When someone tries to PM you it comes up with: The following users were not found: SamirNasriIsA****** ???
Could be a database problem perhaps. There have been several occasions of downtime on this site of late.
I'm aware of that thread my friend since I started it It may be the board's undoing for not having someone to stand up to Arsene in a manner of speaking but David Dein it is said used to have to persuade Arsene if he wanted the latter to consider alternative viewpoints. The man can be very stubborn as is one of the most widely held beliefs in the sport. You say there's no one telling him to make changes but the players themselves according to Stewart Robson have asked him for defensive coaching but he simply tells them to get on with it by themselves. Arsene has his own way of doing things and on the training ground, apparently it's technique not tactics or strategy. Perhaps he should ask SAF if he could attend some of their training sessions. Whatever it is, the job isn't getting done and that should concern us all. If nothing is done about it we will be mired in the lower reaches of the EPL.
Here Arsene could easily call on Steve Bould, Lee Dixon or indeed Martin Keown and it is no coincidence that when Martin was around when he was doing his EUFA licence with them that we had a good defensive capability. Arsene chooses to forget or not acknowledge that because he doesn't like to have suggestions or notions that anyone else has the answers but him. This is nothing new in sport or in individuals. Mansell in his hey day was always making out that everything was difficult but only he could surmount those difficulties. Frank Williams and Patrick Head said as much and it was really no surprise that while they may have invited him back ( or rather the sponsor did, for occasional races in 1994 ), a long term contract was never in the offing. Yes I was my friend. Actually I was thinking back to a joke that did the rounds about ten years ago, the subjects being SAF and David Beckham. If you want to know about it, feel free to ask away. I hope we still have a chance to salvage something by Christmas. If we get the organisation of the team sorted, this is possible. I recall a time when we had a lot of resilience. But then of course the personnel was different. A saving grace for us is that we are at the early stages of the season. Nevertheless the sooner something is done, the better. Another thing we need on the pitch is leadership. RvP is great but up front, he cannot see the whole field. While I was delighted he was awarded the armband, I felt the one most suited would have been Vermaelen. From where he's standing, he can see it all. However, TV is in the treatment room..... Mertesacker could be the one in his stead but it remains to be seen how he adjusts to life in the EPL. All is not lost yet but time waits for no man. Cheerio 4 now
Sol Campbell said as much on Sunday supplement on Sky, no coaching, senior players took it on board themselves, right now we dont have players of the stature of an Adams or a Dixon and these guys are clearly in need of help, Bolton cut us open a few times on Sat again, although it was a good result, we looked shaky at the back again at times. I have no confidence in our defence, going to WHL this weekend could be another nightmare position for our defence unless everyone puts in a serious performance which has not happened very often this season.
