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The 2011-2012 Football Thread

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I'd imagine so too your Lordship, but remember – he's no wheeler dealer.

I don't know about any of you lot, but even when my club is reckoned to be in the running for a big deadline day signing (and it doesn't happen that often, I'll freely admit) I've never felt the urge to toddle off down to the ground at 10 o'clock at night and stand whooping on cue in the cold and dark behind a Sky Sports reporter. :confused:

Plenty do though, and having seen the crowds from quite a few Premier League teams tonight I'm handing the award for the most gormless looking bunch of reprobates to the massed throng at Stoke City. The pictures only serve to prove it's a very shallow gene pool in the Potteries...
 
Yup. Perfect timing i say...NOT.

On another note, Benayoun confirms he's penned a loan deal with us. Over to you Arteta...
 
Obviously Kenny wanted to keep Miereles, and if he does go we won't have time to spend the money. I think Benayoun is a good player who can contribute at Arsenal, but he's more of a super-sub than any kind of replacement for Cesc or Nasri.
 
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^
Apparently he (Meireles) wants the Chelsea move now that Modric is a no go.
 
We have cover in midfield but Miereles is very good, and I'd hate to lose him without bringing in another player, particularly an attacking player....though we do have Bellamy now.

I'm excited about Coates.
 
Bellamy should be a good move for Liverpool.

Miereles is just ridiculous handing in his notice this evening, just bad karma for the dressing room. Even if they sold him they couldn't spend the money.

Newcastle offered £9m for Jelavic, very surprised Rangers could refuse that kind of money. I still expect him to go in the next 2 minutes, shuddering with every refresh!

Fat lady in corner beckoning, kebab in hand.


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2310: Confirmed: Chelsea have signed Raul Meireles.
 
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Arteta and Meireles deals are DONE. Incidentally, Bendtner is now a loaned Sunderland player.

Wenger spent £50m in this window.
 
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Arsenal; don't know whether to laugh or cry - two crocks who have the odd day, one defender who supposedly makes Huth look like The Flash, and another who can attack but can't defend. 'Don't Panic Mr Mainwaring, don't panic!' Of course, Wenger may have something up his sleeve.

Cheers,
OW
 
No one is kidding themselves thinking we are now stronger post Fabregas/Nasri. BUT this new additions make the team stronger than the one that faced Liverpool & United and is unlikely to lose 8-2 again.

Mertasacker may not have pace but will be instrumental in set-pieces and for pace we have Vermaelen, Koscielny and Djourou and Song and Frimpong. Arteta can still feed a pass and if i recall was instrumental in the Everton win against United one or two seasons ago. Benayoun will be a good squad player if Arshavin still won't wake up from his slumber.

Santo is also miles better than having nothing there and/or having to play Sagna out of position or rely on Jenkinson everytime Gibbs has an appointment with the Physios...which is quite often. Park will also add another option to attack.

So yes we are still weaker overall following the three main departures...but at least we have something significantly decent to patch the glaring holes now and can start looking forward. Would have liked Hazard, M'Villa and others but we can thank Barcelona and City for dragging on the Fabregas/Nasri saga thus forcing a last minute scramble. That and some teams just didn't want to release players...what can you do.
 
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Kariya said:
Would have liked Hazard, M'Villa and others but we can thank Barcelona and City for dragging on the Fabregas/Nasri saga thus forcing a last minute scramble.
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Certainly with Fabregas, his departure should have come as no surprise to anyone at Arsenal – contingency plans for his and Nasri's departures should have been in place, and it beggars belief that replacements were only secured so late in the day. But the replacements are signed, we'll see how they fare.

Anyway, never mind all that – we've got the boy Waghorn on loan.

One of our greatest ever players was a striker known as 'Waggy' – can history repeat itself?

Probably not. But never mind. :p
 
^
Agreed. My guess is (a) he was being classic obstinate Wenger (b) He really didn't want to let them go refusing to make contigency plans accordingly (again obstinate) (c) Was banking on Ramsey/Wilshere/Arshavin/Walcott to be enough as replacements (d) The Economist was only gonna spend money he got from their departure which didn't come till later on when his target clubs had already moved on with plan b.

It could also be the higher ups who just don't seem to get it/operate in the real world...only caring about the bottom line and leave Wenger to pick up the pieces.

Finally, it is quite hard to replace players like Fabregas and Nasri. Even United are yet to find a replacement for Ronaldo still (Nani doesn't count sorry). So thats another point. Chelsea have only just possibly found a replacement for Robben in Mata.
 
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One thing that was mentioned on the telly earlier... if what they were saying is true, Arsenal's initial bid wasn't rejected by Everton – the problem came with Arteta's personal terms. Certainly, a figure of £10m was being reported for the aborted bid earlier in the evening – Arsenal then came back later in the night and reopened talks (after everyone thought the bid was dead) and got their man. The BBC is reporting that Arsenal finally ended up paying... £10m.

I wonder if part of the problem with Arsenal's recruitment isn't just an unwillingness to pay large transfer fees, it's also concern about wages. Reading between the lines, did Arsenal refuse to meet Arteta's demands only to cave in to the player later in the evening when desperation started to set in?

A lot has been said about Arsenal's finances in recent times – yes they have a transfer kitty from player sales but a very tight ship is run at the Emirates insofar as other expenses are concerned, and I would imagine a very strict wage structure is in place. So is Arsenal's apparent unwillingness to sign 'big name', experienced players not so much down to the initial outlay on a transfer fee (which it would seem they can afford) but the long term costs of the high wages such players demand?
 
