Maybe i have missed something with the theo story but if talks are ongoing

[Peter]

Isnt it more the case that he simply rejected the current offer? And isnt that merely part of negotiation?

It could turn out to be a bit of a non- story. Hopefully.

If he does leave we are seriously short in attacking areas.

[Classic Jorge]

Rather begs the question of how it's been allowed to rumble on for quite this long.

[modd]

money like everything getting in way of things. hopefully deal sorted by friday

[Stroller]

but understandable given that the story seems to be following a similar path to RVP and Song, and possibly the same conclusion.

[Wilsheres Clockwork Toy]

Too many players contracts are left to run down and not sorted out asap. RvP, Nasri, now Theo.

[Peter]

Ultimately if theo wants to stay he will sign. Possible he is just doing this to get the best possible deal.

If so, bit of a greedy c**t really. Ifhe wants 100 grand a week he can f**k off.

If he joins liverpool we are going to look a bit silly.

[Classic Jorge]

Primorac Out!!!!

[Wilsheres Clockwork Toy]

The squad still looks good. They surely know more about business then me, i trust em.

[Classic Jorge]

On the other you could say that after seven years as a professional footballer he still seems unfamiliar with quite a few of the basics.

[Peter]

Thus far. Given our direction and the wage issues this is not surprising.

What we wont do it is just pay a player what he wants. We would rather sell him.

Admirable in a way but has a terribly knock on effect in terms of the squad.

We can all accept the fact we cant afford to match city or chelsea and that we shouldnt try. City cant afford it themselves.

But if we start losing players to the likes of liverpool then you have to start wondering whether we are becoming a little out of touch with the market.

[Classic Jorge]

I say sell the limited little sicknote and bring in Nathan Dyer, failing that Keiron and failing that Danny.

[Classic Jorge]

[modd]

but to be honest if he goes, he goes to. Not worried either way on this one.

[Monty91]

strikers so long as they're effective, and yet not with wide players like Walcott...

[Peter]

Would make him our highest paid player and that is totally inappropriate.

I think we are going to have little choice but to start paying more in the next few years. Unless we are hoping the ffp bursts the bubble and wipes put the inflated market that city, chelsea, zenit et al have created.

[Wilsheres Clockwork Toy]

It does seem like we are a tad out of touch. I do trust the board *still*. That may change over the next few seasons if similar trends exist.

[Monty91]

that these players want to leave because of Wenger.

Obviously I don't want to believe it, but it's strange how it's pretty much never mentioned as a possibility.

[TRENT COLTON]

Oh dear, i promised myself i wouldn't get involved in all this nonsense this week.

[Peter]

How many clubs need to outspend us before we accept that, actually, this is the market?

Liverpool have made some very poor financial decisions recently, thatmuchis certsinly true.

[Wilsheres Clockwork Toy]

[Peter]

[Wilsheres Clockwork Toy]

is he stubborn that he can't see any problems going on around him. The players can and are sick of seeing nothing change ?. I still think players respect and trust Wenger, as all out going players always sing his praise. His effort last season to get us to 3rd was amazing. Good point though, is it Wenger.

[Bergkamp's Brain]

I'm hoping that is bull****?

[Peter]

Vermaelen signed early last season. I would be stunned if they didnt approach both theo and robin at the same time. I assume they refused to discuss it.

If i was theo, and i wanted as muchmoney as possible, i would do the same. Much better chance of getting a few extra quid if you wait until the end.

Of course, ifit works, everyone will do it.

[redgunamo]

She likes Him even less than football in general, but still, the original claim was made way back in 2000.

[Monty91]

Sorry about the name dropping, but I posted on here a while ago that I met Mikel Silvestre last summer. He was pretty scathing about the club and his time there - and as much as I've defender Wenger over the years, it did make me wonder...

[Peter]

He had precisely no intention whatsoever of signing one.

Theo has said publicly thathe wants to stay and they are apparently discussing details.

Song wanteda new deal but we didnt want to give him one yet. Again, apparently.

[7evens]

[Classic Jorge]

[Peter]

If they blame wener for the tightness over contracts (when he himself earns far more than any of them) or for the lack pf success.

Silvestre didnt have a great time with us. What did he say exactly?

[All Guns Blazing]

And the player informed that if that date was passed without agreement then he would be sold.

But no, we let it drag on to the final hour.

Well done the Arsenal. http://www.awimb.com/images/smiley_icons/rolleyes.gif

[Norn Iron]

Remember when Chamberlain was substituted against Man Utd at home for Arshavin. There were telling signs from van Persie then.

And when Cesc left he praised the Barcelona/ Spain staff for their preparation before games. Which may have been a slight dig at Wenger.

[Peter]

c**t every week.

What is your point? I dont recall stating above that he is the reincarnation of pele

[redgunamo]

[Bergkamp's Brain]

not panic stage. This is panic stage, not for Walcott but for us.

[Peter]

It is a waste of time.

Deadline is friday and there is nothing we can do to change it.

