Tag Archives: She Wore A Yellow Ribbon

Brazilian “wonderkid” signing sends negative message to Arsenal Academy

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Arsenal ‘launch £5m offer’ for wonderkid Gabriel Martinelli after Man Utd trial is the headline news this morning in many of the click bait media outlets.

I for one do not agree with us targeting the Brazilian teenager.

Gabriel Martinelli is a 17-year-old Brazilian forward who reportedly had a trial with Manchester United 2 years ago. In June he will gain his Italian citizenship meaning that a work permit will not be a problem.

He has reportedly been courted by a whole host of clubs in South America and Europe. The likes of Barcelona, Manchester United and Crystal Palace have been monitoring him, with Arsenal leading the pack.

I do not want to see Arsenal sign the Brazilian teenager.

At the moment we have a lot of exciting young talent in the academy. It is in good health.

Eddie Nketiah deserves his chance next season to replace Danny Welbeck, backing up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette.

Another who also deserves his chance next season is Reiss Nelson who has developed well in Germany. I expect both Nketiah and Nelson to be part of Arsenal’s first team squad next season, and regularly take a place on the bench.

Xavier Amaechi is barely 18-years-old. Some have claimed that he is the quickest player at the club and he potentially has a big future. A year younger is Bukayo Saka.

Would it be right to sign Martinelli instead of continuing these two’s development?

Martinelli can also play up top.

In Dubai, Tyreece John-Jules announced himself. Another 18-year-old, it seems a poitnless task to sign someone ahead of him before he has even had his chance.

Finally we have Folarin Balogun, who recently signed his first professional contract with he club.

Another who is just 17-years-old, there is a lot of excitement surrounding him.

With Amaechi, Saka, John-Jules & Balogun all at the club, all 18-years-old or younger, all local lads who have been at the club since children, it is illogical to sign a Brazilian who will then come in and compete with them.

And i have not even mentioned Joe Willock or Emile Smith Rowe yet…

I would rather give the young, local lads a chance.

If the club considered Martinelli as already better than Nketiah and Nelson, I would understand it more. He would be coming in to the 1st squad, able to contribute straight away.

A bit like Matteo Guendouzi last season, it did not matter that he came in ahead of Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Ben Sheaf or Joe Willock, he was ready for first team action and they were not.

I very much doubt that Martinelli is ready for the 1st team. As it stands, he is a YouTube player – with most fans having never seen him play and just getting excited by the “Welcome to Arsenal” videos of him doing a few step overs.

If the local lads were not good enough, I would understand us buying someone ahead of him – like what happened a lot during the 00s. Likewise if he was a special talent – like Cesc Fabregas or Guendouzi – he would be joining up with the first team squad rather than the academy.

If Arsenal do sign him and he joins the academy, it will send out a poor message to youngsters and their families. “Do not join Arsenal as when you reach 17 they will sign someone from abroad to replace you.”

Let’s give the local lads a chance. Give Saka, Amaechi, John-Jules, Balogun tne opportunity to continue getting time in the U23’s and League Cup games next signing.

Signing Martinelli is a poor move.

Keenos

“Superpower” Tottenham are the Newcastle of the South

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We wake this morning to headlines revealing “the secrets behind Pochettino’s success” and how Spurs are a “Premier League Superpower”. I spat my coffee out.

What success is this exactly?

This is Mauricio Pochettino’s 5th season with Tottenham. He has yet to win a trophy.

In the 4 completed seasons, he has finished above The Arsenal twice, and only finished top 4 75% of the time.

Let’s roll our minds back to the Arsenal trophy drought 2006-2012. An 8 season period of failure when Arsene Wenger failed to lead the club to a single trophy.

During that 8 year period, Wenger led Arsenal into the Champions League 100% of the time. The side finished above Spurs 8 out of 8 times and he led the team to a Champions League final and 2 League Cup finals. He was labelled a failure for doing so.

What Wenger “achieved” during that 8 year period, when Arsenal were paying off heavy stadium debt, was superior to what Pochettino has achieved in his 4 completed seasons at Spurs.

This year will make it 5 seasons in a row without a trophy. It could also see Tottenham finish outside the top 4 for the 2nd time in his short reign (Wenger was at the helm for 22 years and finished outside the top 4 just twice).

Tottenham may well end up finishing behind Arsenal for the 3rd time in Pochettino’s 5 seasons.

Reading a book explaining Pochettino’s success would be akin to reading a self-help book from Theresa May on how to unite your colleagues behind you. It would not contain anything useful.

The reality is the media are writing about Pochettino’s success even though he is achieving less than Wenger’s failure.

I have said for a while, Arsenal at their worst this century achieved more than Tottenham at their best.

As for the “superclub” comment, well that is just laughable.

The new stadium in Tottenham is an architectural masterpiece. The most technological advanced stadium in Europe. But that should be a given.

It is the most expensive stadium ever built in England, and the newest stadium. You would be a bit disappointed if it was not the best, most advanced stadium in history. Especially for £1bn.

The media have tried to compare it to Arsenal’s Emirates stadium. Spurs fans have “boasted” about how the new Tottenham stadium is superior. Of course it is superior. It is new.

Arsenal’s stadium is 13 years old. The technology that is around now was not around in 2006.

In 2006 the iPhone did not exist. The best-selling phone was the Nokia 1660. It still had snake and cost £30.

“The Nokia 1600 mobile has a speaking clock, which was a novel feature when the phone was launched in 2005. A user could use the speaking clock by pressing the asterisk (“*”) button during the display of the home screen.

The phone also includes a ringtone composer which allows creating custom ringtones. Pre-composed ringtones can be transferred through a data cable.

The phone has a basic calculator which can perform only addition, subtraction, multiplication and division.

