I’ve been busy for the past few days at the studio and hardly got the chance to follow transfer news happening. When I finally did, and went through my normal reading and updates of news around the world, Justarsenal was the last. What do they say? Save the best for last?
I saw the Heading of the article and I just let a faint smile and shook my head in shame, because first that heading itself is a disgrace if we consider the player we are talking about here. I knew something like this, an article like that, would pop up but I didn’t think I’d be reading people judging the man labelling him a disgrace, Jon Fox coming out saying Kos Dissed us, and is an enemy to the club because of his actions and so many others, not forgetting, at the end of the article, Admin Martin went on to say he wishes him no good luck. All that for just because of football? Someone’s career and life?
I’ll never support the way Koscielny handled the situation, he could’ve attended training sessions and processed his transfer quietly, he could’ve done things differently and he made a mistake, a big mistake.
Quickly let’s get into facts here, the man served nine years with us, gave us his best, loyalty, fight and body. Yes the club was paying him his salary and yes it was his job to give his best and fight for the club so he has no point?
Quick one! Arsene Wenger three seasons ago confirmed Koscielny was suffering and battling his Achilles Tendon injury, so he couldn’t risk the player in every game so Koscielny mostly played on the weekends, while someone else filled in for him during midweeks. That’s one big step taken to protect the man from running himself down. Arsene Wenger despite his flaws is one of the best managers when it comes to treating his players well with care, a thing which even I agree he might’ve done too much. Arsene Wenger saw the risks and knew the player was important, so he tried and managed Koscielny the best way he could, but unluckily Koscielny got that injury Wenger was avoiding and was out for over a year.
So the club treated him, and paid his salary while he was injured. People say the club paid him back by treating and taking care of him. Wait a minute folks.
While at work, If I got injured or an accident befell me while on duty at work. Wait a minute, am I supposed to be driven home and left alone for my wife to treat and take care of me? Is the company not meant to handle my treatment and medications til I get back in good shape? Why are we making it look as if he neglected his duty, only for the club to take care of him after he got injured while sitting at home watching Netflix. Why? Why do we feel it’s okay to write off how he feels and what he decides go do with his life, just because the club paid his salary and took care of him while he was injured, INJURIES HE GOT WHILE WORKING FOR THE CLUB. What company abandons their staff when they get injured at the workplace? What civilized company ditches their staff at that point after getting injured while on duty? Why are we judging the man?
Still on facts, before recovering fully from his injury, before even Arsene Wenger got sacked. Koscielny publicly said he’d like to go back home soon. So he must’ve held discussions with the club, something must’ve triggered his behaviour. It ain’t as if the man woke up one day and got a loose screw upstairs and decides he won’t kick a ball for the club anymore. Why are we jumping at him, judging him like he did something terrible and unforgivable?
His fellow compatriot and ex-gunner gave an interview and said something must’ve happened between the player and the club before he could act that way. Is there any reason to doubt that’s the truth? This is a player that has been a professional while playing for us, held together a shaky defense for most of the time, never agitated for moves, signed contracts without problems, turned down chances to join Bayern Munich and Barca while he was at his peak. A player who never complained about getting bumper salaries or acted like some of our previous players and suddenly should all believe he went rogue out of no where?
T.I once said in his song, “My good outweighs the bad, isn’t that what really matters?” Where’s the benefit of the doubts? We don’t know the complete truth, yet we call him names and say he’s an enemy to the club? We act like we have the right to be judgmental?
PEA pulled the same stunt at Dortmund, he did all of this while the season was on not even in pre-season like Kos, he did it while having his best season, unlike Koscielny who pulled the stunt now that he’s passed it. PEA skipped trainings, missed matches because of it, acted unprofessionally, and there were reports about his bad boy attitude. Yet not a single soul on here questioned why we were going for a player who pulled the same nonsense Koscielny pulled recently. Not even you Jon Fox who called people stupid and idiots for their views. Not a single one of you blasted PEA and his actions at Dortmund, not a single one of you branded him a disgrace and saw him as something bad for our club. Yet suddenly we can all sit behind our keyboards and judge a man who is doing the same thing now just to go back home. How hypocritical is that? We humans tend to be hypocritical at some points in our lives, we only go for what’s best for us.
Once again I’m not in support of the way Koscielny handled the situation, he should’ve done better, he made the mistake, I’ve accepted that long ago and I can boldly say I let it pass because of the player he was for us, because it wasn’t something he has done before. A man is allowed to fall, a man is allowed to break down, a man is allowed to go astray at a point. We are men, not gods.
