Tag Archives: Arsenal

Promotion and Relegation – The view of a travelling fan

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Being an away day traveller gives you a different outlook as to who you want to be promoted and relegated. Rather than just thinking who you like / dislike, you being to think about the best away trips, the cost of the trips, stadiums you have not yet been too, etc.

With today being the last day of The Championship, and with 2 Premier League sides potentially to get relegated this weekend, it would now be wise to discuss who we want to stay up (and go down) and who we would like to see come up.

Leicester and Burnley are already up. Leicester is a trip I am already looking forward too. Anything around the Midlands is reasonable when it comes to train times and costs. And with Arsenal having only played at the King Power (formerly Walkers) Stadium once, it is a ground where many, including myself, has yet to visit. The only downside is, like many new stadium built since 2000, it is not in the city centre, leaving a 30 minute walk from whatever watering hole you are in.

Burnely is somewhere many have done before. It is a backwater at the edge of Lancashire, where racism and football violence is still right. Am I happy they are up? No, it will be a horrid trip to a ground we have visited 3 times over the last 6 years.

When it comes to the rest of the Championship, Derby, QPR & Wigan are confirmed in the play-offs. The last spot is between Reading and Brighton. Derby, like Leicester, would be a good trip. We last visited 6 years ago, and scored 6. Just a 10 minute walk from the station, an hour and a half train journey from London, it ticks a lot of boxes and is my personal favorite.

QPR is a cheap trip if you live in London, but not a very exciting one. I was happy when they went down, and will not be too unhappy if they fail to come back up. The only factor which might change things is if Fulham go down. It is always good to have a decent amount of London sides in the Premier League to keep rail costs down. Losing Fulham (discussed later) would leave just 4 London trips (Chelsea, Spurs, West Ham, Crystal Palace). I can leave QPR, as long as Fulham stay up.

Wigan is my worst nightmare. A half hour walk from the station, it is another stadium which has been built on an industrial estate in the middle of no where. Most Arsenal fans would have previously done the trip, so it is certainly the team I would least like to see promoted.

The last two, Brighton and Reading, are very similar. New stadiums which we have been too recently (for cup games), both towns easy to get to cheaply by train. But both have the same flaw. When you get to Reading or Brighton, getting to the stadium is then a nightmare.

For Brighton, you have to queue up for another train to get to the stadium, a train which only leaves every 15 minutes. It is not too bad when going to the stadium, but it causes massive delays getting away from the stadium.

In the same vain, Reading is also a nightmare to get too and from the town centre. They put on buses to and from the stadium but these always have lengthy queues. It is a nightmare, especially after the game.

My personal favourite? Derby, unless Fulham go down then QPR.

Today, both Fulham and Cardiff could go down. One is a loss, the other I do not care for.

Cardiff, again, is a ground on the edge of town. A 30-40 minute walk filled with snarling sheep shagging Welshman. It takes over 2 hours to get to Cardiff from London (longer if the train is diverted via Gloucester due to engineering works) and is fairly costly. It is not a nice trip, and one which I certainly will not be missing. Bye bye Cardiff.

Fulham will be a loss. Whether you go on one of the many fan group arranged boat trips, or head to the river for a drink in one of the many pubs, it is a top trip. With zero rail costs and friendly atmosphere, it has been one of the best away days of recent years – especially when it is sunny. Add in that after the game, you are 10 minutes from Central London, it is one which you can make a full day of it. This year we were signing and dancing about Lukas Podolski until the early hours in Liverpool Street. If Fulham go down, it will be a sad day for the Arsenal Away boys.

The other sides in the relegation dog fight are Hull, WBA, Aston Villa, Sunderland and Norwich. We can almost discount Hull and WBA as they are 5 and 4 points away from the relegation zone respectively, with a game in hand on many of those below them. That leaves Villa, Sunderland and Norwich.

Aston Villa is a bit of a shitter to get too, with a train or taxi required to be taken once you get into Birmingham, but as already mentioned, I have an affinity with the Midlands. Under 2 hours to get their, decent train costs, it is a perfect away day outside of London. Birmingham is also a city I love to drink in before an away day, with the Shakespeare just outside the stadium being my place of choice. Aston Villa are a proper football club, Villa Park a proper football stadium. I do not want them to go down.

Sunderland is a horrible place. Whilst it has giving me my two best away days over the last 2 seasons – mainly due to the 5 hour journey’s (engineering problems) meaning I could barely walk once I got back to Kings Cross, it is a stadium I will not be fussed about going too again. If all go’s well ,it is a 3 hour train trip, you will be getting a sore arse by the end of it. But that only drops you into Newcastle, you then need to get the train to Sunderland. With a cost upwards of £100 for the train ticket, it is the most expensive day out.