Yup. Thats very possible. Until just over a week ago Nasri was earning only half of what he earns now at City. It's possible Arteta wanted a salary that was slightly "too high" but caved in when he realized he was going to miss out on last chance opportunity of Champions League football and other benefits/status Arsenal FC have to offer. Bundesliga isn't overrun with money which is probably why Arsenal could handle Mertesacker easily...ditto for most of the French League.

I don't think anyone earns more than £150k in Arsenal or even close to that. £40k-£100+k seems to be the range.
 
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Jaffa Cake said:
So is Arsenal's apparent unwillingness to sign 'big name', experienced players not so much down to the initial outlay on a transfer fee (which it would seem they can afford) but the long term costs of the high wages such players demand?
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I have heard this notion making the rounds and it seems a plausible one. Everyone knows that Arsenal have the money to pay transfer fees for top players. But they may be unwilling to pay the kinds of wages the other top clubs are giving their best players.

If that's the case, and if Arsenal do begin to slip down the table, might we consider it the final demise of sensible financial policy in the Premier League? The scale of expense has just become laughable.
 
I don't think it's finances with arsenal, I think its an 'I can build with young players mentality'

I'll be surprised if Wenger stays past the season.
 
I doubt he's going anywhere. A large chunk of fans are still loyal to him and the higher ups in the club even more so.

EDIT: Incidentally, Arteta is taking a £10k-£20k paycut from his usual £75k a week at Everton to join us. Oh Wenger...

I'm guessing thats why the deal was initially dead until he caved.
 
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Jaffa Cake said:
I'd imagine so too your Lordship, but remember – he's no wheeler dealer.
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He's not a very good liar either ;)



So, Arsenal sign a moody Spanish midfielder who recently stated he's happy at his current club, only to want away shortly after. Hmm, wonder where I've heard that story before ;)

Arteta is a great player on his day, but does seem to be blighted by injury and he's 29. A bit of panic buying by Wenger perhaps? I think Mertesacker is a good signing. They need a more commanding, powerful presence at the back and hopefully he can give them that. Benayoun I see more of a squad player, but he's a hard worker and could put in a good shift

Meireles to Chelsea. Bit of a surprise as he's been good for Liverpool, but I suppose Liverpool have plenty of midfielders and with Gerrard returning to fitness, his first team places is less than assured. I suppose it's better to be warming the bench in a Champions League game than not...

Spurs, not sure what was going on there. They certainly looked like they were having a large clearout, I thought, in anticipation of bringing in someone big. Was the Kaka loan move 'just' a rumour? Still, Parker will give them some bite in midfield, and for only £5m, you have to ask why Arsenal didn't bother?

Still, it could be worse, you could be a Newcastle fan, itching to bring in a big name and spend some of that £35m you got for Carroll, only to remember your owner's a greedy idiot with little interest in the club :p
 
Kariya said:
No one is kidding themselves thinking we are now stronger post Fabregas/Nasri. BUT this new additions make the team stronger than the one that faced Liverpool & United and is unlikely to lose 8-2 again.

Mertasacker may not have pace but will be instrumental in set-pieces and for pace we have Vermaelen, Koscielny and Djourou and Song and Frimpong. Arteta can still feed a pass and if i recall was instrumental in the Everton win against United one or two seasons ago. Benayoun will be a good squad player if Arshavin still won't wake up from his slumber.

Santo is also miles better than having nothing there and/or having to play Sagna out of position or rely on Jenkinson everytime Gibbs has an appointment with the Physios...which is quite often. Park will also add another option to attack.

So yes we are still weaker overall following the three main departures...but at least we have something significantly decent to patch the glaring holes now and can start looking forward. Would have liked Hazard, M'Villa and others but we can thank Barcelona and City for dragging on the Fabregas/Nasri saga thus forcing a last minute scramble. That and some teams just didn't want to release players...what can you do.
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The point about Arsenal being stronger had business been completed earlier has been raised, they ended up panic buying - okay players, when most associated with the club deserve better.

Like Ferdinand, how many games from Vermaelen? Depending on Djourou.:eek::confused:

The Spanish Frank Lampard - of late, good for a penalty and not much else. Like those of a Chelsea bent re dear old Lamps, a growing number of Toffee Folk were becoming fed up with Arteta; injury accounted for, his form has been poor for a long time. Looking at the forums today, they feel sad because he has been around, thank him for his earlier period, but feel it's good money for a 29 year old who isn't playing well. If he can get his form back... Out of sorts, as mentioned, he has his odd day/15 minutes.

Benayoun; another if he can get his fitness and form back.

I'm not of the Church of Arsenal and I'm PO with it.

Re your friends the Lilywhites; Modric must honour his contract, same goes for Crouch...oh.

Cheers,
OW
 
The Times has a net spend table - from the paper rather than the Web, may need an update, and I hope I input the correct figures:

Cheers,
OW
 

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Lord Blackadder said:
I have heard this notion making the rounds and it seems a plausible one. Everyone knows that Arsenal have the money to pay transfer fees for top players. But they may be unwilling to pay the kinds of wages the other top clubs are giving their best players.

If that's the case, and if Arsenal do begin to slip down the table, might we consider it the final demise of sensible financial policy in the Premier League? The scale of expense has just become laughable.
Click to expand...

I think Wenger's record of success is so strong that he should be given the benefit of the doubt until he fails. How many times have people written Arsenal off because they seemed to let too many top players go? And yet every year, Arsenal is only a few games short of winning the whole damn thing. Almost any team other than Manchester United or Barcelona would gladly take Wenger off their hands given the chance. And Arsenal would have a hard time replacing him, no matter how much their fans wring their hands about him now.

Of course, as a Spurs supporter, I want him to fail spectacularly and work his magic elsewhere. But I've stopped hoping that will happen.
 
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