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The Ballad Of Thierry Henry

2012-07-11T17:07:00.000+01:00

By @buxtongooner

I wrote this whilst pissed after the FA Cup game against Leeds last season. It’s been lurking in my laptop’s memory and I thought even though the moment’s passed it may take your minds off things – albeit very briefly.

The Ballad Of Thierry Henry

A winger from The Old Lady, via Monaco you came,

A replacement for Le Sulk, of the new training ground fame.

‘Thierry Henry is a winger, Got it?’ typed an arrogant dick,

‘Not a striker, not a goalscorer’ Myles Palmer, you prick.

Ok, we had doubts, and we’d spent a few quid,

You’d played at the top level, but not The Premier League, kid.

You huffed and you puffed, there were chances you would spurn,

Forty eight goals in two seasons? Not a bad return.

And then you started to blossom, slamming them in for fun,

Thirty two the next year, as a double was won.

Amother winners medal in two thousand and three,

He wasn’t as bad as you thought Myles, you see?

Won twenty six, drawn twelve, an Invincible the year later,

The greatest Arsenal ever, and I doubt we’ll see greater.

As you celebrated in the corner at the shithole

White Hart Lane, We laughed as you danced as the spuds winced in pain.

The three years that followed, the goals still flowing,

But knocks taking their toll, and your body gently slowing.

A Parisien heartbreak, the cruelty, the pain,

Our chance to be Kings washed out in the rain.

A trip to Barcelona was next up for you,
The fancy Blaugrana that played at Camp Nou.

North London was your home, the red and the white,

Not mixing with Xavi and his gob full of shite.

Successes in Spain, then off to The States,

For a jolly old kickabout with some of your mates.

But rumours abound, ‘He’s back!’ they all squeal,

Oh, he’s training with us, that’s all - big fucking deal.

A defeat against Fulham, something to lift the gloom?

An old friendly face, some needed va va voom?

Welcome back home, son, we’re glad to have you back,

Our famous 14, now 12, in attack.

You hadn’t really changed much, in the time you’d been away,

Slower, but still classy, like back in the day.

Not the lumbering has-been as some of us feared,

Still a maverick marauding with and an old sea-dogs beard.

You came on against Leeds, replacing those that should do better,

Who wrote the script? Because you read it to the letter.

With calmness and poise, your finish so deft

The clock was turned back , like you never even left.

What I’d give to have been there,

I would have felt blessed,

You wheeling away, fist pumping your chest.

The madness around you, you running, your scream,

A great moment in sport, a footballing dream.

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(Video) Ryo Miyaichis performance vs Millwall plus why he shouldnt be rushed

2012-02-19T11:37:00.000+00:00

By @hahostolze

Ryo Miyaichi is taking the world by storm. His performances against our opposition in pre-season were very good and his attitude, technical ability and playing style are impressing players, staff and pundits in training and matches alike. Despite his meteoric rise to fame, something I experienced from very close as a Dutchman with an eye on football, and the kind words of the people who see him, like Mario Been, Martin van Geel, Thomas Vermaelen and naturally Arsene Wenger, I still have some worries for Ryo Miyaichi.

Firstly, Ryo has only been a professional footballer for six months. And whilst that may not be so bad for someone who just turned eighteen, it means he has a serious lack of experience in European football. Japan to me is one of the future greats of football, but at the moment the high school system is not anywhere near the level of Academy football in Europe. Compared to a Jack Wilshere, an Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain or even Reserve players like Gilles Sunu, Ryo lacks quite a bit of footballing education. You might say it is impressive that despite lacking such an education he is rated so highly and can already perform at such a level, but as any coach will tell you, the technical, strategic and mental abilities in football are very hard to teach someone after a certain point. I doubt whether it might be too late to have Ryo learn of football of the highest level.

Whilst at Feyenoord he was sensational, earning monikers like Ryodinho and playing with a free, devil-may-care attitude. The matches during which he was best, and this is slightly overlooked, were against rubbish opposition. The Dutch league is very focussed on offensive football and therefore the defences of most teams are woeful and easy to dissect with pace. Miyaichi did just that. Feyenoord as a club constantly have pacy wingers coming through, many of them are great at young ages and fail past their early twenties. Who says that won’t happen to Ryo? Who says that what he did was not just something that flattered his abilities whilst hiding what he might lack?

