Aaaah I though not. That was their game in hand wasn't it. Soz folks the excitement is getting to me.

Sczcesny. Is he much better than we though? Got better? Or still the same quality who just got lucky with Juve?
Huge clubs in the top tier like Juve usually gave a keeper from one of the top national teams in the world.
Juve seems happy with him..

if City do not win the FA Cup, then 6th in the Prem will start in the second qualifying round of the Europa League... on July 25.

Wan-Bissaka is having a good season, but replacing Belelrin with him is crazy. Wan Bissaka has 1 season in the prem, in a team in the bottom half. Belle fin has multiple seasons for a top team and playing in Europe.

I like Wan-Bissaka but considering the money talked about is £40m I think our money is better spent elsewhere

I think it is too easy to get attached to the players coming through the youth team with the idea that we could have a top class player who cost nothing. The much more likely scenario is that these youth team players provide a good means of income for first team signings.

Having said that I think AMN whilst not necessarily showing he can be a first 11 regular, can be an important first team utility squad player. These sorts of players are invaluable to squads. Of all the other young players the two I like are Saka and Willock. Saka for the raw pace and trickery and Willock for the maturity he’s shown in the last year - really stepped up. Nelson and Smith-Rowe I’m not so sure yet.

European clubs are looking at England for the next talent now, the tables have turned and we need to make sure that our best young players are protected either because we want them to stay or we want to protect a value to sell them for a good price.

Mbappe really is the next superstar of world football. He’s the one player in the world I’d sign if we could. Messi is better but Mbappe is 10 years younger

Completely agree. Bellerin is a good player and the least of our worries. Left back, central defence amd central midfield are all in need of investment. If we want to push the boat out on a young player, I'd like to see us go for Declan Rice. He would cost a fortune but can play centre half and midfield. Has serious potential.

Messi scored another three goals tonight. He will have another 40+ goal season for the 10th year in a row. Mbappe is really exciting. He reminds me of Brazilian Ronaldo. It's way too much to compare him to Messi. He's definitely the real deal but let's see what he becomes.

Just watching the end of the Betis Barca game. Betis score to make it 3-1 and the comms start carrying on about a Betis comeback and to make it 3-3 they have plenty of time. Couple of minutes later Messi does an absolute sublime chip to score and complete his hattrick 1-4. Absolute top goal.

Manchester will likely be the first English side to win all domestic trophies. I'm surprised no one has done it yet frankly. Especially, Man Utd in the '90s or even Chelsea in their prime under Chelsea.

LOL...Szczesny is an effing legend!

https://www.joe.co.uk/sport/wojciech-sz ... ing-223735
Wojciech Szczesny: "Jack Wilshere got so drunk at my wedding we found him in a bush"
Of Nasri he said: "He always thought he's some kind of gangster. Everyone has this colleague at school, who had strong and big friends and it made him think he's cool. In Poland there is saying - to fart higher than your bottom"

And of Gervinho, simply: "Who thought he would be in the top 40 I played with?! Add one more 0."

He also criticised van Persie for his move to Manchester United, saying: "You have to admit, he left to Man U and next year won a title, but year after that he got benched, moved to Turkey and his big career ended. He could have made other decisions and achive lots more at Arsenal. He's extremely arrogant - sometimes."

The last nugget we'll leave you with concerns the one and only Nicklas Bendtner, who Szczesny sums up better than any amateur psychologist ever could.

"One of the most intelligent guys I played with. You see Nick, well-organized, neat, in-form, seems everything is going great for him, next day you open the newspaper and read 'Drunk Bendtner driving wrong way' and you are like what the *%^@!? I don't know, a guy with two personalities. The most confident guy I played with."

High wages not withstanding, I was for keeping Ramsey. Juve are interested for a reason. He's dynamic.

I think this season has shown in defence you need 2 quality players for each major defensive position. If you get a long term injury in midfield it’s bad but if you get one in defence it’s a disaster. We’ve had 2 this season and I think if Bellerin and Holding hadn’t got injured top 4 would virtually be home and hosed for us which is incredible to think.

Just think back to the invincibles side where we had clichy as back up to cole and for Lauren if he got injured we moved an in form toure to right back. You need depth and quality in defence otherwise it costs you dearly.

