Is Arsenal FC a selling club?

Well if it walks like a duck, quack like duck then it must be duck, the behavior of Arsenal over the past couple years will suggest that we are very much a selling club, the club is behaving like a stock broker, buy low sell high and players are the commodity. For the past several years Arsenal have been buying cheap, young unknown talented players then invest very heavily into their development turning them into world class play makers  in demand football stars then selling them to the highest bidder. Because of this Arsenal is in a state of perpetual rebuilding simply since we continue to sell players that make up the core of the squad, players we should build the squad around. The problem is, "if a player wants to leave, there is very little the club can do to stop that player" and in this world of crazy money players are going to come up with rubbish every reason under the sun to justify them leaving instead of admitting they are leaving for more money. Arsenal’s financial guidelines makes perfect business sense but in today’s footballing world does not make much footballing sense.

Most of the players who left Arsenal leave because of money, with maybe the exception of Cesc Fabregas who I truly believe just wanted to return to his beloved Barcelona and if I am not mistaken took a pay cut to do so, however Barcelona only wanted him after Arsenal made him the player he is today, we gave him that chance to shine and Cesc Fabregas used Arsenal as a stepping stone back to Barcelona, I believe it was always his intention to leave since day one. It is now being reported that Alex Song might be leaving Arsenal for Barcelona and by the time you read this, it may already have been a done deal but here is a player who came to Arsenal when he was 17 for only £2.75m. He is now world renowned in demand Master Midfielder and once again Arsenal might be losing another one of their best players and its back to the drawing board, building and rebuilding like Fraggles in Fraggle Rock.

If I am reading this correctly Wenger is saying the Song can leave because we have adequate cover in midfield but having adequate is not the issue, the real issue here is having the best cover and the best man for the job is Song. Most of the players he listed only play if Song is injured or having a bad day... They are good but not as good a play maker like Alexandre Dimitri Song Billong .

Our Rivals are winning trophies simply because we keep selling our best players to them, last season I looked at Manchester City celebrate winning the title and all I saw was former Arsenal players lifting the trophy.

Summer Clearance Sale:
It seems almost every summer the big rich clubs (Barcelona, Chelsea, Manu and Man City, Real, Inter) line up at Arsenal’s gate waiting to buy our players like buyers at Billingsgate fish market. To them Arsenal is like a summer garage sale with quality merchandise to sell. During the transfer window Arsenal is targeted, I see no other club being targeted as much as Arsenal FC. These big rich clubs are happy when Arsenal buy cheap, young underdeveloped players because they know in a couple years’ time these players will be well trained, fully developed, become master of their craft and cheap.

A question was asked of me as to "why Arsenal is targeted more than any of the other club". The simple answer is because of Arsenal’s financial guidelines, we are cheaper than the big rich clubs and we produce top quality players which makes us the center of market activities. It is not hard to lure our players away, it is very easy. Players who are at Arsenal now are at Arsenal because the Big Rich Clubs have not yet come a calling. The days of club loyalty by players is over and young players come to Arsenal because Arsenal have a reputation of turning young unknown players into in demand football masters, it is the best place to develop. Arsenal FC is being used by young players as a stepping stone and by big rich clubs as a source of cheap developed talent and all because of our Financial Guidelines which by the way is Good for the Club business wise.

Cesc Fàbregas joined Arsenal at Age 16 in 2003 because he believed he would have limited opportunities if he stayed at Barcelona, became Arsenal Captain in 2008, left Arsenal went back to Barcelona in 2011 for an initial fee of £35m, he was making £110,000 a week at Arsenal.

Robin Van Persie joined Arsenal in 2004 for £2.75 million, he became Arsenal Captain in 2011 and leave Arsenal for Manchester United for £24million after that club agreed to pay him a weekly wages of £250,000, £12.2m-a-year, Arsenal had offered him £130,000-a-week but that was not good enough. What really bothers me is not that we sold RVP but that we sold RVP to a top 4 rival like Manchester United or to any club in in the Premiere League. If Wayne Rooney wanted away from Manu, would Alex Ferguson sell him to Arsenal...? I think not!!!! RVP should been sold to another country, in another league... The fact that he is still playing in the Premiere League and at Man United is just disgusting and an insult to all Arsenal supporters.

Samir Nasri Joined Arsenal in 2008 for a fee of £12 million, reason for joining “Arsène Wenger gives great opportunities to young players”. In 2011 he transferred to Manchester City for a fee of £25 million cursing Manager, club and supporters on his way out and doubling his weekly wages to £175,000.

Gail Clichy Joined Arsenal in 2003 at the age of 16, in 2011 Clichy joined Manchester City for a fee of £7 million, Clichy’s salary increased from £58,000, excluding bonuses, to over £90,000 a week.

Kolo Toure Joined Arsenal in 2002, for a fee of £150,000, in 2009 he joined Manchester City for a fee of £16 million and then helped them secure the services of his Brother Yaya from Barcelona. In 2010 Kolo Toure was the world’s third highest paid defender with £470,000 per month, totaling £5.5 million per annum.

Ashley Cole was created by Arsenal, emerging from the youth system to become one of the best defenders. Cole has a nose for smelling cash and quickly picked up the scent from Stamford Bridge. At least he was somewhat honest enough to admit that he left for the money after demanding £60,000 a week Arsenal only offered him £55,000 a week. Later he signed for Chelsea for £90,000 a week and to add insult to injury they threw in that whining Bitch William Gallas and the dressing room was never the same again.

Mathieu Flamini Joined Arsenal on a free Transfer and left Arsenal on a Free Transfer even after the club offered him £50,000 a week to sign an extension contract. He joined AC Milan who offered him double the amount, he never realized his full potential after leaving Arsenal.

Alexander Hleb Joined Arsenal in 2005, played some good football in 2007-2008 then jumped shipped for the great Barcelona for £11.9 million he then fell off the face of the footballing world.

Emmanuel Adebayor Joined Arsenal in 2006 for £3 million, in 2009 Adebayor transferred to Manchester City for a fee of £25million and a weekly wage of £170,000.


