Anyone bored of the transfer window yet? 26 June, 2008

Well I am.

I just want the football to start again. I’m fed up with all the transfer rumours, I just can’t wait to be building up to games again. Both the rumours for, and against us, I just wish transfers would hurry up and there not be so much build up to them. Just get on with it and lets start playing football!

Wenger reckons the reason everyone wants our players is because they work so well together and points out the win over Milan as the point when people started paying attention to us. He explains that in one way the win was really good for us, but now everybody wants to buy of players!

It is very frustrating seeing Adebayor, Fabregas, Hleb, Flamini etc from last season being linked with moves away. True or not, it isn’t nice to see your top players on the back pages apparently moving to other clubs. Arsene says this speculation “disturbed” us in the dressing room.

Cesc is also fed up with the way people treat our players, and commends Arsenal for the way we deal with our transfers. Fabregas was speaking on Spanish radio when the topic of transfers came up:

A club like Barcelona must respect a little more the intimacy of a club that never makes ‘noise’ and that tries to do things well like Arsenal. In the last few weeks it’s come out that Barcelona want at least 7 players from Arsenal and this is not necessary. These things cast doubts on our players and upsets them.

Arsenal do things in a different way. Always in secret. This is much more normal.

[translation thanks to Arseblog.com]

It’s not just Barcelona that does this, in fact most of the top clubs work in that way to unsettle players, and it’s not very classy. What a legend Cesc is though. He speaks like the common Gooner, with the fan’s interests at heart. He is most definitely an Arsenal man; he knows what we’re about, what we’re made of, what the players mean to the fans. I bet if he lost both legs in a ski-jump accident tomorrow he’d be straight onto the terraces, singing the songs. Well, he’d have to be crowd-surfed to his seat or something but I’m sure we wouldn’t mind doing that.

If you’re still feeling Cescy, in that article Arseblogger goes into more detail of how much a God Cesc is. I’m with him on making Cesc the new captain.

Miguel Veloso’s agent says we’ve shown interest in his player. Cool. The 22-year-old is highly rated and has just been at Euro 2008 with Portugal, obviously he didn’t get any headlines being on the same team as Ronaldo, but apparently lots of clubs are looking at the Sporting Lisbon midfielder. More on that if it develops.

Tomas Rosicky has finally come off crutches. To be honest, I didn’t even know he was on them but he says he “was strictly ordered not to make a single movement without the crutches” and for the first time yesterday he was able to walk free. He says his knee is still stiff and he’s now flying back to London to go onto a rehabilitation process. There’s no way you can set a time scale on a Rosicky injury, I just hope this time he makes it through it ok. Get well soon Tomas!

Ok that’s it for tonight. Won’t get a chance to speak to you tomorrow so I’ll see you Saturday, until then.

Nasri Signs! Oh wait, no, no he hasn’t sorry. 24 June, 2008

Last night on Samir Nasri’s official website he announced his £15m move to Arsenal on a four year deal. However, that was quickly taken off, and his site (here, if you can speak French) had been down with ‘Service Unavailable’ until this afternoon when it was brought back online.

The player’s agent says the deal hasn’t been done yet and it would be wrong to announce anything yet:

“Discussions are continuing between the two clubs and the player. Nothing has been finalised, no element of the transfer has been finalised and everybody is still talking. It is premature to announce anything at all.”

Fair enough, if true. However it seems that after the move being revealed on Nasri’s site, you’d think there was some truth in it. I’ve heard that Marseille don’t want us to tell anyone we’ve signed him yet. This could be because they want to secure a replacement before they start to worry fans. I don’t really blame them for that.

That might not be true though. If you want to look at it with the glass half empty, then you could suggest that talks have broken down at the last minute, Nasri is still very much a Marseille player and we’re yet to come to an agreement.

However, I see it that the transfer isn’t officially done yet, but both teams have agreed the move. I reckon there is just the last little bit of paperwork to sort out, if that. As I said, I don’t really mind if Marseille want us to hang on a bit before we announce anything, as long as we get our player in the end that’s fine!

So we’re still waiting on this one, it’s been a very long process, but it does look like we’re getting somewhere.

I told you the other day that Gael Clichy signed a new contract, well he’s come out today saying he’s “super happy” to be staying at Arsenal. He says he was aware that three top Italian sides where chasing him, but he wasn’t interested in them and was completely focussed on staying in North London.

