The Chief

[Lecter]

Easy tiger... are you saying we don't have intentions of offering him something, or just that it hasn't happened yet?

I've heard he wants to stay Rafa wants to sign him but thats were the deal ends

My guess is the Americans screwing around

[kurtangle01]

I've heard he wants to stay Rafa wants to sign him but thats were the deal ends

My guess is the Americans screwing around

If that really is the case they need their heads testing. All that spiel about them having the same views as Rafa on bringing in good quality young players would look quite hollow if they pass up the chance to sign Mascher.

[Lecter]

If that really is the case they need their heads testing. All that spiel about them having the same views as Rafa on bringing in good quality young players would look quite hollow if they pass up the chance to sign Mascher.

Everything they have said sounds hollow to me

Big backing for the manager in the summer, competing with Man United, waiving money round in the Champions League final yet only spending £15 million nett

Cant say I'm surprised in the slightest

[kurtangle01]

Everything they have said sounds hollow to me

Big backing for the manager in the summer, competing with Man United, waiving money in the Champinos League final yet only spending £15 million nett

Cant say I'm surprised in the slightest

I can see your point but lets not forget that they are on course to deliver a shiny new state of the art stadium.

Rafa was quoted a few weeks back as saying that he has money available in January so perhaps the yanks think he should use that to finance any deal for Mascher and maybe Rafa has other ideas and wants additional cash to sign Mascherano on a permanent basis?

[tomasjj]

I've heard he wants to stay Rafa wants to sign him but thats were the deal ends

My guess is the Americans screwing around

He is class.
We need him.
He wants to stay.

WTF!!!???

[FT9]

I can see your point but lets not forget that they are on course to deliver a shiny new state of the art stadium.

Rafa was quoted a few weeks back as saying that he has money available in January so perhaps the yanks think he should use that to finance any deal for Mascher and maybe Rafa has other ideas and wants additional cash to sign Mascherano on a permanent basis?

yep and the 300M stadium is probably going to cost 400M now,

Hopefully they do get the cash to sign Mascher permanently though

[kurtangle01]

yep and the 300M stadium is probably going to cost 400M now,
Hopefully they do get the cash to sign Mascher permanently though

That's scary. It'll be a huge debt for the club to take on. It's had positive effects for Arsenal though and we probably have a bigger fan base than them.

[Morse]

Today he played in the same position as he do for Argentina with a lot more freedom to play higher up the pitch.

£18m, that's cheap for a player like the Chief.

Why do we call him the Chief?

[bigfooty]

Cos in Argentina his nickname was Jefecito (Little Chief).

[bigfooty]

Everything they have said sounds hollow to me

Big backing for the manager in the summer, competing with Man United, waiving money round in the Champions League final yet only spending £15 million nett

Cant say I'm surprised in the slightest

Our net spend was more like 20M if you include all our transfer dealings, but personally I don't think it's a figure that you can use as an indication of the backing the manager has had.

Sure, if we had sold a key individual then I would be inclined to agree that net spend does become an issue. That however was not the case in the Summer, the players we shipped out were for footballing reasons as those coming in were perceived as better or of having more potential. Were there many tears shed about the departures of Gonzalez, Paletta, Pongo, Cisse or Bellamy? Maybe a few "if onlys" but not a great deal more than that. I'll admit the loss of King Luis was a fairly big one but he kinda wanted to go back to Spain from what I read and he was approaching the stage where offering him a long-term deal might not have been in our best interests.

When the American's came in they promised to back the manager with cash, however distastefully they did it (waving the money about in an interview like you mention). What was the outcome? We broke our transfer record for a single player and spent more money this Summer than ever before. That's hardly whipping the rug out from underneath Rafa, indeed if anything they took a significant risk as they allowed him to spend some 40M on talent that was a) unproven in the Premiership and b) pretty young. Only Yossi came with any real experience of this league and even he hadn't been at a club of our size before, something that can be too much for some players.

I agree I'll be a bit worried if we don't get the Mascherano situation sorted but then again there are complications because of that complete titwank Joorabchian that runs the company that owns him. He'll go to whoever can pay the most and to be honest if that isn't us I'm not sure I can blame the owners because he's not worth Torres money even though he is a great little player.

[Lecter]

Our net spend was more like 20M if you include all our transfer dealings, but personally I don't think it's a figure that you can use as an indication of the backing the manager has had.

Sure, if we had sold a key individual then I would be inclined to agree that net spend does become an issue. That however was not the case in the Summer, the players we shipped out were for footballing reasons as those coming in were perceived as better or of having more potential. Were there many tears shed about the departures of Gonzalez, Paletta, Pongo, Cisse or Bellamy? Maybe a few "if onlys" but not a great deal more than that. I'll admit the loss of King Luis was a fairly big one but he kinda wanted to go back to Spain from what I read and he was approaching the stage where offering him a long-term deal might not have been in our best interests.

When the American's came in they promised to back the manager with cash, however distastefully they did it (waving the money about in an interview like you mention). What was the outcome? We broke our transfer record for a single player and spent more money this Summer than ever before. That's hardly whipping the rug out from underneath Rafa, indeed if anything they took a significant risk as they allowed him to spend some 40M on talent that was a) unproven in the Premiership and b) pretty young. Only Yossi came with any real experience of this league and even he hadn't been at a club of our size before, something that can be too much for some players.

I agree I'll be a bit worried if we don't get the Mascherano situation sorted but then again there are complications because of that complete titwank Joorabchian that runs the company that owns him. He'll go to whoever can pay the most and to be honest if that isn't us I'm not sure I can blame the owners because he's not worth Torres money even though he is a great little player.

I never expected a Chelsea spend but they said they would be competing with the Man Uniteds of this world, the same Man United who spent about £40-50 million NETT

Yes the stadium costs have jumped and the £ / US$ exchange rate has moved 15-20% to their disadvantage but I am worried about these guys the rumours coming from inside arent glowing references for them

[Skillz]

WEll if Maestro is to be believed and it sounds like he should be, i have to assume the 17mill pound asking price is bull****. It appears we were not able to set a purchase price in the loan agreement and therefore he will go to the highest bidder.

If that is the case I doubt very much we will be successful. Manu, Barca, Madrid, Chelsea would all be interested in this player and we have strength in this position.

Even if we have an 17mill price set we have to agree wages with the player.What if he and his AGENT said 130k/week (more than SG) for 5 years.

Would you pay it?

[carlton]

Lecter-What rumours from the inside? Are they oing to be tight arses? All talk no action? A 400 million pound stadium would indicate some commitment to the long term? I know the debt will be against the club and structure like Arsenals but they have made it happen.They also said spending would be player specific didnt they?

[Skillz]

Lecter-What rumours from the inside? Are they oing to be tight arses? All talk no action? A 400 million pound stadium would indicate some commitment to the long term? I know the debt will be against the club and structure like Arsenals but they have made it happen.They also said spending would be player specific didnt they?

I've no idea what Lector is on about but we all have to remember that we have an expensive stadium to build. In the construction period we will not be in our most "liquid" state. The state of the economy in USA is not all that and we are therefore entering a challenging period of time for this club.

[carlton]

Ypu might be right Skillz. Arsenals spending during the years of construction wasnt that huge from memory. Despite what rafa says I imagine spending is going to be very tight for the next fe years.