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Arsenal visited the bus stop in Fulham standing in twelfth place at kick-off with only one win in five PL games under Mikel Arteta and only six wins all season. Mikel had said we needed to win to keep a CL place in our sights. Our last win at the bus stop was in October 2011 when both tonight’s head coaches played in a 5-3 victory. The starting eleven showed only one change from the team that had started against Sheffield United only three days earlier. Hector Bellerin returned to take the captaincy after six weeks out due to an injury that cut short his return from last year’s long cruciate-induced lay-off. Mustafi kept his place suggesting that Sokratis hadn’t recovered from illness. Aubameyang was still suspended.

An early run from Martinelli gave us encouragement though the cross from Saka was overhit. Pepe also raised spirits with some early mazy runs. However, the first serious threat came from Chelsea with nice one-touch play in our area leading to a Kovacic shot bravely blocked by Mustafi that poleaxed him and causing Atwell to stop play for treatment. This was followed by a pair of Chelsea corners and Christensen heading wide. Saka was struggling to cope with Azpilicueta and Hudson-Odoi as Chelsea concentrated on our left flank and closed off our routes forward. At 15 minutes Leno saved Abraham’s point-blank header from a Hudson-Odoi cross then had to see a Hudson Odoi cross-shot over his bar. We were looking distinctly second best except in the fan noise stakes.

However, Pepe was still causing problems with mazy dribbles and after a series of hacks Emerson saw the yellow card. Another series of Chelsea short corners (they had 8 by 22 minutes) put more pressure on our defence while our progression through midfield was repeatedly interrupted by poor passes and interceptions. We lacked any penetration into their box and our midfielders and forwards were struggling to have any impact on the game.

Just before the half-hour, the roof fell in. Mustafi who had already misplaced a couple of forward passes made a short pass back to Leno. Abraham latched onto it, rounded the keeper and was bowled over by Luiz as he was about to shoot. Luiz received a red card and Jorginho placed the penalty kick low to the left just out of Leno’s reach. 29 minutes: 1-0 Chelsea, Arsenal down to 10 men. Xhaka dropped into the back four.

Leno made an athletic save from a Hudson-Odoi right-footer as we attempted to find some composure. Chelsea were the more dominant team before their goal but after their goal they lost momentum. At 38 minutes, a spirited run from Martinelli made a chance for Pepe who couldn’t get his feet organised and the moment was lost. Our first corner since early-on came to naught but was followed by a spell of Arsenal possession and pressure. It looked as if Holding was coming on for Martinelli but Mikel changed his mind (good call, boss). 

We then started moving the ball better and our defensive structure limited Chelsea’s laboured build up and threat. The game certainly didn’t have the atmosphere of a London derby as the first half drew to a close. We had had absolutely no shots from Arsenal in the first half for the first time in four and a half years but we had more possession than Chelsea.

Despite Holding appearing poised to replace Martinelli at 35 minutes, there were no substitutions at half time. Early in the second half, Christensen barged Martinelli off the field as he broke clear and mystifyingly escaped sanction. Arsenal players were competing far better all over the pitch and the travelling fans were in good voice. Saka was the next breaking player brought down without sanction.

At 54 minutes the somewhat anonymous Ozil was replaced by Guendouzi. As the hour approached Chelsea began to move the ball around more briskly and threatened but again on a break-out Lacazette was taken down by Christensen who finally received a yellow card. Of course, that should have been his second yellow, but, you know how it goes…..

Xhaka made numerous important interceptions and tackles as a stand-in centre back as we soaked up Chelsea’s pressure. It was an impressive performance from the whole rear-guard. Suddenly, Martinelli broke out from our box from a Chelsea corner, could not be hacked down, ran 67 yards and slipped the ball sweetly past Kepa, just 13 seconds after that Chelsea corner. Our first shot came in the 63rd minute! 1-1. Thanks Mikel, for changing your mind on that substitution. 

Lampard brought on Barkley for Kovacic and Mount for Kante, aiming to pile on the pressure. However, Arsenal seemed more confident with crisper passing and Lacazette netted from Pepe but was sadly offside. Leno then saved confidently from a close-range Willian piledriver. The game began to feel more like a derby as 10 Arsenal men dug deep to match 11 opponents. Guendouzi clipped Mount near half-way and was of course booked without hesitation. From the free kick Leno dealt with an Abraham free header.

