WALCOTT - which position is best etc?

[the moog]

Whilst there is never a player bigger than the club, I do think Theo would be very useful and better kept than sold.

Tonight was an example where The Ox had a very poor game by his standards, and our other right wing option Gervinho was being used up front.

So Theo would be a plus if he played for longer than the 20 minutes he got.
One idea though; if Sagna comes back to good form, might Jenkinson be tried right midfield?

really, he's shown that given any longer he's crap. he came on last night when the greeks were shot. could you really see him doing that in the first half?.

you say he's worth keeping but at what price? his contract would be worth at least £8million and he's just not worth that. people need to realise that the lad will never be the player he was hyped to be.

you need to start delivering at 23 and he ain't

[augie]

Whilst there is never a player bigger than the club, I do think Theo would be very useful and better kept than sold.

Tonight was an example where The Ox had a very poor game by his standards, and our other right wing option Gervinho was being used up front.

So Theo would be a plus if he played for longer than the 20 minutes he got.
One idea though; if Sagna comes back to good form, might Jenkinson be tried right midfield?

really, he's shown that given any longer he's crap. he came on last night when the greeks were shot. could you really see him doing that in the first half?.

you say he's worth keeping but at what price? his contract would be worth at least £8million and he's just not worth that. people need to realise that the lad will never be the player he was hyped to be.

you need to start delivering at 23 and he ain't

And this is the point I keep making - if you keep him as a squad player then you must pay him squad player wages and I would suggest that would be about 40k per week less than he is looking for and he aint gonna accept that Personally this whole situation has me scratching my head........if he dont sign a new contract in the summer then you either sell him in august for a decent amount or you hold onto him in the hope you can persuade him to stay but then leaving him on the subs bench for all but 20 minutes aint gonna do that Now unless we give in to his ridiculous demands he will walk away for free or for fcuk all money and we will have been screwed over badly and it will be our (the clubs) faulty entirely but I would still seel the over-hyped little shite

[SteveO 35]

I'll give the lad some credit for once - he looked good when he came on last night. Very sharp and just what we needed at that stage of the game

He's no centre forward, but if Gervinho can command a place in that position and we only have the dynamic duo of the French Lee Chapman and the Moroccan Tommy Cooper to fall back on, then we might as well give him half a dozen games up there. At least he's got a bloody turn of pace

[Redsenga1]

Theo is now on the X factor singing for a contract

[Gunnerz4life]

I'll give the lad some credit for once - he looked good when he came on last night. Very sharp and just what we needed at that stage of the game

He's no centre forward, but if Gervinho can command a place in that position and we only have the dynamic duo of the French Lee Chapman and the Moroccan Tommy Cooper to fall back on, then we might as well give him half a dozen games up there. At least he's got a bloody turn of pace

Given the fact that the Ox have been struggling with form of late, it wouldn't be the worst decision to start with Pod, Forehead and Theo as the front 3, specially for the home games. All 3 of them can interchange positions and play down the middle from time to time.

[supergeorgegraham]

I have said it before and I will say it again. I like Walcott and I dont want him to leave. His finish yesterday was class and he brings that pace into a game that more often than not makes a difference (from the subs bench)
I think his overall game will keep improving and with this midfield he can keep getting better.
Its up to AFC and Walcott to sort this out but I am a fan if many on here are not. Yes he frustrates and plays badly at times but he also plays well and scores important goals.

[hugh jardon]

really, he's shown that given any longer he's crap. he came on last night when the greeks were shot. could you really see him doing that in the first half?.

you say he's worth keeping but at what price? his contract would be worth at least £8million and he's just not worth that. people need to realise that the lad will never be the player he was hyped to be.

you need to start delivering at 23 and he ain't

If, as you say, his contract would cost "at least £8 million" surely that is reason enough to sign him - who on earth would replace him for £8m inclusive of transfer fees and wages?!!

You say "people need to realise hat the lad will never be the player he was hyped to be" which may be true but the media hype any young player, it is up to the spporters to be intelligent enough to cast their own judgement and expectancy on a player. Or do you blindly believe everything you read in the press?!

Your last line "You need to start delivering at 23 and he ain't" is hilarious - 2010/11 he scored 13 goals, 2011/12 he scored 11 goals plus 12 assists! Also 4 goals already this season where he has only started one game thus far. In total this 23 year old has already scored 46 first team goals for Arsenal! What more do you want? He has regularly expressed his desire to become more consistant in the press, and every season he has shown a definite improvement in his final ball and finishing.

I have defended Theo to the hilt on this forum but I am concerned with Theo's stance on playing up front - it obviously undermines Wenger as manager. And if it is true he wants to be played as a striker, how many chances does he want if it doesn't work? Does he expect AW to play him there indefinitely until it does work to the detrement of the team's results? Also it would set a precedent for other players - imagine for example Vermaelen demanding to play as striker too!

I have read fans saying he should be given a chance up front, but surely the same fans would soon be calling for both AW's and Theo's heads to roll if it ended in failure?

