Deadline day Given-Schwarzer go round
It’s a little over 24 hours until the transfer window closes and I thought I’d run down the rumors and any facts that we know. Before we get started though, I want to point out that I will always strive to name my sources. I feel like if you don’t name your sources then all you are doing is the bidding of whomever you are repeating the rumor for. I mean these aren’t life or death situations, there’s no one going to war over this information, so naming your source shouldn’t be a problem. I do know people “inside the club” and there has been only once where that person passed me information that I put on the blog anonymously. It turned out to be false, or maybe not false, but rather, perhaps, “fanciful.”
There are plenty of bloggers who do have contacts in the club and they steadfastly refuse to name their sources because, well, because if they did the well from which their fanciful predictions springs forth would quickly dry up. There’s nothing Arsene Wenger hates more than a talkie toaster.
I always find it funny that these bloggers get 98% of their predictions dead wrong but it’s only the 2% that anyone remembers and they quickly become a “reliable source.” For example, the Warren Barton quotes I put on the blog about Shay Given “definitely” coming to Arsenal. I reported what I and others heard as part of a Fox Super Sunday Plus after match special that ran only in the United States. Many other people heard Warren Barton say definitively that he has had contact with Shay and that it was a done deal and it’s looking like Shay to Arsenal is not a given after all.
What I think was actually going on was Shay’s camp trying to move along a deal with Arsenal, which was always going to be exacerbated by the fact that City are pretenders to the throne and won’t want to give Arsenal a key component. I have no doubt that Given wanted a move to Arsenal, but as Wenger points out today, clubs still have a say.
Funnily enough, John Cross from the Mirror has maintained for several weeks now that Arsenal are still after Fulham’s Mark Schwarzer and Fulham for their part are not willing to let go of their number 1, unless they can get a replacement in. This is corroborated by Mark Hughes when he says:
Mark Schwarzer has made it clear that he would like to go to Arsenal so we are trying to look at other options. I’m always interested in quality players and Shay Given is a quality player. Make of that what you will. But I have said that if we can’t get anyone else in, Schwarzer will have to stay.
Sparky’s openness makes for an interesting quote and sort of matches well with all parties. Wenger has said that the transfer window is like the terminator robot at the end of the terminator movies “dead, but not finished.” Perhaps he plans to man a time machine and go back to find Sarah Connor and put her in goal, swooping in at the last minute to present her registration to the FA? We can assume that Given is using his contacts in the media to push for a transfer out of Manchester City. We know that Schwarzer is looking for one last hurrah in the Champions League and has handed in a transfer request. It all matches up very nicely and as far as I’m concerned, it’s one of the 2% that us bloggers will get right.
If it happens. Given is on a pretty hefty salary and Fulham’s wage bill has been historically very small so I wouldn’t be surprised if what’s holding up the deal is something like Fulham asking for City to pay part of Given’s wages. Please note that last bit is what we call “making things up” and should not be confused with “actually knowing what’s going on.” Only a few people involved in these deals have that knowledge and they aren’t talking. I’m just wondering out loud, which I’m allowed to do since I am a blogger and not a journalist.*
I also have trusted sources that I will quote from time-to-time and one of them is the French language newspaper L’Equipe. They have recently started publishing a weekly roundup of the gossip columns but other than that one article a week they have been 100% reliable. If they say, for example, that Juventus is interested in taking Armand Traore then you can believe that they have sourced the article well and that there is interest from Turin.
I also like L’Equipe for their simple yet accurate reporting on deals that have been done. For example, they are reporting that Ibrahimovich is returning to Milan, though this time with AC, and that Mascherano has completed a move to Barcelona. Neither of which is actually shocking news but what I particularly enjoy is reading how much each player went for. Ibrahimovich just cost Barcelona Samuel Eto’o and cash which raised his transfer to the equivalent of 75 million Euros and they have turned around and sent him back to Italy on loan with an option to buy… at just 8 million Euros a year over 3 years. Considering that Barcelona just bought David Villa, that they are giving away Ibrahimovich and that they are paying somewhere near £14m for Mascherano, it really puts the £24m Cesc Fabregas bid into perspective, doesn’t it?
