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Some Early Summer Musings

Jamie Vardy and looking forward to the Euros

9 June, 2016 10:00 40 comments
Some Early Summer Musings

Ah yes, the magic of photoshop

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So first up a reminder that the 2016 Gooner survey is now online and can be completed here. You will need approximately 15 minutes to complete it.

Next up Jamie Vardy. So he is going to wait until after the Euros to decide whether to join Arsenal. Hmmmm…. If the player was really committed to the move, you would think he would have signed already. To me, it seems as if he is keeping his options open. Are Arsenal going to offer him a better deal than the one agreed? Unlikely. So this is either to improve Leicester’s counter offer to keep him there, or to see who else might come in for him. Arsenal should take this as a sign that they are now a fallback option for the striker and start negotiating hard to secure an alternative. When the Suarez deal fell through back in the summer of 2013, the club failed to secure an alternative striker they needed. Let us hope that particular lesson has been learned. There are of course questions about Vardy’s suitability for the Gunners. Won’t suit the playing style? One season wonder? Too old at 29 years old? In my view, if the player is willing to join the club, at the price he would cost, he’s worth a punt. The transfer fee is three years of Theo Walcott’s wages after all. I am just thankful that the club seem to be doing something rather than decide to let the cash stockpile ever higher in the bank. But waiting of Vardy would appear to be a dangerous game. Still, it is going to be difficult to sign any players who are at the Euros now, but Arsenal need to get their ducks lined up for the moment that they are able to act, and give Vardy a tight deadline of maybe 72 hours after England exit the tournament.

I have to admit that with the games being played in the middle of the night, and my not having access to Premier Sports, the Copa America has completely passed me by this summer. The fact the Euros are about to begin also influences my interest in the competition. The main hope is that the Arsenal players taking part come through the tournament without suffering injury, principally Alexis.

As for events in France, I am departing on Saturday morning to do Le Grand Tour, which means catching a game in every one of the ten stadiums being used. The schedule is as follows…
Saturday – Marseille – England/Russia
Sunday – Nice – Poland/Northern Ireland
Monday – Lyon – Italy/Belgium
Tuesday – St Etienne – Portugal/Iceland
Wednesday – Paris Parc des Princes – Romania/Switzerland
Thursday – Paris Stade de France – Poland/Germany
Friday – Toulouse – Italy/Sweden
Saturday – Bordeaux – Eire/Belgium
Sunday and Monday – Days off chilling near Toulouse
Tuesday – Lens – Turkey/Czech Republic
Wednesday – Lille – Italy/Eire
Thursday – Trip done. Return to UK to vote on the Brexit
Saturday – Watch the rest of the tournament on the box

I will be tootling around France in a hire car after reaching Marseille on Eurostar. To provide some website content over the period, and subject to internet connection, I will do a daily diary while I am out there, in the style I did whilst at South Africa 2010 and Brazil 2014. As for my expectations of the tournament itself, I will write some more tomorrow. Until then…

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40
comments

  1. mbg

    Jun 13, 2016, 13:19 #90246

    Peter, it's just wenger sticking his two fingers up at us fans yet again that he won't be dictated to or told what to do, he'll continue to do it his way despite us and everyone else, and we all know what a failure that has turned out to be over the years.

  2. Peter

    Jun 12, 2016, 10:55 #90227

    Can someone tell me why we have just bought another midfielder Xhanta and now after another Kante???? Is Wenger going for the world record of having the most midfielders of any team in the world????? We all know what players we want and it is not midfielders.

  3. mbg

    Jun 12, 2016, 0:25 #90223

    TOF has a say in England after all he must be secretly coaching them.

  4. Alsace

    Jun 12, 2016, 0:14 #90222

    Hodgson has become Wenger. It was absolutely obvious from early in the first half that there was no one to convert our chances, Mr Kane being anonymous. Vary should have come on very swiftly but instead we got Jackie who gave the ball away with regularity and. James square pass Milner. We either play the champions top striker in the game against Wales or go home, again. What is this disease that afflicts England that we cannot pick the correct players to save our lives. Good win for Wales, which was very enjoyable.

