ok so over the years arsenal have won silverware but were is your english heart you have a team full of foreigners and its not exactly in moderation dont this worry you for english football. ok you have walcott but thats about the only prospect you have. we have 5 internationals at under 16 level aswell as over levels you cant say we aint catching up because we are. we are putting in for redevloping white hart lane and we are now challenging. you are not the most wonderful club in london there are other clubs its not just about arsenal its about the smaller clubs also like palace watford brentford QPR etc etc etc... your arrogance will be your downfall it wont last forever
Jesus Halls2006. Bitter or what? Lets take this step by step shall we? If you can actually hold a decent footballing conversation without resorting to the 'old favourite' jibes you seem to be excelling at atm!
Walcott is the only English prospect we have?
Justin Hoyte, under 21 right back... English.
Kerrea Gilbert under 19s right back, having a storming season at Cardiff......English
Fabrice Muamba,
England Under 19 Captain, having a storming season on loan at Birmingham. Refused any bids for him when we sold Larrsson to them.... English
Gavin Hoyte, Justins brother, on the bench against Blackburn last week. Defender or left back, played england schoolboys and under 17.....English
Jay Simpson, Blistering Midfielder, scored a hatrick in the youth cup quarter final last week. Played England schoolboys and current under 17 International......English
Paul Rodgers, Solid defender and current England under 17 international. Played as part of the first team in pre season friendlies this season... English
Jay Thomas, Defender, England schoolboy international... English
Henri Lansbury, Midfielder and captains the England Under 16 side... Moses Barnett and Rhys Murphy also england under 16 internationals ..... all English.
Catching a drift here? These are kids already turning out for our reserves, without even going into players that are turning out for the acadamy and scholar levels in the club. Not to mention talented home grown players who are representing other counties through their own choice.
So in answer to your question no it doesnt worry me for the future of English football. There is some exceptional youngsters coming through at club level and making it into first teams sides up and down the premiership. Even in your reserves u have the likes of Rob Burch, Stewart Lewis, Christopher Riley etc who have tonnes of promise.
What does worry me is how the FA handle the talent, how the plans of England training schools of excelence and acadamies (like the french have with Clairefontaine) have been shelved. There is little or no accountability in the FA at that level, people who genuinely want youth programmes to succeed like Howard Wilkinson are shipped out at the earliest convenience. That works its way through the FA to the top, its just an incestious fellowship where if you face doesn't fit or u try to change something in some way then you are quickly cast aside.
Why hasn't erricsson been in a hurry to get another job? thats right cos the FA are paying a small fortune to him for doing fuck all. If u were sacked, would your company pay you for another 2 years? McLaren isn't much better either. When club fans are glad that their manager has gone and got the england job, thats gotta tell you something.
What gets me is, that your lot have this 'england gripe' now. last season at highbury when you scored you just chanted 'England' even though the goal was scored by an Irishman and set up by a dutchman. Same when Berbatov and Mido scored against us a few weeks back. Bet you couldn't give a toss if it was a canadian who scored your winning goal today? Isn't your latest hot prospect, the 17 year old on loan, French? He could well have a clip on you tube tomorrow with his swan lake that won you the free kick Berbatov scored from.
Where would u be without Berbatov or Keane this season? Were u sat there worried that they were keeping Defoe on the bench and possibly damaging the england team or were up jumping up in the stands (or off your armchair) celebrating the fact they were/are scoring you goals?
When you were enjoying cup success years ago, didnt you write songs about your talented argentinians? did you marvel at Villas goal and think 'we should have let an English player have his place, sod winning the cup'. I think not.
yes ok you're catching up, but realisticly should you even be that far behind? As far behind as you have found yourself in the last 10 years? Both clubs have had grounds with similar capacities, similar revenues, similar power. If anything your boards have always been wealthier, and as a floated company more able to source funding. Sugar wasn't poor and Levy and ENIC are one of the richest companies around. Pretty much every year you spend more in the transfer market than we do, even more so lately while we have had the constraints of the new stadium to pay for.
You could have been set up at pickets lock by now, with a 60,000 capacity yet you have tickets for your next european tie on general sale at a yet to be redeveloped ground. Now the more neanderthal supporter (not looking at halllsie here at all
) may say these points sound arrogant, the more astute of should begrudgingly admit there is more than just a hint of truth about it.
