Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger in all he does » 2009 » February

The club where the fans make too much noise

If you are worried about the lack of atmosphere occasionally at the Ems, spare a thought for supporters of Middlesboro. This is the club that kicked out a season ticket holder a few years back because he fell asleep during a 0-4 defeat to Arsenal at the ground (he went to court and got the ruling reversed, with the judge saying that everyone has the right to fall asleep at a football match).

Anyway, the “Sue Watson”, chief safety officer at the Shiverside has written to people in one part of the ground saying, “I am receiving more and more complaints from our fans … about both the persistent standing and the constant noise coming from the back of this stand… Make as much noise as you like when we score, but this constant noise is driving some fans mad”.

So, at least for the moment, be thankful that we have got some sort of balance at the Ems, where those who want to make a noise can do, and there is an understanding of the Red Action wish to stand.

Don’t forget, Highbury High this weekend, with the piece about the player who the magazine editor thought he would never see mentioned ever again. Details of how to buy a subscription in yesterday’s piece.

Oh and Blake’s 7 (on which I worked as a writer 7 trillion years ago) has been adapted for radio and has turned up on Radio 7 this morning, which was a nice re-run of the old days. Looks like being a jolly day.

Now: where did I put the starting handle for the Austin 7?

A moan free zone

The new issue of Highbury High, on sale against Fulham tomorrow, has been declared a moan-free zone. It is an unusual move as fanzines are usually the ideal place to get things off your chest. So why a moan-free zone. Editor Ian Trevett explains

“Having a good old moan-up has always been a part of going to football. I remember when I first used to go to Highbury in the mid-seventies with my dad and uncle, and listening to fans walking away from the ground, arguing about which players weren’t good enough for the club. A few years on , when I started to go to the pub, there would always be a debate about where Arsenal were going wrong.

In those days there was no outlet for any frustrations with the club, especially not in the official programme.

Then along came the fanzines and they were breath of fresh air with lively discussions and humour. Then we had 606 and Talksport on the radio, websites, blogs, Tom Watt on Arsenal TV and now anyone with a opinion has a voice, which is great. The trouble is that the fans who post on blogs or call in radio phone-ins are almost always the supporters who want to voice their frustration, and it is only the angry voices we ever seem to hear. You never get to hear from the fans who think that Arsene Wenger is doing an excellent job (with difficult financial constraints).

So the new issue of Highbury High is dedicated to the fans who believe in Wenger (and there are plenty of us) and trust him to lead us to success in the coming seasons. We are making a stand for the fans that don’t want to ring up TalkSport and moan about the club.

Not only that, the new issue includes a great article by Tony Attwood of the ever-positive Untold Arsenal, who compares Flamini to a most unexpected ex-player.”

Analysis of Highbury Square finances

The following article appeared on the RedAction news service, written by Robert Gaffney. It is reproduced with permission, but Robert asks me to add that it is speculation on his part. Even so, it is the best bit of speculation I have seen on this.

I’ve been looking at the property piece of the finance figures today. the below is very much back of fag paper calculations based on mean averages …. Note, this is all at 30th Nov 08.

In total, there are 655 apartments in highbury square.

Of these, Arsenal claim to have an unsold stock of about 60, meaning we have completed/presold 595.

The East and West have not been released yet, however, they will be in four months.

There are 326 appartments in these two stands, of which 293 are pre-sold. Simply talking, 33 of these are not pre-sold, which means of the 60 held in reserve, 27 are from the completed units in North bank and clock end.

In the north bank and clock end, there are total of 329 apartments. As above, that means all bar 27 are sold or presold.

The contstruction costs are all complete now and thus, all sales completions go to repay the load which stands at £133 (down from £135m).

In the last 6 months to nov 08, we completed 140 apartments in the north bank/clock end for a total of £58m. thats an average of £415,000 per apartment.

Now, this is where it gets muddy because it does not state how many were completed in before this six month period. i.e. – there are 329 releast and available for completion, we know 27 have not sold, we know that 140 have sold. So what of the other 162? some woul have been completed in the prior periods im sure but real key is, how many of the 162 are realistically going to sell?

Working with what we do know, the release of the north bank and clock end in four months (just in time for the annual figure) will see a flood of money come in. Assuming the best (which wont happen), we will complete all of those 293. using the average sale price this period of 415k, that’s an income of £121m, reducing the loan to 12m outstanding (or an Andrey Arshavin). Of course, its all pie in the sky because the average price might not be anything like that!!

They key is the unknown 162 apartments in the North/bank and clock-end. Also, the residual value of the 60 in reserve which can im sure be held as an asset against the liability.

Id love to know if anyone has more details on this – im taking this from the interim results which is vague and doesnt give previous sales details.

FIFA and UEFA plan joint attack on Arsenal

Fifa – the organisation of which a US judge famously said that they “lied and lied again in court” claims that it has now worked out a way of restricting the number of foreign players in each team, while staying within the rules of the European Union. It wants to talk to the European Commission to discuss plans to bring its new idea to fruition.

The plan is to stop clubs fielding more than five non-nationals in a starting team. Non-nationals means players such as Ramsey. He’s a non-national despite being a UK citizen, and Cesc is a non-national because he holds an EU passport not issued in the UK.

The notorious six plus five rule was approved by most of FIFA’s members last year, but on the face it of clearly represents discrimination in the workplace. If it became law it would mean that I, as an employer, could say that I want a certain number of jobs in my business to go to English people, and then later to Scots, and only after that to French people.

The FIFA approach is getting around this rule by calling it “a rule of the game” – meaning that just as FIFA can declare how the offside rule works, so it can declare who can play the game.

Clearly some people at the Ems support this approach, and have been waving St George flags to show it. But it would cause difficulties for Arsenal if introduced on a purely national basis, without allowance for the length of time that the player has been in England.

Arsenal are also in danger of being hammered by UEFA. UEFA are trying to stop movement of players under 18 from one country to another (and that would again affect Ramsey, since Wales is another country in UEFA terms) while FIFA want six English players in the starting team. Both would undermine the notion of sustainability established by Arsenal, and would ensure that more and more clubs move into more and more debt as they attempt to buy success by buying over 18 year old English players for ever higher fees.

The story however is rather old. In 1910 Scotland refused to pick players who were Scottish by birth but were playing for Woolwich Arsenal – having walked to London in order to find work in the armaments factories. 99 years on the fight against Arsenal by any means possible continues.

PS: Don’t forget Highbury High this saturday – new edition out from the usual guys in the road and on the steps.

There’s only 3 Dennis Bergkamps

Its a bit like the proverbial bus – you wait for ages for one, and then two come along.

Dennis was unique, original, a genius, something beyond everything else we had ever seen. We would not see his likes again, we were told.

And then in an unguarded moment the word slipped out – Jack Wilshere was Dennis II, and that in a few years there he would be, directing traffic just behind the front man.

