The Arsenal Club House

[mosstopher]

Well, if RvP does go there's a replacement already in the side. might have to get a new keeper though!

[Redbullsnation]

Lehman would already want to come out from retirement ala Brett Favre for that

[Tony07]

Former Arsenal man Stewart Robson has launched an extraordinary attack on Arsenal star Theo Walcott.

The forward made 46 appearances for the Gunners in all competitions scoring 11 times and is in England’s Euro 2012 squad.

“Walcott is a ‘liability’ and should be sold by Arsenal this summer if he is asking for a wage increase,” Robson told talkSPORT.

“It wouldn’t worry me if Theo Walcott were to leave tomorrow.

“Theo Walcott, for me, is not a good footballer. He is an athlete who puts on a pair of football boots.

“He is quick, he is fast, but when he was younger he should have been taught how to be better technically, how to find space, how to find awareness. He has never done that and he is a liability when he is defending.

“For Theo Walcott to want more money, I would let him go.”

The 47-year-old former midfielder made 150 league appearances for the Gunners, scoring 16 times.

I too believe Walnut should be sold, he ain't worth the money he is getting now let alone a pay rise.

[Redbullsnation]

Straight swap Walcott for Lennon

[Tony07]

Straight swap Walcott for Lennon

They are about the same...............sh1te

[Tony07]

We could do with a bit of steel in defence and I wouldn't mind de Jong playing in midfield for us, we have a few lightweights in midfield and lets face it they are not up to the task. The only one with a bit of steel in him is Song and he is a clown on times, it would be interesting to see the stats on them both to see who has the most bookings. WE need an animal in midfield who will take no sh1t from anybody and who can put the fear of God into our underachievers, who lets face it are a bit wimpish at times.

[NY17]

WE need an animal in midfield who will take no sh1t from anybody and who can put the fear of God into our underachievers.

Here you go Tony take your pick!

[Tony07]

Here you go Tony take your pick!

I will take em all lol nice collection, I always thought you were a closet Gooner

[Tony07]

Take a look at this, looks like the kid has a lot of style and has the magic in his feet
http://gunnersphere.com/2012/06/view...mirates-cloud?

[me01pl]

Very interesting player you can see, being able to create situations

[mosstopher]

So, tonight is the AST Q&A with Ivan Gazidis. I've always thought Mr. Gazidis was good at these things, he's a guy who can talk for an hour without saying anything of particular note. I doubt there'll be any big reveals, especially as the club pre-empted it with last nights article.

The RvP thing is a bit worrying, If there was any good news on that front it would surely have been released by now so it's more likely that he's told the club that he wants to leave or he's told the club he will leave if they don't match his ambitions (not necesarily money wise.) I swing between thinking he's going to stay and thinking he's going to leave on a daily basis.

Honestly, I don't really care if he stays or goes, as long as whatever happens happens soon. He'd be a big loss of course but we can ill afford yet another transfer saga rumbling on all summer and ruining our prep for next season. If he's not gonna sign get rid of him, much as I want to see improvements coming in this summer I don't like the idea of one player dictating the terms of our signings. Arsenal was here long, long before RvP and it will still be here long, long after.

If that sounds like I'm attacking him, or bitter, I'm not. Just sick of seeing the same thing every year.

[colognejohn33]

Agree with you entirely Moss. Gazidis can talk the arse off a horses back. But can he sell our tosh and make funds for these quality signings? It`s obviously a move in the right direction. I`m all for taking a loss on the known suspects and getting a couple of cream players in. Aren`t we all? As for RvP, is that what he`s waiting for too? Or is he waiting for a better offer? ( As if! ) We`ll be here in August hoping the guys do their stuff and the merry-go-round goes on. Poldi to Citeh anyone?

[mosstopher]

So, the most interesting thing to come out of the Q&A seems to be that Cesc actually refused to play for Arsenal last year.

I assume (and this is 100% speculation on my part) that means that the club were going to hold him to his contract. This would also help explain Wengers downright ridiculous "We won't sell, you don't sell your big players if you're a big club" comment, not long before we did just that.

Either way, it casts a bad light on Cesc and his supposed love of Arsenal. Suddenly I'm wondering who the bigger flake was out of him and Nasri? Nasri, though he acted like a c*** never to my knowledge refused to play, even turning out against Liverpool iirc.

It's water under the bridge now of course, just interesting little titbit from the Q&A. Of course I'm aware my posts are turning a little ranty against players but hey, it's better than transfer speculation, even if only slightly better

[mosstopher]

Good writeup of last night's Q&A from the ever excellent Angryofislington


The new shirt arrived today (First Shirt I've bought in years and probably last for a long while) and I gotta say, I really like it now! When I first saw the pics I was a bit unsure but it has most definitely won me over.

[Tony07]

Andrey Arshavin lights up an "arrogant" attacking display by Russia against Czech Republic

Why didn't the little maggot play like that for us, I hope I don't see him in our team again Tosser.

