A Message for the Boss (2/7)

[gooner.ed]

http://www.onlinegooner.com/exclusive/index.php?id=664

usual thread starter... “Look back at the ‘Invincibles’ - the core of the team, Campbell, Cole, Keown, Parlour were loyal leaders of men and British.â€

[Galasso]

The article asks for more British/English players to rally the troops then harks back to the days of Adams and VIEIRA! Love it!

As for Gareth Barry, there are many factors to consider. Would he fit into the current style of play? Is he worth £16m?

All this bollocks and nonsense about this "British" grit is a smokescreen - the plain fact is we don't have enough good fit players to compete. If the team are good enough, then they're strong enough. Bolton away last year 2-0 down. pissing with rain, down to 10 men.....

Leaders all over the pitch is what are needed - those who produce consistent high performances and contribute to the team.

[NBN]

How can anyone put 'cole' and 'loyal' in he same sentence. Agree with galasso about the whole 'british grit' argument, just look at the passionless bunch of bottlejobs that make up the England national side, give me eleven Kolo Toure's anyday.

[Number 5]

Sidetracking onto ed's point. No way is Barry worth £16mil. Not by a long shot. I feel he's good enough to play for the big boys but we shouldn't be spending crazy money like that, even if we had it to spend. Two foreigners for me.

[Redexpress]

I think the price tag for Barry speaks volumes. He may be an "established premiership player", but so is Robbie Savage!

I cant help repeating myself but we were only a beaten to the title by a couple of bad results, and knocked out of the CL on the back of some dodgy decisions.

You cant argue with the the success of the new stadium that the club is being run well.

we need 2 or 3 good players in, and a bit of luck with injuries and we wont be a kick in the arse away next season.

now that cesc has had the sweet taste, and only acummulated a couple of matches of playing time, he will be ready for action on 16th august.

hopefully we will have the prem league in the bag and can rest a few players before the CL final, when we face utd and chelsea at the end of next season.

[arobba]

A load of defeatist crap full of inconsistencies.... about the norm for a lot of 'fan' views this close season.

[Trevheff]

For me the difference last season was that we had a real "In your face" presence is the centre of the park and a player who continued to work and cajole all around him even when the chips were down. For me the first time we've had that since Vieira departed. The player in question wasn't English, his name was Mathieu Flamini and we've allowed him to leave. You can call him disloyal and mercenary for chasing the money in Milan, but had we paid him a bit more (not that I'm saying we should be held to ransom) I have no doubt that he would have put in as much effort as he did last season and I would have been more than happy.

How much extra did Flamini want a week? Was it £10,000? £20,000? Was his demand that unrealistic? He was hardly one of the highest paid players to start with and he wasn't asking for stupid money (in footballing terms of course). It's decisions like this one which make me question the Board and their logic and gives real credence to Dominic's article. For me Flamini was one of, if not the player of the season last year. What transfer fee would be needed to replace him? If we shelled out a few million, what guarantees are there that the new player would be as effective as Flamini? Keep Flamini, pay a bit more in wages, keep the side together and the momentum going, save on a big transfer fee and take away the gamble of trying to intergrate a new face.

Are the Board out of date? Are they naive to the 'new' world of football? There is a balance to be kept granted, but our off the field thinking still needs to adapt and I believe our inability to do this is hampering the team.

[neamman]

I think its quite clear the money is there is AW wants. He has faith in his team. I would like to see a proven English player to be honest .. but who? I cant think of one available who could improve on what we have except perhaps Robert Green?

[barnetgooner]

"we need is a bully of a striker like Drogba, Crouch or David Villa"... who have Villa or Crouch ever bullied? And how do you suggest we buy Drogba off Chelski?
"a bustly centre -midfielder like Bouba Diop, Diagne Faye or Marcos Senna"... Bouba Diop possibly but why is Senna any different to Gilberto?
"a playmaker with a bit of guile like David Silva or Rafael Van Der Vaart"... as you mention yourself, I've heard we might be signing some player called Nasri...

You say we need British players and players with Premiership experience but the only name you mention who fits the bill is Peter Crouch... is he really going to inspire the team on a rainy night in Hull? If you can suggest a British player worth buying then go ahead, but it's totally pointless trotting out the old "we need English players...loyalty...mental strength...commitment...blah blah blah" stuff without suggesting anyone.

I agree it would probably be a good idea to get some experienced players in to help the youngsters develop, but again, most of the players you mention (Villa, Van der Vaart, Silva etc) are just as young as the players we have already.

Admittedly, the Flamini contract should've been dealt with a lot better, but why are you believing all the crap about AFC not paying high enough wages? Established world-class players like Gallas, Henry, Ljungberg, Pires, Vieira have been paid world-class wages. The problems we've had were with the likes of Cashley and Adebayor who think they're more important and experienced than they actually are.

And you ask "Why get rid of David Dein?"; I think him selling his shares to a corrupt ManU-supporting oligarch who wants to takeover the club even though the club, as you point out, is making enough money as it is, may have something to do with it...

[QuartzGooner]

Grit is not just British..but it is needed.

sagna, Toure, clichy, Cesc all have it.