[donaldo]

really, he's shown that given any longer he's crap. he came on last night when the greeks were shot. could you really see him doing that in the first half?.

you say he's worth keeping but at what price? his contract would be worth at least £8million and he's just not worth that. people need to realise that the lad will never be the player he was hyped to be.

you need to start delivering at 23 and he ain't

If, as you say, his contract would cost "at least £8 million" surely that is reason enough to sign him - who on earth would replace him for £8m inclusive of transfer fees and wages?!!

You say "people need to realise hat the lad will never be the player he was hyped to be" which may be true but the media hype any young player, it is up to the spporters to be intelligent enough to cast their own judgement and expectancy on a player. Or do you blindly believe everything you read in the press?!

Your last line "You need to start delivering at 23 and he ain't" is hilarious - 2010/11 he scored 13 goals, 2011/12 he scored 11 goals plus 12 assists! Also 4 goals already this season where he has only started one game thus far. In total this 23 year old has already scored 46 first team goals for Arsenal! What more do you want? He has regularly expressed his desire to become more consistant in the press, and every season he has shown a definite improvement in his final ball and finishing.

I have defended Theo to the hilt on this forum but I am concerned with Theo's stance on playing up front - it obviously undermines Wenger as manager. And if it is true he wants to be played as a striker, how many chances does he want if it doesn't work? Does he expect AW to play him there indefinitely until it does work to the detrement of the team's results? Also it would set a precedent for other players - imagine for example Vermaelen demanding to play as striker too!

I have read fans saying he should be given a chance up front, but surely the same fans would soon be calling for both AW's and Theo's heads to roll if it ended in failure?

£8m you having a laugh? The club have offered him £75k a week for 5 years that works out at 3.9m a year and a total of over £19m.Yes £19m and he want £100k a week(£25m over 5 years )
He will go for free next summer and some mug(Liverpool) will give him what he wants

[QuartzGooner]

None of us know what the club have offered and what Theo wants, or indeed what Theo's agent tells Theo he should be worth.

Just because the papers have got hold of a figure does not mean it is true.

I have also read a suggestion that there is no problem with the wages, it is the image rights that are the sticking point.

[SteveO 35]

I couldn't give a shit about what the papers say or whatever stupid rumours are around regarding wage demands (by the way Diaby's wages have reached 350k per week since I've been posting this morning and Newcastle have just gone 5-4 up with a goal that he was to blame for), image rights etc

What is - FACT - is that we have yet another player who is supposedly a key member of the squad running down his contract and who will be sold at a significant discount to his perceived proper transfer value. How on earth can anyone defend Gazidis and his bunch of 'commercial negotiators' in this regard. I can't think of any other team that have allowed this to happen with such regularity - it really is becoming a sick joke now. Gazidis out

[mcdowell42]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/ ... ar-1364655

[augie]

I will be one seriously pissed off individual if we give this guy anywhere close to 100k per week If some gobshites are stupid enough to believe that a good 15mins yesterday comes close to justifying keeping him on even 75k per week then they are deluded Now we are led to believe that the problem is image rights ?? When you are an average football then your image would be fairly shot to shite anyway

[SteveO 35]

I will be one seriously pissed off individual if we give this guy anywhere close to 100k per week If some gobshites are stupid enough to believe that a good 15mins yesterday comes close to justifying keeping him on even 75k per week then they are deluded Now we are led to believe that the problem is image rights ?? When you are an average football then your image would be fairly shot to shite anyway

By the same token mate, don't you think its somewhat laughable that we put up with a guy for six years of mostly shocking performances and then just as he starts to show potential (last season and now) we have this ludicrous situation AGAIN of a fucking player running their contract down

I beg anyone out there to give me an example of another club that allow this to happen as often as we do

[Glitch33]

The frequent running down of contracts at Arsenal is surely down to players wanting to see the squad improve - as promised by Wenger - and more chance of winning something.

If we were winning trophies this would not be happening.

[Its Up 4 Grabs Now]

I will be one seriously pissed off individual if we give this guy anywhere close to 100k per week If some gobshites are stupid enough to believe that a good 15mins yesterday comes close to justifying keeping him on even 75k per week then they are deluded Now we are led to believe that the problem is image rights ?? When you are an average football then your image would be fairly shot to shite anyway

Logically speaking that should be the case. But for some reason Walcott's "marketability" is still pretty valuable to the "Arsenal brand" - both in this country and, seemingly even more so, internationally. The club do seem to use him for a lot of their PR & branding exercises. Not saying I'm bothered by any of that or that it makes him worth £100k a week in my book, but in the footballing world we live in this seems to be the way things work so it's not beyond the realms of possibility.

To think that we could easily have got £15m or so (& probably more) had we sold Walcott this summer - only £7m less than the guaranteed fee we got for Van Bollockcunt - and yet we're prepared to risk writing that off while not doing the same with a bonafide world-class talent is truly baffling though. Even in the penny-pinching world of Arsenal 2012 the maths doesn't really add up when you compare the relatively minimal financial risk of doing things the other way round (shifting Theo, keeping Van Buttpirate) with the respective contributions of both players. Even more so now that Wenger doesn't even consider Walcott a first-team regular. Bizarro World.