When Arsene announced he would be stepping down I felt a little sad but mainly relieved. The infighting and media hounding had worn me down, I was glad it was over. However much I thought of him as a man and a manager I felt the time was right.
I thought we had a great squad of players and an outstanding first eleven when fit, Ozil, Ramsey, King Koss, Santi, Hector, Lacazette, Xhaka, Monreal were all, for me, top quality and some of them exceptional. There were areas that needed to be strengthened and when Leno, Torreira and Papa tipped up it seemed to me we had done just that, and in fairness to them they have improved our strength in their positions, so we should be better.
Ivan was in the driver’s seat, Sven was going to unearth diamonds for us and we had new experts in contracts and negotiations. The future looked very bright,
Emery was appointed and immediately impressed. He said all the right things and his supreme efforts to master English endeared him to us further.
I was fully onboard with him and everything going on, Arsene had gone and we were set to build and improve.
Personally I felt I had supported Arsene to the end, through thick and thin,and I fully expected to carry on and do the same for Emery. At that moment I believed I would be as much behind Emery as I had been behind Wenger.
Here is where the problem starts, because now I don’t. I find myself questioning everything he and the club is doing and has done since the Summer. Quite frankly, I find myself up the moral shit-creek with without a paddle.
I certainly don’t want to be critical, but that’s where I find myself. I am now on the horns of a dilemma, do I feign faux positivity, or do I speak my mind? Do I risk being an enormous hypocrite or am I honest about my current feelings?
I listen to all the reasons why we should be patient,accept the logic of them and yet find myself drawing negative conclusions about the direction the club is going in.
We were told that Emey would build on what we had, not dismantle it and start afresh.
We were told the team would be built around Ramsey and Ozil, this couldn’t have been farther from the truth,
We were told we would play attacking adventurous football. How is that working out?
We were told we would play out from the back and dominate games! Is that right?
Ivan has gone and Sven right behind him. We now have a bunch of strangers running the club. Which is fine, if they had given reasons to think they were on a par with what went before,but they have not. Well, at least to me they have not.
I feel there are many like me that want to be fully supportive and positive but can’t reconcile that with how they actually feel.
Now I find myself making the choice of being a massive hypocrite or being honest. So I’m afraid I have to bite the bullet and accept that I can’t do that which I boldly claimed I would do, namely back every manager through thick and thin.
The next question is where now for this blog? It was set up as an oasis for people wanting to avoid negative people, so I certainly don’t want to be the captain that steers us into those troubled waters. So it’s up to the readers and the people who comment to set the tone. Ultimately you will be the ones in control of the conversation and direction.
I honestly feel I have let people down now. I’m sorry I feel this way and I don’t like it one little bit. Unfortunately that is where I am.
Positively Arsenal 
don’t forget guys that tomorrows kick off time is 17.55, as will the second leg next week at the emirates
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following on from Zech Medley signing a new contract with AFC, now Flo Balogun has signed his first pro deal
Folarin Balogun has signed his first professional contract with the club.
The 17-year-old striker has scored 13 goals so far this season for our under-18s side.
Flo, as he is known amongst his team mates, is an academy graduate, having been at the club since he was 10 years old.
Everyone at the club would like to congratulate Flo on his new contract and we look forward to his continued development.
Copyright 2019 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to http://www.arsenal.com as the source.
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There is no conflict at all between what Ramsey said and what Ornstein has reported.
Aaron said exactly 3 things publicly about his contract situation. 1) We thought we had agreeed, but now there is no contract for me to consider (October) 2) I will stay until the end of my contract with Arsenal (also October) 3) I will leave for Juventus at the end of the season (February).
Ornstein said two things 1) AFC have pulled the contract offer to Ramsey (September) 2) Ramsey may have always intended to run his contract down (February).
Aaron said he was in negotiations, they failed, and he doesn’t intend to be sold before the end of his deal. Where is the supposed conflict?
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Kelly they are using the 2nd statement of Ornstein to deny the 1st part of Ramsey’s statement that they had reached agreement. The idea being to justify the pulling of the offer and blaming it on Ramsey/his agent as the club refusing to get played. (and they extend this to Ozil having Arsenal over a barrel for his 350k wage and so justify his benching too) It bothers me because it’s supporting a betrayal of Arsenal’s values.
