Fabregas goes to Barca for £35million

[Cripps_orig]

We should put the cunt up for auction and sell to the highest bidder. No doubt Man City would come in with a massive offer.

I just want him out now. Couldnt care less where he goes

[Coney]

increasingly looking like AW wasnt a million miles off when saying the cards are yet to be played and that we are very much in the middle of a game of waiting

For sure. It's like any other market. All sellers are holding out for the maximum price and will only accept when they think they have squeezed all the can. Similarly the buyers are offering the minimum they think will get the sale. And buyer/sellers are trying to get as much in a sale as they can to increase their chance of buying someone else. Basic marketplace. There are probably any number of chains set up waiting for someone to crack. Kind of frustrating.

The odd sales that have happened so far are just where the selling club think they have already got their best offer and will get no more. In those cases, I guess they have now become buyers with a known fund to play with. Until this all pans out we will just have to watch wild speculation and innuendo by all and sundry. Pessimists will continue to think nothing good will happen, optimists (any on GW?) will think the opposite.

All basic stuff really. Just a pain in the ass waiting for the outcome.

[Champagne Charlie]

For sure. It's like any other market. All sellers are holding out for the maximum price and will only accept when they think they have squeezed all the can. Similarly the buyers are offering the minimum they think will get the sale. And buyer/sellers are trying to get as much in a sale as they can to increase their chance of buying someone else. Basic marketplace. There are probably any number of chains set up waiting for someone to crack. Kind of frustrating.

The odd sales that have happened so far are just where the selling club think they have already got their best offer and will get no more. In those cases, I guess they have now become buyers with a known fund to play with. Until this all pans out we will just have to watch wild speculation and innuendo by all and sundry. Pessimists will continue to think nothing good will happen, optimists (any on GW?) will think the opposite.

All basic stuff really. Just a pain in the ass waiting for the outcome.

Totally agree. But personally my frustration is growing and growing because of the tough start we've got and the fact that the future of two of our big players are still totally up in the air. I'm not sure waiting until the end of August is in Arsenal's best interests this time.

But still got a few weeks to go till the season kicks off so I wont go in to mental panic mode just yet!

[Coney]

Totally agree. But personally my frustration is growing and growing because of the tough start we've got and the fact that the future of two of our big players are still totally up in the air. I'm not sure waiting until the end of August is in Arsenal's best interests this time.

But still got a few weeks to go till the season kicks off so I wont go in to mental panic mode just yet!

Sure. It would be nice to have new CBs in place right now so the defence can have a few weeks together before the season kicks off. Less concerned about a forward being in it earlier - it helps, but the crucial thing is getting the back 4 doing their stuff right from the start. If new strikers are in the team for only a few days before the first match, the opposition will start the first game not quite knowing how they will be used and I think that gives a bit of an edge. A few games in and the oppositions are beginning to have ideas how to deal with your new attack.

[Champagne Charlie]

Sure. It would be nice to have new CBs in place right now so the defence can have a few weeks together before the season kicks off. Less concerned about a forward being in it earlier - it helps, but the crucial thing is getting the back 4 doing their stuff right from the start. If new strikers are in the team for only a few days before the first match, the opposition will start the first game not quite knowing how they will be used and I think that gives a bit of an edge. A few games in and the oppositions are beginning to have ideas how to deal with your new attack.

Spot on, agree with all of that.

Fingers crossed we're working hard behind the scenes on bringing some top players in ASAP.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Coney, behind the scenes theory:bow:

[Coney]

Spot on, agree with all of that.

Fingers crossed we're working hard behind the scenes on bringing some top players in ASAP.

How are the pessimists going to react when Wenger announces the signing of Vidic, Messi and Torres?

[Coney]

Coney, behind the scenes theory:bow:

On September 1st, you'll know if I was right or if I was talking complete bollocks. Place your bets...

[Cripps_orig]

How are the pessimists going to react when Wenger announces the signing of Vidic, Messi and Torres?

Vidic :bow:

The other 2 can fuck off tbh

Actually if Torres can become what he was then id take him

[Marc Overmars]

Cesc will go for 35m.

[Coney]

Cesc will go for 35m.

If he did and we used the money sensibly to by good stock, I'd take it. Would rather keep Cesc though. Great vision on the pitch and does top notch assists. With forwards who can take proper advantage, he is a killer midfielder. His reading of the game and his passing is awesome.

[Özim]

If he did and we used the money sensibly to by good stock, I'd take it. Would rather keep Cesc though. Great vision on the pitch and does top notch assists. With forwards who can take proper advantage, he is a killer midfielder. His reading of the game and his passing is awesome.
I'm sure we'll have a couple unknown players from the French league lined up, don't worry.

[Boss]

I'm sure we'll have a couple unknown players from the French league lined up, don't worry.

:lol: buy a replacement? We have Wilshere, we have Song, we have Diaby, we have Ramsey, we have Lansbury, we have Rosicky, we have Frimpong, we have Eboue... to buy is to kill them.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Actually if Torres can become what he was then id take him

yup me too

[Fist of Lehmann]

How are the pessimists going to react when Wenger announces the signing of Vidic, Messi and Torres?

Optimists and pessimists alike will all unite in splaffing their pants.

Except for Torres, he's shit now.

[KSE Comedy Club]

Sell Cesc now for £35m, just fuck him off for all our sakes.

Buy Mata for £20m then use the rest of the spare cash for a CB or two and then look at another striker.

[selassie]

:lol: buy a replacement? We have Wilshere, we have Song, we have Diaby, we have Ramsey, we have Lansbury, we have Rosicky, we have Frimpong, we have Eboue... to buy is to kill them.

Oh and don't forget Jenkinson can play there too. You know we have to respect the rules, we develop these players...it is important to give the younger players a chance.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Sell Cesc now for £35m, just fuck him off for all our sakes.

Buy Mata for £20m then use the rest of the spare cash for a CB or two and then look at another striker.


there a plan. . . . .

thats never gonna happen!
nice try Jeebus!

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Sell Cesc now for £35m, just fuck him off for all our sakes.

Buy Mata for £20m then use the rest of the spare cash for a CB or two and then look at another striker.

They want at least 25 mill for him

[dazthegooner]

Wenger - 'No movement' on Fabregas situation

Arsène Wenger says there has been “no movement” on Cesc Fabregas’ situation despite media speculation linking the midfielder with a move to Barcelona increasing.


The midfielder has been strongly linked with a move to his former club this summer though Wenger has reiterated his desire for Fabregas to stay at Arsenal. When asked for an update on Friday, the manager insisted there was nothing to report.


“The position at the moment [with Fabregas] is a ‘no comment’ situation because there is no movement at all,” he told Arsenal.com.


Samir Nasri has also been linked with a move away from Emirates Stadium and Wenger hopes to sort out the Frenchman’s future soon.


Two players that Wenger has admitted could be leaving the Club this summer are Manuel Almunia and Nicklas Bendtner. Neither have travelled to Germany for the Club’s pre-season training camp.


“[It is] not completely [sorted that Samir will stay] but I want him to stay. He knows that. Hopefully we can sort that out in the coming weeks.”


“Alumina has been contacted by a few clubs, Bendtner as well,” he added. 


“As long as the situation is not settled, we have to focus on the coming season with the players we have. The players who are uncertain, it is difficult for them to focus on being completely committed

http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/wenger-no-movement-on-fabregas-situation

[Cripps_orig]

Barcelona are planning to sell a number of their younger players to Premier League clubs to help fund a new, improved bid for Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas.Full story: Daily MirrorMeanwhile, Barca vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu and director Raul Sanllehi have been in London to put the finishing touches to a third offer of £33.5m for Fabregas.Full story: Daily Mail£33.5m? :lol:

[Ironing]

£33.5m? :lol:

Too much for a cunt

x

[fari]

bojan is gone to roma innit. lord, just today fsc showed the everton game where he unlocked the defence wit ha dink over the top. bye bye fab 4 thanks for the memories:crying:

[fari]

They want at least 25 mill for him

dude is a must get, not sure if he will be a like for like for fabs...in the recent tourney he was all over the pitch but i like his style...not glamorous like some other ballers but top, top player nonetheless

[KSE Comedy Club]

Breaking news on SSN:


Chelsea have agreed a fee with Barcalona for midfielder Oriel Romeu.

Looks like the extra funds for the Cesc transfer are on the way :coffee:

[milla]

dude is a must get, not sure if he will be a like for like for fabs...in the recent tourney he was all over the pitch but i like his style...not glamorous like some other ballers but top, top player nonetheless

We have enough CMs already, get a pacey CF or wide striker. :good:

[Japan Shaking All Over]

with Barcunts new bid of 33.5 mil, which aint enough!

Arry Judas Redknob slapping 35 mil on Modric

Toffees saying they want Xmil for Jags.......Bolton saying they want 17 for Cahill

Why dont we just cut to the chase and say how much it will take to prise Cesc from us.......say 45 mil - if Barca then say no 40, then we can choose to do business or tell them to fuck off and Cesc to get back to work

the same could be done for Nas.......if we are to believe that he is saying he wont sign even if we offer 115 a week......then he fuck right off........damaging for the team maybe to possibly lose two main players, but I can much more easily get behind a group of players that actually want to wear the shirt rather than two cunts that dont.......Arsenal will never die, a bad season may be had, but we should we never be held to ransom

[fakeyank]

with Barcunts new bid of 33.5 mil, which aint enough!

Arry Judas Redknob slapping 35 mil on Modric

Toffees saying they want Xmil for Jags.......Bolton saying they want 17 for Cahill

Why dont we just cut to the chase and say how much it will take to prise Cesc from us.......say 45 mil - if Barca then say no 40, then we can choose to do business or tell them to fuck off and Cesc to get back to work

the same could be done for Nas.......if we are to believe that he is saying he wont sign even if we offer 115 a week......then he fuck right off........damaging for the team maybe to possibly lose two main players, but I can much more easily get behind a group of players that actually want to wear the shirt rather than two cunts that dont.......Arsenal will never die, a bad season may be had, but we should we never be held to ransom

:gp:

Also AW needs to fuck off

[Cripps_orig]

Arsenal are prepared to sell Cesc Fabregas to Barcelona for less than £40m, but only if 20-year-old midfielder Thiago Alcantara is included in the deal.Full story: MetroWtf? Why would we want Thiago here and have all this shit again in a few years? Also no ones heard of him before this summer. We should take the money

[Master Splinter]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/large/354877677.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJF3XCCKACR3QDMOA&Expires=1311555317&Signature=%2F4LfhoXQL5RI3uHKlpOiaWaGMKs%3D

:lol:

Czech fans at the Cologne game yesterday :bow:.

[fakeyank]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/large/354877677.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJF3XCCKACR3QDMOA&Expires=1311555317&Signature=%2F4LfhoXQL5RI3uHKlpOiaWaGMKs%3D

:lol:

Czech fans at the Cologne game yesterday :bow:.

Cant see it

[Injury Time]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/large/354877677.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJF3XCCKACR3QDMOA&Expires=1311555317&Signature=%2F4LfhoXQL5RI3uHKlpOiaWaGMKs%3D

:lol:

Czech fans at the Cologne game yesterday :bow:.
They all dressed like The Riddler? :unsure:

[Kano]

But at a press conference held on Monday to formally present Chile international Sanchez, Bartomeu claimed the deal for Fabregas remains in the pipeline.

"They (the talks) are going in the right direction," he said.

"We will try and do what we can with the money we have.

"We have until 30th August to do things and I am sure we will."

unbelievable. completely ignore any mention of drawing it to a close as wenger has expressed.

real test of nerve coming up. will arsenal slam the door in their face if no deal is brokered by the weekend, or will barca play mega super cunts and come back mid to late august with the money arsenal apparently want? if so, arsenal need to stand firm otherwise all this has been for nothing

[KSE Comedy Club]

unbelievable. completely ignore any mention of drawing it to a close as wenger has expressed.

real test of nerve coming up. will arsenal slam the door in their face if no deal is brokered by the weekend, or will barca play mega super cunts and come back mid to late august with the money arsenal apparently want? if so, arsenal need to stand firm otherwise all this has been for nothing

We'll drag it out until the end of the window, then sell him for what Barca want to pay, then not have any time to replace him.

Wenger will then tell us all that we have enough with Wilshire and Ramsey.

Seen and heard it all before. We dont seem to play hardball with anyone anymore.

[fari]

We'll drag it out until the end of the window, then sell him for what Barca want to pay, then not have any time to replace him.

Wenger will then tell us all that we have enough with Wilshire and Ramsey.

Seen and heard it all before. We dont seem to play hardball with anyone anymore.

we don't or we CAN'T??

[KSE Comedy Club]

we don't or we CAN'T??

I think Dont.

Cesc still has what, 3 or 4 years left on his contract? If we wanted to play hardball we could say "pay us the £40m or fuck off"
No negotiating, no messing around, and if Cesc dont like it, tough shit "sit on the fucking bench or play in the reserves then, cunt".

But we dont do that.

[Marc Overmars]

Haven't we essentially told Barca to pay what we want or fuck off?

[Toronto Gooner]

Haven't we essentially told Barca to pay what we want or fuck off?
Barca are like the conceited, obnoxious guy at a party who does not understand the word "No" when uttered by a woman.

[Kano]

Barca are like the conceited, obnoxious guy at a party who does not understand the word "No" when uttered by a woman.

yeah but she's gaggin' for it

[Niall_Quinn]

Barca are like the conceited, obnoxious guy at a party who does not understand the word "No" when uttered by a woman.

Arsenal are like the woman at the party, when we say no we mean yes.

[Kano]

denilson seems to think he will stay...and also looks forward to coming back here next season ffs


On-loan Arsenal midfielder Denilson is confident Gunners captain Cesc Fabregas will remain at Emirates Stadium, despite ongoing talk surrounding his future.

Speculation is rife over where Spain midfielder Fabregas will ply his trade this season having been consistently linked with a return to boyhood club Barcelona.

Barca are desperate to bring the 24-year-old back to Camp Nou but are yet to meet Arsenal's £40million valuation.
Important

Brazilian Denilson, who is spending this season on loan with his hometown club Sao Paulo, believes Fabregas will still be a Gunners player when the new campaign gets underway.

He told Sky Sports News: "I think it's very important because the fans, the staff at Arsenal, everyone loves Cesc and I think he's going to stay."

Denilson, who joined Arsenal in 2006 from Sao Paulo, requested a loan return to the club this season in order to be near to his three-year old daughter.

But the 23-year-old admits he already misses Arsenal and hopes to be back in the squad this time next year.

"I miss London, I miss Arsenal," he added. "I lived there for five years, it's a long time for me. But I think next season I'll be back."

The midfielder feels much of Arsenal's appeal is down to manager Arsene Wenger.

The French tactician has come under fire after the Gunners failed to end their six-year trophy drought last season, but Denilson has jumped to his defence.

"Everyone knows Arsene Wenger is a top man and a top manager," he said.

"He's not just a coach, he's like a dad. It's brilliant for me and for the players because he's helped the players."
Criticism

Wenger has also attracted criticism for his lack of business in the transfer market in recent years, but Denilson insists Arsenal do not need to emulate the big-spending ways of their top-four rivals to contend for silverware.

"If you see Manchester, Chelsea buying many players, Manchester City as well, they pay much money for the players but Arsenal don't need that," he said.

"We just need to play to show. This season I'm sure 100 per cent they can win the trophies."

[Cripps_orig]

Xavi believes the possible arrival of Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal will ensure Barcelona continue their winning ways.

The midfielder has continued to encourage his compatriot to come to Camp Nou despite being slammed by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger for saying his national team-mate was "suffering" in London, and admits he wants the saga to come to an end as soon as possible.

