₦airaland Forum

proudly9ja:
Backing a team does not mean putting up with crap neither does slating the team when they perform badly mean fans are 'plastic'. In fact in my books, any fan who blindly supports the team is just that, BLIND!

I won't argue if someone's opinion of me is that I blindly support my club, but my eyes are open enough to admit when the team has messed up. The team has messed up on saturday but that this team has improved over last year is not in question which is what makes the collapse on Saturday even more baffling and annoying. What happened on saturday is not considered normal at the emirates.

mukina2:
they day you'll feel one kind e-slap for your pc just know it came from me

Seriously do you really read through your own posts when you are bored?

Abeg Muki, I no get your time now, I don't mind getting friendly slaps from women as long as it isn't embarrasing in public. I don't read thru my posts as I'm not that much of a Narcisist but I say it as I feel at that time. I believe the club is on the right track so it will take more than a silly loss at WBA that shouldn't have happened to shake my belief.

FFS, we sent a team of U18s with Szczesny in goal to beat this WBA team (bar Odemwingie) 2-0 last season, the team was better than that result so it is clear to me something went badly wrong. To now start passing judgement on this team on that one result alone seems to me very unfair.

On another note, at least a player both myself and Dr. Kit likes will be on duty again today in the Reserves, now if Dr. Kit wants to proceed on Aluta to emirates to put pressure on Arsene to play JET, I will gladly join him, it might help to give Chamakh some needed rest IMO.

Dr Kitaun:
so what are u ? [b]METALLIC ?[/b]

RUBBISH !

your 1st and last names are DELUSION !!!

I would soon be back and bet u . . .I will fire from all cylinders

Yes o, cast iron METALLIC, not brittle like you and Debo who seem to have gotten tired.  Na Arsenal till I die even if I have to take flak from fellow fans who seem about to retire, I back my team always, put my money where my mouth is and support what I believe is best for my team. 

I've told Debo not to make the 5 years trophyless period a consideration in everything he writes, every season is a new one when I compared Barca's Hercules' loss to ours I wasn't talking in terms of 5 years, we live in the now, if some people want the past to hang over everything that happens fair game to them.

debosky:
You’ve come again with your rose tinted completely opaque blind man specs. . . .How on God’s green earth can this be the first slip up?

When Arshavin and Wilshere played mumu football on the edge of the box for Liverpool to score, was that a slip down? Interestingly the same mumu football on the edge of the box happened with Song at the Emirates on Saturday, leading to the second goal and you’re saying this is the ‘first’ slip up?

Was conceding a 95th minute equaliser against Sunderland not clear evidence of a slip up?

How many goal costing mistakes has Clichy made already this season that you are saying our ‘first’ slip up was on Saturday?

Is this the first game that Koscielny will make a disastrous mistake that costs a goal?

Fabianski not being able to save a simple shot on Tuesday isn’t a slip up?

Must you LOSE a game to call it a slip up?

Our standards must have become abysmally low. :/

Comparing the nonsense we did yesterday to Messi vs Hercules must be the most disingenuous comparison ever - are Barca coming off 3 years of REPEATEDLY making the same mistakes? Have they had a useless No 1 and 2 keeper like us for 3 years and counting? Have they had mofos like Clichy going backwards for 2 seasons on the trot yet retaining his place?

Do they have lazy twats like Diaby who plays one good game in three?

Before that loss, how many ridiculous home defeats had they had in the past 3 years? How many have we had at the Emirates? Remember Fulham? Hull? Spurs coming back to draw 4-4? 

Don’t even get me started today - go rejoice about the £56m in the bank but don’t come making claims this is our ‘first’ slip up. Each time this side takes to the pitch, there is a disaster waiting to happen out there.

This is a load of bull, the performances so far this season has been impressive until against WBA, I didn't hear you saying this last week  or when we went and got the win at WHL, even the D&G brigade seemed to be getting converted at a stage but then old habits die hard.

