Lady Arse

LadyArse has moved

2011-10-22T11:14:00.002+01:00

You can now access the new site at www.ladyarse.com.

I will continue to update this site for the next week or so, but please update your bookmarks and rss feeds.

If you have any problems accesing the new site, please let me know.

Arsenal take the Carling Cup seriously, but not THAT seriously

2010-10-26T17:50:00.000+01:00

Twitter is a wonderful thing. There are many who aren't persuaded of its merits, whereas some people just don't get what all the fuss is about.

Yesterday, after reading comments made post-match twisted to provide sensational headlines Cesc was able to use his official twitter account to set the record straight - something the mainstream media picked up on, and Sky printed that he had been 'misunderstood' but they also printed his misquoted statement as if it was still fact.

Tiny steps I suppose.

On Twitter someone asked me for my opinion on players having personal Twitter accounts and I think it's a great thing. It moves the players and supporters one step closer and in a in age when players are so far removed from the fans, it's nice that they can communicate 'directly'.

Speaking of Cesc he is one of a thousand Spaniards to be shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or and Wenger has made the shortlist for World Coach of the Year. While I would love to think that Wenger's off-field achievements alongside keeping the team competitive on the pitch would be considered, after all, a club is not just what happens on the pitch even if that is all most people care about, I can't see past Mourhino. Quite how Ferguson made it on to the list I'm not quite sure, though it could be argued that he won more than Wenger in the past 12 months, he has hardly done much else has he?

click here to read the rest of the blog on my new website

LadyArse Arsenal Caption Competition 3.74

2010-10-26T12:00:00.000+01:00

So here it is folks, back for the season, and as that's a long 'aul haul I shall be breaking it up in to two competitions.

We will have a mid-season 'winner' - so whoever is top of the league on December 31st will win a Tshirt. The league will continue on from then, so all points won up until December 31st will carry forward and the overall winner will be announced the day after our last league match. The winner will receive a LadyArse Goodie Bag, which is far better than it sounds (and you can all waste some time speculating what will be in it). Second and third place will also get prizes, so there is all to play for.

The rules are as they've always been. The funniest caption will get three points, the second funniest one and the league table will be published with Friday's blog every week. That's 28 points up for grabs every week of the season and you will find the picture published at 12pm GMT every day. As always, if you post as Anon and don't include a name Anon will get the points and you'll have no chances of getting a prize.

It's worth noting that once I've allocated the points for the week and published the league I won't be considering any new entries for those captions. You can still post them, but you won't get any points.

Please click here to go to the new website for today's caption competition.

No time to dwell on City, Newcastle up next for Arsenal

2010-10-25T18:02:00.000+01:00

Common consensus yesterday, gleamed from my comments, twitter and reading other blogs was that the win in the Middle Eastlands was superb.

Most people also agreed that Sky did their best to play down the size of our win. Let them, we made a mug of them last year when they ousted us from their top four image and included Liverpool and City so we can make fools of them again this year.

That's no problem.

So, do we have time to dwell on yesterday? Well, not really as we have a Carling Cup match coming up and as Arsene has decided we are going for all trophies this year I guess I should start to take it a little bit seriously. That's the thing with having dismissed it for so long, should we win it I run the risk of looking like a bit of a fool should I celebrate too wildly. What to do, what to do? Well, looking like a fool has never really stopped me before so let's do that then.

What was evident from the bench at the Middle Eastlands at the weekend was that we do have that much fabled strength in depth that many have said we've been lacking for some time. I haven't been one of those, I saw that injuries were what was robbing us of our depth, and I know some would say then we should have had more players but really, how many strikers/left backs/midfielders do you want?

With players returning every week it seems as though the injury hokey-kokey has finally slowed down, although out injury list does contain integral members of the first team such as Van Persie and Vermaelen. Some might argue that Almunia should be counted too but I don't and have a feeling we could see the Spaniard leave in January in his quest for first team football.

Good luck with that.

Click here to read the rest of the blog on the new site (awaiting NewsNow redirection)

LadyArse Arsenal Caption Competition 3.73

2010-10-25T12:00:00.000+01:00

So here it is folks, back for the season, and as that's a long 'aul haul I shall be breaking it up in to two competitions.
We will have a mid-season 'winner' - so whoever is top of the league on December 31st will win a Tshirt. The league will continue on from then, so all points won up until December 31st will carry forward and the overall winner will be announced the day after our last league match. The winner will receive a LadyArse Goodie Bag, which is far better than it sounds (and you can all waste some time speculating what will be in it). Second and third place will also get prizes, so there is all to play for.
The rules are as they've always been. The funniest caption will get three points, the second funniest one and the league table will be published with Friday's blog every week. That's 28 points up for grabs every week of the season and you will find the picture published at 12pm GMT every day. As always, if you post as Anon and don't include a name Anon will get the points and you'll have no chances of getting a prize.
It's worth noting that once I've allocated the points for the week and published the league I won't be considering any new entries for those captions. You can still post them, but you won't get any points.

Please click here to go to the new website for today's caption competition.

Arsenal Class Trumps City Cash

2010-10-24T18:30:00.002+01:00

That turned out a lot better than most of you thought huh?

The first half started and things looked a little bit ominous. Through on goal Silva had a flick but Fabianski made a great save and kept the scores level with only a minute on the board. It was to prove an extremely important save as only a few minutes later Chamakh was chopped down by Boyata, the last man, and he was off. My initial thought was 'crap - I hate playing against 10 men.'

