It’s back…
Today we have provisionally agreed to resume the Premier League on Wednesday 17th June.
With that announcement the PL confirmed many Gooners may once again be able to watch The Arsenal play football – on TV at least as all games will be behind closed doors. The provisional of course relates quite rightly to health and safety concerns, of which more anon but first what about our own beloved club.
The Arsenal, leading the way as ever, will open the revised schedule with our delayed fixture away to Manchester City. A full slate of fixtures will then take place starting from the weekend of 20th June. The media friendly Pep vs. Mikel aspect is no doubt just a scheduling coincidence but will certainly be a talking point as the game draws closer and Star Wars quotes abound, let us hope the pupil will indeed prove to be the master.
Overall, the current plan, and keeping firmly in mind that all current plans are really just tomorrow’s fish and chip paper, is to finish the remaining 92 fixtures by 25th July with the FA Cup Final to follow on 1st August. An ambitious plan and one fraught with related points of risk and fixture congestion – perhaps we may even hear the first plaintive cries of the egotistical football manager complaining about the unfairness of the fixture list, and yes I mean you Maureen. Were The Arsenal to reach the FA Cup Final, as is often our wont, that would mean 13 games in 45 days. Which brings us to the far more important point of the risk. Can this be done safely? In truth no one can guarantee safety at any time especially now and I fully understand and sympathize with those who may see this whole scheme as mad, bad and dangerous. 12 of 2,572 virus tests for club staff being positive to date show the risk to be very real. However, and this is just a simple personal view of a complicated issue, football is an industry and like many other industries and individuals for that matter it is simply seeking a way to survive. Whether it is a garden centre, hair salon or tattooists, to name three other possibly “non-essential industries off the top of my head and with no disrespect intended, I think it is simply human nature to try and carry on. We find heart in the attempt. People in many countries are now tentatively returning to their workplaces with it is to be hoped the best possible safety protocols in place and I see no reason to exclude sport from those efforts to recover. There is also a fair argument that the return of football will lift the national mood and partly to that end the TV companies have agreed to provide some matches on a free to view basis – simple goodwill or a free fix for returning addicts is a moot point really as I don’t doubt many will just enjoy the game. However, my view is I must admit mainly driven not by concern for owners or even players and supporters but the many, many others who do not earn millions but do depend on football for their livelihood. I hope that somewhere amongst all the discussion the Government has pushed a small point about continued support for the myriad match day workers who will not be returning to work whilst games remain behind closed doors. So far I think clubs have in general behaved well and been supportive to their match day staff, however the longer games are unable to start as of old the more difficult this may be. Do it anyway, now you are getting some revenue remember these are the people who supported you to make lots of money in the past, support them now.
To more hardheaded matters, there are sound financial reasons to restart the PL, and it is certainly better than nothing financially for the PL clubs. The 340 million pound rebate to their TV masters has concentrated thinking at a number of clubs bringing forth the latest proposal to repay the sum over two years. The burden of repayment will fall more largely on the top 6 finishers – around 30 million each as opposed to 11 million each for the other 14 due to the structure of the deal. Let’s hope our moneymen will be fully behind MA in his attempts to get us into the top 6. The Championship will also return, though it is a different story in the lower leagues and I fear for the future of many of the smaller clubs, at least in their current professional form. Many will no doubt say that England has long been an anomaly with 92 professional clubs in a country roughly the size of Stan’s ranch but many people have long and deeply felt ties to their local team and I for one wish them all the best in their fight for survival. Early discussions have been proposed with a view to government support in return for minority shareholdings but whether these proposals are feasible remains to be seen. Perhaps, looking on the bright side (I know, I know) it will be an opportunity to increase shared fan ownership of clubs, a grass roots revolution so to speak as some owners sell-up and move on to pastures new.
A couple of bits of other Arsenal news to finish – firstly two Arsenal players Jordi Osei Tutu and Dino Mavropanos have in fact already returned to action in Bundesliga Two. Osei-Tutu, usually a right back, played wide right and scored for Bochum this week, his third in five games I believe. Their respective clubs Bochum and Nurnberg will meet this week and the best of luck to them both and I may even watch if I can find somewhere showing the game.
Secondly, Sir Chips, I’ll resist the cashed in pun, has announced his retirement as Chair of the Board. In summary Sir Chips, who seems to have been in isolation for some years now due to his foot-in-mouth proclivities, said…… “It has been an honour to be the chairman of this great football club. Arsenal has always held a special place in my life and that will remain the case in future. The club is in safe hands with Stan and Josh, the board and executive team”….. I will make no comment on that statement or on his occasionally controversial tenure other than to wish him all the best in his retirement.
