DuncanRG

We don't need administration Saggy chops or Rupert Lowe We've got Cortese in the boardroom He brought us Pablo Osvaldo Our! Striker! Pablo Osvaldo!

Can't believe how recently that was.

As are double posts.

Money, it's a crime?

One way to endear him fully to the club would be to come up with a Floyd-based chant. Any ideas?

This is very good news.

Dear me.

Ward-Prowse is nowhere near the senior England setup at the moment

Lovren seems like a really good bloke, always got a smile on his face.

Few guys around me tried to start Celtic's Wanyama chant, and a couple of nonces sang his name to the tune we normally use for Lallana. Nothing else I could hear.

Fair play to him, perfectly reasonable concerns.

Yeah, usual sort of stuff after an away win.

I'm having a cracking week so far - 39 points yesterday and effectively ten left to play since it's a double gameweek for Chelsea and Villa. May live to regret setting Hazard as my captain over Benteke, didn't think about rotation...but let's see.

I think the only pressure, if you want to call it that, will have been during preliminary talks with Cortese when he was looking to bring MP to the club - explaining that he wants to give academy players a clear path into the first team. Those will be Pochettino's decisions now, and there certainly won't be any quotas.

Below par performance from Lambert? To be honest I think he did okay, plenty of good movement but couldn't get on the ball too much because we kept overshooting passes, and Olsson/McAuley are very strong against him. Why why why why why does everyone see fit to use Philippe Coutinho as a benchmark for all foreign players coming into the country? He has quite clearly hit the ground running, but it is quite remarkable how he has done so. Like a lot of other players, Ramirez hasn't. Come back when most young foreigners settle in and start running games right away. Though I do agree this is a big season for him, and he does need to improve, the reason is not that that's what Coutinho's doing.

Indeed - but we weathered the storm last season and it would be quite remarkable if we went on a run that bad again. I have every faith in our group to stick together and work for each other, which is great. Absolutely loved the celebrations from the new signings today, right in there with the academy boys and Rickie.

Looks very good indeed when you consider his age and lack of experience. Composed, good understanding with team mates, normally finds a decent ball and good in the air as well, which is rare for a full back. Doesn't get forward much but you'd expect that from a lad his age. Good competition for Clyne, more than a back-up.

They're not a very good side - they are worse than us and almost got relegated last season. We should expect to beat them at home, though expecting a drubbing is silly even for fans of the top teams.

Let's hope for a big improvement on the fixture last season. This is an entirely different team to the Sunderland we saw last season though, so we'll have to be very thorough in our preparations. I hear some of their new signings looked very sharp today.

The blame for these transfer failures can't fall squarely on his shoulders. The club has negotiators and scouts who work on these days, and in addition to Wenger you have the board and owners who may have also played a part. There are no excuses for failing to deliver on their promise of big money and big players, especially with the likes of Gustavo, but I can't imagine Wenger leaving would fix that overnight. There's something very wrong when players don't want to come to Arsenal, who have been in the Champions League consistently for 15 years.

I also think Lallana had a great game today. Lost a little bit of impetus in the second half but he and Rodriguez looked dangerous.

Agreed.

Blackmore mentioned this in his interview with MP. Nothing given away in the answer but interesting that he saw it worthy of a mention.

Wenger will never be sacked, never in a million years. When he leaves it will be with the dignity he has earnt, even if the fans hound him out it will be at the end of a season. I think it could be MacKay in Adkins-esque style, or Martin Jol. Holloway, Pardew and Di Canio are also reasonable shouts. Hughton if he fails to get the best out of their new attacking talent?

Great stuff today. No standout performers but everybody played their part. Especially pleased that the academy boys looked right at home.