From that moment Clattenberg looked to even things up as he ignored tackles by Dejong which should have been yellow cards and booked Arsenal players all over the place. Eight tackles, four yellow cards, and our midfield trio of Denilson, Cesc and Song were all walking a tight rope along with Djourou who was having a bit of a mare it has to be said.

The Arsenal breakthrough came on 20 minutes when Arshavin and Nasri played a lovely one two and the Frenchman slammed the ball home. Up to that point Arshavin had looked his usual lazy and laboured self, but as we know, he can, and most often will, pop up with an integral pass or goal.

The assist from the Russian seemed to fire him up as not long after he was found covering left back admirable as Clichy struggled to recover from a foray to the centre-forward position. Quite what he was thinking I'm not too sure.

click here to read the rest of the blog on the new website (awaiting NewsNow link update)

LadyArse Arsenal Caption Competition 3.72

2010-10-24T12:00:00.000+01:00

So here it is folks, back for the season, and as that's a long 'aul haul I shall be breaking it up in to two competitions.
We will have a mid-season 'winner' - so whoever is top of the league on December 31st will win a Tshirt. The league will continue on from then, so all points won up until December 31st will carry forward and the overall winner will be announced the day after our last league match. The winner will receive a LadyArse Goodie Bag, which is far better than it sounds (and you can all waste some time speculating what will be in it). Second and third place will also get prizes, so there is all to play for.
The rules are as they've always been. The funniest caption will get three points, the second funniest one and the league table will be published with Friday's blog every week. That's 28 points up for grabs every week of the season and you will find the picture published at 12pm GMT every day. As always, if you post as Anon and don't include a name Anon will get the points and you'll have no chances of getting a prize.
It's worth noting that once I've allocated the points for the week and published the league I won't be considering any new entries for those captions. You can still post them, but you won't get any points.

Please click here to go to the new website for today's caption competition.

Cash v Class - A Man City v Arsenal Preview

2010-10-23T18:39:00.000+01:00

So. City. Money vs Development. Cash vs Class. Yaya Toure’s arse vs Alex Song’s hair. Wait, that doesn’t sound right.

Having played on Tuesday while City played on Thursday means that we have had two extra days to prepare. That being said, they have the ability to rotate far more than we do so I expect us to line up not unlike the team which dispatched Shakhtar with such ease.

This is an entirely different proposition though. Man City at home in the league are a completely different beast than Man City when they are away (or even at home in Europe). There is bad blood between the two teams, and with the raft of ex-Arsenal players in their side, they have a little bit of added incentive to do well – just see the ex-25′s performance on Thursday – it is no coincidence that his best performance of the season came in the match immediately preceding our arrival. Sure you could say he hasn’t really had a chance to play this year, but he’s had opportunity enough (and in training as well) to make himself first choice – he just hasn’t bothered.

Mancini was quoted as saying we are currently the best side in the league and while I wouldn’t want to argue with him (because he’s right) we know, on certain days, we can be brushed aside by more powerful teams. Not so this season I reckon as we’ve demonstrated a bit more bite and determination not to be outmuscled, but it is an issue we will continually need to work on against the bigger teams.

In goal we will see Fabianski retain his place, and with glowing praise coming from the current number two Chesney (when we all thought he might not like his fellow Pole that much) it is true that at no time in his Arsenal career has Fabianski looked so solid. At the back we have no choice but to play Djourou and Squillaci with the former showing just why Wenger has so much faith in him with his displays getting better with every minute on the pitch as he looks to put his injury horrors behind him and the latter proving to be one of those so-called leaders we are meant to be missing. At full-back I have a feeling we will see Gibbs replace Clichy and while Sagna is returning I don’t know if he will come on in place of Eboue. A nice problem to have if I’m honest.

Please click here to read the rest of the blog on the new site

LadyArse Arsenal Caption Competition 3.70

2010-10-23T12:00:00.002+01:00

Please click here to be taken to the new site for today's caption competition

LadyArse Arsenal Caption Competition 3.70

2010-10-22T12:00:00.001+01:00

So here it is folks, back for the season, and as that's a long 'aul haul I shall be breaking it up in to two competitions.

We will have a mid-season 'winner' - so whoever is top of the league on December 31st will win a Tshirt. The league will continue on from then, so all points won up until December 31st will carry forward and the overall winner will be announced the day after our last league match. The winner will receive a LadyArse Goodie Bag, which is far better than it sounds (and you can all waste some time speculating what will be in it). Second and third place will also get prizes, so there is all to play for.

The rules are as they've always been. The funniest caption will get three points, the second funniest one and the league table will be published with Friday's blog every week. That's 28 points up for grabs every week of the season and you will find the picture published at 12pm GMT every day. As always, if you post as Anon and don't include a name Anon will get the points and you'll have no chances of getting a prize.

It's worth noting that once I've allocated the points for the week and published the league I won't be considering any new entries for those captions. You can still post them, but you won't get any points.

So, here's today's (if you have any pics you'd like to see featured, send them to capcomp@ladyarse.com):

Arsenal AGM plus Vermaelen out for the rest of the year?

2010-10-21T17:59:00.000+01:00

When I head to the Emirates, it is rarely disappointing. Luckily, after shelling out quite a bit for taxies. planes. trains, tubes and hotel (on top of match ticket of course) I've had the extreme good fortune to only watch Arsenal lose once ( a few seasons ago to Villa - how bad was that?)

