Former Players Views

[Power n Glory]

Selling him was the right decision after his statement which made his place untenable and forced the issue.
But this squad + RvP would challenge IMO and while players of his calibre don't grow on trees we needed to do better than Podolski and Giroud if we were going to sell.

Selling him wasn't the right decision and definitely not to Man United. You say the statement made his place untenable and forced the issue, but look at Walcott's situation with his contract. They were slow to offer him a deal, made him offer he wasn't happy with and have been slow to discuss the matter any further. It's a take it or leave it situation for him. Then look at the Song situation and how that was handled. With or without the statement, we weren't keeping him and as I've said before, PHW tried to manipulate the situation by linking him to Man City and moving for wages. It's bollocks.

Podolski and Giroud were RVP's replacements and they knew for a long time that they weren't going to keep him. Wenger already made that clear months earlier when questioning the logic in offering a player a massive contract when he's hit his peak and about to decline physically. As RVP said, he had contract talks with these bastards and he wasn't impressed. Have any of us been convinced by the bullshit they have been spewing? We have no ambition and we made those early signings to cover up the fact that we were about to let go of three of our best players from last season. If someone would have put a stupid bid in for Walcott, believe they would have jumped at the chance. They didn't think twice about selling Song. Selling RVP was the wrong decision.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Selling him wasn't the right decision and definitely not to Man United. You say the statement made his place untenable and forced the issue, but look at Walcott's situation with his contract. They were slow to offer him a deal, made him offer he wasn't happy with and have been slow to discuss the matter any further. It's a take it or leave it situation for him. Then look at the Song situation and how that was handled. With or without the statement, we weren't keeping him and as I've said before, PHW tried to manipulate the situation by linking him to Man City and moving for wages. It's bollocks.

Podolski and Giroud were RVP's replacements and they knew for a long time that they weren't going to keep him. Wenger already made that clear months earlier when questioning the logic in offering a player a massive contract when he's hit his peak and about to decline physically. As RVP said, he had contract talks with these bastards and he wasn't impressed. Have any of us been convinced by the bullshit they have been spewing? We have no ambition and we made those early signings to cover up the fact that we were about to let go of three of our best players from last season. If someone would have put a stupid bid in for Walcott, believe they would have jumped at the chance. They didn't think twice about selling Song. Selling RVP was the wrong decision.

And rightly so. Someone had bidded 20+ mill for Theo damm right we should have bit their arm off. End of he day RVP did not want to be here so we had to sell him. Did we have to sell him to the mancs no effing way, but its clear he wanted out.

Lets be honest RVP only had one good season with us, we'd have been stupid to have giving him a new deal when he was not even fit.

[IBK]

I honestly don't believe that a man of that intellegence, knowledge of the club and it's fanbase / history and sore loser mentality, believes that top four is a trophy.

I don't either, and I think that AW genuinely believes that he still has the ability to win the league with the players that he has chosen, and that he is clearly attached to. I think that he accepts that it is more likely that those clubs with bigger pockets will finish above us - but I think that a lot of our porblem is the manager's unwavering belief in his methods, his decisions (including his willingness to sell our best players) and his way of playing.

And IMHO he is right that us winning CL football is an underrated achievement. Where he is wrong, however, and increasingly so, is that we can continue to compete with our current squad. Its almost like a game of dare. Sell Nasri and Fabregas and see whether we can still do it...oh look, we just got over the line because of RVP's standout season - now let's see if we can do it without RVP...oh look - we are completely toothless. tell you what, lets get rid of Walcott...and so on...

[Power n Glory]

And rightly so. Someone had bidded 20+ mill for Theo damm right we should have bit their arm off. End of he day RVP did not want to be here so we had to sell him. Did we have to sell him to the mancs no effing way, but its clear he wanted out.

Lets be honest RVP only had one good season with us, we'd have been stupid to have giving him a new deal when he was not even fit.

You say we'd be right to sell but then wonder what the club has done with the money and grow frustrated with the results we see on the pitch, as seen over the past few weeks. It's not rightly so.

RVP had talks with the board and didn't want to stay because they don't have their priorities straight. They're happy to award themselves bonuses and pay rises whilst cutting costs on the pitch. That's why he didn't want to stay and I can't understand why fans continue to justify these sort of decisions when they can see it's the sort of thing that hurts us on the pitch. We're never going to grow as club with this sort of mentality.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

You say we'd be right to sell but then wonder what the club has done with the money and grow frustrated with the results we see on the pitch, as seen over the past few weeks. It's not rightly so.

RVP had talks with the board and didn't want to stay because they don't have their priorities straight. They're happy to award themselves bonuses and pay rises whilst cutting costs on the pitch. That's why he didn't want to stay and I can't understand why fans continue to justify these sort of decisions when they can see it's the sort of thing that hurts us on the pitch. We're never going to grow as club with this sort of mentality.

Don't blame RVP for wanting to leave, if he or other player feel their ambitions are not being met then fine. However us offering him a new deal 2 years ago would have been mad. However i think during the summer the club should have worked harder to keep him and not mug him off. Once he gave his statement he was always going to be sold to the highest bidder.