Alex Song completed his £15m move to Barcelona from Arsenal. Song, who had two years left on his contract, joined Arsenal as a 17-year-old from French side Bastia in 2005.He initially arrived on a one-year loan deal, with a £2.75m fee agreed to make the move permanent. However Song has found first-team opportunities at Barcelona hard to come by and now wants to leave.

Theo Walcott will get a special mention here even though he is still with the club for now. Rumor has it they he refuses to sign a new contract, yes Theo!! Here is a player who use to trip over his own legs, it got to the point where most Arsenal supporters wanted him gone, he was not making an impact like Fàbregas and would totally melt in front of goal but the Club and the Manager did what they do best, invest in the development of the player and now that the player is making an impact he wants more money or else he is away? Walcott is demanding a wage hike, from his current weekly salary of £60,000 to £100,000 however it is reported that Arsenal is offering an increase of £80,000-a-week and i expect him to laugh in their faces and walk, if not this season then next.

Is Arsenal FC A club without Ambition?
The idea that Arsenal Football Club is a club without Ambition is total rubbish, unless you measure ambition by the amount of crazy money you are willing to throw around and how much debt the club can acquire. Above is just a small sample of the quality players Arsenal and Wenger brought to the club, they are good, quality world class players and the club invested in their development but they all left questioning the clubs ambition to sign quality players, they were the quality players and was entrusted to win us titles. They complain that they want trophies, they who are entrusted to score goals and win matches.

As Agent86 said to me …. “I also feel that the players who leave have no spine. What bigger challenge (or way to pay back the faith the manager had in you) than to stick around and win trophies? Taking the easy way out and jumping ship makes you a weaker character to me than chasing more money, even if it is your right to do so“…. And I totally agree with him.


The Real Sugar Mac Daddies of the English Premiere League

At the root of the problem is financing and it all started when British owners decided to cash in and cash in big. This started what is now known as the Sugar Daddy Syndrome as clubs that had problems mastering traditional squad building techniques decided to just throw in the towel and throw money at the problem. All previous attempts at squad building failed so they decided to sell the club to the richest Sugar Daddy they could find who would then proceed to throw crazy money at players as if they were precious metals, (classless new money types are the preferred choice) . The price of players began to sky rocket like the price of Gold and Oil.



Difference between Real Investors and Playboy Owners:
Real financial investors invest in a business, they invest to make a profit and the actual business though important is not their primary goal, the club they purchase is a means to a financial end. They make decisions to maximize their profit margin and those decisions may or may not be in the best interest of the club and they will never put the clubs interest above their own. The owners of Manchester United and Liverpool fall into this category.

To a mega rich playboy there is no difference between purchasing a club, a mega yacht or a fleet of Lamborghinis, they all hold equal value and provide equal source of enjoyment, they are just play things to enjoy until they no longer add any enjoyment to their lives. They do not buy these entities to make money, money is not their problem the fact is, they have so much money coming in and not enough time to spend it or things to spend it on. To them buying a club is just another way to throw around excess cash on weekend hobby, turning cash into capital assets. The owners of Manchester City and Chelsea fall into this category.

Not all of the Sugar Daddy ventures worked out, some clubs and fans were tricked into believing that they were getting a Sugar Daddy to beat all Sugar Daddies who would start throwing crazy money around but instead ended up with owners who just drag their clubs deeper and deeper into debt.

The first real Sugar Mac Daddy was Roman “Macadocious “ Abramovich who bankrolled Chelsea Football Club, the 68th richest person in the world, with an estimated fortune of US$12.1 billion and he was not afraid to transfer large amount of his funds from his personal Bank account into the clubs Bank account.

Players all over the world began to pick up the scent of money and the market became a feeding frenzy, loyalty to club, fans and country was now a thing of the past as players began to shout that now famous line from the movie Jerry Maguire …..”Show Me the Money!!!” to their Managers.

Some clubs, fans and players saw what Chelsea FC had achieved and declared that they wanted some of that but Sugar Mac Daddies like Abramovich are hard to come by. Clubs were sold to people and groups they perceived as Free Spending Macs only to end up with owners who are not idiots but money grubbing business men acting in their own self interest.

Manchester United owners the Glazer families are not interested in throwing vulgar crazy money into a club and in fact spend more time taking money out of the club. The club is in debt up to their eyeballs, to the amount of $530 million and it is getting worst every day, plus floating the clubs shares on the New York Stock Exchange is going the same direction as Facebook, down, down, down. The Glazer family does not exist to serve Manchester United but Manchester United exists to serve the Glazer family.




Liverpool FC also thought they got themselves two Free Spending Mac Daddies in owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett. But Hicks and Gillett loaded the club with debt causing unmanageable debt management problems. In 2011 British MPs was warned by one of UEFA’s most senior officials, that Liverpool FC’s debt (the club is £350m in debt) problems brought them within hours of administration.

Only one other club achieved the Chelsea like Sugar Mac Daddy status and that is Manchester City Football Club. City was acquired by the Abu Dhabi United Group a United Arab Emirates (UAE) private equity company owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family and Minister of Presidential Affairs for the UAE (cha ching!!!), they also manage oil reserves worth an estimated $1trillion (£555billion).

Manchester City has reported an annual loss of £194.9m for 2010-11, the biggest in English football history but since owners are allowed to spend their vast fortunes on their clubs this means nothing when that owner is the Abu Dhabi United Group, I suspect Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan spends that amount in a week on cars.

And Again!!! … Players all over the world began to pick up the scent of money but instead of Stamford Bridge their hound dog like noses are pointing towards the North of England to Manchester City and again to justify them jumping ship, bailing on their fans and club they then turned around and accused their club of not having any ambition. It is very clear how they define ambition, if you cannot pay me what Manchester City, Barcelona or Chelsea is offering then clearly you have no ambition, you are a bum!





