lorddulaarsenal mate, I've been doing this for ages. Being less invested in Arsenal is much better for my wellbeing.
Arsenal @ Nottingham Forest 19h30 GMT
Watched the first half. Wife wanted to watch something on tv. Didn't feel invested enough to either argue for control of the tv or go upstairs to watch it. Had a more pleasant evening as a result.
I'm just sickened by all this now. There's no reason to accept this. The warning signs that were there last season had turned into giant flashing klaxons by January.
Arteta still gets the benefit of the doubt with me because of what he has done, but even his stated desire for someone to come in January wears thin because it's his poor squad building that put us in that position.
March will be a more enjoyable month with only two games.
Daz I'd rather spend my leisure time doing other things these days.
Is that just when we're out of a title race or all the time? 
There's no justification for not taking the Watkins deal. The only way the club can come away from that January window with any credibility is if they land Isak (which they won't) which would then have justified keeping the powder dry. Keeping it dry for Sesko is just not good enough.
RocktheCasbah I'm no true believer when it comes to Arteta but suggestions of sacking him this summer are mental.
Its getting to crunch time next season though. If goes another season with no trophies I think the pressure will mount. A big exit would add to it. We are so close but we need to do whats necessary to get over the line and stop self sabotaging.
QuincyAbeyie all the time
daredevil There's no justification for not taking the Watkins deal. The only way the club can come away from that January window with any credibility is if they land Isak (which they won't) which would then have justified keeping the powder dry. Keeping it dry for Sesko is just not good enough.
I think it is absolutely correct to say that it is a fuck up that the team did not secure additional attacking resources in the last two seasons.
However, in an individual situation like Watkins, I think it is very harsh to say "there is no justification for not taking the deal", given that allegedly we found out about the potential for the deal while the Dhuran deal was ongoing, and within 48 hours of being alerted of Watkins' potential availability, Dhuran had been sold. Villa were most likely hedging to ensure that they had a fallback in case Dhuran didn't happen.
The biggest fuck up has been Sterling. Because not only has he been crap, he has stalled our ability to get other players.
You could be right, it's hard to say conclusively without knowing what went down,
Sterling as a loan signing at the end of the summer has been truly disastrous. He's way worse than anyone could have imagined. He's worse than Willian and Luiz which takes some doing.
awooga83 absolutely. There was never any other outcome than what we've seen with him. It was a disgusting signing and an admission from the club that we weren't serious this season. As I said earlier, the modern day "thanks for your interest in our affairs." Forget Luiz and Willian. He makes me look back at Stepanovs and Squillaci fondly. Even Kallstrom, a similarly pointless loan, came on in a FA Cup semi final and scored in the shootout.
Yeah, he's been pretty much exactly as poor as I imagined.
Missed the match but from the sounds of it didn't miss much!
Claudius However, in an individual situation like Watkins, I think it is very harsh to say "there is no justification for not taking the deal", given that allegedly we found out about the potential for the deal while the Dhuran deal was ongoing, and within 48 hours of being alerted of Watkins' potential availability, Dhuran had been sold.
There was no "Watkins deal" ... bear this in mind because it'll be talked about as if Olly Watkins was all lined up for £50m and a bunch of flowers over the gruelling strikerless months to come.
- Edited
Claudius However, in an individual situation like Watkins, I think it is very harsh to say "there is no justification for not taking the deal", given that allegedly we found out about the potential for the deal while the Dhuran deal was ongoing, and within 48 hours of being alerted of Watkins' potential availability, Dhuran had been sold. Villa were most likely hedging to ensure that they had a fallback in case Dhuran didn't happen.
I don't think that is true. I'm I read we found out about his potential availability when we played Villa on 18th January. Duran was sold on 31st. That's almost 2 weeks where we could have influenced the outcome if we had the desire and killer instinct. I'm sure Villa would rather have had £40-50m for a 29 year old than £70m for a promising 21 year old.
There were already rumours of other bids for Duran from the likes of West Ham, and he apparently wanted out because of lack of playing time, so he may have already made his mind up that he was gone.
But I fully believe that if we were serious about winning the title then we would have pursued Watkins, and Villa could have 'promoted' Duran within the first team and assured more minutes, and everyone ends up happy. It's also possible Duran was just money hungry and playing time assurances wouldn't have changed things at that point. But the point is Arteta and the club didn't have conviction or desire to do what winners would do.
Tam it sounded from reports that came out like Arteta was all on for it once he found out he was available but the club didn't like his profile and it was delayed. Eventually when we bid it turned out to be too late but yeah the opportunity was there if we moved faster.
And its not just Watkins. He's a good example because he was a ready made proven top PL striker. There were others too though. Tel was an opportunity we decided was too expensive, I don't think he's a world beater but he's a lot better than Sterling and would have helped. Morata was available on loan, again I'm not a huge fan but clearly he's a better striker than Merino. Even if all he did was give Havertz 15 minutes rest each game and provide some fresh legs it would have been worth it. There were options available, we just weren't bothered or weren't decisive enough.
Qwiss but the club didn't like his profile and it was delayed
This is the bit that troubles me. So we’re to believe that Arteta had pretty much carte blanche to sign who he preferred whilst Edu was around, to the extent that Arteta’s increased influence was a factor in Edu’s departure, but when we’ve an empty glove holding Edu’s pen Arteta then faces enough pushback from the higher ups?
Doesn’t seem reasonable to me, but if it’s true there’s potentially a rift brewing there.