Him scoring a few goals, making a few assists, bamboozling some defenders that make Ryan Shawcross look like Paolo Maldini (and Albert Einstein) in this Dutch league just was not that impressive. I was caught up in the hype too, but I am getting slightly worried. I know he has the talent, we can all see that. He has the attitude too. The cone story is well known (for those that don’t know it, Arsenal have people who clear up the cones, poles, etc. that they use in training. Ryo did not know that and just started clearing them up after training) but the kid is humble too. He seems very focussed and was doing a high level of education at his Japanese high school, or so I have been told.

His physical ability is not up to the level that we want. He has great stamina, pace to burn and despite having his leg broken less than a year ago he is not injury prone. I am talking about strength. He is very slight. The focus at his high school was, once again, not the focus he would have in Europe. He did not build up muscle. His lack of strength will really hurt him in the defensive Premier League. Perhaps we should send him on loan to another PL side who wish to have some creativity. As it stands, he is not ready to make an impression for us, in my opinion.

Thomas Vermaelen named him in the two best young talents of the world he had ever seen, together with Neymar. To me, this really seemed weird. Not just because I really do not rate Neymar (different story for a different day) but because Vermaelen has played against or alongside of Eden Hazard, Romelo Lukaku, Alex Witsel, Christian Eriksen and some other top, top talents. To put Ryo so high on that pedestal creates too much hype, far too many expectations. He might indeed turn out to be on heck of a player. He might even show some glimpses this season. But he is far from ready. He is far from experienced, even for an eighteen year old. His stint in the Netherlands has created a hype, a cult, a following, which I doubt he can live up to so easily.

Ryo Miyaichi is a very exciting talent. He will be a good player for sure. He was worth the gamble and has the raw ability to go very far. But until then, I will sit on the fence, which is unusual for me when it comes to Arsenal and the big talents. I am just not completely convinced, neither of his spell at Feyenoord, nor his ability to adapt and learn in English football. But you know, I hope I am wrong.

(post written in pre season)

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The man who wenger will get if he moves upstairs

2012-02-19T09:26:00.002+00:00

Dragan Stojković aka "Piksi" translates to the "Pixie"

As player was had distinguished career the highlight being Marseille, joining the star-ladden squad featuring the likes of Jean-Pierre Papin, Abedi Pele, and Chris Waddle, in 1993 they won old big ears (the European Cup) but also reached the final in 91 to red star. (his previous club)

Unfortunately, his time in Marseille was marred with multiple career-threatening injuries, meaning he never got to display his wide array of skills on the biggest European stage.

He then moved to grampus 8 where he meet arsene. Calling time on his career in 2001.

Upon retiring he immediately became the Yugoslav Football Association president, he stayed there before return to club football at red star, Stojković initially more-or-less continued the existing "buy low sell high" policy that meant players were mostly recruited from Red Star's own youth system or smaller clubs throughout Serbia and Montenegro. This will be of interest to arsenal as we are looking in to starting up getting more links in the eastern block.

In 2007 he stepped down from the board room and took over at grampus 8 in 2008.Nagoya fans worried about his lack of experience as a coach, however his team finished in 3rd place and he led the club to AFC Champions League for the first time. I guess with only three years in management i would be for him to take over to, but then any manager who can score from the dugout is alright by me.

Read a great interview with dragan here

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The Myth of Arsenal’s Continuous Decline

2012-02-17T12:34:00.000+00:00

By @WengerBoy1

Many fans were claiming that Arsenal had been on the decline for years and I contended otherwise.
I have been roundly criticised for suggesting that last year’s team was full of potential – more potential than previous Arsenal teams – and especially for suggesting that the Barcelona game was an indication of that. “It was just one game,” they said, and surely the Birmingham loss was an example of how poor we could be in the same way that the Champion’s League victory was an example of the opposite.

Fair enough. Perhaps we were lucky in the Barcelona game. Perhaps last year’s team didn’t have the potential I believed they did. We collapsed after all, and that seems like a pretty big indication of how weak we were, and this year is just a further illustration of how we’ve been falling further and further since we last won a trophy.

That’s one theory at least. But not mine.

The most complete representation of how successful a team has been comes from the league. A 38 game season gives a far better indication of sustained performance over the course of the year than a cup competition. Which is why Birmingham can win the Carling Cup and still be relegated.

Final league position is one measure of how successful we’ve been, but as we have come either 4th or 3rd for the past six years running coming 4th again this year could hardly be said to make us worse. If anything our finishing positions suggest our level has been pretty consistent for years, as opposed to declining continuously, and in any case I would argue that final league positions only tell part of the story.

