What’s
the score?!
Welcome to another week of “What’s the score?!” – This week twitter has really and truly gone into serious meltdown… a
good enough reason to keep off it, to be honest… but we
ALL want to know and see what is going on.
Gone are the days of coming home
and switching on TeleText for all the transfer gossip. Now days, Sky Sports News is on 24/7; online news aggregators never sleep; Facebook and, of course,twitter, are accessible round the clock (by most, if not all) on smart phones, and therefore
the information – or serious
lack of it – is available all of the time! –
Despite the quality of the information, we are all guilty of rubber-necking!
This week an Arsenal supporter
perhaps went just too far, and hopefully someone close to him will make sure he
gets the necessary help (seriously) to prevent a tragic occurrence taking
place… He tweeted:-
Wenger, if you don't sign Suarez by next week end .. @Arsenal. Lol #AFC pic.twitter.com/U2QDdoweKa
— Yoann Arsenal (@Yoann_AFC) July 28, 2013
He later tweeted with anger that
the photo was not actually of him, but even though..! FFS! Nothing wrong with venting your frustration or upset, but posting
a picture of a knife at someone’s throat is definitely pushing it beyond any
sort of normality!
It’s not over until the fat
lady sings… (or 2nd September!)
Despite the official closing date
of this window being 31st August 2013, the transfer widow actually
closes this year at midnight on the 2nd September due to the fact that the 31st August
falls on a weekend. So, there are still another 29 days for Arsenal to make the necessary signings, and get the player(s) registered. The fat lady has not sung quite just yet, people!
As a
supporter, I am also getting frustrated, probably reading all the negativity on
twitter, but I do feel confident (personal
opinion before you start) that we will sign two or three major marquee
signings before the transfer window closes. Take a
quick look at a rather melancholic picture
produced by @Inviniciblog, which
sums up the mood of supporters at present!
As it was
put to me only yesterday,
when writing this blog, there is a famous Buddhist
saying (source unknown)
that goes something along the following lines… “Wait for the arrow to hit before feeling the pain. There is no point
going through pain if it hasn’t (or might not) hit at all.” As such, despite the continual doom
and gloom, the time has not yet come to despair!
What
is the delay?
Although I
have previously covered in reasonable detail what is involved in the ‘transfer
process’, what many do not seem to appreciate is that there is
protocol that every club will follow (and most do) when approaching a player…
It is not as simple as saying ‘I
want xyz player, I am going to get him’…
Specifically,
current UEFA and FIFA regulations state that it is strictly prohibited for a
club or any of its representatives to approach a player under contract either
directly or indirectly, via a third party, the media or through the player’s
agent, without the express permission of the club he may play for. As such,
although it may happen, it is highly unlikely that any player talking to a
proposed club is doing so without the permission of the selling club. Often,
this is the largest stumbling block to any transfer. So, in reality, if a
player is ‘talking’ to another club, then their current club will know about
it. That does not however stop agents from speaking to clubs about a move… that
does happen, and often although the player may hear about it, is prevented from
acting upon it without permission of his current club.
Ultimately,
by the time a player actually gets to speak to the proposed club he may want to
join (or who may want him)
most of the deal has been sorted out, hence the expression ‘personal terms to be agreed’. So in essence, despite the outrage
of no signings of note, you can be pretty sure, that when Arsene Wenger
referred yesterday in his presser to: – “we
are trying hard to bring players in”, the above scenario should make sense!
Twitter
Outrage…
There was
outrage yesterday morning on twitter when Arsenal legend Ian Wright suggested
to BBC Sport that Luis Suárez should stay
at Liverpool and turn down the chance to move to Arsenal! Really Ian?
Disagreeing with what Ian Wright may say… or anyone for that matter is one
thing, but out and out abuse by so-called Arsenal supporters is unacceptable in
my opinion.
“I’d
welcome him at Arsenal with open arms,” Wright told BBC Sport. “But if I was Suárez, when you look at everything, it does seem
strange he would want to go to Arsenal. I would give Liverpool another
season.” Oh dear Mr Wright, and you wonder why supporters were pissed
off with you?
“Arsenal
finally realise they’ve got to get up there with the big boys otherwise they
will be left behind. Suárez is a world-class striker and if he didn’t have all
the baggage around him, I feel the Barcelona’s, Real Madrid’s and Bayern
Munich’s would be sniffing around,” said the ex-England international.
“That’s
why I believe Arsenal should try to bring him in – because I feel it’s the only
time they could get someone like that. In another market, I don’t think he’d
even look at Arsenal. I would like to see them go as far as they can to get Suárez,
but they can’t just buy him and not replenish the rest of the team. I think
they need a goalkeeper, two centre-halves, two full-backs – for both left-back
and right-back positions – another midfielder and two strikers. It doesn’t make
sense buying Suarez for that money and not backing it up with other signings of
the same stature.”
Thank you to my friend @Head_Stone for bringing this to my
attention at silly o’clock!
I was indeed fortunate enough to meet Ian Wright a
while back, and had a sensible conversation with him about Arsenal. His passion for the club was clear! So, while
I do appreciate as an ex-Arsenal player who clearly loves the club, he is
entitled to a valid opinion, perhaps contradictory comments such as the ones
above are why Ian Wright is not involved in management!
