SHORTS
Wenger- manager of the Year
(Sat) Arsene Wenger has been voted manager of the year by World Soccer Magazine.
For Press Review 12 Dec see left, down a bit.
League Managers Web site
(D.Express, Sat)LMA is to set up a web site, which could involve personal computers for managers, the ability to conduct transfers by email and a list of unemployed managers and their qualifications.
Champions League prizes rise
D.Express (Sat) £25m-£35m for winners, £500,000/match, £165,000 for win bonus and £85,000 for draw - not this season.
Ball story - loads of bull
D.Mirror: Emmanuel Petit in his column Saturday says the stories about him wanting the World Cup ball in the Christie's auction are not true.
West bid?
(D.Express: Fri) Arsenal 'bid £3m for Taribo West'
According to the Daily Express, a £3m bid has gone in for the Nigerian and Inter Milan centre back.
His day-glo green hair would bring some additional colour to the back four. But he had a lousy World Cup.
Euro competitions shake up
Three Premiership teams qualify for the 32 team Champions League, with the third entering a qualifying round (July).
The fourth Premiership team goes into the revamped UEFA Cup, which has been amalgamated with The Cup Winners Cup, along with the FA Cup and Worthington Cup winners.
If the third placed team fails to qualify, they go into the new UEFA Cup.
Vieira faces charges on Monday
Patrick Vieira faces evidence from three policemen, at the FA hearing in Birmingham on Monday according to most of today's (Friday) papers.
The hearing relates to two charges following the Sheffield Wednesday match earlier in the season.
If he doesn't get off, he faces a ban or a fine. And it could significantly impact Arsenal's season.
Arsenal get BBC Sports Personality Team award
(Sun) Only 7 teams in 39 years have got the award.
Arsenal beat off competition from athletics, rowing and tennis.
Awards will be presented on Sunday.
Bosman floats towards Arsenal like an iceberg
The Evening Standard broke the story about Dennis Bergkamp deciding on his future in the last year of his contract.
There are two and a half years to run on his current one.
Earlier this year Dennis was quoted as saying he wanted to stay at Arsenal for the rest of his playing career.
Maloney acts for Hudson
(D.Express) Boxing promoter Frank Maloney is putting on a special boxing match for accident victim and ex-Arsenal player Alan Hudson, who is recovering from a serious op.
Young'uns for Greece
Mark Overmars and Martin Keown have been added to the injury list for Greece, says the Standard.
Seaman and Anelka are the only members of the first team available, although Steve Bould probably fits that category as well.
Set to come in are Upson, Grondin, Cole, Vernazza, Riza and Lincoln.
Highlights - ITV 11.25pm Wednesday. Also check out Carlton Select.
Jones link
The People say that Arsenal are closing in on Rob Jones, 27, Liverpool's right back, whose career of late has been badly affected by injury.
It posits that Jones may move in the New Year for £250,000, or on a free in the summer.
Arsenal have been continually linked with Jones over the last year.
Fowler
The News of the World say Arsenal are "about to launch a sensational bid" for Robbie Fowler.
The argument is that Roy Evans has gone, and the usual Owen pecking order stuff, and the unsigned contract.
The piece posits a £9m fee, but wages of £45,000/wk could be the stumbling block.
Upson
The Express on Sunday says that Matthew Upson has requested a loan move to a First Division side - so desperate is he for first team football.
Thanks to: Myles Palmer, Adrian Barker, Bob Bateman and Gary Jacob
Saturday Press Review (see blow)
Fowler to Arsenal for £9m + Seaman?
Fri, Dec 11: 8:00 (excl):Sources close to ANR say that Robbie Fowler was at Highbury yesterday and that a deal involving £9m plus Dave Seaman could be announced next week.
The Liverpool striker and his agent flew to City Airport and took a taxi to N5.
Arsene Wenger is widely quoted as wanting to concentrate on winning the Premiership.
And what better way than to sign the 'best English goalscorer since Jimmy Greaves'?
Press - at a glance 12 Dec
Back pages dominated by Wenger's remarks at his Sopwell press conference about the Vieira hearing on Monday.
Not repeated here suffice to say he'll defend Vieira passionately because he belives he's innocent.
He was also asked about whether Fowler came by taxi to Highbury (see above) and joked about Fowler driving a taxi.
See the Sun (Saturday) runs with the above story 24 hours later - about Fowler could be coming and Seaman going, but they say £10m.
Also they say that Kanu is trying to push his £3.5m move to Highbury through, urging the Inter president Moratti to scrap a buy back clause. It says the fee and personal terms have been agreed.
Loads of confusion about who is fit for Villa and who isn't - with some saying Winterburn and Hughes out - others in; some say Vieira is not fit.