Apparently, Panathinaikos, Valencia and Juventus are all looking at signing Gilberto Silva if he were to become available this summer. He’s currently on holiday at the moment but when he returns later this month he’s going to sit down and think about his future. I know Arsene wants to keep him, he is a useful player. I don’t know what the manager’s plans for him next season are though. A couple of years ago he was a vital part of our midfield but last year Flamini had an excellent season and Gilberto couldn’t even get in the side.

There is a possibility of Gilberto coming straight back in after Flamini’s departure. Wenger will be keen to see what sort of condition the Brazilian captain is in. If he can get back to that form of the 06/07 season, then he would be a fantastic replacement. We’ll have to wait and see.

Arsene’s been talking about Andrei Arshavin after the recent speculation of interest from Arsenal. Wenger says that he admires the player very much, but he has never met him or approached him. I think his price tag might’ve put Wenger off but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him playing in England next year. The player himself has said he’d love to play in Spain (especially Barca) but hasn’t received any offers. He’s definitely leaving Russia though so we’ll keep an eye on where he does end up.

That about it for today. Keep your eyes glued on samirnasri.fr incase they make another little slip. Speak to you soon.

New Squad Numbers 23 June, 2008

Not a lot going on, as usual. However the official squad list for the new season has been announced and there have been a few changes and new additions. Here’s the list in full:

1. Manuel ALMUNIA
2. Abou DIABY
3. Bacary SAGNA
4. Francesc FABREGAS
5. Kolo TOURE
6. Philippe SENDEROS
7. Tomas ROSICKY
9. EDUARDO Da Silva
10. William GALLAS
11. Robin VAN PERSIE
12. Carlos VELA
13. Alexander HLEB
15. DENILSON
16. Aaron RAMSEY
17. Alexandre SONG
19. GILBERTO
20. Johan DJOUROU
21. Lukasz FABIANSKI
22. Gael CLICHY
24. Vito MANNONE
25. Emmanuel ADEBAYOR
26. Nicklas BENDTNER
27. Emmanuel EBOUE
30. Armand TRAORE
31. Justin HOYTE
32. Theo WALCOTT

So, Almunia’s been given the no.1 jersey after Lehmann’s departure; I bet Jens will be chuffed with that. You’ll remember that Manuel was no.24 last season, now Vito Mannone has taken his shirt. Wenger always said it’d be a 1-2-3 of Almunia, Fabianski and Mannone so it is no surprise to me that those two have been ‘upgraded’.

Our two new additions have been chosen their new numbers; Aaron Ramsey will take Flamini’s old 16 shirt and Carlos Vela is no.12.

That still leaves no.8 and no.14 left to fill. Will they keep 14 redundant as a mark of respect to Henry? Or will we see Samir Nasri take Ljungberg’s old number? Only time will tell. You can see The Cannon’s updated squad pages by clicking here. I haven’t made an image for Vela yet, I’m waiting for a decent photo of him, but that should be all up to date now.

I suppose the top story at the moment is Cesc Fabregas scoring the winning penalty against Italy to send Spain through to the Euro 2008 semis. The game finished 0-0 after extra time and Cesc was the hero. Arsenal.com say Cesc has never taken a penalty before in a professional game, which at first I though sounded ridiculous, but when you think about it I don’t really ever remember him taking one. Well he’s scored one now, sending Buffon the wrong way.

Cesc started on the bench, again. However his impact was tremendous for Spain. Both sides were lacking creativity until his introduction and he almost helped Spain win it in open play; it was only right the deciding penalty came down to him.

If the Spanish manager had any sense, he’d start him in the Semi Final against Russia. But he doesn’t so expect to see Fabregas on the bench again; I’m not bothered, less chance of him getting injured there.

I had Italy in the work sweepstakes, but when Cesc stepped up for that penalty I was always going to be supporting him. My other team was Germany though so I’m still in it!

And finally, Emmanuel Adebayor has come third in Arsenal.com’s player of the season award. You might remember that I named him my player of the season in The Cannon’s end of season awards. I’m guessing  that Cesc must be the Arsenal.com winner; he had a fantastic season too.

So that now means it’s ‘Adebayor Week’ on the official website. Lets hope the top story isn’t him signing for AC Milan.

See you later.

I’m fed up with all the speculation 22 June, 2008

In recent years, the summer has just been a media frenzy for transfer speculation. It’s just got to an incredible level with the wildest claims and ridiculous ideas. Players are constantly being linked with moves away when most of the time it couldn’t be less true. Then their current clubs are forced to move to secure their player, which in turn sees an increase in salaries.