[mosstopher]

Soooo... Giroud then? Good signing if it goes through, there seems to be some truth to us being at least very interested, He is apparently Wengers preffered signing and David Ornstein has just tweeted:

Giroud to Arsenal almost done. Announcement this week, not a replacement for RvP. Story across BBC soon, first reported by @JWTelegraph #afc

If we re-sign Theo and RvP and obviously get rid of some of the chaff, then I'll be very happy with us starting the season with Podolski, Giroud and a new DMF, e.g. M'vila or equivalent, the M'vila signing is a bit up in the air, some claiming it's very close/done and some that we've lost interest. Either way we need a new DMF, Song is not a DMF and to continue to rely on him in that position would be folly. Bring someone in and free him up to concentrate on those little dinks and assists that he loves so much and is good at.

Most important thing, it seems the club are intent on doing deals early and not waiting for the last minutes of the last day of the transfer window to panic buy. The M'vila deal does look like it's gonna rumble on (apparently Bayern are now in for him) but positive signs of a change of policy at least.

Finally, Wiltord retires from Football. Absolute legend, I seem to remember him scoring quite an important goal for us, can't for the life of me remember when that was...

[Tony07]

here have been plenty of whispers over the last fortnight that Arsenal have been closing in on Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud, those whispers appear to have morphed into a low murmur with the usually reliable David Ornstein of BBC Sport reporting that paperwork is at an advanced stage. Over the weekend, Montpellier manager Rene Girard told a French radio station that there was a mutual desire on the part of both Arsenal and Giroud to seal the deal.

Giroud scored 25 goals last season for the surprise French champions. It had been rumoured that the Gunners were trying to make Marouane Chamakh a deadweight, sorry, I mean a makeweight in the deal. Giroud is a close friend of Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny, with whom he was a teammate at Ligue 2 side Tours. He is currently representing France at Euro 2012. Such a signing is likely to increase speculation that current captain Robin van Persie will depart this summer with Lukas Podolski already in the bag. My own view is that Giroud and Podolski are intended to replace and / or supplement.


Read more: http://www.arsenal.vitalfootball.co....#ixzz1xgIZjAWI

[Tony07]

August 18 Sunderland (H)
August 25 Stoke (A)
September 1 Liverpool (A)
September 15 Southampton (H)
September 22 Man City (A)
September 29 Chelsea (H)
October 6 West Ham (A)
October 20 Norwich (A)
October 27 QPR (H)
November 3 Man Utd (A)
November 10 Fulham (H)
November 17 Tottenham (H)
November 24 Aston Villa (A)
November 28 Everton (A)
December 1 Swansea (H)
December 8 West Brom (H)
December 15 Reading (A)
December 22 Wigan (A)
December 26 West Ham (H)
December 29 Newcastle (H)
January 1 Southampton (A)
January 12 Man City (H)
January 19 Chelsea (A)
January 29 Liverpool (H)
February 2 Stoke (H)
February 9 Sunderland (A)
February 23 Aston Villa (H)
March 2 Tottenham (A)
March 9 Everton (H)
March 16 Swansea (A)
March 30 Reading (H)
April 6 West Brom (A)
April 13 Norwich (H)
April 20 Fulham (A)
April 27 Man Utd (H)
May 4 QPR (A)
May 12 Wigan (H)
May 19 Newcastle (A)

[Tony07]

Arsenal have reportedly agreed a deal for Montpellier striker Olivier Giroud and are only waiting until for Euro 2012 to finish before announcing it.

France Football are claiming last year’s Ligue 1 top scorer has decided to join the Gunners and agreed a four-year deal, though the details of the transfer are yet to be revealed.

The report says that the deal to take the France international to Emirates Stadium will be officially announced once the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine has concluded.



Arsene Wenger has been busy recruiting in the attacking department this summer, already having secured the signing of Germany international Lukas Podolski.

The next step for the French tactician will be resolving the issue surrounding Arsenal captain Robin van Persie’s contract and the year left on it.

The Dutchman will at least have more time to think about his future now, as Holland were knocked out of Euro 2012 on Sunday night following a third straight loss, this time 2-1 to Portugal.

Giroud’s 21 goals last season helped take Montpellier to their first ever league title and he was awarded the Golden Boot over PSG’s Nene, who also scored 21, due to fewer of his strikes being penalties.

Other reports have suggested Moroccan flop Marouane Chamakh may be used as a makeweight in the deal, but there has been no indication of this in the France Football report.

[colognejohn33]

Well, just after the England game tonight the reporter said Girouds` transfer was a done deal. German tv isn`t renowned for it`s laziness, so I`m hoping it`s the real McCoy. If that helps get rid of Chamakh and Bendtners good showing, ( pants excepted ), at the Euros helps get rid of him we`ll be on the right road already. Wait for France to get knocked out by Spain and M`Villa will be announcing his move...?