Ex-Gunner Watch

[Le Professeur]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IILgJS_NLS8

Decent interview.

Always surprised by his intelligence and eloquence in interviews, only to wake up and read about some new drunk stunt he's pulled the day after.

Fair to say he's let himself down quite a few times already.

Still a good striker.

 

[MaestroCesc]

You're blaming Frimpong's not making it here on injuries, I just don't think he had the talent. Neither of us can be 'right', so this discussion is sort of pointless.

No I am not, read my posts... I said injuries were a major part which they obviously were. Look what the coaches said, he certainly had something about him.

Lol at the last bit, doesn't that make pretty much every argument pointless then?

 

[GDeep™]

He said: "He almost came to me at Tottenham from Inter Milan. I thought it was an incredible decision by him, after he'd been such a hero at Arsenal.

"I met him at his house in Hampstead and he had no fear about what people would think or what reception he would get. He had enough confidence in his ability to just brush it away.

"I remember talking to Daniel Levy, our chairman, about him. He said the crowd would be hostile. I knew that — but if he had enough bottle to want to put on our white shirt after all that had gone before, I thought it said something about the man.

"In the end, his circumstances changed and he decided to stay in Italy. By the time he did become available - the following January - our needs had changed and Manchester City snapped him up."

- Harry Redknapp on Vieira.

Incredible that Vieira was even thinking about joining Sp**s, never mind hold meetings with club officials.

Im thinking Wenger accepting an offer from Juventus not long after Paddy turned down Real has left a bitter taste maybe.

 

[CurryFlavoured]

That's why I don't see Paddy as a true legend of the club alongside Adams, Bergkamp etc. or at least not on their level. He wasn't really loyal to us in any way and probably would have left earlier had he got the opportunity.

That said, that same attitude of not giving a **** is part of what made him such a great footballer. He could carry the weight of expectation without caring, he had no problem getting involved in confrontations or winding up others. He always wanted to better his position and didn't care if he pissed off others along the way. Cool as a cucumber.

Happy birthday to Tony Adams and Charlie George btw.

 

[a_fourteen]

He said: "He almost came to me at Tottenham from Inter Milan. I thought it was an incredible decision by him, after he'd been such a hero at Arsenal.

"I met him at his house in Hampstead and he had no fear about what people would think or what reception he would get. He had enough confidence in his ability to just brush it away.

"I remember talking to Daniel Levy, our chairman, about him. He said the crowd would be hostile. I knew that — but if he had enough bottle to want to put on our white shirt after all that had gone before, I thought it said something about the man.

"In the end, his circumstances changed and he decided to stay in Italy. By the time he did become available - the following January - our needs had changed and Manchester City snapped him up."

- Harry Redknapp on Vieira.

Incredible that Vieira was even thinking about joining Sp**s, never mind hold meetings with club officials.

Im thinking Wenger accepting an offer from Juventus not long after Paddy turned down Real has left a bitter taste maybe.

He was finished by then. Harry is just trying to flatter himself. Vieira's legs were gone at that point. The only reason City took him was because Mancini wanted an ally with a big personality in the dressing room. The following season they had to buy him out of his contract by offering him a 4 year deal with the development squad. I got no problem with Vieira. He did his business and left.

 

[GDeep™]

That's why I don't see Paddy as a true legend of the club alongside Adams, Bergkamp etc. or at least not on their level. He wasn't really loyal to us in any way and probably would have left earlier had he got the opportunity.

Bit harsh, considering he gave us his best year. He also did have the opportunity to leave, a deal was agreed with Real but he pulled out.

A legend for me, and no different to Thierry, both had great rides here but were tempted by Spain, Thierry took his chance.

I also don't see how the leader of the invincibles doesn't have a statue outside the Emirates either.

 

[Rex Stone]

Wasn't Vieira angling for a move before Wenger's second double? I remember reading that he thought the club had no direction.

Always found him quite an enigmatic guy, much more common with Roy Keane beyond the lazy clichés that are usually trotted out.

 

[CurryFlavoured]

I highly doubt he pulled out on his own the way he was talking about the club GDeep.

He badmouthed the club when we were probably at our peak (even naming individuals) and pushed hard for a move relatively early in his Arsenal career. Paddy was amazing but that will never sit easy with me, not comparable to Henry at all in that light. I can only imagine the reaction if a key man did that now.

 

[GDeep™]

Aren't all players angling for a move, looking at other options, see what's happening elsewhere etc.

You have a short career and I can understand a player looking to do the best for himself. Vieira did this by questioning the club, big deal, he was one of the best midfielders in the world and could play for any team he liked, I cut him slack there.

Not everyone is like Wright or Adams, blokes who sign contracts without looking at them or the wages. Or guys like Bergkamp, who found a home at Arsenal. Henry would have left if we didn't break the bank for his wages, or if we didnt hold on to Wenger.