Another measure of performance in the league is final points totals, and if Arsenal have been declining for years then you might expect our points totals during those years to look something like this.

But below is the actual graph showing our final points totals, starting with 04/05 – when we last won a trophy – to now.

Now to me that doesn’t look like a continuous decline at all. That looks like a period of semi-random peaks and troughs where the previous season says little or nothing about the following one.

In 04/05 we ended up with 83pts, but just the following season we ended up with only 67pts. That’s a 16pt drop in consecutive seasons, which is huge. But in 06/07 we ended with 68pts and then in 07/08 we jumped right back up to 83pts. This time it wasn’t a decline but a massive improvement of 15pts.

And if we have been continuously declining, how did we end up with 75pts in 09/10 or even 68pts last year when we only had 67pts in 05/06? In fact in every single year since 05/06 we have finished with a higher points total, so how can we possibly be said to have decline since then?

You might, however, think that points totals are misleading. If the teams around us are changing also then they might have declined themselves and it might have been easier to accumulate points. And that’s a fair point.

Essentially it’s not just how many points you accumulated, but how far you were away from winning. If 4th isn’t a trophy then 3rd isn’t a trophy and 2nd isn’t a trophy. Only 1st is a trophy.

So instead of just look at our own points totals let’s look at how far we ended up from winning the league – how many points we finished with in relation to the league winners.

The following graph plots the difference in points between our final points totals and those of the team who won the league.

But this doesn’t seem to show any continuous decline either. In fact it shows that we have actually have been closer to winning the league on two occasions, in 07/08 and in 09/10, than we were the last time we won a trophy, in 04/05.

Even more crazily, despite our massive collapse last year we still ended up exactly the same number of points away from winning the league as we did in 04/05, and the distance between us and the title was half what it was in 05/06. We may not have won the league since 03/04 but it’s fair to say that we have been much closer to it in recent years than we were only two or three years afterwards.
Conclusion

What this all says to me is that, just as every year the seasons change, every season teams change. And teams can change for better or worse in the blink of an eye. We lost Vieira one year and the next year we crumbled. We lost Henry one year and the next year we came back a hell of a lot stronger.

One year everything can click, and yet the next, with just a few things changed, it might all fall apart. And vice versa.

People often talk about building a team in terms of being a puzzle, which it certainly is. But not a jigsaw puzzle. With a jigsaw puzzle once you have a piece in the right place you can forget about it, and just add the next piece and the next piece and so on until you have the final, complete image you were looking for.

Building a team is more like trying to solve Rubik's Cube - you might have one section of the puzzle complete, but if you try and address another section you can easily upset the balance in an area you thought was sorted. And while it is entirely possible to get everything looking exactly how you want there’s not always an obvious route to take you there.

We are not in continuous decline, but rather we have changed our core players too often and this has had a massive disruptive effect on the team. In rare cases (Henry) losing a key member of the squad can even have a positive effect, provided the rest of the squad falls into place, but on a general level it sets us back and we then have to use the summer to both redress the balance AND seek to improve the squad on top of that. It’s not easy.

I am not here today to debate the issue of departures, which is one of the primary reasons why we have been unsuccessful, but just to point out that this has had a massive impact on our fortunes. In fact, given our departures, we have done pretty damn well in rebuilding our team, season upon season, and maintaining a decent, if not always satisfactory, level throughout.

We shouldn’t be content with our recent history – far from it - but neither should we paint it as continuous decline. We should view it for exactly what it is: a period of massive change and inconsistency which we are having incredible trouble escaping from.

In truth, it’s understandable why people are saying what they are. If we extrapolate from the current league standings we are likely to both end up with our lowest points total (65pts) and the biggest distance between us and top spot (26pts) that we have seen in this period. This year we have definitely declined, but while we are worse than we were six years ago we are much worse than we were two years ago, and that’s the main point.

If the decline isn’t continuous then what’s to say it can’t be reversed again? Given our history, what’s to say that with some clever changes in the summer we won’t be able to jump up the table next term?

Whether or not you trust Wenger to make those changes is a different matter, but to say this squad has no hope is to miss the bigger picture. This summer will be massive, no doubt about it, but with a few clever twists of Rubik’s Cube we may just be surprised to find that a large section of the puzzle clicks into place.

WB

This first appeared on Arsenal Vision

@TheRSD thoughts

Although we may not be in a rapid decline (as some may think) other clubs are getting stronger and we are stagnating. So the graph below shows the final points tally of the so called "big clubs".

