Arsenes run off with his mistress - time to deal with the real problems of arsenal!!

[truegaffer]

Hi my name is Oli Green and I am the new arsenal manager but let me explain how i got the job.

Last week in the press the then Arsenal Manager and greatest manager arsenal have ever had was caught with his pants down with his mistress during the world cup while working for french tv.

The amount of press he recieved was endless and with the added pressure of not having won a trophy in 5 years had got to him.

He resigned - it was a shock

two days later my phone rang - it was my agent

"Mr Hill-Wood wants to interview you" i was shocked i knew Mr Hill Wood for years as I had been working for arsenal as a youth coach for years - i wasnt even thinking of management

Mr Hill-Wood demanded that I go. The interview was infront of the whole board, Hill-Wood, Gazidis, Friar, Kroenke.

I was cacking it. My hands were extremely sweaty.

I sat down with the 4 of them starring back at me.

Gazidis spoke "Mr Green as you are aware Mr Wenger has step down as management and we are in the process of interviewing for the new manager. Mr Wenger in his resignation letter was keen to point out that Mr Green has the ability to manage this great club."

"We were not so keen as you have no expierence at this level, as a player you only reach non league, and as a coach youve only coached up to under 16's. If you were to be the manager of Arsenal what would you do differently"

With a quick sip of water, I firstly thanked them for considering me. I took a deep breath and began.

"Well first of all its no secret we need a keeper and a much stronger defence. I cant remember the last time we grinded out a win especially away from home. Theres been far too many errors from the current keepers - fabianksi against wigan and almunia against man utd were at crucial times, and without a quality keeper our defence will always look shaky. I would keep to the way arsenal play - we have some quality players but we just lack that aggression. Off the pitch it is perfect and would not need to invest as much."

"Thank You Mr Green, we will be in contact shortly"

I felt it was such a strange interview, very short and none of the other board members said a word.

Two days later and my phone rang - it was my agent - "Mr Green, the Arsenal board would like to meet you this afternoon"

I arrived and once again i was sat infront of the 4 board members.

Mr Gazidis spoke once again.

"Mr Green, we have come to a decision and felt it would be best to speak to face to face as you have given us a lot of service"

It didnt seem i was gonna get it.

"We have had some big, BIG names applying for this job - Sven, Martin O'Neill, Frank Rijkaard, but when interviewing them, we sensed that they didnt have the Arsenal DNA, they didnt know how the heart beat of Arsenal beats. We were impressed by you, you were honest and you know that it is vital that Arsenal keep its history and getting that winning mentality back. We want to offer you the job, you would have £20 million to spend on any players that you can get and any fee higher speak to us, we want you to finish off what Wenger started, what do you say?"

I was shocked, I would be mad to turn it down and accepted.

4 big smiles on the other side of the table emerged

"I wont let you down"

I couldnt believe it, the nearest i came to managing Arsenal was on Football Manager!!

[BenArsenal]

Aye.

Oh dear.

[truegaffer]

My first duty was to meet up with Pat Rice and the whole of the back room staff

I explained i was not making any changes to the backroom staff unless anyone wanted to leave

No one wanted to and they all gave me their full backing.

We discussed the squad situation and we all agreed we need only a slight couple of changes.

I then had a private chat with Tony Roberts the keeper coach for his opinion on Almunia and Fabianski

"Well gaffer, Almunia is a good keeper however he cant turn his training performances into matches, look at the keepers that have won the premiership over the years, Schmiechael, Seaman, Flowers, Lehmann, Van Der Sar, Cech - almunia is not in anyway near good enough - if he was he would be in the spain squad!"

"What about Fabianski?"

"Well again he has the talent but he is 25 and not really had the expierence, however to keep bouncing back from his mistakes he has done well however there can only be a certain amount of stick he ca take - id give him another year, but alumnia its time to move him on"

I took up his advice and would speak to Almunia directly to explain.

Knowing that i needed a new keeper the search was on

I told all scouts to find 1 keeper in their network and report back to me in two weeks.

Next I had to assess the already new signings that wenger had signed. Koscienly (i had never heard of), squillaci and chamakh

I was lucky that wenger had kept the dvds of all these players that he was given when scouting them - and i was impressed, i liked the way koscienly battled, squillaci expierence and mental toughness and chamakh work rate and aerial ability. I decided i would keep a close eye on these 3 in pre season and would give them a chance.

I also told my scouts to keep an eye on any central defenders aswell.

Assessing my squad with Pat Rice we felt we lacked consistantly. We had so many players that can either dribble around a whole team but when come to shoot they blow it. We needed a player like Ronaldo, Rooney who do the magic stuff consistantly.

There was one player in my mind for that and his name was Zarate - a 21 year old argentinian playing for lazio. He had already had a succesful spell on loan at birmingham a few years back and almost kept them up single handedly. He was also a key player for a weak lazio team, however he caused problems off the pitch with telling the truth about the problems of lazio.

I liked that in him, it should he had the balls to confront the problems and i know lazio are struggling financially, I kept my eye on him, but 1st my main aim was to find a keeper.

Next on my agenda was a press conference

[truegaffer]

The Press conference was full, i could hear them muttering to one another while i was waiting to be introduced

Before i went out Mr Gazidis told me to stay calm, cool and collective. He warned they will want you to make a mistake, just take your time, like you did in the interview and youl be fine.

Mr Gazidis then went into the press room and did a small speech, where i was introduced

The flashing lights were unreal and non stop which was a bit annoying.

I was asked how did i get the job in the 1st place and was i living the dream

Well indeed i was living the dream but I showed them that i was serious. I want to win a trophy this year, its time for Arsenal to step up.

i told them there would be no changes in the backroom team and had already held a meeting.

They asked about the transfer policy and they budget, I told them this was no place to discuss the arsenal budget but did have my eye on a couple of players.

I was asked if any players would on there way out ? Not at the moment i need to meet the team, get my ideas across to them, see the way they respond to me. If any player had a problem they need to be a man and tell me.

The press conference was over and I now needed to concentrate on my plans for the team.

Squad wise it was fairly strong in my opinion

in defence we had two of the best full backs in the world with sagna and clichy. Vermaelen has just had a brilliant 1st season and had already become a fans faveourite. Gibbs had a big future infront of him and would be an excellent replacement for clichy. Eboue who has had a couple of ups and downs was also a very similar to player to sagna but i had my doubts and would wait to see how he responded with me as the gaffer.

the squad had two new centre backs in koscienly and squillaci i decided to see how they settle in the team.