But now it seems we have Dennis III – only he is ahead of Dennis II. Robin VP is apparently Dennis with goals. Which would by and large make him the greatest forward in the history of the universe, greater than anyone or anything ever seen since an asteroid bumped into Manchester and created the Moon.

Whether any of this is true or not, who knows. But if I was writing a new article for Highbury High I’d write about Dennis now – but in fact I wrote the piece last week, and no one has guessed correctly who the piece is partly about. A player who had some success with us under Wenger, who is long since gone, and of whom the editor of HH said he never imagined we would see his name in the magazine again.

The new Highbury High is out on saturday. And this is all exciting stuff – made all the more exciting by two news stories today. First, Salamon Kalou of KGB Athletico Fulham said, in explaining why he was honoured at a hint that the Lord Wenger might sign him, “Because he is a very great coach and I know that every single player in the world dreams of playing for Arsène Wenger.”

In the days when every blade of grass on the Ems pitch is apparently being tipped for a move to Real Mad, BarBarBarcaSheep and WC Milan, it is worth remembering that.

Second, the financial results came out – they are on the club’s web site.

What’s interesting, is the comparison of those with the financial position of the clubs around us. Here’s a quick summary

Aston “Hold your head” Villa – £63 million in debt to the owner, and the debt is rising. No sign of a profit nor even a strategy to move towards having one.

KGB Fulham – £750 million in debt and that debt rising. Don’t even ask about a profit. Looking for a buyer.

Manchester Bankrupt – technically bankrupt, in that they can’t pay the interest on their debts and so the debt grows year by year. No thought of a profit – they are just looking for a buyer. £764 million in debt – always have to be one up on the KGB.

Liverpool Insolvency – bailed out by RBS owned Nat West who loaned them another shedload to get them through to July, but with double conditions: no further money, repayment in July. RBS is owned by the people, and being bailed out by the government. So you and I are paying for Liverpool. £350m in debt.

The Tiny Totts – bankrolled from the Virgin Islands – money is separated into various accounts to hide the loss (in the style of Manchester Bankrupt). £20 million in debt? Who knows.

Manchester Arab – money no object – stadium paid for by the state (you and me) so why should the club bother?

Everton – £26 million in debt, and its getting worse. No sign of any way out – the final idea was to sell the training ground, but planning permission has been refused.

Mohammed Al Fulham – £182 million in debt but then he owns Harrods.

Against this it is argued that Arsenal is £300m in debt, but the truth is that the money is on a secured loan at a fixed low interest mortgage rate, repaying over 23 years – just like people used to buy houses before the bankers destroyed the economy. That is the difference – all the other debts are accumulated losses with nothing to show for them and no way of paying them back.

Arsenal’s debt is being repaid over time from the additional income the stadium gives. What’s more even if we have no European games, the money is still enough to pay for the stadium. We only get into trouble if the stadium regularly holds under 50,000 and we have no Europe for four years running.

The fact is that the profit before tax of £24.5m (up from £20.0m) is after all the expenses such as mortgage payments for the stadium purchase are paid. The “match day turnover” of £44.4m is the largest in the world.

Just how many matches are fixed?

Jose Mourinho said yesterday that he thought the ref was biased against his team in their game against Manchester United – and the big news today was that for some reason he is not going to be sanctioned by UEFA.

Not that I want him sanctioned – but I just like to understand the rules. Why not take action, when other managers get punished for complaining about the ref?

Trying to puzzle this out I got to thinking about the language that is used to hide the fact that things are not right in football. Very few if any managers say that a ref was bribed by the opposition – they just say that he was incompetent or biased. There seems to be no way of telling if the manager is going to be charged or not.

Unless it is the fact that they don’t charge a manager who says to them in private “I know the match was fixed”.

Oddly when a fixed match is spotted the press don’t talk about a game being fixed, rather they speak of “better irregularities”. As if somehow that is the core of the matter, whereas the key issue is that a bunch of gamblers have paid a ref or some players to fix a result, and the players or ref have done it.

Saying “betting irregularities” seems to imply that the problem is not a football problem, but is a gambling problem. But in fact it is always a football problem because it is people in football (the refs and the players) who accept the bribes.

Put another way: there will always be bribes offered in all walks of life. That isn’t the issue. The issue is, “are they accepted”.

That is what the match fixing issues in England in 1914 were all about, and it is what the match fixing in France and Italy were about more recently. The acceptance of bribes.

The current match in question that was subject to “betting irregularities” was the 5th division game involving Weymouth and Rushden & Diamonds. Weymouth’s players went on strike, so they put out their youth team, and lost 9-0. I don’t know all the details of this, but I think it was widely known that the Weymouth players were on strike, and so they were not likely to win the game – and thus a lot of people got their bets in. Nothing irregular there. But supposing people were betting on 9-0 (ie not 8-0 or 9-1) at 2 million to one, or whatever. Then we have another match fixing issue.

The fact that a special language has been erected to try and suggest that players and refs are not involved, makes me suspicious. We’ve already covered the fact that the Italian match fixing scandal clearly spread to the Champions League but UEFA refused to take that up – obviously frightened that their financial mainstay would be tainted and their income reduced.

As I watch referees’ increasingly erratic performances I am increasingly convinced that matches are fixed – although I freely admit I have little concrete evidence. It is merely that it has happened, it has clearly not always been properly investigated, and when Mourinho as good as damn it says, the ref was bought, no one takes action.

Funny old game.

Speaking of which – this saturday against Fulham there will be a new edition of Highbury High available from those jolly chaps who shout “Brand new edition of Highbury High” outside the ground. There is, of course, a stunningly interesting article by myself therein, on three players, of one of whom the editor said (upon reading same) “I never thought I’d see his name in a fanzine again.” Bet you can’t guess who it is. Buy the mag on Saturday to find out.

Tony Attwood

Next season’s heroes

I have just been struck by the number of players we currently have on loan. I suspect this must be an all time record for us – and maybe for any league club.

Jay Simpson: WBA
Gavin Hoyte: Watford
Rui Fonte: Crystal Palace
Henri Lansbury, Scunthorpe Utd
Paul Rodgers: Northampton Town
Rene Steer: Gillingham
Armand Treore: Portsmouth
Nacer Bararaozite: Derby County
James Dunne: Nottingham Forest
Kerrea Gilber: Leicester
Abu Ogogo Barnet
Philippe Senderos: A C Milan
Pedro Botelho: UD Salamanca
Vincent van den Berg FC Zwolle

That makes 14 players out on loan! And quite probably I have missed someone.

What makes me think of this particularly is the news that Celtic are in discussion with the Scottish FL over the option of playing their reserve team in the Scottish 3rd division.

This notion came up here some months back where we were looking at the fact that in Spain this is the way it happens – the big teams play their reserve teams in division 2, and just have the rule that if the reserves win the league, they can’t go up to the top division.

