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!

You Are Not Henry, Nor Will You Ever Be, Ade

F@&*%@ shite. I don't condone use of the f word on my site or there would be a lot of it right there. Any other words are fair game though so how bout this...Adebayor you greedy cunt, piss in your arse off to Barca before someone kicks the shite out of you for being a whining twatbag.

Today Adebayor has taken his newfound cuntiness to a whole new level. Just read this:

"Barcelona have made a good financial offer and there is also the chance to play alongside great players.

"Yes, I am still under contract to Arsenal but it's up to the directors to satisfy my demands or I'll leave.

"People ask if I am asking for the same salary as Henry. That is not necessarily the question.

"But I am being considered a worthy replacement for Henry while not deserving his salary.

"The question lies on this level."

Well where the hell did all THAT come from!? So in response, I have written this letter to Adebayor:

Dear Emmanuel Adebayor,

You had a great season. You scored more goals than anyone else on the team and tied for 2nd most in the league. Great job. I had your back ever since you have been at this club. Not many people were convinced you could be a top striker at this level, but you have proven most of them wrong. When you came from France after scoring almost no goals, not many would have thought you could turn in such a great season. Yes, you might deserve a bit of a pay raise, but is this the way to do it? By saying the directors MUST meet your demands or you'll leave? Saying that you are planning for your retirement? You're 24 and make more money than I will ever make. I'm 21. Maybe I should have all my money (not much) in mutual funds to save for my retirement too. Is 75,000 quid a week or whatever you're asking for really going to make that much of a difference than what you are making now?

But what made me most mad is comparing yourself to Thierry Henry. Don't you ever, EVER, insult what Thierry Henry did for this club by saying you have done what he did. You cannot do, and will not ever be able to do, what Thierry Henry did while he was at Arsenal.

Let's give a quick figure comparison while each of you were at Arsenal:

Thierry Henry: 230 total goals, 82 assists, 5 thirty+ goal seasons, Footballer of the Year three times and PFA Player of the season twice, World Cup Winner France '98, Euro 2000 Winner

Emmanuel Adebayor: 46 goals, 14 assists

Wow you're right Ade, you have accomplished just about as much as Thierry! We'll certainly get right on that doubling of your salary, or did you want it tripled? Either way it will clearly be worth it because you have given us much more than Henry ever could have hoped for. I just hope you can duplicate this success over the coming seven seasons like Thierry did, but it doesn't look that likely since you only scored 20 goals total in three seasons at Monaco.

So I hope your negotiations go well Ade, I for one certainly think you deserve to be the highest paid player in the world.

Most Sincerely,

The ArseNole

PS: Piss off Ade. We don't need this at Arsenal. I hope you go to Barcelona and hope you never score another goal.


So we'll see if he writes back. It was such a sincere and cheerful letter that I'm sure he will. I'll keep you updated. Cheers all!

The Adebayor Stories Get Even Weirder

Or is it more weird? I don't know what it is grammatically, all I know is that it's getting even crazier each day.

Today we have some strange statements made by Ade himself, the first of which is:

"You can see people changing clubs because of money, because they want a change of atmosphere or to get their names in the big leagues. I just play football to enjoy myself. I play because I love it.

"We all have the same ideas and we all want to achieve something. We have a good boss which is Arsene Wenger, he tries to bring this atmosphere to the dressing room where we feel like brothers and like family.

"Those are the reasons that give us a chance to play the football we play. We play good football, now we look forward to winning trophies."

So that all sounded good and dandy, but just a little bit later in a one on one interview with Sky Sports he said:

"I am a footballer, I have a three-year contract at Arsenal but as you know, a lot of clubs are interested in me," he told Sky Sports News.

"At the moment we are just going to sit down and talk and decide what to do.

"Nothing has been decided yet. We will decide next week."

So there it sounds like he wants to leave, and pretty much confirmed it by saying:

"They have to make a good decision and I have to make a good decision. I have asked Arsenal to look at it and see what they want.

"I have a promise from the manager Arsene Wenger that they will call me next week. I am waiting for their answer and next week I will decide.

"I need to know before I come back to train on 21st July. At the moment, I am in a position that I don't know where I will play."

So to break it all down it's working like this...Adebayor wants to go to Milan. He asked Arsenal if he can move to Milan, because he still has three years left on his contract and so can't make the choice himself. Arsene Wenger said he will let the player know what his decision is next week, whether he can leave or not. Arsene Wenger, however, doesn't want to let him leave. When Wenger was asked if he would meet with Adebayor, he said that he has already met with him and he won't be doing so again.

So what we have here is a case of a disgruntled player being forced to stay at the club when he doesn't want to. It appears that he won't be sold no matter what, so he'll be forced to stay when he'd rather go. We have to ask ourselves if this is the best decision we can make here. I think Adebayor is a great player, but he is saying that he wants to go play for Milan. For 25 million quid I think we have to let him go. My guess is that an offer that big hasn't come in or they would. For that money we could bring in a striker that could hopefully do what Adebayor can do and maybe more.

The main problem here is how upset about this will Adebayor be? Will it be enough for him to lower his level of play? I don't think he's that type of person, but he might end up complaining to the press all season and then next year Milan comes in and buys out his contract and he does a Webster, leaving for much less than 25 million that we could get this year.

When players are at a club and don't want to be it can really turn into a sticky situation. We don't want a player that is going to moan all year about how he'd rather be in Milan. He may turn into a bad presence around the team and could damage team chemistry overall. The time may be now to sell him, when he so clearly wants to go. I have to say I disagree with Arsene's reaction to make him stay, sell him now and make a hefty profit would be my choice. I've been one of Ade's biggest fans throughout his time here at Arsenal, but now he's turning into the player that we don't want to have around the team. Ship him off now.

