
I’d be surprised if Gnabry is not included in the squad, and Wenger mentioned today that Mavadidi might be involved.
Not sure if Ospina will be back for it if he is, then Alexis would be due back too. Cazorla is said to be injured at the moment, so not certain he will travel either
LikeLike
Arsenal still yet to appoint a captain this season – Per Mertesacker
The ESPN FC crew discuss Arsenal’s expectations for the upcoming season.
LENS, France — Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker insists Arsene Wenger has yet to appoint a new club captain, and said his leadership role won’t change even if he doesn’t wear the armband.
Reports this week claimed that Wenger was set to hand Mertesacker the captaincy after Mikel Arteta retired this summer. But the 31-year-old German told ESPN FC that no decision has been made yet.
“No, I cannot confirm that. There’s nothing to say about that from my side, because I’m not going to decide that,” Mertesacker said after Arsenal’s 1-1 draw at French second-division side RC Lens in their first preseason game on Friday.
Mertesacker did wear the armband as one of the few veterans who played against Lens — and did so for much of last season when Arteta was out injured — but called upon every player in the team to provide leadership on the pitch.
“Everyone needs to take responsibility, especially in preseason and show himself from his best side. I think everyone does it,” the centre-back said.
“And in the end, the manager makes his decisions on that front, who’s going to play and what are his plans for next season and for the future. I think there’s a lot more to discuss that are more interesting than the captain’s armband. I get along with any decision he takes because for me it doesn’t matter if I wear the band or not.”
The other likely candidates for the job are 34-year-old goalkeeper Petr Cech and Mertesacker’s centre-back partner Laurent Koscielny. And Mertesacker insisted that his own role on the pitch won’t change if he’s not made captain.
“As a veteran you need to be vocal, that is the most important thing during the game, to guide those young players,” he said. “We have got a lot of talented players but they need to know that I will always back them up and I will always be vocal and I want to get them to their best.”
Mattias is ESPN FC’s Arsenal correspondent. Follow him @MattiasKaren.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Just good to see them back….and to admire the strength in depth of this squad.
Don’t really get the furore over Ivan’s interview? He seemed to be talking sense, at least to me. Just because the club have money, why would they pay stupid transfer, agent fees…..and salaries unless they really do get someone special.
I bet the media and some of our managers critics are hoping for an Alexit
LikeLike
mandy, there is only furore over what Ivan said, cos of slanted reporting, mainly by arsenal bloggers. look at any of the blogs who have done pieces on the interview. look at the headlines they use, and you can already see the tone they are setting. Then in the article itself, you will find leading comments by the author, pointing the reader in a certain direction.
I fail to see how anyone could take umbrage with what IG said, if only his actual statements were all that one viewed. Even less sensational blogs like arseblog, went all distortion on it, split it up into two articles, added a line of comment here and there, and hey presto, the desired effect was had, loads of whinging moaning idiots, who many of, clearly could not distinguish between what was direct quotes from Gazidis, and what was the bloggers views. but lots and lots of clicks and comments for the blog. Odd that its Ivan, Stan and Arsene that get accused of lying.
LikeLike
Last nights game could have been a lot easier for our boys, due to some very iffy offside decisions it wasn’t. Plus ca change.
LikeLike
Twitter is all abuzz this morning that Arsenal are making a move to sign Mahrez.
Seems plausible but for 50m Euro as quoted seems steep.
This could push Theo out of the squad too.
LikeLike
Mahrez was the player who stood out for lcfc on the pitch when they came two seasons ago, and that was after he came on as a late sub, he was still settling/adapting into the PL that year.
Vardy’s highlight that season was a dive and hilariously poor erroneous pelanty call by Clattenburg that seemed like a slap in the face from the pgMOB for LVG considering that it must have been the first error awarding a pelanty against it’d at home in many many many years (which is why we can all remember that moment!) but I digress we simply saw both footballers kick on from where we saw them two seasons ago last year: Mahrez can play football and Vardy knows how to dive. Though not well enough to fool a ‘neutral’ official as we saw at the Euro’s. Ho hum.
Therefore, if we’re looking at the football from both footballers it’s a no brainer which is the better footballer.
I enjoyed the football yesterday. Looking forward to the next match.