Although the club has already said it intends to go ahead with only the existing board members many admirable candidates for his replacement as Chair have already been suggested. I will add one with another admirable person for the role – Alex Scott, once of this parish as an excellent right back, would be a welcome breath of fresh air. I realize of course that the chances of this happening are about the same as a small furry animal prospering in a very hot place but her appointment would be well-received by the vast majority of Gooners, something I suspect will not be true of the actual expected appointee as our new Chair. Who knows though, not I certainly, the club may surprise us all.
Time to finish and as always I wish all of you all the best in these difficult times.
Good stuff, Matt
I see no reason not to be cautiously optimistic about the team’s chances against the Oilers. (It’s been too long since I was last confident before a big match.)
Wonderful to sign-off in my customary fashion…
COYG
Lovely job Matt. A very good point that playing 10-12 games (depending on progress in the FA Cup) in six weeks will stretch fitness. However, the rule change to allow up to five subs should give scope for not overtaxing certain players. The whole squad should be used by Arteta and I’m sure it will be.
Nice one, Matt.
I’m glad you resisted the “ Sir Chips cashing in” pun – and why wouldn’t you when you had already so seamlessly delivered the “naming hair salons off the top of my head” beauty !
Good interesting and thought provoking read.
Nice piece Matt. There’s no doubt that muscle injury will be common with that schedule as I think they have already discovered in Germany. Given our propensity to that curse, it’s as well we get the Oilers out of the way first.
Do you expect the broadcasters to be dubbing crowd noise or not?
Sky, BT and their international partners will be relieved as they can now turn on the subscriptions they furloughed. The chosen private labs will be laughing all the way to the bank over the number of tests they will be paid to do on a weekly basis. Can we expect new shirt sponsors next season: Compass and The Doctors’ Laboratory?
well in, matt. and i just want to hear the games, no dubbing.
fingers crossed it goes well. we are in a good position to see our such a congested slate, given our youth (and the 5 subs, as c100 points out).
love your suggestion of alex scott for the board!
Thanks gentlemen for the kind
words. I must admit I was wondering
about whether it’s good or bad to
be playing Man Shitty now but as
I haven’t a clue I happily left that
to the sharper mind of our astute
game previewer.
Exceedingly well done, Matt, it shouldn’t be allowed. Just kidding. 😉
I found this point among your most intriguing, and hopefully such a conflict of interest would never affect our performance:
“The burden of repayment will fall more largely on the top 6 finishers – around 30 million each as opposed to 11 million each for the other 14 due to the structure of the deal. Let’s hope our moneymen will be fully behind MA in his attempts to get us into the top 6.
At least Alex Scott would be better looking than TTG but either one would be an outstanding and refreshing appointment to the board. Maybe one of the other old farts could stand down and both of them could join at once?
Bt8
May I remind you that beauty is in the eye of the beholder…and looking at Alex Scott and I is a case of chalk and cheese! Sir Chips is not being replaced which suggests his role was more ceremonial rather than pivotal .
May I commend OM for a top-class summary . While caution is the watchword , regular testing and comprehensive player testing at a time when we hope and believe R is slowly reducing should ensure risk is reduced to a minimum. My big concern is a lot of silly Scousers will ignore strictures from the authorities to stand outside Anfield . We just have to accept if there is Football it will be without fans for the next few months and possibly longer .
Should we get to Wembley for the semi or final of the Cup especially the final , it will be very strange to see it played behind closed doors at Wembley. Frankly I’d accept a very ordinary season next season if life can return to normal soon- not the bleeding new normal – and hopefully the club survives in a decent situation.
There is a Goonerholics Forever celebration to be enjoyed at Rules and it would be great if it were safe to do this before the end of the year . Boy would that be a celebration!
It seems the police share TTG’s
concerns about a large gathering
of Scousers as 6 games may be
played at neutral venues, which
includes 3 of their games.
Not at all sure about that as a
policy. Seems kind of insulting
to single out Liverpool and the
2 Manchester clubs.
Thanks bt8 and TTG.
I can’t think of any good reason to
limit the board to elderly gentlemen
from US/UK plus offspring. I can
think of some not good ones.
You touched all the bases, OM. We are in uncharted territory. One can only hope for safe passage.
There is indeed good reason to diversify the board, which would otherwise be male and pale, and posilbly stale. Could I nominate Amy Lawrence as a candidate?
A board of four is too small, especially if 50% of it shares the same surname. Seven is regarded as a good number for a for-profit board. Adding three independent voices would improve the governance of the club.