A potential replacement for Adebayor, Klaas Jan Huntelaar, reject Ajax's offer of a new contract, which could mean that he's interested in joining another club, which could be Arsenal. I'm not that big on the guy but if Adebayor did go I wouldn't be surprised if we put a bid in. He's a young prolific goal scorer and could help fill the scoring gap.

Honestly, I'm sick of the transfer window. I wish it would close. I just want to get back to playing football again. I'm thinking of flying to London for the Emirates Cup. If you know a place I can stay cheap in London let me know! I'd really appreciate it.

The Euro 2008 Final is tomorrow, Spain vs Germany. I'm going to miss it because i have work...just my luck. There are four or five people in the Euro 2008 contest who actually predicted these two teams in the final, so it'll come down to the final score to see who wins! I'll be going for Spain because of Cesc of course, who has been brilliant these last few games. It looks like he's going to start tomorrow due to the injury to David Villa. So good luck to Cesc and Spain!

I don't know what else to write. I can't be arsed with anymore transfer rumors today. Wouldn't it be great if we woke up tomorrow and Hleb and Adebayor were both sold and we had gotten 40 million for the pair of them? That's the kind of world I hope for. The new podcast should come out soon, we've lined up our first guest, Jamesgillesp from Arsespeak. It should be quite entertaining so look forward to that. Cheers, keep up the forums chatter!

More on Adebayor and His Shenanigans

Morning all, probably going to be a quick one today but we'll see how it goes.

We'll start off with Vicenzo Morabito, who is Alexander Hleb's agent but apparently is representing Emmanuel Adebayor right now. He had quite an interesting quote today:

"Arsenal are looking for Adebayor's replacement. Until that search is over, the negotiations won't reach the final stage, but I am fairly optimistic. What are the chances of Adebayor coming to Milan? I'd say today we are between 70 and 80 per cent."

That's pretty messed up shite. You know what, after hearing this, I'm totally changing my original tune. I now think Adebayor is definitely leaving. Do I think it's all his doing? No I don't. I think his agent is a wanker who was offering his services to every big club in Europe and Milan and Barca took the bait. Milan came in with a bid that was just too good to turn down and Adebayor is caught between a rock and a hard place.

This isn't a Cuntley Cole situation or a Mathieu Flamini situation...this is more of a situation where the offer is just too good to turn down. If he does go I'll hold nothing against the big man. 28 million quid is enough money for Arsenal to bring in a replacement for him and more. You want David Villa? Well this is how you get him, by freeing up 28 million quid that you didn't have before.

Arsene Wenger addressed the transfer stories here and said that he isn't worried by it all.

"I don't know why I should be nervous. It's like when you take a penalty, if you are nervous it doesn't help. I will approach it with my usual calm. My biggest challenge is to make sure I have a competitive team next year no matter who it is."

And he's absolutely right. When does Arsene fail to put out a competitive team? Never, even though we have lost loads of big players throughout the years. Pires, Adams, Seaman, Cole, Bergkamp, Vieira, Henry, Campbell, etc. He knows what it takes to compete in this league and in the Champion's League, and he'll get it done again. Whether Ade and Hleb stay or go, we'll have a better team next year than we did last year.

Apparently there have been five bids put in for Andrei Arshavin. No idea if one of them is from Arsenal but the article does say all the current bids are either from France or England, even though he has said over and over that he really wants to play for Barcelona. I could definitely see him playing in the Arsenal system because he seems just that type of player but I think he's really got his heart set on Barca.

Good news about Tomas Rosicky. He walked for the first time without support yesterday. He said he's flying to London in a few days to get on a rehabilitation program before hopefully starting full training in July. Can't wait to see the man back in action.

Thierry Henry is visiting Disney World this weekend in Orlando, which happens to be only two hours from my house. I might go ahead and make the drive down there because they say people will get a chance to meet him. Worth a two hour drive to meet Thierry? I think yes.

Russia versus Spain today in the Euros. I guess everyone left in the Euro 2008 competition will be rooting for Spain because nobody has a Germany-Russia final. I think it should be a good game, but I'm going 3-2 to Spain. I think Villa will get a brace and Xavi will score one.

That's all I've got today, I'm going to get a burrito because I'm starving. Have a good one, join the forums, leave a comment about what you want on the next podcasts, and enjoy the Euros!

More Preseason Fixtures Announced

Ok guys, I had to work this morning so this is a really late post. It's almost 9 pm in England. The readers in Australia will think this post is tomorrow's, but there will be a new one then too.

The podcast is really going to be picking up here soon. I've got a new co-host lined up, Joaquin from Los Angeles. That's right, another American Arsenal fan. I'm also in discussions with some other bloggers to see if they want to appear on some of them and I'm hoping to work a few of those out in the next few weeks. Keep the ideas coming in with what you'd like to hear. I want to make it almost a radio show type podcast, so if you have questions you want us to answer on the podcast, or if you want to leave a comment that we can read on there, feel free to email me with it and we'll go over it on the show. It may turn into a pretty long podcast with all the emails and stuff but that's good. More Arsenal for everybody! My email address is listed on the ArseNole About Me page or you can message me on skype or MSN. My msn is ArseNole@hotmail.com and my skype name is The_ArseNole. So you have no excuses now for not contributing at least a comment or an email so get them in!

