The Goon Blog

Morning,

one of the first things I have seen today is this, ‘ANDRIY IS SHAVIN A LAUGH‘ possibly one of the worst titles ever and definitely the worst article I have ever seen published by a newspaper that is supposed to be one of the most read in the UK. This total and utter piece of shit consisted of these words:

“ANDREY ARSHAVIN has stunned Arsenal by revealing he wants to play for Barcelona.
The Russian striker, 28, who joined the Gunners in a £16.9m deal five months ago, said: “If I have the chance to play for Barcelona, I’d be really happy.”

That is it, complete, the article. A quote made up, a random name from Arsenal Football Club, mix them together, top it off with a shit headline and BAM. Theres a story fit for Britains population to read.

Its like they walk into the office and think “Hey! Lets make something up!” You know like a little child gets bored and decided to do some painting? Saying Sun journalists have the intelligence of a little child is actually quite a big insult….. to the child that is.

It seems our first departures of the summer have occured, gladly, they will not effect the club in the slightest. Three players named Abu Ogogo, Paul Rodgers and Jonas Rasmussen. Ogogogogogogo and Rodgers have been released because they are not good enough and Rasmussen has had his pro forms terminated and paid off until the end of his contract. Nice little nest egg there. You may have read my run in with Paul Rodgers, who in fairness, seems a twat.

Wenger has talked a little about the Real Madrid spending policy… Not interesting at all to be honest, doesn’t bother me unless they are trying to steal, tap-up, abduct or kidnap any of our players. Any team with the backing of a countries government is going to have access to crazy cash.

Serial cunt Sepp Blatter has again had a moan about foreign ownership in the Premiership, he said:

“In France, Germany and Spain there are by-laws that say owners must be from the same country. This does not exist in the Premier League and it is a problem we must address.

He got the second bit right though:

“We have no right to interfere in economic movements. We, the whole FIFA family, are aware of this.”

So shut up and fuck off back to your xenophobic lair then you fat balding fudgepacker. I think I have made my viewpoint totally clear in that past sentence.

Right, thats your lot for another day.

More tomorrow.

Morning all,

the Felipe Melo rumours have gone into overdrive today after the Confederation Cup drew to a conclusion yesterday, over the past few weeks this Melo guy has gone from being a total unknown to Arsenal fans, to being one of the first names on their lips when they think of new signings.

Its not like he has set the world on fire either, the closest he has come to that is being a virtually ever present in the referee’s notebook with something like 16 yellow cards and 3 red cards last season. Now, that is a LOT of cards and suspensions.

The guy is 26 and has not played a great deal of football at the highest level, one season at Fiorentina, one season at Almeria and two seasons at Racing Santander.

On one hand he is the type of player we should be looking at but on the other hand he is not proven at the very highest level, there are doubts over his discipline and from what I saw this summer in the Confederations Cup, he has a tendency to go missing sometimes and let the game pass him by.

All this moaning can be argued against though, remember when we brought Gilberto Silva? All he had behind him was a few games in the Brazillian league and he was around the same age as Melo.

If we do go for him it will be a shot in the dark and a massive step up from what is the weakest Italian league in memory, it will be a big test of his abilities but will Wenger risk ‘killing’ Denilson, Diaby or Alex Song? I’m not so sure. In fact, I would not be suprised to not see any additions in central midfield this summer…I just have a niggily feeling.

If the call from Wenger does happen, Brazillian compatriot Gilberto Silva has told him to jump at the chance of playing for us:

“We heard rumours and he asked me, I said it’s a fantastic club and if he’s interested he should go without thinking.

“He is exactly what they need – a powerful player with quality. If they got him it would be great because he is a player they need at the moment.

“I’m sure if they got him it would be a good signing. I have told him Arsenal is a great club and I am sure next season they will improve.”

Gilberto was immense last night, he still has class in abundance and it seems strange that Wenger let him go for such a measly amount of money, we saw Senna for Villarreal earlier this year and he is being valued at over 10 million whilst being a similar age, Gilberto is just as good and we let him go for something like 1 million. A Wenger mistake? I think so.

Right, more tomorrow.

Let me say this now. Karim Benzema will not move to Arsenal.

1) He is too expensive

2)He is too expensive

3)He is too expensive

4)Arsene Wenger will always be linked with every single French striker wanting a move

5)Its the NOTW

So thats that cleared up nicely then.

It really does baffle you that people actually get paid to dream this stuff up, how is is legal to write lies about people? One day, one of these shitty papers will get their arses sued and I can’t fucking wait. Hit the Murdoch cuntorama where it will really hurt….the pocket.

There is a pretty good interview in the NOTW with Robin van Persie who talks about his new dicipline and his urge to win things with this team and become the worlds best footballer. Not much then?  It basically covers the change he has made from the moody Macdonald’s breakfast eating bad boy to the guy who doesn’t drink, eat red meat or even drink ice cold drinks because they will not help you get that extra percent.

