127 Comments

Arsenal vs Fulham. What Now?

Good morning all.

Today at 1.30 Fulham come to the home of football to face the mighty Arsenal.

The mighty Arsenal on a bit of a roll , by the way. In our last two games we have comfortably seen of Sheffield United and Slavia Prague. Ok, not the mightiest opponents, but we have dispatched them with somewhat of a flourish. Things are looking up. We may not be flying high, but at least there is a bit of an accent, we should enjoy it while it’s going.

Fulham are desperate for points, but they are finding them very hard to come by. They find themselves in 18th place, and 7 points behind 17th having played a game more. In other words, they’re relegated. They have lost their last four games and although they play some nice football, it’s not nice enough to get them any points.

If memory serves it’s a battle of the two youngest managers. Both have struggled this season but neither of their jobs seem in danger, That’s odd these days.

I’m back to guess work on who might play , personally I would go with the same eleven that started in Prague but of course I have no idea about fitness levels or anything else, so it will likely be all change.

This is a game I expect us to win comfortably and with a bit of style too. We need a bit of cheering up and I think we will get it.

Enjoy the game and stay safe

Pedantic George.

127 comments on “Arsenal vs Fulham. What Now?

  1. also the superleague if made leave their own leagues, should expand and bring in more of the bigger clubs in their own leagues and best of smaller leagues like Ajax for example.
    Really go for it and take them on. Who do you think fans will pay to watch, both at games or on TV, burnley v wba or Barca v liverpool

    Like

  2. just a thing to remember, Barca and Real totally dominate the TV money in the spanish league, cos the worldwide audience wants to see them, not the lesser sides in the league, if they go out of spanish league, then I’d expect that TV deal to collapse

    Like

  3. Foreverheady on they goals thing, FIFA and UEFA said that changes in the offside rules were all meant to see more goals, give the benefit of doubt to the forwards, also the doing away with backpass to the keeper and the tackle from behind were all designed to see more goals. So more changes will come to it be it in superleague or not. Plus there would be nothing stopping Superleague if they are thrown out of all other competitions implementing any new rule they want

    Like

  4. Simon Stone
    @sistoney67
    ·
    7m
    ECA held an emergency meeting this evening. None of the 12 clubs in the ESL proposals responded to invitations to attend. Bayern Munich and PSG did attend. Meeting was chaired by Edwin van der Sar. Restated that agreements reached on Friday re CL reform should were still valid.

    Like

  5. Mikel Arteta sat down for his post-match press conference over Zoom on Sunday in the wake of a game that had a dramatic late equaliser, a number of VAR interventions and a worrying injury for Alex Lacazette.

    Our manager fielded questions on all of those topics, plus Joe Willock’s form at Newcastle and Mat Ryan’s return to the side.

    Here’s the full transcript:

    on whether we deserved a point…
    Arsenal deserved three points, without a doubt. You have to respect every opinion but you ask me my opinion and I tell you that we totally deserved to win the match, and you have to look back at the chances we created, two goals disallowed, and we conceded with one shot on target.

    on the VAR interventions…
    We have to trust them, that is the only thing.

    on Lacazette’s injury…
    We don’t know yet [how bad it is]. He felt his hamstring so I don’t know.

    on Mat Ryan’s attacking contribution…
    I picked him because he totally deserves to play, he trains like a beast, he’s got the right attitude and he needed a game. It was a great header.

    on struggling to put together consecutive wins in the league…
    That’s the reason we are where we are in the league, because when you face the games like today and you produce what you produce, you have to win it. That’s what the top teams are doing consistently in the league, and when you don’t do it then obviously the consequences are that you are where you are.

    on qualifying for Europe via the league…
    We needed the win today, we need to win every single game to give us the best possible chance. We know it doesn’t depend on us but mathematically it is still possible.

    on making five changes…
    There are different reasons for that. One of them is because some of the players haven’t recovered yet from Thursday night, they have played so many minutes and it was a big risk to play them. Some of them because they deserved an opportunity, but we cannot change 10 players all the time. We took some decisions, like with Laca to play in the game, because he felt good, and he still got injured. It’s always a balance. If you rest them, [you’re asked] why do you rest them? If you don’t, [you’re asked] why do you play them again?