 

[GDeep™]

I highly doubt he pulled out on his own the way he was talking about the club GDeep

I was really close to leaving for Madrid the year before I left.

"The deal was done between the two clubs, so when it was time for me to leave I changed my mind because I believed that I wanted to stay at Arsenal, I wanted to finish my career at Arsenal.

Pulled out of joining Real afer the deal was on the table, wanted to finish his career here, he thought, only for Wenger to show him the door not long after, by accepting the Juventus offer.

 

[CurryFlavoured]

I still don't believe that he went from criticising the club like he did to saying he wanted to retire here all on his own. That's quite the u-turn. He took a lot of convincing I'd imagine.

Vieira did this by questioning the club, big deal

Come on ffs, stop downplaying it. He went mad deliberately exaggerating how the club weren't good enough when we were actually at our peak to justify a move, and he named a number of players who he didn't think were good enough either. That's pathetic from your captain. If Ramsey came out with that half of the forum would go into cardiac arrest.

I'm not asking every player to be like Adams, but there's a large middle ground between what he did and what Vieira did.

 

[Jury]

Not saying he was right for questioning the club publicly, but at the end of the day, actions speak louder than words. He chose to stay, then was sold.

Times change, and nobody in this present Arsenal side has the stature to question where we're going. So if Ramsey was to open his gob, for example, he should be laughed out of the club.

 

[CurryFlavoured]

I should made a better comparison, you obviously can't compare this bunch to the Invincibles. But imagine we progress well the next 2/3 seasons and start properly challenging, Ramsey has another few top class seasons and then comes out saying players X,Y and Z aren't good enough, that we aren't investing enough and simply aren't good enough, even if it looks like we are up there. That would spark a bit of a reaction to say the least.

And no, Pat or anybody else didn't have the stature to question where we were going at the time either no matter how big he was. We were the top team in the Country at the time ahead of Utd and he said we weren't going to make top 5.

 

[Jury]

Not saying you have the right to question the club publicly if you have the status, but it's a little easier to listen to coming from someone like Paddy rather than a player who's won nothing in his life.

Where are these quotes where he questioned the quality of individuals?

 

[CurryFlavoured]

Sorry, I remembered him naming names for some reason. That was poor of me, here's what he said though:

"When I told Arsène Wenger I was leaving, he said to me, 'I have £25million to spend on a few players'. My answer was, 'Obviously, Mr Wenger, you are not shopping in Harrods. That will only buy you one good player.' Now I have been proved right. Arsène Wenger has signed two hopeful players who haven't proved themselves in the Premiership yet. One of them is a boy of 20."

"You can't compete with the best clubs in Europe by making these kind of signings."

The two 'hopeful' players were Jeffers and Van Bronckhorst presumably. At least he was right about Jeffers! He also had a go at a few other newcomers.

Full interview: <a class="postlink" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-55834/Vieiras-Highbury-feud-turns-ugly.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/articl ... -ugly.html</a>" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not trying to start a war against Pat btw, the guy was a machine on the pitch and I'll always love him for that. I won't hold him in the same esteem as others though.

 

[Dokaka]

I think Vieira, ability wise, was on par with Bergkamp and Henry. He doesn't get the same recognition because he wasn't an attacker, and history tends to forget the people who didn't produce the end product.

Never seen a more complete midfielder in my life. You could put him in todays DM, CM, and AM positions and he'd arguably be among the best in the world at all of them.

Don't think there's a midfielder in the world right now he wouldn't bench if he was in his prime.

 

[Tir Na Nog]

Patrick Vieira spent 10 years here, was captain, a winner and gave absolutely everything on the pitch. He left after winning 2 doubles and was part of the invincibles. He deserves nothing but respect (and that's downplaying it a bit, the man was a god!). He questioned the club? So what? He was captain and wanted the club to be going in the direction he wanted and he did stay until we decided to let him go. He could have moved anytime he wanted to, but he didn't.

 

[Rex Stone]

Ferguson said in his book that Vieira was up for a move to Old Trafford at one point around 2000 but David Dein apparently laughed when Utd started enquiring about a price.

Van Persie was here for 8 years, to think that Vieira stayed at us due to loyalty would be naive. It's why the amount of hatred for ex-players holds no water with me.

I loved watching Patrick when he played for us but I don't have him on some pedestal.

 

[fabo]

What pedestal is that? As an Arsenal legend?

 

[Rex Stone]

Don't get me wrong he is one of my favourite players ever to play for us, but someone who obviously didn't care about during his playing time here and afterwards with the fact he was willing to sign with Sp**s and would rather fill his pockets with Arab money isn't really a club "legend". Especially at a club with the history we have.

So many other members of the Invincibles - Sol, Keown, Pires, Freddie, Bergkamp, Lehmann and Thierry - have come back in some capacity to Arsenal since they've left be it ambassadorial or coaching. Even guys like Fabregas and Kolo have said how much they love the club, even when they're playing for our rivals.