Brendan Batson

Could've been worse David. It could have been Tottenham in a two leg semi final. Now that would have had your blood pressure rising. And mine.

I'd look no farther than Villarreal for now. Far from the foregone conclusion that some in the media seem to think. Roma won't lie down for Man U either.

Depends on who's doing the counting.

Niall, Brendan Batson. Better known for his time at WBA, but started off at Arsenal.

Just seen tomc beat me to it. Wasn’t on the forum all afternoon and while out my battery expired.

Must be my weird humour. That brought to mind an image of you being a Duracell bunny.

Rangers have invited Arsenal to play a friendly at Ibrox to celebrate their 150th anniversary.

Perish the thought Tom.
Still cant believe Zagreb did that to Spurs.
You are right. Neither semi is a foregone conclusion.

Good result for us if spurs everton stays at 2 2.
Beat Fulham and we are 2 behind Spurs and 1 behind Everton.
Would have a real chance of nicking 7th.
Think it goes down to 7th if city win the caraboa and city or Chelsea win the fa cup
Need a back up plan if Europa goes tits up.......

Never heard of Batson I would never have got that. Cheers lads

It is a bit different next year.
7th gets a European place of both domestic cups are won by teams in 1st-6th place. But it is a place in the new Europa conference league competition, a 3rd European competition. The Europa league will be reduced from 48 teams to 32 teams.
So I think 7th gets europe but it’s the conference league. If we did end up in this competition I have the feeling we’d be by far the strongest team in it and it would probably be one the kids play a lot in

I’ve seen it said (I’m sure by me as well at some point) that ‘how lucky we are to have smith-Rowe and saka, and this isn’t having a go at anyone who has said it but in reality producing two youth players through our academy since they were both maybe 8 or so years old, and getting them to a level good enough to not only play in but be shining stars for our first team is an incredible feat by the club. I’d say it is far, far harder for the club to produce the likes of smith Rowe and Saka than it is to go and identify and sign a player of similar quality.
The current group having just come through the academy is pretty exceptional, even if some of them are not quite good enough for our first team I’d back all of them to have careers in the premier league.

Further details here.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailyr ... 926377.amp

Just rewatching some of the Sparta game. I don’t often praise referees but he was pretty good and was very calm when it got a bit tense between players.

Should AW be getting credit for this? He was in charge of Arsenal when these kids were starting out. He would have seen through their progress as well. I'm wondering.

I noticed that too Gaz. I thought he was excellent.

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/arsenal-news-nicolas-pepe-no-excused-for-arteta-b930084.html
Mikel Arteta: No excuses for Nicolas Pépé to stop fine form for Arsenal as adaptation

In theory yes AW should receive some of the credit. I think if he was still the manager the likes of Saka and Smith-Rowe would definitely have been given the same first team opportunities.
I’m not sure how much direct influence the first team manager would have on the careers of youth team players from ages 8-15 for example, Hodd would be able to give a better view on that.

I’d imagine you give the AW credit for the overall philosophy of the club and the importance he placed on youth development, but actually turning an 8 year old kid in to a premier league ready professional footballer must surely mostly be down to the youth coaches, at least for the first 80% or so of their development.

It's not quite in our hands, but 7th place is up for grabs. We have no excuses for not being completely focussed on the Fulham game. If we win that, Everton will be feeling a bit of pressure and we will have the momentum.

Bakayo came in at 7, Emile Smith Rowe at 10
A lot of good work is now starting to bear fruit for the club

In 22 years AW only came to Hale End once, and that was to officially open the David Rocastle dome
He was great at promoting players from the 18’s and 23’s, but had pretty much zero input before that
Liam Brady would have been academy director when most of the current crop were signed

It is remarkable and laudable indeed.

One thing that was a massive bonus for the scouts and coaches during AW era, was that we knew exactly what the player profile he expected
That meant that unlike many of our competitors, we were more likely to sign a technical and intelligent player regardless of size, rather than a “physical specimen”
No accident that all these players can play in a number of positions

Thanks Hodd. What’s your thoughts on the work Mertesacker is doing now with the academy? It’s easy to like Per, he seems like he commands respect, thinks and talks about the game well but I’d have no idea how that all comes out in his actual work.
I also saw the youth team beat West Ham in the youth cup last night, with Omari Hutchinson grabbing the headlines again, I read he’s 17 which really puts in to perspective what someone like Jude Bellingham is doing at the same age.
In your opinion how good is the next crop?

Thanks, that clears it up.

I've just realised that it is 51 years to the day that I attended my first Arsenal match. Couldn't believe it when my uncle said that Saturday morning "do you want to go to The Arsenal then?". I'd been to a couple of QPR matches as they were my local team growing up but Arsenal could have been on Mars for all I knew, going to Highbury seemed like an unattainable dream.

Remember the day so well. Seeing the green pitch, the North Bank, the Clock End. But most of all seeing those red shirts with white sleeves. I'd only ever seen Arsenal on black and white TV before then. The COLOUR.

And we won, 1-0, great goal by Charlie. They say you always remember your first love. I certainly do

Hi Tom. Sorry to be pedantic but I think it’s 50 years to the day, not 51. On 17th April 1971 (so half a century exactly) we beat Newcastle 1-0 with a great Charlie George goal. A crucial win for the league title bit of our first double.

On 17th April 1970 (so 51 years ago today), we didn’t have a game.

Also nostalgia provoking: Fabianski with an awful flap just now.

West Ham are almost, but not quite, too far ahead of us to catch. Also, it must be a bit demoralising for Fulham to see Newcastle galloping away, which can't hurt us.

Fabianski not too clever for the first goal either. Not having a good day.

Willock just scored with a powerful header to make it 3-2 for Newcastle

West Ham pull it back to 2-2, then Willock comes on and scores immediately. Another feather in the cap for the Academy.

Not pedantic Bernard, correct! I meant 50, no idea why I typed 51. Clearly the years are catching up on me.

Afternoon Hodd
Any news within the club on if Balogun has actually signed his new contract.
Arteta been quoted as singing his praises in interview with sky when talking about the youngsters.
The fact he came on as sub as well seems to have confirmed it but weirdly no announcement yet?

I should be happy West Ham lost as it helps us but I am actually cheering for them. I am happy they'll likely play European football next season. Its nice to see a club who we don't usually see in the position they are at in the table at this time of year. Leicester did that for me for a while. Happy as peaches for them. I thought it would be a one off season for them. But credit to them, different managers, key players like Mahrez and Kante leaving, they are still a force.

It's a shame to read that Hodd. He's a very busy man but an occasional visit to maybe give a 5 or 10 minute talk to all of them in a group would do so much.

Yes, but having to deal with dictatorial oppression within their respective countries in Africa, Latin America, depending which ones they are. Then coming to play in Europe, UK, being subjected to racism is a bit much. Same applies to black players born in Europe, Demba Ba, recently, though born-raised in France, was subjected to racism recently.

Fulham is in relegation so they should put up a fight. Also a London derby.

Side question is some London derbies are more intense than others. I assume Fulham hates Chelsea far more than they do us. One of the hooligan movies I think said everyone hates Tottenham. There is no neutral. Not sure if that's so but if they are the most hated, why? One would assume its us. Usually in the big cities with multiple clubs, the biggest club is the most loved and hated. No middle ground...usually. Boca Juniors is loved and loathed for example in the capital.

This map is obviously a little dated (Mkhitaryan Dons) I thought I knew were all the clubs were located. I knew almost all. I didn't know were Brentford was exactly and although I've been to Barnet, I hadn't realized how far away it is.