Night's like Tuesday's though are so rare that no price can really be put on them. No amount of discomfort either could detract from it (I had to sit through the entire match with a plastic back wrapped around my foot under a sock as I discovered I had a jolly large hole in my shoe and it was lashing down when I was heading from pub to pub collecting and meeting members of the Arsenal Twitter community.

If there were 60,016 people at the Emirates for the Champions League match against Shakhtar, then 60, 015 of them cheered as if Arsenal had scored a sixth when Eduardo slammed his volley home, this you already know. I was on the verge of tears and didn't want to stop applauding. Unfortunately, supporter number 60,016 brought me back to reality as the cheers died down by shouting 'now fucking break his leg.'

I can't remember the last time I was compelled to shout at a 'fellow' fan, I think it was on hearing some racist abuse falling from some inbreds mouth

But that was the only down side of an incredible evening. Who'd have thought we would have scored five against a team who had conceded zero in this year's Champions League before heading to Arsenal? It was a perfectly scripted evening - go five up, play a team who don't hack at you, then get Eduardo on, see him score and let the Arsenal crowd show him what he really meant to us all.

Well, all of us except the bloke mentioned above.

By now you've no doubt been over and over the match so there's no need for me to do it. I had every intention of blogging yesterday but was just not prepared for the level of knackerdness which struck me.

You all know my thoughts on Eduardo so it would feel like going over old ground, a ground it must be added that saddens me greatly, so let's not.

One other thing which has stuck in my mind has been the issue of Song, or rather Songinho. As Arsenal deploy two holding midfielders this season it is allowing the crazy-haired one to get forward more often, something, it has to be said, not many of us really thought he was built for. Song has built his reputation at Arsenal by being a wall. He is there to protect the back four and then give the ball to someone who can do something with it. Now, he is trying to be part of that creativity and with a goal (albeit from a corner) and an assist you could argue that he is producing at the top end of the pitch.

People were reporting it as his first goal of the season but if I'm not mistaken, he scored a delightful little chip against Bolton - a goal that people really should remember.

But that's not what Song is paid for. We want, could even argue need, him to be Song, not Songinho. We need him back there in front of the defence as he is by far the most effective at the role out of all the players deployed in that position recently.

Is this likely to be an ongoing theme of the season? It seems so. We are now 12 matches in to the season and he seems to be getting more adventurous rather than less.

Personally, I feel he should be fined every time he crosses the half-way line, but that's just me. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on what you think is going on with him. Has the hair-dye simply rotted his brain or is he acting on orders from higher up?

With all the media furore over the Rooney story, it struck me how Arsenal no longer have any players who would generate this sort of shock should they state they want to leave. At first I was saddened by this fact, but then, after talking to some people on Twitter it became clear that even though there are a lot of players at Arsenal who will probably want to stay with us for life we are lucky not to have one single player who could cause such havoc at the club. The only person at Arsenal I could come up with who would create comparable headlines should we suddenly hear he wanted to leave as soon as possible would be Wenger, and he wouldn't do that to the club he today described as 'being in my heart.'

Which brings us nicely on to today's AGM in which he was asked a question not unrelated to what I was just saying.

@DarrenArsenal1 asked him "will you be involved in succession review considering you have said it will be your last contract" to which Arsene replied (via @DarrenArsenal1):

"as long as I have the hunger you never know what will happen" which to me implies a willingness to sign another deal after this one runs down, health allowing off course.

Wenger also confirmed that we would be going for EVERY competition this season, although the Carling Cup would not see Cesc taking to the field, so we will not be risking players desperately needed in the Premier League and Champions League to win the kids cup. Sensible if you ask me, though I do have a feeling we will go hell for leather after the FA Cup and there is a sense that this could be our year in the Champions League. A cup clean sweep with the kids claiming the Carling Cup?

Let's hope so huh?

When talking about Cesc Wenger also said he was certain that Cesc would be with us for a few more years, that he loved Arsenal, if he didn't he would have left. I know some people are drawing comparisons to the whole Rooney story, but there is a very big difference. Barcelona is a club Cesc has never hid his admiration for. It is the club of his childhood, and the only other club he would leave Arsenal for. He is genuinely torn between the two loves of his life - his father and his first club and his second father and his second club. We understand that torment, and we should not hate him for it. Rooney on the other hand only has one love - himself, as has been demonstrated by the way he treated Everton, the way he is now treating United, and, more tellingly, the way he has treated his family.

There is no comparison.

The rest of the AGM focused on debt levels, injuries, and the like. You can get full summaries on Arsenal.com.

The other piece of news worthy of mention is that the Vermaelen injury is now classed as 'long term' with rumours circulating that he is out until next year at best, the season at worse. It is terrible news, but not as awful as it would have been last season. Once again, we are just one injury away from playing Alex Song in defence, but maybe giving his Songinho rampages up the pitch this wouldn't be all bad.

This is not about strength in depth before you all start- this is about awful luck with injuries.

Yet again.

You might be interested in reading this, confirming what we all already know - Wenger is the best manager in the world.

A look ahead to the mammoth match at the weekend tomorrow, until then, have some interetsing stuff from Twitter:

RT @OptaJoe: 38% - Arsenal have converted the highest percentage of chances into goals in the Champions League this season. Raining.
RT @Orbinho: Marouane Chamakh has scored three goals from just four shots on target in the Champions League this season.
RT @CaptainArsenal: Arsenal and QPR in talks over Jay Emmanuel-Thomas loan move - Daily Mail http://j.mp/cSiOUY

LadyArse Arsenal Caption Competition 3.69

2010-10-21T12:00:00.004+01:00

So here it is folks, back for the season, and as that's a long 'aul haul I shall be breaking it up in to two competitions.

