English Football Thread! 2007-2008 Season

[Resha]

[q= >=[ ]
Unhappy Gallas in Arsenal blast

William Gallas has hinted he wants to leave Arsenal after criticising Arsene Wenger's transfer policy and questioning the club's ambition.


The French defender claims several Gunners players are unhappy following the departure of Thierry Henry to Barcelona and insists Wenger's policy of buying young players will not deliver trophies.

And he revealed he plans to hold talks with the board when he returns for pre-season training to discuss his own future after becoming frustrated at Arsenal's failure to compete with title contenders Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool.

He told his own website: "What is sure, it is that several players are questioning the club's future.

"Around us, all the teams are recruiting but what is planned to compensate for the departure of Titi Henry?

"I am not at Arsenal to play for third place. It is necessary to recruit players of reputation because the young players have many qualities but the season is very long.

"The young players are thirsty for victories but Arsenal must obtain results to gain titles. If not, one will have to change policy and do the same as the other teams: recruit with more means.

"I will have a discussion with Arsene Wenger and board members to know the objectives of the club this season and what they wish to set up to build an even more competitive team."

And despite only joining Arsenal from Chelsea last season, Gallas indicated he may seek a move if Wenger cannot convince him the club are moving forward.

He added: "Today I am at Arsenal but I do not know what can occur tomorrow.

"All happens so quickly in the world of football."[/q]
What the hell

I'm so angry! Only I don't quite know with who

[Psychotic]

Hahaha "Titi" Henry. Also why the smurf does he think the board will listen to him? :laugh:

He's right, though. At the moment, I am looking at Newcastle, Spurs and so on, and other than their grand tradition of failure, I can't see any reason why they shouldn't finish above Arsenal.

[charliepanayi]

Hahaha "Titi" Henry. Also why the smurf does he think the board will listen to him? :laugh:

He's right, though. At the moment, I am looking at Newcastle, Spurs and so on, and other than their grand tradition of failure, I can't see any reason why they shouldn't finish above Arsenal.

Seeing as we finished LEVEL ON POINTS with you last year (despite not having Henry for half the campaign), surely you're just as much at risk of finishing behind those teams.

Seriously though, Gallas is a moron and should keep his big mouth shut. And your suggestion that we're going to finish behind the likes of Spurs and Newcastle is so insulting I'm almost angry here. Seeing as your team is no nearer to challenging for the title than we are I wouldn't write us off so blithely.

[Psychotic]

You only finished LEVEL ON POINTS with us because we played the reserves in the last 3 or so matches and promptly lost them all.

Oh, and we haven't sold our captain (who makes people accuse us of being a one-man team) in the meantime either.

I didn't say we were close to challenging for the title. I think we can challenge Chelsea if Drogba gets crippled, but other than that I think we're out on our own in third, just like we were last season.

[charliepanayi]

We still would have finished closer to you than we did in 2005. And we didn't have our captain for most of last year anyway (and still finished way ahead of 5th place downwards with room to spare), and there was the small fact that we beat you three times last season. Hardly counts as being 'out on your own'.

[Resha]

[q]Around us, all the teams are recruiting but what is planned to compensate for the departure of Titi Henry?[/q]
I get this. Because I don't know if Eduardo da Silva is enough...(even expected!)...to compensate for Henry's departure. 34 goals last season, but can't expect that much from him this coming season.

And it's stupid. This whole domino effect thing is stupid. Dein leaves, so Henry and Wenger must leave too (I don't think Wenger will leave; it's silly to assume he will just because Henry made some comments, because a lot can happen in a year, and I don't think anyone forsaw that Henry would be leaving this time last year when he extended his contract), so everybody else loses morale and wants to leave too. No NO. And Gallas should be the one of the last ones talking.

And "recruit with more means"? Oh, he did come from Chelsea, after all. Money is money. Not money is not money. Got a deal for Henry Darren Bent goes for more.

dewdjkjwd

edit: "three times last season" iirc one of these times our reserves beat your reserves + some first team!

[Psychotic]

If beating Liverpool is the highlight of your season, and you're using it to suggest that Arsenal are a good team, then you're in trouble. Newcastle beat us too, you know. We beat Chelsea three times last season and I'm not going to say that makes us better than them, because then I'd look just a little bit silly.

But since when was this about Liverpool? You can criticise us all you want, but it doesn't detract from the fact that Arsenal haven't stepped up a gear in the transfer market, and now the likes of Spurs, West Ham, Portsmouth etc. are spending more cash than they are. And yes, money matters: Look at Utd and Chelsea.

[Cuchulainn]

This Tevez saga is driving me mental. I wish he'd just sign & be done with it. The more I see of him the better he gets. Last nights Copa America QF was the Second Half Tevez show.