We were suggesting that if the Football League continue with their 19th century view that this is not possible in England, maybe Arsenal could have a reserve team in Spain, instead of players out on loan all over the place.

If the Celtic deal goes through it could open up the option in England. I personally think this would be a great option, not just because it would keep more of our youngsters together, but also because it would allow tens of thousands of fans around the country who never get the chance to watch Arsenal, to go and see the stars of next year playing in lower league stadia.

I say this as one who has trooped along to some away reserve games in the Midlands (where I live) and it has always been enjoyable – although it would have been better in front of a large more partizan crowd.

So, maybe here’s another campaign. Arsenal loan team to come home and take Ebbsfleet’s place in the Conference.

And speaking of campaigns, yesterday’s blog says that the idea that came from Gunner.sk about no points for a draw, also noted that quite often our ideas get taken up elsewhere without acknowledgment. (And sometimes not just the idea – on which there is of course no copyright – but the whole sodding article gets reprinted without acknowledgement).

Yesterday an hour after we published the story about no points for 0-0, Football 365 did the same sort of story. Absolutely not copying my words – just a run through of the same idea.

I knocked off a fairly intemperate email to the editor saying it would have been nice for an acknowledgment, and got a reply back saying that their story arrived in their offices at the same time as mine was published. I’ve tried to go back and find the F365 piece to read it again, but because I am writing from home before toddling off down south I can’t find it.

But from memory, I don’t think it mentioned the original – which I cited and which was published the day before – of the article on the topic from Gunner.sk – which is still a bit of a shame. (But I could be wrong – as I said I can’t find it to check).

Anyway, one up to Gunner.sk for coming up with the idea first = your fame (with or without acknowledgement) is spreading through Football 365 and this august site. Tomorrow the Daily Mail, after which it is uphill all the way.

Now, about this Italian job…

How to save football: the solution

Flint McCullough has a better grasp of Slovakian than I, so I am taking his word for it that the Gunners.sk site is advocating no points for a draw. But it got me thinking – could this be the answer to the crisis that football finds itself in?

I’m going to suggest a modification of this – No points for the Goalless Draw. The reason for that idea is that any match that went to 1-0 would have the side that was 1-0 going for a 11 man defence to hold on while the losing team would know they have to score twice to get anything, so that would lead to some really horrible final 10 minutes at 1-0.

So I would say 3 points for a win, 1 for a score draw, and none for a goalless draw or a defeat.

Of course the likes of the EPL take no notice of the likes of me – even though this blog has now got 60,000 individual readers a month, with is rather large in the blog world.

But I am going to have a word with my colleagues in my company’s PR department to see if we can’t utilise their connections with the press to put the idea forward. If the press do like it, they’ll undoubtedly claim it as their own, but who cares? The introduction of the idea would help save football.

So, a million thanks to everyone who wrote in response to Sunday’s piece – including the gentleman who got so angry because his first post didn’t come up. I checked the web site as soon as I got his post (you can see his angry reaction in the letters section if you are interested), but there was nothing wrong.

However in case you ever find there’s a problem, here’s how things go.

All web sites can go down suddenly because of a fault with the servers. If I notice this has happened I call our IT department, and they work on it – although normally they spot the problem first. If you are posting when it all goes down, then yes, your post is lost (unless you write it first in Word and then do a cut and paste job.)

The first two posts from anyone are held for me to approve personally. After that, they are approved automatically. I don’t censor any posts at all apart from those that call me a racist which I personally find offensive. This tends to happen mostly when I criticise the existence of the Africa Nations Cup in January every other year – and those who write in forget that I criticise all international tournaments. I also cut out posts that are clearly adverts for other (generally irrelevant) sites.

Anyway, back to the mainstream. No points for a 0-0 draw. I rather like that. Thanks Flint and to the guys in Slovakia who came up with the “no points” thought. http://gunners.sk/ if you can read Slovakian.

Arsenal 14 Sunderland 3: this is not football

100 years ago football was in total crisis, with games regularly ending 0-0, and 1-0 being a treat. The football authorities responded (although rather belatedly) by changing the off side rule from needing 3 opponents to 2 in front of the attacker when the ball was kicked, and restricting handling by the goalkeeper to the penalty area (prior to this he could handle anywhere up to the half way line).

The difference between that crisis and the current problem is that no one has got a clue how to solve it, nor the wit or will to do anything. The best that can be said of Sunderland is that sometimes they played with 10 behind the ball when Arsenal attacked, although mostly it was the now standard 11.

They also adopted that most appalling and shameful of tactics – the “Villa” (named of course after the club that initiated it this season). When the opposition attacks and you get kicked, lie down and hold your head so the game gets stopped, and the attack broken up. It was done so blatantly in the first half that serious questions must be asked of the ref – I’ll come back to that.

Their other tactic was rotational timewasting – which actually started in the 2nd minute – an all time record I think – when the keeper held onto the ball for about 15 seconds. He also did the usual bit of taking more and more time to take each goalkick, and of course he wasn’t punished – another refereeing oddity.

Of course it is up to Arsenal to find a way to overcome the total negativity and manipulation of the rules – rotational fouling, rotational timewasting, and now head holding, along with 10 or 11 behind the ball, are all part of the game, and that’s what we get, match after match.

Obviously when Arshavin gets used to the style of play, when we have Cesc, Theo and Rosicky available, when Eduardo can play regularly up front, a lot if not all of our problems will melt away.

But the real tragedy of football is what has happened to the refs. The programme yesterday reminded us that it is not just Italy that has corruption – the editor of the foreign news section did a piece on fixed French matches – and it raises the issue. The ref should have taken action against the time wasting , not to mention the shirt pulling and general holding back. It also looked to me from the upper tier near the half way line, that several decisions went very much the wrong way.

So was he just incompetent, or is he obeying some sort of EPL or FIFA rule (don’t book keepers for time wasting, and ignore the five second holding rule), or was the match fixed? It seems quite preposterous to start suggesting EPL games are fixed – after all we are English, and we leave that sort of thing to the Italians and the French. But I am seriously starting to wonder. If yesterday’s game was not fixed, then we still have to answer the question why the timewasting and five second rule were ignored, and why nothing is being done about the head holding ploy, or the rotational tactics.

Arsenal had 14 shots on target yesterday to Sunderland’s 3 by my counting, but it wasn’t football as it should be played. In real football both sides have a go at winning, and not just sit back and play for 0-0 with the hope of a break at the end.

Off the pitch, there were two things to notice. The RedAction section got out their flags of St George again. I don’t know how they think this makes our non-English team feel, but it clearly warms the hearts of UEFA and the FA with their plan to introduce rules that would stop us ever again signing young players like Cesc, Denilson, Vela, Merida, Bishcoff etc.

And I see that the papers are saying that Arsenal were booed off the pitch by their own fans. I don’t think so. Such booing as there was related to the fact that this is not football that is being played at the Ems. Football needs two teams wanting to play, yesterday, once again, there was only one.

