I really hope this is true but I still have a sneaky feeling he won’t be with us in august even despite hearing this.

It seems a classic Arteta behaviour to say something pointing in one direction when your behaviour and decisions say the total opposite. I mean honestly if he was killing it in training then start him againest wolves. Seems similar to saying he values KT.

He’s a player we aren’t compelled to move on really so you maybe saying to a prospective buyer you are aware of “look we ain’t going to let him go cheaply our fans will give us a kicking if we did that”

Ah you found my gaff! Interested? I’m thinking if moving into Chequers. Do you think the stag and digital fire was a bit much for the bathroom? I was going for “so rich you don’t even understand what I’m doing”

I’d quite happily have a human skull on the wall of my bathroom in that gaff.

I wonder if it’s owned by somebody famous in a through the keyhole type way.

Maybe Guendouzi had it before moving back to France

I went school at St Joan of Arc round the corner.

I wonder what the place would have been worth back then.

great area to grow up in. Couldn’t be too many Liverpool fans in your class

I was at Pooles Park and we used to play St Joan of Arc I became good friends with a lad from St J of A, Dino Maestri, when we played for Islington together

Other schools I remember playing against were Hungerford, Laycock Street,Pakeman Street, Highbury Quadrant

Ahhh ha not if you follow the Mrs Kiwi train of thought ..... it is all an evil plot by Klaus Schwab and his henchman to keep track of where you are , what you are doing and an attempt to control the world .

Me .... I've got far bigger problems the &^&^%%$$ mechanic has said because I've put a 30mm weld at the end of the chassis I need to get an engineers / panelbeaters report saying it is OK

BUT it is okay if I grind it off . Trouble is it is a sh*t to get at !!!%%$&**(()(&^%^

Replied

Not expecting him to sign. I’d say 120 does seem light to be fair

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/22527011 ... -transfer/

It was the school that Tony & Cherie Blair sent their kids. Apparently, if your house was in the catchment area, it put £20k on its value back in the '90s.

EDIT - according to my sister, the premium wasn't £20k, it was £100k!!

Saliba holds all the cards. Offering £120k as a raise on his current £40k per week is a commitment of an extra £20m over a 5 year contract (peanuts) - offering him £200k per week to bring him in line with the top earners is £40m extra over a 5 year contract, it is absolutely nothing compared to what you'd have to spend to replace him. Any young defender at Saliba's level would cost over £60m in transfer fee and would want £150k a week because quite simply if you pay £60m for someone they don't accept £40k a week wages.

Above everything else his signing of a new contract this summer is the most important piece of business we need to do

Unless of course there is a suspicion from the medical experts that his bad back could turn out to be a chronic, long term issue. That said, they could probably insure against that possibility?

.
Any of you Northern Hemisphere hill billies looking to expand your sporting appreciation dial up the Aussie Rugby league's premier event

State of Origin ...... NSW v Queensland

Due to start in about twenty minutes ; one of the most full blooded sporting event in the world .

If PSG comes a calling, very unlikely we stand a chance
Won't be able to match the wages they will give him
PSG has a few world class stars and Saliba will relish playing with them
PSG is currently in a better position than us to win the Uefa Champions League
Importantly, PSG is in France

Hope I am wrong on this

Apparently the price for Caicedo is £75m. I'd pay it, we supposedly offered close to £70m in January. He'll still be 21 when the new season starts, he's well adjusted to the premier league, plays in a system very similar to ours and he pretty much tops the league charts for interceptions, tackles and is very secure on the ball.

He'd bring a dynamism, athleticism, pace and power that we need in central midfield to take us to the next level.

I want Rice as well but I think he'll be harder to get both financially and with the competition

This boy is 22 and has been excellent this season.
As Rich says we have to offer him 200k if that's going to keep him.
Going out on the market to replace is 60 million plus and wages on top so we have to be smart here.
He is going to be world class for years to come and he has to be comparable with the likes of Martinelli , Saka and Ødegaard.
120 isn't going to cut it.
We have to keep him at all costs.

We’re confirmed in champions league pot 2 for the draw by all accounts. You can still get a stinker of a draw but being in that pot means you avoid the likes of Real Madrid and Dortmund

Tell me about it. My then girlfriend (now my wife) and I put our names on Southwark Council's housing waiting list in 1971 - still haven't heard anything!

