The story of money

So its official, other than a medical, Samir Nasri is now a Manchester City player effectively leaving Arsenal with an extra £24m to invest in building some sort of death star to hide in when the mobs come round, or whatever the fat-cats upstairs are doing with that money.

So now we have lost another player to the curse of money, today I don’t focus my anger on the board as I did that yesterday, I now focus on Samir Nasri.

With one year left on his contract, Arsenal were willing to break the bank to sign Nasri up again as to add him to the list of Flamini on players who left on a bosman would be devastating. Alas, Nasri had other ideas constantly having his agent release “come and get me pleas” for him. After Fabregas left, the papers were quick to say Nasri was on his way out too, he didn’t play any part in a dismal 0-0 draw with Newcastle on the opening day, didn’t play any part of the Udinese win and in the meantime was being abused.

Abuse, he didn’t like.

Nasri went on his Twitter trying to play the guilt-card on the fans saying he was disappointed the fans were abusing him on the terraces, calling the act “disrespectful”. I think maybe Samir needs to learn what disrespectfulness actually is.

You see, I don’t mind players leaving the club, I was upset that Cesc Fabregas left, but at least he had a reason and gave a fare notice which we disregarded, as per usual. However, when Fabregas left, he left not for money, but to play for his dream club and he’d given all for the club, much like Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Robert Pires etc. I never like to see players leave, but if they’re leaving after 8+ years of good service, than its something you have to live with, unlike Nasri.

Samir Nasri has left the club after three years (with a good 6 months to show for it), because he supposedly wants to win trophies. Well excuse me Samir, but why weren’t you wanting to win the Carling Cup, FA Cup, Champions League and League this bad last season? Don’t go bullshitting us saying you want to win trophies when you couldn’t seem to be arsed to drive the club to win the four we had a chance of winning last year. You left for the money they’ll put in your back pocket and nothing else.

Had Nasri have moved to Man City from Arsenal and we were a mid-table club, I wouldn’t mind. Say what you will about where the club is headed, last season we finished a place behind City because players (like Nasri) didn’t stick their finger out and push themselves to the limit. I mean, should Matt Jarvis move from Wolves to Arsenal, taking more money, I don’t mind, that’s a better move for his career, Nasri’s is a move for greed.

Well, chin’s up, still 9 months of this bullocks to go.

Its time for the board to step up or step out.

After a two nil loss to Liverpool this weekend even more pressure has been put on Wenger to deliver, with more and more personal being added to the “Wenger Out” brigade, the Frenchman’s time at Arsenal may be coming to an abrupt end, although I feel, unfairly.

Right now Wenger’s biggest downfall is ‘his’ transfer policy, without a trophy since 2005, and after moving to the Emirates Stadium in 2006 spending has been scarce. Being the messenger to the board, Wenger has always been scrutinised by players and the press for not buying this player, that player and continuing to purchase players on the cheap whether 15 or 35, continually being forced to pick players like Almunia, Silvestre, Squillaci etc. Is it fair to victimise Wenger for everything?

Each season, the club is begging for a director/board member to drive the money towards buying the next best star or a player the club needs. The man we lack right now seems to be Arsene’s best friend, former vice-chairman David Dein. Dein was crucial in recruiting our best players like Ian Wright, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie etc. Right now, the club lacks that man to make every negotiation process with Arsene to get players on the cheap and get money rightly spent. It seems right now that our club is run by Monty Burns and Smithers with a group of yes-men lawyers (board members in this case) next to him. Quite frankly, it sickens me.

I do enjoy the fact that Manchester United are in huge debt and we are a club run correctly, but something tells me that the only reason we are run correctly is because we have a board of small-time business men instead of football fans with heavily layered pockets. Instead of our club being run by Monty Burns (who although greedy sometimes spares no expense to do something stupid), we’re actually run by a consortium of Lionel Hutz, Hans Moleman and Gil Gunderson, but instead of them being broke, they are so small-time businessmen that they don’t want to share the wealth or even dare speculate to accumulate. They know they can’t beat the top brand (Manchester United/Chelsea/Manchester City) but to stick fourth best is good enough for them as long as the money keeps rolling in at fourth best.

We’ve gone from being the Woolworth’s (although maybe that could be Leeds seeing as Woolworth’s is no longer around) to the Poundland of the Football world.

I feel Arsene is blamed (and believe me he’s not totally blameless) for the team’s poorness in this season especially, and in the previous seven as he is the messenger (don’t shoot the messenger), he is the scapegoat. Players and the board are making AW look foolish, the board are saying there’s money available but quite obviously wont put their hands in their pockets, presumably because they have no clue what the going rate for any player is. Wenger is most likely trying to tell them he wants Juan Mata, who costs £20m with another £5m needed for his wage and the board seem to be having none of it, insisting he’s not worth it and they’re too tight to give him some money. This eventually causes Wenger to spew the bullshit to keep the board looking like angels and him looking like a man far up a creek without a paddle.