Robin said nothing of the kind

It’s saturday morning and nearly time to get the Morris Minor out for the long treck south, across the dusty wastelands where capitalism once flourished before the evil bankers came in and stole everything, leaving the poor asking why we didn’t fight them in the high street and on the landing grounds, as they took our money from under our noses.

But before setting off, a quick note about Robin. I can’t be arsed to read all the papers, but I am sure they are going to be packed solid with Robin is a leaving because we don’t win enough.

Just in case you are eating your heart out, here’s what he actually said

“I want to achieve more. I feel I can play an important role in bringing Arsenal to a higher level.”

Hopefully that eases the pain.

Remember, as with Bendtner, the words of our great and glorious players are as spoken, not as stated in the press.

Last thing – a letter has appeared in our discussion pages from a Manchester United fan congratulating me on an article. I have spent much of this morning debating with myself (as I do) if this is a prime example of postmodernist irony, or a genuine compliment.

I shall choose to believe the latter.

Now, where are the car keys? (Did you know that if you can knock a banker over whilst driving it counts double points?)

PS: Some of my own rambling comments do have an element of postmodernist irony in them, and I am not actually advocating driving cars into bankers. Although its a nice idea, I do accept the modern justice system of the United Kingdom, and will be quite happy when they are all behind bars doing life for crimes against humanity.

How the salary cap will affect Arsenal

The salary cap is the centrepiece of the current round of UEFA proposals. It is based on the notion that each club will have to declare its “football income” – that is money raised directly from footballing activities. The clubs will then be limited as to how much of that income they can spend each year on salaries.

Arsenal’s salary position is a matter of some debate – and it has often been suggested that the salary budget is very high – second perhaps only to Manchester Bankrupt. The Lord Wenger however has said that Arsenal spend far less on salaries than Manchester, so the truth of the matter is unclear.

Arsenal’s strength however is that its income comes almost totally from football activities. Figures released last year suggest that Arsenal has the largest match day income in the world of football, and although our marketing income is still way behind Manchester’s it is growing year on year.

If the regulation applies to all EPL clubs, then the clubs that will suffer primarily are KGB Athletico Fulham and Manchester Arab because most of their money comes from non-football sources. Liverpool Insolvency and Manchester Bankrupt won’t suffer so much because although they are massively in debt that won’t be taken into account it seems. It is just the income that will be considered.

But there is another factor lurking underneath all this. Before Manchester Arab became the latest richest club in the world, the richest club in the world was QPR who were taken over by Lakshmi Mittal — the fifth richest man in the world, alongside Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore.

Manchester Arab and QPR have gone about life in very different ways since the take-over. QPR seem to me to have been moderately calm and quiet, and they sit mid-table in the Championship, four points off the play-offs with a game or two in hand.

Manchester Arab have made themselves the laughing stock of the entire world of football, not least by their offers of £125 million to Devonshire Hill Lane Infants School for some six year old they saw kick a ball around last week in the playground.

The fact that Manchester Arab have screwed up, and that even Liverpool Insolvency are finding it harder than they imagined to come up with a new owner, while KGB Athletico Fulham now have this new “no more investment” plan, combined with a sacking of their entire youth recruitment squad, shows that the old-fashioned notions of football (ie those of six years ago) are now dead.

Absent Abramovich has shown brilliantly that you can’t just buy a team and make it work. Sheik Yermoney has shown that picking up a dope like the Ooze and putting him in charge of a team with unlimited spend won’t even fill a stadium (which incidentally us idiot tax-payers are still paying for). Liverpool Insolvency have shown that clubs are a lot harder to sell than they used to be.

Only Manchester Bankrupt have got away with it, for the simple reason that no matter how much one might dislike the man, Sir Alex F-Word is a very good manager. He was at Aberdeen and he is in Manchester. But, his hyper-spending campaign is running the club into deeper and deeper debt and he himself will leave the club in a state of financial chaos from which his successor will never be able to recover. And the salary cap will reduce the sheer volume of players Manchester Bankrupt can keep on their books.

Overall then if the salary cap applies to all EPL clubs it will harm Manchester A and KGB Athletico Fulham most, and any other teams that are just adding to their debt with salaries – which includes Manchester B. Beyond that, if Liverpool can’t find a buyer in the summer (because the Arabs are starting to look at Manchester A and think they don’t fancy being laughed at) then they will simply grind to a stop because their bank loans will run out.

There is however one other point. It is just possible that the salary cap will only applies to clubs in the Champs League – which will then allow clubs to spend as much as they want on salaries, but will limit the total salary spend on the players they nominate as part of their Champs League squad. In such a case it is difficult to see that much will happen at all.

There are two types of Arsenal supporters

In fact there are two types of person. Those who divide the world into two types, and those who don’t.

But leaving that aside, there are also two types of Arsenal supporter. Those who believe that what is in the football pages of the papers is most likely to be true, and those who think it is most likely to be untrue.

Take the case of our old friend Nic Bendtner. According to the Daily Invention (aka Mirror) he said “I’m very sorry to see Adebayor injured as we need him fit and to be playing in the league. But it does not really matter to me who is fit and available.

“I should start every game, I should be playing every minute of every match and always be in the team.”

That was then taken up by loads of other places – newspapers and such august luminaries of the truth as Sky Sports News, and then it appeared on loads of blogs and Arsenal news sites. From that point on the story feeds itself.

Except that according to Bendtner, he never said that at all. He claims that he gave a very long and detailed interview in Danish and it did not include anything remotely like these statements.

I don’t speak Dane so I’ve got no idea what happened, but last year a national magazine did a hatchet job on me over an article I had written. It was a full page attack, had nothing to do with what I had said.

My experience is irrelevant to a piece about Arsenal of course, except to say that when it happens to yourself you begin to realise just how evil some of these journalists are.

The fact is, in my opinion at least, it makes much more sense to start from the proposition that what appears on the sports pages of the popular press, and on broadcast media, is just plain wrong, and to work from there, rather than start from the presumption that it is accurate.

There’s one further point on this. The Mirror story was picked up and then appeared in loads of media – which of course helped give it the feeling of being accurate. But it was still the same piece. In other words the fact that a dozen or more papers run the piece does not mean a dozen or more people were at the original interview. The papers just copy each other.

Indeed in my own trivial case, once the article about me had appeared in the national magazine it then turned up in a dozen other places, generally copied word for word. And I actually had a number of people say to me that they only started to believe the story when it popped up in other magazines.

I doubt very much that Bendtner said anything like that which was reported – and that is always how it is. Start from disbelief – and work outwards from there. It is safer.

Transfer of Cesc, Denilson, Vela etc to be illegal under new regs

In one sense it looks like a race, with the FA, the EPL and UEFA all trying to get in first with ideas to reform European football.

Today it is the turn of Michel Platini who like the others chooses to ignore the corruption that is evident in Italy, and which has almost certainly seeped into the Champions League and other European leagues.