Anyway, those are the only reliable things I have to report. Sorry, if it’s not exciting enough for you. Maybe next time I will have an EXCLUSIF for you. In the mean time, I do want to say one thing about Almunia. There is a good chance that all this wheeling and dealing (NSFW LANGUAGE FROM REDKNAPP) will not come to fruition and Schwarzer will stay at Fulham. In that case, I am with the others who have said on this blog that at 6pm GMT on Tuesday we need to back Almunia 100%. I won’t doubt your commitment to the club or anything but I will doubt the logic of taking him down. I’m not talking about saying that he had a bad game, I’m talking about the constant moaning like a Pulis about him not being good enough. Maybe he isn’t good enough, but he’s possibly all we got and after Tuesday there isn’t much we can do about that.
Right, that’s well and truly it. I’m off to stand around outside the Stadium of Light and see who they cut today and make sure I can get Arsene a screaming deal on one of their 20-odd holding midfielders so that Alex Song can have an experienced back up.
Cheers!
–
*I have noticed a sharp turn in what passes for journalism these days with copy being directly, erm, copied from one source to the other without so much as a changed word. I’ve also noticed that many journalists are actually turning in to bloggers, writing opinion pieces, and even appearing on blogs in a turn where the blogger interviews the journalist. The professional has clearly been hit by tough times and the writers are doing anything to stay relevant, including the hit whoring that used to be the exclusive purview of us bloggers. So, when people come on here and complain about my “journalistic integrity” and duty to report fairly, I kind of understand why they might be confusing me for a journalist. After all, I read them every day and the standards at places like the Mirror and the Daily Fail are actually lower than mine — they just don’t use the word “cunt.”
Comments
Great piece.
I’m not allowed to use the “c” word or my readers chastise me over it.
I’m I first or second
@London Calling, Doh Dooooo
Tim my Man, How are you on this Bank Holiday(is it bank Holiday in the USA?).For the past six weeks I have been contributing to your blog my views and observations. On many occassions I have been “balled over” by your writing ability and your writer sense and that of your submitters. Occassionally I have been captivated by the male torso that you present to us, in some ways idenfitying its not only men who read your blog. I follow your blog avidly, however I also follow a very well known “Irish/American sounding” blog, who also writes exceptionally well. But his “arses” comments are lead by kids who have nothing to say, nor have the ability to compose an eloquent paragraph.
I want you to succed, therefore I link your blog to my Atsenal friends who bookmark it.
What I am trying to say to you is this: Keep up your good work, and also note that the moment you lower your standards, I will let you know.
P.S. The transfer of Mark S,is 99% happening, the 1% differental is time management, so he may not sign. How is that for journalism.
London Out
@London Calling, Totally agree. Great job as usual, Tim. I generally don’t even bother with the other blogs simply because there’s enough intelligent conversation here to keep me interested.
By the by, there’s no such thing as a Bank Holiday in the U.S., unfortunately. I have missed them so.
@JV Mauer, We don’t have bank days only Bank bailout days!!
@Akash, Very topical. ha ha
@JV Mauer, Its our last one in the Uk until Christmas. yes Christmas a few months away. Phew
@London Calling,
@London Calling, thanks! I appreciate your comments as well, fo’ shizzle.
@Tim, That was phunny
@London Calling, I find your comments bloated and needlessly filled with big words in an attempt to sound intelligent. And the whole London calling thing is just plain irritating.
And Tim give up on the puns. I could live with the unfunny joke hole pun but it seems like there’s a new one every post. They’re not funny mate.
The legion of ass kissers on here will slate me no doubt. I used to enjoy the blog but posting pics of shirtless dudes, unfunny puns and skepticism & criticism of other blogs has seen the quality of your blog take a nosedive in my opinion.
I’m not trying to be a jerk, just giving you my opinion. Good luck
@Chief Gooner, For not trying, you’re doing an awfully good job of being a jerk. Say what you want about me, but I won’t have you attacking the readers over their style so leave London Calling alone. If you have something intelligent to say about her post, say it. But don’t call out her intelligence just because you’re drunk or whatever.
As for the rest of the comment, I find it funny because I noticed that Arseblog called him Joke Hole the other day and laughed out loud. So, I find them funny still, to this day. But you’re right, I should remove my personality from the blog, stop punning, stop posting pictures of the players exchanging shirts, stop writing critically, and stop being skeptical. Once I get the quality of the blog down to that level it’ll be like baby food and more folks will be able to swallow it.