Looks like Bergkamp, Overmars, Keown, Dixon, Parlour and Lunjgberg are all back. And Petit and Adams are out.
Meanwhile Martin Thorpe (Guardian) analyses the enigma Nicolas Anelka. There are some good quotes, perhaps the best being, from his mate Thierry Henry:"In football they say you need others to succeed but in fact you are always alone. Nico has taken all that on board."
General line is that Anelka has enormous belief in himself as a player, which contrasts with his shyness.
Martin also jokes in his column about Walls Sausages being in line for a sponsorship deal; or Citroen (as suggested by ANR yesterday, see below) because with 2CV you could rearrange JVC without buying another shirt.
There's also a Guardian feature on the Arsenal Women's School of Excellence and one in The Times on Martin Keown. [Haven't read either because it is time to get down to scanning the papers for science and technology news - the real reason for buying dem.]
Press - at a glance 11 Dec
Loads of articles on Arsenal's performance in the Champions League - with the general conclusion: could do better.
Quite a few papers take the line that although a lot of positives can be drawn from the last performance - the fact remains that it was a mediocre group, and Arsenal should have progressed.
The Times has the tantalising quote:"A win and a draw against Lens instead of a draw and a defeat would have put Arsenal through at the expense of Manchester United."
The financial cost is debated in several papers. The D.Mirror says although Arsenal got more gate receipts (£1.5m/game [another paper says £800,000/game) at Wembley, they would have got more had they qualified for the Champions League quarter finals.
Some papers suggest the intimate and intimidating atmosphere at Highbury, along with a better executed pressing game would have suited The Gunners better.
If Arsenal qualify for Europe under the new changes (see left) then they will have to play the home games at Highbury as Wembley will be closed for refurbishment.
The Mirror contrasts Arsenal's gate receipts with the analysis that Man U's draw with Bayern earned them £4.5m - including £.25m for the draw, £1.37m for qualifying and £1.5m in gate receipts.
It is all ifs and buts but Wenger is quoted as saying Arsenal missed an experienced striker as "you only get two or three chances a game at this level and if you don't take them you are punished."
Arsenal should be able to draw on the experience. AW is quoted as saying that Manchester United have taken six years to assemble a squad capable of challenging for the European Cup, but Arsenal's learning curve should be shorter as the players are more experienced.
Still Arsene is looking ahead and says Arsenal's future is guaranteed - drawing on the performances of the youngsters on Wednesday.
Indeed in a short period, Wenger and the Arsenal staff have turned round a youth set up with a languishing reputation, into one being eyed with envy.
Such eager youngsters should start pushing the more established stars for first team places progressively.
However ANR has heard doubting voices about one performance papering over " a certain lack of quality in some areas" - and some discerning punters are genuinely concerned.
Meanwhile the news about Tony Adams back/shoulder injury with quotes that although he will try everything possible, retirement at the end of the season is a possibility, is a big setback.
He has undergone A series of epidural injections under a general anaesthetic and is in Florida for a month's rest.
And finally Arsenal's 18 year association, worth £20m, with JVC is finishing at the end of the season.
JVC have decided to concentrate their efforts on the 2002 World Cup which is being part held in Japan.
The Daily Mirror says Arsenal seek a sponsorship deal of £5m, while the D.Express says Arsenal are seeking £2.5m/yr for four years.
Below is the list of contenders, to which ANR has added.
Vauxhall
Sony
Gillette
BA
Macdonalds
Heineken
Sega
Nissan
Mars
Ford
Nike
Citroen
Which one would you prefer? Have your say
Press - at a glance 10 Dec
Panathinaikos 1 Arsenal 3
Historic victory in Athens, tinged with sadness over the death of a 16 year old fan who fell from the stands.
More than one commentator has said this could prove to be a turning point in Arsenal's season - particularly after the Chelsea match.
Upson and Grimandi, and the front two come in for special praise from Wenger.
The press generally raved about Vernazza and Mendez. Only Seaman, Bould and Anelka were regular first teamers.
Interesting that Wenger is quoted as saying that Panathinaikos played better at Wembley, leading to suggestions that playing the games at Wembley was a mistake.
Yesterday's tie made £400,000 for Arsenal according to one paper.
But what about Wreh, Anelka and Boa Morte doing the "three bum swagger" goal celebration. Never seen that before.
Team Injuries
11/12
Bergkamp - training - but is he fit?
Vieira - fit, but worried about FA hearing on Monday
Petit- back for Leeds
Winterburn - fit for Villa
Adams - February or later
Everybody else reported fit by majority of papers
Keown - top defender
Martin Keown is the Premiership's top defender, according to the S.Mirror's interpretation of Carling OPTA charts.
