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Today has been a bad day for football, and Africa

If you have not already heard, the Togo team bus was shot at on their way to their base in Angola, one man is dead and several more injured.

In a way it is similar to the attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Pakistan last year, and raises questions as to the safety of teams at the African Cup of Nations and the World Cup in the summer.

Hate Adebayor or not in football circles, nobody deserves to go through what he, and his team-mates and staff did earlier.

edit: sorry bout the typo

Ever thought of the other kind of Football?

I hate the word ‘Soccer’, it should be football and nothing else. As you know, the Americans have also adopted the Football name for another sport, American Football. You may not have the knowledge about it that you do about the hideously named ‘Soccer’ but you can get some quite brilliant sports betting odds.

As not everyone can be in the USA at the same time the only real way to bet on it is via online Football betting.

The NFL is currently spreading globally and has an event that is similar to the ’39th game proposal’ the Premier League may explore, this year at Wembley (the 3rd year of this growing brand), the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers go head to head.

Tampa Bay are of course linked to the Glazer family, who own Manchester United.

Need your help Arsenal fans!

Right, I dont normally do stuff like this but the National Television Awards are out and my best friend was in a Drama that is up for the award.

The programme was called A Place Of Execution and was on ITV earlier this year.

It would be great if you could vote for it, my friend deserves it and the drama made very, very good viewing!

You can vote here: http://www.nationaltvawards.com/default.aspx?page=22

Thanks so much.

Theo Walcott's new Video

Hello Everyone,

There’s a new Theo Walcott video floating about that is worth a watch. I can’t seem to figure out how to embed the video here but I’m giving you the link so you’d have to get your lazy selves to check it out on youtube. I like the new video, i have to say. You can watch the video here

Lets hope he can “make the difference” this season.

Come on you Arsenal!

O' Fabregas Where art thou?

Morning All,

There isn’t a great deal happening in the wonderful world of Arsenal Football Club per se but today does in fact mark the beginning of an exciting yet equal testing week ahead for the club. Despite the upcoming games against Celtic midweek followed by those foul mancs, all talk still seems to be revolving around the Portsmouth Game (Rightly So).

John Utaka, claims to have been tripped by Gallas and our number ten then admitted to have committed the foul as well. He says:

“I asked Gallas and he said to me it was a foul. What can you say to that? It’s like everything is going against us. He was smiling, he knew it was a foul but it wasn’t his decision. It could have been 2-2, the game could have gone either way, but he then scored at the other end.”

“It was a foul because he pulled me from behind after I ran past him – he pulled me back. It was unfortunate the linesman didn’t raise his flag. I was shocked because on a good day it would have been given. We were unlucky and nothing was given.”

I’m not at all convinced, TV replays show Utaka clearly tripped over himself and both the linesman and the referee got it spot on, I can quite honestly label this the rant of a “skittish” klutz and nothing more.

I was reading around and I’d fancy we’d be finding out about the extent of Cesc’s injury either by today or by tomorrow. Senor Cesc has been speaking about his injury and blames Celtic for his predicament, he had the following to say:

“You never expect someone will kick you three or four times in the same place, which was my right ankle, but sometimes that happens. You have to accept it and all you can do is stand up to it, refuse to let it affect you and keep playing football. But I did have quite a few bruises after that game in Glasgow.”

You can’t argue with that, the overly physical approach by Celtic was poor and we’re lucky it isn’t anything more serious than I already is. The need for Fabregas at this critical juncture is immense and especially seeing as we’re a little light when it comes to replacing such a player, we’re really at odds. After such an impressive start to the season, we need to maintain it and that means taking those mancs down and doing it in style. It’s not an easy task but you can’t also argue with the fact that we’re fully capable of doing so and how important fabregas is to this cause. Fingers crossed our captain fantabolous can make it back as soon as possible, we are really going to miss him should this injury prolong.