  5. AKB

    Jun 11, 2016, 23:08 #90221

    England were garbage,full of spuds who we know will always bottle it.Less spine than the Wenger out time wasters who never attend games or contribute anything apart from their pathetic armchair rantings.

  6. mbg

    Jun 11, 2016, 19:18 #90220

    Just seen the England line up, no sign of this wenger English spine we kept hearing off and being told about, I guess they're on some beach or in some night club in other sunny climes doing what they do best. You couldn't make it up.

  7. mbg

    Jun 11, 2016, 19:05 #90219

    I see the bleached one is being his usual self, checking, holding play up, trying to walk the ball into the net instead of shooting, giving the ball away, missing chances, falling down, when there is Bale completely the opposite in full flow with pressure attacking football, it's too late now trying to rely on him Gareth, wenger has him too well indoctrinated into his boring ways.

  8. mbg

    Jun 11, 2016, 16:11 #90218

    AKB, so the FFP rules that TOF and his apologists cried out for and campaigned for for so long and believed would help they're messiah are now working against him. You couldn't make it up.

  9. AKB

    Jun 11, 2016, 13:52 #90217

    Vardy will stay at Leicester as they have upped their offer to 100,000 so can't see him risking failure in having to sit on the bench at Arsenal and risk having the AAA on his back after a few games.With the new money available to the smaller clubs you can expect more teams to have better seasons over the forthcoming years with other smaller outfits having outstanding seasons like traditional minnows Leicester,Tottenham and West Ham did last term.Arsenal huge bands of glory hunting fans are going to have to accept that the Premiership is on a more even keel now and with the fans asking for ticket prices to be frozen and the huge money available to all the teams, we have to accept that the less glamorous clubs will close in on the big boys rather than we move clear of them.If it wasn't for Arsene Wenger we could be like Chelsea,Man Utd and Liverpool struggling in mid-table or playing awful long ball football like the rest of the Premiership with the exception of Man City..

  10. mbg

    Jun 11, 2016, 1:59 #90215

    Bard, your cracking me up, I expect the full report will be the length of a novel and in triplicate.

  11. GoonerRon

    Jun 11, 2016, 0:21 #90214

    Oh my God, talk about can't do right for doing wrong. We don't try and buy a striker - Wenger is deluded / Giroud is his love child. We try to buy Vardy quickly - it's just to keep people happy. Don't buy him quickly - the player is taking the piss. Make an offer and wait - we're an embarrassment. GET A GRIP.

  12. Bard

    Jun 10, 2016, 17:33 #90212

    I have heard through the grapevine that we are in for Tom Daley. He is the best diver in the UK apart from Vardy and apparently he looks devine in his Arsenal budgie smugglers. We have offered 2 oyster cards and a free supply of coke but he isnt sure and wants two years to think about it. Untold are up in arms as his uncle used to referee in the Screwfix league and supports Derby County. They say its yet more evidence that the Prem is bent and biased against Arsenal. They are currently going through all his dives since he was 16. Have a good one Kev and watch out for all those refs

  13. mbg

    Jun 10, 2016, 14:12 #90209

    Hiccup, yes their in some dilemma over there and all off their own making ( just like their messiah) they don't know which way to turn or who to turn to, hadn't we another clown on here some time ago just like them (now departed to pastures new)who absolutely loathed Mourinho (mainly because he had his messiah in his pocket)and was slagging him off at ever opportunity, and then told us all if he came to Arsenal he'd give him his full support. You couldn't make it up.

  14. mbg

    Jun 10, 2016, 14:01 #90208

    Mark from Aylesbury, he has set plenty of those in his time already mate, but we'll never hear about them from TOF when he's spouting what he has supposedly done for the club, or hear about them from his AKB followers when they're spouting the same.

  15. Time for change

    Jun 10, 2016, 14:00 #90207

    Hope Ospina and Campbell don't get injured either. Sack off Vardy and bid for Higuain again.

