The draw for the last 16 of the Champions League has been made and we have got Roma over 2 legs obviously. We play at home first on Tuesday February 24th and then it's another trip to a country where we have done well in recent years - Italy. I must say I love the city of Rome and it's a fantastic place to visit but I hope we'll be coming home with another great victory. It's not beyond us with the team we have at the moment (with Theo & Nasri back) but it would be nice to have some reinforcements in place by then.

I'll be as quick as I can with this post as I have a big night ahead of me. My local pub is having it's Christmas party and I'm meeting a lot of people there for some serious drinking and a draw with prizes like a round of golf for 4 or 100 pints(and many, many more). Hence the title for the blog as I will be crawling home sometime in the morning.

It appears Lady Nina isn't happy about being ousted from the boardroom and it would be nice to know what went on but I don't think we ever will. People with money tend to care about 1 thing only - making more money and I'm sure that is what is at the root of all this. She says she still won't be selling but we'll see what happens if the price is right.

 The boss has said he would like to give us all a late Christmas present next May by winning the Champions League. To be honest at the moment I would snap your hand off if you offered me 4th in the league, the last 8 of the Champions League and winning the FA Cup. I really don't think we can aim any higher unless we spend the money which the club have said is available.

The boss has also said that Song is the most improved player at the club and that could well be true but he's still rubbish. He had an awful lot to improve on and he would have to improve an awful lot more to show that he can play for us. Mind you it isn't easy to think of any player who is better than last season so maybe the boss has a point in so far as he has made an improvement.

Transfer wise we are rumoured to be after Steve Mouyokolo of Boulogne and Juventus are appearently not interested in Gallas. I have to leave it there as I feel a strange thirst coming on me. Before I go it appears that our latest injury prone player (Nasri) is going to be available on Sunday. Let's hope so as it will offer us some width and I think we might just do it.

Here's a clip of Theo's great run against Liverpool last season.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAiyAMU9HBM&feature=related

And to finish the title track from above by The Specials

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTlMTCjW1Sg

See You Tomorrow.

We got what we deserved last night and it could have been a lot worse. I have called for the youngsters to get their chance but there is no point in playing Vela, Rambo & Wilshere if they don't play alongside Cesc, Sagna, Clichy, RVP & Adebayor. How can we judge them if they are playing with the players who we all think are not good enough anyway. By that I mean Song, Denilson, Eboue, Silvestre & probably Bendtner too. Rambo & Wilshere looked good at times but Vela did very little. It's time to give them a chance with the big boys to see if they can really step up and they need to be played in their proper positions too.

It would be easy to single out individuals from last night but if the manager doesn't treat a match with respect then the players won't either. It's obvious that our priorities lie in the unchtime match at 'Boro on Saturday and we do need to win it to keep in contention for 4th place with both Liverpool and Villa coming up shortly. Eboue received a big ovation from the travelling fans and threw his shirt to them afterwards but he still looked pretty poor on the pitch. The boss says he needs more time to recover fully but personally I wouldn't mind if he never played for us again. Don't forget that even though he was incredibly poor at the weekend he didn't try to make up for any of his mistakes. He showed an attitude that is unacceptable for a professional footballer and the manager must know that. I wonder if the manager is just keeping him and Gallas happy until he can sell them as if he drops them their value will fall as any potential buyer will know we don't want them.

On to other matters now and the youth team progressed to the 4th round of the FA Youth Cup with a 3-2 win at Aston Villa. That was a good win considering that Rambo & Wilshere were on first team duty and won't play for them even if they reach the final. Young Lansbury looks good on the right side for them and I wonder when he will push for a first team place as we need someone who can naturally play in that position. Another interesting player was a certain Tom Cruise who appearently only joined us to try to recruit some of our well off players to his wacky religion(he does look a little too small to play at this level but I'll trust Steve Bould). I hope I'm not confusing him with someone else.

Our possible opponents in the last 16 of the Champions League are as follows - Roma, Panathihaikos, Barcelona, Bayern Munich & Juventus. If we get any of them we can win or lose as it just depends on which Arsenal turn up on the days we play. I would be worried about Barcelona though but I wouldn't be too worried about any of the others. To be honest it was going to be a tough draw no matter whether we won the group or not. I'll preview the 'Boro game on Saturday. That's it for today.

