Gooner's Diary

Metal Guru, Is It You?

2013-05-12T17:59:00.000+01:00

Hi folks It would've been brilliant to have been presented with an opportunity to wrap 4th place up against Wigan on Tuesday, as this might've made for a far more celebratory feel to our last home game of the season. But then I suppose it was just too much to hope for Spurs to drop points, in the face of such a poor and sloppy performance by Stoke. If I didn't know any better, I would've said

By Far The Greatest Team?

2013-05-06T14:11:00.002+01:00

My Spurs mate contends that Fergie's team selection against Chelsea yesterday (with the inclusion of the positively anonymous Anderson, Valencia and Cleverly) was contrived to ensure the defeat that might end up denying Spurs Champions League qualification and allow old Red Nose to feast on the spoils with the purchase of Gareth Bale this summer. Far-fetched perhaps, but I do love a conspiracy

Loics Can Be Deceiving

2013-05-05T07:38:00.001+01:00

"I like the Loic of that: QPR striker Remy wants to complete dream move to the Arsenal" I'd definitely take the money and run for Podolski. Perhaps Lukas would come good in a team where he had some leaders around him, who could inspire him, but he lacks the self-motivation and the sort of appetite necessary to be a sufficiently consistent threat in this Arsenal side He actually didn't do too

Surely must be headline of the day?

2013-04-22T18:59:00.000+01:00

Why bother?

2013-04-22T15:01:00.001+01:00

Incited by this all too rare comment on Sunday's missive, I felt inspired to offer you lucky Gooners some more of my insightful thoughts, as so many of these are denied to you by the constraints of the 600 odd words that are wanted from me by the Irish Examiner each week. Never mind the fact that our lumbering French centre forward is not now and will never be a top draw talent, it's not as if

Mind That Gap!

2013-04-21T15:56:00.000+01:00

There are few better football grounds to visit on a glorious afternoon than Craven Cottage, with it’s Riverside backdrop framed against a picture perfect blue sky. It was a gorgeous day for all those Gooners who arrived via their riverboat cruise on the Thames, all turning up well-oiled and with a couple of drunken ditties to add to our terrace repertoire. The game itself almost seemed

Let Us Play

2013-04-10T18:44:00.000+01:00

Personally I’ve only got the one religion, the Gunners and I’m grateful that at least nowadays my chosen footballing faith is largely devoid of the sort of fanatical divisiveness that results in other religious extremists being responsible for so much of the world’s wanton death and destruction. Nevertheless, unfortunately Saturday morning proved to be one of those rare instances, when I was

It's Never Over, Until The Fat Cockerel Falls Off Its Perch

2013-03-18T09:18:00.000Z

I doubt Arsène Wenger had the Carling Cup debacle against Birmingham in mind, when he told us that the Gunners had to treat each of our remaining matches as a cup final. But this is what we were laughing about behind the goal at the Liberty on Saturday. For much of the game it appeared as if it was the home side, not us, who still had something to play for. The Swans crisp, incisive possession

No Arsenal, No Withdrawals....No Sh*t!

2013-03-10T18:43:00.000Z

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Separated At Birth?

2013-03-10T18:15:00.000Z

Sound familiar....

2013-03-09T02:55:00.002Z

....NFL is all gobbledigook to me but no translation required for the sentiments expressed An Open Letter to St. Louis Rams’ Owner Stan Kroenke: Fan’s View whether it's the head or the body of the snake that has to go. something has to happen for us to shed this "sustainable business model" skin, if we're not to end up spending several more years in purgatory as just another of Silent

Carl Jenkinson?

2013-03-08T09:18:00.000Z

Can anyone confirm if Jenkinson was subbed at WHL with a knock? I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the game again to see if he was at all at fault with the goals (although I must admit that my Spurs mate took me to WHL last night to watch the Spuds beat Inter and to be fair, I've never experienced Thursday night Europa League football, so sadly, perhaps it's a good idea that I start

Large Thumb Wanted! To Shore Up N5's Ever More Fragile Dam

2013-03-06T23:59:00.000Z

Apologies for the lack of recent posts. It's not that I haven't been writing my weekly missives for the Irish Examiner, but limited to only 800 or 650 words and after the struggle to meet a Sunday deadline, I always think I'll find the time to subsequently add everything else that I was forced to omit and then never get around to it. But then my gravestone will undoubtedly be engraved with the

Interpreting Arsène.....?

