Tower Hamlets or Hackney, can't remember particularly. I lived in Bethnal Green and after that near London Colney in Hertfordshire.

Good work... I lived around the NW areas aswell as Hampstead for a bit.

Bed time...

Anyways in other news our U21s have beaten Blackburn 3-0.

UAL's Everton have eight years of fuck all too. You don't see him complaining like this. Do we have more of a right to complain than him?

Arsenal are a great club with exciting players who play very entertaining football and are up the top of the league every year. Our future looks bright. Theres really not that much to complain about.
It's good to be a Gooner. Enjoy the season, don't ruin it for yourself.

That's what happens when you're spoilt, I guess. Taking constant Champions League qualification and some great football for granted because once upon a time Arsenal dominated everyone. Plenty of teams have had their periods of dominance and faded away completely, the fact that Arsenal are always up in the top 4 and still attracting good players is a testament to Wenger and the team as a whole. Say what you like but Podolski, Giroud, Gervinho, Arteta, Vermaelen et al. are all brilliant players. Just because they're not overpriced doesn't mean they're not quality. As for RVP, I know I'd prefer the 24m or w/e it was rather than a whinging, unhappy primadonna with 10 months left on his contract, regardless of his one good season.

Btw, why does it matter what your passport says? It doesn't matter where you're from or why you support a team, so long as you do it properly.

Edited by ual: 26/8/2012 09:26:15 AM

Weird, I didnt know you had to be from London to have an opinion on Arsenal. Fuck me. Everyone's entitled to their opinion no matter where their from. You have your opinion on where you think the club are going wrong etc and thsts your your right as a fan. But even bringing up the arguement of where your from is embarrassing tbh. What does it matter? Is your opinion more important than someone who wasn't born there?

Give your opinion and let others give theirs, that's what forums are for. Not a fap fest trying to claim who lived closest to the club,for longer etc...

May as well steer clear of this thread for a while, never been to London so I clearly shouldnt have a say. :lol:

Maybe people shouldn't have been accusing me of being a gloryhunter/spoilt when I'm from the area. I'm arguing against the fap fest of Arsenal love, look at Neanderthal's post:
"There's nothing to complain about... Everton don't win anything get used to it."

We're a bigger club than Everton and were in a brilliant position eight years ago. Now we've gone downhill and I want answers. Apparently I'm too negative, not positive enough and don't love the Arsenal because I'm fed up with fourth as the ambition. I guess that means I'm spoilt. More aptly perhaps, it's because I love this club too much to see it struggle the way it is. This is our Arsenal, not the players, not the boards, not Wenger's, ours.

If Man United went from the position they were in in 1999 and won absolutely nothing until 2007, do you think that Man United fans wouldn't complain?

Look at Liverpool fans, they've been complaining for years and why wouldn't they? Perhaps the biggest club in England still hasn't won a premier league title. But apparently I'm more spoilt because I don't want similar things for Arsenal.

We cannot allow, with fans paying the highest ticket prices in Europe, our club to droop to the levels that Liverpool are in now. Even if that means complaining for another decade.

It's very sad when fans are saying 'good business' for perhaps our best player since Thierry Henry. Are we fans or mini football managers and accountants?

Look at UAL's post that started it off:

"Are you sure you're an Arsenal fan?"

bypopulardemand:

"So if Arsenal keep failing to win, do you go to support someone who is winning?"

If they don't like my response, perhaps they shouldn't ask the question.

Like you said Michelkregs, I'll give my opinion and I'll let others give theirs. I deserve the right to give an opinion on the club without being accused of gloryhunting; especially when half the people here haven't even been to London and certainly it appears are a little irritated by that.

Besides the point, ever seen a negative gloryhunter? They tend to move to the next club before they get the opportunity.