Here's the goals from last night(with thanks to Boxofficefootball again).

http://www.boxofficefootball.com/fc-porto-v-arsenal-ucl-highlights/

And to finish the title song from The Specials.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxHcx7FO8nI

See You Tomorrow.

We will have a very much changed side in Porto tonight and it gives some of the youngsters a chance to shine now that they have received "The Call Up" in a big game. I would prefer it if they got their chance in the first team alongside Cesc, Sagna, Clichy & Adebayor. It won't be so easy for them to shine when a lot more is expected of them as they are filling in for our top players. Ahead of the game the boss has said what everyone presumed, that Almunia will captain the team. He has also said that Vela will get his chance to shine and I hope that this stage is exactly what he is looking for. Porto play a style that might just give him a chance to show what he can do.

The boss has also said he has to get the fans onside because the club basically belongs to them. He thinks the Eboue incident was isolated and he thinks the fans are fairly happy in general. The best way to get the fans onside is to go out and buy some quality players in January. We all know what positions we need to fill and he must know too. He also has to pick a balanced team and make proper substitutions. Players should not be put in the position that Eboue was put in on Saturday by playing in a position that is completely alien to them. If we don't have enough options in wide positions then it is clear that we need to sign some wide players. Cesc has said that he wants to return to Spain one day and play in the Spanish League. He has also said that he has a very long contract at Arsenal and he is very happy there, especially as he is now the captain.

In transfer news we have been linked with Alonso of Liverpool again and also 2 players from Lille. They are Yohan Cabaye(22) & Eden Hazard(17). We will have to wait 3 more weeks at least before anything can happen. That's it for today. As for tonight I am going for a 2-1 win for us with Vela & Rambo scoring. Come on you Gunners.

Here's a clip of the Fanzone reaction to the recent win against United.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_2aDvfdOAk

And to finish the title track from above from The Clash especially for Rock The Casbah. This is one of my favourite Clash songs ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt-dxeeWap4

The squad for tomorrow night's match at Porto has been announced and it has a very young and inexperienced look to it. The only players who started against Wigan at the weekend who are available are Almunia, Djourou, Song & Denilson. That may not be a bad thing but it will be difficult for the youngsters to go there and get the draw we need to win the group. Hopefully Rambo & Vela will get their chance from the start and I think the game might just suit them. Porto are very good at home though and it won't be easy. It is looking more likely that Eboue will play and it should be at right back or right side of midfield and nowhere else. If he is to take the pitch at The Emirates again in our colours then he will need some good performances away from home first or some fans might just be merciless. Porto won 3-0 away at the weekend in the league and are 4th in the table.

The players who are missing are all out for various reasons such as slight knocks or having the flu. Both Gallas & Diaby will return to the squad and I think the boss is using supposed injuries to bring certain players in and out of the squad as needed(no names mentioned). You can see the squad here and read who is out and why also. Nasri is out for 2-3 weeks. I imagine that Almunia will be captain as Cesc won't be there and neither will Kolo.

The boss has said that it is a miracle that we are still in the race for the title having lost 5 matches already and it is only our form against the top teams that is keeping us there. He's right and we need to beat 'Boro at the weekend and then beat Liverpool to look like we actually have a chance. I still don't think we can win it though.  RVP has said that he hopes to score more with what he calls his "chocolate leg" and even though he missed a very good chance with it at the weekend at least he scored a very good goal with his right at Chelsea. Adebayor has said that results are everything at the moment and it doesn't matter if we win ugly. I can take that for the moment as at least it will help to rebuild our very fragile confidience. That's about it for today and I'll give my prediction tomorrow but I always predict an Arsenal win.

Here's a reminder of what happened when we played Porto at The Emirates.

http://www.boxofficefootball.com/index.php?s=arsenal+v+porto

And to finish a great song by The Specials(my current ring tone).

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_dI6Q0cGIA

See You Tomorrow.