Thanks to @arsefc for the graph

The stagnating is mainly due to the constant rebuilding that we are going through as we bring through young stars but then they are leaving to early and the next crop are not ready to take there place.
Also the quality of some has not been as much as wenger believes they have (or they have not been able to recreate what they do in training)
I could ramble on for hours about our problems with wages and hindered by 25 man rule and the stupid home grown quota, but these are problems for all clubs not just the arsenal.

See you in comments or on twitter.

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Aaron the Assassin

2012-02-13T09:39:00.001+00:00

Ramsey has scored 11 goals so far in his club career.

1st on 26th April 2008... on 28 april 2008, A train collide in China killing 72 People,

2nd against Fenerbache on 21 oct 08. No 1 died within next 3 day after ths goal, but on 24th October, on a Bloody Friday, many stock exchanges in the world experienced worst decline in there history.

3rd on 22 Aug 09...on 25aug, US senator and Nephew of John F Kenedy, Edward Kenedy Died

4th on 6dec 09... 0n 8dec, 127 people were killed in Baghadad after Bombings

5th on 30 dec 09... On 1st Jan 10, 105 were killed in pakistan after a suicide bomber denotes at volleyball match.

6th Goal on 3 Jan, 2010... on 5th of Jan, 2010, Tsutomu Yamaguchi, one of the survivors of Hiroshima and nagasaki Bombings Died.

7th Goal against Leicester City on 22nd Feb, 2011..... on Same Day Earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand killed 181 people.

8th Goal against Man U on 1st May, 2011...On May 2, Osama was killed by US in Pakistan.

9th Goal against Spurs on 2nd October 2011..on October 5, Steve jobs Died.

10th Goal against Olympique Marsellie on 19th October, 2011 ... Next day on 20th October, Former Libiyan euler Muhammar Gaddafi was killed.

11th Goal against Sunderland on 11th Feb and next day Whitney Houston was found dead in her hotel.

hopefully the 12th on wednesday will kill piers morgan

Plus , His Birth date is 26-12-1990....And it is also a day when many tragic incidents have happened. here are some tragic incidents happened on26 the December after 1990.
1991. Soviet Union dissolves
1999 a storm called Lothar sweeps across Europe killing 137 People.
2003 Earthquake in Iran killed more than 10,000 people.
2004 a 9.4 magnitude earthquake in Indian Ocean creates tsunami in which more than 2,30 000 people were killed.
2006 Earthquake of 7.1 magnituee in Taiwan

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Official Statement

2012-02-12T16:19:00.000+00:00

We Are happy that utd and liverpool have made up.

Can we get on with football now please.

Are We Tackling Racism In Football The Right Way?

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The Arsenal Handbook to surviving 11/12

2012-02-02T09:23:00.003+00:00

By @TheRSD

We're only 3 points off safety

Avoid twitter on match days especially after an away draw it’s as bad as 2-8

Texts from spers mates saying mind the gap, can be dealt with, 2 titles in 130 years, Mind the Gap!

Don’t bother with league table till May, it's not worth it

Reduce SFD "Seasonal Furniture Damage" by removing the coffee table maybe replace with a cardboard box, ( softer and has a better flight)

Don’t believe anything wenger says in a presser

Remember 8th is the new 4th

If we make Europa league, the Ukraine is in Europe, I hear it quite nice in the fall

Less games will be on the telly, loads of 3 o’clock kick offs

it’s never as good as it seems and it’s never as bad as it seems, so chin up and take it like a gooner

“There aren’t many football clubs around where both young and old have lived through the good times.” - Nick Hornby

If you've got any more please add below.

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D-DAY

2012-01-31T09:58:00.003+00:00

By @SweGoon

It's that day we all dread, that day when all our hopes and dreams are smashed. It's DEADLINE DAY! Thank god it only comes twice a year. By the look of things it will yet again be a slow day if you're an Arsenal fan. But let's forget about that for a while, let's indulge ourselves in dreaming about who might possibly maybe come or go. Even though we all know it won't happen. So here we go.

Hugo Rodallega
Rodallega you say? What can he bring? Well, he would be that more direct offensive alternative that could operate both on the wing, as a lone striker or up front with Robin playing off him. Is he good enough? He certainly wouldn't be first choice in any position but he would give us more depth in offensive positions. For instance it would open up for Chamberlain to play in the center sometimes and carry some of Ramsey's load. Is this likely? Rodallega has definitely indicated that a January move might be imminent but it looks like maybe QPR or Fulham is a more likely destination for him. However, as far as potential players in on deadline day this year Rodallega is one of the most likely unlikely.

