Morning, morning.

Well can I just say:

FUCK YOU INTERLULL. I HOPE YOU GET KNOCKED DOWN BY A BUS. THEN RAPED BY A BEAR. IN THE FACE.

Leaving aside the fact we've had no Arsenal for two weeks the hysteria over last night's handball by Thierry Henry has been ludicrous. The ire of Ireland fans I can fully understand but the vitriol levelled at Henry from some quarters has been way over the top.

Some have suggested that Henry's status as an Arsenal legend is tarnished because of this. Erm, is it ok to point out that, you know, he's a Barcelona player now and what he did last night has nothing to do with anything he did at Arsenal?

John Cross from the Mirror said on his Twitter:

Next time Arsenal are cheated, no one can complain. This was a big game.

Again, what the fuck does it have to do with Arsenal? Henry Winter gets in on the shrieking hysteria:

Why Thierry? Why ruin your reputation for sportsmanship? Journalists are now running thru Stade de Fraud looking for you. Why did you cheat?

WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!! WHYYYYYYYYY? WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY??!!!!

Then there are no-marks like Tony Cascarino saying shit like this? Fuck off. Cascarino was the man who played for Ireland 90 times or something and he wasn't even Irish! I don't mean he wasn't Irish like so many of the 'granny rule' players, he had no connection to us whatsoever and now tries to make a living as someone who knows something about football. And even at face value Thierry at least had a football reputuation to tarnish, not one for gambling and beating up women. And he calls Henry insincere? Fuck off, you toothless, Chelsea prick.

Myles Palmer, who writes an Arsenal site remember, says:

What a scumbag ! What a pitiful, cheating scumbag ! Thierry Henry, you are the scum of Paris, the scum of world sport, the scum of the earth.

The scum of the earth? Can people now treat that site and that writer with the absolute disdain he deserves? Fucking leech. He's never forgiven him for making him look like a chump for this:

And remember, Thierry Henry is not a striker. He is not a goalscorer. He scored only 20 goals in 103 games for Monaco. And he did nothing at Juventus. Henry is a right-footed left winger who is quick and skilful. He can also play wide on the right.

Even Arsène Wenger cannot make Henry into a striker. So lets get that straight in our minds before we read any more ignorant tosh in the papers. Got it?

Look, it was a handball, he cheated, no question about it. Would I have preferred he didn't do it? Of course. Is it the only reason Ireland didn't qualify for the World Cup? No. Thierry is now Ireland's most hated man, there are Facebook groups and websites with Guestbooks where you can register and call him whatever name you want, but for me it's a real shame that professional sports writers are talking about Henry ruining his reputation as if this is what defines his career. They ought to hang their heads and get some perspective. 

You had pundits last night, players who actually played the game, who suggested that Henry should have told the ref he'd handled it. Seriously! As if they would have when they were playing. As if an Irish player would have if he'd done it. The soapboxing was unreal and, frankly, bullshit. For anyone who has played the game - AT ANY LEVEL - to say that they would have told the referee they handled it out of good sportsmanship is a liar. And when World Cup qualification is on the table? Give me a break.

If it had been against Serbia, for example, would anyone give a shit? Same thing as the Eduardo dive, isn't it? Everyone's got a soft spot for good old Celtic and sure aren't the Irish great craic, therefore the anger and outraged is multiplied. And I'm an Irishman so I won't be lectured to by English journalists about how I should feel about what happened or Thierry Henry. But there wouldn't be 10% of the fuss if he'd done the same thing against some swarthy eastern Europeans. And if the shoe had been on the other foot, or the glove on the other hand, perhaps, would there be such a ferocious reaction about how the nasty Irish had cheated the French? I don't think so. I dare to say those in the English press might have had a good laugh at the expense of their cross-channel rivals. And how many Irishmen laughed at Maradona in 1986? Perhaps it's not quite so funny now.

He should not have handled it but he did. Ireland should have scored at least one more goal but they didn't and how many times have we watched football for something like this to happen? Thierry has been a magnificent footballer, he has won practically every medal there is to win (sadly one in particular with that scabby lot in Spain), and that for me is how he'll be remembered, despite the efforts of some to sully that.

Is Michael Owen remembered only for his blatant dive against Argentina? Wayne Rooney for diving to win that penalty at Old Trafford? No. They are all pieces of instinctive cheating, it happens in football since time immemorial and will continue to do so. And let's not jump on our high horses as Arsenal fans when we've had players who have, down the years, done exactly the same, to score goals and win games for us.