But from the little that I’ve seen and I also accept I am no expert I wouldn’t say Mahrez is light years ahead of any talents at AFC or ahead at all save in terms of age and relative fitness.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think the Mahrez rumour was started by the ITK Algerian cafe opposite Finsbury Park station/the Arsenal shop.
They’ve had a garlanded picture of Mahrez up on the wall since probably the beginning of last season haha!
Looks like Ivan have them the lowdown one morning whilst tucking into his coffee and snacks.
LikeLike
Steady Fins. Just rumors. I love Mahrez btw. He was my POTY. He fits the Packer according to that ESPN article by Honigstein you linked us to.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It wasn’t me who spilt the beans whilst indulging in a Full English in the Alegrian Arsenal cafe.
#blameIvanthefilthymutantcommiefrenchtraitor
LikeLike
‘Scuse the typos.
LikeLike
Mahrez is not averse to a dive either as I witnessed at Emirates. He didn’t get a penalty or a yellow card because he was wearing a blue shirt at the time. Funny that…
LikeLiked by 2 people
Gnabry remains a candidate. A credible one.
From the manager’s comments it seems to me as if he went on loan last season when the coaches wanted him to stay. He’d have played. and of course Pulis being a sycophantic devotee of lord Slurgus (as opposed to The Bruce) well, that was always the wrong choice for an Arsenal employee.
The Olympics could provide him the matches he needs to get back up to full speed.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The “we want our AFC hull City back” campaign has worked a treat. Owner’s fed up, manager’s just quit three weeks before the new season and the club which now looks like it might go straight back down will not be bought by the most suitable ‘investor’ you’d imagine in such circumstances. Hopefully not, but looking at Forest and Leeds…
Success for the “fans”, disaster on and off the pitch.
Anyone looking to protest at AFC this season, and let’s be reasonable and fair here, they are proper fucking idiots.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Almost as succesful and the “we want our Newcastle back” campaign.
That went well.
People power upon full display, which must explain why such an enlightened progressive owner who doesn’t at all reflect medieval forget about Victorian values is still in control of their club even though he wants to sell them off so he can shift his empire into the club formerly known as Glasgow Rangers (Servco FC).
LikeLiked by 1 person
“We want our Blackburn back”
Still going well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
“We want our Cardiff City back”
Who can forget the fans campaign that thousands upon thousands of people were trolled into performing in front of a chucking nation, their request to reinstate that stand up guy Malky Macay as manager and preserve the club’s PL status?
Such heartwarming stories of people power are enough to make you fall in love with football.
LikeLiked by 1 person
< chuckling nation
LikeLike
Chucking could work. I’m sure some people needed vomit bags upon that occasion.
LikeLiked by 2 people
My perusal of this morning’s guff written by two long-time Arsenal bloggers saw them both continuing their misrepresentation of Ivan Gazidis declarations to ESPN about club’s intentions in the transfer market, concluding how they were moved to “cynicism”. What twattery? What could be more transparent than Ivan’s statement?
“We’re making progress in what is a fiercely competitive world, against competitors that have the capability to spend far more money than we do. We’re doing it by being very, very disciplined; spending money where we believe it makes a difference, but also giving young players a chance and believing in ourselves and our values.”
What could be more cynical than to deceive fans and the public by overpaying for players as a “statement of intent”? Such as £30 million plus for an over the hill 34 year-old Ibrahimovich, £100 million plus for an underwhelming Paul Pogba, or £90 million for a 29 year-old striker. None of this is counting wages. Yet in the case of United, despite all the massive spending over the post-Ferguson years they have dropped out of Champions League for the 2nd time in three years. City and Chelsea all finished behind Arsenal last year. In contrast, prudent Arsenal’s league position has been 4th, 3rd and 2nd in the past three consecutive years.
Didn’t Leicester prove that it isn’t the size of your transfer budget which guarantees a title?
I have been around long enough to repeatedly observe that when seemingly sensible people ignore facts and propagate lies and misrepresentations it usually has disastrous economic consequences. Take those suffering from austerity in Europe (the Greeks, the Spaniards and the Italians) as a result of the financial crisis of the last decade.