His new idea is to put in place measures that would have made Arsenal’s development of a series of brilliant young players quite impossible.

Under cover of establishing financial fair play, as he calls it, and with lots of references to Manchester Arab, he actually tore into Arsenal saying,

“The European commission talks of free movement of workers from the age of 16,” said Platini. “This might have seemed reasonable in the 1950s, but is that still the case today for most skilled jobs, at a time when many European countries have raised the school-leaving age to 18?

“I have therefore thought about this problem a great deal and I am now convinced that the international transfer – yes international – of players under 18 should be prohibited, fully in accordance with the Fifa statutes. Some people talk about the free movement of workers. I am talking about the protection of children.”

Most of the media will not pick up on this point and will stay with his comment that, “We are currently looking at the idea of limiting, to a certain degree, a club’s expenditure on staff – salary and transfer fees combined – to an as yet undecided percentage of its direct and indirect sporting revenue.”

But it is the attack on the idea of allowing younger players to come to a club like Arsenal and learn their skills early enough to stand a chance at competing at the highest level, which is the really retrogressive part of the UEFA campaign. Such a move will hardly hit the free spending clubs like KGB Fulham, Manchester Arab, Manchester Bankrupt and Liverpool Insolvency. It will hit at the financially stable Arsenal, however.

The Champions League is fixed and corrupt

Milan were centrally involved in the bribing of referees (the Calciopoli scandal) in Itlay and managed to get away with just a little points deduction.

That really is enough to have the club kicked out of European football for quite a few years, but no, they are still there, and still doing their stuff.

To be fair I should add that AC Milan were originally thrown out of the 2006/7 Champions League as a result of their corruption but that awfully nice Mr Berlusconi used radio, TV and his position in society to get them reinstated. And would you know, they went on to win the thing that season. You can almost see them waving a banner saying “no referee was bribed during the winning of this trophy.”

Now we find that their president and owner (Berlusconi) was involved personally in paying a £400,000 bribe to David Mills, the husband of the Olympics minister, Tessa Jowell.

This time, one might think, someone has to do something. The club is caught bribing the refs, and the owner is caught a second time around on a second bribe. But no, nothing.

Berlusconi has been given immunity from prosecution by the Italian parliament, and so legally is not guilty, even though the court said he was. This is because Berlusconi also happens to own a lot of the country’s media, and is Prime Minister of Italy.

The questions we might now ask are:

1. Is Berlusconi a fit and proper man to run a football club. Clearly not – he bribes people in sport.

2. Is Milan a fit and proper football club. Clearly not – they bribe refs and their owner bribes other people in sport.

The fact that Milan are still playing in Europe shows that there is every chance that the European Cup is fixed. Quite probably the Italian league still is as well, but I don’t really know on that one.

But to believe that the Champions League in which Arsenal play is not fixed one has to believe that somewhere within organisations like AC Milan there is someone saying, “yes I know we bribed refs, and I know our owner is guilty of corruption in other areas, but we don’t try and fix refs in the Champions League. That would not be fair. I know we weedled our way back in after we were thrown out and then we won it, but that is because we are a jolly good team.”

Arsenal predictions: spot on every time

Well not quite every time, but quite often.

Like my call that Arshavin would join us, same with Nasri, Denilson being a great defender, and just before the Cardiff match, about Bischoff.

I pointed out with calm and quiet aplomb that is the trademark of these ramblings, that he was rising up the ladder, noted the goals and recent appearances on the bench, and yes, he got on the field, and played some nice and tasty passes too.

Have to admit that I couldn’t go to the game, so watched it on Satanta, and that was quite extraordinary, because alongside the statutory dull ill-informed presenter (it is statutory because it is in the same rules that says that ITV or BBC have to have the cup final and women’s semi-final day in the national croquet championships), they also had someone whom I could not understand at all.

Now I am sure it was me, and that the fella was speaking perfect English, but really, there was not one word that the co-commentator said that I got. He would say what I took to be a sentence or two and then the dull bloke would say “yes” (cos I don’t think he understood a word either) and then the commentary would go on. I think he was Swedish or something.

Anyway, it was on Satanta and not ITV, which meant that we didn’t go to any advert breaks during the goal scoring – although that of course remains a distinct possibility for the final. Either that or the channel will go bust and they’ll just stop broadcasting, as they did with ITV Digital.

What Satanta did cover very well was the mobile phone and the shoe thrown on the pitch, and some chat about the stupidity of football fans. Yes, well thank you. Could we do the stupidity of TV companies too? Like Satanta not putting in a high enough bid to get all the football they wanted next year, and then complaining that they didn’t win, because they didn’t know they had to put in a higher bid. Like ITV doing… oh hang on I’ve done some of them.

Anyway, Carlos Vela looked good, Bendtner was Bendtner, Eduardo will have everyone talking about him so you don’t need me, and Gibbs is extraordinary. So that’s another problem – not only too many midfielders but also too many left backs. I suppose its too much to ask to see Theo on the bench on Saturday. I’ll be back in the crowd Theo, and it would be awfully nice to see you.

Bishcoff did look good though, and I told you so.

A difference in financial approach: Arsenal & Chelsea

During the time before the Icelandic banks and Northern Rock went bang, it was obvious to a number of people who were watching from the wings that things could not go on as they were. I remember a colleague saying to me one day, “either we’ve totally misunderstood how finance works, or they have.”

I thought of this today, while reflecting on the issue of KGB Athletico Fulham with their latest announcements. Apparently they aim to be self-sustaining from next season – means no more money from the owner Absent Abramovich. Given that he pumped in another load of dosh this past year (mostly to pay for the managers he got rid of) this is going to be quite a bumpy ride.

Their aim is to set to one side the £750m that Absent Abramovich has put into the club so far (half of which is now in newly created shares, and half in loans which are repayable with 18 months notice). That situation remains – what is new is that there will be no more money after the end of this season. So, for example, if Mr A N Other (the manager of KGB next season) wants to buy Hardly Anyone from Venezuela then he has to sell someone else first.

Assuming that the KGB team is not really spot on at the moment, (and it isn’t – look at their ages) that is going to be tough. All the clubs near the top of the league except Arsenal operate in the buy now pay later market, and since KGB have this year sacked their head of youth development, and all their scouts who were supposed to emulate Arsenal’s world-wide scouting system, it is hard to see how this is going to happen.

Which brings me back to Northern Rock and Iceland. One looks at KGB as one looked at Northern Rock and Iceland and says, “no – I just don’t see how this works” but meanwhile these organisations carry on and people throw money at them, and anyone who says “actually this cannot work” is called a doom-monger, or is accused of lacking imagination.

The key question is, what was the idea of converting half of the loan from Absent Abramovich into stock? The only implication I can see is that he wants to sell up to half the club, and selling stock of course is the way forward.