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Shard, I understand what they are trying to do. I’m saying that the actual statements don’t support that rewrite. No one said he never intended to sign. What was said was that he never intended to be sold. And that’s also what he said. I’d say he had a pretty clear plan: sign if the offer is acceptable, leave on my own terms, not the club’s, if it’s not. I think his preference was the first one. It didn’t work out. He’s accepted that (as he said he would) and moved on without fuss.
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Am I the ‘they’, Shard?
I’m the only one here who has said anything in that ballpark, though not that at all, and I’ve not seen much on twitter on it, though that may be because of who I do and don’t follow.
Think I give up if that’s how what I said registered.
Anyway, Alabama, I was about to say I am very tempted to back down entirely before you on this one.
Truth is, though I think I have details and chronology in decent shape in my mind, it’s very likely you have a firmer grasp of them.
If I knew what was good for me I’d leave it there. But…I do not share the belief that anything and everything Ramsey has said in his statements is guaranteed to be the truth and nothing but the truth.
The only person I have ever felt like that about in football is Wenger himself, and that built up over decades of seeing him and in particular hearing from him, as well as everything that was said about him.
Absolutely does not mean I think Ramsey wasn’t being totally honest and straightforward, only that it is a possibility to me. Genuinely, I feel I don’t and can’t know, and am ok with that.
Anyway, that may have really made me an enemy for life this time. Not something I wanted to do but I couldn’t resist getting involved in the debate
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That’s actually an important distinction and I agree completely with you that’s how it went.
I think Ornstein did say he never intended to sign, yesterday on BBC’s podcast. Though I’m not sure because Ian Wright and Chris Sutton were there and I was tuning them out.
In fact I think he was justifying Arsenal not putting a contract in front of Ramsey because Ramsey had no intention of signing it.
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No Rich, the ‘they’ didn’t include you.
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Mate you have done a amazing job just running this blog. I found myself seeking this blog out as it was increasingly the last island of balanced, positive critical thinking regarding the Club and staff. Esp after a loss to the big boys we would hear the same things regurgitated from media to blog but you always had a reasonable perspective that i enjoyed hearing. I respect your opinion so even if you are now critical, you shown in the past that you genuine with your views.
I feel the same. my head says give the guy 18 -24 months before have a definite conclusion but my heart and eyes say i want him gone ASAP. For getting rid of Santi,Ramsey, Ozil, for the functional football we now play. for playing a full strength team in Europa against minnows when he could have experimented with his squad and played fringe and youngsters….. the list is growing daily. At least play watchable exciting football, then it may not be so painful.
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Rich, I can’t speak for Shard, but I don’t think you are the “they” at all. You’ve never said anything remotely like that.
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However Rich: you are dead wrong about Aaron. He rarely speaks publicly – hardly ever. He is famously known for being boring and spending entire interviews offering canned statements while saying nothing of substance. I have seen Aaron show public emotion three times prior to this season. When Gary Speed died, when Team GB got knocked out of the Olympics (the only time I’ve ever seen him cry), and when Arsenal won the FA Cup In 2014 (when he cut an interview short because he was about to cry). He even held it together when he got the yellow card that saw him miss the Euro semifinal (although that was close). The only other time I’ve seen him come close was when he was substituted in the first game after the announcement was made that the contract had been pulled. When he walked off that pitch he was close to tears. He was hurt. I have no doubt in my mind that his vision was that he would sign a great contract, be the main man, even the captain, retire at Arsenal and be loved forever. Was that a fantasy on his part? Probably. But we’ve all had dreams and visions for our lives that didn’t work out. Mentally strong people take that on the chin, move on, and develop a new vision. Aaron has done just that, and I hope this one pans out exactly like he sees it in his head. That’s what you want for people you care about.
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Cool. I really am getting paranoid then so it’s high time I take a little break. Peace.
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OMG. I missed that show of emotion after being subbed. Which game was it Kelly?
After reading that I’m tempted to express yet again how angry I am about Arsenal and Raul.
