Good Morning Positives,
An interesting evening at Gander Green Lane. The expected result and, on reflection, an evening that I probably should have expected. The non Leaguers came on in the same old way, and with our superior firepower we despatched them in the same old way. Twas it (almost) ever thus when a very big club meets a non League minnow?
I admit I had been hoping for a more resounding victory, three goals up at the half hour market least, and the chance to ease off for the remainder of the game before a 5-6 final count. That is not however the Arsenal way, and in spite of my jitters it made for a better match to watch, with Sutton still dashing forward until the final whistle.
Of our players I thought Rob Holding had a good game, growing assurance on a windy night and a pitch though flat had an unusual bounce and the speed of the ball across the plastic was slightly different to grass The Ox was probably our best player, albeit a late entry. Industrious at the back when he needed to be, willing to give us width going forward. I shall forgive his error in the final few moments as by them as in Munich, the result was never I doubt. And Theo of course, captain on the night and 100 goals up. To be honest Theo had one of his less effective games I thought last night and what the plastic pitch offered him in speed of movement and acceleration it seemed to reduce in his ability to control the ball. Good night for Perez again. As I have said before, other than two or three PL clubs, the Spanish striker would walk into most starting line ups in England.
The negative sides I believe Alex Iwobi has his ankle strapped and iced after the kick he took. And Jeff ? Not a good night for him last night, hesitant from the start and the game went on around him. Hard to recognise the player who performed so well, so confidently, in the last round at St Marys. I think a loan spell and regular week in and week out football for JRA an absolute necessity.
Our opponents, 293 places below us in the English Football League pyramid, or some such tosh, acquitted themselves admirably on what as probably a match they will remember forever. For a few, particularly Deacon, it must surely be a ticket to back into a league club and rekindling their former ambitions.
That is all from me today. I see we did not give Sutton a pennant at kick off – much to the hilarity of the BBC commentators. We are however a little classier than that.
We have a lengthy break before the next game, and it is a biggie. Perhaps a chance to relax and breath a little, for the players, the manager and above all the most important group of all at our mighty football club, the fans. Enjoy your week.
Positively Arsenal 
Nicely done Andy.
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I do like it when an obvious banana skin is side-stepped.
Much to the evident mortification of everyone associated with last night’s BBC coverage.
Only real complaint was referee Oliver’s scandalous leniency towards a multitude of over-the-top challenges from Sutton and the precise worse in terms of jumping all over Arsenal when a Sutton player took a dive or two.
It was, in many ways, the perfect illustration of how PL referees total lack of balance influences our games – demonstrated most memorable by the treatment of Xhaka, previously, and on display all night long in South London.
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Thanks A5.
I particularly like the photo of the gift to Sutton, at the end of the article.
Thanks AA.
This review was posted at least 90 minutes ago and I’ve cogitated ever since, because I couldn’t figure out how to point out the reffing of the match, which whilst predictable, was still disgusting! (along with commentary, etc).
That viscous assault on Iwobi wasn’t accidental, and Oliver always refs like that in our matches.
I might make observations later – about the in-match commentary on here last night, but in case I don’t, Thanks to Passenal for her comments last night.
COYG
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The old fart’s thoughts.
So much for blowing all the cobwebs away after Bayern. The biggest worry is that Sutton are in 17th position in the Conference League and next round we play Lincoln who are top. Let’s not concern ourselves about Liverpool and the German return.
Can anything be done about the malaise that has wrecked what promised to be such a good season? Just as worrying is young Iwobi being played when he seems terribly short on confidence. He’s far too good a prospect to let him get infected with the same haphazard melancholy that seems to be surrounding his team mates. Lucas has earned his opportunity so play him instead. He and the Ox were our best performers on the night and Holding continues to impress (for most of the time)
In fairness to Sutton, they tried to give as much as they got albeit with a few hayseed tackles that went unpunished and were unlucky when hitting the bar…a really fierce drive from Arsenal reject Deacon, who had a point to prove.
Theo rang up his 100th goal for us and also may well have assisted Lucas’s cross by missing it with the ball finding its way into the net.
The one bright spot of the night for me was the lesson on pie eating or how not to in public, the Queen would not approve, by the massive 145kg Sutton reserve keeper Shaw. Imagine, a park the bus defence with just one player on the line.
Let’s keep fingers crossed that whatever ails the side can be cured in time for L’pool on the 4th March. Then we can look forward to a 4-0 drubbing of Bayern a few days later. Keep the faith.
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I was happy enough with game. A complete one off on that surface (hope so, anyway) ; did the job professionally; next round and a fantastic chance for semi final.