Meanwhile, Arshavin has been talking about the dressing room talks Wenger had with the team during the half time team talk in the game against Portsmouth. Arshavin had this to say:

“We started the meeting well. I think that our two quick goals went a long way in deciding the game. Arsenal’s possession advantage allowed us to enjoy the game … Perhaps, after the second goal, we relaxed a bit. Arsène in the locker room told us about this. He reminded us that in the Premier League you cannot afford to be relaxed, because if you prematurely stop to fully concentrate on the game, this will immediately be followed by retaliation by the opponents.”

There isn’t any denying this fact that complacency has been the death of us in seasons past and it is alarming to see the signs of it so early in the season, but I’m hopeful the boss can sort them out.

Speaking of sorting out, we have roughly 7 days to go before the close of the transfer window. There isn’t a secret that we need to dip into the transfer kitty and buy us a player and there’s no secret where we need reinforcing either. We have had a few defensive scares in the games we’ve played so far and you can only imagine what better teams could do to us in that area. The boss has to sort it out and there aren’t any excuses not to either.

Finally, Tony Mowbray has been talking about the upcoming game against us and says he’s already picked his team;

“But I am pretty clear in my mind what my team will be next Wednesday. I understand that if we lose 2-0 again, I will be judged to have got the team wrong again but if we win 3-0 then hopefully everyone will be pretty happy.”

Kudos to you then, the article goes on and if you feel like reading it, here’s where you can do it.

Right then, thats the lot

Until tomorrow,

All Hail Arsenal.

Ade meeting tomorrow – Luis Fabiano possibility – spending power

Evening all,

today the noises around Adebayor’s impending transfer hit a new notch after Mark Hughes, possibly with the easiest job in football, confirmed that Citeh Al Arabi and us are involved in transfer negotiations. Ade will have a meeting with officials with regards to his work permit tomorrow and it is expected that if that goes swimmingly, he will undergo a medical.

Its all positive news because its clear that if Wenger wanted him at the club he would have done everything to keep him, at 25 million we are making over 20 million profit on a player that has become disruptive and lazy. It can also be said that we have a player with more potential with Niklas Bendtner, personally, I rate Bendtner higher than Adebayor. Compare the scoring rates of both players during their time at Arsenal and its clear for all to see, Bendner got over 12 goals last season, Ade only managed that amount the season before his 30+ goals season, and to be fair, any striker would have filled his boots that season with the form of our creative players.

The developments on the Adebayor front could also open the door for a new striker to join the club, with Ade going I believe the forward line lacks a reputation, Eduardo is prolific but has been ravaged with injury, van Persie is not an out and out goalscorer, Vela has talent but is still raw, Bendtner has a growing reputation but is not a proven goalscorer by any stretch of the imagination. Arshavin (if you class him as a striker) is a world class player and every gooner will be praying that he doesn’t suffer second season syndrome…. with the performances of last season to go by, there is nothing to suggest he will take a step back but everything to suggest he can take it up even a notch more.

The price of Luis Fabiano is interesting though, Milan have only tabled a bid in the region of 10 million quid, he is a goalscorer and Brazil’s first choice, that stands for an awful lot.

I have not seen that much of him but I first remember him playing for Porto and he looked a fantastic talent, he is only in the mid twenties and if he could be picked up for 15 million or under it would be a fantastic deal. To stave off the doom-mongers Arsene is going to have to spend the money he will almost certainly receive for Adebayor, there are no excuses for not re-investing that money in the team.

There is also talk about Chamakh who, from what I have heard, is distinctly average and this is reflected by the teams interested in him, the likes of Sunderland, Villa and the wankers from down the road.

The summer is really heating up now, we have the congestion problems in the center of the park and a new arrival in that area will just be the trigger of some outgoings there, we have no more room for yet another central midfielder without someone having to make way. There is the possibility that there will be further movement in the defensive area with Silvestre and Senderos likely to be moved on, opening the door for another central defender at least to come in, the future of Eboue is no cert either. Right back cover could be on the list for Wenger.