By all means be pissed off at Henry but if you let what happened last night somehow tarnish what he did for us then, in my humble opinion, that'd be wrong. No more to say on that now - and if you do want to comment in the arses feel free, just remember this is an Arsenal site, not an Ireland site and comport yourself accordingly.

Of more concern, to me at least, is that we get everybody back and fit for the weekend. Gallas and Sagna played 120 minutes last night so the manager is going to have to look at that and consider their fitness. Cesc and Eboue scored goals for their countries but it'll be later on before we know the full extent of the Interlull damage. Fingers crossed.

There were two pieces of good news yesterday too. Firstly Eduardo has signed a new long term deal at the club. Wearing the biggest watch in the world, it's like a gold plate with hands, he put pen to paper under the watchful eye of Ivan Gazidis and said:

I am very pleased to have signed a new long contract with the Club. I'm very happy and I hope to stay at Arsenal for as long as I can. This period is good for me now. I feel strong in my body and I feel ready to play 90 minutes every three days if it's needed.

And it's going to be needed, Eddie. With the injuries racking up we need him fit, healthy and on target. It also puts paid the ridiculous News of the World rumour that he was going to sign for Liverpool. 

Then there's Kieran Gibbs. Despite fears he'd broken a metatarsal it turns out his foot is just badly bruised and his absence is listed as 'short term'. Who replaces him at the weekend remains to be seen. Last we heard Traore was injured and with potential changes in the centre of defence it's all a bit up in the air. I suspect it'll be Sylvester though.

Not much else going on - I'll remind you of the competition to win the Dennis Bergkamp canvas from Modern Canvas Art (who do have other Arsenal related canvases. Worth a look before Christmas if you need present ideas). Anyway, see yesterday's blog for the question and I'll announce the winner tomorrow.

Right then, time to baton down the hatches. I mean because it's windy here. Not because I expect a reaction to today's blog. Oh no. 

More tomorrow.

Just before the Interlull Arsene Wenger said:

Traditionally November has not been a good month for us. But I explain that by the fact we had more injuries, it is the first period when they kick in.

Way to tempt fate, Arsene! I think he was probably referring to injuries that would occur through wear and tear. A calf strain here, a hamstring there, perhaps a little tweak of the groin along the way. As it is this Interlull has not only been tedious it has been costly. Firstly Robin van Persie nearly has his ankle kicked off and last night Kieran Gibbs was taken to hospital for X-rays on his foot.

Early reports are suggesting a broken metatarsal, which would be bad news indeed. When Robin van Persie picked up a similar injury in January 2007 he missed the rest of the season. The timing of Gibbs injury is particularly unfortunate as we're without Clichy due to his back problem. Again we'll have to wait for official confirmation but it does look as if we're going to have to do without him for a bit, which is a blow to us and a blow to the young man who was looking forward to taking his opportunity.

That said, left back is the position in which we probably have the most cover. There's still Armand Traore, who might well view this as just the chance he needs to stake his claim for a place, and while Sylvester certainly wouldn't provide the pace and dynamism of the other three left backs at the club he at least has the experience to be able to do the job if called upon.

As the man from East Lower puts together a crocks XI every Arsenal fan will be keeping everything crossed that those involved in games tonight come through unscathed. From my scant research those up for injury tonight are: Gallas, Sagna, Arshavin, Cesc and Vermaelen. Five extremely important players to whom any kind of injury would be, not only cruel, but downright vindictive and it would make me believe that Phil Collins is working some slapheaded voodoo on us. Cesc and Vermaelen are both playing in friendlies so let's hope those international managers don't run them into the ground. The others are playing WC Qualifiers. We'll be on tenterhooks till these games are finished.

Former Gunner and total dreamboat Robert Pires talks about our injuries, saying:

The injuries always seem to have damaged Arsenal in the last few seasons and now again this is the difficult time between November and December. Teams that suffer a lot of problems during these months often miss out on winning the league. You play a lot of games, it’s difficult and it tests the squad.

Curses. Doomed. But wait, Robert is confident we can cope, saying:

These two matches against Sunderland and Chelsea will be the key for the future of Arsenal in the Premier League and I believe Arsenal will give their answer on the pitch. But the young players will also have to step up and play a bigger part and they have the talent to do that.