I think the fact nobody could get a through ball quite right, in perhaps ten or more attempts, suggests it is a near impossibility on that surface (unless defence were positioned up towards half way line), rather than poor play. On a normal pitch, in those situations, that would likely have brought at least a couple more goals.
Favoruite contributions on the night for me were from Holding, Perez, Ox and particularly Xhaka. I thought he dealt with the pitch extremely well from the off and I enjoyed his passing. Often the sign of a very good player when you can stick them on any sort of pitch and they can adapt to it.
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Well done Andy Nic. We have some positives to build on. Arsene knows where to focus his work.
AA: One reason why the refs can act with such clear double standards towards Arsenal is the support they get in the media. The fact that the BBC in-studio presenters saw nothing wrong with that leg-breaker on Iwobi and the fact they had a hearty chuckle, to show their endorsement of this clear use of excessive force, is evidence of the odds we are up against. All in clear sight of Michael Oliver who is supposed to be the best of the younger generation of referees. Yet referee bias in the eyes of tthe great majority would best be described by the great poet Harold Pinter as:
“It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening it wasn’t happening. It didn’t matter. It was of no interest.”
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gf60 @ 10:40 am:
“Can anything be done about the malaise that has wrecked what promised to be such a good season?”
You don’t want a repition by me of what ails this team.
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Thanks Andy: more than fair and as balanced and sensible as ever. As I said last night, I thought we were competent and professional and never needed (or wanted) to come out of third gear. We dealt with the vagaries of Mr Oliver as well as we could, although it was distressing that what was evidently allowed for the gander was not so for the goose. I hope that Elneny is OK (but fear he won’t be), and suspect that Iwobi will be fine. I am sure that this has been said before, and I know it would be rash to get carried away with last night, but Oxlade-Chamberlain has it within him to be as good and influential a player as Gareth Bale or Ronaldo.
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If it wan’t for Shotta I wouldn’t have read this. It seems hugely appropriate.
“When we look into a mirror we think the image that confronts us is accurate. But move a millimetre and the image changes. We are actually looking at a never-ending range of reflections. But sometimes a writer has to smash the mirror – for it is on the other side of that mirror that the truth stares at us.
I believe that despite the enormous odds which exist, unflinching, unswerving, fierce intellectual determination, as citizens, to define the real truth of our lives and our societies is a crucial obligation which devolves upon us all. It is in fact mandatory.
If such a determination is not embodied in our political vision we have no hope of restoring what is so nearly lost to us – the dignity of man.”
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Heady: By now you should be aware whenever I quote a great literary figure like Pinter (or Mark Twain for that matter) I am thinking of you. Would Heady approve?
Banned smiley, winky thing.
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Andrew
What the game and a few others I’ve watched in cup this year- going back to Lincoln Ipswich- showed very clearly is there is this phenomenon of FA cup refereeing.
It basically involves one team being subject to the rules as normal, while the other, the underdog, is allowed much more leniency and the rules aren’t properly applied.
Not coincidentally, the commentators and pundits thoroughly approve. Crucially, it’s instantaneous, seamless and can be seen in real time. I think that’s how bias tends to operate, without a pause and with no mental effort. That’s pre-loaded and ready to roll automatically.
If you were watching it without context and didn’t know better, you would assume their view on the challenge that hurt Elneny, or the wild one on Iwobi, or pushing someone over, or diving could just be their honest, across-the-board view of football, not a Sutton-Arsenal thing or small club- big club thing.
I suppose you could even assume that if Xhaka had made that dangerous foul on someone they would have treated it somewhat similarly, instead of, say, becoming angry, and then furious if the ref didn’t send him off.
Anyway, it piqued my interest (and strangely gave me a little comfort : what we encounter, but not against us!, plus ‘Im not mad, not mad I tell ye’) early in the competition to see the FA cup rules, and to observe how it matches the will of the people, including commentators and pundits.
Doesn’t bring me a jot closer to proving to anyone who rejects it that we are treated differently by referees in the league. But it does all abundantly prove it’s possible and strong in one domain, with the same refs, pundits, etc…
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Throwback Arsenal @ThrowbackAFC 2h2 hours ago
#OTD in 1995, George Graham was sacked after an inquiry found he had received bungs totaling more than £400k.He left Arsenal in 11th place.
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Rich did you hear Martin Keown at half time put forward the theory that Eastmond kicked Eleney, cos he was a foreigner coming over here taking his job, really he said it and not one eyelid was batted by the others in the studio.
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Arsenal presented Sutton with a boxed Silver Cannon before the game.
