Kevin Whitcher
Ok, so promoting the new issue time… First up, just to clarify, thanks to a text from @JonSpurling1 a while back, there is a bit of confusion over when we will stop producing The Gooner. The plan is that, unless there is a dramatic upturn in sales, next season will be our last. So six further copies over 2017/18 to savour before we are no more. Next season sees our 30th anniversary, so it seems a good season to bow out. The website will continue, and we will think about continuing to produce an issue in electronic only format when we have time to assess things over the summer, but more likely is that we will do the occasional limited edition print special, although it will cost a bit more than the £3 we are charging for regular editions.
Anyway, before I list some of the stuff in the issue, to keep you entertained, five minutes of Arseblog style stream of consciousness. I could tell you about the dream I had last night in which Mick Jagger came and had a chat with me, but I’ll stick to the football. So, three at the back, eh? Think we’ll see that until the end of the season. Maybe if Arsene had imitated what Juventus had been doing for years to win Serie A before seeing Chelsea (surely) win the title with it, we might have been in with a shout this season. Who knows? And more to the point, who knows how successful the system will actually prove in the long term. It’s certainly got the best out of the Ox, and Nacho Monreal played very well last Sunday. Where that leaves Hector Bellerin we wait and watch, but such are the demands of the position, one suspects the latter will play in almost every game for the last 20 minutes.
Rob Holding and Gabriel played with great commitment and for the most part were composed at Wembley. Yet, City certainly had chances. Arsenal should beat Leicester at home this evening, but the real acid test of the system will be at White Hart Lane on Sunday. There, the team will not only need commitment, but also complete focus and concentration. They have ridden their luck in the last two matches with the new system, and long may that continue, but they will also need to give less chances to the opposition. At least it’s something interesting to capture our imaginations for the remainder of the campaign. And arguably, a stick to beat Arsène with in that he should have been more flexible during recent seasons and experimented to get the team out of a rut more often.
So, back to business and a quick rundown on some of the contents in the current issue…
* Francis Coquelin and Rob Holding Talk To The Gooner – Interviews by Layth Yousif
* Dismal Endings – How previous Gunners bosses have met their end by Jon Spurling
* Vlad All Over – Half a season of Vladimir Petrovic by Stewart Taylor
* Same Old Same Old – Different players, same problems by Bernard Dowling
* The Enigma That Is Alexis Sanchez – How to get the best out of the Chilean by Simon Rose
* A New Broom – The challenges facing any new manager after Arsène by Peter Le Beau
* Leaving Highbury Behind – Has the move proved worth it? By Steve Pye
* Why Do Players Leave Arsenal? – Should we really expect loyalty? By Chris Cann
* The ‘DM’ – Arsenal’s Trial & Error of Defensive Midfielders by Dan Godfrey
* An Away Game I’d Rather Forget – Special Feature by Various Contributors
* Talking Reds by Kevin Whitcher
* The Spy
* Anger Management by Phil Wall
* Mickey Cannon
and much, much, more
*NB – As the issue went to press after the semi-final and is only being delivered from the printers this afternoon, subscribers’ copies will be posted tomorrow.
Issue 265 of The Gooner will be on sale this evening on your approach to the stadium from sellers for £3. It can be bought online for £3.60 including postage here.
Alternatively, you can simply pay £3.60 (postage included) (or £21 for a seven issue UK subscription) via online bank transfer to –
Account name: The Gooner
Sort Code: 20-76-90
Account Number: 03004112
Please follow up the payment with an email to [email protected] stating your name and address, ideally with proof of payment such as a screen grab or pdf, or at least the reference that you used for payment (e.g. 265Smith). If the payment was made from an account with a different name, definitely inform us so we can match the received payment.
Seven issue subscriptions are available for £21 (UK), £31 (Europe) and £41 (Rest of the World) and can also be bought through the Gooner Shop section of this website.
You also can bypass the online store by simply making a PayPal payment to the email address [email protected]. Pay either £3.60 or £21 for a seven issue subscription. If doing this, please make your payment a 'friends and family' / personal gift payment – this helps keep our costs down. (Overseas buyers add £1.25 per individual issue for Europe of £2.50 per issue for the rest of the world. Seven issue subscription costs are £31 for Europe and £41 for the rest of the world).
Finally, you can pay by cheque made payable to ‘The Gooner’ to the address below, for either an individual issue or a subscription…
The Gooner
BCM Box 7499
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WC1N 3XX
DIGITAL ISSUES
The Gooner is also available in digital form, through The Gooner App on iPhones and iPads, the Exactly App for Android devices and now Kindle Fire owners can also get their fix by searching the Amazon App Store for The Gooner.
You can also subscribe at www.exacteditions.com and read it through your internet browser as well as receiving a code which will enable you to access issues on all the above devices.
All digital subscriptions include access to our digital back issue library which dates back to August 2010.
