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Making the Arsenal
By Anne
This is the concluding part of this article. Here are the earlier parts
The reason I personally feel confident in saying that neither Kees Vos nor Robin Van Persie had anything to do with writing his “statement” about leaving the clubis because the “statement” appears quite clearly to me to be only one component of a larger propaganda campaign, which was run using the same media network that is generally used to target Arsenal fans, and which was previously used for the “trophy drought”/”splash the cash” talking points campaign that Arsenal fans have become so familiar with, and which we have previously documented on Untold Media.
In conjunction with the publication of Robin Van Persie’s alleged “statement,” this same media network launched an apparent attack on Robin Van Persie, which was entirely predicated on this “statement.” I know this because I happened to be online when (or shortly after) the “statement” was published, so I saw the attack on Robin unfold from the beginning. And watching it that way, I don’t think it ever even occurred to me that the website “statement” might be authentic.
When it was first published, the one thing that caught my eye was that this Robin van Persie “statement” looked like it was being disseminated through the exact same media network as was previously used to attack Arsenal. And upon reading the “statement” itself, it immediately appeared to me to be serving as a template for the “transfer saga” media campaign.
Since the Robin van Persie “official website” has now been taken down, here is the original version of the “statement” that was published on the website. The only difference is that, on the website, these sentences were all grouped together in a paragraph format. However, I’ve chosen to separate them to demonstrate what I mean by “template,” and the reason that I keep putting the word “statement” in quotation marks:
“Update for the Fans
This is an update for the fans about my current situation..
I have kept quiet all this time out of respect and loyalty for the club and as agreed with Mr Gazidis and Mr Wenger, but since there is so much speculation in the media, I think it is fair for you guys to know what’s really going on at the moment.
As announced earlier this year I had a meeting with the boss and Mr. Gazidis after the season.
This was a meeting about the club’s future strategy and their policy.
Financial terms or a contract have not been discussed, since that is not my priority at all.
I personally have had a great season but my goal has been to win trophies with the team and to bring the club back to its glory days.
Out of my huge respect for Mr Wenger, the players and the fans I don’t want to go into any details, but unfortunately in this meeting it has again become clear to me that we in many aspects disagree on the way Arsenal should move forward.
I’ve thought long and hard about it, but I have decided not to extend my contract.
You guys, the fans, have of course the right to disagree with my view and decision and I will always respect your opinions.
I love the club and the fans, no matter what happens.
I have grown up and became a man during my time with Arsenal.
Everybody at the club and the fans have always supported me over the years and I have always given my all [and more] on and off the pitch.
I am very proud of being part of this fantastic club for the past eight years.
As soon as Mr Gazidis is back from his two-week holiday in America further meetings will follow and I will update you if and when there are more developments.”
I personally knew that this “statement” was fabricated the instant I saw it on the website, and the reason I knew is because it’s not really a statement at all. It’s a bunch of separate sentences that don’t really go together, are not connected by logic, and don’t even contain the basic connective language that people use when they talk to each other. Specifically, if Robin van Persie wanted to convey a message to Arsenal fans, it would not be phrased like this. And my initial impression upon reading this template for the accompanying media campaign was to wonder why they didn’t even try to make it sound like a real statement.
And it seems to me that the reason for this was because they were expecting Arsenal fans to simply take the media at its word, and to not go back and look at the original source of the “statement.” Because in the initial published media reports, these sentences were grouped together and presented in such a way that they do sound like a real statement.
However, this seems to have been a job that was delegated for the first wave of media coverage, because this group of disparate sentences did not sound like a real statement on the website itself. (For an example of the difference between the “statement” on the website and the statement as reported in the media, this article from the Guardian is a good representation of the coverage as a whole).
So, when I say that this “website statement” was serving as a “template,” what I mean is that each “statement” that “Robin” made was intended to serve as a basis for some specific message that had already been developed for dissemination through the media campaign. By examining the interplay between the “statement” itself and the media response, it is fairly obvious to me that both the “statement” and the media response are actually two different components of a single campaign, which were developed together.
Ergo, the real “author” of the “statement” is whoever is controlling the relevant media network, and developed that particular aspect of the campaign.
The general message of this campaign, which comes across to me as an attack on Robin Van Persie (although it could also be intended to send a different, private message to Arsene Wenger at times) appears to contain the following three basic components:
1) Robin Van Persie wants to force a transfer away from Arsenal;
2) Robin is a greedy mercenary who only cares about money (but wouldn’t mind a trophy either); and
3) Robin slagged off Arsenal and/or Arsenal fans
Basically, the first two components present the idea that Robin wants to force a transfer, and provides an apparent motive for doing so (he wants higher wages). And the third component appears intended to make Arsenal fans angry at RVP (presumably so that we’ll be happy to see Arsenal’s Captain off, with a kick on his way out the door).
