afc All Non Football Incidents Aside

[Turkish]

They are two seperate issues IMO.Wenger HAD to sell Diarra as before the window opened he said he wanted to leave and he refused to play for us on TWO ocassion during the window being open. Refusing to sell a player who has effectively gone on strike for a initial transfer fee nearly three times what you paid for him not even 5 months prior is not what you do.Tieing up Flamini was always something Wenger wanted done before Christmas, but if the player moves the goalposts every time you sit down to talk, your never going to agree. Wenger doesnt draw up contracts, Wenger doesnt sit and enter negotiations, what did you want him to do draw up a contract after training and say "Mathieu sign this you c*nt or your not going home".Fact is its Arsenal's fault, they didnt have the staff to handle the position, how many players actually signed new contracts that season (2008)? I can think of only Song & Djourou (both fairly straightforward) and then Adebayor, oh and Clichy. Where as since Gazidas has arrived (which is less than a year) he has done Walcott, van Persie, Wilshere, Vela, Gibbs, Fabianski, Ramsey, Barazite, Simpson, Hoyte, Denilson, Bendtner and now tieing up Eduardo and once given Wenger sayso will move to Gallas & Rosicky.

But surely if anyone is going to know whether a player is looking to continue at the club its the immediate people around him, teammates and the manager. Like you said Wenger was looking to tie up the Flam contract before christmas right? Well when he then sees that Flamini is in no rush to sign and hasnt projected a desire to stay at the club the next thing to do is to ensure Diarra stays. Flamini not signing when Wenger needed and wanted him to was a piss take but Wenger could have handled the Diarra situation as a priority after Flam's stalling. As soon as Diarra started getting impatient Wenger should of looked at the situation and decided the best course of action. HE decided to trust Flamini will sign, and therefore that meant Diarra was allowed to leave when he wanted.

[TF S4DK]

Wenger still thought he was signing in May, smh.TBH at Christmas time Flamini was saying all the right things, even up to March he was. However the win against Milan seemed to open up the shop window to our team.Like I said Diarra & Flamini IMO are seperate situations, the only things that joins them is they play in the same position. Even if they was connected the idea that a team who is seriously challenging for the league drops one of its most inform players to put a already disgruntled player in was never going to happen. Imagine the backlash if results didnt remain the same. Its easy to look back now cos we didnt win the league, but then, psh.

[TF S4DK]

16th December 2007

Arsenal midfielder Lassana Diarra has said wants to leave the Emirates Stadium due his frustration at being left on the substitutes' bench, in the run up to his side's home game against Chelsea.Diarra is a regular with the French national side but has he found it difficult to get regularly selected by Arsene Wenger.The Frenchman said: "We're halfway through December, and I've decided: I want to leave Arsenal. The bottom line is the coach doesn't need me," Diarra told Sunday's edition of L'Equipe."They don't want me. I don't understand, because I've got more value in the French national team."Diarra has already informed the Premier League leaders of his feelings on not being picked for the team, and has said while he has no argument with Wenger, he feels let down by the club's management.He said: "When I signed for Arsenal I was made promises by the people who recruited me."But since the start of the season the only matches I've been involved in have been low-key, and to be honest I'm getting fed up with it."With Mister Wenger, there's no problem whatsoever. I'm not going to criticise him or speak badly of him. I'm not the kind of person who creates problems."But I signed for Arsenal because I was led to believe I was going to be playing, and there would be healthy competition for the spot. That hasn't been the case."

January 15th 2008

Arsène Wenger is confident that Mathieu Flamini will stay at Arsenal.The French midfielder was close to leaving the Club last summer but opted to stay and fight for his first-team place. Now, after an outstanding start to the season, Flamini is a regular in the Arsenal side.The 23-year-old's contract expires at the end of the current campaign so he is free to speak to other clubs about a transfer. However, Wenger wants Flamini to stay at Emirates Stadium and revealed that talks over a new deal are underway."Mathieu is free to talk but the talks [with Arsenal] are ongoing," said Wenger."I am hopeful on it. I am not concerned."