I don't blame you, when Myles Palmer has become your bosom buddy and yu're quoting him says it all really. 
Now Arsenal is expected to win all matches or what? or they are not expected to concede any goals? because all the other teams have only come to watch Arsenal or what? abi what is your definition of a team slip up?

It is sad, but some of those who claim to be fans are actually waiting for their club to slip up and that is a sad situation of things, it doesn't have to be that way.

pappilo:
@ dudspace

How does one PM? I ned to send you a PM but I have been looking for a way to do it all morning.

I think there should be a button to do it through my profile, I can't find it when I view your profile too, not sure if it has to do with some lockdowns on internet explorer while I'm at work, will check when I get home. Where is Log Me In when you need it? 

Diaby misses the trip to Belgrade, methinks he was rushed back a bit too soon, Gibbs is back in the squad, I hope that foot is fully healed.

mukina2:
^
i do not think you have the right to call any Arsenal fan plastic.
Lemme not go into the pains, fans go through season in season out, when your uncle wenger decides to play with our hearts anyhow

Na because nor be all of us they type Budget speech essay for NL?

Fair enof, Muki, that is my opinion. I consider those who can't stand by their team no matter what plastic and I wasn't specifically referring to Debo who I know to be a gooner through and through even if we don't agree on a lot of issues about the club. Arsenal is not in trouble the way they make it sound and we were all rejoicing last week on here and one slip up is all it took for all the negativity to come out. Its like you want to enjoy only the good times, but supporting a club is all about the rollercoaster ride of emotions, the highs of winning and the lows of losing but in the midst of it all a fan should live by what their club stands for.

The same set of fans who will be happy with developing a talent like Wilshere will come on here and say we haven't bought this and that person? in life you can't eat your cake and have it. Hammer your players when they don't reach the levels you expect but don't take every defeat as an opportunity to make mockery of the club you claim to support. There is no gain I can see in it.

No mind Debosky joo, too many plastic arsenal fans. You can hammer your team when they lose, but you have to back your team at the end of the day.  This is the first slip up by this team this season and some fans are collaborating with the media to make it look like a calamity.  Did Messi look like a world beater when Hercules overran them some weeks back?

According to KSA, "Let them say", we are still smiling to the bank and expecting some silverware this season. COYG.

Eastbay, abeg no come start fight for our thread. We don hear you, now go and celebrate your CL and multiple PL titles that you just won this season.

Pappilo

Great job and good analysis, Almunia had a mixed game yesterday, he could have saved us on 1 occasion though and was mostly responsible for the 2nd goal. He can be forgiven for this since he's done well so far and to help his confidence but another performance like this and I believe one of Mannone or Szczesny should get an opportunity to stake a claim (Fabianski is out of the picture IMO)

Eastbay:
Eyah,this is trully the thread of Lamentations.Funny,a week ago,this place was brimming with optimism.Wins over 10-man opposition were hailed like the Birth of Christ.Chamakh was supposedly the answer to their striking problems(scored in every home game).Now dudes are out-doing Jeremiah in terms of weeping.Arsenal wont who anything with walking calamities like Almunia,Fabianski,Clichy.By the way,I'm here to perform my obligatory rights by asking "How Market?"You know i'm the chairman of Aspamda Spare Parts Dealers Amalgamated Association, Feel free to purchase your imported original spare parts from my shop. . .

What do you mean? we have the right to criticise our boys when they don't perform, this has nothing to do with lamentations the season is a long one and there are still 30+ games to go please go and look to your own club and leave us alone. Lets see how Manure do today, they are already a goal down at Bolton.

I still wonder about one thing though, most of those who have coached the Super Eagles have been clueless, none apart from SiaSia has ever used Osaze in a central position and he's got all the tools to play there. A little variation upfront for the Eagles might have been good instead of always having Yak there.

mba mba, just saw the 2nd goal again on Football first, Alumi has to carry the can for this one, my stream wasn't clear in the afternoon, what was he thinking? he was trying to catch the ball rather than parrying it to safety. The team was shiiite but no excuse for that one, straight keeper's fault, if he couldnt save that, he had no business manning the sticks.