They have also donated £50K so that two classrooms can be built.
Captain Theo Walcott went into the Sutton dressing room after the game last night and shook hands with everyone of their players, he signed autographs for them too.
But fuck Arsenal cos they might have left the dressing room a bit untidy
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Ed
I did. Prefer Keown to nearly any of them but he certainly has his disappointing moments. The one you mention was just ridiculous.
Think I might annoy some here with my talk of English football culture etc, and it is tricky terrain to navigate, but to me it’s a simple truth that it exists and Wenger, despite embracing all that’s good of it, isn’t a natural fit.
Our Keown’s, and Parlour’s and Wright’s are, somewhat understandably, torn between the two worlds. Some aren’t even that.
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a proper tackle
a sending off
also a sending off
https://metrouk2.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/xhaka-1.jpg?w=748&h=396&crop=1
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Other than not carding the Iwobi foul I thought Oliver did OK last night – it was not a particularly physical game or difficult to referee. From the occasional visits I pay to Lynn the challenges were mild for non league football. I assume the locals were on their best behaviour.
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Orbinho @Orbinho 15h15 hours ago
Theo’s century
Right Foot 80
Left Foot 15
Head 3
Other body part 2
Outside Box 7
Inside Box 93
Hat-tricks 5
Braces 10
Games scored in 80
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Good point about George eddy – If we had not been in 11th George would have stayed on unless the FA said otherwise.
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the one incident that Oliver could be most faulted for was when the guy shoved Alexis, he has fouled him, free kick was awarded, and then the two handed shoved Alexis in the back, in full view of the ref, Oliver was only a few yards from it. He clearly seen it as he had a word with the sutton guy.
Eastmonds tackle on Elneny was a bad one too, but then Elneny had come over here and took his job so what did he expect.
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anicol geroge was hit by a one year ban, so no matter what position we were in the league he was gone. We were still in the ECWC and actually reached the final under Stewart Huston
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and yes anicol, I too believe that Graham would not have been sacked if not for the year long ban.
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hmm – It seems to me that George was one of many managers who received “unsolicited cash payments” including BlueNose and Clough. I think he even paid some or all of it back to Arsenal. And yet GG was the only one ever sacked or punished.
No if history had been different the by now 72 year old George would have been celebrating his 30th year in charge at the club in 2016.
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AndyNic: Not to be picky but Ospina was cleaned out by a Sutton player on that corner in the 2nd half. No foul. Easier to blame Ospina for being a short arsed dodgy South American keeper. That was the tone of the commentators on my feed.
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but Shotta, just like Bellerin v Chelsea, the Sutton guy wanted the ball more than Ospina
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The thing about that foul on Ospina is the commentators said Ospina clearly called for the ball but he didn’t get there. But the replays showed he was shoved. Thanks to hi-def TV.
But although it was in plain view, according to the commentators there was no ref “mistake” It never happened. Pinter was a genius about the power of propoganda and misinformation.
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yes Anicol, it was a disgrace that GG was the only manager punished, red nose and clough were said to have just as much evidence against them but for one reason or another they were not charged. GG and a few others managers used to pass on players that were offered to them that they did not want, I don’t for one moment think that they done this out any sense of doing good. GG for instance told Ferguson about Schemical and he told spurs about Eric Throsvedt. It was suggested at the time of his hearing, that GG and other managers were getting fees from agents for placing their players.
Long before the GG revelations, a couple of journos suggested that Clough was inflating transfer fees of signings for unknown reasons – Ian Wallace and Justin Fashanu, were two of the transfers suggested that BC inflated the fees on. Clough was known for meeting agents at motorway filling stations.
It has been suggested that the FA decided to not charge Clough due to his ailing health and drink problems, and sir red nose was not charged cos the fa were afraid of him.
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With The100 Walcott now joining the 100 up club, next in line is Giroud who needs 7 goals, next after that is Alexis some way back and still needing 38 goals.
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Dear positivistas, a superb piece….
http://www.football365.com/news/is-wenger-addicted-to-the-light-that-blinds-him
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Mark Mann-Bryans Verified account
@MarkyMBryans
So the FA joins the Gambling Commission in investigating the betting rules around Sutton’s Wayne Shaw and the #PieGate scandal.. #AFC
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On a theme of Giroud, I don’t seem to have seen much of him recently, and expected to yesterday. Is he OK?
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it was said yesterday that he was given time off to deal with a personal problem
ozil has been given time off for a holiday to recharge his batteries
Arsenal don’t play again till March 4th, and most of the squad are expected to be given a few days off this week.