Tim, you forgot to mention that Mark Hughes added “but taaah….”.
You can get quickly smashed playing the Mark Hughes “but taaah” drinking game.
Tim, don’t you think that City might not want the deal to go through because it helps Arsenal, if it is so transparent that Fulham will only let Schwarzer go to Arsenal with a replacement in place? They didn’t want to send us Given, it seems. Unless of course ManCity don’t think Schwarzer would help us!? The other driver for it might be how difficult it will be in the club to keep Given around if he is so unhappy not starting.
Maybe Wenger was alluding to the next transfer window–the movie ends but there is a sequel where the terminator comes alive or in another form. Perhaps he’ll look to January if no deal can be done now.
So I’m seeing that Van Persie is out for “several” weeks now? This is one of those predictions I wish weren’t coming true. At least so soon in the season. So we’ve got Bendtner crocked. Van Persie crocked. Down to Vela and Chamakh for awhile. If Chamakh gets hurt, we are royally f’d.
@ArseChicago, The Dutch FA said several weeks. Wenger said 8-10 days. Might not be much of a difference but 8 days sounds better than several weeks. The Dutch FA don’t rate very high in my book for their medical expertise. They fucked up the original diagnosis of the extent of Van Persie’s ankle injury after the Chiellini challenge. They have raise the ire of Bayern Munich with Robben now diagnosed with a torn thigh muscle following the WC.
@ArseChicago, Well kinda, I think that for 80% of our English Opponents (i do not want this, but I have heard alot about us being short at the front with another injury)Even without Chamakh (I know this is not what we want but….) I think JET can hold up front and if we have Theo if we have to…and our midfield can bang em in all day!!! Kids yelling gotta go but that is about it for my point.
Yes, but only for the next month or so. Presumably RvP and maybe even Bendtner will be back by then. I think we are better covered in striker than in DM and GK, which would be my priorities. If Song gets injured, I have less confidence we can play anyone in his position. I don’t see Diaby, Denilson, or Nasri as adequate to the role of protecting the back four, especially against good attacking teams. It just isn’t their game. And obviously GK is the priority.
@Limestonegunner, TransitVan is replacing RVP in the netherland team
And, ArseChicago, if the international break doesn’t produce any new Arsenal knocks (fingers crossed!), he might not even miss more than a couple games and be back before CL group games start. Still, of course, I would have loved to see another quality striker in the squad, because this scenario is all too predictable, but Vela will have to step up.
As long as the Makh-attack stays healthy, Arshavin rounds into fitness and Walcott continues to score we should be okay on the offensive end.
We have been playing the equivalent of a 4-2-3-1 recently and this seems to bring both wing backs more into the attacking third as both DM’s are providing cover at the back. As a result, our wingers, and I use the word wingers very carefully, have been playing more centrally in the attacking third and providing additional presence in the box. Both Vela and Rosicky can supplement the wingers although without Walcott, we lose that threat of blinding speed up front.
Like most others, my concerns are at GK and a true DM back up for Song. With Frimpong out for a while one out of Eastmond (who seems to have been sliding down the ladder recently and Nordveit would have an opportunity to step up their game and make a mark. Interestingly enough, both DJ and Koz could easily play the DM role because they are both excellent with the ball at their feet, decent passers and fairly mobile.
As far as the GK situation, I will not bother to comment on something that has been belabored long enough.
@Caribkid69, I agree entirely–the DM backup/competition for Song is the one concern besides GK. But I really don’t know if Wenger would contemplate playing DJ, Koz, or (some have even suggested) Vermaelen at DM if Song were out. I know DJ has played some there, but he is out and barely back into fitness as CB, much less playing a second position. More likely would be Denilson, Nasri–but I think that none of our other midfielders really do the job Song does. It’s a problem I hope we don’t face, but it isn’t realistic to expect Song to play every game. Hopefully, Denilson can do a job and we won’t need to call upon him against big teams like ManU (remembering what they did to him last year) or in Europe.
You all know how I feel about Denilson at DM. Regardless of his 3-5 yard passing stats He does not display the speed, defensive awareness, strength, firmness in tackle or heading ability to play the DM role effectively.
In Basketball he would be called a tweener. Not fast enough to play Guard and not strong enough to play forward. A decent squad player at best and from all accounts, a very humble and nice person.
