Ash: "I Would Love to Be Captain of Arsenal One Day"
Ash has re-affirmed his desire to stay with us, and one day become the skipper of our great side..."I would love to be captain of Arsenal one day, who wouldn't? I think I show on the pitch how passionate I am about the club and about winning." he said.
"The manager must think I am not ready for it. Perhaps with everything that has gone on he thought it might not be a good idea."
Ash said he can understand fans wanting to boo him after the Chelsea affair, even though he would prefer them not to.
posted by NyssietheGooner at 9:09 AM
86 Comments:
i have mixed feelings on ashley he pissed me off over the whole tap up affair and i dont think i can forget it,i can though forgive him and i would hate to lose one of the best left backs in the world to a rival,either way he has had a huge change of heart since june when he said he would never play for the club again,also he got 5 grand a week more than he asked for and why all this comotion started in the first place,
I dunno why they didn't just pay him what he was after in the first place....would have saved a shitload of upset and hassle.
I think keep him but not captain
i agree serge. its hard to forgive but i think we'll have to in this case. he's obviously realised what a mistake he made and hopefully we can just put it down to being young and seeing the dollar signs in those cunts mourinho and kenyons eyes. seems like he's matured now and i do actually think he'll make a quality captain one day.
I agree with Nyssie there, if the club hadn't fucked the lad about he would never have touted himself to the Chavs anyway.
The whole saga is over now and as long as he is wearing the badge we should all be behind him (not in the David Furnish + Elton John context I hasten to add).
if he was true arsenal he would'nt have gone to the press. keep him but certainly not captain. never know when the next queenie tantrum may occur
Reminds me of what the Watford fans used to sing...
"DON'T SIT DOWN WHEN ELTON'S AROUND OR YOU MIGHT GET A WILLY UP YOUR BUM!"
Hahahaha!!!!
;o)
Anon 10.01 I totally agree with what you are saying, but the club were underpaying him and trying to take advantage of his loyalty. I know he earns a fuck of a lot of money anyway, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't be paid the going rate for one of the best players in the world.
Dont forget that the duck like creature often seen wandering around Man.Usa's defence has been given a basic of 100k a week and I believe Ash is a better player by a distance (AND he isn't a junkie to boot).
Cole as a future captain is a great idea.
About time we stopped all the moaning on here about NOT signing Parker, SWP, Carrick, Davids, Essien, Owen, Jenas, Robinson and only signing Poom and letting Edu (who did not want to leave) and Viera go without adequate replacements.
Should look forward to the bright future ahead, the future's bright the future's blue and white.
GO ON YOU SPURS
fair point westside...and miles ahead of the changed up scoobie doo look alike
anon 10:08, PLEASE can i have your spurs season ticket. seems like your lot are gonna have an unbelievable season and arsenal are gonna be shit. oh how i wish we could boast of having mido up front instead of Henry. and i wish we had davids. looks like he could be a great player, especially for the future. i'm soooooooo jealous now that i dont support spurs
i appreciate your honesty Jack. Unfortunaely, there are no season tickets left. But, I am sure that if you get your name down now then you maybe able to get hold of one in the next ten years or so. But, until then, you will have to make do with watching Pooooommmmm.
Sorry, on a serious note, I cannot believe you really signed him.
i'm presuming you cant believe we signed him cos he's 33? if so, out of interest, how old is edgar?
I've never forgiven my dad for taking me to Arsenal instead of Spurs when I was a kid. To think I could have had years of no expectancy at all and could have gone to 30 meaningless games per year with no stress. My lad will never forgive me for enrolling him for a season ticket in the new beautiful ground watching the best players in the world.
Life is soooo shit eh???
its very upsetting isbn't it westside? i've been sensible unlike you however and enrolled my son for a ticket to spurs. surprisingly, what with the great football they play, the queue wasn't too long
I cannot believe you signed him because he is utter shite. A club of your stature MUST surely be capable of signing a better GK. On top of that, if the reports are true, he is being paid £40k per week. That's too much per season.