So what do we have for news today? Well we have some new preseason fixtures announced; on July 22nd we have Arsenal vs. Szombathely and on July 28th (my mother's birthday) we have Arsenal vs. Burgenland Select Team. I'm getting very excited that we start friendlies next month and I always enjoy seeing the new signings and the young players getting a chance in the first team. It'll be interesting to see players like Vela, Barazite, Randall, Ramsey, and Nasri. Which players are you most looking forward to seeing? I'm looking forward to Vela the most.

Gilberto Silva is being tracked by Valencia, Juventus, and Panathinaikos. I'd be very surprised if Gilberto was sold this off season. He'd be a big loss not only because he is probably Flamini's best replacement, but also because he is a good leader and his experience adds a lot to the squad. If I was predicting a starting eleven next year he'd be in the middle next to Cesc so I'm really hoping he decides to stay.

There isn't really much else today. I've started a new Football Manager game managing Real Betis. I've signed a couple Arsenal players, Barazite, Diaby, and Denilson are my starting midfield (I play a 5-3-2 with attacking wing backs) and I've gotten them into the Uefa Cup. No trophies yet after two seasons but we're a team on the rise.

That's all I've got. I'll do something on here before work tomorrow but yeah other than that just get all your emails and stuff in for the podcast or you can post it on the forums. Whatever floats your boat. Cheers all, have a good one.

Nasri Finally Signs, The ArseNole Turns One

Ok so it took a lot longer than we all expected, but Samir Nasri is finally an Arsenal player. Sky Sports is reporting the fee at a massive 15.8 million quid, which is a lot more than I expected, and also makes me wonder if they really know what they are talking about. Arsenal almost always signs people on "undisclosed fees."

However, this signing has not yet been confirmed on Arsenal.com. I'm basing this headline on the fact that generally Sky Sports is a respectable news source who doesn't usually make things up just to get people to read. For those of you that are skeptical, I have heard from several sources that he will be taking pictures with his Arsenal shirt this week. It was also confirmed on Nasri's official website, but it seems that the site has now been taken offline...interesting.

Are you all really excited and satisfied that Wenger knows how to manage a football club now? For all of you out there giving him shite about taking a holiday and not signing anyone, well we've now signed two players in less than 2 weeks, even while the Euro's are going on, so piss off. I can't even get that excited about the Nasri signing because of all these wankers that bitch and moan every day about how this club is going down the tube. Go support Chelsea you glory hunting arseclowns. Here's a story for your type about us trying to sign Messi and Henry. It's completely made up so you'll probably like it.

Yeah I don't know where that rant came from. I know it's so terrible of me to think that our manager knows what he's doing. But I'll lay off the coffee.

Disclaimer - For those of you that actually think Wenger does know what he's doing and realize we won't sign every player on the planet, that rant does not apply to you.

As for the Euros yesterday, it was supposed to be a great one with Spain vs Italy. It wasn't great at all. Luca Toni started the whole tournament for Italy and couldn't get one goal. Great return from "one of the best target men in the world." Italy never really had any attacks, and Spain were mostly limited to long range attempts that weren't ever really going to cause Buffon any problems. The one part of the match I did enjoy (other than the ending) was seeing the two best keepers in the world in the same game. They are both absolutely fantastic keepers. It would be nice if we could somehow discover the next Buffon in our youth academy.

But anyways, the match ended 0-0 and had to go to penalties. Spain won 4-2, with Cesc Fabregas netting the winning penalty against Buffon. It was incredible and I honestly cheered. I hope Spain win it all. It'd be great to see Cesc get that trophy. I think he may get to start next match but you know how Aragones is, the old twat. We'll have to wait and see.


The new Arsenal squad numbers are out for this coming season, and there are only a few new ones so far. Aaron Ramsey will be wearing number 16, so it does indeed like he'll immediately be a part of the first team. Manuel Almunia has moved up and taken the number 1 shirt from Mad Jens, who of course has signed with Stuttgart. Carlos Vela, the Mexican prodigy and future Arsenal hero, has chosen number 12. That was Lauren's number. I miss Lauren. He was my favorite. Other than that everyone has stayed the same, which means Samir Nasri can choose between numbers 8, 14, 18, 23, 28, and 29. I'm betting on him picking number 8. You watch.

Speaking of numbers you can pre-order the new kit now. I actually just pre-ordered mine right now. I got Bacary Sagna on it. Are you getting a new kit? If so, who are you getting on it? Vela or Ramsey would be a nice one...although I wouldn't get Alexander Hleb or Adebayor just yet...

Last for today is a nice article on Vito Mannone, who has just been promoted to the first team squad. Congrats Vito, be that next Buffon.


Now is my moment to talk about my website's birthday.

I missed it while I was out of town but on June 18th the ArseNole turned one year old. How crazy is that? When I first wrote I had no contacts and no readers, I just wanted to write about Arsenal. Now a year later we have some frequent readers, some up and coming forums, a podcast, and loads more. If that same kind of improvement happens in this next year then who knows what this site can become. I want to thank you all. Those who read, who comment, who post in the forums, who tell me I don't know what I'm talking about, who clearly know more about it than I do, and those who have made the past year of writing this fun. Everyone have a Guiness to celebrate, and here's to many more years of The ArseNole!

Adebayor's Soap Opera

Morning everyone. I'm back. I was down in Orlando the past couple days watching Less Than Jake and Rancid play some shows. It was pretty amazing, not gonna lie. So what did I miss? By the looks of it not all that much. Some big teams are out of the Euros: Holland, France, Portugal. Turkey and Russia are looking really good and Spain versus Italy today. Should be a dandy.