Reports suggest both clubs are in talks over the transfer and Xavi believes Fabregas would shine for the Catalans.

"I hope this saga ends soon. It's like the final piece of the puzzle which only needs inserting so it can be complete," Xavi said, according to Sport.

"Cesc is just 24 and his arrival will ensure the current cycle at Barcelona is still working."

The World Cup winner went on to say that competition in midfield will not be a problem if Fabregas does move to Barca this summer.

"I have been competing for places with other players for 13 years now," he added. "The more competition in midfield, the better it is for us players.

"I hope Fabregas comes. Everything will be better and he will be at the best club in the world."


http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/07/26/2591937/xavi-arsenals-cesc-fabregas-is-the-final-piece-in-the

Doesnt this guy ever shut the fuck up?

[Kano]

xavi set out the immediate future for cesc too.

he said he'll be retiring in 2-4 years time, which basically confirms the bench position.

[Niall_Quinn]

It's going to be orgasmic watching those Cuntalans slowly, slowly level out and then slip into an accelerating decline. It always happens but the way these cockstckers go on it sounds like they imagine they are Satan's gift to football and ddstined to be at the top for ever. Unspeakably arrogant cocks, there's not an ounce of humility or modesty in them. They're fucking horrible. When Real Madrid starts looking likeable by comparison thel you know you've found the biggest cunts on the planet.

[Darth Vela]

:gp:

That might well be the finest paragraph ever written in the entire history of the English language.

[Master Splinter]

:gp:

That might well be the finest paragraph ever written in the entire history of the English language.

:gp:

[fakeyank]

It's going to be orgasmic watching those Cuntalans slowly, slowly level out and then slip into an accelerating decline. It always happens but the way these cocksuckers go on it sounds like they imagine they are Satan's gift to football and destined to be at the top for ever. Unspeakably arrogant cocks, there's not an ounce of humility or modesty in them. They're fucking horrible. When Real Madrid starts looking likeable by comparison then you know you've found the biggest cunts on the planet.

:gp:

Cant agree more

[gunnerrrrr]

agree with a great many comments/sentiments in this thread, however there is no doubt in my mind that when injury free and on form Cesc is again imo the best central midfielder in the world....if he can stay injury free a whole season, he is up there with the best in the world.

Shame however about the lack of authority and constant bottling nature he has developed of late.

PS what happened to my great Xavi thread?

[LDG]

agree with a great many comments/sentiments in this thread, however there is no doubt in my mind that when injury free and on form Cesc is again imo the best central midfielder in the world....if he can stay injury free a whole season, he is up there with the best in the world.Shame however about the lack of authority and constant bottling nature he has developed of late.PS what happened to my great Xavi thread?FIFA took it down.

[hymppi]

FIFA took it down.
:lol:

[Olivier's xmas twist]

AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani insists the Italian giants are not looking to sign Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas this summer.

Fabregas is once again being linked with a close-season return to former club Barcelona and it had been thought the Rossoneri could join the hunt.

However, Galliani has confirmed that the Spain international would simply be too costly for the San Siro outfit, meaning he is not on the club's radar.

"Compete with Barcelona for (Cesc) Fabregas?" he told Sky Sports Italia. "Fabregas is an Arsenal player and would have an exorbitant cost. At this time he's not a target of ours."

Galliani has also played down speculation the club are keen on landing Bayern Munich's Bastian Schweinsteiger, Real Madrid's Kaka and Fiorentina's Ricardo Montolivo, who is yet to accept the club's contract extension.

"Schweinsteiger? No, he's a Bayern Munich icon," he continued.

"Kaka? These are all difficult deals with great financial issues. We are calm. Now, let's see what happens.

"Montolivo? It's a market opportunity. But we don't want to create any problems with the (Fiorentina's owner) Della Valle family.

"If the player doesn't renew his contract with Fiorentina then it won't be down to any interference from AC Milan."

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12876_7064995,00.html

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Gerard Pique admits Barcelona must be patient in their pursuit of Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas.
Fabregas' future remains uncertain, with UEFA Champions League winners Barca having so far failed to come up with an acceptable offer for the Spain midfielder.
And Pique, (http://topics.skysports.com/Gerard+Pique/?section=football)http://static.lingospot.com/spot/image/spacer.gif whose own move back to Camp Nou from Manchester United (http://topics.skysports.com/Manchester+United/?section=football)http://static.lingospot.com/spot/image/spacer.gif three years ago has paid off in quite astonishing fashion, believes the deal should be allowed to run its course.
Patience"All signings have their due process," said the Spaniard. "Some are easy, some are more complicated.
"He is an important player for Arsenal (http://topics.skysports.com/arsenal/?section=football)http://static.lingospot.com/spot/image/spacer.gif so it is sensible that they are trying to keep him.
"There has been a lot of talk about this, which is normal. It is best to let the negotiations take their due course and see what happens."
Fabregas (http://topics.skysports.com/Cesc+Fabregas/?section=football)http://static.lingospot.com/spot/image/spacer.gif has stated his desire to return to his boyhood club after failing to help Arsenal end their six-year wait for silverware last season.
Pique's former club United, however, enjoyed a more successful campaign, lifting a record 19th league championship.
The Spain defender admits he is flabbergasted at how long manager Sir Alex Ferguson (http://topics.skysports.com/Alex+Ferguson/?section=football)http://static.lingospot.com/spot/image/spacer.gif has remained at the top with the Red Devils.
Ferguson will celebrate an incredible 25 years as Old Trafford chief in November, and during that time he has taken a club forever languishing in Liverpool's (http://topics.skysports.com/liverpool/?section=football)http://static.lingospot.com/spot/image/spacer.gif shadow to the pinnacle of the English game.
Pique, who will face his former club with Barcelona (http://topics.skysports.com/barcelona/?section=football)http://static.lingospot.com/spot/image/spacer.gif in the final friendly of United's pre-season tour in Washington DC on Saturday, says he has nothing but admiration for the Scottish tactician.
Unbelievable"I have never seen anything like this in Spain," he said. "It is unbelievable. I was with him for a few years and know why he is there.
"He is a great coach but he also treats the players really well. It is not only in terms of football. No matter what it is, he will be there for you.
"He has won so many titles and so many important things. All the Manchester United fans are really happy that he has stayed because they never won as much as they do now.
"Most of that is because of him and I hope he stays for many years yet."
Sky TV customers can sign up to MUTV today and get live and exclusive coverage of the game with Barcelona - click here (http://www.sky.com/shop/tv/standalone-channels/mutv/) to sign up to MUTV.



http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11670_7066696,00.html

Don't these cunts ever shut up

[Japan Shaking All Over]

'NO' they dont and nor do they. . . . .

do their homework,
eat their greens or
pick up their dummy when it falls out of their big fucking mouths

[Cripps_orig]

Arsenal have announced that club captain and Barcelona target Cesc Fabregas has been omitted from the squad that will play in this weekend's Emirates Cup.
The move to leave the Spaniard out will ignite further talk that a deal between Arsenal and the Spanish champions is edging closer to completion.
Fabregas’ manager Arsene Wenger concedes that the midfielder is struggling to focus on club targets as the saga continues over whether he will re-join his boyhood team, but the Frenchman is remaining understanding towards his captain’s situation.

"He is not settled and that has to be sorted out soon. He [Fabregas] is just coming back from injury and we have to make sure that he is focused on being with us," said Arsene Wenger.

"Cesc is torn between to loves. I can understand that but we want to be certain about his commitment"

Another player Wenger is required to keep his eye is compatriot Samir Nasri as his future is equally unresolved, but the club’s manager insists both players have been keeping faithful to the north London outfit.

"Samir loves the club [Arsenal]. We read that he and Cesc are somewhere else every day. But they are still here"
Arsenal will play Boca Juniors in the Emirates Cup on Saturday, before a tie with MLS side New York Red Bulls the following afternoon.


http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/3349/pre-season/2011/07/29/2596271/breaking-news-cesc-fabregas-omitted-from-arsenals-emirates

Will people still have the nerve to defend this cunt?

[Elreactor]

What happens if we sell this guy for 40M on August 31st, which the only deadline according to the wise wenger?

[Cripps_orig]

What happens if we sell this guy for 40M on August 31st, which the only deadline according to the wise wenger?

If we sell Cesc on Aug 31st, it wont be for £40m. It'll be for around £15m

Even if we did get £40m, we wont have time to get a replacement and when as expected our season turns to shit, Wenger will use the "i had no time to get a replacement in for Cesc and that affected us" line despite knowing the cunt has wanted to leave all summer.

Fuck Wenger and fuck Cesc.

We want our Arsenal back

[Olivier's xmas twist]

What happens if we sell this guy for 40M on August 31st, which the only deadline according to the wise wenger?


Unlikely since they have till Monday to decide if they want him our Chairman said

[Marc Overmars]

I'm surprised Wenger alluded to the fact he is unsettled, rather than just brush it off as an injury or something.

He has to be sold surely, this dragging on and on is not going to help us. Even if he stays I would seriously question his commitment on the pitch. It's time for all parties to move on and end this boring saga.

[Elreactor]

If we sell Cesc on Aug 31st, it wont be for £40m. It'll be for around £15m

Even if we did get £40m, we wont have time to get a replacement and when as expected our season turns to shit, Wenger will use the "i had no time to get a replacement in for Cesc and that affected us" line despite knowing the cunt has wanted to leave all summer.

Fuck Wenger and fuck Cesc.

We want our Arsenal back

Exactly. Even if Barcelona met Arsenals valuation, which we know they wouldn´t have the slightest problem to do, it would be useless money for the team. It will go straight to the board, no spending, no strengthening, and the best excuse for it. Well done Board+Wenger :doh:

[Japan Shaking All Over]

Im sorry, Ive heard the arguments that selling both Cesc and Nasri in the same window is footballing suicide and I agree but . . . .surely this has to end, torn between two loves STFU! for once I feel for Wenger, how does he work around thid then thetes the other one who is just in it for himself and as much money as he can get!

sell the fuckers for our price. . . .go out and buy Jags Mata, take up the offer for Benny and add a couple more, maybe Samba and a midfielder and move on

[Cripps_orig]

Im sorry, Ive heard the arguments that selling both Cesc and Nasri in the same window is footballing suicide and I agree but . . . .surely this has to end, torn between two loves STFU! for once I feel for Wenger, how does he work around thid then thetes the other one who is just in it for himself and as much money as he can get!

sell the fuckers for our price. . . .go out and buy Jags Mata, take up the offer for Benny and add a couple more, maybe Samba and a midfielder and move on

Growing a pair would be a start

[Elreactor]

Unlikely since they have till Monday to decide if they want him our Chairman said

But then Wenger doesn´t seem to have spoken to the chairman, as he apparently said 31st August is the only deadline.

Meh, fuck Wenger, Fabregas and Diaby´s injury.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

I'm surprised Wenger alluded to the fact he is unsettled, rather than just brush it off as an injury or something.He has to be sold surely, this dragging on and on is not going to help us. Even if he stays I would seriously question his commitment on the pitch. It's time for all parties to move on and end this boring saga.

He be silly to say otherwise though, and we'd all accuse him of chatting more shite tbh. AT least he is not deluding himself with Cesc wants to stay or will stay or will give 100% if he stays.

the next move is Barca's i suppose pay the 40 mill then he is yours or give us some players plus cash and he is yours.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

But then Wenger doesn´t seem to have spoken to the chairman, as he apparently said 31st August is the only deadline.

Meh, fuck Wenger, Fabregas and Diaby´s injury.

sorry mate never saw that thread till now, i agree it shows these cunts must not talk tbh. i think Cesc will be sold over AW head tbh

[Joker]

Really should sell him ASAP tbh, this boring saga is distracting from the serious preparations we need to make before our tough start to the season. Moreover, the uncertainty is affecting our transfer business, and ideally we should get all signings completed before the season starts, especially with UCL qualifiers still to play in August.

Cesc has not come out of this well IMO, and his behaviour has been very poor. I agree with Arseblog on a lot of things, but he has a blind spot when it comes to Cesc, and fails to see how much of a twat he's been throughout this saga.

[Toronto Gooner]

Really should sell him ASAP tbh, this boring saga is distracting from the serious preparations we need to make before our tough start to the season. Moreover, the uncertainty is affecting our transfer business, and ideally we should get all signings completed before the season starts, especially with UCL qualifiers still to play in August.

Cesc has not come out of this well IMO, and his behaviour has been very poor. I agree with Arseblog on a lot of things, but he has a blind spot when it comes to Cesc, and fails to see how much of a twat he's been throughout this saga.
Agreed, Joker, Fabregas has been an annoying selfish person throughout this. And there are far too many people who have fallen into the trap of accepting any justification for his actions.

[Niall_Quinn]

Im sorry, Ive heard the arguments that selling both Cesc and Nasri in the same window is footballing suicide and I agree but . . . .surely this has to end, torn between two loves STFU! for once I feel for Wenger, how does he work around thid then thetes the other one who is just in it for himself and as much money as he can get!

sell the fuckers for our price. . . .go out and buy Jags Mata, take up the offer for Benny and add a couple more, maybe Samba and a midfielder and move on

Trouble is it sounds to me the transfer window has become less of a negotiation between clubs and more a bunch of piggy agents rolling in their own shit and vomit and squealing to every club on the planet their bitch player is available provided the agent's fee is right. Can you imagine what it must be like to have one of the greedy cunts in your office pushing the terms ever higher each time you agree? It also allows players to extract themselves from the situation and wait like whores until their pimp tells them where they'll be playing and for how much. Now you put a tight arse like Wenger into the mix (at least he's not a foul, stinking pig of course) and you're talking poles apart. It's little wonder it takes ages for us to sign anyone, the agent will have to be down to his last desperate option before anyone comes to us. If the agents know we have £50-60mill in the bank following the sales of Cesc and DiseasedLesbianCunt it's going to get even harder. I can see us losing one or maybe both our players and then having to go into the season light, or loaded down with more sub-standard shite like Chamakh, Squillaci or Koscielny because we couldn't get anything better in the time available or for the money Wenger is (very reluctantly) prepared to spend.

[StamfordBrdige]

I've been saying this to my brother & cousin (both gooners) for the past few weeks. Cesc is not going anywhere so you guys better get used to this.

The single reason why he ain't going nowhere is cos Barcelona won't pay the amount required. 2 weeks away from the season starting and he's still at arsenal. I'm pretty sure he'll be here till at least next summer when this whole nonsense will be repeated.

[Power n Glory]

Agreed, Joker, Fabregas has been an annoying selfish person throughout this. And there are far too many people who have fallen into the trap of accepting any justification for his actions.

What's the difference between the Cesc and Nasri situation? How comes Nasri is training and playing preseason games while Cesc is left out?

Cesc wants to go but we also want to sell Cesc. When Wenger feels like a player isn't 100% committed, he freezes them out of the squad. It happend with Edu, Wiltord, Lauren, Henry, Ade, Reyes and even last season when he left Clichy, Nasri and Cesc out of the squad in the last few months.

I don't think Cesc is refusing to train. Wenger is saying Cesc is two minds but what about Nasri? He's in his final year and come January when he's free to talk to other clubs his mind will be elsewhere as well. Will Wenger leave him out of the squad as well?

I don't think Cesc has acted badly. He's kept his mouth shut but it's annoys me that he hasn't told those Barca pricks to cool the media talk. He loses stripes on that one.

But we're negotiating with Barca and have been for a while. If we wanted to keep him, he'd be training alongside Nasri. He's not on strike, Wenger has left him out like he always does when a player loses focus.

[milla]

What's the difference between the Cesc and Nasri situation? How comes Nasri is training and playing preseason games while Cesc is left out?