I also had djourou who was out injured for a couple of months. Luckily i had coached djourou for a bit so i knew what he was all about. if he could stop getting injured then he could have a big future.

In midfield it was extremley strong:

Cesc Fabregas was the captain, he is the heart beat of the team, theres no way i would sell him. Song became a vital player as the defensive midfielder. I then had nasri who looks much more better in the middle than on the wing. Diaby and Denilson were also good replacements however both had been inconsistant and not help with injuries however the fans patience with them both is running thin.

I then had two future superstars. Jack Wilshire can play anywhere across the park and im sure if he had to play anywhere else he would be class - a natural footballer who had a slight nasty side to his game a bit like Scholes. Ramsey at 17 has already became a key player for wales but is recovering from a broken leg, but he will bounce back.

On the wings I had Theo - so so quick but needs to work on technique, big season for him as just been dropped by england. Rosicky also had a big season as had so many injuries and contract runs out at the end of the season.

Arshavin was played a winger and can be incosistant but can produce magic out of nothing.

Up top we had Van Persie - if he can stay fit he will score 20+ - but can he stay fit

Chamakh looks a good prospect and like koscienly and squillaci i will keep my eye on him.

bendtner who had a good season but had a few injuries was out for a couple of months but he has talent, his attitude could be questioned thou.

vela again has the talent but incosistant - needs games

From that squad it clear we need a keeper and a winger. all my wingers are injury prone or incosistant and Zarate as mentione earlier could be that player.

[truegaffer]

sorry for bad spelling - rushin a bit as at work!!

[truegaffer]

The next day I met the squad all the players seemed happy but obviously dissapointed that Wenger was gone. For some players he was like a 2nd father.

I explained there wont be major changes but the aim is to win everything!!!!

not many of the lads had tasted success and they wanted to do it for Wenger.

I then told the lads if anyone had any problems they need to speak to me.

As it was pre season the lads had a tough work out but after that i had arranged a fun sesh of a 4 a side tournament which the lads seem to enjoy.

after the session i had asked Manuel to see me.

When meeting up to me he seemed very happy however I told he Im going to be seeking a new goalkeeper, and for your best interest we are going to put you on sale for transfer or a loan deal.

Manuel was very angry but i gave him my honest opinion which he disagreed and he stormed out. I decided to call in cesc and robin to my office to explain the situation

they agreed the team needed a new keeper they had no problems with Manuel as a person but football is football.

I asked them to tell the squad of the situation.

It also got me the chance to confirm that cesc would stay as captain and robin would be vice, both players were pleased and were looking forward to the season.

It had been a good day apart from Almunia storming off like a t**t

[truegaffer]

It had been a week of hard fitness work for the lads and i was impressed by everyone including almunia who stayed professional infront of the lads.

As they were working hard with the running, I was working hard on our tactics with Pat Rice

We had agreed that with so many good midfielders we would play a 4-5-1 so that we could easily rotate them.

------------gk----------

rb---cb--------cb----lb

-----------dm------------

------cm-------cm------

rw----------------------lw

------------cf-------------

with this formation it gave the defence protection and allowed our creative players more freedom

it was decided that i would try and sign zarate as he could play on both wings

[Manu.123]

It looks a good story so far and i hope that you can make the great again like what wenger has done so far.

[tenthreeleader]

Please don't try to avoid the swear filter. I've edited where I found it.

[truegaffer]

Please don't try to avoid the swear filter. I've edited where I found it.

sorry mate

[truegaffer]

while working on the tactics i was starting to get scout reports back about the goalkeeper situation.

Names mentioned were Benaglio, Adler, Akinfeev, Schwarzer, Lloris but all came with a heavy price and heavy wages. It wasnt until the next day when a phone call from my south american scout Sandro Gusikan called me.

"Mr Green, Ive found an ideal goalkeeper, Ochoa, he is mexican goalkeeper, he is brilliant far better than almunia and fabianski, im sending you via email a video of him and his profile, the lad is class"

"Mexican? Il speak to Vela about him, thanks for the email"

I waited for the video to up load and what I saw was very good however i was worried at the standard he was playing at

I then got a second email - Ochoa team were playing a friendly in 2 days time and sandro wanted me to go and watch!

The lads were due 2 days off from their hard work and i agreed and also got pat rice to come.

Before we left I told vela the situation

"Boss, he is a class shot stopper, and you can trust him and he is a good lad, a real team player"

"Thanks carlos, i will bear that in mind"

So the next day we flew out to Mexico

It was so hot out there, but while chilling out at the hotel, Myself and Pat talked about Zarate, we watched the dvds of him and we both said he could be a little gem in our team, he had that agression and selfeshness but all in a good way.

We decided we would make an offer

"Mr Gazidis, Its Oli"

"Ah Mr Green, how is Mexico, hotel all ok?"

"Yeah top class, a bit too hot for Pat thou!!"

"Haha what can i do for you"

"I want to make an enquiry for a player"

"Ok, good, who is it? and il make the call"

"Zarate of Lazio - He is class Mr Gazidis"

"Ok I will contact them and find out how much?"

"Brilliant let me know"

We finished our drinks and got in the taxi to the match

We arrived at the stadium and to my surprise it was massive and the atmosphere was immense

"Can you imagine arsrenal playing here?"

"Yeah would be immense - maybe a little pre season tour here next season then!!"

"Maybe, we will keep that in mind!"

The game started and Ochoa was looking very good, kicking was solid, he was constantly organising the defence, handling looked good, but then he pulled off two 1st class save. first 1 a one on one, where he came flying out to block then the second a cross to the back post where player headed down and for ochoa to dive across the goal to tip round the post

"Impressive" Pat stated

In the second half he wasnt tested much but did have to deal with a couple of crosses where he caught the majority easily, there was one though that he had to punch which he did well but he had also the pressure of having to smash through his defenders to punch the ball

"I like him" Pat again stated

"Me too"

The next day after the game Mr Gazidis called"

"Mr Green, how was the game?"

"Excellent very pleasing, we want to make an offer for ochoa"

"Superb I will again make some calls, in the mean time, ive heard from Lazio, they are willing to sell, but at a price of £16million"

"Ok lets think about it, I need to 1st get Ochoa so lets see how much we can get for him, is there anyway we can negotiate the £16 million?"

