Be Careful What You Wish For: A Warning on Ticket Price Limits & Hoping for a Panacea

Posted on 9 April, 2015 by Blog Admin

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By ‘ABW Guest Blogger’ Calvin Masterson (@calvinmasterson)

Ever since I started really following English football & the Arsenal (around 2008) one thing has been a constant pain point (besides Arsenal in fourth place): complaints about ticket prices. Fans of Arsenal (& other clubs) are constantly raising the issue of the ever-increasing prices of tickets. This has led to the formation of fan groups, rallies & protests against clubs and the Premier League itself. The noise has only intensified since the announcement of the new five billion pound domestic TV rights deal to begin in 2016-17. One common refrain since then (most recently mentioned by Tim Payton of the AST on ‘A Bergkamp Wonderland’ Podcast #103 is for a freeze on PL ticket prices. However, a freeze (or any method of price limiting) has one potentially massive negative consequence: discrimination.

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Jack Wilshere?

Posted on 9 April, 2015 by Blog Admin

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By ‘ABW Guest Blogger’ Aaqib A. (@Aaqib_Alyas)

Coquelin has emerged as our new defensive midfielder and Wenger may be hesitant on purchasing a new midfielder. With the possibility of Flamini leaving this summer maybe Jack could play a deeper role also?

Ever since Steven Gerrard retired from international football Jack Wilshere has taken over his position as the defensive midfielder/deep lying playmaker for England. Displaying four Man of the Match performances in a row, serious questions have been asked if he could do the same for Arsenal.

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Stick or Twist: Right Backs, Third Kits, & Great Expectations

Posted on 7 April, 2015 by Blog Admin

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Welcome back to Stick or Twist – a new regular Tuesday blog from #ABW Chief Blogger, the Other Geoff.  The concept is simple – OG will pick a few topics each week and give his thoughts followed by a verdict using the terms STICK or TWIST.  Then you get the chance to vote and let us know if you agree.

stick (stĭk): stand; hold the course. The state or condition of adhering.

twist (twist): hit; make a change. A variation in approach.

On Right Backs:

Héctor Bellerín’s assured performance against Liverpool on the weekend was a world away from that 0-2 loss to Dortmund in September.  Our latest right back is still young (as his tackle to concede the penalty proved), but his progress this season has been dramatic.

And therein lies the rub.

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102 – Rocky, Grass Roots & The FA (2nd April 2015)

Posted on 2 April, 2015 by A Bergkamp Wonderland

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Kris (@AFCfreddie8) is still sat in the hot seat after a week and has not had a wash, even his cats wont go near him and he is joined by :

Dom (@ozgooner49).

Jason (@jasondavies71).

Danny (@The_GFP).

Cheers to Phil for the end music idea and John for writing such a great song.

Problems using either of the two media players, try these :

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I say Darling its time for the big push, good luck Darling.

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Giroud and Walcott; Not What You’d Expect to Hear from Me

Posted on 2 April, 2015 by Blog Admin

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Both the Olivier Giroud debate and the questions surrounding the Theo Walcott contract issues are constantly in the blood stream…so why not chime in with my two cents. I also intended to go into the question of why we don’t need Morgan Schneiderlin, but seeing as how Jake (see Jake’s piece here) unknowingly screwed me on that one, I’ll slap him around later and blame it on his drinking habits.

We can do better than Giroud, but we don’t need to
I will admit that I have been critical of the former Montpellier target man ever since he first came to North London. He’s not the striker we have been accustomed to having, considering our leading men that have come before him go by the names of Wright, Henry and van Persie.

Giroud has indeed had to prove himself from the minute he put the shirt on. I, and many other of similar opinion, have always said, “he’s good, but we need better” – my opinion on that has changed, but perhaps not in the way you might think. Yes there are better strikers in the world than Giroud (a few of them reside in Manchester alone…both sides of it), but to acquire one of them would take far more money than we would want to spend, or even consider doing.