Before too long, the media are going to ruin football. I mean, you could argue they’ve done their fair bit already, but if things just keep escalating, God knows what’ll happen.

What annoys me is the laziness off some articles, published purely to disturb a player with an entirely un-true claim. Adebayor has come out twice saying he’s staying at Arsenal but that hasn’t stopped the rumours. What’s it going to take? For Ade to sign a new deal? So are all our top players going to need a new contract each summer to secure their place?

It’s crazy.

Maybe there are some truths in the Adebayor story. At first I was just ignoring them but you can’t get away from it. I suppose we need him to come out again saying, “Look, fuck off. I’m not leaving.”

Or maybe he is tempted by a move. I wouldn’t blame him. AC Milan and Barcelona are apparently fighting over him; it’s must be very flattering. God knows what he’s thinking, I know he loves Arsenal and wants to stay but this might be too tempting; it’s a test of character.

Arsene says he’ll do all he can to keep our players. And so he should. There’s a chance we could go into next season without Flamini, Hleb and Adebayor, three important players from last season.

There’s nothing we can do but sit back and see what happens. I just wish everyone would shut up and stop speculating. It’s very unsettling.

In other news, Andrei Arshavin wants to leave Zenit St Petersburg according to their coach. We were linked with him before the Euros, and he’s had an excellent tournament so far. He’s certainly caught the interest of many clubs, but I don’t think he is a player we’ll sign.

Right that’s enough depressions for today. Hopefully come the morning we’ll have an apology from the world’s media and everyone lives happily ever after without constant stress of players leaving. That said, who’s not enjoying the Ronaldo to Madrid saga? Thanks for reading.

Happy Friday 20 June, 2008

It’s the weekend people!

Sorry I haven’t been very busy on the site this week, but in reality, news has been pretty quiet too. The Adebayor to Milan stories have taken off and the other day I finally gave in to it and I’m starting to get a little bit worried.

AC Milan seem obsessed by our top scorer for last season and have said it’s him or nothing. They’re not actually in the market for a striker, but they’ve admitted that they’d love to have a talent such as Ade playing for them. It’s a great compliment to Manu, but I hope it only goes as far as that, and that he’s not actually interested. He’s come out twice saying he’s staying at Arsenal, but Milan just aren’t giving up.

They revealed that they have approached us about him, but Wenger has told them where to shove it:

“We have received an answer from Arsenal, which says they are not prepared to sell the player. Anything can happen, but for now we are not authorised to negotiate with the player.”

The media have been talking about it and a lot of people are under the impression that talks were going on between Ade and Milan but that quote gives me some confidence. From my understanding, the only way that they would be able to approach Adebayor, was if the player himself was to hand in a transfer request.

I know he’s staying, but these stories are worrying me. I believe Ade when he says he’s committed to Arsenal, but this constant bombardment from Milan, which is intensified by the media isn’t helping. Also, last season I was so sure that Henry was staying; I was positive he would spend the rest of his career at Arsenal despite the speculation, and in the end he left. Well I keep getting reminded of that and I hope that won’t be the case with Ade.

Enough bad news, it’s too depressing for a Friday. Gael Clichy has signed a new long-term contract. This comes straight off the back off reports that other clubs our interested in our left back. I love Gael, and I was really happy when I heard about this earlier. He was the best left back in the best league in the world last year and he still looks like he’s improving. Nice one Clichy, those other clubs can keep on dreaming.

Alex Hleb still hasn’t left yet. However, Barcelona claim talks are in progress. Hurry up then.

And that’s about it. I’ve got to go now anyway, I’m actually off down to Arsenal for a couple of beers with some of the guys I go to football with, looking forward to that. Haven’t been down there this summer yet. Right, I will speak to you tomorrow; I hope there’s something to talk about. Thanks for reading.

News Update 17 June, 2008

Hello again. The blog has been very quiet over the weekend so I suppose I better just get straight on with the news I’ve missed.

The Aaron Ramsey move has been officially done and he is now an Arsenal player. Just before I went away it was revealed that he would be joining us but now it’s all done and dusted.

His number hasn’t been released yet. I have a feeling he might pick 14, or maybe he’ll take Flamini’s old no.16 shirt. Actually, no.1 is available now too, if he fancies that?

Here’s what Aaron had to say on the move:

I’m so happy to have signed for Arsenal. I am joining one of the biggest clubs in the world and can’t wait to meet my new team mates. I recently met with Arsène Wenger and he was a big factor in my decision to join Arsenal. He talked to me for a long time about the Club and the plans for the future, which really excites me. Arsenal is a Club which always gives young players an opportunity at the highest level of the game and I am going to work my hardest to be part of future successes here.