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The crapometer will hit new heights in the coming days, be assured of that. There has not been a player that has left Arsenal for this amount of money since the Petit/Overmars Barca switch many a year ago from what I can remember. With Man United not looking to spend much more and Chelsea not massively improving on their squad the top 4 could level out a lot more next season and Liverpool look the strongest team at the moment. Citeh could well be a danger if the new ego’s settle there, but they have a shit manager so I am not looking over my shoulder at them with too much apprehension at the moment.

Right, that is all for today.

More tomorrow.

Edit: Adebayor has passed a medical at City. Reliably informed.

Vermaelen signing answers one question, but asks another

Morning all, decided to leave it a little later this morning to see if there was anything new around but guess what, there isnt.

You will know by now that we have made our first first-team signing of the summer, and at 10 million euros, you would have to say he will probably be a starter next term. That of course leaves the question, who will partner him. Gallas is probably our best center back and if he was to leave we would definitely need a replacement, Toure just isnt as good as him and it saddens me to say it, but is in decline. If we got a big offer from El Arabi City I would bite their hand off and use the money towards a better defender with experience.

I don’t think our defensive options now will remain the same for the start of the season, one would expect Silvestre to be long gone by then *please God, please get rid of this hapless monstrosity* and the rest of the summer is going to be very interesting indeed. Another move probably isnt expected in the immediate future because that isnt really Wenger’s style, but as shown with this and Arshavin’s transfers recently, he is willing to break out of his own style.

I’m looking forward to seeing the state of the squad on the first couple of days in September.

One interesting point that has come to my attention is that Vermaelen’s position is left of center in the defence, which is of course Gallas’s preferred position. Could it mean Gallas is on his way out? If that was the case I wouldn’t consider Arsene’s defensive work on the team as actually diminishing the quality we have, and we don’t have that much quality anyway. Wenger’s work is still far from done.

Yohan Cabaye, the Lille midfielder is linked – The chances of that happening are 1084586y3946532044365-9365-9345-1

Right, thats all today.

More tomorrow, might be later than usual again.

Thomas Vermaelen signs for Arsenal + Wenger's and Vermaelen's view

It was expected, but now it is confirmed. The usual new signing lines have been spoken:

‘Arsenal Football Club is delighted to announce that Belgian international defender Thomas Vermaelen has joined the Gunners from Dutch Eredivisie side Ajax on a long-term contract for an undisclosed fee.’

Arsene Wenger said:

“Thomas is a great signing for Arsenal Football Club, and we are all delighted that he is joining us. Thomas is a solid performer with good experience of Champions League and UEFA Cup football and is also a regular with the Belgium national team.

Thomas is primarily a left-footed centre back, but he’s multi-functional and can also play at left back. He is strong technically with a positive winner’s attitude and I have no doubt his arrival will strengthen our team. Thomas Vermaelen will be a huge asset to Arsenal.”

Thomas himself has said:

“Firstly, I have to say that I’m sad to be leaving Ajax and I would just like to thank everyone for their help and friendship towards me over the past eight years.

“I’m just so happy to be joining Arsenal. This is a great Club with a world class manager, high quality players and a fantastic stadium. Everything is set up for Arsenal to be very successful for years to come and I joined this Club because I know Arsenal will be challenging for trophies.

“I have had a good taste of the Champions League during my time with Ajax and this is something I am looking forward to experiencing again with Arsenal. I’m also looking forward to playing in the English Premier League, which for me, is the best league in the world. Also, I just want to assure the Arsenal fans that I will give everything for this Club and I hope we can enjoy winning some trophies together next season.”

Welcome to Arsenal, Thomas.

Oh, and for the record, he is 6ft.

More tomorrow, but later than usual.

Technical issues

The site has been down pretty much all day so apologies for there not being a post.

Things will be back to normal tomorrow, be here at 7.30AM for the latest.

‘Til then.