Breakouts were getting rarer, Lacazette wasting one with a poor pass towards Pepe and in the 79th minute Leno saved a Barkley header low to his right. With 10 minutes to go, Holding finally came on to replace Pepe and immediately had to head a cross clear. The Chelsea pressure was mounting as they pushed repeatedly forward and we simply punted clear. Then bad luck struck again at 85 minutes as Azpilicueta toe-poked a cross from a short corner past Leno. 2-1 Chelsea 

Arsenal immediately went back on the offensive. After constant pressure from the kick off, Hector curled a beautiful left foot shot into the far corner from the edge of the box. 2-2 At 88 minutes Batshuyi poked a cross wide under pressure from Xhaka. Willock came on for an exhausted Martinelli with 4 minutes added time to play. The home team pushed for a winner with a bit more urgency but Arsenal ran the clock down and saw the game out. 2 shots, 2 goals. FT 2-2

A superb performance by the 10 men after the early catastrophe. Martin Keown said, “The passion! The spirit! We’ve been waiting for a long time!” Rio Ferdinand added, “This could be a turning point, the way they’ve come back from a goal down and going down to 10 men. That demands character, spirit and a certain mentality and adding quality in vital moments.” Mikel Arteta added, “Time will tell!” Feet on the ground. I like that man.

Tenth place, 10 points off fourth.

87 Drinks to ““Are you ready, do the bus stop!” We might soon be ready.”

  1. 1
    North Bank Ned says:

    First! Now to read the post…

  2. 2
    North Bank Ned says:

    Excellent report, Bath. We saw the same game.
    I like your bolding of the score lines — referential to the Guv’nor without copying.

  3. 3
    TTG says:

    A very fair and comprehensive report of a game that had several phases and moods. The first half left me despondent with the awful Mustafi and my favourite player Xhaka in central defence but to his credit Xhaka had a terrific game inna position that seemed to suit him better than a midfield role.
    Tonight was about showing spirit and desire and attacking quality where we could. Hector got an equaliser at our place late on a couple of years ago when they thought they had won it with a late goal.
    History repeated itself tonight and the performances of our young players was very encouraging. The performances of some more experienced players like Ozil and Mustafi was anything but. Mesut gave us very little as he sadly so often does in crunch games. Mustafi is a walking accident waiting to happen. It felt like a win tonight and indeed Arteta has only lost once, unluckily. Let’s hope we can now turn some draws into wins .

  4. 4
    OsakaMatt says:

    Enjoyable report on what turned
    out to be an uplifting game,
    thanks Bath.
    The same point that we got against
    Sheff Utd but a very different
    feeling at the end of the match.
    Hopefully, we can build on tonight
    and win at Burnley next PL game.
    Before that, it’s the Cup so onward
    to Bournemouth….

  5. 5
    Doctor Faustus says:

    Great report! Saka as the left back has been quite astounding. Him and Martinelli dovetail very well.
    While Ozil’s off the ball workrate has become much more noticeable the sharpness in his passing and the extremely clever manipulation of space has dropped off. Hopefully in the remaining months of this season he will be close to his best in those areas.

  6. 6
    bt8 says:

    10-man Arsenal out score two teams: Chelsea and 11-man Arsenal. Xhaka finds his position. Martinelli and Saka shine a light, as does Bath.

  7. 7
    scruzgooner says:

    great post, thank you bath. i’ve only seen parts of the game, so can’t say much. i am proud of the boys coming back twice to draw, and that with ten men. if nothing else it sounds like we are seeing more and more the glimmers of what this team can be, and what arteta brings to the bench.

  8. 8
    Countryman100 says:

    What a great report to wake up to, after a great, flawed, nerve jangling game. Like TTG my mood swayed from despair to elation. So proud of those players, so proud of those fans.

  9. 9
    BtM says:

    As soon a Luiz left the field, had I been Arteta, I would have introduced Holding for Peper or Ozil. In the 10-man circumstance, it’s difficult to have two luxury players in the ten. Thankfully I’m not Arteta. Excellent team performance (Mustafi excepted) and in Arteta, we have an outstanding head coach. I feel very grateful after the dark days of the last 18 months.

    Martinelli and Saka are super young talents.

  10. 10
  11. 11
    Gunnersaurus Stunt Double says:

    Excellent stuff Baff. Cheers.

    Your analysis is spot on so I’ll just add how proud I am of the players and everyone at the club. We might not have scored a truckload in a barrage of devastating football but we got stuck in, worked for each other and refused to get beaten when the odds were stacked against us. That’s the Arsenal I wanted back.

    I am as enthused about Arteta as you are and fully expect the quality in the final third to keep improving through the rest of the season, but now with a proper platform to build on.

