@LaboGoon enters the finishing straight
Last Sunday Arsène Wenger bade farewell to the Emirates faithful with much pomp and circumstance but it is the John Smith’s Stadium that provides the stage for his swansong.
Going to Huddersfield for this memorable event almost feels like the football gods are smiling down on us. Through the legendary Herbert Chapman, who played such a huge part in both clubs’ proud history, the two clubs will always share a very special bond.
For all intents and purposes today’s match is a ‘dead rubber’, and yet, it is one that is going to mean so much to every single Gunner and Gooner because of Wenger closing the curtain on English football forever. So whether you’re a long-standing AKB or a blokey wob, let him always be remembered onwards as the man that has shaped and defined Arsenal.
Practically speaking pride will be the only thing at stake from the game itself, but win or lose, the Terriers will have theirs intact. At the start of the season not many gave them any chance of staying up, but David Wagner and his players can hold their heads up high. Having survived the initial tough season following promotion, they can now focus on their transition to a team befitting of their Premier League status.
Huddersfield didn’t exactly set the PL alight, but if there is one thing they got going for them it’s having one of the most passionate support all season. Since August they went into every game hoping, praying ……. 37 games x 90 minutes of squeaky bum time. Not once did they gave up and now being unburdened from all of that, today will be about celebration. Add the momentous occasion of Wenger’s swansong and we can be certain it will reverberate harmonically from all corners of their stadium as the travelling fans too will be more vociferous than usual. Of course there will be a tinge of sadness during the “One Arsène Wenger’s”… because of this being the final goodbye.
With so much taking centre stage, around the ground and in the air (keep an eye out for that), we can expect play to be a bit routine, but the game would be a historic moment nonetheless.
After 22 years in the hot seat the Arsenal dugout, and in particular the Emirates, will be a very different place. So to state the incredibly obvious, he is going to be missed very much.
Merci Arsène Wenger. We will never forget that Invincible feeling.
Positively Arsenal 
Good morning guys. Bit difficult previewing a game when you know it will lack the usual “vim and vigor” for obvious reasons. So hope you like the effort. Thanks George for the call up. I enjoyed it.
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I still find it staggering although not unsurprising that SKY are not showing the game today, 22 years at AFC and they can’t even bring themselves to show his last game.
AW took his final AFC training session yesterday, I’m told he made a stirring speech to the players and coaches, urging them to build on what we have, on what they have achieved, to bring more titles and cups to Arsenal. He of course thanked them for their work and how he was honored to be their manager for so long. There is no doubt we are letting go a great man.
He clears out his office on Thursday, some members of the coaching staff will be leaving too, we already know some players are going too, and doubts remain about the AFC futures of many, so even with a World Cup on this summer, its going to be an Arsenal summer of many announcements, many ins and outs. The transfer window opens early this summer, but shuts early too, before the BPL season starts, and once International bosses get the players it will see them out of reach till International duty is over. Lets hope for an early spree, so we can sit back and enjoy the world cup games.
As I stated last night, looking at the Sunday papers its as clear as day that the media haven’t got a fucking clue who the next manager will be, I seen at least 6 different men named as “clear favorite” to be our new boss. It seems Arsenal have gone all Arsenal and closed down all info to the media on the new guy.
One final thought on our next boss,
Have those who are demanding Allegri be our next boss even considered that he might not want to come
Maybe he is happy at Juve
Wants to win 8th title in a row and 5th double, play CL
Maybe he would rather wait for CFC this summer or Man U next summer to come calling Both Clubs with much bigger budgets he might see 6th place EL Arsenal as a risk to his reputation, or even a step down from the biggest and most successful club in Italy.
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Ed, I find it really poor they aren’t showing final game. Feels like a mean-spirited act.
Your words on Allegri remind me again of the extraordinary thing Wenger did by staying on when his managerial stock was sky high and the conditions for success were falling. It goes directly against how all managers seem to behave.
Like players, they might not pursue the very highest money, if, with players, for instance their choice is between, say, Barca and Man City, but they will at least tend to leverage their success to the maximum: with managers this can mean ‘give me money to spend of I’m off’ and ends with talk of ambition, taken as far as i can, etc, and a move to a club with better finances.
Interestingly, it’s one of the things we’ll face in the future. Should our manager land monster success while being heavily outspent, we can expect that leverage aspect to come into play. Conceivably, this could affect Spurs and Liverpool in the coming years.
Only thing certain is that City will continue for foreseeable future to hold a gigantic financial advantage, Utd a very large one, Chelsea a sizeable one; that those facts matter and the new man needs to be someone who accepts that and is ready to fight it with all they have.
