No Signings for Arsenal? Wenger Says No To Inler

Don't you know about the bird? Everybody knows that the bird is the word. What's up everyone? Not a whole lot going on today. The main story is that Jack Wilshere signed a pro deal, but I already posted that three days ago so that isn't even news. The other big news is that it was my dad's birthday yesterday. So how could there possibly be any more news than those two stories?

Well, there isn't much, but in transfer news, Arsene Wenger is no longer interested in Udinese's Gokhan Inler. When asked if he was interested in him, Wenger responded with a pretty blunt, "Yes, in the summer. But not anymore." I don't think you can get more clear than that. I have no idea what has made him not want him anymore, but I think you can rule him out of the transfer targets.

Wenger's interview went on with a scary thought however.

"At the moment I feel that if we do add somebody, we need to add somebody who has a special class because we have good players.

"Take a player like (Aaron) Ramsey. They show that they grow. Of course they still show lapses, a lack of experience, but they have quality and they can grow quickly."

This is not good. It's showing yet again that Arsene thinks that signing ANYBODY would stunt the development of the young players. Aaron Ramsey is facking 17 though! Can't he develop in the reserves like all the rest of the 17 year olds? We clearly need a midfielder and he's kind of saying he won't buy one just because we have young players. It's completely ridiculous and while I love Ramsey and I think he'll be very good for us one day, today isn't that day. I suppose he won't buy a winger because that might stunt Little Jack's growth and he won't buy a defender because of course we have the defensive stalwart Havard Nordtveit coming through. It's nothing against all the young players it's just that right now they aren't good enough to play regularly for a team like Arsenal. How can we expect to win when it's Deco or Gerrard against Ramsey? Maybe that will work in 3-4 years but not right now.

We need to make some signings, and I think everyone with the possible exception of Arsene Wenger knows it. It's a scary proposition to think of no players coming in this transfer window, because nobody knows exactly what "special class" means to Wenger. We know he won't spend big so it isn't going to be an established world class player, so who could it be? Read the first sentence of his quote, it says "If we DO add somebody." If? There shouldn't be an if. With Cesc out, and Theo out, and the defense playing badly, how can you look at the team and say we shouldn't bring somebody in?

I love Arsene Wenger, but in the case that nobody is brought in during this transfer window, when Champions League qualification is really in jeapordy, then serious questions have to be asked about the direction he is leading this club. He has brought us to new heights but now we are falling from those heights because of a lack of quality in the squad. A squad that Wenger seems very reluctant to improve. Stubborness will get you nowhere in this business and sometimes you have to be able to admit that your plan has failed. Come on Wenger, bring in some new players and let's right this ship.

Champions League football for next year should be the paramount goal for the rest of the season. In order to do that we need Villa to slip and we have to be better than we have been so far this year. I think we can do it with a few of the right players brought in. Let's pull it together Arsenal and get the job done.

Cheers all.

No Bid For Arteta, Wilshere Signs Pro Deal, Wenger Going Nowhere

Morning all. A pretty good bit to get through today so let's get right down to it.

We've been linked with Mikel Arteta quite a bit going into this transfer season, but Wenger says no enquiry has been made. Now this could just be trying to throw off potential competition for his signature or he could really be serious about, and I have a hunch that maybe they really aren't interested in Arteta. The rumor was made up first by News of the World or something first, which gives it about zero credibility, and has just taken off from there. I still think he would be a good signing, but as of this point there is no move for him.

Wenger was a little more clear when asked about Andrey Arshavin, saying that there is no progress on him, not saying that we haven't put in an offer or an enquiry. I think Arteta would be a better signing than Arshavin as I've said but many people think he is the answer to our problems. I just think the price tag is too high and the standard of league he has been in does not make for a quick transistion into the Premiership. However, as Wenger said, there has been no progress towards signing him so we'll have to wait on that, which is the usual way Wenger operates. Usually when we buy a player we wait till closer to the end of the transfer window so that we can get the price down a bit.

Moving on to some good news, yesterday was Little Jack Wilshere's 17th birthday, which saw him sign professional terms with the club. It is believed to be up to an eight year deal, which is fantastic. I'll confess that I'm a bit obsessed with Jack Wilshere in a completely not-gay way, but just the same way I'm obsessed with Cesc Fabregas. He's just really, really awesome. I think we can expect huge things from him in the future if all goes well, and I sincerely hope that it does. In other young gun news, Jay Simpson has gone on loan to West Brom and Gavin Hoyte has gone on loan to Watford. It'll be nice to see how Simpson does with the Premiership matches and I'll be looking forward to Hoyte's development as well.

And the latest Arsene Wenger rumor is that he is leaving Arsenal for Real Madrid and taking Cesc Fabregas with him. However, Wenger has rubbished these rumors saying that nobody can doubt his commitment to the club.

“I don’t think anyone can doubt my commitment here. You can question my decisions and I accept that, but not my commitment.

“No [no one has spoken to my representatives], because I represent myself.”

So that clears that one up. He's had the chance to go to Madrid before but I really don't think he wants to. Arsenal gives him the freedom to essentially run the club how he wants to whereas Madrid or say Barca he would always have to be bringing in big names and he would have to take a lot of input from others as to how to run the club. I just don't think that is his thing.

And the last piece of news today is that Shay Given is not a target for Arsenal. It has been rumored by many sources that we would pursue him this January but Arsene says he is not interested in signing Shay from Newcastle. Personally I am a fan of Almunia and think he's proven that he is good enough to win. Is he as good as Petr Cech? No, but only two other people in the world I'd say are as good as him, so what can you expect? I'd rather spend the money on a defender or a midfielder personally.

So that's all there is today. Quite a lot going on, or not going on depending on which way you look at it. Maybe we'll get a new signing today, but then again maybe we'll have to wait three more weeks. We shall see. I'll keep you updated right here though. Cheers.

My Arsenal Christmas List

Today is Christmas Eve, and I will be departing in an hour to go spend it with my entire family, but I figured I'd do a quick Christmas post before all the festivities begin. I think an Arsenal Christmas list is in order so I've put one together for the rest of the season. If you think of any fun additions go ahead and leave them in the comments. These are in no particular order by the way.

1. Someone who can play in place of Cesc while he is out. Diaby is not Cesc, nor is Denilson, Ramsey, Song, or anyone else on our team. We need to buy someone to play the rest of this year in Cesc's spot while he is out. I could think of a couple of names but Arsene never buys anyone that we've heard of so I think it's best to just say we need SOMEONE there.

2. To stay undeafeated against the rest of the "Big Four." We've done it so far, with 2 wins and a draw, and I think it'd be great to be able to keep it that way the rest of the year. It will obviously be tougher without our captain but at least we would be able to say we didn't lose to any of them even once.

3. To beat Tottenham Hotspur at Shite Hart Lane. They screwed us over at the Emirates and we really owe them a beating. The only thing better than destroying them at home is destroying them on the road.

4. To stay in the Top Four. We've struggled this year, and fallen out of the top four, with Villa slipping in our spot. We NEED to make it into the Champions League next year, and so we really need to get back into at least 4th spot.