So, here's today's (if you have any pics you'd like to see featured, send them to capcomp@ladyarse.com):

LadyArse Arsenal Caption Competition 3.68

2010-10-20T12:00:00.000+01:00

So here it is folks, back for the season, and as that's a long 'aul haul I shall be breaking it up in to two competitions.

So, here's today's (if you have any pics you'd like to see featured, send them to capcomp@ladyarse.com):

LadyArse Arsenal Caption Competition 3.67

2010-10-19T12:00:00.000+01:00

So here it is folks, back for the season, and as that's a long 'aul haul I shall be breaking it up in to two competitions.

So, here's today's (if you have any pics you'd like to see featured, send them to capcomp@ladyarse.com):

Arsenal look towards Eduardo's return as McLeish stokes the fires

2010-10-18T17:21:00.000+01:00

I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to blog tomorrow as I'll be travelling from Belfast to London then meeting up with a load of Gooners from Twitter so it's probably best if we do the match preview now just in case.

Heading in to the match we have something of a rare occurrence going on in that we have more players available than we did in the previous match. Yes indeedy, our captain is back, and while he may not be fit to start, he will at least be on the bench.

Apart from Cesc, no-one else is returning; Kos, Verm, RVP, Sagna and Ramsey still on the list of the walking (and hobbling) wounded. We didn't lose anyone which is a little, tiny miracle wouldn't you say?

I've no idea if Almunia is fit because no-one cared enough to ask Wenger about him. Do we care? Aren't you all slowly, slowly, slowly coming around to the idea of Fabianski?

You know it makes sense.

So, that leaves us more than likely lining up as we did against Birmingham; Fabianski, Eboue (whom Wenger had words with about his scissor tackle at the weekend), Squillaci, Djourou, Clichy, Songinho, Diaby, Wilshere, Nasri, Arshavin, and Chamakh. Of course, we could see Deni and TR7 coming in for Diaby and Arshavin, but we just won't know until the team sheets are released tomorrow.

Both teams head in to the match on maximum points from two played and it is a fool who would bet against another team from the group getting through ahead of either Arsenal or Shakhtar. It is therefore reasonable to say that the two matches against the Ukrainians will determine who tops the group and therefore gets the second leg of the first knock-out round at home.

Not that it ultimately makes much difference, we've had equally tough draws whether we've won the group or finished runners up.

We all know that a lot of tomorrow's match will focus on the return of Eduardo, and it is one of those quirks of football that his return comes when Birmingham are bitching about him daring to allow Taylor to chop his leg in to three pieces.

Not content with leaving well alone McLeish has added some fuel to the fire he is desperately trying to keep burning by saying:

"People are still going to interview Eduardo about that tackle. It’s scandalous. Will people be interviewing Jack Wilshere in a year about his tackle?"

Scandalous? F**king scandalous that people dare ask a player about a tackle which ruined his career?

Catch yourself on.

Wenger was asked about the sendings off during his press conference, with some of the journalists taking great pleasure in pointing out that we've had more red cards than any other team this season (while ignoring the fact that it was Arsenal's first straight red in something like 140 games) and Wenger responded delightfully as he always does. He pointed to our ongoing 'top three' fair play performances, and pointed out that the press like to take one incident and make that a defining point. He also challenged the press to find one team across Europe who thought Arsenal were a dirty team.

They couldn't do it.

(If you haven't read the interview with Eduardo, I'd highly recommend it, and that's probably the only time I will ever recommend anything in the Daily Mail.)

Of course, people are still calling Wenger a hypocrite and there is another difference between the tackle by Jack and any of those received by Arsenal inflicted by the likes of Stoke, Birmingham, Bolton etc that wasn't mentioned yesterday - that before the match Arsenal never said that the best way to cope with Birmingham was to kick them off the pitch. We also came straight out afterwards, held our hands up, and said sorry.

Not exactly normal practice in a league where clubs are usually focused on deflecting blame at best or heaping it on to the tackled/injured player at worst. We didn't come out with the 'he was too quick' or 'Jack isn't that type of player' lines which are trotted out by the rugby clubs. We simply said it was wrong, the card was deserved, and I'm sorry.

Class.

It's something other clubs could stand to learn from Arsenal.

In England, as you know, it is acceptable to say that Arsenal don't like it up them, and the way to defeat/handle them is to 'get amongst them.' We know this, we've discussed it ad naseum. But that's where the problem is. Not only do you have players getting serious injuries, but they are preceded by declarations of war. You can't then say that the hard tackles are 'unintentional.' Jack's was very much unintentional, and while I'm not saying Shawcross or Taylor meant to inflict such horrific injuries, they flew in to the tackles with far more force and disregard than seen from Jack. That was demonstrated by the state the Arsenal players were left in. You can say it was only luck that Jack didn't break Zigic's leg, but you could also say it didn't break because he wasn't as hard, fast or high up.

Wenger has never said he wanted to eradicate tackling, a common fallacy parroted by those who only read headlines. He is also clever enough to know that things such as the tackle made by Jack happen from time to time - truly mistimed tackles. Let's face it. Paul Scholes has gotten away with worse for his entire career under the guise of being a poor tackler. Today he reiterated that he wants dangerous tackles eradicated from football regardless of which players are guilty, Arsenal or not.

I doubt you'll read much about that.

The way people have reacted to Wenger implies that they believe he sent Wilshere out to deliberately tackle in such a manner. It is ludicrous.