    on relying on Nketiah against Everton…
    We will see, we will assess who is available and how we want to approach the game, and make a decision based on that.

    on Eddie and whether he can still offer something to Arsenal…
    Yes. He always offers his best and today he scored a goal and he had another two important chances. He’s always a threat in front of goal.

    on the European Super League reports that are emerging…
    I don’t know anything about it.

    on Lacazette’s hamstring and if he could be out for a few weeks…
    We’ll have to see. We’ll have the scan, probably on Tuesday, to see the extent of the injury and the timeline for it. But I don’t know.

    on the disappointment on Laca’s face as he went off…
    Yes. But I don’t know, I cannot tell if it’s going to be a week, two weeks, five weeks or six weeks. He felt something in his hamstring and we don’t know the extent of it. We are all disappointed because we all know the moment that Laca was on.

    on whether he’s aware that Arsenal are being linked with a place in a European Super League…
    No.

    on what he thinks about the idea and if he thinks Arsenal should pursue it…
    I don’t know. Once I know every detail and I have all of the information, then I can evaluate and give you my opinion.

    on the importance of rhythm for Eddie if he now has to play more often…
    Well, obviously every player needs minutes and Eddie’s been fighting all the time to get more minutes than what he was getting this season. It’s good that when he has opportunities to show his attitude and his quality, that he’s done it.

    on Joe Willock’s form at Newcastle…
    I’m really happy with Joe because he scored a massive goal for their club. So when he produces big moments like that, for a young talent like him it’s very satisfying. Joe can do it, he’s got the ability and the desire and now he needs more consistency in terms of minutes and performances. That’s great for his development and that’s why we believed it [the loan to Newcastle] was the right option.

    Copyright 2021 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.

    Like

  6. Very wary of this super league thing, bit of they keep English refs out of it, might make the smallest start in winning me over

    Like

  7. Not keen on Super League principle myself, and find it really hard to imagine clubs willing to take on such monumental risks and uncertainty of actually taking the leap, but…oh boy, the thought of escaping pgmol! As well as angering all sorts of other bastards.

    Surely just too many obstacles, though. Premier league, sky, Uefa, Fifa, FA, national associations, all leagues, every club not involved. presumably you’d need a cast iron guarantee of significantly more money than currently earn for x amount of years, as many as ten even. I don’t know if even City’s owners could afford that if it took their fancy.

    Sky would, of course, happily ditch the prem in an instant if they could make more money from the new order.

    Like

  8. Well, I guess they are pretty serious after all!

    Premier league tomorrow: we are disgusted with these actions and cannot allow them. We have decided to relegate Arsenal immediately!

    Like

  9. European Super League announced
    Arsenal Media 18 Apr 2021

    We have joined 11 European clubs as founding members of a new midweek competition, the European Super League.

    There’s lots more to do to bring the competition to life and we will continue to update our supporters as things progress.

    More information can be found in a joint statement released by the Founding Clubs below. In the meantime, our focus is on finishing this season as strongly as possible.

    Leading European football clubs announce new Super League competition

    Twelve of Europe’s leading football clubs have today come together to announce they have agreed to establish a new mid-week competition, the Super League, governed by its Founding Clubs.

    AC Milan, Arsenal, Atletico Madrid, Chelsea, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur have all joined as Founding Clubs. It is anticipated that a further three clubs will join ahead of the inaugural season, which is intended to commence as soon as practicable.

    Going forward, the Founding Clubs look forward to holding discussions with UEFA and FIFA to work together in partnership to deliver the best outcomes for the new League and for football as a whole.

    The formation of the Super League comes at a time when the global pandemic has accelerated the instability in the existing European football economic model. Further, for a number of years, the Founding Clubs have had the objective of improving the quality and intensity of existing European competitions throughout each season, and of creating a format for top clubs and players to compete on a regular basis.

    The pandemic has shown that a strategic vision and a sustainable commercial approach are required to enhance value and support for the benefit of the entire European football pyramid.