Theo, In the summer would have been easily replacable and we would not have to spend a huge amount on a replacemnet. Victor Moses would have done ok, before he went chavs. Selling Theo in Jan would be stupid for us. However i think Theo will stay. he will sign a new deal soon. He loves the club after all.

[Power n Glory]

Don't blame RVP for wanting to leave, if he or other player feel their ambitions are not being met then fine. However us offering him a new deal 2 years ago would have been mad. However i think during the summer the club should have worked harder to keep him and not mug him off. Once he gave his statement he was always going to be sold to the highest bidder.

Theo, In the summer would have been easily replacable and we would not have to spend a huge amount on a replacemnet. Victor Moses would have done ok, before he went chavs. Selling Theo in Jan would be stupid for us. However i think Theo will stay. he will sign a new deal soon. He loves the club after all.

You say Victor Moses but we had a chance to move for him before he moved to Wigan and from the looks of things, Wenger already has Theo's replacement in mind with Gnarby and Oxlade. We wouldn't have bought an experienced winger if we sold him.

Also, the issue with RVP isn't down to the fact that we left his talks too late. It's part of it, but I can't see him wanting to sign a new deal if offered two years ago if Wenger and Ivan would have waxed lyrically about our self sustaining model and changing the goal posts on every occasion they are asked when we can compete for silverware.

Excuse after excuse...
- We'll be able to compete when we move to a bigger stadium.
- We'll be able to compete when we have paid down the debt.
- We'll be able to compete when we this team matures.
- We'll be able to compete once we have better sponsorship deals
- We'll be able to compete once UEFA enforce this FPP rule in two years

It's a cycle of garbage and that's why our players are heading for the exit. One line of bullshit after the next. We were going to sell him to the highest bidder regardless of the statement. PHW pretty much made his position untenable when made that Man City linked and talked about the £300k.

[Syn]

We were going to sell him to the highest bidder regardless of the statement.

Then why did he feel the need to make the statement?

[GP]

Then why did he feel the need to make the statement?

It's because he's a ****.

[Power n Glory]

Then why did he feel the need to make the statement?

Because PHW made a statement about Man City and him wanting £300k while he was away for the Dutch team and there was a gag order placed on him. Once back from the Euros, he made it clear that he wasn't happy with the ambition of the club and it wasn't about wages because that wasn't discussed in the meeting.

[Cripps_orig]

Robin van Persie was brave to move from Arsenal to Manchester United according to ex-France defender Mikael Silvestre.
The two sides meet in the league on Saturday with striker Van Persie, 29, facing his old club for the first time.
"You have to be courageous to make the move and Robin took the decision," said Silvestre, who made 326 appearances for United and 38 for Arsenal.
"He is enjoying his football, and has been scoring. He has had a great start at the club."
Van Persie moved to Old Trafford in a four-year deal worth about £24m in August after deciding against a contract extension at Arsenal and has scored seven goals in nine Premier League games for United this season.
"He is not hiding on the pitch, is taking responsibility and always asking for the ball," said Silvestre.
"Wayne Rooney was injured and he took the responsibility for the team by scoring the goals.
"Robin is under the same pressure as he was at Arsenal. He is a goalscorer, you expect him to put the ball in the back of the net and to have the same statistics as last year.
"If he stays fit, then there is the potential to form a great partnership with Wayne Rooney. Robin came to win trophies and Wayne is still thirsty for trophies. You couldn't ask for a better pairing."
Silvestre signed for the Red Devils following their 1999 Treble triumph and enjoyed nine years at the club, where he won the Champions League, five Premier League titles, an FA Cup and League Cup.
He moved to Arsenal in 2008 to become the first player to transfer directly between Arsenal and Manchester United since Viv Anderson in 1987.
And just four years after Silvestre's move, Van Persie went in the opposite direction, much to the chagrin of Gunners supporters.
"I think the Arsenal fans may boo Robin because he spent a lot of time there and the fans don't want to lose the best assets," explained Silvestre.
"Losing him to one of the main rivals is not good and they have the right to be angry but that is football, you can't keep a player against their will, but he won't celebrate if he scores as he still has a lot of respect for the club like I do."
The Gunners have not won silverware since 2005 when they beat United on penalties in the FA Cup final in Cardiff.
Silvestre feels it is the club's inability to hold on to star players which is hindering their chances of ending their trophyless run.
"Every time there is a player coming through, they leave the club," he said.
"Robin has now gone to United, Alex Song to Barcelona and Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri have left too.
"The core of the squad couldn't stay the same for a longer period so that is a problem to secure a trophy over a period of time."
After leaving German side Werder Bremen at the end of last season, Silvestre is back training at United to keep fit after a conversation with manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
Along with Van Persie, Silvestre is the only other player to have worked under both Ferguson and Wenger in the Premier League.
The former Rennes and Inter Milan defender was full of praise for both bosses.
"Ferguson and Wenger could not have managed any other team in football," he said.
"Ferguson is the best manager I have played under, while Wenger has taken Arsenal to a different level."

Silvestre