Win Tickets to the 2010 World Cup!

Hello everyone. Today I have a really fantastic offer for all of you, a chance to win a free brand new SE W995 handset courtesy of Sony Ericsson. It's a £500 value, and all you have to do to win is answer a simple trivia question! Even better is that one of the handset's will come with a golden ticket (Willy Wonka style) and if you find that, you could win a trip to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa! The prizes are as follows:

Grand Prize: 1 x 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Golden Ticket
This golden ticket entitles the winner to a pair of tickets to every game their country plays – including the final. This once in a lifetime prize includes flights and 4-star accommodation are included.

Weekly Prizes: 2 x pairs of tickets to the 2010 FIFA World Cup™
Winners will see the drama unfold. Each week we’re giving away two pairs of tickets to a 2010 FIFA World Cup™ match. Flights and three nights in 4-star accommodation are included.

Daily Prizes:1 x Sony BRAVIA TV
Every day a stylish 40-inch Sony BRAVIA TV will be won so fans can follow all the action live for edge of the sofa viewing.

I don't think it gets any bigger than that for a football fan really. Imagine taking your new phone on your trip to South Africa to watch every match your country plays at the World Cup. I think that's something everyone wants to do.

So how do I enter you ask? All you have to do is answer this trivia question by emailing me at ArseNole[at]arsenole.com. The question is: Who scored the first goal in the 2006 World Cup in Germany? The winner will be randomly drawn from all of the correct answers and you'll receive your handset from Sony Ericsson in the mail shortly after. The contest runs until August 23rd.

So get to answering! Remember, all entries must be receieved and in my inbox by August 23rd. If you win, I'll contact you for your shipping details and then your handset will be sent to you shortly after.

I hope everyone enjoys this contest! Start entering!

Arsenal-Manchester United Prediction Contest/Preview

Morning all. Going to be a quick one this morning as I've got some stuff to get done today to make sure I have my afternoon clear for tomorrow's match. Everyone getting excited yet? I've been thinking about it since last week's match on and off but I think it's just now setting in that the game of the season is tomorrow.

Today I want predictions, thoughts, and everything else to go along with the match tomorrow. If you've got what you think is the score, share it with us, and if you think you can guess Arsene Wenger's lineup then go for it.

I think the match really depends a lot on the first 20 minutes. If we come out and we're playing well and controlling the ball, even if we haven't scored I think that will give us a huge boost for the rest of the match. If we could get an early goal that would be immense because theoretically we could win the match 1-0 and still go through on penalties but that is leaving too much to chance and I don't know that any team can shut out United when they need a goal in a match this big. It's all down to how our midfield and defense can stifile players like Ronaldo, Rooney, Tevez, and Berbacunt and control the ball. Against Portsmouth we had a lot of possession and the game turned out like you'd want any game to. The last United match though we were pressured and couldn't hold onto it like we needed to and well, we were awful going forward.

The key to the day is yet again Cesc Fabregas. Wenger needs to play him in his central midfield role and not as a support striker. His passing, vision, and control, not to mention his cool, are just what we need in midfield. He dictates our tempo and sets the table for players like Walcott, Adebayor, etc. Speaking of Adebayor, I'm not sure if he'll get to start or not tomorrow, with Bendtner having a good match against Pompey Saturday and Robin van Persie training today. A player like van Persie is important to have because he has a dimension that Adebayor and Bendtner don't really have, and that is some trickiness and cleverness with the ball. I don't know if he will start or not but I'd expect to see him at some point for sure.

Obviously if United score the task becomes a lot more difficult a lot more quickly. Clichy and Gallas are still both out but Silvestre is back training so he should start. Eboue could play at left back again or Gibbs could slot in there. Either way they have a rough task on their hands. United aren't going to sit back with just a one goal lead, nor do they every just sit back and defend. Ronaldo and Rooney are real game changers, who even if United aren't playing well can score a goal on their own that puts us in a really tough spot of having to score three goals. Almunia needs to have another top notch day but he really needs some quality help from his defenders.