Insightful and enjoyable, Matt.
I am in favor of games restarting, with all the precautionary measures and without spectators in the ground for the time being, of course. Overall, I think we as a society need to engage in a serious discussion (and not politicizing or oversimplifying the problems) about how to balance avoiding death and devastation through the pandemic against death and often long-term devastation because of the direct and indirect consequences of unconditional lockdowns.
Top 4 and 14th FA Cup. I believe. 🙂
@13
Amy is a nomination I could
support Ned.
And er….congrats for finding
a candidate even less likely
to be asked than Alex Scott
😉
@14
I think I’d take the 14th Cup over
Top 4 this season Dr F.
If only for the quiz question in
50 years time “who won the
FA Cup in August?”
It appears we have signed a new winger for the U-23s on a free transfer, George Lewis Igaba-Ishimwe Maniraguha, a 19-year old Rwandan-born Norweigan who impressed in trials earlier this year and is thankfully usually known as George Lewis.
George Lewis must be quite a prospect as he joins with just seven minutes of senior footbal in the Norweigan second and third tiers under his belt across five games.
Ned @18 – whoooooooo ?
And can anyone welcome the new drinker @19, 20 and 22 ? My keyboard has spectacularly failed to meet the demands 😳
Hi.
It’s good to see a new face around here, may I offer you something from the bar?
Do you have any Latin-character nickname we could address you by?
To our new poster -welcome! Can you tell us how you stumbled across this blog? Were you a previous regular at Goonerholic, the old bar?
sorry folks, the “new poster” was a spambot…
cleanup currently happening on aisle 5.
Good man, scruz. Don’t forget the PPE and the Eusol.
cheers, baff. i’ve been following drumpf’s protocol, and have been injecting bleach and have a uv light up my arse.
Well done, Scruz.
Martin Keown’s assessment of the players we ought to keep in central defence. Sounds like the two musketeers, Luiz and Mustafi, would be on their merry way.
https://apple.news/A92ThA7iNT462pTNSfVqbrw
Thanks Matt for a very thoughtful view on the re-start of football and the retirement of our “independent” chairman. There are so many un-knowns with how much of the virus has been reduced to a workable low level and can the testing of football players, coaches, refs etc keep it under control. We’ll know soon enough.
I doubt if Stan the Fan will necessarily replace Sir Chips with an “Arsenal” man. It’s probably too early to approach Le Prof, though he would be a good pick ( didn’t Arsene get an honorary award from Her Maj ? ). That would be good continuity to follow Sir Chips with French Fries.
We must have beaten a load of top clubs to get our latest big signing George Lewis – he’s been rocking it up in the Norwegian League div 3 and has apparently amassed 5 appearances already. He comes from Rwanda originally, our shirt sleeve sponsors – proves yet again there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
It’s worth remembering that KSE blocked the appointment of David O’ Leary to the board a few months ago. David has sort of gone off the Gooner radar given that he is our holder of the appearance record for the club. He had an association with Leeds but has returned ( as some many of our ex-players do ) to the club they love despite a temporary hiatus. McLintock was very bitter about being frozen out for Blockley ( Ye Gods!) and we recently mentioned Charlie’s fallout with Bertie Mee .
I think O’ Leary would be a decent choice but there are many articulate old players. I’d like Keown on there to ruffle some feathers and to use his intelligent analytical skills but I suspect he enjoys punditry too much and it’s too lucrative for him to relinquish . What we must never lose on the board is a real passion for the club and an understanding of its values .
TTG – the obvious person was Bob Wilson surely?
Countryman100 / TTG – Bob Wilson would be an excellent choice but possibly his age could be against him – he is 80 next year, although appears to be in fine fettle ( I’m sure TTG can confirm ).
cheers, ned. scurrying roaches, the lot of them.
I suspect that any addition to the board is idle speculation. Stan has said the board will be four now Sir Chips has cashed in his er, chips. Not great for governance, but I doubt that weighs heavily on the owners.
Interesting piece on Bloomberg about how English clubs are buying French and Belgian clubs to get round post-Brexit limits on their access to young European talent.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-27/english-soccer-finds-eu-loophole-to-keep-access-to-young-talent
Bob is in very good nick mentally and when I last saw him physically, although he has had Prostate Cancer. He would be a wonderful choice symbolically but he is a little bit old in my view and away from the cutting edge of the game. I think someone younger but with Arsenal in their veins would be ideal .Bob’s heart would leap if he was asked and he runs his charity with great precision although he has a CEO and Megs , his wife, is a very impressive lady .