It was a really difficult decision to leave Cardiff City, they are my local club with great supporters and I would just like thank everyone at Cardiff City for their support and help in my early career. I will still look out for their results and there will always be a place in my heart for the Bluebirds.

There’s also the usual stuff from Arsene here about how he’s an exciting prospect and a great addition blah blah blah.

So that’s all done then. I’m quite looking forward to seeing him play to be honest. I think he’ll certainly have an important role in the Carling Cup squad but I wonder if he’ll get a chance in the Premiership. I doubt Wenger would chuck him straight into the deep end but if we’re low on numbers he could be called in as he can play all over the pitch.

Also, next season’s Premiership fixtures where announced while I was gone. I forgot they were out this weekend. I always look forward to this day every summer because it feels one step closer to the new season and start planning the games.

I suppose the one thing that grabs your attention in the fixtures is our difficult run in; our final six games are:

18/04/09 – Liverpool (A)
25/04/09 – Middlesbrough (H)
02/05/09 – Portsmouth (A)
09/05/09 – Chelsea (H)
16/05/09 – Manchester United (A)
24/05/09 – Stoke City (H)

And those would be played around FA Cup and Champions League Quarter Finals and Semi Finals, if we were to make it that far. It’ll be make or break really; if we’re still in the title race with a few weeks to go, then it’ll certainly be decided in this set of fixtures. Or if we do really well, it would be nice to have the title wrapped up in April for once! On the other hand, maybe it’s not the Premier League title on our agenda when we approach these set of games. Who knows?

Also, November looks like it could be a tricky month. We play Stoke (A), Man United (H), Aston Villa (H), Man City (A) and Chelsea (A) with Liverpool and Portsmouth, both at home in December. Could be long winter or a very happy one.

Our first game of the season is against West Brom at home and we play Spurs at home on 28th October and away on 7th February.

That’s about it as far as news goes. Obviously there are other stories that were floating about but nothing really worth me re-capping. A lot of stuff linking Adebayor to Milan, STILL. Just ignore it, seriously.

For those of you who care how my holiday in Amsterdam was, it was fun. A good laugh and a well deserved break! Holland vs. France was good; I dressed up all in orange (as did a lot of other English people out there in the end) and joined in with the banter. It felt so good going out to be a football fan again, I miss it so much! In the end Holland won 4-1 (I had to double check that, I was a just a little bit pissed) with van Persie getting on the score sheet.

I actually ordered a Holland shirt off the internet for the game, but I didn’t think far enough ahead and unfortunately it didn’t arrive in time for my trip. However it was waiting for me here when I arrived home. The generous guys at SoccerPro.com gave me this great new Dutch away shirt. You can check the product out here. I quite like the shirt, I’ve always wanted a Holland shirt and their past few kits have been pretty decent. I’ve finally got one and I know straight away what I’m doing with it: going down into London and getting ‘Bergkamp 10′ on the back.

Hopefully, this should be the start of a good relationship between SoccerPro.com and The Cannon. They contacted me a little while ago about the possibility of doing a bit of a partnership and I’ve just received the first product. So basically, look forward to competitions and offers every once in a while. They do all sorts of football stuff, everything you could need from boots to shirts to training gear. Go check them out and I’ll keep you updated on the competitions etc. For now anyway, this shirt is all for me!

Right, that’s your lot for today. Thanks for reading, speak to you soon.

I’m off for a bit 11 June, 2008

I’ve been working my arse off recently and I’m off for a weekend break. I’m going to Amsterdam for a few days tomorrow morning so the blog is going to be very quiet. I just thought I’d let you know.

It’s Holland vs. France while I’m out there, which should be fun. I’ll have to find a decent sports bar to watch that one in. I doubt I’ll be updating the blog whilst I’m away, if I find an internet cafe, I might check up on what’s going on but I don’t think I’ll have time to write something. Maybe, you never know.

Anyway, lets get on with the news then shall we?

Yesterday I told you that Aaron Ramsey has chosen Arsenal as his next club, instead of Man United, Everton or Liverpool and he’s spoken for the first time about the move. He says it’s an honour to be joining us and realises there’s work to do once he gets here. He also thanked Cardiff for bringing him up and he said he’ll never forget them.

Also, Cardiff’s chairman, Peter Ridsdale has spoken about the move saying that David Gill, Manchester United’s chief executive was quite disappointed at not signing the youngster. Ha. Also, he says we’ve sent him a ‘thank you’ email. Ok then.