    UTA

  12. 12
    Gunnersaurus Stunt Double says:

    Cheers for the link Countryman. Good little read that.

  13. 13
    Gunnersaurus Stunt Double says:

    Our conversion rate was perfect. Two goals from two shots. If we’d just taken one more shot we would have won!

    We also conceded 17 corners as well as winning 8.
    25 corners in a game is LOADS. Don’t see that very often.

  14. 14
    Gunnersaurus Stunt Double says:

    Huge credit to Baff for his preview when he was the only one I saw who called Bellerin’s return to the team. I’m very glad Arteta followed your sound advice sir. When you get home later have a wee dram on me. Hector may be sending you a bottle.

  15. 15
    bathgooner says:

    It was a fluke! Cheers GSD. 🥃

  16. 16
    North Bank Ned says:

    You make your own luck, Bath.

  17. 17
    bathgooner says:

    More sad news.

    Brendan, cba’s son has posted drinks in the old bar to announce that cba is no longer with us.

    He announced it with this post:

    From me da

    I posted the clip at the end of the match report from which the report’s title is lifted mindful of Dave’s love of Tamla Motown in all its forms and cba’s propensity to link us to an amazing diversity of music. I must confess I didn’t like lots of cba’s musical links and I often didn’t follow them unless he directed them as a response to something I had posted but I will miss his crazy ramblings, caustic humour and inimitable style.

    I can imagine that Kevin, Dave, Chris and Terry are toasting last night’s performance with laughter, loud music and amber nectar in the next place. We are poorer without their company. God bless them all.

  18. 18
    bt8 says:

    cba said that London was about the farthest away from home that he had travelled in his life, which makes his diverse musical catalogue all the more remarkable.

  19. 19
    TTG says:

    I was alerted by a friend last night to reaction against Arteta on a couple of blogs as the game was going on. I tuned into them and notwithstanding the caveat that some Arsenal blogs are ridiculously critical I was absolutely amazed ( not actually a strong enough word) that some ‘fans’ were suggesting that Arteta wasn’t working and that we needed to cut our losses and find a more experienced manager .
    Some of the main criticisms were –
    – picking Ozil
    – picking Lacazette
    – picking Xhaka
    – allowing Mustafi to fill in for Sokratis
    – failing to improve the defence
    – ‘ football is still boring and crap’
    – failing to win games
    I resent a lot of social media which is ironic given the enjoyment and satisfaction I have derived from this blog but giving idiots like these a voice really is dubious. Can there be any sane fans who have not seen a huge shift in attitude, organisation and character in the last few weeks. Under Wenger the media loved it when we had players sent off ( ?remember the ‘ this is the xxx red card since Wenger took over’ comments?) What annoyed them most was that we never used to lose when we had ten men! Well in the last two weeks we lost our top striker and captain when level with half of the second half to play away at Palace and now played over an hour with ten men and recovered twice from a goal down away at Chelsea. We’ve only lost one game and that was an unfortunate defeat to Chelsea who are the third best away team in the country .
    These are important steps forward and indicate real progress and this is with a whole series of injuries and suspensions and no reinforcements- yet!
    We woukd have lost both those games under Emery ( remember last year at Leicester when AMN went off ?) . I do hope these idiots giving Arteta a hard time get things in perspective. I’m more positive about Arsenal than I have been for a long whilev

  20. 20
    North Bank Ned says:

    Well said, TTG.
    Rome wasn’t built in 280 characters, to mangle a saying.

  21. 21
    North Bank Ned says:

    So sad to hear of cba’s passing. He was an original. He will be sadly missed here.

  22. 22
    scruzgooner says:

    sigh. i start the morning hearing about cba, and just listened to the dubliner’s link above. i can imagine him in it, truly. i must say i am with you bath@17, in that though his taste wasn’t mine, he did unearth some gems. rest in peace, you crazy old cunt.

    to the game, which i got to watch last night. as much as the cba news makes me sad, watching the game made me proud of our club. we were second best for periods, but we were also comfortably best or even for much of the game, even after luiz went off. the fallow periods were very few, and while i didn’t expect to get the second goal the team’s workrate and effort and grinta certainly earned it.

    so glad for hecate…it was said in c100@10’s linked article he scored it with his left peg…the one he injured…god, that must have felt good to him. and such a pretty “ball with eyes” as they say in baseball.

    i’m so impressed with how xhaka slotted into defense, and didn’t screw up. that’s not fair, truly: he played very well, made timely blocks and used great positioning. well done.