More on the Luis Suárez situation…
In last
week’s article I ran through various
scenarios concerning Luis Suárez. Since then, many have questioned what I said,
which is fine, but I do believe I was pretty much bang on the money!
Last night, BBC Sport
reported pretty much what I have been saying for most of the week on twitter: that Luis Suárez would, if necessary, consider going down the
legal route in order to force a move. He could (and it’s rumoured he will) put
in a transfer request or he could take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. For those interested in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, click here.
Luis Suárez did go down
a similar route when Dutch side Groningen turned down an offer from Ajax back
in 2007 for his services, so,
despite many Liverpool supporters saying he won’t leave, never say never. We as Arsenal supporters know only too well how
true that statement is! – Liverpool meanwhile continues
to insist that Luis Suárez is not for sale. We will see!
It is understood that when Luis Suárez signed a new contract in
August 2012, he requested a clause that allowed him to depart if Liverpool
failed to qualify for the Champions League and received a bid in excess of
£40m. I was ridiculed for saying this, but hey, now it is in the public domain
of press/media. Although the ‘papers/media’
do not get it right all of the time, they rarely leave themselves open to
making such sweeping statements if they were not actually so. (Nor would I!)
As alluded to previously, as with the whole RVP situation last
year, if a player wants to leave, then frankly, any football club, despite
resisting in the strongest possible terms, ultimately usually does acquiesce to
the player’s
wish and allow him to move. However, you can be sure there is always a price to
pay for it one way or the other. In the case of Luis Suárez it may result in
the player eventually handing in a transfer request to force the move, which
will mean he will forego any bonus he may entitled too from Liverpool, hence
the reason why most players don’t like doing it! However, in such a situation, that is normally taken
into account by the purchasing club –
as I mentioned in my article on contracts
a few weeks ago.
Arsène Wenger in his presser yesterday afternoon discussed the
Luis Suárez situation and made it clear that Arsenal would be respectful
towards Liverpool (which is always the Arsenal way when negotiating any
transfer) and wished for things to be dealt with in an ‘amicable’ way.
Although it is a completely different scenario, just look at the
Gareth Bale situation. The principle is the same. Yes, the figures are obscene,
but despite the Spuds refusing (apparently) to allow him to leave for Real
Madrid, ultimately, he will leave and go there, no doubt. Gareth Bale himself has
now made it very clear – bar
putting in an official transfer request – that he wants to leave ( … and
I can’t say that I blame him to be honest!)
So, what I don’t understand is this (and I’m reasonably
intelligent)… How is it that Brendan Rodgers stated at the beginning of the
week that Liverpool were completely finished in the transfer market as they had
limited funds, but then, a £21.8m bid
is tabled for Atlético Madrid striker Diego Costa. My point? – I think it is
obvious really,
isn’t it? They are undoubtedly looking to make provision for the departure of
Luis Suárez!
As always,
I would be interested to know your views and/or thoughts on the whole transfer
scenario. Please feel free to leave a comment below, or send me a tweet @jeremylebor.
I always reply!
If
it’s not worth knowing… Jeremy knows it!
So,
here is yet more useless trivia about our beloved club!
With
the Emirates Cup this weekend, perhaps this is timely and appropriate:-
Did you
know?
– Academy player, Benik Afobe, is
the only Arsenal player to have played in the Emirates Cup, but not made a
competitive first team appearance!
With my
good mate, the
not so fat London Taxi Driver
having the week off, this week’s
statistics are provided by the Communications Department at Arsenal Football
Club… Once again, thanks guys.
If you have any ‘trivia’ about either the team or the club, then please let me know
and I will gladly post them in this section… The wackier the better! – Tweet me
@jeremylebor.
Last
Word…
So Arsène
Wenger’s presser yesterday was uneventful to say the least, he talked about
Luis Suárez (as mentioned above), how he was ‘confident’ he would bring in
players before the transfer window closes, and in particular, the Emirates Cup.
Apparently, Santi Cazorla will play a part on Sunday, and it will be the first
opportunity to see what Yaya Sanogo is all about.
Arsène
Wenger made the point that although he is not a name yet – or a “£40M or
£50M player” – there
are high
hopes for him,
and many will be surprised. A few that I do know who have seen him play in
France say he is a beast and sure to
do well for Arsenal… We will see! In case you missed it, we did a short
piece here on Gunners Town
when he joined early in July.
This week’s
final words are reserved for Golfer and Arsenal supporter Ian Poulter. He said
amusingly on twitter on Friday…
Im not sure Arsenal can afford Suarez food bill let alone wages.
— Ian Poulter (@IanJamesPoulter) August 2, 2013
I therefore
leave you and him with this thought… Using the ‘keyhole’ analogy, we are all looking through a keyhole: unable to see
the whole picture and the large room in detail. As such, we have no choice
(regardless of how we feel) but to be patient and hope that Arsène Wenger and
the board are doing whatever is necessary to bring in the quality ‘world class’
players that not only we want them to
bring in , but frankly we,
as the supporters, deserve!
For those
going to the Emirates Cup over the weekend… Enjoy!
So, now you
know the score… until next week – Jeremy!
Jeremy Lebor
Gunners Town is a premier Arsenal blogging platform for passionate and knowledgeable Gooners. Established in 2012, the site has garnered over 5 million views.
Great Blog I’m a huge Arsenal supporter from Thailand