This general message is conveyed to the public by taking the different parts of Robin’s “message” (I’m going to call it “the template” from now on), and responding to them with the correct, pre-determined responses. Incidentally, I believe that this particular tactical use of the “statement”/template is what Bleacher Report was referring to when they said that the “majority of stories covering the subject appear to lack facts and be based more on interpretation.”
The following article, published on the Fourth of July (almost immediately after the “statement” first appeared) serves as an excellent example of how a “statement” like this can be broken down into a template that can generate propaganda. The reason this article is such a good example is because it breaks down RVP’s entire “statement” into individual sentences (the way that I presented it above), and spins some kind of tactic off of each one of them.
And if you had any question about the propaganda intent behind the article, just take note of the headline and the opening sentence:
What Robin van Persie really meant in his statement about not renewing with Arsenal
“…Robin appears to be trying to achieve more with his statement than what his words actually say. So here now is a handy translation of what he is getting at.”
Basically, they’re using this template to generate a false media narrative that puts words into Robin’s mouth, which are tactically designed to turn Arsenal fans against Robin. This article provides one example of how it worked. The sentences from RVP’s “statement” (ie, the template) are in italics (although I recommend that you actually take a look at the article itself, because the formatting there makes the tactical use of the “statement” even more apparent).
“This is an update for the fans about my current situation.”
“This is how I’m going to force a transfer.”
“I have kept quiet all this time out of respect and loyalty for the club and as agreed with Mr. Gazidis and Mr. Wenger, but since there is so much speculation in the media, I think it is fair for you guys to know what’s really going on at the moment.”
“My agent has been planning this for awhile and just decided the market is ready for me, but I’m pretending this is for you.”
“Financial terms or a contract have not been discussed, since that is not my priority at all.”
“Hahaha not!”
“I personally have had a great season but my goal has been to win trophies with the team and to bring the club back to its glory days.”
“This is all true, but I’m saying it now, right after saying that money isn’t my priority, just to subtly remind you that Arsenal haven’t won a trophy since 2005 and so you won’t call me a mercenary. I hope. I mean, it’s not like any of you are doing your cruddy jobs for anything but the most money possible.”
“Out of my huge respect for Mr. Wenger, the players and the fans I don’t want to go into any details, but unfortunately in this meeting it has again become clear to me that we in many aspects disagree on the way Arsenal FC should move forward.”
“I wanted them to spend like Man City and launch Gervinho into the sun, they said ‘no.’”
“I’ve thought long and hard about it, but I have decided not to extend my contract.”
“Come and get me hahahahaha!”
“You guys, the fans, have of course the right to disagree with my view and decision and I will always respect your opinions.”
“I will ignore your opinions.”
“I love the club and the fans, no matter what happens. I have grown up and became a man during my time with Arsenal FC.”
“Blah blah blah (this is just filler)…”
“Everybody at the club and the fans have always supported me over the years and I have always given my all (and more) on and off the pitch.
“Seriously, please don’t call me a mercenary, you guys.”
“I am very proud of being part of this fantastic club for the last 8 years. As soon as Mr. Gazidis is back from his 2-week holiday in America further meetings will follow and I will update you if and when there are more developments.”
“He might as well end his holiday now because I just ruined it. I will tell you when I’ve selected a new club. One that will actually win something and won’t lose to freaking Birmingham in the Carling Cup final.”
“Robin van Persie”
“I really mean it, don’t start calling me ‘Robin van Payme’ or whatever.”
Now that you’ve seen the above, as you go through news articles that make reference to this “statement” (or at least the ones from before they ended the “transfer saga”), take note of the writing style, which is generally to reference a “message” from the “statement” and provide the response, which tells you what you, as an Arsenal fan, are supposed to be thinking in response to Robin’s “announcement.” Once you know to look for it, you’ll pick up on it easily.
From here, I’m just going to go through and look at a few examples of the tactics and messages associated with particular parts of the template. To me, the following section is the most interesting tactically:
“I personally have had a great season but my goal has been to win trophies with the team and to bring the club back to its glory days. Out of my huge respect for Mr. Wenger, the players and the fans I don’t want to go into any details, but unfortunately in this meeting it has again become clear to me that we in many aspects disagree on the way Arsenal FC should move forward.”
The reason I find it interesting is because it references certain propaganda messages that have been used against Arsenal fans in the past, and which have had the effect of making fans angry at the purveyor of the message, and rallying in defense of Arsenal (as well as its new American owners) in response to a perceived outside threat (this would be the psychological impact of a false flag attack, essentially).
Specifically, the phrases “win trophies,” “bring the club back to its glory days,” and “disagree on the way Arsenal FC should move forward,” are loaded words for fans, and you could use them to spin off into a lot of different “AAA”-type messages that fans who love RVP would typically loathe (which is exactly what the media did here, apparently forgetting that, prior to the Fourth of July, they themselves were the primary disseminators of this AAA message, and that Arsenal fans loathe them above all other enemies. Well, I do, at least).
Basically, in examining the ways that such statements were used in this particular campaign, they actually torpedoed the entire propaganda message, because they’re so recognizable that they made the agenda transparent. Particularly in conjunction with the sort of reversal of message that was used here (basically, this campaign reversed the message that fans are accustomed to seeing, and attacked RVP with the old message).
And whatever the response in the comments section to this article might suggest, I could not possibly be the only person to have noticed what was going on here. The reason for that is because we’re all way too familiar with all of these “messages,” along with the media network that is typically used to disseminate them, to fail to notice when the exact same media network suddenly switches to the exact same message in reverse.
The following examples show some of the ways that this was done
1) “win trophies,” “bring the club back to its glory days,” and “disagree on the way Arsenal FC should move forward,”
*The following are some other running themes that recur throughout the message of this campaign:
-The 6 years that Robin spent sidelined by injury (ie, he’s turning his back on Arsenal when they didn’t turn their back on him)
-The horror of a player telling the management how to run the club (This “player power” concept isn’t as offensive to fans as they seem to think it is. At least, not taken at face value. Although we shouldn’t rule out the possibility that there is some kind of hidden agenda associated with this message as well).
-transfer spending, “trophy drought,” “ambition” (all have an AAA association)
Examples:
Ex. 1: “Whatever way you look at it, van Persie has put Arsenal in a horrible situation – the classic ‘rock and a hard place’ scenario. Arsène Wenger and the fans certainly deserve better. But who cares when you can win trophies? After all, winning is everything, right?”
This is basically just the “trophy drought” line in reverse here. Since Robin van Persie criticized Arsenal for its “trophy drought,” we’re supposed to turn against Robin and rally in defense of Arsenal. Personally, I find it very curious the way the message of this media campaign has suddenly shifted to favor Arsenal (and its new American owners), while remaining opposed to Arsenal’s own players. Very curious indeed.
Ex. 2: “But to pose and posture as if he is being forced out of the club by their lack of ambition is insulting hogwash at this time.”
More of the same. Poor, defenseless Arsenal has been attacked by the “evil super villain,” Robin van Persie.
Ex. 3: “He has no right to tell Wenger how to run the club..by effectively trashing the quality of Wenger’s summer signings”.
So, apparently, they now like Arsene Wenger again as well. And I also find it interesting here that they make reference to Arsene Wenger “running the club” (which he does not). Arsenal fans love
Arsene Wenger. So, if the decisions made by Arsenal’s new management were falsely portrayed as being made by Arsene Wenger instead, it might cause Arsenal fans to accept those decisions out of loyalty, when they would otherwise reject them out of logic. It’s an interesting concept, I think.
Incidentally, I find the following example to be highly amusing, based on the author’s interpretation of what a “real” Arsenal fan is supposed to sound like (while raging at Robin van Persie).
Ex. 4: “You didn’t seem too worried about the club’s ‘direction’ during those first six and a half seasons at Arsenal, did you—…But now, you consider yourself an authority on how a truly great sporting institution should be run?
No ordinary institution, may I remind you. An institution which made you who you are, an institution that has been around from well before the time your great-grandfather existed, and one that will stand proud and glorious while you become a mere bookmark on Wikipedia.”
Yes, the media sure loves Arsenal now. (And also appears to be attempting to reinforce the notion that Arsenal is exactly the same as it always was, despite the fact that Arsenal has actually undergone some rather dramatic changes recently).
Ex. 5: “Just who does he think he is to try to dictate transfer policy and strategy to one of the best managers in English football history?”
And they worship Arsene Wenger. So why the attack on Arsenal’s Captain?
Ex. 6: “Is this step one of your master plan to ‘bring the club back to its glory days?’ by effectively saying that the manager and CEO don’t know how to run Arsenal FC? When, dear Robin, did you attain mastery over the running of a football club? ”
It sounds to me like what the media are really defending here is the decision-making of the people who are dictating Arsenal’s transfer policy these days. But why would that be? And who exactly are they defending?
2) Arsenal “fans.”
In the template, “Robin” directed his statement to the “fans,” and made many “statements” extolling Arsenal fans. These “statements” were presented in conjunction with“statements” that could also be taken as hurtful and offensive to fans. There are a lot of different ways that you could make use of this, and spin it to turn Arsenal fans against Robin. The following are some examples from the media response of how they appear to have used this aspect of the template tactically:
Ex. 1: “Yes, that ‘Update For The Fans,’ as you so patronizingly called it.Honestly, we, the REAL Arsenal fans, would have been happier without it. Terrible idea.
Apparently, “the REAL Arsenal fans” are now publishing articles on Bleacher Report.
Ex. 2:
“So you kept quiet because you are sooooo loyal and then decide to throw that out the window due to some media speculation!? Nope, not buying it.“
I’m “not buying it” either. Glad we could agree on something.
Ex. 3: “Many Arsenal fans will be wondering why Van Persie decided to take things public instead of showing more respect for the club and for their fans.”
Yes, I’m sure that “many Arsenal fans” are, in fact, wondering “why?” Although I think that the author of this article might be asking the wrong questions.
Ex. 4: “Let’s get one thing straight. Robin van Persie’s statement was not ‘for the fans’, as he so lovingly professed, but for himself….
At 4.02 pm on July 4, Van Persie’s value in football’s over-inflated transfer market was worth around £25million to Arsenal. At 4.03pm when he delivered his slap in the face, sorry, update, to the fans, that had decreased by more than fifth.
Not quite the act of someone who loves the club.”
This one is interesting to me. Because the part about the value of the player in “football’s over-inflated transfer market” isn’t, in my opinion, something that an Arsenal fan would be likely to think about when defending Arsenal against a perceived attack. Which leads me to believe that there might have been some other tactical reason for inserting this type of language into the media narrative.
And one idea that occurs to me is that the possible motive for inserting such language could be to simply reinforce the public perception that business in the EPL transfer market is still being conducted in the traditional way. This would be necessary if, for example, someone was attempting to make changes to the way transfer business was being conducted without the public noticing.
And in my opinion, this is something to keep an eye on going forward, given the dramatic shifts in ownership that have occurred in English football in recent years. Surely the new owners will be wanting to change other things as well? And to what extent are they all working together towards a common goal?
3) Money and Mercenary:
In the template, “Robin” goes out of his way to specifically note that his decision is not motivated by money. This “statement” serves no logical function in its context, but did provide the basis to generate news reports claiming that “Robin’s” decision to leave was, in fact, motivated by money. The following is the phrasing from the template itself:
“Financial terms or a contract have not been discussed, since that is not my priority at all.”
As you can see, the original phrasing is actually written to sound sarcastic. (And I personally wonder if this sarcasm might possibly have had a double meaning. Think about that one.).
Examples from media response:
Ex. 1: ‘Financial terms aren’t my priority,’ claimed the Arsenal captain, however he seems to be chasing the money — we all know that —”
Ex. 2: “since his priority was not financial terms or contract than we can expect to see him sign elsewhere for substantially less than he was making here. Yeah right.”
Ex. 3: “The Arsenal captain made a point to establish that his reasons for wanting to leave the club are motivated by the desire for success rather than the want of financial gain, but this is unlikely to wash with the majority of Gunners fans.”
Ex. 4: “Van Persie, they will say, has had his head turned by the riches of Manchester City, and has prioritised increasing his salary over staying loyal to the club where he has forged his name.”
Incidentally, have we heard anything about what kind of wages Robin is receiving from Manchester United?
If anyone would like to see additional examples of tactics or anything else, just check the media coverage beginning on the Fourth of July (and ending around the time my initial article alleging fabrication was published). You’ll find more examples than you know what to do with. Based on this analysis, I hope it’s clear now why I’ve been saying that it would be impossible for Robin Van Persie (or his agent) to have written this “statement.”
Specifically, the reason for this is because the “statement” and the media response were quite clearly coordinated in advance. The instant that this “statement” appeared, the media was ready to go, with a pre-planned response to each segment of the “statement.”
Therefore, the “statement” could not have been written by Robin van Persie or his agent Kees Vos. Rather, the “statement” had to have been written by whoever is controlling the same media network that is being used to run the larger “transfer saga” media campaign.
And if you don’t want to take my word on that, you can always listen to this master of mystery:
“This, I’m sorry to say, is just not acceptable, and is a sign of the times we live in with football players becoming much bigger than their clubs, and in some cases the sport itself.
Van Persie had a truly sensational last 18 months, and I’m sure all of us Gooners owe him big time. But honestly, who is he to ‘disagree on the way Arsenal FC should move forward?’ When I last checked, he was club captain. Was there a mid-term promotion to Chief Strategic Officer? Preposterous!
Unless this is the mother of all website hacking jobs—I’m really clutching at straws, aren’t I?— it is clear that RVP must be sold immediately. I’d rather he went outside the Premier League, not because I’m worried he’ll make Manchester City stronger, but so that he can be out of sight and out of mind to the greatest extent possible.”
That was Bleacher Report again. Their subtlety and nuance in conveying sarcasm would truly make William Shakespeare weep, wouldn’t it?
The above article also gives me the opportunity to segway into my analysis of Bacary Sagna’s recently reported comments, and how they fit into this same existing media narrative. That will be covered in the next segment of this series.
Maybe you are right Anne. But you can’t ignore three of the most important facts to the story.
1) The site is owned by the company of his representatives.
2) He posted a link to it on his offical twitter account.
3) At no point has he ever denied writing or agreeing to publish the statement.
I can’t take your article seriously until you take a stance to these hard facts. Even if 1 and 3 were taken out of the equation, the 2nd point kinda cancels the whole conspiracy theory.
Fedda,
about 2 I can say that even my meaningless twitter account has been hacked a few weeks ago. And I even didn’t know about it if it hadn’t been for someone asking me what the hell I was twittering.
So it can be done if you know how to do it and if people can hack phone lines, they can hack twitter accounts I think.
In general about these 3 articles:
There is no doubt there is something strange in this whole thing. Who did what is something that we will probably never know.
Did RVP get what he wanted?
Money wise? YES!!!!!!
But for the rest I really wonder if he is “a happy little boy”. Of course he is a football player so when he can play he will be happy. But I really wonder if down deep inside he feels good about what happened.
I have been following him from my position abroad and speaking the same language as he I can hear other things when he is in Holland for his national team. And I noticed a big change in him and also how he is looked upon in Holland.
His move didn’t make him popular at all. I think the whole football world in Holland (where he always was a bit an outsider because of him being from Feyenoord and not from Ajax or PSV) is not happy with how things went. I remember in the past when he played for Arsenal how he got praised. But now there is some chillness when they take about him. You could almost feel the bad feelings underneath the surface of pundits. They don’t say that they feel he is a traitor but it is more a feeling that you get when you hear them speak about him. I could be wrong about it of course but as I have the same mother language and I always try to look at the Dutch TV when they give football as their pundits are much much better than the ones from Belgium I know them a bit.
This week they wanted to explicitly show how he screwed up a few times in the game MU – Galatasary in the CL. A bad control that ruined a possible chance was highlighted (maybe the game was that bad it was the only “highlight”;-) ) and I just got the feeling that they were sharping their knifes to stab him as soon as they really would be able to do it. You could almost taste the hidden pleasure of him screwing up. Something I have never noticed before when he played for Arsenal.
I also noticed a big change in his personality. I think up to March he was very open and he was twittering and talking. And suddenly it stopped. And now his twitter account (I still follow him out of curiosity) is mostly dead.
I think they had a big pay check plan in their head about getting silly money from Arsenal and dictating which players to buy. It all backfired. It went in a direction he didn’t really wanted himself. But once the wheels were running he couldn’t or didn’t dare to stop them.
So now he lives somewhat hidden away from the rest of the world. Most football supporters look down upon him (even other team supporters boo him because they feel he has done the undo able).
Do I feel sorry for him? Not really. He always has given the impression of being rather smart so he should have known what he was doing.
I feel bad because he has been unfaithful to the image he had created of himself. An image many believed in (even I) but that is now in the (black) garbage bag ready to throw away on the dump of fallen football heroes.
And unfortunately the theo chronicles
@stuart
If there is one area of the transfers of Clichy/Nasri/RVP where the media’s anti Arsenal narrative has been effective in disrupting Wenger’s project, it is that either these players started to believe the narrative themselves, and that they would never win silverware at the emirates*, or that it became a useful smokescreen for them to hide their real motives, a massive pay rise.
*Ultimately winning silverware is mostly the responsibility of the players, and if these players could not do it for Arsenal, and they believed the media hype about lack of ambition, then they were really looking for a cushy number where their failings could be masked and covered by other players or a bigger squad.
He once trod our turf
Now he’s a gona
For more than he’s werf
No longer a goona
Soon he’ll regret it
So for him be sad
Never let him forget it
Things here wernt so bad
One day he’ll return
But not as a goona
His big money he’ll earn
Our greeting, much coola
It’s the goona’s who stay
Who love the game
Not the gona’s who play
Leaving with a bad name
They come and they go
Leaving in a few seasons
We’ve seen em, we know
Who go for right reasons
The real goonas with cred
Who pay money to cheer
And are through and through Red
We’ll always be here
If we tore up our contract
And went up the road
With no further contact
Who’d bear the cash load?
Where would they be
The high rollers who go?
They’d be up a gum tree
With nothing to show
Let’s beat his new team
In the league and the cup
And spoil his dream
Of scooping them up
So gooners, move on
Finally put this to bed
Just display cups we’ve won
This season instead
I hope this poem is useful
Walter.
Of course that is a real possibility, but then you can look to point 3. If my twitter was hacked, i would be quick to reveal it. RvP left the statement on the top of his twitter page for a long time, he surely must have known it was there.
@Walter, it’s still on his twitter page.
@Walter
Interesting points, I assume Bergkamp has a huge reputation in Holland due to his ability and loyalty.
RVP has blown the chance to be all-time highest scorer, statue outside the stadium, anyone saying what a legend he is, what a great bloke he is etc etc, as these things won’t happen at ManU.
He uprooted his settled kids for the extra cash. He didn’t listen to his little boy inside – http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/arsenal/98438/snapshot-the-young-robin-van-persie-circa-1996.html despite what he says. I thought he was brighter and had great family support and advice. It appears not, the advice he received was poor in my opinion. As he has blown it.
There’s some outstanding muppetry in these comments!
Anne,
Your task is sisyphean in nature. I also don’t think you make your point clearly enough.
If I’ve understood correctly then this summary may help:
Someone or some organisation put a prepared statement in front of RvP, which he then endorsed; The purpose, as was explained to RvP was to ‘pull a Rooney’ on Arsenal; The actual purpose, was to start yet another wave of attacks against Arsenal and drive a wedge between the star striker and the fans.
Why is this interesting? Because it represents a new avenue of attack. Who’s to say the next target won’t be Wilshire or the Ox, young English players that the club can use as pawns against the FA & their lapdogs PGMOL.
well…RVP is no more a gunner.
BUT we have our Wilshere back in training. Now this is worth a celebration. I am waiting to see the midfield trio of Ramsey Wishere and Frimpong in action together…..capitol one cup may be….
Frimpong being injured was a real shame. He was doing a passable impression of his hero, Michael Essien, for Wolves right up until he got injured.
Then he was doing a perfect impression of him on the sidelines…
Since we’re on the subject of RvP, I thought it interesting to compare RvP to Podolski. There are some similarities, both are nominally strikers, who like to play on the left side (due to their preferred leg) who make a habit of playing very deep and storming the box. At the moment, Opta stats (courtesy of whoscored.com) rate Podolski as the superior player. Podolski makes more passes, finds a teammate with a higher percentage of them, looses the ball less, scores when he wants…
Honestly, we’ve ripped Manure off, £24 million, you’re having a laugh.
It’s really strange the way I’m feeling (these last days) about reading an article on Untold. Just half don’t want see it, half still care about it in some aspect.
I am sure I cannot really forget Persie and believe that he’s not really happy. But I’ve already moved on in some way because I appreciate present as well as our players we have now. There are always things and persons for me to put my faith in. Someone leaves and you cherish the ones stay more. That’s always my way of thinking and feeling.
Do your job if you see the need of doing it, Anne. Everyone has his right to see things his own way. Looking forward to your coming posts.
Interesting to see an awful lot of comments in the first couple of hours from posters whose names I don’t remember, all of whose comments revolve around a few issues, many of which don’t actually address the article itself. It’s as if there were some concerted campaign to shape opinion on what Anne was saying…you know, talking points and all that. Looks like she’s hit somebody’s nerve straight on. There are certainly some obscurities in her argument, but to me the most convincing bit of evidence that she’s probably right is the amount of new posters saying she’s wrong, stupid, misinformed, and le-grovish, and that ergo Untold is rubbish. Is there some astroturfing at work here?
That said, I do think that RVP’s failure to disown the statement is important and ought to be acknowledged and explained. Perhaps he gave permission, perhaps he simply saw it and recognized it could help force a move. What do you think, Anne? (BTW, how dare you challenge the dominant narrative? You should just let sleeping dogs lie, you know)
El Gringo,
I’m sure Dogface has a database of all posters IP addresses vs e-mails with a nice bit of SQL to spot any suspicious activity.
I’m not ruling out the fact that there are an unfathomable amount of idiots out there, have you seen YouTube comments?
El Gringo,
As I was “on duty” short after the release of this article on Untold I was overwhelmed with new people commenting for the first time. I let a few out which were a bit rude (or rude over the top) but they were coming in faster than I could approve them. Something I only witnessed when I wrote a rather comical article this summer that many didn’t understand and took for real.
I thought it to be a coincidence but I never thought of it like that…
@El Gringo
Heroic argument, you should be a spin doctor.
In summary:
1. blogger posts something obscure, poorly argued, controversial and wrong about someone that has left the club
2. lots of people point this out
3. because lots of people comment that gives ‘the most convincing bit of evidence that she’s probably right’
4. ergo, lots of people are attacking Untold (rather than defending it from shoddy blogging)
You have a great career in front of you defending the indefensible, my advice is to head straight into politics (if you aren’t there already).
Speaking of a reversal in how the media portrays Arsenal, for the past few years, you wouldn’t have seen any such article as this
http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/in-footballs-court-arsene-wengers-judged-a-success-but-the-jurys-out-on-mancini-8163274.html
Oh no, Jens Lehmann is now joining in the media conspiracy http://news.arseblog.com/2012/09/lehmann-goes-to-town-on-van-persie/
I bet the same people that forced RVP to make that statement and link to it via Twitter have corrupted our Invincibles goalie. The b*stards.
Worth another article or two I reckon.
Clever CB is clever
I have read the article and the comments and I am not that much wiser.
I never thought RVP wrote it because players get someone else to write these things. He probably said to someone, get a statement out about how I am unsure of my future and the club’s future and am not signing a contract at the moment and left it to someone else to draft it. I didn’t think Vos wrote it because English wouldn’t be his native language.
When I thought about it a bit, I assumed Darren Dein or some other English agent working on RVP’s behalf wrote it but I could be wrong. The digs at Gazidis and at Wenger are not RVP’s style but those of an agent wanting to flush out offers.
Rather than getting caught up in who wrote or didn’t write RVP’s statement, it is the bigger picture that matters. All the statement did was indicate his availability. A few words here or there or someone else writing it doesn’t change that. Neither does it change RVP’s reponsibility for the statement. It came out in his name, 99% certain that he knew it was coming out.
What I am wondering is why his agent didn’t have a club such as Real, Barca, Juve, City or Chelsea lined up. RVP knows well what going to Utd means for his Arsenal legacy and I don’t think that was his first choice but it ended up as his only choice.
Godge,
From your aspect and my own thoughts, I believe assume the whole scenario was induced by RVP via his agent or other similar entity as RVP knew that Arsenal knew no one wanted to buy him so they had to try and force Arsenals hand in increasing his pay by stimulating some interest and making him look popular. The bit they forgot is Arsenal do all their business above board so would know that no club had approached them for RVP and therefore he was not wanted. Looks like Man U took the bait and fell for the ploy whilst Arsenal didn’t.
Some agents do their business through the media they use it as a tool to unsettle players. Some agents never talk to the press. Some agents will tout their clients around without their clients knowledge to try to force a move for individual financial gains. RVP moved within the premier league so would not have needed a Fifa registered agent to put his/her name to the deal only an FA registered agent was needed, Agents are now allowed to act for both parties as long as this is agreed. Research Sports entertainment group to see if they only have Fifa registered agents as they are mainly Dutch based agents or look on the FA’s web site for agents registered with SEG. These are the people who take responsibility, As Bob pointed out before, It’s the registered lawyers behind the scenes that can complicate issues for a club. These lawyers are anonymous so are not held to account for informing a player of his options(I.E Tapping up). Most if not all players have direction, goals and ambitions and it is the agents job to help his/her clients career reach it’s full potential. They have a career plan and will be ruthless in trying to achieve their goals
@El Gringo
Yes, the way some posters have responded would make one think that Anne was getting close to the truth behind the RVP transfer and there was a mini campaign in response to discredit her point of view and also to intimidate any posters who might agree with her.
This saga did have some strange aspects, some still to come out into the open and it looks as if whoever was pulling strings behind the scene is very sensitive about discovery. Perhaps someone close to home was involved.
You have clearly put a mighty amount of work and thought into this. I respect that. I’m not denigrating your posts in any way.
My view is that money is at the heart of it, perhaps ambition but I am less convinced by that…..
1) Van Persie is 29. This is his last chance at a big money contract
2) He is discontent with life at Arsenal (haven’t won anything for 7 years etc etc)
3) He waits to see what Arsenal are doing in the transfer market
4) Oh hang on…old Arsene gone and bought some decent players
5)What to do now? His number 1 excuse has been removed
6)He still wants out. We not offering £200k a week and it seems Arsenal are willing to let him see out the last year of his contract
7)Website announcement is made. It is made on an RVP site. Doesn’t matter if he knew or not. He is accountable. Who gains? Who loses? Perhaps the post was done without RVP authority? I very much doubt it. He still has the same representatives as far as I’m aware. He hasn’t sacked anybody. He hasn’t denied it either has he?
8) This makes the situation untenable for Arsenal, effectively forced to sell
9) We sell.
In short the post was done to force a transfer as Arsenal were clearly willing to let him see out his contract. He would then be over 30 and who’s to say what sort of season he would have had!
The website has served its purpose. They cost money to run and you can use facebook, twitter and other social media to serve the same ends.
That’s my take.
He’s moved on. We’ve moved on as a club. Let’s look forward to the City game.
@bjtgooner: Yes that struck me as well. It’s quite possible Anne was on to something. The only unfrtunate point is that she or anyone have not been able to refute why RVP the fact that RVP did not come out in the open about this. That’s not a dig at her…it is just not explainable at you right now. Someday hopefully we will know more.
RVP’s website is down for maintenance due to it being full of RVP appearing in most pictures in an Arsenal shirt, playing Arenal games, being with Arsenal players and with most of the comments being favourable to Arsenal.
He is now a ManU player so can’t have this material up there.
It is interesting to see how much historic material will remain if he reopens the site.
fedda, your no.1 to 3 facts did cancel the whole conspiracy theory
walter, agree with you apart from your objection of fedda’s post. I think Van Persie became the loser of this saga. He would never end his career as a legend anymore.
btw to question the posters not on their arguments but on how frequent they posted here or suspecting their IP addresses is an ad hominem argumentation.
If you don’t agree with the objections of this article, it would be wiser to express your argumentation. For example how can you refuse to acknowledge fedda’s 3 points facts.
@fedda,benhan: Its funny yes. Its unexplainable yes. But the key fact here is that we do not have all the data with us. It is only when we have the data with us can we clearly conclude either way.
A classic case is Kia Jooarachian’s ownership of Tevez and Mascherano. They might have said they were happy to join Westham on their public sites etc; it doesn’t mean a thing. For all you know there might be some hidden pressure on RVP to have put it on Twitter, which again, I concede seems far fetched but not totally unreasonable.
You can draw a conclusion on anything or compare anything only if you have all the facts. Until then, we can only speak in probabilities. Could A happen? Could B happen? Which is more likely?
And then conclude…Yes A more likely than B … meaning RVP totally guilty > RVP a victim .. that is more likely yes. But to say the other side is absurd…no..I can’t agree on that. As I’ve said multiple times now..
Sure Anne cannot prove that it WAS a conspiracy. Sure. I agree too. She can’t. That does not mean though that it did NOT happen. So I ask you two and anyone else…Since you say it DID NOT happen..can you prove that RVP was NOT under some external pressure which made 1,2,3 mandatory? As in he had no choice?
If you can…please share the same here, otherwise you too are just expressing an opinion and not a fact. Its a large, murky world..football and filled with expert PR spinners. It’d be foolhardy to take everything at its face value. Most times. Yes. Occams Razor. Sometimes…I don’t know. I really don’t.
Want more examples of strange unexplainable things? The Alex Song transfer, Park Chu Young, Amaury Bischoff, Gazidis elected to the board, media’s concilliatory tone, Arsene making weird substitutions at times, Ferguson buying Bebe for 8 million…and certainly many more. Occam’s razor..I doubt holds good in all those cases.
So..that’s all it is…an opinion. Anne = opinion (possibly fact I dunno if she has seen something more) , All of us = opinion because we have all drawn our own logical(to each) conclusions.
I honestly could care less about the expired RvP saga. Would I prefer he was still at Arsenal? YES! Now he is at Man United, and can do what he wants there.
We have a great team at Arsenal, and that’s what I care about.
In general I find this site very interesting and have recommeded it to others. However this article is very confusing which does not help when putting forward such a theory. I find the notion that RVP had no say or agreement with his statement very hard to believe in that he has not denied it. But more immportant who is supposed to be behind all this? Have I missed something? I am new to posting on this site but I am not some troll or something sinister I would just like to understand the point behind all this