The current financial system is not sustainable for the vast majority of clubs, they do not have unlimited amount of funds to enter this crazy market, they cannot rack up debt year after year. This is a bubble like the housing bubble, this is a footballing bubble and it will burst if something is not done to normalize the market. European governing body Uefa’s Financial Fair Play regulations mean all clubs must restrict their losses between 2013 and 2015 to just £38m and Clubs which fail to comply with Uefa's new financial fair play rules could face player bans and points deductions.

“Breaching the regulations could be forced to cut their squads if they continue to buy players while recording such losses, adding that Uefa might exclude teams from European competition altogether if infringements are particularly severe.”

Only time will tell how this will end, I fear something drastic must happen to force clubs to think and act sensibly. It is only when a top four club goes into administration will the clubs wake up and burst the bubble bringing these players back down to earth.

TOP PREMIER LEAGUE WAGE BILLS 2010-11

• Chelsea - £191m (up from £174m in 2009-10)
• Manchester City - £174m (£133m)
• Manchester United - £153m (£132m)
• Liverpool - £135m (£121m)
• Arsenal - £124m (£111m)

More about → Is Arsenal FC a selling club?

Players Come and Players Go but Arsenal is Forever

......Agent86

"I was gambling a lot at the time and the move to Boro doubled my wages, but the grass isn't always greener. I regretted it within a month. Arsenal was a phenomenal club."

"It is very difficult to stop players leaving if somebody offers them three times as much,"

he said, he felt it was time for "a new challenge"

Cole, having stated in the publicity for his book that he had been "fed to the sharks" and "hung out to dry", signed for Chelsea soon afterwards, earning a reported £90,000 a week

"We are not naive enough to think it is not linked to money," Wenger said in the days before the deal was completed. "He says he wants to stay, and if he goes somewhere else that means it is linked to what?"

"I can't get used to the chaotic way of life in London, where everyone is racing around 24 hours a day," Hleb himself said in July. "It is uncomfortable and I'm mentally tired."

The move was finally completed in August 2011, with Arsenal having accepted what Arsene Wenger described as a "reduced fee" as the midfielder had refused to countenance other offers.

For his part, Nasri described himself as "really happy" three days later when he completed the move, but Wenger was convinced that money had bought that happiness.

The common thread among most of the quotes above is that they all left for more money. Those that didn’t wanted out of the club regardless. Either we change our wage structure or we keep chancing that the right players will stay long enough to win us trophies before they turn 30. We can fault player or club/manager all we want. It’s just reality. We have a wage structure that should be respected for good or for bad. It’s what keeps us from FN up on a whim and buying a player for crazy money and then paying him crazy wages. It’s not going to happen. Arshavin comes to mind.

From a players’ perspective, if I know I’m not going to make the maximum at Arsenal when I turn 30, why would I stay unless my love for the club is extreme and genuine? It’s a two-way street. I’m not absolving Van Persie in anyway. Hell no! He handled that situation like a proper kont. And it won’t help to pay City-type wages. We’d go bankrupt. There’s a middle ground. We can find it if we really want to. I read a couple months ago that Gazidis is looking into restructuring the wages. Maybe when the current marketing deals run out we can renegotiate them to earn more and have more to pay the want-away stars. Yet I’m not sure that’s going to stop a player who really wants to leave from leaving but it’s a step in the “right” direction, I suppose.

The club also has to look at itself if we’re being honest. Why do so many very good to excellent players leave? Is it really all about money? For me it’s more about money than anything else but a good investigation explores all possible causes. We are truly at a crossroads. More so than any other point in the Wenger era!

I won’t be a hypocrite and deny a footballer or any employee their right to make as much as possible. Owners make obscene amounts of money so why shouldn’t the employee earn whatever he can? What I don’t care for is the way players lie through their stinking teeth about why they want to leave if it’s about more money. I have way more respect for the player that leaves because he can earn more and says so than the kont who says it’s not the money and then goes to earn double what we were paying.

One thing is for sure. If we win trophies, the sting from players leaving won’t hurt or last as long.

More about → Players Come and Players Go but Arsenal is Forever

The Real Backstabbers of Ashburton Grove

No one can blame the supporters of Arsenal Football Club for being angry, frustrated and feeling let down, this is like an yearly event, players we welcomed with open arms when they were nothing, supported them through their bad times with injuries and bad form only to be cursed out and insulted by them after just one good season, it is getting stale and so very predictable. I am very angry because Arsenal is not only losing a good player but another captain, a leader. I am hurt that leaving Arsenal can be so easy for these young mercenaries, while we sing and cry “I am Arsenal till I die” they plot and plan the time of their exit.

This is the reason why I do not have any players name printed on the back of any of my shirts who has not proven himself. If I had an Arsenal Jersey with Nasri or Van Persie written on the back I would take it into the backyard and burn it.

I am gutted by Robin Van Persie’s decision and the way he went about it, it seemed just when the squad was shaping up, becoming interesting his greed took over. Arsenal has developed some of the best players in the world today, most of these players did not come to Arsenal when they were at the top of their game, their development and achievement was due to the vision of Arsene Wenger and the coaching staff who have the ability to see something in a player and build on that. I am tired of the club being used as a stepping stone, players are treating themselves like stocks on the financial market, selling out when they are on a high.

As soon as these players reached a certain level of development, as soon as the world starts to take notice of them is when we find out the true nature and personality of that player and person. Arsenal FC wasted its time and money on players like Nasri, Clichy, Mathieu Flamini, Alexander Hleb, Emmanuel Adebayor, Captain Cesc Fàbregas and now Captain Robin Van Persie just to name a few, these are the real gold digging, back stabbers and Arsenal should put up a sign in the Stadium toilets titled “Gold Digging, Back Stabbers we should never have signed” and list them all, we should have left them where we found them. If these players want to see a real Arsenal supporter and player, a true legend then look no further than Thierry Henry.