  16. jjetplane

    Jun 10, 2016, 12:45 #90205

    Vardy like Suarez, Fabregas 2 are/were having a laugh at the funniest top top club in the PL. Vardy knows he would win nothing at the Emirates and for such a naturally lively player the sheer ennui of life under Wenger must have him in stitches. Personally think he is way too good for Arsene FC but would be a good fit for Koeman's Everton who then like ye olde Spuds (who are playing tomorrow night....) would have a tidy little English spine. No one goes to Arsene FC if they want medals. Nice enough life I suppose - ask Theo ....... France are favourites and Olly (to his amazement) is their top top striker as fatty Benzema is out. Should be a right old laugh if Ollie gets the boos tonight .... All this talk of strikers but no one is talking about the resurgent Sanogo who may well ........ (see Untold ...)

  17. Torbay gooner

    Jun 10, 2016, 12:06 #90204

    I am sure you see some exciting matches Kevin, and it will make a change from the tedium we mainly served up last season.

  18. Stevo 433

    Jun 10, 2016, 9:58 #90203

    I too go along with Exeter, this Vardy business stinks of a put up job. What self respecting club would allow a player to piss them about for another five weeks only to be told that he's staying where he is? No, this is Wenger hoping all the other available strikers go elsewhere by August. You just know he's not going to give up on Walcott. No, I suspect that Xhaka will be our lot.W

  19. West Cork Frank

    Jun 10, 2016, 9:37 #90202

    Some lovely posts and Kev I hope you have a good time, you're the one writer who always sees it as it is. As for Vardy I couldn't really give a **** or about any other signing for that matter. We have a psychologically weak squad/ manager [ ha] / stinking attitude from top to bottom in OUR club. Therefore, it really doesn't matter who we sign. If and please feel free to laugh, wenger actually did his job and paid the going rate for two top quality strikers and a centre-half, I would feel that there was light at the end of the tunnel and he was going to **** off at the end of the season. Ferguson after all bought RVP just to win the league in his last season. The fact that wenger is after a cheap alternative I think means he will sign a new contract or be a meddling **** on the board 2017/18 onwards. Red Army !

  20. Arseneknewbest

    Jun 10, 2016, 8:02 #90201

    Kev - Have a good one mate. After spending a season reporting on the Arsenal's travails over the last year, I would have thought the last thing you would have needed was another dose of sanitised, corporate football in a paranoid big-brother environment but each to their own. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to reading about it. Bonne chance.

  21. Hiccup

    Jun 10, 2016, 7:02 #90199

    The Vardy situation needs resolving asap, because I need instructing from AKB Command what line to follow. To loathe or love him? And this is what makes me laugh about those on Untold who take the morale high ground on every issue going. They despise and loathe Vardy for what he is, but if he comes to Arsenal he will 'get their full backing' in an Arsensl shirt. Well that says everything about their principles. Sort of makes a mockery of all they stand for, where it looks like they will 'accept' his diving, as long as it's done in an Arsenal shirt, but continue to slag him off for the same thing in a Leicester shirt. You couldn't make it up.

  22. Mark from Aylesbury

    Jun 09, 2016, 18:58 #90197

    Well Grandma Wenger has at least set a record in that he is going to embarrass himself before the season even starts. It usually starts in Feb. For those who suggest Wenger is secretly happy he won't sign be in no doubt this further evidence of Wengers fading attraction (yesterday's man) that is becoming ever more visible. We can see it the AKB's deny it and the lousy board will only care when the cash stops rolling. As I've said before social media critiscm will now increase again and more pain is coming Wengers way.

  23. Roy

    Jun 09, 2016, 18:35 #90196

    Even back in the 80-s we were always first choice,Charlie Nic and Woodcock both turned down pool and manure for us.Vardy should be told sign now or melt you ungrateful sod.Or bugger off to pool,manure or the chavs and their Europey quests.

  24. CT Gooner

    Jun 09, 2016, 18:25 #90195

    I agree with Kevin, I wouldn't mind having Vardy on the squad, but not instead of another top drawer striker. If it was vardy & Lakaku, nice one; but what planet am I on!!! We should offer 50mil for Lakaku and hope in hell they accept, if not offer 60, and so on. Then there's the defense, a good centre half going to cost at least 30 mil. As an earlier poster said, we have to get our heads around the new financial reality with all this abundance of cash. what used to be 30, is now 60, sooner we realize that, the sooner we're competitive with the best.