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A fitting “last post” LG,
It is a good club to be visiting to finish an era. I am getting totally fed up of all the sycophants telling me how good Arsene was and how much respect he deserves. ian wright actually saying if he was a manager it’s in Arsene’s style he would play, is he sure I wish he would just Fuck Off and let those of us who supported Arsene throughout pay our respects.
I have always thought the PL has lost something regarding fans association and loyalty towards the club and now the PL is losing its most Loyal Manager Arsene Wenger a living legend I bid you adieu COYG.
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Eduardo, it’s Sky agenda in a nutshell, no respect, I’m glad I no longer pay them a penny.
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Given some of the Sunday afternoons I have endured since January Rich perhaps not entirely mean spirited. Looking at the games today I can understand the choice of Liverpool and Chelsea where there might conceivably be s bit of drama – and perhaps Citeh reaching 100 points is worth televising
My heart will however be in Kirklees
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For AW to go out with a loss is unthinkable. A repeat of last week, and to hell with our recent away record is needed.
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Positively Arsenal are in talks with current staff about extending their contracts for another season. We are confident at this point but nothing can be confirmed until they commit.
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Whatever happens in the game, this evening, I shall be drinking something French and very classy in honour of the man.
As for the new manager, agree, they haven’t got a clue, though I suspect the club may be closer than the media know about.
Lots of intrigue about the new manager, very understandable for such a role, but I believe any of the names mentioned will do a good job, as well others. Of course the role is still paramount , but it will no longer be one man rules all, he will be supported by a team already or about to be in place. Most of the coaching team is being replaced, Ivan Raul and Sven will play key roles on everything from philosophy to transfers, in short a big structure will be in place. It will presumable look very different from that Wenger worked with.
Paddy, Arteta, Allegri, Carlo, Nagelsmann, Jardim I am sure would all have the opportunity do a great job with this level of support, as would others not mentioned unless the club make a surreal and silly appointment, which won’t happen.
More established , and perhaps high more profile names may want more complete control than it looks like may be on offer, wonder of that would rule out the likes of Enrique, Carlo and Allegri.
Look forward with interest, but very relaxed on the appointment whoever he may be.
I hope they are, as Ivan said they would be, brave.
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And if it is Arteta, I will be delighted
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I think your idea is by far the best Mandy – let us toast the man with a glass of the good stuff and thank our lucky stars we have been lucky to have been along for the ride.
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Alsatian I trust Mandy.
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An insight in Patrick Vieira as a coach
https://www.footballwhispers.com/blog/premier-leagues-next-great-managers-patrick-vieira?utm_medium=affiliates&utm_source=arsenal-till-i-die
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Jack not in the squad
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George I was told I should have been committed a long time ago, does that count
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Thank you Positively Arsenal.
UTA.
‘Of course not everyone buys into the remourceless rampant low-level abuse this club suffers on a daily basis. David Wagnar of Huddersfield Town, for example, said of Mr Wenger, “I can’t imagine that this can happen again, so this only shows he has done something extraordinary. Words don’t describe enough how big this achievement is, which he has done for his football club and football in this country.
“I’m so happy that we are able to host him in his last Premier League game after 22 years, that we are able to host him in these circumstances; we really can give him all the honour and all the attention he deserves.”’
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WagenerKnowsBest
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Never mind the vampires, up the Gunners.
And the values the club represents, such values that all these braveheart critics of the club are too scared to even mention what those values entail, and the policies which reflect them!
All these journalists, all these experts with their weekly three hour podcasts (on average twice as long as a game of football) on the internet which they like to, and I quote, declare as being “professional podcasts”, it unfortunately looks as if they are conducting a simple bit of research on the old internet using the old gospel of Wikipedia
“Allegri banned for one year in 2001 with others six Italian footballers for match-fixing following a Coppa Italia tie in 2000.”
As Shotta kindly explains for the squealers who don’t like Arsenal’s business and economic policies, George Graham has a higher probability of being the next Arsenal manager then the current manager of Juventus.
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Typo < it looks as if they cannot conduct a simple websearch on the internet…
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The Boss (as he shall always remain for me) is fielding a very strong team for his last game.
Lots of youth on the bench too.
Can we pull-of a final away win for the season?
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<< we could be wrong. The Italian geezah with the interesting track record may be allowed to leave the mafia via he works for, successfully, and move to a rival in London. Most likely taking a pay cut and agreeing to work with a smaller budget nevermind the other business policies.
It is: unlikely!