Still nothing announced on Arsenal.com yet, not even an acknowledgment that a deal is being done. Something will probably come up over the weekend and hopefully it’s the confirmation that he’s all officially signed up.

In Euro 2008, Spain beat Russia 4-1 last night in group D. Cesc Fabregas didn’t start but he came off the bench to score his first international goal. Here’s what Cesc said:

It means a lot to me, the first goal in 27 games. It was time.

Well done to him. It wasn’t really a typical Fabregas goal; It was on offside, open-goal, header, which came from a rebound. His name still goes down on the score sheet though and he’ll be pleased with that.

However last night’s show belonged to David Villa, who scored a hat trick. We were linked with him at the start of the summer and now Cesc wants Arsene to bring Villa to Arsenal:

He would be amazing for the English league. I would like to have him in my team because as you can see he can make the difference.

He’s an amazing player. He has mobility, he scores goals. He plays well at the back of defenders, in front of them, he’s a tremendous player.

However, thanks to last night’s performance, his price tag has now just doubled. We all knew it would happen. If Wenger was serious about signing him, he would’ve done it before the Euros. If we were to somehow get him now, it’d be incredible, but I’m not expecting anything at all.

Robin van Persie has said that Holland’s performance against Italy reminded him of Arsenal. It’s true, they did play very quick, counter attacking and skilful football. The only missing element was an injury to Robin himself. There’s always next game I suppose.

And Hleb has told the media to leave him alone and stop bugging him about his future. Awww. Sorry Alex.

Ok, so that’s you updated for today. I’m back on Monday night so I’ll speak to you on Tuesday. It shouldn’t be too busy in the next few days. Ramsey’s transfer will probably get sorted. Actually, now I’ve said that he’ll probably change his mind and go to United. Anyway, speak to you next week. Thanks for reading.

Ramsey chooses Arsenal & I love Carlos Vela 10 June, 2008

This morning it was announced on Cardiff’s website that Aaron Ramsey has chosen Arsenal out of all the top clubs after him. Man United, Everton, Liverpool and us were all in the race to sign the Welsh youngster but we’ve won the fight. It’s understood that Aaron chose us because Wenger told him that he’d get a chance in the first team, whereas other moves involved a loan move back to Cardiff for next season.

When the news broke this morning on Sky Sports News I have to admit I kind of celebrated…The way that this signing has been completed has made it more of a competition between clubs to be honest. The fact that Man United pretty much revealed that they’d signed him on their website, for him to go and meet Arsene and want to join us, makes it hilarious.

United really wanted him, but no. Ha! Do we really need him? Have we got enough 17-year-olds? Who cares! We beat United to him and made them look like idiots. But seriously, this guy is a great talent as plays in an area where we are seriously lacking.

Yes, he’s not going to go straight into the side and be the best player we’ve ever seen; he is one for the future. He’s certainly got the talent though. Nothing’s been announced on Arsenal.com today, but you know how slow they are, this signing is happening though, and he will be our player once we’ve sorted all the paperwork out with Cardiff. I heard £5m mentioned on the radio, but we’ll find out all that stuff at a later date.

WE’VE SIGNED SOMEONE! HURRAH!

Carlos Vela is currently with the Mexico squad and he’s been talking about his team mate Giovanni Dos Cuntos Santos who has just completed a big money move from Barcelona to Spurs. So now, obviously, he hates the little bastard and has come out with these brilliant quotes:

“I am happy for him. I hope things go well for him at Tottenham, that he gets the minutes he wasn’t given at Barcelona and that he shows what he can do.

He is a very good player and let’s hope he can then move on to a better team.

Bwhaha! Carlos you legend. Give him that no.14 shirt. No wait, give him the armband, that’s the kind of spirit we need right here. Carlos went on to say he’s going to break his leg, and enjoy it.

Gary Lewin has left Arsenal to join England on a full-time basis. Gary has been brilliant for Arsenal and football in general saving careers (Eduardo) and even lives (John Terry, I’m still not sure why he didn’t just leave him though). Gary’s been our Physio for nearly 30 years and has been serving his country for 12.

He really is a great professional and someone who was really liked by everyone at Arsenal. Chants of: “There’s only on Gary Lewin” were no uncommon at matches. This is a great opportunity for Gary so nobody wants to stand in his way. He’ll remain at Arsenal for our pre-season preparations but will join up with England, for good, from 1st August. We’re going to have to find a decent replacement because being the Arsenal physio is a busy job! I’m sure Gary will help us find his replacement. Good luck.