I guess you could say the main Arsenal news over this weekend still revolves around Emmanuel Adebayor. When did I do that last podcast? I think I might do another one just to talk about this subject. It seems now that the situation has escalated even more, with sources reporting that Arsenal are prepared to accept a 25 million pound bid for him, should the bid be made. Adebayor's agent says that Arsenal would rather sell him to Barcelona than Milan, "for their own motives." Like I said, it has to be Yaya Toure. I can't see us wanting anyone else from their team that we could actually get. We couldn't get Xavi, Messi, or Iniesta and I don't really think we'd want anyone else besides them and Yaya.

This article again links us with Blackburn's Roque Santa Cruz, who had an impressive first season in the Premiership last year, if Adebayor does leave. He's not really a player I want to see at Arsenal and I think it's probably just speculation but I'd think for 25 million pounds we could get in someone else. Goodplaya, however, reckons we really do want to sign him.

The Sun, (which is of course complete bollocks on a daily basis) says that Barcelona have agreed a fee and terms with Adebayor and hope to complete the signing in the next few days. Yes I know the Sun is a terrible paper but even they have to get one right sometime you'd think.

So the moral of all this is I think I've changed my mind on this one. For weeks I've been saying that Adebayor definitely won't leave and that he's loyal and loves Arsenal and all that, but I digress. I think he may very well be leaving now, and it would surprise me if he doesn't go really. I'll admit though that I would be very upset if we did lose him, but 25 million pounds would probably help to ease the pain.

Who do I want as his replacement if he goes? Well I've got a couple on my list. Of course I like David Villa, if you read this site often then you know that. I like Podolski, I don't mind Santa Cruz, and honestly Eto'o wouldn't kill me either. Like I said though, I think Ade is probably going and I'm 110% positive that Arsene already knows for sure one way or the other if he's staying or not. So if he is leaving than Arsene knows it and he's already looking for that replacement now. Things could get very interesting in the next few weeks...

In news apart from all this, Gael Clichy has signed a new long term contract. Like I said on the podcast, this is why we love Clichy and Sagna. They have brilliant seasons and still show no desire to move clubs and in fact both signed new deals this month. It's outstanding. I hope they're our fullbacks for the next ten years. I know it's unrealistic but would anyone complain if it were to happen? I think we should be thankful that Clichy and Sagna didn't get selected to play for France. That team was destined to be shite and now we can be thankful they weren't injured.

Speaking of the Euros though, Russia beat Holland 3-1 yesterday and Andrei Arshavin was the main reason why. Now he's been linked with a move to Arsenal after saying that he wants a move to a bigger club. He's currently plying his trade for Zenit St. Petersburg in Russia, so it would be quite a step up to the Premier League. He's 27 years old which is a bit old for Arsenal's usual signings but he's been absolutely fantastic in the last two games for Russia. I wouldn't mind seeing him replace Hleb and Nasri replace Rosicky at all. Or just bring him in and have them all compete for places. That would be nice.

Apparently we're also trailing some Brazilian named Diogo from Portuguesa. I don't know anything about him but the club are claiming to have rejected an Arsenal bid for him of 6 million pounds. They say they want 12 million for him. I bet they do.

So yeah, the speculation is getting crazy. It's going to be interesting guys so hang in there and don't let it frustrate you too much. Enjoy the match today and maybe I'll do a podcast while I watch it! PS, listen to the first one, I still need feedback on it. Cheers!

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

The ArseNole Podcast

I did an ArseNole podcast today. I've been talking about it for a while and I finally did it. So check it out, let me know what you think. It's probably boring as shite but it'll get better over time I promise. If you have any ideas or contributions feel free to tell me about them. Cheers!

Listen to the Podcast here

Or, you can download the podcast here.

Arsenal To Start Year With West Brom

Morning all. The fixture list for the new season came out today and we've got West Brom at home to start the new year. Could we have asked for anything better really? Our first game is at home and against a newly promoted team. That's exactly what I like to have to start the year, because it gives you a good chance to work out any kinks in your system and if you don't play that well then you can hopefully still pull out a win.

After West Brom we've got Fulham away which should hopefully be a win and then we have Newcastle at home to complete the month of August. If all goes well you'd like to think that would be nine points for us out of the gate but you never know with football. Our second to last game of the year is May 16th away to United, so if we're going to win the league then that will most likely be our most important match of the entire year. I like the schedule they gave us. We don't have stretches like this past season with Liverpool, United, and Chelsea all in a row.

In not so good news, Tomas Rosicky says he probably won't be fully fit for preseason training. He said hopefully he'll be able to start training again when the new season starts. I was really hoping we'd get Rosicky back to start the new year, and this news really disappoints me. From everything I heard it sounded like he was going to come back on time and just fine but clearly he won't be. We can't count on him to ever be in the squad. Maybe we ought to think about trying to sell him. I've always liked him as a player and defended him through his injuries but he got hurt a long, long time ago and still won't even be back for the start of the new season. I'm sick of it.

Apparently Barcelona are getting fed up with negotiating for Alexander Hleb, and they may pull the plug on the deal soon if a deal is not done. I'm fed up with it too. I really wish they'd buy him and take him away as soon as possible. I never want to see Hleb in an Arsenal kit again, not even for pre-season, so please take him away Barca. There is still hope though even if they don't sign him because Bayern Munich are still interested and Hleb always talks about how much he loves Germany. Cross your fingers someone pays for him.