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PGMOL have gifted us with Michael Oliver as match referee.
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Wilshere on paternity leave? I cant remember if MO is good, bad or indifferent when he refs us.
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fins,
David Wagner sounds like he would a good Arsenal manager make.
Classy.
We bid farewell to a man of the highest ethical standards in the game for the past 30 years. Lucky enough to have had him for 22 of those, one can only thank him, pray for him, pray for Arsenal and hope the best for the future.
Thank you AW for spoiling us for all these years.
Now to win a 2018 away game for a change.
Thanks to all Positivistas.
Its never the same without the quality vibrations on this site.
COYG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/48c4bf7a248f86caf72ffd23b839d721cd7f92c5/0_0_2154_1254/master/2154.jpg?w=300&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=45617bec1cf1ebf4f1f2b7d8a5270854
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Has anyone got a stream?
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George
tmssport.blogspot.co.uk/p/arsenal.html
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Such a ?’well deserved goal’? Having a hard time thinking of one we deserved less. But that’s what makes supporting Arsenal so special.
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A bit of skill, a bit of talent, a bit of luck, and some sunshine – a good send off
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I should be happy we won, but I’m feeling very sad now it’s over
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The great man, the one and only Arsene Wenger, gets a happy send-off and I am pleased. Shed all my tears one week ago. I am through with my seven stages of grief and ready for the coming of Mikel Arteta. Bring it on Stan!
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Huddersfield may have been gracious to Arsène (and bless them for that) but they definitely left the pitch long (or dry) on purpose. Also they kicked whenever they could get away with it. Not feeling that generous toward them tbh.
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So that’s that then: another season over, and one we’ve ended with a very different set of players to those who we might have been counting on back in August. Goodbye Oxlade, goodbye Alexis, goodbye Olivier, goodbye Theo – and I guess there’ll be a few more who’ll not play with the Cannon on their chest again. And goodbye too to Arsene and what a time he can look back on, which I hope he will be able to with pride and fondness once a few years have gone by.
For the immediate future we have goalposts coming down and summers (or winters) to enjoy or endure, but also a World Cup to get excited about (I always think I won’t, but always do) and one way or another it will soon be August.
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This season has had its frustrations, but today, an amazing man and manager departs, leaving us in a far better place than when he arrived. His work has helped give the club a new stadium, incredible players, trophies, and much maligned values. Opponents regularly had to resort to dark arts, kicking, financial doping, ref selection and manipulation to compete with wengers teams in years gone by, sir Alex said his teams had to be at their most competitive to go head to head with wengers teams, in a certain game at OT we saw exactly what he meant by this.
I can only wish him the very best in football and in life, and hope one day , hopefully in a good few years when he decides to end his career as a manager, he graces the club with his presence once more in some capacity.
Au revoir et mercy Arsene, this 2009 Dom is quaffed in your honour
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Merci Arsene even, the fragrance of the Dom must have hit me before drinking it !
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Good point k – I’d guess we need a strategy to deal with slightly longer grass than the no2 crew cut we rely on
One on the list for the new supremo
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Wenger: “Herbert Chapman who was maybe our greatest manager came from here. For me to come here on the last day had a special meaning. When you know the history of our club, for me it has a special meaning. There’s a photo in front of the dressing room where Chapman smiled at me”
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Aaron Ramsey
Verified account @aaronramsey
2h2 hours ago
I am honoured to have captain your final game boss. I’m delighted we got the win for you and finally we won away!! All I can say is I will forever be grateful for you giving me the opportunity to play for this club and believing in me through my career. I wish you all the best…
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A5, I agree with that. I think we should leave one training pitch at Colney in shit condition, and practice on it before these games. (banned smiley)
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Wenger after game presser – from football.london
On the day
It’s a special day. To keep my sense of humour, I should have announced every week that I leave because people have been so nice with me since I said that.
I would like to thank people here. Our fans. Huddersfield people have shown a lot of class.
It was a great day, a happy day. They celebrated staying in the Premier League, it was my last game. After 1,235 it’s maybe time.
It was a special day and the players wanted to win the game. Overall I would like to thank everybody.
I had fantastic human experiences at the club, above the results. I believe that it was a human adventure for 22 years and I wish everyone well and a lot of success to my club in the future.
On his bow to the Arsenal fans before the game
It was spontaneous. I know that we disappointed this season, the away fans.
Many of them live the whole week, save money to travel up to games. It’s part of respect we have.
They had disagreements with me, which I can accept. But we had one thing in common, we love Arsenal football club. I wanted to share that with them today.
On the plane banners – Does it show that the respect never really faded?