January 30th

Mathieu Flamini has made it "his priority" to stay at Arsenal.The in-form midfielder capped a fine personal display against Newcastle on Tuesday night with a stunning strike from long-range.The 23-year-old has become the engine of Arsène Wenger's side this season, driving them forward with unstinting athleticism.However Flamini's deal is up in the summer so, as of January 1, he was free to talk to other clubs and even sign a pre-contract agreement. Yet, from the way he spoke after that 3-0 win at Emirates Stadium, it is unlikely to happen."My priority is to stay here," he said. "I'm very happy here. I'm happy to play in the team and everything is good. My representatives are talking with the Club and I hope everything will be good. I want to play game after game. The rest, we will see later."Fabregas' fine form has been assessed and re-assessed this term, but there has been little analysis of his partner. After the game the Spaniard described Flamini as "hyperactive", the man himself chose "bossy". Either way you get the impression these good friends have become complementary players in the Arsenal midfield."We are very close on and off the pitch," said the former Marseille man. "We chill with each other off the pitch. That is important. But when we have to speak on the pitch we are doing it and finding a solution."I'm bit more defensive than him. He goes forward more so I cover Cesc, Alex and Tomas in the midfield. I'm trying be the insurance policy and be a little bit bossy. That's my role. But I'm also trying to help the players up front and help Cesc as well because he is going forward."Sometimes he's tired and I try to help. Sometimes it's him and sometimes it's me. But I think we are a very good complement for each other."And, after that stunning goal on Tuesday night, for once the compliments were directed towards Flamini.

April 4th 2008

Fabregas enjoys a good relationship with Flamini both on and off the field. He believes that despite the reported, and fully justified, interest from elsewhere, his friend's commitment and desire to be a winner with Arsenal is evident everyday. "He [Flamini] is concentrating on the football at the moment," Fabregas told the matchday programme. "We are still going for two titles so right now everything else is not as important. "Of course he wants to know where he will be next season but we all hope he will be with us. "He is working really hard, he is a nice guy, he wants the best for Arsenal and I know he wants to stay. He has a lot of options because he is playing amazing football, but I know he really wants to stay here and that's the most important thing." Fabregas even admits to giving Flamini a little nudge in the right direction: "Yes I must say I have. I keep telling him to do it quick because we need him."

A year later when Wenger was about Diarra...

“We had a midfield with Hleb, Fabregas, Flamini and Rosicky. He was behind them and didn't accept it. What can you do?“He was told when he arrived you have to be patient. I told him that in front of his agent on the final day [of the transfer window].“In addition we had Gilberto, captain of the Brazilian team, and we had Denilson and Song too so there was a congestion there.“We felt that Gilberto and Flamini could leave but, at the last minute, both stayed. So I said that, if you come, you will have to be patient.“Remember that was August 31 [2007], we were top of the League and the team was functioning well.”

I could carry on but you should get the picture. The club moved way too slow.

[n/a]

How many times do we go thru this sh*t...

[Badman]

Low itmoving on time

[Turkish]

TF dont get me wrong I know the club moved slow but you just seem to ignore that Wenger is the manager and face of this club. If he comes out and says he is confident Flamini will sign than thats what he should be and at the time supporters accepted this and didnt get on Flamini's back about it. When we sold Diarra it wasnt really an issue as Flamini was solid in his position. Its when Flamini left that the Diarra problem surfaced again cause the whole thing could of been avoided. Wenger had as much blame in that situation as anyone else.And to the people saying move on, has the club even moved on since that joke of a 12 months losing 3 in one position without replacing?

[TF S4DK]

Contracts are handled by a Arsenal member of staff and the players agent. Obviously the player and his agent outline what they want, agent meets club official they talk, club official reports back to board and Wenger, both tell the official there thoughts on what the player wants and club offical goes back to make the agreement.Arsenal started talks on Flamini in late October. The problem with Flamini is that everytime they would met, the demands would have increased due to his form. So as far as Wenger was concerned at first there didnt seem to be a problem, cos if he gets a email saying Flamini wants 40k a week, and he replies yeah thats fair and teh board say yeah thats fair, to him its going to get done.The problem is that whoever the club official was he wasn't pro-active enough to get it done quickly and as time passed the power grew for Flamini. Which is why you ended up with his agent saying he's a 20m player now, so he should be paid in reflection of this.

[JGGB]

Police have also received a complaint over the behaviour of Van Persie, who is alleged to have celebrated his 62nd-minute goal in front of home fans at Eastlands and mouthed a swear word towards the City supporters.GMP say they will speak to the supporter who has made the complaint and will then decide whether or not to investigate.

f*ck snitches, something so trivial as well

[almunia is shit]

come to think of it gilberto, flamini and diarra out, bischoff in PMSL