The issue is that Bellerin has a major major injury and the type you can’t be rushed back from. He’s been blogging about it and it sounds a proper recovery is required.

I think the club may prioritise a right back and try and get by another season with Monreal and Kolasinac.

Summer outs to raise funds or on a free should be/are
Čech, Ramsey, Welbeck, Lichtsteiner - all £0. possibly add in Monreal maybe
Mustafi (£20m?), elneny (£10m?), Ospina(£4m)
Also Bennecar has either a recall clause or a % sell on that could net another £3m
If, a big if, we can raise nearly £50m in sales and get champions league there is no reason any new players can have a £100m+ budget

New GK (or make Martinez the No.2....if we go new then Pope is being mentioned for £10m and Martinez could be sold for £5m
New LB who can play LB in a back 4
Back up RB
AMN can also cover both positions as full back and wing back
New starting CB - big chunk of the budget here
New CM to replace Ramsey
New winger to replace Welbeck, ideally someone who is comfortable on the right and left
Possibly Nelsen coming back to play right wing
Back up striker
Probably need to spend at least £60m on the CB and CM which doesn’t leave huge amounts for GK, LB, RB, wing, striker

Also this doesn’t cover the Özil dilemma. Should we sell or keep him. If Ramsey and Özil went at the same time we would need to bring in a serious ball player and creative force to the side. This would be expensive.

I don’t think we will get a new striker, maybe a winger who can fill in up front as a last resort.

I think expecting any more new signings more than maybe 1 centre half, 1 fullback and a wideman is probably ambitious even if we reach champions league.

This summer will be the most interesting one for many seasons as I can’t recall a summer when there was so many question marks over our players

For Bernard, and several other forumites still traumatised by Swindon's 1969 League Cup final win, I just wanted to warn you that there's going to be a cartoon on The Guardian website tomorrow to 'celebrate' the 50th anniversary of the event. Seek counselling immediately...

Couldn't agree more. A host of top clubs would take Bellerin if we made him available. Twenty-four tomorrow, and with good luck, all his best years to come.

A wonderful goal greeted with applause from the home fans.

Yes Kolo was a key figure in that incredible achievement. However, alhough he is regarded by some as a bit of a joke, Cygan also did his bit that season - 10 full appearances and 8 as sub in the Invincible's league games. On the pitch for almost half the matches - he deserved his medal.

I privately published a book recently in which I wrote something which may ring a few bells.

"March 1969 was a month to remember... Henry Cooper suffered the lowest blow of his career when defending his European heavyweight title in Italy. A punch from opponent Piero Tomasoni landed seven inches below his navel and put three dents in the aluminium cup covering his genitals. Arsenal fan Henry kept it as a souvenir. Henry had his cup, but not so Arsenal who were sensationally beaten by Third Division Swindon Town at Wembley. Of the many bad memories of what John Sowman calls ‘The Long Sleep’, that defeat shouts the loudest and the longest...On the Ides of March Swindon won 3-1 after extra-time. They opened the scoring with a goal made by Arsenal. A mix-up between Ure and Wilson led to the ball reaching Roger Smart, who was tackled by Simpson. A ricochet slowly crossed the line past Wilson who slipped as he went for it. Gould scored a brave headed equaliser three minutes from the end of normal time. In extra time, while others fell about in the gluepot of a goalmouth, Don Rogers kept his balance to prod home Swindon’s second goal. He scored a third on the break as Arsenal chased upfield for an equaliser. Our hearts hit the earth as he rounded Wilson and calmly placed the ball in the net.

Few neutrals were interested in excusing Arsenal, yet there were a number of reasons for the embarrassing defeat. Swindon had an ally in influenza. The virus left many of Mee’s team less than fully fit... The dreadful pitch was a definite factor... if heavy rain persisted the match could be the first Wembley final to be called off. Arsenal’s appeals against the state of the pitch, in advance and during the game, fell on deaf ears. With a 100,000 crowd due in the stadium it was perhaps not surprising the authorities stuck to their plans, albeit right up to kick-off huge industrial blowers were used to try to mitigate the worst of the water...

