I’m not that impressed with Vieiragate 2005. Last season’s Vieiragate was far more impressive – dragging on most of the summer and only reaching its resolution when a) Patrick had a change of heart or b) Real Madrid wouldn’t pay him enough (delete as applicable).
This year’s one has a lot to live up to, and it needs to put in some serious legwork improve on last year’s offering.
It’s all over the papers and web-papers this morning, thanks to some unhelpfully vague comments from our chairman, published in, of all places, the Daily Star.
“I gather they (Juventus) have made enquiries but we are very undecided as to whether we are going to talk to them or not,” he said. “Patrick is aware they have approached us and it all very much depends on what they offer and what he wants to do. In a situation like this, you have to listen to what they say and tell the player about it.
“It would be very, very difficult to replace Patrick. We have a board meeting in about a week’s time and I am sure we will discuss it then.
“We have not decided what we want to do, but my gut feeling is we would very much like him to stay.”
Hill-Wood’s comments are hardly a resounding ‘No’ to potential suitors, are they?
My brow is furrowed, I must say. If we sold Vieira – a hypothetical question – we’d have lost two of our most experienced midfielders (three if you add Pires into the equation, but that’s another story). Ridding ourselves of the Patman (and not even for a decent fee) is only going to hurt us, not help us when it comes to winning the title and challenge for the Champions League. For all the extravagant promise of Flamini & Fabregas, do they have the necessary experience to do it for us yet?
Every top side has a midfield general, and he’s ours.
I want to hear what the boss has got to say about this. Over to you, boss.
PS – Looks like four of our pre-season games are live on the worldwide internest. Sitting down with a beer and watching my computer for 90 minutes – oh, go on then.
The late form of big phil is fooling people that our back 4 is sound.We need to get busy in the market or the chavs will do us again.
I don’t see how we would improve if we sold Paddy and or Bobby, if we want to keep up with chavski we need to hold on to our best and I firmly believe that Paddy will have a great season and that we will go on to glory on more than one front leaving the chavs and manure in our wake!!!
Redcurrants will rule ok!!!
i agree with you the boss should come out and say something about patrick they fought to keep him last year so what the diffidence now
What gets me is that Juventus were talking about £5m and Steven Appiah for captain Pat at one stage!? I know he’s 29 and hardly in the form of his life but I’d still take him over anyone else you care to name.
But if Wenger says he can go then, I guess he can go – Wenger knows. God only knows what schemes he has up his sleeve.
there is no way we should sell vieira or pires. there experience is too important to us. I think we should sort out all our contract matters with Cole, Gilberto, Pires, etc & then go on to sign a striker so that we got decent cover for thierry henry. Also sign a central defender & get rid of cygan & also get a decent young keeper who can wait in lehmanns shadow for next season & be coached into being our number 1 the following season. Almunia is just so crap & he surely cant be our number two next season.
what channel are the pre season games on, or what site.
Pat’s a great player don’t get me wrong, but @ the end of the day he’s knocking on the door of 30, this is were the injuries start & he plays too many internationals so he needs to be sold when we can attain a good price for him, cos you wont get it next year.
Or do we want the same scenario as the manc’s have with Kean we he only plays half a season @ best.
We have to bring-in new talent on a yearly basis just to stay were we are & with the inflated price I would expect to still get for his this year, we could afford to hit the market for a very good young replacement.
I’ll remind you all of the Job we had when we left our old back five playing too long after their collective sell by dates.
Have some faith in AW he knows young talent when he sees it (shame it never English though).
The point in the leader-story seemed to be that we would miss him in the Champions League, I don’t mean to piss anyone off here, but I don’t remember us winning it with him playing?
one of each is what’s needed, I reckon. A top striker (pity about Baptista he looked the business – I’d also love Owen), another skilled midfielder (swp please) a cygan replacement for defence cover and an Almunia replacement because he’s woeful. Selling pat only hurts us.
If Vierra goes Wenger better have an immediate replacement in the bg or else !!! Not that Patty is indispensable (we managed without him for the bgeining of last seasons campaign with no problem) but i reckon he’s gonna be back to the Old Vierra this season and show that he’s still ‘THE MAN’ in the middle of the park !!! SWP, a striker, a right back and an goalkeeper are still required thogh so DD better get his chequebook out and Wenger better get looking….
