100,000 hits for the-cannon.com 13 December, 2006

Yesterday was a big day for The Cannon as the site got it’s 100,000th hit. It’s quite a big milestone for my site and I know in comparison with the bigger blogs that’s nothing and they probably get that in a week, however for my small and fairly new blog, I think that’s quite impressive.

The Cannon was born on 18th May 2006 when I’ve just arrived home after a disappointing trip to Gay Paris. In Paris I met with several well known bloggers and it inspired me to write a website of my own. I didn’t know how long I’d stick with the idea or where it was going but it was something to fill my time. Since then there has been 150 posts (this one being no.151), 748 comments and as I type 100,667 hits. I didn’t think when I started I’d get this far by the end of the year so I’m pretty chuffed; I remember when I got my first hit, that was pretty exciting.

Tonight we make the trip up to Wigan and we should be returning with all 3 points. Toure is back but Rosicky and Gallas are still out and will probably play against Portsmouth on Saturday. Thierry Henry is also out and isn’t expected to be back until after Christmas, the side have proved we can do well without him but luckily our next 6 games are not that tricky.

Tonight I think we should go 4-4-2 with Van Persie and Adebayor up front. Then Across the midfield Ljungberg, Gilberto, Baptista and Hleb. And in Defence Eboue, Djourou, Toure and Clichy. I think Fabregas and/or Flamini should be rested for this one, it’s not showing Wigan any lack of respect because we’ve still got real quality there but Cesc really does need a rest. Also I’d pick Djourou ahead of Senderos but if Wenger will I do not know. The game is on Sky Sports 1 I think but there are still tickets left last time I check so get your arse up to Wigan if you can, it might be a game to remember, you’ll never know. The last one was…

Yesterday I was saying how Bendtner and Lupoli might look away from Arsenal this summer, well today Arsene has said he will not be selling Anthony Stokes or Nicklas Bendtner. I’m sure he’s keen to keep Lupoli too but Arturo has an ambition to play back in Italy and I don’t think Arsene will stop him. Nicklas and Anthony have been doing incredibly well at their respective clubs on loan and Arsene has warned off all the interested parties saying, “They both have a future with us and we want to keep them.” I’m not sure whether the two will be playing in Arsenal’s colours next season or whether they’ll opt for another loan deal but at some stage these two will be important members of our squad.

Alexander Hleb has been saying poor finishing has been our major downfall this season. Alex smashed a shot way over the bar at Stamford Bridge in the final minutes at the weekend and he is probably the main culprit for what he is saying. He is right though, a few games this season we’ve had so many chances but we were unable to stick the ball in the net. Here’s what Alex had to say:

“I have watched United a couple of times. If they have chances, they use them. Their execution is on the highest level. Even if we just converted one out of five chances, we would be right up there with them, even if we weren’t quite on the same level. And we would have had fewer problems in the UEFA Champions League too. Of course we’re the ones to blame for missing from unthinkable positions, though bad luck does play its part too.”

Hopefully that run of luck is over now and hopefully Alex will sort out his shooting. Last season he never shot at all but now he’s got an eye for goal but more than a few times he’s blasted it well off target.

Enjoy the game tonight, thanks for reading. As always a match report to come. Until then.