"Not really, I would suggest placing a large sum upfront then maybe some in installments to spread the cost"

"Ok lets see what happens with Ochoa 1st"

"Ok I am on it right now"

An hour later my phone rang it was Gazidis"

"Mr Green ive got great news they want £1.9 million upfront they need the money desperatly, Ochoa wants out and is the highest earner!"

"£1.9 million!!!! Thats a bargain, go for it lets get him!"

"Brilliant I will make an official bid"

"Excellent, now for Zarate, as you said offer half up front and half in installments"

"Ok will do, have a safe flight see tommorow"

With the good news we headed off to the airport, where I switched off my phone and got some much needed sleep

[truegaffer]

After an amazing sleep we landed at heathrow and I switched my phone back on - i had 5 txts come through

4 from Gazidis and 1 from my mum!! My mum had invited for dinner tonight which i accepted straight away!!!

the other 4 confirmed that both bids had been accepted, and that both players would be on there way to meet us in next few days.

The next day I was back on the training ground, where the lads continued there hard work, I also started to get the tactical work which all the players were happy with, I explained my reasons for the tactics and showed our strength in depth of each position.

Me and Pat had drafted a list of who we felt could play where:

Gk: Almunia, Fabianski, Szcenzey, Mannone

RB: Sagna, Eboue, Eastmond, Koscienly

LB: Clichy, Gibbs, Vermaelen, Eboue

CB: Vermaelen, Squillaci, Koscienly, Djourou, Song, Nordtviet

DM: Song, Denilson, Cesc, Djourou, Nordtveit, Lansbury, Emmanuel-Thomas, Eastmond, Ramsey, Wilshire, Diaby

CM: Cesc, Denilson, Song, Nasri, Ramsey, Wilshire, Diaby, Rosicky, Lansbury

RW/LW: Theo, Arshavin, Vela, Emmanuel-Thomas, Rosicky, Nasri, RVP, Wilshire

CF: RVP, Chamakh, Bendtner, Theo, Vela, Emmanuel-Thomas

So from that list we had plent of options for each position.

That evening I was to meet Ochoa and his agent and i was pleasntly surprised that both spoke good english and there demands were not too much

I told ochoa providing you do well in training, settle in with the team and perform well in the friendlies you will be my no.1

I was impressed by him, he was 25 and if he wanted to be world class keeper he had to play top level football. He accepted £30,000 a week plus a clean sheet bonus which he happily accepted and signed the next day.

That following day I then had another meeting with Zarate and his agent however his terms were much higher he was already earning £90,000 a week with Lazio but i felt that his agent was greedy.

I offered £65,000 but with big bonuses and praised arsenal and how zarate could be a hero. It took them a couple of days to decide but they came back and were happy to sign but with a slight higher signing on fee which i accepted but he was worth it.

The next few days I held my 2nd press conference introducing Zarate and Ochoa and the media was impressed with Zarate but that was because I had broken Arsenal Tranfer record with my 2nd signing!!!! I told the press that these two would be two of the best signings this season - this statement was up against the likes of Silva and Yaya Toure of Man City, Neymar had joined Chelsea - I had shown a lot of confidence which the two news signings liked.

As it was now confirmed that arsenal had a new keeper almunia's agent was on the look out for a new team for his client. There was no tranfer offers just loans and i had accepted zaragoza offer for a season loan and £250,000 which he accepted. This was a good move for him to get away from the english press.

There was also some other players leaving on loan - Emmanuel-Thomas to reading, Randall to Doncaster, Szcenzey to Tranmere, and Lansbury to Swansea - I ideally wanted szcenczy to to a championship side however the clubs that offered wanted him as back up where as tranmere he would be the no.1

Our friendlies went well with all big wins and the team and tactics were gelling, we were ready for our 1st game at home against Liverpool who had a new manager aswell in Roy Hodgson

[truegaffer]

The day before the match i had my 1st pre match press meeting

I declared we were ready to compete and pre season had gone really well.

I also praised Roy Hodgson as he had done a superb job at Fulham and deserved the Liverpool Job

After the meeting me and Pat sat down and discussed the line up

After much deliberating my 1st line up would be:

--------------------Ochoa--------------------

Sagna---Squillaci--------Vermaelen---Clichy

---------------------Song---------------------

----------Cesc--------------Nasri------------

Zarate---------------------------------Arshavin

----------------------RVP----------------------

I went for squillaci instead of Koscienly as he had the more expierence.

I felt could be make more of an impact as a sub with his pace

Nasri got the nod ahead of diaby as he looked far more comfortable in the friendlies than diaby

Game Day

In the changing room, it was buzzing, everyone was up for it, all that hard work in pre season was done and now football was the priority. Some players couldnt wait to get back on to the pitch after dissapointments from the world cup.

As the players warmed up, i had the chance to speak to Roy Hodgson

"Welcome to the mad world of football management!"

"Yeah cheers, Ive been lucky with the squad that we already have and the board have been very supportive"

"your lucky then, these yanks are driving me up the wall, both hate each other and always disagree and that mascherano he is a little ****!!!!!, now just a little bit of advice when the final whistle blows, relax dont take any thing personal with the refs, opposition managers, we all want to win but we cant, the managers that fail are the ones that get there knickers in a twist far too much"

i took that on board

"Thanks Roy, well I hope u have a good season at Liverpool, but not too much!!"

The stadium was full, buzzing and the game started with a roar from the crowd, I noticed there was still some banners saying "In Arsene we trust" I obviously still had to win the fans over, a win would help.

Disaster 10 mins and were are 1 nil down. Fernando Torres who had a torrid time at the world cup bangs one in. Gerrard slip a ball past squillaci and torres slipped in. Squillaci looked a touch to slow in turning. Ochoa had no chance

We responded well and kept the ball and had a couple of half chances then more bad news it was 2-0 and it was torres again this time he was able to run at squillaci turned on his boosters and went past squillaci, vermaelen tried to get across but torres curled the ball past ochoa. A nightmare opening 20 mins!!!