Looks like its not just Barca that want Alex Hleb. Bayern Munich are apparently interested in putting in a bid for the midfielder. Cool.

Alex Song’s been given a new contract. He did well last season when given the chance and it looks like Wenger was right about this guy. Hopefully he continues improving, because I still feel he has a little way to go yet. Well deserved new deal though, nice one Alex.

And finally, Theo Walcott has reminded us that he want first team football next season. Theo is a player who is on the up too. Hopefully he’ll get some more games ahead of Eboue this season and given the chance to shine. I have a feeling though that he’ll have more of a striking role this season, especially with our current injury situation. However, it seems competition for places next season is going to be fiercer than ever.

That’s it for today. I will speak to you tomorrow and then I’m off for the weekend I’m afraid. Thanks for reading.

Eduardo, Vieira, Vela + other Euro news 9 June, 2008

There’s quite a few little stories today, which is nice. So I’m just going to get on with it.

Croatia manager Slaven Bilic has said that Eduardo could even join up with Arsenal for pre-season training. Croatia knocked England out of the qualifiers, with the help of Eduardo, but they had to go to the Euros without their star player.

Bilic admits that Da Silva’s absence is a big ‘handicap’ for their side but admires the way he has recovered from his injury. At the time, the broken leg looked terrible and possibly career threatening. A week later, a timescale of about early 2009 was put on his return. Now, there’s a possibility of Eduardo returning to light training as early as next month.

It’s remarkable really, but I’m still not counting on anything. It’s nice to hear he’s recovering well but I do hope we don’t rush him. I’m still looking towards nearer Christmas time, for him, rather than the start of the season.

Another big story that caught my eye today involved Patrick Vieira. The Daily Star reckons that Arsenal Fan, Harry Redknapp is looking to bring the Gunner-veteran to Pompey, for four million pounds. It would be great to see Paddy back in the Premiership. I don’t think any Gooner would feel betrayed, but more excited about the next game verses Portsmouth. Cue 90 minutes of: “VIEIRA…WOAH-OH-OH-OH-OH! VIEIRA…WOAH-OH-OH-OH-OH! He comes from Senegal! He played for Arsenal!”

However, that story did come from the Daily Star website. So, yeah…

It’s not just the Euros going on this summer; In South America there are World Cup Qualifiers to prepare for. Mexico have been warming up with a few friendlies and last night Carlos Vela got on the score sheet against Peru. He scored one and made one in the 4-0 win and looked lively according to Young Guns’ match report.

Now, the Euros. Cesc has hit back at the critics after the bad press he’s been getting back home in Spain. Despite being given the legendary no.10 Spain shirt for the tournament, there’s talk he might be on the bench for their opening game against Russia tomorrow.

Cesc says he has always tried his best for Spain and given everything in his two years of being in the squad. He also explains that Spain and Arsenal play a different system and he does everything he can to try and adapt. If you want to read the full quotes then click here.

The other day I said that van Persie might be a bit short for Holland’s opener against Italy tonight. However, Arjen Robben has picked up an injury which might force Robin into action:

It’s an option to start with Van Persie but we don’t want to make our opponents any wiser than they already are. Robin gives the impression he is fit and so the time for him to be ready to start is coming near.

I do hope they don’t play Robin if he isn’t fully fit, because we all know what the result of that one is. I’ve got my fingers crossed for tonight. I will be watching, should be a good game. We can all catch our breath once the final whistle has gone if Robin has made it through alive. Good Luck, Son.

Wow, a busy day of news for once! Now tomorrow’s going to be dead, just watch. Until then.

Lazy Sunday 8 June, 2008

I can’t remember the last Sunday where I was completely free from any sort of work and had the day to do whatever I want. So I’m going to go and play football seeing as the sun’s out for once.

Thought I’d better do a quick update though. There’s not a great deal going on today. I suppose the big news Arsenal-wise at the moment is that Aaron Ramsey has now met with Arsene Wenger. He flew out to Switzerland to meet with Le Boss this weekend after being with Man United this week. We will really see the kind of character this guy has by which club he chooses to go to this summer.

If it’s Everton, he proves that it’s not all about the money. If it’s Arsenal, then it shows he has ambition and belief to get into a top side where a position is available if he fights for it. Or if it’s Man United, it proves that he’s an utter cunt and shall rot in hell for his sins. It’s a big choice.