Arsenal Greatest 50 Players

This is a new world order of Football, the age of the Bling where there is no such thing as honour, commitment and love anymore, no one wants to be a part of a squad from the ground up, to be a part of something great, everyone wants an instant trophy winning squad, the finest money can buy, these blingers are not fans or supporters of any club they play for, those days are long gone, there is nothing like the feeling of progressing with a squad, to go through thick and thin and finally to achieve glory, but this is the new world of football, The fu*k you pay me revolution is in full swing.

Van Persie said he does not like the direction the club is going without actually explaining what he means, just when I am beginning to like the direction the strike force was going with Van Persie leading the charge, I had high hopes and expectation for the coming season, we had options upfront.

I understand Arsene Wenger, we all do, we may not like some of the things he does but we know who Arsene Wenger is, we know what he is about. I personally do not want Arsenal to become one of those clubs that change their manager faster than it takes paint to dry. Wenger believes in a balance as well as honour and commitment, yes he is a man that is a bit out of touch with current times but his principles are sound.

Arsene Wenger does not believe a club should be in debt because it spends too much money in the transfer market and on weekly salary, he does not want to leave Arsenal Football Club in financial ruining and I believe he will quit the club before he starts throwing money around Willy Nilly but real Arsenal supporters are not asking the club to throw crazy money around, we are asking the club to fix the holes in the squad and we are amazed sometimes that the Manager does not see what we see. Arsenal have a stand by your man attitude even when that man is totally worthless and costing us trophies but when the Manager works with that man and he comes good then he is off, firing a salvo of insults towards the club and fans on his way out.

Arsenal Supporters wants the club to be a bit more dynamic when it comes to identifying and fixing problems as well as player selection and acquisition, we understand Arsenal may have to spend a bit more in today’s market. We would like to see a bigger squad with more options on the bench, our squad is way too lean compared to most other clubs.

Alisher Usmanov vs Arsenal Board
“Arsenal has for years prescribed that the club must live from its income, and no director or owner must put a penny into the club”

This is not a bad principle to have and in any other sector would show an entity with discipline and strong moral character. This concept can only work if everyone concerned buys into it, the problem is Arsenal is the only club playing this game.

“Alisher Usmanov states that the self-financing model is being paid for by the supporters while the shareholders reap the financial benefit”

Now that is just disgusting, if we are all in this together the shareholders must shoulder some of the burden.

“Uefa's "financial fair play" rules, due to be enforced from 2014-15, which view clubs' reliance on individual rich men as unstable, generally inflationary and not what football should be about”.

Simply put the days of the sugar daddy is at an end and the playing field should once again be leveled. However Arsenal FC is enforcing a rule that has not yet been implemented by Uefa, again Arsenal is the only club playing this game and suffering for it.

The news on the street is that Theo Walcott is also considering his future with Arsenal as he enters his final year of his current contract... Seems he gets 60k per week but he wants 100k like the City and Manu boys and instant trophies… I remember when this muppet could not find the back of the net and would trip over his own feet, now he is putting in a few thanks to Arsenal and wants the world.

In Jamaica we call people like these “wagonist” people who jump on the bandwagon, in this case these are people who hijack other people’s successful ride. Some goes to these sure-thing-clubs and celebrate victory even when they did nothing to achieve it but ride out the bench barely making an appearance. There are clubs out there who would purchase a player with no intention of playing him, so long as they deprive the opponents of his services.

More about → The Real Backstabbers of Ashburton Grove

Agent86: Arsenal FC and Robin van Persie

The following was written by a Friend, a Mentor and a Diehard Arsenal Supporter, Agent 86:

"Robin van Persie is looking at the next few years when he's 28, 29, 30; he thinks they [Arsenal] can't win trophies. You don't want to say it but you probably have to agree with him.'' Alan Smith

Alan Smith’s statement bothers me. Knowing that the board won’t be swayed by it bothers me more. No, I don’t want to spend irresponsibly or to upset our wage structure. I just want a powerful response to our (second consecutive former) captain’s actions that will send a crystal clear signal to all watching that Arsenal F.C. is nobody’s f*****g muppet.

Ideally, we’d have a long line of players who feel the same way as Arsene about throwing money at a problem, waiting for us to sign them. Sadly, there are far too few players of that ilk than what we need in order to properly address this latest player offensive quickly and painlessly. 

Robin van Persie’s situation is an affront to The Manager, to The Club, and let’s be clear, to the fans. Van Persie has had ONE full season with us. Granted, it’s all he’s needed to prove his class. He is a superior talent. But in comparison, Thierry Henry was as durable as they come. If robin’s eight years at the club had not been more absent than present I’d give him a pass. As it stands though the guy has trampled on the fans’ adoration for him. He has shyt on his own legacy. We got a boat load of goals and some happy moments in return but short of automatic CL qualification, what do those goals do for us now?

He looks like one who’s used words conveniently to elevate himself and his image to the fans while knowing the entire time that he was not going to sign a new contract. Some would say to get over it. That it is typical of the loyalty-challenged modern player but regardless, it is unacceptable!

What will our response be? How do we fix this?

Do we force a deal with the highest bidder, minus the two Manchester teams and Chelsea? If he’s set on joining Manchester City, as suspected, he probably will not care if PSG throws silly money at him. If we choose not to sell him to a rival, we’d probably have to keep him for the final year of his contract and accept that the situation would degrade over the course of the season – moreover, how do you trust a player who is not committed to your cause?  I also imagine that his agent would fear the worst (and surely not unprecedented scenario) that a serious injury occurs and his value diminishes.

If we play this right we can make a few people look pretty stupid.

A wiser man than I am has suggested selling Van Persie to Real Madrid for Higuain plus £10m. Not the worst idea! I’m really not sure how we handle it but it’s a blessing in disguise if done properly. It’s a chance to send that overdue message to the fans, to the league, to the football community, and to all players and their agents that we will NOT be f****d with.