Tony Adams does a great job at Sporting Chance but I don’t always find him the most coherent thinker . Lee Dixon is a smart cookie and a very strong Arsenal man. The other great choice would be Alan Smith but he is again well established in punditry.
Thanks Uply.
And welcome and good luck
to George Lewis.
And thanks scruz for cleaning
house 🥃
This is a salutary read . It is the annual KPMG report valuing the Enterprise Value of the leading European clubs and it shows how our financial performance has slipped . Only one club- AC Milan has dropped in EV but ours is the second worse performance and guess what the two clubs have in common – welcome Ivan!
My immediate reaction is that you just HAVE to be in the Champions League to progress .
https://footballbenchmark.com/documents/files/KPMG%20The%20European%20Elite%202020_Online%20version_.pdf
Very thoughtful piece from Frank Stubbs
The Season That Never Was
C100
It is a fine piece but ultimately Frank is right. I’ve had a lot of stuff from Liverpool fans licking their lips and hoping we beat Citeh.I’ve told them they are the only ones who care. I saw my grandchildren today but didn’t hug them or sit within six feet of them . I’m much more concerned about that than who wins a title tgat was decided weeks ago anyway. I belong to a Fantasy League that is intensely contested. Except this year one of the lads in it has died of Covid ( a Gooner) . His two lads are in it too. Do I care if I win it? Too much sadness has occurred to make football relevant this season. I hope we are not resuming for the sake of Liverpool. They are treated as some sort of special tribe anyway . So Frank is right.
Start again in September
@38
A salutary read is right TTG.
A downward trend reflecting on
pitch performance in the PL.
Covid19 will have a major impact
but we have a high % from
match day revenue. As you say
CL is a financial must it seems.
I am glad you could at least
see your grandchildren TTG.
Slow news days on The Arsenal
front, I suppose I’ll listen to
music.
*Whistles “Good old Arsenal” and counts the tumbleweed rolling past the bar door*
It’s no great surprise to drinkers in this bar that the quality of information in the media about Arsenal especially contract renewals and potential signings is to use a technical term…..largely bollocks . Luiz is leaving to join Benfica, his agent fleeced Arsenal and he only signed for a year , rapidly becomes a Luiz is likely to stay at reduced wages and the agent only got 10% of the reported figure.
Auba has been offered a new contract, oh mo he hasn’t , or he might be just about to.Frankly if the reporting was bad before it’s even more inaccurate working remotely but it underlines the fact that it will be very difficult to make decisions until you know more about what next season will bring. Frankly of the players at the club I would try to keep these two but they would have to be realistic about terms. And neither will have unlimited options in these straitened times .
Agreed TTG, I would try to keep the experience both these players bring to the team (and in Auba’s case the goals too) if they are realistic in their wage demands.
It’s easy enough for David Luiz’ agent to issue a public statement that his client wants to end his career with Benfica and then to suggest that this summer could be the time for the move, but somehow I have a feeling Luiz likes living in London having returned there from Paris after a relatively short time. Playing another year for Arsenal is his best shot at combining the London life with a last shot at winning stuff at (close to) the highest level. Then, if he wants to go to Lisbon he should have plenty of opportunity to play one or two more years in Portugal if he wants.
Interesting article on bbc site, Newcastle’s DeAndre Yedlin’s grandfather sums up the way a lot of people feel about life over here on the left side of the pond these days.
Auba and Luiz both still have something
to offer I think. Auba would be the
bigger loss as he’s a nailed on 20+ goals
a season striker which I think Laca isn’t.
I’m more interested to see how we
manage Saka, Martinelli and Eddie to
be honest.
As Auba said don’t bother to read the
stories just listen to music 😁
Re: OM @50: He scores buckets of goals and spouts wisdom too. What more could we want? 😎
Well in for the half ton, OM.
The whole place would just seem glummer without those Auba smiles — and the 20 goals a season.
Hope you are staying safe, bt8 and all other denizens of this bar in the US.
you too, ned. we’re ok in our piece of paradise; i worry about you and bt8 in the cities.
Thanks, scruz. All well so far, mercifully. But febrile times.
Thanks, Ned and scruz. The atmosphere in the Twin Cities is calmer over the last two days due to three factors I can identify: sweltering heat, fatigue, and the overwhelming presence of the National Guard in the business districts from mid-afternoon onward. But the community’s recovery from this week’s chaotic events, not to forget the threat of Covid, will take months and years, as the search for justice, order and harmonious racial relations continues. My family and I are unscathed if a bit traumatized by the brutality that was exhibited this week but my heart goes out to those who are in the line of fire.