    saka, what can we say about this young man? i have so much faith that every time he has the ball out near midfield on the wing he’s going to get by his man, work a 1-2 with someone and get by his man, or find the pass to the man by the box to work into the middle. his crosses are, from what i can see, his only place for serious improvement. as i’ve said, too, once he bulks up into his grown body he’s going to be a handful, wherever he plays. all this defensive work is going to help him with the rest of his career; when he’s playing up front of kola or tierney, on the left of our attack, we’ll have him protecting the left back more instinctively rather than only on instruction.

    gabigol. just that. lucky with the terry-esque kante slip, but still. his pace over five yards is devastating, and his endurance to carry it the length of the field gives me hope he can last the course of a long arsenal career. let’s just say it’s not going to be his last goal like that. and his defensive help of saka was wonderful to watch.

    the rest? well done lads, including mustafi for some nice diagonal passes. i saw onscreen laca holding mustafi’s face after the game, clearly telling him to keep his head up, that mistakes happen, or whatever. i love it.

    and again, a well-done to bath, who wrote it up as i saw it, too.

  23. 23
    bathgooner says:

    TTG@19 I couldn’t agree more. The older I get the less surprised I am at the depths of stupidity displayed by some people.

    I long ago stopped reading NewsNow and any Arsenal blogs but Goonerholic, arseblog and 7am kick-off. I am sure there are some other havens of common sense out there but I don’t need to find any others.

    We have a gem in this head coach. Fortunately he appears to have at least as much inner strength and determination as Arsene. These pygmies will have no impact on him.

    Ned@20, ain’t that the truth?

    Scruz@22, we have an amazing crop of youngsters and the improvement in most others has been remarkable. The major fly in the ointment is Özil whose creativity has long since waned and although he is certainly putting in more of a shift in pressing, he remains too much of a passenger for me for too much of the time.

  24. 24
    batthgooner says:

    Scruz@22, I forgot to answer your question. The title came from the song “(Are you ready?) Do the bus stop!” and in the draft I had the link to the Youtube clip as a *footnote. However with the ‘new improved linkability’ of this modern bar, the *link was replaced by the clip so the * became redundant.

  25. 25
    scruzgooner says:

    bath@24, what * are you talking about? 😉

    as to özil, i’m not sure i agree he’s a passenger, and he’s always a threat. give him a little more time to get used to arteta’s needs, and i think the passing will come again. class is permanent, right?

  26. 26
    bathgooner says:

    😆👏

  27. 27
    North Bank Ned says:

    TTG@19: Anyone arguing that the defense has not improved under Arteta is talking out of their hat. The stats show:

    shots allowed per game down to 12.0 from 15.9 in Emery-coached games this season;
    opposition shots on target down to 4.5 from 5.6; and
    goals conceded down to 1.2 from 1.5.

    If you exclude the games when we were playing with 10 men because of red cards, thus giving the opposition much more possession, the improvement is even more marked:

    shots allowed per game down to 10.3 from 15.8;
    shots on target allowed down to 3.6 from 5.5; and
    goals conceded down to 1.0 from 1.5.

  28. 28
    North Bank Ned says:

    Scruz@25: The other question about Ozil is that if you do not play him, who do you play in that No 10/inside right role who offers the same potential creativity? Is Cebellos up to it? Willock’s best position seems deeper. ESR is out on loan (and I am still not 100% convinced it would be his best role, either; he too looks more like a deeper playmaker). Nelson is injured and more a winger. None of the other young attacking midfielders who have trained with the first team, such as Burton, seem able to break through. And, please, not the Emery answer, Torriera, now we have got him back in his correct position.

  29. 29
    scruzgooner says:

    ned@28, too right. ceballos and esr are probably the most natural replacements (though i agree esr might be more of a santi, though not as nimble or cogent with both feet, or with the smile). lt11 is in his best position as one of two pivots, or one of one.

    i think of willock and esr as ramsey-lites, nelson is never a midfielder. it might be we have to rely on our wings for creativity.

    one other aspect to it is laca’s workrate and positioning. i daresay he’s becoming more like giroud, another forward who was vital to that team’s production without scoring as much as supporters generally would have liked. it’s clear arteta is pleased and impressed by what laca has been giving the team, and he’s as nailed-on a starter for important games as we get. we might be able to get by without someone as creative as özil in the team if that continues…

  30. 30
    bathgooner says:

    If I may join this conversation, I don’t think we have another natural number 10 on the books to replace a misfiring Özil at the moment. Neither Ceballos nor Willock are that kind of creative force.