[All Guns Blazing]

[Peter]

He signed his new one just after last summer which is presumably when the club want to get people signed up, with two years left. Kos signed his this summer.

[All Guns Blazing]

If a certain point is reached and still no agreement make it known you are open to offers for the player.

As it is his transfer value to us becomes virtually nil after Friday.

[redgunamo]

[PSRB]

not the brightest idea

[redgunamo]

*surprisingly* changes his mind on Friday.

[7evens]

I can't see what all the fuss is about. Personally, I'd take Defoe over the vastly over rated Walcott any day.
Of course, for the pedants out there, I should state that I'm not interested in signing the bloke, simply that he's made a far greater contribution to Spurs than Walcott has to us.

[Monty91]

Mainly that Wenger is way too soft. Not the most damning statement in the world, but for one player to say that, you have to imagine that others think it too. Can that be healthy?

[Peter]

And end up receiving offers on deadline day?

Its a false deadline. It doesnt exist. You cant force a player to do anything or a rival club to submit a bid. They will do it when they want.

What if you set the deadline, it passes, you offer him to clubs and then he wants to sign? Do you refuse and sell him anyway?

[All Guns Blazing]

[redgunamo]

that's what they do all day.

[All Guns Blazing]

An awfully big word when millions of pounds in lost transfer revenue are on the line.


As it is he's going to walk next summer.

[Peter]

Not personal as such, but perceived as detrimental to the team.

You can sort of imagine it.

[Peter]

Informig the world that you want him out is unlikely to drive up his value.

[Monty91]

There was mainly just a lot of head shaking and expressions of relief that he had managed to get out (his wife also said Arsenal was the only club of his career he didn't enjoy being at).

Footballistically, he said there were no leaders at the club and Wenger is way too soft and would get killed by Mourinho or Ferguson if they stepped in a ring.

[redgunamo]

I wonder who Silv's boss at Inter(?) was. Mancini?

[All Guns Blazing]

fee?


At least get some money back for six years worth of investment in him.

[Bergkamp's Brain]

Theo is not worth £90k a week, but he is in a very strong position, Arsenal are not.

If we decide to sell him it will probably cost more money to replace him, that player will probably come from another league and will need time to hit the ground.

[redgunamo]

[Peter]

Talk me through it.

Theo was horribly inconsistent last season but remains an important player for us. And even if he wasnt, there is still an issue over numbers and quality if he leaves. There is also the repeated loss of players for better money and the prospect, apparently, of us losing him to a club neath us in the league and not in the cl.

[Peter]

And that everyone adheres to that one. Of course we sell him if he wont sign, i just thinkthat threatening to do that a month ago would have been a waste of time, just as it proved last summer with cesc and nasri.

[Luis Anaconda]

Defoe 29 Walcott 25 - which considering one plays as an out and out striker and the other on the wing is quite surprising. Defoe got a fair few of those in ****ty Europa cup ties as well

[Wilsheres Clockwork Toy]

and we have squad to cope with Theo leaving. It's a likely scenario.

http://www.awimb.com/images/smiley_icons/frown.gif

[Mack]

concentrate people's minds is that set by an outside agency and which can't , in any circumstances , be shifted. Any earlier deadline will not be taken seriously (by either side )

[redgunamo]

Understandable, really. But only up to a point. After all, if a new hound of mine doesn't get on with the group, he has to go.

[Monty91]

Just happened to catch him in a relaxed environment where he wasn't being pestered by anyone else, and he was happy to talk.

He was injured at the time and he said he needs to get back fit because in Germany after 6 weeks out you stop getting paid! http://www.awimb.com/images/smiley_icons/oh.gif I assume this doesn't apply to leg breaks and the like...

[Ears are alight]

isles and their dependent territories? A mere couple of hundred years ago, roughly speaking.

[redgunamo]

[Peter]

As though it is something that simply happens to us. What can you do, they didnt want to sell? What can you do, he wanted to leave? Etc etc

No time to replace him sits alongside these. We have had a year to sort this out. Look at options during the negotiations. I would be submitting bids for replacements right now, see ifit forces theo's hand a little.

[7evens]

But given his age compared to Defoe's probably isn't fair.
I'd wager Defoe was far more prolific during his early twenties over at West Ham, playing in a poorer side.

[Wilsheres Clockwork Toy]

[Monty91]

largely because he was a bit old and **** and was getting slagged off by 60,000 fans every week.

[Luis Anaconda]

he is a very poor player whose goalscoring record is not so spectacular that his poverty of ability around the pitch should be overlooked. Not that I am that bothered by Walcott either. Just tired of the whole thing. Roll on Sunday

[All Guns Blazing]

We held the upper hand there contract wise and most of that summer was spent holding out over the size of the fee.

Where as Theo's transfer value is plumetting as I type.

[Peter]

Does. He does nothing else. For that reason he is great in a crap side where they rely on him. He isnt great in a better side where a better rounded footballer would be able to link with the good players around him.

This is why defoe never went to a top side, and why spurs got more use out of him when they were ****. As soon as they started getting better he became peripheral.