They are men first before becoming footballers, they’re not some robots created to be perfect all their lives and never break down. The man is probably mentally and physically exhausted after so many years. He feels he doesn’t have what it takes to play for us anymore, he feels he can’t put up with the rigours of the EPL anymore, he feels he needs to go home. So we try to make sure he stays by demanding 10 million for him. If the tables were turned, Would Arsenal FC pay 10 million to sign a 33 years old injury prone player?
Personally I see it as a good thing anyway, at least he’s forcing the club to get in a better defender and replacement.
Us fans talk about loyalty, we say he’s not loyal, saying that about a player who has put his body on the line while suffering from a recurring injury he developed WHILE WORKING FOR THE CLUB is hypocritical!! So is he supposed to stay in the EPL until his body breaks down completely? Is he supposed to work himself to death just because he’s working and getting paid?
He had no right to demand to go home for the sake of his own health? Are we going to pretend or act as if the French league he’s going to will consume him more than the EPL he has been in? Should he have said oh “Arsenal never mind even though I got injured while working for you I’ll treat myself, you don’t have to do a thing because you pay my salary?” Would any of you do that in your various working places? I know lots of you will tag this as sentimental, but if we’re to pay attention to everything and Arsenal wasn’t being sentimental, Arsenal should never have gone for PEA because of this same silly stunt he pulled.So PEA’s good outweighs the bad that’s why we went for him isn’t it?
I look forward to the new season, it’s what I’m focused on now, I don’t have the energy to burn on this Koscielny issue now that he’s gone. He’s gone and I wish him all the best he deserves, both in his football career, his family, his health and body. People say he threw away the club’s Jersey, ridicules the club, again this is a man acting unprofessional for the first time, until the club or he himself comes out to give complete details, you and I have no right to judge him and call him names. I saw the said video and I don’t see the offense he made in that video, you would’ve thought he threw away the Jersey, expecting he angrily threw it away, but it was his unveiling video and you could hear a voice loudly making a countdown from three to one before he took it off to show his new Jersey. Most of us are just inciting more anger against the man and trying to breed more contempt with how we keep saying he abused the club in the video.
I wish he handled things differently and all this ended differently, but that being said, I have no intentions or plans to disregard and cast off the man just because of one mistake he made.
All the best to each and everyone of us!
Eddie Hoyte
P.S: He released his statement at the moment I was writing this. Half of you already judged him, called him names, also pointing out he didn’t even care to release a statement. Well he’s done so, and like I expected and know, he admitted the discussion has been going on for months between, him, the club, coach and players. Yet all half of y’all could do was jump ship and judge a man based on articles and reports, without learning the truth. I think in fairness, y’all the real disgrace. The truth will finally come out someday, but it won’t change a thing or my view about the man because of one career mistake he made.
Why are we still talking about koschielny? He’s so yesterday. An article about Rugani please. It seems we’ve agreed terms.
Sorry didn’t see the article before this. Good job admin.
Carl Jenkinson has left Arsenal.
He has completed a permanent move to Nottingham Forest on a three-year contract.
The fee is described as undisclosed.
I knew this article was going to be a belter! Well done, Eddie ??
Thanks Sue?.
By the way, heard from Pat?
How she’s doing with the family?
Been over a month now.
No I haven’t. It has been too long.. she has a lot on here plate right now, I just hope she’s ok…
?
Yes Sue, far too long now, and though I understand she has a lot going on. It’ll feel good to know she’s actually good and the family is fine. I hope she is too
It’s my first comment in this site just to say I fully agree with hoyte
Brilliant article Gooner… Much respect for the fine points made.
nicely put….God bless you
Wishing Jenko all the best at Forest! I can’t believe he’s finally gone….
Welbz to Watford?
I really don’t want to go there but you guys no longer need me on the team ?
BTW I agree with Eddie, lovely piece of writing here.
?? all the best at Vicarage Road hahaha!!
It`s OK Welbz, your new training ground is next to Arsenal`s one, so you will be able to see your old friends training from the Watford treatment room ! 😆
Good article but enough with Koscielny please
The season will start soon
We have new players
The window shuts on Thursday and we could still sign another player
Plenty other things to write about
Before the shirt thing I guess?
https://twitter.com/IanWright0/status/1158862518061817859
Wrighty calling it how it is…
I was with you until he did that. Zero need for those schenanigans that only target fans. IMO another selfish overpaid footballer without the brains or care to think about his actions.
Unfortunately, it’s the society we live in today. Because the internet, social media, and 24 hour news, have helped create the PC culture we now live in (in Britain anyway), anyone can be crucified within seconds of doing/saying something. Even if it’s barely controversial, someone will be offended, and it seems that we always have to go with the minority.
For me, Kos has left the club under a cloud, which is a shame as it does slightly tarnish his legacy, but it doesn’t destroy it. I’ll remember him as a pretty good CB, who was unfortunate to work for the bulk of his career, under a manager that had completely given up on the defensive side of the game.