I have to say, his attitude is fantastic these days and he is committed to the club, he wants to stay.

Next week the NOTW will run an exclusive claiming he is off to Inter or Barca. That says it all.

More tomorrow.

Morning all, happy Saturday.

Lets start with some nice news, Andrey Arshavin has told his agent Dennis Lachter to go take a running jump. He isn’t too happy with parts of his contract and Lachter is to blame for that, so he has fired him. Fair enough I say.

Lachter lead every Arsenal fan a merry dance from August 2008 to January 2009. He called Wenger a ‘cunning old fox’ whilst we all called him a cunt, because quite frankly, that’s what he appeared to be. One minute the deal was on and Andrey was on his way to London, the next the deal was off and he was staying at Zenit. Andrey actually had to hire his own private jet to get to London City Airport to force through the deal, it seems his Mr 10% didn’t really give a shit as long as he got his money. Also, what respected football agent texts fans updates of the transfer situation?

All gooners above the age of ten, may remember a bloke called Nigel Winterburn…. He was a bit good and had one rocket of a left boot. Recently he has given his two cents on the Fabregas stories, the ones that were totally fabricated by a national press that wouldn’t know a decent story if it was a stick of dynamite that had just been rammed down their throat and detonated. I wish that was the case because we would have a whole lot less journalists who just tend to make stuff up. Anyway, our former number 3 said:

“He [Fabregas] is voicing concern, maybe frustration, but he’s also saying ‘I’m not going to force my way out of the football club if I am very, very unhappy about my position, then I will speak to the manager and maybe a decision will be made’. Arsenal have had a few barren seasons in terms of not winning trophies, but they’ve been so close on a number of occasions. But for the supporters and the players, being close isn’t good enough.

“You’ve got to win something. And Arsenal just need to win something just to keep the players happy.”

He has just stated the obvious there really. Anyway, I have a bit of a tale about good old Nigel…. He has a son and was watching him in a rugby game at his school, for some reason an opposition player took a disliking to his son and targeted him for a bit of the rough treatment. Our Nigel got so angry that he had to be held back at the side of the pitch after trying to run on to hit the player, he was shouting “I’LL KNOCK HIS FUCKING HEAD OFF” and generally, things of that nature. Anyway, that’s my story.

A true Gooner was Winterburn.

Another ex-Arsenal player, in the very tall French mould of Patrick Vieira, is being linked with a move to Birmingham this summer as he seeks regular football… Sorry Patrick, you can do better.

Finally, it was good to see two Arsenal players keep their cool last night, Theo and Gibbs both converted sudden death penalties to send England through to the U21 European Cup final. Still nothing to be overly proud of though. The sooner they are back at Colney, the better. Lets also hope Cesc doesn’t break his leg or something ridiculous in the 3rd place play-off tonight. I think its tonight anyway.

More tomorrow, have a good Saturday.

Morning,

to be honest there is not going to be much around for the next couple of days because the media are going to be circling around the death of the worlds most recognisable face/s. I have listened to his music for many years and although im too young to remember the 80’s which he totally and utterly bossed, I still love the music.

Much gets written about pressure on young footballers, Theo Walcott, Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney to name but a few recent names, but the pressure they are under is nothing compared to the 45 years  he spent in the limelight.

If anyone even thinks about posting any of the vile ‘jokes’ going around I will remove them as soon as I see them.

The Cesc drama was over yesterday after he issued his almost monthly statement reaffirming his commitment to the club, will it shut the papers up? Will it hell.

Right, thats really it I suppose. I will try and update if there is anything new either on here or over Twitter.

’til next time.

You know the sate of English football media is bad when you have the Daily Mail drawing up lists of replacements for Cesc Fabregas from Championship Manager or some-such game.

Because the Vermaelen deal is done and the Ronaldo stuff has died down the next name to make up shit about is our captain, Cesc Fabregas.

According to The Sun, he has labeled the team ‘impotent’. If you see that word even mentioned in here I will be gob smacked.

Its utter bollocks, the interview they claim is ‘heart rendering’ can’t be found anywhere else on the Internet and if it was an exclusive you can bet your bottom dollar they they would have had that scrawled across their front page. This just leads me to believe its total codswallop, if you can prove me wrong, fine. But until I see proof, that article is shit in my opinion.

Traore has been linked with a loan move to Brum, there is not much chance of him getting anywhere near Gibbs and Clichy in the short term unless injury strikes to those two and on top of that, Thomas Vermaelen. His future is probably elsewhere sadly which is a shame considering it looked like he was a future gunner when he made his breakthrough at 16-17 years of age. He has stated his desire to stay at the club and fight but its probably better for him if he goes out on loan again.

Theo Walcott is not happy at the way he is playing at the moment and is a little grumpy about being left on the bench by the clueless cunt that is Stuart Pierce. All I care about is Theo getting back to this country in one bit, no missing toes, legs or feet, no popped out shoulders. Nothing. However, he is a confidence player and going from full international to a U21 bench-warmer in the space of 2-3 weeks isnt going to boost your confidence, is it?