Johann Djourou is not at all happy with Swiss coach Kobi Kuhn in the wake of their exit from the Euros. He had some harsh quotes after he didn't get on the field in the tournament and said there is no competition for places in the Swiss team.

“We knew four months in advance who were going to play. With Switzerland, no need to give the best of yourself, you already know the team."

Switzerland really didn't look good at all in the tournament to me. Once Frei got injured they really didn't have much in attack at all. I didn't get to see them play yesterday against Portugal because I had work but in the other two games they never looked like they would make it through the group stages. You would think though that Djourou should have gotten a chance in a meaningless game as they were already out of the tournament. I don't like to hear player criticizing coaches but maybe he's got a point here.

And in BS transfer rumors for the day we see Robin van Persie linked with Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan. I can't see any truth at all in this. He doesn't seem like a Jose type of player for one and he's been injured almost all year for two. The story says he's stalling on new contract talks because he wants Arsenal to change it's wage structure, but even if they did chance it I wouldn't give Robin any more money. Stay healthy for a year you shite licker and then we might give you more money.

That's about it. Euro matches are starting at the same time today which sucks because i liked being able to watch both individually but oh well. Enjoy the final round of the group stage. Cheers!

Ade, Do You Want To Stay Or Not?

Morning all. I'm excited about the Euros today. Should be some good matches, especially the Netherlands-France game. France was woeful last game but I think they'll step it up against the Dutch. I find myself hoping Romania beats Italy in the first game, which is starting as I write this. I've never been a fan of Italy and it's always fun to go for the underdog. So it should be a good day of matches. On to Arsenal though.

I suppose the main story has to be Emmanuel Adebayor, which I have mostly ignored until now because I haven't heard any concrete information about it. Today, however, there are reports that Adebayor has asked his agent to facilitate a move to AC Milan.

Now this is another one that confuses me, as Adebayor has already made not one, but two solid statements where he said that he loved being at Arsenal and would be here next season. All the reports I've read say that the price for Adebayor is 32 million quid, which I can't imagine anyone paying for him. If the offer was for that much, I would say we should take it of course. I like Adebayor and wouldn't want the team to lose him, but that is too much money to turn down. We could make a run at David Villa for the kind of money, or maybe even Benzema.

Is Ade just trying to get a bigger contract at Arsenal? I think he definitely deserves a better deal after the work he did last year, largely by himself. However, I don't think this is the way to go about it. If he really just wants a move to Milan, I wish he would come out and say it instead of acting like he wants to stay at Arsenal. He may actually want to stay at Arsenal though and these reports might all be false. It does seem like there are too many rumors to have no basis in fact at all though.

Del Piero almost just scored for Italy. Probably should have hit the back of the net.

The other Arsenal drama going on revolves of course around Alexander Hleb. Bayern Munich's chairman has stated that he's pretty sure Hleb will move to Barcelona or Bayern.

“If Bayern and Barcelona meet in the semi-finals of the Champions League next season, it is likely that he [Hleb] will be playing.”

As I've said I don't care if Hleb goes, and I'd really rather he did go. Cesc Fabregas wants Hleb to stay though. In an interview after the Spain-Russia game, he said he think Hleb is an incredible player and that he hopes they get to play many more games together. He also talks about playing for Spain and what his first goal meant to him.

Wow, Romania just had a great chance but that's why Buffon is one of the best keepers in the world.

Arsenal.com have finally confirmed the signing of Aaron Ramsey, complete with his picture in the red and white. Nice to see and I'm looking forward to seeing him in the pre-season. They had a good clip of him on Arsenal TV Online that I watched and it had some clips of him playing for Cardiff. He looks a nice player, good on the ball that can score goals and make a good pass. Of course a lot of the clips were against Reserves or in the Championship but he's so young that hopefully he'll get a lot better with age and experience in the Arsenal system. He spoke about his move, saying:

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

Supposed Arsenal target Yaya Toure is not for sale, says Barcelona. What should happen here is we say, "If you want Hleb, you give us Yaya. If you won't then we'll ship him off to those German cunts." That will solve the problem. Then we have our holding midfielder we need and we lose a player that doesn't want to be here. Everyone wins.

Romania is really on top their game right now. Italy look nervous and have no cutting edge whatsoever. C'mon you Romanians!

That's all I've got for you today. Hope you enjoy the matches today. Cheers

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!

Lots of Carlos Vela

Morning all. Decent amount of stuff to cover today so let's get right to it because I've got to mow the grass. I don't know how the weather is over in London but right here in Florida my thermometer currently says 99 degrees Fahrenheit. I don't know what that is in Celsius but let me tell you it is way too hot to be mowing the grass. End of story.

As you know Carlos Vela is an Arsenal player, and he's also Mexican. Giovanni dos Santos is now a Sp*rs player, and is Vela's friend from the Mexican team. So when the press asked Carlos about his friend moving to Tottenham, he had the absolute perfect answer:

"I am happy for him, he is a very good player and let's hope he can then move on to a better team."

That's just what we need to here from you Carlos, truly a legend in the making. Clearly he knows that Tottenham is a second (or maybe third or fourth) rate club and he's hoping his mate can get out of that scum pit as fast as possible.

In other Carlos news, he's apparently been arrested in Chicago for listening to his music too loudly in the hotel. It was after their 4-0 victory over Peru in the early hours of the morning when they were jamming to Julieta Venegas. They were asked to turn the music down twice but they didn't so the police were called. Oswaldo Sanchez argued with the police and they were taken into custody. Vela was released without any charges this morning while Sanchez was given a $1,000 fine and a court date. Oh and if you didn't see Vela's goal against Peru you can see it here. It's the third one for Mexico in the game and it reminds me a lot of Adebayor's third versus Derby at the end of this last season.