Cesc wants to go but we also want to sell Cesc. When Wenger feels like a player isn't 100% committed, he freezes them out of the squad. It happend with Edu, Wiltord, Lauren, Henry, Ade, Reyes and even last season when he left Clichy, Nasri and Cesc out of the squad in the last few months.

I don't think Cesc is refusing to train. Wenger is saying Cesc is two minds but what about Nasri? He's in his final year and come January when he's free to talk to other clubs his mind will be elsewhere as well. Will Wenger leave him out of the squad as well?

I don't think Cesc has acted badly. He's kept his mouth shut but it's annoys me that he hasn't told those Barca pricks to cool the media talk. He loses stripes on that one.

But we're negotiating with Barca and have been for a while. If we wanted to keep him, he'd be training alongside Nasri. He's not on strike, Wenger has left him out like he always does when a player loses focus.

How could someone lose his focus whilst getting £90k a week doing what he loves most? Ungrateful, awful human being IMO. :coffee:

[Niall_Quinn]

How could someone lose his focus whilst getting £90k a week doing what he loves most? Ungrateful, awful human being IMO. :coffee:

Different world. For any of us £90K a week would transform our lives. For some these footballer kids that's the minimum they'll get out of bed for. Hell, they'll crash their car in shock if their pay rise is £5K a week too low. What are we getting right now, pay cuts? Different worlds, no point trying to understand them or guess their motives. Judging them by their actions is the only way to go. We know it's all about the money with our lot because they have the damn talent to win the league but they just can't be arsed. In truth, to defend any of these guys is to defend a multi-million pound failure when you're paying part of the bill and they get your money either way. I'll tell you now, it's going to be hard to cheer for any of these tossers this season and I certainly won't be feeling any sympathy for the likes of Cesc Fabregas and that Nasri bloke.

[Power n Glory]

How could someone lose his focus whilst getting £90k a week doing what he loves most? Ungrateful, awful human being IMO. :coffee:

Beats me. Money doesn't always satisfy soul. Look to the stars that OD or top themselves.

With Cesc, this isn't about money otherwise he'd whore himself out to City, Madrid or the highest bidder. Just because he doesn't want to play for our club he's an awful human being? A bit dramatic don't you think? It ain't that serious.

[gunnerrrrr]

Who cares anymore
Wenger is the fool effected most by his which is a disaster for this club as his ditthering in the transfer Market is obviously being dictated by the cesc/nasri saga.
A decision needs to be made and both these cunts need to fcuk off so we Wenger can focus on building a winning, fully committed team led by a true Gooner and not some fcuking barca rent boy

[Toronto Gooner]

What's the difference between the Cesc and Nasri situation? How comes Nasri is training and playing preseason games while Cesc is left out?

Cesc wants to go but we also want to sell Cesc. When Wenger feels like a player isn't 100% committed, he freezes them out of the squad. It happend with Edu, Wiltord, Lauren, Henry, Ade, Reyes and even last season when he left Clichy, Nasri and Cesc out of the squad in the last few months.

I don't think Cesc is refusing to train. Wenger is saying Cesc is two minds but what about Nasri? He's in his final year and come January when he's free to talk to other clubs his mind will be elsewhere as well. Will Wenger leave him out of the squad as well?

I don't think Cesc has acted badly. He's kept his mouth shut but it's annoys me that he hasn't told those Barca pricks to cool the media talk. He loses stripes on that one.

But we're negotiating with Barca and have been for a while. If we wanted to keep him, he'd be training alongside Nasri. He's not on strike, Wenger has left him out like he always does when a player loses focus.
It is interesting that we can look at the same situation and come to two different opinions. I agree that there is little or no difference between the Fabregas and Nasri situations, although the Fabregas one has been running for a longer time. And I also agree that Fabregas is not playing because he is not in the right frame of mind and there are negotiations being carried out. I was not happy with Fabregas last season and at the start of the summer, I wanted him sold. Everything this summer has only reinforced this belief. If he is not sold, then he can train with the youth team for the next year, with his spot in the squad going to someone who actually wants to be at and play for the club.

However, I strongly disagree about how Fabregas has acted. Where you see virtue in "keeping his mouth shut", I see a cold, calculated, cynical attempt at manipulating Arsenal fan sentiment to ensure his "good standing" with the bulk of the fans. Need I have to point that those "Barca pricks" are people who have been his friends since he was 11 or 12, for the most part. If you think that Fabregas is not actively encouraging and orchestrating his friends' constant stream of media comments about his Barca DNA, his distress at being "indentured slave" at Arsenal, etc., then I have a great piece of prime land to sell you just outside of Miami.

[Toronto Gooner]

How could someone lose his focus whilst getting £90k a week doing what he loves most? Ungrateful, awful human being IMO. :coffee:
I thought that he was on £110k a week?

[milla]

Beats me. Money doesn't always satisfy soul. Look to the stars that OD or top themselves.

With Cesc, this isn't about money otherwise he'd whore himself out to City, Madrid or the highest bidder. Just because he doesn't want to play for our club he's an awful human being? A bit dramatic don't you think? It ain't that serious.

At £90k/week its not dramatic at all. :coffee:

[Olivier's xmas twist]

What's the difference between the Cesc and Nasri situation? How comes Nasri is training and playing preseason games while Cesc is left out?


Because Cesc is Fate is Not in our hands really Nasri's is. Sounds strange when you say it that way as Cesc is under contract for 4 more years and Nasri is not.

There is more of a feeling Nasri would stay and has been felt for a long time, where as we all know Cesc will go.

AW is not stupid to think he can keep him even if he does spout crap about no needed to sell him etc. Also the reason he is left out is so the team can kind of focus and not get mixed messages tbh.

You feel Nasri may still have he support of the dressing room comapred to cesc whp maybe be losing it.

[Power n Glory]

It is interesting that we can look at the same situation and come to two different opinions. I agree that there is little or no difference between the Fabregas and Nasri situations, although the Fabregas one has been running for a longer time. And I also agree that Fabregas is not playing because he is not in the right frame of mind and there are negotiations being carried out. I was not happy with Fabregas last season and at the start of the summer, I wanted him sold. Everything this summer has only reinforced this belief. If he is not sold, then he can train with the youth team for the next year, with his spot in the squad going to someone who actually wants to be at and play for the club.However, I strongly disagree about how Fabregas has acted. Where you see virtue in "keeping his mouth shut", I see a cold, calculated, cynical attempt at manipulating Arsenal fan sentiment to ensure his "good standing" with the bulk of the fans. Need I have to point that those "Barca pricks" are people who have been his friends since he was 11 or 12, for the most part. If you think that Fabregas is not actively encouraging and orchestrating his friends' constant stream of media comments about his Barca DNA, his distress at being "indentured slave" at Arsenal, etc., then I have a great piece of prime land to sell you just outside of Miami.Cold and calculated. Interesting. If Cesc came out and made his feelings clear you'd say he's trying to engineer a move away from the club. If he kissed the badge, said he's staying but still left, you'd be upset about him lying. It's a no win situation. I already said he loses stripes for not telling his Barca mates to pipe down.

[Power n Glory]

Because Cesc is Fate is Not in our hands really Nasri's is. Sounds strange when you say it that way as Cesc is under contract for 4 more years and Nasri is not.

There is more of a feeling Nasri would stay and has been felt for a long time, where as we all know Cesc will go.

AW is not stupid to think he can keep him even if he does spout crap about no needed to sell him etc. Also the reason he is left out is so the team can kind of focus and not get mixed messages tbh.

You feel Nasri may still have he support of the dressing room comapred to cesc whp maybe be losing it.

It does sound odd. In fact, it's backwards.

We're not in control of the Nasri situation. We can offer him a huge salary increase right now and he could easily stall and wait to see what our rivals offer cone January. Cesc has four years left on his contract and we can hold him for the full duration if we wanted to. He can piss and moan all he likes, but we could easily make life more difficult for him and stop him from doing the one thing he loves. Three months on the bench and he'd be dying to get back into to action. We can't do that with Nasri.

Wenger is being naive and he's doing his best to keep Nasri sweet, but he has a losing hand. With Cesc, we hold all the cards. If they can't see that and think we have a better chance of keeping Nasri then we have some serious idiots running this club. There is no logic behind these sort of decisions.

Wenger said in an interview that he won't sell Cesc on the cheap and won't lose money for tue club, while on tue other hand he's willing to lose Nasri on a free. Contridiction.

A few weeks back he said both players were committed and he believed they'd stay. Now he's finally accepted the Cesc situation, something we all knew way before but Wenger is still trying to put a brave face on the Nasri situation. You say Wenger isn't stupid but he's acting that way.

[Kano]

With Cesc, this isn't about money otherwise he'd whore himself out to City, Madrid or the highest bidder. Just because he doesn't want to play for our club he's an awful human being? A bit dramatic don't you think? It ain't that serious.

i swear you said you'd curse the day wenger was born if he hung onto nasri until next year, which sounded pretty serious. nas will stay btw, probably because he wants to.

given what wenger has now said about cesc's focus, he has to lose the armband if he stays, it would be ridiculous to let him keep it. if super secretive wenger is willing to let that into the public domain, then it has obviously been known behind closed doors for sometime by all of the squad, which is hardly motivational.

[Power n Glory]

i swear you said you'd curse the day wenger was born if he hung onto nasri until next year, which sounded pretty serious. nas will stay btw, probably because he wants to.given what wenger has now said about cesc's focus, he has to lose the armband if he stays, it would be ridiculous to let him keep it. if super secretive wenger is willing to let that into the public domain, then it has obviously been known behind closed doors for sometime by all of the squad, which is hardly motivational.That's a figure of speech. It's cursing without cursing. I could have wrote something more explicit. I'm not saying Wenger is an awful human being for his actions. That's warped. I also find it strange that someone can conclude that Cesc is an awful human being for wanting more than money. He's not trying to hold us to ransom and no other club is in the frame besides Barca. It's an odd perspective. He'd be shallow if he was the type to play for the highest bidder and willing to do anything for money.

[Cripps_orig]

Cesc Fabregas is planning to release a recorded goodbye message to Arsenal fans as soon as his protracted move to Barcelona goes through. Fabregas has agreed a £3m-a-year deal in principal with Barca, who have raised their offer for the midfielder to £34m. Full story: The PeopleWould love to see what BS he spouts out. Cunt

[IBK]

Interesting - but what do people think the club SHOULD do about Cesc. Its clear that AW recognises that his player wants to leave - but do we think that we should sell him on the cheap because of this? IMO the club has no choice but to hold out, and is doing the right thing ATM. The crunch time will come in 4 weeks. If Barcelona haven't matched our valuation by then - we will see if we lower ours.

But you have to wonder how the current situation leaves Cesc. Is he affected at all by the fact that Barca won't pay market value for him - or is the fact that he wants to play with his mates the be all and end all?

[KSE Comedy Club]

He wants to be with his mates, end of. Looks like he'll be happy sitting on the bench and making few starts or being a bit part player.

We should tell barca to match what we want by friday or he wont be sold. Then we can put him in the reserves if he wants to sulk. We should also reinvest whatever the fee may be as soon as possible to replace him with a couple of quality signings.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Interesting - but what do people think the club SHOULD do about Cesc. Its clear that AW recognises that his player wants to leave - but do we think that we should sell him on the cheap because of this? IMO the club has no choice but to hold out, and is doing the right thing ATM. The crunch time will come in 4 weeks. If Barcelona haven't matched our valuation by then - we will see if we lower ours.

But you have to wonder how the current situation leaves Cesc. Is he affected at all by the fact that Barca won't pay market value for him - or is the fact that he wants to play with his mates the be all and end all?

Strip the Captinacy off this cunt for a start tbh, The team needs to sorted out now and know whats what tbh. At least if we have a Captain cesc can be just another player who wants to leave and what happens, happens.

[AKBapologist]

@GuillemBalague: Mata's clause to sign player cheaper (20-23m euros) finished yesterday. Clubs agreed fee, player happy to go but money didnt arrive...


@GuillemBalague: Spurs tried to get him but he only wanted to go to Arsenal or Barcelona. Without Cesc money, Arsenal didnt want 2 pay.Now he costs 60m euros

So why would we need Cesc money if Wenger is sitting on top of a mountain of cash...

[Toronto Gooner]

@GuillemBalague: Mata's clause to sign player cheaper (20-23m euros) finished yesterday. Clubs agreed fee, player happy to go but money didnt arrive...


@GuillemBalague: Spurs tried to get him but he only wanted to go to Arsenal or Barcelona. Without Cesc money, Arsenal didnt want 2 pay.Now he costs 60m euros

So why would we need Cesc money if Wenger is sitting on top of a mountain of cash...
Balague does not have a great track record for getting things right. As for the Fabregas and Mata thing, I suspect that it was more about not wanting to buy Fabregas' replacement before he has sold Fabregas.

[Niall_Quinn]

Balague does not have a great track record for getting things right. As for the Fabregas and Mata thing, I suspect that it was more about not wanting to buy Fabregas' replacement before he has sold Fabregas.

I think it's more about the Arsenal board and manager sacrificing the stability of the team in order to land the fee they want for Fabregas. Obviously they want to sell, bearing in mind Fabregas is on a long contract and wouldn't be going anywhere if the club issued a firm statement they expected Fabregas to see out his contract. So we know they are keen to sell. If the hold-out fee is really £40m (EUR40mill ?) then the club could have also issued a deadline by which time teh business needed to be done. That would have given the manager a clear picture of where the team stands going into the new season. As it is, it appears the board is happy to string this out all the way to the window closing, simply hanging around waiting to see if Barca will splash the £40mill. Obviously this is massively disruptive and might well have left the manager in a position where he can't move until Barca move. I don't actually believe that, given the funds that have poured into the club and not been spent on replacements it's hard to imagine Arsenal isn't sitting on a mountain of cash. What I see is a board that doesn't give a damn about the team, and a manager that either puts up with their shit or is on-board with it. If we lose Fabregas on the last day of the transfer window and have no time to get anyone else in then I hope the fans will know what to do.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

@GuillemBalague: Mata's clause to sign player cheaper (20-23m euros) finished yesterday. Clubs agreed fee, player happy to go but money didnt arrive...


@GuillemBalague: Spurs tried to get him but he only wanted to go to Arsenal or Barcelona. Without Cesc money, Arsenal didnt want 2 pay.Now he costs 60m euros

So why would we need Cesc money if Wenger is sitting on top of a mountain of cash...

:pal: Twitter Since when has twitter got things right tbh, if that was the case we have signed all the players it said we would by now.

[Toronto Gooner]

I think it's more about the Arsenal board and manager sacrificing the stability of the team in order to land the fee they want for Fabregas. Obviously they want to sell, bearing in mind Fabregas is on a long contract and wouldn't be going anywhere if the club issued a firm statement they expected Fabregas to see out his contract. So we know they are keen to sell. If the hold-out fee is really £40m (EUR40mill ?) then the club could have also issued a deadline by which time teh business needed to be done. That would have given the manager a clear picture of where the team stands going into the new season. As it is, it appears the board is happy to string this out all the way to the window closing, simply hanging around waiting to see if Barca will splash the £40mill. Obviously this is massively disruptive and might well have left the manager in a position where he can't move until Barca move. I don't actually believe that, given the funds that have poured into the club and not been spent on replacements it's hard to imagine Arsenal isn't sitting on a mountain of cash. What I see is a board that doesn't give a damn about the team, and a manager that either puts up with their shit or is on-board with it. If we lose Fabregas on the last day of the transfer window and have no time to get anyone else in then I hope the fans will know what to do.
I thought that there had been some form of "deadline" issued and that it was this weekend? I will have to look around to see if I can find the reports.

