*%^@*** hell !

Why the *%^@ would you do that!

Very true. Because there is no way in the laws of the game that it should have been retaken if it was a double kick.

What if ..BECAUSE he slipped ......he kicked up the face of the ball instead of through it thus imparting top spin [ that's how it works in tennis ] wouldn't that produce the same result as the supposed double touch .

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqXrAHuLksU[/youtube]

And when he pulls his frilly nylon panties right up tight.... I fear it will do little to assuage the envy of the northern refs.

To be honest our fashion sense can't also be winning the hearts and minds of these northern refs too. I'm pretty sure if Mike Dean glances at Bellerin arriving for the game in the tunnel dressed as a Rupert the bear themed Gardon gnome it wouldn't appeal to his northern grit.

This must be helping the referees association in their never ending genocidal quest to wipe out our club.

Yeah thanks Cobber ... I'd forgotten that ..the ultimate in screaming injustices ; would have won the series if not for that .
I loved Gatland when he was part of a very famous forward pack playing for my home team Waikato in the early 90s , but now he seems to have forgotten his Kiwi roots and turned into a snivelling little Quisling .

... but I moved on too much happening in life .

Yesterday a turkey arrives to check out building a new fence between us and the neighbours , I'm at the Op Shop .. wife says to him we agreed to get rid of that tree .... it's a source of ivy and all manner of sheight which will cover the new fence if left

" Whoa God ..... I dont fancy that , it's a big mother " ... he goes home "I'll be back in a week ".

I go out , climb a ladder ; tie two ropes high up the trunk ... hook it to tow bar of the Maxima ... take the weight ..a decent notch at the base ..... REV ... CRASH ... it's down .

not hard to put this one to bed .... free kick Geek you may well have been but were you any good ...?

Those half dozen admiring sheilas in their gym slips , hands clasped , ready to swoon " Oh John you are so talented " on the sidelines doesn't mean you reached Denis Bergkamp status .

The look on his face doesn't suggest a fluke ... he was laughing because in spite of the slip he still managed to put the ball in the net .

Plenty of our players Iwobi , Bellerin , Welbeck get the ball three as high as that with firm footing .

Half a dozen? If only it were that few, the local constabulary could have had a day off crowd control at Shrewsbury Tech. The English girls loved a bit of Welsh rough (still do in fact).

It was the mullet/pudding bowl haircut, really tiny tight satin shorts (Arsenal of course) and socks properly rolled down to the ankles wot done it. Oh, and the aluminium studs on the Winfield (Woolworth) special boots.

Stop it John you're getting me excited

sheltered life
closet Forest fan
Masochist

didn't realise you were gay Brom .... no shame in that I hurriedly add , strictly women and sheep for me .

I'm not gay Kiwi, but if John carries on like that he might change my mind

As opposed to this. Who knows Hector may have.

Everyone take a seat. I agree generally with Hoy on this. Looking at the conditions of the VAR I understand that we will never know what footage the VAR person gets to look at. Remember he has a short time to make a decision. Do not for a second believe that what they are replaying on your TV will be exactly what he/she currently looks at. If they have 5 camera angles of a decision they may only really use 3. Old mate in the VAR may make the decision. Then 5 minutes later on the TV they show camera angle 4 and you will be totally outraged.

Looking at some of the recent decisions you can see how people and indeed experts are split on whether it is a penalty or not. A human being with the same mind skills as us will make the decision.

Plus wait for the time ou have aperson fouled in an attacking position, he loses the ball and the other team break and score. Don't expect that they will automatically go back that far to make a decision.

VAR or the equivalent in rugby league has been used for seasons and some of the decisions are bizarre.

We are heading to be american football which is totally f...d as a sport. Review after review.

Missed the game and some of the decisions on cards recently have been plain stupid.

Strong rumours today linking Coq with a move. Few prem clubs and Valencia linked. Good move for both arsenal and coq as long as we replace him.
No doubt the fee will be derisory as it always seems to be with us. 26, 3.5 years left on his contract. I reckon we’ll end up getting something under £10m

Tomorrow's paper. Life after Sanchez looks rosy. What a crowd

I dont know where you are coming from .... in the Aussie rugby league they show EXACTLY what " The Bunker " ie video ref is looking at on the Big Screen and the television broadcast ...... with Phil Gould usually chipping with ' what is taking them so long "

They've had a few shockers but they've had more wins than losses in my view .

Wenger papered over fundamental fixes with band-aids. Now the band-aids are dropping off, and the wounds did not just not heal, but has infection. Wenger made a relatively smaller issue, into a very big one for the club. Along the way he had opportunities to make the fixes, but chose to stay arrogant about his belief. It is all breaking apart now, and I cannot see how he can stay on.