To say that one tackle removes his right to challenge dangerous tackles on ALL players is simply ridiculous. Also, if you can point me to one single broken leg caused by an Arsenal player in the last four years, please do. As we know, as Arsenal fans we can point to three (luckily, only three, we all know it could be a lot worse).

It's strange that the debate about managers needing to curb their players really only reached a crescendo with the Jack tackle. Where was the outrage when Aaron was being stretchered off back in March? It was squarely sided with the good, honest English defender who didn't mean to break another players leg that's where.

Blah, this is a debate I fear, will run and run.

In other news, there were some murmurings that the Dutch were planning to call Van Persie up for a friendly next month much to the disgust of every gooner on the planet. When asked about it Wenger said:

"I think the Dutch coach has a good sense of humour. There is no chance [of Van Persie playing against Turkey].

Great to hear le boss standing up to these pointless friendless which kill more of our players than they help.

But that's next month and that's an eternity in football. Win tomorrow night and we can pretty much play some kids for the rest of the games, that in itself is worth busting a gut for given our injury record.

It won't be an easy match, but it is a winnable one, and maintaining momentum before we head to Eastlands is imperative.

Finally, you might be interested to know that Mirror Football readers will have access to Football Manager 2011 before anyone else on Thursday 21st October (it doesn't hit the shops until November 5th). To get your free download code so you can preview the game, simply visit the Mirror Football website.

Would you drop Arshavin? Make a bid for the unsettled-Rooney? Or maybe you'd bring in a whole new medical staff. In Football Manager 2011, you can play out these scenarios and see if you know better than Wenger or Ferguson. Football Manager 2011 will be jam-packed full of new features such as real-time contract negotiations for more realistic dealings with agents, a new set-piece creator, and a completely overhauled training system.

You can also sign up for a free facebook fantasy 5-a-side football game in association with Renault. You can pick your team, set up a mini-league and invite your mates at www.mirror.co.uk/goals.

Don't judge me, I've got rent to pay.

Mirror Football
Mirror Football website
Football Manager in advance with Mirror Football

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LadyArse Arsenal Caption Competition 3.66

2010-10-18T12:00:00.004+01:00

So here it is folks, back for the season, and as that's a long 'aul haul I shall be breaking it up in to two competitions.

So, here's today's (if you have any pics you'd like to see featured, send them to capcomp@ladyarse.com):

McLeish says Wilshere tackle as bad as Taylor's. You decide.

2010-10-17T21:55:00.000+01:00

The 'inspiration' for this comes from this article.

Sunday morning punidtry for the Arsenal masochist

2010-10-17T17:34:00.001+01:00

As usual, to start the day after a match, I subjected myself to the horror that it Sunday morning punditry, I missed most of Sunday Supplement as I was sleeping and that was probably best as Goals on Sunday annoyed me enough.

As seems to be their want lately, the panel on Goals on Sunday contained a person connected with the team we had just played the day before (this time the Birmingham defender R. Johnson) meaning that there was never going to be a balanced debate about the match. In fact, when they did finally get round to showing Johnson's elbow on Chamakh, which had came, if you remember, after he had won the penalty and was retribution plain and simple, they all had a good aul giggle and said what a great header it was. They analysed every bad tackle/challenge from Arsenal and never even addressed anything from Birmingham's darker moments.

It was frustrating to say the least.

The coverage on MOTD surprised most people. It seems the way to get understanding from the BBC is to cheat and put in terrible tackles. I'd like to say it's because Jack is English, but they also defended Chamakh as if he was Rooney, Torres, or one of the Chav divers. They brushed past Chamakh's penalty when they could have been expected to make the most of it and when discussing Jack's challenge they did so fairly and resisted any urge to twist the knife the majority of the media keep firmly planted in the back of Arsene Wenger.

In other 'media craziness' the Daily Star are reporting that Tony 'I love naked rugby' Pulis said:

"I’ve got nothing against foreign managers, they are very nice people. Apart from Arsene Wenger."

Now, I used to work in a job which involved reading all the newspapers every single day. The Daily Star was included in that list. It was so bad that after only a few weeks of daily reading I was actually starting to see the Sun as a respectable source of trustworthy news.

It is THAT bad.

Having said that, it does sound like something Pullis would say as he continues to demonstrate his inferiority complex in front of the entire football-following populace.

What a cretin.

So, we have little time to dwell on events just past as Shaktar are on their way to town and we will need to be on 'full cylinders' if we are to get the three points which will all but confirm qualification for the Champions League 'proper.'

It is, of course, Eduardo's homecoming and as was mentioned on Twitter yesterday (by @Shegunner I think) Eduardo is the one player I would not begrudge scoring against us. Hopefully though, it comes when we are already four up and there's only two minutes left.

It is because of Eduardo that I am heading to the match on Tuesday. Before I lost my job I tried to get over to at least one match a month, at a cost of £200 - £300 per trip that was what I could afford. Nowadays, money is tight, as it is for a lot of people, and I asked for cash from relatives for my birthday so I could make this trip simply to say farewell to Eduardo.

He is a player who will always be in the hearts of Arsenal fans for they know that he could have been an all-time great had he not had his leg dissected by Martin Taylor (for those asking what the diference was between Taylor's tackle and Jacks (Johnson said they were both the same) was that not only was the Birmingham players foot left attached, he could walk.).

Taylor got a three match ban. Eduardo is lucky he still has a career, and what he has is not what he should have.

There is your difference.

If you're going along on Tuesday night I think there's a crowd from Twitter meeting up (including some guys coming over from Latvia I believe) so make sur eyou add me @LadyArse so you know what's going on.