I agree with you that the issue is not the lack of money. Like you, I do not believe that the club does not have the funds to buy a player at 20 million or so. Personally, I think that it is down to the fact that Wenger does not want to sell either Fabregas or Nasri, and that he feels that buying players like Mata would reduce his "control" over the situation. It would be difficult to tell the board, the fans and Fabregas and Nasri that the club cannot afford to lose players like them when a replacement as good (or even better) has already been bought.

[Niall_Quinn]

We're a couple of weeks away from kick-off. The damage has already been done. Even if we got a player in now he'd have missed the pre-season. It's not just the Fabregas and Nasri situations, we need defenders too but no sign of any arriving. Who knows what that pathetic £10mill Jagielka stunt was all about? We have 2 weeks to resolve the Fabregas and Nasri issues, get replacements in if needed, bolster the defence if Wenger is genuinely serious about that plus prepare the team for a bloody hard opening fixture list which includes qualification for the CL. The fact we've left it this late is a joke and another indictment of the way we do business as a club. We are rapidly approaching the worst case scenario (which seems to be the default scenario with Arsenal), no players in, Fabregas and Nasri still unsettles and their futures undecided come kick-off, an a team even weaker than last year and missing both these players for the kick-off. But it could get even worse if both wantaways leave on the last day of the transfer window. We already have a team with zero confidence, the club is doing nothing to correct that, the dilly-dallying board and manager are making it worse if anything. Also, what's going on with the Eboue, Denilson and Bendtner deals? Are these guys going or not?

Contrast this with Utd who got their business done fast and without any fuss or stupid "waiting period" or "in-between" speeches in the media. We've heard nothing about them for weeks, I guess they are getting on with pre-season safe in the knowledge of who's actually in the squad come kick-off. That's how you run a team. It's laughable our board and Wenger get held up as a shining example of how to run a football club. In practical terms (football) they really don't seem to have a clue.

[danisinkz]

We're a couple of weeks away from kick-off. The damage has already been done. Even if we got a player in now he'd have missed the pre-season. It's not just the Fabregas and Nasri situations, we need defenders too but no sign of any arriving. Who knows what that pathetic £10mill Jagielka stunt was all about? We have 2 weeks to resolve the Fabregas and Nasri issues, get replacements in if needed, bolster the defence if Wenger is genuinely serious about that plus prepare the team for a bloody hard opening fixture list which includes qualification for the CL. The fact we've left it this late is a joke and another indictment of the way we do business as a club. We are rapidly approaching the worst case scenario (which seems to be the default scenario with Arsenal), no players in, Fabregas and Nasri still unsettles and their futures undecided come kick-off, an a team even weaker than last year and missing both these players for the kick-off. But it could get even worse if both wantaways leave on the last day of the transfer window. We already have a team with zero confidence, the club is doing nothing to correct that, the dilly-dallying board and manager are making it worse if anything. Also, what's going on with the Eboue, Denilson and Bendtner deals? Are these guys going or not?

Contrast this with Utd who got their business done fast and without any fuss or stupid "waiting period" or "in-between" speeches in the media. We've heard nothing about them for weeks, I guess they are getting on with pre-season safe in the knowledge of who's actually in the squad come kick-off. That's how you run a team. It's laughable our board and Wenger get held up as a shining example of how to run a football club. In practical terms (football) they really don't seem to have a clue.

Spot on my friend, spot on!

[Justhandguns]

We're a couple of weeks away from kick-off. The damage has already been done. Even if we got a player in now he'd have missed the pre-season. It's not just the Fabregas and Nasri situations, we need defenders too but no sign of any arriving. Who knows what that pathetic £10mill Jagielka stunt was all about? We have 2 weeks to resolve the Fabregas and Nasri issues, get replacements in if needed, bolster the defence if Wenger is genuinely serious about that plus prepare the team for a bloody hard opening fixture list which includes qualification for the CL. The fact we've left it this late is a joke and another indictment of the way we do business as a club. We are rapidly approaching the worst case scenario (which seems to be the default scenario with Arsenal), no players in, Fabregas and Nasri still unsettles and their futures undecided come kick-off, an a team even weaker than last year and missing both these players for the kick-off. But it could get even worse if both wantaways leave on the last day of the transfer window. We already have a team with zero confidence, the club is doing nothing to correct that, the dilly-dallying board and manager are making it worse if anything. Also, what's going on with the Eboue, Denilson and Bendtner deals? Are these guys going or not?

Contrast this with Utd who got their business done fast and without any fuss or stupid "waiting period" or "in-between" speeches in the media. We've heard nothing about them for weeks, I guess they are getting on with pre-season safe in the knowledge of who's actually in the squad come kick-off. That's how you run a team. It's laughable our board and Wenger get held up as a shining example of how to run a football club. In practical terms (football) they really don't seem to have a clue.

I agree. We need someone like Dein to be on the business side of the club. The Jagielka stunt (and Samba) is just crazy. If they want 12mil, give it them.

[Toronto Gooner]

We're a couple of weeks away from kick-off. The damage has already been done. Even if we got a player in now he'd have missed the pre-season. It's not just the Fabregas and Nasri situations, we need defenders too but no sign of any arriving. Who knows what that pathetic £10mill Jagielka stunt was all about? We have 2 weeks to resolve the Fabregas and Nasri issues, get replacements in if needed, bolster the defence if Wenger is genuinely serious about that plus prepare the team for a bloody hard opening fixture list which includes qualification for the CL. The fact we've left it this late is a joke and another indictment of the way we do business as a club. We are rapidly approaching the worst case scenario (which seems to be the default scenario with Arsenal), no players in, Fabregas and Nasri still unsettles and their futures undecided come kick-off, an a team even weaker than last year and missing both these players for the kick-off. But it could get even worse if both wantaways leave on the last day of the transfer window. We already have a team with zero confidence, the club is doing nothing to correct that, the dilly-dallying board and manager are making it worse if anything. Also, what's going on with the Eboue, Denilson and Bendtner deals? Are these guys going or not?

Contrast this with Utd who got their business done fast and without any fuss or stupid "waiting period" or "in-between" speeches in the media. We've heard nothing about them for weeks, I guess they are getting on with pre-season safe in the knowledge of who's actually in the squad come kick-off. That's how you run a team. It's laughable our board and Wenger get held up as a shining example of how to run a football club. In practical terms (football) they really don't seem to have a clue.
Denilson has gone to Sao Paulo on a season-long loan, and has played twice already.

While the club has not scaled the heights that some fans demand, it is not accurate to say that, in terms of football, the club does not have a clue. The fact of the matter is that Arsenal F.C. is more successful, both footballing wise and financially, than the vast majority of clubs in England, Britain and Europe. We may demand much better but that cannot be used to blind us to the existing level of success.

[Toronto Gooner]

I agree. We need someone like Dein to be on the business side of the club. The Jagielka stunt (and Samba) is just crazy. If they want 12mil, give it them.
You mean you would like to have the person who said that the new Wembley stadium should be Arsenal's new home in charge of the "business" side of the club? Wasn't this super business genius involved with negotiating the sponsorship deals with Emirates, etc.? And aren't people complaining about how crappy they are now?

[Niall_Quinn]

Denilson has gone to Sao Paulo on a season-long loan, and has played twice already.

While the club has not scaled the heights that some fans demand, it is not accurate to say that, in terms of football, the club does not have a clue. The fact of the matter is that Arsenal F.C. is more successful, both footballing wise and financially, than the vast majority of clubs in England, Britain and Europe. We may demand much better but that cannot be used to blind us to the existing level of success.

Past success, you mean? We haven't had any success on the pitch for 6 years. We're living in the past and sliding down the table. We're not dropping a position a year, it's more that our ambitions are dropping bit by bit. We used to be top 2, now it's top 4, the trend is down. So we've won nothing and the trend is down, how is that success? We have a manager that celebrates finishing 4th and views it as a trophy. That's delusional, it's not success. However, the board is defining the word success in the share price they'll bank as they jump ship. For a fraction of the greedy pigs' bonanza the team could have been sorted. I'm not blind to what's going on.

Denilson being on loan is not the same as him being gone. There's still every chance he'll come back, especially now Sao Paulo has seen him play.

[Grebbo]

Can we please just let the lad go. He's far too good for this team and wants to go and play for his boyhood club who just so happen to be the greatest club team of all time. Jesus.

Imagine the outcry and moaning Wenger and this pussy Arsenal board would make if Barca had of signed Wilshere for buttons when he was 16 and now Wilshere wants to come back to Arsenal but dirty Barca want £40m for him. They'd be moaning their arses off.

This club sickens me. All this 'pay the market rate' for Cesc yet we bid less for Jagielka this year than we did last year.

This club and manager are such moaning hypocritical bastards. Fuck off.

[Niall_Quinn]

Can we please just let the lad go. He's far too good for this team and wants to go and play for his boyhood club who just so happen to be the greatest club team of all time. Jesus.

Imagine the outcry and moaning Wenger and this pussy Arsenal board would make if Barca had of signed Wilshere for buttons when he was 16 and now Wilshere wants to come back to Arsenal but dirty Barca want £40m for him. They'd be moaning their arses off.

This club sickens me. All this 'pay the market rate' for Cesc yet we bid less for Jagielka this year than we did last year.

This club and manager are such moaning hypocritical bastards. Fuck off.

Yeah but could he please either go or stay before the last day of the transfer window and not on it? That'll just give Wenger and the board the excuse to pocket the cash.

[Darth Vela]

Can we please just let the lad go. He's far too good for this team and wants to go and play for his boyhood club who just so happen to be the greatest club team of all time. Jesus.

Imagine the outcry and moaning Wenger and this pussy Arsenal board would make if Barca had of signed Wilshere for buttons when he was 16 and now Wilshere wants to come back to Arsenal but dirty Barca want £40m for him. They'd be moaning their arses off.

This club sickens me. All this 'pay the market rate' for Cesc yet we bid less for Jagielka this year than we did last year.

This club and manager are such moaning hypocritical bastards. Fuck off.

We're trying to get the best deal, they're trying to get the best deal, I believe it's called 'negotiating' in industry terms.

[Cripps_orig]

Best club team of all time? :lol:Couldn't give a fuck if they are Cescs boyhood club, they pay what we want or he stays

[Niall_Quinn]

We're trying to get the best deal, they're trying to get the best deal, I believe it's called 'negotiating' in industry terms.

Is it 100% about the money? Does it not matter at all if the best deal materialises 5 mins before the transfer window closes? If you were in Barca's position, not really needing Fabregas, wouldn't it be wise to string this out until the last possible moment? They know Fabregas isn't going anywhere else, they can always come back and destabilise us next season (with UEFA's consent and support). Plus they've drawn us in the CL twice in the last 2 years so why not screw around and leave us in the shit if they can? We could prevent all that by giving them 48 hours to meet the asking price and declaring the deal dead and buried if they don't. That would be negotiating with the whole club in mind rather than just the accounting department.

[Toronto Gooner]

Past success, you mean? We haven't had any success on the pitch for 6 years. We're living in the past and sliding down the table.
So it is okay to live in the past 6 years but not any any further back? A tad hypocritical wouldn't you say?

If you re-read my comment, you will see that I said that Arsenal have been more successful than the vast majority of clubs in England, Britain and Europe. I am not saying that Arsenal have been as successful as I think they could have and should have been but I do recognise that they have been more successful than most.


However, the board is defining the word success in the share price they'll bank as they jump ship. For a fraction of the greedy pigs' bonanza the team could have been sorted. I'm not blind to what's going on.
Maybe not blind but certainly blinkered. You do realise that the majority of the Board of Directors hold only a tiny fraction of the shares, so any increase in price will have virtually no financial impact on them? If the board (or Kroenke and Usmanov) were truly looking to maximise the return on their investment through increased share price, then letting the club fall back from the top levels of competition is not the way. Business/investment 101 teaches you that share prices are a reflection of of the future value of the company, and a club that is losing its star players and is becoming less competitive is losing its future value.

It seems that you never miss an opportunity

[Grebbo]

We're trying to get the best deal, they're trying to get the best deal, I believe it's called 'negotiating' in industry terms.

Oh behave, Fabregas is already being left out of the team cos he doesn't want to play for us. We're not negotiating now - Barca hold all the cards - Cesc wants to leave and has been left out of the team. It's over - we've lost.

I bet any money you like Barca are now offering less for Cesc as they know they've won.

[Syn]

Cesc doesn't want to stay here, but I fail to see how him being left out for some meaningless friendlies changes our position in negotiations. Barca already know he doesn't want to be here. And if wenger doesn't sell him this summer, do you think cesc is going to refuse to play for us? Of course not. A year out from competitive football is far more damaging to cesc than it is to us.

[Grebbo]

Cesc doesn't want to stay here, but I fail to see how him being left out for some meaningless friendlies changes our position in negotiations. Barca already know he doesn't want to be here. And if wenger doesn't sell him this summer, do you think cesc is going to refuse to play for us? Of course not. A year out from competitive football is far more damaging to cesc than it is to us.

So Cesc's head wasn't right for the friendlies but it'll be ok after we've denied him his move away and the season starts? Nah.

Just because he's been the model professional doesn't mean that won't change.

He wants to go.
He was always going to go at some point.
Let him go.

(And buy a replacement, don't forget that bit Arsene you turd)

[Niall_Quinn]

So it is okay to live in the past 6 years but not any any further back? A tad hypocritical wouldn't you say?

If you re-read my comment, you will see that I said that Arsenal have been more successful than the vast majority of clubs in England, Britain and Europe. I am not saying that Arsenal have been as successful as I think they could have and should have been but I do recognise that they have been more successful than most.


Maybe not blind but certainly blinkered. You do realise that the majority of the Board of Directors hold only a tiny fraction of the shares, so any increase in price will have virtually no financial impact on them? If the board (or Kroenke and Usmanov) were truly looking to maximise the return on their investment through increased share price, then letting the club fall back from the top levels of competition is not the way. Business/investment 101 teaches you that share prices are a reflection of of the future value of the company, and a club that is losing its star players and is becoming less competitive is losing its future value.

It seems that you never miss an opportunity

What are you on about? The last 6 years only assume added significance when compared to what went before so why are you trying to put words in my mouth? Also I'm well aware the majority of board members are now minor shareholders, having cashed in whilst the club was crashing on the pitch for want of investment. But even so, they've left one hell of an asset for the next guy to come in and exploit - no not the team, the stadium. Real estate. If the value of football clubs was genuinely linked to their fortunes on the pitch we wouldn't be worth a fiver. The stadium, the infrastructure, the cash on account, exposure to debt, the revenue streams, the captive audience, the TV deals - this is what Kroenke and his cronies are enthralled by and these are priorities carefully nurtured by the board to the detriment of the team. Provided Wenger keeps Arsenal in Europe then football success isn't even necessary, is it? That's why our slide into mediocrity which haunts the fans (or most of them anyway) is of zero concern to the manager and the board. For them it has been success all the way the last 6 years. Prior to that Wenger teed things up, then the board sold the fans the stadium lemon, followed that by selling out and jumping ship and now the assets of Arsenal are in the hands of a yank and the once spectacular team we used to love watching is a laughing stock. I guess all of it is just a case of the board getting "unlucky", right?

[Darth Vela]

Oh behave, Fabregas is already being left out of the team cos he doesn't want to play for us. We're not negotiating now - Barca hold all the cards - Cesc wants to leave and has been left out of the team. It's over - we've lost.

I bet any money you like Barca are now offering less for Cesc as they know they've won.

So we should drop trousers and bend over for them just because Cesc is being a bitch? We hold his contract so we have plenty of cards of our own, just because Barca are winning doesn't mean we shouldn't play at all.