5. A new defender. I think that goes without saying. Djourou has turned in some good performances but since I think Gallas' time at Arsenal is nearing it's in we could use a good, tall, strong defender.

6. A holding midfielder better than Alex Song. Sorry, but Alex is just not good enough to be playing this much for Arsenal. Give us somebody better please. Again, not going to name names but a quality DM is just what we need.

7. Keep Usmanov out of Arsenal. There has been some drama within the Arsenal boardroom lately and it may be an opening for Alisher "As Large As Russia Itself" Usmanov to buy his way into the boardroom. We can't have it. He's a wanker who knows nothing about football or Arsenal or how to not be a cunt. Please Arsenal, do not let him in, at any cost.

8. A Trophy. It's going to be tough without our captain, but we still have at least two chances for silverware in the FA Cup and the Champions League. We'd all love a trophy, so let's do it Arsenal!

That's my Arsenal Christmas list. If we could get half of those things it'd be awesome but all of them would make it the best Christmas ever.

Merry Christmas to everyone! I hope you enjoy spending time with your family and I hope you all have wonderful times! Cheers!

No New Signing After All

Morning all. While for most of the summer I have been so supportive of Arsene Wenger and figured he would certainly improve the squad and make it competitive before the transfer window closes, I've found myself drifting further and further over the other side, and today is no exception.

After the first leg against FC Twente, Wenger had this to say to Arsenal.com:

“Will something be done ahead of the second leg? Certainly yes, but before Saturday, no.”

Yet the match is today and there isn't a new signing here. Don't tell me about Silvestre because he doesn't count. There is no improvement on the squad from the time of the last leg until now. Not only that, but the transfer window closes in four days. I know Wenger likes last second deals but why wait so long? It never seems to be the case at other clubs who come in and buy our players all summer. When you wait till the last minute you can't always get the player you want at the price you want, and it seems like it would be much easier to start earlier so you have time to negotiate and get exactly what you are looking for.

I don't know why Wenger has consistently misinformed us about the transfer dealings this summer. Very early on in the transfer window he said we would have a signing in the next couple weeks, and that didn't happen. Also, he said we would sign a "creative player and a powerful defender." Well we got our creative player in Samir Nasri, who I think we're all happy with, but we haven't gotten anywhere close to a powerful defender. There is just something shady about all these quotes with no results to follow them. I'm starting to think that it may actually be the board that is causing all these problems. I know Arsene likes a youth policy but this is getting ridiculous.

When asked about any new possibilities for signings today he had this to say:

“There are no names and there is no news,” he reported.

“We do not have to worry about too many other players. I believe we have the needed squad and a strong squad. I believe in the players I have instead of always looking at who might be coming in. It is not one player who makes a difference. It is up to us as a team to show personality, strength and belief. If we can find one more, we will do it, if not we will not limit our ambitions because of it."

Don't you think something is wrong there? He's said all summer we need a couple of signings and every time he says it he changes it to how we don't need any new players, we just need strength and spirit. Either Arsene has gotten too stubborn for his own good or the board isn't letting him spend any money.

Arsene also spoke about Phillippe Senderos being sent out on loan. You already know my feelings on that, I think it was a bad move for us.

Today we face FC Twente though in the 2nd leg of that tie with a 2-0 lead. It shouldn't be an extremely difficult fixture for us with the lead and the home field but you never know. Cesc Fabregas is back fit so hopefully we'll get to see the return of our savior tonight. I'm hoping for a 3-0 or 4-0 win to get the confidence back up after Fulham. C'mon you Gunners!

Arsenal Sign New Manager!

Morning all. I have a very special announcement for you all today. Arsenal have decided that Arsene Wenger has no idea what he's doing, and they're moving on. They've found a new manager, and he's just what everyone has been hoping for. He's got a much better track record than Wenger, who of course only won three league titles and four FA Cups and is Arsenal's most successful manager ever. This manager has guaranteed that he will win the title, the FA Cup, the Carling Cup, and the Champions League every year. Losing a single game is unacceptable, which is good because he has never lost one in his career.

He's also promised a whole host of signings. Clearly Denilson, Diaby, and Ramsey are no good so he will bring in Gareth Barry to partner Cesc in the middle. Barry might not be enough though because our "squad" still won't be big enough, so he'll also invest in Xabi Alonso AND Yaya Toure. At striker he's going to fulfill everyone's desires by buying David Villa, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, and Samuel Eto'o. That should make us stronger up front. Never mind if it affects Vela or Walcott or Bendtner's development, because our new manager doesn't concern himself with the future.

Arsenal's debt they had to pay off was clearly made up, because the new manager has spent over 150 million pounds on players to make sure our squad is "strong" enough right now and wants to make every fan happy. So it turns out Arsene Wenger just used that whole "debt" thing as a way to not spend any money and not try to improve the club. In fact, the whole thing was his attempt to sabotage Arsenal and make them never win anything again. He figured he had won enough to get away with never winning again, so his new goal was to last as long as possible without a trophy.

And perhaps best of all, this manager is an Englishman. Clearly these foreigners don't know how to manage football clubs, because every time they try in England (Mourinho, Ferguson, Wenger, Benitez) they fail horribly. He'll probably use the rest of his alleged 300 million pound transfer budget to buy a lot of English born players who are clearly top quality, like David Bentley, Jermaine Pennant, and maybe even John Terry, who we all love. So we have that to look forward to because Arsenal should definitely not employ all these foreign types.

So now the presentation of this new manager who we will all love for years and years to come, who will fulfill all of our ambitions and buy every player we've ever wanted to see in an Arsenal kit...

Here he is!!!

Oh wait, he doesn't exist. There isn't a manager like that. Man, I was really excited there for a minute. Guess we're stuck with Wenger for now....

Go USA!

Denilson Should Start In Midfield

Morning all. I'm taking a break from watching the Olympics because they are showing rowing right now. Is that even a sport? Rowing. Some of these sports are just awful...beach volleyball, handball, synchronized diving/swimming, fencing...I love the Olympics but some things just should not have medals given for them.

So what happened over the weekend? Well we won the Amsterdam Cup, so that was good. I've honestly only seen highlights and read match reports so I can't go into detail over the performances, but I can tell a few things. Both of Ajax's goals were bloody outstanding. I know we should have closed down better but how can you stop shots like those two? Adebayor looked fantastic in his two goals and with his assist. He's going to be great again this year and everyone will forget what a wanker he was during this summer. In the second match we got a draw with Sevilla with Carlos Vela on the score sheet for Arsenal. He's looked good every time I've seen him this preseason and I'm looking forward to seeing him get into some real games.