Hurrah! If Robert says so then I believe him. He wouldn't lie to us. He highlights the importance of Cesc Fabregas who has once again confirmed his committment to the club despite every single Barcelona player marching up and down Passeig de Gracia holding placards saying 'Please sign for us!', 'DNA! A-OK!' and 'It's Cescy time!!!'. 

Meantime I miss Robert Pires like an amputee misses his foot. *sigh*

In other news Stan Kroenke's right hand man says Silent Stan is not so silent and is, in fact, a thoroughly nice chap. Which is pretty much what you would expect a right hand man to say, unless he was a duplicitous Iagoesque character. 

Emmanuel Eboue says he wants to be the next Eddie Murphy. Sweet holy sacred mother of the divine heart of the crucified Jesus. I think he means that he wants to be a comedic actor in Hollywood and not somebody who picks up giant transvestites just to give them a lift because he feels sorry for them and not because he wants to have dirty sex with them before he goes and knocks up one of the Spice Girls. I know this is part of the 'rebuild Eboue's image' project that has been ongoing via the official site but it just makes him look like a bit of a spa.

Bacary Sagna's agent says Juventus have been in contact with him but the player won't be leaving. Thanks for that Mr Agent whose name is Christoper Mongai. Hahaha. Mong.

And finally Arsene says that Samir Nasri won't be the man to replace Alex Song when he goes to the ACN. The boss reckons Denilson is more suited to the role and Nasri better further forward, which I tend to agree with. The problem is who will replace Denilson's replacement when the replacement for Denilson's replacement is injured by Denilson's replacement's replacement's replacement in a training ground tragedy? Forward planning is what we need here folks.

And finally, finally - For those of you at loose end tonight, co-author of 'Arsenal: Making a modern superclub', Alex Fynn, is giving a seminar entitled 'The Secret History of Arsenal Football Club' at 6pm. For more details check out the OnlineGooner.

And finally, finally, finally for today. How about some artwork to brighten up your home? I'm good at making friends and I've got some new ones called Modern Canvas Art. They have given me the following Dennis Bergkamp canvas to give to one of you lucky chaps or chapettes. 

It is 50cm x 70cm and would look awesome on your wall. To enter, simply answer the following question: 

From which club did Arsenal sign Dennis Bergkamp? Was it a) Ajax b) Juventus c) Inter Milan. Answers, as usual, to competition@arseblog.com and the winner will be announced on Friday. 

Right then, have at it.

Happy Monday to you from a very wild and rainy Dublin.

Still lots of misinformation abounding regarding Robin van Persie's injury. This morning's Sun says he could miss the 'entire season' and says Arsene is 'gutted' but the news from the player himself isn't so bad. The Dutch FA have confirmed that there's a 'partial rupture' of his ankle ligaments but there's no requirement for surgery, which is a good thing.

As for how long he's going to be out, Robin says:

The prognosis is that I will be out for four to six weeks.

Which is good news, I suppose, but I think I'd like to hear what our medical staff have to say before I get too enthused. Anyone who has done their ankle playing football knows that it can be a difficult injury to heal properly. If we take 6 weeks as the period out then we may have him back for the Christmas rush. In the meantime we'll have to cope and thankfully the fixtures aren't anywhere as testing as they might be.

Chelsea at the end of this month and then Liverpool in mid-December are the two biggest games. The rest are fixtures that you feel we should be able to cope with his absence. And let's remember that one of the real positives about this team this season is that we're not reliant on one man for goals. They've come from all over the pitch, I think we have something like 16 different goalscorers already, so while it's a bit of a setback and obviously his contribution in recent weeks has been outstanding, it's not the hammer blow some would make it out to be. I expect some kind of official update from the club today, let's see.

What is amusing, relatively speaking, is the invention of the press. As soon as van Persie got injured we started seeing stories regarding Marouane Chamakh arriving in January. Honestly, this is some of the laziest shit I've ever seen. Are we really supposed to believe that they have a direct line to Arsene's head? Because as sure as eggs are eggs the boss hasn't spoken to anyone about bringing in Chamakh. That information, which doesn't exist in the first place, hasn't leaked anywhere. They could replace the word 'Chamakh' with 9-ton hippo/giraffe hybrid, the Gippo, and it would be as accurate as the shite they're peddling. Idiots.

Although the idea of Cesc providing killer passes for a Gippo, who would undoubtedly be very good in the air, is quite appealing. 