Here’s what Cardiff chairman Peter Ridsdale had to say after speaking to Aaron on Friday:

He told me he’d had a great day at United and was on his way to see Arsene. After that, the final decision is up to the boy. Aaron spoke to Sir Alex Ferguson before visiting United. He’s a sensible lad and will listen to what Arsene has to say.

To me, that sounds like he favours United, but this was before he met Arsene. As everyone knows, the decision is totally up to him. Hopefully we’ll find out something next week.

As I said, Arsene is currently in Switzerland, at Euro 2008, but he’s still been talking Arsenal and saying that he might only be at the club for another 3 years. His contract expires in 2011 and he says he has no idea what he’ll do after that. I remember when it was his 10th anniversary at Arsenal, he said he doubts that he’ll do another 10 years. That’s fair enough but it is worrying.

Everybody* loves Arsene and nobody* wants him to go but I think we all know that he won’t be around forever. He has still got 3 years left, at least. So lets see what happens in three years time, yeah? Ok.

Arsene’s been talking about Cesc.

And that’s about it. Have a good Sunday. I’ll leave you with this video I’ve been given, about William Gallas. Thanks for reading.

* There are some fans that dislike Wenger. They are a minority though and I really believe they should have a long think about what he’s done for this club.

Wenger: “Back off, yeah” 6 June, 2008

The ‘speculation’ (if you can even call it that) over Adebayor’s future has got some attention with week and Today Arsene has come out basically telling those clubs interested in our top players, they can fuck off (*MilancoughMilan*). Here’s what he had to say:

I don’t know why I have to reassure them [the fans] – Fabregas will be at Arsenal next season. It is obvious to me and there is no doubt in my mind.”

Adebayor is under a firm contract that he extended last year. If Milan are interested in Adebayor, they just have to call me and they will get the answer they deserve.”

Basically, what Wenger is trying to say to AC Milan, and all the little shits there, looks something like this:

Their manager came out recently saying that Adebayor is one of their top targets for this summer. Why would he do that? What a knob. Obviously he’s just fuelling the press and trying to make the fans get excited. AC Milan is a classy club, but this isn’t: Shut up mate.

Arsene has been a bit cheeky saying “they will get the answer they deserve”. I said yesterday that I wasn’t worried about Ade leaving, he’s said a few times this summer that he’s going nowhere and Sky Sports have re-posted those quotes here. ‘Re-posted’ you ask? Yep, he said it a little while ago on Arsenal.com; shows how little news there is at the moment.

Robin van Persie has been talking about Holland’s chances in Euro 2008. However his manager has said he won’t make their opening game against Italy on Monday.

There’s not much going on today either, so just a quick post tonight. I doubt I’ll get a chance to write something tomorrow so I thought I’d better tonight. Happy Friday.

Yawn 5 June, 2008

I wish I never promised to write something tonight. There is literally nothing going on and I’m really not in the blogging sort of mood either. I’m staying true to my word though and attempting a blog post.

There’s been a miracle in Switzerland. Van Persie is back in training for Holland. I’m just praying he manages to go through the whole tournament without getting injured again. It would be good if Robin has a great Euro 2008, injury-free, and comes back to Arsenal full of confidence and at full-fitness.

However, because his record is so bad, I’m very much the pessimist at the moment. The thought of him back playing football horrifies me because I know it’s only a matter of time before he’s back in the treatment room. My fingers are tightly crossed for the next month. Click here for the manager’s thoughts and Robin’s own opinion on his fitness.

Right, erm, in other news….

Philippe Senderos has been talking about his chances for the Euros.

AC Milan say Adebayor is their top target this summer. Whatever. Ade’s already come out twice saying he’s staying put and that’s good enough for me. The Telegraph are reporting that he’s agreed a move. I’ve never heard such rubbish. I would be absolutely gutted if Emmanuel left but at the moment I really don’t think he’s going to.

That’s really about it for today. I guess many of you will have had a leaflet in the post this morning from Nike about our new kit. Still unsure on it, needs more white on the sleeves but I guess it’s not that bad. Still not been released on Arsenal.com, but you know how slow they are.

I’m off to bed now, fucking knackered. Speak to you tomorrow, but I’m not promising that this time.

What’ve Lehmann, Sagna, Adams & Ramsey got in common? 4 June, 2008

They’ve all given me something to write about!