So those are our last preseason games for the first teamers, as we start Champions League football on Wednesday and the Premiership on Saturday. Isn't that exciting? We pretty much know what we have to work with for this week's matches because I think even if we made a new signing they probably wouldn't be ready to play right away. Besides, Arsene Wenger says he is much too busy to sign a midfielder. So who's starting then? If you're Arsene Wenger to you try to go full strength on Wednesday and on Saturday? And what is the full strength lineup anyway? If I had to pick a lineup Wednesday I think I try to leave Cesc out until Saturday. Mine would look like this:

Almunia
Sagna-Toure-Gallas-Clichy
Walcott-Denilson-Ramsey-Nasri
Adebayor-Vela

I can explain leaving out Cesc and RvP, so don't bite my head off just yet. Cesc has been in training the least out of anyone that is healthy, as he came back just over a week ago. I think we should (should) be a far superior team to FC Twente and should wait to have Cesc ready to go for Saturday. Ramsey has looked capable next to Denilson and I don't see why that partnership couldn't make it through the away leg of this tie with a good result. A scoring draw or a win almost certainly sees us through to the group stages. RvP I think could be another player who could wait until Saturday and wouldn't cause us too much trouble. I'd rather have him fit for the league opener than risk him against a team we should be able to beat without him. Vela has looked very capable as well as Bendtner and I think either of them with Adebayor should be more than enough to score a goal or two.

But now it's getting a bit late in the transfer window and it hasn't looked like we're bringing in a new partner for Cesc, so if not, then who's it going to be? Has Denilson won himself the job with Diaby being out injured (as always)? I know not a lot of people have faith in him to do the job but he's looked good so far and maybe it's his time to shine. I really thought Diaby would be the guy but he just can't stay healthy and we can't rely on any more of those type of players. I'm not sure what will happen but if we don't sign anyone else, Denilson gets my vote.

Piers Morgan actually writes an article about how much he hates Alex Ferguson, and I actually kind of liked it. I didn't even know he was a Gooner.

I don't really know what else to write, I'm just looking forward to the matches this week. Almost time for the start of the season so you better sign up for the Fantasy Football League now. Go USA in the Olympics and I'll see you all tomorrow. Cheers.

Arsenal Need A New Defender - Eduardo Returns

Hola. I'm writing this during half time of the Arsenal-Real Madrid match and it's still 0-0. Yesterday we lost 1-0 to Juventus on a goal that was CLEARLY offside by David Trezeguet. Referee is clearly in preseason form as well. I'm not going to bother with a match report but if you want to read one I'm sure you can find one somewhere.

What I am going to talk about is the defense, which has looked shaky at best against Stuttgart, Juve, and Madrid at times. Going forward we have looked fairly strong. I think Denilson, Wilshere, and Ramsey have all had exceptional preseasons along with Vela and Bendtner. Adebayor and RvP don't have their full match sharpness yet so we haven't put goals in yet in this tournament but they will come with more games. The chances we have created will be put in the back of the net during the real season. Offensively is not where my concerns lie, however.

There have been several cases this preseason where the defensive marking has been questionable. I realize that several of the center back pairings haven't played with each other much and it is only preseason, but they are mistakes that you don't often see from solid defenses at this level. Too much space has been given to opposing strikers, and I remember especially against Stuttgart they had several good chances with strikers getting free behind the defense because of poor marking. Our problem last year was our inability to cope with long balls and pick up the strikers when the ball was on the way in, and that vulnerability seems to remain. I don't know if it is a communication error or just not having the familiarity, but it is something that needs to be remedied as soon as possible.

At the start of the transfer season Arsene Wenger was asked about his targets for the summer and his answer was that we would sign "A playmaker and a powerful defender." Well we have our playmaker in Samir Nasri but it appears that Wenger has forgotten about the defender. Djourou and Senderos have never been convincing over an extended period of time and the Gallas/Toure partnership hasn't ever been as successful as it should be with two players of their caliber. We need a new defender. It's as simple as that. More than we need any holding midfielder, our first priority HAS to be a defender. There are loads of good ones, who have been solid consistently, that can play at high levels, and one of them needs to be brought in. Another season of leaking long balls that turn into goals is unacceptable. If it happens again than Wenger has to be blamed. He said himself that we need a defender and he has failed to bring one in. I'm a Wenger guy 100% but after watching the defense in these matches and having the same problems as we had all last year, I realize that a change has to be made.

Some other observations...As I said earlier, I think Denilson has been great this preseason. He has looked strong in the tackle, comfortable on the ball and with his distribution, and not afraid to take a shot when he has a sight of goal. We haven't gotten to see a whole lot of Diaby, but I think Denilson has made the most of his run in the team. Do you think he could be up to the job of playing beside Cesc? Judging by his play so far I'd say he can.

Last, I wanna talk about Eduardo, who returned today to a massive reception. It was great to see him walking around and they interviewed him as well. Great to hear from him and especially great to hear the roaring of the crowd when they saw him. Big ups from myself to all the fans who showed him how much we are all rooting for him. Get well soon mate, we're all praying for you.

Let me know what you think about everything. Hope Arsenal go out and win in this 2nd half. Cheers.

Kolo Toure Has Malaria

Just what we needed. The man I've been wanting to captain this team for the new season contracted malaria over the summer in the Ivory Coast. He was feeling a little weakness during the training camp in Austria and was taken to the hospital for a check up, and they discovered...wait for it...that he has contracted the deadly disease. He stayed in the hotel during the match yesterday, which finished 1-1.

He's said to be "in good spirits" and "not too concerned" about the illness, which by the way can kill you. A couple of other African players have gotten Malaria in the past few years, and Yakubu and Lomana LuaLua are still living so that is a good sign.

It does look though that he'll miss the beginning of the Premier League season, which means we are even more in dire straights than we were before all of this. Arsene really is going to have to look into bringing in a defender now. Depending on how long Toure is out, we'll only have three central defenders going into the season, Gallas, Senderos, and Djourou. So now is the time to spend some money and go find a defender.

The other main news of the day is that Arsene wants to buy a midfielder. It's not really surprising since Flamini is gone but he hadn't confirmed that this was his intent until now.

“We will need one more body in there,” said Wenger when asked about his midfield. “At the moment we do not have Alex Song who is going to the Olympic games, Abou Diaby was not here tonight and nor was Fabregas.

“If we find a reasonable target then we will do it. But there is no special name on the list.

“We have some time. We have until August 31. We left 11 players back in Austria for this game. They will play in Stuttgart [on July 30].”

I think the comment about it being "no special name" may be a hint that it isn't going to be Xabi Alonso or Gareth Barry. It could be though, who knows with Arsene?

Sorry it's so short. Had work early today but I'll get something together tomorrow. Cheers!

Szombathelyi H. v Arsenal Match Preview

Morning all. It's hard to write up match previews for these friendlies because there isn't shite for news before them. You can't find starting lineups, you can't find anything on the other team, and the manager doesn't speak before them. But we're going to throw one out here anyway because I'm just that nice.

Today's game could possibly bring about the debut of Mr. Samir Nasri, who I am very excited about seeing. He just got into training yesterday so I can't be sure that he'll play but I would think he'll get some amount of time today. Depending on his injury status we could also get to see Carlos Vela make his friendly debut. I think it'd be cool to see Nasri on one wing and Vela on the other today at the same time. That would be an exciting combination. I think they both primarily play on the left though so that may not happen, along with the fact that Arsene Wenger said Vela is more of an Eduardo type forward than a winger.

The rest of the squad is also back in training (not sure about Cesc), so we could also see the return of Robin van Persie, Phillippe Senderos, Emmanuel Adebayor, William Gallas and others. Cesc I think might have gotten a longer break because Spain going so far in the Euros, and I'm not sure what Adebayor's status is really.