There's another link saying that Adebayor is going to AC Milan but I won't even cover that. I've already said that I think he's staying. He's already come out twice and said that he loves the club and wants to win trophies here next season. We might as well take him at his word. I don't think Ade has met with AC Milan representatives at all. Maybe his agent has or something because that's just what agents do, but I'd imagine that Adebayor is sipping Togolese cocktails somewhere and enjoying the time off. Nobody deserves it more.

There is a follow up to yesterday's Aaron Ramsey story, with Ramsey explaining why he chose Arsenal instead of ManUre. It followed up with some good quotes from him about having to work hard to break into the first team and all of that. Cardiff seems pretty pissed about him not going to United, I guess they really wanted him back for next season on loan. I know I said I don't go by Youtube videos to rate players, but honestly I want to see SOMETHING on this kid. Does anyone honestly know anything about him? I have no idea what he can bring to the table and even a highlight clip right now would suit me. So if you are a youtube master go ahead and make a video. Thanks.

Udinese have told Arsene Wenger that if he really wants Cristian Zapata he's really going to have to bring the pain. Or at least 16 million quid. That's a lot for a defender, I don't care who it is. Can't we fing some 21 year old that nobody knows about that will only cost about 5 million quid? That's way more of the Wenger mold plus it leaves us more money to sign a really brilliant player. No I'm not talking about Samir Nasri, who I'm not all that excited about, I'm talking about the brilliant David Villa. If we let Liverpool get him, I'm going to have to kill someone. Possibly Fernando Torres. Imagine those two playing together every week though. It's a potential nightmare. I couldn't tell you if Liverpool can afford Villa or not, but the rumors say that he'd like to go play with Torres and that would be a scary, scary proposition. Cesc wants him though, and you know how the boss likes to keep his star players happy, so maybe, just maybe...


Alright that's about it. I can't find much else that is of any significance or relevance. Phillipe Senderos plays for Switzerland today. Let's hope he does better than he did last game. Congratulations to Cesc Fabregas for getting his first goal for Spain, and we'll hope for many more to come. I've got a new thing just for fun. On the right you'll see the funny picture of the day. I'll try to find a new one to put up every day. If you like it then chuckle a bit and if you don't tell me to piss off. And another quick thing, since Barca is doing a clear-out...what about Andres Iniesta? Cheers.

Arsenal Have Signed Aaron Ramsey

Morning all. Quite surprising news this morning tells us that we have signed Cardiff's Aaron Ramsey. I don't think the deal has been finalized but it is by the BBC and they don't usually completely make up stories like some other papers and websites. It's 5 million quid, straight up, according to reports and comments from Cardiff.

As you probably know, Arsenal flew out Aaron and his agent to Switzerland to meet with Arsene Wenger and they gave him the VIP treatment. He had the choice to sign with Everton, Manchester United or Arsenal and it looks now like he's chosen the Gunners.

Cardiff seems genuinely disappointed by the news, as they were clearly favoring him moving to Manchester United. This would have allowed him to be loaned back to Cardiff for next season. Check out some of these quotes:

"It is a very straightforward, no strings attached £5m cash offer - simple.

"We felt that Manchester United equalled it because it included a loan back option."

So that covers the cost of the player, which I thought would be higher honestly, based on appearances and the like, similar to Theo's deal when we signed him from Southampton. As for the confirmation that he is coming, Cardiff released a statement saying this:

"Cardiff City were informed on Tuesday morning that Aaron Ramsey's preferred destination this summer is the Emirates Stadium with Arsenal.

"We will now continue the dialogue with the Gunners with a view to Aaron's move being completed.

"The move, unlike other options, does not include a loan back period at Ninian Park for the 2008/09 season."

So it really looks like he's coming and I suppose now would be the time that I should start getting excited about him. I really thought he would be off to Man United but it appears he is not, in fact, a huge cunt. Ramsey's desire to move to the Emirates has even been put up on the Cardiff official website.

I'll admit right now that I've seen him play about 20 minutes in my entire life. I know he's 17 and he's obviously a huge prospect, but can someone that has seen him play (maybe a Cardiff supporter happens along here today?) tell us more about him? I don't trust YouTube videos but I haven't seen any for him anyway.

In other quick news, Spain and Russia are just now kicking off and Cesc Fabregas isn't in the starting lineup. I'm pissed. Go Russia.

And for Euro 2008, an Austrian Brewery has offered a lifetime of free beer to any Austrian player who scores the first goal for the country in the tournament. I think that would provide extra motivation for anybody! Cheers.

Song Signs New Deal, Euro 2008 Stuff

Hello all. Sorry I haven't gotten to you all in the past 2 days but I've been watching the Euro's and couldn't really be arsed to write that much considering there has been almost no news at all.
Have you been enjoying the Euros so far? I thought the Italy-Netherlands match today was fantastic, but the rest of the matches have been pretty dull. Croatia's penalty they got was never a penalty to me, and while I was rooting for Croatia, I still wish someone other than that Sp*rs twat had taken it. France looked awful against Romania. Without Thierry they couldn't do anything at all, and Nasri didn't do anything of any significance when he came on. Germany looks fantastic, full of pace and movement. They, along with the Dutch, have been leagues ahead of every other team in these first few days.