The crowd started to get restless. But we responded and made reina have to work. on the 40th minute nasri made a good run down the channel and was fouled causing an injury to his ankle. Diaby came on and from the resulting freekick it was his header that beat reina 2-1 back in the game

half time and the lads were dissapointed but i urged them to believe in themselves, increase the tempo and get at them

the 2nd half and we came out fighting, we absolutly dominated the match, gerrard played deeper and deeper as it went on however they looked dangerous on the break. Reina and carragher were hero's for the scousers at the back and a crounching takle by agger ended rvp game. I decided to put theo on and play him up top, their defenders looked tired and with theo's pace he caused trouble for them and it was only reina keeping them 2-1 up

chance after chance and it just wouldnt go in reina was having a blinder

the game finished but no booing the crowd were dissapointed but they could see we were unlucky.

the boys were dissapointed but they learnt from their mistakes.

I spoke to theo and told him to do extra training in improving his finishing, i stated i wasnt blaming him and he was happy to do so.

So a dissapointing 1st match but i learnt a lot

[truegaffer]

Our next match was sunderland away and they had won the 1st match 4-1 away at newcastle!!!!

we watched our match against liverpool and sunderlands match at newcastle

Sunderland looked very dangerous, Darren Bent and Gyan up front were both extremley quick and after a poor start by squillaci i was worried.

To deal with this i set our defensive line up to be deep to stop them from running in behind, i also started with koscienly as he had good pace and read the game well.

Rvp was fit to play but nasri twisted his ankle and was out for a couple of weeks.

so the only change was koscienly in for squillaci.

The boys trained hard that week and theo worked on his shooting.

Match Day

Sunderland's crowd were up for it, after a brilliant win at their rivals they were confident, but we had other plans, we kept the ball so well, sunderland didnt get a sniff and after 30 mins cesc played a ball into RVP he turned ran at Bramble but then played a through for zarate, one on one with the keeper and he beautifully chipped the keeper 1-0

half time i told the players i was pleased and encouraged them

again we kept the ball well and sunderland defended desperatly. with 20 mins to go i brought on theo for arshavin, and swapped zarate to left wing and theo to the right. zarate tormented onouho down the left wing and was fouled out on the wing. Zarate picked himself up and whipped in the freekick to the back post where it flew in directly!!!

2-0 not too sure he meant it but it was game over

we continued to keep the ball, i was able to bring on wilshire for cesc and chamakh came on for rvp who both worked hard and deserved a rest.

full time 2-0 first points as an arsenal manager where this club had dropped points in the past.

New lads zarate got his 1st goals and ochoa and koscienly got their 1st clean sheets

koscienly had bent in his pocket all game, song protected the back four well, and diaby was the engine for the team he was up and down that pitch brilliantly very impressive.

[truegaffer]

After an excellent win away from home, our next match was spurs at home

This is a massive game as spurs finally beat arsenal last season in a very long time

I knew the fans were desperate to win and i was desperate to win my first home match and my first derby match.

I decided that i would keep the same team that started against sunderland and the balance across the whole pitch looked decent

Spurs had had a mid week match in the champions league qualifier and all had not gone well they lost away in the 1st leg to dynamo kiev and defoe was ruled out with an injury.

In training i worked with the defence we decided that we would continue to play deep but i worked hard with the defence and make sure our midfield supported them. With crouch that had a very tall target man, but with the likes of lennon, bale, modric, van der vaart around him it was important that we won the 2nd ball.

It was a tight match and spurs were happy to park the bus, there were lots of naughty tackles where zarate was fouled outside the area. RVP stepped up and curled it over the wall and into the top corner. Gomes stood still and the crowd went mental.

With spurs now having to chase the game we were able to keep the ball even better and they never got near our goal.

It ended up 1-0 and the emirates stadium sang "1-0 to the Arsenal, 1-0 to the Arsenal!!!!"

Harry Redknapp did not say to much - maybe because a new english manager had just beaten him!!

In the changing rooms the atmosphere was great but it was important not to get carried away and we had to build on this.

The next day while reading the papers about our win, a txt came through from Grimandi - check your email, ive sent you a video of the next drogba!

I was keen to see what he had sent - it was a dvd of Lukaku a 17 year old who is in the belgium national team and scored 15 goals for Anderlect last season at 16 years of age - he looked like a 28 year old drogba - he had some talent

i emailed grimandi back - he looks good i want a full scouting report from 3 different scouts - nice one keep up the good work.

[tenthreeleader]

Looks like you are off to a fine start! Keep it up!

[truegaffer]

Next up was Birmingham away - in recent season St Andrews had not been a nice place for arsenal, with the eduardo leg break, gallas sulking, and that terrible late equaliser last season, I was determined to get a solid result.

They had a the 6'8 striker zigic but only played him up front alone with former arsenal player hleb playing in the hole. Hleb was not a striker and he wasnt looking to make any runs in behind the defence.

I told the defence to push up and it worked brilliantly, our boys at the back were all too quick when zigic flicked the ball on, and as we had pushed up hleb had less space.

we controlled the game and were 3-0 up by half time. RVP had scored 2 both by turning the defenders and slotting the ball past foster. the 3rd came from a counter attack where rvp forced on o.g.

I told the boys well done and to keep it up.

We controlled the 2nd half with out getting out of 2nd gear however with 20 mins to go birmingham brought on jerome and mcfadden and our defence failed to adapt to there pace. They scored two scrappy goals in last 10 mins, which made me a little bit stressed in the last few minutes.

But we got the win, I told the lads well done, i was pleased with the win, but i decided i would wait til we watched the game again back at training before warning them about complacency.

we had made a good start 3 wins out 4 where 2 of the wins had come from games where arsenal dropped points last season and we were 3rd with liverpool and man utd 1st and 2nd.

[truegaffer]

The league cup draw was announced and out of all the teams to play we were given away draw against Spurs!

The Champions League was also drawn and we got a good draw - Werder Bremen, Spartak Moscow and Copenhagen

It wasnt an easy group or an extremley tough group but we wouldnt be able to take any game easily.

We also had some good news....Spurs failed to qualify!!!