The problem is both Wenger and Ferguson have stated that they do not like signing keepers under the age of 28-30, as they feel they are at their peak then. Fair comment, but jesus, Poom!
just want to know why you think he's shit? when wwas the last time you personally saw him play? i'm not saying he's amazing cos i haven't seen him either but judging from the sunderland fans on here today and yesterday he's pure quality.
Westside...for a gooner your posts are quite good.
But, won't your son never forgive you for not seeing the future is blue and white, and not putting him on the list for a THFC season ticket.
That disappointment may affect him, become addicted to drink, a paedo, a drug addict..or even worse..a Chavsea
Jack...in fairness probably not for a couple of years. A few years back he looked pretty useful, and then he seemed to lose the plot, and started to look pretty ordinary. If he is 3rd or 4th choice at Sunderland, it seems that things have not got better for him.
Plus, he is injured for the CL games. Wenger may be a great manager (never forgive Hoddle for recommending him to Dein) but this one does not make sense.
I am not sure about Ashley's credentials for being skipper of the club. The club were slightly at fault, but Ash acted like a complete twat. You dont go and meet and a portugese knobjockey and a bald arrogant cunt from your biggest rivals to discuss a transfer only days before playing Man USA.
As regards to transfers It has been a miserable summer for us Gunners culminating in the curious signing of an over the hill estionian goalkeeper.
Hleb looks class no doubts, but he would look better in a squad that either still had Patrick Vieira, or a squad that has a replacement for Vieira.
Our squad is exciting. But the lack of players within the squad is a risk. The key to our season is injuries. Get lucky like Chelsea did last year and we have a chance of finishing 2nd or 3rd, but get a wealth of injuries and 4th or 5th is more realistic. As far as the Champions League goes we should get out of the easy group we have been given, but beyond that i see nothing. A 2nd round exit.
We are particularly light in central midfield, and also a bit one dimensional. Our passing game will have to be tip-top all season as we have no plan B due to Wenger's apparent stubborness to try something different.
This summer has frustrated me immensely, and i have to say i have lost a bit of confidence in the boss and indeed the squad, but the window is closed, this is it, this is the squad we have got. Its time to forget the shit summer and get on with things, get behind the team and hope for the best. I am one of many disgruntled fans and Wenger may have failed us in the transfer stakes, but whether he will let us down on the pitch is unlikely. Although i do feel that this season will be his toughest and if we fail questions will be asked.
Gilio...Great post. Agree with you 100%.
Maybe it's me, but after all this time I still can't work out what Tottenham fans have to brag about....
They've been 'on the up' as they put it every season since, well, as long as I can remember and according to them we're forever on our way down the shitta!
I must be missing something...
'71, 2004, '71, 2004!
Even you have to admit Nyssie that for a long time things are looking promising.
I would'nt say Arsenal are in the shitta, but, something seems amiss, and a potentially tough season lies ahead.
Rethinking the Jeep
Free-spending consumers have been holding up the U.S. economy for some time. Are they finally starting to buckle under high gasoline prices? Bloggers Barry Ritholtz and Andrew Samwick size up the consumer's ...
Hi, I took a trip to your blog and I found it very interesting! I invite you to go see my flower coloring pages related site. It isnt anything special but you may still find something of interest.
Why is it that when I answer your questions in a reasonable, football serious way it goes quiet on here.
It seems that evryone is only happy with moaning and swearing at people.
Thought this was suppose to be a football blog.
I would agree that Spurs have the best side they have had in a long time, but they are still a fair distance off the top 4. I would bet that you dont get more than 20 games out of Davids and also lay money on the fact that you were saying that Arsenal were doomed when we lost Petit and Overmars too.
The fact remains that Spurs are shouting from the rooftops after 7 points from 4 matches and we are supposedly in turmoil in getting 6 from 3 and played Chelsea AWAY.
gilio, i understand your comments but can you really see us finishin 5th? apart from man usa and chelscum, who else has even the samllest chance of finishing above us? i cant see anyone else
In fairness Anon(10:46) you do look pretty good this season and I am also inclined to agree that we are not as strong as last season.