I thought I'd mellowed towards Mourinho....you know....out of sight out of mind....nope he's still a loathsome p...k

Arsenal’s property developing arm has gained planning permission for a 12 storey, 284 room student accommodation building in what looks like a location opposite the armoury very close to the stadium.

Small image I’m afraid

Sevilla win the Europa league for the 7th time in the last 17 years. Incredible record

I'll take him as well. I think he is keen too, given that he apologised to Martinelli for his needless tackle.

Unfortunately, we will be solving one problem and creating a few more. Huge wage imbalance within the squad.
That said, it will be great to tie him down on a long-term contract to bring up his sell on value.

So the club send you a season ticket renewal via email saying it will auto renew but doesn’t say the cost which you have to access via the box office. In short I can’t access it. You get the spinning circle of doom even if you try at 7am. Just rubbish

Nice looking building but something on an eye sore for where it is literally on bear roundabout

And Mourinho loses which is an added bonus. He really is the flga bearer for Antifootball. Roma diving cheating and time wasting.

Here is berating the ref in a car park after the match.
https://twitter.com/tvdellosport/status ... 35585?s=20

The increase in wages on the whole will come naturally as we get more successful and the players get better, and as we attempt to ward off the interest of other clubs. Our overall wage bill is still some £100m a season less than City, man U, Chelsea and some £80m less than Liverpool - and currently it is close to or slightly less than Spurs.

Our top earners are in the £200k a week category - Jesus, Partey, Saka, Martinelli - and hopefully Saliba. 3 of those would have very recently signed new contracts, 1 was last summer's star signing who has won multiple trophies and the other was a star signing at a time we were in dire need. Also, I think people would be hard pushed to say those weren't 5 of the most important players in the team. Of course a big new signing like Declan Rice (for example) would be asking for £200k a week as well, but would he not warrant that?

Next in line for contract talks/boosts would be Ødegaard and Gabriel. At the bottom end of our wage scale are the likes of Nelson (but we're offering him a new deal), Vieira, Holding, Turner, Elneny, Tomiyasu, Kiwior - none of those are first 11 players let alone the best players in the first 11. I can't see many of them knocking the managers door down demanding £200k per week - and if they did then they are not indispensable

We'll likely shift some biggish wages this summer as well. The club did very well to get the wage bill and structure in to line, naturally it will creep up but that's a good sign as it means we're doing well.

For real wage imbalance look at Chelsea or Man U
https://www.spotrac.com/epl/chelsea-fc/payroll/
https://www.spotrac.com/epl/manchester- ... c/payroll/

At City you have Ederson and Ake on 1/3rd of what Grealish is on, it doesn't always upset the squad harmony
https://www.spotrac.com/epl/manchester- ... ding-pages

He truly is a horrible character. I used to think a lot of it was pantomime, but he's done it too often and for too long. I like Roma, I know a few fans and have been to a couple of their games over the years. But he is vile. They deserve a classier manager.

I ended up renewing online rather than wait for the auto-renewal. Mine were £1360(ish) each, but there was a £112 rebate on each one. Just glad I've got it done and dusted for another year.

Morning Darren. I think there's a credit for unused Cup tickets las year so that's probably the £112. But you're 12 rows in front of me so I'd expect we'd pay about the same - even though you have front row seats (lucky git). They're quoting me £1434 so the numbers don't make sense. Also, I sold a few tickets through the exchange last year and I don't think they've been credited.

Can't find out anything through the website though. The 'More Information' and 'Ticket Prices' tabs just flick you back the to the landing page, presumably because the whole website is currently overloaded. It's never been the most user-friendly website. Slick, it ain't.

Virtually impossible to speak to anyone - couldn't even get in the queue yesterday.

Mac Allister looks set to sign for Liverpool next week. He's a very good player and improves them - but is also a shift away from Klopp's typical tactical set up.

Klopp for nearly all his time at Liverpool has played 4-3-3, the full-backs push high and become one of the primary creative sources, the 3 central midfielders are typically all high energy, stay narrow and their primary job is to get the ball and move it on to either the full backs or the inside forwards (Salah/Mané) to create.