For the next couple of months we had a steady squad with a couple of injuries for Diaby, Zarate, and eboue but the squad was gelling well and picked up some fantastic results:

Stoke (h) won 4-0: RVP 2, O.G, Koscienly

CL Spartak Moscow (h) won 2-0: O.G, Cesc

Man City (a): drew 1-1: RVP

LC Spurs (a): lost 0-1 (van der vaart screamer)

West Brom (h): won 4-0: Rosicky, Theo, Arshavin, Vela

CL Copenhagen (a): won 3-0: RVP, Rosicky 2

Chelsea (a): won 1-0: Theo

CL Werder Bremen (h): won 2-0: Denilson, Vermaelen

Bolton (h): won 3-0: Theo, Zarate 2

Everton(a): won 2-0: Zarate, Arshavin

CL Werder Bremen (a): won 2-0: Nasri, Zarate

Newcastle (h): won 3-0: Chamakh 2, Zarate

Blackburn (a):won 2-1: Zarate, Koscienly

Aston Villa (a):won 2-1: RVP 2

Blackpool(h):won 4-1: Zarate, Chamakh 2, Diaby

CL Spartak Moscow (a): 0-0

West Ham (a): Won 2-0: RVP, Theo

Man Utd (h): Lost 0-2

Within those matches I had won the manager of the month twice in a row, We had qualified for the champions league with two games remaining so i was able to mix the team around.

The chelsea win was fantastic, during the build up we concentrated on our defensive and for once we get drogba quiet, theo scored an amazing goal.

I was so pleased with how many clean sheet we had kept the Ochoa, Sagna, Clichy, Koscienly, Vermaelen, eboue and gibbs were all superb and squillaci and djourou did well when also used (both played in the 0-0 at spartak moscow)

We were dissapointed with the defeat in the league cup, unfortunatly van der vaart scored a screamer and gomes in goal had one of those days were nothing would go past him

Another dissapointment was the Man Utd defeat - it was very strange to meet Sir Alex - he is a footballing legend but a pure winner, he said hello to me before the match and that was it. It was an even game however they did their homework on us. Owen Hargreaves, Carrick and Fletcher were immense and never allowed cesc, song and diaby an inch. There two goals came from us losing the ball to them. We had chances but van der sar was well protected by rio and vidic.

We learnt a lot from that match and Sir Alex was very chatty to me after the match!!!!!

We were still top of the league by 1 point, but Man United had a game in hand

Liverpool after the 1st two months where Roy Hodgson won the manager of the month had slipped back with a couple of draws and a defeat to everton where the toffees were 3rd

Chelsea were even further behind sitting in 8th. Man City were 4th and Spurs 5th

Player wise i was pleased with all my defenders Koscienly had been really surprised at how well he was doing but didnt have the best of games against rooney but got man of the match against drogba.

In midfield were controlled virtually all our matches and song and cesc were my main two but diaby, denilson, wilshire, nasri and rosicky were all brilliant when used and have all contributed with goals.

Theo, Arshavin and Zarate were immense, theo pace on 1 side with either arshavin and zarate on the other causing havoc for the defences. All three were contributing zarate was getting the goals with theo and arshavin getting a couple but all three were getting assists for RVP and Chamakh

RVP had been immense leading the front line brilliantly, Chamakh's work rate has been immense and has been unlucky, but finally got his 1st goals against newcastle with his 1st premiership start.

I was a bit worried for vela, he isnt geting much game time, i may have to send him out on loan. Ramsey was also back to fitness but with so much competition in midfield i decided to put him on loan and he was happy to do so.

Bendtner was also back from fitness but again he is not getting much game time and has not been impressive when he does play. However Chamakh hasnt once scored when coming off the bench but he has mostly came on when the game is over with 15 mins left.

In this spell the board were delighted with me and increased my Transfer Fund to £65 million!!!!!!!!! I decided we would go for Lukaku who had 8 goals in 8 league appearances and 2 in the europa league - i was luckiy enough to watch him against villa and he was immense a beast - after a couple of bid we got him for £8 million but we agreed he would join until the end of the belgium season - this was a good move as he would get the game - i cant believe he is only 17!!!!!!!

We also decided to also improve our youth facilities as well as scouting for more british youngsters.

I had to also deal with transfer rumours for my own players

Clichy is wanted by AC Milan - their gaffer wanted a seat for one our home matches, i told them to shove off, however he got a seat for an away match to watch clichy.

Barcelona were obviously intrested in cesc but their priority was now RVP and Arshavin. Arshavin had found himself on the bench a lot more this season with Theo and Zarate playing so well, but Im not keen to sell however we have an eye on affellay of psv as a perfect replacement and a bonus is that he will be on a free signing if we get him.

RVP aint going nowhere!!!!!!!!

So far so good in my opening couple of months

[truegaffer]

I was keen to see how we would bounce back from the United defeat out of the 3 defeats this one hurt the most as we didnt perform to our best.

The lads responded well in training

Our next game was copenhaven, i decided to play my "weaker" side not that it is weak - also on the bench put ramsey on there

we were 2-0 up at half time so i decided to bring on ramsey - it was to be his 1st match for the 1st team since breaking his leg - i told there was no pressure on him and to enjoy it.

the game rolled on with us keeping the ball but in the 90th minute Ramsey on the edge of box beautifully curled the ball into the top corner - the crowd went nuts!!!! RAMBO!! RAMBO!! RAMBO!!

I was pleased for the lad, but I still wanted him to go out on loan which he was fine about but he defo had a future with us.

the xmas build had us away to wolves, home to fulham, away to wigan and liverpool.

Wolves was tough match where we won 2-1 we had gone two nil up through RVP and Cesc but we allowed them a goal just before half time and in the 2nd half we had to defend extremly well.

Next Fulham at home should have been a comfotable win, they were struggling and Stockdale the fulham keeper was making his 1st appearance and was in fine form rvp finally broke the deadlock with 10 mins to go but then quickly got a 2nd it could and should have been 3-0 but rvp missed a penalty which was well saved by stockdale.

Next was wigan away, with liverpool next i decided to play my 2nd choice midfield of denilson, nasri and wilshire and changed clichy for gibbs and it was the worst opening 5 mins of a match, 2-0 down by overall poor midfield and defending. RVP brought us back in the game on 11 minutes and theo upped his standards by casuing havoc and got equaliser on 30 mins, gibbs was having a stinker and n'zogbia ripped him apart. At half time i had to take him off for clichy.