My job unfortunately puts me in contact with the 'dark side' and i was having a conversation with Charlotte Cowie a few weeks ago, same sort of conversations i have had in the past with your players, Andy Purcell, Ally Beattie, Dean Kenneally and others. All admitting they have fallen behind Arsenal over the years and agreeing that you would have snapped your arm off for a lot of the young talent we are bringing through, not even thinking about whats on a passport.
Yeah they know i'm a rabid gooner and we have a good bit of banter, but at the end of the day, as much as i hate it, football is a business, its success driven and money orientated. This season the club finishing bottom of the league will earn more than chelsea did as champions last season. Its all about bottom line, we have ploughed money into the new stadium, and not been able to buy big in the transfer market. But if we can pick up the captains of the Brazilian, French and English, yes Halls English Under 19 team, combined for less money than you spent on young pyo lee, then thats good business, even if one of them fails to make the grade.
If we can pick up a Nick Anelka for 500,00 and make nearly 30 million profit on him when he gets stroppy then thats no mean feat either, bit like you did with Carrick. Hand on heart (and before his name was arsenal related) would you rather have picked up Fabregas for pitance or paid more for someone like zakora, taino, or stalteri?
Halls, get off your soap box mate, take a few deep breaths. Had the boot been on the other foot for the last 10 or so years, you strike me as the type who would be ramming your success down the throat of every gooner you could find. Take a look at what you are writing in the cold light of day.
Do you think it sounds a touch arrogant that you are basically accusing every gooner of not knowing anything about any other club in London? After years of going home and away to watch Arsenal (yes years Halls, not some glory hunter post 1989 fan, that you seem to think we all are) time, money, mortgages and family mean i tend to stick to the home games and selected away games (no not just big games halls, been to carling cups away aswell as euro ties!) If we aren't playing a match then i will end up taking the little one down the road to watch Grays Athletic (yes Halls, an even smaller club than the ones you mentioned!)
The type of club where u can sit in the club house and have a beer with the players and the gaffer after. Proper grass roots, tin shed stuff. Players that haven't made it big time, ex yids, Mark Wright and Stuart Thurgood ( the latter will make it again), other players who have taken the chance and are knocking them in in the lague now. Eastwood and Southend, kightly at Wolves, Mclean at the posh.
I'm sure Halls will know who the gaffer is, if not i'm sure he can google so he can reply with a smug answer. Clue Halls, he is an ex yid favourite, as was the gaffer last season. Both hate Arsenal with a passion, but will freely admit the most of the talent arsenal have, and are bringing through with the kids, they look upon with envy as fans of your club.
So Halls, (well perhaps to others too, but they haven't come accross as bitter and resentful) All well and good saying it wont last forever and that you are catching up, but its just words that have been said for the last few years. I'm actually glad that you are making a challenge now, the past few years our derbies have been like your cup finals when we are more nervous about facing Manure or Ch£lski. You may call it arrogance i call it reflecting on the league and the challenge for positions.
I co-run a gooner site elsewhere, Stortford will know it as he has been messaging people touting this place. The board is a free for all of discussions with the usual banter, piss taking etc. Got resident Manure, Chelski, Liverpool, Everton and other fans all having a laugh but discussing football in real terms, being objective whilst still having a dig. You can pretty much guarantee that everytime we play you, you get a handfull of idiots registering giving all the classics boring, same old shite that halls is coming up with here. we take the bait have a bit of banter and they after the game they are either so frustrated they turn into some sort of human tourette dictionary and are booted out or are never heard from again.
Its a shame cos banter is what makes forums, petty shite and poorly thought out jibes like the limited shite Halls is coming out with, is pretty much gonna stunt the growth of this place. Halls be objective not defensive. Then you can probably get something good going without gooners coming on here and thinking 'why bother, if we are just gonna get the same shit repeateded back at us over again'.
Stortford, a word to the wise mate. By all means join a site and get involved in the banter, plug your site in your signiture on there, we dont care. Dont join up merely to Private message other members into joining your own place. It's low and aint the done thing and u'd hate it being done to you here if this place takes off. Your asking everyone to join in the debate on here and sign up, but your not showing the same courtesy elsewhere.
Good luck with it none the less