Theo Walcott will be important down the right-hand side. Patrice Evra hasn't had his best season for sure at left back and we'll need to try to get him into some space where he can use his pace and quickness. I hope to see Nasri on the left instead of that awful central midfield role that Wenger had him in last week which was really not playing to his abilities. And I'd like to see Alex Song continue in the team in the holding midfield role. Of all our players, I think he's improved the most this year and his work ethic in trying to shut down the other teams attack is one to be admired. He's certainly not the prettiest out there, but he has been effective and we need him in there for such a big match.

So like I said, I want to hear from all of you today. I want score predictions, lineup predictions, and how you think the match will go as a whole. I'm going to make it into a little bit of a contest, with the winner getting a £10 gift card from Arsenal.com. All you have to do to win is predict the match score along with the scorers. I'll even pay for the shipping. So submit your predictions either to my email, which is ArseNole[at]arsenole[dot]com or just leave it in the comments with your name. Remember, you have to be IN the contest to WIN the contest, so you might as well get your name in! Come on you Gunners!

Predict the Top Scorer and Win Arsenal Cash

Morning all. There isn't shite to write about today. Seriously there is nothing. I thought about doing my Fulham match preview today but I'll save that for tomorrow morning.

There is a hurricane going on outside my house right now (not even joking there really is) and it sucks because I haven't been able to leave my house at all. But that is beside the point, the point of this is yet another ArseNole Contest!

Today I've thought up a dandy. Pick who will be the top scorer in the Premiership this year and how many goals they will score.

Adebayor: 24 goals
Torres: 24 goals
Rooney: 1 goal

Something like that. You only have to enter who you think will be top of the scoring table and exactly how many you think they will get. If you are the closest at the end of the year you'll receive a 10 pound gift certificate for Arsenal.com's shop. If you get the player and number of goals exactly right then it will be 20 pounds!

To enter, you can email me using the contact me link, emailing me at ArseNole{at}arsenole.com, or leaving it as a post in the comments or forums.

Also, I still am looking for a new banner for the site, so if any of you know anything about graphics please make me a new banner and you will be justly rewarded I assure you!

That's all I've got. Hopefully we'll get a lot of entries

Contests, Season Predictions, World Soccer Daily

Morning all. I don't really know what to write about today honestly. I went to bed all excited thinking, "Wow there's a match tomorrow plus I'll have time to write the blog in the morning, that sure sounds exciting," just to wake up and find that there really isn't that much to talk about.

First off, there is a radio show here in America about football called World Soccer Daily, hosted by Stephen Cohen and Kenny Hassan. I listen to it pretty regularly but yesterday Stephen (Chelski fan) said "Tottenham Hotspur will finish ahead of Arsenal this coming season." He's absolutely lost it. When's the last time Sp*rs have finished in the top four? I'm pretty sure they haven't finished above us since 1995. But I suppose it's good to set lofty goals, eh? They sold their captain and they're going to lose that sulking cunt Berbatov as well. Who is going to play striker, Darren Bent? You're havin a laugh. Cohen you wanker, go back to your Russian chums and stop making stupid comments like that one.

Anyways, moving on, I suppose we could talk about the match against Huddersfield today next. It's quite the drop off from Madrid and Juventus isn't it? You can tell though by how the squad is put together. It's almost all youngsters, and I don't mean youngsters plus Bendtner, Clichy, Sanga, Denilson, etc. The oldest players in the squad are Vela, Djourou and Theo, and everyone else is, for the most part, a reserve player. We have Little Jack in there as well as Aaron Ramsey, but it's basically another good chance to see what the youngsters can do.

Speaking of Jack, he's been given Gilberto's old number 19 which means he's listed officially as part of the first team squad. I guess not even Arsene Wenger could deny how well he's played this preseason and decided to include him in the first team. He could see a decent amount of action this year I think, with seven subs on the bench in the league plus hopefully a sustained Carling Cup run. Arsene always did say if you're good enough, you're old enough, and that's certainly the case with this young man. I really feel like I'm getting old, a kid five years younger than me is in the first team squad, whew.

Can you believe the first match that actually matters is one week away? We've got the Champion's League qualifying stages against FC Twente on the 13th! Exactly one week away and I can't wait. I'm even more excited about West Brom at home on the 16th to open the Premiership season. Football is finally back again!

Today I'd like to hear your season predictions. I want to know where you think Arsenal will finish, who the top scorer will be, how many goals he will have, and what (if any) trophies Arsenal will win. Let's get some discussion going on just how successful this team can be. Will Diaby or Denilson start next to Cesc? Will we bring in someone new? It's all crazy isn't it, which is why it's more fun to discuss with other mental Gooners.