We were much solid at the back in the 2nd half and wigan were given everthing they could but they were tiring and kirkland was getting busier and busier. with 15 mins to zarate recieved the ball on the left, cut inside and from 20 yards bent the ball towards the top corner, kirkland tipped the ball onto the post but the rebound hit his back and went in. We went estatic while wigans players and fans looked gutted. We kept the ball for the remainder of the match and got a lucky 3 points

Liverpool away they were having a nightmare sitting 7th and had lost there lost 2 games 2-0. They had no Gerrard, Torres, Johnson, agger they were struggling and this was a great opportunity.

i brought back in song, cesc ,diaby and clichy to start with. i kept theo and zarate on the wings with rvp in the middle, and we battered them, reina was keeping them in it, but on 30 mins diaby from 25 yards smashed, reina got a touch but couldnt keep it out. Carragher was playing right back and was getting tormented by zarate, in the end he crunched him and should have been sent off, zarate was unable to continue and arshavin came on. With carragher on a yellow i told arshavin to be more attacking and get at him. Liverpool got there 1st corner of the match which we cleared to our edge of the box and arshavin got the ball and ran at carragher, he flew past him, he reached the halfway line, theo was sprinting on the other side of the pitch, arshavin skipped past skrtl, konchesky didnt kno what to do close him down or stay with theo, arshavin went all the way, into the penalty box and scored -WHAT A GOAL!!!! 2-0 at half time easy!!!!

I told the lads i was delighted but had to keep it up.

Liverpool now going towards the kop started brightly with jovanovic and babel working hard, song had cole in his pocket.

We kept the ball but liverpool were shooting on sight and Ochoa pulled of three world class saves. we had chances our selves but reina was determined not to be beaten again.

we had won 2-0 on boxing day - a great win for arsenal football club!!

[truegaffer]

I got a call from Mr Gazidis

"Mr Green, fantastic xmas for Arsenal, were extremley happy, we are pleased to inform you that we putting another £9 million back into the tranfer budget for you"

"Thats great, Lukaku was only for £8million"

"Good, was there anything else Mr Green"

"Actually there was, Ive found a youngster, his name is James Wallace 19 year old midfielder playing for Everton, his contract runs out next week and everton have yet to offer a deal, his agent has said there would be £1 million conpensation deal, he played against our reserves and was there best player could be a scholes kind of player - i want to offer him a contract"

"Ok I will get the ball rolling, also dont forget there are a few of ourlads contracts expiring at the end of the season, Szcenczey, Bartley, Nordtveit, ozygpan, freeman."

"Ok I will have a think about them and come back to you"

"Good I will get hold of Wallace's agent"

I decided to ring up derby, Sheff utd and Tranmere managers as Nordtveit, Bartley and Szcenczy were out on loan

They all praised the players and said they can defo reach top level.

I rang Mr Gazidis

"Mr Gazidis I want Nordtveit, Bartley, and Szcenczy offered at least 3 year contracts, Ozygpan 1 year and Freeman i'm gonna wait on a little more - he hasnt done the business at yeovil only played 1 match, lets get him back with arsenal and see how he trains"

"Fair Enough Mr Green, I will speak to their agents"

"Any news with Wallace?"

"Yes the contract has been offered, he is travelling to the training ground to have a look"

"What time will he be there, I want to show him around personally, he is a talent

"He should be here by 3pm, Ok i will be here to meet him"

"Good I will see you then"

That afternoon, I met Wallace who was with his parents and agent - he seemed a nice lad, loved talking about his hero's - I said to him for the first 6 months i want you to train with the 1st team and play for the reserves, if you shine in training you may get a chance with the 1st team, however you are only 19 and not got much 1st team football so you lack expierence, depending on how well you do in pre season we could possibly look to send you to tranmere as we are a parent club to them - but if you do well in pre season you could stay with the 1st team, like wilshire has done this year.

Wallace was really happy with the situation and signed the contract.

[truegaffer]

New Years day Sunderland at home

While at the office preparing my last minute tactics i recieved an email from Affellay's agent

Just to make you aware my client's contract with PSV is expiring in 6 months.

That was it, I looked at who he sent the emails to; Barca, Real Madrid, Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, Inter, AC Milan, Juventus, Roma, Man City - all the big clubs

He was a talent and he was 24 entering his prime

I spoke to Pat

"Affellay - what do you think?"

"Hes a good player, versatile, and creates magic - but do we need him. Zarate, Theo and Arshavin have been outstanding, and rosicky has done a decent job when played out wide."

"But he is a freebie"

"Well why not make the offer that you feel is right and see what happens - if we get him great if we don't we don't"

"Ok I will let gazidis know"

"Right we better get to the emirates or we will get fined for lateness!!!!!"

[Taunton]

Great read. As an Arsenal-fan I am espcially delighted with the Chelsea-win. It has not been to many of those lately.

Go on and get us some silverware.

[truegaffer]

It was a great start to the new year a 5-1 win against sunderland with Cesc, Arshavin, Chamakh and two from Zarate

I was pleased in the way we won and took our chances especially when we went 1-0 down after 3 mins!!!

Next we had a massive mid week match against our neighbours Spurs in their own back yard.

I decided for this match that it was key to stop van der vaart so he was marked heavily all game.

I also decided to have arshavin and zarate on the wings to keep the ball better and with having theo on the bench could be used nicely.

It was a balanced start, they had started with defoe up top with van der vaart in the hole so we adopted a deep line and koscienly and vermaelen were superb.

on 11 minutes cesc recieved the ball on the half way line, modric backed off, cesc travelled with the ball and from 30 yards smashed the ball into the top corner, gomes just stood still, white hart lane was silenced for a few moments as the arsenal fans began going mad - what a goal!!!

This had stunned spurs and we dominated - zarate won the ball on the halfway line but was running back to out goal, laid the ball off to sagna, who passed to koscienly, koscienly zipped the ball over to arshavin on the left who was left 1 vs 1 against hutton on the half way line, clichy turned on his boosters and overlapped arshavin, forcing hutton to drop off creating space for arshavin on the half line, the russian meerkat clipped in a cheeky lob over gallas's head for rvp to run on to gomes came out but rvp was too quick, he flicked the ball over him and rolled the ball into the empty net 2-0 after 20 mins - brilliant!!!

but it got much better, from their kick off cesc won the ball back, laid off to clichy who travelled up the line, then hit the ball down the channel to arshavin, he then skipped past hutton got to the byline played the ball across the penalty spot and zarate slid in at the far post 3-0!!! after 21 mins - white hart lane was shocked!!!!!!

Spurs slowly bounced back and were trying to force a goal before half time, but koscienly, vermaelen and ochoa were dominating our own penalty box

the 2nd half we protected our goal well but they got one back from modric where he shot through a crowded box.

we kept the ball well and never gave them another chance and a break away goal allowed eboue who had came on for zarate to tap it in after rvp had rounded gomes in the 90th minuted!!

