Every year it seems we are presented at the end of the season with the unedifying sight of various

[Berni]

pundits who have spent much of the previous season telling us that this is the season Arsenal will seriously struggle to/won't make it to the CL spots being forced to adjust their sights in order to berate Arsenal for not doing better given how strongly we finish seasons/being flat-track bullies/lacking ambition etc, etc.

And of course every season, they achieve this crunching gear change without any apparent shame or acknowledgement that they were actually completely wrong. The brazen way in which this is done EVERY SINGLE YEAR is genuinely remarkable.

[Luis Anaconda]

[PSRB]

that statement was utterly mental at the time, just a look at our fixtures would have told you that we were a shoe in

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

They, like the tabloids (and more and more the broadsheets) just react on a day to day basis. Bit like fans really

[Monty91]

4

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

Well that's the BBC for you

[Billy Goat Sverige]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32586330

[Berni]

to beat us to fourth. :hehe:

I asked him to make a bet on that and, to be fair to him, he did. I am going to take great pleasure in relieving him of said money next week.

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

both joy and hysteria will be unconfined, with the unholy alliance of Arsenal supporters and the tabloid press feeding off each other's outrage.

[Berni]

about football with some degree of knowledge and insight are allowed to get away with being so consistently wrong, is it?

[Ben.]

"Yeah thanks Ian, I don't take any pleasure in being right but I remember saying seven years ago, when all the players were different, if they don't spend NOW..."

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

What is scary/impressive is my son, 22 years old, cannot remember us not playing CL each year. He was 5 or 6 then and not really as obsessed then as he became at 9.

[IUFG]

http://www.gstatic.com/tv/thumb/tvbanners/10606019/p10606019_b_v7_aa.jpg

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

When Wenger leaves it will be like starting from scratch. Who knows how long it will take a new man to get it right, assuming we appoint the right man first time.

We could easily spend half a decade in mid-table doldrums.

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

Cloning is the answer otherwise we're screwed

[Dorset Gooner]

[Monty91]

at the problem to ensure we don't lose our CL status.

[Dorset Gooner]

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

[Berni]

of the hunt - have f**k all clue about anything.

What bothers me is that people who are paid for their knowledge get it so wrong so consistently with no-one ever going 'Hang on. Why the f**k am I listening to you when you so clearly know f**k all?'

[PSRB]

it and Liverpool sneaked in or not http://www.awimb.com/images/smiley_icons/ohwell.gif

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

Thought I'd join in

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

Football being a very inexact science and all that.

Every year it seems we fans witness towards the end of the season a run of form and wins that suggest great things for the following season, yet come the following season we "fail".

[PSRB]

if you were as frequently as wrong as he is*

*I appreciate he's essentially used as clickbait/to elicit phone calls from irate cabbies but even so

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

He probably still has a soft spot for them as a result.

[Classic Jorge]

[Monty91]

the quality of players required to get them back in it.

[Classic Jorge]

[Berni]

year and being publicly proved wrong every single year for getting on for two decades starts to look like either terminal stupidity, a lack of anything more interesting to say or in some cases a degree of wishful thinking on the part of those who speculate professionally on these matters.

If nothing else, the form book of the last 18 years would appear to suggest that - if there is anything close to being a certainty in English football - it is that Arsene Wenger's team will achieve a finish that gets them into the Champions League. To consistently bet against that is sheer f**king stupidity.

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

Or one benefit in particular.

[Hillary]

[Monty91]

which is the scenario Sir Charlie suggested is possible.

I was suggesting that our new-found wealth probably mitigates heavily against that risk,

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

He had a massive cock, apparently.

[Billy Goat Sverige]

Although Liverpool won't beat Chelsea.

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

The opposite occurred after a certain leg break

[Monty91]

and the reason for that is primarily their wealth.

[Hillary]

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

but Utd are struggling across the line with tough games to come. It is not a shoe in for them and Liverpool have them in their sights.

I do believe they will spend again and next year be better for it but it is not the only thing required.

[Berni]

In his mind, if everyone else says they hate United fans and United, he must befriend a United fan to prove how enlightened he is and how cretinous everyone else is.

I wonder sometimes how far he'd go to prove this point. It may explain the tranny episode.

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

[Sir Charlie of Nicholas]

He still is, naturally.

[IUFG]

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

Cannot recall how the entire end of season panned out.

I know I am largely alone in this but I don't myself blame that entire 'collapse' on said injury. Post break we had got ourselves into a winning position in the game, had further chances to kill it dead and ultimately succumbed to a combination of hesitant defending and bad refereeing.

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

the yanks take out of each club. Who is the greediest

[Classic Jorge]

I was actually talking about four, very milfy

[Monty91]

who, having qualified for, and then dropped out, of the Champions League, have failed/struggled to return. We are now in a much stronger position to claw ourselves back in, if we were to drop out.

[Luis Anaconda]

He might actually have to get a job soon

[Hillary]

It turned a 5 point advantage into a 5 point deficit.

That match knocked us off our stride - I'm not saying you could blame that entirely, but it was certainly the trigger for a sudden and expected loss of form.

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

but it has bee twice since the last title that we have been in a good position and then slipped.

We have no real pattern of seasonal ups and downs. This year was totally wrecked by the start with injuries and world cup hangovers. Mertesacker was awful for the first 10 games whereas now he looks solid again. Giroud breaking a leg blocking a clearance was a blow too along with Ozil's absence.

Not saying it would have been enough but we would have been a lot closer.

Do not like to agree with Neville the elder but addition to the spine is required

[HoddGooner]

....then literally stumbled over the line on the last day.

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

We may slip.

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

[Monty91]

Utterly impossible and virtually pointless to second-guess what will happen.

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

Although God knows why as Liverpool are very poor at the moment to. No strikers at all

[Witharby 2-3 weeks]

God forbid we all become sensible and not speculate

[Monty91]

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

What a life you must lead.

http://images.mylot.com/userImages/images/postphotos/2266518.jpg

[Classic Jorge]

[Monty91]

[Steve Williams - gay for Mark Knopfler]

Quality as opposed to quantity.

Did you know G Neville acts in the capacity of a musical guinea pig for the Charlatans? Their new albums are released in advance to him and 1-2 others for feedback.

There you go. Absolute trivia for today.

[Classic Jorge]

Foreskin envy?

[Classic Jorge]

[Monty91]

[Berni]