More about → Agent86: Arsenal FC and Robin van Persie

The Arsenal and Premier League Season: 2011-2012

Manchester United vs. Manchester City

The final day of the 2011-2012 Premiere League season was one of the most exciting day of football I have experienced in a long time, this day would have been even more exciting if Arsenal was in Manchester City's position and Sp*urs was in QPR’s position and about to be regulated. It was a tense day filled with nail-biting drama that had everyone on the edge of their seats. The Premiere League Championship was decided by two goals in the last couple minutes of extra time. Growing up we use to say that the worst defeat was a 1-nill defeat but we have a new worst, the worst defeat is thinking you will be champion and to have it snatched away from you in the dying moments by your bitter, hated rival. That must have hurt, many Manchester United supporters must have cried themselves to sleep that night, that was brutal, like having your guts sucked out, gutted like a fish on international Television. The NHS will be handing out anti-depression tablets to Manchester United fans for a long time to come, every time they see the Manchester City colours which should be all over Manchester by now, they will curl up into the foetal position and cry like babies.

I did not want Manchester City to win the League only because of the ungrateful, traitorous ex-Arsenal players (Samir Nasri, Gael Clichy, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor (Now with the scums on loan)) that are now members of that squad, in particular Samir Nasri, I dislike him immensely and did not want him to win anything because of what he said about The Arsenal. Nasri used us as a stepping stone plain and simple and then had nothing good to say about us, after he left he turned around and spat on us, he will be forever hated. But he was right when he said he would lift the Premiere League Cup with Manchester City before Arsenal and he did. After lifting the cup he was quoted as saying that Arsenal should "celebrate their third-place achievement and I will focus on winning titles". … What a Scumbag!!!!

Joey Barton vs. The Demons in his Head

During the Manchester City vs. Queens Park Rangers match Carlos Tevez lashed out against Joey Barton punching him in the back of the head which started the mother of all Brawls, it was truly Joey Barton versus City as he tried to fight anyone who confronted him. I truly believe that if it was not for football Joey Barton would be serving 25 to life in one of the UK’s many prisons alongside his brother Michael Barton who was sentenced to life imprisonment (with a tariff of 17 years) for his involvement in the racially motivated murder of Anthony Walker in 2005.

So After elbowing Carlos Tevez in the face, Barton went on to kick Sergio Aguero and then head butted Vincent Kompany,thus completing a hat-trick of assaults in the space of about 5 minutes and even after that tried to engage the boy child Mario Balotelli. Watching Mario Balotelli race onto the field to confront Joey Barton was a joke, Balotelli is not a bad boy, he is more childlike, a man boy, an immature person who throws tantrums when he does not get his way. As much as I cannot stand a bone in Joey Barton’s body compare to Mario Balotelli, Joey is the real deal, bad to the bone, a first class lunatic who will fight anyone, anywhere anytime, he is borderline insane, a psychopath and as far as I am concern Barton should be in prison or will end up in prison one day.

However he would have wiped the floor with girly boy Mario Balotelli and I would have enjoyed watching that.

His career and life have been marked by numerous controversial incidents and disciplinary problems and he has been convicted twice on charges of violence. On 20 May 2008 he was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for common assault and affray during an incident outside a McDonald's restaurant in Liverpool City Centre. Barton served 77 days of this prison term, being released on 28 July 2008. On 1 July 2008 he was also given a four-month suspended sentence after admitting assault occasioning actual bodily harm on former teammate Ousmane Dabo during a training ground dispute on 1 May 2007. This incident effectively ended his Manchester City career. Barton has twice been charged with violent conduct by The FA: for the assault on Dabo and for punching Morten Gamst Pedersen in the stomach. He was twice fined by former club Manchester City for stubbing a lit cigar in the eye of young team-mate Jamie Tandy at a Christmas party - and for his involvement in an altercation with a 15-year-old Everton fan at City's team hotel in Bangkok during a pre-season tour.

Demonic Possession of Joey Barton!

In May 2005 he broke a 35-year-old pedestrian's leg while driving his car through Liverpool city centre at 2 am. He was arrested on suspicion of assault and criminal damage after an alleged argument with a taxi driver in Liverpool while going to his hotel after a match on 13 March 2007. He was cleared of this charge in May 2008.

And while all this was going on I have watched Pundits over the years defended Barton and his crazy ways, whenever the English want to make light of something nasty they prefix it with the words "The Lad" or "The Poor Lad". Make no Mistake Joey Barton is an English creation as they bend over more times than I can count to accommodate him and his crimes.

Diaby however was not having it!

Arsenal vs. the Scumbag, Spuds, Sp*rs

Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham (26th February, 2012)
 Arsenal 5-2 Tottenham (17th November 2012)

Again Arsenal was locked in bitter battle with their hated, disgusting troll like rivals the scumbags called Sp*rs, for most of the season we were struggling behind these douche bags but again we proved that they are truly the most worthless club in all of England, if not the world. St Totteringham's Day was declared on the last day of the season when Arsenal beat West Bromwich Albion to claim the third spot and regulate The Scums to the fourth position. For now they have a place in next seasons Champions League but if Chelsea wins the Champions League this season then the Spuds will be denied their place and all will be right with the world again.

The Blue energy of hope (Blue Lantern Corps ) has an infallible connection to the universe, let us all concentrate all our energies to keep hope alive and give Chelsea the strength to beat Bayern Munich and knock Sp*rs out of next seasons Champions League, after that happens then let’s hope Chelsea crash and burn for all eternity, never to win another match. The only decent player the Spuds have at the moment is the on-loan Emmanuel Adebayor who belongs to Manchester City and since City clearly do not need this idiot to win anything, Sp*urs would be fools not to splash out and buy the ungrateful, traitorous scumbag, both he and the Spuds are like two peas in a pod.

I was told by a Sp*rs supporter that Arsenal will forever be in their shadows and now I finally understand how he came to that conclusion, if the light source is behind the spuds and The Arsenal is in front of the spuds then this is the only way we could be in their nasty disgusting cold clammy shadows, we need to increase our distance from them and fast.