Someone made a decent argument, “The board doesn’t pick Almunia, Squillaci and Silvestre”, that’s a fair argument, the board doesn’t directly pick those three players, but do they inadvertently? If they’re not willing to give Wenger the money to purchase a new goalkeeper (because lets face it, until last season our reserve Fabianski was rubbish and Mannone and Szczesny were way too young) that he has to pick his best choice, which unfortunately is Almunia, the same applies to the centre-back position. 

Right now, AW is telling, presumably demanding the board to get their hands out their pockets and set their pockets on fire. He’s telling the board that he needs £150k wages for players like Theo Walcott, Robin Van Persie and Thomas Vermaelen to make sure this whole Flamini and Nasri debacle doesn’t repeat itself again. Hopefully, this may help get more money out to buy Eden Hazard and others before the end of the transfer window too.

Arsenal Fans, Still want Joey Barton?

So Arsenal’s season started where the last one left off, but instead of 1998, 2002 or 2004 where it ended with a win, last years ended as a draw, just like this one, but with a twist.

That twist, my readers, is Joseph Barton, or Josephine Barton as he should really be known. Early second half Alex Song (already on a yellow for a stupid haircut) stamped on Barton (which after further review looked more intentional than anything else), this provoked Barton who cried like a girl at the 4th official to send Song off. Admittedly, Song’s actions did warrant a red card but with no referee to see the incident and a 4th official blind also, you cannot fault referees and officials who don’t go by player reaction to make decisions.

So Barton was incensed, now later on down the line, when we are still at 0-0, Gervinho who looked solid all game may I add, goes down in the box, and under second look, contact was made, should be a penalty. Barton, the thug grabs Gervinho by the collar, hoists him up and threatens him, why? Because he’s a twat. The referee and all the players come running over to defuse any situation at which point Barton should surely be facing a red card of his own (and an Arsenal penalty for an assault in the area whilst the ball was in play), but Barton, hard as nails, Barton goes down because Gervinho’s lame hand touched his face, yes, readers, Barton the man who was once arrested for trying to blind a reserve player and had just pulled someone up by the scruff of their neck for ‘diving’ and trying to win their team an advantage went down from the lamest of touches, to win his team an advantage. Irony, is the word most would use.

I will say the funny side of this was whilst Barton was down looking like a tool, Vermaelen went up to him and either said “You’re a f*cking twat, I’m going to kick the sh*t out of you when we go in the tunnel” or spat in his face, I hope the latter. Anyway, surprisingly Barton got up as Gervinho, the player assaulted and pushed Barton lightly in the face was sent off whilst Barton, THE PLAYER WHO STARTED THIS WHOLE SHARADE, got a YELLOW!

If Barton had done that in the street he’d have been in prison for an overnight stay. Why is he allowed to stay on the pitch? I can only imagine the referee sent Gervinho off after Stephen' Taylor’s blatant lie to the referee that Gervinho somehow became Stretch Armstrong and elbowed a player in front of him and because he didn’t send Song off decided to make it even, despite having no real knowledge of what went on. Disgraceful.

The match other than that was fairly dull, we bossed the game and should have won it.

As for the aftermath, well we need to go the FA and have Gervinho’s red overturned or ban reduced, get Barton suspended for at least 5 games, and Song will probably get banned for a game too.

Football’s back everyone, and unfortunately, the same thug’s are too.

End of an era, or the start of a new dawn?

The tabloid’s favourite transfer story looks to climax as Minnesota Joe looks to complete his move to Tennessee by this weekend just in time for the next season of Rodeo Championships (joke stolen from Arsenal podcast ‘The Tuesday Club’ and Keith Dover (viva la El Presidente)).

I jest of course, Minnesota Joe is very much at home, unlike Francesc Fabregas who seems like he will no longer be our El Capitan and will be moving to Barcelona who as we all know are more than a club. So what does this mean for little old Arsenal, who rely so heavily on their captain and lead playmaker Cesc, the one we proclaim to be a Messiah? Well I think we all know it means all our players will leave immediately, we’ll be forced to play a team of youth players lead by Spanish Goalkeeping legend (who’s lost both his hands to the plague) Manuel Almunia, The Emirates Stadium will have capacities of 2,500, and will be a dump with no-one to manage it, the grass will grow and it will become a swamp down there, Arsene Wenger will grow an old tramp beard and live in a tent inside the ground like that guy who lived on the Wolverhampton Ring Road, eventually, Arsenal will go bust and be replaced by fan run club AFC Gooners because Arsenal has been refranchised and moved to Tipton by West Bromwich (like in those old Budweiser adverts) and are now known as Tipton Guns.