Yes, I get that.
I feel that I got a lot of respect, not just from our fans – but from England. I loved English football, but I learned as well to love England over 22 years.
You do not stay in a country that long if you don’t like it. So for me as well that is a good return from people who love football here.
It’s a special country, especially for football. That’s why I stayed for such a long time.
Has English football changed you?
Yes. look at my face, it has changed me a lot.
It’s difficult to understand when you don’t live in this country how deep the love is for the game.
It was a fantastic experience for me I must say. Where do I go from there? That’s the difficulty. When you have experienced such intensity for such a long time. It will be difficult.
But even not managing the club, I will remain a fan of the club.
Did you really take everything in? You were out in the dug out on your own before the game.
Yes, I wanted to get a bit out.
It was my last day, I thought I deserved a bit of oxygen. It was nice weather, the people were nice. Huddersfield were happy.
I must say they offered me a nice present before the game.
It worked all well because Herbert Chapman, possibly our greatest manager, came from here. So for me to come here on the last day had a special meaning.
When you know the history of our club, for me it has a special meaning. In fact there was a photo in front of the dressing room where Chapman just did smile at me because he was on the photo.
Have you thought about coming up against Arsenal in your next job?
I think I’m not ready for that at the moment. That would be very difficult, I think on that day I would stay at home.
At the moment I don’t envisage that.
Have you had the offer to do that?
Yes, I had offers. But at the moment I did not even speak to anybody, I had many offers but I come out of such a long process. You can’t come out and the next morning say I go somewhere else. It’s impossible.
Can you see yourself managing in English football?
I don’t know. Maybe it’s better I go somewhere else.
What present did Huddersfield give you?
Half of the shirt of Huddersfield and half of the shirt of Arsenal together.
I came here many years ago when we played a game in pre-season for Huddersfield when they had some financial problems.
So I knew this place, I was happy to come then and since they have moved up to the Premier League.
How does it feel to be part of the future of the club?
I’m very proud of having contributed a little bit to give some good moments to people who love the club.
What will remain I don’t know. The victories, the defeats, but I think what will remain is the formidable human aspect of the last 22 years. It was special. I will cherish that.
Have the players done anything for you?
I keep that secret, we have to keep some things together. The group of players is special. I told them I love to work with them. There is something in the group that is waiting to come out.
We were very close this season, despite all that we went to the League Cup final, the Europa League semi-final which we should have qualified from.
At home we had a fantastic season. It’s away from home where the team needs to improve and they will.
On the influence that African players have had on his time at Arsenal
In my whole life I had African players. I opened a school in Africa with one of my friends. People like Yaya and Kolo Toure, Eboue and Gervinho came out from this school.
I had George Weah at a young age, Lauren from Cameroon. I had all these African players in my team, they made a huge contribution.
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ha ha ha, you couldn’t make it up, Gary Neville, “its been a mess since he’s (Wenger) gone”
you see AFC should have had a manager ready to take over right away, according to the Valencia managerial legend.
by the way he is basing a lot of his views on AFC’s pursuit of a replacement on the notion that its impossible to keep the inner workings secret and so whatever the media have been saying about it all has to be 100% true. Laughable really.
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has become the fastest Arsenal player in history to reach 10 Leauge goals, taking him just 13 games to reach that tally, he has 4 assists too
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There are shades of the last season under George Graham. Ignoring that AW’s been able to walk away on good terms, and – you know – he wasn’t pocketing money from transfers (naturally AW’s a far better man than GG). The big similarity is that league performance had tailed off, but the club was still strong in cup competitions.
So you look at both managers’ worst league finishes, and AW’s compares favourably to GG whose worst was 10th I think. People who denigrate AW wherever possible would say that Arsenal in the 2010s have the benefit of a financial disparity vs 2/3 of the rest of the league that wasn’t there before.
But that’s Wenger’s own doing.
There wasn’t an enormous difference in financial power back in the league in the early 90s. But if it hadn’t been for that first decade of league success, and then the next six or so years of arguably even more impressive consistency under financial constraints, the club wouldn’t be in a position where 6th feels like an iffy season. In that 15 years or so Arsenal found a new audience by riding the PL wave.
But after 2004 or so the club did it with odds stacked against it, on a piece of driftwood while doing a handstand. It’s been said, but I think eventually most people will look back at that time as his best years. If the club had slipped down the table around 2006 – as by all logic it should have done – there would have been no quick way back up. That could have been a Newcastle situation, no question.
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Full time: Levante 5-4 Barcelona – their attempt at an unbeaten league season fails
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