Stop the Rot!

Arsenal have crashed to a 3-0 defeat at Manchester City following a tumultuous week which saw Gallas sacked as Arsenal captain.

The team's performance today was woeful and the point was hammered home once again that we are badly lacking leadership skills on the pitch.

Several signings are needed and no amount of talking-up by Mr Wenger of our current group of players can change that fact.

Watching today's game has compelled me to return to Goonertimes.com to make a suggestion about two potential short-term signings who I honestly believe would be a tremendous influence on the undoubtedly talented but inconsistent youngsters at Arsenal.

Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry. Two former captains returning to the club they both love.




Ok - I know you're laughing; but think about it - they'd be dirt cheap and how many times have they said they wanted to return? What a morale boost it would be for the club! Their egos would love the idea of returning to rescue the club from potential UEFA Cup standard mediocrity. Who knows - it could even be a positive influence on a reprimanded Gallas!

I know Wenger's hardly going to listen... but I can dream can't I? Or maybe I'm just feeling nostalgic after an utterly crap week!!!

Clichy's a Gooner; Penalties not tailor-made for Croatia

Gael Clichy committed his long-term future to Arsenal today. This is a nice bit of business by the club which will hopefully shoot those Italian vultures out of the sky who thought that the recent departure of Flamini and rumours surrounding Adebayor may have unsettled the rest of Wenger's young squad.

An intelligent and talented young footballer signalling his desire to stay with the club can do nothing but show any potential signings and current Arsenal players -who are weighing up their options- that Wenger's project is on track.

In non-Arsenal news, one might wonder if the man who manufactures the goal-frames for Croatia to practice their penalties on, is the same guy who measures Slaven Bilic for his suits...

The Return

Today sees the return of 'The Gooner Times'. After a stint teaching in Viet Nam, and a lot of laziness since, I have decided that it's time to get this show back on the road.

The silence is deafening. Let's pretend that some of you actually care... Actually, let's pretend that somebody is actually reading this.

"The season's over", I hear you say. "What's the point?" some of you yell. "Is this not a site about purchasing weaponry and my right to bear arms?" says the slightly scary guy with a twitch.

Well, think of this as a warm-up for the re-launch of the site scheduled for the new season.
Let this new season be a season in which our beloved Arsenal will finally live up to its potential. Let it be a season that will see the team play from August to May with the same flair, style, vision and mental strength that we all witnessed and enjoyed up until February 2007. Let it be a season that will end with a cabinet full of trophies. And finally, let it be a season that won't involve the author of this website tanked up to the gills on Saigon Beer.

Actually scratch that last part - I'd love another season of booze in Viet Nam...

So what have you all been up to since June '07? In fact, is there anybody still out there?

Closed for Business

Mr Gooner Times is currently in Vietnam.

The site relaunch date is scheduled for 10 December 2007.

So long Thierry, thanks for the memories!

Thierry Henry's reign at Arsenal Football Club has ended; and there are a lot of people out there who are very bitter with the manner of his exit from the club.

Why all the negativity? The timing of his exit was right for all parties. Thierry needed a new challenge and I feel Henry's best years at Arsenal were behind him. (I'll be honest, it's taken me a few days to come to that conclusion!!!)

Don't get me wrong - there's every chance that Henry will be outstanding at the Nou Camp. I just feel that he was going a little stale at Arsenal and would not have enjoyed adapting into a provider -in the manner Dennis Bergkamp did from about 2000 onwards.

The style of Arsenal's play -when they're at their best- requires one super-fit, lightning fast striker. I'm not sure if Thierry will be able to perform that role for a full season and I don't think that he would enjoy playing the role of a support act.

That's not a criticism of Thierry's personality - many of the greats of football have a desire to be the 'main man' in his team. That desire mixed with talent and intelligence is what makes them great. Bergkamp is the only player I can think of who successfully switched to a supporting role when he began to lose his edge.

At Barcelona, Eto'o will be able share the duties with Henry -so I don't think a season will take as much of a toll on Henry's body as it did in his final two seasons with Arsenal.

Whether that works from a team perspective for Barcelona -who also have to accommodate Ronaldinho and Messi... and Giuly- is anybody's guess. Anybody remember the Galacticos of Real Madrid?

So let's not taint the memory of having arguably greatest player of his time wear an Arsenal shirt for eight glorious years. I hope he does well at Barca. I also hope that the Catalonian club put on some great footballing entertainment with its glittering array of talent - as long as it's not at the expense of Arsenal.

