I didn’t want to make another post today but it seems like the papers have forced my hand, what with the crazy reports that Arsene Wenger is taking Cesc and leaving, that Kolo Toure is leaving, and that William Gallas is leaving. It seems everyone we love is leaving us — everyone we love except William Gallas.
Even people we don’t love yet, like Hoyte the Younger, Jay Simpson, and Nacer Barazite are all leaving Arsenal. Though for those three “leaving” means getting a chance to play first team football on loan to some crappy club. I’m very high on Simpson and I’ll put money that Simpson scores 5+ goals for West Brom before the end of the season.
Meanwhile Arsenal have confirmed that Havard Nordveit is returning to the club. I’m sure the 18 year old will fill in perfectly for William Gallas…
What a way to kick off the new year, eh?
In the link above you’ll see that Peter Hill-Wood has come out and said that they are refusing Kolo Toure’s transfer request. This is remarkable for several reasons. First, Arsenal are typically very tight lipped about all transfers. I was looking over the Diarra saga the other day and the club denied that anything was ongoing up until the moment that the player was transfered. Second, if they were all “players will honor thier contracts” then why didn’t they make Diarra honor his contract? Maybe they have changed their policy? It’s the only thing that makes sense because last year Wenger said publicly that Arsenal don’t refuse players who put in transfer requests.
It makes sense to deny Toure, because if Arsenal let Toure go they will have Havard Nordveit paired with the vastly experienced Johan Djourou, but I really wish they had found this steel last year when Diarra was bitching and moaning like a little child.
Maybe Arsenal have learned that you can’t let players like Diarra, Flamini, and Gilberto all go at the same time and still remain a viable Premiership challenger? I suspect that they have learned their lesson and will only let two senior players leave this time!
Djourou for captain!
If today was the start of Stupid Season I can’t wait for tomorrow’s transfer rumors — Wenger to take over Man City!
hehe nice one man…but still u cnt expect nordveidt to have a place in the 1st team man…and same with djourou…i hope kolo stays…Zain (http://arseneknowsbest.wordpress.com/)
Anyone who reads this column regularly knows that I was joking about Nordveit.
Tim (http://7amkickoff.wordpress.com)
More cat-fighting in the dressing room, this is not the Arsenal way. Tim, it’s true we’re beginning to see a view into things that we’re normally not privy to, I think this signals a big problem in terms of squad harmony and results. I may be slated for saying this but saying it anyway – if it’s between gallas and toure and the problem looks like its just getting worse and worse, i choose toure to stay. Too many questions have arisen around gallas and though he’s won us some games, how is his attitude contributing to the team’s overall performance?? I think Wenger needs to stamp his authority back onto the side(and backside) and sell gallas while we can still get something for him. Yes, we’ll need to buy to replace, but a squad with a broken dressing room is the last thing we need at this precarious time. I’m not calling for a clear out, but I think it’s time for a excision to clear this up once and for all.
i’m sorry of wengers & fabrigas leaving arsenal i can say for the 2men i love arsenal
Barnaby, I completely agree with you: Toure over Gallas every time. As I said before (and got a lot of shiat for) Gallas has been a cancer on every team he’s played for, the faster he finds the exit the better.
According to Young Guns, we have signed a 20 year old Brazilian striker, Lenny Fernandes Coelho, who will be coming to us in June of this year.
According to Wilkpedia, Lenny as he’s called is 5′ 6 1/2″ and has scored 2 goals in 47 appearances for Fluminense, SC Braga and Palmeiras.
Does this make any sense when we have Vela, Walcott, Simpson up and coming with Ade, RVP and Eduardo already established?
Young Guns usually has reliable information but the way they get it is very distasteful; the blogger has insinuated himself with one of the players and gets inside info through that connection. I don’t read that blog because I think that kind of dynamic is destructive to the club, basically he and the player are breaking team rules.
If I found out who they are I would turn them in.
With all due respect to ur blog, i dont think there’s anything wrong with ‘young guns’. how are they breaking team rules? And how is it harming the club(which includes us too)???
They are breaking team rules in the exact same way that William Gallas broke team rules: what happens in practice stays in practice. Remember what Wenger’s reaction was to that leaked memo?
Basically, that blogger has his hooks in some young player and is getting inside information. If Wenger wanted that information made public, he’d hold a press conference and tell us. Now, so far he hasn’t really given us any destructive information, just lineups and stuff from the few articles I read, but it’s a secret relationship and thus a very destructive relationship.
If they had nothing to hide, why not reveal who the contact is?