Who do you replace PV with especially if the price is £12m, they’ve looked at Jenas hardly a replacement. If PV is on £100,000 a week it might help the wage bill I guess. It starts to worry me about the true state of the finances.
Only 2 weeks ago Wenger said that some players could go but Pires, Vieira and Henry would not. Whether anything has changed since then, who knows? In an ideal world, Vieira, Henry, Pires, Reyes, Cole, Senderos and Gilberto will extend their deals, Van Persie will be cleared, and Arsenal will sign a young keeper and Julio Baptista. But if Vieira was sold we’d obviously buy a replacement. Essien will be too costly, thanks to Chelsea, so it would probably be Diarra from the same team. If Vieira was the only one to leave (for 8M and Zebina) and we then signed Diarra, Torres and Mannone, I’d be more than happy. Maybe AW can also find the next young right winger, with Pennant’s class and Fabregas’ attitude? Then the SWP talk can cease, as we’d also have Freddie and Hlebby.
Arsene seems to be lagging and losing it a bit(he wanted Baptista cant get him, wanted SWP but said Chelsea would outbid him. I thought Campbell had signed an extension 6 months ago (if not why not and is that why he was dropped for cup final ??) Viera has this every year, I think he will stay rather than go to Juve. If Madrid come back in he may go there. Pires – I thought he finished the season very strongly and was obviously not 100% earlier on so I would give him the 2 years he is looking for and sell him next year if he doesn’t perform.
You also forgot in your earlier mail that Aliadiere at Celtic for next season.
What about Cole ? That’s all gone quiet too. We have bought Hleb and no one else. We need a keeper in case Jens goes bonkers again and a striker in case van Persie jailed. Our success relies purely on Henry. If we lost him (to injury) we would be miles off Cheklsi.. everything is fish and chip paper, granted, BUT not good reading nevertheless
Oh no reading the Vieira story is shocking news!! How can a team loose two sturdy midfielders in one season? Just look back when Gilberto was injured..Pat did a great job in midfield. It is also insulting to engage in such vague biz…imagine a player and a palty 5M. Are we really serious?? Pat is irreplacable at Arsenal. His charisma and command on and off the pitch need no explanation. We can’t talk of competing for the cup with such a depleted squad. Teams that had enough have instead bought more and Arsenal, which even needed more is loosing the few stars. Juventus rejected a 30M offer from Chealse and now desperate Arsenal is accepting peenut. Save for Hleb, its like we’ve failed in all our targets-Essien, SWP, Guti, Torres, Baptista, Ricardo, Robinho, Diarra, Adebayor…name them. These are all great players but we can’t afford them. Honestly we need a REKNOWN STRIKER, MIDFILDER(Guti is perfect choice fro Edu) and a RIGHT FULLBACK. Lauren has lost his touch. Currently those are the weak areas for Arsenal. Lastly, WE NEED PATRICK BADLY!!
Sean, 10.01:Arsenal games are LIVE on Arsenal Plus.
At the end of last season AW said he did not see the need to buy any players. It was an astonishing thing to say, and I thought it was a ploy to put selling clubs off of inflating their prices. Given the lack of buying activity, I wonder if he really meant it.
The dithering over Baptista and the news that we are considering selling Vieira suggest to me that maybe the transfer kitty has run low and we need to sell to buy. Maybe we just don’t have the funds to increase the offer for Baptista, or maybe AW wants to keep enough back for another target, possibly a biggy.
I know some fans (myself included) are sick of the annual PV Panto, and question how much he really would be missed, but the key point is that (I belive) AW rates him, and if he is even considering selling him there must be a good reason, such as the need for cash (transfer fee or salary saving), leverage to get other players, or a falling out – but I’m sure we would have heard if that was the case. Stories about PV demanding to know what’s going on suggest this year’s panto was not started from his side.
Unfortunately, only time will reveal; and even then we may never know.
The other angle is that the longer we go without any more signings, the more the chance of other players becoming unsettled and deciding that the chance to go to Real/Barca/Chavs/Juve is by far their best option.
I know there’s still time to buy, but I’m getting more pessimistic by the day. Maybe I just know how important some good buys are for us and I’m getting anxious, but it’s not looking too good from where I’m standing.
PV -like us is in for the long haul!