Also, I'm going to have not one, but two new contests today, just off the top of my head here. Whoever can make up (make up, not steal off the internet, believe me I will check) the best new banner for the top of this site will receive an ArseNole Stein Mug which is absolutely fantastic. I have one myself and it's great looking and can hold coffee, beer, or whatever else you choose to drink. You can email it to me at ArseNole@{remove this}arsenole.com. So let's get lots of banners in so I can spruce up the site a bit. All you graphics people out there get to work.

The second contest is just about being humorous, if you can think up the funniest story about Wayne Rooney's death and put it in the comments, I'll pick whichever I think is the best and that person will receive some sort of Arsenal or ArseNole gift that I can come up with. I'll figure something out depending on just how good the stories are. Just leave it in the comments or you can email it to me, either way.

So there is lots to win today so get on your stories, your banners, and your season predictions. Good luck to the young guns today against Huddersfield and here's hoping Little Jack scores about 230582 goals. Cheers!

Join The ArseNole Premiership Fantasy League!

Morning everyone. I've got to leave for work in about twenty minutes so I can't be arsed to write about Adebayor yet again today, especially said I'd take a break from all that. There really isn't that much other news for the day so I've decided to do something fun and I've made a Premiership fantasy league for all of us to play in. It's really easy so I've got it in steps for you.

1: Go to http://premierfantasy.soccernet.com/

2: Click on Register and go through the registration and team selection process - it's totally free to play

3: Once you are on your team line-up page click on Mini League and type the following information in the Join A Mini League boxes:

League Name: ArseNole Premier League
Password: arsenal

Just make sure you go to join a mini-league and type the League Name and password in correctly and you'll be good to go! Hopefully we can get a lot of entries and make it a fun competition.

I'm deciding on a prize to give away to the winner of the league, it will possibly be a new Arsenal kit or who knows what else. It'll be something good though because it's a very long contest. So everyone please join and make it fun for everybody.

I'll tell you right now 3 of my 4 defenders are Gunners, 2 midfielders are, and 1 striker who's currently on the bench. And no, I have no Chelski or ManUre players on my team. Cheers!

Arsenal In Bid for Ramsey

Morning all. There isn't much for news today honestly so this may be a short one. If you haven't joined the Euro 2008 contest, you can do so here. Just pick the two teams to make the Finals at Euro2008 and the final score and you win.

We'll start with the England-USA friendly which if you don't live in England or the States you probably don't care about but I do and I watched it yesterday. A couple of observations from the game: Is Jermain Defoe really the best option to be leading the English strike force? There have to be better options than that. I don't know who exactly but I think maybe Young, Agbonlahor, Ashton, or maybe even Theo would be better than Defoe. The fat scouser Rooney and Gerrard were both great behind him though. As far as the USA goes they couldn't manage shite. I hate saying it because I'm no fan of Landon Donovan but we missed him yesterday. Our strikers looked lost all match and while part of that is because of good defending, some was just because it wasn't the first choice strikers. Oh and one other thing on England, why is Wes Brown playing at all? He is absolutely terrible. Hope he gets hit by a bus.

Ok enough of that, now on to Arsenal. According to reports Arsenal have put in a £5million offer to Cardiff for Aaron Ramsey. Cardiff rejected the offer because they want more money up front. Arsenal's offer was based on incentives for appearances and the like, similar to how we got Theo Walcott from Southampton. Ramsey is a good young player, and this was shown as he just got his first call up to the Wales squad for the friendlies this week. They say we'll go back with an improved offer but I'm not so sure how highly Wenger rates him. It may just be a, "Well if we can get him for this much we might as well." But I guess as always we'll have to wait and see.


Alex Mcleish of Birmingham says he hopes to keep up the relationship with Arsenal so they can keep loaning our players. I'm not sure Alex, but that relationship may have been hurt a little bit by that cunt Martin Taylor breaking our striker's leg.

Goonertalk is having a poll of sorts to see who everyone's all time best Arsenal players are and is going to put them in a book. So if you're into books and voting for things then go ahead and do that.