Do these bloggers think massive overspending pose no risks for football clubs? I for one can foresee the constant threat of terrorism will eventually have consequences for European football club. The massive mobilization by the French to protect Euro2016 cannot be replicated by football clubs on an-going basis. Any big club whose strategic plans do not make provisions for the terrorist disruption of the champions league is living in cuckoo land. Think what a season long suspension of champions league will do to certain club’s finances given the excessive risks they have taken.
Rather than educate these blogs have decided to pander to their readers who are desperate to win the transfer sweepstakes. I agree with Gazidis; the majority of fans have not woken up to the fact that:
“….Leicester are the vanguard of a changing dynamic within the Premier League. I don’t think general perception has yet woken up to that, but I think it will over the next season and the years ahead.”
It was the same bloggers who 4 years ago, when the night was darkest, were gleefully rubbing their hands together and proclaiming the “end of an era”. They were stark, raving wrong then and will be proven so once again.
LikeLiked by 5 people
bellerin back in training
Héctor Bellerín @HectorBellerin 17m17 minutes ago
Nice to be back at home ⚽️❤️
LikeLike
They were most defintely raving.
Stark too.
And yes wrong as well.
There is plenty of evidence, the above is unfortunately not an opinion but a gentle observation of the record ably supported by General Hindsight and his corps of Royal Gunners.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Back to the sport:
Joe Root’s epic innings comes to a close. After his two dismissals in the first test I bet he was glad he doesn’t have to deal with the Arsenal press/twatter.
LikeLiked by 1 person
LikeLike
LikeLike
Shotta
Do LCFC/ Cardiff/Leeds/Forest represent the advanced (or indeed regressive) concept of a post-brexit economic model being imposed upon the UK – IBSF
Looking forward to the offical recognition of the new Workhouses and I can’t wait for the day when people are shipped off to Australia via Calais for not paying their licence fee.
When will one of these genius bloggers draw the links between what Murdoch did to US sports and the PL, which admittedly was nothing new as a model or concept but there it is…in all the papers!
LikeLike
reports that Tony Adams has turned down the u18 coaching role at Arsenal, and instead will take a job in China, as a head of a youth academy
LikeLike
Holding and Ospina were also in training today.
LikeLike
oh and so was Sanogo
LikeLike
Gurjit @GurjitAFC 4h4 hours ago
Wenger: “Alexis will not go(USA tour games) because he had an ankle injury. That is not too bad but I will leave him behind” #Arsenal
LikeLike
Fins: From afar, LCFC/ Cardiff/Leeds/Forest are simply casualties of the post Thatcherite conversion of English football from a community based professional league to a corporate dog-eat-dog model. In the old days most big traditional clubs could survive the ups and downs of the relegation system. Corporatism has meant a shinier, glitzier league which was able to leverage its long tradition of blood and thunder competitiveness to become one of wealthiest in the world. But as we know in the corporate world the competition is merciless and the weak are spared no quarter; they either die or get taken over. Unfortunately, for the weak, there are no mergers in the PL. Your only hope is being taken over by a wealthy investor, for whatever motive, who has sufficient capital to take and/or keep the club in PL football, the promised land. Unfortunately Cardiff/Leeds/Forest have not had those kind of investors or if they did they made made major blunders on top of those made in the past.
Interesting to me is how LCFC best assets are gradually being picked off by the bigger, wealthier clubs including the overture for Vardy by AFC. Proof positive that money talks and bullshit walks.
What do you think of my little thesis?
LikeLiked by 1 person
great post shotta at 3.44,
by the way shotta which two blogs do you refer to. Would I be close if I said arseblog. They actually made two articles out of the Gazidis interview.
I posted on arseblog yesterday, the following, in reply to some who expressed how upset they were by Gazidis comments
“so what exactly did Gazidis say that upset you, was it “we want to win the league”, or was it “we are not happy to finish top 4”, is it that he said he and the club back the manager, cos they believe he can bring the club success.
or was it that he sort of admitted that we are not able to spend £100M on a player. Is there something wrong with him saying the club needs to be smart in its transfer dealings, maybe you want the club to be stupid in its transfer dealings.
so again I ask, what did he say that upset you, or was it actually misleading headlines about the interview that upset you.
you will not be surprised to hear, that none of those who were “upset”, “fuming”, “disgusted”, “mad as hell”, “pissed off” etc etc etc, had any answer to the question, “what exactly did Gazidis say that upset you”
It seems they know they are offended by Gazidis, but don’t know why, maybe other than bloggers and twitter superfans, tell them they should be offended.