Mac Allister doesn't fit any of that mould, he's a much more creative central player and a dribbler. Klopp started using Trent in that inverted full-back role with some success towards the end of the season so perhaps he's looking to shape his team more towards the Pep/Arteta/De Zerbi 3-2-5 attacking mould.

Fabrizio Romano reporting the fee is a lot less than the £65-70m being thrown around. De Zerbi has said Mac Allister and Caicedo can go this summer - but that will probably be it for Brighton (They lose Colwill back to chelsea as well). I think it is almost certain Caicedo was told he can't leave in Jan but sign a new deal to get a bump in wage for 6 months and to protect his value and he will be allowed to leave for £XX in the summer. We need to go and get him.

Chelsea's Kovacic looks set to leave for Man City. City bracing for Gundogan's departure?

Ugarte from Sporting is high on Chelse'a wish list, they also need to sort out Kante's contract and have just spent £105m on Enzo Fernandez - I say this because Chelsea appear the main rivals to us for Caicedo's signature

In the league Jesus had 24 starts and scored 11 and assisted 7
(6 goals in 10 starts after his injury)
If he kept that up and played the whole season its 17 goals and 11 assists

He was also the primary attacking addition to a squad which scored 27 goals more than last season and the most we've ever scored in the Premier League.

We all want a 30 goal a season striker but there aren't many of those around, I think what Jesus does for the team is probably a bit underrated by Arsenal fans because it is 'only 11 goals' and because he can't also be a plan B.

It probably isn't a coincidence that Saka, Martinelli and Ødegaard all had their best goal scoring season ever at the same time that Jesus came to lead and link the attack.

I'm all for us signing a plan B striker but I'm also happy for Jesus to be the number 1 striker next season as I don't think goal-scoring was the biggest problem last year overall. We scored enough goals to win the title, but we conceded 43 - that is at least 10 too many so it wouldn't surprise me for most of our funds to be put in defensive/defensive midfield signings. I'd maybe only expect 1 attacking player and at maybe 3 defensive players to come in

Just done mine via the app which worked for some reason rather than the browser link on the clubs email.

Little short at the moment after buying a new motor and getting the kitchen done so parting with the readies wasn’t really welcome right now

How much do you reckon we’ve all spunked following Arsenal ? Our bar bill alone from Paris in 94 and 96 must have been 3 or 4 grand It literally must be into the hundreds of thousands. We could have all had yachts parked up at st kaths dock with the money spent

Don’t think so.

My renewal confirmation says this ..

Entry into Emirates Stadium will be via digital pass only from the start of Season 2023/24. If you already have your digital pass downloaded to your wallet, this will be updated for the 2023/24 season.

If you do not already have your digital pass downloaded, it can be added to your Apple or Google wallet via the Arsenal Official App.

Ie no more cards. Does your ST show as “expired”in your Apple wallet at the moment rather than an active pass ? Mine does despite renewing. Is this because it’s only activated closer to the ground ? I’m genuinely clueless about this stuff.

Kroenke's NBA team the Denver Nuggets are in the finals and favorites to win.
It's been a good year for him.
Past few years his football team were in the Super Bowl.

https://twitter.com/FBAwayDays/status/1 ... 12288?s=20

UEFA really need to do something here.

Agreed. All started by Mourinho confronting Taylor in the car park after the match. A ban for Mourinho and closed off sections of the stadium for Roma

If the FA and UEFA want to take these sorts of issues seriously then they need to hand out appropriate punishments, make the rules and expectations abundantly clear to players/managers coaches for conduct before, during and after a match and support their refs to be strict in handing out the necessary punishments during the game.
That final was a total farce for the pressure both teams were trying to put on the ref. I think Taylor along with Oliver are by some distance the best refs we have in this country and he did very well in difficult circumstances - but I wouldn't blame him if he decided to pack it in after that episode which his family were caught up in as well.

Anders Frisk retired from refereeing due to death threats he and his family were subject to following the Chelsea v Barcelona match years ago when Mourinho effectively accused him of corruption. Instead of condemning the death threats Mourinho stayed silent. He got a paltry 2 match ban at the time. They should absolutely throw the book at him.