Key passes - 3
Successful tackles - 42
% of tackles won 84
last man tackles 3
interceptions in air 164
Arsenal - five in OPTA's top ten leagues
Arsenal have five players in OPTA's top ten leagues.
Keown - 1203
Winterburn -(2nd) - 1182
Bould (5th) - 1082
Vieira -10th (midfield) -1050
Anelka - 5th (attacker) -1055
Miscellaneous statistics
Nicolas Anelka is 8th in the striker charts with 8 goals
Ray Parlour has had 15 shots on goal this season without scoring
Arsenal have the best defence in the Premiership.
Arsenal are 16th in the Mail on Sunday Euro-league, based on domestic/Euro match stats.
They are ahead of Barcelona, Liverpool and PSG.
Arsenal are currently sixth in best behaved league.
Currently they have no players in the Dirty Dozen.
Food and drink mentions in Arsenal reports in Sundays
Tripe
Stew
Bread and water
Empty plate
Blackcurrant jam
Doggy bag
Steak and chips
Artificial food
Champagne
Red wine
Statistics - (Premiership games up to Boro, from Carling OPTA)
Matches -14
Goals -14
Shots 189
% on target 49
%goals/shots 7
Short pass 4902
long pass 724
crosses 224
%complete 21
goals against 6
tackles 476
%tackles won 70
blocks etc 962
Fouls - 161
Yellows -25
Red cards - 3
Player - most shots: Anelka 55
Player most on target: Anelka 26
Player with most off target: 29
Nigel Winterburn -1088 (3rd best defender)
Tony Adams 1067 (4th best defender)
Emmanuel Petit 1225 (best midfielder)
Ray Parlour 1002 (3rd attacking midfielder)
Nicolas Anelka 1009 (3rd best forward)
So Arsene Wenger signs his contract for four years, taking him past the 2002 World Cup.
It makes him - some say (D.Mirror £1.5m joint top, (D.Mail -£1.2m) the third highest, others say (D.Star £1m) the fifth highest paid manager in the Premiership. The Star says Graham, Vialli, Gullit and Robson are ahead. The Express says its worth £5m.
Arsene said he was confident and excited about Arsenal's future, and said that Arsenal have to stay in the top three in the Premiership, and try and win the European Cup, by the time his contract ends.
He is quoted as saying he'd like to own his own club after Arsenal - it may his last coaching post - either as president, director or md. This is most probably in France.
He did say he'd had approaches from three or four Euro clubs, and had turned down the post of technical director with the FA.
The Sun says he has £40m to spend.
The Independent speculates that it might be the first time Wenger has tried a back five tonight - with a central three of Bould, Grimandi and Upson. Mendez looks to be in for Parlour.
Lot of coverage in other papers on Upson and his chance to emulate Tony Adams, It is only his 12th appearance for Arsenal.
Meanwhile the name Cyril Domouraud, Marseilles u-21 defender, crops up. Both Houllier and Wenger seem to be interested in the £2m rated centre back, so says the Mail and Independent.
Press at a glance 5/6Dec
So most press say Wenger will sign his contract, tomorrow, Tuesday.
There was even a back page speculator linking Wenger with Barcelona, yesterday - something to do with his would-be assistant. One paper threw in Juve, for good measure.
On the park Arsene Wenger said that Arsenal need to get more accurate crosses in and be more clinical finishing.
He said they could have won the Derby game in the last 15 minutes.
There's a lot of talk about the motivation of the older players - how they keep Arsenal going in the tough times, and how difficult they will be to replace.
There's a good article in the Mail on Sunday, based on Pat Rice's quotes.
It says Wenger is settled in N London; has grown to love the club and what it stands for; he shouted in the dressing room after the Wimbledon match and there was a stony silence.
Rice says the famous back six's attitude and enthusiasm for winning things is infectious and carries through to the Vieiras, Petits, Bergkamps etc;
Rice says Arsenal make inquiries about players and get the response. Will you sell us Dennis Bergkamp?
Review of reviews - Derby
Paper
People
S Mirror
NoW
Total
Seaman
7
7
6
20
Dixon
6
6
6
18
Keown
7
7
6
20
Grimandi
6
6
6
18
Garde
5
6
6
17
Bould
6
6
8
20
Wreh
6
6
6
18
Anelka
6
6
6
18
Lunjgberg
6
5
6
17
Vivas
6
6
6
18
Parlour
7
7
7
21
Seems like the analysis was correct. Parlour got the Man of the Match in the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror and Express of Sunday, with the Sunday Mirror giving it to Bohinen and the People giving it to Dorigo.
Latest rumour - ANR heard, Monday: Fowler in: Seaman the other way. Allegedly, a house has been purchased in Totteridge, for/by the Liverpool man. Plausibility rating 4/10..