At the pre-Wigan press conference Arsene Wenger reasserted his belief that Theo Walcott will sign a new deal at the club.
“My gut feeling is that he belongs to this club and I hope he will do it and sign for us. I am convinced he will stay,” he said.
Taken at face value that’s very positive, except that as Arseblog News highlighted yesterday he’s said pretty much exactly the same thing before the departure of (amongst others) Ashley Cole, Mathieu Flamini, Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie.
In other words, despite speaking passionately and optimistically about a resolution, inside his head the boss was probably wondering what to have for lunch as he auto-piloted a course through the usual inane press questions.
After waving goodbye to the broadcast cameras, the boss then got quizzed on the subject again by the print media and opened up a little more on why he feels Walcott should stay…without actually saying he thinks it will happen.
“I am happy to pay Theo the money he deserves but I feel as well that I bought him at 16 years of age and spent a lot of money on him,” he clarified; a standpoint which is different to paying Theo what Theo’s advisors think he deserves.
“If you put them in at 17 or 18, you have to stand up for them. You know you risk losing games while they are learning their job. Once you have produced them, you want to say, ‘OK, let’s stay together and win together.’
“Somewhere along the line they need to give back to the club what the club has given to them. It is easier to take a player of 25 and put him in the team because you know what you are getting.”
Referencing the sale of both Fabregas and Van Persie, Wenger also highlighted why he felt Walcott’s case is different.
“After when a guy gets to 30, you can understand it is his last contract and if he feels he wants a change, I can understand that. This is a more sensitive age, but basically, it is a reward for our policy.
“When [Cesc] Fabregas says to me, ‘I want to go back to Barcelona,’ it is difficult for me to say, ‘No, why should you?’ He is from Barcelona. He has been educated there. In that sense it is easier with the English players. They feel at home.
“[Van Persie] was 29. Theo is 23. I believe it is important we keep him.”
Important it may be, but when five other players sign new deals in the blink of an eye it really highlights the lack of movement on the Walcott front.
In a way it’s easy to understand Theo’s dilemma – this next contract stands to be the biggest of his career and subsequently it’s the most important. It would appear he’d like to stay, but he doesn’t seem too keen on staying if he doesn’t feel like he’s going to be valued like he might be (financially) elsewhere.
The fact is though, the club can’t bend over every time a player wants to renegotiate his contract – it sets a dangerous precedent, especially when other clubs can and are willing to pay more.
Playing for The Arsenal needs to be about more than money and that is essentially what Wenger is relying on Theo to realise. You can’t make someone love the club, as is the case with Jack Wilshere, but players at least need to take pride in what the club stands for.
Does he, as he stated not long ago, really want to emulate Thierry Henry’s legendary status? Or would he rather pocket the extra cash and become another footnote in the club’s history? If it’s the latter, using the former to play on the emotions of supporters isn’t particularly gentlemanly even if it made for a good sound bite.
For all the criticism Arsenal’s stance may garner from those caught up in the ‘necessity of now’ Arseblog News can’t help but feel the club are trying to deal with this situation in the correct manner.
Feel sorry for AW if he truly think players care about loyalty and such instead of money and sponsors.
You might also want to save some sympathy for the fans too.
sell wallnutt for 15 million and buy David Villa for 15 million!
wallnutt? are you 5 year old ?
Can’t really take tow the maturity line when your name is master-bates…
Shut up master bates.
I think Wenger is well aware about the role of money in footballers’ decision-making processes. What he said about loyalty and repaying the faith should be understood not as a statement of how he believes footballers actually think, but how he thinks they should think. (And you’d be hard pressed to find many fans who disagree with the sentiment.)
True, but as Tim Stillman said on another website today, Walcott is gone. This statement is about exposing him for the money grabbing little bastard he is. I say make a big statement by spending in January on a quality replacement and let him rot for the last 6 months
Why would we let him rot when we could sell him and make some money back not to reinvest?
Who’s going to buy him Frog>? He’s free at the end of the season. Make no mistake he is doing what Campbell did to Spuds, running his contract down. And mark my words he will be joining his mate Van Cunt at the end of the season for nowt.
Just pay up or fuck him off.
This annual drama is boring me tits off.
Ingratitude is the word. Besides all the effort Wenger put in him, Theo can well see that times are changing at Arsenal. Apparently there were some financial restrictions, that will go away in the space of time of a new contract. If trophies are his reasons, he’s a liar. If money is his reason, he’s a cunt.
But if playing through the middle is his reason, then he’s impolite. That’s the manager to decide.