LikeLiked by 1 person
by the way shotta, I would suggest that there is a lead article in that post of yours.
LikeLike
Eddy,”“so what exactly did Gazidis say that upset you,” A little expansion on that post would make a great article? You know my love of sarcasm.
Have a go and post it in the comments and I’ll make it the next blog ?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wenger says we’re looking at “defensive & offensive positions”. “handbrake is on” in the transfer market a little bit now, and it might be that way till “middle of August” “We might have to be good at poker.”
LikeLike
http://player.arsenal.com/matches/181666/video/8010/-i-m-pleased-with-the-quality-of-our-workout?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=arsenalplayer&utm_campaign=wengerontransfers
LikeLike
PG, I might get to it later on this evening, but I still think their is more of an article in shotta’s post
LikeLike
Steve Gooner @Merse10 8h8 hours ago
shame Henry only playing first half hour of legends match. Has Sky commitments later that day.
LikeLike
Eddy: Since you ask, I am referring to Arseblog and ACLF writing their standard incendiary nonsense pandering to the stupidity in their readership. Why don’t they ever confess they want us to spend like United? Because their stupidity would be clear and present. So they play the “cynical” card. As you correctly ask what did Ivan say that was so disturbing?
LikeLiked by 4 people
“So what have the Romans ever done for us ?”
well for much of Arsenal blog world in recent days that should read
“What has Ivan ever done for us (that we don’t take offence to)”
In case you missed it, Arsenal CEO, Ivan Gazidis, gave his usual pre-season interview to some media outlet or other, this time ESPN. I’m sure many on here could, without seeing it or reading it, would give a good guess at what he had to say. Now that is not, like the malcontents claim, cos we are some sort of cult, inducted into the mantra of Stan’s(or should that be Arsene’s) mouthpiece, and we lap up and repeat addendum. No its because most of us know the history of our club, not just the Wenger era, or the GG era, I go back to the Mee era, and by saying we know the history of this club, i’m referring to not just what goes on on the pitch, but in fact how the club we support, is actually run, and has been run in the vast majority, if not all its, long history. Arsenal is run, and has been as long as I’ve been a Gooner (almost 50 years), as a self sustaining club, that, does not do panic, that by and large, sticks by its managers, its players, and does not let the media influence or disrupt our plans, long or short term plans.
We would have expected Ivan to tell us that Arsenal are
behind our manager
still believe in him
believe in him, not for his history, but cos we know the work he is doing for us now, and that he still has the vision, the drive, the talent and the forsight that is good for the club,
disappointed that we did not win the league last season
top 4 is not good enough and we want to win the league
are continually upgrading all aspects of the club, not just the team/squad, but also analytical, medical, training, infrastructure, you name it, we are trying to improve it
we have, or to be more precise, we are working, to a long term plan
this long term plan is reviewed and amended where needed continually
we have lots of money
but others have more
we can not spend £100M on one player
so we have to spend our money intelligently
getting the right player, is more important than getting the most expensive player
just cos a player is highly talented, it does not mean he is suited to our style of play or would improve us,
its getting the player that fits,
we buy big too,(Xhaka remains the most expensive player bought by a BPL club so far this summer) but we also believe in promoting from within
Leicester showed that there are more ways than one to skin a cat, and we should copy the best bits from them, just as we copy bits from other clubs as we see fit.
Guess what, Ivan did tell us all of it, – AGAIN, Ivan with the same as he said last year, and the year before, they say, totally missing the point, that we, just as he told them, again, this year, and last year and the year before, are working to a plan, a short term one, and a long term one. So why the feck would we abandon the path we believe in, we believe is right, believe is TRUE, to the ethos of the club.
Now a certain section of the fan base is up in arms, in fact they tell me they are offended, by Ivan’s words. These are the sort of people that like to tell us that Arsenal embarrass them, that they are ashamed to support the club, and on that note, many of them seem to have a very loose definition of what support is, as they never have a good word to say about anything AFC, they say they do not spend on merchandise, and loads of them (almost as many as claim to have been at WHL last game of 71 season, or to be more relevant to most of them, maybe I should say, almost as many as claim to have been at the league winning game at Anfield, in their favorite managers era, yes bung-meister himself George Graham) claim to have given up their season ticket(no wonder there is so much room for the “tourists”).
