• Sam

  Just quoting:

  “According to the News of the World, the 37-year-old Australian shot-stopper is on the verge of a £3 million move out of Craven Cottage after telling Hodgson the opportunity was too good to turn down.”

  Now I’m thinking, is News of the World reliable? No. Is a 3Mil GK good enough? No. Do we want a 37-year-old? Nope.

• JDD

  @sam its not only the news of the world with that story it was also in the sunday mirror.and i dont see the problem in getting a 37 year old gaolkeeper.everyone moans that we need to buy for now not the future so thats exactly what this signing is he is a brilliant goaly that would give us 3+ years of service.and i dont see how you can say hes not good enough.hes up thre with the top 5/6 goalies in the prem.

• Sam

  @ JDD:
  I have nothing against the man, but GKs are generally at their peak earlier than 37. He is probably on a decline from here onwards. Anyway, if he’s so good, why is he just worth 3Mil? Price is an indicator.

• RVP

  age makes the price so low and goalies dont usually go for anything over 10mil. and how old was van der sar when he went to utd? 35.

• fredric

  As someone said over here, some people like to look back at the good old days. We all do that at times. But looking back is sometimes dangerous because we see the past that we want to remember and not the past that has happened in reality. If I remember my childhood and the summer holidays it looks like I was living in Spain somewhere because the sun was always shining and it was warm. But in fact when we had 1 week without rain in the summer it was a very rare thing and yet when I remember those days it looks like that. So we have to be careful with looking back.

  Some people still blame Wenger for letting Henry, Pires, Bergkamp en Vieira go. Yes they all went away from Arsenal in the space of some 2 seasons. But let us take Bergkamp to start. He was just getting too old for playing in the EPL. Yes he still had his moments of brilliance but those days and moments were getting rare. I want to be the last one to give the impression that I talk down Bergkamp as I think he was one of the most important players during his career at Arsenal and maybe a bit underestimated by some people. But it was clear for everyone and certainly for him that he had to stop playing football at that age.

  Henry left us because he wanted to win the Champions League and he thought it would be impossible at Arsenal. Maybe if he had scored our second goal in the final we would have won the Champions League in 2006. But he missed and Arsenal missed out . Since then 3 seasons and only one was a good one. The other 2 seasons have been rather poor for a player of his standard. If we would have won the CL and if he would have stayed and produce the same seasons at Arsenal maybe those same people would have said that Wenger should have sold him as he was no good anymore. I think Wenger let him go because he was having troubles with his health and that he wanted to reward him for his best years at Arsenal.

  Pires also had one good season left at Villareal but the other seasons he was sitting on the bench a lot. He also grew older and it showed in his performances. Did we really had to hang on to him? He got a lot of injuries also in his last few years so did we had to keep him? And when did we had to let him go? It’s easy to say we should have kept them but this was not realistic and certainly with Bergkamp and Pires.

  Vieira is the one player that maybe could have made a difference in my opinion. At first sight he seemed to have won a lot of titles in Italy. But there is one big but. When I look at Italy and the Italian league I don’t know how you win titles. Do you win it on the field? Do you win it with making phone calls? Who knows what else is done over there. One of his titles in Juventus was taken away by the Italian FA as the title was won by doing all kind of things that involved referee match fixing things. And then he went on to Inter who had a run of titles but their name also has been mentioned recently in court because they also seemed to have ordered refs for some games just like Juventus had done. So excuse me but winning the league in Italy is something that doesn’t mean a lot to me. But he has it on his list of honour that is something you cannot take away from him. But if we look at the Vieira from these days it is clear to see that he is at the last stage of his career. The stage where you have to choose between ending your career with grace or keep hanging on and get the most (moneywise) out of it. But I really wonder if Vieira would be better on the field than Song for the moment. I would chose the Song from now always ahead the Vieira from now.

  Some people call Wenger arrogant and accuse him of megalomania. I cannot come up with an answer if Wenger is arrogant. To know this you have to know him in person. But if Wenger is suffering from megalomania this is a thing that we can try to find out. If in my country they call a football manager as someone who is suffering from this they mean people who spent millions without thinking of the future. Like in the French expression: après nous la déluge. Which means something like : cleaning up the mess is for the others. This is working like Redknapp did at Portsmouth. That was megalomania. He bought as if he was Real Madrid. Gave players big contracts and gave them high wages and when he saw that the ship started to sink he went on, leaving the broken pieces for the ones that came behind him.

  I really cannot say that Wenger is doing such a thing. He is doing the opposite. He is making sure that whenever he leaves Arsenal the club will be in fine shape. He guided us to the Emirates, he gave us the best youth academy in the EPL, he was building for the future. And I think he was the biggest victim of all this. He knew it would be difficult to win prices like he was used to. But he always kept the interest of the club on the long run as his priority. He could have left on several occasions and go to Real Madrid where he would have had all the money available for him to win things. He was linked with every top club in Europe in the last years, linked with the French national team but he decided to stay to help Arsenal survive the most difficult period in their existence if we forget the events of 100 years ago when we almost lost the club for ever. And in all those years when we had to be very careful with every pound we had he kept us in the Champions League. He gave the fans a football style that is admired in the whole world. And by the whole world I mean that part of the world outside the UK. The part of the world where people also take a look at the way you play and not only at the prices you have won. The part of the world where people can see beyond just success for the sake of it. And yes sometimes you can lose a game with the way we play. Those things can happen. At Everton we countered them for a few goals and won the game and we got it the other way round against United. That’s football you know.

  Just like the manager who will stick to his players. Have you ever heard a manager openly saying that his player is dross or rubbish? The manager who would do such a thing is a bad manager. Because a manager his job is to build up his players and not to break them down.