    It’ll be interesting to see if MA8 can coax Özil back to the form he delivered before the fall out of the Germany debacle torpedoed his form and if not, how long he will continue to play him. I’ve seen it suggested that Lacazette could play a 9/10 role effectively, much as Firminho does for the Mugsmashers and in the absence of anyone else who is a natural 10, it may be worth a punt. He has certainly been more of a provider than striker recently and also does a ton of pressing work.

    The 10 role must be addressed in June, along with CB and CMF if Xhaka leaves which remains possible. I would expect an effort to offload Özil at that point, even if we have to part fund a loan salary. I think Maddison would be a good option but is out of our reach now but Grealish may still be in our price range and I do think he will leave Villa in the summer whether they stay up or, quite possibly, go down.

  31. 31
    scruzgooner says:

    bath, by all means 🙂

    i do find it ironic that giroud got such stick for what laca is doing “so well”.

    i think mesut will come good. i know from basketball (nothing if not a running game) that when i am asked to be more physical my shooting suffers for a while until i get built back up into game-playing form. özil runs more and more right now, and in bursts; that work can screw the touch by making it stronger (as we’ve seen with his overhit passes than usually he weights beautifully). once he adjusts, it *should* make those passes sharp, but weighted correctly, and we’ll get the benefit of both his improved workrate and his old-style creativity. if not, then let’s let him out on loan, anywhere (that’s not drastic, eh?).

    i will say one of the things that used to impress me three years ago was how he ran in pockets of space between the defenders, and when he got the pass had no one around him and could turn and survey his options. playing closer to his man (or not running in those pockets, or if those pockets have become nonexistent due to how we’re setting up these days) means he doesn’t have that time, and he’s probably adjusting to that as well.

    i think xhaka doesn’t need to be replaced. remit any three of özil, guendouzi, torreira, willock, esr, amn, and perhaps even saka (or laca, as you say) and the job gets done well. with saliba coming in, luiz staying, holding shaking off the rust, and chambo unavailable until this time next year i’d say cb is much, much more important to us than cmf. i think mustafi is gone, and papa needs to be a backup. we know there’s no one like van dijk available at our budget, but i’d be satisfied with another holding, or even another luiz, so long as they’re ready to wait for their chances.

    if we can bring in grealish and offload xhaka i think that will be an improvement, especially towards our creative needs, though i daresay i don’t see boy jack slotting into defense as easily as xhaka did last night (i don’t necessarily see xhaka doing it so well *again*; i think we “got lucky”). if we offload özil, i don’t know how we will go; i don’t see grealish as an özil replacement in the creative center, except as an augmentation (line up özil, grealish, torreira).

  32. 32
    TTG says:

    Ned,
    Thankyou for those enlightening stats .
    Given Arteta has only had seven games in charge and we have been down to ten men in substantial parts of two of them , there has been clearly quite a shift. Last night was the best I’ve ever seen Xhaka play in a centre back role . Logic would suggest that given his lack of mobility he might be an option at centre back given that he might get the chance to use his passing range there . We are being strongly linked with a Ukrainian centre back but I would think the most likely CB import might be Boateng .
    Bath,
    The lack of a no.10 (a real playmaker) is a concern. I think Mesut has lost his mojo but he was extraordinarily productive when he first joined and his stats made him just about the most creative playmaker in Europe ( I’m sure Ned can confirm) . It was around the time Cynic decided he was a waste of space! I think had we had Aubameyang then we might have been even more successful than we were .

  33. 33
    North Bank Ned says:

    According to Mustafi’s father, who is also his agent, Mustafi junior still harbours ambitions of a recall to the German national team, and implies that a move to a smaller Bundesliga club might be the way to achieve that (one step back to take two steps forward). However, Mustafi senior says his son is in no hurry to move until he finds the right move. He also pours cold water on the rumors of a move to Galatasaray.

  34. 34
    North Bank Ned says:

    TTG@32: Not sure how you measure playmaker creativity, but in terms of goals plus assists, he was top in Europe when he was still at Madrid. Over his first three seasons with us, he was top in England and high in Europe overall.

    If you take goals plus assists per minute played, he had a creative impact around every 105 minutes when he was at Real Madrid. Having teammates like Ronaldo to bang in the goals must help with the assists numbers: he had more than 20 assists every season he was there. Twenty is the best he has managed for us, but he moved from a team that has scored 149 goals in all competitions to one that would score 50 fewer.