[Darth Vela]

Is it 100% about the money? Does it not matter at all if the best deal materialises 5 mins before the transfer window closes? If you were in Barca's position, not really needing Fabregas, wouldn't it be wise to string this out until the last possible moment? They know Fabregas isn't going anywhere else, they can always come back and destabilise us next season (with UEFA's consent and support). Plus they've drawn us in the CL twice in the last 2 years so why not screw around and leave us in the shit if they can? We could prevent all that by giving them 48 hours to meet the asking price and declaring the deal dead and buried if they don't. That would be negotiating with the whole club in mind rather than just the accounting department.

Course it's about the money. What else is there to haggle over? We knew Cesc was going this summer and so did Barca, I think we'll accept the next bid as it is dragging on far too long now and as you say we need time to spend the money but 35m now is better than 25m at the start of the window imo.

Also, we ain't getting Barca again this year, we came too close to beating them last time.

[Power n Glory]

What are you on about? The last 6 years only assume added significance when compared to what went before so why are you trying to put words in my mouth? Also I'm well aware the majority of board members are now minor shareholders, having cashed in whilst the club was crashing on the pitch for want of investment. But even so, they've left one hell of an asset for the next guy to come in and exploit - no not the team, the stadium. Real estate. If the value of football clubs was genuinely linked to their fortunes on the pitch we wouldn't be worth a fiver. The stadium, the infrastructure, the cash on account, exposure to debt, the revenue streams, the captive audience, the TV deals - this is what Kroenke and his cronies are enthralled by and these are priorities carefully nurtured by the board to the detriment of the team. Provided Wenger keeps Arsenal in Europe then football success isn't even necessary, is it? That's why our slide into mediocrity which haunts the fans (or most of them anyway) is of zero concern to the manager and the board. For them it has been success all the way the last 6 years. Prior to that Wenger teed things up, then the board sold the fans the stadium lemon, followed that by selling out and jumping ship and now the assets of Arsenal are in the hands of a yank and the once spectacular team we used to love watching is a laughing stock. I guess all of it is just a case of the board getting "unlucky", right?

:gp:

That Dispatches show was an eye opener and you've made some good points about the commercial potential this club has. We really should be questioning the Silent Stan's agenda for this club. He has said nothing all summer and the only change we've seen is the the Asia tour.

[Fats]

I just wish this guy would fuck off

[Cripps_orig]

http://www.goal.com/en/news/11/transfer-zone/2011/08/02/2602066/adriano-feels-neymar-should-join-barcelona-instead-of-real

Who the hell id Adriano?

[Cripps_orig]

Barcelona captain Carles Puyol has asked for calm as the furore around Arsenal (http://www.goonersweb.co.uk/sports-news/football/clubs/t3/arsenal) captain Cesc Fabregas' possible move to the Nou Camp continues. The defender was pressed by the Spanish media over the long-running transfer saga and was quick to distance himself from any speculation.
Puyol was one of a trio of Spain players that forced a Barca shirt over Fabregas' head during their post 2010 World Cup victory celebrations but now he wants any possible deal done discreetly.
"There has already been too much said about Cesc - that is all I have to say," Puyol said.
"Too much has been said and everyone has had their say. I know our position, but now we have to say nothing."


http://www.talksport.co.uk/sports-news/football/premier-league/transfer-rumours/9427/2/puyol-calls-barcelona-keep-quiet-over-fabregas

[Niall_Quinn]

When they want to shut up it sounds like the deal is done.

[Darth Vela]

Yeah, I expect it's agreed but we want to sign some young French midfielder to present as his replacement when we announce Cesc's transfer, young players with potential will placate most of us, right?

[LDG]

Wonder if we're trying to get Mata before Cesc pisses off....

[Niall_Quinn]

Yeah, I expect it's agreed but we want to sign some young French midfielder to present as his replacement when we announce Cesc's transfer, young players with potential will placate most of us, right?

Cesc's replacement is due to be born any day now. Patience please!

[LDG]

Cesc's replacement is due to be born any day now. Patience please!

The placenta will be used to heal our wounded.

[Niall_Quinn]

The placenta will be used to heal our wounded.

It will be like a new signing.

The placenta :bow:

[Darth Vela]

Cesc's replacement is due to be born any day now. Patience please!

So that'll be only 20-odd more years of transition :woohoo:

[Grebbo]

Wonder if we're trying to get Mata before Cesc pisses off....

Did Wenger do that for Vieira, Henry, Bergkamp etc? No.

There will be no replacement.

Lesbo signing a new deal on £150k per week will probably be the good news story used to bury the bad news.

[fakeyank]

So that'll be only 20-odd more years of transition :woohoo:

Dont forget there is the waiting period after that..

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Sky Sports sources understand Barcelona have on Wednesday made a renewed bid for Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas.

The Catalan club are believed to be confident a deal can be wrapped up before the weekend, having upped their previous package offer of €35million (£30.7million).

Arsenal dismissed that offer and are believed to be standing firm over their £40million valuation, but are reportedly resigned to losing the 24-year-old Spaniard.

And the Gunners are thought to want an agreement to be reached soon to provide them time to find a replacement before the summer transfer window closes on August 31st.

Fabregas, who has been included in boss Arsene Wenger's UEFA Champions League squad to face Udinese, joined Arsenal as a teenager from Barcelona in 2003 and has made over 300 appearances for the Gunners.


http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12876_7091850,00.html

[LDG]

Wow!

[Niall_Quinn]

I suppose the cuntalans next tactic is to push us as close to the close of the window as possible.

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Balague says the deal is done - 29m euros fee, 6m euros in potential add ons and 5m euros from Cesc himself.

So he'll probably be staying then...

[Niall_Quinn]

Balague says the deal is done - 29m euros fee, 6m euros in potential add ons and 5m euros from Cesc himself.

So he'll probably be staying then...

Even our board knows it can't get away with that. The "undisclosed" thing isn't going to wash this time either.

[Elreactor]

5M from Cesc himself??

:haha:

What a whore!!

What´s that, self prostitution.

[Kano]

Balague says the deal is done - 29m euros fee, 6m euros in potential add ons and 5m euros from Cesc himself.

So he'll probably be staying then...

decent enough. let's just take the cash and wrap this up now.

[Niall_Quinn]

If true, a hell of a thing when your captain will spend a fortune to leave! The board's greed is really starting to bite now.

[Niall_Quinn]

decent enough. let's just take the cash and wrap this up now.

What's the rush, Wilshere and Ramsey are starting for us either way.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

should make him count it out himself in front of the fans

whats that in pounds BTW?
does it mean Nasri is staying?
can we go out and spunk the lot? - wait up Mr. Mata.......remember us?

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

should make him count it out himself in front of the fans

whats that in pounds BTW?

£25.5m upfront. (rounded up)
£5.3m variable. (" ")
£4.4m from the player.

[Elreactor]

should make him count it out himself in front of the fans

whats that in pounds BTW?
does it mean Nasri is staying?
can we go out and spunk the lot? - wait up Mr. Mata.......remember us?

The great Chamakh :bow: said this:

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/11/08/10/manual_084737.html&TEAMHD=soccer&BID=165

[Japan Shaking All Over]

The great Chamakh :bow: said this:

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/11/08/10/manual_084737.html&TEAMHD=soccer&BID=165

Yeah I know!
Thats why Im asking what with Chams unnerving ability to be inaccurate with everything he does, thought it best to throw that question out to the mob!

[Joker]

I'm glad things are coming to a head now, and hopefully we sell the twat ASAP and have enough time to get a replacement. I believe Cesc has damaged his reputation significantly with Arsenal supporters because of his behaviour this summer, and he won't be remembered particularly fondly.

[Power n Glory]

I'm glad things are coming to a head now, and hopefully we sell the twat ASAP and have enough time to get a replacement. I believe Cesc has damaged his reputation significantly with Arsenal supporters because of his behaviour this summer, and he won't be remembered particularly fondly.

We say that about every player that leaves.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Balague says the deal is done - 29m euros fee, 6m euros in potential add ons and 5m euros from Cesc himself.

So he'll probably be staying then...

where's the link for this

[Fats]

I'm glad things are coming to a head now, and hopefully we sell the twat ASAP and have enough time to get a replacement. I believe Cesc has damaged his reputation significantly with Arsenal supporters because of his behaviour this summer, and he won't be remembered particularly fondly.

Agreed, not only has he damaged his name for being so desperate but IMO I dont feel he has given his all for the last 2 seasons. We as fans appreciate players that give 100% for the cause and I dont feel he has.

Good player but does have many flaws to his game. Still cant see him as a starter for Barca, bench sitter until he is found out there. Then he'll go to some obscure asian team for dollars.

[Niall_Quinn]

Agreed, not only has he damaged his name for being so desperate but IMO I dont feel he has given his all for the last 2 seasons. We as fans appreciate players that give 100% for the cause and I dont feel he has.

Good player but does have many flaws to his game. Still cant see him as a starter for Barca, bench sitter until he is found out there. Then he'll go to some obscure asian team for dollars.

I see him as the most important player at Barca for the next 5-7 years. £40mill is a steal, £35mill an insult if they get away with that. Oh well, he'd best fuck off then and let us get on with our collapsing in peace.

[Fist of Lehmann]

5M from Cesc himself??

If that 5m thing were true, would that be a loyalty fee waiver or a Webster?

[Fats]

I see him as the most important player at Barca for the next 5-7 years. £40mill is a steal, £35mill an insult if they get away with that. Oh well, he'd best fuck off then and let us get on with our collapsing in peace.

Really?

Why do you say that?

[hymppi]

sad to see a player of his calibre go.
however IF that 5mil of his own money-shit is true, then good riddance cunt.
any player willing to buy himself out is not worth of arsenal jersey.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

I see him as the most important player at Barca for the next 5-7 years. £40mill is a steal, £35mill an insult if they get away with that. Oh well, he'd best fuck off then and let us get on with our collapsing in peace.

See this makes Aw look like and idiot so why not accpet the fucking deal along time ago and build from there.

[Marc Overmars]

Great news, let's hope we can finally get some closure on this and move on.

Come on you Gunners.

[Niall_Quinn]

Really?

Why do you say that?

Because Fabregas at the heart of a talented and purposeful team of winners is going to frightening. In truth he's much too good a footballer for us, but he'll thrive at Barca. Those twats have destabilised him for the past two years (with the approval of the football authorities it seems) but now he'll be back in Span at the club he wants to play for, he'll be focused and I bet his fitness levels spring back up too. Time will tell but we've probably just sold a player that will go on to be top 3 in the world.

[Niall_Quinn]

See this makes Aw look like and idiot so why not accpet the fucking deal along time ago and build from there.

Because the cuntalans only wanted to pay £27mill or something ridiculous like that.

[Darth Vela]

See this makes Aw look like and idiot so why not accpet the fucking deal along time ago and build from there.

I would guess, against all the evidence, we thought Barca might come up with a reasonable offer relatively early, that really is quite idiotic.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Because the cuntalans only wanted to pay £27mill or something ridiculous like that.

No But the orginal amout was 35 then we tried to go all gangsta then they got pissed and lower the price, we could have done this deal in may and bulit a team by now. Looks like Ramsey will be getting more games cause we ain't spending shit, Wenger will ahve his excuses ready.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

I would guess, against all the evidence, we thought Barca might come up with a reasonable offer relatively early, that really is quite idiotic.

Nah we just tried to appear hard, when this was going to happen all along, now AW and his cronies can say how they don't have time to spend and spout other shite.

thank you very much Mr Wenger you Clown

[Fats]

Because Fabregas at the heart of a talented and purposeful team of winners is going to frightening. In truth he's much too good a footballer for us, but he'll thrive at Barca. Those twats have destabilised him for the past two years (with the approval of the football authorities it seems) but now he'll be back in Span at the club he wants to play for, he'll be focused and I bet his fitness levels spring back up too. Time will tell but we've probably just sold a player that will go on to be top 3 in the world.

While I agree with many of your posts I cant on this one.

I dont rate Cesc that highly. I believe he is hugely overated and is a lazy little shit a lot of the time.

Barca will ask so much more from him. If, as you say his fitness level perks up a fare bit, then that says more about him as a person than I really want to know about.

The constant mistakes he makes positionally will not go down well with Barca and nor will the constant holding up of play. He will not be regarded as highly in the Spanish league and they will let him know they will be making tackles. Barca will also not put up with his inconsistency of form and lack of availability.

If he steps up to the plate then good on him but then the question will be, why didnt he do that for us.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Dont shoot me down, but just had a text from a mate who works with people that work for the PFA, he says that Fabregas has gone to Barca for £35mill..
:bow:

[Olivier's xmas twist]

While I agree with many of your posts I cant on this one.

I dont rate Cesc that highly. I believe he is hugely overated and is a lazy little shit a lot of the time.Barca will ask so much more from him. If, as you say his fitness level perks up a fare bit, then that says more about him as a person than I really want to know about.

The constant mistakes he makes positionally will not go down well with Barca and nor will the constant holding up of play. He will not be regarded as highly in the Spanish league and they will let him know they will be making tackles. Barca will also not put up with his inconsistency of form and lack of availability.

If he steps up to the plate then good on him but then the question will be, why didnt he do that for us.

This, was he was never in the Henry class and was never going to a great at Arsenal anyway, Good player but poor leader glad this mess will be cleared up one way or the other.

[Fats]

This, was he was never in the Henry class and was never going to a great at Arsenal anyway, Good player but poor leader glad this mess will be cleared up one way or the other.

If you had to ask many fans who would you choose between Fabregas or Vieira in their pomp to be part of their starting 11 of which you could only pick 1 I dont think it would even be a contest.

[Niall_Quinn]

While I agree with many of your posts I cant on this one.

I dont rate Cesc that highly. I believe he is hugely overated and is a lazy little shit a lot of the time.

Barca will ask so much more from him. If, as you say his fitness level perks up a fare bit, then that says more about him as a person than I really want to know about.

The constant mistakes he makes positionally will not go down well with Barca and nor will the constant holding up of play. He will not be regarded as highly in the Spanish league and they will let him know they will be making tackles. Barca will also not put up with his inconsistency of form and lack of availability.

If he steps up to the plate then good on him but then the question will be, why didnt he do that for us.

One word - Wenger. Wenger is an appalling motivator and lacks a leetle bit discipline and lets the players shit on him. As you say, Cesc won't get an easy ride at Barca and will have to step up. Which I think he will which is why Barca are so desperate to get him (to the point of releasing stories about how they don't need him whilst then chasing him for 2 years).

[Niall_Quinn]

If you had to ask many fans who would you choose between Fabregas or Vieira in their pomp to be part of their starting 11 of which you could only pick 1 I dont think it would even be a contest.

Very different players, very different teams. Vieira would be wasted in this gang of halfwits just as Fabregas has been.

[Fats]

One word - Wenger. Wenger is an appalling motivator and lacks a leetle bit discipline and lets the players shit on him. As you say, Cesc won't get an easy ride at Barca and will have to step up. Which I think he will which is why Barca are so desperate to get him (to the point of releasing stories about how they don't need him whilst then chasing him for 2 years).

Agreed and I don't need any excuse to critizise our illustious leader, but would you need motivating on 100,000 a week, playing for(what was)a leading european club?.

Cesc can do one and Wenger can go with him all I care.

[hymppi]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/799404-arsenal-opinion-andrey-arshavin-is-the-ideal-replacement-for-cesc-fabregas?

food for thought, they offer.
if cesc and nasri walk out, could we use arshavin playing in cesc's role?
or use him on the wing and let rambo and jack work the midfield?
i'd give arshy a try at the middle.

[Niall_Quinn]

Agreed and I don't need any excuse to critizise our illustious leader, but would you need motivating on 100,000 a week, playing for(what was)a leading european club?.

Cesc can do one and Wenger can go with him all I care.