Anyway, until all the truth comes out, Theo is still an Arsenal player and he got my support.
so any player who leaves arsenal are either a cunt, liar or impolite? lol
Yes, especially when a player leaves for money or to a rival club like those cunts i won’t even mention by names..
Some players are deserving of the word, others not so much. They can leave for money, trophies, whatever but still keep some dignity and show the fans, the manager and the club some respect.
For example I don’t think I would put players like Fabregas, Toure, Clichy in the same class (of cuntishness) as Nasri, Adebayor, Van Persie.
@ yes
hear hear
there wouldn’t be a single gooner who would jeer Fabregas, he left Arsenal with the a lot of media circus. Much like Van Per$ie, yet Fabregas left with grace. I was gutted but not left with resentment.
I can’t see that Walcott has been disrespectful to the club by not signing a new contract. He’s always come across as a very polite lad which makes me wonder whether it isn’t politeness that accounts for his silence. Maybe he’s unhappy at the club but thinks it would be wrong to talk about how feels to the media or even to Wenger or his teammates. Maybe he feels he hasn’t improved as a player as much as he’d wished and believes that a different kind of coaching might help him progress. ‘Disloyal greedy cunts going for the money’ is… Read more »
Going by the logic you chose for your rhetoric question, I suppose you fear Arsenal fans call people like Eduardo, Henry and Gilberto Silva cunts.
Good job on the logic front there.
@Miranda. Then he needs to come out and say he is not signing a deal because he does not feel right at the club instead telling lies about assurances of playing through the middle. For me, after what Arsenal have invested in him and what he has contributed (the square root of sweet fuck all) he will be the biggest cunt of them all.
TomJ, no, Walcott shouldn’t come out and say anything. If he does it’ll be misconstrued, misrepresented and held against him for the rest of his career. Honesty is a bum plan in football. Look at how Van Persie’s typically Dutch, plain-speaking statement was received. Come to that, look at the shit any player who leaves gets from the fans (unless, of course, the fans aren’t fussed at his departure). Even Cesc’s SISTER was subjected to abuse on Twitter. Walcott’s dead right to keep his mouth shut beyond making vague, polite (or wimpish if you prefer) mutterings about leaving the discussions… Read more »
God, he looks like a school kid in that pic.
Amazing how much he has grown up with Arsenal.
That said, sign it or bugger off. Just make it clear sooner rather than later. He’d be a great long-term player considering just this season’s performance, but to be paid as the highest earner? I’d sooner want that to go to Mr. Consistency himself; Sagna, or the like.
This media hype is all quite unnecessary in my opinion.
Let’s examinie the teams where theo can get playing time(STRIKER) AND more money.
Man City – Tevez,Aguero,Dzeko and balloteli all better than, na$ri better than him on the wings
Man United – they already have 10 strikers who score more than him wherever played
Sp*rs – Won’t happen
So it’s Liverpoo or some foreign club.
He doesn’t how stupid this decision this is . Yes sometime we lose players and they have better careers ,sometimes they end up ruining their careers like Hleb . Theo is heading that way
I’d think he’ll traipse down the road to Chelsea don’t you? They liked what they saw in that 5-3 game last year.
Chelsea – Fernando Torres… looks like there’s an opening at CF for Theo in that team then! And with them selling Sturrshit to Liverpoo it looks like they’re trying to create space in their squad and wage bill for him. Plus he gets to stay in London which he wants.
What theo is missing in the big picture is , he is english player not a foreign player who can just go back to his home club santos or ajax & wait for retirement with a huge fat cheque, if any major move fails. Theo, even if he left for liverpool for CF position or 100Ks, he has to remove superbly talented Suárez and its never happening tactically. Other mega clubs dont have the patience to trust Theo in CF role though they might have the 100Ks plus the warm bench. Theo’s snotty brat attitude of keeping wenger in limbo… Read more »
Sign it Theo, don’t sell your soul for money plz..
get rid of walcott and give the 14 to the ox. he seems to be more passionate about arsenal within 1+ year of joining than walcott in 6 (7?) years.
neh! i say retire that number and dedicate it to the one who made it famous, King Henry!
“Playing for The Arsenal needs to be about more than money” Then what should it be about? He is a professional footballer ! It’s either about the money, or the success. Or both. The rest, like RvP, Nasri and others who “will always be gunners” have proved, counts for very little. We need to start being successful or pay the money whilst we are not being successful. It is not Walcott’s fault that Arsene risked “losing games so he can learn his trade”! You risked losing games and trophies and have a promising ball kicked into a goal kick with… Read more »
They are not true gunners if they leave for money, fuck them.