However, nothing should detract from Swindon Town’s remarkable victory. They did not put in place any special plans for their more famous opponents, other than to change their normal training routine with a walk along the prom at Bournemouth. They were generally unfancied to upset Arsenal, and Desmond Hackett’s preview in the Daily Express was condescending and typical of the press punditry. ‘If Arsenal cannot administer a severe Soccer spanking to Swindon Town, from the Third Division, then they should add a permanent black edge to their customary red and white kit...this is rather like Arkle at his peerless best running against game selling platers...I do not wish to be unsympathetic to this warm-hearted, happy outfit from Wiltshire; nor would I rate them as yokels coming up to they Lunnon to lose their little lot on the three-card trick.’

The Robins rode their luck on the day – The Gunners struck the woodwork six times – but Swindon’s tactics were spot on. While Arsenal tried to work the ball through the sand, Swindon hit the ball long, reducing the running they had to do. By the end of normal time Arsenal were physically shattered. In extra-time they tried to come at Swindon again, only for Swindon to play on the break, which they did with the decisive third goal. Howe later took the blame for the defeat because he asked his team to attack in extra time with ailing lungs rather than settle for a draw and a replay. The main reason for Swindon’s win was Peter Downsborough’s performance in goal...Anger was one ingredient in his man-of-the-match showing. He said ‘If I played well, that’s my job, but it was also Arsenal’s fault. They shouldn’t have roughed me up. I get upset when anybody fouls me. After Bobby Gould hit me twice I told myself I’d rather die than let them score.’

The loss was deeply felt in the Arsenal camp. Skipper McClintock later wrote ‘I sat down for about fifteen minutes, saying nothing and trying to take it in. I can’t describe how I felt. It was a moment that I hope I’ll never experience again. Then the reporters came in wanting answers to questions. I couldn’t face them and I went in the bath and stayed there till they went. It is hard to take. The first, second and third times was bad enough. This time it is just murderous.’ Peter Storey recalled McClintock being so stunned by defeat he had to be reclaimed after wandering across the pitch, in a daze, with the post-match band of musicians. Bob Wilson remembers the captain getting hit on the head by the trombonists’ instrument, but not before he had thrown his runners-up medal into the Wembley mud.

Peter Storey admitted ‘I could happily have strangled Bob Wilson and Ian Ure when Swindon’s first goal went in. It was an absolute joke, an almighty cock-up, with our centre half and goalkeeper freezing over a back-pass, hesitating like tarts in a trance over who should take charge of the situation on the treacherous surface of mud and sand.’.. Manager Mee was brief and clear. ‘I said before the game that I would be sick if we lost. I am sick. There is nothing else to add.’..

For many Arsenal fans the enormity of the defeat was as immeasurable as the pleasure it gave to the supporters of Tottenham. Chelsea and West Ham. You had to be around then to experience the embarrassment and the pain. It was the climax in a grand ascent of calamities since 1953 that had taken in Norwich, Northampton, Rotherham and Peterborough. The Swindon defeat was a wound rather than an ache, and Ure and Wilson’s error, once seen, could not be dimmed from the mind. It was both a traumatic and fascinating moment. When Wojciech Szczęsny and Laurent Koscielny similarly ballsed it up in the 2011 League Cup final against Birmingham City, thousands of Arsenal fans of a certain age were immediately transported back in time. As fine a defender as he was, to this day Ure will forever be remembered for his part in Swindon’s first goal."

Excellent summary there, OMOH. As for poor old Ian Ure, as you probably recall he managed an almost-identikit effort against Leeds a few weeks later:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t4lMhgeblE#t=1m35s

Agreed. Make owning, let alone using, one of those things a terrorist act. (In the US I presume that would mean rendition to somewhere in Central Asia where they are not too bothered with due process or gentle forms of interrogation, but that this another issue).

Thanks. I'll be avoiding the Guardian website tomorrow like the plague. I still dislike Swindon to this day because of that result. Not enough to follow their results and if they played Manchester United, Tottenham, Chelsea or Liverpool, I would want them to win.

But if I hear on the radio or somewhere that they've lost or preferably been relegated, my immediate reaction is 'good'. It must presumably be explained by my youth at the time because I don't feel the same way about, for example, Luton or Birmingham.

And we couldn't blame the pitch for that one!

Totally agree. He was far from a banter centre half like Squilachi or Stephanovs, was called on frequently and rarely let us down.

Toure was sensational thinking back that season, new to centre half and very good at right back when asked to play there.