What we need is more strength in depth, so that the players are not exhausted by February.

That was a big problem last season, Cesc, Hleb, Adebayor and Flamini were playing on empty by the end.

[DavrosG]

Hleb was running on empty after villa park - he wont be a great loss if he goes.

Some nonsense in that article bullying strikers - like adebayor? Or Bendtner?

You cant even compare senna and dioup its a total insult senna may play deeper but he's also a playmaker dioup is a destroyer and an average one at that!

As for Silva being a play-maker you have to be joking the guy is a winger and why do we need a play maker anyway, cesc fabregas anyone?!

[Sammy Mooner]

Why get rid of David Dein? Mr Arsenal, a close ally of Wenger and transfer negotiator extraordinaire.

The same with Keith Edelman. Was he pushed? I don’t think he jumped.

Why won’t Mr Hill-Wood take a step back? He’s getting on a bit.

If Dein was so fecking wonderful why did he piss off with £40m plus from the Club? He did well for the Club, but his has been the biggest nose in the Arsenal trough. Now he's a nobody wanting to foist an unsavoury predator onto us who has no interest in football and only gives a sh*t about money.

Edelman wasn't into football, he did well enough for the Club at a particular time but what we need now is someone who knows and cares about our core business.

Hill-Wood will step back soon enough I feel, but right now I get the impression that none of our board want the Chairman's job.

[QuartzGooner]

Why get rid of David Dein? Mr Arsenal, a close ally of Wenger and transfer negotiator extraordinaire.

The same with Keith Edelman. Was he pushed? I don’t think he jumped.

Why won’t Mr Hill-Wood take a step back? He’s getting on a bit.

If Dein was so fecking wonderful why did he piss off with £40m plus from the Club? He did well for the Club, but his has been the biggest nose in the Arsenal trough. Now he's a nobody wanting to foist an unsavoury predator onto us who has no interest in football and only gives a sh*t about money.

Edelman wasn't into football, he did well enough for the Club at a particular time but what we need now is someone who knows and cares about our core business.

Hill-Wood will step back soon enough I feel, but right now I get the impression that none of our board want the Chairman's job.

Hill-Wood is Chairman, not merely a stuffed suit, but he is more of an overview/long term planner than a day to day nuts n bolts man;

Says the occasional statement to the press,

Attends opening/closing ceremonies,

Attends the odd Chairman's meeting,

and gets consulted on major matters.

Other than that he is semi-retired and it is Fiszmann, Roger Carr, Ken Friar, David Miles and Arsene Wenger who are more involved on a day to day basis.

[donaldo]

For me the difference last season was that we had a real "In your face" presence is the centre of the park and a player who continued to work and cajole all around him even when the chips were down. For me the first time we've had that since Vieira departed. The player in question wasn't English, his name was Mathieu Flamini and we've allowed him to leave. You can call him disloyal and mercenary for chasing the money in Milan, but had we paid him a bit more (not that I'm saying we should be held to ransom) I have no doubt that he would have put in as much effort as he did last season and I would have been more than happy.

How much extra did Flamini want a week? Was it £10,000? £20,000? Was his demand that unrealistic? He was hardly one of the highest paid players to start with and he wasn't asking for stupid money (in footballing terms of course). It's decisions like this one which make me question the Board and their logic and gives real credence to Dominic's article. For me Flamini was one of, if not the player of the season last year. What transfer fee would be needed to replace him? If we shelled out a few million, what guarantees are there that the new player would be as effective as Flamini? Keep Flamini, pay a bit more in wages, keep the side together and the momentum going, save on a big transfer fee and take away the gamble of trying to intergrate a new face.

I have said before the Flamini saga was a complete shambles by the board and Wenger.To let Flamini"s contract run in to its last year was a joke.And to buy a suitable replacement was going to cost much more than it would have cost to pay Flamini.What Flamini did last season was to allow Fabregas the freedom to get forward and score a career best 13 goals.To make matters worse we sold Diarra who would have been an ideal replacement for Flamini.Does anyone do any planning ahead at Arsenal?

[26may1989]

That article/letter is the single biggest piece of crap I've seen the Gooner publish for a long time. Did it really deserve to be published, when it's so obviously full of mistakes and misunderstandings? For example, David Villa, a bully of a striker like Drogba? Has Dominic actually seen Villa (or Drogba) play??

Or the supposed core of the Invincibles including Keown and Parlour. Parlour did ok in terms of appearances, with 27 starts and 12 sub appearances, but could not be said to be at the core of the squad that year. But Keown made just 8 starts and 7 sub appearances!!

And christ almighty knows what videos of Pete Sampras's old matches at Wimbledon or Roland Garros have to do with anything, other than Old Mrs Sampras's collection of momentos.

There are many other mistakes in this article - some have already been picked up but I don't blame anyone for not trying to deal with all of them, there are so many, it would take too long to point them all out.

For fuck's sake, Dominic, if you're going to "speak on behalf of the fans" (you muppet), get your facts right, or at least a few of them.

It's fools like this, and their ill-informed talk of needing to change the manager, that really get on my tits. (That does not apply to all criticism of the club or Wenger - some of the critics actually know what they're talking about.)