Boring, Boring Thursdays 28 February, 2008

I’m still not used to having no mid-week game. I mean if it wasn’t for Eduardo’s injury then this place would be a complete ghost town. I was tempted not to write anything tonight but I thought I better try.

So, news…hmm. I guess the biggest news is that Diaby regaining fitness. He’s back in contention for a squad place, which is good seeing as how thin our squad is at the moment. So with him coming back, he injury list looks like this:

Alex Song (knee), Tomas Rosicky (hamstring), Kolo Toure (knee) Johan Djourou (groin), Van Persie (thigh) & Eduardo Da Silva (broken leg).

Toure might be fit for the 2nd leg against Milan, Wenger says, “He looks a little bit early but you never know.” Robin van Persie isn’t a million miles away either but Arsene refuses to put a date on his return:

“We will not rush Robin van Persie back but the news is quite good. It is very difficult to say [when he will be back in the side]. We go step by step. But he should come back into normal training, very, very quickly now. Maybe I am being a little over-cautious in my statements but I do not want to put any special pressure on him. But the fact that Eduardo is out is one more reason to [get him back].

I was hoping he might be back for Milan, we should be aiming to get a goal out in Italy but it’s going to be either Bendtner or Walcott partnering Adebayor who have hardly proved themselves this season. However after these comments I very much doubt Robin will be back. It’d be nice to see him in the squad but I’m with Wenger, he shouldn’t be rushed just for the sake of it; we did that earlier in the season and he just got injured again.

There’s been a bit of news about Usmanov this week. He’s slightly increased his shares to just over 25% which means he now has a ‘blocking stake’; Arsenal.com explains what that means. Red &White (a.k.a. Fat & Orange) have said they’re not trying to take over the club but it is very worrying when he increases his stake.

The board have set up that lockdown agreement, which means a takeover would be impossible but it still has to concern you. It’s one of those things that’s going to develop over the next few years and as a fan I can only sit back and watch. However I read today that he’s started buying into another club (some Russian or German team or something I can’t remember), which must be a sign that he’s losing interest in his Arsenal bid.

Theo Walcott’s been talking about his England U21 team mate Gabriel Agbonlahor, Eduardo’s injury and his first Premier League goals at the weekend. Agbonlahor is a decent player and we’ll have to keep an eye on him on Saturday, he’s quick and doesn’t give up easily; he can give us problems if we don’t pay attention.

I’ll preview the Villa game properly tomorrow evening. It’s a massive game for us now; we have to get back on track after last weekend’s disappointment. Speak to you tomorrow.