  Some people keep talking as if they know Cesc in person and have heard the conversations between Cesc and Wenger. I don’t know these conversations so I cannot comment on that. Maybe it would be a nice thing if the rest of us do the same. Because saying that Cesc wants to leave now because the media tell us this story doesn’t make you look like a clever person. It only gives the impression that you are a parrot.

  Has Arsène lost the plot big time? Then why is his name mentioned every time when a big clubs wants a new manager? Now it could be that some of us are far better in knowing it all than people who work in football night and day. Yes that could be the case. Why would Milan, Real Madrid, and fill in any name that has been linked with Wenger the last years want Wenger as some of us clearly know he has lost it. Maybe those who are saying that he has lost it are in fact just saying that they have lost something. They have lost the knowledge that in all football clubs there are times when you win things and times when you don’t win. Especially when you are building or have build a new stadium you will have a difficult time. Look at where the other teams that have build a new stadium in the last decade, find themselves right now.

  I think we are doing pretty good if you keep that in mind. So it’s not over. It’s just a new start. You just have to open your eyes and want to see it.

• Flamez

  he’s a good buy for 3mil at 37 and its so low as he only has 1 year left on his contract, also its more likely to happen if hodgson goes 2 liverpool

• parsi

  Wenger did an interview in the middle of last season when he said that “he wanted a trophy before he would leave”. Given that this still looks light years away, I’m filled with dread that we could still be left with Wenger foe several years yet.The man has unquestionably passed his sell by date, he’s a Duracell rather than an Ever Ready battery, but seems less and less capable with each passing season.For five years now, he’s tinkered with the team to little effect. He’s persisted with dross like Cygan, Senderos and Silvestre, when every other human being on the planet could see they were rubbish. He’s kept faith for four years or more with players like Denilson and Diaby who are still not good enough. He’s thrown away chances to get half-decent goalkeepers in and given more playing time to two of the club’s worst ever goalkeepers we’ve had. Now we’re limked to another creative midget and a goalkeeper who’s 37 years old. This is the mighty Arsenal, one of the top clubs in Europe, who need to win sliverware to retain and attract top players and we don’t seem concerned. I couldn’t care less whether other clubs have bought players in- our situation is dire. I would be less concerned if every other summer and January transfer window hadn’t ended in the same old pathetic excuses from Wenger. All other big clubs address their urgent needs- it’s only us who can never close deals- how credible is that? If Wenger really loved this club, he would tell the Board to get another top man in when his contract expires. eg. “tap up” Hiddink for the season 2011-12. Come on Gaziids, show us what you’re made of, do something… anything!

• vj

  god i was watching celebrity soccer last night and i was suprised how shocked i was with the qualities of seamen and lehmann still. I always feel wrried whenever there is a corner because i know almunia can;t deal with it. Odd games like the first leg against barca are not good enough for failures in the season. In oreder to win next season we need a new GK (a new CB if either gallas or vermalen leave) and we need cesc to stay, im not concerned about joe cole we have the creativness of nasri a fit arshavin ( who should improve i believe) and a FIT and IMPROVED walcott and a fit van persie, plus diaby will get some great experiance the likes of ramsay wilshhere gibbs eastmond B52 will all start playing more and better, a new GK is all we need i believe to mount a serious title challenge.

• amar

  This Xavi geezer is really beginning to get on my t**s. The bloke is a diabolical mug who never keeps his lips closed. Has the man got a case of OCD? Does he have to repeat himself several hundred times a day to get on with his life? Every day I trawl through News Now to see who Arsenal have signed and all I seem to see is this man running off his mouth. It is getting boring. More boring than watching paint dry. In fact, more boring than watching Chelsea play. The man is a fantastic player. I probably enjoy watching him play as much as anyone but as a person he is a plonker. Xavi should show Arsenal a bit more respect because from what I’m seeing he, and Barcelona, have lost a lot of mine and I’m sure many others too.

• Tm17

  I don’t think you can blame xavi too much
  I mean if a journalist asks him about cesc
  of course he gonna say nice things
  in the same way if they ask him would he
  be pleased if cesc joined he would say yes!!!

  And anyway at some point we just have to ignore the
  media and this goes to both British and spanish media
  As at the end of the day they just try to get a living out
  of their jobs(even thought I am not justifying what they are
  doing)

  And finally @frederic don’t who wrote this but spot on
  exactly what I would say !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Mehedi

  I have a question for all the fans right here, Imagine we don’t sell cesc. Would you respect him the way you did before, let alone you; how would the 60,000 react?. how would he celebrate a goal?. I think we should let cesc go. He doesn’t want to be here. Believe me it’s not barca, it’s that he wants to win things, even if real wanted him he would have gone to real. Just a question.

• Pete

  Yaya Toure’s agent has been speaking again today:

  BREAKING GOSSIP

  2048: Barcelona midfielder Yaya Toure’s agent claims the the Ivory Coast international, who has also been linked with Manchester City, could form part of the deal to bring back Cesc Fabregas to the Nou Camp.

  “There’s a lot of interest in the deal for Toure,” Dimitri Seluk told Rac-1.

  “Arsene Wenger likes him and Arsenal are interested. “If the conditions are good, everything can be finished soon. He could come into the Cesc deal and Barca and Arsenal are struggling to come to an agreement.

  “Everything has changed with City, because they talk a lot but then afterwards they don’t appear to be a rich club but rather a bankrupt one.”

• Mehedi

  It’s not friendship either, how many of that team is in the barca squad right now? 3 or 4, don’t they miss any other players, only cesc. hah laughable.

• Mehedi

  @pete whats you source?

• devday

  Check out the new post, I’ve got a little bit on Toure

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