I'd expect the lineups to be stronger overall than against Barnet but I think it'll probably be a game of two completely different halves again, since Arsene won't want to work the players for a full 90 minutes yet. I think Aaron Ramsey should get some more good playing time, which is good for him and us, because he's fun to watch.

Pat Rice spoke about the preseason in Austria and explained why Arsenal go to Austria instead of going on a long summer tour:

"What happens is whenever we get there, we have a block of about nine days," explained assistant manager Pat Rice earlier this summer.

"Obviously that is interspersed with a few games but this is when we can get some good, hard pre-season training into the players which will help them and make sure they are in good shape for all of the season. Not just the start of the season but the whole campaign.

"Some managers think there is no problem with that [long-distance summer tours] but we are not one of the clubs who go down that route.

"Our Austria training camp has proved very successful for us for the coming seasons because we have always been in the top four and we think the preparations we get there is good for our young players."

Thanks Pat for that quality information. If you want more information on Szombathelyi you can find out here.

And that's about it. That's probably the worst match preview I've ever written but I'm sorry there's really not much information about the match ahead of time. I'll go out on a limb and pick 3-0 to the Arsenal. Time to go watch the match. Cheers.

Gallas Could Be Sold, So Let's Make It Happen

Morning all. Today is July 21st which means that all the players that played in the Euros, including Samir Nasri, report for training today. So welcome to Samir, welcome back to van Persie, and not welcome back to Emmanuel Adebayor.

So we'll start with the boss talking about Theo Walcott. He improved dramatically at the end of last season, sparked some might say by that amazing run against Liverpool in the Champion's League. (Great run but tough memories right after the conclusion of that goal.) However, he wants to play striker, not on the wing, and Arsene has said he intends for him to be moved up front down the road. Arsene had this to say about him:

“Theo made a step forward last season and you expect him to improve again,” said Wenger after the 2-1 win over Barnet on Saturday. “The target last year was for him to play 15 to 20 games and show quality. The target this year is to become a regular player.

“What position he’ll play in I don’t know. At the moment he looks more at ease wide than as a central striker. But we have to wait through the preparation games and see how ready he will be. The Barnet game was not a good opportunity to judge him.”

And I agree with him whole heatedly. I think if he continues to improve on the way he played near the end of last year he can certainly win the starting spot on the right side of midfield and if he pushes on from there he can get some games as a striker as well. Think about what options we have on the right, Walcott, Eboue (no comment), and maybe Rosicky or Nasri if the other is playing on the opposite side. Not exactly an impossible spot for Theo to lock down as his own. I'm looking forward to seeing more of what Theo can do this season. He didn't look good at all up front in the Barnet match but that's to be expected as he hardly ever plays in that role plus it was the first game back. I have grown out my facial hair to match Walcott's chin-strap style beard and have dubbed it "The Theo." It's actually quite nice.

I hope the boss doesn't persist with Eboue. Surely he realizes that the man brings nothing to the table. It's been a lingering thought in the back of my mind all summer, that of having to deal with another full season of Eboue starting on the wing. But I think the boss may finally realize that Theo can bring much more to the team playing in that spot. Eboue is no more than a backup right back and it should be kept that way. The farther away from the pitch he is kept, the better. We should just get him a cage that he can be locked in to watch all the matches, so that Arsene isn't ever tempted to play him. Have I mentioned I'm not an Eboue fan?

Theo Walcott Run Box To Box - 8 4 08
Uploaded by yuksel7

It took me ages to find this video so I hope you enjoyed it. Not the best quality video but if you watched it live it'll still be amazing to relive it; it was for me.

As far as transfer news, The Telegraph reports that PSG and Barcelona are interested in William Gallas for 6 million pounds and that Juventus could put in a 15 million pound bid for Robin van Persie. For once that actually sounds like a player Arsene Wenger might not mind losing. I wouldn't be upset at all to see us sell William Gallas for 6 million pounds. He's 31, he shouldn't be captain and this would be a great way to make sure we bring in a new defender and keep Kolo Toure in the starting lineup. There's not a bad way to look at it. Then Kolo would get the captaincy, we'd get our powerful defender and we have no whining from Gallas. I don't know if the interest from PSG is real or not but if it is then I'm begging Arsene to sell him. It would just take care of a bunch of problems all at once. Anyone disagree?

As for Robin van Persie, I don't think Arsene would let him go, especially with the fragile state of Emmanuel Adebayor's relationship with the club at this point. So I don't think we have anything to worry about there. I'd probably take 20 million for him though, if they offered that.

Bakary Sagna spoke about his injury and how well he's recovered from it, saying that there is still some pain but he can play normally.

"I needed to find my performance level again and be prepared to give more than I have before.

"I do think, though, that I will be fit for the start of the season.

"I want to focus on my own game, perform for Arsenal and see what the season brings. Hopefully it will be some cups."

I love Bakary. He always has a great attitude and works hard, not to mention he's the best damn right back in the league. Here's to your full recovery mate! Cheers!

Wenger Glad To Be Rid of Hleb

And it doesn't sound like he gives a toss about him leaving either. Hleb was unveiled at Barcelona yesterday formally, and I'm happy to see him go. As I said yesterday I think Nasri, Walcott, Vela, and Rosicky (if healthy) are all better assets to have on the wing than the Hlebanator. Arsene thanked him for his service but didn't seem too upset:

'We must firstly thank Alex for his contribution towards Arsenal during his time with us. 'He played a significant role in the three seasons he was with the club. 'We are comfortable with our decision to let him go and we are all looking forward to continuing our preparations for the new season ahead. 'Everyone at Arsenal wishes Alex the best of luck for the future.'

Except for me. I wish him terrible look in the future and hope he never wins anything and his career ends when he's 29 because he loses the ability to kick a ball. Nah that's a little bit harsh but not too far off. Isn't it ironic that we won a trophy the year before Hleb arrived and haven't won anything in the three years that he's been here? Hmmm...he may have brought a non-trophy curse?

I think Arsene had this whole thing planned out really. When people originally came in for Hleb he said "No, no we'll never sell Alexander Hleb, he's a big player for us and won't be going anywhere." I think this was just to get as much money as possible for him, and what do you know, we've made a profit from when we bought him even though he's three years older! Great bit of business Arsene.

Arsene is very happy about the transfer.

So I want to go over what has happened thus far in the transfer window, in case you aren't keeping track. We've lost Hleb, Gilberto, and Flamini, all midfielders, and Jens Lehmann. We've brought in Nasri and Ramsey, who are also both midfielders. So why does everyone seem to think we are going through some sort of a crisis? It looks like Adebayor will be staying now, we replaced Hleb and Ramsey could be a big player for us in the future, and we still have some money to spend if Arsene wants to. He may be confident enough in Song, Diaby, or Denilson to not bring in a replacement at defensive midfielder. Nobody thought Flamini could do the job before last season, and look how well that turned out. Frankly I think most people thought Flamini was a bit shite before last season, now he's making loads of money at Milan. Arsene Wenger knows what his players can do. We'll find out in the upcoming preseason games, starting in two days with Barnet, which player he's going to try to fill in that role with.

