So that’s it then. The end of an era.
We all knew he’d probably go at some stage, and that time has now come.
I know of no Arsenal fan who doesn’t wish him well – even if some of us wish he hadn’t gone. For nine years, he has driven our team on, given his all and proved himself to be one of the top midfield generals in the world. Aggressive, technically adept, athletic and fearless, he’s the epitome of the perfect holding midfielder, and when Wenger describes him as “one of the greatest [players] in the club’s history”, he’s spot on. You don’t get many Patrick Vieiras to the pound, and we’ll miss him – a lot.
I hope his move is a success – what more can you say?
Obviously, his departure leaves a chunky hole in our squad, and renders us temporarily captainless. Finding an adequate replacement has got to be one of Wenger’s toughest jobs in his nine years here. Flamini and Fabregas are superb young players, but only time will tell whether they are anything like as good as Vieira. Finding a direct replacement with as much experience is, let’s be honest, not going to happen.
So Wenger needs to ship in a reinforcement, but God knows who that could be.
Did we get a fair price for him? I think so. We’ve made a £10m profit on him, for starters, and for a player his age, £13.75m has got to be good business. Talk of getting £20m is just fanciful, if you ask me.
So the Vieira era – three titles, four FA Cups, a UEFA Cup Final – sails off into the sunset, and a new one will begin.
Sad times, but exciting ones.
did someone suggest RP& as captain? I though he doesn’t speak english yet. Give it to Cashley Cole, tell him he must bin the agent, apologise and lead the arsenal into teh next generation. Can anyone explain how Jenas would be a replacement for Vieira?!
Why wud we want another 29 yr old? Ballack is a fantastic player but he will soon be the same age as Paddy so I think that defeats the object.
With an interview I watched on Arsenal TV Online or Arsenal plus as it used to be called, Wenger didn’t fill me with confidence when he said we were not desperate for signings. Of course this could be just a smoke screen but I still can not imagine who we could get to replace Patrick.
I put my faith in Wenger and trust him to know best after all he is the one seeing the players everyday. I just hope our morale isn’t at an all time low after this.
And as for Jenas, oh please. He isn’t a strong enough player for a Patrick replacement, I certainly wouldn’t be happy with him being bought.
A quick point about Kolo Toure playing in midfield; his passing over distance is awful. He doesn’t seem to be able to curve the ball into another players path, he hits it straight and wide. Short, straight passing is fine for a central defender and is acceptable in an otherwise capable defensive midfielder in a five man midfield.
How can Kolo play in a four man midfield? He disappoints when going forward from fullback. The man can’t spread the play!
At least we’ve had some good news today. Clichy and Reyes signed new deals. I guess Madrid didn’t come knocking on Reyes’s door after all. lol
Well now that paddy is gone I must admit im a bit sad, It feels wierd without him. However his knees and hips are a problem and now is as good a time as any to cash in. Fair play paddy a five year deal 80k a week and a slower league not exactly the short end of the stick.
Now is the time to really freshen up the squad/team before we make our move to the emirates, a transitional season if you like. Giving serious opertunities to the next generation of AW diamonds might just be the kick up the arse some of the so called established players need (that means you bob, fred, sol, lauren, ash). obviously we need to strengthen at least 2 outfield and a keeper (viera) hopefully.
But as another gooner put it “the futures bright, the futures redcurrent”
Players like vieira are few and far between and for that we shound be greatful. but so are talents like cesc,rvp,jose and gael
come on the gunners!!!
The subject of a new captain TH14 is the obvieous choice but i dont like forwards as captain i prefer defenders as they can see all the pitch i know this is controversial but give it to Cole,before you slaughter me i will explain my reasons as a specimen he is a snidey back sliding no mark.But putting my feelings a side first he is a bloody good left back who will improve and as he is only 23 or thereabouts he will grow into being captain and hopefully garner some respect for himself and his teamates.He is one of there own kids so he knows the workings of the club,and i also feel that he is vocal and mouthy which i find appealling in a captain ready to drive the team on when things are tough and to get stuck in and it will hopefully put thoughts of leaving out of his mind,even AW has said Cole could become captain one day.Cole also has a good injury record whereby he plays most matches unlike Sol who i think will be on his way sooner rather then later no way Ralph to quiet and Senderos maybe 18 months to early for him .