That's your lot for today, I'm up to my eyes which bodes well for the finances. I hope.

See you tomorrow for a champions league preview.

Til then, here's some interesting stuff from Twitter:

RT @mrmeredith88: @ladyarse @darrenarsenal1 not even worth arguing with a Stoke fan they still
trying work out why their team plays rugby on the floor

RT @Orbinho: Arsenal have had as many red cards (3) in eight Premier League games this season as they had in their previous 65 matches.

LadyArse Arsenal Caption Competition 3.65

2010-10-17T12:00:00.000+01:00

So here it is folks, back for the season, and as that's a long 'aul haul I shall be breaking it up in to two competitions.

So, here's today's (if you have any pics you'd like to see featured, send them to capcomp@ladyarse.com):

Wilshere off, Chamakh dives and Arsenal come back to defeat Birmingham

2010-10-16T17:33:00.002+01:00

Today's match v Birmingham seemed to take an absolute eternity to arrive, and when it did, it contained everything we hate about Arsenal and football in general.

You can call it how you like, but the penalty which Chamakh won (his fifth of the season) was a dive, and to slaughter other players for doing the same and then ignore the fact that Chamakh has gone over very easily on more than one occasion would be hypocritical. The penalties are welcome, the dives are not.

Then we had Jack Wilshere's tackle, a terrible tackle which could have done real damage to the Birmingham player. Of course, the media jumped on the fact that Wenger has been outspoken regarding tackles, but they forget that he said players need to take responsibility and for this Jack needs to put his hands up, say a very big sorry, hope the Birmingham player is ok, serve his three match ban (which means we will be without him v Man City) and learn that that side of his character needs to be kept in check.

Post-match Wenger said it was a deserved red card for a mistimed tackle. He also said it was a penalty which was disappointing.

On top of that we had ultimate tippy-tappy today with hardly anyone wanting to shoot. On another day it could have cost us. Luckily, it didn't.

We started brightly enough, there was an energy to our play that had been missing against West Brom, but, predictably, it was Birmingham who took the lead as Clichy found himself marking the Jolly green Giant and he headed home well in to the corner and wide of a diving Fabianski. He could not be blamed.

Everyone feared the worst.

We pressed but they packed the midfield and we found it hard going. It was going to take something special to get through their defences and so it proved to be.

The penalty, as I've discussed, was a dive. Chamakh was on his way down before the tackle came in and the contact was such that it shouldn't have even knocked him from his stride. Atkinson, who has been having a shocking season, blew his whistle, and Trevor Francis descended in to a tirade about cheating foreigners.

Well, that's what he meant, and was a theme which carried on throughout his commentary - when Arsenal tackled hard it was disgusting, when Birmingham did it, it was unlucky.

Birmingham were so outraged by MC's dive that you just knew he would get clattered as quickly as they could get near him. A high ball at the halfway line, Chamakh jumps, the Birmingham players sandwich him, and one leads with the elbow. The result? Chamakh on the deck and Atkinson telling him to get up.

To be fair, I was expecting worse, but Francis called him all the divers of the day, despite the fact that he got a clattering. You can't really say you'd expect anything else, if you're an Arsenal player and you dive once that means you're marked for life and I expect Chamakh to get worse coverage than Drogba, Rooney, Torres or even Shawcross.

The Arsenal winner came shortly after the restart for the second half and was a sublime goal. Having spent all of half-time bemoaning Songinho's reluctance to defend, it was his deft back heel to Jack which allowed the youngster to play in Chamakah, who stayed on his feet and showed great skill to glide past defender and keeper to slot home.

2-1 but could we hold it?

Luckily we could although our reluctance to shoot could have cost us. Only for some great claims in the area from Fabianski, a man reborn if ever there was one, things could have been more nervy than they needed to be.

We need to work on our finishing and work on it quickly. Where is out ability to lash home a screamer from 25 yards? Where has that gone?

As I've mentioned, Jack can have absolutely no complaints about his red card. It wasn't as bad as the Robinson tackle on Diaby, but it wasn't far off. The inconsistency is annoying, but simply because Robinson got away with his doesn't mean we should expect the same for Jack.

All Arsenal fans want to see dangerous tackles out of the game so we simply cannot defend Jack in any manner. Yes, he's not that type of player, ok, there was no intention to hurt the player. None of that means ANYTHING. It was a bad tackle, it DID hurt the player.

Straight red no question.

I should also add that all the pundits battering Wenger would do well to remember that he said ultimately players are responsible for their actions so I'm not quite sure why they were attacking Wenger. Did they attack Mancini after DeJong's or Pulis after Shawcross? What about Coyle after Robsinon's or McLeish after Taylor's? I know I mentioned Wenger's comments earlier in the blog but I feel it needs reiterating.

Hypocrites the whole lot of them and the press love nothing more than to attack Wenger. Jack and Chamakh today have handed them two very big sticks.

Luckily, there were only a few minutes left to play once Jack received his marching orders and Birmingham never really had any ideas on how to break us down.

It wasn't a convincing win and there are a number fo issues which need to be addressed sharpish:

Songinho needs to go, Bring back Song, the defender who didn't know where the opposition goal was
Chamakh needs to cut out the diving
Jack needs to calm himself down.
We need to learn to shoot.
We need to learn to cross.
We need to learn how to defend.
Arshavin still needs a rocket up his arse.
We still can't keep a clean sheet.