He knows no -one is going to his match his contract. He also knows he has a juicy testimonial coming up in the new 60000 stadium.
He also knows at 31/32 he will be on a bosman.
PV knows where his bread is buttered!
bongo et al
If we believe in Arsene and all of us do, then it will all kick off in the next ten days. With Spurs bidding for Baptista (with dirty chelsea money), it seems there is little point in showing your hand until the chavs do so first. He is remarkably cool about everything so I expect a good bit of activity in the coming days. Paddy won’t go to Juve or Madrid. At 29, he has a chance to become an icon if he leads us into Asburton. But then if he goes, what a last kick to remember him by.
We haven’t heard the last of Owen/ Beckham? Robinho/Ricardo either. Watch this space.
hmmm
I love PV4, but I must admit sometimes I question how much of a captain he is… maybe it’s just me but I don’t really view him as being too vocal, and since the leading by example thing didn’t feature too often this season, I still rate him higher than any central midfielder. Sometimes i think his cycle is over, but not qualitywise, simply he just spent almost 10 years here, maybe someone new should come, but again, I don’t think he should leave or the club should let him leave….
As far as players coming in I truly believe we MUST BUY GUTI!!!! he is an outstanding player and if you read interviews and follow him, you’ll know what a great work rate he has. He is humble and true good guy…. and I haven’t even mentioned how zidane, raul, roberto carlos, figo and ronaldo have all stated that he has the most quality and best technique in the game…. that to me says something. Must think i’m crazy but I wouldn’t mind seeing DAVIDS come in and be a minor role player, he has the balls and experience.
I can’t stand baptista, never have, so I am happy he is not comming… sorry. I am not a Reyes fan either, but i’ll support him as long as he is wearing the red and white, but besides Henry, I like RVP tons ….. nevermind having to find a replacemente in my head for god himself DENNIS BERGKAMP, WHO I BELIEVE CAN STILL REIGN SUPREME THIS OR ANY SEASON EVER!!!!!
Michael Owen would be nice, but not sure that’ll happen… DON’T LET PIRES GO!!!!!!!! if it wasn’t for him we would’ve ended up in 6th spot or so. Him and Freddie have been incredibly underapreciated recently in my opinion….
Buy GUTI, CAVENAGHI (argentinian prodigy in Russia now, he should be around 22 or 23) and that goalkeepr from Chivas in mexico (i hate mexican soccer, but that keeper is the man)
peace
Anelka left, we got Henry. Overmars left, we got Pires. Adams left, we got Campbell.
These were all irreplaceable players at the time.
Wenger knows, if Pat does leave, he definately has a replacement in mind, c’mon its Wenger we’re talking about.
But still, it would be sad to see Pat leave, and I really hope we sign 2-3 more class players, coz we still dont have enough depth, and we need depth, henry is human after all.
C’mon Arsenal, lets show the russian c*ck suckers who’s boss!!
Who that nutter -that thinks Guti is a good player?
The bloke is a joke!
I think you should go and watch spurs, my friend
bongo et al
michael owen would be excellent!
guti’s ok.
he would be an ideal replacement for edu, and plus the experience wouldnt hurt.
Lets get real my fellow goons,if swp and Essien the monster sign for chavs its game over.we cant compete with a squad like that.Is hleb that good that we could not go the extra and get the real deal SWP and whats with the fannying about over the beast? If we want him for christ sakes get him!Also the club is too messy at present with disputes etc.We need to get our ship in order fast!
If it wasn’t for le boss i would be worried. Geoff is right – we have failed so far in all our targets, apart from Hleb – who sounds interesting but is nowhere near enough.
If Arsene says PV can go then he has spotted someone he is confident will take his place – maybe Diarra. Flamini + Gilberto or Cesc and Gilberto as first choice centre midfield doesn’t fill me with confidence over a season.
I understand why Baptista isn’t coming – makes sense cos he’s so much more valuable with Spanish nationality- but why aren’t we in the market for any other top strikers? It must be our number one priority – especially if are even thinking about ditching Bobby Pires, whose goals are the difference between a uefa and champions league place.
An unsettled Cole and a worringly outclassed Lauren (in FA cup final) mean the defence also needs that extra something.
