Wengerball

Now tome the Flamini thing is done and dusted, but why do these footballers think were so stupid. Trying to give the impression that he left because we didn’t win the league is wrong. Worse than that if, you did leave for said reason then why join a team that is still not sure of champions league football.

Milan is a great team, no doubt about that. This is a team that has the ultimate pedigree in football and I have no complaints with any footballer who would take the opportunity to play for A.C Milan. The problem is how can you justify leaving Arsenal for Milan using the old trophies excuse. This is a team we destroyed in the champions league, a team that won nothing this season just like us, so what’s your point Flamini?

I wish we get to play Milan next year and give them a real spanking, Just like we did to Juventus and Viera.

What is up with those lazy journos? How do they come up with their stories. We have been linked with so many players this morning I couldn’t keep up. Seriously guys give it up. Journalism is not about making guesses. It seems like writing about transfers is just a case of throwing as many names as possible out there and hope one or two comes through.

Here’s a few of todays’ nominies

• Hatem Ben Arfa
• Yaya Toure
• Vincent Kompany
• Richard Dunne
• AlbertoAquilani
• Mario Gomez

Expect more of the same for the next 3 weeks. No one has a clue who Wenger is going to buy, but we can all have some fun guessing

The Flamini saga being over has left the depature of Alexander Hleb the next issue to sort out in the Arsenal. His agent has been quoted in various papers saying,

“He is leaving Arsenal even though they want to offer him a new long-term contract and better conditions,” adding “Only time will tell if leaving is the right decision, but there’s no way back now. Everything will be cleared up in the next two weeks.”

None of us can claim to be particularly surprised at that. In fact I would go as far as saying that it would be much easier to replace Hleb than it will be to replace Flamini. The question now is will we get a transfer fee or will he leave on a “Webster”.

The general consensus is that Hleb will simply buy of the remainder of his contract and run off to Milan, but looking closely it is simply not so. Wenger is entirely right when he says that it is not so easy to invoke the Webster clause.

First of all if Hleb were to invoke the so-called “Webster clause” he would have had to give Arsenal notice on or before the 26th of March. That is at least 15 days before the last game of the season. Not having done that will not prevent him from leaving, but he will be liable for sanctions of suspension for 4 to 6 months.

Secondly Milan can find themselves in a bit of bother if they really did have a meeting with Hleb. There is provision for the inducement of a player to breach contract as follows,

Inducement to breach a contract is also liable to sanctions during the protected period. A club that induces a player to breach his contract risks being prohibited from registering new players, either domestically or internationally, for two registration periods following the contractual breach. Furthermore, sanctions may also be imposed on any person falling under the jurisdiction of the FIFA Statutes and regulations 85 who is involved in a breach of contract.

Another hurdle for Hleb is that compensation will have to be based on English contract law, the parties will have to go to an arbitration panel. Compensation does not only take into consideration the players salary, but also the value of the contract offered and the amount paid by Arsenal to Suttgart.

So before we take press reports about the Webster clause for granted look closely at the facts. My view is Hleb will leave but we will get more than just his final 2 years salary as compensation. What do you think?

It’s the 1^st of May and there’s been no official word as to the future of Flamini. As far as I am concerned he’s off and taking Hleb with him. In as much as we would all like them to stay, I say it’s time for us to move forward.

There are going to be a lot of questions asked of the manager, why didn’t manage the situation better but the fact is we all were willing to part with Flamini last season and to a lesser extent Hleb. So why all the fuss now? Let’s just find replacements and get on with things. That’s most probably why Wenger set a deadline, so he can move forward with his transfer dealings.

Gunnerblog puts forward Kolo Toure as a possible replacement, which is not a bad idea. With Kolo in the middle we can no go out and get a monster central defender, but does Toure have the legs. Whatever happens with our much heralded scouting network I have no doubt we will find suitable replacements.

Vela is looking likely to be added to the squad next season, he is a lively player but not the second coming that a lot of fans think he is. The kid is talented, and from the games I’ve seen him play he is not afraid to get stuck in. Thing is, getting “stuck in” in Spain as a hell of a lot different than in England.

When I posted congratulation to Cesc and the other PFA I missed a player. Not only I missed it, but the good folks at arsenal.com failed to mention it. The award was for footballer of the year in league 1… Jay Simpson so my congratulations to him. and with that I say till tomorrow.

At the end season where we’ve played such entertaining football, where we were top for 2/3 of the way, where we exceeded all expectations. We end with nothing.

Even worse than ending with nothing, we have now to live with one of our “rivals” being crowned champions of Europe. I had not given it much thought before, as long as there was another team involved it wasn’t an issue, but now looking at the possibilities makes my stomach churn.

So which team is the lesser evil?

• Manchester United
  I can see them now, The shade of red on the manager gum chewing, wrinkly mug. The puffed up gloating look on that annoying Ronaldo. We-are-the-biggest-club-in-the-world fuckers. Problem is they probably deserve it.
• Liverpool FC
  No way, first of all we lost to them, they can’t win, I forbid it. Their fans already think that they are the greatest team in the history of European football, they can’t have another trophy. A team that can’t even challenge for domestic honours shouldn’t come anywhere near that trophy (except, of course, if the team in question were to be Arsenal.)
• Then we have Chelsea
  No, no, no. To see Ashley Cole lifting that trophy would be even more of a slap in the face than the situation already is. Add to that Chelsea will be able to claim London bragging rights. But the biggest insult will be that money can buy you the Champions league

So who would I have? Believe it or not, Chelsea. Why?

• I kind of feel sorry for Grant, this would stick two finger up to those fans who want him out. And even more to the media who same to hate him for the fact that he is not their darling Mourinho.
• Hopefully it will shut up said Mr Mourinho (I know it wouldn’t but one can hope) who seems to be everywhere these days reminding anyone who will listen that he is still “the special one”.
• Lastly Abromavich upon winning the title he so craved will have nothing else to win in football, get bored with the whole thing and leave Chelsea to concentrate on other pursuits

That’s just me, how about you?

Arsenal not playing on the weekend created the ideal conditions for speculation and conjecture. Today the Independent is reporting Flamini is definitely off to Italy, AC Milan to be precise. Other sources have Hleb to join Inter.

Which makes me wonder, how on earth are we going to attract players if our own are leaving in droves? Who would really want to come to Arsenal except those who want to use us as a gateway to “bigger and better” teams?

We are in a really precarious position here, I understand Wenger’s attitude to the wage structure at the Emirates, giving in to wage demands in order to keep players is a sure way to destroy the club. Can you imagine paying Flamini an exorbitant wage just to hold on to a player who had 1 good season. Other players will react to that with their own demands, I would.

The only way we can secure the long-term future of our players is to win trophies, otherwise players are going to use lack of trophies as an excuse to leave (although we know that’s not the real reason). Do we really think that players like Cesc will stay on much longer If we don’t win anything?

Speaking of Mr. Fabregas, congratulations on winning the PFA young player award. At the very least some players are getting the recognition the deserve. Four Arsenal players were selected for the PFA team of the year, Gael Clichy, Bacary Sagna, Cesc Fabregas and Emanuel Adebayor. Fabregas would prefer a different type of trophy though, saying

I’m very proud. It’s a very prestigious trophy. Football is a collective game and you prefer to win trophies with team-mates but it’s always nice to have this type of award. I dedicate it to my team-mates because without them I would not have won.

I almost forgot tonight’s game against Derby, we will surely field a second string team, due to our loooooonnnnnnnggggg list of injured players. That shouldn’t prevent us from winning, for most of the players tonight is an opportunity to stake their claim for next season.