ohmelads

It's a long time since Duff and Zoggy were impressing anyone either and Duff is out until November at least, so he may get a run of games on the left.

Should Allardyce get Luque playing decent football it's going to reflect very badly on Roeder who banished him not only from the first team but the reserves as well, despite the fact our squad was creaking and flirting with relegation. It'll be interesting to see how things turn out. Allardyce's words are a thinly veiled criticism of Roeder.

Celtic might be able to offer him first team football though. Can we?

Kanoute hit the post with a header in the Sevilla game.

Who are they playing and how much time left? Getafe, who have forged a reputation as giant killers. They overturned a 5-2 deficit in the semi-final first leg against Barca (which included Messi's Maradona wonder goal) to win the second leg 4-0 against a full Barca side. I wouldn't write them off yet, only half an hour gone. Apparently it was a major mistake in the build up to Kanoute's goal, defender miscleared it with his knee and left him one on one. I'd like to see this, I have a friend at the game.

Still doesn't explain why he wouldn't even give him reserve games.

How reliable are l'equipe? I figure they're the main sports paper in France and get quoted a lot but how often do they get it right? Anyone?

Good point, he didn't even play Luque in the reserves. The first game he played he scored two 30-yard screamers away to Liverpool and then disappeared off the radar again for ages. The way Roeder handled it was bizarre and disgraceful when you consider it's his job to get the best out of and deal with difficult players. Shocking. Now we've got a proper manager in who recognises his duties and you know he'll work hard to try and make it work.

Unlike Roeder, I think Sam realises no serious offers are going to come in for Luque and he might as well try and get the best out of what he's got. That's his job and that's what he gets paid very handsomely to do. Throwing Luque in the reserves never to be seen again is the lazy option. Roeder didn't rate/like Luque, tried desperately to get rid, couldn't and just gave up on him very early. Many fans made excuses for Roeder but he was paid very well to deal with situations like that and under any other chairman he'd have got a bollocking considering Luque's wages. It was a poor way to handle the situation. If we're stuck with him and paying him huge wages, it makes sense to give it a go, something I don't believe Roeder ever seriously did. While I've never liked Sam Allardyce, you have to accept that his man management (as he's only too keen to point out) is one of his strengths. He seems to like a challenge, signing Diouf, Anelka and now Barton and Viduka, all players with lazy or troublesome reputations, as well as signing many players labelled 'past it'. I've got a feeling we might get a useful player out of Luque after all. It's one of the areas where I think we'll benefit from Allardyce.

When you consider all he has done for the club I don't think he owes them anything, and it's not like he's leaving them short changed a la Owen leaving Liverpool for £8m. He signed an extended contract and the price is what it is because of his age and nothing else. Some of the criticism on here is extremely harsh in my view. It's unfortunate for Arsenal fans but the club are getting £16m, if he was ever going to leave now is probably the right time to do it for player and club. So long as Wenger stays Arsenal will be alright. With the money coming in for him and presumably for Reyes too I think they'll bring in a quality forward and change their style. I also expect them to strengthen in other areas anyway. Wenger is the key though. Regarding the Spanish league, I wouldn't be surprised to see Real try and match this coup with a massive offer for Kaka.

If we get him in we'll have done well to fend off Sevilla as they're in the Champions League next season, have won the UEFA Cup two years on the trot and were still in a position to win the Spanish league on the last day of the season and still have the Spanish Cup Final to play.

That's a fair point. Although with the Gooch signing I think a lot of people could see he was chosen out of desperation rather than a scouted player. I was very underwhelmed by that signing because it was obvious he was brought in for the sake of it. We had been playing Huntington and Edgar week in week out and were actually missing Ramage, things were that desperate and we had to get someone in, anyone. It was clear Roeder knew very little about Gooch when we took him on loan. Sam has been following Rozehnal since his Bolton days and even tried to sign him in January, so at least here it's a player Sam has probably seen quite a bit of and feels is worth the punt. I think it was important we made a breakthrough in signing a defender because the longer things went on with just Taylor as our only respectable centre back, clubs would hold us to ransom over the fee knowing we were desperate. Get Rozehnal through the door for a decent fee and clubs hopefully won't piss us about as much. Now we can threaten to walk away on a deal and clubs might actually take us seriously, we'll have a stronger hand in negotiations.

Let Spurs have him. That price is absolute madness. We should have learnt with the Owen deal not to put all our eggs in one basket. To pay more for Bent than we did for Owen would be worse than anything Shepherd ever did. I sense Allardyce is switched on enough to know not to compete when two cash-rich clubs are competing for an over-rated English player. I sense they're paying so much because they'd never attract the likes of Torres etc. We probably couldn't either, but I'd much rather we went for an up and coming striker from Europe than Bent who was very average at Charlton last season.

Might have been the other thread but I did say he was like a poor man's Bergkamp or Scholes in terms of his form from that position at that time. I don't know what sort of player you think we'll attract but to compare him to Lampard or Makelele is a bit harsh. Point is he can't have been that bad if Barcelona snapped him up at the end of that very season. I thought he was a revelation at the tip of a midfield three and for me it looked like his best position. Maybe a Chelsea fan could give a more enlightened view, but as you said yourself he was a regular in the heart of that title winning side.

Hard to say which way Liverpool will go, they seem to blag results and you think they'll get found out but they don't. Their defensive record is excellent and if they find someone to put the ball in the net they should be alright. In central defence they do need cover for Carragher and Agger though, espescially if Hyppia leaves. They were very lucky with injuries last year and went out the domestic cups early, this time around things might be different.

It's a long shot but we must go all out to get Dein. He's Arsenal through and through but he must be missing football.

From what I remember he played the majority of his time in midfield that season. I only saw him in the big games and against us but he was pulling all the strings with his deft touch, smart football brain and passing range, the way Dennis Bergkamp or Paul Scholes would find players in space in the final third. In a three man midfield he could be an excellent signing, as that season I thought Mourinho had found his best position. Whatever you thought of him, his form that year earned him a move to Barcelona. If those stats told the whole story he'd have ended up somewhere like Aston Villa wouldn't he.

It'll be interesting to see if Eto'o stays now. His best season (along with Ronaldinho) was undoubtedly 05-06 but Henry is a better player than Eto'o in my view. It'll be difficult to leave either on the bench for a while. With Ronaldinho and Messi pretty much undroppable it only leaves room for one up front.

Brazilians thought their world cup squad (Ronaldo, Robinho, Ronaldinho, Kaka, Adriano etc etc) was too good to be true but in the end many believed it was their undoing.

Maybe Villa or Torres? Personally I think Torres is overrated but Villa is quality and could suit Arsenal's play.

Gudjohnsen and Saviola will surely be on their way out now. Gudjohnsen at the right price could be just what we're lacking. We're lacking in creativity and intelligent play in the final third, someone who can link midfield and attack with killer passes, a poor man's Bergkamp if you will.

I thought he had some excellent games playing as the creative spark in a midfield three. Mourinho was widely praised for moving him there at the time. I'd be very happy to see him playing that role for us, though who knows what formation Sam has planned for us.

I'm amazed Shepherd is still at the club and can't wait until he leaves. If Ashley gives the idiot who left us in this state any position of responsibility then you have to question his integrity.

Excellent player. Ideally we should be pulling out all the stops to keep the 4 strikers we have and invest in defence.