The Arsenal

I am not happy that we finished in the third position but I am relieved, this is not where a great Club like The Arsenal should be. I am not happy with our 2011-2012 performance, I am not happy with the state of the club, not happy with its direction, I am not happy with the size of the squad, it is way too small and does not provide sufficient cover and I am so not happy with the defense, they are not solid enough and play out of position way too often, too many times they were caught out looking at the scorer as he storms his way towards our goal with no one to stop him, we conceded way too much goals to lesser teams.

I am not too happy with Arsene Wenger at the moment, I do not understand why he seems happy with the current squad, happy that we finished third, happy to make marginal and mediocre gains, I do not understand why he is unable or unwilling to identify weakness in the squad and fix them, regardless of price. The current Arsenal squad is not yet a championship side these Gunners are Gun shy when it comes to consistency and persistency especially against lesser sides and they are unable to defend and preserve their lead.

You cannot win trophies with such a lean squad because the English football season is long and hard, it is an unforgiving season, there is no Christmas break or breaks of any kind like in other countries and as such injuries are bound to happen and we should prepare for that, switching in and out players who are equal in strength and abilities. Instead we have an ideal eleven and if injury occurs then we slap a makeshift squad together, throw them on the field, out of position and watch them run around like chickens without heads.


We have some good players but not great players with the exception of Robin Van Persie who is a great player scoring 37 goals this season, he is in a class by himself and we should do whatever it takes to keep him. Alex Song is a very good player with the ability to pick out Van Persie and deliver a precision like pass, Mikel Arteta shows maturity in midfield and Thomas Vermaelen a good defender but cannot do it alone, all solid players but can and did get injured over the season and we need proper cover.

Yao Gervinho is a good player, who will make most defenders look foolish, Gervinho can pick up the ball in midfield and before you know it beat the defenders all the way into the box, however he cannot shoot for shit and the best thing he should do with the ball is to pass it to a player who can, the man suffers from a Goal Phobia, no other player waste more goal scoring chances like Yao Gervinho, he should spend the entire off season in front of the goal, kicking balls at it…

Instead of going through the list of players I want to keep, it is easier to list players I do not want to see at Arsenal next season:

Arshavin,
Chamakh,
Djourou,
Ramsey,
Squilacci,
Jenkinson (Junk-enson),
Almunia,
Fabianski,
Frimpong
Vela,
Bendtner

End of Regular Season, Start of Silly Season
I do not think there is a day that goes by when Arsenal is not on my mind, the walls of my office is littered with arsenal posters, my desk top wallpaper is the Arsenal Logo and my screen saver is a series of Arsenal pictures.

When I login to my PC the first thing I do is to check on the status of The Arsenal from various sites while having my cup of coffee. At Home I have all the football channels and during regular season nothing is missed and the DVR is set to record what I cannot watch now for later and I sometime visit various bars showing the match when I need to relax and talk football with friends over a pint.


It is the silly season now and one must acquire the art of identifying and weed out bullshit, rubbish news from real solid facts as the the rumour mill is in full swing. Arsenal is linked to every player under the sun and every Arsenal player is either leaving or being chased by big clubs offering unbelievable amount of funny money. Even though the regular season is over, it is a special year since both the Olympics and Euro 2012 will be in full swing over the summer as such the withdrawal from the very addictive Regular Season football will not be that bad since both Jamaica and England will be in action.

Champion League is over and Chelsea was crowned Champions of Europe beating a Bayern Munich side that totally outplayed Chelsea but was unable to capitalize on their chances, which is a nice way of saying that they could not score for shit, or they could not score in a brothel or their strikers could not hit the broadside of a barn. As much as I dislike Chelsea, I dislike TotScum even more and so I am not too upset that Chelsea won the Champion League and kick the Scums out of next seasons competition, however I try not to watch any of the Chelsea’s celebration, I do wish some other club had reached the finals instead of them but hey…. That’s life.

The topic on the minds of every Arsenal supporter is … will Arsenal ever win the Champion League? It seems like we are moving further away from that goal, in the past we had much better players and still could not win that Championship, so I do not see us winning it with the current squad unless a couple of them come into form next season. Heck! With current squad most Arsenal Supporters are wondering if we will ever win the Premier League again, all is not right in our world.

On the 17 May 2006 Arsenal became the first London club to reach the Champion League final against Barcelona, we had a very good chance of beating Barcelona that year and crowned Champions of Europe, we had a very good determined squad who was up for it, hungry for it and I think we would have won that match if it was not for that crazy lunatic Jens Gerhard Lehmann, aka mad Jens who was sent off in the first half. However we cannot stay mad at Lehman for too long, he is much loved by us, a member of Arsenal’s invincible squad, he is a very good Goal keeper who command is area with authority and force if need be, he does not like opponents to trespass in his 6 yard box which is why he was sent off during the CL finals. However the Referee who issued the red card admitted “he may have acted too quickly in sending off Arsenal keeper Jens Lehmann during Barcelona's Champions League triumph”, too little too late. I am getting sick and tired of the chant "you'll never win in Europe".....

Moved To: UEFA EURO 2012 Timeline: Before, During and After the Euros

More about → The Arsenal and Premier League Season: 2011-2012

Arsenal Through and Through

There are times when a club finishes the season on fire, when something wonderful happens and the entire squad jells to the point where team mates communicate with each other using telepathy, they know exactly where to pass the ball, they are in perfect harmony, then the season ends, summer break begins after that the new season starts, the same squad hits the field and they play like total and utter shit. Something happened over the summer and the squad and club have lost its dynamics. Sometimes the total opposite happen, the club finishes the season playing their worst football and starts the new season on fire with everyone fitter, fresher in sync and plays one step ahead of their opponents, something wonderful happened, I am not sure what, they matured, they grew stronger with determination and vision.  It is also possible for a squad to start the season well and by the time December comes around starts to lose ground and other times they start the season bad but end up in a fight for the title.