4-1, 3 points superb!!!!!!

However we were to meet spurs again at the weekend in the fa cup but at the emirates.

It was a bloody good win but in training i warned the lads not to switch off.

I was also able to loan out a few players. Hoyte went to port vale, Boateng went to swindon, Lansbury and eastmond extended their loan deals at swansea and norwich.

Wellington Silva also arrived, the 17 year old brazillian looks promising and we had the same discussion as what wallace recieved.

There was also a couple of surprise transfers Sunderland got their cheque book open and signed Eden Hazard for £17 million!!!!!! We had our eye on him, but this came out of the blue!!!! Wigan's Rodallega who was 4th top goalscorer and was keeping them out of the relegation zone signed for Man Utd for £11 million. Everton sold their best centre back Jagielka to chelsea for only £4 million!!!!!!!!

We also recived good news, Affellay had accepted our offer and would be joining us next season, but contract negotiations between us and nordtviet had broken down as he requested £15,000 a week!! He is a talent, but i couldnt see him breaking into the 1st team for at least another 2 seasons, he was doing well at derby but £15,000 a week! I still wanted him so i decided to leave it for a few months.

The spurs game and in the paper spurs players and fans were all wanting revenge during the build up.

It was the 3rd round of the FA Cup I wanted a good cup run and of course i wanted to beat spurs and i was still hurting from our league cup defeat to them earlier this season.

I decided to keep the same team however arshavin wasnt full 100% fit so theo came in.

Spurs also kept the same line up so the same tactics were applied on Van Der Vaart

The game was a lot more tighter and spurs were stopping the flow of the game with their persisitant fouling.

But the 1st chance came to spurs defoe had got inbehind our defence with a clever through ball, but Ochoa made himself big and blocked the shot.

Half chances for both teams followed with Diaby hitting the bar with a header.

But on 43 minutes a corner from zarate and vermaelen leapt above gomes and put us infront - right on half time - happy days

It got better 2 minutes after it was 2-0. Theo cut inside laid the ball to rvp in to the box, he was allowed to turn and placed the ball into the corner

Half time i told the lads i was pleased and from the 2nd half spurs seemed to have given up, RVP chased the ball down in spurs's own corner hutton didnt clear and rvp ran along the byline dribbled past king and laid the ball off to diaby to score 3-0!!! game over!!!

Spurs got a late consolation which was dissapointing however in the 1st week of 2011 we had scored 12 in 3 games with 7 against spurs!!!!

We then got a kind draw for the next round - Cheltenham away who were struggling in league 2 in a relegation dog fight however theyve done well to reach round 4!!

[truegaffer]

After the win i decided to give the lads an extra couple of days off, they have had a few tough matches in a short period so i was happy to give them the time off.

This also gave me a chance to reflect on the overall squad and i had a few problems.

With the main team playing so well it was difficult to mix the team up as i didnt want to upset the current balance.

Rosicky had only played a few games, vela a couple and bendtner hardly any and all three wernt making the subs bench.

Wilshire had also found himself out of the 16 with denilson and nasri playing well, and ramsey back from that leg break injury wasnt getting any game time and no one had made any interest in loaning him - i didnt even want a percentage of his wage paid for!

Carlos Vela was the one i didnt know what to do - he hadnt really performed but was doing extremely well for the reserves. He is a huge talent but is not getting any 1st team game time - im gonna send him out on loan and see what happens, if i can get him at a premiership side and does well i will keep him, but if he doesnt do well i will have to let him go.

rosicky, i think i will look to sell at the end of the season, he is 30 so he will want more game time and i have affelly coming in.

Bendtner hasnt done anything when brought on but again done well for the reserves but we will probably look for him to go as Lukaku is joining us next season.

Squillaci also hasnt played much and djourou has gone infront of him in the order - he is in the same boat as rosicky so he too may look elsewhere

and with that thought it could leave me short at the back for next season as nordtveit has not sign an extension yet and bartley still yet to prove he is good enough - i may have to look for a new centre back

[truegaffer]

The next day after having a think about my central defence problems, my phone was ringing - It was Nordtveit!

"Havard, how are you? What can I do for you?"

"Morning boss, sorry to call you early, I am ringing to say I am dissapointed with how the contract negotiations went, I'll be honest, I want to stay, I want to be at this great club, I personally feel i will be with the 1st team competiting for a spot for the 1st 11, I just want a contract that i would expect."

"I respect your honesty, so I will too, I can see you future here, you had a good season in germany and you are getting good reviews from derby, so I am going to offer you a new contract however it will be a contract that will give you more incentive to try and get in the starting 11, I will send it to your agent, have a think about it and we can speak again"

"Ok boss, I appreciate your time for me, I will wait to see it, Cheers"

The contract I sent to his agent was to be £9,000 a week, with a bigger signing on fee that he originally requested and a larger appearance fee.

Our next game was Birmingham at home where we again went 1-0 down but came back to win 4-1 RVP with 2, Zarate and Chamakh

Next Up it was Stoke away

This was a physcial battle but ended up 0-0. We couldnt break them down they played 11 men behind the ball. It didnt help that sorensen was in fine form. Stoke were 9th in the league, and Pulis was doing a fine job.

After the match, I had a txt from Gazidis, unlucky with the result, Villa want Vela on loan for rest of season.

I txt back only accept if there is a recall option

The deal went through and vela had 5 months of football to save his arsenal career.

Next up we had Cheltenham away in the fa cup, and the media were going mad about it.

I decided to play the fringe players and we domninated the whole game as expected, cheltenham worked their socks off and their goalkeeper and defenders defended their goal as if their lives depended on it!

We just couldnt get it in, Theo and Rosicky were taken off for RVP and Zarate - not because they were poor, it was because they worked so hard and knackerd themselves out, but on the 88th minute rvp cut in from the right slid a through ball to chamakh and he slotted the ball past the keeper 1-0 game over.

It was a relief and it wasnt a case of us being poor, it was due to cheltenham doing so well to stop us.

I told the lads well done for not giving up, the whole country apart from arsenal fans wanted us to lose. The game is all about 90 mins so well done for not getting your knickers in a twist cos it wouldnt go in after 10 mins.

[truegaffer]

After the cheltenham game we had a big match at home to an improving Man City, and the got off to a great start with former captain and arsenal legend patrick viera scoring with a header from a corner after 7 minutes. They then reverted to a 4-1-4-1 formation.