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The FA should be investigating what a 46 year old 23 stone goal keeper was doing in the 5th round of the FA Cup – positively sinister
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it is right that both the fa and the Gambling commission investigate the incident. If the FA Rules and or the Gambling Commission rules were broken then he and anyone else involved should be punished. What has his weight and age to do with it.
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Sky Sports News HQ @SkySportsNewsHQ 53m53 minutes ago
BREAKING NEWS: Wayne Shaw resigns as reserve goalkeeper at Sutton Utd as FA investigate pie-eating incident during Arsenal FA Cup tie #SSNHQ
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Great News for the WOB, he is available
Sky Sports News HQ @SkySportsNewsHQ 1h1 hour ago
BREAKING NEWS: Blackburn sack manager Owen Coyle. #SSNHQ
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“The FA and the Gambling Commission investigating a pie eating incident”
INVESTIGATING! Are they looking for a description of the pie ? Known associates ? How the pie met its gris(t)ly end ? Could there be a serial pie eater and are other pies in danger !! We could knock out a TV series on this theme. Tales from the Crust.
Absolutely hilarious – no wonder the genuine villains laugh all the way to their Cayman Island accounts at these regulatory clowns.
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yeah its so funny that on live tv he might have broken both the fa rules and the gambling commission rules. why don’t we just do away with the rules all together and let them at it.
Maybe anicol the FA and commission want to know what money he won on it, or got paid to do it, and if he did get paid to do it, who paid him, was Sun Bets in on it, how many people he advised to put a bet on it,
the FA fine and ban many players every year for breaking gambling rules, why should Shaw be above the rules.
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http://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/news/five-amazing-gestures-sutton-proved-12634549
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Sutton’s life would’ve been easier if they’d just banned the Murdoch press from the ground (alas not City), their club, and had no association with those vampires. Let alone a lucrative sponsorship from them for last nights match.
There must have been other contenders for sponsorship. after last year’s revelations in the courts if it was my club I’d have chosen a different path, or sponsor! I might need to make a banner or even whip out some sheets of a4 paper, that ought to do the job and force the sutton Chairman to see the error of his ways and force him to listen to me…
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http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20170221/how-xhaka-controlled-our-sutton-cup-tie
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Pete O’Rourke @SportsPeteO 10m10 minutes ago
Former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong has agreed a deal to join Swedish club AFC Elskiltuna. #afc
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I would be entirely astounded eddy if there is an FA regulation concerning pie eating – I have never ever heard of a pie related incident, a pie related injury, or pie inspired corruption in British football. If there is a subversive criinsl pie conspiracy that has its hooks on the game though I agree – it must be rooted out, every last crumb and flake.
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are you really pretending that you don’t know its the 8-1 bet that Sutton sponsors suntbets had on offer for shaw eating a pie live on camera during the game, that is being investigated. Betting on anything related to a game is prohibited for any player, member of staff, or director of a club, that includes all spread bets and novelty bets. Sunbets offered odds on Shaw eating a pie live on camera during the game. Shaw eats a pie live on camera during the game. How you can say it should not be investigated is amazing.
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It’s pathetic but about the level of the FA Eddy
– presumably they have nothing better to do and it will keep a few of them busy for a few weeks. I’m am still intrigued about what is being “investigatived” though – the pie, the pie eater, sun bets.
Did Magna Carta die in vain ?
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anicol, i’ve explained what is being investigated, the fa and the commission are checking to see if Shaw and or sunbets broke any of the betting rules.
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And I’ve pointed out it was a pie. And the pie was eaten. Hardly unsavoury behaviour worthy of a double team investigation.
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well anicol from you stance on the possible breaching of betting rules it explains a lot about your defense of refs, it seems if no one is killed, then we should just ignore any chance of corruption or complicity in breaking of rules.
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anicol why are you ignoring that its the betting part that is being investigated, its immaterial if its was eating a pie or the final score, that Shaw may have broken the betting rules on, its the actual breaking of the rules that he is being investigated for. that it was eating a pie on camera during a game is the bet he may have placed or been rewarded for, is not the problem, its that he may have placed a bet or been rewarded for betting activity.
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‘You are dishonest to your Federation’
Sounds like something out of Star Trek, but apparently it’s what Wenger said, with an expletive thrown in somewhere, to Taylor.
Hmmm. Sounds made up. Apparently he admitted the expletive and the committee decided he ‘probably did use that phrase’, meaning, I take it, that was Taylor’s allegation.
You are dishonest to your federation, muthafuckah
http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11670/10776729/arsenal-boss-arsene-wengers-four-match-touchline-ban-explained
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