    In recent months extensive dialogue has taken place with football stakeholders regarding the future format of European competitions. The Founding Clubs believe the solutions proposed following these talks do not solve fundamental issues, including the need to provide higher- quality matches and additional financial resources for the overall football pyramid.

    Competition format

    20 participating clubs with 15 Founding Clubs and a qualifying mechanism for a further five teams to qualify annually based on achievements in the prior season.
    Midweek fixtures with all participating clubs continuing to compete in their respective national leagues, preserving the traditional domestic match calendar which remains at the heart of the club game.
    An August start with clubs participating in two groups of ten, playing home and away fixtures, with the top three in each group automatically qualifying for the quarter finals. Teams finishing fourth and fifth will then compete in a two-legged play-off for the remaining quarter-final positions. A two-leg knockout format will be used to reach the final at the end of May, which will be staged as a single fixture at a neutral venue.

    As soon as practicable after the start of the men’s competition, a corresponding women’s league will also be launched, helping to advance and develop the women’s game.

    The new annual tournament will provide significantly greater economic growth and support for European football via a long-term commitment to uncapped solidarity payments which will grow in line with league revenues.

    These solidarity payments will be substantially higher than those generated by the current European competition and are expected to be in excess of €10 billion during the course of the initial commitment period of the Clubs.

    In addition, the competition will be built on a sustainable financial foundation with all Founding Clubs signing up to a spending framework. In exchange for their commitment, Founding Clubs will receive an amount of €3.5 billion solely to support their infrastructure investment plans and to offset the impact of the COVID pandemic.

    Florentino Perez, Real Madrid president and the first chairman of the Super League said: “We will help football at every level and take it to its rightful place in the world. Football is the only global sport in the world with more than four billion fans and our responsibility as big clubs is to respond to their desires.”

    Backing the new European league, Andrea Agnelli, chairman of Juventus and vice-chairman of the Super League said: ““Our 12 Founder clubs represent billions of fans across the globe and 99 European trophies. We have come together at this critical moment, enabling European competition to be transformed, putting the game we love on a sustainable footing for the long-term future, substantially increasing solidarity, and giving fans and amateur players a regular flow of headline fixtures that will feed their passion for the game while providing them with engaging role models.”

    Joel Glazer, co-chairman of Manchester United and vice-chairman of the Super League said: ““By bringing together the world’s greatest clubs and players to play each other throughout the season, the Super League will open a new chapter for European football, ensuring world- class competition and facilities, and increased financial support for the wider football pyramid.”

    Copyright 2021 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.

    Like

  10. reports now that bayern munich and Leipzig have agreed to join the SL and that porto one of the other clubs being considered.

    PSG will surely join once World cup stuff sorted out

    Like

  11. Some big teams left out of this.
    Also, hope Kroenke will fund us if expelled from the EPL , as they are apparently threatening, but do suspect clubs as big as these will get their way, or at least a good part of it.
    But ultimately should have kept Raul if we were going this Machiavellian , perhaps explains why we went that route in the first place?
    But as things stand, despite Arsenal benefitting ,Perhaps more than they currently deserve, and the opportunity to tell the PGMOL and International teams/ and their meaningless friendlies to feck off, just can’t bring myself to like it

    Like

  12. No Dortmund? Napoli?

    Like

  13. All 12 clubs founding SuperLeague have left ECA

    Like

  14. mandy there is still 8 places to be confirmed, its reported Bayern, Lepzig and porto will bring it up to 15, with psg to join once World Cup problems done with, so then the likes of Dortmund, Napoli, Roma and say another french or spanish club

    Like

  15. Spanish Gooner
    @elspanishgooner
    ·
    8m
    Let’s make this clear. This isn’t Super League clubs against fans. This is Super League clubs against UEFA, FIFA and National Football Associations. Organisations that haven’t given a fuck about fans for years.

    Like

  16. Thanks for the info Eduardo.
    Can live with the views on the Spanish Gooner link – and these elite clubs taking on those entities that’s for sure, international football has cost our club, and many others dearly, none more so than their ridiculous fixture schedule this year, for which they are unaccountable, and agree with their lack of concern for fans…bit still very uneasy about it, but will be interesting to seen how this pans out .
    But expecting even more PGMOL shite in the mean time. I have long bemoaned the clubs lack of response to the treatment we get from the PGMOL and others , perhaps this is part of their response !