As far as Gunners and ex-Gunners in the tournament, William Gallas was ok for France. Romania never really looked like threatening but France's defense did well enough anyway. Patrick Vieira was injured and didn't play, and as I said Henry was hurt as well. Mathieu Flamini didn't play either. Giovanni van Bronckhorst was excellent for Holland, and RvP got a run out near the end and did well. Cesc plays tomorrow so that'll be fun to watch.

So give me your thoughts on the Euros. Predictions for the next round of the group stages are fun too. Netherlands and France should be fun to watch.

So on to some Arsenal news, Alexander Song has signed a new deal with Arsenal. It's a "long term deal" according to reports, but I haven't seen a definitive length. I don't really know what to think about Song. Every time I saw him play for us in midfield I thought he was never going to be good enough for Arsenal. In defense he looks a lot better but I'm still not convinced. Arsene Wenger has said he thinks Song can be a great defender so I'm guessing that's why he signed him long term.

Gilberto Silva has warned Arsenal's team that leaving isn't always the best choice, saying they could develop and win a lot together at Arsenal. He's absolutely right and while I hope Hleb leaves I want everyone else (besides Eboue) to stay.

Carlos Vela scored for Mexico against Peru and looked really good in the half I got to watch. I can't wait to see him playing for Arsenal.

Alright that's all I've got time for at the moment. I'll try to get something together tomorrow. Cheers and Go Cesc!

Arsenal Off To Amsterdam

Morning all. I was woken up way to early this morning so I'm sort of as useless as Eboue right now.

The first topic today is that Arsenal have been confirmed for Ajax's annual Amsterdam Cup, which Arsenal won last season. The other teams in the tournament are Ajax, Sevilla, and Inter Milan, who are now managed by Jose Mourinho. Arsenal will play Ajax August 8th and Sevilla on August 9th.

I like these friendly cups like the Emirates Cup and the Amsterdam Cup. We get to see the squad early on against other top sides who we could end up playing in the Champions League. I think it's great for some of the young players to get time in these matches against big teams. It's really good for their development. Plus it'll give us a good chance to see Carlos Vela against top class clubs. He's one I'm really excited about so we'll get to see what all he can do.

In Euro 2008 news, Robin van Persie is going to miss Holland's first game against Italy on Monday through injury. Marco Van Basten says he is training normally but he's just not ready to go yet. I cringe every time I see van Persie take the slightest hit, and you know we are cursed by international competitions. I just hope RvP can make it through this thing healthy.

Following up on the story yesterday about Adebayor agreeing a move to Milan, he's come out today and completely rubbished that notion.

"I am very happy here. Reports which suggest I have threatened to quit are rubbish," he said. "I love the club and the fans.

"We have a great set of players here with a fantastic team spirit.

"We have had a good season, but next year we want to go one better by winning a trophy."

Now to me that story is pretty much done and dusted because he's said several times that he doesn't want to go anywhere, and I for one am glad. I was astounded yesterday by how many people wanted Adebayor to be sold after he just had a thirty goal season at the age of 24! What more do you want from a guy who played almost every game the entire season without a steady strike partner next to him? RvP was injured, Eduardo was injured, a lot of the time he was on his own up front and yet people are apparently not happy with thirty goals. Spend more time on Championship Manager and stop trying to make decisions for Arsenal, because they are clearly terrible ones.

Apparently Giovanni Dos Santos has signed for Sp*rs. I know some fans really wanted him at Arsenal but I didn't. I don't really think he's that much quality, and going by his transfer fee (4.7 million) and the team he is signing with, a lot of people agree with me.

So you all know what tomorrow is...the start of the 2008 European Championships. If you haven't entered the contest then today is the last day you have to do so. You can visit the main page and see everyone's prediction's here. You can also email me your prediction or post it on the comments or forums. So now that I've heard everyone's predictions I suppose it's time for me to give mine. I'm going to go with Germany over France 3-1.


Well I'm going to take my time and enjoy the Euros. I'm not going to worry about transfers, and I'll probably even write about some of the Euro matches on here. If you want bollocks transfer rumors, you know where to go to find that. Till tomorrow...Cheers.

And oh yeah, Go Celtics.

New Kit Leaked and More!

Morning all. A special shout out to Dr Whiff today for being such a cunt. Thanks. Top bloke there.

To start off with we've got the new home kits for next season! I for one have to say that they're good looking kits. I know the sleeves aren't all white this time around but I think they still have enough white to keep them traditional. It seems like there's extra white down the sides too which is cool. I'm going to be getting one, just not sure if I want a Sagna one, a Cesc one, or a Clichy one. Or maybe even Adebayor. The away kit I've only seen low quality pictures but they go back to the yellow with a bit of blue. I'm not as much of a fan of those but I haven't seen any really good pictures. What do you guys think?


Sky Sports reports that Arsenal had a 10 million pound bid rejected for Cristian Zapata of Udinese. He's their star defender and captain even though he's only 21 years old. He could be just the type of defender we need to bring in and if we really did bid for him then that is great news to hear. He's 6' 2" (I don't know metrics well enough to convert, sorry) and is big and strong enough to challenge for the long balls, which has been what we couldn't do in the past seasons.

This morning one of our readers, Joshua, and myself were talking about if you could sign ONE defender in the whole world, who would it be? He said Per Mertesacker and I said Sergio Ramos. Who do you think our best defensive option would be if you could choose one from anywhere?

Everton have also joined the race to sign Aaron Ramsey, and have had a bid accepted. So it's really up to him to decide where he wants to go now, but I think he'll probably end up and Man United. I don't really care though. We have 17 year olds that are coming up that could probably do most of what Ramsey has done in the Championship. This article says that he will wait until he is able to speak to Arsene Wenger though.T

Bacary Sagna signed a new deal, so my favorite player gets to stick around longer.