We dominated the game but could not find a way past joe hart, i encouraged the lads to be more attacking with sagna and clichy looking for overlaps.

but we just couldnt get past them and lost 1-0

i couldnt fault the lads, they worked hard, i told them it was important to bounce back immediatly.

Our following mtaches were as follows:

West Brom (a) won 3-0 - RVP 2, Theo

Chelsea (h) won 3-0 - RVP 2, Cesc

FA Cup Burnley (a) won 4-1 - Wilshire, Rosicky, Chamakh, Denilson

i was delighted with the chelsea win, all three goals were spectacular team goals

the burnley match I was able to rotate as our next match was Valencia away in the champions league

It was going to be a tough match, so in training we concentrated on our defensive positions

However we got off to a great start from Arshavin, who curled a left foot shoot into the top corner after 8 mins, but on 15 mins valencia broke away and Koscienly brought down the man through on goal and a red card was shown. I had to bring on djourou for arshavin to fill the centre back slot.

I told the lads to get 9 men behind the ball and protect the goal. However clichy clipped the ball down the channel, zarate chased and nicked the ball off miguel, played the ball across the goal and RVP tapped the ball in 2-0 away from home with 10 men brilliant. However Valencia pulled 1 back right on half time

The half time team talk was key and i encourgaed the lads we can win this.

The 2nd half started well we kept the ball nicely and we made it 3-1 by RVP again this team valencia failed to clear the ball and rvp slotted the ball into the corner.

Valencia cam fighting back but vermaelen and djourou were excellent and ochoa hardly touched the ball!

Valencia on 75 mins then had a player sent off for a 2nd yellow, and we continued to keep the ball, and with 5 minutes left zarate cut inside played a 1-2 with cesc and smashed the ball into the net 4-1 a brilliant result!!!

Our next matches were:

Bolton (A) drew 1-1 - cesc

Everton (h) won 2-1 - Diaby, Djourou

Bolton was dissapointing result as they equalised in the last minute, I think the lads were tired from Valencia

Everton was a great result as we had gone 1-0 down after 5 minutes, when then went down to 10 men with vermaelen sent off but we carried on fighting and diaby smashed a left foot shot in at the near post right on half time and then in the 2nd half djourou who had came on as a sub scored with a header from a corner

It was also weird to see Alan Shearer in the Everton Dug out after taking over from Moyles who had gone to villa who were fighting relegation, but everton were 3rd in the league!!!!

There had only been 2 sackings in the premiership so far - Houllier of Villa and Hughes of Fulham, where both teams were flirting with relegation.

Avram Grant was the faveourite for the chop next and it was his west ham team sitting in 19th who travelled to our ground for the FA Cup

I decided to rotate my squad but west ham got off to an unbelievable start with collison and cole scoring after 15 minutes.

Our lads responded and theo pulled one back with a header!!!

As the game continued were couldnt break them down and with 20 mins to go i was forced to bring on cesc, rvp and zarate for wilshire, chamakh and rosicky

88th minute and huge relief gasped through the stadium. Zarate had equalised. RVP ran along the byline, played it across the 6 yard box and zarate bundled the ball in!!!

We were still in the cup!!!

[truegaffer]

Our next matches were as follows:

Newcastle (a) won 1-0 - Zarate

FA Cup replay West Ham (a) won 3-0 - Zarate, Chamakh, Diaby

Blackburn (h) won 2-0 Koscienly, Diaby

I was delighted with all three wins, as all three were tight affairs but i was also able to switch the line up around to give players rest as our next match was in the Champions League away to Barcelona!

I was able to field a full strength side apart from vermaelen being replaced by djourou as he was suspended. I had no problems with djourou, he has been class all season for me and was ahead of squillaci.

Barca had a few injuries, mainly Lionel Messi who was out for 4 months with a hip injury.

We got to a flying start, arshavin tested Valdes who tipped the ball over the bar after 3 minutes, cesc, song and diaby were controlling the midfield and zarate was cauing mayhem for abidal.

and it was zarate skill work in the penalty box that forced a foul by abidal and it was a blatant penalty after just 10 mins. RVP placed the ball on the spot, with large booing and whistling from the home crowd, he stepped up and blasted the ball into the left hand corner where valdes guessed correctly but was still in the air when the ball hit the net!!!

nou camp was silent and rvp ran to the corner pointing to the arsenal fans who were stuck up at the highest point of the stadium!

we continued to control the game with valdes and puyol defending the goal desperatly.

It wasnt until the 2nd half when pedro tested Ochoa, but villa was completly out of the match, koscienly had him in his pocket and whenever he did get half a chance song and djourou were there to cover!

Our lads were working extremley hard and I tried to slow the match down with substitutions.

We got the 1-0 win which we deserved but within 3 days we had villa at home!

I wasnt pleased with the FA we had just played barca on the wednesday and we then had to play villa on the saturday - You would have thought the English FA would want to help an english club out in europe!!!

With the players looking tired from the barca, I took the risk of playing my second 11 - Villa were in a relegation fight, but had improved since David Moyles took over and their team on paper had some quality with the likes of Ashley Young, Downing, Ireland and agbonlahor.

it was a tight affair for the 1st 30 minutes, but it was chamakh individual brilliance to turn dunne then skip past davies the chip the on rushing friedel to put us 1-0 up!

but right on half time warnock gave the ball away to chamakh when playing across goal, his touch took it past the flat footed dunne and he blasted it past friedel - It was his 11th goal of the season which was brilliant considering he had started most matches from the bench.

in the 2nd half and we finished the match after 10 mins with theo becoming a poacher at corners. with 15 mins to go I was also able to bring on Wallace who i had signed in the new year from everton to make his proffesional debut and he had a steady performance. Villa got 1 back with a 1 minute to go from a corner headed in by carew.

It was an excellent win as i was able to rest my main players for the 2nd leg against Barca!!!

After the match i was able to speak to David Moyles about Carlos Vela who was on loan at villa but was unable to play against us.

"He is talented but his attitude hasnt been all there and he lacks the physical side and goes hiding when its needed the most."

"Is he here today?"

"No he didnt want to come"

I tried calling him but there was no answer

I decided i would put him on the transfer list at the end of the season, I was to also put squillaci and bendtner on the bench as they were not playing at all and I also had Lukaku joining us who had 20 goals to his name for anderlect

I would also have to start considering what my plans were for rosicky as i had affelay joining us.