So the embarrassed and offended fans, don’t have a good word to say about Arsenal, don’t spend any money on it, and don’t go to games, but its the fans who back the club, the manager, the players, and agree with the club being run along the lines it has always been, are the ones holding the club back. Well, that is, after Wenger, Ivan, Stan, Per, Ramsey, Giroud, Walcott.
So I say to the offended, go on, be offended, that is your right, its also your problem, and yours alone, if you need Arsenal to help you in some playground dick swinging contest, and Arsenal are not interested, and this offends you, maybe you should have a good long look at yourself, and your reasons for being an Arsenal fan, and maybe, just maybe, its not Arsenal, but you, yourself, that the offence originates in, and yes, you should be ashamed, and offended, and don’t ask what has the Roman’s ever done for us.
LikeLiked by 3 people
thanks shotta, I do post on arseblog, but ACLF is not one of my regular haunts, and I remembered why as I’ve just had a look, and all I will say is, Oh My, what a laughable couple of articles on the Gazidis comments, as you say, a real hatchet job, totally disingenuous of them.
LikeLike
Man United gave Ibrahimovic the no.9 shirt without Martial’s agreement
LikeLike
16-YEAR-OLD ARSENAL GOALKEEPER JOAO VIRGINIA NAMED IN PORTUGAL’S OLYMPIC SQUAD
by jeorge bird
Young Arsenal goalkeeper Joao Virginia has been named in Portugal’s squad for the Olympic Games.
The 16-year-old recently signed scholarship terms with the Gunners after joining as a schoolboy from Benfica last year.
A talented shot-stopper, Virginia has represented Portugal at youth level and was part of the squad the won the U17 European Championships this year, although he didn’t play.
Virginia is one of three Arsenal representatives at the Olympics, joining Serge Gnabry (Germany) and Takuma Asano (Japan).
Virginia’s absence will leave Arsenal short of goalkeepers for the start of the U18 league season, although there is a possibility that Hugo Keto could feature as an overage player.
The Olympics take place from August 3rd to 20th, with Portugal facing Honduras, Algeria and Argentina in Group D.
Virginia will be the youngest player involved in the tournament out of all the Olympic squads.
LikeLike
Ed, I have been on a few sites where many of those so called Arsenal fans…..who claim to be ashamed of the club , spent last season bigging up Tottenham, and spent the season before bigging up Chelsea and Mourinho.
If they want some form of happiness in their life, they know what they have to do. Just be fickle.
LikeLike
yes mandy, I even seen some admit that if it were not for the fact that changing ones club of choice is not the done thing, they would consider supporting another club.
I do wonder what those that made such a fuss only 2 years ago, about how the special one had built the finest squad ever seen in the BPL, think of CFC’s new manager, Conte, saying that he needs at least 7 new signings if CFC want to compete for a top 4 finish. Who has it wrong, Conte, or surely not, those gooners that bigged up mourinho’s squad.
I’ve said it many times, its laughable, how the malcontents constantly talk about the price of Arsenal match day tickets, yet they don’t go to the Cat C games, or the £10 COC games, but will pay over the odds for a ticket to see us take on Barcelona, in a competition they say we can not win. And if one was to go by number of fans who whinge about our expensive tickets, you would think we have 200,000 season ticket holders, all with the most expensive season tickets too. Maybe many of them are confusing Arsenal season ticket prices, with SKY sports subscription fees. When they say we have the most expensive season ticket in the world, what they really mean is Sky Sports is the dearest satellite provider in the world, and for the price I pay them, Arsenal should spend more.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Shotts- and thanks too to Ed for keeping the news flowing. Just got back from a lovely two week holiday on the North Coast of Devon so looking forward to reuniting with a proper keyboard and joining the debate more fully. I read that the next two targets are Mahrez and Lacazette and sense that these are unlikely for all sorts of reasons, not least because I can’t see Mahrez actually being for sale and with regard to Lacazette why would he want to move to a bench role.
LikeLike
Very enjoyable read Shotta, thanks – great to read something thoughtful and original this time of year.
LikeLike
Eduardo is about to become the headline act.
LikeLike