I just hope he nets the winner in the final after playing about a minute, Theo’s confidence boosted, Pierce being made to look a total twit and England actually winning something, even though nobody actually cares about it.

I will leave the final few words to Gabriel Marcotti:

You may have seen the speculation linking Cesc Fabregas with a move back to Barcelona. Apparently, it stems from some quotes he made in which he professed his admiration for Pep Guardiola – who was his role model as a player – and added that he would be delighted to play for him. Time for some common sense.

Imagine you’re Fabregas. You’re asked: “Would you like to play for Pep Guardiola?” What are you supposed to say? No, screw him, he’s a weirdo with an ugly leather tie? That’s why you either get players saying things which are anodyne, boring and predictable (see Owen above) or players getting themselves into trouble. ”Yes, I’d like to play for Guardiola” becomes “Fab: I’m off” and “No, I’m happy at Arsenal” becomes “Fab Snubs Pep”. It’s a lose-lose, unless you hide behind empty cliches.

Besides, if Fabregas were to move to Barca, who would he displace?

Xavi? Andres Iniesta? Didn’t think so …

Don’t like the fella, he does talk sense here though.

till tomorrow, toodley-pip.

Update: Cesc has responded on Arsenal.com, as per usual.

“I’m not sure how many times I need to talk directly about my commitment to Arsenal as I continue to say the same thing over and over again, but it appears that every time I have spoken to the Spanish media recently, my words have bounced back to England, leaving question marks about my future.

“So, for anyone who is unclear or may have misunderstood what my position is, let me make myself absolutely crystal clear. I am wholeheartedly committed to Arsenal and my future lies with this great Club.

“It is a fact that we have not won a trophy for four years and yes, I am angry about that, but that anger stems from the deep deep desire I have to win things with Arsenal. I care about this Club and believe in this team. I
am proud to captain this team and proud to wear the shirt. It really upsets me when people express my thoughts otherwise. The spirit in this squad is fantastic and we have the ability and mentality to compete on all fronts for silverware. Make no mistake, we are focussed and determined to show that we are capable of achieving great things together.”

Morning all,

well low and behold, we have another Adebayor to AC Milan story. Every summer it is the same old story and im just fed up with it, it seems the hack template for Arsenal related stories is:

[Arsenal Player] LINKED WITH SHOCK MOVE TO [AC Milan, Barca or Real Madrid]

The result is about as predictable as an Adebayor offside.

*snores* Zzzzzzzz

Could be worse I suppose, they haven’t yet put together a players name from taking the first ten letters of alphabetti spaghetti on their plate and linked it to Arsenal. Still time though…

To be honest I would not be at all surprised to see Adebayor stay at the club, he has not been as vocal in his desire to leave as he was last summer and if he returns for pre-season with the will to work and get back into his hard working ways of the seasons previous to the campaign just gone, I wouldn’t mind his staying. A hard working Adebayor is a good Adebayor, and a good Adebayor is good for the team.

Sticking with strikers, the boss has been praising Niklas Bendtner’s improvement in the second half of the season and declares that he is a handful for any defence. I have said before that I feel Bendtner can be a better player than Adebayor, I have had this opinion before I started the blog nearly a year ago now. Arsene said:

“Nicklas has made big improvements since the start of the season. He has become an important player for this club. When Nicklas is really switched on and focused, he is a handful for any defence in the world.

“He has shown that in the second part of the season. People forget how young he is, but I am sure he has won many people over in the second half of the season.”

Can’t disagree with that at all, really. He has a knack of grabbing winning goals as shown this season just gone, and in the campaign before that. The sp*rs goal stands out.

We have a hell of a lot of forwards at the club now and Wenger will have a bit of a dilemma about how to keep all the players happy, Adebayor, Bendtner, van Persie, Vela, Eduardo, Walcott and you can throw Arshavin’s name into that bundle as well along with the returning Jay Simpson. I would really like to see Eduardo being a key feature in our forward line next season, more on that in the coming weeks though, we have a lot of the summer left to talk about that sort of stuff, feel free to leave your thoughts though.

The boss has been talking about the state of the squad but hasn’t really said anything new, or given anything away. He has said, as usual, that no players are leaving. Its all ‘going through the motions’ kind of stuff, keeping player values high and keeping transfer targets firmly secret.

There’s still a few van Persie/contract articles flying about and Ive heard it might even be announced today. Looks like hes had to settle for 70k a week though… recession? what recession?

There has been a lot of chat about Filipe Melo this week, and in previous weeks but from what I have seen, and heard, he is not all he is cracked up to be. He seems a bit of a hot and cold player and was overshadowed by some old fella that goes by the name of Gilberto Silva the other night. I trust Wenger’s judgment on transfers but I do think some fans need to stop pleading for the boss to buy a player that has only had one stand out season in his career, and racked up god knows how many cards.

Right, that’s about it. I’m ignoring this, ignominious shit stirring.

’till tomorrow.