Van Persie contract run down?

Well it really shouldn't come as a shock that our captain Van Persie has dodged any talk of signing a contract extension. As much as it is disappointing, I think its more a case of we are lucky to still have him this season and that he didn't hand in a transfer request after seeing all the key players leaving. Despite all thats been going on and the pressure on him, he has handled it incredibly well.

I think it may be a blessing in disguise, that he holds out until next summer and sees what signings will be made, thats presuming that we qualify for the Champions League. Because lets face it, its going to the most difficult season in recent years. Hopefully if all goes well for Arsenal, position wise, Wenger will be forced to bring in established world class players. Im sure that will give confidence to RVP to stay with us.

Of course due to Arsenal's tendency to keep quiet regarding what goes on in the background, its hard to know, but I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that the board is the one that is reluctant more than Wenger to spend big, something that was somewhat confirmed by Ivan Gazidis coming out and saying that they will stick to bringing in more youth rather than buying established stars. Which sounds to me that they tend to pressure this style of business on Wenger and is a blatant disregard of the fans' pleas to get a world class player in.

Losing RVP next season will be disastrous and Arsenal should do their all to keep hold of him. From what I know, he gets paid in the region of £85,500-£90,000 a week, which in football terms nowadays (thank you wage-and-transfer-inflating-buying-club(s), yes I'm looking at you in the north west...), however ridiculous it sounds, is not exactly a lot for a player of his quality, especially when Man City are more than happy to double that amount or more.

Lets hope that RVP will pressure the Arsenal board to showing the same commitment that he has shown to the club both on and off the pitch.

Arsenal 3-0 Bolton

Great result today, and once again our captain Van Persie came up with the goods. I just hope we managed to keep hold of him. He has been exemplary in his conduct by not wanting to leave Arsenal and is really showing good leadership capabilities.

There were some nervy moments, especially when Bolton were on the counterattack, but more than anything we had the clinical finishing to complement the possession and domination that sometimes we lack to kill off games. Still some questions on the occasional defensive lapses. But we can at least enjoy the win today!

Ivan Gazidis confirms no change in policy

Ivan Gazidis a few days ago came out to say that no change will happen in their 'youth-first' policy, which is a little worrying. Couple that with Wenger stating about how he knows better due to his experience in management for '30 years'' which is also a concern that shows he is not showing flexibility in his approach and not really learnt from his recent mistakes.

Both Fàbregas and Nasri wanted to see a world class player come to the Emirates during the summer transfer. You cannot get more blatant than when Fàbregas tweeted how much he admires Agüero out of the blue, to which also Agüero responded thanks and gave equal compliments to Cesc.

It was not to be and there was no signs that any world class players would be coming, and as a player, you would be disillusioned that your manager has made no progress in this sense and only young players were bought.

Other clubs are buying left, right and centre and unfortunately, you do have to spend to keep up. Arsenal have done admirably well but they need to see that in the current climate, they need to spend, they need to offer the wages that is in demand.

I really appreciate what Wenger has done so far, and his idea of not rocking the boat by having one player on stupid amounts of money, as there is a danger of a 'domino-effect' with other players wanting more too, but sadly that is football nowadays.

Now the problem is Arsenal are struggling to attract big names due to their difficulties. How is it that we did not get Juan Mata or Eden Hazard when they themselves WANTED to come to the Emirates.

Joey Barton 'nearly signed for the gunners'

Interesting bit of information regarding the speculation before of a possible Joey Barton move to Arsenal move that first got mentioned during the summer. A lot of people thought this was pure newspaper spin, but now it's transpired that, according to Barton, he and Arsene Wenger indeed did have a few conversations. However he stated a potential move to Arsenal was scuppered after the infamous incident involving new Arsenal signing, Gervinho.

Arsenal chairman, Peter Hill-Wood moved quickly to quash such rumours, stating that such conversations were news to him.
“It’s not something the board heard about and if it was a serious proposition I certainly would have expected us to,” Peter is quoted as saying.

In response to this, Barton tweeted, "Am not going to be drawn on PHW's comments, he obviously needs to open a dialogue channel with Wenger, Pat Rice and Steve Rowley..........I feel I made the right move for me, am very happy at QPR and wish Arsenal, the best of luck. Everything happens for a reason, I believe".


I think despite Barton's notorious reputation, its the type of steel and personality that Arsenal possibly would have benefited from. He certainly would not have been scared to kick a few arses to get his teammates and mentality-wise, it would have been great for the team, especially when defending a lead. What do you think?

Arsenal 3-1 Shrewsbury

Well as always Wenger decided to use a mixture of experience and youth to see this game out. Have to say when i saw the team line up, I was a little unsure and thought it could have done with a couple more stronger players, at least on the bench. Although most eyes would have been on how the highly rated youngster, Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain would do.
Another young prospect to look out for would have been Ryo Miyaichi. A highly skilled and quick dribbler that has drawn comparisons in style to Ronaldo in his younger days. Finally a proper look at Coquelin, who was thrown into the deep end vs Manchester United a few weeks back.
The game started with the Arsenal youth looking very lively and getting a few dangerous crosses and a chance for Chamakh early in the exchange. Then after what was a promising start, a goal to Shrewsbury. It felt like same old story, but to be fair after the half time, Arsenal started dominating. And all credit to Oxlaide-Chamberlain for getting his first goal on his home debut, albeit through a clanger by the opposite keeper. Coquelin also showed his class with the amount of interceptions. We also got to see a brief appearance by Ryo Miyaichi. All in all they got the win wrapped up, but will be hoping they will be more assertive in the future.

League Cup

After a dismal defensive play against Blackburn Rovers, where Wenger uncharacteristically, yet rightfully accused his team of "lacking concentration", captain Van Persie has also called on his team to show improvements.

'It just frustrates me and it is happening too often,' Van Persie told the Arsenal website.

'Every time we start positively we keep making the same mistakes and that is surprising...

Even before the game on Saturday I said to the boys “today is a big, big day”. We have to get back-to-back wins, and we just cannot do that at the moment.

‘That is our aim for the next couple of games, we have to win them after each other. There is lots of time left this season.’


Right now, we cannot take anything for granted, as was witnessed in that first game struggle vs Leyton Orient last season. As unthinkable it sounds, getting a win tonight vs Shrewsbury will certainly help boost confidence in this currently flagging team.