[quote author=kay_pumpin link=topic=510371.msg6821821#msg6821821 date=1285444988]Second was a 50/50?He parried the ball into his own net.While Kos has to share some blames for not tightening the angle and closing down the scorer,the way Al just deflected the ball into his own net was laughable.His reaction says it all.[/quote]I get you Kay, though will need to see that again, but that chap had the whole of the goal post to aim at with his run on goal and even though the ball came directly at Almunia, it was more or less a direct shot that could have gone anywhere. which part of his body did it hit again? wasn't it his knee? will see it again on football first later. Atimes I wonder if our keepers should go for a parry instead of trying to hold the ball.

[quote author=kay_pumpin link=topic=510371.msg6821821#msg6821821 date=1285444988]I wouldn't be too hard on him for the third goal. . . if i were in his shoe,i will be hesitant to commit to such a ball after conceeding a penalty come caution earlier in the game.But the question must be asked,where was EVERYONE that was supposed to be covering that part of the 18?[/quote]Monsieur Clichy had gone on his groundnut selling errand again.  

[quote author=kay_pumpin link=topic=510371.msg6821821#msg6821821 date=1285444988]We never won any 50/50 ball in the midfield,Song has lost every modicum of defensive ability he's acquired in the last 2 seasons, and if Nasri is in a game and people are still blaming AW for resting a Wilshere who's already contributed more than expected this season,THEN there is a MAJOR problem.[/quote]I wonder o, some of our boys  messed up real bad, heads might start rolling soon cos we have the squad now, there shld be no excuse for anyone not performing on the pitch. Jack wasnt even a confirmed 1st team member until about 3 games into the season, somebody might lose his shirt soon.

[quote author=kay_pumpin link=topic=510371.msg6821821#msg6821821 date=1285444988]I can not remember Carson making any save in the first half. . . DAMN.[/quote]says it all really, we were very poor.

On a lesser note though, what is it with Arsenal old boys playing against us? If Aliadere would only score 2 goals in a season while at 'Boro yu cld be sure he wld score it when he plays against us, now its Jerome Thomas of all people comin back to haunt us
I'm already praying Arsenal fans' least favorite prodigal son doesn't make Mancini's team when we play against them.

slimshay:
Debo I'd advise you see the whole match. It will be so easy to blame almunia if you see only ther highlights. It was total shambles of team display. I mean every forking person. Even the nasri that scored 2 goals.

GBAM right on the head, he only started playing after we were 3-0 down, he was so lackasidal before that. Trust the media to descend on Almunia as usual, it is so easy for them to make him the scape goat, if Sagna will stand like a mumu  and allow Jerome Thomas go past him like that on the edge of our box or Clichy will claim to be blocking someone and open his toros like a love-peddler's kini, what exactly is Almunia to do? 

Ibime:
Wey dose guys wey talksay Koscielny and Squillaci go guarantee clean sheet for Arsenal?
If na Chelsea defenders concede 3 goals (+ penalty) at home to West Brom, we for don flog them comot for Stamford Bridge.

What nonsense are you talking? did they not concede 3 against Wigan last season? and 4 against Newcastle just mid-week?

biolabee:
Our defence being poor is a constant K and we have conceded 237 goals and  averaged 33.9 goals over the last seven seasons.
The champions of the period have conceded 168 gols and averaged 24 goals. From a rule of thumb we conced say 9 goals too much every season and this is where an above average keeper will do us good!!!! We already have 7 gols this season
Last season Hahnemann of Wolves was ranked higher than Almunia in Castrol ranking. That is piss poor!! duduspace it is pisspoor
Reina was instrumental in making the Kops season not as bad as it shoulda been last season and so was Joe Hart for Bham.

If you are largely responsible for conceding 41 goals, yu can't be ranked very high, no matter how good you are. The team as a whole didn't help Almunia much today. He had already saved a penalty while getting a yellow card due to no fault of his. He should have been given better protection by the defence after that. Even if we had Cech in goal, there wasn't much he could have done about the first goal, the 2nd was a 50/50 but I don't know why he didn't commit for the 3rd goal, I felt he could have gotten to it he does have some blame for that but our outfield players aren't definitely covered in glory for any of those goals.