The same thing happened at Monaco. He started very well, but ended badly.

Agree ... couldn't care less about Welbeck. He has not proven his worth. Ramsey seems to be coming good.

This Arsenal team will not be winning anything. Definitely not with Wenger still in charge. Players are leaving, and the better ones at that. Too many hanging on because of high wage or Wenger's indulgence. No Captain on the field. Zonal defence still not effective. Lack of urgency on the pitch. To top it all, a Manager lost in the old ways.

But a few 3rd placed teams coming through from their failed ECL campaign are. Atletico, Napoli & Dortmund. CSKA & Spartak Moscow may also be too much of a challenge.

You are correct in he NRL we see the same footage. But the EPL conditions you do not and never get to see what they decided on.

But as for injustices - the cowboys for instance:
I suggest you have a look at the clearly knock on try from Manly in the finals a couple of years ago.
Then the seven tackle try by Cronulla in he finals
A clearly forward pass by the Broncos to beat the Cowboys last year or the year before.

We are certainly out of the league title and have been for a few months. Of the two remaining competitions, the Europa Cup is the easier of the two. To repeat what we did in the FAC last season in reverse order of the semis and finals is a tall order and very unlikely. I'd suggest its slightly easier to get past Lazio, Milan and any of the 3rd place group stages sides over Chelsea and City. Both of whom I'd fancy winning the Europa Cup if they were still in it.

As an aside, City will win the ECL I would guess within the next 3-5 years. I could even conceive Tottenham winning it in the next 5-10 years but a few things have to happen (they remain competitive keep key players and strengthen, most importantly keep the manager when slots open when big clubs need a manager).

Nice to know I can still get someone excited!!

And not necessarily in that order?

I think the whole world is becoming American, and not just in sport, which means we will all be totally f...d

Rumours from Spain that Coquelin will sign for Valencia for £10m. Doubt we’ll see a midfield signing out of the blue, so I wonder if this means Wenger wants to tray Maitland-Niles in central midfield? I would honestly be ok with that for the remainder of the season.

Methinks you underestimate the significance. 2-3 Gunners may well have got a draw. 2-4 not on.

Imagining Lillee or Thommo reading a book is the greater feat of imagination.

And now there are rumours we're open to selling Elneny to West Ham. Apparently Wenger does not think we need to have midfielders in the squad. Watch him revolutionize English football again with a 5-0-5 formation.

El Nenny and Coquelin are useless and not up to standard. Surely better options using youth or an indicator somebody new is coming in.

Disagree that they're useless, but wouldn't mind seeing them replaced with someone better. If they're replaced by Joe Willock though, I don't see the point. No point in making the team worse just because we're probably not winning anything.

Why not start rebuilding (although with Wenger it's pointless), we will finish 6th and win nothing this year. Everyone can see it, knows it and has accepted it.

The process of rebuilding the squad is essential. Our talent pool is slim and we have barely any week to week match winners after Özil and Sanchez go. You have to start somewhere

I don't know, who says we shouldn't? However an important part of rebuilding is to replace players who are sold with better players, or at least players who have the potential to be better. Gutting the squad mid-season hardly helps our current situation much. That's why I'm wondering if we're looking to sign a midfielder in January.

Tickets on sale for red members now at 10 quid a pop for the lower tier for the 2nd leg v Chelsea.

The drop off of demand for tickets is incredible. This wouldn't have happened a few years back.

Fascinating situation at Arsenal off the pitch. On it it's tedious

You spelled 'years' wrong.

Perhaps this is the type of thing, more than the mediocrity we're routinely seeing on the pitch, that will make Kroenke think about whether it's time to bring in a new manager? If Darren is right though, I won't be happy with Wenger joining the board. He's such a control freak I just don't see him being able to stop himself from interfering. I reckon he'd want to choose the new manager who will be someone willing to listen to Wenger's advice, which is a way of saying do as he's told.

You spelled a decade wrong

Nah I will be disappointed on the day young footballers with a ton of money don't rent an Air B and B for a party the night before a cup game. Good on you, Alex. It sits nicely with Bellerin's yellow hat at London Fashion Week.

Like the Style Council, my moods are ever-changing and the Arsenal soap opera is becoming more and more entertaining by the day. Nobody could have failed to derive a degree of entertainment and amusement from the debacle at Forest which in a sterile football world is something. It is the Eighteenth Brumaire of Arsene Wenger - first time tragedy, second time farce.

You may be right I certainly worried we might snatch an annoying equaliser if that goal was disallowed. Although equally likely we would have managed a miss like the one that did happen right at the end.

Anyway, I don't think a highly marginal decision (I KNOW forum physicists, but you are just going to have to resign yourself to shrieking into the void on this one) really serves as a deodorant for the stench coming out of Denmark right now.