We haven't had a player like Partey with his specific skillset in a while.

Unless I’m missing something (entirely possible), all I’ve seen this morning is that one of Partey’s international team mates is urging him to join us. Doesn’t sound an awful lot to me. Yesterday the evidence that he’d be joining us seemed to be little more than reports that he’s open to playing in the Premier League. Fine, but Arsenal aren’t the only members of the Premier League and there are bigger, richer and more successful clubs than us as well.

From what I’ve heard of Partey, I hope we get him as he sounds a kind of midfielder we could do with. But from what I’ve read, the likelihood of him coming to us sounds much less than, for example, the prospects of Werner going to Chelsea. Anyway, I suggest the huge majority of transfer rumours are garbage based on little more than the imagination of journalists trying to get people reading reports. Accuracy seems a lesser priority from what I‘ve seen over many years.

If I am trying to be positive about our chances of getting Partey, it’s if Atletico still want Lacazette. If that’s the case, maybe both clubs would be willing to get some sort of exchange between the two players over the line. I’ve got a feeling Rich implied this quite recently.

However, a negative side to this idea is that swap deals are inevitably more complicated to complete. Instead of the buying club getting their financial offer for someone accepted by the selling club and then agreeing terms with the player involved, there is this complication. The two clubs have to reach agreement over the fiscal value of two players rather than just one, with one club paying another more if they can’t agree they’re worth exactly the same. Both players will then have to agree terms with the clubs they are joining, rather than only one having to agree terms with a new club.

As I say, I hope Partey does join us. But from what I’m reading, it’s way too early to get all that excited about the transfer yet.

F&&^%%#$ idiot .... you've got no idea about US politics .... my brother who thankfuully I see once a year spends 24/7 in the same mode

Trump ......... apparently killed both Kennedy's , Luther King , Marilyn Monroe , John Lennon , Jimmy Hoffa .and caused the 2008 financial crash

...... try reading a different news source .

kiwi has been away from the forum a bit lately because he was clearly busy taking a course on subtlety.

I’ve recently spent time with a couple of people who have had direct dealings, both social and business, with Trump. They both said he was a dangerous narcissist, and one agreed that they thought he was sick. No “news source” required.

Wonderful ....... always helps to have a couple of anonymous sources to bolster your case .
.... yeah I had a couple of rums with Trey Gowdy a fortnight ago and he agrees Trump isn't the greatest dude on the planet ..... he also told me .........Hamstrung by the minefield of judges , mayors , governors , congressmen / women senators , the CIA , FBI , NSA , Secret Service , fifty states all marching to a different agenda . an avalanche of total b%*&s%*^ coming from CNN , BBC , MSBC , NBC , ABC it's a wonder he has achieved anything at all .

too true Bernard , I guess old age , turned 75 couple of months back leads to this tendency to sugarcoat things , tone it down ..... not really tell it how it is .

Post corona ..... the Aussie Rugby league re -started a couple of weeks back .

No fans allowed but they came up with a novel scenario .....,"FANS IN THE STANDS " for $22 you can have a life sized cut out of yourself , your wife , your dog propped up on a seat , they have some taped subtle crowd noises .... quite good .


EDIT ...although having just checked ..... some turkeys paid for a cut out of Adolf Hitler and Harold Shipman which didn't go down to well .

I understand he will have to resit the exam next week. But you have to admire 75 yo males putting themselves out there to challenge all and sundry. Even if they are talking total bollocks.

We're being linked with some interesting people.
Thiago Silva, out of contract but at 35 he's past it. Not sure what his wage demands would be but if we got a bargain without sacrificing a younger, better player for the same position.
The Partey rumors grow stronger, could love for that to happen. Even if we have to sell one of our gems up front.
And Luca Jovic loan rumors...

Phew. At least it was just Hitler and Shipman. Don't know if you've been following the UK news Kiwi, but it could have been worse. It could have been Churchill or God help us, Trump

And you do? All I've ever seen you do on the subject is parrot right wing talking points, peddle conspiracy theories and yell about CNN. Guess what, it's not just CNN, it's trusted media from all over the world because it's not difficult to listen to what he says and then look at the actual facts, something you seem completely unwilling to do.

