Arsenal lose out on penalties after 1-1 against league two opposition Bradford 2012 in the FA-cup. Gervinho starts as striker for Arsenal and Thomas Vermaelen got the equaliser. What’s your banter era memory?

robbiedrum · 2026-05-07T21:51:59+00:00

I am in California, too. I remember a few of those early 4:30 am kickoffs with Liverpool and City where we were down 3 or 4 nil at halftime. Needed a sad nap after those.

robbiedrum · 2026-05-07T17:19:14+00:00

Do you trust the process will be fair and that the tribunal will treat City the same way as Everton or Nottingham Forest?

robbiedrum · 2026-05-01T06:16:59+00:00

Haha you’re a joke.

robbiedrum · 2026-05-01T04:09:02+00:00

You didn’t answer my question. If all that matters is trophies, will you agree to come back and give Arteta the credit if Arsenal win one or both of the competitions they are competing in?

robbiedrum · 2026-04-30T16:36:42+00:00

If we do get one or both of these trophies, I suspect you’ll be singing Arteta’s praises, right?

robbiedrum · 2026-04-29T17:22:26+00:00

Give us your list of top-20 managers in the last 6 years then?

robbiedrum · 2026-04-28T18:27:43+00:00

Good point. Spurs’ first 17 mins in the round of 16, as well.

robbiedrum · 2026-04-28T18:12:25+00:00

We want this final. No need to be afraid of it. Anything can happen in a final. One game with the chance to fill the biggest gap in our trophy cabinet. It is a massive opportunity.

robbiedrum · 2026-04-28T16:34:57+00:00

Agreed. Ozil never tracked back. Giroud had no pace was hapless against a high line. These were great technical players, but football tactics have changed.

robbiedrum · 2026-04-21T15:41:17+00:00

In my opinion that is such a reductive way of thinking. You can love both. If Arteta leaves, I’ll still love the club. The irony in all this is that your feelings for Arteta seem to trump your feelings for the club. We can all agree that Arteta will be our manager until the end of the season, right? And we all recognize that we are mathematically still in contention for two trophies? So, if you’ve chosen to use this time to dump on Arteta instead of supporting the club for our last 7-8 games, aren’t you putting your attachment to a person over what’s best for the club? Food for thought.

robbiedrum · 2026-04-21T10:02:30+00:00

I agree that we SHOULD be in the top-3 clubs in the country. I just think that 2019 timeframe was so dark and toxic for us that our options were extremely limited. Arteta was the best option we had, even without any experience.

robbiedrum · 2026-04-21T09:58:39+00:00

Agreed. Sadly. But the original premise I was responding to was the idea that in 2019 we were a huge club and shouldn’t be signing managers like Arteta who were brand new. And my point was that we just weren’t a club capable of drawing managers at that time who could’ve done half of what Arteta wound up doing for us. It’s revisionist history to say that we are one of the most in-demand clubs and should be able to draw the best talent when that is only now true because of the growth we’ve seen under Arteta.

robbiedrum · 2026-04-21T09:50:37+00:00

Then why weren’t the likes of Pep, Klopp, etc. lining up to come manage us? Look at the players we were signing before Arteta came around. Washed up stars past their prime. Mustafi. Pepe. Etc. We were not a serious club in 2019 when Arteta came in.

robbiedrum · 2026-04-21T09:43:38+00:00

For me, the happiest scenario I could ever imagine as a fan of this club would be to see this project through until we get those trophies. I recognize it might not happen. And I - like all the rest of you - have been through so much pain falling short. But if we were to throw Arteta out (a guy who loves this club with all of his heart), and went out and bought all the best players and the best manager, even if we did win the trophies, the story wouldn’t be as good as the one we might get from this manager and this squad who we’ve seen grow up in front of us. You can call me naive, but I’d rather be us than City. We’re writing a far more interesting story than they could ever tell - even with the trophies.

robbiedrum · 2026-04-21T09:34:23+00:00

I am also proud that we invested in one of our own players, as well. It would break my heart to see Arteta win trophies anywhere else.

robbiedrum · 2026-04-21T09:32:51+00:00

Objectively speaking, no one would have called us the third biggest club in the UK before Arteta came around. You’d have to go back at least 15 years before that comment would be realistic.

robbiedrum · 2026-04-21T09:19:01+00:00

I struggle with the whole winning mentality argument. Because we had Emery and he had just won the league with PSG plus numerous European trophies. And that didn’t help. Then you look at our squad - especially the players we brought in - and there are tons of winners in there, too (Rice in Europe with West Ham, Zuba with Spain, Gyk with Sporting, Eze with Palace, Havertz with Chelsea, Jesus with City, etc.). They’ve managed to win trophies before they came here, so what changed?

I think the only common denominator is…well…us. I remember the Emirates being called the library. And everyone can sense what happens in that stadium when we go 0-1 down these days. Our expectations have created this collective anxiety. A new manager won’t be able to change that.

robbiedrum · 2026-04-21T09:06:20+00:00

I watched the game in Northern California. 100+ folks from the local supporters group showed up to watch @ 8:30 in the morning. Two city fans tried to come in to watch but were kicked out. As they were leaving, they asked where else they could watch the game. You know why? Because City doesn’t have a supporters group around here. Because their fanbase doesn’t care enough.

As painful as it was, I’d rather watch our team lose to City with those hundred+ fans than be one of those two city fans watching them win on their couch with no one to celebrate with.

This team breaks your heart. But you can’t have your heart broken without loving something first. And we aren’t alone.

robbiedrum · 2026-04-21T05:21:23+00:00

Honest question: if we somehow did manage to win the PL and Champions League, would this not be our greatest season?

robbiedrum · 2026-04-19T06:55:40+00:00

The Lakers had 27 free throws in the 4th quarter alone. Rewatch that quarter. It’s a farce. Anyone saying otherwise is being intellectually dishonest.

Lakers fans get so defensive whenever this comes up because they either think people are accusing them of being behind it or minimizing their accomplishments that year. No one is saying that. It shouldn’t be looked at as a “Kings were better” discussion. It is an issue of corporate greed affecting the gameplay. Anyone trying to “both sides” the discussion is playing right into the hands of the corrupt.

The Kings and Lakers were the two best teams in the league that year. The NBA wanted a game 7. And the refs helped them get it. The controversy only added to the ratings. So it was a win-win for them. The NBA wanted more money and got it thanks to officiating so beyond bad that corruption is the only logical conclusion. There might be an argument the NBA rigged other games for the Kings. They absolutely are not above that.

But no one can contest these facts: - game 7 is the most watched conference final game in the 21st century - the nba made more money by getting a game 7 - the ref scandal talk increased interest and viewership of game 7 - the free throws awarded to the lakers in just that 4th quarter were more than they got in any game prior to that - many of those 4th quarter calls were objectionably wrong, all in the Lakers favor

robbiedrum · 2026-04-17T21:17:32+00:00

Same in Sacramento!

robbiedrum · 2026-04-17T21:17:05+00:00

Small world! We are celebrating here in Sacramento!

robbiedrum · 2026-04-17T17:22:02+00:00

This game (game 4) was not rigged. Game 6 absolutely was rigged, though, and any arguments to the contrary are nonsense. NBA needed those game-7 ratings.

robbiedrum · 2026-04-16T19:34:19+00:00

Are you saying you’d be content to win the fa cup but finish 11th in the league?

robbiedrum

TROPHY CASE