Yoann Gourcuff
Gourcuff would certainly bring both that depth we've all been dreaming about as well as top class quality in the midfield. But, no he won't come. Not even in a blog like this can I dare to dream about it. It's a no go.

Lewis Holtby
There were some talk yesterday about Holtby and he'd certainly be a smart signing. He could both support Ramsey and give us more options on the wing. Not really on the radar of any of the giants, probably not very pricey or salary demanding. So he'd definitely be a good option. For some reason I have a feeling that if we see some action today it might, just might, contain Holtby. But that's just my gut feeling.

Lucas Barrios
Very pacey, can play on the wing or up front. Would bring largely the same as Rodallega minus Premier League experience. Don't see it, seems very non-Wengerish to me.

Adrian Mariappa
Can play either as CD or RB and a the need for a utility player in defence has been imminent this winter. Could be bought for around £4m. Don't see him coming in unless Squillaci leaves. Mariappa would certainly bring something new to the defence with his Championship background, but would Wenger go for him? Not sure.

We could really use a good utility player at the back, preferably someone who is comfortable at both LB and RB. Zabaleta is a good example, Zanetti another. Unfortunately those players are hard to come by and I can't really think of anyone that would be available.

One thing is almost certain, if we buy anyone it will be a to improve the depth of the squad. As for players like M'Vila, Hazard etc. forget it, at least until summer comes.

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Live Chat with Yogi warrior from aclf and darrenarsenal1 from twitter

2012-01-26T20:04:00.000+00:00

RSD live blog chat thingy
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What if Wenger leaves?

2012-01-25T18:13:00.000+00:00

By @Swegoon

First of, this is not a Wenger out blog it's a what if Wenger leaves blog. Second, these are just my opinions and not facts.

So it looks increasingly possible that come summertime Wenger might be out the door. Apart for all the other troubles it would leave us with we'd be without a manager. This leads me to ask, if Wenger leaves who would I like to see replace him. On second thought replace might be a strong word here, no one can really replace all that Wenger is in this club. When he leaves a lot of what he does will probably land on the board or perhaps a newly appointed sports director. However as far as coaching goes someone will step up in his place, the only question is who. For me there are many possible and more or less suitable candidates. To somehow rank these I scored them in five different categories which I also weighted differently. Finally I summed up their total score. Below I have presented top 5 and given my views on them.

5. Paul Lambert
Age: 42
Nationality: Scotish
Team: Norwich
Paul Lambert represents a football that would be acceptable, he has a decent winner instinct and experience. In this competition most things about him are average and while that gives him the fifth highest total score it may also be his biggest draw back. The only thing that really stands out about him is his ability to deliver good results with low investments. Though we have to remember that Wenger was not the obvious choice back in the day and Lambert could, if he is given time, deliver longterm. Lambert would almost certainly be available if we were to inquire about him.
Score: 39

4. Lucien Favre
Age: 54
Nationality: Swiss
Team: Borussia Monchengladbach
What Lucien Favre did last season with Borussia Monchengladbach is quite extraordinary. When he was brought in Gladbach was seemingly hopelessly heading for relegation. Favre put his mark on the team and without any transfers at all to speak of did he not only save them from relegation but transformed them into one of the best teams in the Bundesliga. Gladbach is currently 4th in the league, only one point behind leaders Bayer Munich. Question marks can be raised over his winner instinct and philosophy. He is also not the most experienced manager of the bunch. Securing Favre would be more complicated than Lambert but certainly not impossible.
Score: 41

3.Nigel Adkins
Age: 46
Nationality: English
Team: Southampton
Nigel Adkins started his off pitch career as a physio which lead the fans of Scunthorpe, his first club as a manager after an early spell at Bangor City, to chant “Who needs Mourinho, We've got our physio”. Adkins has an excellent record as manager, three seasons at Bangor he won the league twice. Four seasons at Scunthorpe saw them being promoted to the Championship twice, something he also achieved during his first season at Southampton. Questions could be raised over his ability at the top after two failed seasons in the Championship with Scunthorpe, although the current season with Southampton has shown otherwise. Still the least experienced of the five. Would probably jump at the chance to manage Arsenal would it be given.
Score: 42