  25. jeff wright

    Jun 09, 2016, 18:15 #90194

    Too true Hiccup the dopey Arsene gang were slagging Varny off and one even wrote an article about his alleged diving and cheating! You have to laugh though - Wenger does - all the way to the bank. I suspect that the flashing the cash that is supposedly taking place is really all about preparing the way for Stan's next dividend that he will award himself for services provided. No one knows what these are but old Chips is happy to sign the Cheque for them and why would he not be with Stan paying him to do so .You couldn't make it up.

  26. Mark from Aylesbury

    Jun 09, 2016, 18:09 #90193

    Supine isn't it, even back in the day under Terry Neil it would have been take it or leave it. It's all the difference in the world between Fergie and Wenger. Fergie would have been on the phone to him. Set him straight then if still not sure of his commitment next day a press announcement saying looking for other targets. Our board are so weak they let players dangle us and in fact Ivan apparently lets Arsene dangle us whilst he decides if he can live a life other than football (boring ****er). Pathetic management throughout with piss poor stewardship. Someone needs to grow some balls at the Emirates and be seen to publicly manage us.

  27. Hiccup

    Jun 09, 2016, 17:38 #90192

    I personally blame Untold Arsenal for Vardy not signing yet. When RVP left, I remember some AKB clowns blaming the wob's for his departure? There was some right laughable dross written that we understood why he would be better off leaving, and that we encouraged him to leave, hence our fault. So I put it to the AKB's on Untold, that have slagged him off all season, and claim they don't want his sort here, they are the reason he has not signed. Jamie Vardy spends all day reading Untold, just like RVP used to read the online Gooner. And this is why the AKB's are treat like the joke that they have become, not just by the wob's, but football fans across the country. When you turn their drivel on its head, you wonder how they get through life. They write such crap that being associated with such idiots is embarrassing. Anyway Kevin, looking so much forward to reading your articles in France, which will be refreshing to get away from the mind numbing boring stagnant Arsenal.

  28. Ron

    Jun 09, 2016, 17:12 #90191

    EG - exactly. Its a gesture buy, a sop to the detractors. As you say, its this years ' we nearly signed him' candidate. Wengs couldnt give a f--k whether Vardy joins or not, as long as hes been seen to try and speculate. Truth is, if we ve worked it out, so has Vardy in all probability. My view is that if Liverpool go in for him, as is said in the press, he d do well there. The best thing for him is though to stay at Leicester when alls said and done. At his age, with his good fortune to have made it as far as he has, stay as a big fish in a smaller pond i think. Theyre all greedy f-----s though at the end of the day.

  29. mbg

    Jun 09, 2016, 17:07 #90190

    wenger TOF learn a lesson ? especially from his mistakes ?Kev kev you should know better.

  30. Exeter Gunner

    Jun 09, 2016, 16:50 #90189

    I suspect Wenger would be secretly pleased were Vardy to take this time and then say no. Wenger could then claim other 'top quality' strikers were unavailable or had already gone elsewhere and cue: 'I believe in Giroud and Walcott'.

  31. Bard

    Jun 09, 2016, 16:21 #90187

    The Vardy saga is a bit of an embarrassment all round. He's not even world class and he is hesitating about joining us. As you suggest we need to get shot of him if he's not interested. It has also meant that we have now made clear to everyone that we need another striker so the Weng now has a problem. As I have said before clubs will have to pay silly money for average players because of all the money sloshing around and as we know only too well Arsenal hate paying over the odds. Stand by for the oft quoted 'We have a big enough squad and dont need anyone'

  32. Ron

    Jun 09, 2016, 16:05 #90185

    Yes TJ - I agree. Its a Wenger make do job, hack by and mend. A wallpaper job. A cheap one at that. Wood chip and not a good quality anaglypta!

  33. mbg

    Jun 09, 2016, 15:54 #90184

    Of course he's keeping his options open, what would he want to sign for us and especially TOF for, I he has any sense he'll stay well away, we're certainly not his first choice club i'd imagine, ( as someone has already suggested he's just using us)and i'd say the first decent option he gets like Chelsea, Man yoo, City, Liverpool, he'll be making his mind up a lot quicker, that's what we've become now under this oldhas been of a manager a stepping stone club.