Fantastic capture if we do finally untangle that legal quagmire. Ugly as sin though, it has to be said.

[Heath]

If beating Liverpool is the highlight of your season, and you're using it to suggest that Arsenal are a good team, then you're in trouble. Newcastle beat us too, you know.

And Everton beat both of you

[Cz]

Sure, money's important, but a huge bank balance is only effective if it's spent intelligently. Last season's wave of Chelsea imports were big-name signings, but didn't gel with the squad at all, and probably contributed to the club's second place finish this season. Maybe if that money had been spent on quality goalkeeping or defensive cover, they'd have won the title again. Meanwhile, Harry Redknapp managed to turn Portsmouth's fortunes around with a relatively meagre transfer budget. Now, nobody's saying that Arsenal can win the title without strengthening their squad, but to say that being outspent in the transfer market means we'll be outplayed on the pitch simply isn't true.

I do agree, though, that we're making things difficult for ourselves by limiting our involvement in the transfer market. The issue isn't money, because Wenger's proven before that he can find quality at a low price, but we are still limited in places. Our youngsters might well step up this season, but youth alone won't bring success, and refusing to make a move for anybody strikes me as being rather stubborn. Let's hope I'm wrong, though.

[charliepanayi]

The season doesn't start for another month, we may sign others before then. Gallas is just a moron who is stupidly feeding the tabloid frenzy. And as I maintain we had a comfortable 4th place last year even without Henry for large stretches (and not at all for the last few months) - we beat Man Utd at Old Trafford without him! - and the only way I think Spurs and Newcastle will be finishing above us this year is if it's in the Fair Play League. I see no evidence for these medicore teams suddenly bettering us. £16 million for Darren Bent? Ha!

And actually beating Liverpool in the FA Cup WAS one of the few highlights of last season for us, it was a fantastic result. Games like that and our ones against Man Utd and Chelsea showed we do have the potential to get good results.

[Psychotic]

I don't know, I look at Newcastle and I see some very shrewd signings by Big Sam, like Geremi and Rozehnal. Oh and yes, I am including that tubby waster Mark Viduka. He's a huge arse but he can still deliver the goods when necessary. If Middlesbrough can't keep Yakubu then that's it: They're down. Adding that to a squad which already has some very decent players like Given, Taylor, Dyer, Duff, Martins and Owen, I can see Newcastle pushing, I truly can.

As for Spurs, observe their strikeforce: Berbatov, Bent, Defoe, Keane. Better than Arsenal's? Yes. Better than Liverpool's? Yes. Heck, as of right now (pre-Tevez), I'd say that's better than United's quartet of Rooney, Saha, Solksjaer and Smith. No, a strikeforce alone isn't enough, (although it's not like they're especially weak in defence or midfield) but it's going to keep them up there and chasing.

It intended as less of an observation about Arsenal and more of an observation about Spurs and Newcastle, really. I still think Arsenal need to make a couple of big signings though.

[DK]

All you people must be having fun higher up the table. THERE ARE STILL SOME OF US WHO FLIRT WITH THE LOWER END AROUND THIS WEBSITE.

I'm feeling quite optimistic about our situation at the moment, really. Actually looking forward to seeing what Sven will do a lot more than I thought I would. All the transfer speculation is getting on my tits, though. So many different names being bandied about about who is coming to City and who is not. By my count we're apparently going to be buying 13 different players and all the deals have already been confirmed! Stupid papers.

Although it seems most likely that we're getting this Bianchi chap from Reggina, and I know nothing about Italian football or the players, so I'm afraid that we're going to be getting another Corradi. Let's hope not. I'm happy that we've kept Dunnie and Richards at least.

[Burtsplurt]

The new investors in football are making things ridiculous. Even clubs like Arsenal (who I always classed as quite rich!) are suffering. You know things are bad when the majority of clubs can't even complete with West Ham. But hey, if they want to pay a lazy Aussie full back £70k a week then I'm not going to argue. God knows how much they're paying Bellamy (the biggest git in football).

I don't think it's going to turn out well. Leeds are a prime example of where mismanagement, er, leads. I think there will be a few more examples within the next 5 years. I mean, how passionate can a criminal from Thailand be about Man City? Mike Ashley, the new Newcastle owner, doesn't even support a club!

I know Arsenal fans might be bitter, but I'd rather be an Arsenal fan than a Chelsea/ Manure/ Wet Spam fan at the moment. At least the club is owned by people who care about it - I don't think you can ask for much more than that. I know I'd hate it if the Boro were taken over. Steve Gibson, the chairman, is one of us. So what if we can't compete with a bunch of mercenaries? I'd rather do it on our terms any day.

[charliepanayi]

West Ham signing Bellamy! I want them to go down even worse than ever now.