On mature reflection, as the saying goes in Irish politics, I can honestly say that although I enjoyed my trip to the Emirates I was shocked at how badly Arsenal played at times. Gone are the days where we pulverised teams from the first whistle and bullied them into submission. We now don't seem to have any real tempo to our game and while we are missing the likes of Walcott & Rosicky all the pressure to open up the opposition rests on Cesc's young shoulders. We need to sign an out and out wide player in January to give us some options on the pitch as we are so narrow and predictable. At our best we had Freddie & Bobby playing on either wing for us and scoring 10 - 20 goals a season each. We had Denilson & Eboue playing those positions for most of the match on Saturday. Does anybody, but the manager, think that they are up to the job ? As the title above says, "Time will Tell" about our experiment with youth but the players who are playing in some positions, before the youth get a chance, are making me think that the experiment is doomed to failure. As I said yesterday this team is not good enough to win the League and 4th place has to be our aim with the FA Cup as our only realistic target for a trophy. Failure to finish 4th will be a disaster as we could lose some of our better players and then we will be in real bother.

In other news Tomas Rosicky will not be back until at least March we have now been told and at that stage it will be 14 months, if he comes back at all. There have to be serious doubts about his ability to ever play for us again at this stage.  Our ladies won 4-0 at Chelsea in the League Cup semi final. Our league match away to the Spuds will be shown live on Sky on Sunday February 8th. The boss has said that Simpson, Hoyte & Gibbs will all probably go out on loan now that we are out of the Carling Cup. West Brom are meant to be interested in signing Vela on loan and we have been linked to Alonso of Liverpool after failing to sign him in the summer. I would like us to sign Gareth Barry to play alongside Cesc but I can't see it happening.

We play Porto in Portugal on Wednesday night in our final group match in The Champions League and we only need a draw to win the group. It will be interesting to see the squad that goes to the game and what 11 players start. I have read elsewhere that the boss has said that Eboue will start the game. I find myself questioning the boss all the time at the moment and it is something I am not used to doing. I saw first hand how badly he played on Saturday and if that doesn't merit a spell in the reserves, what does ? The fans who booed and jeered him did so as a natural reaction to what they saw on the pitch, which was quite unbelieveable. The game in Porto is Wenger's 700th game in charge and no other Arsenal manager has managed us for so many games. He has won 406 of his 699 games so far which is very good by any standard. I hope he is still aroun to make it 1,000 and lead us to many more trophies as I can't imagine Arsenal with anyone else in charge. That's it for today and I'll leave you with the usual clips.

Here's Adebayor's goal from yesterday again.

 http://vidgoal.blogspot.com/2008/12/arsenal-vs-wigan-athletic-highlights.html

And to finish the title track from Bob Marley.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08Hul3LUCIQ

See You Tomorrow.

After last night's somewhat fortunate win against Kiev things are looking a little better for Arsenal today. To start with our first game under our new captain got us the win we needed to qualify for the last 16 and we may have 3 of our better players back for our trip to Chelsea at the weekend. Adebayor, Sagna & Nasri are all rated as 50/50 to play and all three would be a real boost. Nasri will offer some width which was sadly missing last night and Sagna will steady us at right back where we have been poor of late. If Adebayor plays I would like to see Vela up front with him but I can't see the manager picking him. He has his pecking order & RVP will play unless we play 4-5-1.

Back to last night and there isn't too much I can say about a poor game where our players were very nervous. They took the easy option far too often and with RVP dropping back to midfield there wasn't much happening up front. Vela did his best and deserves another chance but Rambo clearly is not a wide right player. If he is to be played he must be played centrally. Our youngest ever player in Europe, Jack Wilshere, looked very lively(if a little small) when he came on and the more I see of him the more I like him. A word about our keeper too because Almunia didn't have too much to do but he made an excellent save in the last 10 minutes with the score at 0-0. That save might have been the catalyst we wanted to turn our season and I wasn't the only person who would have been happy to see Fabianski in instead of him. I'm not saying he is my first choice but it was a great save. It was nice to get a 1-0 for a change even if we did leave it late. Cesc's pass for the goal was fantastic and another player I didn't want to see on the night(not instead of Vela anyway) put the ball away expertly despite his bright pink boots.Bendtner took his goal very well and it was a surprise when it went in because he has been so bad for the last 4 matches but that's football.