A lot of these players obviously think they are worth it. Not sure why but they do. Cashley almost died when he was insulted with that £55K A WEEK offer, remember. They're all tossers it's just some are mega tossers which makes the regular tossers look better than they are. Fact is it's Wenger's job to deal with the tossers but he's let them walk all over him. He get's £6mill a year doesn't he? To produce the shit that's going on. I guess he'd tell you he's worth it too.

[Niall_Quinn]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/799404-arsenal-opinion-andrey-arshavin-is-the-ideal-replacement-for-cesc-fabregas?

food for thought, they offer.
if cesc and nasri walk out, could we use arshavin playing in cesc's role?
or use him on the wing and let rambo and jack work the midfield?
i'd give arshy a try at the middle.

If you notice, that article was written by Mdm Wenger.

[hymppi]

If you notice, that article was written by Mdm Wenger.
:lol:
i get the sentiment.
but then again we all know AW won't buy anyone to fill in for cesc.

[Fats]

A lot of these players obviously think they are worth it. Not sure why but they do. Cashley almost died when he was insulted with that £55K A WEEK offer, remember. They're all tossers it's just some are mega tossers which makes the regular tossers look better than they are. Fact is it's Wenger's job to deal with the tossers but he's let them walk all over him. He get's £6mill a year doesn't he? To produce the shit that's going on. I guess he'd tell you he's worth it too.

Id have loved the question

Do you think Mr Wenger is worth his 6million a year while winning feckall for 6 years Mr Gazidis?

the other night. Mind you that one certainly would not have been picked out by these wankers

[Kano]

We say that about every player that leaves.

i agree, for a change

[Olivier's xmas twist]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/799404-arsenal-opinion-andrey-arshavin-is-the-ideal-replacement-for-cesc-fabregas?

food for thought, they offer.
if cesc and nasri walk out, could we use arshavin playing in cesc's role?
or use him on the wing and let rambo and jack work the midfield?
i'd give arshy a try at the middle.

Yeah i think it could work, he is not needed on the wings with RYO/Theo/Chamberlin. he scare people more in the middle.

[Niall_Quinn]

Yeah i think it could work, he is not needed on the wings with RYO/Theo/Chamberlin. he scare people more in the middle.

He'd be like a fat new signing.

[Master Splinter]

It's on the BBC website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14482418.stm

Not that this gives it any weight anymore.

[Niall_Quinn]

It is understood that, if he is sold, the Spaniard will be due £4m in compensation - £1m for each year of his contract he did not complete - but may be prepared to forego that payment in order to facilitate a deal.

WTF? We would have had to compensate him for engineering a move and leaving us in the lurch?

[Kano]

i'm sure the club are big and ugly enough to realise what they could be getting into when they dish out these contracts. yeah it's greedy etc but who wouldn't make the most of the black and white of their contract?

[Niall_Quinn]

i'm sure the club are big and ugly enough to realise what they could be getting into when they dish out these contracts. yeah it's greedy etc but who wouldn't make the most of the black and white of their contract?

Arsenal Football Club, it appears.

[Letters]

It's on the BBC website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/14482418.stm

Not that this gives it any weight anymore.

That's a pretty good bit of business IMO, so long as we reinvest which they surely have to.

[Niall_Quinn]

£30mill + a few more quid on the tick for one of the world's premier players who's on a long term contract? Blinding business, the sort only Arsenal could pull off. If this guy had been leaving Utd for Barca it would have been £50mill, £60mill. Wenger and the board are just shit really.

[Edinburgh Gooner]

£30mill + a few more quid on the tick for one of the world's premier players who's on a long term contract? Blinding business, the sort only Arsenal could pull off. If this guy had been leaving Utd for Barca it would have been £50mill, £60mill. Wenger and the board are just shit really.

Barca are the twats in this one. The sooner he goes and the more we get up front the better. Add on a few extra mil on top of what we offered for Mata and we can all move on.

[fakeyank]

That's a pretty good bit of business IMO, so long as we reinvest which they surely have to.

Dont hold your breath on that... or else Mrs. L will be a widow soon and I will not get to see you drinking alcohol in London next year!

[Letters]

£30mill + a few more quid on the tick for one of the world's premier players who's on a long term contract? Blinding business, the sort only Arsenal could pull off. If this guy had been leaving Utd for Barca it would have been £50mill, £60mill. Wenger and the board are just shit really.

World's premier players? Do me a favour. The figure quoted on BBC is £35m. He's not worth more.
And it's rather complicated by the fact that every year we keep him our position gets weaker as he'll clearly never sign another contract for us and there's only one club who will buy him (or, rather, who he'd sign for).

£35m is a decent fee in those circumstances and if we use that money to get 2, maybe 3, decent players not as a direct replacement but to bolster the squad in general then it'll have been a good summer.

[Edinburgh Gooner]

World's premier players? Do me a favour. The figure quoted on BBC is £35m. He's not worth more.
And it's rather complicated by the fact that every year we keep him our position gets weaker as he'll clearly never sign another contract for us and there's only one club who will buy him (or, rather, who he'd sign for).

£35m is a decent fee in those circumstances and if we use that money to get 2, maybe 3, decent players not as a direct replacement but to bolster the squad in general then it'll have been a good summer.

What he said!!

2 CBs and a no nonsence CF would do me fine.

[Shaqiri Is Boss]

Take the money and run.

It's better to have the £££ than an unhappy player.

So long as you buy a replacement (or anyone in your case) of course.

[Coney]

Agreed. We certainly have the dosh to buy 2 CBs easily now. No excuse.

[Niall_Quinn]

World's premier players? Do me a favour. The figure quoted on BBC is £35m. He's not worth more.
And it's rather complicated by the fact that every year we keep him our position gets weaker as he'll clearly never sign another contract for us and there's only one club who will buy him (or, rather, who he'd sign for).

£35m is a decent fee in those circumstances and if we use that money to get 2, maybe 3, decent players not as a direct replacement but to bolster the squad in general then it'll have been a good summer.

Misquoting people again Letters! Tut, tut. We insisted on £40mill and took £30mill + a conditional £5mill. We were well stiffed. Plus you can't buy 2-3 quality players for £30mill these days. A Samba (average) and a Cahill (decent) will cost us most of that. Which is why that Wenger bloke will probably hire a clogger from Brum and a lump from Germany - at best and then stuff the rest in the board's pocket. This club is becoming the biggest laughing stock in world football, people are just pissing on us whenevr they fancy it - on and off the pitch. And many of the fans are loving it, giving it the big "Can't do anything about it", routine. It's like we're wandering from pillar to post shouting "I'll be your bitch!"

[Özim]

OK so Cesc looks to be on his way, I'd say last year he was convinced to stay one more year but we failed on the pitch again so that confirmed what he already felt.

We'll need someone to step up because let's face it he's been our main creative force for years now, without him we've looked completed devoid of ideas at times.

Will we re-invest....hmm not sure I suspect we'll spend 10-15 million and call it a day, so in fact we'll pretty much break even for the summer.......a familiar story.

It'll be disappointing to see him go as it always is with your best players, if we re-invested the money well on the defence and maybe a new striker that would be great, not convinced we'll sign the quality we should though.

[Letters]

Misquoting people again Letters! Tut, tut. We insisted on £40mill and took £30mill + a conditional £5mill. We were well stiffed. Plus you can't buy 2-3 quality players for £30mill these days.

Who am I misquoting? The BBC said 'around £35m'. I didn't see the bit about £30m rising to £35m depending on performance although I don't see that being a problem. We may have said £40m but we could say One Billion Pounds :DrEvil:, us saying it doesn't mean he's worth that or that we'll get it. We have a player who doesn't want to play for us and who will only sign for one club. It makes our position weaker than if there were a bidding war over him.
It's certainly enough money to buy 2 decent players and IMO that would leave us overall stronger IF they're the right players.


And many of the fans are loving it, giving it the big "Can't do anything about it", routine. It's like we're wandering from pillar to post shouting "I'll be your bitch!"

So what are you suggesting we do? We keep a player whose heart isn't in it and then next summer we have all this again, and next year with another less year on his contract making our position even weaker?

IMO it's time to get rid and I'll bear him no ill if he goes. £30-35m is about right in the circumstances.

[Syn]

I think the clearest example of not being able to buy brilliant players for less than ridiculous sums is the fact that cesc could be going for £35m. Don't care about the fee...£20m or £60m, we won't see a return on the pitch.

[selassie]

If the story is true and Cesc really is off then that's another 35million wiped off the debt.

I'd be extremely surprised if Arsene spends any of the money recouped from Cesc on the squad. Wilshire & Ramsey will replace Cesc, Rosicky & Diaby can also do a job there (in Arsene's eyes).

The squad is pretty much set for this season (in Arsene's eyes) IMHO. I think his last piece of work is trying to convince Nasri to sign the contract.

[GP]

Who am I misquoting? The BBC said 'around £35m'. I didn't see the bit about £30m rising to £35m depending on performance although I don't see that being a problem. We may have said £40m but we could say One Billion Pounds :DrEvil:, us saying it doesn't mean he's worth that or that we'll get it. We have a player who doesn't want to play for us and who will only sign for one club. It makes our position weaker than if there were a bidding war over him.
It's certainly enough money to buy 2 decent players and IMO that would leave us overall stronger IF they're the right players.



So what are you suggesting we do? We keep a player whose heart isn't in it and then next summer we have all this again, and next year with another less year on his contract making our position even weaker?

IMO it's time to get rid and I'll bear him no ill if he goes. £30-35m is about right in the circumstances.

:gp:

[Ralpheroo72]

Cesc can fuck off IMO. Those that think he is loyal are deluded. Make no mistake, he hasnt said he wants a move officially, but everything he has done behind the scenes points towards not giving a flying fuck about Arsenal. He has been the shittest captain that I can remember, can you even put him in the same company of Adams? No, I think not! Get rid, and please, no more homesick Spaniards!

[Letters]

Cesc can fuck off IMO. Those that think he is loyal are deluded. Make no mistake, he hasnt said he wants a move officially, but everything he has done behind the scenes points towards not giving a flying fuck about Arsenal. He has been the shittest captain that I can remember, can you even put him in the same company of Adams? No, I think not! Get rid, and please, no more homesick Spaniards!

Of course, you've only ever had one job because you're far too loyal to think about going anywhere else.
He's not been a great captain but he's been no worse than Gallas or Henry were (as captain).

[AKBapologist]

Not really bothered about cesc. Issue with barca for being cunts, and Wenger for being so crap with transfers.

[Niall_Quinn]

Who am I misquoting? The BBC said 'around £35m'. I didn't see the bit about £30m rising to £35m depending on performance although I don't see that being a problem. We may have said £40m but we could say One Billion Pounds :DrEvil:, us saying it doesn't mean he's worth that or that we'll get it. We have a player who doesn't want to play for us and who will only sign for one club. It makes our position weaker than if there were a bidding war over him.
It's certainly enough money to buy 2 decent players and IMO that would leave us overall stronger IF they're the right players.



So what are you suggesting we do? We keep a player whose heart isn't in it and then next summer we have all this again, and next year with another less year on his contract making our position even weaker?

IMO it's time to get rid and I'll bear him no ill if he goes. £30-35m is about right in the circumstances.

Get out of it. We had ALL the cards. For all their bluster Barca were desperate to sign him, unless chasing a player and having your whole squad tap him up over two years in just a series of coincidences. He's on a long contract. We'd named him in the CL squad, we didn't even need the money. And there's no way Fabregas was going to fuck himself by sulking out the season, he was playing it both ways - hence his silence. What happened here is we bent over and got fucked. You can't spin it any other way. All the bullshit about keeping players who don't want to be here, so what? Fuck them. If they have a contract then that's the end of the argument. We are so fucking weak, from top to bottom. A silent owner who won't spend money, a board that fights itself more than the opposition, a clueless manager who has been fucking up for 6 years and a bunch of spineless kids who collapse at the first signs of pressure. Now we have fans saying it's a good idea to let our players go because, "They don't want to be here", or 4th is acceptable or winning isn't everything. WTF is wrong with this club? Wenger disease is running rampant.

I'll tell you what I'd do. I'd tell Barca the price was a £40mill bargain and fuck off if you won't pay it - you have until next Wednesday in the 89th minute of the game at which time Fabregas will be brough onto the pitch. Then I'd tell them they are a bunch of slimy tapping-up cunts and we'll see them in the CL league this year at which point they will get a right arse kicking, either in football terms or if that doesn't work out, physically. Then I'd sort out the fucking defence buy buying 2 from Cahill, Jagielka and Samba - just pay the fucking money, end of. Then I'd sign a LB, again just pay the fucking money. Next a goalkeeper with experience, essential if we are serious about competing WHICH WE SHOULD BE btw! That's the whole point of the game! Trying to win. Then I'd sell that cunt Chamakh and get rid of Vela and buy two PL strikers, a couple of stop-gaps would do for now. Then I'd sack Wenger and get a manager who knows how to motivate the players, doesn't talk utter shit all the time, knows how to win and wants to win, isn't a tight arse, puts football first, doesn't take shit from the players and expects to get the boot if he doesn't deliver. Of course I'd have to do all this in a week whereas Wenger has had six years. Jeez, if not now then when is it time to sort out the problems? You think RvP and Jack won't be next out the door if we don't sort this out? What are we going to say when that happens? "Well, if they don't want to be here..." Nobody is going to want to be here if the club keeps on with its cuntish, tight arse policies. Apart from Chamakh, that cunt will be here. And Diaby and Squillaci, I'm sure they'll be happy to stay. Do you not see where we're heading? All for the want of a bit of leadership on and off the pitch. It's crazy.

Anyway, our totally disloyal (as in on strike since the tail end of last season) captain is gone. Time to repeat the same mistakes all over again by expecting a couple of kids to keep us up amongst the top dogs.

[Niall_Quinn]

Of course, you've only ever had one job because you're far too loyal to think about going anywhere else.
He's not been a great captain but he's been no worse than Gallas or Henry were (as captain).

Yet again, it's NOT just a job. We are not talking about till staff at Sainsburys here.

[GunnerFan4Life]

I'll tell you what I'd do. I'd tell Barca the price was a £40mill bargain and fuck off if you won't pay it - you have until next Wednesday in the 89th minute of the game at which time Fabregas will be brough onto the pitch.

:lol: YES MY SON!

agree with it all!!!!!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Except for the fact he would only be unavailable to play for Barcelona in the group stages of the Champions League. Hardly devastation for him.

[Niall_Quinn]

Except for the fact he would only be unavailable to play for Barcelona in the group stages of the Champions League. Hardly devastation for him.

Who knows? Chances are they are going to the final again, I doubt he'd want to sit it out if he could avoid it. It was ONE card amongst several, but we folded anyway so it's neither here nor there I suppose. We move on, let's get some abject shite in to replace him, preferably someone very cheap because we don't have any money after all those years of making a profit on our transfer dealings. The Toure/ Whore cash vanished this probably will too.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Who knows? Chances are they are going to the final again, I doubt he'd want to sit it out if he could avoid it. It was ONE card amongst several, but we folded anyway so it's neither here nor there I suppose. We move on, let's get some abject shite in to replace him, preferably someone very cheap because we don't have any money after all those years of making a profit on our transfer dealings. The Toure/ Whore cash vanished this probably will too.

He wouldn't sit it out, that's my point. He'd only miss the group stages.

[Niall_Quinn]

He wouldn't sit it out, that's my point. He'd only miss the group stages.

Is that for real? You can play for 2 clubs in the CL? Okay so not a huge card but the contract was no joker.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Is that for real? You can play for 2 clubs in the CL? Okay so not a huge card but the contract was no joker.

Yup. You are only allowed to register one extra player (who has already played European football) when the knockout stages come back around in February though.

[fari]

Yup. You are only allowed to register one extra player (who has already played European football) when the knockout stages come back around in February though.

dang...all these loopholes

[KSE Comedy Club]

So, this is excellent news!