    Liked by 1 person

  17. well a simple question, if the leagues take on the SL clubs and throw them out, what you think the SL clubs would do.
    For me they would expand the SL to maybe 40 clubs, taking more of the bigger clubs, in a totally closed shop. Have two divisions of 20 clubs, home and away. with play offs etc to bring in more games.
    And the simple way to freshen it up each year would be to swap over half the clubs in each group of 20 every season, meaning that you could have at least five different opponents in the league phase each season.

    The SL could totally decimate domestic leagues if the are crazy enough to throw these clubs out. Leagues could sign their own death warrants by excluding these clubs

    Like

  18. imagine the EPL without the big 6

    everton
    leicester
    aston villa
    west ham
    crystal palace
    wolves
    leeds
    burnley
    west brom
    fulham
    sheffield utd
    brighton
    newcastle
    southampton
    norwich
    watford
    brentford
    swansea
    bournemouth
    barnsley

    and if SL expanded and took another five or six of them, it would be laughable what would be left, the SL clubs hold the upper hand in this as far as I can see, unless there is something legal that the EPL and other leagues can do to stop it, the SL clubs will get their way
    for me it has been long over due for the clubs to stop letting fifa/uefa be the tail wagging the dog

    Like

  19. Thanks all for indulging my disappointment in the lack of rest for key players in a dead rubber.
    The lack of an experienced no.2 on the touchline shows. Losing Lacazette is a self inflicted disaster, not for the first time this season alone. That is a serious flaw.

    As always a hugely enjoyable late equaliser, the flick from Ryan’s head leading to a goal is a first from an Arsenal keeper for me.

    The talking heads are frothing at the talk of super league which is rich coming from the supporters of the premiere league and the pgmob who did the same thing to football league. You’ve got to laugh at the fake outrage and desperation on display from them, what are they scared of? The achievement of the game managers is seen in how the pgmob is now a total and comprehensive failure on the threshold of laughable irrelevance bending offside lines included.

    Like

  20. Fuck me spuds have sacked Maureen

    Liked by 1 person

  21. Many fans upset with Kroenke for taking such an active role in the formation of the super league and for ensuring Arsenal are founder members. I wonder whether they would have been equally upset if he hadn’t?

    Liked by 1 person

  22. To me it feels like the logical conclusion of how game has gone (although real conclusion would probably be combining it with clubs from other continents, esp America), but at same time I am extremely doubtful it can work.

    Not just all the resistance to it from those with skin in the game and plenty to lose, more that and the gamble on top that match going fans will buy into it. I don’t think the ‘product’ is, ultimately, viable without them.

    The really real conclusion, however, for me, is the game being pushed, by money, to collapse or something like it. I reckon this could do it, supposing it isn’t a gigantic bluff/negotiating tactic, as some suggest.

    Like

  23. To see the founders and supported of the Premiee League and pgmob to organisations that ****wwd over the football league so badly most league clubs are barely in the black if at all in the current era:

    What could be funnier then seeing a bunch of cheating hypocrites crying because someone is doing to them what they have done to others!
    When you think about it George there’s a lot of evidence out there that there is a G-d. That G-d has a sense of humour.

    Add to that Spurs sacking Mourinhio one week before a cup final after a footballer at another club called him out!

    Is it Xmas already?

    (I was resigned some time ago to Arteta the Pusher of Partey injuring players before the season end of the season, so no disappointment there!)

    Like

  24. Sorry for the typos above hope that makes sense.

    As Rich says this is the natural progression of where the game has been going. Why are those pushing this change now complaining??

    As Shotta could explain better then I, with JP Morgan are funding the super league it will be impossible to stop.

    For all the damage that they have done to English Football (which others don’t have the footballs to admit) I will enjoy watching the PL squirm

    Liked by 1 person

  25. ha ha ha less than a day after Uefa condemn the Super League clubs, they themselves come out with a new CL format that is basically the same as the SL just bigger.