  34. TJ

    Jun 09, 2016, 15:31 #90183

    @Ron I was thinking with Vardy that his lack of professional football has not worn his body as badly as others. Wrighty stayed good into his early/mid 30s because he didn't sign a pro contract till he was 22. You're right re: Lukaku, I also wonder if he's being stingy with money on a striker because he thinks Akpom will come good in a few years; he'd be happy to paper over the cracks with a cheap player till then.

  35. Tony Evans

    Jun 09, 2016, 15:10 #90182

    Peter - Vardy hardly sets the pulses racing does he, and if he's the best we can do that is a depressing thought. On the plus side the less Wenger does in the transfer market this summer the more likely it is we will have another bang average season and then it's au revoir to Le Fraud once and for all. It's obvious the board can't wait to extend Wenger's contract and a good start to the season will see the ink dry on a new two year deal before Christmas.

  36. Ron

    Jun 09, 2016, 14:38 #90181

    TJ - Yes, i d go for Lukaku, though his personality would seem to offer a challenge to Wenger in that he doesn't seem the type to kiss his schoolmasters backside every morning - essential for a Wenger player. Lukaku also wants success and wants it quickly so to prove Chelsea wrong. Hes not going to N7 any time soon and theres no way Arsenal would pay the price. They only want Vardy because hes as cheap as chips and they think he would accept some bench warming time in gratitude for joining such a 'big' Club! The Arse might have that perception wrong though. Wright was 27 wasnt he when he joined us? Big difference, 3 years.

  37. Ron

    Jun 09, 2016, 14:25 #90180

    Vaerdy and his advisers are playing a canny game. AFC shdt feel affronted by it, though we all know about Arsenal 'snobbery'. The reason why Arsenal are just an option nowadays, even for such willing journeymen as a 30 yr old Vardy is pretty close to home for those who haven't realised. Hes French and clocks his bony gait in every day and parks on the spot marked 'Coach'.

  38. Peter Wain

    Jun 09, 2016, 13:51 #90179

    Am I the only one who feels depressed by the way our transfer targets shame our club. A 29 one season wonder should jump at the chance to come to Arsenal. Instead we have the mickey taken out of us by a basic average player. Wenger go and buy top top quality that you are always on about not a drunken racist who is just bang average.

  39. TJ

    Jun 09, 2016, 13:47 #90178

    I think Vardy will want to stay at Leicester if they match our wage offer BUT I don't agree with what many say about his supposedly lacking suitability to our playing style. Firstly, as someone pointed out the other day, this 'style' has been a repeated failure over the last 12 years- a change is precisely what we need. In terms of playing against parked bus teams, by far the best strategy we used to unlock these units was to hit balls up to Giroud who would knock down a second ball for someone else to finish (think Welbeck vs Norwich for a 1-0 win). It's that sudden change in positioning from second balls which these defences can't react to quickly, and where we see the best results. In that context Vardy, a solid finisher, WOULD BE effective against that type of opposition. Thirdly, with more EPL teams willing to challenge the big clubs, there's more of a willingness on their parts to attack, ergo there's more scope for counterattacking, making Vardy the perfect choice. Also re: his age and lack of success at the top, well Ian Wright peaked late and went on later too, so it might not be a problem. Personally, I'd like to see Lukaku join as I know he's clumsy but only turned 23 last month and has a lot of potential.

  40. Tony Evans

    Jun 09, 2016, 12:28 #90175

    Hi Kevin - don't know what to make of the Vardy bid. Massive doubts for me about his suitability with the way Arsenal play and how opposing teams set their stall out against us. Also possibly a one season wonder and not far off 30. Pluses? A tryer with some aggression in his game, which would be a welcome addition to our squad, and at least he knows where the goal is. I have my doubts whether he will sign anyway but whatever happens it needs to be concluded quickly and not used as an excuse for not pursuing alternatives. Hope you see some decent games over in France and look forward to your diary updates.