In other news we have appointed a new C.E.O. at last. Ivan Gazidis will be joining us soon from the M.L.S. and it's about time we filled the position. He would appear to have all the credentials needed for the job so let's hope it works out well. Kolo has said time will tell whether he joins Man City or not but I truly hope that he has been misquoted and he has no intention of considering a move anywhere. Gallas' agent has said he is going nowhere and he played well last night except for 1 glaring mistake which almost cost a goal. Cesc has said he is inspired by one of his predecessors as Arsenal captain - the amazing Adams. I hope he can become as good a captain as Adams as for us and also remain a one club man in his playing days just like Tony. We have again been linked with Wayne Hennessey of Wolves and also Federico Fazio of Sevilla who signed a contract extension today. We all know what contracts stand for these days so I'm sure that means very little. We'll see in January. I'll leave it at that for now and I'll leave you with the usual clips.

Here's the highlights of last night's win(thanks to Boxofficefootball again).

 http://www.boxofficefootball.com/arsenal-v-dynamo-kiev-champions-league/

And to finish the title track from above from The Psychedelic Furs.

After the events of yesterday it's down to the Champions League again tonight and trying to secure our qualification for the last 16. The squad is threadbare to say the least and it's going to take a little imagination on the part of the manager to come up with a team for tonight. I personally think Rambo & Vela must be given a chance. He keeps playing players with a lot less ability and it is hurting us game after game. Give these 2 kids a chance at least and have Wilshere and Jay Simpson ready to enter the game if needed. I would also like to see Fabianski play but I don't think he will. In my opinion the only reason Gallas will play tonight is that we are so short of players due to injuries. Otherwise he would have warmed the bench at the very best. Speaking of injuries it appears Adebayor is out for 3 weeks and the list just grows by the day. Appearently he injured himself on an artificial pitch playing for Togo. We have lost Walcott, Toure and Adebayor to international duty this week and it just isn't on. Tactically tonight we will have to be very tight and we need to regain our tempo and impose our game on Kiev. If we can do this I predict a 3-1 win for us with our new captain leading by example and scoring the first goal. I know I'm an optimist or am I just a dreamer.

In transfer rumour news we have been linked with Mathais Jurgensen of F.C. Copenhagen. Man City are supposedly interested in signing Kolo in January but I can't see him going there. Lilian Thuram has said that Arsene Wenger "exists completely for Arsenal" and while I'm sure it's true maybe because of it his view is becoming too blinkered and he can't see what all of us fans can see. We need players and we don't appreciate being told how well we have played, at times, when we clearly haven't. The boss is happy with how things are at the moment because we are on a sound financial footing and he reckons that there could be trouble for a lot of clubs in the next year or so due to the economic climate. We are not immune to these conditions either and failure to qualify for the Champions League could lead us down a very slippery road. If he wants to insure our continued success he needs to speculate to accumulate. That's it for today and I'll leave you with the usual clips.

Here's a funny clip of Martin Keown's testimonial.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKIX-z5r-m0

And to finish some Music from The Smiths(apt for tonight).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRYpd3_roHg

See You Tomorrow.

Cesc has been appointed captain and the vast majority of fans have got their wish. I really hope it's going to be a good thing for both the club & Cesc. We are in a really bad place at the moment with our form absolutely dreadful and injuries mounting daily. The latest players to get injured are Diaby & Nasri who both got injured in training according to the club. We will have Cesc and Gallas back for tomorrow nights match at home to Kiev in the Champions League but our squad is wafer thin. We have no naturally wide players available at all (except Vela and he is really a striker). The team is going to be packed with central mifielders again and there is no mention of a return for Adebayor. We cannot play Bendtner & Song again as they have been absolutely dreadful for us. The manager cannot wait for them to find some form while in the team as it is costing us more game by game. For me the team has to include Rambo & Vela from the start and the managers percieved pecking order has to change. If Gallas is included it has to be at the expense of Silvestre as we are shipping goals at an alarming rate since he came in and he seems to be the common denominator in all the games. If Chelsea purposely gave us Gallas to undermine us can the same be said of Silvestre and United ? I would also include Fabianski from the start and maybe the message will get through to some players that it's not a free ride in the Arsenal team. I honestly think that this game could make or break our season because a win qualifies us from our group and gives us some confidence ahead of Chelsea away at the weekend. Newcastle showed that they can be stopped and their home record this season is not as good as in previous seasons. In fact we have a better home record at the moment(believe it or not).I haven't mentioned Denilson at this stage because I have given up hope of him being left out of the team altogether.