    Like

  26. foreverheady I am certain that if Arsenal had not agreed to be part of the SL these same fans who are bashing Stan for his involvement in setting it up, would be bashing him for letting Arsenal get left behind.

    Like

  27. its laughable that Boris is against it, after all the Super League is everything the Tories stand for and is nothing more than a sporting Brexit

    Like

  28. Osman
    🎗
    @OsmanZtheGooner
    ·
    44m
    The European Super League currently negotiating with FIFA for 12 teams in the European Super league to qualify for the FIFA club World Cup (which will be extended)

    the clubs know they way to FIFA’s heart, more money for FIFA

    Like

  29. Read a post on another blog on the americanisation of football relating to the esl and someone mentioned the franchised model and how teams relocate cities thousands of miles from their traditional fanbases.

    what if the franchise model is introduced (like in american sports) to take advantage of consumer bases with higher spending powers (seems to be all about money) and teams would be able to relocate their cities \countries as super league is a ‘global league’?

    would not surprise if this is on the table.

    Liked by 1 person

  30. “Inescapable that the European Super League will be blamed on Americans. Pushed largely by American club owners, funded by an American bank, based on American sports business concepts. (Just remember, the vast majority of European
    ⚽️
    fans in the US don’t like the idea.)”

    Grant Wahl on Twitter.

    Like

  31. Simon Collings
    @sr_collings
    Explosive press conference from UEFA.

    Confirm players will be banned from Euros/World Cup if play in Super League. Don’t rule out players being banned from this summer’s Euros or clubs being thrown of out CL/EL now. Assessing situation.

    Ceferin wants sanctions brought ASAP.

    Like

  32. The European Super League has already taken steps to protect itself from any attempts from UEFA and FIFA to punish its member clubs and players.

    Six Premier League sides – Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham – are part of an initial group of 12 clubs seeking to establish a new 20-team continental competition “as soon as practicable”.

    If the plans succeed it would devastate existing European club competitions and in particular the Champions League. A joint statement including UEFA and the English, Italian and Spanish leagues published on Sunday said it would consider “all measures, both judicial and sporting” to prevent the competition going ahead.

    This could include attempts to bar the competing clubs from domestic leagues and their players from UEFA’s international competitions too.

    World governing body FIFA has called for “calm, constructive dialogue” to resolve the crisis, but the company behind the Super League has pre-emptively taken steps to protect itself against any legal challenges.

    In a letter to UEFA and FIFA, seen by the PA news agency, the Super League wrote: “We are concerned that FIFA and UEFA may respond to this invitation letter by seeking to take punitive measures to exclude any participating club or player from their respective competitions.

    “We hope that is not your response to this letter and that, like us, your organisations will recognise the immediate benefits of the competition established by SLCo.

    “We also seek your co-operation and support on how the competition can be brought within the football ecosystem and work with us to achieve that objective.
    In a letter to UEFA and FIFA, seen by the PA news agency, the Super League wrote: “We are concerned that FIFA and UEFA may respond to this invitation letter by seeking to take punitive measures to exclude any participating club or player from their respective competitions.

    “We hope that is not your response to this letter and that, like us, your organisations will recognise the immediate benefits of the competition established by SLCo.

    “We also seek your co-operation and support on how the competition can be brought within the football ecosystem and work with us to achieve that objective.

    “Your formal statement does, however, compel us to take protective steps to secure ourselves against such an adverse reaction, which would not only jeopardise the funding commitment under the grant but, significantly, would be unlawful.

    “For this reason, SLCo has filed a motion before the relevant courts in order to ensure the seamless establishment and operation of the competition in accordance with applicable laws.”

    World players’ union FIFPRO says it will “vigorously oppose” any legal actions from any side which block players from competing for their national teams.

    Preventing players from participating in World Cups and European Championships has previously been threatened as a consequence of any breakaway league.

    FIFPRO said: “Threats of a breakaway competition and subsequent concessions to reform European football competitions have shaped decision-making for years. This dynamic has replaced transparent and inclusive discussions on the opportunities of competition reforms for all players, fans, clubs, leagues and federations.