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They’re Probably Going to Hate Me For This

Posted on 1 April, 2015 by Blog Admin

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So it’s the final round, and it looks like it’s going to a decision. The gloves are coming off and it’s going to get brutal. The title says it all – I’ve got a few things I need to get off my chest. I don’t expect anyone to agree with me, and I’m happy to debate any of these upcoming statements, but I think it’s time a few of these things need to be said.

Let me start with the guy who’s been linked with us for over a year – Morgan Schneiderlin. He seems to be the consensus pick to be our new “DM” next year. But let me remind the general public of this first: 12 to 18 months ago, every man and his dog wanted us to sign William Carvalho. According to the masses he was the right player to sign in that position.

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Is there a Future in Arsenal’s Past?*

Posted on 30 March, 2015 by Blog Admin

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By ‘ABW Guest Blogger’ Les Crang (@plasticspam)

Control the Past

‘Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past.’   – George Orwell, 1984

I was recently asked to do a guest blog post for A Bergkamp Wonderland by Geoff Hollefreund and Danny. I usually write for Tim over on 7amkickoff and look predominantly at historic matches and players for the past. On agreeing, I brainstormed with Geoff and we decided I would try something different for this Bergkamp Wonderland post.

This post will therefore take a look at ‘Can Arsenal have a future with its past?’. By this I mean, will fans be able to interact with the club in the future, either via tours of the stadium, by meeting players or will we just be consumers of what the club may decide to give us. So I asked myself this:

  • Are fans that interested in The Arsenal’s past?
  • Do they care about meeting players (past or present)?
  • Do they want to interact with the club?
  • In fact do fans care about any of this?

To me it is a resounding yes. Why? Well, let’s look at the evidence.

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101 – Newcastle Win & Mr Giroud (26th March 2015)

Posted on 26 March, 2015 by A Bergkamp Wonderland

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Kris (@AFCfreddie8) has kidnapped poor Gimli, stuck him in an old shoe box (Nike Air Max Classics size 9) and posted him to a small island off the coast of Wales and he is joined by :

Geoff (@GeoffArsenal).

Jason (@jasondavies71).

John Welsh (@jwelsh84).

Danny (@The_GFP).

Problems using either of the two media players, try these :

Click here to listen to in a new window
Or
Click here to listen via iTunes
Or
Click here to listen via our YouTube channel
Or
Right Click Here then “Save link as” for .mp3

Ive had a poorly botty for the 2nd time in 3 podcasts, i am lucky to be alive to be fair.

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Decision Time for Theo

Posted on 25 March, 2015 by Blog Admin

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Two years ago I can remember sitting frustrated, worried, even slight angry, over whether Arsenal were going to cough up and give Theo Walcott a new contract.

The forward was in arguably the form of his career, typified by a hat-trick against Newcastle just days before his contract went into its final six months. He ended the season with 21 goals in 43 appearances.

At the time, Walcott was demanding £100,000-a-week. An amount that seemed justified when a glance over the Arsenal squad suggested a worrying lack of fire power. Robin van Persie had headed up north to Manchester United, while new boys Olivier Giroud and Lukas Podolski were still finding their feet.

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Stick or Twist Interlull Edition

Posted on 24 March, 2015 by Blog Admin

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Welcome back to Stick or Twist – a new regular Tuesday blog from #ABW Chief Blogger, the Other Geoff.  The concept is simple – OG will pick a few topics each week and give his thoughts followed by a verdict using the terms STICK or TWIST.  Then you get the chance to vote and let us know if you agree.

stick (stĭk): stand; hold the course. The state or condition of adhering.

twist (twist): hit; make a change. A variation in approach.

On Player Salary Demands:

There’s been a lot of talk over contract renewals as is often the case at this point in the season. For those players with contracts expiring in the summer of 2016, this likely represents one of the last big pushes to re-sign with their current club before either being sold on for a reduced fee in the summer or eventually moving on a free in the subsequent summer transfer window.

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