Author Archives: Michael Roberts

You Just Can’t Buy Class. Obviously.

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Thanks For The Memories?

As Ashley Cole left Arsenal and joined Chelski, you could probably forgive Arsenal or Arsene Wenger for criticising the left-back for all the back-stabbing and general dis-loyalty for seeing Chelski and Jose Mourinho behind everyone’s backs.

But no, Arsene had the following statement:

“Upon Ashley’s departure I would like to thank him on behalf of the team and everyone connected with the Club for his contribution to our success over recent years, Ashley has always played with his heart for Arsenal.

“I remember giving him his debut nearly seven years ago and he grabbed the opportunity. He had a strong desire to succeed and ultimately it was that determination that sees him leave this Club. Ashley has grown up with Arsenal and given time, will hopefully appreciate what the Club has given him. I feel the future is bright for this team and look forward to seeing it challenge for honours.”

What a well thoughout, concise and positive farewell to a player who, lets face it, was a complete arsehole and will continue to be for the rest of his life.

And then you have William Gallas after leaving the Russians.

Now we’ve all read the statement Chelski have issued to the press, clearly in a campaign to either unsettle the player or tarnish a signing which is a fantastic coup for Arsenal.

Jose Mourinho was fuming with the departure of his old number 13 which gives Arsenal the defensive pairing of Kolo Toure and William Gallas. Can you have a better defensive partnership?

Now aside from the laughable accusations of ‘hawking himself to the highest bidder’ Chelski have made having just signed rent boy Cashley Cole and money-grabbing superstars such as Michael Ballack then you wonder if the Chelsea PR machine is totally stupid.

Don’t they see they look like a 2 year old who’s crying over spilt milk?

But with the apparent bust up between Jose Mourinho and Peter Kenyon over the whole Gallas deal then you’ll probably find it’s Kenyon’s very public way of trying to justify the transfer.

“Oh Master Jose, I had to get rid of that Gallas boy – he said he’d score an own goal and then get sent off… and er… he said your a big stupid head!”

Er.. right…

The Future’s Bright, It’s Red And White?

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Well 24 hours ago we had a weak squad but today we have actually brought in some world class players to cover the inevitable loss of Spanish and English prostitutes Jose Antonio Reyes and Cashley Cole.

Cashley got the move he’s always dreamed of since he was child and in return we get William Gallas and £5 million. It looks like it was Arsenal who compromised in the end after such a late transfer – possibly the last one of the actual transfer window. But I personally don’t mind as we have got a fantastic centre-back in Gallas who has proved himself in The Premier League and at the highest level.

Wenger’s transfer target Julio Baptista came to Arsenal 12 months later than he would have liked, and swaped the white of Real for the red of Arsenal with old Sevilla team-mate Jose Antonio Reyes – who didn’t seem to care if he signed for Real or Atletico.

Baptista also mentioned he has been learning English – that’s one huge step more than Jose tried to make while living in England!

Under-19 Brazil captain Denilson arrived from Sao Paolo in a deal that could be worth £4 million and Zinedine Cygan has finally left Arsenal to join ex-Arsenal team-mate Bobby Pires at Villarreal.

The main concerns I had for the coming season was the lack of physical presence we had in the squad which would especially problematic in certain away games but Gallas and Baptista should clear up that problem.

‘The Beast’ is renowned for his pace, power and physical presence on the pitch which with our youngsters will be vital for the upcoming campaign. He also has big game experience and has been a regular in the Brazil squad so should hopefully be a big player for us. But it will be interesting to see if Arsene plays him in defensive midfield where he started his career or whether he will be deployed further up the pitch.

And William Gallas pairing up with Kolo Toure at the back is a mouth-watering prospect. People talk about Gallas being a versatile player and playing in several positions but with the French International demanding a move away from Chelski for being played out of position don’t expect Gallas to play anywhere except central defence.