Alexander Hleb says that he's never said he wants to leave Arsenal. Very crafty there Alex...but we know that you told your agents to find you a way out and they have been essentially begging for it for the past month. I'm so sick of Hleb honestly, I hope he's gone sooner rather than later and I couldn't really care where he goes. Be nice if he went to play for Tottenham. Then when we kicked the shite out of him all the time he'd not think it was so bad at Arsenal.

Jose Mourinho is just about in as manager of Inter Milan, and I can't see Hleb playing for him, so I think if he's going it's going to have to be Madrid or Barcelona. Hopefully the report is true and he's agreed personal terms with Barca and all that needs to be worked out is a transfer fee. Like I said yesterday, I'd take 10 million quid for him. What would be your selling price for Hleb?

That's about all I've got today. Remember the Euro 2008 prediction contest! We had a great start to it yesterday with people getting their predictions in so let's keep it up. Remember all you have to do is pick the two teams that will be in the finals and the final score. The winner gets a free ArseNole Stein Mug. That way you can drink Newcastle Brown Ale, which along with Yuengling are my top two beers! Sign up by posting your prediction in the comments, the forums, or emailing me at ArseNole@arsenole.com.

Hleb Off To Spain, Euro 2008 contest.

Morning all. Nasri has again not been confirmed today in case you were wondering, but this is most likely due to the fact that he was playing for France last night. Awful hard to be in London when you're playing for France. Try it. Arsenal News Review says he played well. Le Grove said he didn't play all that well. I didn't watch it so take your pick of the reviews of his performance if you're that into it.

Nasri's agent did however confirm that the deal will be done in the coming days and it will be to Arsenal. Read this.

Biggest news we have today is about Alexander Hleb and if it is anything it's confusing. Apparently Hleb's agent met with Txiki Begiristain (nice name), the Barcelona director, yesterday in Germany. They reportedly reached a verbal agreement on the player's terms and now an agreement must be struck with Arsenal to complete the move.

At the same time, Real Madrid have declared their interest in Hleb, with coach Bernd Schuster saying this:

"Over the past two months we have had a plan and we know what we want, but now Hleb has been added. We did not know he could leave Arsenal but in recent days it has been more positive. We were surprised that he might leave there."

Remember also that Inter Milan was thought to be leading the race to sign him for ages until the Spanish gians got involved. Personally I couldn't give a shite where he goes to, I'm just ready for him to be off. This reminds me of the Jose Antonio Reyes story last year, where we didn't know where he was going to go we just knew we didn't want him back. It took weeks of him being linked with Real, Atletico, and Sevilla before the move finally went through. There are some people that may still want Hleb in the team, but I'd take 10 million quid for him right now in a heartbeat.


If you're looking for a laugh you can laugh at Mathieu Flamini, who was dropped from the France squad for Euro 2008. A lot of people probably feel sorry for him, but not me. I like ex Arsenal players this is true, but I only like ones who were great players here for years, like Pires, Henry, Vieira, etc, not money grubbers who leave after one good year. Flamini deserves all the hardship he gets in my book. If you disagree, please name your reason why.

Robin van Persie has said that Arsenal need to raise their wage limit to keep players happy and make them stay at Arsenal. Of course he wants the wage limit raised, he's a player and he wants more money. I like van Persie and all but he can talk about all this when he becomes club director, or at least stays healthy for a whole season.

As you probably all know, Cesc Fabregas' new agent is Darren Dein, David Dein's son. With Cesc getting ready to go into contract negotiations with Arsenal, the talk is that he's going to play some hardball with the club. Cesc is going to re-sign, trust me on this one. There is no need to worry that just because Dein is his agent he is going to go to Barcelona this summer. He'll probably get a deal about 100,000 quid a week. This story is meant to get all the Arsenal supporters nervous but don't worry about it.

And in other news Mad Jens made the final cut for the German squad for the Euros. Good job Jens.

That's about all I've got for the day. I'm pretty stoked for the Euro's so if you want to give me your prediction on the finals, give me the two teams that will play in the finals and the final score and I'll give the winner a free ArseNole stein mug and maybe some other stuff too. It's used to drink excesses of beer, like Yuengling. So post your prediction on the forums or the comments and I'll write em all down and the winner will get that. Or you can email your prediction to me at ArseNole[at]arsenole(dot)com. They have to be in before June 7th.