Newcastle is a good city to drink in pre-game, but the post-game rush from Sunderland stadium, to the station, then to Newcastle has plenty looking at their watches for train times. Add in Sky’s enjoyment of putting teams a large distance apart on an evening kick off (or Monday night this year), there is always the chance that there will not be trains back. Sunderland are certainly a team that I would like to see relegated.

With Newcastle safe, we still get the trip to the North East next season, but without the arsehole bit after getting into Newcastle.

Finally we come to Norwich, who we could relegate next weekend. And I hope we do. A ticket cost of £50 is disgraceful. A lot has been made of our £62 ticket for Manchester City, but at least you get to watch Manchester City and Arsenal. £50 to watch Norwich? No thanks, especially when we only charged their fans £26.

It should tick all the boxes. Cheap train trip, reasonable travelling time, nice town with the stadium close to the train station. But their greed ruins it. They can fuck off.

So who do I want to go down? Cardiff, Sunderland and Norwich, with Derby coming the other way.

Keenos

10 Reasons why we will beat Newcastle + Starting 11

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1) Newcastle have lost 5 in a row and have only won 4 in their last 17. Their players minds are clearly on the beach.

2) Alan Pardew – a horrible little bigot and useless manager.

3) Hatem Ben Arfa, Newcastle’s only decent player, was reportedly sent back home to France at the weekend.

4) We have players returning from injury. Ozil, Ramsey, Diaby and Oxlade-Chamberlain are all fit and raring to go.

5) Arsenal players will be highly motivated. With FA Cup places to play for and 4th within our sites, they should know what they have to do.

6) We are unbeaten in the last 6 games against Newcastle, who have won just once in 16 games against The Arsenal.

7) In the last 12 games between the two sides, Arsenal have nearly 3 goals a game.

8) Bacary Sagna is in the form of his life, is he trying to justify his pay demands?

9) And Lukas Podolski, 5 goals in 3 games. The German has regained confidence.

10) If Arsenal win, it will be St Totteringham’s Day

Expected Starting 11: Chesney, Sagna, BFG, Koscielny, Monreal, Arteta, Ramsey, Ozil, Cazorla, Giroud, Podolski

Reminder: TfL have a planed tube strike starting at 9.30pm tonight. Details here….

Keenos

 

Manchester United set to poach Arsenal Academy Director

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Reports emanating from Holland are that Manchester United have agreed a deal in principle for Louis van Gaal to become their next permanent manager. Whilst it has been denied by Manchester United, it is likely that the agreement will be announced next week to the NYSE of the forthcoming appointment of the current Netherlands manager.

This partnership could spell bad news for Arsenal, as their recently appointed, and yet to actually work for the club, Andries Jonker, has a long history with Louis van Gaal. Throughout his career, Jonker has worked very closely with van Gaal.

From, 1990 to 1997, Jonker was employed by the Dutch FA as a regional youth coach. His remit at the time was to implement KNVB youth coaching reforms in the Harleem and Amsterdam area. At the same time, Louis van Gaal was manager of Ajax Amsterdam, using his time to bring through the youth players from the successful youth set up which he oversaw as assistant manager.

During this time, with both men based in Amsterdam, one in charge of the future of Holland’s young footballs, the other in charge of Holland’s biggest club, that a bond would be built that would see Jonker follow van Gaal over land and see.

The bond was momentarily broken when van Gaal went to manager Barcelona, whilst Jonker tried it on his own to become a manager – leading Veolndam after two years as an assistant manager their.

Whilst van Gaal was a success at Barcelona, winning 2 La Liga titles and the Copa Del Rey, Jonker had a win percentage of just 25%. The two would link up officialy for the first time when van Gaal was made Netherlands manager in 2000, and bought in Jonker to become the u21 manager.

van Gaal returned to Barcelona in 2002, for a less successful spell. He too with him as his assistant Andries Jonker. After an unsuccessful year, van Gaal returned once more to Holland, to become manager of AZ, with Jonker taking up the managers job’s at Maastricht and Willem II.

Both men re-united once more when van Gaal was announced as manager of Bayern Munich in 2009. As with his second spell at Barcelona, he bought with him Andries Jonker as assistant, who remained by his side throughout and beyond, taking over the Bayern side in 2011 for 5 games after van Gaal’s sacking.

Whilst van Gaal returned as Netherlands manager, Jonker remained in Germany, firstly as manager of Bayern’s 2nd team, then as assistant manager of Wolfsburg.

January this year, Arsenal announced that Andries Jonker will replace Liam Brady as Academy Director. But with Louis van Gaal set to take over at Manchester United next season, it is likely that he will look to poach his long term friend and alley, who he has had a 20 years working relationship with.

Could Andries Jonker leave Arsenal before he has even joined, and become Manchester United assistant manager? The odds are likely.

Keenos