I think i will slash my wrists now whats the matter with you lot there over 6 weeks to the end of the transfer window did anybody think Reyes would turn up good grief if PV4 goes so be it if he doesn,t go now he will retire so it will come one day,stop reading the gutter rags and chill,from a personal point of view i think the Arse are open to him leaving this time i wonder if they are sick of this caper each year and his alleged texts to Cole about his contract.
this summer it looks more den ever e time arsenal will sell paddy vieira if they ever n den after everythin is up iin e air..last season wen paddy nrly joined real arsenal tried 4 micheal carrick n javier mascherano 2 replace vieira n if vieira ever does leave wenger shld go all out 2 get mascherano n nt diarra of lyon dat shld b a back up alternative 2 e argentine
I think Vieira should state his position. Does he actually want to stay? In my opinion he should either sign a new contract and show us that he’s committed or we should sell him. Personally, I would hate to see him go, I would love him to finish his career at Arsenal and become a real legend.As such, I think that this summer is pivotal in that it is the last that we’ll get a fair price for him. If he refuses to sign a contract, thank you Patrick and good-bye. I believe that he’ll go the same way as all those others who have left Wenger, he’ll steadily go downhill.
Jens Lehmann (good if he stays calm), Manuel Rivero Almunia (shit & needs to be replaced), Etame Mayer Lauren (good but too slow), Justin Hoyte (good cover for Lauren but needs more experience), Emmanuel Eboue (aint seen him play much), Sol Campbell (I think he still is our first choice centre back), Kolo Toure (getting better the more he plays), Philippe Senderos (what a talent), Pascal Cygan (shit & needs to be replaced), Ashley Cole (hope he stays & signs on for longer), Gael Clichy (good cover for Cole & can also fill in at left wing), Fredrik Ljungberg (still our first choice right wing & will be rotated with Hleb), Aleksandr Hleb (I’ve heard he’s good & will probably rotate games with Ljungberg), David Bentley (needs more games with Arsenal in order to fulfil his potential), Robert Pires (has to stay), Jose Antonio Reyes (I think he is good but has to come out of his shell. Striker & left wing), Patrick Vieria (has to stay. Captain), Gilberto Silva (him & Vieria together is important for us), Cesc Fabregas (what a talent. Centre mid or right wing), Mathieu Flamini (good cover for Vieria & Gilberto), Thierry Henry (dont know what to say), Denniis Bergkamp (glad he is staying on), Robin Van Persie (hope he gets off. Bergkamp staying on is good for him), Quincy Owusu-Abeyie (what a talent. Again, needs games).
Looking at that fantastic squad, I see that we need a keeper (someone in the 22-26 age range, so that he can be in Lehmanns shadow & come in & take over full time the following season). We need a centre back that is very good cover for Cambpell, Toure & Senderos & we need a experienced holding midfielder who can easily fill in if Vieira or Gilberto are out. We also need a striker who can partner Henry & take all the strain off of him to get the goals, this striker should also be able to fill in if Henry is injured or suspended (Baptista would’ve been perfect).
We wont be going for Shaun Wright Phillips (as much as I would like to see him here) because we already have enough good players in that position (right wing). Plus with Chelsea after him, his price has sky rocketed big time).
Let’s all suggest players in the positions that I have mentioned but be realistic.
Maybe Babtista will come in Jan 2006? If we wanted decent money for Vieira we should have sold him last summer. NOw he’s 29 , has had a relatively poor season and has a dodgy knee- no one will pay big bucks for him- we’d be better off holding on tohim.
We need more quality signings for sure- I do beieve that when signings don’t work out theres always a plan B or C to fall back on- so not to worry. A strong tall athlethic striker (like Baptista !) would be nice, , a goalie and more defensive cover- provided we hang on to what we have.
My speculation………
Because this time we seem to be thinking about it, and I’m sure, with Arsene’s agreement, I could see Paddy going along with Bobby and us actually getting SWP. I’m not saying it’s what I would like to see but the more I think about it, the more it seems to fit.
Whether this is what will happen or not, I do believe something IS happening as we speak…..trust the real Chosen One….he knows all!!!
g’day from oz. if pat & bob go, how is that “retaining our top plyers”?
anyone know how us poor mac users can watch pre season games?
AV has taken us from the dark old daz when we were boring and made us into the best team in the world FACT ,stay on the bus and let AV drive us to glory.. overmars petit all came aned went ,arsene s still here have faith