If you ask me who I would like to take over from Wenger, I cannot tell you, I do not know of another manager I would like to manage Arsenal FC but Arsene Wenger, I am use to the old Geezer and his crazy ways but the reaction of our supporters to the lack of progress is expected and understandable, we are being asked  to be patient once again, it’s been 6 years and still we are no closer to a squad we can depend on, a squad we have full confidence in.  In years gone pass we had no such worry, suporters and players alike was filled with confidence, bask in our own superiority as we roll over anything and anyone they throw in front of us, we were the media darling, our style was the best in all the lands, our passing games produced results, scoring some of the most beautiful goals in all of England and the world, “We Are The Arsenal..”.

These days we get excited if we can come away with a win or a draw against lesser clubs, clubs we never worry about in the pass, we are now so very nervous that it adds to our anxiety and frustration and I can totally understand the frustration, fear and disappointment of the fans. Once upon a time we were the club everyone wanted to play for, we could get any top of the line players our heart desire, they all wanted to be at the club, they all wanted to share in the Arsenal experience, now we are publicly dismissed by some of the world’s best players as not good enough, so I can understand the frustration of the fans. 

We watch each match hoping that we are witnessing history in the making, that this is the match when the club, team and squad will achieve enlightenment, the point where they start to believe as a team, they begin to understand each other more than they understand themselves, communicate using telepathy and outplay everyone, anywhere and anytime, a super team, warriors on the pitch and we want this for Arsene Wenger, we want to secure his legacy of being the greatest Manager the club have ever seen, but deep down we know that this set of player have not developed to that level. But I can understand the frustration of the fan, the confusion as they lose faith in the Wenger philosophy, some of us have trouble understand why it was necessary to transform the club over night, to get rid of all its seasoned, mature players who have led this club winning trophies after trophies, back to back titles, why was it necessary to trust the future of the club on players so young, skillful but void of experience, guts and determination. If the experiment had worked then transfer fees would not be the high over the top price it is today as everyone would use the Wenger experiment as a bench mark. 

 The perceived failure of the Wenger experiment proved to others that the way forward is to spend, spend and spend big, get the best of the best forget the concept of building from the ground up, everyone wants an instant squad, mercenaries for higher.  The problem with some of our young players is that they are not Arsenal enough, no guts, not commitment, they surrender too easy and cry about how they miss home and mummy, they do not understanding what it means to be an Arsenal player, Bergkamp, Henry, Pirès, Vieira and the English Back line did not just play for Arsenal, they went to war for Arsenal and we went to war with them week in week out, they made us proud. I hope our current squad will develop into true Arsenal players, warriors who dictate events on the pitch and see us back to winning ways but that will not happen until the powers that be make some fundamental changes to the squad and club, Arsenal FC in its current form lack vision and leadership, there is a disconnect between Players, managers, the board and the supporters and nothing will change until that is resolved.

Wenger promised us a very active transfer market but the only real transfer activity we had was transfer-out, as we lost Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas, Gaël Clichy among others. For the past couple seasons the fans have demanded tactical signings, we had identified where the squad was weakest and wanted specific signings to buffer those areas but it seems Wenger was more interested in signing yet another young cheap striker, who do not know what to do when he is one on one with a goal keeper much less a hot blond.  Our defense is horrible, I mean nonexistent, we have very poor cover for most areas, the squad is very shallow, no depth what so ever, unlike our main rivals Manchester United, City and Chelsea who can play almost anyone on the bench and still come away with a win, we struggle even when we are playing our first team against championship sides.  Arsenal bought Carl Jenkinson for around £1 million and he is totally and utterly worthless, we got exactly what we paid for, where did this penny pinching mentality come from, who decided to sacrifice winning titles and championship to save a million here and a million there. The club reported time and time again that Mr. Wenger does have money to enter the transfer market, not to mention our recent sales must have added to our war chest but still nothing.

 I cannot say I was surprise at the result of the match against United, I suspected like most Arsenal fans that this encounter would open the eyes of everyone to the fact that we are heading in the wrong direction. Some part of me wanted this trashing, I saw it as the only way for us to change the direction of the club, this policy that is clearly not working for us and have not worked for us for 5 years now. Why is it that we can see and identify the problem but the managers are blind to it? Wenger declared that the result was the way it is because we had players out thus indirectly saying that we have not invested enough into the club, Arsenal FC should not be suffering from this problem, we are an old experience club and should know better, should know that adequate cover is a must. Every club should invest in young talent but every club also need mature, experience players with guts and determination to lead the charge. I am also not confident about the players who are out, the dynamics of the squad is all wrong and unless Wenger realize and fix it, then be prepared to expect more of the same.

 A response against Shrewsbury in it self means nothing, we are looking for consistency and I am forced to live in the past because none of these current players with the exception of Wojciech Szczesny seems capable of creating a future deserving of our history or achievements.

This squad can win a match here and a match there but that is not what makes true Champions, Arsenal needs to be more consistent and until something changes with this squad I do not see consistency coming from them. Just look how they walk around the pitch after being scored against. For me the match against United was not so much about winning but a measure of character, to better understand who they are and how they deal with being 2 or 3 goals down, that is where maturity comes in. I wanted to see fight back, determination, guts true Arsenal spirit but instead I saw a team that gave up and wanted the Ref to blow the whistle before time. They looked like they wished football had mercy rules, like boxing, that Wenger would get up and throw in the white towel thus saving them from further punishment and humiliation. The supporters are frustrated and I can surly understand why because I am just as frustrated as they are, that does not mean that we do not love this club, it is because we love this club of ours, we are Arsenal supporters through and through.

We will continue to do what we have always done, support this club, cheer them along, those of us on this side of the world will continue to wake up at the most ungodly hours to support our club though thick and thin, win lose or draw, unlike some players we do not have a transfer market nor need one, we do not want to turn our backs on this club. We are Arsenal Supporters, Gooners through and through and nothing can change that, cause we all follow the Arsenal.

Link->> keep It Arsenal

Link->>Arsenal Till I Die!