In other news Kieran Gibbs has been talking about making sure he takes his chances this season. With Gael Clichy out injured for a while he's got a real opportunity and while he's not thinking about the World Cup former Gunner Ray Parlour reckons he's got a real chance of making England's squad. Maybe it's just me but I think the longer he stays out of the England set-up the better. Think about it, do we really want him hanging around 'JT' (barf) and 'Lamps', Wonky-mouth and 'Cuntley', sorry, I mean Cuntley? 

What will he learn from them apart from how to park in handicapped spaces, how to enjoy a shoplifted dinner after a few lines of gack, wideboy nightclub bollocks such as pissing into people's pints, road swerving and general cuntsrousness? For his own sake I think he should declare for a nation which has no footballing ability whatsoever. Like Ireland. Kieran is kind of an Irish name. At least if Ireland's senior players tried to influence him he could just say 'Look Robbie, you fucking mallet-headed, Desperate Dan looking twat, there's more to football than sitting on your arse bleating at the ref to give you a free kick when you haven't even been fouled, just tackled, you pox-bottle piece of useless shite'.

I suppose if he plays well for Arsenal we'll just have to cope with the consequences of him being called up to play international games, and you can't blame Capello for looking at him when his other left back option is Wayne Bridge, who is to defending what Karen Carpenter was to overeating. 

The praise for Aaron Ramsey after his display at the weekend continues with one of his Welsh teammates comparing him to Cesc, which is good stuff indeed. One Cesc is a thing of wonder, two of them would be almost like cheating. Let's hope his progression continues at this kind of pace. 

And that'll have to do. Just a few days of the Interlull to go, then we can back to real football. Hopefully some competitions to come this week to pass the time, so keep your eyes peeled. 

More tomorrow.

Right then, football tonight against Alkmaar and I really hope they're just plain old AZ tonight and not the typical Ronald Koeman AZzzzzzzzz.

Every time we play a Koeman side it's inevitably a truly dire spectacle. A tedious, coma inducing draw of some kind and I could really do without that tonight. I'm hoping the high we're on from the weekend will enable us to give them the kind of spanking they deserve. Not that they're particularly objectionable as a team or anything, I've just had quite enough of Koeman's teams and their dull as dishwater approach. 

Arsene Wenger was asked if he had a special motivation to win tonight because he'd never beaten a team managed by Koeman. Rightly enough he said no, that wasn't a factor at all, which is fair enough. They didn't ask me though, did they? I'd have done pantomime yawny faces every time I said his name. I think, after being subjected to so many insipid games, we deserve a good one tonight. AW wants the same kind of performance as against Sp*rs, saying:

We have to show that we can go into the game with the same seriousness that we have done on Saturday. There are a lot of things that we have still to accomplish. It is all in front of us. We have to show that we can focus every three days, that we can play for each other every three days all along the season, also that we can prepare every game with the same kind of conscientious attitude and that we can win.

Splendid, can't argue with that at all. The team news is so-so. While happily Tomas Rosicky returns, not to start but to the bench at least, there's bad news for Nicklas Bendnter who is 'seriously' injured according to the boss. Whether or not he needs surgery remains to be seen but he's going to be out for at least 4 weeks. It is a bit of a blow because Bendtner provides a measure of physicality and workrate in the forward three that helps balance that of, say, Arshavin who is polly-pocket sized and doesn't necessarily get involved in the defensive side of things. It'll be interesting to see who he plays there tonight. I know he's gone with Eboue before but with Eduardo fit and needing a game or two, and Nasri back in the frame, I'd hope he'd go with the more positive option.

There was also bad news for Gael Clichy who has a stress fracture of his back. I think that probably means a vertebrae rather than his spine but like Bendtner he's facing up to two months on the sidelines. You have to say though that if there was one area of the back four where we could probably cope with an injury best it's at left full. Kieran Gibbs will replace Clichy and after that the manager has spoken about Armand Traore as back-up. Our almost identikit left backs save the day. 

It's a big chance for Gibbs though, the manager says:

I have no doubt about his quality and I have said that many times. There is suddenly a huge stress on Gibbs to play in every game. Capello and England will be happy because they want him to play but it is still a shame for us to lose Clichy.