There are 14 pre-defined themes with 14 wallpapers and menu backgrounds.

The menu features animated icons.”

In 2018 the best selling phone is the Samsung Galaxy Note 9, at a cost of £799.

Look at your car.

In 2006, things like SatNav and air con did not come as standard. Bluetooth A CD player and FM/AM radio was your entertainment system. In 2019, every car comes with SatNav, climate control, digital radio, bluetooth enabled and more. Technology has moved on.

In summary, you would feel short-changed if you spent big on a new mobile phone or car and it was not vastly superior to a car or phone from 2006.

It is a fantastic stadium, but that counts for nothing if you fail to win trophies.

Tottenham are no more a superclub than Newcastle under Kevin Keegan.

Keegan led Newcastle to a 2nd place twice, and three top 4 finishes in four years. Compare that to 3 top 4 finishes for Pochettino, finishing 2nd just the once.

Newcastle also reached two FA Cup finals, losing both.

In the end Keegan left having failed to win Newcastle a trophy, despite playing in-front of over 50,000 every week.

Were Newcastle a “Superclub” in the 90s? Or did they just have a couple of years where they finished high up the league, won nothing, played in-front of huge crowds and failed to break their league title drought which was well over half-century.

Tottenham have finished high up the league, won nothing, played in-front of huge crowds and failed to break their league title drought which is well over half-century.

Leeds under David O’Leary were cut from the same cloth.

They finished top 4 three times in a row, made a Champions League semi-final. But like Newcastle, it was temporary and they soon found themselves relegated.

Tottenham can not be talked about in the same bracket as Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea. These clubs have all won trophies in the last 5 years. Tottenham have not.

They might have a shiny new stadium with all the mod-cons that the newest, most expensive stadium built in England should have, but that means nothing if they do not win trophies.

Tottenham are merely Newcastle of the South. They think they are a big club but do not have the recent silverware to back it up.

Keenos

Crystal Palace and Arsenal to walk together for mental health

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In February this year, over 70 Palace and Fulham fans embarked on a walk together to raise awareness of mental health and male suicide.

Following the success of this walk from Craven Cottage to Selhurst Park, fans of Crystal Palace and Arsenal have now linked up for a further event which will take place on the 21st April for the Palace away game at the Emirates.

This will be another mental health and male suicide awareness walk from Selhurst Park up to the Emirates Stadium in North London.  The fans will cover a distance of around 12 miles which will take about 4 to 4.5 hours (including stops).

The walk is being undertaken as a direct result of personal experiences of many of the participants and, also because of horrendous statistics on mental health and male suicide.

Mental health impacts 1 person in 4 but is much further reaching as it can have an impact to friends and family of sufferers which can then create a tough and challenging environment in the home, at work or in social situations.

Male suicide covers 75% of all suicides in the UK and is the biggest killer of men under 45 years of age.  It is estimated that roughly 12 men take their own life every single day which equates to around 84 a week  and 4,500 a year which is a staggering and upsetting statistic.

Men in particular are not good at expressing their feelings and opening up but finding the courage to talk and find help is life changing and, in some cases life saving.

Help is out there in many places and in many forms but, men typically bottle things up and take on all the pressure which can lead to terrible circumstances.

From the personal experience of both organisers who have opened up and sought help in the past, the belief is that talking is the most powerful tool available, it is the starting point to recovery and can in turn save lives.

The walks were set-up to raise awareness of both mental health and male suicide but also because it is believed that this initiative can make a real difference in encouraging people to find the courage to talk and find help.

The walk is the centre-piece to bring people together, it is aimed at demonstrating how powerful talking is and as such, is organised as a very social “walk and talk” event.  The true vehicle to publicise the message is the media or social media of the event where the message can be spread easily and reach to many.

Undertaking the event on a match-day with opposing fans walking together sends out a very powerful message in a world where football fans can be stereo-typed in negative ways.

Football itself is huge and powerful, it reaches every corner of the world and therefore billions of people.  Many of these people will suffer with mental health issues, may have contemplated suicide themselves or will know somebody that has made the decision to take their own life.

A lot of people interested in football and fans that attend games generally are men under 45.  This profile alone, based on the statistics makes football a fantastic conduit to reach potentially vulnerable people and football fans therefore make the perfect target audience.

In the modern day and game, football is also followed by people of all ages, across both sexes and therefore getting the message out to encourage people to talk and seek help through football has huge potential.

The event itself is not about raising money and is all about raising awareness. It is aimed at sending out a message to encourage people to open up, to talk and to understand that they are not alone.

To get involved or to find out more, contact Paul or email Paul at peprice1969@btinternet.com

Proposed stops and details of the route are shown below;

Time/ETA Location Distance Durations Nearest Station
09:30 Selhurst Park Stadium – SE25 8QB N/A N/A Norwood Junction, Selhurst or Thornton Heath
10:50 to 11:00 Half Moon Pub, Herne Hill – SE24 9HU 4.3m/6.9km ~1:30 hrs Herne Hill
Break ~20 mins
12:30 to 12:40 Prince William Henry Pub, Blackfriars – SE1 8NL 4.0m/6.4km ~1:20 hrs Blackfriars, Southwark Tube
Break ~20 mins
13:35 to 13:45 Wetherspoons (Angel) – N1 9LQ 2.0m/3.2km 45 mins Angel Tube
Not a Break Final pick-up / meeting point
14:05 to 14:15 Piebury Corner –N7 8DL 1.3m/2.0km 30 mins Drayton Park or Holloway Road Tube
15:15 Emirates Stadium – N7 7AJ Finish and photos

If you need help, or want to talk to someone, contact CALM on (Nationwide) 0800 58 58 58, (London) 0808 802 58 58, or visit their website now.

SheWore