Let's not forget however, that the future at Arsenal is very bright - and with two or three signings, the club will become a dominant force again. I certainly think the best is yet to come from Wenger's Arsenal:Mark III.

The Return; Denilson Love; Lonely Hleb

Fear not! Darzinho has returned from a few weeks of bluffing in exams; all in a desperate attempt to cover up his lack of knowledge.

Unfortunately the season has ended, so I may have to transfer my bluffing skills to this website in order to give you people something half-decent to read!

Anyway, after a year's hiatus from work in which I studied the fields of Journalism and Media Studies, I have to give a serious thumbs down to the Sun newspaper for this headline- supposedly from the words of double-winning Arsenal captain, Frank McLintock:

"I fear Thierry will walk away" the headline screams! And yet, - as pointed out by Arseblogger- not once does this, ahem, 'journal of choice' attribute the quotation to Mr McLintock.

Feel free to tar and feather the writer of said piece - Gavin Glicksman.

"I fear Glicksman will get fired": How's that for a headline?

Annual Members Magazine
I received a copy of the annual members magazine and after a quick flick through it, a couple of things struck me:

Two of Arsenal's midfielders are spending far too much time together. Denilson is quoted in the magazine as saying:

"Sometimes when I'm in bed going to sleep I wonder how this has all happened. I'm here with this bloke, who is from my country, who in 2002 won the World Cup, who now is a huge success at Arsenal."

I suggest that all Arsenal fans write a letter to the club, suggesting that they shell out for a room with two beds; or better still, two rooms for the Brazilian men on away trips in future.

Also, if you turn to page 42, you'll see a picture of the "Players relax[ing] in the Player's Lounge." You'll notice a sad looking Alex Hleb sitting at a table on his own.

Trust me Alex, if I was your team-mate, I wouldn't want to sit with you either after the season you've just had.

Keane, but not very intelligent

Robbie Keane believes that Spurs' season was "just as good" as Arsenal's.

Dear Robbie,

I hope you're keeping well. I'm glad you're happy with yet another productive season. As usual that productivity doesn't extend past a personal level. Maybe one day you'll get a medal for your efforts.

Arsenal's season was very disappointing by our very high standards but I certainly don't feel as if there are any storm clouds gathering on our horizon. Both Thierry Henry and RVP were injured for prolonged periods of the season - and yet they have 23 goals between them . The transfer window was closed by the time the injuries got the better of Henry. Yes, it's a squad game but it's hard to factor in the possibility of both your main goalscorers being out.

How would Man Utd fare with both Ronaldo and Rooney out?

Chelsea without Drogba and certainly to a lesser extent, Shevchenko?

Or Liverpool without Crouch and Kuyt?

Dare I say it, would your beloved Spurs be facing relegation if Berbatov had missed a chunk of games before Xmas and bowed out again in February, with your good self out of actionfrom late January?

You seem happy with Spurs' season. Indeed, you performed well in the UEFA Cup. However, I would suspect that deep down you realise how important Champion's League football is - in terms of team development and financially. You are way off the pace compared to last season. I'm also not sure if you are guaranteed any form of European football next year. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Robbie signing for his 38th club

A pedantic person would point out that Arsenal are closer to the top two than they were last season. However, I won't deny that we went backwards in many regards, especially Champions League Football. Luckily, we'll have the opportunity to play in it next season and hopefully improve. Will Spurs? No.

So whilst Arsenal have taken a dip in some regards this season, we also have improved in other ways. Our league form has improved since last year, we have beaten Man U twice, Liverpool three times (forgetting the hammering) and taken four points from a team who views every match against us as a Cup Final. We are also no longer out-muscled by the likes of Bolton.

Let us not forget that only 13 years ago, Spurs were splashing out on world cup superstars such as Jurgen Klinsmann. Arsenal and Spurs were approximately the same size at that time.I tend to view my club with a medium to long term perspective and have very high hopes for the next couple of years. Your club appears to still value cup runs above long term development.

I do not understand the compulsion to compare yourself to Arsenal using what must be some some bizarre form of handicap method to justify how we have performed this season. To compare your run in the UEFA cup to competing in the Champion's League, is utter lunacy.

Considering your delight at Spurs cup runs, you must have conveniently forgotten that we beat you in the Carling Cup.

A few cup runs with no end rewards don't cut it with me as a good season. I'll take that Champion's League spot any day!

Kind Regards,
Darzinho

P.S. You have a rather large head.