Well said Nyss (10.43)! The thing which amuses me is that Poom is only a back up for Mad Jens so what's up with the Spurs fan.
They obviuosly have no chance of winning anything with their first team so he's looking at our reserve keeper thinking mmm, maybe we'll have a chance of winning the reserve league instead.
Fairs fair though, they'll have a good chance seeing as Edgar Davids will be playing most of his football in the reserves after recovering from injury after injury.
Westsidegooner...Unfortunately, a small percentage of the fans (who happen to have the biggest mouths and so get heard alot) go way over the top. They are total twats.
Realistically, a top 6 finish and a decent cup run would be a superb season for us. We are no where near the top three. But, we hope, that with such a talented young squad that if they stay together in the next few years we may break into the top three.
Anon 11;01...It's called good humoured banter.
I agree Mr Hotspur. It makes a pleasant change having a reasoned debate with an opposition fan without the usual cunting and questioning of parentage.
Do us a favour though and give yourself a sign on, so you are not put in the same bracket as some of the fuckwits we have posting on here.
Well done sir!!!
Still shit though hahahaha
It is good to have a reasoned debate with opposition fans rather than just abuse!! I have spurs fans as friends & chelsea fans (who were pre abramovich) & I love others views when the pathetic insults are left out!!
To the spurs fan, do you not worry that your club is doing a leeds?? I looked at spurs accounts yesterday (well up to march 05 anyway) as I cant believe how much they are spending!! Since july 2003 they have spent 46.5 million on players & recouped just 10 million!! this does not include this summers transfer activity where they have spent around 20 million, again they have made some back but not that amount!! I think levy has gambled on making the champions league as just under 70 million has been spent on new players in 2 years!! its a big risk especially as they have the cost of new training facilities to take into account!!
don't know why people are moaning. think they're just worried we're on the way down and are getting caught up in all the media talk saying we're suddenly shit. i'm prepared to give this team a chance though this season and see what happens
Mate, we have people moaning constantly and it is a supporters right to do so of course. I personally am of the view that we dont have the funds currently to buy new players and thats why the only decent money spent was on Hleb.
Only the board and manager will know why we haven't spent more money (maybe they felt we didn't need to). My personal view is that we are weakened this season, but I guess only time will tell. I still cannot believe that people are having a pop at Wenger, who has been amazing for us. As Mr.Gump would say "fickle is as fickle does".
Anon 11:28...Your figures that you quoted amaze me. To my knowledge, even though a lot of players have come in, very little money has been spent.
I know that we are not in the red, so the money must be there. I believe that Newcastle is the new Leeds. This was backed up by the football finance guy on Sky Sport this morning.
Westside, I cannot agree. We bid for SWP, robinho & baptista. Yes we missed out on all of them but the money was there so we must have some!! The problem is wenger wants the perfect player for his system which was baptista, but has openly stated there is not another player like him, so how can we continue to play a system which requires a player we do not have & cannot get??
There is no point in spending money for spending sake. However, Wenger does seem to have missed out on some bargains. Carrick £3.5m, Davids would have done a good job for you for a year. Cesc is a fantastic prospect and he would speeded up the progress.
If Chelsea would allow him to go, Scotty Parker would have been a great signing.
Anon 11.36. Its on the spurs website, under there investor section!! they quote the figures of 46.5 million spent on players & 10 million recouped from july 2003 to date (march 05). The money for this summers transfers I worked out myself so obviously it is probably a little out but I still make it around 66 million spent & about 18/20 brought in so a difference of something like 40 million!!
But the accounts shows the club in the black.
Plus, that is not on their website
Menuda cara que tiene ese tio en la foto. ¿No podrían poner a otro con más físico?
Clubs do not run on transfer dealings alone. Tottenham, like yourselves, is one of the better run clubs financially.
Anon.11.37, I get your point, but I had this conversation with Jack yesterday. Saying we are in for a player and actually having a chance of getting said player are 2 entirely different kettle of poissons.
Before I get ruined for talking about Jenas let me point out that I didn't want him anyay, but the fact was that Wenger said he rated him but not at 20m. When jj's price came down to a more realistic level we heard no more about it.