Man Utd coming back down to earth
I wonder how OGS will handle this pressure?
Wolves are playing well and hopefully Emery and the squad don't go there unfocused because its mon top 6 side.
We have to play with the same intensity we would vs a top 6 side to get a win..or even a result.

The article did say about Ian Ure "As fine a defender as he was..." To be honest, that's how I recall him, not bad at all despite being mainly remembered for the Swindon balls up and then, again with Bob Wilson, them doing the Leeds one.

I prefer to remember Ure for Quiz Ball. He was Beckenbauer-ish on that.

The Guardian cartoonist, David Squires, is a Swindon fan and a friend of mine, and when he mentioned he was doing a 50th-anniversary cartoon I let him know about Quiz Ball. David is only in his 40s, so, sadly, it was before his time and he wasn't aware of the programme. As a result, I suspect that David hasn't mentioned Ian Ure's mesmerising Quiz Ball skills as a counterpoint to the Roger Smart debacle. Maybe on the 60th anniversary...

The Big Match showed that third goal for ages....with....(and I wish I could forget it) ....Brian Moore’s deadly accompanying commentary …”and that is that” ....
Bobby Gould’s smile when he scored was great though....about the only good thing about the whole lousy day. F...horse of the year show.

So Overmars now seemingly out of the running, having signed a new 4-year contract at Ajax, Raul could end up with a lot of egg on his face after pushing Mislintat out it seems we aren't getting either of the front-runners, over to you Raul... (Kroenke's next fall guy).

Jenkinson will be with us till 2020 when his contract runs out. Literally no club will offer him the 45k he gets paid by us. It’s the reason we haven’t sold him yet.

Ian Ure was also ahead of his time in terms of his preparation. Influenced by the great Australian runner Herb Elliott, he was into eating all the right foods well before many other British players. When we signed him he was regarded as one of the world's best defenders, and he remains one of my favourites. I wrote this of him: 'I have to select a man who admitted in his autobiography that he only became a footballer because as an unemployed eighteen year-old he had nothing better to do! Ure’s resilient and self-sufficient character was born out of his working-class upbringing in Ayr. He was only fifteen when his father died, and he soon learned how to look after his family. He put the hours in to make himself a model professional player, and wanted others to respect his worth. He could be hard-nosed and as unflinching in his contract bargaining as he was in the tackle. Arsenal was always his team as a lad, so when he moved south from Dundee in 1963 Highbury was a natural home. Ure was tall and lean, and his head of hair, as white as gin, gave him a striking presence. He was always immaculately turned out and fastidious as his team mate Jim Furnell recalled. ‘He had new white laces in his sparkling boots, new studs and meticulously taped his shin guards on. The tapes had to be spot-on, all the same length. He’d try about six pairs of shorts on until he got it right. He was unbelievable. Then Frank McLintock would ruffle his hair up and he’d go mad. Frank did that once before a team photo and when Ian saw his hair was ruffed up he ripped the photo up!’ Some may remember Ian Ure as a perfect combination of imperfections, especially when his mistakes led to losses, but considering he often had scant supporting cover from his midfield or attacking colleagues, he was mostly magnificent. He is in my side alongside Simpson and Neill as a carver of meat for men.'

Met Ian Ure at my sister's wedding. Lovely bloke, very warm and friendly.

Suarez really hasn’t made much of an impression has he. I know he hasn’t started a game yet but in the minor cameos he’s made ive seen little to suggest he’s of the required level.

0MOH, I am impress with your writing style. I understand you self published and I congratulate you. Did u produce enough to market copies.

Thoroughly enjoyed reading your post. I think Ian Ure is one of the numerous Arsenal players whose reputation has little or no relationship with his actual capability as a player. Grossly under-rated.

Didn't know he was an Arsenal fan as a kid. My first assumption is always that Scottish football fans support either Rangers or Celtic. Where did you hear that? As a kid I read his autobiography Ure's Truly, but I don't remember it being in that.

Bernard, do not click on this link. As forewarned, here's the Guardian's tribute to Swindon's win in '69...

https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng ... t-in-sport

Why did he go to your sister's wedding? Guest of Frank?

Thanks for the warning.

And if possible get Mustafi out the door. Although who'd have him I'm not sure.