2. David Moyes
Age: 48
Nationality: Scotish
Team: Everton
David Moyes need no further introduction, he is well known amongst all gooners. Moyes has for years kept Everton just below the absolute top despite being heavily restricted on the transfer market. Along with Favre the only one who has done this at the highest level. If any manager deserves a chance to prove himself at a financially more sound club it would be Moyes. The only question is if he would go to Arsenal or if he is waiting for Sir Alex to retire.
Score: 44

1. Jürgen Klopp
Age: 44
Nationality: German
Team: Borussia Dortmund
Of all the managers not already snapped up by absolute top clubs in Europe Jürgen Klopp is by far the best. He is also the one most suited for Arsenal. Klopp is a winner who urges his team to play a beautiful yet efficient football. He is excellent at bringing young players into the team in a way only matched by Wenger himself. Lacks a bit of European experience but apart from that he is as close to a perfect fit as there is. Although there is one, big, question mark. Will he ever leave Germany? Maybe, but he would be expensive and we'd face fierce competition. May be out of reach but would certainly be the obvious choice for me.
Score: 47

My choice is to go for Jürgen Klopp if we think we can get him, otherwise I wouldn't mind Adkins or an outsider like Favre.

Others that didn't make the top 5 are Ralf Rangnick, Owen Coyle, José Mourinho, Guus Hiddink, Brendan Rodgers, Christian Gourcuff and Remi Garde.

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The Arsene Wenger Flow Chart

2012-01-25T06:04:00.000+00:00

By the tweeter formally known as @darylphotoshop

Keyboard Warriors

2012-01-23T22:38:00.001+00:00

By @buxtongooner

I’ve become a bit angry of late. Odd, because I’m not an angry person.
And what has been fueling this ire? The recent on pitch performances? The lack of spending? Not really. Can’t say I’m too happy with them, of course. No, what’s been really getting to me is the supporters.

I’ve been on Twitter for coming up to a year. I’ve ‘met’ some good Arsenal people, proper supporters, funny people, interesting people, informed people and passionate people. I’ve been lucky enough on a few occasions to put faces to @names, have a drink, a chat - you know the drill.

I’m telling you now, I’m pro-Wenger. If you’re anti, that’s fine, it’s your opinion and I respect it. But, look at this –

" All you cunts that think Wenger knows best need to fucking wake up.’

This sumptuous little snippet appeared on Sunday on the back of the Man Utd defeat but more specifically about one substitution, and you know which one I’m on about.

And this is just the tip of a fucking horrible iceberg. Twitter, to me, seems quite fairly split between pro and anti Wenger. I don’t unfollow people because I don’t agree with them, I choose sometimes to engage in debates and banter, we’ve all got a point of view. It’s sometimes frustrating, sometimes maddening, but it’s generally enjoyable, often funny, and healthy.

I don’t generalise and call people cunts, though. I’m not that stupid that I don’t realise our club is in a bad way at the moment. I don’t think having our most creative and talented midfielder, along with four full backs out injured is helping our cause, either. I also think that some of Wenger’s purchases have been way short of what was required, and the dithering in the summer? Don’t get me started.

Sack him. Get someone else in. Ok. Who? It’s been asked before, but really, who? You can name names, but do you really think given the budget we assume Wenger has to work under that someone of Mourinho’s ilk is going to take the job? Because that’s the level of manager we should be looking at if we are to replace Wenger.

The boos at The Emirates? The reported in-fighting? Is this what it’s coming to? It’s not the Arsenal I know, the classy club that I love.

I think some of the abuse that’s being given out because of differing opinions is out of order. Some of the abuse that’s being hurled at our manager is spiteful and disrespectful, and surely unhelpful when our support is needed the most.

It’s just opinions. I have mine and you have yours, but let’s not all fall out about it. Disagree all you want, it’s always been that way and it always will, but please –

Don’t call me a cunt

.

A Greek Oddity

2011-12-09T18:59:00.001+00:00

By @buxtongooner

After a rather amusing day out in Wigan, where for once we didn’t throw away a lead, the four of us found ourselves at Manchester airport the following morning at sometime after five o’clock.

Myself, Jay and Darren are three exiled Gooners from London, and young Sam is a Buxton lad who, luckily for him, I have decided to adopt football-wise.

Things did not start to well. Sprung by the hotel maid whilst lounging on the double bed in a towel as my room mate (nameless) straightened his hair, followed not long after by the four of us falling for the oldest trick in the book. Yes, we followed a friendly local who we had chanced upon to The James Joyce Irish bar, only for him to invite us for a quick beer where he ‘worked’, just ‘round the corner’ from our destination.