"I love Arsenal, they are a great club," Sagna stated.

"The manager is also very good and next season we will be fighting for all the trophies."

Sounds like he actually enjoys it here, who would have thought? If you read other stories you'd think everyone hated Arsenal.

Here's a story that Gilberto washed his Visa in the laundry and that made him late for training. Sounds like Gilberto needs to come up with better excuses.

There have been several reports such as this one in the Telegraph saying that Emmanuel Adebayor has agreed personal terms with AC Milan. I think it's probably all bollocks. He just said he loves the club and will be back next year a few days ago. It's all sources from Italy saying it so it's probably just trying to unsettle our best striker. I think he'll be here though.

Alright that's a wrap on this one. Apparently posts are only good if they get comments but if you actually have a life and are too busy I understand. Till tomorrow, 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

Adebayor to Recieve Footballer of the Year!

Morning all. Still no signings, but try not to panic. This morning brings the news that David McNally, who has been Fulham's managing director for the past three years, has left the club. This has of course sparked speculation that he could be heading for the same job at Arsenal, which was vacated by Keith Edelman's departure. McNally was responsible for both the employments of Lawrie Sanchez, who made a bunch of buys that appeased the fans (hmmmm...Arsenal fans?) and was shite, and also for Roy Hodgesen, who saved the club from relegation.

This article also links us with Sevilla's managing director, Ramon Monchi. Too bad managing directors aren't like players where you can just watch them every week and see how good or bad they are. You have to just go by what you here and what you know about the clubs. I couldn't tell you much about either of those men but I do know the board did appoint headhunters to find the right man for the job so it does seem they are taking this very seriously. Whoever we do end up getting will be the very best for the job.


The BBC reports that Emmanuel Adebayor will be given the African Footballer of the Year trophy in Lome tonight. He got 42 percent of the public vote, so even though a lot of the Arsenal fans want to get rid of him, at least the African public realizes what a good player he has become for us. Thirty goals in all competitions...wow. Keep it up Ade, you deserve that award!

Sky Sports says that Arsenal target Aaron Ramsey has agreed a deal with Manchester United. This will undoubtedly lead to several blogs and fans calling for Wenger's departure. It doesn't seem all that big a loss honestly to me. First fans say they want established players and now they have a cow over this 17 year old. I just am going to wait until we get some signings in and not worry until then.

Update: Apparently there have been two bids accepted for Ramsey, one from Man U and one from who is believed to be Arsenal or Liverpool. We'll keep you updated.

To fuel your transfer rumor fire, I have this one for you. Tribal Football says that David Villa is officially for sale for 17 million quid. Not a bad price for Villa huh?


And for the last thing, Jens Lehmann has officially agreed a one year deal with Stuttgart. That means he has at least one more year to do some crazy mad things that we can all laugh about.

Sorry so short today. Not much going on really. Oh and if you didn't read Arseblog today he provides the perfect example of how Arsenal fans are acting this summer. Be patient you crazy bastards. Cheers.

Nasri To Sign After the Euros

Now before you rip your hair out, kick your baby kitten, or jump off a bridge...this isn't that big of a deal. Arsene Wenger spoke about Nasri to the French press, where he is on holiday.

“Nasri, he interests me."

“I hope I will do it after the Euros.

“It is more complicated now because the wage differences [between the French and the English league] are not as big as they used to be."

Many sites are calling for Arsene Wenger to be sacked or someone else to do the transfers or to never let Nasri sign because of this delay but it really isn't a big deal at all. We all want a transfer in, so isn't it much easier to just sit and wait than to stress about it every day? What Arsene said in that comment is basically that Nasri MIGHT want a little more money than is on offer but clearly it hasn't put off Arsene because he still said he is hopeful of getting the deal done. And guess what, if it doesn't happen, we will still all live. Shocking I know. If he doesn't come, then we'll get somebody else in that Wenger thinks can be a great player for us.


Why is there all this not trusting him? Do people already forget that we got 83 points this season and were top of the league for 6 months of it? Wenger is doing his job I promise. The squad will have new players for next season and they'll be players who can do a great job for us. So don't spend every day waiting for news on Samir Nasri, who nobody even wanted before the stories came out. Just be patient and wait and let Wenger do his job.

Jens Lehmann has gotten a contract offer from Stuttgart. Good for him.

Arsene Wenger decided to join the Euro 2008 competition and gave us his prediction here.

Here's a new one, Arsenal being linked with Ronaldinho. Honestly, it's never going to happen, but it is probably just as likely as 90% of all the other transfer rumors that have been posted already this summer. I just can't ever see Wenger bringing in a 28 year old, especially one that has been injured, fat, and out of form like Ronny.

We have an update to the Hleb to Barcelona story. Barcelona's whipping boy newspaper, Sport, report that the "days are numbered" until Hleb signs with them. Sport will post anything to try and kiss up to Barcelona but in this case I hope it's true. Hleb has become one of my least favorite Arsenal players in the past few weeks and I hope he's gone.

Reports from Holland say the whole nation is waiting on the fitness of Robin van Persie. I wouldn't be that depressed honestly if he missed every game in the tournament. I know it at least gives me someone to cheer for if he plays but if he doesn't I'll actually get to watch him play at Arsenal, which is more important.

That's really all there is today. Try not to do anything drastic over the Nasri situation, you all have a lot to live for. 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!