Head don dey clear small small.

1.@A-40
I owe you and Theo an apology, don't get me wrong I still think he is one of the least naturally talented attacking players in the club but I do wonder if Jerome Thomas would have been confident enough to be playing so high up our side of the pitch and turning Sagna inside out if Theo was on today, pace has its uses.

2. I can forgive Koscielny and Diaby for their performance in this game but I can't forgive Sagna, Song and Clichy escpecially for being culpable and all the others to a lesser extent, they were rested for this game and just didn't turn up. What has happened to Song this season? I hope he aint doin a Clichy?  

3. This is not a calamity but it is a silly setback that shouldn't have happened at all, I can cope with us coming against a better team and failing but to not be able to put a team we're better than away is unforgiveable this is WBA that we sent a team mostly of U18s to in the CC last season and came back with a 2-0 victory, what happened today is akin to Wigan shipping 9 goals to Tottenham, this team should refund all supporters who came to watch them today to show some remorse.

The boys owe us one, lets hope they give us something to cheer about against Chelsea. They owe us big time.

Congrats and enjoy yur celebrations, the next match soon will come along.

I don't even understand all the people coming to jubilate here? the season is a long one and only Manure is yet to lose. These are not the games we should be losing, from the little I could see, the boys were just complacent and this is not how to become champions.
I hold Sagna culpable for the 1st goal with Clichy and Song culpable for the 3rd and Almunia should have committed to getting the ball for that 2nd goal, it seemed he could have gotten there before that guy who put in the ball across the face of goal, but he hesitated yet again maybe becos of the yellow and the initial penalty.
At the least Chelsea could say they were beaten away and only by a goal, how on earth could we go 3-0 down at home before coming to our senses? This was a poor performance and really painful, now the media will descend on us again and rightly too.

debosky:
Is this a joke?

What debts did Utd have before the Glazers came in? How many trophies did they win (including the CL) without any rich backers?

The ONLY reason Utd is in debt is because the Glazers wanted to take them private - they were debtless, winning trophies for fun before the Glazers came in and Utd were a plc.

In actual fact, their profitability and revenue profiles at OT was one of the main drivers for Arsenal to seek a stadium move so as to be able to compete income-wise.

PS - this isn't about being a 'perfect club' - another attempt to call to an extreme and the well worn excuse (used by the manager yesterday) that you can't have everything. . . .we aren't asking for everything or perfection (which is incidentally what AW is seeking for).

Just fix the glaring gaps and get on with your job - enough of the grandstanding and ego stroking - talking about how many players have developed a career because of his coaching. Does Fergie sit down and talk about how many of his ex players are now running clubs in the EPL? Is Arsenal FC a university training people to go elsewhere to have careers?

This self serving egotism must stop - Arsenal FC's ambitions on the pitch - beyond a narrow, self gratifying 'I did it singlehandedly' mentality should be the focus and this is not the case right now.

This is not worth responding to, yu've brought a myriad of other issues that were never part of the discussion into it, this is now ranting and off point, give me time to overcome the boys letting us down today first and we can take up this discussion later.

HNIC:
This is what happens when you underate your opponents
No excuse.
This is a massive setback!

It is yet another good lesson if the boys will learn from it, why on earth were Clichy and Sagna rested during the week? was it not to be ready for this match? they stupidly allowed WBA to go 3 up and it became an uphill task from thereon. Anyway, we've got our first defeat out of the way, bring on Chelsea next week. Osaze really does add something to this WBA team, yu wonder why he's never been played central for Nigeria and those our stupid managers persists with Yakubu.  

It is our defence that let us down today, but I like the fight back.

Seriously Bad day at the office today but we still support our boys now its 3-2

Sege, this is not how champions play, why do our players bleep up on days like this? Clichy, Sagna and Song all culpable, if we knew we weren't good going forward at least we should have defended well now?  