Why not? What a helpful chap.

I’ll fucking tell you why not.

Three small beers, one mineral water, semi-naked eastern european women and 38 euros later, we made our excuses and left.

‘Fresh of the plane’, we were. I wouldn’t have minded but it must be the, oh, fifth or sixth time it’s happened to me. The BuxtonGooner never learns.

The James Joyce finally found, we settled in for some beers and watched the two mind numbing games that were on offer. A late night, then bed.

The following day, we trekked up a large hill and visited the Acropolis, as one does when in Athens. Impressive the Parthenon may have been in 432 BC, one can still sense the weight of history but cannot fail to notice that in reality it’s a bit shit these days. The newly constructed museum, however, if you ever find yourself in that part of the world and can be arsed, is rather pleasant.

A ramble around the centre of town led us predictably back to The James Joyce. Alan Whicker I may not be, a creature of habit I most definitely am.

Gooners were arriving and Gooners were a drinkin’. Danish, Austrian, Italian, Welsh, and even a few English ones. We watched the Liverpool game, got pissed, you know how it is, and laughed at the goalkeeping cock-up that gifted Fulham their winner. Karma, as well as two kebabs were around the corner.

We swerved back to the hotel via nightclubs that refused to let us in, the slightly insane Bulgarian Gooners, Bully, and cheap beer from a kiosk.

Matchday was finally upon us. We did some serious lurking, coffee sipping, enjoyed a fine Greek lunch to celebrate Jay’s birthday, some skulking and trolling, before predictably ending up at the same pub.

A TwitterStorm followed as we tried to get hold of a spare ticket (thanks to everyone who tried to help) and rounded up the thirty or so of us to leave together amid reports of mild slaps being dished earlier by groups of young Greeks with marvellous hair.

A Sing song on the Metro caused much mirth, and we skipped merrily to the ground to find that someone had had his phone nicked, someone else 40 euros and Jay had the two tickets he was holding swiped. Some excellent work by the lady from the Arsenal Travel Club (kiss kiss) left Sam and Darren in the away section and myself and Jay in the VIP section.

More excellent work from Jay, a bit from me and various stewards who frankly had no idea what we were going on about, and we eeked our way back into the away section. Miraculous.

The match? Well, um, you saw it. I thought, glaring howling mistakes apart, we did ok considering the youth in the team and the bear pit atmosphere of the Karaiskakis Stadium they had to put up with. Proper lairy.

We were through anyway as group winners, so we weren’t too bothered. Yeah, a win would have been nice, but it was far more amusing watching the locals sneak out after the news of late goals in Dortmund.

Back to you know where for a couple more drinks (5 euros a pop, I should add) and we were done.

An odd trip, on the whole, as it was utterly pointless in the end. Met some good people among the 550 Arsenal supporters that travelled, and I now await next Friday’s draw to see where I can get ripped off in a knocking shop next.

Can’t wait

.

Hayley Wrights Video Diary Oly Away, The one where Chamakh "shot his bolt."

2011-12-07T07:36:00.001+00:00

by Miss @HayleyWright

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Hayley Wrights Video diary City in the cup

2011-11-30T08:28:00.001+00:00

by Miss @HayleyWright

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Hayley Wrights Video diary Dortmund Home

2011-11-24T09:08:00.001+00:00

by Miss @HayleyWright

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Daryls Sepp Rant

2011-11-19T08:07:00.000+00:00

By Daryl

Good day,

Before I start, I feel I better apologise for not doing my own blog for months. My work and spare time has been somewhat busy. So, now I have dealt with that..

I got a DM from @TheRSD asking if I fancied doing a blog on Sepp Blatter I decided, why the fuck not.

Now, unless you are a fully paid up member of the EDL/BNP or Nick Griffin I would imagine you are, like the vast majority of the UK, roundly opening the hate guns on old Blatter.

And I don’t think I can add much more to the already well published/blogged viewpoint that Blatter is a man who is out of touch and should be replaced. So I won`t.

However, I will look a couple of other things around this topic.

Just what does Sepp have to do before he is sacked/forced to resign?

Here is ten things I think he could get away with..

1 Fuck a goat live on stage at the next FIFA meeting. Might cause a stir, but he’d release a statement along the lines of “It backed up onto me while I was dancing”

2 Sleep with a prostitute that turns out to be a he and not a she. Sepp would spin this into a “I love the gays” initiative. Even though, he wasn’t aware `she` was a he.