Koscielney was a committed player for this club. Sad to see him go but he served us well. We need CBs. Let’s hope, for this year, before Saliba returns next season, we get a tall, quality CB. Short, less skillful players are not what we need. I see Daniele Rugani has his detractors, where do they get their info? Either we want a ball playing, skillful CB or stick with WWE champion wrestler Sokratis, or Hackney Marshes style Mustafi. I would prefer Rugani.
Sean I’m glad you can agree Rugani ain’t a strong tackler.
I don’t care if he’s a ball playing defender or skillful one, seems you haven’t realized playing ball isn’t our biggest problem.
You’re okay with getting him because he’s better than Sokratis and Mustafi, I’m not okay with that because we can do better.
We need defenders who are strong in the tackle, we need defenders we can rely on to be rock solid not just a ball playing defender because he’s better than the dross we have.
He’s a lite version of Mustafi, but I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt, I’m willing to see what he can do, if he’ll step up or not
Eddie
Of course there is no way of knowing how he will fit in, but one thing I can say he is nothing like Mustafi. More like Stones. They both can’t tackle but Rugani has excellent distribution and doesn’t go backwards and forward with his hand in the air like a demonic Mustafi. I think he is a good player and improves us. Is he a Tony Adams/Sol Campbell….no. When he played though few goals were scored against Juve. It looks like we will get him. If I’m proved wrong pull me out about it and I’ll eat humble pie.
Well done Eddie, my own views pretty entirely. Besides the fact he had an easier life to move onto which he’d been promised it seems, there was no way he could play at EPL level, Arsenal deserved better and no way was he worth anywhere near £10M in that state! I guess frustration got the better of him. Good luck to you Laurent, you did your best for us!
Nice article Eddie!!! Agree with most you say. Have zero problems with Kos.
The club looks after its own interests and so should the players. They are both professional.
As fans, we have no problem saying the likes of Ozil and Mustafi should F-off of despite the fact they are in the middle of a contract and don’t want to leave. But if an over the hill player wants to leave (having been promised he could leave) he is a disgrace!!!
Hypocrite, anyone???
auba is not dortmund captain!
Kos is arsenal captain!
That the major different!
Like or not, he ruined his own arsenal legacy
The fans never see him as good as before
Thank for y service boss
I feel the reason he didn’t want to go on tour was because of his injuries and didn’t want to get injured and not be able to leave, so he dug his heels in and got what he wanted.
I am not a fan of the way he went about it but I understand why.
He probably wasn’t fit in the semi against atletico and then went down, missed the WC win and then just had enough of being pushed through games when he wasn’t fit enough because our defensive qualities were not there with him not in the team, we all know the Achilles and back problems he’s had over the 9years he was with us.
Tbh I don’t think his body could hold up to another year in the EPL and would have just been on the physio table for most of the season.
I doubt he will stay fit this season so it’s a good deal to get him gone
Well done Eddie, some fans are just hypocrites, I really still can’t believe that Admin Martin would say that he doesn’t wish koscieny the best, this is a player that was with us for 9 years,a player that even per metesacker was paid more salary than, the likes of kolasinac an average iwobi a lazy ozil even Petr cech was paid more money and yet he never complained but all of a sudden he’s now disloyal? Arsenal fans still worship Thiery Henry even though he left us at a time we needed him most but now calling koscieny names, some arsenal fans are unbelievable.
Lenohappy, thanks. Sometimes I get tired of our fans TBH, with the way he spent all his years with us you’d have thought the fans would show some bit of trust and given the whole situation the benefit of the doubt. but no! Everyone is suddenly a judge, suddenly Kos is worse than RVP and Nasri
Them two can be panned for how they went about it, yes.
Great article, we don’t know the full story
Ultimately I dont think he was up for an EPL season mentally or physically and there is an argument that the club should have moved sooner.
We need to be less fickle as fans, if it was the other way around and we forced him out to make way for a shiny new £70 million defender, I am sure the uproar would be far less.
Loyalty only go so far
Iwobi is a target for Everton.They have tabled a bid
OMG!!!!!! ?
We can use Iwobi’s money to fund deal for RB defender (Upamecano)
” he could’ve attended training sessions and processed his transfer quietly, he could’ve done things differently and he made a mistake, a big mistake.”
Beg your pardon Sir, how could he have done it differently. No other player has done it differently. I believe he did it this way because he was being taken for granted, seen as a gentleman, who was going to cave in, just ignore him and was not listened to. why, because he was having a valid contract. Some legal over-emphasised locus standi!