Anyway back to Cesc and his appointment as our new captain. I can only imagine that the boss is sure he will be around for at least 1 more season as it would be crazy to appoint somebody who would leave in the summer. I still think he might leave if we win either the Premier League or the Champions League and there is no fear of that this season as it stands. So I think we will have him until summer 2010 at least and then if we still haven't won anything he might jump ship. I'm sure Rambo is being lined up as his replacement and will have to bide his time for at least a year and a half before he cements a permanent place in the team. We need some new blood in the squad on the first of January and Cesc more or less said so only a few weeks ago. Again he would have talked to the boss about this before taking the armband, I'm sure, and I expect us to be very busy in January and in the summer. I know we have Eduardo & Rosicky(?) to come back but they won't cure all of our ills. I could talk about the implacations of Cesc being captain all night but we won't really know if it can have the desired effect until we see how the players react to him by way of their performances in the next few weeks. I'm hopeful but I'm also a realist and although I never expected us to win the league I never thought we would be as bad as we are now. Under Wenger we have had bad runs previously but I cannot remember us playing so badly so often. Please let Cesc be the start of the cure. That's it for today and I'll leave you with the usual clips.

Here's the brief highlights of the away game in Kiev and let's not forget that they are a bunch of cheats(thanks to Boxofficefootball again).

http://www.boxofficefootball.com/index.php?s=arsenal+v+kiev

And to finish a song I converted from vinyl to my computer last week by Eastwood & Saint(I couldn't bring myself to link the title track above).

We didn't play too well in the first half last night and we were very poor in the second half. Fabianski got his chance and did OK but he had very little to do. Djourou came in and I thought he played well enough to keep his place. I thought Kolo did wee at right full and Ramsey did well despite being played out of position. On the down side Nasri & Bendtner had poor games and Cesc still isn't playing anywhere the expected level. I didn't think Vela did much when he came on but he appeared to be trying too hard and I know he will be good given a run. The manager says we're tired which is hard to figure as it's only November. If the players are tired how would they cope with commuting for over an hour in each direction each day and working hard in between like most of us fans. I know, for me anyway, I'm expected to work even harder because of the current economic climate. However professional footballers are exempt from this(for the moment). When Arsenal are playing it's a release from the hum drum and we expect the players to give their all but it just doesn't seem to be happening at the moment. I feel for the fans who pay into the Stadium or who are season ticket holders.

Ahead of the game with United on Saturday Cesc has asked the fans to get behind the team and has said the team needs to come good. If the players can't raise themselves for this game we will know we have a real problem. I know we are short of some players through injury and the manager should have strengthened the squad in the summer but the fans still expect 100% in every match no matter who the opposition is. Our 0-0 last night might have been poor but it wasn't a disaster and we still head our group and look like qualifying. I don't want us going to Porto needing something in the last game though as we now about their gamesmanship and cheating. We need to beat Kiev at home in the next match. Hopefully a win against United will get us back on track.

We are without Adebayor, RVP & Eboue for the United match and we won't know about Sagna, Gallas, Walcott & Silvestre until nearer the game. It's going to be hard but I am making my prediction now as I am going away for the weekend tomorrow. I will try to post from the arsehole of nowhere on Saturday & Sunday and maybe at about 6.30 tomorrow morning if I can get up that early. I predict a 2-1 win for us with Cesc & Theo scoring(I am on medication at the moment for a bad cold). That's it for today.

Here's a very old clip of us beating The Spuds

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WBN5apsaic

And to finish some Music from Radiohead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LeLAELIxKY

See You Tomorrow.

It's Fenerbahce at home tonight in the Champions League and a chance for some of our players to make amends for the performance against Stoke and the slip up against The Spuds. I'll have to make this post quick so there won't be much news. Adebayor is out for up to 3 weeks and the manager says that Vela is a super player and he should get some time on the pitch during that time with RVP serving a 3 game domestic suspension also. The F.A. want to stop clubs taking teenagers from abroad a la Cesc and us. Tony Pulis has hit back at the managers comments about Stoke being thugs. He says we got the red card and his players are all saints(not the group).

We have been linked with Axel Witsel of Standard Liege and Raul Albiol of Valencia. As for tonight I thinw we will win 3-1 if the manager picks the right team. That's the lot for today.

Here's a clip of some good goals from last season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GF7B8QZX3Pg

And to finish some Music from The Wedding Present again. It's my own version of a song i had on the other day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o601Tjrpiw

See you tomorrow.

Come on you Gunners.