3 Get filmed snorting class A cocaine from a 14yr old boys arse cheeks. He would merely laugh this off as “A new grass roots programme”

4 Get caught masturbating in a public park. He’d simply sell it as a new `FIFA gets back to nature` promotion

5 Remark on camera “That gollywog chap Drogba is very big isn’t he, what tribe is he from” I reckon Blatter would merely say he was `getting down` with modern gang slang. He`d maybe even wear an Ali G get up to really sell it.

6 Get caught up in a corruption story of votes for bungs. He would…oh, he just did.

7 Go on record as saying that women are to stupid to be able to understand tactics in football. No problem, good old Blatter would merely play it as “We want to educate and raise awareness of football among new female fans”

8 Get filmed clubbing a baby seal to death with a car jack. Sepp would simply announce he is testing the strength of the FIFA motorcades tools to avoid lose of life on the road.

9 Filmed getting a poodle to lick marmite off his knob end. No worries. Blatter would merely point out he dropped the jar on his cock and hates wasting food given the third worlds food problems.

And finally,

10 Pull a gun live during the next FIFA world cup draw and shoot Zidane stone cold fucking dead. Old Sepp would just say he is stamping out violence in football, and the act was a new retrospective punishment system for that head butt in the world cup final in 2006.

For me, the most damning thing about Blatter, is that what he said was not in the context of a joke (not that it would excuse it), nor did he see what he had done wrong. He did not even think what he said would get that reaction (see BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15782265.stm )

The man is a fucking fool, but more of a concern is that, aside from mainly UK based players & David Beckham, no other `big name` European players seem to be jumping up to damn him. In fact, to my knowledge, only the English FA have dared to speak up with the rather flimsy limp response. (and I’ll gladly stand corrected)

This for me is more of a worry. In a world where Europe is an open area, it seems the inherent racism in parts of Europe are behind by decades what we have accomplished in the UK. And yes, even in the UK we have still got work to do (looks at Stamford Bridge)

Now, don’t get me wrong, the UK has its share of Blatters. But lets be honest, I cant hear any anti-Blatter comments coming from the usual suspects (Spain I’m looking at you and your fucking monkey chants) http://www.thespoiler.co.uk/index.php/2011/02/09/spains-commitment-to-racism-will-never-end

And therein lies the problem. All the time other countries accept, ignore or tolerate the Sepp Blatters of this world, he will stay in power, and no progress will take place.

If the man is stupid enough to go on record with his comments over “hand shakes” then fuck knows what goes on in his fat fucking stupid head behind closed doors.

Well that’s enough from me. So I`ll leave you with a couple of pics.

Ta ta.

Daryl

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Hayley Wrights video diary West brom Home

2011-11-06T08:03:00.000+00:00

by Miss @HayleyWright

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Hayley Wrights Video diary Marseille home

2011-11-02T06:53:00.000+00:00

by Miss @HayleyWright

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Sponsored by betting tips at Onebooker

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Individual video comps from Chels (RVP, Kos, Ramsey & Arteta )

2011-10-31T07:35:00.003+00:00

Contributors @CWDailyGooner @GERSSISDAVID @emirejc @bataritamas @DmitryMD

Hayley Wrights video diary of the chelsea away

2011-10-31T07:31:00.000+00:00

by Miss @HayleyWright

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Hayley's Diary of a Season - Arsenal 3 Stoke 1

2011-10-24T09:57:00.001+01:00

by Miss @HayleyWright

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Video comps from Marsielle and loanees (song Kos & Joel Campbell)

2011-10-21T08:37:00.001+01:00

On the first playlist is Kos and Song individual comps from Marseille and on the loanees is Joel Campbells performance vs Rennes. Am expecting Arteta and Rosicky soon.

Kos and Song produced a great defensive display vs marseille incredible discipline from song to go through the whole game almost, being on a yellow. Enjoy

Injury news on Jenks he'll be out for three weeks with hyperextension of the knee. according to @northbanklower

Contributors @CWDailyGooner @GERSSISDAVID @emirejc @bataritamas @DmitryMD

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Hayley Wrights Video Diary Marseille Away

2011-10-20T08:51:00.000+01:00

by Miss @HayleyWright

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Hayley Wrights Diary of a Season Sunderland home

2011-10-17T09:37:00.000+01:00

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