Selling stock won’t release any money for players – it is just someone else’s money going to Absent Abramovich in return for part ownership. It is not quite the same as Leeds, but the fall could be similar.

Now finally compare this with Arsenal. As Arsenal have had a few board room changes and Mr Usmanov has increased his share holding there has been article after article in the press about chaos at Arsenal. Yet in effect nothing has changed, because the club is self-sustaining financially. Even a year out of the top 4 won’t hurt the club, since it is not budgeting for 60,000 crowds and the Champs League every year.

Yet here is Chelsea on the brink, and no one really notices too much.

Funny ol game.

Just too many creative midfielders at Arsenal

With the chart that is now showing a little way down on the right side of the UNTOLD ARSENAL home page revealing that Theo will be back in one week, and with Arshavin certain to be playing against Sunderland next weekend, it looks at last as if we’ll have a creative midfield again.

And with Cesc and Rosicky maybe back in a month or two everything suddenly looks good – and tends to make me forget Amaury Bischoff. He is described as “a ball-playing central midfielder who can operate in the centre or on the right,” and came from Werder Bremen after making just one senior appearance for them.

As such he is one of the Lord Wenger’s odd investments – not least because he was injured when we got him. But since then he has played in the reserves, been in the squad for the Diddly Cup and has now made the bench for a couple of league games.

He’s also scored some goals – I saw a stunner he got for the reserves and apparently he also scored for the Portuguese under 21s.

All of which would suggest that at some time in the very near future he will get off the bench and play for us. Given that description from the Arsenal web site about him playing in the centre or on the right, he ought to get a few chances.

The new temporary format could be Nasri, Arshavin, Denilson and Theo, although with Nasri able to play in the middle, it is hard to know who is going to be where – although I am hoping Denilson continues in the centre. Then we add Bischoff, and ultimately Cesc and Rosicky, and before you can blink we have a problem because not everyone is getting a game and we’ve got far too many creative midfielders.

(Diaby is also due back, and although his star rating has slipped a little of late, if he could return to the quality that he showed away to the Turks, it would be hard to leave him out).

Meanwhile it is also amusing that despite all the stats proving what can be seen with the eyes – that Denilson is a most extraordinary defensive midfielder – many people are still writing about the fact that we lost Flamini and what a disaster that is. But I’ll leave that for the moment. More in the next Highbury High to which the editor has most kindly invited me to contribute.)

What will Gallas and the rest make of all the English flags on Monday night?

Numerous blogs and news services such as RedAction are currently urging supporters to turn up on Monday night for the Cardiff game with St George flags.

National flags are banned at the Ems, although no action is taken against supporters in the away section for waving them. It is anticipated that a lot of Cardiff supporters will wave Red Dragon flags, and so, it is argued, that we should wave St George flags. It is argued that if lots of people do it, the officials will simply let it happen.

Normally I am 100% with RedAction. As an organisation it has done more to lift the atmosphere at Highbury and the Ems than any other group. Their chants are inventive and highly amusing, and their hearts are 1000% red with white sleeves.

But, for the first time, I’d disagree with them on this one National flags are about nationalism – the support of one’s country, right or wrong. By chance of birth I am a Londoner, English, British and a citizen of the European Union, but none of that makes England the best country in the world. Indeed if I read my country’s history I spend much of the time being ashamed. Yes I am British – a citizen of the country that invented the concentration camp (the Boer War)… (at this point the original draft of this text I went on and on with 20 or more examples of things that make me ashamed to be British, but I know I’m getting carried away, so I cut it).

Nationalism is not a good thing, and is only one step away from racism – in fact it is the excusable face of racism. You can say “Frenchie” as an insult and get away with it, although curiously you can’t say “Paki” and expect the same response from the law.

What Arsenal celebrates is diversity – how a range of nationalities can be brought together to play football. If Arsenal supporters start to support the concept of nationalism then we are supporting the FA, UEFA and FIFA in their move to restrict the number of non-English players that can play for our club. We are supporting the restrictions of Lord Triesman that would have stopped the transfer of Cesc, Toure, Vela, Denilson etc.

Arsenal is historically a club that uses non-English players. In the 19th and early 20th century, the founding fathers of our club regularly put out mostly Scottish teams, because most of the work-force at the Woolwich Arsenal was Scottish. When I started to watch the club in the 1950s we had a Welsh goalkeeper, and an Irish defence. Long before the Lord Wenger we celebrated our greatest player as one who was not only non-English, but also non-British (Liam Brady). After years in the desert we turned to another non-Englishman (George Graham) finally to break the Liverpool grip and win us the league.

So why now celebrate our Englishness? If it is just because a load of guys from Cardiff set the agenda, then we are being stupid. The agenda should be set by us, not by anyone else.

To my mind, if you want a political flag to fly, try the flag of the European Union, an institution upon which our club’s current approach to football, and all our recent successes, are built. The EU gave us the free movement of workers upon which the Wenger teams are built – and we might one day care to express our gratitude.

I don’t know if Gallas, Vela, van Persie, Cliche, Sagna, Toure, Denilson, Song, and the rest will notice the English flags, and the chants of “Engerland Engerland Engerland”, but if they do, I wonder what they will make of it all.

Lord Triesman and the FA: still no idea

Listening to Lord Triesman (chair of the FA) give an after dinner speech last night one thing was very clear.

He absolutely cannot register that some people think the FA is of itself a very bad thing. His view more of less seems to be “it is, it must be”.

Of course as chair of the FA he is hardly likely to say anything negative about it, but it seemed clear, particularly in his answers to questions from the audience after the speech, that the idea that a substantial number of football fans would sooner there was no such thing as matches between countries is just not on his radar.

He, and presumably the FA with him, don’t even contemplate the fact that they might have to launch some PR initiative to suggest why internationals are good. For him, it is obvious.

The FA gets money from two sources: the TV deal for showing England matches and the income from the FA Cup. The FA also has a permanent seat (along with the FAs of N Ireland, Wales and Scotland, and a rep from UEFA) on the body that looks at rule changes.

So it takes loads of money, and it has loads of influence. I think the real question is: why should it?

The concept that supporters who pay good money to watch their clubs are fed up that they can’t watch their own star players (eg Theo) because they have been knocked about when with the England team, is wholly missing. So is the notion that fans don’t like the interruptions to their season. As is the idea that internatioinal football matches promote racism by encouraging the notion of difference on the base of where by chance you (or your grandmother) happened to be born.

The FA and other bodies have successfully gained the agenda, and are able to push through their arguments about restricting the number of players coming from outside of a country. But the truth is we should be celebrating the diversity of football – we should celebrate the fact that Arsenal has players from so many different countries, rather than try and restrict this on purely racist and nationalistic grounds.

In many ways the FA is, along with the criminal gangs at the heart of FIFA, the enemy of Arsenal and clubs like Arsenal. They are the people who want to say, “no Arsenal, you can’t play Henry and Vieira and Berkgamp, because they are not English. And no Arsenal, you cannot play Cesc, Denilson, Merida and Vela, because they are children, and you stole them from their homelands.” (Lord Triesman had a lot to say last night about the need to restrict the movement of players before a certain – undefined – age.)