But, on the upside:

Wilshere is looking like our most consistent player (up to the sending off, which just makes it an even bigger shame).
Fabianski is becoming more and more assured with every passing game and is starting to show us why Wenger had faith in him.
Diaby found his touch again.
Squillaci makes for a vocal captain.
We broke down a very stubborn team.
We came from behind and one.
We didn't throw it away in injury time.

So, it wasn't perhaps the football-fest some of us were expecting, but it was three points, and there's enough of you out there saying points are all that matters.

Happy?
------------------------------------------------------
The new chat room, replacing the live blogs as it is less work and I won't miss most of the match, is available 24/7 using the chat image to the right, so no matter when you want to have a chat with like minded gooners it is available.

This was the room which was originally used as it was basic but got the job done.

Interesting from Twitter:
RT @goonerhood: @ladyarse Check this out Lady... http://ow.ly/2UvrU HILARIOUS! xD

Match Chat - Arsenal v Birmingham

2010-10-16T14:40:00.001+01:00

Teams:

Arsenal: Fabianski, Eboue, Squillaci, Djourou, Clichy, Song, Diaby, Nasri, Wilshere, Arshavin, Chamakh

Subs: Szczesny, Rosicky, Vela, Walcott, Denilson, Gibbs, Bendtner

Birmingham: Foster, Carr, Johnson, Dann, Ridgewell, Larsson, Ferguson, Bowyer, Fahey, Hleb, Zigic

Subs: Taylor, Murphy, Phillips, O'Connor, Derbyshire, Michel, Jiranek

Referee: M. Atkinson

Launch Chat

LadyArse Arsenal Caption Competition 3.64

2010-10-16T12:00:00.000+01:00

So here it is folks, back for the season, and as that's a long 'aul haul I shall be breaking it up in to two competitions.

So, here's today's (if you have any pics you'd like to see featured, send them to capcomp@ladyarse.com):

Arsenal suffer more injuries just as it seemed the curse was lifting

2010-10-15T16:16:00.000+01:00

Arsenal, Arsenal, Arsenal. Is there anything better? I don't care that we have a Saturday 3pm kick off this week which means that many of us, especially those of us in the UK, will have to endure the nightmare that is streaming.

I don't care. It beats football-less weekends.

I didn't catch all of Wenger's press conference earlier (see later for why) but did see enough to hear him confirm that Eboue will start at right-back. I also heard Wenger speak about Eboue having a great club mentality and an ability to play in midfield. I think most of us will agree that he is greta to have around the club but if we are truly honest you have to admit that he is not the most spectacular player on the planet as an attacking threat is practically non-existent.

There is a good chance that Cesc will be back on Tuesday although Wenger was hoping he would be back for tomorrow. Many have spoke about the weirdness that is Cesc tweeting he was fit two weeks ago and his apparent lack of fitness this week. Wenger wouldn't confirm or deny a set-back, and while I know some of you are thinking it has something to do with the latest comments reported to be by Cesc in the papers, Wenger reminded us all that much is lost in translation (something Cesc mentioned as well).

Predictibly, Wenger was asked about Danny Murphy's comments last week and he said that he agrees with him that managers have a duty to control players but he hadn't followed what else Murphy had said and has no idea what goes on in other dressing rooms.

Fair enough. Wenger has made his feelings clear on this matter many times - commitment and physical game - yes, dangerous and reckless tackles - no. I really don't know what is so hard about that concept and why some people are struggling to grasp it.

In true Buddhist style Wenger spoke about how he is a strong believer that people are responsible for what they say and what they do, if you behave wrongly you are responsible and it is easy to hide behind the managers instructions. That's the problem with society these days, everyone is always looking for someone else to blame. If we all took responsibility for ourselves the world would be a much nicer place.

Nobel prize for Sir Arsene please.

I've no idea what else he said as I was watching the press conference and they just stopped it mid-flow. I'm seriously considering scrapping my £3.99 per month subscription - what's the point? I get no live games, no reserve games live, no live press conferences, just that 'as live' crap which more often than not doesn't work and nothing else which I can see justifies the outlay.

Sort it out Arsenal.

As I said yesterday, there was no way the good injury news could last and so it comes to pass that we have lost Kos with a back injury.

Theo will be in the squad along with Bendtner but Gibbs has vanished and was not mentioned in today's roundup.

So, given that we probably don't have many other options, I see us lining up like this:

Fabianski
Eboue Djourou Squillaci Clichy
Song
Nasri Jack
Rosicky Arshavin
Chamakh

With a bench consisting of: Chesney, Denilson, the JET, Vela, Bendtner, Walcott, Gibbs

Would that be right? One defender? I suppose we drop Song back and shift the other centrebacks if needs me.

Pah.

The injury nonsense is really getting on my tits.

What's that? Our fifth different pairing at the back already this season?

Birmingham are never a pushover and as Wenger said today, to have any chance in this league you need to turn up on 'full cylinders' for every match, not just those which make theh Super Sunday billing. We are entering this match on the back of two league defeats and three points is simply a must. Turn up with a performance such as that which we thought would be enough to overcome a 'lowly' West Brom and we will suffer for it. If we are to have delusions of being champions three points at home to nearly every team is expected.

As Wenger said in today's press conference “We have the players, it is time for us to get the players back on the pitch because we pay as well the players who don’t play.

“We want them back on the pitch and we have medically to make a big effort to get everybody back. You want your players to perform on the football pitch.”

Couldn't agree more.

Bring on the Arsenal, I fancy a decent win tomorrow.

Please don't disappoint.