***Intended not to be “political” in any way. I hope I succeeded in that endeavor. COYG
Ned. scruz,bt8
Good to hear you’re all safe and
well. Didn’t seem political at all
to me bt8, just honest.
Might be some Arsenal news today
with the proposed fixture list up for
approval. Plus various other stuff
such as number of subs, neutral
venues and contingency plans if
the season is still unable to finish
Seeing as the away teams have garnered a vast majority of the points in the resumed Bundesliga season, it would be interesting to find out if a vacant stadium inherently delivers a psychological advantage to the away side. If so, we should hope Arsenal are fast at work creating cardboard cutouts of fans to affix to the seats. They wouldn’t have to be cutouts of the grumpy season ticket holders either. Also, would the cutouts be allowed to bring transistor radios or boom boxes to replicate the sound of fan noise? I certainly hope so, because otherwise the games are likely to have all the drama of my 26th day of Covid quarantine, which is to say, not a great deal.
This article has some interesting twists to the usual arguments for home advantage.
Interesting article NBN@60. Once more I raise my hat in awe at your ability to lay hands on such data.
The article reads as though it has been translated by someone with an excellent, but not quite perfect, grasp of English which is a shame. It seems also, to be an edited version of something longer, probably reference number 5 that I have yet to attempt to track down.
I would like to see the charts for all 7 parameters used to assess a home team’s performance, rather than just 4, and I’m also curious what the factor is that is labelled by “p” in the paragraph below the four charts (maybe the probability that the effect seen is random, so that the VERY small numbers mean the effect is highly likely to be genuine.
A few other questions spring to mind – why confine the analysis to the first half only? Why limit it only to matches that were scoreless at half-time? (This latter, may be because the effects of scoring, or conceding, a goal might outweigh home advantage.) With luck the full article would provide some insight into these questions.
(God, I miss the days when I believed there was such a thing as Objective Truth!)
Still an excellent read which encourages me to look for more. Thanks again for posting.
Interesting analysis Ned. We are very familiar with that first quarter burst out of the blocks from home teams irrespective of their league position. Yes, Pangloss that p is the probability calculation. Standard significance criteria: <0.05 is significant at 95% and <0.01 is highly significant at 99% probability.
So, a quick Google search for the above article yielded multiple hits. The first showed the abstract of the article and offered the chance to download the full text for £34.00. I appreciate everyone’s need to make a living, but that’s a little too rich for me; a fiver would be my first offer. The second site, however, offered an easy link to request the full text from the authors, which I have done. I anticipate letting you know the progress of the request.
COYG
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/jun/04/joshua-kimmich-we-have-to-wear-masks-sit-alone-then-shower-at-home
An interesting interview with
Kimmich. I won’t miss players
laying on the ground screaming
Interesting article, Matt. I see the away sides have dipped slightly over the last week or two, and now have only won exactly half of the points on offer since resumption of the Bundesliga. Still an excellent haul though.
As for the requirement to shower at home, I wouldn’t want to get into the shower with a German man in any case. Too much bratwurst in the mix for my liking.
bt8,
😀
£34 for waffling about football.
Blimey.
Our first four games after the restart are to be:
June 17 v Man City (A)
June 20 v Brighton (A)
June 25 v Southampton (A)
July 1 v Norwich (H))
I hope the apparent disappearance of home advantage in empty stadiums holds.
Couple of points that stood out for me in the Kimmich interview were his mention of the increase in muscle injuries and the likely impact on players next season because they won’t get much of a summer break. Being out of European competition already this season may prove a blessing in disguise.
Players coming back from injury like
Hector and Kieran will be more
susceptible I’d have thought. Just
when we’ve got the treatment room
almost empty
I think it is a violation of international law for our treatment room to be empty, OM.
Our FA Cup quarter-final against Sheffield United has been confirmed for Sunday, June 28.
The latest training pictures that the club has released show Cedric wearing a face mask for a broken nose, so the treatment room must still be in business.
https://www.arsenal.com/news/arsenal-squad-train-rain-colney
I am beginning to feel Cedric is not a
lucky player.
Anything other than Cedric’s broken nose make you feel that way Matt?
Maybe his mask can do double duty protecting his nose and protecting him from Covid? Maybe scare off bad guys too?
Just when Cedric was fit Covid 19
struck. Now when football restarts
he breaks his hooter. Call me a
paranoid fantasist but I’m
reconsidering my previous conclusion
that the virus was engineered by
the Giant Bat in the Sky as revenge
on humanity for the soup thing.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>