Cant wait to see the back of him tbh. Just need to get shot of Nasri now and we'll be onto a winner :good:

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Except for the fact he would only be unavailable to play for Barcelona in the group stages of the Champions League. Hardly devastation for him.

No you can't, you can only play in the cl if you played in the Europa league before. Thats why Torres was allowed to play in the CL and.

If he played for us in the CL he'd only be able to play for barca in the CL if we got relegated to the Europa league.

[fakeyank]

No you can't, you can only play in the cl if you played in the Europa league before. Thats why Torres was allowed to play in the CL and.

If he played for us in the CL he'd only be able to play for barca in the CL if we got relegated to the Europa league.

Oh well, thats sorted then.. we are not qualifying for the group stages so we good!

[Master Splinter]

So, this is excellent news!

Cant wait to see the back of him tbh. Just need to get shot of Nasri now and we'll be onto a winner :good:

:gp:

[Letters]

Yet again, it's NOT just a job. We are not talking about till staff at Sainsburys here.

It's not exactly the same but does that mean we should expect our players to stay with us for their entire career? He's been with us what, 7 or 8 years now? He's given us good service. He's always made it clear he wanted to go back to Barca. He's not whined about the club or come out with the nonsense someone like Cole has about the fans. If he goes then good luck to him.

[Letters]

Get out of it. We had ALL the cards. For all their bluster Barca were desperate to sign him, unless chasing a player and having your whole squad tap him up over two years in just a series of coincidences.

They want to sign him at some point, I don't think they're massively bothered whether it's this summer or not. They were tapping him up all last summer too, far worse than this year, they didn't cave in and pay what we asked though. They're the best side in club football right now. By a distance. They don't need to strengthen massively this summer, they don't want to pay what they think is over the odds for him, especially as they regard him as their player anyway. They could have afforded to wait another year.

He is on a reasonably long contract but every year it gets shorter and our position gets weaker. Our naming of him in the CL squad was obviously a bluff. We named Bendtner too and he's said quite clearly he's off. Even if we did bring him on, again, Barca could afford to wait another year. We do need the money if we want to buy - we've said openly we need to sell to buy. No, Cesc wouldn't have sulked all season but he's going to go sometime and every year we keep him his price becomes less unless he signs a new contract. Ultimately he could walk away on a free.

We wanted £40m but you can keep saying "he's worth more" all you like, he's only worth what someone is willing to pay and when you've got a player who will only sign for one club that makes it harder to up the price. We could say "City will pay £50m" but so what? He's not going to sign for City and Barca know that. We can say "pay £40m" or else. Barca could (and would) have just said "Take £30-£35m or we'll see you next summer when he has one year less on his contract".

[Ernesto]

First of all, good riddance to Fabregas. He's hardly been a pr!ck in the mould of Adebayor, Ashley Cole or Anelka, but he's not showered himself in glory either.

£35mil (if that's what we sell him for) is robbery. The Ronaldo fee pushed the boundaries of the transfer market and we really should be using that as a precedent for any player we sell. It's in the eye of the beholder, but if Fabregas is considered world class, then he ought to have been sold for more. Either that, or we get one, maybe two Barcelona players in exchange as part of the deal which would arguably be a much better option given our now threadbare squad.

If we had another manager who wasn't so predictable in his transfer policies and tactics on the pitch, I would actually be very excited about Fabregas leaving. It's no coincidence that we haven't won a trophy while we've tried to build a team around him. It's no coincidence that we've shown the mentality of a rabbit caught in headlights and recorded some of our most embarrassing results ever in recent seasons with Fabregas as captain.

All that being said, we now have a huge void to fill in a crucial position of the pitch. Do we have anyone lined up? The newspapers would suggest Juan Mata. Is he good enough? Is one player enough? This is our chance to really make a change in footballing philosophy but, with Wenger in charge, I'm not holding my breath.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

I will go along with wishing him luck in a move........but I won't say I'm sad to see him go, the main reason being that I'm fed up with this saga that has dragged on around his obvious love affair with his boyhood club and the on/off~ness of his transfer which now looks more on than off.

I do agree with Letters that the guy putting in some seriously massive performances over the course of his career but at the same time showed a loss of passion in others. I don't think he would sulk so to speak if he stayed but I believe any below average performance would be jumped on by everyone the fans and the media alike and this is not good for the over morale of the team which may be suffering now as this fucking drama goes on.
As Letters says we need that money to invest back into the team and the sooner the better as new players/quality players/CL tested players will in turn give a boost to the squad. We can let ManU sign Snjeider, Young beat us to Jones but we don't have to roll over and play dead, we get back up form a team that will challenge and meet the the top 3 on the pitch.......we beat Chelsea and Utd last year, there is no reason why we cant do that again........players like Cahill or maybe Samba will help us I believe address our weaknesses against the lower clubs.

I only hope that we are not looking at a trend......kind of started with Viera and Henry where other clubs thought we were soft options that they could pick off our best like a sniper........that we do not become a feeder club, I believe that the best way to allay that fear is to build a winning team and know when to say 'no'. Cesc was always going to leave we always had that hanging over our head but we have to try and not let that happen anymore, by the sounds of it we almost stood by our guns this time.......it doesn't look like the 40 million is going to be met but for the future there is hope, whether that is with Wenger at the helm is another thing tho! Can we have a winning them with Cesc and maybe Nas......I think yes, I know there are some who say it sends the wrong message to sell our two prized assets but the team has a cancer both on the pitch and off, both the way we play and the mental strength we show/lack - this cancer if allowed to grow will have just as bad an effect on the team and my hope is that money wisely spent on players who want to represent would counter the negative impact Cesc's and Nas's departure would have. Fuck the boys if anything should be chomping on the bit ready to meet the challenge, prove to those that write us off that they are wrong........

Wenger would do no harm to quote a few lines from Henry V - St Crispins speech

That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,

We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.

From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAvmLDkAgAM

[BOBN]

^ damn thats powerful

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

:yikes:

but yeah im glad this overrated cunt is leaving, he caused me too many arguments with fellow gooners. our system was fundamentally flawed with such a weakling at the heart. two good seasons in seven. his presence in the side coincided with our most barren period in living memory.

[LDG]

Keep saying, fantastic a player as he is. He's never done it for us on the big occasion, and he's not been the captain Arsenal need.

35mil may not be what we really want, but the transfer prices out there are completely obscured. I you look past the silly money, you'll see 35m is pretty decent wedge....and in contrast with things to come, I think we'll look back on it as good business.

Only worry I have is that RVP will be given the armband. It should be TV5. No questions asked.

[Marc Overmars]

I think the clearest example of not being able to buy brilliant players for less than ridiculous sums is the fact that cesc could be going for £35m. Don't care about the fee...£20m or £60m, we won't see a return on the pitch.

I think in this case Wenger will have no choice but to spend. Otherwise he's pretty much nailing his coffin shut.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

No you can't, you can only play in the cl if you played in the Europa league before. Thats why Torres was allowed to play in the CL and.

If he played for us in the CL he'd only be able to play for barca in the CL if we got relegated to the Europa league.

No, we're talking about the Champions League qualifying. Effectively it is not considered part of the Champions League given you have to register your squad again for the group stages. If he played for us in the Champions League proper it wouldn't be an issue as the transfer window would've already passed.

[Fats]

^ damn thats powerful

For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

:yikes:

but yeah im glad this overrated cunt is leaving, he caused me too many arguments with fellow gooners. our system was fundamentally flawed with such a weakling at the heart. two good seasons in seven. his presence in the side coincided with our most barren period in living memory.

Thats BOB ON BOBN

[milla]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/3745192/Cesc-Fabregas-set-for-36m-Barcelona-move.html

£36 mil plus add on and Cesc to pay £4 mil from his own pockets. Extra dividends for the owner this year. :coffee:

[IBK]

My tuppence worth.

AFC has not covered itself in glory over this saga. Its destabilised us for 2 years - and IMO the club is guilty of sending out mixed messages. Its says that the player isn't for sale, then changes this to the player is for sale, but only at our valuation, then sells below the valuation anyway. Basically, everyone out there knows that we will cave in eventually.

In particular AW is guilty of playing this wrong. First the armband - like his previous 3 captains - is used in a misguided attempt to instill some loyalty. But he has basically cheapened the captaincy, and this IMHO has affected the general regard in which our club is held by its own players. Second, by his refusal to accept that the writing is on the wall. I feel strongly that he convinced Fabregas to give us one more season to win something, last year. But instead of planning properly for his depature he thought that he could convince him to stay again - and totally misread the situation.

But for all that, we should not forget the biggest factors in this saga. The first is our failure to win anything for 6 years, finishing 4th more often than not. The sad truth is that this alone will see our best and most ambitious players wanting to leave - and the club's room for manoevre in transfer/contract negotiations is massively reduced in these circumstances.

The second is the player himself. Because it is first and foremost Fabregas himself who has allowed Barcelona's tactics of grinding us down to be so successful. He has done it more intelligently than some other players have in the past, but in essence, he has effectively been on strike all Summer and made it crystal clear that his bridges are burnt. He has given us more service than Nasri, so comes out of this with a little more credit than him, but the bottom line is Fabregas has allowed Barcelona to fuck us over - and that is what he will be remembered for, in my eyes. So I won't be wishing him the best - I am completely indifferent to what happens to him now, and would simply like to forget that he was ever an Arsenal player.

[Cripps_orig]

Hope this cunt is booed the fuck out of town when/if he comes back with Barcunts. And any message he leaves for the fans spouting BS should be spat on. He is truly scum of the lowest order

[Power n Glory]

My tuppence worth.

AFC has not covered itself in glory over this saga. Its destabilised us for 2 years - and IMO the club is guilty of sending out mixed messages. Its says that the player isn't for sale, then changes this to the player is for sale, but only at our valuation, then sells below the valuation anyway. Basically, everyone out there knows that we will cave in eventually.

In particular AW is guilty of playing this wrong. First the armband - like his previous 3 captains - is used in a misguided attempt to instill some loyalty. But he has basically cheapened the captaincy, and this IMHO has affected the general regard in which our club is held by its own players. Second, by his refusal to accept that the writing is on the wall. I feel strongly that he convinced Fabregas to give us one more season to win something, last year. But instead of planning properly for his depature he thought that he could convince him to stay again - and totally misread the situation.

But for all that, we should not forget the biggest factors in this saga. The first is our failure to win anything for 6 years, finishing 4th more often than not. The sad truth is that this alone will see our best and most ambitious players wanting to leave - and the club's room for manoevre in transfer/contract negotiations is massively reduced in these circumstances.

The second is the player himself. Because it is first and foremost Fabregas himself who has allowed Barcelona's tactics of grinding us down to be so successful. He has done it more intelligently than some other players have in the past, but in essence, he has effectively been on strike all Summer and made it crystal clear that his bridges are burnt. He has given us more service than Nasri, so comes out of this with a little more credit than him, but the bottom line is Fabregas has allowed Barcelona to fuck us over - and that is what he will be remembered for, in my eyes. So I won't be wishing him the best - I am completely indifferent to what happens to him now, and would simply like to forget that he was ever an Arsenal player.

We've done this to ourselves. We've had all summer to show some ambition and get signings in, start a new training regime, new tactics and it's all business as usual. Wenger is a selfish bastard.

When Henry was thinking about joining Barca, Wenger convinced him to stay and I'm certain he promised Henry that change was on the way. The following summer, after signing a new contract, it was the same old. That pissed Henry off and was part of reason why he flew off the handle about us signing new experienced players like SWP. That was the final nail in the coffin for Henry's Arsenal career.

We broke the bank for Henry and we did the same for Cesc. They're not asking for massive wages, armbands and bribery. They won't the silverware and glory of being champions. Wenger tries to suffocate this ambition with bribery, sweet talk and lies. That father figure shit is manipulative and he uses it to his advantage. Wenger would have been quite happy for Henry to babysit while he's out securing his own legacy.

[Darth Vela]

start a new training regime, new tactics

Has Szczesny been bullshitting us then? Never trust a Pole.

As for all the manipulation and lies, I think you're overplaying the fact that he's very persuasive, rather than outright lying, in fact I seem to remember Henry saying that he asked Wenger whether they'd be able to compete in the next few years, Wenger told him the truth and let him go off to Barca.

[Power n Glory]

Has Szczesny been bullshitting us then? Never trust a Pole.

As for all the manipulation and lies, I think you're overplaying the fact that he's very persuasive, rather than outright lying, in fact I seem to remember Henry saying that he asked Wenger whether they'd be able to compete in the next few years, Wenger told him the truth and let him go off to Barca.

Wenger said we spent 90% of our training time focussing on ball on the ground work, technical stuff and movement or something like that. Sounds like the usual guff. Wouldn’t it make more sense to focus more time on your weak areas? 10% isn’t enough. If I just failed my driving exam because I can’t parallel park, wouldn’t it be wise to spend more time mastering that manoeuvre since I know that’s where I fall short? Why spend 90% of the lesson on the road if you’re super comfortable and confident in that area?

I could be wrong of course and they may actually be in training practicing these things. But whatever he’s teaching them wasn’t working in Pre Season against teams that aren’t that good or as tough as the guys we’ll face in the Prem. Negligence or incompetence? It just doesn’t look good and I hope we suddenly spring to life on Saturday and they’ve been saving it all for the Prem.

[Özim]

Wenger said we spent 90% of our training time focussing on ball on the ground work, technical stuff and movement or something like that. Sounds like the usual guff. Wouldn’t it make more sense to focus more time on your weak areas? 10% isn’t enough
You forget we're 2% away from domination though.

[Darth Vela]

Isn't working? I actually thought we looked quite organised and well drilled on set-pieces, certainly whenever Squillaci wasn't on the pitch anyway, I guess that's pretty subjective until we see how it does in the long-term Premiership assault we usuall suffer though. That's our achilles heel and we've worked on it, along with a concentration on bringing in more pacy, direct and stronger players I'd say that there's changes being made, they may not be enough and if the new CB is a bit shit then we'll still have problems but it's something. I know those 90% comments seem pretty bad but it was mostly in reference to our German training camp and I doubt it is an entirely accurate stat to start with, Sczczesny said they've been working on set-pieces and I've seen an improvement in them so whatever the ratio, it's working alright imo.

If we bring Squillaci on at HT every game in the Premiership then these pre-season games probably will be great indicators of where we're going but our first choice defensive unit has looked pretty solid.

[Master Splinter]

Hope this cunt is booed the fuck out of town when/if he comes back with Barcunts. And any message he leaves for the fans spouting BS should be spat on. He is truly scum of the lowest order

:gp:

Slimy little bitch, he is.

And uber cunt, of course.

[Marc Overmars]

Unfortunately for Cesc he is always going to be the guy that was the face of the club throughout the most frustrating period in Wenger's tenure.

[Cripps_orig]

He will now be known as the poster boy of failure.

or Cunt for short

[Master Splinter]

JSAO put it best in the Transfer thread:
....great player and on his day a joy but at other times a laboursome deadweight that dammed the flow of play.

Or cunt for short.

[GunnerFan4Life]

El Mundo Deportivo suggesting that Juan Mata will finally complete his move to Arsenal once Cesc Fabregas leaves for Barcelona

-twitter

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Think People are going overbored tbh, for now its all media rubbish to say he is going, nothing really confirmed is there. We must have soemthing planned if we are going to let him go now.

