It's grain of salt time

Just yesterday I was talking to the driver at work (yes I have a real job) about football and reassured him that I felt, as I have said here countless times, that “Adebayor will be playing for Arsenal next year.”  And of course, pretty much right after that conversation AC Milan’s Galliani claims that they have received a letter from Arsenal asking them

Hey yo, whattup?  Hey, erm, remember that whole Adebayor thing?  Yeah, we were just joking about the whole £30m thing.  You know, trying to look hard in front of the press.  Are you still interested in him?

Or something like that.  The point is that Galliani is claiming that Arsenal sent him a letter asking AC Milan to come back to the bargaining table.  I don’t know how much bargaining you’ve done in your life, but in my experience this is typically a despiration move.  So, if this story is true, then Arsenal are in some kind of serious trouble with Adebayor.

IF

And if it’s true, it will almost certainly see Ade go for far less than the £30m that Arsenal have said they want because now Barcelona and AC Milan have the upper hand.  Instead of bidding against each other, they can under bid with the confidence that they know Arsenal need to sell.

IF

If it’s true, prepare yourself for a price closer to the £16-20m range.  A player that is so unsettled with the club that his team goes back to his suitors and asks them to return to the bargaining table puts the team in basically no bargaining position and Milan and Barca both know that.

But those are all a bunch of “ifs,” we don’t know what actually happened, what the reaction will be, or why the sudden change.

IF

If it’s true.

And just yesterday was such a beautiful day what with the start of the season and all… ah the life of a football fan, joy one minute, depression the next.

Searching for good news:

Yesterday the European Club Association voted down Sepp Blatter’s 6+5 idea.  Plus there’s an awsome picture in the article that makes Sepp look like a baby throwing a tantrum (because he is!)

There, that makes me feel better. I give ole Sepp a week to circle the wagons and re-emerge with some other plan and a new target.  It’ll be just as bad for football, just as nationalistic, and just as dumb as 6+5 but it will have some other name like “Sepp Blatter’s Amazing Panacea 5+6 Ointmen” and he’ll be selling it out of the back of an RV at your local summer fair.

Step right up folks!  Tired of your national team sucking?  Tired of all the foreigners (ESPECIALLY FRANCE DIDN’T YOU SAVE THEM FROM THE JERRIES???  TWICE???) on your sacred soil messing up your sacred game with their so called “beautiful football?”  Well then, come on down and get you some Sepp Blatter’s Amazing Panacea 5+6 Ointment!  It cures “Top four-itis,” “David Bentlyism,” “Arsenal Syndrome,” and is guaranteed to win England the World Cup!  It’s also good for acne, sore muscles, tiredness, and it’s a guaranteed hangover cure for too much Euro 2008.  (Apply directly to the forehead, guarantees made herein are not actual guarantees, your mileage may vary, side effects include: Birmingham FC, lump and crunch football, falling attendance, lack of Champions League trophies, malaise, and in extreme cases bankruptcy.)

And finally:

This will cheer some of you up and make some of you even more depressed.  I’m quitting.  Well, I’m quitting wordpress.com.  On August 1st, I’m moving to my own domain, 7amkickoff.com, and getting out from under the wordpress umbrella.  There will be a few changes to the site, but I just thought it would be nice to have a grown-up blog instead of the kiddie blog here on WordPress (no offense other Arsenal bloggers!)

If you know someone (or are someone) who wants to help contribute to the site, drop me a line at bostelle|gmail|com.

That’s all for today, see you later.

0 comments

  1. I really wish Adebayor would stay – he’s been the perfect replacement for Henry. But if he goes – I am confident that Wenger will adjust – he always does. Some have not been happy with the progress of Bendtner but he could be the big target-man replacement while Arsenal still have Walcott, Van Persie and Eduardo to provide attacking support. I think Wenger’s kind of football will always succeed even if a big player or two leaves every year. My only concern for this year is the centreback spot. I would like to see Wenger bring in a top-caliber centreback to either take pressure off of Gallas or give him competition for his spot – whatever it takes to shore up an area that proved to be the teams’s achilles heel when they faced more powerful teams like United, Chelsea and Liverpool late last season.

  2. I agree with you about the center back position and would even go as far as to say that Gallas looked very ordinary and disorganized during Euro 2008. If it was me in charge, I’d put out the big money for a well known, big, solid defender and probably even sell Gallas (excuse me, “give him a chance to further his career with another team”).

    I think Gallas’ fortunes (like ACole) are on the wane.

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