Although I am starting to sound negative, believe me I'm not as I still think we have a fantastic team and the best manager in the league.
Not being an accountant I cannot answer if they are in the black or not!! before the transfer dealings in 2003 the were 19 million in debt!! Now I know levy done that share issue to raise something like 15 million but they cannot be in the black unless there is a secret investor putting cash in!! Its a hell of a lot of money thats been invested!! dont forget that financial bloke (forgotten his name) left spurs because he could not go along with the way they were running it, with regards their spending first & worrying later!! Unless there is an investor a serious crash is likely!!
The signings have not cost a lot. There has been a number of free transfers and low fees. E.G. Tainio and Stalteri free, Huddlestone and Routledge £2m each, Lennon £1m, Jenas over three years £7m. Look at between £7-10m for Arnessen, £4.4m for Kanoute. Davids £4.5m over a 12 month period.
Spurs do not spend first and worry later. Levy and Enic are far too shrewd for that. That was part of the problem for the first 2-3 yrs. under Enic they did not spend, and had to clear up a debt that Sugar left them with.
Anon 11.43. It is on the spurs website:
This is the link http://www.spurs.co.uk/investors/reports.asp
go onto the interim report for 6 months ended dec 2004!! it tells you the spending on players in that report & has been updated to mar 05!!
Anon 11:47....Stop fucking with the guy with all these statements. They are not true and you know it.
Anon..11:52 The first page of the report states 'improved operating profit including transfers'.
Does'nt sound like a club spending first and worry later.
Unlike Newcastle, who are £50-60m in debt, and the club appears to be like a bankrupt man buying loads of lottery tickets.
If this is an Arsenal blog, why are we rattling on about Spurs' finances? In all honesty i rate Spurs team now and they have 4 or 5 players id be happy to see in the Arsenal squad (Robinson, King, Defoe, Carrick and Jenas). Spurs right now are a top 6 club that could, if they have an amazing season fight for 4th place. They ARE now on the up as they like to say.
That said, this is an Arsenal blog, so lets talk Arsenal now.
well said gilio
spurs are not doing a leeds levy is shrewd the reason spurs have money to spend compared to us although we are more succsesfull is that they do not have 18 million pounds a year to pay back to the bank like we do but the extra revenue from the stadium will pay that from next year,so we tighten our belts for 1 more year does not seem so bad to me
i agree with gillo lets talk about arsenal
Oh go on then. I heard today that Poom isn't fit to play for a while yet. So if this is true we are in the same boat for the opening C.L games with mad Jens being out. Anybody know if this is fact??
thats not true he will be available for the 1st champions league game,he is in full training, we are also not paying all his 40 grand a week wages sunderland are paying half, and hoytes wages as well and we did not charge them a fee for hoyte,wereas blackburn are paying all of bentleys wages and paying us 300k for the season
Indeed lets talk Arsenal. Anyone have any views on the team they would primarily like to see play for us this season? Personally i would like to see Eboue given a chance at right back for a sustained period. I have no problems with Lauren, dont get me wrong, but Eboue is an exciting player with a real attacking verve.
I suppose my team to face Middlesbrough next saturday would be:
Jens - Lauren, Toure, Campbell, Cole - Hleb, Fabregas, Gilberto, Reyes - Bergy, Henry
With Almoronia/Ugly Mark 2, Senderos, Ljungberg/Pires, Van Persie and Flamini benching.
Anyone have any views?
Mad Jens
Lauren
Cole
Campbell
Toure
Fred-R
Pires-L
Cesc
Gilberto
Henry
RVP
SUBS_ Pooooom, Senderos, Reyes, Bergy and Flamini
It is only when you pick your favoured team that you realise that we do have decent cover for most positions. Bearing in mind that Pires, Hleb, Fredie could always drop into more defensive roles. Fuck me I forgot Hleb in my team. Drop Flamini from the bench.
arsenal are beautiful.
that's why we love them.
we may struggle a bit at times this season but it will make men out of the boys and we will support them.
the new stadium is amazing and next season will be fanstastic.
for the record, i'd rather spuds beat chavski in the cup final any day.
