(The not-so-temporary quite-official) Gooner Thread (Part 1)

Yea that was a great goal. And the Ozil one when ramsey bought down a cross beautifully to assist him was in the same game I think.

In Mourinho-hating news, loved this from ESPNFC's "alternative awards";

The False Advertising Award

"I'm the Happy One," said Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho back in the summer. Well, that didn't last, did it? Far from being the Premier League’s resident ray of sunshine, the Chelsea manager wore a face like a slapped bottom for most of the season. Hardly surprising. He sent Romelu Lukaku out on loan to Everton, where he scored more league goals than any of the remaining Chelsea strikers; Mourinho's attempts to unsettle Manuel Pellegrini went completely ignored; Mourinho's former youth team coach finished above him in the table; and his "specialist in failure" swipe at Arsene Wenger could really come back to haunt him if Arsenal beat Hull in Saturday's FA Cup final.

With all that to consider, I wouldn't be a very happy one, either.

So I am looking at myself + 5 at this stage. All gooner friends ( / friends of friends) have been notified. So excited! I note that ubergunner said 3.30am onwards, will there be a good build up to the match? And it's kick-off 4am yeah?

Looks like plenty of build-up on ESPN beforehand

kick off at 4am

Yep k/o 4am.

Im exited as flip...just sorting transport and a yellow ribbon now :)

Has anyone thought of putting this on the YF FB page or getting the BB or the official Arsenal fan page to put it out there? Just a thought as not all football people in Welly are on YFF.

Is there an NZ/Wgtn Arsenal fakebook page?  Will have to search that out.

That Rosicky hit against Them at Sharke Fart Lane is right up there for me.

I could try that a million times and will never get it into that top corner.  Guess that's why I'm a desk jockey and Rosicky plays for the Arsenal...

AFAIK we are putting up posters in the windows 1/2 saying open for FA cup 1/2 saying open for CL final.

So Right Backs...

Micah Richards is sounding out new clubs, he is someone I haven't seen enough of, any thoughts on his speed, crossing and positional play??

I still really like the look of Reither from Fulham, he'd be great with Jenkinson

Been so long since I've seen richards play, really have no idea about that guy. 

Wenger's been pretty successful at RB with Lauren and then Sagna, reckon he should go shopping on the continent and pull us in another gem.

Bellerin has been making headlines in the youth sides though, perhaps we should be shopping for someone older just to fill a hole for a season or two until Jenky and Bellerin can handle things?

Hmmm someone solid, world class, in their 30s, who could that be.... FRIGGIN THROW MORE MONEY AT BACARY!

Good to see the Ox and Wilshere getting call ups, as well as Kosc, Giroud, Sagna, for france, and Santi & Vermy too.

Interesting to see how the germans go, I think Podolski could be a potential omission...

Also, how is Gibbs behind both Shaw and Baines? I would have thought Gibbs would be rivaling Baines for that spot.

Good for us that gibbs gets a break and then a full pre-season. Injuries are still the main worry with him and perhaps a factor for Roy when selecting his squad.

From the "petty and small" files... LOL at Clichy and Nasri ;)

Guys, where can we watch the final on Sunday morning? Got a group of at least 6+ Gooners

Tea?  Sainsbury's 'Taste the Difference' Kenyan Gold if you have it.  Ta muchly.

See ye all in the small wee hours!!

Update for Aucklanders...

The FOX alehouse in the viaduct has now got a special licence to show the final – Arsenal Supporters are now meeting here

As it’s a special licence they require everyone to have pre purchased tickets for the night

You must call them on 358 2767 and pay $5.00

They won’t allow people in on the night who haven’t paid and registered

Where your shirts and let’s get some numbers down there

I don't think it's as straight forward as we think. Logic suggests we've caved and offered a bloody decent wage, and that Sagna is probably taking his time to decide where he finishes career. He could get more than $100k based on his performances with some of the crazy rich sides out there. I just wish he'd stay, great mentor over next two seasons for Jenky & Bellerin, plus CB cover for Kos and Per...

Some talk about Serge Aurier

21yo RB at Toulouse, plays for Ivory Coast

RB of the year in Ligue 1 this season and a lifelong Arsenal fan

The Evening Standard selected a London team of the season based on statistics from whoscored.com;

                Szczesny

Ivanovic-Cahill-Koscielny-Ward

         Jedinak-Ramsey

      Cazorla-Ozil-Hazard

                   Giroud

Bit lame having a london team but nice to see 6 gooners in there and no one from sharke fart lane

saw this too, the kid looks good! ive just done a quick scout on him today and i reckon he could be quite handy.

him and jenkinson battling for starting position would be good news

Some rumours that we may trigger the clause to bring Vela back for 4mil. He got 20 goals and 13 assists for Real Sociedad this season, most of which can be seen here;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWlFKxi8C4I

Does look like he's come on as a player since we let him go. And must admit that's an absolute steal at 4mil. Could he make a difference back in the prem? Not sure. Risky move if Wenger went for this, he'd look a bit foolish if it didn't work out. 

'Supposed'.

Don't believe the papers. Sagna would want a huge pay day - it's going to be his last big contract. Was no chance of him staying unless we broke the wage structure imo. He will get big bucks at City or PSG, and all power to the guy; has been a great servant to the club.

Also, wouldn't want Vela back. Rather we spend an extra 6m and get Remy - much better player. Vela is in the 'good, but not quite' category for mine.

I never thought we should have let him go. He's a ghood option out wide, can create, and has a great chip finish which suits our style of play...

Agree with Valeo re: sagna payday. He's in line for some megabucks and can't blame him for leaving, or us for not wanting to give him absurd amounts. Rumours that we were going to give him a signing bonus too, so total contract offer would probably be more than buying a new and more long-term option RB. 

Arseblog (as always) made good points about this.

Although I must dispute the wage structure comment Valeo - pretty sure we abolished that in the last couple of seasons when we starting getting rich. Ozil has come in on massive wages which surely has nothing to do with the old structure, and everything to do with competing with what other clubs may have offered. 

The old structure ended up backfiring on us when good players turned into world class ones and weren't willing to stay for less money , and when promising players turned out to be a bit sh*t and happy to stink up the place on big money and long contracts. The idea of it was great when we had that super young generation circa 2006 - 2010, but it didn't quite pan out as Arsene had planned. 

A Wenger signing if every there was one. He's my FIFA 14 RB, and quality, so what else is there to discuss?!  Haha

So a bit of chat on other Arsenal forums about Fabianski / Szczesny in goal for the final. I took Fabianski playing against Norwich as his final game for the season and a rest for Szczesny who will start the final, but was it Fabianksi getting a game to be ready for the final?  

Very much this, I really enjoyed Vela, but his physicality was terrible for playing in England. Can't access youtube at work, does the video show any sign of him improving in that area? Is he still playing from the wing?

That and unless we change permanently to a 2 striker system I can't see him fitting - we've already got Walcott to play the fast, chippy, bundled-off-the-ball-easily striker role.

Where can you park for a few hours near to the Backbencher?

At that time of the morning, almost anywhere.