Which presents an interesting question when Senderos returns to full fitness. With all 3 centre-backs fully fit who would play? I’ve always said I would like Kolo to play in midfield because he is technically sound and has so much energy and pace it’s unreal! But we’ll have to wait and see…

Right, I’m off to bed now – three players coming to Arsenal in a single day? That’s far too much excitement for me!

Transfer Window Coming To A Close….

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Gallas & Baptista for Cole & Reyes?

Well it’s been a long day involving transfers but the latest news is that Arsenal are going to swap Jose Antonio Reyes for his old Sevilla team-mate Julio Baptista, the man Arsene wanted last season.

And there are rumours that Cashley is finalising a deal with Chelsea and that in return we get William Gallas.

For Arsenal, if these two swap deals go through then it would be a very good day in the transfer market. To offload two players who don’t want to play for the club is a good thing but to replace them with proven class is even better.

Gallas has proven himself in The Premiership and at the highest level which is important. Senderos will be back in a couple of months so we’ll have decent cover at centre-back.

Could this even be the start of the energetic Kolo in central midfield?

We can all dream I suppose.

And Baptista would be a welcome addition, because of his presence and power which would help us on those physical away days!

Only 3 hours left and all the madness will end…

First Roman Abramovich And Now Kia Joorabchian?

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And to think we all thought the domination of The Premier League was in the hands of Chelsea and their billions.

How wrong we were.

With todays quite amazing news that West Ham United have managed to sign Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano you have to wonder what the hell just happened here, and what does it mean for English football.

With huge clubs like Arsenal, Manchester United, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Roma all linked to the Argentinean Duo you have to ask yourself how did they sign for West Ham?

How can they even afford these players – remembering that Tevez had a buy-out clause in his contract worth £68 million that needed to be paid off in order for him to even leave Corinthians.

So you can bet that this ‘undisclosed fee’ West Ham got these players for was nothing, especially since MSI were preparing a takeover bid of WHU last year.

But of course, the President of London-based MSI (Media Sports Investments) Kia Joorabchian who own Corinthians have signed a crop of Brazilian and South American talent in their time with their new found wealth, including players such as Maxi Lopez, Lucho Gonzalez, Carlos Alberto, Wagner Love & Sebastian Dominguez.

Haven’t heard of them? You will do.

Great news for West Ham fans who can expect massive transfer coups over the next few seasons as they look to attack Chelsea, Arsenal, Man United and Liverpool at the top of The Premiership.

Bad news for the rest of the league.

And another worrying aspect is that although Kia Joorabchian denies any involvement with Roman Abramovich in regards to MSI they do have business links through another Russian billionaire Boris Berezovsky so aren’t exactly strangers to each other.

Of course Abramovich also denies any financial interest in CSKA Moscow, even though a company that he is a shareholder of Sibneft are the shirt sponsors of CSKA in a £30 million, 3 year deal.

Or maybe West Ham won’t be bought out by MSI and won’t become a major force in the game over the next few years. Maybe West Ham are just a feeder club to Chelsea, who will monitor the players progress over the season and then decide if they are good enough to play for them in The Premiership.

Either way, neither scenario is exactly great for Arsenal!

All Quiet On The Transfer Front. Obviously.

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Well the biggest speculation on transfer deadline day involving Arsenal targets is that Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano have signed for West Ham on loan.

Apparently Tevez claims on his official website that the move to West Ham is a done deal so it seems pretty certain he won’t be a Gooner this season! We can all dream eh?

The only other real rumour is that in exchange for Reyes, Real are going to give Arsenal Julio Baptista and £2 million. I’m not sure about this one, since it has been looking like Atletico Madrid were the favourites to sign the wantaway winger.

The squad is the thinnest it has been for a long time and I think I’m right in saying that in terms of playing numbers we have one of the smallest squads in The Premier League! I believe Aston villa have more players than us which is quite depressing!

But more likely signings are a Japanese youngster called Sho Ito and Kilmarnock striker Steven Naismith.

God help us all.