2013-01-04T16:22:00.000Z

Although AW is much respected by the media ratpack in general because of the erudite way in which he's often willing to spout forth in response to their largely inane questions, when it comes to matters of a more delicate nature, we've grown accustomed to Arsène's habitual tendency to play his cards very close to his chest. As a result, after 16 years of AW's tenure, we Gooners are left trying

Arsène Finds Himself Looking Down Walcott's Three-Goal Barrel, Hoping Theo Doesn't Pull That Trigger

2013-01-04T11:25:00.000Z

Apologies but I forgot to hit the "publish" button after finishing my weekly missive below on Sunday and following the utterly demoralising schlep to St Mary's on New Year's Day, where the Gunners failed miserably to turn up (to such an extent that I even overheard several Saints' fans commenting on their way out about how crap we were), I thought it best to save any further comment until after

All I Want For Xmas......

2012-12-23T18:43:00.000Z

Hi folks, Was it good fortune, or merely convenient that Olivier Giroud was left in London on Saturday, with him and Rosicky suffering from colds, as after Monday's result at Reading, surely it would've been impossible for AW not to have continued with Theo playing up front. Sadly we were not treated to a repeat performance at Wigan. I was pleased to see Arsène continue with this experiment (

Champions League...Now We're Really Having A Larf!

2012-12-17T01:33:00.000Z

Hi folks, I only discovered on Sunday afternoon that the Irish Examiner weren't expecting a Terrace Talk missive from me this weekend (with us playing on Monday night) and I was already 515 words into the following piece, when they suggested I limit my submission to 500 words. So you'll have to forgive me if I've short-changed you on this week's diary entry, in my efforts to wrap the following

I Schlepped All The Way To Bradford And All I Have To Show For MyEfforts Is A Free Santa Hat!

2012-12-14T16:37:00.000Z

(having attempted to exorcise some of my frustration on the Arsenal mailing list, my reply to a post on the list about AW's future, resulted in such a rambling and all too long-winded rant - nothing new there then - that I thought I might as well post it to my blog, in the event that there might be other sad buggers like myself, who based on recent events, really should get a life because as

Bring On The Bantams

2012-12-10T16:23:00.000Z

I’m mad for my football. Least it was warm in Athens and I came back with a carrier bag full of cheap fags. But if travelling a couple of thousand miles to watch last week’s load of old tosh against Olympiakos wasn’t sufficiently batty, then sacrificing a day’s wages to schlep up to Bradford in this bitterly cold weather, for the depreciated denizens of the Capital One Cup, must surely rank as

Blowing In The Wind

2012-12-02T17:10:00.001Z

The league table never lies. The Gunners are marooned in the doldrums of 10th place because based on our recent run of dreadfully pallid displays, that’s exactly where we deserve to be. Most disconcerting is that where in the past there’s always been promise aplenty of better to come, in a calibre of player capable of putting wind in our sails and breathing some life back into our season, there

Sounds far more like my kinda protest

2012-12-01T00:34:00.001Z

http://arsenalarsenal.wordpress.com/2011/04/30/white-scarf-protest-–-sign-up-now/

Plain As Le Nez On Le Prof's Mush

2012-11-29T03:28:00.001Z

Just in the door from the long schlep back from Merseyside and I made the mistake of putting a recording of the midweek MOTD on the box. No sooner than the programme had started, than I found myself suffering the sight of Gareth Bale storming forward, to create Spurs opening goal against the Mickey Mousers and then when Shearer highlighted Dembele's midfield strengths in the montage shown at the

Get Up Off Of That Thang

2012-11-25T19:56:00.000Z

According to a 'never let the truth get in the way of a good story' article in this weekend's FT, I am a "keen historian of the club", which is a laugh, considering my increasingly sieve-like memory prevents me from recalling who scored yesterday, never mind forty years ago...but then sadly we didn't score any goals yesterday! While many might think I'm clutching at straws, searching for some

Derby Day Triumph A Fitting Celebration Of Treacle's Life

2012-11-18T17:57:00.000Z

Writing below about how much I adore Koscielny's commitment, I simply couldn't post this missive without mentioning how impressive it was to see Santi staggering back to his feet, in the build-up to the third goal. Despite the man advantage, this was just the sort of drive & determination that's been so sorely lacking in recent performances and much like last season, I hope it can be the

Berbatov's Cottaging Maxes Out Arsène's Credit?

2012-11-11T17:58:00.000Z

Surrendering a single two-goal lead might be deemed careless but squandering a two-goal advantage twice in the same week is downright unpardonable, It is perhaps worryingly indicative of a disturbing malaise in the Arsenal camp, which is beginning to test the patience of even the most devout of Arsène Wenger’s Gooner disciples. Competing for trophies is the icing on the cake for any supporter