In short, he is a c**t http://www.awimb.com/images/smiley_icons/hehe.gif

[Monty91]

enough for a top side. But that doesn't mean he's a very poor player. He's basically a one-trick pony, but that one trick is a pretty f**king good one. He is quite simply a superb finisher.

Good enough to be picked consistently by England managers down the years.

[redgunamo]

[All Guns Blazing]

f**ks sake. http://www.awimb.com/images/smiley_icons/rolleyes.gif

[Luis Anaconda]

But yes I am possibly being a bit harsh as he can be a match winner. Just not my cup of tea

[redgunamo]

[Peter]

I wasnt comparing the two players or their individual sitations. But the sbility of the club to enforce an arbitrary deadline is similar. Barca ignored it, city ignored it over nasri. Why on earth would they comply with us?

[Ears are alight]

[redgunamo]

[Monty91]

i.e. people never refer to something they like as their "cup of tea" http://www.awimb.com/images/smiley_icons/rubchin.gif

[Monty91]

[Peter]

[All Guns Blazing]

[JJSB]

[redgunamo]

[7evens]

Not sure where that leaves Theo, because I also see him as a bit of a one trick pony.
For example, he's bloody hopeless with his back to goal, where he invariably gets dispossed, as opposed to laying off a decent pass, and this from a bloke who see's himslef as a central striker.

[Ashberto]

Even if many players were very well paid. In the old days a fooballer's financial lot was appalling.

[Luis Anaconda]

[Ears are alight]

sign a contract with another club at a time of our choosing, then we would not just command him to sign a new contract with us at that time?

[redgunamo]

[Peter]

And nothing happened. He very gently nudged the ball into the corner of the goal and the keeper didnt even move. It was as though time stood still for a second.

One of his finishes at blackburn was stunning. Maybe bothof them actually.

[Ears are alight]

[Pokster]

so who is to say what his value is???? IF it is still like this on Friday lunchtime then there will be a cut off where we would be stupid to accept a bid as it would be too low.

[All Guns Blazing]

But that issue doesn't apply to Walcott....yet.


And even still it's not slavery.

Slavery is work without reward.

[Ears are alight]

[redgunamo]

We should make one final offer of nothing :michaelcorleone:

[Lar d'Arse]

Relative to the Players who played for fixed wages in the 1950s and earlier - absolutely.

Relative to the players of today they were paupers.

[redgunamo]

[Lar d'Arse]

If that is the case I am regularly a slave.

[All Guns Blazing]

are open to offers.

That is all, nothing more.


Not send him out to work in the fields or lock him in the emirates basement.


Calm. Down.

[Monty91]

and the ball kinda bobbled in. But it was a genius at work http://www.awimb.com/images/smiley_icons/frown.gif

[Red N White Army]

Will also be challenged. Can see a situation soon when virtually all footballers are on 1 year contracts.

[redgunamo]

[Monty91]

[Ears are alight]

damages for rescinding a contract based on the agreed value of the services rendered under it. Normally we only see the side of this where Ambramovic pays out the latest canned manager in full for future wages, which to me is odd, but there remains the possibility of a player buying his way out a contract too.

[Ears are alight]

"informed" that he "would be sold", ignoring that the player has to agree to this, so there is no informing or one way decision-mkaing, only negotiation.

[Free SL]

This is the same Jermain Defoe that has never scored 20 league goals in a season, yet is hailed as England's most natural finisher?

He has a games to goal ratio of 2.69 in the League, hardly spectacular for a "finisher" is it?

For comparison Shearer is 1.97, Owen is 2.17, Henry is 1.96, van Persie is 2.29 and van Nistelrooy is 1.80

[All Guns Blazing]

With placing a human in bonds - depriving them of their freedom - and forcing them into unpaid labour?


Players are forced out of clubs all the time btw. Joey Barton has been told to f**k off out of many a club.

[Peter]

When you looked closely he actually let the ball roll across him for a second, let the keeper move and then just sort of lifted it over him.

Astonishing coolness in front of goal. I may have seen better finishers but i cant recall seeing a more relaxed one.

[redgunamo]

What a striker has to achieve with his first touch http://www.awimb.com/images/smiley_icons/frown.gif

As P says, frightening.

[Peter]

[Ears are alight]

to a new employer as false. But yes, that is one way you can define indentured labour. It's up to you if you want to stick with it as an untenable belief that Arsenal can do this when no-one else in the world can.

http://www.awimb.com/images/smiley_icons/biggrin.gif

[Red N White Army]

[All Guns Blazing]

Players are turfed out of clubs happens all the time.

And Slavery is too big a word to be used to describe a possible transfer involving a millionaire footballer. Even if the player doesn't want to leave.

You had no business throwing that word at me.

[Ears are alight]

You are hardly in a good position to say you are arguing for civil liberties and human rights here.

[All Guns Blazing]

I can't argue with this anymore.

Slavery it is.

Though I'd imagine anyone who has experienced real forced labour would have argued the case much better than I.

Or failing that simply told you kop on. http://www.awimb.com/images/smiley_icons/shrug.gif

[redgunamo]