For the record i'd like both to go out in round 3.
Nice article, and spot on with your assessment.
Hi
I’m now nearly 50 I’ve followed Arsenal all my life, have been a season ticket holder for the last 25 years (except 3, living in France) until this one. Something in me started dying over the Cole thing, Ferdinand makes me want to throw up, and then the letter from Arsenal concerning my ticket for Ashburton Grove bordered on the offensive. Don’t get me started on Chelsea (a.k.a. wealthy Wimbledon!)
I’m going to try to do something radical. I’m going to try supporting my now local club, Walton & Hersham. I know they’re not Arsenal but hey they are a football club. Something I believe Arsenal and the rest of the Premiership Circus can no longer claim to be.
Thanks for letting me moan.
Dont forget Hleb Westside!!!
Anon (1:10) I can understand entirely where you're coming from...football is no longer a sport with a little bit of business thrown in, it is a business with a little bit of sport thrown in.
Money is killing the game.
Hi Nyssie...I added about Hleb in my follow up. I would have him on the bench, but I still dont think I could write off Freddie or Pires considering what they have given us over the years. I am a sad sentimentalist.
Still, hopefully it is a season of 60+ games and they will all get a good run.
May I ask what offended you in the new stadium application anon.1.10???
I have had a season ticket for 24 years and I think the move has been handled relatively well.
My biggest gripe is the fact that we have no reward for loyalty. My point being that regardless of the number of years you have attended Highbury, somebody with 2 1/2 - 3 grand can waltz in front of you and pick a seat now when I have to wait until February.
Small gripe really considering the size of the regeneration.
Agreed Westside, I'm a bit of a sentimentalist myself...dont like to let go of some players...!
For some strange reason after looking at the lineup you did earlier i feel a bit more positive about this season...remember after Overmars and Petit - THAT was bad.
This is nowhere near how I felt then!
Cheers fella!
;o)
Mmmmmmm new stadium....(Homer voice)....
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?article=303214&lid=NewsHeadline&sub=Emirates+Stadium+-+latest+pictures+from+our+new+home&navlid=&sublid=&Title=Emirates+Stadium+-+latest+pictures+from+our+new+home
nyssie is a brass!
Glad to be of some assistance Nyssie. Funny you say that actually, as I was typing up my team and was thinking of the competition in each place I was get a happy glow myself.
I think it is easy to listen to the doom mongers and forget what great players we have, managed by a great manager and soon to be moving in to a world class stadium.
Piss off Dave, you're the brass...
;op
You're dead right...you keep hearing in the media how fucked we are...and you start to believe it.
We played some of best football when Vieira was out last season.
Truth be known, he wasn't GREAT for us for a long time....hardly ever looked as though his heart was in it.
Spot on. That first 11 is the best in the league for me and that was without Senderos, Hleb, Flamini, Reyes and Dennis Bergkamp. Not so bad is it??
Not at all mate...!
So what happens if lauren goes back to international football, come jan we would lose lauren, eboue, toure & song to the african cup of nations!! even if lauren does not go back that would still leave us just the one right back as hoyte is on loan all season, totally reliant on campbell staying fit but still no real pace at the back due to toure being out!! only 3 central midfielders at a time when injuries & suspensions are more frequent! but hey never mind we have a great new stadium to look forward to!! f*ck the team lets just worry about the stadium & the extra 6000 real fans it will let in!! 357 million for a stadium that is hardly going to let in anymore real fans hardly seems worth it to me!!
i'm looking forward to this team having to rely on guts and honesty to fight themselves out of pressure situations.
it been years since we had such indifferent form that the next league game put massive pressure on the club.
it might happen this year,
men into boys.
that's what'll happen.
People keep going on about we should have bought Owen. But we did indirectly.
The work shy, social security scrounging Mags, sleeping off the night befores Newcastle Brown, then spending the rest of the day watching re-runs of Jerry Springer shows, before blowing more Benefit money in their local Working Mens club (a contradiction in terms in Newcastle, as they don't qualify for either). There Benefit money (our taxes) pay for their tickets, which pays for Owen.