And we need Theo, he is an exceptional striker and the fastest player in Premier league.
Very good points. AW can’t have it both ways. All these players that played at the highest level at a young age for Arsenal now want to leave for success and money now they have matured or become rubbish. They all sign for Arsenal because they know they will get playing time in more than just league cup games. Seems like he’s doing this with Ramsey as well. Risk losing games by playing him. This will not make them loyal to the club. They all look at Arsenal as a training base for their careers instead of a team they… Read more »
Theo should stay, it’s the right move for him and the club. He has proved he provides a vital input (least to say) on the pitch; also, he still is one of the most recognized faces of Arsenal. I think we need him to stay, and also make good transfers during winter.
Oh Arsene you legend.
Theo better stop listening to his agent & start listening to this man. And if he doesn’t really love Arsenal, just go & stop dragging us all in to this sh..
What’s the similarity between Na§ri and a whore?
Both sell themselves for money.
I’m not exactly a Nasri sympathiser, but you really need to raise your joke telling game, mister
joke? it’s a fact 🙂 He left for money, and disrespected the supporters. He is a big cunt.
..and how!
yeah okey, i sinked to a very low level, almost to the sp*d scum level. But Nasri is a big cunt, and i really hate him.
Are you still sucking on your mom’s teet?
Are you?!….Freak…..
Can we get a pool of cash Brendan? We sell you another terrific striker Squillaci free with him.
Anyone see RvP on the HMV advert last night? Promoting earphones. I’m sure someone with a better sense of humor than me can use that for a dig. Think Theo was hoping to join earphone guy at ManU.
This article left me speechless @AAllenSport..speaks volumes about how Arsenal lovers feel about the current Walcott situation. Since the beginning of this saga, I’ve been wishing for Walcott to ‘sign da ting’. I was optimistic in Van Persie’s case in August too, as well as Song. It broke my heart that the two left, the main reason being that they were very good players. I believe Walcott isn’t at their level yet though he’s close, but there’s something about him which is hard for the fans and Wenger to let go of: that we gave him everything from the get-go,… Read more »
Players that are leaving struggle to make eye contact with the crowd at games.
Wenger’s argument SEEMS valid. Only seems because 1. Theo hasn’t got paid for 6 seasons to sign the next contract. He has been paid to play games, and he did so. He saved our @sses a few times, I don’t pretend to believe that he consistantly put in great performances but he definitely helped us in recent seasons, especially in the Champions League Playoff games like against Liverpool, Barca, Villareal… 2. So Wenger was more faithful to the player than to the club. That is plain annoying, he states he sacrifised winning games for Theo’s progression. Fans should be annoyed… Read more »
“2. So Wenger was more faithful to the player than to the club. That is plain annoying, he states he sacrifised winning games for Theo’s progression. Fans should be annoyed at Wenger, not pity him.”
Absolutely spot on my friend. The only thing that makes it worse, is that Arsene doesn’t *seem* to have seen this coming.
Exactly. How is Theo in Arsenal’s debt? We bought him of our own free will, we used him for six years, we paid him his wages and unfortunately he hasn’t (probably) turned out to be as good as we’d hoped. How’s that different from every other football club in the universe does? The idea that Arsenal provided Theo with coaching and experience that no other club would have given him, sacrificing points to further his development, is either bogus, moral-blackmailing, hypocritical crap or, as you say, something for which Wenger deserves to be criticised. What’s so admirable about sacrificing games… Read more »
my feeling is theo is going to run down his contract. hence the ‘will take a long time’ ‘will be over soon’ comments.
its certainly not theo’s fault that wenger played him while he was still learning the game and so has to repay the mgrs faith. just as its not the ox or jenks fault they are playing in the first team while learning their trade.
why hold it against them if they wanted to leave.
he is the typical wenger signing of late. another over hyped, little graft, no never-say-die attitude, head dropping player.
Forgive my ignorance. But if a player runs the contract down to 0 months, can they still sign a new one with the same club? Eg he waits til the end of the season and then still extends it anyways?
We need to stop selling our best players, Podolski, Giroud and Cazorla are exceptional players. But we need to keep our players, how could the players be attuned with each other, when they got new teammates each season?!
The annual drama is exactly what it is every year we lose one of our better players without walcott the team has no pace. Granted he wouldn’t have got into the invincibles team but that team has long gone without him we t left with gervino and Ramsey flat flat flat . Wenger will let him go for not much and sign another untested player who we will be told needs time to settle jut like theo did. Oh and nasri and van p. only problem is once they settle they leave for greener pastures. All wenger looks like he… Read more »
Board removed? Who will remove the board? The board themselves?