No, it means we have lost our captain. It means one more great player has been there for 8 years and it is now time for him to move on. We all knew Cesc was about to move on, it was a case of when rather than if. We have the players to continue this side on in the march for glory, players like Vermaelen, Wilshere, Ramsey, Van Persie and others will not lay down and let this club die because one player has left. These are not mercenaries, they are players who live, eat, sleep and breathe this club and embody the spirit it has lacked for many seasons.

The media said Arsenal would fall when we lost our invincible’s, yeah? Why do we finish top 4 and in the black every season? Players come, players go. No player/man is bigger than this club, and when you let that happen suddenly when they finish their term there the club falls. When Liverpool lose Gerrard, its most likely they will suffer, when Chelsea lose those elder heads they will suffer, when United lose SAF, if they don’t replace him properly (which is almost impossible to do) they will suffer, when that City money dries up if they fail, they will suffer.

Arsenal is not a club built on one man’s play, tactical ability or money. It is built on a team of players who want to win, a manager who never wants to lose, and a board who need to buck their ideas up, but I digress.

The loss of Cesc is not the end of days, it is the beginning of something new, if we invest those earnings properly, we can re-build, we can restore and we can relive the glory days which I need to watch DVDs and Sky Sports Years/Premiership Years to enjoy.

COMEDY: What if Wrestling and Football crossed paths?

So, being a wrestling fan, the biggest angle at the moment is CM Punk’s departure from WWE with the WWE Championship, and the big story at Arsenal is similar, Samir Nasri wanting to leave Arsenal. So for a change from partially serious journalism, what would happen if Samir Nasri became CM Punk.

So initially, Nasri cuts a promo on Arsenal, he calls players like Denilson and Almunia ass-kissers to Arsene Wenger, and that he believes maybe Arsenal will be better after Arsene’s death, but then explains how the team will probably be taken-over by his “doofus” protege Jose Mourinho. He says by the end of June he will leave with the Arsenal Captaincy, and maybe he’ll leave with it to “Barcelona or Manchester City”.

So straight away he’s suspended by Wenger, with the intention of letting him go, this is until Cesc Fabregas comes out and asks for one more match between Arsenal and Barcelona because the fans want to see it, if Arsenal lose Samir is captain and is allowed to leave. Wenger agrees, for the fans, but if Arsenal lose, Cesc will be sold to Tottenham!

Next week, Wenger and Samir have open contract negotiations, Samir wants his face on the crest, his own plane, and Arsenal ‘Ice-Cream’ Bars to be brought back. He also wants Wenger to apologise for not buying who he wants and selling players he feels the team needs. Cesc comes out to confront them both but Samir calls Cesc the player he hates, he’s become a Chelsea player, he’s no longer an underdog, he’s a dynasty, he’s become Chelsea.

Arsenal lose after dodgy refereeing, Samir puts on the captains armband and leaves through the Emirates Stadium crowd.

So yeah, this really wasn’t brilliant, I had to change from Fabregas to Nasri because Samir made more sense than Cesc.

Welcome to the Black (scarf) Parade

As the season slowly phases out for us Arsenal fans, the controversy doesn’t fade at all. To top it all off now some supporters are organising riots through the streets if Islington…well not quite. However, protests are being organised and as an Arsenal blogger I think its my job to speak as best as I can on this.

From what I can gather these protests are not Anti-Wenger or Anti-Kroenke, which hopefully means they will not be mis-interpreted in a press always ready to make a quick headline despite not knowing the facts. The main focal point of these protests are against the ticket price increase expected for the next season. Now fair enough, I think we are all rational enough to understand frustrations that fans have, no-one voluntarily wants to pay more for a season ticket, especially when they cost so much as it is. However, is it really that much that we need to have a protest about it? Organisations like the Arsenal Supporter’s Trust (AST) is probably the best place to go to voice concerns, a Trust that is listened to by the board.

Although I can justify why this protest may take place if it was for ticket prices, I don’t justify it because of some of their other messages. Firstly, the way that this protest has been made is too close to the ones at Manchester United and Liverpool with their American owners, I don’t want Arsenal to feel like a xenophobic club especially after the fuss made over the new owner Stan Kroenke, I know these protests are not towards any potential buyers of the clubs like at Manchester United with their Anti-Glazer protests or the Anti-Hicks and Anti-Gillett that were at Liverpool last year. However, its very easy for these protests to be misinterpreted as an Anti-America protest, its fair to say there are many ignorant members of the press, especially towards Arsenal. I also feel these protests are always futile, these fans still go to the games, I smirk at petty United fans who buy a green and gold scarf yet still fill Old Trafford thus paying the Glazers money. If they really cared enough they’d go support FC United of Manchester who said their fans would probably refuse to go to Old Trafford so the Glazers didn’t get any ticket money if they met them in this years FA Cup.