If he had gone on training and got injured. That is one of the What if scenarios that they do not do at Arsenal. I thought it was Arsene’s shortcoming, now it is clear it is an Arsenal things to be reckless with decision-making. WHAT IF, he went for the training tour and got injured? He would be useless to everybody, including himself. Clearly, definitely no club would sign a player in that age and injured, except, of course, the fans’ beloved Arsenal.
Eddie, I suggest you read a biography of Francesco Totti and learn what it takes to be a proper captain.
And his health is a weak excuse, there are many players who are given permission to return to their countries to receive treatment for a long time. Usually they come back stronger.
Of course there are cases like Cazorla, but he left with grace?
350oz, but eddie’s article is about Kos, not Totti or Adams or anyone else is it?
Firstly, thanks Admin for producing this article, you have the good grace to allow Eddie to put his opposite view.
Eddie, a brilliant article that actually sums up everything I was trying to say when the tirade of hysteria regarding kos started.
No one has said that kos was correct in the way he behaved, in fact the complete opposite.
What drove him to such actions still isn’t clear, but the “months” of talking just might give us a hint.
I was hoping you would have reproduced his official statement, where he thanked the club for 9 glorious years, the fans for their support and, more importantly, the fact that he had been in discussions with the club for “months” regarding his wish to return home.
As far as this video business is concerned, I have now read that he “ripped” his shirt off…no doubt people will believe that as well!! Still can’t see where he threw the shirt to the ground either, had a great discussion with my daughter this morning, who says she does…so be it as they say!!
Neither of us are enemies of the club, just fervent gooners who differ in their outlook of the incident.
We are all entitled to our opinions and this forum gives us the opportunity to do so and we should all respect, discuss and argue our points with no personal attacks involved.
I agree entirely with almost everything you have written and perhaps, it will make some on here a little bit more circumspect with their condemnation and hostility to other gooners, simply because they think they know better.
Thanks for a great article sir, two sides to every coin and we have now read both…time to move on.
Blessed are the peacemakers, eh Ken! And also irrelevant to Arsenals future now that Kos has gone. He is now of zero interest to me and as a fan of AFC, not ANY particular player, no matter whom., I care nothing for him now And would not do either, even had he left under good terms. Either way he is gone, so move on. The future matters now but the past is over! That’s my view and always will be.
Blessed are the peacemakers , eh KEN? Kos is now gone and so I have no interest in his future, nor even his past, since that is now over. I only ever support AFC and regard all ex-players, be they Henry, Bergkamp or rubbish like Santos, and scumbags like Cashley Hole as mere ex-players. I have always cared little for ex players as I support ONLY the club, not ex -players, no matter who they are. Not caring does NOT mean I don’t retain affection and gratitude for our great ex -servants, BUT the CLUB is still all! All ex- players are still history, no matter what they did or didn’t do whilst here.
Of course it isn’t an article about Totti Ken, what I mean he is a captain and is expected to be like one. I wrote a comment on another article about the attitude of our captains in recent times, laughing at us ala RVP, changing shirt ala Kos, etc. Those kind of actions are uncalled for, simple as that.
I believe that Kos was offered a pay cut and was offended, of course he is free to reject. But in the end he signed the current one and is expected to oblige. In fact he is very lucky, in Juventus players publicly forcing a move are exiled from the squad.
I agree with this article because there is too much virtue signalling in the world these days. He is a professional and asked for a move and I’m sure the discussion went sour and he reacted. Professional mistake and the club punished him for it, so the case is closed. He was with us for 9yrs and did good, so let’s wish him the best on his way out. Good luck Kos!
What if ???
What if he was fit to be selected for the World cup Winners… would they have won ?? Was he guaranteed a starting place in the French squad…
He gave his all for the gunners and dont know if they were the reason he did not win a world cup medal…
What if ??
WHY BOTHER COMMENTING ANYMORE ON APLAYER WHO HAS GONE. Anything said now is too late and of no relevance to our immediate or long term future. I have forgotten him and moved on. On another matter, it is just announced on Sky the Tierney is right now flying to London to sign and fee is agreed. Also seems very likely that David Luiz will now sign for us. Well, although NOT a clown, he is inconsistent and makes mistakes. But almost anyone is better than Mustafi and Sokratis so, all in all, it will still be a relief if he signs, though also a disappointment, as we need far better still and another CB besides him as well.
Thank you Kos for your fantastic contribution to our club and years of hard work and loyalty. I don’t believe we know the full story, and I think it is awful you have left under this cloud. Good luck for the future. We have let the last players of an era leave, so we should move forward to what looks like an exciting season. We still need to make one more defensive signing I think, but let’s be fair to Kos, he wanted to go home, he missed the world cup, he’s been plagued by injury AND its not as if he went to a prem rival like previous players have