The media of course is utterly pro-FA. Presumably there is some financial arrangement that encourages the media to act in this way and to dismiss as “stupid” anyone who says he is not supporting a team just because he was born in the same country as some of the players from that team. (I was born in Southgate, Middlesex – that doesn’t mean I have to go and find Southgate FC and support them. So why should I support England?)

To move the agenda onto an even basis, so that those who are against national influence in club football is a huge task – but that doesn’t mean it is not worth taking on. And very occasionally the voice against natioinalism in sport does get heard.

The not-very-rich football list.

Everywhere today is the same: “The Rich List”. And a lot of the publications that cover the story can’t ever be bothered to point out that the list has not much to do with being rich.

Not a sausage, in fact.

It is to do with turnover – the amount of money the central account of the clubs earn from marketing and, TV and gate money.

Richness is normally measured in terms of turnover minus expenditure. But that’s where the problem lies, because recently clubs like Manchester Bankrupt have been moving their money around from one company to another to try and hide their debts.

In a club like Manchester B there is no worry about showing things properly because the whole club is owned privately. Imagine this scenario:

You own two companies both part of the “Screw the Fans” group of companies. For the sake of argument and clarity I’ll call them Con-Trick and Rip-Off. Con-Trick shows a profit – and it does this because it takes all the income from the Screw the Fans group activity. Rip-Off on the other hand pays all the loan debts – so makes a huge loss.

Next what you might try to do is this: you place the ownership of Con-Trick in theVirgin Islands where there is no public analysis of company accounts. Con-Trick Virgin Islands now charges Con-Trick UK a royalty fee each year, which Con Trick UK pays, and so greatly reduces its tax liability. Con-Trick Virgin Islands doesn’t pay tax because there is no public disclosure.

And that’s what makes up the rich list. Arsenal’s finances are much straighter, because they are owned by a multiplicity of people and are UK based.

Brady arrested (not that one), English spines, Arsenal’s youth

It is often said that to win the EPL a team needs an English spine. There’s no evidence presented for this – it is just something that is said.

Watching Brazil last night I think I’d sooner my team had a Brazilian spine rather than one made up of John Terry types, but each to his own.

Anyway, to help matters along the EPL is thinking that it is a good idea for clubs to have a quota of “homegrown” players in their squads. That means that a certain number of players would have to be “developed” by the club before they are 21. That would of course include a significant number of Arsenal players of course. But they also want a ban on international transfers under the age of 18, which is little more than an attempt to stop The Lord Wenger’s approach to World-Wide Scouting.

On the other hand Lord Triesman of the Sweet FA is worried about unsustainable debt – and he is supported by Plantini of UEFA. Rick Parry of Liverpool and the EPL is against this and wants as much debt as you can get, because a restriction would instantly have Liverpool thrown out of any competition that applied it – along with KGB Athletico Fulham and Manchester Bankrupt and Manchester Arab and Fulham and Newcastle Zebras and, well most of the EPL.

Interestingly I am going to hear Lord Triesman of the Sweet FA make a speech tomorrow after what I hope will be a rather fine meal. He is a supporter of the Tiny Totts, so I shall be taking my garlic, salt and wooden cross (no silver bullets currently on offer on EBay so I can’t do those).

Meanwhile I notice that awfully nice Karen Brady of Birmingham City has been arrested again. This is of interest to me because last year the Curse of Arsenal was put on Birmingham City following their disgraceful behaviour in rejecting all attempts by the authorities to investigate the serious assault on Eduardo, and whether it required more discipline than just 3 games off. (You will recall that when Arsenal players are adjudged to have gone too far we have suffered everything from points deduction to players getting 9 games bans.)

Following the implementation of the Curse, Birmingham were relegated, one director arrested on a sexual assault charge, the club raided by the fraud squad, and two directors arrested on financial matters. They might have thought they had paid their dues, but the Curse of Arsenal does not give up so easily.

Karren Brady is Brum City chief exec, and she has just been re-arrested on suspicion of a further offence – reported by Fleet Street to be tax related – in connection with the police investigation into corruption in football.

Last time around she was arrested on suspicion of false accounting and conspiracy to defraud. HM Revenue and Customs (whom like the Tiny Totts I never let near me unless I am carrying garlic and a wooden cross) are working on payments made to Aliou Cissé and Ferdinand Coly, by the agent Willie McKay, who denies any wrong doing. He was arrested on suspicion of false accounting and conspiracy to defraud in 2007.

Those who have found themselves caught up in this (and of course I must state that each and every single one of them with no exceptions whatsoever no matter what club they are with is innocent until proven otherwise) include Peter Storrie, (Portsmouth CEO) Harry Houdini of the Tiny Totts, Milan Mandaric who is confusingly not from Milan but is chair of Leicester City (whom apparently some fans hate along with Nottingham Forest) and Amdy Faye who plays with Stoke.

Right now. Garlic. Wood. Mirror. Salt. You can’t trust these vampires – they get everywhere. (See previous article is this is all meaningless. Also see yesterday’s piece if you would like to write a positive bit of chat for Highbury High.)

Garlic, silver bullets, wooden stakes: be ready for Tottenham

The scenes that greeted the sight of Gael’s blood at the WHL ground last Sunday revealed that it is never a good idea to take the Tiny Totts at face (or any other part of their anatomy) value.

As the cameras revealed the baying hordes salivating at the sight of blood, desperate to bite into the body, it became easier to understand why it always seems so dismal in their ground.

So for safety, at the next encounter with the TiddlyWiddlys all supporters are being advised to carry garlic, silver bullets and wooden stakes. Special arrangements will be made to allow these to be carried in to the Ems.

Meanwhile if you believe you have a Tiny Tott living close by, here is some helpful guidance.

First, look for a hole in the ground. Apart from being the natural habitat of the Tott, vampires sometimes have to dig their way out.

Second, scatter salt wherever you think a Tott Vampire will have been. They really don’t like it and anyway it is bad for you.

Third, use garlic, hawthorn branches, or a cross to trap your Tott vampire in a corner (you can also use a corner flag). Protect yourself from revenge by making a cross of tar on your front door.

Fourth dig the Tott vampire in October during the manager sacking season. According to the early Greeks, that’s when a vampire is weakest.

Fifth push iron stakes through his coffin and straight into the ground if you catch him at rest.

Sixth bury his body under running water – vampires can’t stand it and Totts don’t wash.

Seventh fire a silver bullet blessed by a priest into his heart. They don’t like either.

Eighth drive an aspen, ash or white thorn stake through his heart with a single blow if you want to make a lasting impression. I tried this on the Great Cambridge Road and several people turned to look.

