Clichy has left. And Nasri in talks with Citeh.

[LDG]

Lollers.

[IBK]

Whatever way you look at it, its quite depressing. OK we can say 'paper talk' all we like - but the fact is that there's no smoke without fire, and I don't think our reputation has been as low as it is currently since Wenger arrived. The reality is that Wenger is fighting to keep his best players - and this has a very 'end of era' feel to it.

[LDG]

Whatever way you look at it, its quite depressing. OK we can say 'paper talk' all we like - but the fact is that there's no smoke without fire, and I don't think our reputation has been as low as it is currently since Wenger arrived. The reality is that Wenger is fighting to keep his best players - and this has a very 'end of era' feel to it.

Hmmm.

Like when we got rid of all the invincibles??

Thing is. This current set up has won us fuck all, and we need a change. As we're obviously not changing the manager, we can only do one other thing, and that's change the players.

We've all wanted a more robust team capable of digging in, to go with the ebb and flow of our attacking play. If that means getting rid of i) a left back who slips up more times than Frank Spencer, ii) A mecenary, clearly in it for himself and iii) a player who doesn't want to play for us....then fuck it, it's what we have to do.

As long as we use that money to replenish the squad with players who have bottle fight and leadership, I'm not too fussed tbh.

But as nothing the fuck has happened yet, I'll wait until it does.

[Xhaka Can’t]

Whatever way you look at it, its quite depressing. OK we can say 'paper talk' all we like - but the fact is that there's no smoke without fire, and I don't think our reputation has been as low as it is currently since Wenger arrived. The reality is that Wenger is fighting to keep his best players - and this has a very 'end of era' feel to it.

Our rep is the least of your problems.
The ridiculous control panel on this forum which none of us have got to grips with yet, means we aren't making any name changes til Christmas.
On a serious note, if what is feared is true, I cannot see how shifting all our best players out will help us improve next season. In fact I think it will be an almighty challenge to hold on to 4th. Even if we buy in quality, there will be a significant bedding in period for those players and this is particularly so given the type of football Wenger has us play.

[IBK]

Hmmm.

Like when we got rid of all the invincibles??

Thing is. This current set up has won us fuck all, and we need a change. As we're obviously not changing the manager, we can only do one other thing, and that's change the players.

We've all wanted a more robust team capable of digging in, to go with the ebb and flow of our attacking play. If that means getting rid of i) a left back who slips up more times than Frank Spencer, ii) A mecenary, clearly in it for himself and iii) a player who doesn't want to play for us....then fuck it, it's what we have to do.

As long as we use that money to replenish the squad with players who have bottle fight and leadership, I'm not too fussed tbh.

But as nothing the fuck has happened yet, I'll wait until it does.

Well look what happened after the Invincibles...

Fair enough to wait and see - not like we have much choice. But I'm looking at a current picture that's wider than the merits of individual players. It can't be denied that there is the smell of something a bit rotten about the club. One thing that you can always depend on - and that is that agents/press whores can smell weakness like sharks smell blood - and that's what's going on with us ATM.

We talk about replacing players and systems as though its like buying a new car - but building new teams is both a difficult and a painstaking process. There's no way that the guts can be ripped out of our team and we can bounce back next season like nothing's happened. It took Wenger 5 years to realise that project youth had failed. Its not like he's going to roar back with the Invincibles Mk 11, and the smart money says that any replacements will be 'project' players rather than EPL seasoned superstars.

So sure, we wait. But for me the prognosis is not the most promising one.

[Letters]

I'll leave panicking till after the transfer window is closed although if Nasri and Cesc BOTH go then we're in trouble if we don't get good replacements.

[IBK]

I'll leave panicking till after the transfer window is closed although if Nasri and Cesc BOTH go then we're in trouble if we don't get good replacements.

Tell you what. Why don't we just shit down all transfer threads on the forum until the end of the transfer window? That way noone needs to opine and speculate, and we can just make factual comments on real situations. In fact, hell - why not suspend all threads on our likely league position until the final day of next season?

[LDG]

Well look what happened after the Invincibles...

Fair enough to wait and see - not like we have much choice. But I'm looking at a current picture that's wider than the merits of individual players. It can't be denied that there is the smell of something a bit rotten about the club. One thing that you can always depend on - and that is that agents/press whores can smell weakness like sharks smell blood - and that's what's going on with us ATM.

We talk about replacing players and systems as though its like buying a new car - but building new teams is both a difficult and a painstaking process. There's no way that the guts can be ripped out of our team and we can bounce back next season like nothing's happened. It took Wenger 5 years to realise that project youth had failed. Its not like he's going to roar back with the Invincibles Mk 11, and the smart money says that any replacements will be 'project' players rather than EPL seasoned superstars.

So sure, we wait. But for me the prognosis is not the most promising one.

Fing is.

After the invincibles, we moved to a big new shiny stadium, and it was obvious, as we have discussed so many times before, that the board and Vinger decided on a strategy of youth and prudence. You've agreed with it in the past, and I still believe it was the right thing to do.

So, I'm slightly different in the view of "look at what happened after PV4 left" senario, in that I think our stance back then is a little different to our stance now.

I think we'll spend a shitload of cash this summer. I just have a gut feeling. I still think AW is a top manager, and that isn't a "Wenger knows" comment. It's that I think he is far more capable than we give him credit for.

We're all down in the dumps. And yes, our manager has a lot of questions to answer, and a lot of things to put right. But I think he's capable. And I think he knows where the end of the line was for Project Highbury Exodus.

[Letters]

Tell you what. Why don't we just shit down all transfer threads on the forum

You already are.

[Coney]

Hmmm.

Like when we got rid of all the invincibles??

Thing is. This current set up has won us fuck all, and we need a change. As we're obviously not changing the manager, we can only do one other thing, and that's change the players.

We've all wanted a more robust team capable of digging in, to go with the ebb and flow of our attacking play. If that means getting rid of i) a left back who slips up more times than Frank Spencer, ii) A mecenary, clearly in it for himself and iii) a player who doesn't want to play for us....then fuck it, it's what we have to do.

As long as we use that money to replenish the squad with players who have bottle fight and leadership, I'm not too fussed tbh.

But as nothing the fuck has happened yet, I'll wait until it does.

And there's the rub. If Wenger has learned from the last 5 years and/or the money is now available to spend (and I think both are true) then losing Cesc and Nasri will not be a disaster. However, if we lose C&N and just get some 'promising players who will do well for us in a few years' then I will be well pissed off. I suspect we are going to be buying something a bit more solid though, given Gazidis' statements and Wenger's comments at the end of the last game. If not, any credibity they have with me will evaporate. Short of naming specific players, they have practically promised that things will be changed for next season and they had just better deliver. If not, Wenger will most certainly lose the supporters who still have belief in him and at the end of next year, the clamour for his head will be unstoppable.