    His creative impact per minute number for us averaged 159 in his first five seasons with us (best 141). Last season, it shot up to 269 minutes but he played fewer minutes overall under Emery than in any season since he established himself in the Bundesliga. This season he has managed only two assists and the number is above 600 minutes.

    So mojo, if not lost, definitely mislaid. Can Arteta help him find it?

  35. 35
    Uplympian says:

    Bath, an excellent match report, thank you. I’ve been out of the loop all day so my thoughts are somewhat delayed. There’s some spot on synopsis of the game itself and how the team is progressing under MA8 by the regular patrons here. No doubt the team pulled itself together after Luiz’s red card with further encouragement from Arteta at half time.

    Every player put in a shift with some stout defending and committed play upfield. Xhaka was superb at CB, Bellerin played with energy for the whole 90 + minutes, which surprised me considering his latest return from injury. Saka grew into the game both defensively and as an attacking force – the inter-linking with Gabigoal was terrific. I can see Saka developing in due course into a creative MF – he has an eye ( and the skill ) for the quick and accurate pass.
    I will also give a nod to Mustafi, who with the encouragement of his team mates managed to overcome his guilt of the mis-guided back pass and put in a very solid performance as the game wore on. Unfortunately he is prone to 1 or 2 major brain farts every game which can often result in goals being conceded. He certainly had 2 v The Blades last Saturday which for a change didn’t result a goal ( more down to the poor quality of their strikers).
    There are big improvements already under Arteta and as the the adapts to his requirements better days are ahead.

  36. 36
  37. 37
    Doctor Faustus says:

    Amy Lawrence on Xhaka’s performance yesterday:
    Granit Xhaka wore an invisible armband on his night of redemption
    https://theathletic.com/1552973/2020/01/22/granit-xhaka-arsenal-chelsea/?source=shared-article

  38. 38
    bt8 says:

    Great piece on Martinelli the emerging superestrelha (knocks on wood).

  39. 39
    bt8 says:

    Great piece on Xhaka too, the first 2-3 paras at least, before the pay barrier kept me out

  40. 40
    OsakaMatt says:

    Does Auba / Luiz red cards count
    for the FA Cup game with
    Bournemouth?
    Be handy in Luiz case as he was
    due a rest anyway.

  41. 41
    bathgooner says:

    OM@40, yes, they both count. Bournemouth should really have other priorities (who knows if they will though) so an Arsenal team determined to win should be too strong for them even without PEA and Luis.

  42. 42
    TTG says:

    Great article on Martinelli ( with gave access to an intriguing one in the Guardian about Luiz!) . Thanks for the heads-up . Nice to know Liverpool want to take him off our hands, maybe they will take Ceballos instead who wants to leave apparently and cut his loan short .
    Against Bournemouth Mikel has vouchsafed this starting X1 to me .
    Martinez
    AMN Sokratis Holding Saka
    Torreira Xhaka
    Pepe Ozil Martinelli
    Nketiah
    Please don’t share this with Eddie Howe as it’s a secret 😃

  43. 43
    OsakaMatt says:

    Thanks Bath.
    It would seem Holding will get
    an opportunity then

  44. 44
    Esso says:

    Cheers Bath!

  45. 45
    North Bank Ned says:

    C100@36: Thanks for the Martinelli link. I suppose the unasked question is whether we can keep him.

  46. 46
    Esso says:

    @19 TTG

    Seen this load of utter garbage?

    https://www.onlinegooner.com/articles/view/4950

    I know you have some connection to the Original Gooner, but I just don’t get the current online version. At all. They’re out there trying to get subscriptions to save the publication, then promote this load of divisive rubbish.

    Words fail me.

    Actually, no they don’t. Wankers!

  47. 47
    OsakaMatt says:

    Thanks for the link Esso.
    You’ve summed the article up well.

    They’ll have to do without
    my contribution to their
    survival fund.

  48. 48
    Doctor Faustus says:

    NBN@45: Do the monks know how long his current contract with us make him stay? And hopefully we can tie him to one of those 10-year long contracts with 500 millions in release clause or whatever absurd numbers clubs lately come up with …

  49. 49
    OsakaMatt says:

    Best of luck to Wolves tonight.

  50. 50
    Gunnersaurus Stunt Double says:

    Esso.

    I tried to read it but I gave up. Load of shite written by a tosser who could start an argument whilst alone and then lose it. And knows nothing about football apart from that he likes whining about it.
    He doesn’t need a considered rebuttal as much as a short, sharp smack and the advice to take a long, hard look in the mirror.