But by all means, have another drink and continue yelling at everyone who doesn't like fascism. Doesn't make you look at all like a demented bigot.

Trump at least didn't murder Swedish prime minister Olof Palme in 1986. The police just presented their conclusion and closed the investigation, 34 years after the murder. This is really the weirdest year.

Fascinating idea though. Think of all the female fans who will be spending their £22 on life size cut outs of Joanne Dennehy, Beverley Allitt, Rose West or Myra Hindley. Up in Scotland I bet cut outs of Peter Tobin will be popular with male Celtic fans as he supported them (or ‘supports’ as he’s still alive). Think of the demand for Peter Sutcliffe cut outs with Leeds fans. Dale Cregan cut outs with Manchester United fans.

I’m trying to think of famous murderers who supported Arsenal. Seen reports that Reggie Kray was. Mad Frankie Fraser was definitely a big Arsenal fan.

This may eclipse the Brexit debate in both severity and vitriol.

https://www.loudersound.com/features/th ... rock-bands
The 10 worst albums by 10 brilliant classic rock bands

1. Deep Purple - The Battle Rages On...
2. Kiss - Carnival Of Souls: The Final Sessions
3. Led Zeppelin - Celebration Day
4. Alice Cooper - Goes To Hell
5. Rolling Stones - Emotional Rescue
6. Pink Floyd - Soundtrack from the film More
7. Jethro Tull - The Jethro Tull Christmas Album
8. Queen - Made In Heaven
9. Bob Seger - Noah
10. Eagles - On The Border

Wasn't Osama bin Laden a gooner?

Frankie was never convicted of murder, although he was quoted as saying “It’s alleged I’ve killed 40 people and who am I to disagree with that? I’ve always said I like even numbers.”

You’re right Bromley he was. Well remembered.

Stretching the point admittedly, but might our Sovereign Lady (may she sustain) have a few stiffs to answer for?

You’re correct he wasn’t actually committed of murder. But whether it was forty or not, I’d be very surprised if he didn’t do any.

Do you mean the Queen? If so, who are you suggesting she bumped off? Diana? Did the Queen hire Diana’s rat-arsed driver?

https://twitter.com/Arsenal/status/1270 ... 00898?s=20

Pathetic.

Seems the late Fidel Castro was also an Arsenal fan.

Yes he was.

Wonder if our friend from across the Atlantic will start blaming Mustafi for conceding three against Brentford? If he does, perhaps you or someone else he hasn’t blocked could tell him we conceded all three goals after Mustafi went off. According to Arsenal.com Mustafi was substituted after 60 minutes. Brentford scored their first after about 70 minutes, which they followed up with a further two.

It's a friendly so its difficult to say the result was bad in context.

Info from the Arsenal website. The subs at 60 minutes in the defence
60 - Sokratis for Bellerin
60 - Holding for Mustafi
60 - Kolasinac for Tierney

Even then we had only scored once prior to this time. This result does not fill me with joy. The first half team had been
First half XI: Leno; Bellerin, Mustafi, Pablo Mari, Tierney; Willock, Ceballos, Saka; Pépé, Nketiah, Aubameyang

The following started the second half:
Second half XI: Leno; Bellerin, Mustafi, David Luiz, Tierney; Maitland-Niles, Guendouzi, Özil; Aubameyang, Lacazette, Saka

I would have expected better. It is not as if we had on a pile of non first team players involved.

In my view the defensive substitutions on the hour all involved bringing on worse players than the guys who went off. But I’m not going to get worried about the result. These games against Charlton and Brentford were little more than part of a warm up or fitness strategy that were presumably a bit more competitive than playing the youth team would have been.

Perhaps if anyone should get slightly worried it’s Charlton as we slaughtered them before losing to Brentford. Having said that, I would guess Brentford must be a better side than Charlton as I thought they were supposed to be fighting for a place in the Championship play offs for promotion to the Premier League. I don’t remember Charlton ever being mentioned in that context on the rare occasions I heard the play off fight being mentioned on Talksport. Maybe they are. Or could they be way down the Championship? Indeed, I don’t even know what division Charlton are in these days. For all I know they might be in League 1, or even League 2.

