Morning all, I think I’ve got Arsecast anxiety. The ‘cast will return next week but last night I dreamt I was a DJ on a radio station in Tokyo called Kiss FM.
I had to read a list of the top 5 albums of all time and it was bizarre. Like 5 – Nhinti Krumpahoter “Vvvvvvvvvxxxx Me” and 4 – Goshma\^brunOO) – “Makajimi ➠௹✱⚉___@th” and I had no idea how to pronounce any of them. And the mic didn’t work, which is classic when I dream about DJing.
Still, at least it beats being anxious about Arsenal. Yesterday was another traumatic day as news emerged that there were doubts over the Juan Mata deal. If you read one Spanish football expert on Twitter he said we’d agreed a fee with Valencia but then, for some reason. just not bothered sending the money. And with a clause in Mata’s contract allowing a cheap release before July 31st Arsenal would now have to pay more.
Then another Spanish football expert said Arsenal hadn’t made any kind of bid at all, only Sp*rs had, and another said now it looked as if a deal with Arsenal could be off, dead in the water, the player staying at Valencia etc etc. To me, and I realise I may be alone here – the whole thing is like the Chewbacca defence: it does not make sense.
How could Arsenal have agreed a fee with Valencia without making a bid? Why would Arsenal send the money to Valencia before the player has had a medical and agreed terms with us? Which particular bank that was open all weekend in England should Arsenal have used to send money to the bank which was open all weekend in Spain? Why would Valencia, knowing that if they waited a few days then a clause in Mata’s contract would mean a higher price for them, agree a fee with anyone at all in this period?
The whole thing sounded quite confused to me but last night Juan Mata’s father clarified it somewhat, saying Arsenal had made a bid but it had been rejected by Valencia:
Valencia simply rejected their offer. After some hesitation they answered ‘no’ to the Gunners’ offer. So my son remains a Valencia player, for now. But I don’t think it’s their last offer.
There are several offers for Mata and I think that Arsenal will come forward again. The situation is still evolving.
Which makes much more sense than the definitive declarations of deadness we had and the outpourings of grief and woe-is-us we got from some fans. Honestly, not everything is a disaster. And when sites like Metro go to town, using any little thing they can to make it look like Arsenal have fucked up, knowing that Arsenal fans are online and frustrated like teenage boys with 28.8k modems as they try and log on to sexywomensnudeybits.com, people really need to step back, stop and think.
I’m not sure Metro has ever been right about anything, ever. Even facts. Remember this? So while our lack of business thus far is indeed quite trying, it would make the world a better place if a little thought went into reaction rather than the immediate tendency to ‘Grrrrrr’ at once.
Even yesterday, over on the news site, I posted a piece about Benik Afobe and how delighted he was, as a kid who had supported Arsenal since the age of 6, to make his debut. Literally within a couple of comments it had turned into a bitchfest about how this player was shit and the manager was a cunt and so on. I mean, I get that people are unhappy, but the relentless negativity is just hard to take. Even nice things, good things, happy things, positive things, are used to further the agendas of the unceasingly miserable.
There may well come a time, perhaps in the not too distant future, when things come to a head once and for all with the manager. He may well not-buy himself into a corner he finds it impossible to get out of. On the other hand, that time may not come just yet, he may buy himself some players and some wiggle room and, heaven forbid, we might actually win a few games of football and do all right for ourselves. I’m not blind to the fact that we have work to do – see yesterday’s blog for that – but in the meantime not everything is a stick to beat us with.
So let’s wait and see what happens with Mata, hopefully it’s just juan of a number of deals we’re working on. The other story yesterday was the fact Joey Barton was released on a free by Newcastle and immediately linked with us. I don’t think there’s any chance of that happening, to be honest, I suspect online editors know that putting Arsenal in a story means you get more clicks, but I would rather sign Joey Deacon that Joey Barton.
For all those who would espouse the ‘qualities’ he might bring, there’s a difference between being hard and being a thug. Getting stuck in is one thing, punching people (even if it is Morten Gamst Pedersen) another. Maybe we do lack a bit of character, but signing a bloke who will only add to ‘Arsene’s red card’ shame because he is incapable of controlling himself and his hair trigger temper is not the answer. And above all else his signing would surely be a sign of how standards have fallen, both in terms of the type of person we sign and the quality of the player. He’s decent but hardly the kind of signing that you’d be happy with to replace Cesc, is it? He’ll end up at Sp*rs, probably, which is far and away the best place for him.
In other news there’s talk of Nicklas Bendtner going to Stoke. I really hope not. The only thing I’d sell those cunts is a bag full of Ebola and I would hope that Nicklas has greater ambition than that. Given the previous between the two clubs I would hope this is something we refuse to countenance. And if it means keeping Nick I’m ok with that too. I would prefer him to Chamakh any day of the week. I think we’d all accept that Robin can’t play every game as the central-striker, one way or the other, and having decent back up is important. He’s decent back up. I still think he’ll go, somewhere, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if he stayed, in my opinion.
Finally for today, Jack Wilshere has a scan on his injured ankle today so fingers crossed it’s nothing too serious and he’s ready for the start of the season.
Till tomorrow, Nhinti Krumpahoter fans.