I have to say though I'm sad about losing Gilberto. I'll miss that man. He was a good player for us for a long time and Arsenal.com have put together a great picture special that you should really check out. Good memories they are.

There really isn't that much else. I'll get something together tomorrow to preview the Arsenal vs Barnet match on Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it. Other than that let's talk on the forums or the comments, they are much appreciated. Cheers.

Is Arsenal Destined To Be A Selling Club?

Morning all. I've been out of town all weekend so sorry for no blog but I had no computer. I'm sure you all survived. If you didn't, then you wouldn't be able to read this anyway.

So while I was away it doesn't appear I missed all that much, so today I've decided to cover possibly the most controversial comments of the whole transfer season (and that's saying something.) Many people are worried because Arsene Wenger reportedly said that Arsenal were going to have to be a selling club for the next seventeen years. The quote reported in the article (from News of the World) was as follows:

'The strategy of the club is to sell every year and to buy less expensive players. We manage at Arsenal to maintain all our football ambitions - national and European - while having to free up - for 17 more years - an annual surplus of £24million to pay for our stadium. 'The club's strategy is to favour the policy of youngsters ahead of stars and to count on the collective quality of our game.'

So if you go directly by the quote and don't go with what makes sense and read between the lines, you'd think Arsene meant he was going to sell Adebayor this year, Cesc next year, and Nasri in a few years from now. But I do read between the lines and this makes perfect sense to me what he's saying here. Arsenal have a 265 million pound debt that they want to pay off. They have a 20 year fixed interest rate on the loan they took out (thanks Arseblogger) that they want to pay off on time. The loan started two years ago and Wenger is saying we need that 24 million quid surplus each year to pay off the rest on time. That isn't unreasonable. While ManUre and Liverpool are sidled with debt we are trying to pay ours off. At the end of the day football is a business and a business needs to pay off their debts to be successful.

I don't think Arsene Wenger means we are going to be a selling club for the next seventeen years, I just think he means business will continue in the way it has at Arsenal for many years under his watch. Buying Anelka for 500 thousand pounds and selling him for 25 million, selling Vieira and Henry when they were past their primes and bringing in Eduardo for much cheaper. In this way, Arsenal under Wenger have always been a selling club. Our record transfer fee is still 14.5 million for Sylvain Wiltord as far as I can remember. Our transfer sales usually outweigh our transfer buys, that's just how the club has been run.

Just look at last year for an example, when we lost Thierry Henry. We sold Aliadiere, Henry, Reyes, Ljungburg, Muamba, and lost Lupoli on a free for a total of 31 million pounds. We brought in Eduardo, Sagna, Diarra, Nordtveit, and Fabianski for a total of 23 million pounds. Can anyone say that our team got worse? No, in fact the team did better statically. Yet the club made an 8 million pound profit on our transfers. Would you say that we were being a selling club or improving the team with those moves? I don't think many would. While nobody wanted to see Henry go, it was a shrewd business move to sell him because Arsene could tell (as most people can now) that his best days are past him.

So does it make a little more sense now? Arsenal have a debt and want to get it paid off. Does it mean we are going to sell all of our best players in their primes to pay it off and have a mid-table team for the next seventeen years? Not at all. We're going to be sticking with the same system that has worked for Arsene his whole career here. A lot of people are making this out to be worse than it is, but remember: 1: Arsenal is never been a club that spends more than everyone else, they are shrewd businessmen, and 2: The source of this article is News of the World. Not exactly the most respected of journalistic enterprises.

Hopefully this clears up what this all means, at least in my opinion. Maybe I'm wrong and we'll sell Cesc tomorrow, but I certainly think I'm right on this one. It'll definitely give you all something to debate on the forums and comments at least, but I wouldn't let it worry you. Business at Arsenal will continue as usual.


The other main news of the day is Mr. Aaron Ramsey, who I call Mr. because he seems to deserve it. These quotes demonstrate that:

“Obviously the plan for me is to have a good pre-season and try my hardest to get up to the fitness levels the Premiership requires,” said Ramsey in the South Wales Echo

“I will try my best to get in the starting line-up at the beginning of the season against West Brom."

Perfect statement Mr. Ramsey. You have the right mentality exactly. He's been here two weeks at age 17 and is already talking about making the starting lineup for Arsenal in the first game of the season. Spectacular. I love it. I don't think there is much chance he makes it into the starting lineup for the very first game of the season but who knows? Maybe he really is that good. It's only 11 days until the first friendly of the season against Barnet. We get to see him in action on that day and I can't wait. Hopefully Nasri will be here by then too because I really want to see these new signings plus all the youngsters. Football is in the air again! I can't wait.

Cheers all, comments, forums, email (arsenole{@}arsenole(.)com), all that good stuff. Till tomorrow!

Also, in non-Arsenal related news, I have recently acquired a new domain name (http://worldcupUS.com). If anyone can put together a website idea for me I would be willing to pay someone to design a page to put on that domain. Please let me know if you can do anything for me.

Spain Are The Champions

Congratulations Cesc! I couldn't be happier for the man. I actually got to watch the first half of the game due to a rain delay at the ball park so I got to saw the goal (which was outstanding) that decided the match. Cesc got to start and the score was still 1-0 at the end of the ninety minutes and Cesc and Spain finally got their hands on a trophy. It had been a 44 year wait for Spain in major tournaments but they fully deserved it. Their play throughout has been exceptional and I thought going in that they had the best squad.

I didn't get to watch the celebrations unfortunately, but Cesc did say it was the happiest moment of his footballing life:

"I don't think we're conscious yet of what we have achieved. Forty-four years later we did it again.

"It's the best feeling you can have as a footballer. It's one of your dreams and I made it."

It was nice seeing Spain win. They played like Arsenal do, with lots of quick passing and movement, and it showed that beautiful football can be winning football. So congrats Cesc and Spain, you fully deserved it.

Mad Jens was very, very pissed off about the refferee after the match, saying he was biased and the match was probably fixed. That's Jens for ya, gotta love him.

With the tournament over, that means the Euro 2008 Contest has been decided, and your winner is Brad, who predicted a 3-2 Spain win over Germany, which is the closest to the actual result. Brad will be receiving a free ArseNole stein mug, courtesy of the website. So congratulations Brad and a great prediction it was.

Actually have some new "news" in the transfer market today, as Werder Bremen midfielder...(sorry not Diego) Amaury Bischoff has been linked with Arsenal. He's been injured for the past two seasons and I think he's probably just talking to hear his head rattle. He says that he is waiting for Arsene's return from Vienna before signing and having his medical. I'll let you know if it goes any further than that.

Young Guns has an interesting article about young defender and reserves captain Havard Nordtveit. He looks a good player in all the reserve matches and Arsene Wenger says he'll make the step up to the first team next year. I have to say I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do in the pre-season.

Arseblog has an interesting bit about the Adebayor to Barcelona stories this morning, saying that Darren Dein was called in to try to work out a meeting with Arsene Wenger to help get the deal done. Wenger blew him off and told him to eat a dick up. It's a good read so check it out.

I'm fed up with all the Adebayor stories and I'm thinking I'm going to take a week off of writing about Adebayor unless he is sold, in which case I will have a celebratory post. I know you all are probably sick of hearing about it as well so I'll save us both the trouble and just take a week break from Ade.