Interesting from Twitter:

RT @OptaJoe: 2 - Arsenal have only kept two clean sheets in their 10 matches in all competitions this season, both in 6-0 victories. Sieve.

RT @Orbinho: Arsenal have only accrued fewer points at this stage of the season in three of the previous 18 Premier League campaigns.

RT @Orbinho: Arsenal have had nine different goalscorers in the Premier League this season, more than any other team.

RT @StatManJon: EIGHT TRAVELLING: #Birmingham last won away in March at Hull, and have gone 8 games without a victory on their travels. #Arsenal #EPL

RT @StatManJon: BLUE CENTURY: #Birmingham are 2 defeats short of 100 losses in the Premier League. #Arsenal #EPL #PL

RT @CaptainArsenal: Wenger - Why I won't re-sign Robert Pires http://j.mp/ddr0ZB

Follow me on Twitter @LadyArse

LadyArse Arsenal Caption Competition 3.63

2010-10-15T12:00:00.000+01:00

So here it is folks, back for the season, and as that's a long 'aul haul I shall be breaking it up in to two competitions.

So, here's today's (if you have any pics you'd like to see featured, send them to capcomp@ladyarse.com):

Positive Arsenal injury news - I'm sure it won't last

2010-10-14T17:55:00.000+01:00

In less than 48 hours the most dull interlull for some time will be nothing more than a hazy memory as Arsenal step on to the pitch at the Emirates with a number of wrongs to set right.

This will, of course, go one of two ways - Birmingham will get a spanking or we will be lucky to scrape a 1-0 win (or, more likely, a 2-1 as we'll concede no doubt.)

For the first time in living memory we will actually be returning from an interlull with more players than we entered it with, rather than less which is how things usually go.

Bendtner will be involved for the first time this season, most likely from the bench, and it is hoped that he will take some of the pressure already resting on Chamakh's shoulders. While we all know it will take him time to gain match fitness, it is a welcome sight to have him involved.

Another returnee is Kieran Gibbs who must be wondering just what he has to do to get a prolonged run of games. Many would argue that Clichy's form is such that Gibbs should be automatic first choice. Cruelly, injuries have robbed him of the chance to make that claim.

Theo might also be involved if he comes through tomorrow's training session without a hitch and while it would be a stretch to expect him to come roaring back in the same form which he left us, he is an added threat which we have missed.

It should also be remembered that the c**t Ridgewell plays for Birmingham, so maybe if Theo is fit, we just keep him wrapped up safely to avoid a repeat of this (the first part obviously):

Fabregas and Almunia are 'close' to returning (is that Arsenal close?) and Sagna and Vermaelen are said to be ten Arsenal days away from a return.

Should all this come to pass, and (I know this is a massive 'and') we don't suffer any more injuries in the meantime, we could see ourselves in the strange situation of only having three players injured in ten days time (VP, Ramsey, who is on his way back, and Frimpong).

Unprecedented and you may agree, so I'd brace myself for a raft of injuries between now and then.

You know it'll happen.

Speaking to ATVO, Wenger said:

“Let’s not forget that since last November Nicklas has produced here and there but never had a consistent presence because of his injuries.

“Apart from the fact he went to the World Cup we have not seen the real Nicklas Bendtner for a long, long time. He is the closest he has been to his best for a while. He was really, really handicapped by groin problems but they have gone now.

“Theo might be involved on Saturday as well. He has normal training tomorrow. I might put him in the squad. I will see how he is but he looks very, very sharp. The only uncertainty is his ankle but he might be involved.

“Cesc is very, very short and unlikely to be involved [on Saturday]. He has a little chance for Tuesday.

“Sagna is ten days, Vermaelen is ten days, Almunia is a question of days but Van Persie looks to be a bit longer.”

So not only is Nik fit, he's on form too.

Superb news.

With regards to VP I think for most of us it has now got to the stage where he cannot be relied on. Ever. If he is back, fit and playing, that's a bonus, but we really should plan for life with him in the treatment centre, which means Chamakh will be our main threat up front with Nik and Carlos battling to get their chance.

It is sad to think of Van Persie as no more than a bit part player, but that's all he really is. As spectacular as he can be when in form, to start to rely on him only to have him torn away has become too predictable and some could say costly as we often have to adjust to losing him after only just readjusting to accommodate him once again. (Untold Arsenal have a great piece detailing Arsenal with and without Cesc and VP here)

Alex McLeish seems to be the only man on the planet who is happy that Atkinson is the referee on Saturday, perhaps he knows it's because Atkinson has a tendency to miss the 'big' tackles. He said:

"We have Martin Atkinson this weekend who was on duty as part of the officials team at the World Cup final and he's a top referee.

"I am sure he will give a strong performance and you have to be strong at somewhere like the Emirates.

"We are the small team going to play the mighty Arsenal and you hope that the referee's fair. Martin Atkinson and the British referees all come into that category.

"We don't want big crowds influencing the referee when there's a challenge or something like that.

"That shouldn't go against us, especially when you have referees of a top calibre like Atkinson."

Heaven forbid the crowd might get outraged by something as innocent as a 'Brummie tackle'.

He talked more about how he hoped Wenger's comments would not influence the referee and you can only think 'you hypocritical prick' as that's exactly what you're trying to do by saying all this stuff. Some people in football really do crack me up. I'll just try and influence this referee by saying I hope the referee won't be influenced.

It's the football equivalent of saying to someone 'I'd love to ask you out but I'm just too shy.'

Genius.

I'll have a closer look at how we will line up tomorrow, but for now, that's your lot.