Again with the Capello thing. To be perfectly frank I couldn't care less if Capello wanted a trumpet playing elephant called Hamilton who starred in an animation short that I saw when I was a kid and have never been able to find again. And it really shouldn't be of any great interest to Arsene either. I think saying stuff like that puts pressure on Gibbs that he probably doesn't need. Maybe it's motivational, I dunno, perhaps I shouldn't second guess Wenger's ability to say the right thing to get the best out of his player, but let's hope the young man just gets his head down and plays well. Arsene also said he's a bit like Ashley Cole. Let's hope it's in his football ability and not the fact that he's a swerving off the road, money hungry, odious little cunt.

Meanwhile Abou Diaby reckons he's stronger and more focussed this season while Arsene Wenger lauds him for being very strong in the challenge, good in the air, having a high work rate and giving us good balance in midfield.

I was wondering about Wenger's comments in particular when I watched the press conference yesterday as they confused me. Then I realised Diaby was alongside him, heh. I don't think it's unfair to suggest that Diaby, having been given a run of games in his favourite central midfield position, has still to convince a lot of people that he's got what it takes. If his effort on Saturday against Sp*rs showed his 'high work rate' then it's very worrying indeed. We know he did extra training in the summer so he would be ready to grab his opportunity when it came, and while he's had some decent performances I don't think he's done enough to make himself indespensible by any means. If he really wants to to make it at Arsenal he needs to step it up, and quickly.

In a quick look at other news Fran Merida's agent, Joseba Diaz (you might remember him from such other young Catalan players as Cesc Fabregas), says Fran has an illness for Atletico Madrid. I assume he means some kind of vomiting bug every time he sees them play as they're so awful this season, but he hints that the young man would be tempted by a move back to Spain.

And finally I'm on the other side of the mic for the ArsenalFCblog podcast, if that's your bag.

Right then, here's to a good old thrashing of AZ tonight. A night when Oles can ring out after we score goal number 9 and not when we're 1-0 up and which then cause us to concede a late equaliser.

Till tomorrow.

Good morning all, it's surprisingly quiet I have to say.

There appears to be nothing new to tell you regarding Hooty McOwl. Zenit say they're negotiating with Arsenal but the price is going up and down and sideways and twirling, twirling, always twirling. Now we have his agent saying Zenit need to be more realistic with the price, Owly saying he wants to prove himself at a top club, and it can all just be condensed into one 'We really want to get the fuck out of here' statement. The whole thing is beginning to stink of the Beast.

Was it summer of 2005 or 2006? Every day there was a new story about how close Arsenal were to signing Julio Baptista from Real Madrid. One day it would be all agreed, personal terms done and very much dusted, the next day it was a different story altogether before it was once again all agreed and just a matter of dotting the 'I's and crossing the 'T's.

As we all know it never happened and so much time, energy, speculation and words, valuable, precious words, were wasted. So much so that when we did sign him on loan a season later the Gods decided to punish us for such linguistic frippery. They removed 97.53% of the Beast's footballing ability and we ended up with a bloke who made Kaba Diawara look like Johann Cruyff.

Now we have an owl who stinks like a Beast so until such time as we see any kind of official announcement I may treat every story that emerges with a certain amount of something that isn't quite disdain but sounds more jovial and light-hearted than that but means more or less the same thing. Note how I am refusing to waste good words on this situation lest he arrive and become the Russian Jimmy Carter?

I shall treat the stories that are sure to follow in the same way I might treat one about Emmanuel Eboue going to Inter Milan. The Ivorian is quoted as saying:

I have been linked with Inter before, but at the moment I am happy at Arsenal. I am happy at the club. Inter are a great club as well, but I don't know what will happen. Let's wait and see.

I suspect we'd be waiting a very long time for anything to happen in terms of Eboue and Inter Milan. I was speaking to the Italian correspondent for the week in football podcast yesterday and asked him if he'd heard anything about this particular story. He said that during January there have been hundreds of names linked with transfers to Italy but Eboue certainly wasn't one of them. Which is no surprise really.

Kieran Gibbs talks about his emergence as back-up for Gael Clichy in the left back position. He's taken the same route as Cuntley Cunt, he was an attacking player moved back (but hopefully that's where the similarities will stop - apart from being a good left back. You know what I mean). It's always nice to see a young guy make the breakthrough from the youth set-up and while he does look a bit raw at times he does look to have something about him as a player. It'll be interesting to see how he goes. 

Apart from that there's not much else happening. We're bound to get some team news ahead of the game against Bolton on Saturday so we'll catch up with that and preview the game over the next couple of days. The Arsecast will return tomorrow as well.

Till then.