I really don't know what else to write. There just isn't that much else. The transfers should pick up now that the tournament is over. Nasri will 99% positively sign on July 1st, which is tomorrow. Other than that I don't know. I'll put up a new poll to vote in or something, or you can talk on the forums. Or the comments. It doesn't really matter let's just chat Arsenal all day. Cheers! Oh and in other good news the blog just got put on GoonerNews.com, the number 1 news aggregator for Arsenal news!




And last but not least make sure to listen to the podcast if you haven't gotten to yet. The next one should be out in the coming days with two more contributers!

Adebayor Not For Sale For Money Or Gold

Morning all. Today is an absolutely fantastic day. The Boston Celtics won the NBA Championship last night for the first time in my lifetime. It was a real massacre of the Lakers, and it couldn't have happened to a bigger set of cunts. So here's to the Celtics, and hoping for another one next year.

But now on to Arsenal. We've got an update on Emmanuel Adebayor today. Reports say that AC Milan received a fax directly from Arsene Wenger warning them off of Adebayor.

“It was quite bizarre," a club official has been quoted as saying.

"A fax arrived signed by Wenger in which he warned us against any bid for Adebayor.

“It went on to say that the player is not for sale - not for money or gold.”

I had quite a laugh about that one. Can't you just see pissed off Arsene sending that to Milan? Hilarious. It's good news though, Arsene said that Ade wouldn't be going anywhere and now he's backing it up. As I said on the podcast, I think I'd let Adebayor leave for the 32 million that's been reported. I think that's enough money to find a replacement and more. But on the other hand I do love Ade and am glad he's going to be staying. Anyone that can score thirty goals in a season would have a starting place in my team, and Arsene Wenger seems to feel the same way.

You've got to be f'ing kidding...somehow Cuntley Cole was voted in at number 25 on the Arsenal 50 greatest players poll. Number 25! He shouldn't even be ranked! Whoever voted for him should have their voting privileges taken away.

It's Sagna week at Arsenal.com and they have some interesting statistics about the year Bacary had this season. He has some amazing numbers, like how he only lost 1 tackle every 4.8 Premiership matches. He won over 80% of his total tackles, while Wes Brown was at 69% for ManUre. He also had a dribble completion rate of almost 80% along with 4 assists and that great goal against Chelsea. What a great year Sagna had. Can't wait to see him back next year.

A short while ago it was reported that Barcelona were getting frustrated at the inability to get a deal done with Arsenal for Alexander Hleb. It looks like they are proceeding with negotiations though, with this coming from a Barcelona spokesperson:

“The negotiation with Hleb is still in progress and despite him being a player with special qualities, if his club are not ready [to sell him], we have other options in mind.”

Again, as I said on the podcast, which if you haven't listened to then you should, I want Hleb gone. I'm sick of him and this whole transfer saga. If someone gave Arsenal 8-10 million quid for him, I'd take it in a heartbeat.

In Euro 2008 news, Robin van Persie played 90 minutes for Holland yesterday and managed to score a pretty good goal. Italy beat France 2-0 so the Italians got through and the French are out, which could speed up the official signing of Samir Nasri. Today we've got Spain vs Greece and Russia vs Sweden. Spain already won the group but the winner of Russia vs Sweden will be who joins them in the quarterfinals.

As I said, make sure you listen to the podcast and tell me what you think and what you want to hear on it. If you want to contribute on one in the future you can email me or leave a comment and let me know what you have in mind. That's all I've got today. Have a good one. Cheers!

You can subscribe to the podcast using iTunes by clicking here

No New Defender For Arsenal?

So Setanta Sports has a weird article this morning, and it's got quotes from Arsene Wenger about Hamburg's center back Vincent Kompany. Kompany has been linked with us this summer as he could be just the type of defender we need, but Wenger has for some reason completely ruled it out.

"I have known Kompany for a long time, since he was 16. I keep following him but the story that we want him for next season is wrong. I know him to be very, very good but I have decided that defenders are no longer necessarily needed for next season.

Therefore, he will not come."

WTH is all that about? Didn't Arsene say at the beginning of summer that we needed to sign a powerful center back? It isn't like Wenger at all to just go out and say, "Well actually we have no need to sign a defender, so now you all know Arsenal's transfer plans." I can't figure out if this quote is just taken out of context or if he really decided we don't need a defender for next season. Quick list of our center backs: Toure, Gallas, Senderos, Djourou, Song. Yes, we could use a center back. I don't think Senderos is good enough anymore. I was really a defender of the lad for a long time but I just can't do it anymore. He and Djourou both seem to have gotten worse as they have gotten older. Song...well it's Song, and while Wenger thinks he'll be a great defender I'm going to see a couple good performances other than the last two games of last season to be convinced.

Maybe Arsene just meant that Kompany personally wasn't someone who he was looking at. Or he could be planning some massive scheme where he wants Kompany's price lowered so he says he has no interest in signing a defender, especially Kompany, before going in late in the summer with a bid! Yes, that must be it. I can't figure out what else it would be really. I'd say the story was just completely made up but it's by Setanta and they're usually decent. Who knows, it's all very confusing.

Sylvain Wiltord made it in at number 33 on Arsenal.com's list of the the 50 greatest Arsenal players ever. I always liked Wiltord so I'm glad he made the list. I voted for him. I didn't vote for Mathieu Flamini, Ashley Cole, or Jose Antonio Reyes, for obvious reasons.

Luiz Felipe Scolari is going to be taking over at Chelsea, and this article says Arsenal, Man U, etc. should be worried. I don't think there's any reason to be all that worried. He's bringing in a bunch of Portuguese players and if Bosingwa is anything to go by, then they'll be spending a lot more money for them than they're worth.

If you're interested in learning more about Aaron Ramsey, Young Guns has done a wonderful biography of him, including an interview with a Cardiff fan. I'm still not excited about him but I'm sure I'll get there at some point. I'd really be a lot more excited about that defender we apparently aren't signing anymore!

For the Euros today we have Germany-Croatia in one game and the other is Austria-Poland. I can imagine having a nap during Austria-Poland as that sounds like quote the borefest. Germany Croatia though should be fun and if Germany looks like they did in their last match they certainly look quality to get to the finals from that side of the bracket. I'm taking Germany 3-1 and 0-1 to Poland in the other game. I put a new funny picture up on the side, we need more people to register for the forums, and I need everyone to cheer as much as possible for the Celtics to beat the Lakers tonight. Or Kobe Bryant to be hit by a bus, either way.

So that's it for the day. Enjoy the Euros and let me know what you think about all this defender business! Also, there is a new Arsenal news aggregator that you should check out. Arsenal Daily News. Cheers!

Exclusive! Richard Dunne Not Signing With Arsenal!

Morning all. Going to be a quick one today as I have to work in like 30 minutes, but I'm trying to rattle something off here.

First off take a look at Third-Gen, who is finally back today, and rewards us with a brilliant article yet again telling everyone that thinks they can run the club better than Arsene (there seem to be many of them) to shut the hell up.