Evening people, sorry I haven’t updated the site in a little while, I haven’t had the chance, but at least now I have some news to talk about. In these past couple of days, there hasn’t been a signing unfortunately. However Wenger has said that the Nasri deal couldn’t be done before EURO 2008, which is a bit annoying. Don’t listen to some tabloids that are saying it didn’t happen because we wouldn’t pay him enough. It’s because he’s committed to France at the moment and can’t leave their training ahead of the tournament now.

It’s a shame because knowing our luck he’ll go and have a brilliant tournament bumping the price up. Wenger avoided this 4 years ago when he signed Rosicky before he played in the competition. He went on to perform well for Czech Republic and made a bit of a name for himself. Had we not signed him before, then his signing on fee would’ve certainly been more, that is if another club hadn’t come in and beaten us to him; lets hope that doesn’t happen with Nasri. I’m not too worried it will but it’s still very much a possibility.

We haven’t been totally quiet in the transfer market though. Jens Lehmann has signed for Stuttgart. I’m pleased for him, I didn’t really like the idea of him just quitting football after the Euros and now he’s moving back to Germany. Good luck with it Jens, we’ll never forget you.

Bacary Sagna has signed a contract extension. Didn’t he only sign last summer? Yep. That’s the current state of contracts where players have to be constantly signed on because of how they can pay off the remaining years of their contracts. However, it does tell you what a great first season he’s had though. I can’t remember the last Arsenal player I saw that clicked into the side as quickly as he did.

He was named in the PFA team of the season as right-back and there’s no doubt in my mind he’s the best in the league. Arsenal.com say it’s a ‘long term’ contract. I’ve heard two years but I’m not sure. All we know is he’s safely with us now. Maybe there’s a clause in there somewhere that he has to get rid of that hair.

Tony Adams has signed on at Pompey for another season. His contract expired this summer and I said before that I wanted us to get him, but it’s not going to happen. I think he’d be a great addition to our staff; we could really do with a defensive coach, and…well it’s Tony Adams. Hopefully some day he’ll be back on board, I think like every fan, I’d love to him back at Arsenal one day.

Aaron Ramsey has had another bid accepted for him, and it’s from Everton. Apparently, both we and Man United have also had bids accepted from Cardiff and now it’s just up to the player himself to decide where he wants to go. I have no idea personally. Of course, I’d like him here, but he’s 17 and it’d probably mean we wouldn’t sign another winger. Also, Man United are bound to be offering him more money and at Everton he might feel he’s got a better chance of getting in the team. It’s up to him so I can’t guess what he’s thinking, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Photo shoots for our new home kit have been leaked here if you haven’t seen that. I’m not sure what to think of it, I’ll save my thoughts until it’s officially released. Not that I don’t believe those pictures are real; I know they are, I’ve seen quite a few photos of it for a while now and that’s definitely the kit. The away one I really do quite like though.

Ok that’s enough for today. I will speak to you tomorrow night, news or no news.

The reason why we haven’t made any transfers yet: 1 June, 2008

Wenger’s on holiday!

Yep, it’s hard to think of Arsene doing something other than ‘managering’ but he’s having a well deserved break in Africa. I saw on the back page of The Mirror yesterday of Arsene having a belly dance in Marrakesh. I can’t find that image anywhere on the net unfortunately but you’re not really missing out.

So that’s one reason why we haven’t signed anyone. However another big factor might be that the English transfer window didn’t actually open until today! I didn’t actually realise that, but it’s true.

Wenger said the Nasri deal should be happening before Euro 2008 so next week should be the busy one. I predicted this week would be a hectic 7 days but I’m now saying that it’s going to be next week. However, you now know I haven’t got a clue and it’ll probably be dead as hell.

There was something else on that back page of The Mirror yesterday that was even more interesting. There was a column showing Eduardo on an exercise trampoline and kicking a football. And it was saying that he could be back playing football as early as AUGUST! Do you understand how remarkable that is?

Eduardo’s injury was one of the worst in football, and he could be back as soon as a couple of months away. At the time, he was close to never playing again but the Croatian international has made a remarkable recovery. He’s gone back home to Brazil and has been doing some light work there on Brazilian television which can be seen here.

Fair play to him. He was determined to get back playing again and he’s done it. I wouldn’t expect him in August though. I think he’ll stick to that original prediction of Christmas-time, Wenger won’t want to rush him (unless we’re desperate) and will bring him back into the game when both he thinks he’s ready and Da Silva thinks he’s ready.

That’s about it as far as news goes. But hopefully, hopefully, there should be a decent bit to talk about next week. Speak to you then, thanks for reading.

p.s. I don’t actually read the Mirror, I just glanced at it on the shelf. Promise.