Also, there are some other messages I have read about wanting the kits changed to yellow and how they want kits to be released over a couple of years. However, I read on BBC Sport (apologies I couldn’t find the article when re-Googling it) that only Arsenal and Liverpool abide by a Barclays Premier League law where they keep home kits every two years and a change kit every year. The only times this rule has been broken is for 2006 and 2011 commemorative kits. It doesn’t help the protestors that they have also said they want the board to make more commercial revenue, yet ask that less kits be released. its a bit of a contradictory move. Also the colour of the kits is not an issue that needs to be raised by a fan protest, its something you ask at an AGM or ask through AST or Fanshare.

Their final point is some fans want Peter Hill-Wood our Chairman removed due to his criticism of fans in recent weeks. Now I don’t condone professionals criticising fans at any point, but one remark that fans who want our manager Arsene Wenger removed are “silly people” is not one that warrants him to be removed from his position as Chairman. Many fans agree with Hill-Wood that fans who don’t like Wenger are silly and we’re being very fickle to want him executed, we’ve all called members of that club far worse – haven’t we?

The one thing that gets me about this is the name of the group behind the protest “Where Has Our Arsenal Gone?” – as if to say that Arsenal has been stolen from the fans, its not like organisations like AST and their close work with the board and schemes like Arsenal Fanshare which were set-up only last year are around. Fans will always have a close relationship with how Arsenal is run, Stan Kroenke is a backseat owner from reports and his US sports teams have not been run differently under his ownership. I can only imagine a new scheme like Fanshare and relationships with AST will be secure for future generations. Overall, the name bothers me, its too blunt for a protest so shallow, its understandable that these people are angry at raised prices, but the name almost tries to generate more media coverage as if to say the board are running Arsenal incorrectly and are stealing it from the supporters instead of just uproar over paying more.

I withhold anybodies right to protest, however, a march through the streets to me should be a last resort, I doubt anyone with the responsibility of this group has contacted the board beforehand to raise issues and awareness for their issues. This seems like a knee-jerk reaction to a rise in prices that is needed to compete with the best who have their fortunes paid for by a rich ‘sugar daddy’ from a far away land. We complain that our cheap squad isn’t on the level as a Manchester United or Chelsea, two clubs bankrolled by wealthy owners like the Glazers and Roman Abramovich and then complain when the board try their best to increase revenue to compete without the need for a wealthy owner to steal the club away from the fans. Lets be frank, you have to be wealthy to support Arsenal today in this stadium, it would be a bitter pill to swallow if we were English Champions, but we’re not its a shame, but how many of you protestors will pair the extra money to see Arsenal?

I’ll leave you with a great closing paragraph from fellow blogger Le Grove:

“Globalisation of football is inevitable… if you want tradition, you’ll have to find another sport. For all the eulogizing about the game way back when… you did get what you paid for. Terracing was fun, but football violence wasn’t. Paying a tuppence for a ticket was value for money, seeing people throw bananas at black players was not. Knowing that you were likely to see your favourite players down the local after was nice… but seeing the power, pace and skill we have now is far more enjoyable.”

The painful end to a painful season.

A season should end at 38 games, but at 34 games this season (as for now) is certainly over. A 2-1 defeat to Bolton means that we are 9 points behind United with 12 points to play for.

So what happens now? Where do we go from here? Well here’s what I propose:

Firstly, we need to sell some players like Almunia, Eboue, Denilson, Rosicky etc. they’re not Arsenal players, and never will be. Secondly, we need to buy some new players that can keep leads or make the team change their style when Plan A doesn’t work. Me and a friend of mine agreed that we need to purchase: Mertesacker, Parker and Kevin Doyle.

Mertesacker is a proven defender who got the semi-finals in the most recent World Cup, he’s tall and would be the perfect partner to Thomas Vermaelen or Johan Djourou. People have asked for Gary Cahill but look at the FA Cup Semi-Final, he was murdered under pressure: like half the Arsenal defence.

Scott Parker is the Player of the Year and if West Ham stay up, its all down to him, at 4-0 to Arsenal I find myself more comfortable with him holding the midfield than Diaby. Also he’s that experienced head who has played in the Premiership all his life.

Kevin Doyle is an odd choice, however, according to Express & Star (the local Wolverhampton newspaper) we were in for him last Summer. Doyle is the work horse of the Wolves team and also an out and out goalscorer (who only scores less because he is in the Wolves team). Besides, even if we don’t get Doyle, Vela has shown he can poach goals.

But what do I know? I’m not our Lord and Master.