Today I think I'm going to just do a list of truths that seem obvious to me. If they turn out not to be true at all then feel free to bash me but this is what seems ridiculous and/or obvious to me.

1. We are not going to sign Richard Dunne, and we shouldn't. He plays for Manchester City, which is never a top side. He's 28, which is to old for Arsene to sign. He's too slow and can't pass well enough for Arsenal's style of play. So please stop asking for Richard Dunne. Not happening.

2. Gareth Barry is not an upgrade to our squad. Honestly where would he even play? Next to Cesc? Is he a better option than the cheaper Yaya Toure and better than the potential ability of Diaby, Denilson, and Djourou? Arsene Wenger will NEVER pay 15 million for Gareth Barry.

3. Wenger has told us who he wants to sign so why is everyone writing about a million strikers we are going to sign? He said he wants to sign a creative player and a powerful defender. So even if we did sign a striker, they'd be a 16 year old from Zambia or something that would be one for the future, and that's ok. Remember we have Bendtner, Eduardo, Ade, Rvp, and Theo all wanting a place in the team at striker.

4. It is June 4th, nobody should be saying that we NEED to have signed someone by now and nobody should say Wenger doesn't deserve a little holiday. If we haven't signed somebody mid-August, then we should all be worried and I'll be the first one jumping on him then, you can count on me. Until then though, it's all about patience.

5. Arsene always conducts transfer season in the same way. He keeps all his cards close to his chest and doesn't share who he is really after. Why should we expect him this year to come out with a list of players who he specifically wants to buy and share it with all of us? People are demanding answers from the great man but he's done things this same way for years. He's going to get his business done, and it'll be for an undisclosed fee like always.

6. If you are a member of the IKBTAC (I know better than Arsene Club), that does not mean that fans that aren't stressing every day over a lack of signings are not true fans or are cunts for making fun of you and your stress and insanity. We actually support Arsenal too, we just don't get our panties in a knot over Samir Nasri taking a while to sign. Reading the comments on Third-Gen's post and Arseblog's post yesterday shows that these IKBTA's don't think anyone that doesn't agree with them can give an opinion.

That's really all I have time for this morning. I may continue this list tomorrow if I think of more things. We'll see. Oh and also, check out this link from 1979 Gooner. Good stuff. Cheers

Eduardo Back Soon, Yaya Toure a Possibility?

Caught Offside has to post more bollocks per day than any other site. If there was a ratio, and somewhere a statistic for the ratio like, "Who posts the most made up shite per day?" I'm pretty sure Caught Offside would win. Yet continually they are the top Arsenal story on NewsNow.

Today however they actually post something that makes sense, and something a lot of us have been calling for, which is a swap deal with Alexander Hleb and Yaya Toure. Yaya is the ideal replacement for Flamini, already capable of playing in a similar style of play to ours at Barcelona, and Hleb is of course, a complete and utter cunt. I don't want Hleb back next season or any other season, so I'm hoping if he does piss off to Barcelona that we actually do get Toure in return. I would personally love to see the brothers Toure destroying Cristiano Ronaldo by kicking him repeatedly in the throat.


Arsene Wenger spoke about the transfer market, and how soon it will end as we know it. Due to the Webster ruling, players age 28 or older can buy out the last two years of their contracts and move clubs. Arsene spoke very accurately about what this could lead to, saying that soon people will say you should be able to do it at an even younger age and should be able to buy out more than two years. This would virtually eliminate transfer fees as you could just buy out the rest of a player's contract for much cheaper. More importantly even, for a club like ours, is you couldn't build a team over time. You'd pretty much just have to build for one season and maybe hope all of your players didn't leave. It's looking like it could be a bad situation if something is not done about it.

William Gallas talked about how he'd love to kick the shite out of the Italians at the Euros to get revenge for the World Cup 2006 final. Everyone remembers what happened then, Materazzi called Zidane's mother a whore or something and Zidane placed an incredible head butt right into his chest. France lost of course but it was good stuff to watch as a neutral.


There is great news regarding Eduardo Da Silva, who now looks set to come back as soon as August or September! There is a video here shot in Brazil that shows Eduardo walking, working out, and even kicking around a ball. He's really looking great and I can't believe the progress he appears to be making. It's got to be really good for his confidence as well that he has recovered so fast thus far when it looked like he'd be out until at least December. While he certainly shouldn't be rushed back, it is great that we could have him back sooner and that everything is on track and going well. Get well soon Eduardo!

Robin van Persie is set to begin talks on a new contract. Hopefully it has a clause that says if he misses half the season again he has to give back half of his wages. It's a shame RvP has to play in the Euros because I feel like if he just worked on fitness and getting some rest this summer he could come back a lot healthier. He's a great player but he's as bad as Rosicky when it comes to injuries. Keep your fingers crossed whenever he's playing this summer.

That's about all I have today. The entries are coming in for the Euro 2008 contest which is great, keep them coming. Remember all entries have to be in by the time we start matches on June 7th. Also, register for the forums and all that good stuff. And that's about it. Off to work now. Have a good one all, cheers!

Adebayor Says We Don't Need Flamini

Helllllllooooooooooooooooo all you gooners. It's Friday, which is great news. So along the lines of great news, we have Emmanuel Adebayor, who loves bringing us, well, great news. He told The Sun that he has no plans of leaving and that he is here to win trophies.

"I’ve assured the gaffer Arsene Wenger I’ll stay because I believe in the team and I want to assure the fans my concentration is here.

“I have no reason to leave so I’ll stay to ensure that together we’ll win silverware.

“Mathieu’s a good player but his departure doesn’t mean Arsenal is about to collapse. Our team is a deep well of talent.

“I am confident we are capable of winning titles and we will return for next season hungrier to be successful.”

That's the attitude we always get from Ade and it's always great to here. Is there a happier man on the planet? I'm really not sure. This is all on the back of the reports that Barcelona will be willing to pay 23 million quid for Adebayor and that he's their number 1 target this summer. Anyways, hopefully his attitude can spread through the rest of the team and they'll all be ready to come out and win it next year.


Even Martin Jol thinks Sp*rs won't ever finish in the top four, which is absolutely correct.

There really isn't like any news at all. As I'm writing this I'm scouring the web for news at every possible location and it just isn't coming up. We may have to venture into aimless transfer speculation here in a moment. Bear with me.

Caught Offside has us linked with Blackburn's Roque Santa Cruz. He's a good player but it's not happening.

Here's a fake picture of Arsene Wenger with a stripper, which is supposedly an illustration of a real picture of Arsene Wenger with a stripper. You know the news is bad when I'm posting this nonsense.

Ok, I really can't find anything else so I'm just going to ramble on for a bit about random things that come to mind. If you watch basketball, the Celtics and the Pistons are in Game 6 of their series tonight, and the Celtics can advance to the NBA Finals with a win. Go C's.

I'm in the year 2022 on my Football Manger game, which is further than I have ever gotten before starting a new one. I'm still with Arsenal after all this time. The Emirates has 80,000 seats, our transfer budget is 394 million quid, and we've won the Champions League 6 times in a row. (In fact the only two teams that have won it since 2010 are us and Liverpool. Interesting...)

