All set to play for Arsenal reserves tonight. Stories going about Arsenal are to offer him some sort of contract aswell.

Good or bad thing? Cant do no harm can it letting him stop till the end of the season as a back up at the very worst


Reckon he's good enough for the premiership still? Not so sure myself

Not for arsenals level I wouldnt have thought. not sure whats going on here though. apparently there was a story on arsenals website saying he'd signed for them but was then it was taken down?

then again I did get told this by a spurs fan...

Sol back at the Arse.

Old habits etc ..

In his last game for Notts County he was skinned all afternoon by the Macclesfield centre forward. Now in his defence he'll say that his mind was elsewhere but in reality he's now a bucket of shite..

He's in talks to sign.

He was massively overweight when he made that appearance against Morecombe, but I saw a picture of Arsenal training in the snow last week and Sol looks lean and very fit. He's lost a lot of pace though, which is a problem for him - and there remains questions about his mental state, but he's been training at Arsenal for 4 months, so Arsene has had plenty of time to look at him. Indeed in October Arsene said there was "no way" he would re-sign Sol, so he must have been very impressed.

If he's anywhere near fit then I'm more confident about him playing for us if one of our centre backs get injured than I am about Silvestre or Senderos (who would appear to be on his way out if Sol is about to sign).

It would be a bit like Owen to United - almost a no risk signing.

hmm, but a dodgy centre back can be more of a calamity than a dodgy striker woudln't you agree?

Exactly. Doubt he`ll add more to Arsenal`s defence then Tweety can at the moment.

Not if said dodgy centre back isn't starting. Which he won't.

And if Arsenal have really got him fit then Sol won't be dodgy even if he has to play. He's still got great defensive instinct.

The other factor that Arsene seems to be considering here is Sol's influence. He keeps talking about him as a "winner" and he is certainly more of a leader than anyone we have in our squad at the moment. His influence on some of the younger players can only be a good thing.

He's definitely got more to offer than Silvestre in my mind. Sol at his best was a world class centre half, which Silvestre never was - if he's needed and he's fit and mentally stable I'd have no worries about him playing for us.

I'm still undecided. after he walked out at halftime when we were playing Wet sHam. he has a mental state i'm not sure we can trust. If he wants to he can just walk away again.

brilliant signing. reasons...

1) as stated about a zillion times... he's an old head with a great attitude. good for the arsenal youth to gain experience off.

2) he's english.

3) he wont play in the big games. if vermaelen and/or gallas get injured... we'll drop Song in the hole, i'd think.

4) would you not have him as 4th CB in your squad? i sure would.

5) excellent in the air.

6) arsenal semi-legend.

They showed a clip of him on SSN last night, it that was fit and lean then so am I.

He went for a diving header and when he landed the telly nearly fell off the table.

after training with arsenal for over a month now, i really doubt wenger would let him sign if he were a) utter crap, b) expensive on the wage bill, c) not fit.

i will refuse to listen to any criticism of him until he's pulled on a first team shirt and put a 90 minutes in.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footba ... l?ITO=1490

... he wont be playing for england though.

Why did he sign Francis Jeffers then.

To get a better satellite reception?

Because, for the only time in his career as Arsenal manager - he listened to the idiots. He signed a "fox in the box" and then realised there was nowhere in our system for him. And to be fair to the lad he did suffer 2 serious injuries as well. Everyone's allowed the odd mistake.

And he didn't have Jeffers in training everyday for 3 months did he? Which I think was Greggo's point.

What idots? You sure he didnt just make a bad call of his own for a change. Just interested to know who the idiots are

To listen to Gooners you'd think Wenger had never made a bad signing, I'll give him credit he's mad some cracking signings, Henry and Anelka especially but for every one of them there is a Pennant and a Danilevicius.

Wonder what "idiot" told him to sign the keeper he's playing as his number1. He's suspect to say the least.

Danilevicius, really?

Wenger is fantastic in the transfer market, hence he gets forgiven for mistakes. Also for if we get a Henry for every Pennant (who we ended up making money on), that hardly sounds like the worst deal.

We don't say he never makes mistakes, he just makes very few compared to what he brings in and blows most top managers out of the water in terms of making a little money go far.

Although the Almunia thing is fair, keeper doesn't seem to be much of a strong point for his eye for talent.

I honestly think Jeffers was panic buy. We'd just battered Liverpool in the cup final and missed a bag full of chances and lost 2-1 and everyone and their dog was crying out for him to buy a "fox in the box" and for once I think Wenger panicked and was swayed and we bought Jeffers 3 weeks later. He soon realised though that you couldn't play him without making Henry play deeper and negating our best player. Then as I say Jeffers got injured and any idea that he could have been a kind of impact sub was gone as well.

As for Almunia, he's a decent goalkeeper (not a great one admittedly) who is going through a crisis of confidence in my view. He's been one of our best players the past 2 seasons, and whilst I accept that he's having a total mare at the moment to get a goalkeeper of his ability for £2million is certainly not a bad buy.

His only real expensive flops both came that summer - 2001, when he signed Jeffers and Wright. There have been others who haven't quite justified price tags, but the likes of Wiltord and Reyes still made valuable contributions, if not consistently enough. And there certainly is NOT a bad buy for every good one.

i'm confused by this post, eric?!

you can not compare a free-signing centre back sol campbell with an expensive forward of franny jeffers.

a) when we signed jeffers he actually wasn't 'utter crap'.. he looked good for everton. it just never worked out - and i guess, thus proving throughout his career there is a significant lack of talent (to be a prem player at least)

b) wenger never got to look at him in training for a month

now, on wenger's signings.... cygan was ropey, grimandi probably was too, jeffers was awful, reyes wasnt up to much, richard wright was crap, inamoto did nothing, nelson vivas was pretty poor too. apart from that... and another 50+ signings in his time... i dare say he probably has the best transfer record in the prem. give or take, David Moyes who i believe is absolutely excellent too.

poorest in prem? rafa.