Why Ballack he is 29 on bundle’s of wonger he as 12 months on his contract and a massive ego Bayern want big dough he would be a step backwards it as to be younger players not new 29 year olds some gooners are panicking it will be fine .Look at it this way if we start really well and are winning PV4 will be forgotten if it goes tits up we will say why did he sell PV4 its the way it is.
we seem to be edging nearer in our attempts to sign the Beast.
My golly- the Sevillian hierarchy are tough negotiators/cookies- fair play to them!
Splendid news after the sadness of yesterday- REyes anD Clichy all signed for service for the forseeable future.
I was going to say – thats something for A.Hole (I mean-A.Cole) to think about- BUT THEN AGAIN THINKING IS NOT HIS STRONGEST POINT!
As the Alsatian has proved -he REMEMBERS everything- and he will discard you before you KNOW IT!
a recuperating Bongo et al
Are you feeling better Bongo yep good news about the chaps signing on i will say again we will sign the beast i think Seville like round numbers
Anyboby seen la marca its saying we have signed the beast i am not getting carried away as i dont believe them but he will be in redcurrent next year and having seen him play live in Spain he is the real deal.
Cheers mate, been 9 wonderfull years. He was one of the best midfielders in the world. Every player was affraid to go head to head to him and he has built a reputaition like no other.
On the other hand he was begining to get worse, his last season does not show who the real vieira is, that was with out a doubt his worst season wearing an Arsenal shirt. His first years were fantastic and I dont think it was covincedint that he was the first player Arsene bought. He built the team around him, but his time has come to an end with Arsenal.
My oppinion is that is would have been much smarter to sell him an year ago then we would have got loads of money at least 20 million pounds. Then we would have got Javier “Warrior” macherano a definsive midfielder who is an awesome player. Sad that we lost him to corintias(Chelsea, MSI deal) he would have at least been better than vieira was last season.
I dont know if it was the injuries ( his kne) or if it was just that he was getting worse by time.
Man it would have been sweet to swap Emerson for Vieira hope we land him but i doubt it.
Who do you think we will get in stead of him. My guess is the Beast(Baptista), a fearless player who we need, our team need more aggresivness, a player who goes to all tackles and wins them. Maybe he will go back to his first posistion as a midfielder but we also need a striker would be good as both.
Jenas, doubt it though
also the france midfielder dont remember his name a huge talent, a star in progress, around 21 although we dont need a prospect we get enough of them ( flamini, cesc).
or if we will go out of the two definsive midfielder system, Then i would like to se aimar at first, alessandro, marek mintal the leading goalscorer in the bundisleague, and he is a midfielder.
endless oppsions but i trust arsene
AW has a lot riding on this one…..I wonder if it’s as big a gamble as it appears (I guess we’ll know when we see who takes PV’s role). I note that we all believe in AW’s judgment, but if we end up having a bad year it will be a huge blow to his credibility. Probably, AW’s got it all figured out and we’ll win the triple. Yea, that’s what we’ll do, win the triple. Go GUNNERS.
Did anybody see that donkey Cygan saying TH14 Could leave next its the first time anybody as spoke to him from the press funny that so soon after Vieira going i believe TH14 will sign on he is not like Vieira,the Beast is coming and Sol is out the door followed by Bob, Cygan will carry there bags its turning in to a night of the long knives its great to see the side rattled up stops bigshots taking it easy althoughit is going to happen quicker then i thought alls up in the air in goonerville.
unc – the only way any newspaper is going to talk to Cygan is if he says something contraversial, like TH14 might be leaving. I notice nobody has asked if he might be leaving – maybe because nobody would give a sh1t if he did?
I’m sure a number of players at Arsenal feel unsettled and maybe shocked by PV4’s departure. But, that’s life! Arsenal have hardly done the dirty on PV, after the way he has treated us in previous summers.
Maybe it will shake the complacency out of a few of them.
Anybody see the Barnet friendly today, I heard Phil Christanval (recently released by marsaille due to injury) was playing and is on trial for us?
Also Hleb scored seems lke he is off to a good start even if it is Barnet.
Oh and TH14 was the captain….
Sparks
TH will captain the side. The friendly suggested that Wenger has him in mind. He has passion, noone can deny that, and it will ensure he stays. HE is irreplaceable, unlike Vieira.
Speaking of which it now looks as though Diarra wants to leave Lyon and at 5 million he’d be a steal. His wages would only have to be in the 30,000 region to be TRIPLE what he’s currently on. I rate Christanval highly and I think he will sign. So a new midfielder to replace paddy, a new defender, and the remaining 8.5 mill from the Vieira deal to ensure The Beast arrives perhaps?