    “Players continue to be used as assets and leverage in these negotiations. This is unacceptable for FIFPRO, our 64 national player associations and the 60,000 players we represent. We will vigorously oppose measures by either side that would impede the rights of players, such as exclusion from their national teams.”

    The decision to go public on the Super League follows a disagreement among some clubs over the level of commercial control they would have over the new-look Champions League.

    The corporate structure of the Super League gives a clear indication of the leading figures behind the breakaway.

    “Your formal statement does, however, compel us to take protective steps to secure ourselves against such an adverse reaction, which would not only jeopardise the funding commitment under the grant but, significantly, would be unlawful.

    “For this reason, SLCo has filed a motion before the relevant courts in order to ensure the seamless establishment and operation of the competition in accordance with applicable laws.”
    Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward stepped down from his role at UEFA on Monday too.

    He had previously described the plans proposed by UEFA for the new-look Champions League as “ideal” but has now signed up to the Super League.

    The letter to FIFA and UEFA also said SLCo had secured a commitment to underwrite funding for the competition in the range of four billion euros (approximately £3.5billion), and JP Morgan confirmed to PA that it is financing the deal.

    Like

  33. ha ha ha, just seen a report that Arsenal fans want Stan Kroenke “out of our club” cos its claimed his reason for putting Arsenal in the Super League is cos he wants “Arsenal to be the biggest team in the world”
    I know, what Arsenal fan would want that, jeez if that happened how would any of us ever live with the disgrace of that.

    Like

  34. The hypocrisy on display today has me chortling.

    A bunch of bullies and cheats complaining that they are being bullied and cheated?

    Tell me this news did not make your Monday!
    Along with Mourinho’s news. What a day!!

    It’s too funny.

    And then there are the fans defending the PL which did exactly the same thing to the Football League thirty odd years ago as the Super League is proposing today.
    And finally as the cherry on top of this cake we have those fans who hounded out AW so a bunch of agents could move into the club complaining about this development. The AST, for example. what a bunch of nasty fools such people have shown themselves to be, ridiculed by non-Arsenal fans all over the world for heir stupidity and lack of class. Idiots. Those are & were the truly special ones! Not Maureen.

    You reap what you sow.

    Like

  35. Bruised Three Stripes
    @GregCross82
    ·
    7h
    Russian oligarchs buying clubs was fine.

    Middle Eastern States buying clubs was fine.

    Mass Asian betting firms bankrolling clubs was fine.

    Awarding a World Cup to Russia – as it was trying to annex Ukraine was fine.

    Awarding a World Cup to Qatar was fine.

    But this…isn’t?

    Like

  36. there is an odd notions doing the rounds that the TV companies will sue the six clubs for leaving the EPL, when the Super League 6 have clearly stated they don’t want to leave the EPL, it is in fact the EPL that are suggesting that they will dump the six clubs out of the EPL. So if anyone will be sued by the TV companies it will be the EPL, not the clubs.

    Like

  37. I see it being suggested that the EPL can’t dump the six clubs, that in fact they can’t hit them with any sanctions as any such action needs 3/4 of EPL clubs to vote for it, and as the EPL has 20 clubs that means 15, so it would need one of the 6 clubs to vote for the sanctions, now if true, is that ever going to happen.
    UEFA is a different story of course, but then again the SL clubs don’t give a fuck about them or their sanctions.

    Like

  38. FA Youth Cup semi final draws

    Ipswich or Sheffield Utd v Liverpool or Arsenal

    Newcastle or Aston Villa v West Brom or Everton

    Like

  39. I can get people laughing at uefa, fifa and prem LG but what do people think the impact of this decision will mean for fans of those clubs?

    Will the price of games be a premium for supposed premium football on display?
    Away days are gonna be real expensive?

    3.5 billion invested , will that go to team /club or has KSI have other plans?

    Thinks the fans will suffer most.