But I think it’s just better and truer to say I love Aaron Ramsey.
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My two pence worth is that I 100% believe Aaron Ramsey when he makes a statement. I always said there was a good chance Aaron would leave after Wenger as his loyalty(I felt) was to Arsene above all.
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ornstein said in that podcast yesterday that “people in football told him Ramsey never intended to sign” and extension with Arsenal, was always looking to go on a Bosman. that is the contradiction some are referring to about ornstein’s statements. After all he was the one that first came out with the news that Ramsey had agreed a new deal before it was pulled.
as I stated elsewhere, who these “people in football” that ornstein is referring to is open to conjecture, some believe it was hierarchy of AFC, some that it was Ramsey’s agents, but I myself believe its more likely to be Ian Wright and Chris Sutton, or the like. Basically no nothings, just making up stuff to get clicks from Arsenal
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it is being suggested that ozil has not traveled to Belerus for tomorrows game
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Shard this Raul that you refer to.
Is he the fellow associated with the Neymar to Barcelona transfer? The worst transfer in the history of football (there is some competition)?
Who has got his hands in the Arsenal till ahead of people with easy to research records like Wenger and Mistlintat?
Blimey.
And, will we be kindly, & justly, informed of his salary at the same frequency as we are told Ozil’s or we’re told about AW’s
*wink wink wink*
I ask on behalf of concern for a dear old friend. The Arsenal. I understand that some people asked for the end of an era but I suspect that most of them did not mean the era since the 1960’s (for that is when the Wenger/Rice partnership started it’s work at the club).
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Yes fins. How must does Raul earn? At various points we heard about Wenger’s ever increasing salary and Gazidis’ salary too. What about this exec, and are his bonuses tied up with selling players n reducing costs or through results? Things you’d think the hyper vigilant WOBs would have demanded to know.
It’s annoying and depressing and infuriating and frustrating. And that’s without mentioning the ‘style of play’.
Ozil left out again. Disgraceful behaviour from Arsenal.
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*much
Can’t even type properly I’m so annoyed
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I am very relieved to see that what I have been feeling in recent weeks is mirrored in so many of the comments on this post.
Had the 22 game run contained a string of wonderful attacking performances one might have considered that that UE had proved his point. But that was not the case. In most of those games, we actually did not appear in the first half and despite having more points now than at this stage last season, I feel that we are going backwards fast.
I was convinced that the succession would be properly planned and seamless, but what seems to have happened is that the powers that be simply panicked and pushed AW out without having any idea who would take over.
That they then jumped ship shortly afterwards, simply compounds the mistakes that were made.
I still support the team and the players but have little confidence that UE will take us anywhere but down the league.
I have experienced the Billy Wright and Terry Neil years, so have seen how bad things can get.
I hope that I am wrong.
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“WE’RE VERY PROUD OF THE NEYMAR CONTRACT, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE WE’RE BEING ASKED TO APOLOGISE FOR IT.”
Raul Sanllehi, January 2014
That’s obviously from before the courts found the club guilty.
Using the evidence available I have a better idea of what & who Raul Sanllehin is.
Do you?
https://thelab.bleacherreport.com/the-never-ending-neymar-transfer-scandal/
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Doesn’t look like panic to me,
Looks like a messy takeover.
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Not forgetting the last couple of George Graham years as well. Imagine if Wenger had got that bad!
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New post is up
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Great find fins!
What’s interesting is that Sanllehi who often gets the credit for flying to Brazil and making things happen , was not put in the dock along with other club officials. Seems to be his biggest achievement. And then they all got off scot free and the CLUB took the fall. As an institution. At the same time they were being investigated for violating youth transfer rules too.
Even Neymar’s transfer away caused controversy for the ‘low’ buyout value. At the least it shows the DoF’s incompetence, no? Might even be why he’s no longer at Barcelona.
All in all, I cannot believe we not only let this guy in, but let him take over. I no longer trust our transfers to be about football first. Otherwise there would be no reason to take the step of withdrawing Ramsey’s offer. And the horrible attitude towards Ozil. Needs to clear funds to carry out his transfers does our Raul.
I worry about Arsenal even more.
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