Ninth pour boiling water, boiling oil or holy water into his grave. Failing that, onto some area of semi-grassland off the Tottenham High Street

Tenth cremate his body or make a paste from his flesh for closure. Take the paste to Stamford Bridge

If on the other hand you have something more positive to say, and perhaps without too many references to vampires, you might like to consider writing a piece for Highbury High, the magazine which with Untold Arsenal, reflects the positive side of our club.

If you are interested, there’s a new edition out soon. Drop a line to the HH editor and regular contributor to these pages, Ian Trevett at ian.trevett@ntlworld.com and he’ll be pleased to consider your piece.

Advice on How to kill a vampire from Ehow.com

Arsenal writers with a positive bent required

So, KGB Fulham has turned into a London version of Athletico Madrid in the Jesus Gill era. You’ll remember Gill – if the manager didn’t win the league in six weeks he was out.

Mr Absent Abramovich now takes a similar view clearly, and is seeking to move on managers faster than the Tiny Totts.

Sadly this comes at a moment when some Arsenal fans are seeking to replace the Lord Wenger. With whom? Scholari?

Scholari is a decent manager – although one who is unduly influenced by astrology. He did win the world cup as manager of Brazil though, which is not a bad start on the CV. And even though most of us disliked the “special uno” there is no doubt he knew how to manage. Remember what he did for Porto?

The insanity of four teams all believing that “we are going win the league this year” and that anything less is unacceptable seems to be gripping everyone, and quite clearly it is non-sustainable. Manchester Bankrupt are managing to stay on top because Sir Alex F-Word is untouchable – and he will drive Manchester further into bankruptcy knowing that he can walk away in a year or so, as the absolute hero, leaving the rest to pick up the pieces.

And what pieces they will be. Fragments more like. Meanwhile Liverpool Weetabix can only survive with the Arabs in total control – and we need only look at Manchester Arab to see what that means. KGB Athletico Chelsea can only live if Absent Abramovich puts more money in, which he will not. Aston “hold your head” Villa can only survive as long as the refs agree to ignore their cheating. (We saw the effect of their action on Sunday when the dopey ref refused to take action about Clichy covered in blood. I’ve never seen Tott fans as vampires but their baying shows how the origins of that club are clearly Transylvanian.

This is a world in turmoil, and it is a world in which we urgently need a dose of sanity.

If you would like to join in the debate, reflecting a positive attitude towards Arsenal, you might like to consider writing a piece for Highbury High, the magazine which with Untold Arsenal, reflects the positive side of our club.

There is a reality out there – for me it is simply not the one offered by most of the other clubs in the EPL.

Tottenham celebrate The Invincibles

The Tiny Totts are today celebrating an Unbeaten Season and have produced a second DVD to celebrate their unbeaten season… against Arsenal.

Actually, they haven’t (although after putting out a DVD of the 4-4 it wouldn’t surprise me if they did) but I just thought it would be amusing to speculate…

But what did strike me over the last couple of days was that if you think Arsenal supporters are being a bit negative at the moment, you should read what the Tiny Totts are saying.

According to the Mirror and likeminded papers, the Tiny Totts are really working hard for their fans by cutting their season ticket prices for the next two seasons.

I took a look at the official club fans forum to see what the thinking was about the issue (page ref at the end – I’m not giving them the comfort of actually putting it as a link) and the fans had rumbled what I think other slightly more alert (ie less drunk) commentators had realised.

The discount comes from the fact that VAT has gone down by 2.5% – so the club is not reducing any price as such. Further to get the “discount” you have to buy next year’s ticket, and the year after’s ticket, now. So you stump up two lots of dosh now – just to pay the same price as this year (minus that bit of VAT – which for a £1000 ticket is worth £25.00

Worse, there is no knowledge that the Tinies will actually be in the EPL next season – but hey, no worries, because if they are in the Championship, there will be two more games, so that will be even more value for money.

It somewhat restores my faith in human nature that the Tiny fans actually realised this, and are saying so on their own club’s official web site.

Perhaps the most shocking thing about the story is that papers that should have known better just ran it as a “aren’t Tottenham wonderful” piece.

Here is the entire Mirror piece – no editing, no cutting off the end.

Tottenham became the first major club to slam the brakes on runaway season ticket costs last night by freezing prices for up to two years.

And fans will pay less for their seats than in 2008-9 because the prices take into account the reduced 15 per cent rate of VAT.

A Spurs spokesman said the move reflected both the economic slump and the loyalty of supporters who have stuck with Harry Redknapp’s men on four fronts – fighting relegation, the Carling Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup.

Mirror: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/2009/01/22/tottenham-freeze-season-ticket-prices-for-up-to-two-years-115875-21061047/

Tinies own web site http://forums.tottenhamhotspur.com/showthread.php?t=9336

One door closes another slams in your face

Not much more than a week after the transfer what-not shuts down and its off again with BarBarBarca saying right, in the summer we’ll have Van Persie, Adebayor, and, oh of course Cesc, and in return little Arsenal you can have…. Hleb.

That is the same Hleb who were prized away from Arsenal because, according to Barbar Arsenal is a selling club going nowhere fast.

This is so bizarrre it has taken me two cups of coffee to get my head around it. BarBar says, “Hey, Hleb, you’re a genius, come play for us, we’re a big club, what you doing with little Arsenal, come and be a big big star…” and so he goes.

And then they say, “Hey guys we have this player. He could have started 20 major games this season but he actually started 4, with 7 as sub. Hasn’t scored, we don’t like him, and don’t want him, but you might be able to make something of him.

They must be utterly out of their minds. It is like WC Milan offering us Flamini on a similar basis.

I have not read any commentaries from Flamini about his current position save one in which he made the obvious point that he would sooner be playing, but Hleb has spoken about his problems, and how his manager suggests that Hleb has been slow in learning the lingo.

I obviously have no knowledge of what goes on in the minds of players who can earn more in a week than I can (even with my stunning writing skills) in a year, but if any of them are tempted we ought to show them pics of Hleb and Flamini, just to remind them.

Of course this will go on every transfer window, so we need to be prepared – and as we have seen before a lot of this is just a childish game with the clubs in Italy and Spain trying to prove they are bigger than each other. Much is also about unsettling players, and it is in one sense a tribute to Arsenal that their hit list always includes three of our players. Next year it will be Jack Wilshere and Denilson. (Incidentally just before the transfer window shut there were stories all over the place than Manchester Arab offered Arsenal 40 million for Van Persie.

In fact WC Milan will probably offer Flamini in exchange for Denilson in the summer (Hey News of the World, you read it here first).

It reminds us indeed of what a team we have. Yes, this season has not resulted in the position I had hoped, but then had I been told that our three established creative midfielders would be lost for a long spell, I think even I might have predicted a struggle.

The phrase “Remember Flamini” was used at the start of the season to suggest what could have been at Arsenal. Now it shows just how quickly one can go downhill, and just how far above themselves players can play when working at Arsenal.