    Like

  40. something that many may have missed in this Super League talk, is that these clubs are also committed to having a Women’s Super League and putting a lot more money into the Women’s game

    I also see that its being reported that the clubs are offering more money to clubs and governing bodies than UEFA currently to, its how they think they will convince other clubs to agree to it

    Like

  41. Gee you can fly cheaper to Barcelona than you can get a train ticket from london to Newcastle
    Also Gee the Super League is not meant to replace the EPL, its meant to replace the CL, so travel etc is no different.
    The extra finances is to come from the world wide tv audience, it might even see the introduction of a Club TV season ticket, where you get every game of your club, much like how it works in NFL in USA. No need for it to be expensive if the world wide audience takes it up. Super League could even set up their own streaming Channel

    Like

  42. You know what, I’ve felt instinctively hostile towards this proposal until people started poking fun at us for being part of it.

    Financial doping is the main factor that got us to where we are now. We did everything the right way for years, and it’s only earned us ridicule. Even now we break even and give more game time to academy graduates than any other club.

    Have to say I was shocked to hear that the two teams dragging their heels on the Super League were City and Chelsea. It’s bizarre seeing Arsenal fans get all sanctimonious like we haven’t been shafted by the status quo. Look at the teams in the CL semis for god’s sake.

    Ugh, WordPress login took me to the ACLF admin.

    Like

  43. The fans have been shafted for twenty years by the PL.

    Clubs outside the PL have been shafted by the PL.

    And over the last year everyone has seen evidence of the mantra (my mantra) that the broadcasters don’t care about or even need the fans.

    Literally fake noise is their preference over paying punters who disrupt their time schedules.

    Surely the only way from the nadir of where the PL (broadcasters) have taken the sport in this league is upwards? Even today in spite of their preference for Rugby we can see talent like Sancho and Bellingham go abroad instead of getting their legs broken playing for a club like the Gunners.

    The PL is already irrelevant. Are these Super Clubs putting down a sick puppy? Is this is an act of mercy?

    you all know it was the marriage between the Gunners and AW that kept me interested above non-league level footy. And I believe it had been the same for many, which is why blogs like this exist.

    Like

  44. Gee the money being mentioned as a start up payment is said to be for the clubs to spend on stadiums, training grounds and any debt due to covid

    Like

  45. @ eduardo

    Ok but it does not seem to me that it is something that all the players are in agreement with and looks like its been forced through without the consideration of key stake holders just the money men. I get that the status quo is messed up but could it be a case of better the devil you know?

    Like i said the confusion that is being caused with some reports that players are not sure of their status with existing and future national and international competitions makes it looks like it is being forced through regardless of what some key contributors (the players) think, meaning there has not been much consultation. Seems like it is being rushed through by wall street and city of London corporation

    Like

  46. One suggestion I came across can’t remember where was that this is all clever marketing ploy to get an expanded CL approved.

    The noise today might indicate that this is an incorrect speculation though the cynic in me is happy to indulge in this consideration.

    Like

  47. One suggestion I came across can’t remember where was that this is all clever marketing ploy to get an expanded CL approved.

    The noise today might indicate that this is an incorrect speculation though the cynic in me is happy to indulge in this consideration.

    Like

  48. gee a lot of the confusion is there cos the likes of SKY, BT etc are putting it there, as it suits them to.
    The SL certainly need to get their PR in action pretty damn quick. Seems one of the big players in it is giving a news conference later today, might be the Real Madrid guy

    also you have to remember that the Super League is not meant to happen for a couple of years, its others who are trying to force it sooner, the clubs all willing to see out current CL & EL schemes which still have two or three seasons left on them. This time frame would have allowed the whole thing to be sorted out right, but those opposed are of course trying to make them rush it in the hope it either fails or gets dropped quickly.

    Like

  49. the thing about this whole Super League thing that really makes me laugh is all those who for years have been banging on about Kroenke not funding Arsenal to compete with the oil clubs etc are now outraged that by joining the Super League Kroenke might now have the said funds to spend that they demand. They really don’t know what the want.

    If they whole thing falls through let none of these people opposed to the SL ever complain again about lack of spending at Arsenal.

    Like

  50. Interesting timing to announce all this. I sense even more bite than usual coming our way from opponents, and referees for the remainder of the season
    Our EL opponents might be quite motivated as well, assuming we don’t get chucked out of that
    On another note, Wenger sounds a little sceptical the SL will go ahead, compromised as he is by his job, he is always worth listening to

    Like

Comments are closed.

%d bloggers like this: