AD-Free Episode 501 - Grading The Window

Let's be real, it's completely brain dead from Xhaka for not getting vaccinated. Unless his doctor has advised him to abstain it's just so so stupid.

Another great podcast and personally I think the incomings are a B+ love the age of these players as well as the talent and potential. Outgoings D- tough window and we got rid of Willian (he showed some class to just walk away) but Cedric and Kols still here, maybe they both go to Turkey? I can't wait for the Norwich game and to see the almost complete squad. Love the pod and its kept me sane after moving to the USA in Jan 2020. ❤️

Well, on the upside, as a *reads c31ev's message* "little American guy" *attempts to contain laughter*, you can rest assured that we're at least just as bad on this side of the pond

Yeah

facepalm emoji

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There’s a lot of interesting opinions out there …

Paul saying 1 more window next summer at the end of the pod, wtf man and totally avoiding the question at the same time. You are so frustratinf man.

It says a lot about clubs culture when they give a contract extension to an Anti vaccine proponent putting careers of youngsters at risk. No wonder so many in the club have contacted the virus. Something is very rotten with this club and very unprofessional. Iam waiting for someone to blame Arsene Wenger for this as well. According to very many people the great man is responsible for everything rotten at this club eventhough Wenger has made sure even his shadow in not visible at Arsenal in the past 4 years. Good discussions though guys.

Fact check: Are the vaccines in the experimental stage? "This is not true, and likely stems from misinformation shared elsewhere which equates “estimated study completion dates” on clinical trial websites to the actual end dates of clinical trials.  For Pfizer, this estimated date is listed as Jan. 31, 2023 (bit.ly/3vvVPiz), while Moderna is Oct. 27, 2022 (bit.ly/3aSmb6y). However, these dates do not mean clinical trials will continue for this long, and instead reference continued safety monitoring after the vaccine has been approved and rolled out, which is standard practice within the industry. " And ability to transmit virus is not an absolute, i.e. yes or no and that answers the question. Viral load counts have been seen to reduce quicker in people who are double vaccinated when infected with the Delta variant. That is where a shorter quarantine period comes from. Otherwise, a Delta transmission analysis from the UK REACT-1 programme led by Imperial College London showed a lower viral load count for double jabbed people testing positive for the Delta variant in a random population trial.

Love the charitable nature. Despite Arsenal being shit since Highbury got converted to flats. We were cursed then forward

Very kind thanks

Great pod guys especially how you tackled the political issue, it very mature. But let’s get one thing straight, both jabbed and un-jabbed, it’s now being clearly shown that both can carry and spread covid. And if it’s the case of saying it’s not leadership to tell teammates to not get jabbed then it’s the same the opposite way. The real question is how politics is now directly affecting the fairness of the competition by incentivising players to get jabbed so they are allowed to return to action quicker. It’s a difficult situation very much informed by government policy so I understand the context of these calls. But my question to authorities would now be, since half our team just caught covid, can our players be tested for natural antibodies? So if they now come into contact with covid positive cases, they can get the same leeway as jabbed players as they are now fully protected against the latest strain? It’s an innocent question, and xhaka as a sports person who’s body is his business has every right to make this kind of decision on a vaccine that is still at the experimental stage until 2023. I find it weird that the focus should be on sports people like xhaka and not authorities who are now gently discriminating based on medical status and compromising fair competition when the facts are now there. Vaccinated people can also catch and spread covid, so why do they get perks that undermine the integrity of the game?

51:40 looool Clive

Most arsenal pods I have to turn off. Not that they are negative. Just narrow minded and egocentric . You guys give ups downs left and right. Kind of like a sane mind working. The kind of guys you want to meet and debate with. Keep it up!. I'm AFC for ever.

Clive!! ....long posts for the tent. Legendary

I’m Concerned we’ve been the boiling frog and don’t recognize our own talent deficiencies now. We will see

Gents-really enjoying your podcast as ever and your civilized and balanced approach to whatever you discuss is why I’m here. Great combination of views and constructive debates. Thank you!

Really struggle to be as optimistic about the squad as other seem to be. All this talk about strategy for future and signings players of a certain age as some kind of excuse for not signing players that could compete right now. We're horrifically light in midfield and will be scarily short up front next summer when Laca goes and we ultimately look to shift Aubameyang. The failure to sell Granit Xhaka is an absolute failure- and I'm his greatest advocate and have been since he arrived. Could have sold for 15 odd mil and upgraded for 20m in ruben neves. Botman 20m. Aouar. 20m Neves 35m. Bissouma 25m plus Eddy Moussa Dembele 25/in some kind of Laca deal. All those players fit the supposed sub or aged 25 strategy and would automatically improve us. It's an absolute failure of strategic thinking now getting those players for 125m plus offloading likes of Mari El Neny Willian Lacazette Nketiah. We may hope Wolves and Lyon are in dire straits come January time because my word we are going to have to sign 2/3 minimum come the winter window

Yeah and on the racism stuff I think we discussed that at length. And social media abuse. This one just confounds me. Maybe cause I can’t explain it. And Sounds good!

That’s right, you have been unequivocal in the past (e.g. the wage cut) and that was good. I think you can be empathetic about what brings people to what you think are bad decisions about without fence-sitting in the way you did in this epi. Thanks for the reply here, will be back to tweeting at you once our election is over and I can go unlocked again.

Alexander Thistlewood

Tbf we’ve had our say on a variety of political issues where we’ve been unequivocal. Including the pandemic. This one was hard because it feels more nuanced. Clearly there are young people who do not want to get the vaccine and not because they’re wackos. These young athletes have some weird hang up about it. I don’t want to just come out swinging and talking down to them because I genuinely don’t know what they’re thinking. But maybe that’s too empathetic for the situation. I genuinely don’t know the right way to talk about this topic

Yeah fair enough. I think I find myself in the position of knowing what I believe and feel strongly about but not wanting to come off as preachy. Because we are talking about the impact this has on Arsenal specifically.

It’s not complex — get vaccinated. Why are you so afraid of moralizing or politics. FFS! You moralize about the Kroenkes plenty (and rightfully so!).

Alexander Thistlewood

Well done on that pod song/instrumental. Its so good, especially at the end after listening to good content 💆🏽🎸

Thanks for that - we had some concerns. We just wanted to talk about it with sensitivity

Very impressed with the COVID chat by the way. It's a hard, sensitive topic to discuss without judgement (for whatever reason, no matter how you feel), and I think you guys hit the right tone.