@Caribkid69, exactly, but unfortunately that’s all we have and Wenger seems to have faith in Denilson for some reason (as does Tim) but I think DM cover/competition for Song was one of the three real needs for strengthening the squad. GK, CB, and DM–straightforward. Denilson just doesn’t play that vital role, nor does Diaby or Nasri or Rosicky–Song is the only one. With all the departures, we ought to have strengthened the lower spine, as it were, of the team.
Given is staying at City
If Arsenal wanted Schwarzer they should have done the right thing before Hughes came on board. That’s what you get for brinkmanship. Another season’s dose of flapping from Al and Flapianski
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/aug/30/shay-given-stays-manchester-city
@Daymee, We don’t know what Fulham’s response was–they were undergoing a lot of changes with Hodgson leaving and may not have been prepared to do business. But was Schwarzer our only target at that point? What about a deal for someone else? Maybe there are some irons still in the fire we haven’t heard about, though that’s pretty unlikely.
No new goalie. I think I said it here a week or two ago, and people told me to relax, there was time yet. I just want to make sure I get credit when (if) tomorrow comes and goes and no Schwarzer.
Not that I am hoping I am right. Almunia would make a good back-up, but please, not starting for us yet another season.
We will shower you with plaudits in which you may bask should your prediction of this binary outcome prove correct.
@ArseChicago, lol
I would like to see Schwarzer come in but am not going to say we will go trophyless if he does not like the Doomgooners. To be fair, Almunia was hung out to dry many times last season. People are saying the back line lost confidence in the keeper but does it not work both ways? With the back line more steady I think Manny will have fewer “senior moments” than last year. And who knows, with a few good results and a favorable bounce here and there, all this anti-Almunia sentiment could just blow away. But Schwarzer would be nice.
Was it just me or did Blackburn seem, oh I don’t know, not at all thuggish on saturday? Of course The Haj had to rub noses (eskimo kisses!) with Almunia, but save that moment, I kept waiting for Fat Sams Droogies to resort to back alley tactics that never came. Our boys seemed to settle and connect on more passes in the second half after they realised there was not to be Rugby played at Ewood after all. So, Fat Sam…thanks? Damn…I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
More bad news on the transfer front. Stockdale, the Fulham GK just fractured his ankle and will be out for some time.
Will they still let Scwartzer go with Given now saying that staying at City is a given.
@Caribkid69, the Schwarzer deal is dead.
Arsenal will announce the signing of Shay Given and Steven Pienaar tomorrow
@John Cross, I heard it was going to be Marouane Fellaini and Heurelo Gomes
@Tim, It is true!! I heard it from my wife’s sisters boyfriends uncle’s friend who works as a janitor at the Colney!!
“John Cross”, my arse!! Hahahaha. Given and Pienaar – what are you smoking, mate??
How about offering Sneezy plus the cash to Fulham for Schwarzer? Their choice of Mannone, Sneezy, Fabianski (laughing very loudly!). What do people think of a swap for Almunia?! Okay, getting very desperate, and I don’t even think MS is that much better. It is more about confidence and organization for the back line that we need a change. Best would be to have MS and Almunia and see them compete for first spot– Almunia seems to play a lot better when he is fighting for top spot and he hasn’t had to do that in a while.
Phuck, Fuq, Fu$%, I am so very tired of this Goalkeeper shite. I think the cold and rain has puqd all of your brains. Almunia is a very very very good keeper. He has had shite defense except when he first took over for our crazy German. We have had some really shite defences.. (HE DOES NOT CONTROL THE BOX) how the fphuq is he supposed to when there is nobody commanding the back four. Anycrap looks like we might have defense again and I think Almunia is 10x the stopper as that lanky kangaroo phuqr (please ignore if he signs…. maybe Tall marcupial lover) but any crap I think Almunia is the business and could be great well fuckit im out
@soulcricket, uhhh…. ok.
Off topic but this video that was linked on goonertalk gives me some more hope for this year…. The spirit of Tony Adams lives on.
http://goonertalk.com/2010/08/31/video-the-spirit-of-adams-lives-on/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=video-the-spirit-of-adams-lives-on
How funny would it be if in two weeks Hughes, as he throws Schwarzer the keepers shirt, quips “Sorry about Arsenal Mark” and the big fella says right back at him “Sorry about today Mark…but my Back is still sore”