And last I suppose I'll leave you with one of my favorite YouTube videos.

So thats about it. Sorry it sucked today but there's not all that much to write about. Remember to enter the Euro 2008 contest and sign up for the forums. I'll get something better tomorrow. Cheers.

Fiszman Talks Arsenal

Morning all. Today we're going to be continuing our non-Samir Nasri coverage, so let's see what other news we've got.

A lot of the post today we're going to talk about Danny Fiszman's question and answer session he had last week. Fiszman is the Arsenal director and is at the center of most of what Arsenal Football Club does.

So here are some of the questions he was asked and how he answered:

Are you pleased with the progress the team has made this season?

"Yes, I am pleased. If we look back where we were last year and what the fans would have settled for we have taken great strides. The critics wrote us off and gave us no chance of qualifying for the Champions League but the team proved itself competitive. Four points is a lot but in the context of the season we came very close and we are disappointed we didn’t win it but we have made a constant improvement and that is what we seek always."

He makes a fair point here. Remember last summer we had the departure of Henry, which led everyone and their mother to predict that we wouldn't finish in the top four. Shite even Tottenham thought they would finish above us, and that never happens. The team really did do more than was expected of them. Topping the table for over half a season raised expectations to where it was such a horrible blow when we didn't win it, but would you have taken 83 points before the season started? I know I would have. I'm as disappointed as anyone that we didn't win anything, but I do think the team made a lot of progress this year.

There have been a number of matches where the team have played beautifully, is there a particular highlight for you this season?

The big highlight was beating Milan. It is one game that got our players to believe they were a team to be proud of, a team who could beat anybody and I was sure, having beaten Milan, that would see us through to beat Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool to win the Premier League. I think, very much in the way we beat Real Madrid, it reinforced the belief the youngsters had in themselves.

Again, I have to agree with him. The Milan match really looked like it could be a key turning point for the squad. Unfortunately the momentum didn't carry on from that match into the Premier League, but it still was a memorable night.

Are you confident for next season? What are your hopes?

To win four competitions, for the Ladies to win four and for the youth team to win too. We have great belief in our manager and his methods. There is great belief in the boys that we have. No doubt the manager will strengthen the team and we will improve again.

Now THAT is optimism. It's what you want to hear though from someone so heavily involved in the club. Wouldn't that be something to win four competitions in a single season? I think I would have to stop watching football after that, because it could never get any better. But really think about how close we were to winning the league, how close we were to advancing in the Champion's League, and think back to our Carling Cup run to the final the season before this past one. We've been doing well in the competitions and we're keeping that team together and adding to it. The future of the club is bright.

Does the manager have a specific budget available? Is there a set amount?

There is no set amount. But as I said we have always supported Arsène, we have never said no to him and have no intention of saying no to him.

So as it has been said, the manager does have money to spend. Remember though that Arsene is a realist. He's never going to go spend money that will put the club in financial difficulty. So just because there is no set limit doesn't mean that he's going to go out and spend Chelsea or ManUre money to keep everyone happy. It is good to know that money is available though.

Keith Edelman left the Club a few weeks ago. To clear something up, there have been suggestions his departure was linked with disagreements with the manager over players’ wages, transfer budgets and the like. Was this the case?

Absolutely not. Keith was not involved with Arsène in any way. As I have said before we supported Arsène with everything he wanted. Keith Edelman was in no way involved with the discussions with Flamini or Arsène. That was Ken Friar’s responsibility. So the speculation is absolutely incorrect.

So that whole rumor about Edelman not allowing Arsene to spend money is apparently bollocks. He wasn't fired for not giving Arsene money, he wasn't fired for not re-signing Flamini, they just decided to go in another direction.

You can read the rest of the article here but I think those are most of the main points.

So now on to some quick other news, Wrighty7 thinks Barcelona signing Keita could lead to Yaya Toure heading to Arsenal. You already know I love Yaya and would definitely want him at the club. We'll see what happens.

Johann Djourou says he could fill the gap left by Matt Flamini. I think it's a possibility too. He says he plays at his best in the holding role and that even Arsene Wenger tells him that too. I'd like to see him get a try there at least in the pre-season or something and see how it goes. Good luck to Johann.

Well that's all I've got today. Hopefully it didn't bore the shite out of you. Comments, forums, all that good stuff. Cheers.

Arsenal to Sign a Powerful Defender

Well thank Christ for that. Arsene Wenger had a question and answer session with the shareholders today and said he's looking to add two players, a creative player and a powerful defender. He said our defensive problems were not from set pieces or from open play but only from long balls through the middle, which Gallas and Toure seem not to be able to deal with. I personally disagree with him as I've seen more than a few goals come from open play that were very, very shoddy defending against. And as for set pieces just think of the Derby match as an example. That was absolutely terrible defending off of that free kick, and it was Derby!

So the defenders we have been linked with are the usual suspects, Raul Albiol of Valencia (who are shit this year, check the Spanish table) and Micah Richards of Manchester City. I've always been a fan of Richards and I think his play belies his young age. Unfortunately he is English which means his price will be 5 million more than it should be. Albiol is another good player but he'd also probably be at least 10 million pounds and I really don't think Wenger is going to pay that much for one defender. I guess it comes down to how much his "creative playmaker" ends up costing so we'll be able to see how much he has left. You can see pictures of Wenger meeting with the shareholders here.

I've heard from several sources that David Villa is close to signing for Real Madrid. I never had all that much hope of him being brought into Arsenal but it was worth dreaming about. Wenger hasn't mentioned signing a striker though anyway so I guess he feels that Adebayor, Bendtner, hopefully a fully recovered Eduardo and Rvp and Theo can do it.

Yet again Real Madrid is trying to tap up Cesc Fabregas, with Ramon Calderon, the club's president, actually telling Cesc to just request a transfer from Arsenal so he could join the Spanish twats. However, Cesc has again put these rumors to rest and said he is happy at Arsenal.

"I am young and happy at Arsenal. I regard them as one of the biggest clubs and (Arsene) Wenger is like a father to me on the pitch."

It's getting really annoying with this whole situation because this is the third straight summer that they have tried to take Cesc from us by tapping him up essentially and nothing is ever done about it because they do it through the newspapers and Spanish media will print anything just to blow bubbles up Madrid and Barca's arses. It seems that Cesc's future is very much tied to Arsene Wenger though, and if he were ever to leave Cesc would surely leave Arsenal as well.

Petr Cech lets us know how much of a cunt he is by saying that nobody will remember that we played good football ten years from now.

Freddie Ljungberg has been asked by West Ham to tear up his contract after only one year there. He makes 75,000 quid a week which is a ridiculous salary for a player well past his prime. It's sad to see him going through all the injuries and stuff though so I wish him the best. If I was him I'd take the 3 million and go play in Spain or Italy. That'd be a new place for him to try out his skills and he could still make good money. Plus those leagues generally aren't as physical. But good luck Freddie.
So that's about it today. Tomorrow we may start looking forward to the Sunderland match at the weekend or we may have our Youth Squad and Reserve overview from YoungGuns ready. We shall see. Cheers all! And last Arsenal.com is having a countdown of the 50 greatest Arsenal players of all time. You can click here to vote.