End of rant.
Anon 2.22 I think you are missing the point. It may only be 6,000 xtra real fans but it is the revenue of the other tickets which is moving the club forward. We are all proud of the fact that we have punched above our weight in recent years, but to move to the next level we need a new stadium.
You only need a brief review of projected future earnings to see that.
Westside, since when has projected meant guranteed??? Ask risdale I am sure he could show you the projected earnings that was going to make leeds the best team in the world!! Arsenal's projections are based on 60000 fans turning up every other week, letting other events at the stadium each year, playing every year in the champions league!! if arsenal finish outside the top two this season (likely) everyone will start on about how wenger's time is over & he should leave etc, now whether thats true or not people will believe it, the business world will no longer find arsenal such an attractive proposition & will want to hold off committing to them!! dont forget certain parts of our revenue from nike & emirates is based on arsenal winning major trophies!! these are facts which arsenal convieniently forget to mention to the fans when they go on about how they are going to earn an extra 30 million a season!! Its only real fans that will show up when arsenal are not so successful!! for arsenal to pay back the loans they need a guranteed 40000 for each home match, whilst for the forseeable future thats a given can you say that in 10 years time if arsenal are also rans that they will still get 40000 fans!! anyone who has supported arsenal for a long time (like me & I take it like yourself) will remember crowds of under 30000 at highbury!!
I remember cup games with far less than 30,000. Although I would agree with some aspects of your comments and I think we do have a lot of fans would disappear if we had a dodgy season or two I honestly dont think we'll be in that situation.
The first season in the new stadium is pretty much sold out and I understand that the lenders have guaranteed funds on future earnings from the end of this season.
That will hopefully mean new players and a bright future again. As Nyssie and I were saying earlier that although we dont have great depth in the squad, our first 11 are probably the best in the league.
I would love to agree westside, but again I just cant. I think our first 11 is quite a way off the best in the league. However I do think we have the best prospects in quincy, cesc, hleb, smith, song, lupoli & the one to watch this season bendtner!! at 6'3 I really think bendtner would add something different he finished last season on fire in the reserves & youths & has started in the same vein this season. He is great both in the air & on the floor, he looks a real goalscorer!! plus he has the physical presence that arsenal so badly need, roll on the carling cup.
I couldn't comment mate as I haven't seen the guy play. Hleb looks good from the opening few games and obviously Cesc is class, but I'm not sure the others will get much opportunity. I have n't seen Song, but due to lack of depth in that position I think he is probably the one with most chance of a run from the rest.
Arsenal are the biggest club in London (not the richest). London is the biggest city in Europe. England has the highest football crowds in Europe.
why should we play 2nd fiddle to Milan and Madrid?
Arsenal should be the biggest club in Europe if you think about it. I really think it's silly to start worrying about Arsenal filling The Grove week in and week out.
There's a 7 year waiting list, or whatever.
it's proven that football crowds are closely corrolated to big names signings (at club and national league level), so enhusiasm may dampen a bit if we sign fuck all, things will pick up if we make a big transfer.
the onlly risk is Chavski killing off the specatcle as a meangingful competetion over the next few years. we shall have to waint and see on that front...
mow says...every premiership team that has moved into a new stadium has been subsequently relegated.
Arsenal should have paid him the money he was demanding in the first place. I've always rated Cole, and I was flabbergasted to find out just how much he was earning. Some of Man U's reserves probabgly earn more than he did.
I'm not surprised he considered Chelsea.
Karen, were you also flabbergasted to read how much Christiano Fallovero was being paid?? If so you'd have understood him wanting to speak to other clubs.
i think we have got 15-16 good players,without any young playr who have not played for the first team,we are short of good GK and CM.but i agree with the board we had to move or we would struggle,we can not keep hoping to punch above our weight.so we just have to put up with the pain now and we can pay off the new stadium quicker than they hoped.at leastin cole,senderos, clichy etc we do have some hope,we not going there with a old side, wich is the main thing. thou i am worried if we can keep henry.
Post a Comment
<< Home