As a Wimbledon fan I sympathise with you Arsenal fans. Wait. no you can go fuck yourselves if your complaining. We are looking at getting relegated back out of the football league (conceded 11 goals in the last 2 games) after finally getting back and surviving a season, will also mean we won't get to move back to Plough Lane for ages as well

Yeah sorry, I'll shut up; I hear Basingstoke isn't doing too well either and they're not complaining.

Sorry I am just fucken annoyed at how badly how badly we are playing and everyone knew before the season started that the defence was going to leak goals

I'd say chin up moofa, Wimbeldon have fought hard to get where they are now and they'll be there or there abouts simply because the locals are behind it. Grass is always greener on the other side, but I can imagine you're frustrated because you were a premier league club only 15 years ago. Positive news, Milton Keynes are shite, the move was probably the craziest thing in football.

Stop fucking whining. When I said "are you sure you're an Arsenal fan" it was a tongue-in-cheek joke about how negative you are, not about whether you're a gloryhunter or not. Did anyone even accuse you of that or did you pull it from nowhere?

Like I said, all clubs have their time in the sun. Not every club can win everything all the time. Arsenal's time will come again - they're a big club, well run and have good players and good management. Sure, be critical and question decisions but stop being so damn pessimistic. You're worse than afro :lol:

Regarding RVP - he wasn't happy at the club for whatever selfish and stupid reasons and so he was sold. 24m for a want-away player with one good season out of 8 and only 10 months left on his contract is good business, no matter how you try to spin it.

It was more directed towards bypopulardemand tbh. As shown by the response I gave directly after he questioned it.

I don't think we are well run. The board are tight, the fans are getting scrounged out of every penny and it seems like we've got a quota of two important players a year to get rid of.

It's frustrating when players like Mata and Hazard are linked to us and we refuse to spend the money required to get the really top class players like them. I remember last season with Mata, we refused to spend 15 million on him. Chelsea snapped him up a few weeks later for 23. We were linked to Hazard for years and he once said he wanted to go to Arsenal and yet Chelsea still snapped him up.

Instead of paying the wages for top class players like RVP, Nasri and to a lesser extent Song, we're paying fringe players like Diaby the money that should be reserved for our important players.

I made a big point of keeping RVP a few weeks ago and I stick by that. I would've been enthusiastic, excited if he had stayed. Alas, the new signings as good as they are I admit, they are not going to replace the goals and that special quality RVP gave us. If I'm totally honest, Santi would have been the missing piece in the puzzle. RVP + Santi might have been a title challenging combination.

What I don't get is the real anti-RVP/Song that's going around. You only have to look back about 10/15 pages and every second comment was about how brilliant they are. Now we don't need them, strange.

I agree, the backflipping in RVP and Song is pretty funny. The refusal to spend big money is obviously frustrating but you ARE well run. You're far from financial ruin (you're actually in a good position) and you're still bringing in players like Cazorla, Podolski, and Giroud - and who knows, Podolski and Giroud might fill the void that RVP left. It should be easy for you to be optimistic.

It could always be worse - you could be Liverpool, spending ridiculous money and finishing 8th rather than spending nothing and finishing 3rd :lol:

P.S. I think that in the case of Hazard he was just fishing for a better offer and got one. If Wenger doesn't want to pay ridiculous wages for him then I'd trust him, personally.

Edited by ual: 26/8/2012 02:33:40 PM

Reports that Szczesny is out of the match tonight with a rib injury and that Vito will take his place.

Is Fabianski out? Would of thought he was the clear #2.

He's only just back from injury and not 100% yet.

I guess I am one who does appreciate what the club is currently doing. I was really hoping that Sahin was going to be signed but the longer Wenger is around the more I have implicit trust... I doubt that massive deal would have been worth it.

I think the club is moving forward in a positive manner but the benefits aren't going to be shown in the first week of the season. We have lost Van Persie and Song, I am going to trust Arsene's decisions, there isnt much he could have about RVP, Song had a contract but a decision was taken based on some events that none of us on this forum are aware of... I am not going to say I wont miss them, I have been to the Emirates and seen these guys producing magic on the pitch so I felt attached.