    Poor chap. It must be exhausting to be compelled to find everything shit.

    I’ve got a dinosaur onesie he can borrow. Wearing that it’s hard not to smile at the world.

  51. 51
    North Bank Ned says:

    Dr F@48: Martinelli joined the club last July on a five-year contract that will run to June 30, 2024. He is reportedly paid £10,000 a week, a salary that, again reportedly, is to be increased, so a contract extension might be part of that.

  52. 52
    bathgooner says:

    Good ebening all.
    Good to see you, Esso@66
    Thanks for posting that link. It’s an important reminder that despite the occasional minor disagreements we may have in this bar on players, tactics and all sorts of stuff, there are morons out there who claim to support our club but whose whole value-base is at odds with ours. Self-important, narrow-minded bullshit.

    OM@67, my sentiments exactly. I too was going to subscribe to the Gooner for next season to help keep them afloat despite my giving up buying the publication years ago because of the number of articles displaying irrational toxicity towards Arsene Wenger. I bought the last issue to see what its tone was like and was encouraged to consider a subscription. I will buy the next one for TTG’s eulogy to Dave. However they can forget about a subscription after publishing and possibly even commisioning that divisive nonsense. Please forgive me, TTG.

  53. 53
  54. 54
    scruzgooner says:

    great story, bt8. some dust got in my eyes, at the end.

  55. 55
    scruzgooner says:

    as for esso’s link, that reminds me of things you see on social media where statements are made, supported in the piece internally, and conclusions are drawn that have nothing to do with reality. total wank.

    this is the publication for which you sometimes write, ttg? have a word (or is that writer the person with whom you’d have to have a word? never mind, then). they should be writing soundbites for aftv…

  56. 56
    BtM says:

    @46 – A concise and accurate assessment, Esso. I bought it once. It stunk. Having read only the first sentence from the link, clearly it still does.

  57. 57
    North Bank Ned says:

    Delightful link@53, bt8b. A bit of Scruz’s dust blew my way, too.

  58. 58
    TTG says:

    Firstly , greetings Esso ! Lovely to hear from you .
    Secondly in answer to you and Bath I did see this and posted a reply saying what a pathetic article it was. I had some difficulties in posting it and gave up. It is an awful article. Kevin allows writers to express their own views ( this is not an editorial) and has never censored or altered anything I have written in thirty years.
    The Online Gooner and the print version tend to be very different. I rarely write for the Online Gooner and there is a wide range of contributors. Some of them are idiots. The print version has a more conservative approach, a difference from a few years ago. One or two outspoken writers like Steve Ashford ( The Spy) can be a bit OTT but Kevin does a good job as editor and a lot of the writers like Charlie Ashmore and Mike Slaughter and Phil Wall are very nice blokes, proper supporters and are very committed to the club . Layth Yousif is playing a bigger part and has started Gooner Fanzine TV as a sensible version of AFTV. He has asked me to record some stuff and I’m doing a Newcastle preview on Feb 3rd. Layth views me as the oldest Gooner still alive and the idea is I dribble into my beer on camera while recalling great moments in our history . I wouldn’t give up on the print version but similarly I very rarely read the online one

  59. 59
    TTG says:

    Martinelli signed a five year contract last summer on £5k a week. Give that man a rise ! Basically it will take him about eighteen months to earn what Mesut does in a week! That needs fixing quickly !

  60. 60
    TTG says:

    My last observation was that I wrote a very critical article on Emery a couple of issues ago in the print Gooner and the tone of most of the magazine on Emery matched quite closely what a lot of us were saying here, ie he was a numpty . But it was relatively respectful and proportionate .
    The online debate was much more extreme. There is a difference in tone between online and print media in my experience . The Gooner was voted best UK Fanzine about three years ago but I can’t remember Whitcher buying me a drink!

  61. 61
    Esso says:

    Hi TTG and thanks for the response(s)
    I remember you saying before there was a marked difference between the print and on-line versions. Have to say for me the print version did got a bit downhill after Mike Francis ‘retired’.
    Await your Gooner Fanzine TV appearance with some anticipation!