Trust Le Boss is all I have to say.
Sorry to everybody- i have not contributed to the site earlier!
The most fundamental point i noticed today – was how slight physically Hleb was. He might be one of those signnings that takes a season or so to get to grips with the intensity of the premiership… so to all those lowlife moaners out there -GIVE THE LAD A CHANCE-EARLY DOORS!!! DO NOT STart moaning if there are some indifferent games at his virginial stage.
Also the Clichy contract signing is significant- That and the reward of the captaincy to TH- shows the folly of Ashley Cole and his misplaced ego!
I am absolutely convinced If our ASH was not so foolish,avaricious, unwise and STUPID-The captaincy would have been his! To all of us who belong to this cult- The Cult Of Arsenal- no amount of money would have been worth it to jeopardise that accolade!
a reflective Bongo et al!
Bongo – you are spot on regarding Ashley Cole; if he has missed out on the captaincy then it really drives home the folly of his behaviour of late. Surely he would have been such as obvious candidate otherwise, that no other candidates would have come into serious contention.
It would have been so easy for him to have put this right ages ago.
Did someone mention Owen Hargraves earlier in this posting, as a possible transfer target?
Is he available? I know there was speculation about him leaving Bayern Munich a year or 2 back, and we were touted as a possible destination, but he stayed put then.
I’d be quite happy to see him in an Arsenal shirt – he doesn’t do anything spectacular, but he’s always had a solid game when I’ve seen him – the sort of thing you need in central midfield. And he has the big match experience we need to bring in, considering how reliant we are likely to be on youngsters this season.
I’ve just read a comment from A.Cole’s agent saying it looks like they’ll sign a contract with us after all. £70k. Despite all the shit he’s put everyone through it’s still good news.
What has Cole done deserve such a contract? Vieira was only 80 k. He’s a defender, and after all that?
Just curious to know what the likes of ljungberg, Bergkamp, Lauren and gilberto, reyes are earning
It seams to me if you go behind the backs of your employer speak to your big city rivals you end up better off.It starts at 60k the Arse offer 55k yet it ends up at 70k you could not make it up the whole saga is a sorry affair.
Regarding Cole…someone has to be the “adult” in the saga and try to let bygones be bygones. It looks like AFC is trying to do that by signing Cole to the contract they previously offered. After all, Cole is one of the best in the world at his position. I think Cole now has a choice to either step up, play hard and show his loyalty or risk being sold. At is age and now under contract for another three years he’s worth some money to us. I say give him a chance to make amends.
I think Bongo makes a good point with the Clichy signing which must send Cole a clear message.
And finally, there are consequences for everything and Cole’s misbehavior has caused him to miss out on the Captaincy of the team he has adored since childhood. Maybe he’ll see it at a wakeup call, put his head down, be humble and get back to work.
Does anyone know how long Cole’s contract is for? I read one report that says it’s for 1 year, but that can’t be right.
Good evening-
The extending of Cole’s contract is a purely expedient negotiating tool from AFC. It basically means Cole is unlikely now to leave on a Bosman. But LEAVE he surely will.
…The Alsatian knows the precocious Clichy is about a year away from being a regular- I also think we will see Clichy appearing in about 25 games this season. Possibly challenging Pires for his raiding left wing position.
The foolish Cole will be probably sold after The World Cup- and we will have continuity in the form of Clichy and ten million bucks- or so!
The HArgreaves signing is also enticing. He is certainly not flamboyant- functional versatillity is his game. But he has a terrific attitude,stamina and CL experience.
Shows you the value of grammar schools!!!!!
He seems a good signing possibility. Certainly more so than the overpriced/rated Jenas.
A sun – burnt Bongo et AL
Sky is reporting Cole’s deal is a one year extension for a total of three years remaining.
The Cole deal is to prevent a Bosman. With two years to run that means at the end of this season it’d only be one and if a club came in with a pittance bid next summer we’d have to take it or risk losing him for nothing. This way we secure the fact that next summer, WHEN he moves, we’ll get a good price for him.
Real Madrid want him but won’t buy him this season, only next. This is to ensure that we get a good price when they come in for him.
I just read that the new Cole agreement includes an “out” clause that will allow him to move in 12 months time for about £10m. ….seems to fit with what Jesus is saying.