**Update** August 31st 20011

The Transfer window is now close which saw Arsenal signing several players after their 8-2 defeat to United.  I cannot help feeling that this was a panic (but welcome) buy, a rush by the board to save face and prevent wrought of the fans. We should not have been in this position where we have make last minute desperate buys. Wenger had the entire summer to analyze players and make a proper decision but for some reason this was not done. We made some good signings, not great signings however much better than what we had… we finally have some experience players in the squad, now to see how they jell with our current players and how dangerous they are on the pitch.  I am particular worried about Vermaelen he seems to be injury prone and may make limited contribution if it continues so hopefully Per Mertesacker will fill in nicely coupled with the Brazilian Andre Santos. In any case this is an improvement with what we started the season with.

Carl Jenkinson
Joel Campbell
Andre Santos
Chu Young-Park
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Yossi Benayoun (Loan)
Mikel Arteta
Per Mertesacker
Gervinho

More about → Arsenal Through and Through

Arsenal Till I die!

This is the year I thought the young gunners would have come of age, this is the year I thought Wenger would have prevailed and the great experiment paid off but instead we have been knocked out of all competitions and our chances of winning the Premiere League is slipping away before our very eyes.

The season has been very disappointing for me as I am forced to come to the conclusion that our current crop of players is just not good enough. We have a lot of skillful players who play beautiful football but something is missing in the guts and heart department, they are just not Arsenal enough, they are too easily intimidated by opponents and some mentally, don’t even show up on game day. Arsenal has not won any trophy in 6 years and the blame for that rest squarely on the back of the manager. As far as I am concern this should be Wenger’s last chance, I am now prepared for life at Arsenal without Mr. Wenger as the manager but who will they replace him with? I like Wenger but I love Arsenal more and would like to win more trophies with him as Manager but how long should we wait, I would hate it if we become one of those clubs who change managers every other month.

Arsenal is not a bank, it is a football club whose primary purpose is to win trophies and beat Tot-Scum, the club is always reporting how much profit it made but it never wants to spend any of it and invest in good solid players. We are not asking for the club to spend crazy money, we are just asking for the club to make value for money purchases to bring in the right experiences into the club and create the perfect mix of players capable of winning trophies and continue to beat Tot-Scum.  We have been watching this team collapse year in year out, throwing away big games, finals and even beaten by the Scums, this cannot continue.

The current squad is not efficient, yes they play beautiful football but the object of the game is to win and you win by scoring goals but they will not score goals if they do not pressure defenses and take shots at the goal. In our last match against Manu, it took Manu 2 to 4 passes after which they are attacking Arsenal’s goal, testing our defense while Arsenal will make 12 to 15 passes only to end up losing the ball to their opponents against Barcelona in the champions we took no shots at Barcelona’s goal.

These are the Players we need to get rid of:

Almunia (pass it)

Eboue

Squillaci

Diaby

Rosicky (should have been sold a long time ago)

Denilson (Complete waste of Space: Useless)

Arshavin  (?)

Bendtner (?)

Vela (unless he improves on loan)

Arsenal should have invested in an experience goalkeeper two seasons ago, Almunia is not good enough and the other keepers are ideal number twos and not yet ready to be numbers one slot. It is so bad that we are forced to resign the 41 year old Lehmann who I will never forgive for costing us the Champions League title.

• Arshavin is capable of so much more and he is a good supplier but has grown lazy and spends a lot of time losing the ball or just walking around the field, if he is not prepared to pour out his heart and guts for this club then it is time for him to go.
• I have spent the pass 2 season wanting Bendtner to succeed, to become a prolific striker but the Dane have not produce the goods, in my view he lacks creativity in the box, however I am willing to keep him for now.
• Arsenal need a proper back 4, our defense is horrible I have not seen it this bad in a long time however I like Djourou, Vermaelen and think we should rebuild the defense around them.
• Denilson and Diaby are a complete waste of space and should be sold. Denilson should never ever wear an Arsenal jersey again unless he pays for it himself.

It is easier to list the players I like than the players I don’t like so:

These are the players we should rebuild the squad around.

• Szczesny and Lukasz - are good number twos
• Djourou and Vermaelen – Very good defenders
• Kieran Gibbs – Improving
• Fabregas – If is heart belongs to Arsenal then yes but if he is not into it then he serves us no real purpose, his pining for Barcelona is getting on my nerve.
• Nasri – Pay him anything he wants, he must stay.
• Alex Song - Pay him anything he wants, he must stay.
• Wilshere – Inside this kids chest beats a heart shape like an Arsenal crest
• Andrey Arshavin – Not very consistent but when he shows up great things happen.
• Walcott, Van Persie – Walcott improved a lot and Van Persie’s creativity in the box is second to none
• Chamakh – Have lots of potential but needs to be consistent
• Aaron Ramsey – I hope he returns to form, he was very good

Finally I use to get annoyed at people who insist that Arsenal should invest in more English players but now I am totally for it, being an English club demands it for a number of reasons.  We are not the most liked club in English football, ever since Wenger fielded a squad a couple seasons ago, without any English players we have become the most hated club, xenophobia gone mad. I get the feeling they see Arsenal as a prim donna, French club that moan and groan every time a call goes against them or one of their players leg gets broken.

English Referees are also affected by this xenophobia bug, calls that have gone against us would never have gone against clubs with more English players and even thou we now have some English players in the squad the damage as already been done. The likes of Rooney, Terry and Gerrad can get away with murder on the field when Arsenal players are booked just for looking at them the wrong way. 

English players play with heart and a backbone they want to win and will do whatever it takes, they will leave either your guts or theirs on the field of play for glory of winning and they are not easily intimidated not to mention they can tell the ref to go fuck himself and nothing will come of it.

As over price as they are I feel we need more English players with attitude, enforcers players like Ryan Shawcross, Kevin Davis, Karl Henry, Paul Scholes, Joey  “bad boy” Barton, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher just to name a few can commit the most hanus crimes on or off the field and will still get the support of the English media, pundits and the public to the extent that they will become the victims (poor lad). Arsenal need more English players in order to level the playing field, the nature of English football demands it.

Arsenal vs Villa (2009)

More about → Arsenal Till I die!