But just like the Charlton result didn’t enthuse me that much, the Brentford result doesn’t really concern me. I see both games as fitness events in a semi-competitive environment.

I’d never heard of La Liga TV until just now. I fancied watching the Seville match this evening. It turns out that Sky haven’t been showing La Liga games for a couple of seasons.

Apparently “People in the UK have missed Spanish football,” LaLigaTV’s Simon Hanley told the Independent on a visit to its Barcelona studios last month.” Obviously I didn’t.

Seems that the Spanish league have set up their own TV channel which they control and sell. Sky subscribers can see it for an extra £6 per month although the next couple of weeks are covered by a free trial.

I wonder how long before the Premier League goes that way.

Would be okay for you but not me then..

The chances of a “Premflix” channel happening in England, where Sky Sports has around six million subscribers and BT Sport close to two million, are slim. But Masters suggested a two-tiered system – with some countries watching games shown by existing TV broadcasters and others streamed directly by the Premier League – was inevitable. “I’m not saying it will happen in the next cycle or when it will happen but eventually the Premier League will move to a mix of direct consumer and media rights sales,” he said. “It is impossible to say when that will be.”

Actually as a general point I find the whole location issue immensely annoying. I pay for a service (like Sky or BT Sport or Eurosport) but am not allowed to access when abroad. Simply ridiculous.

Charlton are in the Championship. They fell into the bottom 3 just before lockdown. Which is why I was hoping the Championship would be binned this season. Another club where the fans have been shafted by a succession of owners not fit for purpose. I hope they can stay up but not looking likely as their best player Lyle Taylor is now refusing to play as his contract expires at the end of June.

I'm suggesting there perhaps she'd be one of the few Gooners who have had wars fought in their name.

Presumably as Head of State, many infamous murderers would have been executed 'at her pleasure'? I bet you know how many.

If Hodd happens to look in, do you have any news of a reported cull of Academy Scouts?

I'll be very interested to see how teams are affected by no fans being in the stadium. Lots of early conclusions have been made from the Bundesliga games that have taken place behind closed doors.
One thought was that those teams who typically have less possession have struggled in home matches as they don't have the fans to feed off for that extra burst of fitness/stamina.
I think about the number of times I've watched Arsenal away from home where we've failed to quieten the crowd, it could be as simple as dwelling on the ball and a forward blocking a clearance, it gets an underdog crowd up for it and the opposition players really do feed off that.
I think we can benefit from no fans in comparison to a lot of clubs in the league. Certainly away from home against some vociferous home fans. In our home games it is only really in some of the biggest games that our crowd really seem to get going and provide impetus for the team.

ltg, have you tried using a VPN when abroad for access?

Anthony Taylor is the ref for the Man City match next Wednesday.

I’ve just looked it up. The current Queen was crowned on 2nd June 1953. The executions after that date totalled 69. Interestingly the first was that of John Christie of 10 Rillington Place fame on Wednesday 15th July 1953. Hanged by Albert Pierrepoint at Pentonville Prison, quite close to Arsenal’s ground.

I’ve been to over fifty different clubs as an away fan following Arsenal. More grounds than that as quite a few have built or use new stadiums. To be honest I don’t think Arsenal’s home support is much different to pretty well any club. I went to our away Champions League game at Celtic Park some years ago and their home support wasn’t noisy enough to make them noticeably different. Maybe it’s better when Rangers are the away team, but the only two Old Firm derbies I’ve been to were both at Ibrox.

Indeed on one of them, the Rangers Celtic game was the same weekend as a Tottenham Arsenal match at White Hart Lane (the Glasgow derby was on the Saturday and the North London one the next day on the Sunday). I went to both. Believe it or not, there wasn’t that much of a noticeable difference in the atmosphere at each.

I’ve seen Arsenal at places like the Manchester clubs (both City and United), the Merseyside clubs (both Liverpool and Everton), the north east (Newcastle, Sunderland and Middlesbrough), Leeds, Aston Villa, Tottenham, Chelsea and West Ham plus countless smaller clubs and I honestly don’t consider Arsenal’s home support as consistently worse than any of them. Not enough to make me notice anyway.