[Kano]

all media talk yes but it finally feels like the final stages of this saga, shame to see his talent go. disappointed how he has disappeared since the last injury but no real malice and hope barcelona hit a wall soon and fail miserably.

interesting stats from beeb as a final footnote:


ARSENAL PREMIER LEAGUE CHANCES CREATED 2010-11
1 Fabregas - 72 from 1887 minutes
2 Wilshere - 60 from 2650
3 Nasri - 58 from 2391
4 Arshavin - 55 from 2194
5 Van Persie - 44 from 1768
6 Chamakh - 40 from 1845
7 Song - 32 from 2594
8 Rosicky - 27 from 927
9 Sagna - 24 from 2969
10 Walcott - 23 from 1696

PREMIER LEAGUE CHANCES CREATED 2010-11
1 Malouda - 117 from 2810 mins
2 Fabregas - 72 from 1887
3 Giggs - 59 from 1678
4 Hitzlsperger - 34 from 990
5 Van der Vaart - 67 from 2239
6 Nani - 78 from 2668
7 Obinna - 45 from 1571
8 Brunt - 86 from 3015
9 S Davies - 63 from 2210
10 Silva - 73 from 2564

EUROPE'S TOP FIVE* LEAGUES - CHANCES CREATED 2006-11
1 Fabregas - 466
2 Xavi - 455
3 Lampard - 452
4 Pizarro - 427
5 Diego - 423
6 Gerard - 396
7 Totti - 378
8 Giggs - 365
9 Nene - 361
10 Downing - 355

*English, Spanish, Italian, French and German top divisions


Since the start of the 2004-05 Premier League season, Arsenal have scored more goals, conceded fewer, won more matches and collected more points when Fabregas has featured.

They average 2.04 goals per league game with him in the team but 1.52 without him, concede 0.92 when he plays and 1.07 when he does not, win 59% of games with him and 44% without him, and pick up 2.01 points per match with him but only 1.65 when he is absent.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Arsene Wenger hopes Cesc Fabregas' future at Arsenal 'will be sorted out very quickly' amid reports that the midfielder is set to join Barcelona.

Fabregas has been repeatedly linked with a return to his boyhood club this summer, but Arsenal have been reluctant to sell their captain.

Sky Sports revealed on Wednesday that European champions Barca had made an improved offer to bring Fabregas back to Camp Nou.

Reports have subsequently suggested that Barca will finalise a deal for the Spain international before the Premier League season starts on Saturday.

Wenger refused to confirm that Fabregas will be leaving Emirates Stadium, but he is anticipating a resolution to the transfer saga before his team's trip to Newcastle United.

"That is completely the truth," Wenger told Arsenal Player regarding reports Fabregas' future will be decided before the weekend.

"We hope it will be sorted out very quickly one way or the other. We'll know very quickly."

Fabregas' playmaking cohort Samir Nasri has also been tipped to leave Arsenal, with Manchester City favourites to sign the France international.

Nasri has just 12 months remaining on his contract and Wenger is keen for the former Marseille youngster's future to be resolved quickly as well.

The Gunners boss added: "The Nasri situation is stable.

"Again it is very difficult to speak about possible transfers but we are in a situation where we have to make decisions one way or the other.

"Ideally you want it to be sorted out before the season starts."
.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,12876_7094064,00.html

Seems Wenger is resigned to loosing Cesc

[Edinburgh Gooner]

"Again it is very difficult to speak about possible transfers but we are in a situation where we have to make decisions one way or the other.

"Ideally you want it to be sorted out before the season starts."

Ideally it would have been sorted out before pre season began!

[Bergkampwonderland10]

What is Gazidis doing? This guy can't close out any kind of deal - what a joke. Selling Fabregas for 30million with 5million add-ons and him also paying 4million towards that - is a joke. I bet they pay us in installments as well. Rubbish. Also heard from a good source - that Nasri will infact be joining United...not City. Watch this space.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

What is Gazidis doing? This guy can't close out any kind of deal - what a joke. Selling Fabregas for 30million with 5million add-ons and him also paying 4million towards that - is a joke. I bet they pay us in installments as well. Rubbish. Also heard from a good source - that Nasri will infact be joining United...not City. Watch this space.

Yep you feel city will get Wesley S and mancs get Nasri.

[Bergkampwonderland10]

Yep you feel city will get Wesley S and mancs get Nasri.
United may well get both! They need a midfield and they have the money from the sale of Ronaldo still. Sickening.

[Edinburgh Gooner]

http://www.teamtalk.com/blog/16129/7093874/Cesc-exit-could-assist-Arsene


rather good article IMO pretty much sums up what has been said on GW for the last few weeks

[Toronto Gooner]

What is Gazidis doing? This guy can't close out any kind of deal - what a joke. Selling Fabregas for 30million with 5million add-ons and him also paying 4million towards that - is a joke. I bet they pay us in installments as well. Rubbish. Also heard from a good source - that Nasri will infact be joining United...not City. Watch this space.
What exactly would you want him to do? Should Arsenal hold on to him for another season? Sell at the first offer? Hold for the best he can get? All sales being predicated on Arsenal being in position to replacing him.

[Master Splinter]

Can't wait for this little slimy bitch's heartfelt message to the fans.

I hope Eboue forces an Arsenal shirt on him during it.

To remind him what club he was supposed to representing in the last 18 months.

A two-footer in his face wouldn't go amiss either.

Come on Eboue, prove your worth.

[GP]

Can't wait for this little slimy bitch's heartfelt message to the fans.

I hope Eboue forces an Arsenal shirt on him during it.

To remind him what club he was supposed to representing in the last 18 months.

A two-footer in his face wouldn't go amiss either.

Come on Eboue, prove your worth.

Eboue is packing a two-footer? Impressive...

[Özim]

What exactly would you want him to do? Should Arsenal hold on to him for another season? Sell at the first offer? Hold for the best he can get? All sales being predicated on Arsenal being in position to replacing him.
Something, anything to show he's actually doing something and not Wenger's yes man and couldn't be replaced by a mere cardboard cutout.

[Özim]

Can't wait for this little slimy bitch's heartfelt message to the fans.

I hope Eboue forces an Arsenal shirt on him during it.

To remind him what club he was supposed to representing in the last 18 months.

A two-footer in his face wouldn't go amiss either.

Come on Eboue, prove your worth.
F*ck me some of you are bitter, 8 years he spent with us, it's no his fault that he has ambitions to win trophies and Wenger is happy with 4th.

If Wenger had shown more ambition and done the necessary maybe half our squad wouldn't want to leave, there's only one person to point the finger at and that's the guy who's been preaching for 6 years.

I don't have a problem with Cesc, he did his job, stayed for a fair while and now has ambitions to move onto to bigger and better things, can't blame him...after all who wouldn't get ridiculously frustrated by Wenger and his ways, most of the fans have lost patience with him too.

[Marc Overmars]

Done by the end of the weekend according to SSN this morning.

Nasri is on the brink as well.

I just hope we have something in the pipeline to replace them.

[Özim]

I just hope we have something in the pipeline to replace them.
Knowing us yes....a bunch of excuses!

Can't believe we've let this drag on until just before the season starts and then have ended up losing both (if that's what happens), that is some shocking bad transfer dealings.

[Boss]

F*ck me some of you are bitter, 8 years he spent with us, it's no his fault that he has ambitions to win trophies and Wenger is happy with 4th.

If Wenger had shown more ambition and done the necessary maybe half our squad wouldn't want to leave, there's only one person to point the finger at and that's the guy who's been preaching for 6 years.

I don't have a problem with Cesc, he did his job, stayed for a fair while and now has ambitions to move onto to bigger and better things, can't blame him...after all who wouldn't get ridiculously frustrated by Wenger and his ways, most of the fans have lost patience with him too.

Pretty much.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

F*ck me some of you are bitter, 8 years he spent with us, it's no his fault that he has ambitions to win trophies and Wenger is happy with 4th.

If Wenger had shown more ambition and done the necessary maybe half our squad wouldn't want to leave, there's only one person to point the finger at and that's the guy who's been preaching for 6 years.

I don't have a problem with Cesc, he did his job, stayed for a fair while and now has ambitions to move onto to bigger and better things, can't blame him...after all who wouldn't get ridiculously frustrated by Wenger and his ways, most of the fans have lost patience with him too.

Did anyone say that, opf is it you picking and choosing what you want to start a fight. People are Pissed because he has been acting lika a cunt lately. Until he leaves the Club he should keep acting like a proper Captain not a Pussy who needs his pals to do all his talking for him.

And if we have failed to win trophies in his time here, they he is part of the problem too, he don't get exepempt because he was our star player.

He will never be remembered as an Arsenal great anyway

[IBK]

Did anyone say that, opf is it you picking and choosing what you want to start a fight. People are Pissed because he has been acting lika a cunt lately. Until he leaves the Club he should keep acting like a proper Captain not a Pussy who needs his pals to do all his talking for him.

And if we have failed to win trophies in his time here, they he is part of the problem too, he don't get exepempt because he was our star player.

He will never be remembered as an Arsenal great anyway

I'd elaborate on this and remind people that AFC made Fabregas into what he is today. We gave him the opportunity to succeed one of the best CM's of modern times at the tender age of 17 (an opportunity he wouldn't have had in a million years at Barcelona), kept faith with him during his first 3 first team seasons when despite his talent, he was still learning his trade. We built a team round him to showcase his talents to the world, made him the highest earner at the club and gave him what should have been the honour of being club captain. In return we got 2 exceptional seasons out of him - occurring after his first 3 learning seasons and before his most recent 2 seasons - 2009/10 being marred by injury and 2010/11 being, frankly, a dispirited season in which we saw him fail to give us the dynamism, leadership and enthusiasm that might, just might, have arrested our implosion had Fabregas really given a shit by the time it arrived.

Fabregas was loyal to us for 6 years. Wenger has been loyal to him right up to the end. I've said many times before on other threads that a player's ambitions might provide a reason why he wishes to leave the club, but that is IMO different to providing a justification, and is certainly no reason for us fans to support him.
In Fabregas we have enjoyed a prodigious talent - but one that in the end provided diminishing returns to Arsenal because he was not committed to the club, while by contrast doing everything he could to assist Barcelona in 'paying us back' by getting him on the cheap.

IMO Fabregas has more or less been a Barca player for the past 12 months, and if the stories are to be believed has behaved in an unprecedented way by being prepared to sacrifice his own money to force a move. He certanly doesn't deserve to be regarded as an Arsenal legend, and despite his PR efforts, I don't believe that he untimately gives a toss about this.

[Kano]

2 exceptional seasons in a team not doing what it should is not a bad return, i'm not sure other players at his age can do even that. on top of carrying the most assists over the past 5 years across europe, that's not bad going really.

fabregas was given the chance to shine but HE made himself what he is today, no one else.

def not an arsenal legend but his talent will be notably missed from our team. even in seasons when he was injured like last year, he still racked up the assists and chance more than others in the team

[BOBN]

2 exceptional seasons in a team not doing what it should is not a bad return, i'm not sure other players at his age can do even that. on top of carrying the most assists over the past 5 years across europe, that's not bad going really.

fabregas was given the chance to shine but HE made himself what he is today, no one else.

def not an arsenal legend but his talent will be notably missed from our team. even in seasons when he was injured like last year, he still racked up the assists and chance more than others in the team
1 and a half. fell away badly after christmas in 07/08.

that team was good enough to win the league. he was pretty much the main reason we didnt. (hleb, adebayor, flamini managed to maintain roughly the same level)

[Kano]

clichy and gallas will be relieved to hear it

[IBK]

2 exceptional seasons in a team not doing what it should is not a bad return, i'm not sure other players at his age can do even that. on top of carrying the most assists over the past 5 years across europe, that's not bad going really.

fabregas was given the chance to shine but HE made himself what he is today, no one else.

def not an arsenal legend but his talent will be notably missed from our team. even in seasons when he was injured like last year, he still racked up the assists and chance more than others in the team

No player does it all on their own. If they did, then you would never have players that shine in one team but not elsewhere. Fabregas is a prodigious talent, and we have seen what our team misses when he doesn't play or is not on form. But just like a striker who is an attacking team's main outlet will score lots of goals, Fabregas has benefitted from the entire team being built around him. We have suffered lately from having him as our main player and captain.

We will suffer in the short team, but if Fabregas going means that AW turms his back on a style of play that has become increasingly less effective in the EPL, and left us exposed defensively, and gets back to a more direct style then we might actually benefit in the long term.

[BOBN]

clichy and gallas will be relieved to hear it
clichy and gallas are clichy and gallas. they pretty much played at whatever level they were at for the entire season.

until january/feb we looked like winning the league. what changed? fabregas. his fault.

[Flavs]

clichy and gallas are clichy and gallas. they pretty much played at whatever level they were at for the entire season.

until january/feb we looked like winning the league. what changed? fabregas. his fault.

You cant be serious?

[Kano]

No players does it all on their own. If they did, then you would never have players that shine in one team but not elsewhere. Fabregas is a prodigious talent, and we have seen what our team misses when he doesn't play or is not on form. But just like a striker who is an attacking team's main outlet will score lots of goals, Fabregas has benefitted from the entire team being built around him. We have suffered lately from having him as our main player and captain.

We will suffer in the short team, but if Fabregas going means that AW turms his back on a style of play that has become increasingly less effective in the EPL, and left us exposed defensively, and gets back to a more direct style then we might actually benefit in the long term.

everyone makes the most of opportunities given to them, you can push and shove all you want but bottom line is it comes down to the individual to make it happen. of course he has benefited from having a team round him but again, without that self work ethic and desire to make something of his talent, then it means little.

we've always been exposed defensively under wenger, even the title winning teams shipped a decent amount of goals, the difference is back then we could afford to out shoot opponents and whilst other teams around us have tightened up defensively since mourinho came and went, we haven't done the same.

[Kano]

clichy and gallas are clichy and gallas. they pretty much played at whatever level they were at for the entire season.

until january/feb we looked like winning the league. what changed? fabregas. his fault.

i need your thesis on how, when and where

[Özim]

Did anyone say that, opf is it you picking and choosing what you want to start a fight. People are Pissed because he has been acting lika a cunt lately. Until he leaves the Club he should keep acting like a proper Captain not a Pussy who needs his pals to do all his talking for him.

And if we have failed to win trophies in his time here, they he is part of the problem too, he don't get exepempt because he was our star player.

He will never be remembered as an Arsenal great anyway
I personally don't think it's been anywhere near as bad as you're making out, he's not slagged off he club, he's not said if you don't sell me I'll strike etc...Barca want him and he's happy to move back, who wouldn't be to a club like that when you're at a club who have now got a reputation of being proven losers.....with a manager who won't change?

One player does not make a team, a team is a sum of it's parts....Wenger has failed to build a good enough team that's why we've failed to win trophies, with better signings we'd have won stuff with Cesc.

Like I said people have got very bitter and yet the man who is really to blame get's a much easier ride.

[BOBN]

You cant be serious?
I hold our best (and most highly-paid) players to the highest standards.

you can spinelessly blame the tea-boy or denilson if you like tho :tiphat:

[BOBN]

i need your thesis on how, when and where
he had one good game after dec/jan and that was against milan in the san siro.

its clear that the first few months of that season were teams being caught cold by the new post-henry fabregas-driven arsenal.

he was found out as the nights drew in. only wenger giving him a new position salvaged him a player in this league.

[IBK]

everyone makes the most of opportunities given to them, you can push and shove all you want but bottom line is it comes down to the individual to make it happen. of course he has benefited from having a team round him but again, without that self work ethic and desire to make something of his talent, then it means little.

we've always been exposed defensively under wenger, even the title winning teams shipped a decent amount of goals, the difference is back then we could afford to out shoot opponents and whilst other teams around us have tightened up defensively since mourinho came and went, we haven't done the same.

I have no issue with any of that. My point is that Farbregas has benefitted from AFC probably as much as AFC has benefitted from him. Difference is that AFC hasn't ended the relationship by being a bit of a cunt.