Haven't watched the first half but I've heard we've been dire, though I never expect the media to have anything positive to say about us, just got my stream up, do the boys need the Liverpool treatment?  
They musnt let this opportunity to stay in the race slip away o.

@Debo

Okay I hear you and accept we've got the balance wrong, please can you show me this perfect club without a backer or heavy debts who has achieved more than Arsenal in England?

slimshay:
Debosky kosoro. We shall be here fourgether!!!

In other news, where is Dudu. Is he counting his dividends already?!

@Slim

No o, I dey sleep becos I dey do overtime at work to buy more fanshares.   actually I was knackered and fell asleep on my sofa while watching Portsmouth's revenge on the championship yesterday.

Respect to you and Ritchboy, maybe Debo will listen to y'all, I know I come across as being too pro-Arsene, its because I try to put myself in his shoes and consider the sacrifices he makes to keep the club in good stead.

debosky:
Oh ok - Kindly explain Reina, Van Der Sar and even the Schwarzer we were chasing like Hot goats.

There is no need to, I expect a good manager to always look at areas to improve his team, he however has a budget to balance and if you don't know how the money comes or goes how can you claim to know better than the manager who sees it all? 

debosky:
It is being penny wise, pound foolish - the extra 0.5m that we'd have paid for Schwarzer dwarfs the potential benefit from having a trusted, experienced goalie in our defence.

Another statement you can't back up Debo, the financial results we see blow that assertion out of the waters, have you ever asked yourself if perhaps our financial situation would have been wholly or partly reversed with that of Liverpool if we were the ones with a net spend of 300m and they with -7m?

debosky:
Don't try to be clever about this - he failed because while he was desperate, he felt he could drag it out to get him cheap. Wenger couldn't sign him because it was taken out of his hands by the injuries at Fulham.

I'm not being clever only saying it as I see it, even if we accept for some reason that what you state here are facts and not unfounded assumptions, they still don't matter, the issue is not whether he wanted Schwarzer or not, we all know now that he wanted him the question is was he desperate to get him? I say no if he wasn't willing to pay an extra 2m for him, whatever happened to prevent the purchase is not the point, if he was desperate for Schwarzer, he would have payed that extra 2m the minute Fulham demanded it, if you want to know what desperation is then look to CR9's transfer to RM, Milner's transfer to City or Ibra's transfer to Barca last season. All these are desperate transactions and the funny thing is none of them have achieved the desired effects so far.

debosky:
This is all conjecture - we know from history that the best remunerated player at the Emirates is currently Cesc, so if he isn't getting more than 2m, I don't see how Chamakh would get more.

Even if he did, does your excuse become 'because we paid Chamakh the biggest signing bonus ever we couldn't afford to sign a GK'? Fantastic.

Don't get me wrong and go on a flight of fancy assumptions I've not made, the whole point of pointing out a sign-up fee was to point out that there are other expenditure beyond the immediate transfer fees we see in the papers which you and I might never know about, and Chamakh's sign on fee wasn't the only expenditure I mentioned.
The full gist of the matter to avoid oversimplification is, there are decisions to be made and books to be balanced here, as a fan (and now part owner) I leave those decisions to the board and Arsene and I'm happy to see that they have an harmonious relationship which is delivering good financial results and will IMO soon translate to success on the pitch.

debosky:
Ridiculous - thinking that you should have quality players you can afford to bring you success??   How much did Reina cost Liverpool? How much did Cech cost Chelski? How much did Van Der Sar cost Utd? How much did Given cost Citeh?? Will spending money to secure a GK who will perform at the highest level for 3-4 years bankrupt the club?  

It is all fine and dandy to ask me how much Cech cost, when you look at Cech in isolation but can you compare the defensive shield Chelsea's back 4 give to him to what ours have given Almunia? not saying Cech isn't a better keeper but you have to look at the squad as a whole, it is not only Cech who guarantees Chelsea's trophys or else he would have won something for the Czech republic as well by now.
Oversimplification of issues is your error in this instance.

debosky:
We added 28m to cash reserves this year. . . .now tell me spending half that amount on a VITAL position such as the GK would bankrupt the club??  