  62. 62
    scruzgooner says:

    ttg@58, you’re certainly the oldest gooner *i* know, which is why i gave you that scarf. gotta keep your neck warm! 🙂 seriously, i’ll be interested to see the difference between whoever does the newcastle preview for here against your preview in the gooner…

    that brings up the schedule on the contributions page. should gsd be planning on the burnley match report for february 3 or 4th, given the game is the 2nd? it’s currently listing the 4th. i am going to assume it’s preview the day prior (maybe morning of, GMT), report the day of or the day after…

  63. 63
    Gunnersaurus Stunt Double says:

    Scruz,

    I’ll have it up on the same day as the match. In any case I assume we would all be onboard with the idea that if anyone puts their hand up to write a review it should be ready by close of play the day after the game.

    As I won’t be at the match I’ll be fine to write the review after I’ve watched it on tv. Possibly after an interval to eat some food and have a bevvy…

  64. 64
    scruzgooner says:

    gsd, it wasn’t directed at you, but at the timing as scheduled (that date does look wrong). if you had it up by the 4th i wouldn’t be complaining!

    i will be sharing your tv viewing, your interval, your food, and your bevvy, but most likely of the breakfast type rather than whatever dinosaurs eat and drink 🙂

  65. 65
    bathgooner says:

    Date on schedule for Burnley report rectified to 2/2/20.

  66. 66
    Doctor Faustus says:

    Thanks NBN and TTG. I hope the club will surely do whatever it takes to keep him happy and playing for us for many more years, and the inevitable frenzy from the Spanish giants should not tempt us to sell.

  67. 67
    North Bank Ned says:

    Our only hope is that with Reinier Jesus, Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo on its books, Real Madrid feels it already has its fill of Brazilian teenage starlets.

  68. 68
    Countryman100 says:

    Sorry about the scheduling error chaps, all my fault. Well spotted.
    The assumptions about previews or reports should be, I suggest,

    Previews: day before the game
    Reports: day of the game if not attending (i.e. watching on tv or stream)
    day after the game if you attended

    Can I take this opportunity to ask again for previewers and reporters for the Newcastle and Olympiacos games?

  69. 69
  70. 70
    bathgooner says:

    A group of deviants. It seems the fella behind it has form. See the link in the WhatsApp group.

  71. 71
    Countryman100 says:

    Testing

  72. 72
    North Bank Ned says:

    For tumbleweed?

  73. 73
    scruzgooner says:

    the only two things i am unhappy about with the look is the alignment of the handle with the post number (the post number should be shifted upwards, but i couldn’t accomplish it using any tools), and the gap between the comment metadata (number, name, date) and the comment itself. likewise, i couldn’t find any way to reduce the size without killing readability.

  74. 74
    Gunnersaurus Stunt Double Stunt Double says:

    I’m Andy Goram’s dino brother. Used to be called Dinogoram.

  75. 75
    Gunnersaurus Stunt Double says:

    @74

    Welcome GSDSD! I had a feeling you were gonna show up…

  76. 76
    The real Andy Goram says:

    I object. I have no kin who are dinosaurs. We are agile lithe creatures, much like gazelles. All this nonsense about eating too many pies is very upsetting. *bounces away in a gazelle-like fashion*

  77. 77
    LambyGoram says:

    But Andy, you’re baaaad! Our clan contains multitudes.

  78. 78
    LambyStew says:

    But you taste gooood Lamby
    Goram 🥘🐑👍

  79. 79
    Pangloss says:

    Good result for the Tinies today, holding on for 1-1 away at Southampton. Apparently they can do it on a damp Saturday afternoon down South.

    COYG

  80. 80
    Gunnersaurus Stunt Double Stunt Double Stunt Double says:

    Is three a crowd?

  81. 81
    OsakaMatt says:

    We seem to be signing another
    CB. I knew little about Pablo
    Mari until I looked him up.
    Hopefully a diamond in the rough
    and all that.

  82. 82
    OsakaMatt says:

    Calum, Luiz, Papa, Mus, Marí,
    Mavro, Rob and Saliba.

    I hope they’re not a Tarantino
    film.

  83. 83
    bt8 says:

    @80. Good question, I think it depends on the situation though. If that was a test, your moniker wraps around the date unobtrusively.

  84. 84
    bt8 says:

    OM @82. Maybe we should sacrifice what we have in quantity for a little bit of additional quality in that cohort?

  85. 85
    bt8 says:

    Pangloss. A delightfully damp Saturday down South that looks to have added some congestion to Sp@@s fixture list, and their sinuses too if we have anything close to the usual modicum of good luck. 👍🏼

  86. 86
    OsakaMatt says:

    Couldn’t agree more bt8.

    Not really sure how we’ve accumulated so
    many CBs, I suppose it must have made
    sense at the time.

  87. 87
    Countryman100 says:

    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>