We were never going up and i think we've had to go backwards to go forwards. We've got the backwards bit covered but whether we can go forwards remains to be seen but i'd suggest that the likes of Francis, as with Semedo, won't feature in Powell's plans to make us a more footballing side. I'm amazed Parky is head coach at Arsenal but quite amusing that the biggest criticism of Arsenal is that they play too much football - he'll help sort that out.
I think Powell plans to improve the football and physicality (ability to stand up to the physical elements in the League). It's a bit unfair on Solly but Francis has the build advantage. Yes he could be a little lax with his passing and get caught out of position but for me he never hid in games and was capable of some excellent forward passes and crosses - especiacially on the run and also showed he could make good defensive interventions. The challenge for Powell is to iron out the negative and get Francis playing to the positives. He showed he was capable of good things so that has to be in his locker. Slater said it was Powell's job to make th eplayers better and whilst I am and was a bit cynical about that statement, I sort of agree with it in relation to Francis. I think it is higjhtly possible he will start the season as no1 and we need to play our part by giving him a fair crack and not leap onto the slightest error.
Good luck to the lad. From what I've seen we've got good money for him (bearing in mind he's only played 9 games for us!).
He's not slagged us off at anytime and seems genuinely thankful for his upbringing at Charlton. Who wouldn't want to play for the team they support and learn from some of the best coaches and players around?!
He's got to get ready for the big matches coming up.........
Pre-season.............. Arsenal XI vs Showbiz XI
Regular season .................Arsenal reserves vs Swansea reserves
etc etc etc
Bowyer and Parker have stood the test of time (and probably Shelvey will), CJ will be back in the CCC on loan before the end of the season and playing there within 3 seasons.
Or he could stay with us in League One rather than chase his dream, play for the club he loves, earn loads more money and end up back in the Championship. What a mug he must be!
He's got to get ready for the big matches coming up.........
Pre-season.............. Arsenal XI vs Showbiz XI
Regular season .................Arsenal reserves vs Swansea reserves
etc etc etc
Bowyer and Parker have stood the test of time (and probably Shelvey will), CJ will be back in the CCC on loan before the end of the season and playing there within 3 seasons.
Tell me honestly what you would do in his situation? Or better still what would you do if a company down the road offered you a better job, with higher pay (probably doubling or more what you are currently earning) and vastly improved mid-long term career opportunities? Would you stay where you are or take it? Of course he should give up the chance to play and train with one of the best coaches and teams in Europe in order to keep some fuckwit happy.
If he signed another contract with Charlton then another chance to play for Arsenal might not come along again for a long time - if ever. Wenger might not have won much recently but what he likes to do with younger players is get them on-board early and train them up for a season or two and then introduce them to the first team when he think's it right. This is the European way, many great players are still playing reserve football at 20/21 learning their craft and developing their fitness and technical skills and are introduced slowly, where as we in Britain are obsessed with throwing kids into the first team as soon as possible and then seeing if they sink or swim, and of course mercilessly slagging them off if they so much as miss a tackle.
Surprised when I heard that he was on the pitch - I assumed he'd spend a while in the squad before he got his chance. The annoying thing for me is that I was offered a pair of tickets for that match, but by the time I'd said "yes" someone else had snapped them up.
Would Arsenal buy young English players to get round future EUFA rules about developing players? £1million isnt that much when you consider what the champs league is worth year on year. Bit of a stretched idea but I wouldn't put it past a few clubs.
Well I must admit to being very surprised that he is so close to their first team - I don't think he would be playing ahead of Wiggins had he stayed. Having said that, we might not have bought Wiggins had we not got the money we did for Carl so I have changed my opinion about him. Getting the money we did for him is probably one of the best things that could have happened to us and fortunately for a change, we have a manager who has spent it wisely.
I'm sure Jenkinson will go on to have a decent career but the timing was right for him to leave and rather than spit at the telly as I do when Parker plays, I actually find myself hoping he has a good game which I didn't think I would do.
Good luck to him - I watched nothing of last night's Udinese match, so no I can't make any comment on his effectiveness, but I was impressed with what I saw in the few games he played last season. He looked comfortable on the ball and had no problem switching from RB to LB, which might have troubled a few more seasoned players. For his sake I hope he works hard and makes a name for himself.
Good point - he is a right back even though we played him left back last season. But my point is he isn't somebody we were going to miss this year - what he has to offer is in the future, not so much the present.
We won't miss him because he we hardly saw him play - he had something like half a dozen games and when he refused to sign a new contract CP dropped him (fair enough). But I think his fate is to be a defender's defender, someone who does the closing down, tackling and tracking back stuff all very competently and without fuss. I'm not sure that he's going to be an Ashley Cole type who'll look to overlap and play as an auxillary winger.
Don't see where this has been commented upon already, but according to F365 he is likely to be starting versus Liverpool! Needs must and all that, but still must be quite a week for him!
Comments
We were never going up and i think we've had to go backwards to go forwards. We've got the backwards bit covered but whether we can go forwards remains to be seen but i'd suggest that the likes of Francis, as with Semedo, won't feature in Powell's plans to make us a more footballing side. I'm amazed Parky is head coach at Arsenal but quite amusing that the biggest criticism of Arsenal is that they play too much football - he'll help sort that out.
Parky did. I remember him playing Brentford A in November at the very least.
Brentford away was in October. Francis and Fry were our full backs.
Brentford away was in October. Francis and Fry were our full backs.
Brentford away in the Cup. From then Jenkinson was in every PP squad.
Good luck to the lad. From what I've seen we've got good money for him (bearing in mind he's only played 9 games for us!).
He's not slagged us off at anytime and seems genuinely thankful for his upbringing at Charlton. Who wouldn't want to play for the team they support and learn from some of the best coaches and players around?!
Tell me honestly what you would do in his situation? Or better still what would you do if a company down the road offered you a better job, with higher pay (probably doubling or more what you are currently earning) and vastly improved mid-long term career opportunities? Would you stay where you are or take it? Of course he should give up the chance to play and train with one of the best coaches and teams in Europe in order to keep some fuckwit happy.
If he signed another contract with Charlton then another chance to play for Arsenal might not come along again for a long time - if ever. Wenger might not have won much recently but what he likes to do with younger players is get them on-board early and train them up for a season or two and then introduce them to the first team when he think's it right. This is the European way, many great players are still playing reserve football at 20/21 learning their craft and developing their fitness and technical skills and are introduced slowly, where as we in Britain are obsessed with throwing kids into the first team as soon as possible and then seeing if they sink or swim, and of course mercilessly slagging them off if they so much as miss a tackle.
Looked comfortable to me last night.
Hope he goes on to do really well.
£1million isnt that much when you consider what the champs league is worth year on year.
Bit of a stretched idea but I wouldn't put it past a few clubs.
Well I must admit to being very surprised that he is so close to their first team - I don't think he would be playing ahead of Wiggins had he stayed. Having said that, we might not have bought Wiggins had we not got the money we did for Carl so I have changed my opinion about him. Getting the money we did for him is probably one of the best things that could have happened to us and fortunately for a change, we have a manager who has spent it wisely.
I'm sure Jenkinson will go on to have a decent career but the timing was right for him to leave and rather than spit at the telly as I do when Parker plays, I actually find myself hoping he has a good game which I didn't think I would do.
We won't miss him because he we hardly saw him play - he had something like half a dozen games and when he refused to sign a new contract CP dropped him (fair enough). But I think his fate is to be a defender's defender, someone who does the closing down, tackling and tracking back stuff all very competently and without fuss. I'm not sure that he's going to be an Ashley Cole type who'll look to overlap and play as an auxillary winger.