I don't run the club but I can't imagine I can make a better decision as to what cash reserves the club needs for cash flow purposes than those who run the club on a daily basis. There is a reason why Barca had to go take a loan (with interest) to pay players at a stage. Or you are trying to tell me that the cash reserves was Arsene's decision alone?

debosky:
Wenger simply cocked up BIG TIME with regards to getting a quality keeper - there can be no other explanation. All this talk now about his GK's being 'quality' is because he cannot afford to say anything different.

Well, its a difference in terminology then, what you call a cock up, I call prudence, an insistence to not pay over the clubs valuation of a player and that is keeping in spirit with the club's insistence on running the club sustainably.

debosky:
Liverpool were ruined by Rafa's ridiculous transfer market dealings - he was buying like crazy and mostly poor quality players. This is COMPLETELY different to asking that you REPLACE quality (Lehmann) with more quality. This is less to do about money (as the numerous examples above show), but the ridiculous way Wenger pursued the transfer of a GK.

The same transfer dealings you are advocating, like buy a GK at whatever cost, yes Rafa bought some low quality players just like every other manager, but it is wrong to say he bought mostly poor quality players, if you ask me I would rather say he bought good quality players at too high a price and didn't look to bring up youth because they never had as good a squad as Arsenal from the onset and never planned for the future.

debosky:
Stop trying to be clever by half - Wenger's desperate attempts to sign Schwarzer at the end of the window points to the fact that HE KNOWS his current crop isn't good enough. There can be no more damning indictment than that.

Depends on how you look at it, wanting to improve your team in certain areas does not mean what you have isn't good, there is no perfection in football. The Equation (Arsene wants Schwarzer = Almunia isn't good enough) doesn't paint the whole picture.

If Arsene was really desperate, he would sign Schwarzer, the fact he didn't sign him shows he wasn't really desperate, isn't that a clear confirmation in itself?  

debosky:
Our goalkeepers are a disgrace for a club our size - in the top 6 (arguably top 8 even) in England, our goalies are the WORST.

This is a personal opinion, I know of many who would argue this point with you.

debosky:
Paying Cesc, the only player at the club to eever sign an 8 year contract, the cornerstone of Wenger's entire footballing philosophy, is not the same thing as Chamakh. What we are talking about is earning more than 3m and I am dead certain that did not happen.

Why not? exactly why not? This is a player who had to forego a contract offer from Bordeaux and was supposedly chased by Liverpool as well. I don't know the details of the negotiations but this player was negotiating from a very strong position.

debosky:
Besides, it is amusing that you're basing your calculations only on player trading profits - don't we have other sources of income? Or a club supposedly in the top 8 of Europe cannot afford to shell out decent money to buy a goalkeeper? As essential as the position is?
Don't give these watery excuses - Wenger has absolutely NO EXCUSE for failing to secure a GK. He failed abysmally to resolve that situation, knowing fully well (since the January window) that he wanted to sign one. Anything else is a feeble excuse.

You may have a point but it is reasoning like this that have landed the likes of Liverpool where they are, at the end of the day, you are really only as strong as your balance sheet or your backer's balance sheet until UEFA's laws kick in.
The point is, the whole culture of sustainability resonates through the club from the Chairman to CEO to Arsene himself, just go through all the account information and statements and it is very clear what the club's direction is, to not accept (grudgingly or otherwise) would be the true delusion We have a GK, in fact we have 4 , yes some can argue we could do better but at the end of the day they can't claim to be more in the know than those who run the club on a daily basis.

debosky:
Ridiculous - the day Wenger pays a player even 3m as a sign on bonus then you'll know the world has come to an end.

Don't be too sure about that, did you hear about the 2m that was reportedly paid to Cesc as a loyalty bonus? players have powers, don't ever forget that. He was a free agent and could negotiate his own terms, and Arsene could structure it that way so that he doesn't break his wage structure by paying some of the amount upfront. It was reported that Joe Cole got 1.7m as sign on fee at Liverpool.