Anyway I have a connection with North London but I'm not here to say that people who dont have a connection with London dont deserve to be fans... More fans generally = more money. More fans = more power. I want arsenal to have as many fans as possible, from Melbourne to Mumbai to Shanghai...

I wont say that most fans are owed something by the club though... I believe the club in Arsenal's case is doing everything it can to be successful in the long term. 13 league titles in 125 years... Can't win it every year, but that isn't a terrible record. If fans had a say in our transfers we'd be in a terrible state...

I'd love Arsenal to win the title this year but if we dont I wont come on here and bitch endlessly, I do want to finish ahead of tottenham stay in the champions league and continue to strengthen with players who want to be at our great club. I love football and will keep enjoying it as much as I can.

Arsenal fans who continually bitch about not winning titles annoy me as much as people who complain about the weather in London or how crowded the tube is. Arsenal is a great football club that I will enjoy and support through it all. London is THE greatest city in the world.

I dont want to argue Ken, but we probably disagree on some issues.

Starting XI v Stoke: Mannone, Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Diaby, Cazorla, Gervinho, Podolski, Giroud

Subd: : Martinez, Santos, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Djourou, Coquelin

Edited by sydneycroatia58: 26/8/2012 09:39:57 PM

Looks very strong up front but a bit weaker towards the back, especially with Mannone in goal.

To be honest i would much rather we start with Mannone over Fabianski.

To be fair fabi was immense for us when almunia got injured .

Fabianski could easily still be number 1 now if he didn't get injured before United 2 seasons ago and as for Mannone, people seem to judge him on the howler against Olympiacos last year alone, truth is, he's been very good when he's had to fill in.

He makes a great no 3 .at least we don't have almunia anymore

oh well, another day, another draw...

glad to have the game at stoke over early...

Edited by bypopulardemand: 27/8/2012 12:36:51 AM

Well as I refer back to issues with the club. Firstly, wages are going to where they shouldn't; the wage system which has been brought up on these forums is grossly disproportionate. Obviously, wages are a big issue and if you look at Nasri/RVP they'd have signed for less money than they're currently getting paid.

Secondly, we're not a poor club. Financial stability is one thing, a 30 million pound profit in the transfer market in the past five seasons is another. That puts us in the bottom threein the English Premier League in investment in the market.

Thirdly, it shows who has the club's interests at heart when Wenger has to veto the first deal that Gazidis has made for RVP. The owners have set ticket prices up again (most expensive ticket in Europe for a few years now).


Good for you, neither am I.


So if we don't get in the Champions League will you 'bitch endlessly' like me? At what point would you like to set the bar? Fans have expectations, that's why managers get sacked. I expect title challenges from the Arsenal, before last season we all did. We were a mistake away from Europa League football last season.


If we're not allowed to discuss football and our complaints, then what is the point of these forums? Why are you on here? You'd do well in parliament, "stop fucking complaining"...

Stoke v Arsenal was dull. Solid performance but not enough creativity going forward. Poldi was quality today and the midfield was solid as well as the defence. Jenkinson is getting better and better he was good today. Gervinho is really frustrating and I hope he doesn't start next week, he kept slowing the game down. Giroud... Well he's not RVP is he? Time I hope, heals all. We missed the quality that RVP gave us.

Vito had a great game, nice clean sheet.

Who would boo a player for having your leg broken? What a bunch of wankers.

Edited by KenGooner_GCU: 27/8/2012 12:49:55 AM

Song not impressed.

Edited by Roar_Brisbane : 27/8/2012 01:34:12 AM

Always tough to get points a Stoke, but tbh you can't be too impressed with 0 goals after 2 EPL games.

Podolski looks great, he is so direct and has a sense of urgency when he has the ball. Cazorla again looked good, but went a bit quiet in the second half. Diaby just looks like a dear in headlights when he gets in the box, really should've done better with the opportunities he had in front of goal.