We don’t know what is happening behind the scenes, so it’s better that we keep us to what we know, and not judge other people for what we suspect.
the norm used to be that someone would join a company at a very low salary, pay his/her dues for a few years, and then be rewarded with increased responsibility and compensation. that is changing. nowadays employees want to be compensated for their market value, and the companies that can alter their policies/salaries to best attract the best talent/skills will be the most succesfull. footbal clubs are no different. the sooner arsenal drastically alter the socialist idealism that limits the salaries of our players the sooner our club can actually attract top talet in today’s market. no one is saying… Read more »
Chelcunts and mancitcunts? I think you may be trying a little too hard.
O for sake. He’s off. Sell him to the highest bidder on January first and replace him. He’s not that fucking good.
with who?
Mate, I’m not a scout, but I can promise you that if we sell him, there is a proper winger out there who would love the opportunity to come play at the arse for the wages we pay theo and the transfer fee we would get. Don’t get all Arsene on me here, talking about who?? And top, top quality.
I find it hard to demonize Theo in this situation. In modern football, 6 years is a fairly long time to stay at a club. And in that 6 years, regardless of the faith Wenger has shown him, he hasn’t a winners medal to his name. When he arrived Arsenal were serious contenders, now we’re competing with Spurs and Everton for a top 4 finish. On top of that, he’s not a guaranteed starter, let alone a regular in his preferred position. His next contract, as an explosive winger/striker, will take him through the prime of his career. Why would… Read more »
As for winning medals, it all depends on the players. Wenger isn’t going to buy the medals and place it around their freaking neck. if these players capitulate like a deck of fucking cards while they were so very close to winning title when eduardo was mutiliated.Just who is to be blamed. RVP & theo were both there in that team, and if these CUNTS still have the bloody audacity to blame the team being not competitive enough then these players really have to look hard in the mirror. Where was this theo /nasri/rvp/song/clichy etc when arsenal always collapsed in… Read more »
So Arsenal is where Jahmene went after the X-Factor (see picture above).
Let’s hope he stays on song…
I like Walcott and think he should stay. We have invested too much in him to let him fuck off now, right when he is maturing. He needs to have a serious talk with Wenger. No other club will ever think of trying him as a CF. £75,000 plus bonuses more than enough. It’s a sad situation.
I think we will actually keep him til the summer and he will come to his senses. God damn agents
Football is a game. Albeit a very lucrative game which is a business to the owners. This can equally be said of footballers, while they are players who play the game, it’s business to players. Lets not kid ourselves anymore. All these loyalty sentiments should be thrown out the window! Players care about the money side like the board does.
Amen. I don’t call the Players who left cunts because they left anymore. I still call Rvp a cunt for that pathetic “you guys” letter and for going to united. I still call adabayor a cunt because, well, he’s a cunt. But the rest, I just can’t bring myself to blame them for wanting to be paid more for doing the exact same job. It is, as you said, business. To them, it a job. I have a job and if a competitor came along and offered to pay me 25%-50% more to do the same job, I wouldn’t even… Read more »
Fucking hell it’s not rocket science theo wants more money we know that it’s not about fuck all else, we don’t think he’s worth it so we sell him, another club plays him as impact sub win league, as Alexander says simples. We buy sub standard replacement finish fourth and parade non existent trophy around the emerates if we are lucky.
Sorry am pissed all this theo bollox is doing my pissing head in.
[…] Theo Walcott’s contract situation still remains at loggerheads. However, according to some recent developments, rumors are that he will sign the new deal after all. Arsene Wenger has urged the England international to sign the new contact, and has told him, it’s time to give something back to the club. […]
[…] 来源：[Arseblognews] […]
What I hated about this fiasco is the emotional stress it has on us the supporter. I’ll have to put the blame on Walcott for this. Lets see, he said he wants central role, Wenger already gave him that, and he’s being offered a high wage by Arsenal standard. What the fuck is wrong now? I cant deny the contribution he repaid the club so far, making us all excited and hopeful.
I say let Giroud back on ASAP as our main front, and until Walcott made up his mind, why should we dangle on stressful wishful thinking?
What is Theo asking for 100k? If this rumored figure is correct and it is all about money does anyone think he is worth it. I think his advising are milking our need NOT to lose another big name player. Had RvP stayed (I know F-him but for arguments sake!) Theo or his advisors would not have the bargaining power he has right now. It all comes down to money, this crap about playing CF is nonsense as he knows the other top clubs can’t give him that.